00:00:00.000 - 00:00:39.300

[Music] (upbeat music) (dramatic music) [Music]

00:00:39.300 - 00:01:03.980

[Singing] (singing in foreign language) [Music] (singing in foreign language)

00:01:03.980 - 00:01:29.560

[Music] [Singing] [Music] (choral music)

00:01:29.560 - 00:02:11.140

(choral music) [Music] [Music] ♪ We go in praise, in praise ♪

00:02:11.140 - 00:02:47.440

♪ In praise of our God ♪ ♪ And let forevermore be praise ♪ ♪ Amazing love, how can it be ♪ ♪ I've found my God, I've found my God ♪

00:02:47.440 - 00:03:09.140

♪ And I'm sure he's amazing ♪ ♪ Amazing love, how can it be ♪ ♪ Wherever I go ♪ ♪ Children's back home is me ♪

00:03:09.140 - 00:03:29.780

♪ No certain day ♪ ♪ But now I pray ♪ ♪ I am my mom's daddy ♪ ♪ In my mother's arms ♪

00:03:29.780 - 00:03:45.820

[Choral singing] ♪ I'm leaving him ♪ ♪ And all of me life ♪ ♪ Shall pass me by ♪

00:03:45.820 - 00:04:01.260

♪ I'll make him proud ♪ ♪ I'll get his feet ♪ ♪ And all that I've got ♪ (singing)

00:04:01.260 - 00:04:29.260

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

00:04:29.260 - 00:05:11.900

[Music] Oh Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth. [Music] ♪ Thy word is the comfort to my pain ♪

00:05:11.900 - 00:05:34.160

♪ Thy word is the comfort to my pain ♪ ♪ Thy word is the comfort to my pain ♪ ♪ And your light unto my path ♪ ♪ Waves ♪

00:05:34.160 - 00:06:18.740

(dramatic music) [Music] [Music] [Music]

00:06:18.740 - 00:06:44.940

I will always look inside my eyes to tell the truth to give up the hope that Jesus died for me.

00:06:44.940 - 00:07:06.440

♪ Come all who come ♪ ♪ The praises of my coming ♪ ♪ To ♪ ♪ You be of my full strength ♪

00:07:06.440 - 00:07:33.940

♪ Oh ♪ ♪ I ♪ [music] Amazing grace, shall always be my song of praise.

00:07:33.940 - 00:08:42.940

For it was grace that brought my dear Bert to me. I do not know just why he came to love me so. He looked me up, I folks, and saw my need. I shall forever give my life to Calvary,

00:08:42.940 - 00:09:08.940

♪ To give the cross ♪ ♪ When Jesus died for me ♪ ♪ How all the land ♪ ♪ The world is purple ♪

00:09:08.940 - 00:09:32.780

♪ My heart is full ♪ ♪ Heal me up, my soul ♪ ♪ And all I need ♪ [Music]

00:09:32.780 - 00:10:48.760

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

00:10:48.760 - 00:11:30.760

[music] What a friend we have indeed! Indeed we are! All of our sins and griefs to bear!

00:11:30.760 - 00:12:28.160

What a privilege to care for everything God has. Oh, what peace we all seek, Lord, what peace, oh, what peace is there. ♪ Oh, because we do not care ♪ ♪ Do not care ♪

00:12:28.160 - 00:12:50.160

♪ Everything, everything, everything ♪ ♪ To God is fair ♪ ♪ Can we try our luck ♪ ♪ I owe God today ♪

00:12:50.160 - 00:13:10.660

♪ And in His eyes ♪ ♪ If there's trouble anywhere ♪ ♪ Anywhere ♪ ♪ We should never be disconnected ♪

00:13:13.660 - 00:13:33.740

♪ It is very ♪ ♪ Everything, everything, everything ♪ ♪ To die in prayer ♪ ♪ Nobody ♪

00:13:33.740 - 00:13:56.500

♪ We often fall ♪ ♪ As bed and bones ♪ ♪ Has made a failing man ♪ ♪ Why ♪

00:13:56.500 - 00:14:13.900

♪ 'Cause we do not care ♪ ♪ Care ♪ ♪ Everything to thy will ♪ [music]

00:14:13.900 - 00:14:44.620

[Music] [Singing] ♪ We must be really mad ♪ ♪ Oh, because we do not care ♪

00:14:44.620 - 00:14:55.120

♪ Do not care ♪ ♪ We ♪ ♪ Everything, everything, everything ♪ ♪ Everything ♪

00:14:55.120 - 00:15:47.300

♪ Goodbye, farewell ♪ [Music] [Music] [Music]

00:15:47.300 - 00:16:27.440

[Music] (Children shouting) Let's all say "Amen" again. Amen.

00:16:27.440 - 00:16:56.540

What man of you, if he had one sheep, and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out. Of how much more value is a man than a sheep?

00:16:56.540 - 00:17:20.880

Measuring a man. Of how much more value is a man than a sheep? Get out the tape and measure. What is the measure of a man?

00:17:20.880 - 00:17:53.540

This is a pertinent question, Jesus asked, which is concerned with human measurement. It is concerned with an assessment of the value of a person. A value has been placed on man based on chemicals in his body

00:17:53.540 - 00:18:20.740

according to current market prices. The monetary value of a man, according to this way of measurement, in 1936, a man was worth 96 cents. With the inflation that we now have,

00:18:20.740 - 00:18:42.240

and this inflationary spiral in which we're all caught up, we're worth a little more. A man is now worth $5.60. A new compilation of available studies on height,

00:18:42.240 - 00:19:02.840

because we like to think of a man as to what the measurements are, height, how tall is a man, how much is he in the waist, and so on. But according to this new compilation

00:19:02.840 - 00:19:23.140

and the studies which are now available concerning height, it is indicated that men who are about 30 years of age average an inch taller

00:19:23.140 - 00:19:51.340

than their father's generation and two inches taller than their grandfathers. In 1900, only about 5% of the population was 6 feet tall or better. Today, more than 30% are 6-footers.

00:19:51.340 - 00:20:15.340

And during the same period, women have grown an average of two inches, from five feet two inches to five feet four. So what do we consider the matter of physical height? What's the proper measurement of a person?

00:20:15.340 - 00:20:32.300

What makes a man? How do we measure a man? In fact what makes a real person We are accustomed to placing a market value on sheep how much more

00:20:32.300 - 00:20:54.220

Is a person worth than a sheep? We determine the worth of sheep by Fluctuation in the market The value of sheep is based on supply and demand.

00:20:54.220 - 00:21:25.940

We determine the value of livestock by the weight and by the breed. In the case of sheep, the value may be determined by the wool that's produced. But Jesus' question here is addressed to persons who are deeply involved in raising cattle. "What man of you," he says, "if he has one sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath,

00:21:25.940 - 00:21:42.680

will not lay hold of it and lift it out?" His heroes could identify with this situation. The value of one sheet provoked deep concern because it affected one's pocketbook.

00:21:42.680 - 00:21:56.120

It not only provoked concern, but motivated the owner to action designed to save the sheet. How do we compare a person with a sheet?

00:21:56.120 - 00:22:13.960

Get off the tape and measure. We consider it first of all physical measurements There is a tendency on our part to determine the worth of people according to physical standards

00:22:13.960 - 00:22:28.060

Some persons are down on short men And up on tall men That's true of many women

00:22:29.260 - 00:22:48.140

And there are men who are down on fat women and up on small women. So we measure our acceptance of people by physical standards. I don't like a short man.

00:22:48.140 - 00:23:03.260

Someone says, "Give me a man who's tall and handsome," and a likewise statement is uttered concerning a woman. We value our property. We insure it.

00:23:03.260 - 00:23:36.320

And the insurance is based on the value we place upon it. What value can we place on a man? How much more is a man than a sheep? The news just a few days ago, the story concerning A black man who was given LSD while in the armed services in an experiment without his knowledge.

00:23:36.320 - 00:24:12.040

It completely messed up his mind. Not only messed up his mind, it messed up his life. And he has been engaged as the story went on to say and a series of court battles and it was announced that he had won a settlement of a million seven hundred thousand dollars that's the value placed on his life. What value can you place on having a sound mind?

00:24:12.040 - 00:24:42.040

What value can you place on having a healthy mind? There is no value. A million, seven hundred thousand dollars wouldn't begin to pay for having a good sound mind. That was a man who was in trouble. In fact, he had a very serious defamity.

00:24:42.040 - 00:24:54.040

He had a withered hand. And he's in the synagogue. He was in church, but he was in trouble. He needed help.

00:24:54.040 - 00:25:05.640

He had a withered hand. He needed cure. The Pharisees were there, but they were not there to help. They were there just to see what Jesus would do.

00:25:05.640 - 00:25:22.640

They were there to find fault. But the word "Pharisee" means "interpreter" in the sense of a skilled expert of the law, or perhaps more likely a separated one.

00:25:22.640 - 00:25:49.340

So, here are these persons who are supposed to be interpreters of the law, who have separated themselves from ordinary people to concentrate on keeping legal regulations. Here they are, just to find fault. And this role that the Pharisees occupied, they thought it was a rather good role,

00:25:49.340 - 00:26:16.140

They're only concerned about the keeping of rules and regulations. And they have become so caught up in the keeping of rules and regulations that they have lost that living relationship with God, with eternal goodness. They will get caught up in ritual.

00:26:16.140 - 00:26:34.240

They're concerned about ritual cleansing, washing. There were certain procedures by which they had to hold their fingers up and the water, a certain amount that had to be measured in a certain way, would be poured down upon their fingers until it ran down upon the wrist.

00:26:34.240 - 00:26:52.140

And then they would turn their fingers down and the water had to be poured down until it ran down from their wrist in a certain way. and all of this was supposed to have certain significance, and yet they did not really care about people,

00:26:52.140 - 00:27:05.940

rituals, rules, regulations. And sometimes we can get so caught up with ritual that I've got to do this at this particular time in this particular way

00:27:05.940 - 00:27:27.200

that we seem to crush people in that ritual. And then we can get so caught up in rules and regulations, well, and we can become so indifferent. You see, well, this is just the rule and I don't care who it hurts or cripples. I've got to follow the rule. Well, rules are really designed to help people

00:27:27.200 - 00:27:48.960

rather than to hurt them and to crush them. And so when we consider this matter of ritual, Jesus here is rising above ritual. He knows the ritual. He knows that the Pharisees have a ritual that they go through. He knows that they bow in certain ways and they do this and they do that.

00:27:48.960 - 00:28:04.860

He, he's very familiar with the ritual. He knows the rules and regulations. In fact, he knows the rules and regulations better than the Pharisees. They're only concerned about the letter of the law.

00:28:04.860 - 00:28:23.960

but here is one who's concerned about the spirit of the law, and he is concerned more with relations to people than he is with rituals, rules, and regulations. What are our relations?

00:28:23.960 - 00:28:46.260

So, as we seek to answer this question, The answer to this question is not when we begin to measure a man. We don't measure that person merely by how often he may be in church, and that's good, but that's not good enough.

00:28:46.260 - 00:29:05.660

We don't measure that person by how often he attends prayer meetings, that's good, but that's still not good enough. We don't measure that person by how often he drops something in the collection plate that's good. So some of us, some of us have been worked up to the scribes and Pharisees.

00:29:05.660 - 00:29:31.100

Because Jesus said that's not good enough. But what really counts is those things that have to do with that which is beyond the material. You can't measure a man by what he weighs.

00:29:31.100 - 00:29:57.100

I stepped on the scales the other day and the nurse said, "Well, you are six feet three." I said, "Well, that's what I am with my shoes on, but that's not really how tall I am." You weigh 203 pounds. Is that really the measurement?

00:29:57.100 - 00:30:12.100

Many times you can have your weight to go up and down. But what's the measure of a man? Those things really don't matter. Oh, I've seen many people get all tangled up in their lives

00:30:12.100 - 00:30:23.600

because here is a person who says, "Well, I've got to have a man who's tall and who's handsome." He was handsome and this lady got one who's tall and handsome, but that's all he was. [laughter]

00:30:23.600 - 00:30:43.600

He was just tall and handsome. Tall and handsome. There's a lot more than that. For the physical attributes, those things don't really determine the measure of a man.

00:30:43.600 - 00:31:01.000

The mind is the measure of a man. The mind is the measure of a man. It's what that man thinks, it's what thoughts he entertains, it's the dreams that he has, it's the aspirations that he has.

00:31:01.000 - 00:31:35.620

Those things are really the measure of a man. measuring a man, measuring a man. In Franklin County Courthouse in Virginia is preserved the will of a man who owned Booker T. Washington.

00:31:35.620 - 00:31:50.260

And since slaves constituted what he considered the most important property that he had, he had a certain value attached to those slaves. And besides the name of Booker T. Washington,

00:31:50.260 - 00:32:04.740

he had his worth, $200. You look back at the life of Booker Washington, who came forth as a great educator in his day and was instrumental in building that great institution,

00:32:04.740 - 00:32:15.240

we know today as Tuskegee, from which thousands have been trained and gone forth to educate many others. And yet when you look, say,

00:32:15.240 - 00:32:26.240

what's the worth of Booker Washington, he says $200. Well, that's as far as he could see. He was blind as to his real worth.

00:32:26.240 - 00:32:40.240

And how many of us so many times are blind as to the real worth of a person? blind as to the real measurement of that individual, as to the measurement of that person,

00:32:40.240 - 00:32:58.240

in terms of the intangibles, the intangibles, the intangibles. Oh, we hear a great deal about the intangibles here in Texas today. They're talking about taxing the tangibles. And we tax the tangibles.

00:32:58.240 - 00:33:24.800

We can tax those things like the material things that you can really touch. You can get your property taxed and you can get other things taxed that are material. But then we've been concerned about the intangibles, your stocks and your bonds. Well, when we think about the intangibles in a spiritual way, we're talking about that

00:33:24.800 - 00:34:08.980

which is beyond the physical. body will disintegrate. This body will wither away, but there is something that is beyond this body and to somehow measure your life and measure a person by what is invisible and spiritual and beyond that which does not pass away. Jesus says, "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth does not corrupt and where thieves cannot break through and steal." Spiritual measurement, yes. Every person has intrinsic worth.

00:34:08.980 - 00:34:28.180

It's important that we seek to achieve our potential. Oh, men of Ebenezer, it's not enough to have men's days, wonderful as it is. Male chorus singing wonderfully well, that's wonderful. But it's not enough for one day.

00:34:28.180 - 00:34:51.140

It just shows what we can do. It shows what our potential is. It just gives a little glimpse of what it is, but that's not enough. We ought to try to achieve our potential. It's going to have many days, just a short span, and yet we have tremendous possibilities

00:34:51.140 - 00:35:17.580

that God has given us, and we ought to stretch ourselves. We ought not be like this man with the withered arm, withered hand. We ought to try to stretch ourselves to see how much I can do, how far I can reach out to others. How high I can reach toward that which is heavenly and holy to stretch ourselves.

00:35:17.580 - 00:36:01.100

For a man's reach ought to exceed his grasp of what's the heaven for. We ought to stretch ourselves. That's what it means to live a happy life, to be contented, to be enjoyable. to stretch, it means to grow, it means to become more and more to that which is our potential. So with what measure, you measure. How are we measuring people? Well, how we

00:36:01.100 - 00:36:49.520

measure them tells also something about us, our standards of measurement. For with what you measure out to others the same will be measured to you, Jesus says. There was a man who was in business and he was up in the mountains and he had no scales And he only used that weight of a pound that was given to him.

00:36:49.520 - 00:37:11.980

And he had a pound that he'd gotten from someone else, a pound of sugar. But instead of having a pound of sugar, the man who sold it to him only had 15 ounces. And so he was selling butter. And so the man bought butter from him.

00:37:11.980 - 00:37:24.300

The man took it home and weighed it. Brought it back. He said, "I'm not going to buy any more butter from you. I weighed your butter by the scales and it only weighed 15 ounces."

00:37:24.300 - 00:37:43.300

He said, "Well, you see, I don't have any scales here. I just weigh mine by that pound of sugar that you sold to me." That's the way life is. Whatever we measure, whatever we are, we are figuring out in the lives of others, it somehow

00:37:43.300 - 00:38:02.100

comes into our own. How do you measure? What's the measure of a man? We ought to try to see to it that we put a little something extra on the scales.

00:38:02.100 - 00:38:24.420

My good friend brother, M.K. Higgs, says that when his father was teaching him how to weigh in the store when he was a boy, that his father said, "Now there are many who come in to the store, they take the things out of the store and they weigh them again. So when you weigh it, see how much is a pound, he said, "Well put a little extra there, weight

00:38:24.420 - 00:38:43.380

the scale so they'll get a little more." And so they had good business because they were giving out good weight, a little extra, a little more. Well, we ought to put a little extra in it. We ought to give a little more. We ought to try to give God our best. Because God has given the best to us. He's given us

00:38:43.380 - 00:39:10.100

the best in Jesus Christ. What's the measure of a man physically? What's the measure of a man mentally? What's the measure of a man physically? How can you measure one's life? strange thing happened to Alfred Nobel. Alfred Nobel, he picked up the paper one day

00:39:10.100 - 00:39:32.100

and he read his own obituary. He's the inventor of dynamite. He was a man who had spent his life amassing a fortune from the manufacture and sale of weapons of destruction.

00:39:32.100 - 00:39:55.600

But when he looked at the paper that morning and read his own obituary, it had been printed there as a result of a simple journalistic error. his brother, his brother had died. And the reporter had confused it

00:39:55.600 - 00:40:15.900

and had written it up as if Albrecht Nobel had died. He'd been rather careless and reported the death of the wrong brother. Well, this disturbed Albrecht Nobel a great deal.

00:40:15.900 - 00:40:46.400

And the shock was so overwhelming that he decided to reassess his life. One thing was sure, he saw how the world looked at him, how the world measured him. The world measured him as a dynamite king, a great industrialist who had made an immense fortune from explosives. And this was all as far as the world saw it.

00:40:46.400 - 00:41:07.400

This was the general public's conception of his life. And he recognized that none of his true intentions were there. None of his intentions to break down the barriers that separated men and ideas. There was nothing there that recognized his commitment to life's eternal values.

00:41:07.400 - 00:41:39.400

He was only portrayed as a merchant of death, and that's the way he was to be remembered. But you know, when he read his obituary and was so shocked that Nobel decided that he would make a change in his life, And what he did was to decide how he would dispose of his fortune, and he made arrangements for the disposal of his fortune,

00:41:39.400 - 00:41:59.440

and it was based on the fact that the most valued prizes would be given to those who had done the most for world peace. And so we have the Nobel Peace Prize because a man read his obituary and decided to change his life.

00:41:59.440 - 00:42:09.040

You know, I always get rather concerned about reading obituaries because whenever we sit down to write an obituary, we've lived a long time,

00:42:09.040 - 00:42:20.280

but we can crowd it into such few words. So what if they were to write our obituary today? What would it be? What would it be?

00:42:20.280 - 00:42:36.280

How would our lives be measured? How tall was he or how tall was she? Well, don't worry about whether you're five feet five or whether you're six feet two. That's not what I'm talking about.

00:42:36.280 - 00:42:51.380

But you ought to be so tall as to bump the sky. So tall is your love of God. so tall in your love for that high and noble, so tall.

00:42:51.380 - 00:43:02.780

How wide? Well, you ought to be so wide that you just keep reaching out to others. Just keep going around and around and shifting gears.

00:43:02.780 - 00:43:19.980

And then to have a depth of love and understanding. That's the measure of a person. That's what it means to be a true person. That's the kind of person God made us to be.

00:43:19.980 - 00:43:33.980

To be a true man. To be a true woman. To be a true person. You know a lot of people get all caught up in a lot of things that I don't think really matter.

00:43:33.980 - 00:43:46.880

They get all caught up in whether a woman wears slacks, and whether a man wears a dress. We get all caught up with that. But I suppose that when Jesus lived, they all had on a robe.

00:43:46.880 - 00:44:00.480

They looked very much alike. And what really matters is our relationship to God. That's what God's gonna look. He's not gonna say, "Now, now what kind of suit did you wear when you preached every Sunday?"

00:44:00.480 - 00:44:11.180

What color was your robe? That's not gonna be what you're gonna be asked at the first, and when you get to the pearly gates. That's not the question. Well, were you able to wear a different outfit every Sunday?

00:44:11.180 - 00:44:27.180

That's not going to be the question. That really doesn't matter because clothes become threadbare and they rot and they ruin. But what really matters is did you love the Lord? Did you love people?

00:44:27.180 - 00:44:53.180

Did you do everything you could to help them? Did you lift them up when they were bowed down? That's really the measure and that's what Jesus is calling us to do softly and tenderly. Jesus is called. He's calling for you and for me.

00:44:53.180 - 00:45:18.880

He's calling for us. He's walking in our homes and right here. [Yelling] [BLANK_AUDIO]