Sermons

Millennial Signs - Old Age in the Golden Age - Audio Link

Text: Selected Scriptures from the LSB, unless otherwise noted

Prayer: Heavenly Father, as I stand before Your people this morning, I humbly seek Your
guidance. Let my words not be my own, but Yours speaking through me. Remove earthly
cares and distractions, and fill me with Your wisdom. Open my heart to hear
Your Spirit, so that I may speak life, truth, and encouragement. May Your Word
flow with clarity and power, touching every listener. Lord, prepare the hearts
of those who will hear, that they may receive Your message with faith. Use me
as a vessel for Your glory. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Introduction: At 117 years of age, Ethel Caterham (née Collins) is the
oldest living woman in the world at the tender age of 117. She was born on
August 21, 1909, in Shipton Bellinger, Hampshire, England. Growing up as the
second youngest of eight children, her childhood was characterized by the
simplicity of pre-war England, where horse-drawn carriages were still a common sight.

Her family seems to possess a genetic predisposition for longevity; her elder
sister, Gladys, lived to be 104 years old. This familial foundation of health,
combined with a childhood spent in the fresh air of the English countryside,
likely contributed to the robust constitution that has served her for over a
century.  

At the  age of 18, Ethel embarked on a journey that was remarkably bold for a young
woman in 1927: she traveled to British India to work three years as an au pair
to a military family. This period of her life was foundational, fostering an
adventurous spirit and an ability to adapt to diverse environments. She recalls
her time in India with great fondness, noting that the exposure to different
cultures helped her maintain a broad and open-minded perspective on the world.

Upon returning to England in 1931, she met her future husband, Norman Caterham, a
Major in the British Army. They married in 1933. Much of their life was spent
living in military postings, including time spent in Gibraltar and Hong Kong.
In Hong Kong, Ethel demonstrated her entrepreneurial and community spirit by
establishing a nursery where she taught English and crafts to local children.
This active, socially engaged lifestyle kept her mentally sharp and physically
mobile well into her later years. Ethel and Norman had two daughters. Ethel is
a grandmother of three and a great-grandmother of five.

Unlike many supercentenarians who credit specific foods or rigorous exercise, Ethel
attributes her long life to emotional regulation and avoiding stress. She often
says, “I never argue with anyone. I listen and do what I like.” By
refusing to engage in conflict and following her own path, she has effectively
shielded her heart and nervous system from the “wear and tear” of social
friction. She also practices moderation in all things. She continued driving
until she was 97 and remained an avid bridge player into her 100s.

In 2020, at the age of 111, Ethel became one of the oldest people to survive COVID-19, a
feat that drew international headlines and highlighted her immune system’s
remarkable strength.  

Today, she enjoys a quiet life in Surrey, where the staff at her care home describe
her as having an “unshakeable sense of self.” She remains the oldest
person ever born in the United Kingdom and the first Briton to hold the title
of the world’s oldest living person.

Dr. Manel Esteller is a leading scientist involved in researching treatments that can
address degenerative diseases in our neurological and cardiovascular systems
that are currently associated with old age. I certainly hope Dr. Esteller and
many other researchers like him are successful at improving the aging process
for all people, myself included. But I’m afraid that’s the best we can hope for
in the near future – improvement. No matter what treatments are developed, our
lives on this earth will continue to be measured in decades, not centuries.

What about the age to come? Is it reasonable for us to hope that lifespans will
increase in Christ’s Millennial kingdom? Yes! It’s more than reasonable, and we
can more than hope. We can believe in the historical testimony of God’s Word,
we can rely on the incredible authority demonstrated by Jesus during His
earthly ministry, and we can accept by faith the inspiring promises God has
already given us for that glorious Golden Age.

You may recall from our recent lesson on The Highway of Holiness, there will be two
groups of people inhabiting the planet during the Millennium. One group will
consist of OT saints, raptured believers, and those martyred during the
Tribulation. That group will possess glorified bodies, which means our
longevity will be everlasting. We’ll dwell with Christ for a thousand years,
then enter the new heaven and new earth with Him to dwell forever. No more
death for us! Nor sickness or sin. No more pain or pining away.

The second group will include those who were saved and who survived to the end of
the Tribulation, plus any children they produce during the Millennium. These
people will still have earthly bodies, but they will experience the kind of
longevity reminiscent of the early days of Genesis, which I’ll talk about in a
minute.

Some of the Tribulation saints, or their descendants, will die during the Millennium,
but death will be very rare and peoples’ lifespans will extend for centuries.  

I.                THE REDUCTION OF LONGEVITY

When God created the human race, He had eternity in mind.
Death was not a part of God’s original creation. Death is the result of sin and
disobedience. But God has put eternity in our hearts (Eccl. 3:11), and
even after the Fall – even after Adam and Eve sinned – humans lived for vast
periods of time.

The oldest man in the Genesis record is Methuselah, who
lived to the ripe old age of 969 years – almost a full millennium (Gen.
5:27). But Methuselah wasn’t the only example of extreme vitality recorded
in God’s Word.

Ÿ  Adam lived for 930 years (Gen. 5:5).

Ÿ  Seth lived for 912 years (5:8).

Ÿ  Jared, Adam’s great-great-great-grandson, lived to be 962 (5:20).

Ÿ  Lamech, the father of Noah, was 777 when he passed away (5:31).

Ÿ  Noah, who was 600 years old when God flooded the earth,
lived for another 350 years after the flood. He died when he was 950 (9:29).

So, what are we to make of these numbers? Are they
exaggerations intended to show the great stature of these men? Are they the
result of some mishaps in the translation of the Bible? Are they intended to be
symbolic in some way?

I don’t think so. When it comes to Scripture, it has
always been my firm belief that we should take God at His Word. Meaning, when
the Bible speaks in plain language and offers a commonsense explanation for its
claims, we should accept it. In this case, Genesis presents these extended ages
as historical information, and we should understand them as such.

But Pastor Alan, you might ask, how would it be possible for human beings to live so long?

Although we can’t say for sure, there are many possible
explanations. Let me share a few of the better ones. The climate of the earth
in the early days following Creation allowed for increased longevity. Some
believe there was a vapor barrier or canopy surrounding the earth that made our
atmosphere more conducive to long life – perhaps something akin to the ozone
layer. Maybe this canopy (firmament) collapsed or dissipated during the Flood.

It makes sense that God would have created the gene pool
of mankind perfect when He brought life into being, and by His grace His
children lived for many centuries.

What the Book of Genesis does make clear is that: (1)
creation did not start to die until sin entered the world; and (2) things
drastically changed after the Flood. Not only was the physical structure of our
planet altered in major ways, the span of human lives significantly decreased.
Shem, one of Noah’s sons, lived for 600 years (Gen. 11:10-11). But
Shem’s grandson, Salah, only lived 433 years (11:14-15). Terah, who was
Abraham’s father, only lived 205 years before he died in Haran (11:32).

In Genesis 6:3, God adjusted the human lifespan from centuries to decades, writing …

[READ Gen. 6:3]

3 Then Yahweh said, “My Spirit shall not strive
with man forever because he indeed is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be 120 years.”

This is probably what the patriarch Jacob was referring to when he told Pharaoh,

[READ Gen. 47:9]

9 … “The days of the years of my sojourning are
130; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not
attained to the days of the years that my fathers lived during the days of
their sojourning.”

In other words, “I’m not nearly as old as my mom and dad or my grandpa and grandma.”

The cycles of human life continued to decline until Moses declared …

[READ Ps. 90:10]

10 As for the days of our life, they contain
seventy years, or if due to might, eighty years, yet their pride is but
labor and wickedness [sorrow]; for soon it is gone and we fly away.

Pastor and author John Piper wrote about this:

My suggestion is that God granted those long lives so
that we, looking back, could see from which we have fallen. In other words,
those long lives testify that death was not part of the perfect creation. God
ordains as a lesson to us that the force of life be preserved for hundreds of
years in very long lives in those early centuries to show that life, not death,
was His design and our portion in creation at the beginning. So, the long lives
of those first humans stand as a testimony of how utterly short our lives are
and how God’s design at the beginning and his design in the future is life – eternal life.

From long lives of centuries to shortened lives of
approximately 120 years to 70 and 80 years, that’s the progression of God’s
providence over the lifespan of people on earth. From old age at the beginning,
through shortened life in the here and now, to the ultimate long life of the Millennium.

Let me share one more thought I have about this. Perhaps
it’s the mercy and grace of God that reduces the amount of time we have to
spend on this vale of tears we call the earth. Life is hard, and this world is
a war zone for the soul.

[READ Job 5:7] Job said,

7 For man is born for trouble, as sparks fly upward.

Or, how about this fascinating verse by Isaiah …

[READ Isa. 57:1, NLT]

1 Good people pass away; the godly often die
before their time. But no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to
understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come.

Did you catch that? Isaiah says sometimes death visits us
to protect us from the evil that is to come.

II.           THE RESTORATION OF LONGEVITY

Praise the Lord! – things will be different in the
Millennium.  The devil will be bound, and
the earth will again become the healthiest environment we could imagine for
human life. God will again extend the lifespans of the men and women who come
out of the Tribulation (as well as their children), to the length of
years they were in the early days of Genesis. Everyone will be able to enjoy
all the goodness to come during the glory days of Jesus’ kingdom.

Christ will be the center of the Millennial kingdom,
ruling on the throne of His ancestor David in Jerusalem. His power and
authority will radiate throughout that kingdom for the benefit of all its
citizens. On a spiritual level, that means the Lamb of God will repair the
effects of sin and Satan in our world. He will restore what was lost, and
reclaim the original intent of our Creator for His creation.

On a practical level, that means our physical bodies will
no longer reflect the consequences of sin. We will no longer deal with the
kinds of visceral problems the world faces now.

Jesus gave us a preview of His power and authority during
His life and public ministry over 2,000 years ago. There were many times when Jesus’
kingly nature broke through and He asserted His authority over sin, sickness, and death.

Let’s take a brief look at just one of those miracles.

[READ Lk. 5:12]

12 And it happened that while He was in one of
the cities, behold, there was a man covered with leprosy; and when he saw
Jesus, he fell on his face and begged Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing,
You can make me clean.”

Leprosy was the most feared of all afflictions in ancient
times. Not only was there no cure, but lepers died slowly from the continually
encroaching spread of the disease over their bodies. Worse still, lepers were
not allowed to be part of the community. They were cut off. Segregated. Isolated.

Can you hear the pain in this man’s words when he begged
Jesus for healing? “You can make me clean!” And Jesus responded
to his plea as only the Great Physician could:

[READ Lk. 5:13]

13 And He stretched out His hand and touched
him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him.

In the Millennium, Jesus will do for everyone what He did
for the sick and afflicted in the Gospels. He will remove sickness,
deformities, and disabilities. In the coming Golden Age, there will be no
blindness, deafness, or muteness – no need for eyeglasses, hearing aids, speech
therapy, wheelchairs, or crutches.

We have this promise from the OT prophets:

[READ Isa. 29:18]

18 On that day the deaf will hear words of a
book, and out of darkness and thick darkness the eyes of the blind will see.

[READ Isa. 35:5-6]

5 Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and
the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. 6 Then the lame will
leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy.

[READ Jer. 30:17]

17 “For I will restore you to health, and I will
heal you of your wounds,” declares Yahweh.

During the 1,000-year reign of Christ, sickness and death
will not exist among the resurrected saints. And among the survivors of the
Tribulation – still in earthly, flesh and blood bodies – death will be a very
rare occurrence.

III.      THE REDEMPTION OF LONGEVITY

In 1900, the average life expectancy of a US citizen was
just 47 years. For more than a century, that number increased, reaching its
peak around 2019, when the life expectancy for a US citizen was almost 79
years. Quite an improvement! But that number dropped dramatically during and
after the COVID-19 pandemic. As of 2021, the average life expectancy was only
76 years.

Despite the best efforts of our medical experts, there is
little chance of any of us becoming another Methuselah. But all of that will
change during the Millennium. In that time, human longevity will return to
pre-flood levels. Even better, the lives of the redeemed who rule this world
with Christ will return to pre-fall levels. We will once again live forever!

It is as though history will come full circle. The
quantity and quality of our years will once again reveal the goodness of our
Creator and reflect His infallible design.

This is how Isaiah described life in the Millennium:

[READ Isa. 65:20]

20 No longer will there be in it an infant who
lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fulfill his days; for the
youth will die at the age of one hundred, and the one who does not reach the
age of one hundred will be thought accursed.

In the words of Alva J. McClain, “Disease will be
abolished …. The crisis of death will be experienced only by those incorrigible
individuals who rebel against the laws of the kingdom. The ordinary hazards of
physical life will be under the direct control of One whose voice even the winds
and the waves obey.”

In 2023, Time magazine ran a profile called “The
Man Who Thinks He Can Live Forever.” That man is Bryan Johnson, a tech
multimillionaire who has spent more than $4 million developing a life-extension
system called Blueprint.

Johnson’s goal is to claim victory over death – not only
his own death but also the specter of death which haunts humanity. He believes
death is a choice we accept rather than a reality we cannot avoid.

In order to prevent death, Johnson goes through a
rigorous daily routine designed to de-age his organs. Prescribed by a team of
doctors and run through an AI algorithm, that routine includes taking 111 pills
every day, wearing a baseball cap that shoots red light into his scalp,
collecting his own stool samples, ruthlessly monitoring his sleep, completely
avoiding all unhealthy foods, applying eyedrops to prevent cataracts, daily
workouts, and much more.

Johnson says, “I don’t think there’s been any time in
history where Homo sapiens could say with a straight face that death may not be
inevitable, until now.”

Of course, you and I know Bryan Johnson is both very
wrong and very right. No human being alive today can prevent death through diet
or exercise or supplements or any other routine. At the same time, Johnson’s
primary impulse – his vision that humans are meant to experience more than a
few meager decades of life – is on the right track.

Sometimes I think old age is only an illusion for those
of us with eternal life. How can we grow old when we’re going to live forever? Yet
at the same time, I know about the aches, pains, and infirmities that come upon
our bodies of flesh with the passing of time. Paul said it best, “Outwardly
we are perishing, but inwardly we are being renewed day by day … Yet the
suffering of this present age is nothing compared to the glory awaiting us”
(2 Cor. 4:16; Rom. 8:18).

The Millennium is where we will begin to experience our
true destiny – our true design. Through the power of our Lord Jesus, and under
the authority of His reign, our lives will stretch into ten centuries with only
the promise of Paradise on the horizon.

So, what do we do until then? Until we arrive in the
Millennial kingdom? Someone once said, there are three options we have as
humans: We can wear out, we can rust out, or we can live out.

Some folks wear out. And if we’re not careful that’s what
life will do to us. It’s possible to wear out the human body before its time.

Some people rust out. They just don’t do anything, and
they’re like an old car that’s left out with no protection. They just rust out
and vanish.

But then, there are some people who live out. This is
God’s plan for us -- to treasure this life He has given us. It might not last a
thousand years, but life is good. And we should receive every day as a gift
from Him and be thankful for it. We should be good stewards of life the best we
know how, work hard to correct all the issues we face, never give up, and never
say, “Okay that’s it, I quit.” We should do everything we can to live
every day for the glory of God and live as long as we can, knowing that when
life is over it gets even better. That’s the attitude we should have.

IV.       REACHING FOR LONGEVITY

Did you know that there are more than twenty places in
the Bible that say, in essence, “If you do this, you’ll live a long
life.” These passages are found primarily in the books of Proverbs and Psalms.

We need to remember that they are proverbs, not promises.
The book of Proverbs is made up of the wise sayings of Solomon, and they are
sayings about life as it normally is.

For example: Many of you, if you have trouble with your
children, will be directed to Proverbs 22:6.

[READ Prov. 22:6]

6 Train up a child according to his way, even
when he is old he will not depart from it.

And so, you do what the verse says, and it doesn’t
happen. What happened to the book of Proverbs? Did it make you a promise, and
then not keep it? No, the book of Proverbs didn’t make you a promise. It just
said, “This is what normally happens.” There are promises, and there are proverbs.

The statements I’m going to share with you about long
life are proverbs. They give you clues about the quality of your life. So, just
like you can go to a seminar and learn about how to do things to help your
physical life, these verses are a short, little seminar on how to live your
life and the character traits that God will honor in your life.

We don’t have time this morning to go over all 20 of
these verses. So quickly, let me give you 10 proverbs about what we can do to
experience a long life.

 KEEP GOD’S COMMANDMENTS. 1 Kings 3:14 says, “If you walk in My ways, to keep
My statutes and My commandments … I will lengthen your days.”

‚ TELL THE TRUTH. There are three “long
life” principles packed into three verses in Psalm 34 and the first is to
tell the truth. “Does anyone want to live a life that is long and
prosperous? Then keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling
lies!” (Ps. 34:12-13). People who tell lies run the risk of not
living as long as they could.

ƒ TURN FROM EVIL. “Does anyone want
to live a life that is long and prosperous? … 
Turn away from evil and do good” (Ps. 34:12, 14).

„ SEARCH FOR PEACE. “Does anyone want
to live a life that is long and prosperous? ... Search for peace, and work to
maintain it” (Ps. 34:12, 14). Don’t be a troublemaker; be a
peacemaker.

… LOVE THE LORD. “Because he has
set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him … With long life I will
satisfy him” (Ps. 91:14, 16). When you love God, God wants to help
you live for a long time. You might ask, “How do I know if I love God?”
Here’s the answer to that question: Are you serving Him? Because you love God
by serving Him.

† TREASURE GOD’S
WISDOM. Prov. 3:16 says, “Length of days is in [wisdom’s]
right hand, in her left hand is riches and honor.” And Prov. 4:10 says, “Hear,
my son, and receive my sayings, and the years of your life will be many.”
Proverbs help you understand how to deal with people. So, if you’re reading
Proverbs every day, month after month, you are being taught wisdom. The Bible
says, that if you cherish God’s insight, the years of your life will be many.

‡ FEAR THE LORD. “The fear of the
Lord prolongs days” (Prov. 10:27). Many people say, “The fear of
the Lord is not being afraid of the Lord; it’s being in awe of the Lord.”
That is true, but it also means being afraid of the Lord. There needs to be
someone in your life of whom you are afraid, in a good sense. God wants us to
fear Him in awe and worship, but also to know He’s not someone to be trifled
with.

ˆ CONTROL YOUR TONGUE. “Those who
control their tongue will have a long life; opening your mouth can ruin
everything” (Prov. 13:3). Scripture says that if you control your tongue,
you have a chance at a long life. But if you keep opening your mouth in the
wrong way, it will ruin everything.

‰ CULTIVATE TRUE HUMILITY. Prov. 22:4 says, “True humility and fear of the Lord
lead to riches, honor, and long life.”  Humility is often misunderstood, but the Bible
has a lot to say about it. One of the simplest ways to explain it is that humility
is not thinking less about yourself, it’s just thinking about yourself less.
The Bible says that if we don’t humble ourselves, God will humble us. And Prov.
27:2 says, “Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth.”

Š HONOR YOUR PARENTS. This is the most
famous one on the list. “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first
commandment with promise: ‘that it may be well with you and you may live long
on the earth’” (Eph. 6:2-3). This is not just about when you’re
growing up under their leadership. It applies even after you’ve grown up, got
married, and moved out of the house. Honor your parents. Love your parents.
Take care of your parents. Sometimes it’s hard, but the Bible honors those who
honor their parents.

There are four things that are important to do as you go
through life: be holy, be healthy, be humble, and be hungry. Live a holy life,
emulating and worshiping God. Live a healthy life, taking responsibility for
your health. Live a humble life, thinking more about others than yourself. Live
a hungry life, learning something new every day. Never be comfortable thinking
that you have arrived because you haven’t. God has so much more for us to learn
and so many more areas for us to grow in throughout our life.

The World Health Organization reported that the leading
global cause of death is heart disease, followed by strokes, lower respiratory
infections, neonatal conditions, and Alzheimer’s. There are all kinds of causes
of death that are reported, but the real cause of death is sin. The Bible says,
“The soul that sins shall die” (Ezek. 18:20). And Rom. 6:23
says, “The wages of sin is death.”

Only the Great Physician can give us everlasting healing
of body, mind, and soul. You cannot experience the blessings of the Millennium
unless you deal with your sin. The way you get to be a person who will live
forever is to ask Jesus Christ into your life. Tell Him you’re sorry for your
sin and receive His gift of eternal life. When you do this and become a
Christian, you get all the benefits of being in God’s forever family, including
the things we’ve talked about today – and then eternity in heaven on top of it
all.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, life’s transitions can feel
overwhelming to us at times. As we face challenges -- whether physical
limitations, health concerns, or shifts in relationships – we ask You for
strength and resilience. Please give each of us: the courage to face each day
with an open heart; the wisdom to accept things we cannot change; and the
determination to pursue joy despite our difficulties. Let us lean on Your
promises when weariness sets in. Remind us that every challenge is an
opportunity for growth and learning. Help us to find new ways to engage with
life, even if they are different from what we once knew. And above all, Lord,
as each day passes and we get closer to our eternal home with You, may we look
more and more like Jesus to others. For it is in His name I pray, Amen.

Invitation # 552: “On Jordan’s Stormy Banks” (4 vs.)

Benediction: Beloved, today’s
verse is a direct assurance that God’s care does not grow weaker as we age, but
that His arms hold us tighter with every passing year. “Even to your old age
I am God, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I
will carry and will save.” Amen! (Isa. 46:4).