Book of James - Ch. 4, Vs. 13-Ch. 5, Vs. 3 (03/19/2000)

Park Meadows Church

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Let me ask you a question. Are we given work to do because it needs to be done?

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Are we given work to do because we need to do it? What's the difference?

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That's right. Verse 13 of James 4.

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Go to now, ye that say, today or tomorrow, we'll go into such and such a city, continue there a year, buy and sell, and get gain, or make money.

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We're going to go into such a city and hold a Bible study because we believe it's what the

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Lord, that would bless him. What's wrong with that statement?

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Anything? That's right.

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That's right. Of course, you won't go unless it's ordained, but we don't know that.

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We decide we're going to do this, and if it gets done, then it'll be due to my effort.

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Go to the book of Isaiah, please, to the 40th chapter. Hold your finger there and go over to Daniel 4.

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First one is Isaiah 40, verse 17. Isaiah 40, 17.

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All nations before him are as nothing, and they are counted to him less than nothing and vanity.

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Bill, how could it be less than nothing? It'd be going the other way, wouldn't it?

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Now, Daniel 4, 35. You should have this one memorized by now.

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And all of the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing.

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And he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.

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And none can stay his hand or say unto him, What doest thou?

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Man doesn't like that. Now, come back to James 4, 14.

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For as ye know not what shall be on the morrow. He had just said, we're going to go to such a city, and we're going to open up a business, and we're going to make money.

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But James says, you do not know what will come tomorrow.

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For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time and then vanishes away.

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Clarence, what is a vapor? Not viper, vapor.

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No. Oh, I said vapor is what he asked. All right, even if you could see it, it disperses rather quickly.

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How many of you remember from history, in this country in the early 1800s, there isn't but one here,

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I think, that remembers that. A man by the name of Joseph Gooch.

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He was a German immigrant, developed many useful small items for the farm, and among these was the clon bark method.

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He proved that if it was properly used, it could actually induce a cow to produce more milk.

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How many of you remember this fact or this man? No one from history?

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Well, this proves that your life is a vapor that is soon forgotten. Fifteen, for that ye ought to say, if the

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Lord will, we shall live and do this or that. It's all if he wills.

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Nothing takes place unless it's been ordained of God in eons past.

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And now ye rejoice in your boastings, all such rejoicing is evil.

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Greg, why is rejoicing evil or boasting evil? All right.

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Why do we like to? Even we that are

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Christian? Well, when you know that it is probable that you will continue to live, and yet it is possible that we may at any moment die, we are at that time and that moment in the very best state of mind for attending to God's work.

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And we learn from Him. But remember, judgment day is coming.

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So Charlotte, live like it. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

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To do less than your very best is worse than doing nothing.

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If you have a project and you have researched all of the facts and you set about to accomplish them, take on the task, and you do the very best you know how to do with all of the facts that you have gleaned, and you produce the product, and it has been the very best that you can do, and it doesn't work, have you made a mistake?

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The professor says, no. Why, Greg?

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What if you're in school now, in a lab, and the instructor says you made a mistake someplace, or it would have worked?

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What is a mistake? All right. Anytime you do not do your best, it is a mistake.

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Therefore a mistake in that category is a sin. We must do our very best, always seeking better.

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Now, if tomorrow you learn a better way to do it, does that make what you did today a mistake?

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No. But it would be tomorrow if you do it the same way. Does everybody understand?

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So to please God is to do the very best you can on whatever

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He gives you, wherever you are right now. That means right now, on this breath.

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So to Him that knows to do good, and the word good here refers to our best, and to not do it to Him is a sin.

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It doesn't mean it's a sin to everybody. It's a sin to Him. God demands of us our best in each and everything that He sends to us.

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And He sends all events to us. In Psalms 3311 and Proverbs 1633.

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Psalms 3311, the counsel of the Lord standeth hallowed forever.

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The thoughts of His heart to all generations. So David, does he change?

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Proverbs 1633, the lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the

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Lord. I trust you all have heard that enough that you know what it means.

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Now we go to chapter 5, the last chapter in the book of James. He starts off by saying this.

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Go to now, you rich men. Weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.

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Shall is imperative, Bill. It means it's going to happen. So they have miseries coming.

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In Proverbs 1128 it says, he that trusteth in his riches shall fall.

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But the righteous shall flourish as a branch.

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Luke 624, but woe unto you that are rich. For ye have received your consolation.

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Now the rich we're talking about here are those that depend upon their riches to supply everything they need.

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Including heaven. First Timothy 6 .9,

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but they that will be rich fall into temptations and a snare.

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And into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

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Let me put it in my words. He is saying your putrefied stores, your moth -eaten garments, and your tarnished money are ample proof that it was not for lack of substance that you did not assist the poor.

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It was for the greed of money just for the sake of money. Does anybody know someone like that?

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You might as well put up your hand because you do. They just want more money and more money and more money.

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Remember in the world of man it is the anticipation of the end that is the exciting part.

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Romans 2 .5, turn over there. Bell readers when you get there.

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Now this has a group of strange words connected together.

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Just think, after the heartless and impenitent heart, wrath.

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And you are treasuring up this wrath. World wars, church conflicts, personal arguments all come from what,

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David? Everybody wanting their own way.

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And of course it comes from Satan originally. He has done a real good job of brainwashing us.

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Now suppose we have a dove. A dove here and a raven.

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Does everyone know what a raven is? Anyone not know? It's a flesh -eating bird.

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Does the dove eat flesh? No. What would you have to do to the raven to get it to eat the dove's food?

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Anything? Could you starve it to it? Russell, what would have to be done?

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Do I? All right. If by some means you could put the nature of the dove in the raven, then it would eat the raven food.

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Now, Russell, draw a comparison of that between us, the saved and the unsaved.

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But the unsaved does not. They want nothing to do with it.

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And the only way it can ever change is to give us new nature. Is that what took place?

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Is that what he did? Say yes.

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Okay. That's exactly what he did. He gave us his nature.

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Therefore we think in accordance with him. Our desire is that now.

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I grant you we step aside once in a while and follow that other line.

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But we do belong to him. Go to the book of Romans now.

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Go to the third chapter and the ninth chapter and the eighth chapter. A few other chapters.

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Go to Romans 3 and 11. Bill, go to Romans 9 -16.

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Clarence, go to Romans 8 -7 and 8.

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Diane, go to John 15 -18. Greg, go to Philippians 2 -13.

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David, go to Psalms 14 -2. Charlotte, go to Psalms 14 -2 and 3.

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Now, Romans 3. Did I not give that to anyone?

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All right. What does that mean?

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Are we not righteous? All right.

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So in the natural state, there is none that seeks him. Do you believe the

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Bible? All right. Romans 9 -16.

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We had that in Sunday school. Romans 8 -7.

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Now, Clarence, what does it mean that the carnal mind is not subject to the law of God?

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All right. They never seek his desire.

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But we know in the long run, they do his will, just as everyone does.

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They're not aware of it. And they do not seek God.

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Romans 8 -8. Those that are in the flesh.

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Greg, who is it that is in the flesh? All right.

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Are you ever in the flesh? Are you

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Satan's seed? Then what's happened? Well, that's true.

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But you said you were in the flesh once in a while. It seemed like I heard that someplace else today.

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So those that are in the flesh cannot. It did not say sometimes or maybe.

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It's a flat statement. Cannot please God. No way. Can an unsaved person pray to God?

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You sure? We need Garland here, don't we?

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I asked Garland that question once. He said, sure they can. I won't do any good. John 15 -18.

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If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. Boy. Then we don't need to get so puffed up that it's hating me with such a vengeance because it hated him first.

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Philippians 2 -13. For it is God who has given you life. Oh, I like that.

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Psalms 14 -2 -3. Now, David, explain to me why did

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God have to look down to try to find somebody? Did he have to?

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No. Then what does it mean they're all gone aside?

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They've all become filthy. What's the word filthy mean? Unsaved.

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I wish I had the copy of that here. Every embryo of every thought that produced every idea was wicked.

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There is none that doeth good. I know lots of people that would tell you they do good.

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Do they know what good is? Do we know what good is? No. Man will always choose that which is in accordance with what?

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Think about the dove and the raven. Man will always choose that which is in accordance with his nature.

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You will decide on that which is compatible with your nature.

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Therefore, before he will ever prefer that which is divine and spiritual, a new nature must be imputed to him.

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He must be born again. Greg, what's imputed mean? Humanism.

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Does the rest of you ever get the idea that when

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I ask Greg a question, it's like going back into the computer and pulling it up and he's just reading it off the screen again?

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That's good, Greg. We don't remember what we said last time.

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You're all entirely laughing too much. James 5 .2.

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Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth -eaten. Do you believe

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God will judge the big companies of this nation? Do you believe he'll judge this nation?

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Do you think he'll judge labor unions? Do you think he'll judge churches, great or small?

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What do you think he'll judge? Give me one thing that you think he'll judge the church on.

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I know there's lots of them, but just give me one. All right.

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I'm thinking mostly about something of which they have been guilty.

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Well, talk about anything you can think of.

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All right. See, we know lots of things. Let's be sure we implement them.

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I think he will judge all of these and especially the church on the way it raises money and dispenses money.

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Just because you give to some worthwhile organization or you think it is, does not relieve you of the responsibility of that gift.

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You must make sure that it's going where you think it is. And if it isn't, shut it off.

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There's so much con artistry on TV. Well, this verse, the second verse does not impress the godless rich and unfortunately very few churches with its members.

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Three, your gold and silver is cankered. Boy, there's a good word, Bill. What's that mean, cankered?

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Trudy, what's cankered mean? Can gold?

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Can gold rust? Gold and rust is cankered.

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Be what is a canker, open sore.

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So their gold and their silver has caused open sores with them. That the gold and silver will not heal.

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And the rust of them shall be a witness against you and shall eat your flesh as it were fire.

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You have heaped treasures together for the last days.

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Now, I rather suspect that each evil thing that people have done, talking about the unsaved, each evil thing that they have ever done has been stored away.

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I imagine they think that after the evil done is done did, they think it's gone.

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But he said, you are treasuring up this evil and wrath against you.

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David, what's it mean, treasuring up? God has kept every act in a storehouse of each one of those people.

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Treasure, what does the word treasure mean,

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Jesse? All right, at least in your eyes it is valuable.

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So that would be a treasure unto you. That that is stored up in our storehouse would be what?

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That's right, the joyful works that we do. And as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.

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Did you ask a question? That's right. But whatever it is, it's being held as a treasure for us.

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So what will yours be? Now, I do not know how

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I got into this, but something when I was studying brought it to mind. Did you ever hear the expression,

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I'll clean your plow? Have you ever told anybody that? Did you know what you were saying?

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You'd have to. Well, I agree with you.

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You would have had to have been born at least back when Bill and Clarence were.

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Before my time. Before your time. Well, maybe Bill. Well, how many of you know what a moldboard plow is?

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What? Moldboard. You're right.

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That's right. Now, back in the days of the horse, it was usually just one bottom plow, that it plowed one furrow at a time.

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And the farmer had to keep the sweep clean. What's the sweep?

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Don't duck your head. No, I'm trying to look at Russell.

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The sweep of a plow. Yes, sir.

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Bill, tell him, Bill. Well, it's called a stick.

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Well, people who plow a lot. There's two pieces to that part that cuts the dirt and turns it.

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You have the shear, which is the point, and then the sweep is the rest of it. And you had to keep it clean in order for it to work.

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Now, what do you suppose was the best way to keep your plow clean? Use it.

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What'd he say? That's right.

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Well, I was thinking about, to keep our plow clean, we'd have to keep using it.

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As we plow this earth, as we sow the seed, it has to be clean.

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If it isn't, then the farmer had to, by hand, scrape it.

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And if it had been set up for a length of time, that'd become rather difficult. And depending on the type of soil, also.

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Well, it's the same with our riches. Are we all rich? Beg your pardon?

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We're rich in one thing, usually more than anyone else.

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It's never the same. What constitutes, David, what would constitute one person being rich, say, on a block?

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You lived on this block, two dozen other people. Is he still alive?

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Well, I don't know. Well, I'm fighting temptation.

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Because, uh, Trudy? I think what makes you rich is the fact that you have something that nobody else holds back.

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Whether it be money, house, farm, children, love. Any time you have more of any one thing than anyone else around you, you're rich in that one thing.

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And that could be, that could change from person to person.

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They could look at you as being rich, and you have what they do not. I don't know whether I can let this

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I am go or not. But, uh, well, this is just a class, so I'm going to teach you some

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Siamese language. We're going to stop here for the

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Siamese language. Of course, as peculiar languages go, it was very peculiar.

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I only know a little bit of it. But I'd like for you to repeat.

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David, let's just take you, since if everybody spoke, it'd be a mess.

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Repeat after me, Owa. Owa. Egu.

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Siam. Now, put it all together. Now, on that spiritual note, we'll quit.

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Stand with me, and we'll be dismissed. They'll dismiss us, please.