135: John MacDougall - Exhortation: Seven Lessons I Have Learned (My Last Exhortation)

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:00

   Welcome to Good Christadelphian Talks. I'm Levi. And I'm Chris. And I'm Brian. Thank you for joining us this week. On this podcast, we select one talk a week to help us get the Bible in our daily news feed. We post a new episode at the start of each week, with a short intro beforehand to kind of set the stage for the talk you're about to listen to.

2. 0:33

   And now, let's talk more about this week's talk. This week, we're listening to an exhortation that was written by Brother John McDougall, but is being read by Jeff Smaniak from the Portage Ecclesia. Brother John has a medical condition that has now left him unable to speak and makes it difficult for him to get around.

3. 1:06

   He used to go to Verdugo Hills, where I am from. And I remember hearing the last exhortation that Brother John gave when he was still able to speak before he and Lynn transferred to Portage. And this exhortation is titled, Seven Lessons I Have Learned, with the subtitle of it's my last exhortation. Brother John's points and comments are very profound while also being very to the point, which is very much how I remember John when he was going to Verdugo.

4. 1:36

   And since then, being able to see him occasionally during the virtual world on Zoom, to be able to spend some time with him and Lynn and be able to see them and still hear his voice, even though it's not his voice reading the words, but hear him speaking through the words that are written.

5. 1:53

   I really enjoyed being able to hear it again, and some of the lessons were a really good reminder. You could take each one of his seven points, and it would be a spectacular exhortation by itself, but the way he crafts all seven of them together, I just take for a really powerful lesson and a really great exhortation.

6. 2:10

   So I'm really excited to share this with everyone. Hopefully you find it as impactful as I did. As always, thank you for the recommendations and suggestions. As you send those in, they're always very much appreciated. So with that, we will turn this over to Brother Jeff Sminiak, who is reading the exhortation written by Brother John McDougal on seven lessons I have learned.

7. 2:35

   I think this will need to be my last exhortation. I thought I had given my last exhortation several years ago, as it was becoming more difficult for me to speak. But then I was encouraged to write them for other brethren to read for me. So I have done that. Now it's getting hard for me to type also.

8. 2:56

   For every letter I type, it seems like there are three errors that I delete. So it's a very slow process. Nevertheless, I'm thankful for the technology that continues to allow me to communicate at all. I continue to be blessed in so many ways and ever grateful for God's many gifts, not least of which is the love and the fellowship of all of you.

9. 3:22

   My exhortation this morning consists of seven lessons that I've learned, or at least conclusions I have come to in my almost 72 years. I won't be so prideful to call it wisdom. One other thing that I have learned is that wisdom does not necessarily accompany old age. On the contrary, there's an old saying that there's no fool like an old fool.

10. 3:49

    Whether these lessons learned are wisdom, foolishness, or something in between, I leave to your judgment. One thing I've learned that makes most exhortations almost pointless is that no one ever learns from the experience of others. Fatherly advice is rarely appreciated. No one cares about the ramblings of an old man. Everyone wants to make their own mistakes.

11. 4:19

    It's what humans do. I have no illusions that anyone will actually take my advice. We don't do what our Heavenly Father advises either. But that didn't stop him trying to warn us anyway. Not that I am at all trying to compare my ramblings to God's wisdom, except in the regard that few pay much attention to either.

12. 4:45

    I believe these are all biblical principles, but I'm not going to try to prove them by quoting Scripture to you. You're all totally familiar with the mostly obvious passages I could bring up to support them. But maybe the point is that the Bible tells us these things. Sorry, but maybe the point is not that the Bible tells us these things, but that my experiences say the same things.

13. 5:13

    Not that God's message needs my agreement or depends in any way on my corroboration. It's more that many times we may tend to think that obeying God is like taking our medicine or eating our vegetables. Good for us in the long term, but perhaps unpleasant in the short term. I have learned that life is better lived in at least these ways.

14. 5:39

    So on to seven lessons that I have learned. Lesson number one. Stuff, things, our possessions, they really don't much matter. Sure, we need food and clothing and shelter and transportation, etc. There are a lot of useful tools that can make our lives easier in some ways. But don't get emotionally attached to owning things.

15. 6:06

    I can tell you that going through packing up to move and going through downsizing, getting rid of so many things, I had to consider the meaning and purpose of all that stuff. We left so much of it behind, leaving most of it for an estate sale that barely broke even. I have no illusion that when I am dead, anyone will value the stuff that I leave behind.

16. 6:33

    My collection of vinyl records and the equipment to play it on may gather dust for a while, but no one else cares about it. My CD music collection is likewise obsolete and just taking up space. My hundreds of books, no one will ever read them. All my tools will be unappreciated. My model trains.

17. 6:56

    They will gather dust and rust. I have seen this over and over. And it's not just when you die. Even while we are still here to enjoy that stuff, things rarely actually buy us much happiness at all. Be careful not to make things your purpose in life. Own things. But don't let things own you.

18. 7:21

    I think that's why Paul calls covetousness idolatry in Colossians 3 and 5. Because when we allow material possessions to motivate us, they become our gods, our idols.

19. 7:37

    Covetousness includes not just envying the possessions of others, but all materialism and greed, the love of money, being motivated by getting stuff. We live in a so-called capitalist society where capital is king. Invested wealth is the name of the game. Money is worshipped. Wealth buys respect. Money is supposedly the only thing that motivates workers, which is not at all true, as should be obvious just for the number of teachers in this ecclesia.

20. 8:11

    Don't be misled by the world around you. Wealth is no virtue. Riches are no keys to happiness. The question is often posed, if your house were on fire, what would you grab as you fled? The common answer used to be the photo album. In this millennium, when the photos are all digital, don't get me started on that topic.

21. 8:39

    If any of you have all your photos organized, Lynn would gladly hire you to come organize ours. But don't let organizing your photos become your purpose in life. The probable result would be a really great slideshow at your funeral that you will never see.

22. 8:59

    Manage your stuff. Don't let your stuff manage you. My cousin Jerry Hurst, who's visited us here a couple of times, and many of you have met, is the last survivor of four brothers. His mother, my Aunt Wilma, lived to 98, outliving three of her boys. When Jerry was helping her downsize to move, she kept asking how she could ever part with various mementos.

23. 9:27

    He replied, It's easy, Ma. You hold it over the trash can and just let go. Just let go. Yes, the hard part is the letting go. It is hard to own the things and not let the things own you. When I say I've learned this by experience, I don't mean that I've mastered that skill in my own life.

24. 9:57

    I just mean I know I would have been happier if I did. I'm still working on it. There are still way too many things I haven't let go of, even though I can no longer pick most of them up. Don't be like me. Get control of the stuff. Don't let the stuff control you.

25. 10:15

    Lesson number two. Trust no one. The truth is in here. By this, I mean, on biblical matters, study things out for yourself. Whatever anyone else tells you, whatever you read, no matter how good it sounds, no matter how well respected the source, until you can defend it from the Bible or other standard references without reference to who you heard it from, it's just hearsay and speculation.

26. 10:50

    Study it until you make it your own or decide that you can't. Scripture, for the most part, explains itself on important principles. But Scripture leaves a lot of detail to our imagination. In my experience, all you need to study the Bible is a Bible with cross-references is helpful, a few different translations maybe, a good concordance, or a computer with all of those features.

27. 11:22

    Any claim, any argument, any new idea, anything you may have read or hear should be testable by those tools. Our basic fundamental beliefs can easily be confirmed and defended with those tools.

28. 11:41

    It will likely turn out that issues of controversy within the ecclesia are controversial for the reason that scriptural evidence is less convincing. I used to spend a lot of time defending our beliefs on internet discussion sites. I found that I rarely used or needed any such books as Ron Abel's Rested Scripture or any Christadelphian book at all because the defense of our basic beliefs does not rest on the work of our pioneers or any Christadelphian teacher, but on the Bible itself.

29. 12:13

    I also found that arguments never changes any minds, but that's another problem. The reason that argument never changes minds is that human beings are not rational or logical creatures. We're emotional rather than rational creatures. That makes us human. It makes us capable of loving and caring in the image of God, but it also makes us capable of sin.

30. 12:42

    But back to my point. You can't truly say, I believe, until you believe it because you've studied it enough to make up your own mind. Will you always be right? Of course not. But you will be correctable because you will know what your beliefs are based on. Someone who accepts the conclusions of others cannot be corrected because their beliefs do not rest on facts or reasoning, nevertheless, on acceptance of authority.

31. 13:12

    Also, make sure you give careful consideration to the arguments on each side. You can easily jump to error if you only listen to one. And only look at the passages that tend to support that side. I think the greatest error in Bible study is seizing on one passage that seems to support our preconception while ignoring the many others that disprove them.

32. 13:37

    So study for yourself. Leave unstudied conclusions as undecided. Prophecy is the exception to that because prophecy often deals with events after the Scriptures were completed. As such, prophetic interpretation is inherently less certain as it is not internally verifiable within the Bible. For that reason, we should be especially skeptical of interpretations of prophecy.

33. 14:06

    One example of that uncertainty brings us to number three on my list. Lesson number three. Don't even try to guess when Jesus will return. It doesn't matter. We may hope and pray that it will be soon and it certainly seems like it has to be very soon. But our definition of soon may be very different from God's definition.

34. 14:30

    It may be that our long-suffering, patient, and merciful God may choose to allow things to go on in order that more might be saved.

35. 14:41

    It seems to be true that every generation has been able to hope that their generation would be the last. It just doesn't matter. Our job is not to predict the unpredictable. Our job is to always be ready, always living, so that whenever it is, whether today or long after we die, either way, we are living faithful lives and serving others and raising up children in the Lord and being good examples, just showing God's love to those around us, as well as sharing our hope and the joy of salvation.

36. 15:19

    I think Bible prophecy has several purposes. I don't think those purposes include knowing when the return will be. Even Jesus himself, the greatest Bible student ever didn't know. The genius Bible student Isaac Newton couldn't figure it out. John Thomas made a good try, but he was off by over a century and counting.

37. 15:44

    I don't think we're meant to know. In my lifetime, it has seemed always very imminent. Always, next year. It may yet be this year. It may also not be for another century, or even imminent, though it seems, centuries. For me, and many of us whose health is failing, it will be soon, regardless.

38. 16:11

    For any of us, it might be today. So don't wait for tomorrow to get ready. But we can't just wait around for Jesus to come back and fix everything. Don't bury your talents. We need to be working, tending to the Lord's vineyard. To give Him the fruit of it.

39. 16:35

    We are not going to fix the world. But there are a lot of people that we can help. There's a lot to do in whatever time we have left. Instead of trying to puzzle out the unknowable, get to work. Lesson number four. Stay together. In any survival situation or emergency, this is always the rule.

40. 17:00

    Stay together. Don't get separated. Don't leave anyone behind. Don't go wandering off on your own. So too is the ecclesia. Don't let anything divide you. The worldwide ecclesia is a great gift from God to help, support, comfort, instruct, and encourage each other. None of us can do it on our own. We need each other.

41. 17:25

    We need as many of us as possible. Don't let it be divided. It has been divided. Do everything you can to put it back together. Unity does not require uniformity. Demands for uniformity are inherently divisive. We are all different. We each think differently about everything, including about God. There is strength in our differences.

42. 17:53

    As one is strong in one thing, someone else is strong in something else. We're not all teachers or Bible students or tradesmen or accountants or cooks or engineers or musicians. In the same way, we are each different in our faith, how we believe. But there are many forces that threaten to divide us and don't let them.

43. 18:17

    I do not know what to do about the ongoing division in the ecclesia. And even if I thought I did, this isn't the time to talk about that. But to hear brethren say, we have no differences in belief, but still can't reconcile our practices to allow union is very shocking. We need each other.

44. 18:36

    We're far too small a body to stand division. We are truly a house divided against itself. In my opinion, this ecclesia, portage, in particular, needs reunion. We are so small and so isolated. We are always perilously close to disappearing. It may be a choice between unity and death to this ecclesia. Without unity, we may not last another generation, should Christ remain away.

45. 19:05

    Do we want him to come back and find us still quarreling obstinately with our brothers? Many far better brethren than I have struggled long and hard for many years over these problems. I don't know the solution. I can only say that we should keep trying. In the past several years, it has become obvious that although Christadelphians try to stay out of worldly politics, we all have our opinions and those opinions reflect the divided world around us.

46. 19:35

    We might think our common religious belief would result in common political views, but obviously not so. It would be sad indeed if we allowed the politics of the kingdom of men in which we claim not to be involved to divide us as it has divided the nation around us. Don't let worldly politics divide the ecclesia as it so easily could do.

47. 19:59

    Maybe it's time for us to turn off the news wherever we may be seeing it, to quit following those brothers and sisters who preach politics under the guise of the signs of the times or prophetic fulfillment. And you can refer back to point number three about the futility of predicting Christ's return.

48. 20:20

    Sunday, two weeks ago, we read in 1 Corinthians 3 about ecclesial party politics in the first century. Ecclesial party politics with the parties of Paul, Apollos, and Peter, etc. Each with their own followers. Sadly, it's no different today. Different teachers or publishers have their following, each with a different emphasis or prophetic interpretation, many of them warning of the evils of the other ecclesial political parties.

49. 20:51

    Maybe some of them have their points about the errors of others. Maybe. Even so, be warned. But don't be divided. Be at least as skeptical of those who teach division as of the teaching against which they warn. Take care not to let politics, either worldly politics or ecclesial politics, divide us. Think of it this way.

50. 21:16

    Those of us in error are most in need of unity. To be able to get the gentle, patient correction of those of us who may have it totally right, whoever they might be.

51. 21:31

    Don't be put off or offended by the misbehavior of other brothers and sisters. We all have so many flaws. Those who have the most problems are most in need of brotherly love. We most need the fellowship of the flawed because we are all so flawed. We should be united by our flaws, not divided by them.

52. 21:55

    And as we meet to remember how God reconciled us to himself, let us also be reconciled to one another. On to lesson number five. No one is too bad for God to forgive. Don't ever think you're too bad for God's forgiveness. In fact, that very feeling that you might be too bad for God to forgive means that you have just the right humble spirit that God desires.

53. 22:23

    It's odd, isn't it, that many of us think we ourselves are so bad that we doubt God's forgiveness. and at the same time hold thoughts of my last point that we often are put off by the errors, misbeliefs, or misbehaviors of others, thinking perhaps that others are even worse than we unforgivables. Who do we think God is saving?

54. 22:48

    We've already written off Mother Teresa as Catholic. Who's left? A few years ago I was seeing a psychologist every week, in part because I had those thoughts. that I was just too bad. The psychologist happened to be a Jewish woman actually from Israel. She spoke Hebrew as well as English and kept a Hebrew Old Testament in her desk.

55. 23:14

    We often got sidetracked on Bible subjects. She thought King David was so bad that he should be classified as a sociopath. And that, perhaps sociopath David, was the beginning of the dynasty of Christ. And you think you are too bad to save?

56. 23:36

    The Apostle Paul who had murdered Christians despite his special calling as an apostle felt he remained the chief of sinners. So if you feel that you're too bad to save, you are in illustrious company. this is a bit unusual for an exhortation, but I'm going to ask for a show of hands here.

57. 23:59

    Put your hand up nice and high. How many of you have thought that you might be too bad for God to forgive at some point in your life? And please raise your hand nice and high so that all of us can see you. look around. Look around.

58. 24:23

    You are among friends. as a parent, I came to realize that there is nothing my children could do that would make me stop loving and forgiving them. if you're a parent, I'm sure you feel the same way.

59. 24:58

    Should we think that our Heavenly Father is a less merciful parent than we? It's good to be aware of our sinfulness. Yes, we really do need to do better, but none of us is too bad to be forgiven. we can get in a downward spiral of thinking, I think, and may need help to pull us out of it.

60. 25:31

    It's ironic that back when I was healthy, I was depressed. Now when objectively I have more to be depressed about, I'm happy. I don't have the secret to happiness. There were no magical words or aha moments. when I became undepressed and happy again. But I got stuck in guilt and despair and depression.

61. 25:59

    If you are having consistent thoughts that you are too bad, get professional help as I did. Don't get to thinking others might be better off without you. They and we would disagree. That kind of thinking is a key warning for you to get help in dealing with your problems, whatever they are. If you think you can't afford it, tell someone.

62. 26:23

    Ask for help. If you can't find someone to tell, tell me. Send me a text or an email. I'll find someone to help you. I know. I've been there. Those times when we feel that way are the hardest times to reach out. Do it anyway. It's no shame or lack of faith to admit that you need help.

63. 26:51

    On the contrary, it takes faith and hope to reach out for help. James 5.16 tells us, confess your faults one to another. Pray for one another that you might be healed. That's why God gave us each other to help one another.

64. 27:11

    Lesson number six. Love is a decision. Choose to love. Lynn and I encountered that principle that love is a decision some years ago and embraced it. We have it posted on our bathroom mirror to remind us every morning to decide to love. Love is not just affection or romance. It's not just a feeling beyond our control that is either there or not there.

65. 27:39

    You see, God should hate us sinners. But he chooses to love us instead. God commands us to love. And we really can love on command. We all love people who are hard to love. Me, for example. How many of you love me? I objectively am not that easy to love. I know. I know.

66. 28:04

    But many of you love me anyway. And if you can love someone like me, you can love almost anyone. It is better, happier, more enjoyable to live our lives loving rather than hating. Love is not judging. We do not judge those we love. Love is not sitting around idly thinking, I love them.

67. 28:27

    It means helping them when they need help. Giving our time and our money and our effort for them. Even perhaps self-sacrificingly if that's necessary. And it's not easy. We all do it for our families. Loving others is not that easy. You have to get involved with them. Always a messy business. But that's what you do when you love.

68. 28:52

    Love. Those to whom we show love may or may not return it. They may even reject us or hate us and it doesn't matter. Love them anyway. Don't be afraid that love is wasted on unbelievers and sinners because it isn't. Love is not finite as if there was only so much of it to go around.

69. 29:17

    Love is never wasted. Many unbelievers in the world around us put us to shame by the love that they share. And we all benefit in many ways. We can't fix this sinful world but we can show love to others in it.

70. 29:35

    On the other hand our resources of money and time and energy are not infinite. There are limits to what we can do to show our love. So there are limits to what we can do to show our love in those regards.

71. 29:50

    This love thing is a big subject much bigger than just one of my lessons learned for this morning. The goal of having self-sacrificing agape love for everyone is asking a lot. More than most of us may be capable of. There is no one within my experience who does that. Though a few seem to come close.

72. 30:12

    I'm not entirely sure if even God does that. But we could make a start by deciding not to hate, not to reject, not to judge. Leave the judging to God. We can at least do that much and be the happier for it.

73. 30:30

    Lesson number seven. Whatever happens just fight on. Fight the good fight of faith. Keep the faith. Persevere. I'm not referring to marriage or ecclesial politics but yes those also. We fight the most with those who we love the most. No matter how dark things may seem just fight on. Never give up. Never give in.

74. 30:55

    When things seem hopeless fight on. When you're discouraged disheartened depressed fight on. When you feel alone when no one seems to agree with you or even hear you fight on. When you're miserable in pain or in despair fight on. Whatever. Just you know fight on. But never think that you're alone.

75. 31:22

    If you are continuing in faith God is with you. You almost certainly have many brothers and sisters who would gladly help if you only let them. So that's it brothers and sisters friends and young people. My entire life's experience reduced to seven phrases 71 years summarized in seven conclusions that should have all been obvious from Bible teaching.

76. 31:49

    I'll list them again. Number one own stuff don't let stuff own you. Number two study things for yourself. Number three Jesus will return when is not ours to predict. Number four don't let anything divide us. Number five no one is too bad for God's forgiveness. Number six choose to love and number seven fight on.

77. 32:22

    As we share the loaf and cup and the unity of faith we remember Christ's gift of love and forgiveness. We remember that while Christ remains away he has given us one another. we remember that bad as we are God has forgiven us and he will never ever fail us.

78. 32:58

    Thank you for listening to the Good Christadelphian Talks podcast. We hope this talk helped you in your walk. If you would like to hear more please subscribe for new episodes and leave a review in Apple podcast or whichever service you are using to help more people find the show when they search for it.

79. 33:14

    If you enjoyed this particular talk please share it with someone who you think might enjoy it as well. For show notes on the talk you just listened to visit our show page at anchor.fm slash gct or check the show notes section of your podcast player. Please share your thoughts on the talk from this week on our Facebook or Instagram pages where we are at good Christadelphian talks on Twitter where we are at gct underscore podcast or leave a comment on our YouTube channel where these talks are posted as well.

80. 33:43

    If you know of a great talk we want to know about it too. Send a suggestion to our email at good Christadelphian talks at gmail.com or message us on any of our social media accounts. Thank you for listening. God bless and talk to you next week.