Participants: Bill Santos
Series Code: IIWC
Program Code: IIWC201129
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00:04 >>Bill: There is a story told about an old man,
00:05 walking the beach at dawn, who noticed a young man 00:06 ahead of him picking up starfish and flinging them 00:09 into the sea. Catching up with the youth, he asked 00:10 what he was doing. The answer was that the 00:14 stranded starfish would die if left in the morning 00:18 sun. 'But the beach goes on for miles and miles, 00:19 and there are millions of starfish,' countered the 00:25 man. 'How can your effort make any difference?' The 00:30 young man looked at the starfish in his hand and 00:31 then threw it to safety in the waves. 'It makes 00:38 a difference to this one,' he said." 00:52 >>ANNOUNCER: IT HAS STOOD THE TEST OF TIME... 00:55 GOD'S BOOK, THE BIBLE. 00:58 STILL RELEVANT IN TODAY'S COMPLEX WORLD. 01:03 IT IS WRITTEN . . . 01:06 SHARING MESSAGES OF HOPE AROUND THE WORLD. 01:26 >>Bill: A church secretary spent her vacation at 01:27 the beach. As she sunned herself, a little boy 01:30 in his swimsuit approached her and politely asked her 01:34 a series of questions. 01:35 "Miss, do you believe in God?" The woman was taken 01:39 aback a little but said she did. Then the little 01:40 boy asked, "Do you go to church every week?" The 01:46 woman told the boy that she went to church every 01:51 week and even worked at the church. The little 01:52 boy persisted with his interrogation and asked, 01:58 "Do you read your Bible every day?" The woman 02:03 told the boy she read her Bible every day. The boy 02:04 nodded his head, seeming satisfied with her answers 02:09 and then he said: "It that case, will you hold my 02:13 dollar for me while I go for a swim?" Jesus said, 02:32 I want to welcome our viewers to this weeks "It 02:33 Is Written" program. We are continuing our study 02:36 of Galatians 5 and verses 22 and 23 and we have 02:41 moved on this week to faithfulness. And joining 02:42 me here on the program today is a returning 02:48 guest, Dr. Mansfield Edwards. Dr. Edwards thank 02:53 you for being with us here. >>Dr. Edwards: 02:54 Thanks for having me. 02:56 >>Bill: And joining us, I believe for the first 02:57 time, is Dr. Dan Linrud. 03:01 >> Dr. Linrud: Thank you. 03:02 >>Bill: Dr. Linrud, thank you for being with us. >> 03:05 Dr. Linrud: Fantastic to be here. >>Bill: Well 03:06 great. Well let's start with you Dr. Linrud, tell 03:10 us a little bit about yourself and where you 03:19 serve right now. >>Dr. 03:19 Linrud: Sure. I've been a pastor for the past 25 03:20 years. Married for that same amount of time 03:21 That's probably why I was able to stay a pastor for 03:25 that many years... >>Bill: (laughing) >>Dr. Linrud: 03:27 .and be faithful. And right now I'm serving in 03:27 an administrative roll for the Adventist Church 03:31 in Ontario. >>Bill: Wonderful. We're grateful 03:33 that you're here. And Dr. Edwards, you're a 03:34 returning guest but for the benefits of viewers 03:37 who weren't here last time you were with us, just 03:39 give us a brief bio on yourself. >>Dr. Edwards: 03:40 Sure. Thank you. I am born in Jamaica and came 03:45 to Canada in 1999, served in the Quebec Conference, 03:50 that's in Montreal where I pastored for some 3 ½ 03:51 years and then to Ontario. 03:58 Wonderful Ontario, in 2002 and have been here loving 03:59 it since. I'm currently serving as the President 04:04 for the Ontario Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists 04:09 which is the Adventist Churches, administrative 04:10 responsibility for all this province of Ontario. 04:14 >>Bill: Well, thank you and we appreciate you two 04:21 accepting our invitation. 04:21 >>Dr. Edwards: Good. 04:22 >>Bill: We're talking about the Fruit of the 04:25 Spirit and we've made our way down to faithfulness. 04:28 And I'm going to suggest for a number 04:29 of our viewers - I mean faithfulness is not a word 04:33 that is commonly used, that is commonly used in 04:36 our language anymore and I'm not sure a lot of 04:37 people understand what it, what faithfulness means. 04:41 Maybe we need to start with a definition of 04:47 faithfulness. What is faithfulness? What is Paul 04:48 referring to here that this is one, you know, 04:55 one of the nine fruits, you know, elements of this 04:59 Fruit of the Spirit? What is faithfulness? >>Dr. 05:00 Linrud: Well I, well the dictionary, Bill, says 05:03 that faithfulness is to follow through with a 05:06 commitment regardless of difficulty. And I think 05:07 that's a good definition but I think, 05:13 Biblically, if you look at a definition for 05:18 faithfulness you could probably say that 05:19 faithfulness is love hanging on. In other 05:22 words, regardless of how difficult things are, 05:26 regardless of the challenges that confront 05:27 you in the commitments that you've made, that 05:31 faithfulness is hanging on through that love 05:36 commitment. >>Bill: So even when everything is 05:37 tell you you need to cut loose, you're going 05:41 to cling, you know, an element of persistence 05:47 then in faithfulness. 05:47 Now this faithfulness is Paul referring here to 05:53 faithfulness to a person, to, you know, a concept, 05:54 a theory. I mean what, faithfulness to whom? 06:04 To what? >>Dr. Edwards: You're right. Paul speaks 06:07 about faithfulness in different contexts. 06:08 In one, he speaks of faithfulness as 06:12 a commitment to God Commitment to God. He 06:20 speaks also about faithfulness in terms of a 06:21 relationship, one with the other, faithfulness to 06:25 each other. And then he speaks to faithfulness as 06:29 it relates to a cause. 06:29 So from these three perspectives, it's always 06:36 clear that this faithfulness, as it is 06:37 discussed by Paul in all his writings, is outside 06:41 of oneself. It is not focused on oneself. It is 06:49 not egocentric. It is a faithfulness that's 06:50 focused either on God, on others, or a cause. And 06:54 that is wonderful. That's why it is a Fruit of the 06:59 Spirit. Because a work of the flesh is always 07:00 focused on oneself but this has got to be 07:06 something that will come about, not by natural 07:09 inclination, it is got to be the work of God in us 07:11 >>Bill: This is definitely something lacking in 07:18 our.>>Dr. Edwards: Oh yeah. >>Bill:.in our 07:20 society today and maybe even in some of our 07:21 churches today. This is something that, you know, 07:25 we see this as pastors all the time. Folks, when 07:30 things get, you know, whether it's in a marriage 07:31 or on a job or, you know, things get a little tough, 07:35 people are bailing out. 07:36 We almost, you know, we've almost created a lack of 07:39 tolerance for a level of discomfort, right? As soon 07:45 as things, we're bailing, we're bailing out, we're 07:46 jumping out, we're moving on to something else. But 07:48 this is a characteristic that needs to be developed 07:52 in us through the work of the Spirit. >>Dr. Edwards: 07:53 That's right. >>Dr. 07:56 Linrud: I think that we see in Jesus, modelled, 07:57 what Dr. Edwards was talking about. Especially 08:02 I think of Matthew, chapter 16, verse 21, 08:09 where Jesus is demonstrating the ultimate 08:10 in faithfulness and he's completely outside of 08:15 himself in the sense that he's not going to serve 08:19 himself. He says to the disciples there, he says, 08:20 'I know what will happen when I go to Jerusalem. 08:24 I'll be arrested, I'll be beaten, I'll be crucified 08:30 but I'm going to go anyway.' And then Peter, 08:31 of course, who has such a struggle with faithfulness 08:36 and I think more of us relate to Peter than we 08:39 relate to Jesus in the way Jesus is in this subject 08:40 You know, Peter says, 'No, no, no. You can't go'. 08:46 >>Bill: Over my dead body, yeah. >>Dr. Linrud: And 08:48 instead Jesus says, 'Get behind me, Satan', not 08:49 Peter. He recognizes that the root of unfaithfulness 08:56 is sin and the author of sin, Satan. And so he 09:02 tells Peter, 'Get behind me'. And because Jesus has 09:03 been struggling with this temptation from Satan, all 09:10 throughout his life and ministry, that you can't 09:17 do this. You can't go there. You can't complete 09:18 the mission that you've been given. You can't be 09:20 faithful. Jesus says, 'I will be faithful'. >>Bill: 09:26 It's incredible, isn't it? 09:27 >>Dr. Edwards: If I may add. >>Bill: Absolutely. 09:31 >>Dr. Edwards: What I think drives because 09:32 concurring with Daniel, the point here made by 09:36 Dan, is, you know, there is this passion that Jesus 09:40 had to maintain his faithfulness but that was 09:41 driven by who he is which is love. And for me, it's 09:48 most significant that love is the first of the 09:52 attributes or the ingredients that 09:53 constitute this Fruit of the Spirit. I think all 09:57 these flow from love. One cannot be faithful to God 10:03 unless one loves God. 10:04 One will not be faithful to his fellow man except 10:10 driven by that love. One will not have that except 10:11 the engine is love. And I think H. D. MacDonald 10:16 expresses it very well. He said, "This Fruit of the 10:21 Spirit hangs on the stem of love". >>Bill: Oh, wow. 10:22 >>Dr. Edwards: So, stem is the love that hangs this. 10:27 You know, I go back to the agricultural reference 10:32 here. You know, growing up in the islands and you 10:33 know, having fruit trees so close you can almost 10:37 stretch through your window to pick fruit, it 10:41 is so significant, John 15, to me that Jesus is 10:42 saying, 'I am the vine. 10:48 You are a branch. And I expect your branch to bear 10:49 fruit and I'll help you bear fruit but you've 10:54 got to maintain that connection'. And if that 10:56 stem is love then, yes, I can understand what is the 10:57 engine that really drives faithfulness. It must 11:04 begin with love. >>Bill: Maintain that connection 11:09 to Jesus Christ. As a result of that connection 11:10 these things begin to manifest themselves. 11:18 >>Dr. Edwards: That's right. >>Bill: How is that 11:20 connection maintained? 11:20 I mean, because everything in our world is driving us 11:23 away from, you know, from Jesus Christ. In fact, our 11:25 world is telling us that, no, faithfulness - 11:29 whatever happened to your word is your bond? You 11:33 know. So how do I maintain that connection with Jesus 11:34 Christ? >>Dr. Linrud: Well, first of all, it 11:39 begins with faithfulness. 11:39 (laughter) It's kind of a cyclical thing.>>Bill: 11:42 Yes. >>Dr. Linrud:.in a sense because you have to 11:47 be faithful in spending time with Jesus in the 11:48 same way that, in the same way that I maintain 11:54 faithfulness to my wife. 11:54 I maintain faithfulness to my wife by maintaining 11:59 that relationship. 12:00 How do I maintain the relationship? By 12:03 being faithful to her, in relating with her, 12:07 spending time talking with her, taking her on a date, 12:08 you know, all of those things that build up the 12:12 relationship and I think that we have to do the 12:14 same thing with Jesus. You know, my wife would tell 12:15 me that faithfulness isn't just demonstrated 12:20 in the things I do, it's demonstrated in the things 12:23 I don't do. And she would say that faithfulness 12:25 isn't just demonstrated in the things that I do in 12:30 response to what she's wanting but rather, it's 12:34 also demonstrated in me, in me anticipating what 12:35 she would enjoy and doing that which she would, 12:43 which I believe that would be a blessing to her. So, 12:48 I think it's the same with the Lord. We have 12:49 to, just, not always be waiting on Him to prompt 12:53 us but rather constantly ourselves be seeking to 12:56 build that relationship with Him as well. >>Bill: 12:57 You know, for some folks, I think it almost sounds 13:01 cliché, this idea of spending time in Bible 13:05 study. We offer the Bible study guides, you know, 13:06 all the time here. And it's not just to, so 13:10 folks gain an intellectual understanding of scripture 13:16 but it's because we believe that as you spend 13:17 time in the study of this book here, this Holy book, 13:22 things begin to change in your life. >>Dr. Linrud: 13:27 Yeah. >>Bill: It is miraculous. >>Dr. Linrud: 13:28 That's right. >>Bill: And if you've experience it, 13:31 you know it. I mean, if, you know, a viewer that's 13:35 just hearing it they're saying, 'How can that be? 13:36 But that's exactly what begins to happen, isn't it 13:39 Pastor? >>Dr. Edwards: It is. And the word of God is 13:41 so vital as you've said. 13:42 When we read God's word, we will see all the 13:48 models. We will see models of faithfulness and models 13:49 of unfaithfulness and how that all ended. You 13:54 know, the Bible is clear. 13:54 It was written for our admonission upon who 13:58 the ends of the world are come. So, all of this was 14:03 intentionally given by God to guide us. The learned 14:04 behaviour is a significant thing for us and in 14:09 choosing what we model And not just from people 14:15 we observe but those we read about. When you think 14:16 about faithfulness I, when one reads God's word and 14:19 reads about the three Hebrew boys.>>Bill: Yes. 14:26 >>Dr. Edwards: Young people can identify and 14:27 understand, even youth can be faithful. These three 14:31 Hebrew boys, you know, I, there is a phrase, 'Yet 14:37 will I'. They said, now listen, our God is able to 14:38 deliver us from this fiery furnace but if not that's 14:43 faithfulness. If God chooses not to deliver us, 14:49 we will still trust Him. 14:50 That 'but, if not' is parallel to Job's 'yet 14:54 will I'. When he says, "Though He slay, me yet 14:55 will I serve Him, I'll trust Him" because 14:59 God is to be trusted. 14:59 God is faithful and my faithfulness ought to be 15:06 reciprocated. It ought to be reciprocated because 15:11 we're growing into God. 15:11 Branch to vine. Yet will I. But it not. And there 15:20 was a time when I had to try to engrain this in my 15:21 own philosophy of life. 15:25 Challenges would come, tests would come. I will 15:26 draw on, yet will I. But if not. And this scripture 15:33 is so pregnant with these many examples of 15:39 individuals who are faithful and how God 15:40 endorsed that with his blessings. Job's latter 15:45 days, the Bible said, were greater than his former. 15:50 And those former days were so wonderful but God 15:51 honoured, regarded, and rewarded the faithfulness. 15:55 >>Bill: Yeah. You know what, I'll tell you, since 16:02 I've been preparing for this study I, you know, 16:03 I've been reading over these, I've been praying 16:07 over these, and I asked myself on faithfulness, 16:11 you know, I have, you know, a pretty good life 16:12 I have two healthy kids and a wife who loves 16:16 me, yet, I have the opportunity sometimes of 16:22 interviewing folks. 16:23 The other day I was interviewing one of the 16:24 Harmony singers, remember that group that used to 16:26 sing with us, Eddie Aruda and Eddie was diagnosed a 16:31 while back with a terminal brain cancer, a brain 16:36 tumor, malignant brain tumor, very aggressive 16:37 and, you know, Eddie's been faithful to God. And 16:39 I often ask myself, boy, it's easy for me to say 16:46 I'd be faithful when I'm sitting here right now and 16:47 things are comfortable but if I had the diagnosis 16:52 that Eddie had I want to believe that I would 16:58 remain faithful and not be discouraged. But I'll tell 17:00 you, it's something that I've prayed a lot about, 17:05 you know? >>Dr. Linrud: Well, you know Bill, I 17:13 think the faithfulness, I think we can worry about 17:14 those, sorts of, what if questions but God doesn't 17:18 call us to relate to those questions, He calls us to 17:25 relate to the right nows. 17:26 And I think, you know, as we remember that these are 17:29 Fruits of the Spirit and faithfulness is 17:30 contextualized here in Galatians as a Fruit 17:35 of the Holy Spirit. It's not my fruit, it's not my 17:39 strength, it's not my reaction or Bill's 17:40 reaction.>>Bill: Right. 17:44 Yes. >>Dr. Linrud:.or Dr. 17:44 Edward's reaction to a circumstances situation. 17:47 It is instead, as I order my life after Christ, as I 17:48 focus my life on the Holy Spirit and the leading of 17:54 the Spirit in my life and upon his word, then that 17:58 faithfulness that needs to be called upon in those 17:59 circumstances will rise up in us. And I don't 18:06 think most people would tell you, who experience 18:11 faithfulness in the midst of great difficulty that, 18:12 you know, five years before that they would 18:17 have imagined themselves being able to be faithful 18:20 in that circumstance. 18:21 They'd say, well, I hope I could. But in that moment, 18:24 in that right now, the Holy Spirit brings that up 18:25 as a Fruit. And that's the beauty of the context of 18:30 this. It is a Fruit of the Spirit. >>Bill: Because we 18:33 know how Job's story ended but as Job was going 18:34 through it he didn't know how it was going to end. 18:42 >>Dr. Edwards: No but he held on day by day. 18:43 >>Bill: Yes. >>Dr. 18:44 Edwards: And we need not fear because God knows the 18:49 stage of the maturity of our Fruit. He knows 18:49 where we are. And He has promised us He'll never 18:56 suffer us to be tempted or tested more than we are 19:00 able to bear. And so, God is faithful in that regard 19:01 also. And so I need not fear. You know, I watched 19:08 my mother die and there, from the moment she was 19:15 diagnosed with cancer I started to be anxious for 19:16 her, concerned about how she would handle that. 19:22 And I learned so much from that experience. Just 19:27 being there with her, accompanying her through 19:28 this challenging moment and my mother, she was 19:33 just singing in her last moments, those songs of 19:37 hope and faith more than ever before. She was so 19:38 pleasant, she was just rejoicing in the Lord and 19:44 she got to a place where she could no longer sing 19:48 and she just started humming.>>Bill: Wow. >>Dr. 19:49 Edwards:.the songs and squeezing my hand. And I 19:54 said I could just sense God, God escorting her 19:58 through this valley she was going through. God 20:00 is faithful. And that's a thing I need not fear 20:05 about my life because I know God is faithful. He's 20:12 faithful. And He knows where my Fruit is. The 20:13 thing about Fruit, you know, I, you know, again, 20:17 you know, from my tropical experience, fruits are 20:20 hand-picked. And it's different from the 20:21 combines reaping over there in Alberta 20:26 or wherever. Fruits are always hand-picked. Where 20:32 I live in Whitby, we're close to the apple 20:33 orchards and I notice these are hand-picked. 20:38 God has His hand on us. He knows where are Fruit is. 20:45 He knows the state of our maturity and He's faithful 20:46 enough to handle that with care. We just need to 20:50 trust Him. Trust Him. 20:51 >>Bill: Well put. Dr. 20:55 Linrud we have about three minutes. If there some 20:56 closing thoughts that you have, that you'd like to 21:05 share with our viewers, I'd like to give you that 21:06 opportunity now. >>Dr. 21:07 Linrud: Sure. Yeah, you know, I came across a 21:11 greeting card, a statement in a card, and 21:11 the greeting card said, 'I can't promise you forever 21:17 but I can promise you today'. >>Dr. Edwards: 21:21 Amen. >>Dr. Linrud: And in our culture you would, you 21:22 would have the lighting, the right lighting come in 21:25 and the music would start to play just right, 'I 21:27 can't promise you forever but I can promise you 21:28 today'. And it sounds so good. In fact it almost 21:31 sounds right. But that's the faithfulness. We see 21:39 the Fruits of that kind of philosophy playing out 21:40 in the news every day. 21:45 >>Bill: Yes. >>Dr. 21:45 Linrud: We see another announcement of another 21:47 Governor or Congressman or actor or athlete who has 21:48 been unfaithful. Pastors, God forbid, who've been 21:57 unfaithful. >>Dr. Edwards: Yeah. >>Dr. Linrud: 22:02 Clergy. And, you know, in reality we have to 22:03 contrast what is our human nature and what is our 22:08 faithfulness with God's faithfulness. Psalm 105 22:11 says, "The Lord is good and His love endures 22:12 forever. His faithfulness continues through all 22:19 generations". I'd just, kind of, like to end my 22:25 thoughts with God's faithfulness. Because 22:26 it isn't this other faithfulness of the flesh 22:29 that we see marketed in our world that we need to 22:36 grasp hold of. It is the faithfulness of this God, 22:37 whose faithfulness endures forever, who produces that 22:40 Fruit in us when we focus our light on Him. >>Bill: 22:45 Well, gentlemen, I want to thank you for your 22:47 insights on faithfulness today. >>Dr. Edwards: 22:50 Thanks for having us. 22:50 >>Bill: You're welcome. 22:52 You know, in that classic Dr. Seuss book, 'Horton 22:53 Hears a Who', one day Horton, the elephant, 22:58 hears a cry. It was a cry for help. It was coming 23:03 from a speck of dust. Even though he can't see anyone 23:04 on the speck he decides to help it and as it turns 23:08 out the speck of dust is home to the Who's who live 23:13 in their city of Whoville. 23:13 Horton agrees to help and protect the Who's and 23:18 their home but this gives him nothing but torment 23:19 from his neighbours who refuse to believe that 23:24 anything can survive on that speck. Still Horton 23:28 stands by the motto that, 'After all, a person 23:29 is a person no matter how small'. That's his 23:36 motto, that's his code. 23:37 Through many trials and tribulations Horton 23:42 perseveres saying, 'I meant what I said and I 23:46 said what I meant. An elephant's faithful 100%' 23:47 That's the faithfulness. 23:53 Consistently doing what is right even when it 23:54 is difficult or when it appears we might fail. 24:02 Faithfulness is simply doing what is right 24:07 because it is right. Dr. 24:08 Edwards would you pray with us. >>Dr. Edwards: 24:12 Sure. Let us pray. Father in Heaven, thank you 24:13 so much for this lesson today. This privilege 24:20 of reflecting on this powerful word, 24:23 faithfulness. In this age in which soap operas 24:24 glamourize unfaithfulness we thank you that you are 24:30 faithful. And that you are determined to work in us 24:38 through your Spirit to help to be faithful to 24:39 you, to others, and to your cause. Bless us 24:46 now in Jesus' name. 24:47 Amen. >>Bill: Amen. 25:08 >>Bill: You know, earlier in today's program 25:09 we talked about the importance of this 25:11 walk with Jesus, this relationship with Jesus. 25:14 Dr. Linrud talked about how important it is to get 25:15 to know Him. One of the great ways of doing 25:19 that is by the study of scripture. If you're 25:22 watching today and you'd like to begin a course of 25:23 study, the Discover Bible Study Guides are a great 25:27 way to do that. We'd love to send you those lessons 25:31 free of charge. Here is the information you need 25:32 to get your first copy. 26:25 >>Bill: Well I want to thank Dr. Edwards and Dr. 26:26 Linrud for being with us. 26:29 I appreciate your insights and the practical nature 26:30 of our discussion today I think has been helpful to 26:35 many of our viewers. >>Dr. 26:35 Edwards: Thank you. >>Dr. 26:39 Linrud: My pleasure. 26:39 >>Bill: I want to thank our faithful viewers that 26:41 tune in each and every week. We appreciate you 26:42 spending this half hour with us week after week. I 26:45 want to remind you that we will be making available 26:49 all of these messages on a special DVD that we will 26:50 be offering at the end of this series for a donation 26:57 of $40.00. That donation goes a long way to keep 27:01 this ministry alive and keep us on the air. You 27:02 can pre-order your DVD today by going 27:07 on our website which is itiswrittencanada.ca. On 27:12 that same website you can send a prayer request. The 27:13 staff gets together every morning at our office for 27:18 prayer and we will pray over those requests. You 27:21 can send your commentary on the program and you can 27:22 even find out where the It Is Written team may be 27:27 appearing anywhere across this great nation of ours. 27:31 You can watch this program and all of the programs 27:32 on our YouTube channel, youtube.com/iiwcanada 27:36 and you can follow us on Twitter. Well, our prayer 27:42 is that the good Lord will allow us the privilege 27:43 of being back again next week. And I hope you will 27:47 take the time to join us Until then, remember, it 27:52 is written; man shall not live by bread alone but by 27:53 every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. 28:02 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ |
Revised 2015-02-06