It has been a real privilege to become acquainted with many of you and to have the opportunity to know your hearts and your burdens.
Those of you who have joined us today can catch up with this little picture. We have been speaking about leaders—which includes all of us—who must finish well; not somehow, but triumphantly.
The first morning, we spoke about perspective. Those who finish well have perspective, which enables them to focus. In seeing the broader view, they relate the present to the long range.
A professor in a seminary made a study of six hundred past and present leaders, and he came to the conclusion that the great majority did not finish well. He suggested that there were certain reasons they did not finish well. So, in a very positive way, we are speaking this morning about those things that will help us to finish our race well.
The first morning, we spoke about perspective. Yesterday, in 1 John, we talked about enjoying intimacy. It is one thing to be born into the family and have a relationship—to be able to say, “Father.” It is another thing to walk in the light as He is in the light. That leads us on into new and deeper things. We come into greater fellowship, and finally into the privilege of being very intimate—enjoying intimacy with God.
I am personally convinced that every individual needs renewing every now and then—about every other day.
Thank you, brother. I was not going to say that, but you did. That will keep us where Dana has us—really revived—which is what we want.
This morning, our basic theme is going to be the disciplines of life. I know that you will love them.
Tomorrow, we are going to take up another characteristic of these leaders: they maintained a positive learning attitude all their lives. They had a network of meaningful relationships and important mentors during their lifetime.
This morning, we are primarily concerned with the disciplines of life. I really pray that God will give us real practical application.
Father, we are so thankful for this lovely group that You have gathered this week. I thank You for their open hearts and for the response that I have sensed as we have visited together.
We know this is Your working, and we are claiming again this morning that same openness and responsiveness to Thee. We claim that You will help us this morning. O Lord, You teach. We listen to Vernon, but You teach what I need to know. We claim this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
We need discipline and discernment.
One of the things in which I am basically interested is the way the Lord continually teaches us and brings us into things that are very important. I like to say that some things are taught, but other things are caught.
My mother was the best example I can give of catching something in the heart. I remember, as children sitting around the table, when Mother would cut up a cantaloupe or a muskmelon, she would cut it into pieces. She would watch with a twinkle in her eye.
You have to realize that I was the oldest, so I picked the big piece first. I thought that was my right. We went around the table, and I later found out that Mother always cut the sweet melon into the small pieces.
Every time. The big pieces were less sweet, you know, for the greedy—except that we all grabbed the big ones. About the time somebody took a little one, we would say, “Mother, these are two different melons, aren’t they?” She would smile.
I caught something. I caught something.
All through life, I believe God is working in our lives to teach us things. Some things cannot be learned merely by being taught; you catch them.
Coming to this campus brings back memories. I remember Mother canning in the summertime. She opened a box of glass canning jars, and there on top was a tract. She read it, and I think I was seven or eight. She said, “Son, I want you to read something.”
She read the life story of William Carr, whom God had worked in and taught how to tithe. You see the name Carr around here, and it all brings back memories this morning.
I thought, “Oh, Lord, that man learned the secret of giving back to God that which was His.” From that moment on, I started tithing. I got ten cents a week—that was big money back then—but I gave a penny.
I am saying this by way of illustrating the fact that all through life we are learning continually, but we are also catching things from others.
I had the privilege of being with Brother T. Austin-Sparks for, I think, ten or twelve years, year after year. He would come over to one of the conferences, visit his daughter in Louisville, and then come and stay with us.
I think of all the things I caught from Brother Sparks. I was so glad that my son, when he was a little boy, sat at the table and listened. Usually children want to be dismissed right after they have eaten, but he always stayed to listen to Brother Sparks.
Most of you did not know the Sparks that I knew. He was a very astute sort of person to many people, but we knew him—and my son knew him—as delightful. The stories he told!
I say that because all of us are learning, but the things God really wants to get through sometimes are caught. You cannot always put them into words, but you catch something. I am so grateful for the things I caught from Brother Sparks.
In Acts 1, it begins by speaking of the things that Jesus began both to do and to teach. Which came first? The doing.
As He walked along and the disciples were with Him, they saw Him do, and they were catching something. They would ask, “Lord, why did You do this?” Then He would teach them out of the doing.
I have to be honest with you: that has been the longing in my heart—to do, and have people say, “Why did you do it?” Then the teaching comes out of it.
I could just heal and do the things that the Lord Jesus did, but I have not arrived. You pray that someday I may get there.
Anyway, we will get into the things that are caught a little bit more. But I want you to consider another thing that I think is a real discipline: do not allow urgent things to crowd out the important.
I would like for you to turn to the Gospel of John. I want you to see how this operates in the life of our Lord Jesus. John 11.
I think all of you know that Jesus had a favorite home that He loved to visit. It was Bethany: two sisters and a brother. We do not know how many times He visited, but something seems to indicate that it was one of the places He especially enjoyed.
One day, word came to Jesus that Lazarus was sick. Beginning in John 11:1:
Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.
Therefore his sisters sent unto Him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick.
I do not know, but I kind of read between the lines there: “He whom Thou lovest is sick.”
When Jesus heard that, He said:
This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus—and He immediately rushed to Bethany to heal him. Is that what your King James says? That is what I am using.
How many of you know what He did? This has been the surprise of my life. The One who could heal, and then the ones He loved the most—what did He do?
Let us read. John 11:6:
When He had heard therefore that he was sick, He abode two days still in the same place where He was.
That is not what we would expect. If you had eaten at Mary and Martha’s table as much as Jesus had, and if you loved Lazarus, why would You not immediately rush to heal him?
Here is a principle: all through life, we are bombarded with urgent things. The most difficult thing is to discern what is really important in the light of eternity.
All these urgencies and all these things that come in are not necessarily wrong. But sooner or later, we must come to the place where, in our spirit, we can discern: “Oh, Lord, what is the important issue here?”
How many of you have said, “This morning I am free. I am going to sit down and have my time with the Lord”—and five minutes in, the phone rings? What do you do?
I have an unresponsive audience this morning. I think I will have to tune my organ a little bit: God is good. Jesus is Lord. Hallelujah. This is the day the Lord has made.
Now you are responsive.
What we are after today is basically this: God wants individuals with discernment. I believe discernment is one of the greatest needs of the hour. So many things sound good. They look alike. But discernment is one of the greatest needs of the hour.
We get a little glimpse here of what Jesus is doing. John 11:7-8 says:
Then after that saith He to His disciples, Let us go into Judaea again.
His disciples say unto Him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone Thee; and goest Thou thither again?
I want you to get a glimpse of what we are saying. I call this the tyranny of urgency: “Hurry. Quick. They are waiting.” All the time, our lives are faced with this.
The interesting thing is that Jesus did not move, even though it seemed so necessary. He did not move at the tyranny of urgency. Instead, He knew the rest that comes by tuning in and saying, “Father, what is really important? What is really important?”
The disciples fed Him fear: “Remember what they tried to do last time? You are not going to go there.” But He was not moved by the tyrannies of the soul.
Most of us, without realizing it, do not understand that there is a rest in our spirit that He wants to bring us into.
Jesus said in John 11:9-10:
Are there not twelve hours in the day?
If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.
But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.
I want to say, “Lord, how did that get in there? That must have been a passage that got slipped in by mistake. How could that fit here?”
But what He is essentially saying is that there is an outer light—the light of the soul and all that our natural man walks after. It seems the natural thing to do. But there is an inner light that God gives to our spirit.
I sense myself saying, “Father, all these folks are wanting to press me into their expectations. I do not want merely to live to fulfill and please their expectations. What really is Your burden for today?”
And I think I hear Father saying, “Son, I have a big thing going here. It is going to be one of the most blessed opportunities to demonstrate and reveal something.”
Jesus did not go to heal Lazarus immediately. In John 11:11, He says:
Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.
The Lord knew that Lazarus was already dead, though sleep was another word for death. The disciples said:
Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.
Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought He had spoken of taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus said plainly:
Lazarus is dead.
And I am glad.
Tune this organ again now. Jesus said, “I am glad”—for your sakes. Why? Here is an opportunity for you to catch something of what is really involved in the Lord’s working.
I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.
Then Thomas, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples:
Let us also go, that we may die with Him.
Here is the tyranny of urgency, the tyranny of fear in the soul, and the tyranny of sympathy. “Oh, let us die with Lazarus.”
When Jesus came, Lazarus had been in the grave four days already. Martha came out to meet Him and said:
Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
I can almost hear Martha saying, “All the meals I served You! If You had just been here, my brother would not have died.” How would you like that?
I see another tyranny that is difficult for us to deal with. I call it the tyranny of affections.
“Lord, You love Lazarus. We know that.” The tyranny of affections is the pull in the soul.
I remember when our son was about four years old. One day we were walking down the aisle of a store that had lots of toys. He looked up at me and said, “Daddy, would you buy me that truck?”
I looked at that sweet little face and all his eagerness, and my hard heart said, “No. Your grandpa has already bought you five more trucks than you need.”
He said, “Oh,” and walked down the aisle. Then he came back, looked up at me, and said, “Daddy, if you really love me…”
That is what I call the tyranny of affection.
You and I have to face this, because people are always coming with the tyranny of, “If you really care, if you really love, if you are really there…”
It is at this point that the cross has to deal in our lives—to cut us free from all these entanglements of the soul, these soul affections. God has to do it.
The fact is, this knife that He uses to cut you loose from soul affections is a two-edged sword. I have discovered that I will never let the sword cut any deeper in someone else’s life than it is already cutting in mine.
Either I spare you, or I spare myself. I know some things I am soft in preaching about. Are you following?
You will never allow the sword to cut deeper in another than you have allowed it to cut in yourself. That is why this generation is growing up with so much softness.
Aren’t you glad this morning that you can say, “Lord, You can deliver me from the affections of the soul until I know the agape love that is important”?
Well, this is just point two. We have eight to go, so we had better get along.
God wants to bring us to the place where agape love controls. Even natural affection has to be dealt with in order that real love may operate in the life of an individual.
God is going to do some things if He is to bring us into discipline and discernment. This issue of learning to deal with the urgencies of life is important. I have not learned it, but I am learning.
People still call with all their needs. One thing I learned from Brother Kong and Brother Sparks, as I observed them, was this: somebody would come and pour out a very difficult need, wanting an answer.
I had seen Brother Sparks smile, listen with all his heart, and then say, “Yes, I will pray that the Lord will help you find an answer.”
If you set up codependencies, they will be back all the time. It is not that it is wrong to help, but you want to bring them into maturity so that they find the Lord for themselves.
Why are hundreds of pastors leaving the pulpit and leaving the ministry every month? I understand. If they have not learned to let the cross—the sword—cut, and have not learned these little secrets of discipline, they become accountable to the expectations of people rather than to God.
The discipline is this: “Oh God, I am accountable to You, not to the expectations of people.”
I love this one because I think principle thinking is necessary as we mature and head toward the real thing God wants. Principle thinking means uncovering the way God designed things to work.
Everything in God’s universe has an order and a design. It is made to work in a certain way. When we discover the way things work according to divine design, that is what I call principle thinking.
I know a very discerning father who realized, in dealing with his sons and daughters, that he should not merely tell them the what, but the why.
The what deals with rules. The why deals with principle—the way things have been made to work.
I had my driver’s license renewed a couple of weeks ago. In Indiana, and I suppose in every state, they have a driver’s manual. One principle of driving is always to keep your vehicle under control so that you will hurt no one, including yourself. That is basic and unchangeable. That is a principle built into the operation of a vehicle.
Out of every basic principle come rules. Rules are the outflow of a basic principle.
In Florida, when the automobile was first introduced, they had a law that in order to drive down a certain street, you had to wire ahead and have a policeman escort you with a horse so you would not scare all the other horses while driving your car. That is still on the books.
Do rules change? Yes. But principle? Never. Principles are built into the fabric of things.
Here is this wise, loving father saying to his son and daughter, “I want you to know the principle by which we are going to operate. I am going to let you make the choice whether you want to move by principle or by rules.”
He said, “If you really know the principle of relationship between you and me—father and children—you will discover one thing important in the life of the Lord Jesus: He was a Father-pleaser.”
I believe everything Jesus did came from one basic desire: “Father, I want to please You.” He was a Father-pleaser in everything that He did. That is a basic principle built into all relationship.
This father looked at his two children and said, “I would like God to bring us into a relationship where you are Father-pleasers, first and above all, so that when something comes up, the why overshadows the what.”
For example: “Johnny, you will be out this evening. It is Friday, and I will let you stay out until ten o’clock.” That tells him what.
The reason the father says that is because he loves him and wants to spare him what might happen. The what and the why are involved.
Later Johnny came and said, “Dad, do you suppose we could stay out a little later—like eleven o’clock?” He was wanting to change the rule.
The father looked at him and said, “Is that going to please you, or please me?”
“Oh, I had not thought of that. Is that going to please you, or is it going to please me?”
Their whole life was to be focused on the principle built into the relationship, rather than merely on the rules that issued from it.
About a week later, Susie came and said, “Dad, you know, I would rather have rules. Do I have to be at home whenever it will please you? I think You might not want me to go out at all if I am really going to please You.”
Are you following? This is something so built into the fabric of life. People hate legalism, yet when it comes right down to it, they will choose it.
Why? Because then I can walk by a rule instead of walking by a principle.
One night, Susie came down, about to kiss her dad and go out. He said, “Susie, what are you wearing?”
Susie said, “My favorite dress.”
Dad said, “But it is not mine. In fact, I do not know when you got that. Did you and your mother…?” “No, it could not have been Mother. Where did that dress come from?” “Well, a friend of mine loaned it to me.”
There are times in our lives when we begin to recognize the privilege of principle, and it governs. It takes care of all the what we do because, basically, we want to please the Father.
This brings me to the deep principle of life itself. God has so designed the whole world. We appreciate people talking about intelligent design. That is quite a step for much of the scientific world—to talk about design in the universe.
How many believe that God might have built into us a creative, unique design in our makeup? I do.
I always hope that I can have just the girls in the dorm and the fellows in the dorm when I speak about this, but we are a mixed group this morning.
Isn’t it interesting how God has uniquely designed male and female? I mean, very different—very unique.
The advertising world has learned the secret of catching your eyes. If they are going to sell Buicks, they do not get a fellow out in his swimming trunks to catch your attention. What do they use to get the eyes?
In 1 John, he talks about the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life—the three basic areas God needs to deal with.
A lot of people do not understand the principle that God designed the female in one way and the male in another.
For the young people: God designed your body and made you so that you are aroused and stimulated sexually. Girls are basically aroused by touch, and males are aroused by what they see—the eyes.
You would be amazed how many mothers and people have said, “I did not know that. I cannot believe it.” But this is the way God designed and made us. It is built into the fabric of things.
In Joplin, Missouri, for years, a church had a great big billboard out in the yard saying, “Flee from youthful lusts,” and painted on that big sign was a girl in a bikini. That is the world.
I never had the boldness to stop and ask that pastor if he knew what he was doing.
Here is what I am getting at: do you believe it is possible for people not to want to break a rule, but still violate principles? The great majority of us violate principles in one way or another while being very rigid about not breaking a rule.
Oh, Lord, help Vernon get through this quickly. But I am after something. God has uniquely designed male and female, and there are principles involved in arousal.
When Jimmy Carter ran for president, I knew his sister quite well. When Jimmy ran as a born-again Christian, the media did not know what to do with that term.
One reporter asked him about lust: “If you are a Christian, what do you do with this verse in the Bible where it says lust?”
With real wisdom, he said, “I learned years ago what Job said:”
I made a covenant with mine eyes;
Why then should I think upon a maid?
A lot of people stop after, “I made a covenant with mine eyes.” But the rest of it is, “Why then should I think upon a maid?”
The media did not know how to handle that, so they dropped it. He said you can see something without necessarily having to lust.
All of life is filled with things you see. You cannot keep birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from making a nest in your hair. You cannot control everything you are going to see, but what can you do?
You refuse to fantasize and reach out to grab hold of lust. This is why James says that sin, when it conceives, brings forth death. Seeing is one thing. Reaching out, laying hold of it, and conceiving—that is another thing.
You cannot control all that you see, unless you are deliberately watching television or pornography. But my heart cries out because we are a sex-ridden world today. Everywhere you turn, there is the appeal.
Now that we are getting hold of the difference between these principles, we can say, “Lord, I do not have to live in condemnation. I may see, but I refuse to think. I have made a covenant with mine eyes.”
It is not only fellows who lust. I used to blame the fellows, but then I realized it is possible for a young lady to get her eyes on a dress in a catalogue, lay it aside, and then go back and wonder how much it costs.
Do you believe females can lust too? Yes, they can—for things. I remember my sisters growing up and saying, “Mother, I have got to have this.” She would say, “It is too costly,” but they would save their money. It is what I call the lust for things.
Now, we all know what that is: the lust for things.
My heart goes out because, wherever I travel, I am aware of the awful stumbling blocks that are taking place.
Two years ago, I was invited to a conference of seventy-five—probably eighty—Southern Baptist men who had left the Southern Baptist Church. Some had become charismatic, and they had formed a circle of fellowship and connection as brothers.
I was privileged to spend five days with them in Alabama. I think it was the second morning when one of the men stood up and said, “If I am going to walk in light and be transparent, I need to tell you brothers that I need help.”
People do not fall into sin; they transition into things.
This lovely brother exposed his struggle. He had been fighting this thing with the computer and all of it. Finally, in brokenness, he just wept and said, “Would you help me?”
Sometimes it takes that kind of breaking and transparency.
Do you know what I discovered? God used it to speak to the others. For about two hours that morning, there was bearing and sharing of deep burdens and concerns among pastors who were Spirit-filled.
There is a difference between being Spirit-filled and being Spirit-controlled. You may have an experience, but that does not mean it is going to maintain you unless you learn to walk with God.
This is not easy to share this morning, but I have a real burden because the disciplines of life are the things that will press us on to fulfill what God wants in our hearts.
A mother came one day and said, “Would you explain to me why all the naughty boys come around to be with my daughter? There are a lot of nice boys in our fellowship, but why do these guys come?”
I looked at that mother. She was a real good fundamentalist, like me. I said, “Mother, there are a lot of people who would never break a rule or a law, but they violate principles all the time.”
She did not know the difference between a principle and a rule. With real brokenness, I could look at her and say, “Your daughter is carrying some ‘for sale’ signs on her.”
“What do you mean?” She is exposing and uncovering. I do not think you would ever do this if you realized you were tempting—tempting—tempting.
Mothers and fathers, do not just tell your children what to do. Do not spend your time in the what. Get back of the why.
“I cannot go out in those shorts.” Why? “I cannot go out in that.” Why? “I cannot do that.” Why? Get at the principle behind it.
Sooner or later, they will come back and say, “I want to be a Father-pleaser.” How many of you want to be a Father-pleaser this morning? You do. I see it in your faces.
We are simply trying to say that there are principles that govern, but the great majority of people are content to live by outward rules—the what instead of the why.
Turn to Philippians for a moment. I have had a deep sense for quite a while that a lot of people do not know the difference between a promise and a principle.
People are always claiming a verse that they think is a promise. I have to back up and say that they need to be clear that it is not so much a promise as it is a principle.
Here is a verse that was precious to me through all my college days and ever since—Philippians 4:19:
My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
To most people, that is a promise: “My God shall supply all your need.” The Holy Spirit can make it a promise to you, but I do not believe it is so much a promise as it is a principle—the way God designed things to work.
Paul loved the Philippian church, and there was something unique about it. In Philippians 4:9-19, Paul says:
Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.
Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction.
Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.
For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity.
Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.
But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.
But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
On the basis of all this, Paul says to them, “My God shall supply all your need.” I am going to shock you: he did not write that to any other church. I do not find it any other place.
Why could he write it to them? Their whole life had been giving, supporting, and meeting his needs. They were a continual offering. They had entered into this lovely principle: having given to him, God could freely give to them.
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” That, to me, is principle living.
I meet people all the time who feel let down, disappointed, or disillusioned because God did not provide. They claim Philippians 4:19.
I read this in a book two weeks ago, which is why I am so bold about it. I thought, “At last, somebody else agrees with me.”
This is entering into the principle by which we are alive—being concerned for Him. On that basis, God says it is free to give to them.
I shared this at Campus Church at Purdue a couple of weeks ago. There were a lot of wrinkled brows because, you know, you take some promises away from people that they have been claiming.
I did agree that it is a conditional promise, which is the same thing I am talking about as a principle. If I do this, He will do this. But many people take it as an outright promise, and then they are disillusioned: “God let me down.” God did not let you down.
One of the professors’ wives walked up with a slip of paper and said, “I caught something this morning.” I knew she had, because in the sweetest way she said, “When I have given wholly, totally, all to Him, He can give all to me. He can supply.”
That is principle living.
All through life, we are prone to grab hold of verses. Sometimes there is a promise with conditions, or there is a principle we need to enter into.
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” The book I was reading said that almost all the Book of Proverbs that people claim as promises are principles.
They are principles.
God works in strange ways. I remember my first year out of college, in Salem, Oregon, working in a youth center. It was a lovely situation the Lord had opened, and I enjoyed working with young people.
One day, one of the board members, Alec Halverson, a staunch Lutheran and godly man, grabbed me by the hand. Everybody obeyed Alec. We walked a couple of blocks into a clothing store three days before Christmas.
When we walked in, the clerk knew him. He said, “I want the finest suit in this shop for this young man. No expense spared.”
I had just gotten through college. God had provided, but I was living sacrificially. I kept saying, “This will be fine. That costs four hundred dollars.” That was way back then—four hundred dollars for a suit! Who ever heard of that?
He kept saying, “Do you like that?” I said, “Well, I do.”
About forty minutes later, I walked out measured for the finest suit I had ever owned before or since.
I kept saying, “Oh, that is too much. We have a lot we could spend the money on.” He said, “You buy. We are getting this.”
Then he looked at me and said, “You only know the first half of the verse: ‘My God shall supply all your needs.’”
I said, “I have been through college on that portion.”
He said, “The rest of the verse is, ‘According to His riches in Christ Jesus.’”
I knew that he knew R. G. LeTourneau could write a check for five million dollars without blinking. He looked at me and said, “You do not know how rich I am.”
I said, “No.”
“You do not know how much I could give,” he said. “I delight to give. My giving is to measure the riches that are in Christ Jesus.”
That changed my promise into a principle. You follow what I am getting at?
I remember reading about the Queen of England, who took one of her young men in and lavished him with gifts. He kept saying, “Oh, but you cannot do this. This is too much.”
She said, “I am the Queen. You do not know how much I have to give.”
According to the riches in Christ Jesus. Are you there?
Which part of the verse have you been living in? “My God shall supply all your need”—that is good. But how about the second half? “According to His riches in Christ Jesus.”
The next Christmas, three days before Christmas, Alec walked in, took me by the hand—everybody obeyed Alec—and we went to the same store. He said to the same clerk, “I want the finest overcoat in this place. Price does not matter.” I walked out with it.
What am I getting at this morning? I think God delights to give. If I know my Father, He is waiting and longing to give more and more and more.
But what is really operative is this: He wants us to be so aligned with Him that we are content. Things do not really mean that much. On that basis, He says, “It is safe. Send them some more.”
I want us to get to that place today: principle living. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
I mean, you can say, “I like that. I like that.” I saw your faces. I knew it was coming.
We are not getting very far. Let me find one more sheet here someplace.
Time for a commercial.
I want to thank you for the way you have been handing in captions or titles for this. I really appreciate your desire to express what it speaks to you.
We are going to close it off tomorrow afternoon, after we get through eating. Then I will look at all of the entries, and we will reward the winners. Some of them are very good.
Last week I was in a place where we tried this one. Here is Noah’s ark, if you cannot see it. Everything I need to know about life, I learned from Noah’s ark:
Here is a woodpecker. You see all these holes? The question I asked at the end was, “Did God forget to build a cage for the woodpecker, or did Noah forget to do it?”
The question that came up at the close was, “What do we do with the woodpecker?” If you shoot the woodpecker, that is the end—there will not be any more. But they all agreed to shoot the woodpecker.
This afternoon, some of you are new. I have asked you to write a description of what you see and what it speaks to you. I have been amazed at the response.
Last evening, our speaker talked about Vance Havner. He has been a favorite of mine way back. This one comes from Vance Havner.
Vance Havner said, “He who knows how to really speak to meet people’s needs will bring the cookies down where the sheep can get them.”
That really spoke to me, because I would rather speak to the… Anyway.
Another way God works: God usually works from the inside toward the outside.
We are always trying to conform people outwardly—getting them shaped up and into fit. But it is wonderful when you recognize that God first starts in the human spirit.
He quickens. Ephesians says that He quickens those who were dead. He quickens our spirit that has been dead, then begins the transforming work in our soul, and it works out to the body level.
Most of what is eternal, when God is dealing with it, starts in our spirit.
I can always tell when a person’s spirit is right: they are teachable. When their spirit is open, they are receptive. But when you have a closed spirit, you cannot do much transforming in the soul—in the mind, the will, and the emotions.
The object of your faith is more important than the measure.
Let me read this to you. One day, the great philosopher Socrates came upon an acquaintance who ran up excitedly and said, “Socrates, do you know what I just heard about one of your students?”
“Wait a minute,” Socrates replied. “Before you tell me, I would like you to pass a little test. It is called the triple-filter test.”
“What is the triple-filter test?” he asked.
Socrates continued, “Before you talk to me about my student, let us take a moment to filter what you are going to say. The first filter is truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?”
“No,” the man said. “Actually, I just heard about it.”
“All right,” said Socrates. “So you do not really know whether it is true or not. Now let us try the second filter—the filter of goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my student something good?”
“No, on the contrary.”
“So,” Socrates persisted, “you want to tell me something bad about him, even though you are not certain it is true.”
“But you may still pass the test,” Socrates continued, “because there is a third filter: usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my student going to be useful to me?”
“No, not really.”
“Well,” concluded Socrates, “if you want to tell me something that is neither true, nor good, nor useful, why tell it to me at all?”
The man was defeated, and he left ashamed. We can understand why Socrates was held in such high esteem.
I do not usually spend time with philosophers and men who do not know God, but I wanted to tell you something: even out in the world, men of wisdom get hold of some principles.
This is a principle of operation. The world uses it—sometimes. You cannot help but admire a man without God arriving at this conclusion.
What am I saying? Do not disparage all the wisdom that is out there. It may not come from God directly, and yet I think this is what the Bible teaches. Paul says:
Whatsoever things are true,
whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just,
whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report;
if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
This brings me to one of my favorite things: when you get together to pray.
I have come to the conclusion that instead of bringing a lot of requests that you elaborate on and unfold at length, it would be better for you simply to pray them yourself to the Lord.
There is an awful lot of gossip that goes on before prayer and in prayer meetings.
“In order to pray about this more effectively, we need to know some more details.” God knows.
I have encouraged people for years: tell the Lord. Do not bring requests to one another in such a way that they need amplification. Just tell it to the Lord.
That is going to hurt, but I still believe it.
God has built some things into the fabric of life, and even the world discovers them. If you put the Lord first, He will radically adjust your appetites and your lifestyle.
I have often been asking in recent months, “Are you putting the Lord first when you awaken in the day? Do you give the hours to Him?” Everything flows from putting Him first.
It is amazing how much He will change in your outlook and attitude when you put Him first.
The thing I want to close with this morning concerns one of my friends in Titusville, Florida, just off Cape Canaveral. Peter Lord has written a very interesting book titled Blessed to Be a Blessing.
He made a wonderful survey and study, going into the history of Jewish homes. He found that in the state of Florida, with a great number of Jewish families, there was a very small proportion of Jewish inmates in prison.
Looking into it, he came to the conclusion that this was because fathers in Jewish homes had established the pattern of laying hands on and praying over their children every morning before they went out, and in the evening as well.
I looked at him and said, “Do you really think they do that?” He said, “Yes. Even those who are not quite so orthodox will do this.”
To get proof, I said, “Sweetheart, you lived in Jerusalem for many months.” She has a Jewish heart; I have Jewish blood on both sides. She said, “We know Jewish fathers who speak the blessing over their families before they go out.”
Is it something that God honors, even though they do not know what we would call the grace of God? I think it is built into the fabric of things.
Dad prays. Mother prays. Lives go a long way when the blessing of the Lord is there—when there is blessing.
Peter told about a lovely pastor in Orlando, a few miles away, who got hold of this. He discovered that they had a pianist who had played in that church for twenty-eight years.
One Sunday morning, the pastor turned to her—she was seated in the front—and said, “Has anybody ever blessed you for being the blessing you have been to us?”
He walked back, laid hands on her, and said, “I want to bless you for twenty-eight years of faithful service.”
He asked, “Has anybody ever done this?” She said, “No. I often wondered if they appreciated it.”
We take it for granted. She burst into tears. The whole church wept, because the anointing came in to say that God is pleased when we learn to bless one another.
I really believe that: when we learn to bless one another.
I wish he could tell you how many people he called out—teachers and others who, through the years, had given themselves. The blessing came. That is how to increase your church. That is how to bring forth what I call principle living.
Being with Peter through the years has been very interesting. I was invited there many years ago to minister, and Peter Lord is a very unusual brother. He has a very unusual church.
When they were making moon shots and sending things to the moon, a fellow came to me one night and said, “Have you ever been through our facility out there?”
I said, “No, I would like to, but I have never had the opportunity.”
He said, “I will take you tomorrow.”
I met him at a certain time. He said, “I might take you up to a certain room where we meet every morning at five o’clock.”
“You meet?” I said.
“Yes,” he said. “We have a prayer meeting here every morning at five o’clock. The great majority of the men responsible here attend Peter’s church.”
I said, “This is interesting—a prayer meeting.”
He said, “Yes, I want you to see the room.”
I walked into the room, looked around, and saw last night’s message on the blackboard. I knew it because of the diagram.
I said, “Where did that come from?”
He said, “You remember, do you not? That is what you shared last night. I shared it with them this morning at five o’clock.”
I thought, “Oh, God, You have such strange ways of working into situations.”
I needed a little encouragement, because you sometimes wonder if anybody is doing anything with what you share. I stood there and wept.
He said, “You would be surprised how many of the key men—the CEOs involved here—are part of this. He is the one who gave the final push, and the shots were off.”
God has people hidden everywhere.
I walked over to him and said, “Would you let me bless you for what you are doing?” He said, “Only if I can bless you.” I said, “Go ahead.”
I have to close. You understand, I ramble and ramble.
God is building some people today who are becoming disciplined—with their eyes, with their tongues, and in many areas of life.
I simply want to encourage you today, because the great majority of people who fail do so through lack of discipline.
What was amazing to me was that at the Alabama conference with those seventy-five or eighty-five pastors, the man who had been their speaker the year before was Ted Haggard—the man from Colorado who was exposed.
I thought, “Oh, God, how many situations were there where You wanted to minister and touch people’s lives, but there is a two-edged sword?” I do not believe he could touch deeply into the lives of many of those men because the sword was not cutting in his own life.
Why do we go easy and spare our children? Because we spare ourselves.
Never require anything of another that I am not willing to pay the price for myself. But thank God, we know that discipline is the work of the Holy Spirit, and we are claiming that in these days.
Father, we thank You this morning for an attentive group of people. I want to claim for everyone here a new sense of discernment to distinguish things that are different.
Tough love is not wrong. Tough love dares to speak the truth.
I claim for the mothers and fathers who are here that they will know how to walk before You, Lord, so that they can give their children the principle of pleasing the Father. They represent a heavenly Father.
When children please their earthly father, he delights to give to them and meet their needs. I know it to be true.
Bring us into the place of principle living—living without urgencies constantly disturbing and crowding us. Help us to know how to discern when to answer the phone and when not to.
Lord, all we can say is that You are the God who gives discernment, and the disciplines of life always require that kind of discernment.
We give You thanks because we believe You are doing something even in our hearts here today.
Help us not merely to tell people what when they need to know why. Lord, we cannot answer the why except by the Holy Spirit unfolding, giving insight, and giving discernment.
I pray for fathers this morning. Thank You for the godly men who are here. You alone can bring them into this place of discernment.
Help them to recognize, even as Jimmy Carter knew, that lust conceives when you grab hold and your mind fantasizes.
Even with precious ladies, there are things they think will satisfy. The fantasizing over it says, “I have got to have it.” The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes—oh, God, You can deal with it, and we claim that today.
In Jesus’ name we ask it. Amen.