1478, Best with What You Have
Best with What You Have
W.D. Frazee Sermons #1478
Study Given by W.D. Frazee — March 5, 1980
I have something very important and wonderful to share with you, but let me say at the outset, it's not for everybody, and it's not for anybody all the time. So, we'll need wisdom, but I would suggest that, if it isn't something for you tonight, that you put it in the deep freeze so that you can bring it out when you need it, and you'll need the Holy Spirit to help you to discern whether it's something you need now or will need later. Most of you will need it sometime in your life — sometime in your experience.
I suggest, also, that we avoid using what I'm going to share with you tonight to judge other people. It's not meant for that purpose. It's meant for the purpose of looking to God personally, and if you see something that you can use out of what you get tonight right now that will help you, thank God for it. If you don't, as I say, file it for future reference.
When I was walking along the road today, a little dog — I don't know whose little dog he is, but he isn't any bigger than this — a dachshund or something like that. How many of you have seen the little fellow?
Well, I was thinking, if that little fellow could just have some growth hormones, he could eventually be as big as a St. Bernard, couldn't he? And suppose he could go on from there and become as big as an elephant. Wouldn't that be wonderful? If the word could go out that things at Wildwood are so prosperous that little dogs like that get to be as big as elephants.
Well, we smile, of course, at the picture. You don't think that would be the best thing? Some of you folks are more interested in automobiles than you are dogs. Have you ever seen or heard of advertisements for various gadgets and gimmicks to add to automobiles, either to improve their performance or to improve their appearance, or to improve their convenience.
Do you suppose there would be such a thing as loading down an automobile with so many of those gadgets that it constantly cost more and more to expend in gasoline to run it? Can you picture an automobile just loaded down with all kinds of appliances and appurtenances and appendixes? Yes.
I want to read you an interesting little statement in Volume 5, page 152:
"…God can bless twenty acres of land and make them as productive as one hundred…" — Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5, page 152.
That's a wonderful promise, isn't it — a wonderful statement of fact? In Volume 8 of the testimonies, page 48, the prophet to the remnant, writing in 1894 to the Battle Creek Church, said:
"I wish to remind my brethren of the cautions and warnings that have been given me in reference to constantly investing means in Battle Creek in order to make a little more room or to make things more convenient" — Testimonies for the Church, Volume 8, page 48.
Now, what three mores do you find in this? Investing more means in order to get more room, and more convenient. Spend some more money to make a little more room or to make things more convenient. That's a good thing, isn't it? Sometimes. In this case, God thought it important enough to have His prophet write clear across the Pacific Ocean from Australia to Battle Creek, again and again and again and again, on this very point.
Now, my question, as you think of the little dog growing up to the elephant's size, and as you think of the automobile burdened with the gadgets that are supposed to improve its performance or its convenience or its appearance, as you think of this marvelous statement in Volume 5 that God can bless 20 acres of land and make them as productive as 100, and as you think of this warning to Battle Creek about not adding building to building and enlarging and increasing the expenditure of means, you will think that perhaps what I'm getting at is something that I'm not particularly concerned with in my subject tonight.
I'd like to zero in on you personally, not somebody else. I'd like to zero in on you personally. This is a course in Christian leadership, and Christian leadership does not mean that you study how to keep growing and growing and growing and growing in the expenditure of means, accumulation of personnel and equipment. It does mean that.
Christian leadership, Christian leadership in this hour of human history means to learn how to do more and more with less and less — to accomplish far more with less expenditure until finally, we're going to learn to live without any visible means of support. Is that right? We're going to finish our pilgrimage, hanging on that invisibly-supported rope of faith, swinging out across the chasm and into the green fields beyond.
At this point, I should remind you that I told you at the beginning of my little study that this is not for everybody, so if this is troubling you, skip it. It's all right. If it's a prune pit, don't bite down so hard on it that you break a tooth, but if you find something that will be helpful, take it and use it because it is a very encouraging thing.
It's a wonderful, wonderful principle to learn, brethren and sisters, that God has given us what we need to do, and the proof for that is in Philippians, the 4th chapter, and the 19th verse:
"But my God shall supply…" — Philippians 4:19.
What?
"…all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" — Philippians 4:19.
Let's say that together:
"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" — Philippians 4:19.
Isn't that a marvelous promise? Where are our resources? They're in Heaven. Some people would like to get them down here, where they could get access to them a little easier. It's a good thing they're in the hands of God. Isn't it, friends? We might waste them, and we might get to be as big as an elephant.
Do you know how people get overweight? Do you know how people get overweight? By just eating a little more, and a little more, and a little more — they have a good appetite, and so they take in a little more, and they finally get overweight. Is your idea of success having a larger appetite so you'll weigh more all the time?
I can remember when success in business or even in some church circles was indicated by the size of the belt around the stomach. The prosperous man was supposed to be somebody that looked that way. Of course, that was before people were learning so much about heart attacks and cholesterol, and high blood pressure associated with overweight.
I'm so glad, dear friends, that we can learn to not get overweight in other things besides fat. What do you say? Let me give you — what do they call it? — the punch line. This is my question. Are you able to make your department, your home — anything you manage for God, small or big — are you able to make it efficient with what you have? That's the test of your Christian leadership.
Shall I repeat that question? Are you able to make your department — whatever it is you manage — are you able to make it efficient with what you have? With the space you have, the equipment you have, the personnel you have, the budget you have; takes all of those four, doesn't it?
Takes space to operate in. Takes equipment, if it's nothing but a knife and fork or a spade or a saw. Takes personnel. I was about to tell you something about that, but I'll hold it a minute. And budget. What's that? Well, that's money. Most of us are doing something that takes money somewhere along the line.
It's easy to suppose that progress is dependent upon getting more space, more equipment, additional personnel, and a larger budget. The federal government is a wonderful example of what can happen when the opportunities are more or less unlimited in those directions.
Until today, the debt of the federal government is measured in billions upon billions of dollars. Has it hit a trillion yet? Headed in that direction, isn't it? Yea, headed in that direction. Well, I wouldn't know the difference between a billion and a trillion if I met them on the road, would you? [Elder Frazee chuckles] The figures are astronomical!
I was about to tell you something about personnel. In one of our mission stations, a good many thousand miles away from here, they took one of the men who was a worker, and they thought they would encourage him by making him the head of the department. It was the poultry department. Very soon, he had a request. He wanted a helper. We asked him what he needed the helper for. He said, "To gather the eggs." Just what he was going to do remained to be seen.
There is something about the idea that the world has taught us, that the more people we control, the bigger people we are. The more money we handle, the more honor we have. The bigger our offices or our space that we work in, the more important we are.
But may I tell you, dear friends, that the greatest physician, the greatest teacher, the greatest evangelist, that this world ever saw, operated on a very small budget. Didn't He? His buildings and equipment were minimum, but He had the Holy Spirit of God, and that's what I want. Don't you?
Now, for the third time, may I tell you what I'm saying isn't for everybody, and for the third time, may I tell you it isn't to judge other people by. But for the third time, may I tell you that this is going to open up a window for somebody to look into or look out of, that's going to bring a lot of light and courage and cheer into your heart.
In the 38 years that I have lived and worked on this campus, God has led me through some interesting experiences. I've seen shadows fall, and storms arise, and problems multiply and personnel leave, and opposition rear its head near and far. I've seen some of those things.
And I remember when, up on the hill, near where I live now, I had to spend a number of hours one day surveying the past, the present and looking into the future. This was nearly 30 years ago. I was impressed with this precious fact — that all God expected me to do and all that I needed to try to do was to just do the best I could with the men and the materials and the money that He supplied. That's all, that's all.
It's a good recipe, friends, a good recipe. It's a good way to avoid ulcers and high blood pressure. I repeat, to just do the best we can with the materials and the money and the men that God supplies.
The evolutionists tell us — of course, they don't always tell the truth, but you'll get the force of my illustration — the evolutionists tell us that the dinosaurs just continued to evolve and get bigger and bigger until finally, they couldn't eat enough to keep themselves alive. They couldn't do it. [Elder Frazee chuckles]
A celebrated author, who is noted for his tongue-in-cheek statements, has given us certain laws. One is that work expands to fill the amount of time available for its completion. Another is that any institution that gets more a thousand employees becomes self-contained. In other words, it generates enough problems to keep all the employees busy. We're not at that point yet. We're headed in that direction.
I have no criticism of our size, dear friends. In fact, I'm not trying to criticize anything tonight. Please don't think I am, either directly or underhandedly. I'm trying to help somebody here to sleep better tonight and to be happier tomorrow morning.
I've read a wonderful text over in Hebrews 13:5, and in rightly dividing the word of truth, we'll get right to the heart of it and notice the middle line of Hebrews 13:5. Be what? Content. With what?
"…be content with such things as ye have…" — Hebrews 13:5.
That's what it says. How Jesus tried to teach His disciples this lesson. When He tried to encourage them to believe that they could meet the needs of 5,000 people, they thought it was utterly impossible, but Jesus said:
"…How many loaves have ye? go and see…" — Mark 6:38.
Find out what resources you have, and start using them. "Ah," but somebody says, "Christ could work miracles." Yes, and He still can, but He didn't work the miracles to pile up the loaves of bread in their sight before they started using what they had. Am I right? Be content with what you have. See in it the resources necessary, not always to accomplish what you dream of, what your ambitions call for, but to accomplish all that God has in mind.
Brother Carter, I see some pruning going on now and then around the place. What do you prune trees for? Are you trying to kill them? What for? Increase the production. How on earth are you going to increase the production if you cut off a lot of the branches? Is it a fact? Is there a verse in the Bible that says that? Do you know where it is? John 15, verse 2:
"…every branch that beareth fruit, he [pruneth] it, that it may bring forth more fruit" — John 15:5.
"…He [pruneth] it that it may bring forth more fruit" — John 15:5.
This is in line with what I said a while ago that we must learn to accomplish more with less. The Holy Spirit can help us to do that, but it's hard to do it unless we accept it as God's challenge to us. My body has a big liver. How about yours? It has a little thyroid gland, but I don't need the enlargement of either one of them. What do you say?
Can you be content to be a part of God's work without constantly thinking that you and the things that you control are going to have to have more and more income, more and more equipment, more and more space, more and more personnel? Unless we can learn this lesson, brethren, God may have to send a fire or an earthquake or something else to teach us some of the lessons that Battle Creek never learned, and God had to clean them out and scatter them over the country.
But remember, my lesson tonight is not primarily an institutional one. I'm thinking about you as a person. Did you ever stop to think about it that poor people have just as much a temptation to be covetous as rich people? Did you ever stop to think about that?
A poor man can lose his soul in greed or selfishness and covetousness just the same as a millionaire. The only difference is the rich man has what the poor man is trying all the time and wishes he had.
And don't misunderstand me. There's nothing wrong with money. It's the love of money that's the what? Root of all evil. And money is not always represented in greenbacks. It's about the least valuable commodity around today, friends. It's the things that money can buy that are becoming more and more valuable on the world's markets.
But you and I are going to learn to live in dependence on God so that when the decree goes forth that we can't buy or sell, we're going to be able to go right ahead because we've learned to depend upon our heavenly Father.
Now, turn to 1 Corinthians, the 9th chapter, and the 25th verse:
"And every man that striveth for the mastery is…" — 1 Corinthians 9:25.
What?
"…temperate…" — 1 Corinthians 9:25.
Regarding whiskey. Regarding tobacco. Regarding overeating. What else? In what?
"…in all things…" — 1 Corinthians 9:25.
Would that be a good text for my subject tonight?
"And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things…" — 1 Corinthians 9:25.
Does the athlete learn to travel light? He better, he better. Let me read the setting of Volume 5, 152, about the 20 acres of land:
"Could our brethren remember that God can bless twenty acres of land and make them as productive as one hundred, they would not continue to bury themselves in lands, but would let their means flow into God's treasury… We ought now to be heeding the injunction of our Saviour: 'sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not.' It is now that our brethren should be cutting down their possessions instead of increasing them. We are about to move to a better country, even a heavenly. Then let us not be dwellers upon the earth, but be getting things into as compact a compass as possible" — Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5, page 152.
Now, I've read this before, but I was impressed with that little alliterative statement:
"…getting things into as compact a compass as possible."
Fifty years ago, some of our missionaries in one great section of the world had to move out quickly, and they were given two hours to pack, and two suitcases were all they could take. Suppose you had two hours to pack and two suitcases is all you could take.
I'm told that, in another situation, one of our men, who had been in a concentration camp, was rescued along with others by paratroopers, and they said, "Fifteen minutes to get ready." He says, "I'm ready now." All his possessions were a coconut shell and a spoon. That's all he had, and he was ready to move right now.
I don't advocate that we get that primitive all at once, but would it be all right to move at least a few inches in the direction of Mt. Everest. What do you say?
Philippians, the fourth chapter, and the fifth verse. What's the keyword here? Moderation:
"Let your moderation be known unto all men…" — Philippians 4:5.
Why?
"…The Lord is at hand" — Philippians 4:5.
Wasn't it a wonderful thing that, as Noah gave his message, what he had in the ark got more and more, and what he had outside the ark got less and less, until the day that he went in the ark, he didn't have to leave a thing outside? All that he had, he invested in the ark. I want to learn that lesson. What do you say?
All right, dear ones. I leave it with you. Shall I repeat now for the fourth time what I said? This is not for everybody, and it's not for anybody all the time, but it's a precious lesson, a valuable principle, and one that the Holy Spirit can help you to use, not to scourge somebody, not to criticize somebody, but to gather blessing for yourself.
For isn't it a marvelous thing to be able to take what you have, small and as inadequate as it may seem to you, and ask God to bless it, like Jesus did the barley loaves? If you want to be, for Jesus' sake, somebody that he can use in a special way in this closing work, if you want to be somebody to delight your brethren in administrative work, learn the joy of demonstrating, in your responsibility, something that, instead of having your hand out all the time and your voice speaking all the time for more equipment, more money, more personnel, more space, you're able to say, and mean it, "Thank the Lord, I've got what I need. In fact, if you're in a bind, let me know, and I'll help you a little."
[Dr. Baldwin] Let's stand for the benediction. Father which art in Heaven, we pray that Thou wilt increase our faith tonight, and as the trails of reality get narrower, help us to be willing to leave the wagons and get on the horses, and be just as willing to leave the horses and get on our feet.
Prepare us for the time when we can leave the trail and rely wholly, by faith, on Thee. We thank Thee, Lord, for this message. Teach us how to live it in wisdom, in moderation, in temperance, and in a success that will never end with Thee, for Jesus' sake, amen.
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