https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/WhenIAmOldThenIllBeGood.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Matthew 25:1-13<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nI. In Jesus’ parable of the vineyard workers we learn that salvation is available to all who\nwill come to the Lord, no matter when it is done – Matthew 20:1-16\n
A. Jesus in his mercy chooses to treat all alike. <\/p>\n B. When an elderly man wrote to me, unsure if God would forgive him after a life\nspent in sin. He regretted his wasted years, but wanted to know if it was too late to\nreturn to God. \n
1. The answer is that it is never too late, so long as we are in this world<\/p>\n C. But a young man saw this answer and wrote to say that though he isn’t a\nChristian, this is what he wanted to do: spend a life having fun in sin and then\nwhen he is old he’ll change and be able to enter heaven.\n
D. It is interesting how people only see what they expect to find<\/p>\n 1. The young man didn’t see a man who regretted his life of sin. To the\nyoung man, sin was fun.\n 2. The young man didn’t see a man concerned that he waited too long. To the\nyoung man the longer he could stay in sin the better.\n
E. There are flaws in planning for a last minute conversion<\/p>\n
II. When is the last minute?<\/p>\n
A. Young people typically assume they will live a long time<\/p>\n 1. Oh, in theory they know that some die young, but somehow that is always\napplied to other people\n
B. Tomorrow is not guaranteed – Proverbs 27:1<\/p>\n
1. Jesus gave the example of a rich man who was prospering – Luke 12:16-21<\/p>\n
2. The man was a fool because he wasn’t focused on what mattered<\/p>\n
C. Wicked people tend to die sooner – Proverbs 10:27<\/p>\n
1. Violent people get caught in violence<\/p>\n
2. The sexually promiscuous catch diseases – Proverbs 6:32-33<\/p>\n 3. Let’s face the facts, sinful people are doing stupid things that shorten their\nlives – Proverbs 21:16\n
D. It is easy to get lulled into complacency – Psalms 73:12-20<\/p>\n E. Life is not in man’s hands. You don’t know when your life will end, nor when\nGod will decide all life will end. \n 1. That is the point of the parable fo the ten virgins. The five foolish virgins\nweren’t prepared for the Lord’s return – Matthew 25:1-13\n
2. You don’t know when the Lord will show up – Matthew 24:42-51<\/p>\n a. Notice that the wicked slave is called a hypocrite, a person putting\non an act\n
b. Planning to straighten up later is being a fake<\/p>\n
III. How do you repent of what you don’t think is wrong?<\/p>\n A. I can say this because we look at what a person does, not what he claims –\nMatthew 7:16-20\n
B. Repentance starts with being sorry for what you did – II Corinthians 7:10<\/p>\n 1. How can you claim to be sorry for what you set out to do and plan to later\nrenounce?\n C. Repentance is changing your attitude toward sin and your behavior – II\nCorinthians 7:11\n D. There won’t be real repentance. Either you are saying you are dishonest about sin\nnow or you plan to be dishonest about sin later – Romans 6:1-2\n E. The truth is that the motivation to change isn’t there and likely won’t be there –\nJames 4:4-10\n 1. It is like the smoker who says he can quit anytime – not now, but he’ll\nprove it later. We all know “later” keeps getting put off.\n
IV. Does godliness have no value in this life?<\/p>\n
A. People have the odd notion that being righteous is miserable – Psalm 16:11<\/p>\n
B. God laws make life better by keeping the follower out of serious trouble<\/p>\n
1. For our good – Deuteronomy 10:12-13<\/p>\n
2. See good in life – Psalms 34:11-14<\/p>\n
3. Long peaceful life – Proverbs 3:1-2<\/p>\n
4. Profitable for all things in this life and the one to come – I Timothy 4:8<\/p>\n
C. God watches over His people – Psalms 37:25<\/p>\n
D. The farmer and the seed<\/p>\n
1. You get back what you plant – Galatians 6:7-8<\/p>\n
2. You get back more than you plant – Hosea 8:7<\/p>\n
E. A guy who plans to bed as many women as he can is in for a miserable life<\/p>\n 1. He’ll never have stable companions because he is constantly betraying\ntrust\n 2. He won’t ever have a loving, stable home because good women don’t\nwant this kind of man for a husband.\n
3. He’ll have kids, but he will see them as drains on his income and a burden<\/p>\n
V. Momentary pleasure or lasting joy?<\/p>\n
A. I’ve never met a man who regrets that <\/p>\n
1. He didn’t get drunk more often<\/p>\n
2. Got stoned one more time<\/p>\n
3. Or committed fornication more often<\/p>\n
B. The example of Moses – Hebrews 11:24-27<\/p>\n
C. Righteousness is for the young – Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:1<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 25:1-13 I. In Jesus’ parable of the vineyard workers we learn that salvation is available to all who will come to the Lord, no matter when it is done – Matthew 20:1-16 A. Jesus in his mercy chooses to treat all alike. B. When an elderly man wrote to me, unsure…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[775,38,1069,50,179,309],"class_list":["post-37638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-elderly","tag-morality","tag-procrastination","tag-repentance","tag-sin","tag-youth"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":50060,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/quoting-scripture-as-evangelism\/","url_meta":{"origin":37638,"position":0},"title":"Quoting Scripture as Evangelism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Timothy 1:3-11 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is difficult to read the New Testament and not notice the number of times Jesus and the apostles make their points by directing the person to the Old Testament by means of a quote. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Regarding eating grain plucked on the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":84513,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-voice-of-experience\/","url_meta":{"origin":37638,"position":1},"title":"The Voice of Experience","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 13, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Gibson Bible Thought: \"O fear the LORD, you His saints; for to those who fear Him there is no want\" (Psalm 34:9 NASB). Among the Bible passages I recall my dad mentioning is David's statement, \"I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29677,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-need-for-book-chapter-and-verse\/","url_meta":{"origin":37638,"position":2},"title":"The Need for Book, Chapter, and Verse","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Do we really need book, chapter, and verse? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Frequently practices are justified by the absence of Scripture. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t say not to.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The argument is taken so far as to say, \u201cThere is no book, chapter, and verse for having book, chapter, and verse.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The point\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37922,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-god-forsook-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":37638,"position":3},"title":"When God Forsook Jesus","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 27:33-54 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Assumptions can lead to wrong conclusions \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As Jesus was dying on the cross, he cried out - Matthew 27:46 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Some claim that God abandoned Jesus because Jesus took on the world\u2019s sins: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cMy answer is that it was Jesus, the Man\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90145,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/respect-for-the-elderly\/","url_meta":{"origin":37638,"position":4},"title":"Respect for the Elderly","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton \"You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord\" (Leviticus 19:32 ESV). These are the ones who lived through all kinds of troubles, weathered many storms of life, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/elderly-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":63205,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-other-side-of-truth\/","url_meta":{"origin":37638,"position":5},"title":"The Other Side of Truth","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 22, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Thessalonians 1:3-10 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0People tend to focus one aspect, one characteristic when they deal with another person \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We have a tendency to categorize people, to pick out a dominate trait \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When people talk about God or Jesus, they will focus on the love of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37638\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}