You know this world is full of preachers, but just a few were chosen. Stay tuned for Treasured Heritage, a preaching program spotlighting those servants who have gone on to glory. Isaiah 5417 says, this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. And now, Treasured Heritage. There was a verse of scripture that I studied the week before I became 40. And I have tried to live by it in these almost six years. It'll be six years. September 25. And that scripture is this. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. For there is no work nor device nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave without good." I got all of my commentaries and began to study this verse and used it as a verse for my life after 40. They say life begins at 40, but you're too sick to enjoy it. But I've used it in my 40. This has been my life verse for these almost six years. whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all your might. Now you may not have as much might as you were in your 30s, but you can do it with all your might. For there is no work in the grave without God. Now I'll tell you what I learned about this before I became 40, and may I share it with you this morning. Solomon is talking to a great crowd of people. He's an old man. He's about to die. He gathers all of his relatives together, gets all of his children, all of his grandchildren. And if he had great-grandchildren, he gathered all of them together. All of those who worked for him, his employees, his servants, all of his household. Thousands and thousands of people he gathers in a great crowd And he says, I want to give you what I've learned in life. I want you to walk across the bridges off which I fell. I want you to profit from my mistakes. And so he tells, can you picture an old, old man with his hair white and flowing as he talks to all of his children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren and all of his employees and all of his servants and he tries to tell them what he's learned about life. Now there are four things he says in this one verse. The first thing he says is this, find what your hands should do. The second thing he said, do it as if you had a chance to be young again. The third thing he said, do it more as you get older. And the fourth thing he said, do it as if you are one coming to life once again. Now I can't teach you all this this morning, but this is what I learned from this passage of Scripture almost six years ago, just about six years ago. The first thing he's saying is this, he's saying children, grandchildren, young people, those who follow, Find what thy hand should do. When he says, what should thy hand find it to do, it doesn't say what happens to come across your hand. It's what your hand finds to do. Your hand is hunting for what it ought to do. There's something your hand ought to do. Find it and do it. That's what he's saying. First, find what thy hand should do. I, across this pulpit, have echoed these words for 13 years. And that is this. You are here for a purpose. There's a reason you're here. God did not put you here to fill up your stomach for three score and ten. There is a reason you're here. Find it! Find it. Let me ask you a question this morning. Do you know why God made you? Do you know the purpose for your life? For example, I'm sure that Dr. Billings, there's a reason for his being here. in this world. I have no idea what it could be. God alone knows. But I'm convinced, seriously, that Dr. Billings has come, and in this world, to encourage Christian schools. Dr. Governor Maddox said this morning, talking about our school, he said, your school, that those schools like that are the hope for this nation. And I'm sure that Dr. Billings was brought into this world for that purpose. I was made to do what I'm doing right now. Now, I want to know, so I want to know why I'm here. And the wise man said, find what your hand was meant to do and do it. Unhappy is the person that wonders why he was made. Miserable and wretched is the person who wonders what his purpose in life is all about. The lady, one of our very finest ladies came, and I would not embarrass her for the world, but she was in my office last night. And she said, Pastor, why is it I get so restless? I want to maybe do this and then do that. And I said, you don't have a goal. You don't have a goal. Find what you're here for. Find the purpose for which God made you and do it. Solomon says, listen children, listen grandchildren, listen my fellow employees, listen my workers, listen my servants, each of you regardless of how insignificant, regardless of how menial is your task, God has made you come to this earth for a purpose. Now he said, find it and do it. There's nothing else that matters. Nothing else that matters. What does God want me to do? That's all that matters. It's not who knows me or how much I have or how much fame or how much popularity. It's what am I supposed to do? Did you know that if I do the purpose for God bringing me into this world, if I fulfill that purpose, you know that I'm as great a person as Governor Lester Maddox is? Did you know that the person who sweeps the floors of this building, if that is the will of God for his life, if that's the purpose for his being here in this world, if he does it, and he does it with all his might in the sight of God, he's as great a person as Lester Maddox or Jack Hiles or Lee Roberson or John Rias or Bob Jones. I'm simply saying, young girls on the front row this morning, there's a reason God puts you in this world. Teenagers, there's a reason why you're here. Older people, there's a reason why you're here. Young folks, there's a reason why you're here. Find it! Find it! Pursue it and do it! Everything else in life ought to fit right into this one goal, the thing for which God made you, the purpose for your being here. Find it and do it. But there's a second thing that Solomon is saying. He's saying, do it more as you get older. Yeah, now he says in these passages, he said, do it as you get older, do it more. That's just the opposite from the way we feel about it. We say, well, I'm old now and I'm getting up in years and I'll let the young folks do all the work. That's not what Solomon said. Solomon said, as you get older. I'm a track fan. In fact, I'm a sports enthusiast. And Jim Ryan is one of my heroes. I like Jim Ryan. He's the miler. Anybody here know who Jim Ryan is? All the rest of you poor ignorant folks, no wonder America's going to the devil. But anyway, Jim Ryan, he ran a mile in 3.52.8, I think it was, yesterday in Canada. And I'm a Jim Ryan fan. But you check with Jim Ryan. Check sometimes his mile. A mile is composed of four quarter miles. Four times around the track is the usual outdoor mile. Now you check the times. He'll run the first quarter in about 59 or 60. and the second quarter in about sixty-one and the third quarter in about sixty-one or sixty-one five but the fourth quarter he'll run about fifty-five or fifty-six. Why? The end of the race is coming and he's going to put on his finishing kick, they call it. Of course, the older you get the less kick you have. But the finishing kick and so as he gets toward the end and Solomon says, you folks that have white hair, get busy, run faster. Don't slow down because you're old, the race is almost over. Solomon is saying, you folks that have, you're aging, and you have wrinkles, and your ears don't hear like they did, and your voice doesn't speak like it did, and your shoulders aren't as erect as they once were, and life is not as fresh as it once was, and there's no spring in your step like you once had. He said, don't quit running. He said, the race is almost over. Get busy for God. Find what you're supposed to do. And then as you get older, do it with increasing intensity. Some of you folks know Dr. Charles Weigel. You know him well. The old saint of God that lived to be almost 100 years of age. And one day, and I'm not sure I've shared this with you, but one day I was preaching in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In fact, Dr. Weigel was up in years, and they had built the Weigel Music Center in his honor and named it after him. He was in his nineties at the time. And so Dr. Weigel, Dr. Robertson asked him, would you like to have the dedicated, and bless his heart, he said, I'd like to have Dr. Jack Isles to come. And he couldn't have chosen a finer man. But anyway, I get all over town that I'm cocky again. But anyway, he said, I'd like to have Dr. Jack Hiles to come and preach the dedication message. And so I went down to preach and I preached on singing the Lord's song in a strange land, and how that the children of Israel had placed their harps on the willow trees. And they said, we can't sing because we're in bondage. And I said, well, if any folks ought to sing, it's folks are away from home in bondage where folks ought to hear them. And so that night after it was all over, I went over to Dr. Weigel's room. I wanted to pray with him. And I got up close to the door, and I heard somebody going, Praise the Lord! And it was Dr. Weigel's voice. And he was saying, Hallelujah! Glory to God! And he was tapping his hands, and the old man was making noise. He was jumping up and down and making noise, almost 100 years of age. And I wanted to talk to him. I wanted to pray with him. I wanted to thank him for inviting me down. And I said, Dr. Weigel. He didn't hear me. He said, Oh, glory to God. Praise the Lord. Then he said, I love you, Jesus. I love you, Jesus. And he clapped his hands. And I guess he was jumping up and down. A lot of noise going on. And finally I said, Dr. Weigel! Dr. Weigel! This is Dr. Hiles! And he came to the door. And his eyes were red. And his cheeks were moist. And his eyes were red. And tears were rolling down his cheeks. There was a smile on his face, and he had his collar about like that. And he looked just about like I look right now. And I said, Dr. White, is there something wrong? He said, Nope, nope, nothing wrong, Dr. Hyatt. I said, What are you doing? What's going on? He said, I'm just rehearsing for heaven. You know what he meant. He's going to be in heaven before long. And he's going to praise the Lord forever. He wanted to get all rehearsed up. Just a person for heaven. And that old saying of God kept on going and he wouldn't quit. Then he kept on serving God. And the older he got, the more he went. And the older he got, the better he did. And the older he got, the more faithful he was. I heard him when he was in his nineties, preaching like a house of hearts. Why? Because the wise men said he should get older. That's no time to stop. It's not my forties now. It's about time to slow down. Good night, what do you mean? It's time to floorboard it. Solomon said, hey, what's the matter with your hand? Find what you're supposed to do. Find why you're here. Don't live to make money, and don't live to get popular, and don't live to have fun. Live for the purpose that God placed you here, and then keep on doing it. And as the race gets longer, run faster. And as you get older, run faster. And as you get older, do more. And run the last lap faster than you did the first lap. I promised God that in my forties I'd run faster than I did in my thirties, and I have. I preach more, I work harder, I get more done in my forties than I did in my thirties. Why? Because of this passage right here. Whatsoever thy hand finds to do. Find what your hand is supposed to do, and when you find what it's supposed to do, do it! How should I do it? With all your might! How? The more you get, the more you ought to do it. There's a third thing. Do it as if you had a chance to be young again. Do it as if you had a chance to be young once again. Dr. Billings, you and I are the same age. You look much older than I, and my heart goes out to you. People often think you're my father. But I know, and you're praying for your wayward son. But anyway, you and I are about the same age. Did you ever look at some of these young fellas and think what you'd do if you had the youth again that they have? If I was young again, I'd spend hours a day combing my hair. Wouldn't you, Governor? I really would. But, and appreciating it. But you know, I've often, now Solomon said, he said, what would you do? He said, if you get young again, if you had the energy of youth, if you had the zeal of youth, what would you do? Solomon said, that's the way you ought to do it. He said, listen to me, serve God, all your mind, everything you do, do it with all your mind, with all your might. He said, do it more as you get older. But more than that, he said, do it as if you were young once again. Let me go back to Dr. Weigel. Dr. Weigel, I overheard Dr. Weigel, he doesn't know I overheard him, but I overheard him talking to an old preacher, not as old as Dr. Weigel, but an older preacher. And this preacher, up in years, but younger than Dr. Weigel, he said, Dr. Weigel, he said, you know what I'd do if I was young again? Dr. Weigel said, what would you do if you were young again? He said, I'd do this and this, and he listed all the things that do. He said, I'd preach harder and louder and stomp a pulpit. I'd be zealous and I'd be aflame. He listed all the things that do if you young can. Old Dr. Weigel, almost 100 years of age, looked at him and he said, you know what? He said, what? He said, that's the way I'm still doing it. That's the way I'm still doing it. That old preacher down in Durham, North Carolina, up in his eighties, one morning heard me preach on the eighth psalm, What is man that thou art mindful of him, the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him the Lord, and the angel of thou hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou hast put all things under his feet, all beasts, the sheep of the field, and the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and so forth. And I preached on what is man that thou art mindful of him. And that old preacher stood up at the end of this sermon, and he said, I'd like to say a word. And he didn't weigh over 110, and his arms looked like they were broomsticks, skinny, and the skin was hanging off his arms, especially up here. And that old preacher looked out to a great crowd of people, and he said, people, I heard this young man preach this morning. And he said, I've been looking forward all my life to retiring. And I've been preaching over half a century, and I'm weary, and I'm tired. And he said, I've been looking forward all my life to having some time to fish, hunt and rest as an old man. And he said, my pension just came a few days ago and I retired. But he said, folks, I can't retire. And then he held his little old arms up and he had on a short-sleeved shirt. His muscle looked like a grape in a piece of macaroni. And he held his little arms up and he said, he said, I've been preaching and preaching for over a half a century and he said, I've been looking forward to retirement. But he said, after that young man preached this morning, on what is man a dark night, and that everybody's important to God, he threw one leg up in the air like this, and he held his little arms up like this, and he said, brethren, I'm reenlisting. No time to quit. Only one life will soon be past. Only what's done for God will last. We never are going to read your bank account. We have your service here at this altar. I'm not going to get your bank book and read the balance in it. I'm not going to list all the honorary positions you held. All that will matter is did you do what you were supposed to do with all your might, all your life. That's all that matters. Good night! Our country's going to hell while we fiddle and play. Somebody's got to say, I'll give everything. Somebody's got to pull out all the stops and pull out the throttle and floorboard the accelerator and do what we're going to do for God while the day is still here. So find what your hands should do, said the wise man. And then he said, once you find it, do it faster as you get older. And then once he find it, he said, do it as if you had a chance to be young once again. The fourth thing, and I think the most challenging part of this entire passage, Solomon is saying this, do it as one who died and comes to life again. Hey, suppose this morning suddenly while I was preaching, I grasped my chest and slumped to the floor. And Dr. Billings would rush up and unloose my collar, take off my coat. And Dr. Streeter would be called. He would come up to the platform and do what he could. And suddenly somebody said, And about Wednesday morning, my body would lie in a casket here at the altar of this building. And a few folks would come by and cry. And some folks across America would have parties and give presents. Did you hear about that lady that got a divorce and had a reception? Yeah. She got a divorce and had a reception. And did you hear what she did instead of throwing the bouquet? She threw her wedding rings into the lake and rejoiced. Suppose they had a reception, and you followed the hearse out of the grave and laid this body beneath the soil. And folks all over Hammond said, that big loud mouth won't bother us anymore. And next Sunday morning you wondered what the church would do. What in the world would the church do? who's going to take over, where we're going to find a preacher, we've got a point of pulpit committee. And so next Sunday morning, Dr. Billings is going to preach maybe, and supply. And so Mrs. Colston is playing the operatory, and the door opens over here, and I walked in. And you said, good night? I thought we buried that rascal. I thought he was dead. He was. I was at his funeral. I swore it! I had a seat here. And I stood and said, folks, the Lord has granted me one more Sunday. There's some things I've seen I want to tell you about. and some things that God has told me. Let me ask you a question. Do you think you'd listen very intently? Do you think you'd have trouble staying awake? Do you think you'd say, let's hear what the man has to say? He's been dead! He's been to heaven! He's come back! Let's hear him! Let me ask you this question. Do you think I'd preach with fervor? Oh, I'd say folks, If you see what I've seen, I saw Him. I saw Him. These eyes that held Him and these hands touched Him, I saw Him. The one whom I've preached and whom I've loved and about whom I've taught all these years, I saw Him this week. I've been with Him the whole week. I've come back to tell you how wonderful He is. Oh, I say, folks, serving while you have breath. Where I've been, there are no unsaved people to win. Where I've been, there are no hungry people to feed. Where I've been, there are no thirsty folks to get a drink of water. Where I've been, there are no sorrowing brows to wipe. Where I've been, there are no tears to catch. Where I've been, there's nobody to help. It's a wonderful place, but folks, while you're here, serve Him! Serve Him! Serve Him! I've been there, I know, I've seen Him! Serve Him while you have breath to serve Him!" That's the way I preach, and you'd listen. And you'd stream down these aisles and you'd say, oh, I will, I will, I will, I will. I've seen a man come back from heaven. I've seen a man come back from the grave. Solomon is saying, that's what he says here. He says every time you do the thing that God called you to do, do it like a man who's died and gone to heaven and come back again one more time, one more sermon to preach, one more chance to do it. That's the way you ought to do it, says the wise man Solomon. That Sunday school class that you teach, teach it like you only had one more Sunday to teach it. With all your might. For 13 years I've been walking through this door, the one over there. Every time I walk through the door, I say, Oh God, help me to preach today. As if this were the last sermon I'd ever preach. The old man looks toward the sunset years. It will not be long till he joins his father David. It won't be long till he'll lay down his crown. His son Rehoboam will reign in his stead. The old man gathers his family and he says, old family, I've made some mistakes I don't want you to make. I've done some things I don't want you to do. I've said some things I don't want you to say. I've been some places I don't want you to go." He says, find what you're here for and do it. Do it. Do it with the vigor of your youth as long as you live. Increase your vigor with the passing of the year. And do it as if you died and came back and had one more chance to do it. Or you put it in these words, Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. And that's the way to serve God. Who's gonna preach the Bible and never compromise at all? Who's gonna give their heart and soul to spread the gospel? We appreciate you listening to Treasured Heritage. Tune in at the same time every weekday to hear God's Word.