Understanding Your Role in the Body of Christ with Ps. Dwight Hicks

Understanding your role in the Body of Christ is a message for everyone, not just those who feel like they're not doing enough.

Jesus teaches that every part of the body has a place of importance and that we should focus on our own gifts and abilities rather than comparing ourselves to others.

The Christian life is not about trying to be someone else, but about being the best version of ourselves and trusting in God's plan for our lives.

We should focus on our own faith and not compare ourselves to others, and instead, look to God's Word for guidance and direction.

So please give that because I think it's really encouraging. So why do you make it so hard when it is so simple? If you would make me, God, the centre of your being, the centre of your life, if you would put God first, focus on me, it would be easy. Everything you do, you say, will be in my name because you have consulted me first. You spent time with me first and so I will guide your steps. Each step, every single step. And you will do right and you will do good and you will be my child. and my light to the world will shine through you. So stop complicating things. I am with you. Drop the figuring. Drop trying to be in control and be guided by my steps because I love you and you will do good. And do not fear. Walk in my ways and do good. Praise the Lord. Thank you. Well, we've been talking about over the last number of weeks, and I did title it, Finding Our Place in the Body of Christ, the Church. Now, we've all been saved a while. We all know what we're doing. We're all doing different things at different times for him. So this is not, if I can just say this, this is not something directed at you saying you're not doing something. It's just purely a message. And it's for all those people out there. It's not for us. no it's for us every day but it's it's to reinforce I believe what um um what what God has for us and continues for us in our ordinary life well we are all leaders in the body of Christ we all have a position or a place of importance now you notice that remember that example that that Jesus gave he was talking about the the nose and the ear and the and the hands and and the feet and every part has a place to pay and they do and but the thing about the thing the passage there that talks about that is that we can't say it's the scripture gives the opinion that we can't say that we don't have need of you or we don't have need of the elbow or the knee or because everyone has a part and then he goes on says there that there are comely parts and uncomely parts and i think jesus is really really um um well of course he's smart because he's god but how he how he shows us through these parables and that there's no one who's left out he says he says there are comely parts and uncomely parts looking at our bodies and he says that some even those parts some parts are covered up thank god for that um and some parts are exposed so that we people can see in that. And then he says there are dishonourable parts and honourable parts. And I don't mind everything else till we get down to the dishonourable parts and I like the honourable parts but the dishonourable parts. So I don't understand completely the context of what Jesus is saying because it seems if you look at it you could just be an uncomely part and you'll be covered up and no one will ever see you. you could just be the back side of the church and or you could be a dishonorable part and so you're just stuck with being dishonorable I don't mean that either I don't think Jesus is saying that because that would be terrible that then that would be sort of like well we got no choice we don't have the ability to make a choice that what part we are but more than anything I believe that it wasn't so much he was talking to talking to the knee saying to the elbow or the elbow saying to the shoulder. I think more than anything he was saying that whatever part you find yourself in, what are you saying about yourself? What are you saying? Are you looking and you're looking that part of the body, looking and want to be another part of the body of Christ? Well, you know, we will never ever be fulfilled if we want to be someone else. I wrote an article to our ministers some of you have also got that in relation to the living faith by the faith that someone else has we read a testimony we see a testimony we watch a video or some teaching and that and at the end of it we go rah rah rah yep that's exactly what I'm just going to go out I'm going to believe for the same things I'm going to do this I'm going to do that where that our faith we don't even have the ability at this present moment to be able to believe for the things that they are believing for. Remember, that's not building them up. That's actually saying that everyone has a measure of faith to work on. And everyone has a measure of faith only to go so far. You know, I have been given grace as a measure. The Bible says that. I've also been given faith as a measure. But if I try and go past that measure that has been given to me, it causes frustration. if I try and produce what someone else is producing or another ministry is producing and do it the way they do it because they've got the seven steps to growing a church only because their church is growing and so everyone wants to follow the steps but it just fails terribly I remember in the early days when we were at Mount Kavak with Reg Climenop and Yong Eecho was the name at that particular time and he started home cell groups. And we started home cell groups in Mount Gravatt. It was the big rage and it went quite well for about 12 months. And then it was just destroying the church internally. Everyone thought they were a prophet. Everyone thought they were prophesying. Everyone thought they could do this and do that. And it was just, everyone was teaching everything different. So we just canned it because it worked well over in South Korea, but it wasn't working well in Australia. And I think sometimes we, as Christians, we have to make sure that where we have our faith on is in the Word of God and not in what we think because someone else has something or is doing something a certain way, that that will bring contentment. And in this passage here, and I wrote this down and I want to just say this to you. Jesus left us an example to follow when he said I've come to minister not to be ministered to now there is a Christian labour but not as heavy as the unsaved labour we know that people say well why is my Christian life so hard well I don't know why your Christian life is hard but I do know when my Christian life gets hard it usually gets hard when I take my eyes off of everything else and I put eyes back on me all the time If I put my eyes on me, I'm thinking about how hard and how difficult it is for me. Oh, poor me and everything. And I do do that. But trust me, it's a common fault of humanity that we look in the mirror and we just see the way we are. We think, my goodness, that's as far as it's going to go. This is just the way I am. Well, it's not. It's not. we need to look at the great things that God has done in our life and if you've been saved a while or more than six months you will know that God has done great things even if you've just been saved you realise that you were going to hell people say that they've gone to hell and they've seen all this and they've seen that I think hell's a lot worse than that I don't think anyone has really seen how monstrously great heaven is or being in heaven is or how terrible that hell is either I think people have images of what they believe it is and God teaches them from the images that they have seen and believed but in this passage here it says there that there is a Christian labour but not as heavy as the unsaved labour Jesus said that his labour is light so there is a labor. Jesus also said to take up our cross and follow him so there is a cross. Jesus also said to seek him first in our life and that came through in a word of prophecy that Dorothy gave through singing in that a couple of weeks ago on that and also has come through today too. Jesus said to seek him first in our life so there is a seeking. Jesus also said to die to self so there is a dying. I think if you've been saved a while you know there is a dying there is a sacrificing and I don't think you wake up one morning and you just go oh I've sacrificed my life for Jesus, I've died for Jesus I think it's something that we just do all the time it's something in our Christian life that we we die to self when we're thinking about other people all the time I want to have a look at this passage in Matthew 16 for the time that we've got this morning. And this is what it says. This is in relation to about the cross. Jesus said, take up and follow him. In verse 24, it comes up, and we'll just see if it actually comes up on the screen or not. Then Jesus said to his disciples, he who wishes to follow me, let him deny himself. It's a pretty, you know, what do I mean deny myself? Does that mean that deny myself of everything that I can just enjoy in life? No, that's not what it's talking about. It's talking about that when I have the opportunity to be able to help someone, I deny myself the time at that particular moment that I am sacrificing to minister to that person or whatever it might be. See, a lot of people, and I think this is the worst thing in the body of Christ, and I don't think for me it's the worst thing, but I think for people in the congregation it is the worst thing at times. That they think what they do, they're not doing anything for God because they aren't doing something in a notable position in the body of Christ or at the church. And I think that's terribly demoralising of yourself and your importance because it says let not that person say or let not that part that they are in the body of Christ say that they don have no worth because you do have worth You might say yes but I just not doing enough You know, what is enough? Literally, you know, really, what is enough in your Christian life is enough. But a lot of people, a lot of people feel condemned and they self-condemn themselves and they feel guilty because they self-judge themselves. is that they're not doing much for God. If you're coming to church, I believe you're doing something for God because you are being obedient to the scripture where it says you don't forsake the assembly of yourselves together as the men of Samar. Now, straight away, we would think of people that are not here. And that's exactly what that passage is. Let us not say that the people that are not here don't love God. let us say that the people that are not here things are going to go terrible for them because that's terribly wrong and we have to be careful of that and we'll have a look at this in a second in Romans 7 but let's look at here then Jesus said to his disciples he who wishes to follow me and I know you all want to follow him we do let him deny himself what do you mean deny yourself well coming to church is denying yourself you know when you give him your finances that's denying yourself what you could spend on yourself when you give your time even if it's a phone call to someone to encourage someone or just whatever it might be a card that's sent to someone on their birthday whatever it might be that's a ministry and it's a terribly important ministry and we deny ourselves for that short process of time to minister to someone else and that's okay and that's what it's all talking about he says take up his cross and follow me and then he says for whoever wishes to save his life well aren't we all trying to save our life aren't we all trying to you know keep ourselves together in our life because he says here for whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it well then you know you know what what do you mean Jesus you know if you you know I want to I want to follow you I want to I do want to take up my cross and follow you but that that's not that's not like walking around like they do in certain countries on certain times and they just keep whipping themselves all the time till they're bleeding and that and they feel the same same suffering as the Christ we don't have to be like that we don't have to have our lives trying to follow someone else we just have to have our lives following Jesus for whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it what do you mean lose you know I've lost things but I don't think I've ever lost my life I do mean if I die for you or I'm martyred No, well that can't be like that Because not everyone gets martyred So what does it mean? What is Jesus saying? Whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it Whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it These are not our whole lives altogether These are particular times in our life These are particular moments that we have the Let's just cut it really easy for us. These are times when we have the opportunity to be able to walk down a path and walk past someone pushing a trolley that's having trouble. You might say, oh, just, excuse me for a sec. You might say, oh, that's it. I just helped someone put their luggage in there shopping into their cars. No, no, no. that's where you denied yourself for that particular time for the benefit of the spiritual purpose that you are on this earth. So all things that we do as spiritual don't have to be spiritual as far as church is concerned. Just a phone call, just a letter, just someone in the street, you say, hi, God bless you, or whatever it might be, giving up your place to let someone else go in front of you that's behind you. That's all part of the Christian experience, It's the Christian life that we live. So we shouldn't demoralize ourselves and we shouldn't minimize ourselves for what we do. You know, well, I just go to work all day. I might head down and bum up and, you know, and excuse the expression, and, you know, I just don't feel like I'm serving God. I just go morning to night. I work at all sorts of hours and that. But, you know, the Bible says that if you work for a boss, you work for him for the Lord. so you're actually doing the work of the lord by doing that when you when you pray for the government whenever it might be you have an opportunity to criticize them or you have an opportunity to to to speak and they may never ever hear you say what you are saying but you're doing what the bible says the bible is more than just spiritual things that are done on a sunday the bible is full of of who we are Remember for the first 300 years, they didn't have church like we're having today. They met in homes. It was the Catholics that brought, as far as the church building was concerned, and there's nothing wrong with that, not following the way of the Catholics. And they were the ones that instituted the tithes too, because buildings became back into it again. Before that, the church just met from house to house, just a handful of people. But it grew and it multiplied. There was no music. They sung hymns, sung hers, sung hymns. and they sang those things to the Lord but it wasn't a great orchestra or anything like that but it said that God built his church and sometimes we think and we may hear the statistics that are around the statistics at the moment are just cruel to the church that and that there are there the there are 19% less people who say they're Christians going to church now fellowshipping once a month than there was in 2016 and that was up until 2019 that was before COVID by the way too so I wouldn't want to think what it is now the COVID and people would say oh my goodness look people are not going to church any longer but you know this is because we as the people that we are we have this observation that that the church is something we go into church on sunday no we are the church wherever we are and jesus said you know i'll build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against that means that he's still building his church just because people don't come to church jesus doesn't go oh no what are we going to do what are we going to do dad things are really bad you know because he is god is constant this is the thing about Jesus his word is constant it is it isn't affected by by the temperature of things that are happening or the environment that's happening you know people say oh the world's going down the tube you know there's global warming and all this look one day God will use global warming but it's going to destroy the heavens and the earth when he burns it up by fire to create a new heaven and a new earth you try and stop that nothing against people that that believe those things that's for sure for whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it and whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it so when I give up my time for a moment through the day through the week to to go out of the way that was not part of the ordinary plan to say something or do something for someone either a church person or a non-church person I'm actually I'm actually finding my life I'm finding my purpose and my purpose in life is to minister to the people not because I'm a pastor but to minister to people that I come in contact with it might be just a very short encouraging word but that's what God has put us on the earth for the church is growing and it will continue to grow but people say hang on here but it says that at the end there will be a great falling away and do you think that stops God from building his church no God will keep building his church and the devil doesn't have a hope in hell for how would a man benefit if he gains the whole world that means if he possesses all of his the things that there are to possess and loses his own soul or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul you know what will we exchange If I see this person that I can help with the trolley, we use the trolley thing as an example, or putting shopping into the back of a car for a lady or for someone who's struggling in that. And it says, for what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Well, I'm giving this person here, I'm giving this person, I'm showing to this person that there are actually people. I may not be saying it's from God or God has called me to break out in a prophecy in a car park or anything like that. But that will be seed that is planted in their life of someone who is a Christian. And someone down along the road will water that seed. And they may be the ones that will share Christ with them. But it's because of the seed that we put in their lives that they are able to be born again. We'll be amazed when we get to heaven. for the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his holy angels and I like this passage and when I read the Bible and this is the problem with people not you, people they read the Bible they read the Bible in a negative sense instead of in a positive sense and it's like this and this is what it says for so the Son of Man when he comes in the glory of his Father with his holy angels and then he will reward each man according to his works. Now let's just put up verse 27 please love. Up there. 26, 27. There it says. For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels and then he will reward each according to his works. Each according to his works. We think about this. Okay. God's going to reward me according to his works. I've done nothing. I've literally. I've done nothing for Jesus you know Romans 2 then in verse 5 to 8 verse 6 it is it says there that God will and Paul says this reinforcing what Jesus said here said that he will reward every man according to his deeds good or bad you know a lot of things oh man life you know Jesus has spent first million years just dealing with 10 people uh and that you know if it going to be like this you know how can that how can I if I look at this I look at a negative way I have done so many crummy things you know even after being saved and I've you know I should have done this and I didn't do this and I know it's not a big deal but it is a big deal so I read the Bible in a negative sense I don't read the Bible in a positive sense so looking at this passage here and the one in Romans that I read it that God will reward me according to all of the all of the good things that I've done in my life that I can't even remember because I can't remember them and I don't try to remember them so that I can sort of say well you know I'm a good person because I helped the old lady across the road you know it was okay until he got across the road and she wasn't waiting to go across the road she's waiting for a cab and this word works here is an interesting word so we think of it, we think of it, oh you know what I've done in my life, oh look man, I say this respectfully, I'm disrespecting oh my god I swore at the kids, I thought I should have killed them I really lost my cool, I just blew off the handle well that's not what this is talking about you're going to feel bad enough for doing something wrong you don't need God to tell you that you've done something wrong you feel bad enough you yourself wanting to do good for God will make yourself feel bad enough so let's forget about the bad feelings so this Greek meaning of this word works here is an interesting word it's actions it's an action word and it means the execution of life it's an action word it's an execution of life it comes from the word which means it's interesting what have I created in my life What have I created my life to be? It's not what's happening in my life, but what am I creating my life to be? What do I want to be in my life? What are the main issues in my life? What do I want to be? I want to be a good husband. I want to be a good father. I want to be a good pastor. Those are the things that I consider the good things that I want to be. I want to be a good person. but you know I don't always I don't always do good sometimes I don't always have the good attitude as a pastor or as a father or as a father just give up the whole lot and go and live on a desert island you know I've seen what happens and you end up talking to basketballs Wilson someone's listening and that so it's more than that you won't get no rewards for looking after Wilson but this passage in Romans and I don't think you'll have that there anyway to put up in Romans 2 let me just have a look at this because there's another meaning I want to bring it up here in Romans 2 it says here who will render I'm not going to teach the rest of this what this is actually talking about but it says who will render to every man according to his deeds and this is this word again action how things were done, the mode of action, why we do things. So basically I'll turn it to myself, why am I a pastor? To get popularity from people, that's not working, 39 years. So there's not a great deal of popularity from a lot of people. But there are a lot of people that we, I believe, that we've influenced through the years, good or bad. so this building of our life or what we do each time I do something for someone or you do something for someone or whatever it might be I'm building who I am in life and you're quite often oh that person is a very gentle person why? not because he beats people up on the side of the street well that person is a kind person so there are attributes to each of us that we don't have to be with someone too long. You don't have to be with someone too long that you don't know what type of person that's like. That's not a criticism. Criticism is when you say, well, you know, if you were me, if I was you, I wouldn't do that or whatever it is. Well, we're not trying to get someone else to be like us. I hope not. That's terrible. So he says this in Matthew 7, verse 2. This is an interesting passage. and I probably won't get any further to finish this. Let me just read out what I've got here. We as Christians cannot have a blanket statement. This is not a personal statement about you. This is just a blanket statement. That's the reason why I changed it from you to we. We as Christians cannot have a 50-50 walk and expect everything to work our best for us. It just doesn't work like that. I can't, you know. I told Geraldine that I love her and I'm unfaithful to her well that's not going to work out is it? well but I love her 50% you know and I'm carrying on 50% the other way well that's the thing's not going to work out and life's not life is like that you know if I work for a boss whether I give him 100% effort I can put my hand on my heart but if I and I know I'm going to get paid but if I only give him a 50% effort and he cuts my pay 50% because I've just been a sluggard. Well, that's exactly what I deserve. You know, 50% is just the way it goes. What I sow out and give out is what comes back to me. It's just a law of sowing and reaping. If we endeavour to give him 100% or 100-100 walk, then he will give us 100-100 walk in our life. Now, why can I say this? This is this passage that I find very interesting in Matthew 7. And you can do it on the negative way, but I'm going to change it around to be positive. And verse 1 says, judge not that you may not be judged. How do you judge yourself? I'm turning it inward now. How do I judge myself? Do I judge myself with grace or do I judge myself with, you stupid idiot, Dwight, you're no better than that. What did you go and do that for? Slap yourself on the face and if you feel you should be punished for it, get the hammer out and hit yourself with the hand. But why do people do that? Why do people always look at a negative side? Judge not that you may not be judged. And they think, oh God, I did judge that person. Then you start to judge yourself wrongly and you end up being in the dilderings because you haven't seen exactly what the rest of the passage is talking about. For with the same measure, this is what I like. Remember I said 50-50 walk or 100-100 walk. For with the same measure that you judge, you will be judged. Okay, that just means that that doesn't mean by God. That actually means by life itself. So how I judge people and critical people will help people judge me. Because the same measure that I measure out to people will be the same measure that people measure back to me. So if I'm endeavouring to be 100% person to you and be extremely kind and be extremely generous in that, then I can expect, but I don't expect, because I know it's going to happen anyway, I can expect a return. it says that if I give to people that people will give to me the Bible says that so I am in control not God of the amount of what I want people to give to me so I want people to respect me as a pastor well pastor then respect people no they should respect me because I'm called a God yeah well that will work not very well so the respect is a respect I respect everyone's, and we endeavoured to do this, we respect everyone's position to be different than us. Praise God. Because I can tell you what, I have enough trouble with one of me than with 50 of me. You know, I might say, well, you know, you should pray more. Usually when people say that about people, they're usually saying that because that's what God's saying to them. Well, you should witness more, you should do this more. And this is what we have as humans. we have the ability to be able to God is speaking to us to turn it around and speak to people and think we're talking for God when God was actually talking to us it wasn't a three way conversation it was only a two way conversation but we do have that and we know that we have that when things are done to us and we think well I don't deserve that because I'm a good person so straight away we change this whole program that God has for us and we think it's all about us all the time. Well, look what's happening to me. And the more you look at you, the more you find out about you that you don't like. So if we keep our love on other people, you might say, well, does that mean everyone will love? No, not everyone will love us. We can do the best of the best intention to help people, but it will just be turned around and they'll have their hand out all the time. You might say, well, stupid people, they don't deserve anything. Well, that's wrong because with the same judgment that I'm judging this person with, it's the same judgment that's going to come back to me. So I'll just love Geraldine when she loves me. No, that's not a good idea either. I love Geraldine in respect to if she doesn't, how can I say this without sounding critical? She doesn't have to do something to deserve my love. and she doesn't have to deserve my love because the Bible says that I should love my wife. And straight away all the time is that usually we find if we want to be judgmental, we usually look for mistakes in people's lives. And they might be our neighbours, they might be just anyone. and this is what I think more than and this has helped me a real lot in my Christian life and I say this respectfully not disrespectfully so don't think I'm judging anyone I can look around and say so and so should be at church I tell you what if I've been preaching I felt they should be now that's incorrect to do that because quite often I will find out through the week not because I will ask but because God will make sure that I find out what's going on in their life and I say, man, that was pretty bad you know That person did cut me off Yeah that stupid idiot I just can wait to catch up to them and give them a piece of Geraldine mind I tell you what Geraldine a couple of Nah, we'll move on. So it says here that you will be judged. And with the same measure with which you measure, it will be measured to you. so the amount that I measure the amount that I measure God to people is the amount that people will measure God to me because that's what that Bible says and the amount that I measure to God will be the amount that he measures back to me you might say well no no no grace is the only unconditional thing about God everything else is conditional you just may as well just take it as everything else is conditional well you know you know I've been given I haven't seen anything come back if you said that to me I'd say oh you probably won't get anything back you could give all your life because your attitude stinks you know so if I was to judge someone that would be cruel I would I think the Holy Spirit is the one that says he will teach us he'll guide us he'll show us things to come he is our guide do I teach yes I teach but once I teach it's not my responsibility what happens with that Karen teaches you know what the kids do if they listen or they don't you know no longer can you go up and whack the kid out of the back of the head with your hand or something like that you know teacher threw a brick at me once just as well I was able to duck and then I found out it was a cool light brick a smart aleck but he got my attention it says here then down in verse 7 of the same passage and I'm not going to read from three down because it's it will just complicate things and it says here now ask this is interesting now remember that verse two says for the same measure with which you measure will be measured to you think about this the same measure i'm just not i'm just not happy with my christian life okay okay let's just inwardly let's just assess my christian life well you know why you're not happy well because of this and because of that because this and that okay okay how are you going to fix this how you'll fix it is you'll change the measure that you're measuring out because what you're receiving in your life is because of what you and i measure out are you sure yes because it goes down to verse 7 and we forget about verse 2 when we quote verse 7 and 8 because it says there ask and it shall be given to you now jesus actually says jesus actually He says that bring everything to him in prayer. That's 100% of everything. So if you only take 50% to him in prayer, because the Bible says take everything to God in prayer, well then God's not going to work everything out in your life if you're only going to take 50%. If you don't take things to him in your life in prayer, he's not going to come down against you or against me and do something outside of that. He just doesn't do that. That's what the devil does. so God gives as much as I give to God God gives back to me because that's all he can because of the rule of sowing and reaping and the rule of measure what we measure to God is what God can measure back to us he said to the children of Israel if you are faithful and you do the commandments then I'll keep all your enemies from you I'll keep you healthy see the if that was there forget about the ifs God not being disrespectful well God will not bless you if you don't give it doesn't matter what it is does God want to bless you yes he is eager too but he can't because the avenue of faith is what he uses or the we'll call it the path or the or the river or the stream of faith is what he uses now he will do things that are out of the ordinary and just just to just to confuse us at times where he will just we don't deserve it and he'll just bless us and like anyway go oh you know but you know we usually don't we usually don't look at it like that we think i wanted to deserve that god felt sorry for him i'll tell you what god does not feel sorry for you and i at all he doesn't want us to feel sorry for ourselves either you can feel sorry for yourself but it'll be just you and you that'll be worshiping together ask and it shall be given to you well how much will be given to me ask and it shall be given to you if i involve god 100 of my marriage he will give me 100 of my marriage to me. I can't expect Geraldine to I say this respectfully, give everything of herself to me if I'm not prepared to give everything of myself to her. No. I'm not going to do anything until she proves herself first. Well that will work. Let me know after a little while how that's going. Ask and it shall be given to you. Then it says seek and you shall find. Well how much do you seek? How much you seek will will determine how much you find. Well, I just don't get anything out of God's word anymore. You don't? Really? What are you reading? You know, what are you not reading? What are you reading, Leviticus or something? All the time. I don't get anything out of that either. Numbers is another one. I don't get anything out of that either. Except the headache. Ask and it shall be given to you. You seek and you shall find. How much are you seeking? and he says knock and it shall be open to you how much has been open to you in your life God wants to shower us of all of these blessings and he says well I can't because you're only asking me for certain things you're only involving me in certain things now I will go out of my way but it is up to you, it is up to me then he says for whoever asks how much are you asking for I bring everything to God in making this as a statement I endeavour to do this for whoever asks receives what do you receive? I receive everything from God how can I receive everything from God? because I've given him everything oh I gave him my life well you gave him life back then but he's not talking about that he's talking about now you're giving your life to God now because he says whoever asks receives so if I give God 100% of my life and I pray and endeavour to do what he wants me to do in my life for him, not for me, then I'll receive. He will make everything else work out for me. And it says here, he who seeks finds. And to him who knocks, the door is open. I don't want the door just half open. Because then he goes down and he says this, and we'll close on this. This is what he says. This is the interesting part. then he says or who is the man among you when his son asks for bread will he give him a stone? No he'll give him bread and he'll give him exactly the amount that he asks him for. He goes down and he says there or if he should ask him for a fish will he give him a snake? I hope not not even a sea snake if you ask him for fish what would he give him he'll give him a fish but how much of the fish will he give him what he has asked for what he has given to God what he has measured to God for if therefore it says here if therefore you who err know how to give good gifts to your sons right okay now this is where he shows this in a positive way. He says, even though your sons will give you a certain amount of respect, will you respect them? Well, as time goes on, I know this, and I know this for people's lives too, that they go hard towards their children because their children do not give them, this is not me, by the way, do not give them the respect of what is owing to them. So we have to be careful. We have to be careful. Okay, I tell you what, I'm going to cut them out of the will. That's what I'll do. I'll fix them. I'll give it to the RSPCA. Well, that will certainly leave a lasting love envelope of your children to you, wouldn't it? That was a touch of a funny bone there, didn't it, Mark? I just got completely lost now. Verse 12. now whatever you wish men to do for you do likewise also for them how much do you want to do for men well i'll tell you what i have done it for people before and i've got used i'm just not doing it anymore wrong we're not doing it to get something back from them we're doing it because that is part of who we are as christians and god rewards us what does god do he says seek ye first the kingdom of God and you won't have to seek all the things that the Gentiles are seeking they're given to you automatically so I don't have this there's loads of what God has given me that I don't have to really ask for but I used to ask for it and I got it all mixed up it says here for whatever you wish men to do for you do likewise also for them well I think here it's not talking about what I'm doing but the quantity and the quality and how much I do for them for this is the law and this the prophets and he says then we'll finish up he says but it's a small door it's a small path that leads to this so it's a broad path that you just look after yourself and don't worry about anyone else all the time but it's an open door but it's a very small door and a broad path to walk this way because if we're Christians just like any of us that that we want everything to go right for us but everything's not going to go right for us because everything didn't go right for Jesus but Jesus did and was overcoming in everything that didn't go right for him people misunderstood him will people misunderstand him yes people will throw stones at him they'll throw stones at us too maybe not literally it's just the way things are church we have been saved but you know what We have been saved and we have a Saviour that saves us every day. In Jesus' name. Amen.

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