Bob Lloyd - The Way of Life - Class 3 - Life is a Test Life as a Trust

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

1. 0:00

   Well, with that reading serving as an introduction, I call upon Brother Bob to give us the next exciting installment of The Way of Life. Thank you.

2. 0:10

   Don't move as fast as I used to. Well, good evening. Good afternoon, the last two talks, but now we've had this wonderful meal. And don't you think these brothers and sisters have worked very hard in providing for our necessities and delivering that good food to us? And we thank all of you who have worked so tirelessly behind the scenes to make these kind of gatherings possible.

3. 0:36

   They don't just happen. It's a lot of people working together to bring about these gatherings. And so all of us who are here are recipients of that, and we thank you for that. Well, I hope you haven't got an overdose of me. I promised this is the last talk of the day. But there's some more coming up tomorrow, so I hope you'll come back.

4. 0:58

   Our key verse in all these classes is from John 14, which we read for our first class, where Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man can come unto the Father but by me. So Jesus is the way. And we can't come to the Father except through Jesus.

5. 1:26

   And even when we pray, we pray in Jesus' name. And so if we want to be in the way of life, we have to be following the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we've mentioned before, there are lots of wrong ways, but there's only one right way. And we're not free to make up our own rules, and that's the problem with the world today.

6. 1:50

   People make up their own religion and then say, If God is just, he'll accept me for believing what I want to believe. And we have the audacity to tell God what we're going to do. He is the boss, and if he's the boss, you're not the boss. And if he's the boss, we find out what he wants us to do, and then to the best of our ability, we try to do it.

7. 2:11

   And aren't we thankful for forgiveness? Because if it weren't for forgiveness, none of us would be in the kingdom. But because of the forgiveness and the mercy of God, we can all be in the kingdom if we want to be in the kingdom. And so we have to make that commitment that we want to be in the kingdom of God more than anything else in all the world.

8. 2:35

   Jesus said to us in Matthew 10, He that endureth to the end shall be saved. So this is a matter of keeping on, keeping on. We can't just be a one-night stand. Christadelphians are not Sunday Christadelphians. We're seven days a week, 24-7. It's a phrase we have over our week. 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

9. 3:00

   And so that's the way we serve the Lord all the time. In our first class, just as review, we looked at the high hurdler who has to jump over the hurdles in order to win. We must overcome the hurdles in our life. And so thinking of them as something bad, we need to think of them as something good, helping us to get into the kingdom.

10. 3:23

    Jesus said in Revelations 21, He that overcometh shall inherit all things. And I will be his God, and he shall be my son. In our second class, we learned that God wants us in his kingdom, but we have to want it ourselves, or we won't be there. He that loveth father, this is Jesus talking, talking to you and to me.

11. 3:45

    He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. It doesn't mean not to love your father and mother. You must love God and Jesus more. But Jesus didn't stop there. He that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And certainly we do love our children.

12. 4:03

    And this room is full of beautiful little children. And I can tell that you parents are very much in love with them, and you're working very hard to be a good parent. And you are to love them. But you must never even put your children ahead of God or ahead of the Lord Jesus Christ.

13. 4:20

    So it's a matter of prioritizing our life so that the right things are number one. If God and Jesus are not number one in your life, it does not matter where they are. Now you may say, well, they used to be number seven, and now they're number four. Well, you're going in the right direction.

14. 4:40

    But until they are number one in our life, we are hopeless. And so we have to have this all-consuming love. Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength, with all thy mind. It's the agape, self-sacrificing love, and you have to have that for God.

15. 5:00

    And if you don't, you can get it. But you have to work at it. Remember that even Peter, Jesus asked him three times, do you love me? Well, no, he didn't. He asked him two times, do you agape me? And Peter, who had denied him three times, couldn't bring himself to say, I agape you.

16. 5:21

    So Jesus says, do you have this self-sacrificing, all-out love for me? And Peter would say, Lord, you know I have a very warm and friendly feeling towards you. And Jesus would say, do you have this agape, self-sacrificing love for me? And Peter would say, Lord, you know that I have a very warm and friendly love towards you.

17. 5:41

    And then Jesus changed the word to the word that Peter was using. Do you, filio, do you have this warm and friendly love to me? No wonder Peter was grieved because this was the third time, but he now used the same word that Peter was using. We lose a little bit of that in the English, but you all know how the words in the Greek there.

18. 6:01

    And so he was grieved. He said, you know all things. You know I love you. But the answer every time was, what do you do with, what do you do with this love? Feed my lambs, feed my sheep. You know this room is full of them. These brothers and sisters sitting on each side of you, behind you, in front of you, those are the sheep we are to be feeding.

19. 6:23

    And others that are not here tonight. But are we conscientiously looking after the needs of others more than we look after ourself? Now the Lord Jesus gave us a good example of this because he was hungry. Now you're not hungry now. You've just had a very nice meal and we all appreciated it.

20. 6:49

    But you have never in your life been as hungry as Jesus was. Because I know you have never gone 40 days without food. He was starving. He had the power to turn stones into bread. He could have used God's power to feed himself. He refused to do that and he was really hungry.

21. 7:12

    Then he's out preaching and the disciples say, send the multitude away. He says, oh no, they've been with us a few days now. I'm afraid they'll faint. Let's do a miracle and feed him. So Jesus would do a miracle to feed others when he wouldn't do a miracle to feed himself. Now that's the agape love.

22. 7:32

    That's the self-sacrificing love. That's the kind of love we must have for God, for Jesus, and we need to have it for each other. And so when Peter wrote his first letter, he said to the brethren, take your fervent filial love and see that you turn it into an agape, self-sacrificing love of one another.

23. 8:04

    He said your filial love is unfeigned. He said it's nothing phony. You really do love your brethren and sisters. But the question is, are you putting their needs ahead of yours? If there was only one meal left and there was several would you take it first? Or would you say, no, you have it.

24. 8:24

    Are we sacrificing ourself for others? Now I tell you what, having children shows us how to do this. Because a good parent really does put the needs of their little children ahead of their own. They're tired. They're sleepy. They're in bed. The baby's crying. It's cold. You don't want to get out of bed.

25. 8:45

    But you do. You put the needs of a little child ahead of your own needs. And that's the kind of love God is looking for us to do with each other. Certainly our family, but also others. Do good unto all men, especially those of the household of faith. So if we love anything more than we love the Lord, then whatever that thing is, is our God.

26. 9:19

    And it could be our family. I mean, even the mafia loves their mother. I mean, I mean, mama is fixing up a big spaghetti dinner. You're going out to rub somebody out tonight. You better go eat first, you know. So they do kind things to other people to help them do bad things.

27. 9:46

    But you see, our love is motivated because of our love for God. And we just forget about yourself. Don't even think about yourself. Think, what can I do to help someone else? that's the way Jesus lived. That's the way he wants us to live. And he said, take up your cross and follow me.

28. 10:09

    Now we want in this class to examine our attitude because our attitude more than our aptitude will determine our altitude. I hope you got that. Attitude, aptitude, and altitude. Because if you really want to soar high, you've got to have the right attitude. Now there, I know this won't shock you, but there's a lot smarter people in the world than us.

29. 10:41

    I mean, there are people out there in the world with higher IQs than any of us have. There are some brilliant people in this world who have a lot of savvy of the world. But that brain power that they have will not get them into the kingdom. In fact, this is interesting because we remember that Jesus was called a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

30. 11:13

    Do you know something that made Jesus happy? It's in Luke chapter 10 verse 21. At that time, Jesus, full of joy. So here is a happy Jesus. It says he was full of joy. Now why was he so happy? Because he said this. He's talking to God. I praise thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because, now what was it that filled Jesus with joy?

31. 11:42

    Because, Father, you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned and reveal them to little children. Yea, Father, for this was your good pleasure. So Jesus is actually happy that God withheld the saving truth that you and I know from these very smart mucky mucks who are too intelligent to surrender to the Lord.

32. 12:12

    so if you have a lot of brain power, that's not a sin. But if you don't use it for the Lord, it's a sin. But you see, not many mighty, not many noble are called. That's what Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians. For consider your call, brethren, how that not many of you were wise according to worldly standards.

33. 12:33

    Not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. There's no blue bloods in this group, but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things which are not to bring to nothing things that are.

34. 12:57

    Now, why did you do that, God? So that no human might boast in the presence of God. You have nothing to be proud about.

35. 13:08

    I confess that I was born in Texas. Now, I was born there because my mother was there and I wanted to be near her.

36. 13:23

    But Texans are famous for being braggarts. They're the people of the United States that are probably filled with more false pride than any other state. It's not to say they have an exclusive on it, but they're well known within the United States as being that way. And if you go to Texas, you can sure see it.

37. 13:46

    The bumper sticker says, don't mess with Texas. And so I've left Texas. I hope the Texas attitude has left me. Because none of us have any reason to be proud about anything.

38. 14:11

    And that's what Paul is saying. So that no human being might boast in the presence of God. Because God is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness, and our sanctification, and our redemption. Therefore it is written, let him that boasts, boast in the Lord. That's the only thing you have to boast about, that you know the Lord.

39. 14:31

    And you're not puffed up about it, you're just thankful about it. Humility is a hard thing to talk about. Because anybody who says they are humble, they aren't. You know, I'm a humble man, and I'm proud of it. You know, talk about a contradiction of terms.

40. 14:47

    So, as soon as you say, well, I finally arrived, and I got humble. Well, you just got unhumble if you said that. But Jesus was so meek and lowly. Of anybody who had things that would have put a human being up. He was the son of God. He was born by a miracle.

41. 15:09

    I mean, he had the Holy Spirit without measure. And yet, he got down on his knees. Now, think about this, because you may have some enemies in life. Sometimes we even get them in the ecclesia. We don't want to, but sometimes it happens. And somebody really doesn't like you. And so the normal reaction, well, I don't like them very much either.

42. 15:37

    Jesus knew who was going to betray him. Jesus gave him the sop. Jesus got down on his hands and knees in front of Judas Iscariot and washed his feet. Would you do that for your enemy? You see, Jesus not only told us to love our enemies and bless those that curse us and return good for evil.

43. 16:09

    He was showing us how. Now, me being so human, if I had picked up that dirty foot of Judas Iscariot and I had it in my hand and I looked at his big toe,

44. 16:27

    I would have been very tempted to grab it and twist it off. And that's me and that's wrong. I'm confessing my sins to you because that would be my natural reaction. But you see, my natural reaction must not be allowed to come out in my life. Jesus didn't tell us what to do, he showed us what to do.

45. 16:56

    And so he's actually happy that God has withheld this wonderful promise of life eternal from all these wise people, all these educated people. And they were true in his day too. How could this man, no, having never learned. Jesus didn't have a college degree. His disciples were unlearned fishermen. Not all of them, but many of them were.

46. 17:23

    God has chosen the simple things to confound the wise. And this is why not many wise, not many nobler call. Because they are so puffed up with themselves that they can't humble themselves before God. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, said Peter, and he will lift you up in due time.

47. 17:42

    Now, from the worldly viewpoint, we're all nobodies. Our names are not household names, and if we die, it doesn't make the headlines of any paper. Man that is in honor and understandeth not, well, they're just like the animals. They're like the beasts that perish. So there are some very famous people in this world, and if they die, their name's going to be in all the papers.

48. 18:04

    You and I die, nobody cares. Our families care, our brothers and sisters care, but we would never leave a hole in the economy of the world, as the people of the world, some do, if they fall away and die. So we need to just be thankful to have this attitude of gratitude that Jesus has called us, and he says, no man can come to me except my father would just send me joy.

49. 18:37

    Out of the millions of people on the earth, no, the billions of people on the earth, and he's asked you to follow Jesus to the kingdom. And with this attitude of gratitude, we're just so grateful that we now know the truth, not puffed up about it, not say, oh, I know something you don't know.

50. 18:58

    Knowledge can puff us up, but love edifies. If we have the right kind of love, we will not be proud, we will not be puffed up, we will just be grateful and thankful to God. Now, we have to realize that this life we're now living is simply a dress rehearsal for the kingdom that's coming.

51. 19:19

    And so we view what's going on in our lives different than the people around us do. We just had an election in the United States last Tuesday. I left Wednesday. And it was a, no, I left Thursday. But it was a big deal in our country. And some people are jumping up and down for joy, and other people are feeling they're ruined because their candidate or their things didn't pass.

52. 19:46

    It's all according to plan. God is ruling in the kingdoms of men. Whoever gets in there is who's supposed to be in there. You don't have to worry about the problem. If I was not a Christadelphian, I'd be worried about Iraq. That's a quagmire over there. I mean, we're losing boys every day, and they don't know who the enemy is.

53. 20:10

    And yet, that's all according to God's plan. Aren't you thankful that he's in charge? That means we're not. And so, we don't worry. It's going to all be just right because God is setting up kings and he's removing kings. So our attitude towards the world and people around us is so different than it would be if we didn't have the truth.

54. 20:40

    But we have to be thankful for this, not proud for it. Now, Paul talked about his problems, and he described them. It's a light affliction, and it only endures for a moment.

55. 20:55

    Paul's light affliction included stonings, shipwreck, beatings, things you and I have never gone through. It's just a light affliction. Only endures for a moment. How long was his moment? His entire life. How long was your moment? Your entire life. So our attitude toward these things are different because we know that it's all going to work out, not just us personally, but even for the world in general.

56. 21:23

    And so God is going to bring about the events and the time of trouble is coming such as never was since it was a nation, even to that same time in Daniel, and it is not here yet. We don't know as a world what trouble is, and it's coming, and the world is not ready for it.

57. 21:46

    We can have an economic collapse, we can have a military collapse, we can have somebody push the wrong button, but you know, God is going to step in and intervene before it says Revelation, those that would destroy the earth will destroy it. Now when that was written in Revelation, how could you destroy everybody on earth?

58. 22:04

    I mean, you had a sword, you know, and you want to kill people, you've got to do them one at a time, unless you can line them up and shish kabob them.

59. 22:13

    But you can't kill very many people at a time back in those days, and now we realize that because God has allowed knowledge to be increased, that some idiot could push a button and start a nuclear war that would blow everybody on earth up. does it worry you? No, it's not in God's plan.

60. 22:36

    See, he has a plan, and there are people, and that's why I think this country is worried, as our country is, as Great Britain, about Iran getting a nuclear bomb, about North Korea getting one, because those guys are crazy, and what will they do if they get it? Does it worry you? Not at all.

61. 22:57

    Does it worry the world? Well, Luke says their men's hearts are failing them for fear and for looking after those things that are coming upon the earth. If you didn't know the truth, and you just look at the newspapers, you ought to be quaking in your boots, because there is no solution to the problems that this world is facing, and there's only one solution, and that's God's solution, and that is going to be carried out, and we want to be part of it.

62. 23:26

    So we don't get mixed up with their affairs, because we will, we have a king, and our man was not running for office in this last election, because he's going to be the king of the world. Now I have an interesting question I want to ask you, and I want you to, don't say it out loud, but I just want you to answer this question for yourself.

63. 23:45

    How do you view your own life? life? How do you view your life? The way we see our life will shape our life. We're talking about the way of life, that's our subject. How do you view your life? Now different people will answer this differently, even in Christodafian circles, it will all say the same answer.

64. 24:10

    Some have described their life as a circus. My life is a minefield, my life is a rollercoaster, my life is a puzzle, it's a symphony, it's a journey. Some describe their life like a merry-go-round, going round and round and up and down and never getting anywhere. Our subject is the way of life.

65. 24:35

    It's useful if each of us will just pick a short phrase of two or three words that depictions in your own mind your own life. So I want you to think about this for a minute. What image comes to your mind when you ask how do I view my life? You have a life metaphor.

66. 24:59

    You have it even unconsciously even if you haven't thought it out. And it has an effect upon your life. Now you can tell what some people's life metaphors is about because they express it in the way they dress or don't. In their jewelry or in their automobiles they drive. In their hairstyle hand hair to style.

67. 25:21

    In their sports. In their hobbies. And so these people are busy doing what they think is important. And they have a life metaphor. And you have one even though you haven't verbalized it. We're going to do it this evening because I think it will help us. For example if we were to say well my life is like a party.

68. 25:42

    well then your principle in life will be to have fun. I see my life as a race. Then you will value speed. I see my life as a marathon. Well then you're going to think about endurance. What is your life metaphor? And the question is could you have a faulty life metaphor that needs to be replaced by a godly life metaphor.

69. 26:12

    And so Paul speaking to us in Romans 12 says I beseech you. He's pleading. He's not bawling you out. He says please. I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

70. 26:40

    Now I like the Phillips translation. Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its mold. And just think of yourself as a mold and you're being squeezed in the world as a mold and you're being like a lump of clay. You're being squeezed into this mold. And what does the world do?

71. 26:56

    You turn on the television. You turn on the radio. They tell you buy sudsy-woodsy soap. Do this. Go there. Do whatever. And they're programming. Don't leave home without it. What does that mean? Anybody know? Huh? American Express. Who told you?

72. 27:17

    You see, American Express has set millions of dollars to squeeze us into its mold. Now, I think we shouldn't leave home without it too, but I don't think it's American Express. I think it should be literature. I think every time you walk out of your house you should have literature on you and you never know who you're going to get to talk to and they may ask you a question and you say, oh, there's the, when I come back I'll say I've been over to Australia.

73. 27:41

    Why did you go to Australia? I went over there to give some talks for my church. Church? What church? Christian What's that? Oh, here you are.

74. 27:50

    So I think every one of you ought not leave home without it, but what you ought not leave home without is some literature because you never know when you may be able to share it with somebody. But Paul here is saying I beseech you to present your body a living sacrifice and to do this you do not be transformed be not conformed but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

75. 28:20

    Now you know that verse everything in the New Testament was some Greek word and that word transformed comes from the Greek word metamorpho and metamorpho is the original word for the word metamorphos and so I brought my little green caterpillar with me. I had trouble with this guy coming through customs. They looked him up and usually I just bring him along and he slips right through.

76. 28:50

    But I was in South Africa with him a few years ago and they were going through my luggage and the guy says what's that?

77. 28:59

    I got very pious and I said sir that's my stuffed caterpillar. Some people like teddy bears but I go for caterpillars. He had no sense of humor. He threw it in my bag and says get out of here. So this time for the first time in my life I had a lady doing it and she says what is that?

78. 29:19

    And I said it's my stuffed caterpillar. And she says what's it stuffed with? I said I don't even know. I think it's some kind of beans. My daughter-in-law made this for me maybe 20 years ago. And I take him all around the world because he belongs in Romans chapter 12. And Romans chapter 12 says be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed.

79. 29:42

    He tells you how to do it by the renewing of your mind. Now this little caterpillar talks to me and he says Bob I'm going to fly someday. I said you'll never make it. you're too fat. You know you can't fly. And he says no no no you don't understand. I'm going to go through metamorphosis.

80. 29:59

    I'm going to go into a cocoon and I'm going to come out a beautiful butterfly. fly. And you would never believe this if you didn't already know it. That little green caterpillars turn into beautiful butterflies. And that's what Paul is talking about in Romans 12. He says I want you to change as much as a caterpillar changes when it becomes a butterfly.

81. 30:29

    And I'll tell you how to do it. He doesn't just say do it without telling us how. You do it by the way you think. By the renewing of your mind. And so what you think about is really important. Are you thinking about the right things or are you letting the world squeeze you down into its mold and telling you how you should think?

82. 30:57

    So this life metaphor that you have I want you to come up with a couple of words that describes it. Now one of my business associates for many years had a little sign on his desk and it had the letters H-A-B-A-T-T. I guess you would say that habit not spell like habit and it stood for this have a ball all the time.

83. 31:26

    And he was a happy guy but that's not a very good life metaphor just to have a ball all the time. But that was his. We're trying to find out what is yours. Now the Bible is going to give us some metaphors. We're going to talk about three and see if one of these can be yours.

84. 31:45

    They're called the three T's. Life is a test. What's your life metaphor? Well it's a test. I'm being tested. And you are being tempted. You're just hurdles in your lane to jump. Another one life is a trust. And the third one which we'll talk about tomorrow God willing is life is a temporary assignment.

85. 32:09

    So we're going to look at the first of those this evening. Life is a test and life is a trust. Now God does test us. Words like trials, temptations, refining, testing. They recur hundreds of times in the Bible. We're told that God tested Abraham by asking him to offer up his son Isaac.

86. 32:34

    God tested Jacob when he had to work another seven years for Rachel. God tested Joseph very severely and he came through with flying colors. Adam and Eve failed their test in the Garden of Eden. David failed some of his tests. We have examples of the faithful passing their tests such as Ruth and Esther and Daniel.

87. 32:59

    Character is both developed and revealed by tests. And you might as well recognize the fact that your life is a test. We're always being tested by God and he's watching to see how you respond to his test. And we ought not to be complaining when we are tested. There was one student in a high school and he said this teacher of ours she gives us a surprise test every Friday.

88. 33:33

    Now if you get it every Friday how is it a surprise? But you know that in school you are tested in order to go to work. I have a number of licenses. I've had to take all kinds of exams to get them. I'm now so old and I've been an insurance agent so many years that I'm grandfathered and I don't have to even study anymore.

89. 34:01

    I also don't know anything. I tell them at work it's not that I don't know anything. Everything I know is now wrong. Our business keeps changing. But all of our employees except me every year have to put in a certain number of hours to keep their license. So we're doctors you can't just become a doctor you can't become a lawyer you have to pass the bar and I'm not talking about that kind of bar the bar the bar exam.

90. 34:30

    But so life has tests and God tests us. God actually left King Hezekiah on his own to test him. We were told this. So in 2nd Chronicles chapter 32 verse 31. When envoys were sent by the rulers of Babylon to ask Hezekiah about the miraculous sign that had occurred in the land, God left Hezekiah to test him and to know everything that was in his heart.

91. 35:05

    Sadly we know that Hezekiah failed that test. Hezekiah had enjoyed a very close relationship to God. At a crucial point in his life God left him to test him and to reveal a weakness. He was forgiven for it. You have been tested. Sometimes we pass our tests and sometimes we fail. But if you just realize that life is a test, you're not so upset about it.

92. 35:31

    You accept it. It's a fact. Yeah, I'm being tested. And God is watching to see how I react to the tests. God allows our adversaries to challenge us to see how we react. We must overcome as Jesus had told us to. So testing is part of life. Don't consider it a terrible trial.

93. 35:57

    When Nehemiah, God wanted Nehemiah to build the wall around Jerusalem. He blessed him and had this king bless him and give him all the provisions he needed. And he goes to build this wall and God wanted him to build it. And what did God allow? He allowed Sambalat and Tobiah and Geshem and all these people to give him all kinds of trouble.

94. 36:22

    Nehemiah was doing what God wanted. And still God tested him. You're trying to do what God wants you to do? Well, I'm trying to do your will, God. Why am I having this problem? God is preparing you by the tests he gives you. So that could be your life metaphor. My life is a test and I'm going to pass it.

95. 36:48

    I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And so that's one life metaphor that could be yours. But let's think about another one. And the second one is life is a trust. And that's true too. we are stewards of what God has given us. But God is the owner of everything.

96. 37:11

    It's in him that we live and move and have our being. Psalm 24 says, the earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world and all who live by it. We never really own anything in our brief stay on earth. God loans the earth to us to live in for a little while.

97. 37:34

    And it's God's property. It was his before we were born. And it will be his when we're long gone. When God created Adam and Eve, he entrusted the care of his creation to them. And he appointed those trustees of his property. The Garden of Eden did not belong to Adam and Eve. They were put there to be in charge of it and to keep it.

98. 37:53

    The Lord God took the man and the woman and put them in the Garden of Eden to work it and to care for it. Now the point is, I was talking about pride while you can't be puffed up about something that someone had just given you. And so we read in 1 Corinthians and the reading which we had is our introduction.

99. 38:09

    Who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? You see, you can't be proud of your abilities. A person who can sing can give praise and glory to God. There is a lot of music in me.

100. 38:28

     I know that's to be a fact because none of us has ever gotten out. But I sit at the feet of people who are able to create music, whether it's on the piano or violin or voice, and that's not me.

101. 38:48

     I'm not proud of that either, you know, but it's just a fact. So if you've got it, then use it to the good. If you don't have it, well, then find something you can do. Now what I share a little story with you that happened in an ecclesia where you have visiting speakers sometimes to come to your ecclesia, and this ecclesia had a visiting speaker, and he was giving a talk along these lines.

102. 39:13

     Now one of the leading members of this ecclesia was a fairly well-to-do farmer. He had a beautiful spread. His barns were an apple pie order. I mean, they were painted red and they looked good, and his cattle were well-fed, and his crops were growing well, and he kept his machinery up. And this Christadelphian brother comes to his meeting, and he's explaining that nothing that you have was really yours.

103. 39:41

     It's just being lent to you by God, just for you to use. This didn't set too well with this Christadelphian. Besides that, he was going to have him for dinner that night, that day. So after the meeting was over, he takes him back to his farm, and his wife serves this visiting speaker a beautiful home cooked farm meal that was really good.

104. 40:05

     And after the dinner was over, the farmer says to the Christadelphian visitor, would you like to have a tour of my spread? I'd like to show you around my place. He said, oh, I'd enjoy that, fine. So he took him around, and he said, look at those farms, look at those fields, look at that machinery.

105. 40:21

     He said, who do you think belongs to all this stuff? And the Christadelphian brother who had given the talk said, do you mind asking me that question in another hundred years?

106. 40:36

     It won't be his then. it's only been loaned to you. What are you doing with what God is letting you use? So when somebody loans you something, you should take more care of it. I know that someone loans me their car. I sure don't want to put a dent in it. I want to return that car.

107. 40:56

     I'd feel terrible if I borrowed a car and then messed it up. So this is the right attitude. when someone has been loaned to you, you then take care of it. And if you can just get the attitude that everything you have has been loaned to you by God and it isn't really yours, you will have a different attitude than this is my car, this is my barn, this is my farm, this is whatever it is.

108. 41:28

     thing. When Elijah was helping the prophets build a larger meeting room, one of them was cutting down a tree and the axe had fell into the water and he said, oh my lord, he said, it was borrowed. Now that was the right attitude. He had borrowed somebody else's axe and now he dropped it in the water.

109. 41:48

     Well, you see, you should care about other people's things that you've borrowed. And so, think about what you have at your house that you think is yours. It really isn't yours. Well, that's my car. Well, it may be paid for but God's letting you have that car and you want to use it for the Lord.

110. 42:12

     Do you make sure your car goes to the right places? Does it pick up other people who don't have cars and get them to meeting? How anxious are you in using the things God has loaned you to serve others?

111. 42:28

     Do you open your home to other people and invite others to come in and share a meal as the farmer had done? A little bit reluctantly after he'd heard the exhortation. But who do you invite to your house? And you say, now wait, wait just a minute. This is my house and that's my food I'm feeding him.

112. 42:50

     I think it's my business who I invite to my house and Jesus says, no, I made it my business who you invite to your house. That's not really your home. God's letting you use it for a few years but it doesn't really belong to you even if it's paid for. Jesus makes things that are everyday things in your life his personal business.

113. 43:18

     you know these verses. I'm not reminding you of something you already know. Jesus said to his host when he was invited, when you give a luncheon or you have a dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives or your rich neighbors. Tell you why. If you do, they'll invite you back and you'll be repaid.

114. 43:39

     I'll tell you who you have at your house. When you give a banquet, you invite the poor. You invite the crippled. You invite the blamed. You invite the blind people. You ever watch a blind person eat? It's kind of messy. Sometimes it gets it all over the place because they can't see. You know, oh I don't want to have him.

115. 43:56

     It bothers me to see him eat. Jesus says, forget about yourself. You do what's right and then you will be blessed because those that you invite, the crippled, the lame, the blind, the poor, they can't invite you back. They don't have a place to invite you to. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.

116. 44:26

     So the Lord Jesus Christ is actually interested in who you invite to your house. Are there people in your ecclesia that have never been in your house? I mean, there's some people who are in your house maybe every week. That's family. They pop in at all kinds of times. You enjoy meals with them.

117. 44:46

     But is there an older sister, an older brother, somebody that just has a room? Do you invite them to your house? Well, they're deaf. They can't hear anything. I say, we have a sister that can't hear anything. And we pick her up on Sunday morning and take her to meeting and we take her up.

118. 45:04

     She never says thank you much. She just expects it. It doesn't matter. You're not looking for praise on this side of the kingdom. You're trying to do what's right. Do you put yourself out for other people?

119. 45:20

     It's required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. You have been given a trust. If you have a home, it's been loaned to you to use. If you have a car, it's been loaned to you by God to use. Anything you possess. But are you using these possessions that you have to satisfy yourself or are you using them to help others because God is watching.

120. 45:50

     It is a test and it is a trust. The Bible is full of examples of trust. You know the parables that Jesus told about the pounds and the talents. Each steward was given five talents, ten talents, two talents, one talent. They wasn't theirs. They were to occupy and increase it while Jesus was gone.

121. 46:13

     Now you have been given a talent. I've had Christadelphians tell me, well, I just don't have any talent. There is no such thing as a no-talent Christadelphian. God did not make a mistake when he made you. You make mistakes, but you are not a mistake. And there are things you can do for the Lord.

122. 46:34

     Now the question is, are you doing them? Are you using your time, your possessions to give glory and honor to God? Or you say, boy, I got this lazy boy chair and I just love to sleep in this chair, you know. Or are you saying to some old sister, come over and sit in my chair.

123. 46:54

     Have you ever gone to a house where the man of the house has his chair and nobody sits in that chair but the man of the house? I mean, see, this is funny because it's true. We ought to be sharing whatever we have with anybody that we want to. When I go to somebody's house, I kind of wait to see this, because you know, I do this when I go to a meeting, you know.

124. 47:25

     Today it's different, but I go as a guest speaker to another meeting and you know, you don't know where to sit. that's my seat. And I get up with, you know, move backwards. Well, Jesus said don't take the highest seat, but sometimes it was even a low seat. But you see, we seem to think we possess it, even a particular seat in the meeting.

125. 47:50

     That's where we sit. And so if you're a guest and you don't know, it's kind to hold back and let them have theirs. But on the other hand, we ought not be possessive of even a seat in the meeting. Certainly not in our home. Certainly not at our table. So be sure that you do invite.

126. 48:12

     When you get home, take your ecclesial address list out. Just go down the names and pick out people on your ecclesial address list that you have never invited to a meal.

127. 48:27

     And then invite them. and they will be thrilled. And you will be serving God. You will be doing what Jesus said. Our ecclesia got up. We tried new things. Trying to get people to think about each other. And so we got up a list of the people that, widows and the people that didn't have much.

128. 48:51

     And then we got people who were hospitable. people. And we assigned a person to a family each month. So there were a whole list of people who were inviting a whole bunch of people. And some of these old sisters, you know, I invited Brother George's house. I'd never been in his house. And they were thrilled.

129. 49:08

     And Brother George actually enjoyed her, you know. I mean, sometimes we need a little bit of prompting to do something we ought to just be doing. So if I'm tweaking your conscience, I don't apologize for it. If the shoe fits, wear it. But God and Jesus are taking into account your personal actions, even who you have to your home for food.

130. 49:34

     And God is watching. And God is watching to see how you treat the things he has loaned to you. And so in all those parables, the time came when they had to account for whether they had increased that talent or they had squandered her. You know, the man who buried his talent, he was not a thief.

131. 49:56

     He did not abscond with the Lord's money. When the Lord came back, he dug it up. He said, here it is. I know you're a hard man. I'm giving you back just what you gave me. If you give back to God just what he gave you, the answer was condemnation. You've got to be increasing what God gave you.

132. 50:18

     And so how are you using your money in the truth? Are you giving? We're not commanded to tithe. And so most Christadelphians don't. But you know what would happen in the mission field? If every Christadelphian in your ecclesia just simply gave 10%, that's at least 90% for you. You can't out-give God. I don't think we should tell anybody else what to do because Paul says God loves a cheerful giver.

133. 50:56

     In our ecclesia, we do not pass a bag. We do not have a collection at all. We feel if we have to stick a bag under your nose for you to put something in it, then you ought not put anything in it. So we have a box at the back and you go back there and put your own stuff in it.

134. 51:14

     And when we started that, they said, it'll never work, we'll go broke. We never have. God loves a cheerful giver of your time, of your money, of your home, of your car. So Jesus said, if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who's going to trust you with true riches? If you're using whatever it is you have for your benefit and not for other people's benefit, you're being selfish instead of selfless.

135. 51:57

     And so our life and the truth, it is a trust. And God is trusting you to give what he's given you and share it with others. And so that's our third class. We're coming to the end of it. And I hope I haven't worn you out this evening. But everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded.

136. 52:27

     Everyone who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. Life is a test. Work at passing the test. Accept the fact that you are being tested by God and that the problems you're having are allowed, not caused always, but allowed by God. And make sure that you don't complain about them and that you do your best to overcome them.

137. 52:59

     and that life is a trust. God has entrusted you with so much. How generous are you with what God has given you? Could you give a little bit more than you're giving? I'm not just talking about money, but it does include money. How about your time? Well, you know, I work hard. When I get home from work, I need my time to rest up.

138. 53:29

     Well, I know I can honor that. But somebody else is sitting at home, lonely, and not hearing from you. Do you call them? Do you drop by to see them? Do you send them a call? We've got a thing going in our ecclesia now. We started it just a few weeks ago, and we've given everybody in the ecclesia an address list, and on the first week, you were to contact the person right below your name, some kind of a contact.

139. 54:05

     You talk to them on the phone, you send them a card or a letter, or you go see them. And next week, you do number two, and next week, you do number three, and next week, you do number four, and we're up to now about number 38, and we're reminding our ecclesia every month, have you made your every week, are you making your card?

140. 54:26

     It's such a simple thing. Some people, you do contact, but there are people in your meeting, we have people that don't come very often. Do you remember them? Do you send them a card? Let them know they're missed. See, we are our brother's keeper. Life is a trust, and God is trusting you to care about your fellow brothers and sisters, and doing nothing can never be right.

141. 54:57

     So, what is your life metaphor, and are you doing your best to fulfill it? Life is a test, and life is a trust, and God is testing you and trusting you, and brothers and sisters, our whole purpose for coming from California here was just to stir up your pure mind by way of remembrance, to talk about things you already knew but might not have been doing as well as you could.

142. 55:30

     The biggest room you have in your house is a room for improvement. you can all do better than you're doing, and that includes me, because when I point my finger at you, three are pointing at me. So, these are the kind of things I need to remember. So, Paul says, I beseech you, I plead with you, present your body a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.

143. 55:57

     Don't be conformed to this world. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.