Luke 6:38: “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”
Proverbs 11:25: “The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.”
These verses speak about giving and then gaining, or receiving, and I would like to share a few thoughts with you about these things. Before that, I would like to say that the friends and workers in Pakistan asked me to pass on their greetings to you people here, and I am sure that they are thinking of us at this time. They are three hours behind us, and they have just finished their Sunday morning meeting. In Pakistan , Sunday is a working day; the schools are open, the banks are open. Friday is the holiday, and there are only two places where we are able to have a Sunday morning meeting. In other places they have it in the evening. There are another three places where the meetings are just beginning, and we pray that you will remember us as we gather together for fellowship, because our work in Pakistan is in the beginning stages. There are some meetings where we do not have the emblems established yet, but we are thankful for a few homes where the Lord’s people can meet for fellowship and have the emblems.
Speaking of gaining and giving.everything about life reminds us that we are here for a very short time. The pictures in the Bible teach us that life’s longest span is very brief indeed. It is likened to a hand’s breadth; it is likened to a shadow, that so quickly passes away; it is likened to the swift ships which appear on the horizon and as we watch, it disappears; it is like a tale that is told, like a short story that someone tells; it is likened to the post, a person running to deliver letters or messages; it is likened to the shepherds’ tents, they appear in the evening and in the morning they disappear; it is likened to a weaver’s shuttle; likened to a vapor that appears for a little while. All these pictures help us to understand that life is quickly passing and we need to use every day to gain and to give to others, to be a help to others, because our lives are so very short. Our lives are made up of many and varied experiences. Tomorrow’s experiences are all hidden from us.
The Lord’s people and servants are subject to many influences that are in the world; we are not immune from accidents or disease. A year ago the workers were preparing in California , and three young brothers left the grounds to make a visit on a Sunday afternoon. A drunken driver hit them head on, and two of them died. These workers were giving their best, and we would wonder why this would happen to them. It was not planned by God, but it was allowed by God. There may be experiences in our lives in the coming year, and whatever experience would come our way, we want to gain from the exper-ience that which is beneficial to us, to give something to the experience for the sake of profiting for all eternity.
My companion and I, in a field in Canada where there were several elderly friends, enjoyed visiting them, and we decided that we would ask all these people the same question: “As you look back over the long years that you have lived, what could you tell us that would be a help to us who are younger?” We received many wonderful answers. One man, 101 years old, bowed his head and thought for a long time. He said “From the very beginning I have never entertained the thought of going back. When I was young, I bought an insurance policy lest I should die suddenly, and my dependents would gain from that policy. When the gospel came, I invested my life in the gospel, and I find all the benefits are coming back to me in this life, and also in the life to come.”
We asked an elderly lady, who had never been to a gospel meeting and had never known the love of God that we know, the same question. She thought for a long time and she looked up to us with her eyes filled with tears. “Before Andrew, my husband, died, we would sometimes tell each other, what have we done with our lives, and we came to the conclusion that there is not one thing profitable that we did with our lives.” She had a relative with her who said, “I can tell you what you have done – you have made tea.”
This lady would make a cup of tea for those who called at her home when they were in town, but at this stage of her life she stopped and thought, what have I done with my life? I have wasted it, used it foolishly, carelessly.
This other man said he had invested his life in the will of God, and now the benefits of his investment were all coming back to him, and this is so for us all, that we will enjoy these things now and throughout the ages of all eternity.
I would like to share a few thoughts of gaining from life’s experiences, its ups and downs. There are many experiences in life and we can gain from them. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:17: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” Paul was speaking of some of the experiences he had been through and referred to them as just a light affliction. These afflictions included beatings, imprisonment, shipwreck, betrayal by false brethren. We can see so clearly why he gained, because of having that attitude. These things work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. They work something into us which is eternal. 18 “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” It is so easy to look at the person who brings affliction upon us, but we should not look at them; we are looking at that which is not seen, we are looking at what it brings into our lives. It is so easy to be taken up with the experience and fail to see what the Lord wants us to gain.
Tribulation worketh patience; it does its work and puts something into us. Sorrow does make people tenderhearted; loneliness makes people come close to God; misunderstanding makes us more care-ful. These experiences are like our light affliction, and as we pass through them, it helps us to gain what is eternal and spiritual. By way of example, there are two people I know very well. One lady lived near us on the farm where I grew up; she had many afflictions. Every time you went to see her there would be another tale of woe, real or imaginary. It was clearly seen that she was always taken up with the problems, with her aches and pains; she was never gaining anything from the things that she was passing through.
The other example is the testimony of an older brother worker. He was looking forward to preparations but he was taken ill and had to undergo surgery. He was 80 years of age, and he was so disappointed that he had to miss, but while he was lying in hospital, he began to realize that in his spirit there was a restlessness, so he picked up the Bible and read in Hebrews 4 where it tells us that there remaineth a rest to the people of God. He said “Here I am in an experience I could not avoid; I cannot change it,” and he found in his heart a depth of rest that he had not experienced before. He had gained something from the experience, something that he would never have chosen. This was Paul’s attitude. He would never have chosen the experiences he passed through, and yet he gained from them. Many feel the same way.
We think of Jonah’s exper-ience; we would like to gain from his experience, and I believe there are two things we can gain. Remember how God spoke to him to go and preach the gospel to Nineveh . He rose up to flee from the presence of God. He had a lot to gain from that experience, but he learned, as most of us have had to learn, that you cannot flee from the presence of God.Psalm 139:7 “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art
there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.” Jonah fled to the depths of the ocean, and God was there. God is speaking to our hearts and we are asking where shall we flee. It is impossible. This is often our first reaction when God speaks to us; we want to flee and hide. I hope that we can gain from this experience that we can’t flee; it is far better to come to grips with the issue and not flee.
I tell the story of a young woman, a working girl, happy with her job. She was happy with the future she was mapping out for herself, but God laid another matter upon her heart – a place in the harvest field. This was the last thing on her mind. Her first reaction was to flee, to run. She did not tell her parents where she was going, she resigned from her job, and she bought a ticket to come to Australia . She told none of her friends she was going to flee. She first caught a flight to Hawaii , and to her horror, when she came to the airport, here were a group of friends seeing a sister worker off. She checked in, and was not noticed by the other friends; she got on the plane, and to her horror, the sister worker was sitting in the next seat! Where could she flee? She told this sister worker her story. She went to the convention in Hawaii , and some time later she went out into the work. Our reaction should be that we should not flee, because we can gain.
There was something else that Jonah learned in this experience. He was in absolute torment. We think of him being in the storm, being cast overboard, being swallowed by the fish, and then crying to God; he was in torment. He had a disturbed conscience. He was making it very difficult for himself and also made it difficult for others because of his unwillingness.
One experience of a young person, a sister worker, was that God laid it upon her heart to go to a foreign field. When this first happened, her first reaction was panic. She said “If I say ‘no’ my peace will be disturbed; I’ve known years without peace, and that was a dreadful experience. If I say ‘no’
it will make it a little easier to say ‘no’ the second time.” She offered to go. Jonah could have been saved from so much by a willing reaction to the Lord’s will.
As we look back in our own individual experience to the time when we had no peace, we do not want anything to disturb this peace which is so meaningful. There are so many lessons to be learned, to be kept in mind, that we would not be taken up with the experience itself but look for the lesson in it. We cannot flee; it is far better to face up to the issue and please Him. Peace comes through submission and obedience.
I would like to speak a little about giving. A few months ago we were having a visit where we labour. The eldest son of the home was killed in a motorcycle accident. Another friend was coming home from work and he saw a motorcycle lying on the side of the road, but he did not notice the body. He did not give it any more thought till he got home. He put the car away and he sat down to read the paper. Then he thought of a friend of his who would be coming home that way, who also had a motorcycle like the one on the road. He took his car out again and went back to the site, and he could hardly believe what he saw. Now a half hour had passed, and sure enough, there was his friend. He took him to the hospital, but it was too late; he had passed away. We wonder how the human heart could be so cold, to refuse to give anything in a situation like that, not even giving ten minutes of their time; that’s the kind of world we are living in. But in the family of God, the hearts of God’s people are softened by the love of God, and people are looking for ways and opportunities to help their brothers and sisters in the family, looking for ways to give. We often feel that we have not got what the situation demands, but as we see the need, we want to give.
There is an experience in the Old Testament where the sons of the prophets gathered together and they cooked a pot of gourds. When they began to eat, someone realized there was death in the pot. Someone had put something in the mixture that was poison, and everyone would be affected.
Someone had to do something, someone had to give. Someone had to intervene.
Someone took some meal and put it in the pot, and death was stayed, no one was affected. Perhaps we have been in situations like that, where certain things were said, and we were conscious that there was death in the pot. If only we would have something to put into the situation, and I am always grateful for my brethren when they have the very thing that is necessary.
David had this kind of experience, 1 Samuel 25. He sent a message to Nabal to ask for payment for protection he had given to his shepherds. Nabal spoke harshly, “Why should I pay him?” David reacted with the same spirit as Nabal. There was death in the pot; something very unpleasant was going to happen. This situation reached the ears of Nabal’s wife. She had meal. She could not approach her husband, so she went with asses to approach David with humility and intercession and brokenness. She pleaded with him not to
do this, not to do what he would regret later on. There would be a
stain on his kingdom if he were to lift up his hand. It took this to stay his hand. His heart was filled with gratitude. It did not take armies to stay David’s hand; all it took was someone with a broken spirit. David repented there. We are grateful when we turn to that approach for our first step, our first resort, when a situation would arise, when there is something needed to stay death in the pot. This is the hand of meal – a broken, tender spirit; this is true intercession from a heart that is in touch with God. It was only this that was necessary.
There are three things that we can give in a situation where death is in the pot. The first thing: we can give a word in season. Proverbs tells us that such words are like apples of gold in pictures of silver. It is very beautiful, the right word spoken at the right time, which meets the need of the situation. We often feel that we don’t have what it takes, but we long for the tongue of the learned to give words to him that is weary. As we sit and wait at the feet of the Master, we will have a word in season. It may not be a profound proverb.
Jesus had this kind of word in John 11. Lazarus had died, and all had gathered to mourn with Mary and Martha. When Jesus came, they wondered why He had not come before He did, but He had the right word in season. He spoke to her and pointed her to some-thing far greater. He pointed her to the future, a future that they could have in Him. “I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” Jesus gave all eternal hope. He was not referring to the present position, but He was referring to His coming again, when the dead in Christ shall live again. He was able to lift the heart of this woman. Where she had grief, He was able to bring eternal hope by a word in season. If we speak words from Jesus, they will be safe. We may experience accusations brought against us, and the tendency is to have a bitter spirit, but we are so grateful when we turn to the words of Jesus, and then there is no more question.
The second thing that we can give: Matthew 18. There was death in the pot; the disciples were asking who is the greatest. Jesus brought a little child; this is the hand of meal. How humble is the spirit of a little child. This is the spirit of the Lord Jesus, and that’s what it takes. This is our ideal, a goal, something to aim at. As I look out on this meeting, there are so many young people, and I am grateful that you are here. Youth craves for an ideal, for some personality to look to, to become like. This is so in the social and entertainment world, and they use this to advant-age. We would like you young people to look to the Lord Jesus.
Ephesians 4:13: “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” This is our ideal; this is our target, coming to the fullness of the stature of Christ. In the world, the ideals they hold up have their good points, but as you look deeper, you see that they hide from the people so much that is wrong. In Jesus we have a perfect man, and every young person can make Jesus their standard. In speech, in attitude, make Him our ideal and you’ll be having something to contribute to all situations.
The third thing we can give is what Abigail gave: a broken spirit and a contrite heart. Jesus poured that out on the disciples time and time again. In the upper room Jesus rose and began to serve, He took the place of a slave. There are many situations that we could learn much from. We often learn less than God intended. In many situations we could give something in a word, in our spirit, and the Lord will stand by us. Every person who is in touch with God has something to contribute to the needs of the kingdom.
There are needs that will arise among us, and we need to keep close to Jesus, that we might have that to meet the need.
In the Old Testament, Joseph’s brethren had come from a far country to get provisions. Joseph brought them through different experiences. They had gone and now were coming back a second time, leaving their father back home. Joseph revealed himself to them, and they now knew who Joseph was when they went back to their father a second time. He had filled all their sacks, he had provided for their needs on the journey, he had provided for their needs in the homeland before they had set out, and he said these words: “See that ye fall not out by the way.” In other words, see that you do not fall out with one another. They would have to go up some hills; some may want to go quickly, some want to go slower, but he wanted them all to reach home together. Maybe these things do not arise here, but good when we can gain from the situation. We hope that you will have something to give as you travel on together, that all might arrive together in the Father’s home.
Truth Archive 