THE DANGERS OF MIDDLE AGE
We read and hear much about the dangers of youth, and they are
very many and often very deadly; but how little do we hear about the
dangers of the middle-aged! And yet they, too, are very many and
very deadly.
I was vividly reminded of this only recently, when a man,
considerably past fifty years of age, stopped me on the street and
sought an interview. After a rather close examination, in which I
sought to locate and diagnose his spiritual disease, he told me of
his sins and temptations. He had been a Christian, but had fallen;
he was becoming more and more entangled in a network of evil, and
was sinking, deeper and deeper in the quicksands of his iniquity --
and his sins were sins of the flesh!
What most amazed me some years ago, when I began to consider this
subject, was the fact that the middle-aged are not altogether safe
from the awful corruption and blasting sin which lies lurking in the
lusts of the flesh.
John, when but a young man in Egypt, fully and grandly overcame this
danger. He kept himself pure and set an example for the ages. But in
middle life David, and Solomon, his son, with all their light and
wisdom, fell grievously and wallowed in sin and shame, thus bringing
reproach to this day upon God's people and God's cause, stirring up
the enemies of the Lord to mock and blaspheme: and, doubtless,
encouraging others by their example to fall into like sins.
But we do not have to go back to ancient history nor to the ranks of
those who make no profession of religion to find how sins of the
flesh overthrow middle-aged men if they do not watch and pray and
walk softly with the Lord. I shall never forget the shock and chill
that went through the hearts of American Christians some years ago,
when an evangelist -- with silvering hair, the author of a number of
books of great spiritual insight and power, and one of the mightiest
preachers it has ever been my lot to hear -- fell into sin and
shame. Oh! it was pitiful! It was heartbreaking for his influence to
be ruined, his good name blackened, his reputation gone, his family
put to shame, God's cause mocked, and for a soul whom he should have
shepherded to be dragged to the mouth of Hell to gratify his passing
pleasure.
And there are a number of others whom I have known who had great
opportunities of usefulness, whose influence was widespread, and who
walked in a broad day of spiritual light, but who sank into a black
night of corruption, sin, and shame.
So let not only young men, but matured men as well, take heed lest
they fall. Let them watch for and guard themselves against the
beginnings of sin -- the unclean thought, the lascivious look, the
impure imagination, the unholy desire. Let them hate 'even the
garment spotted by the flesh.'
Let them beware of selling for a mess of pottage their good name,
their sphere of usefulness, their place among God's people, the
friendships of years, the honor of their children, the happiness of
their home, the smile and favor of God, and their hope of Heaven.
Let them look 'diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God
..... and thereby many be defiled; lest there be any fornicator, or
profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his
birthright.' (Hebrews xii. 15, 16.)
But the more constant spiritual danger of the middle-aged is the
loss of the freshness of their early experience, the dew of their
spiritual morning, their 'first love,' when they were 'holiness unto
the Lord ' and when they ran after Jesus 'in the wilderness.'
(Jeremiah ii. 2, 3.)
There is nothing in the world so wonderful, so beautiful and so
delightful as the constant renewal of spiritual youth in the midst
of the increasing cares and burdens, the infirmities and losses and
disappointments of middle life and old age. And there is nothing so
sad as the gradual loss of fervor, of simplicity, of heart devotion,
of unfeigned faith, of triumphing hope, of glowing love, of
spiritual youth.
The Psalmist called upon his soul to bless the Lord, who satisfied
his mouth with good things, so that his youth -- his soul's youth --
was renewed like the eagle's. (Psalm ciii. 1-5.)
But multitudes, instead of thus being renewed, fall into decay; they
lose the bloom and blessedness of their early experience and become
like Ephraim, of whom the prophet said: 'Strangers have devoured his
strength, and he knoweth it not; yea, grey hairs are here and there
upon him, yet he knoweth it not.' (Hosea vii. 9) This loss may steal
upon us like a creeping paralysis if we do not watch and pray.
1. It may come through a widening experience of the weakness and
fickleness of man. We are continually tempted to lean upon men
rather than upon God and His Word; and when men fail and fall we
feel as though the foundations were swept away. At such times the
Tempter will whisper: 'What is the use of your trying to live a holy
life? There is none good, no, not one.' Then if we do not at once
flee to and hide ourselves in Jesus, and lift our eyes to God and
stir up our faith towards Him, a chill of discouragement and doubt
and fear will sweep over us, lukewarmness will take the place of the
warm, throbbing experience of youth, and a half-skeptical,
half-cynical spirit will fill the heart that once overflowed with
glad, simple faith and abounding hope. It is this loss that often
makes old Officers and Soldiers look so coldly upon the return of
backsliders, and that so unfits them to help and encourage young
Converts.
There was nothing that filled me with greater admiration for the
Founder than his morning-like freshness, his perennial youth, his
springing hope, his unfailing faith in God and man -- in spite of
all the shameful failures and desertions and backslidings which
wounded him to the heart and pierced him through with many sorrows.
And where he led shall we not follow?
Instead of looking at those who have fallen, shall we not look at
those who have stood? Instead of losing heart and faith because of
those who have thrown down the sword and fled from the field, shall
we not shout for joy and emulate those who were faithful unto death,
who came up out of great tribulation with robes washed in the Blood
of the Lamb? Why not shout for joy, and triumph with Joseph in his
victory rather than sneer and lose faith in God and man, and thus
suffer defeat with David in his fall? Why not look at the beloved
John and rejoice, rather than at the traitor Judas and despair?
Why not 'consider Jesus, who endured such contradiction of sinners
against Himself '? If we do, we shall not 'be wearied and faint' in
our minds. (Hebrews xii. 3.)
2. Again, this loss may come through thronging cares and
responsibilities. Youth and old age are largely free from
responsibility, which comes pressing hard and insistently upon the
middle-aged. There are business cares, family cares, responsibility
for The Army, the Church, the City, and State. The wide-open, hungry
mouths of the children must be fed, their restless, destructive feet
must be shod, their health must be guarded, their tempers and
dispositions must be corrected and disciplined, their eager,
wayward, unformed minds must be trained and educated, and their
souls must be found and saved.
And all these cares, which swarm about like bees, must be met again
and again, and that often when we are worn and weary and full of
pain. No wonder that when Jesus spoke of the thorny-ground hearers,
He mentioned 'the cares of life' as among the weeds which choke the
Word and make it unfruitful. But no true man or woman will run away
from these cares. Here again, there is victory for those who are
determined to have victory.
Moses was thronged with care -- the care of a vast untrained, stiff
-- necked, hungry multitude in a barren wilderness; but he walked
with God, wore a shining face, and -- with but one brief loss of
patience, for which he duly suffered -- he got victory, and God and
angels conducted his funeral.
Daniel superintended a huge empire, with a hundred and twenty
provinces, but he found time to pray and give thanks three times a
day, and was more than conqueror.
Added to his whippings, stonings, and imprisonments, his shipwrecks
and perils, his hunger, cold, and nakedness, Paul had pressing upon
him 'the care of all the churches.' But he rejoiced and prayed and
gave thanks, and did not murmur or faint, neither did he turn back,
and God made him to triumph. Hallelujah!
A distinguished writer has beautifully said, 'Comradeship with God
is the secret not only of joy and peace but of efficiency. In that
comradeship we find rest, not from our work, but in our work. When
Christ says, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of Me,"
He does not invite us to lay aside our work; He offers us rest in
our work. The invitation is to those who are laboring and bearing
burdens. The promise is that He will teach such how to labor and how
to bear their burdens so as not to be wearied by them. It is not a
couch which He offers us, but a yoke, and a yoke is an instrument
for the accomplishment of work. But a yoke is not only an implement
of industry, it is a symbol of comradeship. The yoke binds two
together. To take Christ's yoke upon us is to be yoked to Christ.
"Work with Me,'' says Christ, ''and your work will be easy and your
burden will be light." '
And this comradeship with the Lord Jesus is the secret of victory
all along the way and over every obstacle and every foe. Here, O my
brother, my sister, tempted and tried, and almost overcome at the
noon of life, here, in fellowship with Jesus, the flesh loses its
subtle power, the charms of the world are discovered to be but
painted mockery, the Devil is outwitted, and while life is a warfare
it is also a victory. Glory to God!
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