Give to Him that Asketh

Returning to the Sermon on the Mount: The Greater Righteousness

0:02 After several weeks of digression due to the Christmas season, at which time we sought to comprehend, I trust, with a bit more breadth,

0:15 the mysterious wonder Mr. Corby mentioned in his prayer this morning, that the Word, the eternal Word, should become flesh and dwell among us. Having digressed for the holiday season, we now want to come back to our regular course of study in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew chapter 5.

0:42 We are coming to the close of this second major section of the Sermon on the Mount, the first section being what we commonly call the Beatitudes, in which there is a delineation of the basic character traits of a true child of God. Then there was the transition portion, in which our Lord tells us that His relationship to the Old Testament is not to do with the Old Testament, but to the Old Testament. He has not come to destroy the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill, and in concluding that transition section from verses 17 to 20,

1:23 He introduces in verse 20 what is going to follow, really, for the rest of the Sermon, but in particular the rest of the fifth chapter, that except our righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, we shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. And so, in this chapter, we are going to see that the Old Testament And from verses 21 to 48, our Lord is describing the greater righteousness of the true child of God as contrasted with the false righteousness of the scribes and of the Pharisees. They were externalists, and their righteousness consisted in being in the right place and doing the right thing, and wearing the right clothes and making the right gestures,

2:07 but they knew absolutely nothing of having the right heart. And so, our Lord is going to expand the true implications of the Law of God and how the spiritual content of the Law is lived out in the lives of His true followers. In doing so, He gives us these six parallel passages, each one introduced with the phrase, Ye have heard that it was said, but I say unto you. And in each case, as we have seen in our study from week to week, our Lord lays out the first and the last, the false interpretation and practice of the scribes and the Pharisees, and then He gives us the true interpretation of the Law

The Christian and Personal Revenge: Review of Previous Examples

2:50 and how it's to be lived out in the lives of those who know Him and who follow Him by the grace of God. This morning, we want to conclude our study of the fifth of those passages, which is bounded by verses 38 and 42. Just to pick up the loose threads, may I read? For you, and you follow with me, if you will, please.

3:14 Verses 38 to 42.

3:18 Ye have heard that it hath been said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil, or better translated, resist not him that is evil. But whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if a man would soothe thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak.

3:42 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him too. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee, turn not thou away. We are entitling this section, The Christian and Personal Revenge. The old covenant had instructed the children of Israel that in the laws of the land, in the courts of the man, the principle that operates in the realm of, of justice, is eye for eye, tooth for tooth.

4:18 The Pharisees had used this as an excuse for personal revenge, when this was never the teaching of the word of God. And so our Lord gives four examples of how the true child of God is to react when his own person, or his own rights, are touched. The first instance, Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn the other also. This is a, a clear instruction as to how I am to act and react when someone touches my person.

4:50 The second example, If any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy coat. Here's an area where my legal rights are being trampled upon. How am I to react in terms of my so-called legal rights? Am I to press them?

5:05 Christ said no. If a man wants to take you to court, and take your coat, don't fight him. Don't say, All right, sir, here's my, here's my outer garment as well. And then the third example, and with this we close, the last time we studied this portion, it's the instance in which someone touches my personal liberty.

5:25 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go within two. Under the system of Roman government, a citizen could be asked, or someone who was a subject of Rome, could be asked to help the soldiers carry a, a particular burden for one mile. And so our Lord says, When your own personal liberties, are infringed upon, you're not to stand up and defend your liberties, and demand them. You're to submit to those that would infringe upon your liberties, and you're to go the second mile.

The Command to Give and Lend: What it Involves

5:57 In each of these instances, our Lord is enjoining upon his own disciples, a selfless attitude in any case, where my person, my legal rights, or my personal liberties, are touched. Now we come to the fourth instance, and perhaps this is the most searching of all. Found in verse 42, Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee, turn not thou away. Here's a case where a demand is made upon my personal possession.

6:37 First of all, my person, my chief. Then my legal rights, my coat. Then my personal liberties, go a mile. And now my personal possessions, give to him that asketh of thee.

6:51 Now we're going to follow the same outline we followed with the others. First of all, what does the command itself involve? Then, what is the natural reaction of the human heart towards such a situation? And then, what is the principle that our Lord is driving at?

7:09 And then we want to qualify it, and then apply it. So we've got a five-fold outline this morning, and we've followed it. I believe it's logical and clear, and will help you to remember the teaching of our Lord Jesus. All right then, first of all, what is involved in this command?

7:24 There are two imperatives. Notice them carefully. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee, turn not away. The command is two-fold.

7:37 First of all, it's a command to outright charity. Give to him that asketh of thee, with no strings attached, with no promise of return, just an outright gift. What we would call an act of charity. And then secondly, there's a command that we might loan.

7:56 Here's someone who needs some temporary assistance, and who is in such a financial position, that there's a good chance that he can repay me. So God tells me in the Lord Jesus Christ, that I am to be gracious, and lend according to my ability. Now, what's the heart of the event? What's the heart of the issue in these two commands?

8:17 I believe it's this. When, as a Christian, I am confronted with legitimate need, I am always to act in a selfless manner, doing whatever is within my power to meet that need. Now, let me repeat. Whenever I am confronted with legitimate need, whether it's a need for an outright gift, someone so impoverished that to give it as a loan would add insult to injury, or if it's a situation where there's temporary need that can possibly be met in the future, in either case, I'm confronted by legitimate need.

The Natural Reaction of the Flesh vs. the Underlying Principle

8:57 And I have within me the power to meet that need. I have the wherewithal. Our Lord says, whenever you confront legitimate need, you must always act in a selfless manner, doing everything within your power to meet that need. Now, secondly, what is the normal reaction of the flesh when we're exposed to need?

9:24 Well, when it comes to outright giving, we see someone who's in financial straits, and that's the least of the matters here, as we'll see later on as I apply the truth. But let's apply it here. I can reason this way. Well, look, what's mine is mine.

9:37 I've earned it by my own hard work. If you're in straits, that's your tough luck. Sorry, fellow. I can't run the risk of giving to you.

9:45 Sure, I have my present needs met, but I may jeopardize my future if I give to you. So though you don't even have your present need met, and I do, I'm going to be indifferent to your present need because I can't afford to jeopardize my future. And so when people would ask of us, what do we do? We refuse them.

10:05 Because it may jeopardize our own future. It's touching our own interests. Or if we do long, perhaps it's done with a view to even using this person's difficulty as a means to advance my own selfishness. And so we become guilty of usury, loaning with interest, which was absolutely forbidden amongst the Israelites to one another.

10:31 God said you can take interest from the heathen nations in a loan, but God condemned the taking of interest amongst the family of Israel. And I think there's a principle there. He never wanted one Israelite to better himself because of the difficult situation of another Israelite. And as children of God, it's unthinkable that I should use your need as an occasion to further my own purposes.

10:58 Now this is dealing with individuals. This is not talking about the banking system or anything else. And for anyone to try to prove that from here, it's absolute folly. This is dealing in my relationship as an individual Christian to individuals who confront me with legitimate need.

11:15 So you see the natural reaction of the flesh is to be indifferent to the need to which I'm exposed, because it may jeopardize my own standing in my own situation. Now what's the basic principle that the Lord Jesus is dealing with? I want you to notice that he spoke this in the context of verse 39. But I say unto you, resist not him that is evil, give to him that asketh thee.

11:40 Now what in the world is the connection between those two? Do you see any connection? I can see the connection between resist not him that is evil, whosoever shall smite thee on the cheek. If a man comes and smites me for no reason, that's an evil man.

11:53 A man who'll take advantage of me and sue me for my coat, that's an evil man. A man who'll take advantage of his place in the government and compel me to go a mile, I can see that this man is evil, but how does this tie in with verse 42? Give to him that asketh thee. It's in the whole context of the general command, resist not him that is evil.

12:17 Do you see the connection? I believe it's this. If I am exposed to this need, there's always the possibility that the man to whom I am giving is spoofing me. He could be a fraud or a fake.

12:33 There's always the possibility that the person to whom I loan will not repay me. And a man who takes a loan and doesn't repay is an evil man, for God says in Psalm 37, 21, the wicked borroweth and payeth not again. It's a mark of wickedness for a man to borrow and not to repay. So I run the risk.

12:55 I have within my power to lend or to give. The man to whom I give may not give back or to whom I loan may not give it back. The man to whom I give may not truly appreciate it. He may not use it for the purpose for which he asked it.

13:10 But what is our Lord saying? And I believe this is what he's driving at. Far better for a wicked man to wickedly use that which I've given to him and be held accountable for a double wickedness than a professor of Jesus Christ, one who professes to know him, to be guilty of stinginess and niggardliness and unwillingness to respond to need. Our Lord is saying far better that you give and in the end it turns out that the man to whom you gave was an evil man and he abused your gift.

13:48 Far better that he, as a wicked man, be held accountable for the abuse of your gift than that you, as a professing Christian, be held guilty of stinginess and indifference to legitimate need. I believe that's what our Lord is driving at in this passage. And so he says, Give to him that asketh of thee and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. For can't you see the contradiction?

14:20 Here we profess to be followers and lovers and believers in the one who gave himself even to men who abused his gift. We profess to know him and follow him and love him and serve him. And if the world sees us unwilling to give simply because our giving may be abused and unappreciated and therefore we hold back from giving, how unlike the one whom we profess to know and follow we prove ourselves to be. Now may I, before applying this truth to several areas,

Qualifying the Command: Legitimate Need and Responsibility

15:02 give a qualifying statement which is absolutely necessary here. Some may sit and say, Well, if that's the case, if Christians are supposed to give to those that ask, and when you would borrow, they're not supposed to turn away, well, boy, then I'm just going to take advantage of God's people and I'll ask and they've got to give. That's what it says. Or I'm going to seek to borrow and they've got...

15:24 Wait a minute now. God says something to you. God says, The wicked borroweth and payeth not again, for you to incur debts unwisely when you don't have any reasonable assurance that you can pay them off, and then to use your income in other areas of selfish concern without paying back your debts is to be guilty of gross wickedness. The wicked borroweth and payeth not again.

15:53 It's a verse I'm beginning to write in all of my books that I loan out now. So lest anyone should say, Well, I can take advantage of my brethren, and just ask and they've got to give. God says, If you don't repay, you're guilty of wickedness. There's another qualifying truth of the Bible.

16:13 What about the person whose need I'm not sure is legitimate? What about the drunkard who comes up to me in the street and he says, May I have a dollar for a cup of coffee? He doesn't want a cup of coffee. You know he doesn't.

16:27 What about the person who's indolent and lazy? Well, God says something very clear about this in 2 Thessalonians 3.10. If any man will not work, let him not eat.

16:38 There at Thessalonica, you had some people that got so spiritual and heavenly-minded, they were no earthly good. Now, I've heard a lot of people say that. Oh, you better watch out. You can get so heavenly-minded, you're no earthly good.

16:48 That's not my problem. My problem is I get so earthly-minded, I'm no heavenly good. That's most of the problem that we live. But once in a while, you'll get someone who's so heavenly-minded, no earthly good.

16:59 And some of these people said, Well, boy, Paul's written up and saying the Lord's coming. Now, let's just sit down and fold our hands and get a real faraway look. And let's just wait for him to come. They got lazy.

17:09 It's amazing how the flesh will use the most spiritual excuses to have its own way. And all of us, by nature, are lazy. We don't like hard work. So these people covered up the laziness of the flesh by saying, Well, we just don't want to be found doing something so mundane as out making a living when the Lord comes.

17:27 We want to be found praying. That sounds spiritual, doesn't it? Paul said, Listen, those fellows that won't work, don't you go take them a casserole and a loaf of bread. Star them into work.

17:38 If they will work, why not eat? See, there's a difference between a man who will not and a man who cannot meet his needs. Now, the qualifying truth of the Bible is that you and I are to give when there's legitimate need. We are not to encourage indolence.

17:57 The government isn't to encourage indolence. This is one of the forces of the so-called great society that our present president is going to build for us. It's one in which personal initiative doesn't take the place that God intended it should. There are women, unmarried mothers, who are collecting checks of three and four hundred dollars a month.

18:19 They're far better off than they would be if they were married to someone of a lower middle income bracket. So they go right on, living as public harlots and having their children, and welfare statism encourages them to go on. The government is under no obligation to help people who will not help themselves. I believe the government, in applying the Christian principles, is under obligation to help those who cannot help themselves.

18:45 The church is under obligation to help those who cannot. That's why the church took care of the widows in the early centuries of the church's existence. But Paul said in 1 Timothy that if any man will not provide for his own, speaking particularly of his own widows, he's worse than an infidel, he hath denied the faith. Now, for those who could not provide for themselves, the church was to provide.

19:12 You and I are not to encourage indolence. We're not to encourage a drunkard to go on in his drunkenness. But those cases are rare. Time after time, you and I are faced with legitimate, genuine need, and our Lord says, as His followers, we are to give to those who ask us, and from those that would borrow from us, we are not to turn away.

Application to Money: A Test of Spiritual Depth

19:40 Now, may I apply this truth? This morning, and perhaps I should say, may the Holy Spirit apply it as I seek to convey His word to you. As I've lived with this text for several days and been thinking of it, I'm increasingly convinced that in this area, as perhaps in few others, the depth of our spiritual experience is revealed. How do I react to genuine, legitimate need?

20:12 Do you want to know how much you're filled with the Spirit? How much you are like Christ? How much God the Holy Ghost is possessing your total being? Here's a good test.

20:24 How do you react when you are exposed to legitimate need? Now, let's start on the bottom rung of importance in the area of money. I'm sure our Lord included that here, meant for us to think of this, and I say this is the bottom rung. In Luke chapter 16, Jesus said, He that is unfaithful in the unrighteous mammon, talking of money, how will you commit to him the true riches of your life?

20:53 Indicating that how I use my money is a good indication of how I use the spiritual benefits that have been conveyed upon me. And then Jesus said, A man that is unrighteous in little, a man that will not demonstrate Christian principles in his money, Jesus said, will be unrighteous in much. He'll never get to first place in the higher and more important aspects of the Christian life. Give to him that asketh of thee, and from him that would borrow of thee, turn not thou away.

21:29 The best commentary I know, as this truth applies to money, is found in the Word of God itself, and I just want to bring to your attention several passages. I'll read them and hardly make any comment on them, for their teaching is very, very clear. 1 John 3, verses 15 to 17. Whoso hateth his brother is a murderer.

21:55 Ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby, perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

22:26 Do you see the tremendous weight of what John says? Notice in verse 16, he says we perceive God's love because he laid down his most precious possession, he laid down his life for us. And John says when we have received that love, we ought to be in the place where we would actually lay down our lives in debt for our brethren. Now he says this is the normal attitude amongst Christians.

22:55 When I perceive the greatness of the love of God to me, a rebel sinner, a holy God loves the defiled, unclean rebel, and gives his life for me, once my heart has grasped at least the fringes of that truth, then I look at you, my brethren, and I say he laid down his life for you too. And if the holy one could die for you, simply, surely the unholy one would be willing to die for you. You see the reasoning John is using? If he laid down his life, then we ought to lay down.

23:28 Now he says if this is true, what do you think of the Christian who sees his brother has a need that demands not his life, but demands just a few shreds of his pocketbook? It doesn't demand the blood that curses through his veins, his most precious possession. All it demands is a little of the stuff that he carries in his wallet or has in his bank account. And he sees his brother have need, and he shuts up his forms of compassion.

23:54 He says, sorry, that's your best lie in it. John says, how can God's love dwell in that man? For if the love of God is in him, he'd give his life. Now if he won't even give a few shreds of his green back, what is the love of God in that man's heart?

24:11 The answer is obvious, it isn't. Do you get the reasoning of John here? The tremendous weight of this thing. Proverbs 3 says, Give to whom it is due when thou hast it in the power of thy hand to do it.

24:33 Say not to thy brother, go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give thee, when thou hast it by thee. Tremendous word in Proverbs 3. Verses 27 and 28. And then in Ephesians 4, 28.

24:48 Let him that stole steal no more, but let him work. Why? That he may have to give to him that is in need. Here, Paul says to these people just brought out of heathen paganism, he said, the purpose for which you were to work is not even ultimately the supply of your own needs.

25:10 He says, let him that stole steal no more, but let him rather work. Why? That he may build up his own bank account? No.

25:21 That he may increase his own standard of living? No. That he may have to give to him that hath need. Indicating that all I take out for myself is the necessities in order that I might meet the needs of others.

25:45 You know, this is not my opinion, this is Bible. This is the book. And Jesus said, if we're not faithful in the unrighteous manner, in such a thing as money, we'll never be faithful in the greater riches. We'll never be faithful in the spiritual things that are committed to us.

26:05 This touches our relationship to one another as brethren. It touches the matter of the cry of world missions. It touches the matter of the projects that, from our own alliance, cry for aid and help. The dear man of God who spoke out at the Urbana conference, Mr. Chandrapila, who was a personal friend of mine at school

26:26 and with whom, while there at Urbana, I had some precious times of prayer and fellowship, beloved, he confided in me, and he'd shoot me if he knew I'd say it from the pulpit, just this past year confided that he had the struggle to keep soul and body together, and the soul and body of his own family, just through sheer poverty in the work of God. And how can we take our three and four week vacations with all expenses paid and squander hundreds of dollars on non-essentials at Christmas time and all the rest? Beloved, God's been old as a camel. I'm convinced of it with all my heart.

27:05 God's been old as a camel. For legitimate need in terms of money is all around mission. Needy brethren, if your child got sick, you'd want to know there was enough money in the TB league to take care of him, or in the heart association to take care of him. But in the face of legitimate need, we say, no, I can't risk it.

27:36 Not that I don't have my present needs met, but I want to have a nice little pad for the future. Beloved, you've got to face the words of Christ. Give, and it should be given unto you. With what measure ye meet, it shall be measured to you again.

Illustrations of Giving and God's Provision

27:54 May I tell you an illustration from the life of Billy Bray. You remember a few weeks ago I told about Billy. He was the pugilist who was converted. He was a Cornish miner.

28:02 And how the fellow came up and punched him. And Billy could have laid him out flat. He was quite a pugilist, quite a boxer. And Billy just turned the other cheek literally and said, I'll pray for you.

28:11 Another instance from the life of Billy Bray which illustrates this principle. Billy's little daughter was sick. And so Billy and his wife went through all that they had on hand. And it was something like 36 cents that would be worth a lot more now than it was then.

28:25 But it wasn't much. And he was on his way to get the doctor. And with the little money he had, he was going to buy some medicine for his little girl who was so sick that it could have been serious and been terminal. She could have died.

28:38 And on his way, he met a man who had just lost a cow. The cow died on him. It was his only means of suffering. It was his only means of sustenance.

28:47 And as the man poured out his story to Billy Bray, Billy was so touched that he took his 36 cents. And he gave it to the man and said, here, sir, your need is greater than mine. And he walked down the road a little bit and went behind the bush and said, now, Lord, I've seen the need I've given. I've had to do it.

29:02 Now you've got to touch my little one. And the Lord did miraculously touch the little girl and healed her. What's the principle? He saw legitimate need.

29:12 And he had it in his power to meet that need. And when he did, God was not better to meet his need. That's what we read in Philippians. Paul said, you Philippian Christians, you gave to me in my need.

29:24 Now my God shall supply all my needs. Paul, you don't claim that if you're just tight-fisted or clinging. Oh, no. That promise was given to people who were giving.

29:37 And now Paul says God will never be better in seeing to it that your needs are met. Another instance from the life of Paul. Another instance from the life of Billy Bray. One time he was low on food and they had a little bit of bacon.

29:50 They had no bread in the house. And so Billy went to the head of the mine. He asked if he could borrow $2.50.

29:57 I'm putting it in American coinage. And so he borrowed the money and he started out to the grocery store to buy some bread and some other necessities. And on the way he passed by two families that were in far worse straits than Billy and his family were. He saw the tremendous need in these two families.

30:15 He split the money and gave half to the one poor family and half to the other. And he came home and told his wife. And she was a little bit upset with him. She dressed him down a little bit.

30:25 And he said, honey, it's all right. God will take care of us. Shortly after, a woman came to the door with double the amount that Billy gave away. He had given away $2.50.

30:33 Someone came with $5. What's the principle? Do you see it? He faced legitimate need.

30:40 And in response to that need, he gave. And in response to his giving, God gave. A blessing that those of you who so calculate that you've got yourself fixed up without any question for years to come, I pity you. You don't know the glory of having God respond to your giving with giving from His heart that far outweighs what you give.

31:08 I tell you, I don't envy you, honestly. I don't envy you. Now, don't be foolish. If God has provided for you, so that you can see some of the provision a little way ahead, this doesn't mean that that's not in the will of God.

31:24 But, beloved, it's an attitude that we're driving at, you see. The application of this truth will be different in every case. Some of you have to be putting ahead for your children's education. Some of you, God may not want you to put ahead for their education.

31:38 He may want you to so give that when that time comes, He can abundantly provide in ways far beyond your understanding. I wouldn't trade for anything. I wouldn't trade for anything the experience of going through Bible school in faith. And the lessons that God taught me as I had to prove Him, you benefit from them today as a congregation.

32:00 If I had parents who were so niggardly in their giving to the work of God that they had to store up for my education and see it clear years ahead, some of the lessons of faith that have shaped and molded my ministry I would never have learned. Now, I'm not dictating details. I'm trying to convey principles. Do you see it?

32:18 Don't let anyone go out and say, the pastor said, if you lay up for your children's education, you're sinning. He didn't say that. But why are you laying up? That's the principle.

32:28 And what must you do in order to lay up? Must you stop your ears to the cry that comes from every mission field of the world for funds to get the work of God done? Must you stop your ears to the cry of God's poor ones around the world? May God give us a heart like Billy Bray.

Application to Time and Interest: The Cry of Children

32:49 Why don't you say, Pastor, nobody's asked me. Listen, people don't need to ask by their voices. God said in Genesis 4.10, after Cain had slain Abel, he said this.

32:59 He said, Cain, thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. God says, The presence of your brother's blood is a voice that thunders into my ears in the third heaven. Beloved, all about us there is need that thunders out to us as God's people and says, Give. Give.

33:24 And the Lord says, Give to him that asketh thee and from him that would borrow thee. Turn not away. Now that's the lowest rung upon which we can apply the truth. I want to apply it in a second area which is perhaps I'm confident is much more difficult.

33:40 It's the area of our time and our interest. All of us have 24 hours in each day to be invested either, listen carefully now, to be invested either for ourselves and our interest or invested for God and the interest of others. People are continually asking us for our time, dear one. They're asking us for a sympathetic interest in their concerns.

34:08 But we've got our plans. We've got our desires. We've got our schemes. My heart is burdened this morning and I pray that God would somehow speak to you parents with a voice of clarity that you'll never forget.

34:21 Do you hear the words of Christ this morning? Give to him that asketh thee. Do you know that your children are continually asking, continually asking for your time, for your interest, for your counsel, for your loving concern, for your companionship? They're not asking so much that you put better and bigger meals on the table and nicer and more expensive clothes upon the back and a fancier roof over the head and a more plush rug beneath the feet.

34:53 The longings of a child's heart do not center in these things. But they're asking of us as parents, Dad, Mom, give me instruction. Give me discipline. Give me insight into what life is all about.

35:10 Give me understanding. Give me time. Give me yourself. You know what some of you are saying?

35:19 Sorry, I'm too busy earning bread for your belly to give time for your soul. I'm too busy earning money to pay for the shingles over your head. To seek to counsel with you and be a companion to you. Our ears are so filled with the clamor of our own desires and plans that we can't hear the cry of our children, Give me time.

35:50 How do they cry to us? By that little character trait that we begin to see developing. And if we think long enough, it disturbs us. We begin to see a deceitfulness.

36:01 Or perhaps we begin to see a character trait of laziness. Or perhaps we begin to see emerging a character trait of evading the difficult. And we see them skipping over the lessons that are hard and the tasks that are hard. And all of these situations cry to us as parents saying, Give me time.

36:18 And we say, Sorry son. Sorry daughter. Too busy. Too busy.

36:29 They're crying to us constantly. The longer I live as a pastor and deal with adult men and women and fellows and girls, the more I'm convinced that almost all the basic problems we face in adulthood have their roots in those first five years of our lives. May I read an article that someone gave to us? Very brief.

36:55 Sociologists have developed a scale by which they can predict quite accurately at age six which boys will become delinquent in the next ten years and which boys will not. This is based on an analysis of the home environment of a given boy. Listen carefully now. Over a ten year period of studying 300 boys in New York City, the analysis was 85% accurate in predicting delinquency and 95% accurate in forecasting boys which would not become delinquent.

37:29 Delinquency in this case was defined in terms of punishable crimes. One of the decisive factors was found to be the cohesiveness of the family. This is based on the degree to which the family enjoys going out together or staying home together and the degree to which an interested father is present and actively participating in family activities. Oh, may I repeat that phrase?

37:57 The degree to which an interested father is present and actively participating in family activities. Christian families rarely have youngsters who become overtly criminal. Nevertheless, there's a great deal of fairly serious rebellion and problem behavior on the part of Christian teachers, teenagers of Christian parents. Undoubtedly, this is related to family cohesiveness and the presence or absence of an interested father.

38:25 With what accuracy could this rebellion also be predicted at age six on the basis of family tendencies already evident? Beloved, I make a prediction this morning. If some of you fathers in this building don't begin to hear the cry of your children, if I'm here in ten years, you're going to be coming to me and crying. You're too little to sit in council, to sit and establish rapport, to sit and just be that spiritual guide

39:10 that you ought to be. And some of you who are the companion you ought to be in terms of their physical and social and mental development are absolute paupers when it comes to their spiritual development because you can't take them any further than you've gone yourself. If God were to call into court every parent who failed to give proper spiritual training to his own children, many of us would have a summons tomorrow of criminal neglect. Oh, I know it's easy to turn on the boob tube and sit them there.

39:50 Beloved, you'll reap the fruits. You'll reap the fruits, and I plead with you today, give to him that asks of thee. Give to your children the time and the interest they're asking by the little problem, by the little character trait. Give. Give yourself.

40:09 That's what they want. They want you. You dear young people will one day be parents. Never forget that.

40:14 Your child wants you. A child can be happy with a bed, secondhand living room set, a patchy roof, if he's got a mother and father who give themselves. Give them everything else and fail to give them that, and you've failed as a parent. Our brethren are asking that we give our interest, our concern, our Sunday school pupils.

Observations: Self-Life, Contrary to Nature, and Christ's Indwelling

40:43 I could have gone. You apply it. And then last of all, what are several observations we can make in closing from this passage? The first observation I make is that in every single case where our Lord Jesus talks about the cheek, about the cloak, about the second mile, and about giving, in every case, a living fiber of self is touched.

41:09 When someone touches my cheek, you're touching me, and I feel that. When someone touches my legal rights, they're touching me, and I feel that. When someone touches my personal liberties, as one man said, your liberties end where my nose begins. And you go beyond that, and you're going to suffer for it.

41:30 Well, that's the way we all are by nature. And when someone wants to touch my pocketbook, and my time, and my plans, and says, give me yourself, give me your money, give me your interest, this touches a living fiber of self. In every instance, our Lord gives an illustration of a circumstance where the depths of our self-life is touched. Isn't this the root of all our problems?

41:56 That man has turned inward and made himself and his own interest the goal of his existence. 2 Corinthians 5.15 says that you should no longer live unto yourself. That's what all of us live for.

42:11 Take this away, there'd be no wars. For what's at the root of wars? My national interest before others. Take this away, what's at the root of all broken homes?

42:21 I can't bend to you, so I'll have my own way and go my way and you go yours. What's at the root of all family squabbles? What's at the root of all rebellion of parents to children? I don't want what they tell me.

42:37 I ought to do this. It's this whole thing of self, my liberties, my rights, my person, my possessions. In every instance, this is one of the concluding observations I want us to make, a living fiber of self is touched. So, what's at the root of all broken homes?

42:51 I can't bend to you, so I ought to do this. I ought to do this. It's this whole thing of self is touched. Secondly, in each instance our Lord demands a reaction which is entirely contrary to nature.

43:03 Someone touches my cheek, I'm not going to turn the other. I'm going to double up my fist. Someone wants to take away my coat, I'll fight for it. It's in the process I can get his too, I'll try.

43:18 Someone touches my liberties, I'm not even content to defend my own, I'll start trampling on his to get even. Right? In my time, I'll cling to it to prove that it's mine and nobody else's. And my Lord is demanding of you and me a reaction that is entirely contrary to my natural disposition.

43:40 So, what am I going to do? I've got to acknowledge that it's utterly impossible to live this standard until I've been born of the Holy Spirit. Beloved, you and I can't react this way from the heart. Oh, we could in a mechanical way.

43:57 Someone strikes us and quenches down inside our hearts and turns the other cheek, but that isn't what the Lord wants. He wants the attitude of the heart of non-retaliation. We can grudgingly give, but the Scripture says God doesn't want grudging giving. He wants cheerful giving.

44:12 Beloved, you can't live these standards until you've received the life of the only one who ever lived this way. There's only one person who ever lived this way naturally, and that was the Son of God, our Lord Jesus, who, when He was reviled, reviled not again. There were over fifty illegalities in connection with our Lord's trial and crucifixion, and He could have hung up the Sanhedrin on every one of those accounts. They compelled Him not just to walk a mile, but to bear a cross.

44:52 And He gave not His substance but Himself. Beloved, there's only one person who ever perfectly embodied these principles, and that was our Lord Jesus. And until He dwells in me by the Spirit, I can't live this kind of life. The only person who can live this kind of life is the one who can say with Paul, I have been crucified with Christ.

45:16 Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. You see, being born again, why I emphasize this again and again, is not making a decision. Being born again is not going to an altar. Being born again is not remembering some time in the dim, murky past when you prayed the sinner's prayer.

45:36 Being born again is not the experience of the very life and nature of Christ. And if I do not have His very nature dwelling within me by the Spirit, I'm not a Christian. And unless I have Him dwelling in me, I can't live this way. I can't act this way.

The Expectation of Obedience and Daily Dying to Self

45:53 And the last observation I want to make is that the Lord Jesus expects those who are His and in whom He dwells. He expects us to live this way. I don't believe this is an unattainable ideal that the Lord gave. When He said, if someone smites you, turn the cheek, I believe He meant for this to be obeyed.

46:12 When He said, give to him that asketh of thee, I believe He meant that this was to be followed and carried out in our everyday experience. But it cannot be unless day by day we die to self. In every situation. You're going to go home today.

46:28 Some of you are going to want to take a nap. And your child, your son or your daughter is going to be sitting in the living room throwing out little hints if only you had ears to hear. They're saying, what are you going to do? You've got the choice.

46:45 Are you going to die to your own fleshly desire to take those forty winks and give yourself to that child? Or are you going to tune them out and do what you want? It's just that practical. You see how practical this is?

47:02 Next week you may hear a need in terms of the work down there in Philadelphia. Obvious that God has put His seal upon our standing behind George's ministry as a church and given us an encouragement to do that work. Possibly in several weeks' time you're going to be presented with a tremendous need, a tremendous financial need in connection with that work in terms of a car for George. What's going to be your reaction?

47:27 Well, you had it all planned what you were going to do with that little bit that you'd salted away, see? And you're going to hear us say, give. Now what are you going to do? You've got to die to your own plan and say, Lord, this is your money.

47:44 I believe I'll invest it in the kingdom of God. This is not just some ethereal kind of advice. Our Lord intended that this should be the mark of His people, selfless response to legitimate need by the power of the indwelling Christ. May God make me and may God make you this kind of a person.

Prayer for Transformation and Sensitivity to Need

48:03 Shall we pray? Oh, to be saved from myself, dear Lord. Oh, to be lost in Thee. That is what I want to do.

48:30 That is what I want to do. That it may be no more I but Christ who lives in me. Lord, forgive us for turning a deaf ear to legitimate need on every side. Neighbors and lost friends who are crying to us, give of Your interest and concern.

49:03 We confess, Lord, that we're so often involved in the sphere that we fail to hear the cry of our children, the cry of our brethren. Oh God, have mercy upon us and may this text never leave us. May the Holy Spirit inscribe it on our hearts. Give to Him that asketh and from Him that would borrow turn not away.

49:34 Lord, make us sensitive to legitimate need to which we are in need of our lostness. Emptied Himself and came all the way from glory even to the death of the cross to meet the needs of the likes of us. Lord, we confess we're so unlike Him. We pray that the Holy Spirit will deal with us today and make us like Jesus.

50:12 For those to whom this standard is utterly unattainable will Thou not show them to be a Christian is something more than to make a decision, to go to an altar or to make a profession. Oh God, disturb them we pray until they know that they can say with Paul Christ liveth in me. Father, grant it we pray for the honor and praise that this professing might demonstrate into a lost world. Amen.