What you can do as a result of love received at conversion

2 Corinthians, please, chapter 12, chapter 5. 2 Corinthians, chapter 5. The next time you tell about Oliver Smith, Brother Meakin, you can tell him that it was easy to drop the track wrapped in a rubber bar when the mailbox was on the driver's side. But I'm told that when the mailbox was on this side, he'd flip it over the top and it would land every time right beside the mailbox. So you can add that to your story.

He didn't have to worry about sitting down too quickly either. 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, verse 14. For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead.

And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again. I've been much moved as the result of the love of God that has been displayed and seen in the hearts and the lives of God's people. I have wanted to make a list for several years.

I've never done it. Of what actually happened the moment that I trusted Christ. There have been numerous things that have happened to the vessel.

The Christian receives something, many, many things at the time of conversion. The very love that converted Paul is the same love that compelled him. And I would like to just encourage our hearts today that I'm not so much going to speak about what you should be doing, but I thank God that throughout the testimony of the assemblies that we are linked with and so much enjoy that this is what you are doing and you have been doing over the years and over the many, many years of difficulties.

I was raised in an assembly that had, I think I was the 100th one. I believe Eileen and I were the 100th. You want to be 100 and I'll be 101.

But we were 100 in the fellowship and there was a tremendous interest as far as gospel work is concerned. The Heightsville Gospel Hall was packed every night and there was not just scattered four or five people on a bench. There was packed people.

Many, many people were not saved and they were coming. And I witnessed and I looked on and I watched with joy many, many lives that were committed, that were devoted and that were absolutely turned over to support the assembly. I know one particular family there.

And if I would mention them, you would know who they're related to. But anyway, they were 45 minutes. If they were not at the meeting 45 minutes early, they were considered late.

So there was a tremendous devotion to the saints, to the assembly. What I have appreciated this recently is the fact that the love of God that you receive, that you received at the moment of conversion, you now can do things that you could not do and you could never do in the state of the natural man. I want to notice just very briefly.

I want to notice just very briefly just what you can do as a result of the love of God that you receive. We love the brethren because of the love that we receive the night of conversion. Number one, according to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, I can labor.

Because that love has now into my soul, I labor. Paul the apostle, he says about laboring. Laboring.

Going the second mile. Going farther than anybody else has gone. Why? Because there's a love in that soul of yours for somebody else.

Laboring again to win others. There is a labor involved. And there's one thing that is beautiful to watch.

And everyone that has been involved in a series of gospel meetings over the years, it's wonderful to watch. Because the Lord's people, they're out. They're walking.

They're cloning. They're going. They're driving.

They're going the extra mile. And they're laboring to bring in others. And to bring in others that they too might hear words whereby we might be saved.

And so, that laboring factor, very fact that the love of God that you receive, now you have the ability again to go in and to work mightily for him. The second thing that I'd like to suggest very briefly is the fact that because of that love that you receive and I receive, I now can lay down, not labor now, but I lay down my life according to John's writings in his first letter, chapter 3, one of the 3 16's of our Bible. He reminds us there in chapter 3 that we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Why? Because those dear brethren, those saints, those wonderful people, they have gone out of the way. They have prayed for us. And because they have prayed for us, we can now lay down our lives for them.

Going out of the way to help. Going out of the way to try and help one another. Doing things that were beyond perhaps maybe what others would even think of doing.

But going out of the way. Isn't that what the Lord Jesus, the seven cries from the cross, does not he think of others? The last breath of his life, he was thinking of others. And because of others, he was encouraging.

I am thinking today, dear brethren, that there is something wonderful about a man or a woman who goes out of his way. I think of Randy Logue up there in Glen Ewing. The neighbor needed his rough shingle.

He was watching them from across the way. And as they watched him, he says to Marilyn, I'm going over and help. Marilyn says, they didn't ask you to help.

That's why I'm going over to help. So he walked over and he says to the man, Ray, what part of the house did you want me to work on? And he stopped. You're going to come over here and help? I didn't ask you to come.

He said, that's why I'm here. I want to help. They got it.

Got the house done. One thing led to another. They got them over for supper.

They entertained back and forth. They got to see that Randy and Marilyn called one another honey and dear and sweetie. And what the neighbor who had the bad roof, what they were talking one another, as I found out later, as anything but dear and honey and sweetie.

Cursing and swearing. What makes those people call one another those type of names? Make a long story short, they're in fellowship today. Because a man walked across the street without being asked to be able to help out.

How about the brethren? Would I do that for the brethren? How about the brethren and sisters? Would I walk across the street and help them and give them my time? Number three. Because of the love that is born in my soul the moment I trusted Christ, I now have the ability to lead. And if you were here yesterday, you had no difficulty of discovering that, or being reminded of the leadership that's involved.

Lead. I can lead. Because of the love that has been born into my own soul.

I'm thinking of Genesis chapter 33. Jacob and Isaac. Jacob is fearful of meeting Isaac.

Let me, I pray thee, pass before him, servant, and I will lead softly. I will lead softly and the cattle and the children shall endure. One thing about it, dear brethren, you know as well as I do.

You can't drive God's people. You can't, they won't be driven. But I can lead.

I was raised in an assembly, again I go back to my roots. I was raised in an assembly where there wasn't platform men. There wasn't so many platform men that was raised up in that area.

But, they led. By their quiet, consistent, devoted, committed lives. They led.

And I could see them as I watched them. And as I observed them. They were men who in their quiet way led by what they said, by what they didn't say.

They led by simply of going and doing what was on their heart and what was born upon their own soul so we can lead. Lead the flock requires responsibility. Dear brethren, don't try to drive the sheep.

You cannot drive sheep. Sheep that are driven are scattered. We can lead sheep.

And we can lead sheep by simply the life of the individual. The fourth thing that I'd like to leave with you is that because of the love that was born into my soul the night that I was saved, I now, you can experience this, I now can lean. I lean.

And because I can lean, I lean upon one in times of difficulty and in times of stress, in times of pressure. Dear brethren, there's only one thing that I can do that will keep you from losing your sanity and that is you must lean upon the person of the Lord Jesus. Why was it, dear brethren, that Peter asked John? Peter asked John about what? John, the Lord Jesus says there's going to be a man here that is going to deny me, going to betray me.

There's one here that's going to betray me. Peter heard the word. Peter says to John, you ask him.

Why did Peter ask John? You ask him. Because John was the one who leaned. He leaned upon the breast of Christ.

He could hear the groanings. He must have known his feelings. He got to know the words of the blessed master.

He was aware of the one who could hear whatever he said he heard. There's four little things I'd like to leave with you that when I can lean upon the Lord Jesus. These have been very precious to me recently.

Number one, when I lean, the service that I have been given to do, even if it's cleaning the plates off at a conference and taking care of the garbage, the service that I do can be enjoyable. When I'm leaning upon the master, the service perhaps may be vigorous and maybe it would be exhausting, but there is something about it that when I'm happy in soul and I'm feeding upon Christ and he's giving me strength to continue when I'm leaning upon the master and taking to him everything that bothers me and everything that is upon my bosom, every service is enjoyable. The second thing about leaning is that the secrets of his will, the secrets of his will can be made known.

Insights, I believe with all my heart, brethren, that a man or a woman that leans upon Christ, that knows what it is to get close to God, that knows what it is to be able to spend hours in his word. I believe with all my heart that that man, that woman, they get to see the secrets. They maybe have revealed something to them that others wouldn't.

Doesn't that make sense? You spend time with this book. The Lord's going to show you things. The Lord's going to show you things that you had never seen before.

Secrets of his will. The third thing I'd like to suggest, and that is that when I lean upon the Lord Jesus, I can submit to the unexpected. Submit.

You never thought that that would come into your life, did you? I didn't think cancer would come to my front door. But now, there's only one thing to do, and that is to submit. Accepting.

John Slaybaugh taught me, I'll be flexible. Be flexible. Wise man.

And as I submit, perhaps maybe some of the children aren't saved, and you have two good men come, come to your assembly. You have a Meakin and a Brody maybe that come to your assembly. They don't get saved.

There's other teenagers that were saved. I was thinking just now of when Mr. Crawford had a series in Marion. That teenager was saved.

This one was saved. There was a nice nest of teenagers that got to Christ. But Tammy didn't.

I'll never forget coming home that night. As I walked through the back door, I began to think what didn't I preach that I should have preached? What shouldn't I have preached that I did preach? And all kinds of thoughts go through your head, all attached to yourself. My wife and I met in the kitchen and we had a good cry.

All the teenagers preached but one. There's only one thing to do, brethren, and that is to lean upon the Lord in that time. You can't do anything else.

The series is over with. The preacher's packed up and gone home. You can just lean.

Just take it to God. I not only can enjoy the service, I not only have the secrets that I'm able to determine, I not only can be submit, but there's something else very precious, something we've experienced recently, and that is the saints. The saints are precious because of the love that has been received at the moment of conversion.

Now that there's love, we've passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. And the love of the saints, the encouragement of the saints, the blessing of the saints, the rich blessing that they have been in time of stress, in time of tears, in time of weeping, in time of difficulty. You, as I look over this audience, I know that there are many, and you've gone through things far worse than what we have.

You've known what it is to have the Lord's people come to your door. I received a text just recently. Sent me a picture of his grandson that had just gotten saved.

I don't know where. I'm going to have to show it to somebody. I don't even know.

He sent a picture of the grandson and himself. He says, Al, I thought maybe you would be appreciative of this. I know I've seen the man someplace, but where? He's in Canada or someplace, but he doesn't look like an American.

So, sorry. So he must be in Canada. But where have I seen him? I don't know.

And he's sending me a text saying, Al, we're thinking of you. Think of it. What other kinds of people would do that, brethren? Word as it say, the excellent of all the earth.

God's people. I was going to say in all their rough edges, but lately I haven't seen any rough edges in any of the Lord's people. Marvelous.

To think. To think, brethren, you're part of them. To think that you're part of the assembly.

Part of the assembly that meets with those beautiful people. Appreciate them. Love them.

Pray for them. Leaning. The fourth, the fifth thing.

The fifth thing that I'd like to suggest that I received. The love of God. Moment of conversion.

That now there's lamenting. There's lamenting when something tragic. We've been reminded of Peter Orszag being taken.

We've been reminded of other men. I was raised within five miles of three gospel men. They did not know Greek, brethren.

But they knew God. And because they knew God, I was attracted to them. And I had the joy of working with all three of them.

Marvelous. To pick up pointers from all three. Never forget the day when Grand Hagen and I were in the little cubbyhole there in St. Luke's Hospital.

Your friend, Mr. Slaybaugh, is full of cancer. He says, the doc says he's got six months. You might not know this, dear brethren, but Mr. Slaybaugh took me underneath his wing.

He patted me on the back, and then he swatted me where I needed to be swatted sometimes. Mr. Slaybaugh was a tremendous help. Tremendous help.

When that word came out of that doctor's mouth, I thought, it just seemed like the walls caved in. What am I going to do? My mentor is going to be gone. How am I going to exist? We lament, don't we? We've had to bury Mr. Elliott.

We've had to bury Mr. DeBoer, Mr. McCullough, Mr. Weber. I said to Roy one time, I said, you're 80 plus, Roy, but why don't you just slow down a little bit? We need you. He'd come to me that afternoon, and he said, Al, if I died doing what I wanted to do, wouldn't it be worth it? Thank you, Roy.

I'll never say anything again. We buried those men. We hated to see them go.

Dear younger brethren, you're going to be burying your overseers. You're going to be burying me someday. You're going to be burying mother gospel men.

You're going to be burying the women that are maintaining the testimony in the assembly. You're going to be burying individuals that carry weight. Are you ready to fill their place? Are you ready to step in, to take over? Not only do we lament, but there's something else, and that is the love that I got that day, January, whoops, not January, July 5th, 1961, the moment I trusted Christ as my Savior, I got the ability to do something that I could not do without it, and that was this, to leave.

L-E-A-V-E. To leave what? To leave things that I can't change. There's a verse in Peter that really has helped me.

When Peter says, when he was reviled, he reviled not again, but he committed himself to one that judges righteously. When the Lord Jesus was hated and was reproached, when he was rebuked, when they hated, when they said the bad things, and they criticized him, he just left it. He had to leave it.

I got a good jolt one day. I'm kind of glad I got it then, because I was just fresh in my study and I was able to give the right answer. But I got a good jolt one day from one of the brethren.

Hurt. Hurt. I could feel the fur come up on the back of my neck.

It's always a bad sign, you know. And you had thoughts like, I don't have Brody's bicep, so I couldn't do anything about it. What did I do? I had to learn to do something.

I had to leave it. Leave it with God. I had to just drop it.

If I didn't drop it, brethren, that would eat me worse than glorious cancer. I've had to just drop it and leave it. When I left it, and I washed my hands of it, then I got the joy leaving it.

The last thing I'd like to look at and that is, because of a love, because of a love now that I have received, I can look. Titus chapter 2, Titus chapter 2, verse 12, you brethren Christians have read often, looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing. Looking, there's two things that looking does.

It conforms me. It conforms me to the person of the Lord Jesus. It conforms me to His pattern, to His way.

And it also comforts me. It's a great day that's coming, brethren. I love that old hymn 155.

Amidst the darkness, storm, and sorrow, one bright gleam I see. Well, I know the blessed morrow. Christ will come for me.

He and I together entering those bright chords above. He and I together sharing all the Father's love. The love that you and I receive.

We now can do these various things. May God help you to continue to carry Him out until we hear His shout.