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Speaker: Well, good morning, pastor
PJ sends his love and affection.

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Where is he?

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Well, uh, governor Newsom is looking for
some help for his next election campaign.

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Pastor PJ said I could be nowhere else.

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Just kidding.

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He's not doing that this weekend.

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He is preaching at our sending church
in, in, uh, Aliso Viejo, California.

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So he is there, in fact,
maybe right now, even either

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preaching or beginning to preach.

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He's preaching two services this
morning, nine o'clock and 11 o'clock,

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uh, California time, and then he preached
last night, five o'clock California time.

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So if you think about him while
you're hearing this message, if

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you're not satisfied with it, maybe
pray for Pastor PJ to come back.

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Hopefully it comes back soon.

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And in fact, if you're visiting this
weekend, I would encourage you to

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give us at least two goes because
this is not a fair representation

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of what you're normally gonna get.

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You want to hear Pastor pj, he'll be back
next weekend, so please be here for that.

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Pray that he gets back
safely from California.

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Well, speaking of California,
that's where I grew up.

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Southern California in particular.

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Uh, and, and in fact, here's
something interesting.

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I didn't grow up going to church.

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Which is why when my dad took my
brother and I to church in Paramount,

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California, it was unusual.

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It wasn't something that I was used
to or even something that I desired,

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but eventually we kept on going and
showing up, you know, several weeks,

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several months at a time, and I joined
this thing called Royal Rangers.

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If you're part of the Assemblies
of God or ever had any interaction

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with the Assemblies of God, it's
basically a Christian Boy Scouts.

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And so I was in this Christian Boy Scout
thing called the Royal Rangers, and

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I went there and I had a great time.

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Met people that I really
enjoyed and I started to get

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acclimated to church culture.

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Well, we moved from Paramount to a
church in Cerritos and that became

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the church that we started frequenting
much more regularly, much more often.

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My brother, my dad, myself,
uh, we got connected.

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One thing that you should know about
my family is that we have a colorful

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history, let's put it that way.

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And when my dad went to prison, I
was sad because I could no longer go

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to this church that I still enjoyed.

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You might be asking, where's
your mom here in this situation?

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Well, my mom would call herself a
Christian as well, but she was more

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into being a Christian at home,
didn't want to go with us, and so

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she never really got connected.

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My brother and I though we loved it there.

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Uh, we loved it because we were surrounded
by so many people that cared about us.

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And so when my dad went to prison, people
at the church found out pretty quickly and

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they began to offer one after the other.

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Help us help you get to church.

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What do you need from us?

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How can we be there for you?

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What can we do to help get you to church?

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And so we began to get offers all
over the place from people that

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really wanted us to be there.

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I was impressed by that.

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And so I accepted and I had people
pick us up on Sunday morning and

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Wednesday and then drop us off again.

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And then on Sundays I also had people
who not only took care of us at church,

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but took care of us after church.

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They said, well, hey, since you're with
us, we normally go to lunch on Sundays.

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Why don't you come along
with us and enjoy lunch?

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My family and I never went out to eat.

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In fact, well, maybe not
never, but it was a rarity.

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So to go out to eat with a family and
go in and enjoy this really delicious

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food was a really rare treat for
me, and I, I really appreciated that

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my brother and I found ourselves.

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I loved by a group of strangers mostly,
who really had nothing to do with us,

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other than our connection to Adam.

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Adam as in the original man.

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We, we all, all we shared was our
humanity, but these people love my

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brother and I in such ways that it
kept me going to church, even though I

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really had nothing to do with church.

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I wasn't a Christian, at least not
to the way that we define it today.

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But I kept going.

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I kept going and going and going because
people were showing me love, and I found

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that so irresistible and so attractive
that I could not help but continue going.

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Love is a very powerful work of God's
spirit in the life of his people, and

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it's so powerful because it's attractive.

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Even unbelievers, when they see
love operational within a body of

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believers like ourselves, it is so
attractive and so compelling that

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people can't help but take notice.

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Maybe that's the reason why this morning,
as Peter opens up our letter, he's gonna

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tell us something that is so foundational
to our Christian faith that if we get it

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right, we really get Christianity right.

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In many respects, of course there's
doctrinal issues and there's,

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there's things that we ought to
believe about who Jesus is and why

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he came and what the atonement is.

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That's important.

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Don't, don't get me wrong, but the
spirit of our faith is found in love.

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Love is the essential elements of
what makes our faith, our faith.

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It is so essential and so
foundational that God himself

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defined himself by this word.

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You've, you've read it before,
maybe you've memorized it.

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God is love.

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You heard it in the sermon, uh,
in, in the scripture reading the

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scripture says, by this, all people
will know that you are my disciples.

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If you have really sound theology,
you heard that verse right?

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Of course you didn't, and you heard
the verse that that Pastor Mark

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read, which is, people will know
that you're my disciples by the

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love that you have for one another.

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Needless to say, this sermon
can hit you one of two ways.

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1, 1, 1 way is like, yes, I know
this, and therefore you might be

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tempted to quickly check out or you
might pick up your phone and start

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streaming the Charlie Kirk Memorial.

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I understand if, if your, if
your attention is elsewhere,

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that's one way to respond to it.

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I don't want that for you.

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The second way to respond to this
is, okay, remind me of the basics.

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I need to hear this.

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This is so essential, so foundational
that for us to miss this is to miss

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something foundational to every
other aspect of our Christian faith.

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I hope for the second, because if we get
this right, this kind of love has the

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ability to transform a whole community.

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It has the ability to mobilize us in ways
that fear and intimidation can never do.

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You can mobilize people in one of
two things, you, you can use fear and

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intimidation to say, look, if you don't do
this, aren't you even really a Christian?

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I mean, get to it, kid.

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One of those things.

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Or you can motivate people by
saying, look at how loved you are,

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and therefore, how love ought to
flow through you into other lives.

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Two main motivations, fear and love.

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Love is the far more enduring
and far more powerful.

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This is why this morning we
have to be reminded about it.

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So please open your Bibles.

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Turn to one Peter chapter one.

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We're gonna pick up at verses 22 through
the beginning of chapter two, verse one.

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As you're making your way there,
let me remind you where we've

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been, where, where have we been?

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Well, the beginning of Peter's
letter is a celebration of the glory

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of God because of his salvation.

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He says, you've been born
again to a living hope.

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Blessed be the God and Father of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

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According to his great mercy, he has
caused us to be born again through a

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living hope, through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead.

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And so this whole magnum opus is
his, his glory to God saying, isn't

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this amazing that you've been saved?

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And by the way, the prophets
long ago prophesied about the

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salvation that you now enjoy.

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And there are looking into it
saying, what is this about?

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Who is this gonna be for?

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And they realized they were preaching
their sermons and prophesying

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their prophecies For your sake.

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You've been the benefactors
of this incredible salvation.

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And so Peter then picks up
at verses 13 through chapter

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two, and he now applies that.

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That is, if you've been saved,
here are the things that make

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sense because of your salvation.

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He says in chapter 13 or verse
13, he says, being sober minded,

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you're to set your hope fully on the
grace that will be brought to you.

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That's the first application.

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You're to look forward to the
future and set your hope there.

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Don't put your hope in this life,
and that's important because he's

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talking to beleaguered believers.

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These are Christians that are
enduring some kind of persecution,

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some kind of suffering.

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They're feeling the cultural
pressure, push in on them, and

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Peter is saying, hold on, calibrate.

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Remember where you're going.

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Your life will be filled with suffering.

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Suffering is to be expected, but
this is not where your hope lies.

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Set your hope on the future, the
grace that will be brought to you.

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He then says in verse 15, but as he who
called you as holy, you also be holy.

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A second implication and
application of the gospel is that

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you now look like the gospel.

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Your life is conducted with holiness.

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You live set apart.

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You live distinctly.

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You don't look like the world looks.

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That's hard to do in, uh, in, uh,
in this particular part of the

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country, because of the Bible belt.

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There's a, there's a christianese
that kind of permeates our culture.

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Now.

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Peter says, your job is to
be holy, as God is holy.

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And then thirdly, he says, you are to also
in verse 17, conduct yourselves with fear.

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Throughout the time of your
exile, which means you live with

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reverence and awe for God's glory.

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I live for him.

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I live to honor him.

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That's the way that I should live.

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That's the way that I
should conduct myself.

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He then goes on and he gets to verse
22, our verse for this morning.

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He says, having purified your souls by
your obedience to the truth, here's the

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fourth command, the fourth application.

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Having purified your souls by
your obedience to the truth

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for a sincere, brotherly love.

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Here's the imperative love one another,
earnestly from a pure heart love one

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another, earnestly from a pure heart.

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This whole verse is packed because
this controls the rest of your

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reading of one Peter chapter one.

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He's saying, if you've been saved
by the gospel and which is what he

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means by having purified your souls.

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To have your soul purified is to
have your soul cleansed, remade made,

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pure and righteous in God's sight.

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Having purified your souls, your
immaterial self, the thing that is

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redeemed by God, having that purified
by your obedience to the truth,

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which is a reference to the gospel.

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He's not saying that you obeyed
God's commands and therefore

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you became a Christian.

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He's saying you obeyed God's first command
to all people everywhere, which is repent

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of your sin and put your faith in Jesus.

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When that happens, your
soul is purified before God.

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Because God applies the saving
work of Christ to your life.

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You now stand righteous before God.

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Regardless of any sin that you've ever
committed, past, present, and future, you

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now possess the righteousness of Christ.

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This is the gospel.

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It is first to command
before it's an invitation.

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The gospel does invite you to come to
him, but it is a command to repent of your

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sin and put your trust in Jesus Christ.

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Remember the beginning of
Jesus earthly ministry.

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He says the first, the first words out
of Jesus' mouth, he says, repent for the

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kingdom of God is at hand, first word.

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And so the command of
the gospel is repent.

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Turn from your sin, put
your trust in Christ.

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When that happens, your soul is purified.

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Now, I want you to notice a word
in here that is actually so small

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you might miss it, but it is so
small and yet so important that you

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need to see it in full color here.

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And it's the word for you.

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See that word there?

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Having purified your souls by
your obedience to, to the truth

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for a sincere, brotherly love.

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The word for carries the weight
of implication, the weight of

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purpose, because you've been saved.

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You've been saved for this reason.

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You've been saved by God
for this specific purpose.

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Now I'm gonna ask you a question.

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It's kind of a trick
question, but not really.

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Okay.

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00:10:34,679 --> 00:10:37,169
If someone's gonna ask you
why are you a Christian?

232
00:10:37,619 --> 00:10:39,149
What's the purpose of your Christianity?

233
00:10:39,149 --> 00:10:40,229
What might you say to them?

234
00:10:40,649 --> 00:10:42,029
I don't call it out, but
what would you think?

235
00:10:42,929 --> 00:10:43,439
What would you think?

236
00:10:43,439 --> 00:10:43,649
Okay.

237
00:10:43,859 --> 00:10:44,939
Why are you a Christian?

238
00:10:44,939 --> 00:10:46,019
What's the purpose of your life?

239
00:10:46,019 --> 00:10:49,709
Someone asks you, you would probably
say, you've been raised in the church,

240
00:10:49,709 --> 00:10:50,939
or you've been around church long enough.

241
00:10:50,969 --> 00:10:53,729
Well, I'm saved to glorify God, right?

242
00:10:53,729 --> 00:10:55,949
It's question number one of the
Westminster, shorter catechism.

243
00:10:56,549 --> 00:10:59,639
Well, what's the purpose of man to,
to glorify God and enjoy him forever?

244
00:11:00,270 --> 00:11:03,449
Or as John Piper says, to enjoy and
glorify God by enjoying him forever.

245
00:11:03,839 --> 00:11:08,579
So glorifying God, you would expect
Peter to say this and wouldn't you if

246
00:11:08,579 --> 00:11:10,170
this is the purpose of your salvation.

247
00:11:10,170 --> 00:11:12,540
He's saying, look, you purified
your soul's by your obedience to

248
00:11:12,540 --> 00:11:15,270
the truth for God's glory and honor.

249
00:11:15,719 --> 00:11:16,890
But he doesn't say that.

250
00:11:17,640 --> 00:11:19,530
He says, you've been saved.

251
00:11:19,829 --> 00:11:23,760
You've been purified for
a sincere brotherly love.

252
00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:25,800
What is happening there?

253
00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:29,339
Well, at the very least, what we can
id, what we can understand is this God's

254
00:11:29,339 --> 00:11:33,780
glory, which is the ultimate purpose
of my life, is somehow integrally

255
00:11:33,780 --> 00:11:36,270
connected to my love for other people.

256
00:11:36,900 --> 00:11:41,310
My horizontal love or my vertical
love influences my horizontal love.

257
00:11:42,300 --> 00:11:44,910
Peter is saying, the reason
of your existence is for

258
00:11:44,910 --> 00:11:45,810
a sincere, brotherly love.

259
00:11:45,810 --> 00:11:49,860
You're saved for this purpose, which
means then that my glorifying God

260
00:11:50,370 --> 00:11:51,990
is connected to my loving people.

261
00:11:52,319 --> 00:11:52,949
Simple as that.

262
00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:56,160
You're safe for a sincere, brotherly love.

263
00:11:57,120 --> 00:12:00,660
He says, because you're safe for this
purpose, then here's what you should do.

264
00:12:00,750 --> 00:12:01,620
Here's the imperative.

265
00:12:02,010 --> 00:12:06,120
Love one another, earnestly
from a pure heart.

266
00:12:07,439 --> 00:12:12,239
This is the expectation that God
has for his people for all of life.

267
00:12:12,989 --> 00:12:15,300
This is what it looks like to
be a Christian Love one another,

268
00:12:15,329 --> 00:12:16,379
earnestly from a pure heart.

269
00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:20,430
This is the hallmark of every true
believer since the beginning of time.

270
00:12:21,089 --> 00:12:22,019
It controls us.

271
00:12:22,019 --> 00:12:22,859
It compels us.

272
00:12:22,889 --> 00:12:23,699
It informs us.

273
00:12:23,699 --> 00:12:24,509
It challenges us.

274
00:12:24,689 --> 00:12:28,139
It sharpens the way that we understand
ourselves and the church around us.

275
00:12:28,469 --> 00:12:29,009
I put it like this.

276
00:12:29,009 --> 00:12:32,009
Point number one, you gotta realize
the purpose of your salvation is love.

277
00:12:32,535 --> 00:12:33,104
Is love.

278
00:12:33,555 --> 00:12:37,574
And I can say that on a multi, on
multiple layers, multiple levels, God

279
00:12:37,574 --> 00:12:38,984
has loved us and so we love one another.

280
00:12:38,984 --> 00:12:39,944
Yes, absolutely.

281
00:12:40,155 --> 00:12:44,625
But the love that we have now is
informed by the love of God, and the

282
00:12:44,625 --> 00:12:48,015
love that we have now is and must
be expressed toward other people.

283
00:12:48,104 --> 00:12:51,314
If it's not, I'm short cur,
uh, shortcircuiting the way the

284
00:12:51,314 --> 00:12:55,515
gospel is supposed to work, I'm,
I'm denying my job description.

285
00:12:56,535 --> 00:12:58,545
One of my first jobs was
working at McDonald's.

286
00:12:59,189 --> 00:12:59,909
It was awesome.

287
00:13:00,419 --> 00:13:01,139
Love the jump.

288
00:13:01,799 --> 00:13:04,079
One of the first things they did for me
is they walked me through the kitchen.

289
00:13:04,079 --> 00:13:06,209
They said, here's where the,
the burgers are assembled.

290
00:13:06,209 --> 00:13:07,589
And they took me to the fry machine.

291
00:13:07,589 --> 00:13:09,810
They showed me how the fry machine
works and where to get fries to

292
00:13:09,810 --> 00:13:13,319
refill the machine, and then how to
put the baskets into the fry, into

293
00:13:13,319 --> 00:13:15,839
the fry batter or the fry oil stuff.

294
00:13:15,929 --> 00:13:18,479
Uh, it's been a long time, so I
remember all the terminology, but

295
00:13:18,479 --> 00:13:20,609
they walked me through all the work
that I was supposed to do, and then

296
00:13:20,609 --> 00:13:21,599
they put me in the drive-through.

297
00:13:21,599 --> 00:13:22,949
They said, okay, here's your job.

298
00:13:23,249 --> 00:13:25,829
Your job is to get everyone
through the drive-through.

299
00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:28,860
With speed and accuracy, that's your job.

300
00:13:28,890 --> 00:13:31,350
Your job is to get people through the
drive through with speed and accuracy.

301
00:13:31,350 --> 00:13:34,020
And so they taught me how to use the
computer to punch in their orders.

302
00:13:34,380 --> 00:13:37,950
They taught me how to take the money,
uh, and, and to do all the, the things

303
00:13:37,950 --> 00:13:38,850
that I needed to do in that thing.

304
00:13:38,850 --> 00:13:39,255
I became a wit.

305
00:13:39,915 --> 00:13:40,814
I love the drive-thru.

306
00:13:40,814 --> 00:13:42,104
It was one of my favorite places to work.

307
00:13:42,464 --> 00:13:44,834
Um, not at first, but
I, I ended up loving it.

308
00:13:46,334 --> 00:13:48,614
On occasion, the drive-thru
would get so impacted.

309
00:13:48,974 --> 00:13:52,214
I would have orders taken, I'd be
waiting on the kitchen staff to

310
00:13:52,214 --> 00:13:54,014
do their job so I could do my job.

311
00:13:54,464 --> 00:13:57,405
So on those rare occasions, I
would go to the kitchen and I'd

312
00:13:57,405 --> 00:13:58,514
start putting burgers together.

313
00:13:58,935 --> 00:14:01,994
And if the runner was behind, I'd help
the runner bag the food and take it to

314
00:14:01,994 --> 00:14:05,564
the window so I can get people through
the drive through with speed and accuracy.

315
00:14:05,714 --> 00:14:06,464
That was my goal.

316
00:14:06,464 --> 00:14:07,064
That was my job.

317
00:14:07,064 --> 00:14:07,829
They were very clear about that.

318
00:14:09,180 --> 00:14:13,709
Now one occasion my manager said,
Hey, you stay in the drive through.

319
00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:16,020
You let the kitchen do what the
kitchen does, and you let the

320
00:14:16,020 --> 00:14:16,949
runners do what the runners do.

321
00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:18,060
You stay in the drive through.

322
00:14:18,599 --> 00:14:21,479
I said, but my job is to help get
the drive through through with

323
00:14:21,479 --> 00:14:22,530
speed and accuracy, isn't it?

324
00:14:23,099 --> 00:14:25,290
My job at this point then is
not just to punch in the orders.

325
00:14:25,290 --> 00:14:27,780
My job is to help get people
through the line, which means

326
00:14:28,109 --> 00:14:29,010
I should help the runner.

327
00:14:29,069 --> 00:14:30,150
I should help the kitchen staff.

328
00:14:30,930 --> 00:14:31,680
I should do these things.

329
00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:33,599
It makes perfect sense
because of what my job is.

330
00:14:34,290 --> 00:14:36,329
My job informs what I do.

331
00:14:37,305 --> 00:14:40,454
Who God has called you to do
or to be informs what you do.

332
00:14:40,844 --> 00:14:43,034
Your job from God is to love one another.

333
00:14:43,394 --> 00:14:46,935
Your job then is to do what God calls
you to do in every way possible.

334
00:14:46,935 --> 00:14:47,984
It fits your whole life.

335
00:14:47,984 --> 00:14:50,864
In fact, when Jesus was asked Jesus,
what's the greatest commandment?

336
00:14:50,864 --> 00:14:55,305
He said, you shall love the Lord your
God with all of your heart, soul, mind,

337
00:14:55,305 --> 00:14:58,124
and strength, and with all your mind.

338
00:14:58,394 --> 00:15:01,484
This is the first and great
commandment, and a second is like it.

339
00:15:01,484 --> 00:15:03,404
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

340
00:15:03,854 --> 00:15:05,774
This is what your life's purpose is.

341
00:15:05,774 --> 00:15:08,384
This is what your job description
is for your Christianity.

342
00:15:08,594 --> 00:15:12,164
When you become a Christian, you
are now remade by God to live a

343
00:15:12,164 --> 00:15:16,034
new life of love for the brothers,
in particular, for the church.

344
00:15:16,874 --> 00:15:18,014
Now, obviously, you should love everybody.

345
00:15:18,014 --> 00:15:18,914
You should love your neighbors.

346
00:15:18,914 --> 00:15:19,904
You should love your coworkers.

347
00:15:19,904 --> 00:15:20,984
You should love everybody.

348
00:15:21,464 --> 00:15:24,524
But notice that Peter is talking
to our love for one another.

349
00:15:24,524 --> 00:15:26,894
He calls it brotherly
affection, brotherly love.

350
00:15:27,435 --> 00:15:30,494
This is how you should feel about
God's church, about God's people.

351
00:15:31,740 --> 00:15:35,610
Of course, the problem with this is
that many of us know, we know this,

352
00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:39,420
we know that this is the reality,
but I wonder if you've ever had this

353
00:15:39,420 --> 00:15:43,829
experience where you confuse the acts
of love with the affection of love.

354
00:15:45,089 --> 00:15:45,839
Let me put it like this.

355
00:15:45,839 --> 00:15:49,230
Let's suppose for a second you are,
you're a part of our setup team for the

356
00:15:49,230 --> 00:15:52,920
church, and you're setting up the stage
pieces and you're, you're setting up

357
00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:56,099
the, the speakers and putting up the,
the projector stands and all of those

358
00:15:56,099 --> 00:16:00,000
wonderful things, and maybe you're just a,
a really, you're a bit snippy with people.

359
00:16:00,540 --> 00:16:02,579
'cause you're, you're, you're
focused on getting the job done.

360
00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:03,660
You're so focused.

361
00:16:03,660 --> 00:16:06,390
You don't realize that one of the
vocalists is really down today.

362
00:16:06,989 --> 00:16:09,030
He's not having a great day, but
you, you're missing it 'cause you're,

363
00:16:09,030 --> 00:16:10,224
you're, you're focused on the stage.

364
00:16:11,025 --> 00:16:14,594
Uh, maybe you also miss that someone in
the back there seems to be really weighed

365
00:16:14,594 --> 00:16:16,935
down by something pressing, but you don't
pay attention to that because you're

366
00:16:16,935 --> 00:16:18,285
so focused on setting up the chairs.

367
00:16:18,285 --> 00:16:20,055
I gotta get the chairs set up and
get the chairs set up straight.

368
00:16:20,235 --> 00:16:21,224
That's not a bad thing.

369
00:16:21,435 --> 00:16:23,265
The acts of love have to be there.

370
00:16:23,354 --> 00:16:26,084
But the affection of love is I want
to pay attention to more than just

371
00:16:26,084 --> 00:16:27,735
the chairs and the stage pieces.

372
00:16:28,125 --> 00:16:33,375
These are the means to the end of
loving the people that are here, like

373
00:16:33,375 --> 00:16:38,745
doing the dishes, that the means of
loving your family is doing the dishes.

374
00:16:39,420 --> 00:16:41,040
No one does dishes
because it's fun, right?

375
00:16:41,069 --> 00:16:41,790
No one's doing that here.

376
00:16:42,209 --> 00:16:42,569
No.

377
00:16:42,569 --> 00:16:44,490
No one's gonna vacuum the
floor because it's fun.

378
00:16:44,490 --> 00:16:47,550
You do it because it's a means
to the end of loving your family.

379
00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:50,459
And the same thing can happen in the
church where we get so caught up doing

380
00:16:50,459 --> 00:16:54,630
the things, the features of love, the acts
of love, that the affection of love gets

381
00:16:54,660 --> 00:16:59,730
overlooked, or at least minimized because
we're so focused on getting the work done.

382
00:17:00,149 --> 00:17:05,010
We live in a culture where the work is
prioritized over the, in the inner person.

383
00:17:05,010 --> 00:17:06,510
And that's not a bad thing per se.

384
00:17:07,230 --> 00:17:09,388
But Christians can't be happy
with just going through the

385
00:17:09,388 --> 00:17:14,040
external actions we demand of
ourselves, and the Lord does that.

386
00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:18,179
We have a kind of love that is informed
by the love that we have for the

387
00:17:18,179 --> 00:17:19,618
Lord and our love for one another.

388
00:17:21,118 --> 00:17:24,780
Now, the problem is that love is
often defined in a variety of ways

389
00:17:25,618 --> 00:17:31,409
For many people, love means you
accept me unconditionally regardless

390
00:17:31,500 --> 00:17:34,139
of what I think or feel, or do.

391
00:17:34,710 --> 00:17:35,700
You have to love me.

392
00:17:36,659 --> 00:17:39,600
Love is often conflated
with the idea of tolerance.

393
00:17:40,050 --> 00:17:45,239
If you truly love me, you will tolerate
everything about me, regardless of whether

394
00:17:45,239 --> 00:17:47,310
that's offensive to you or anybody else.

395
00:17:48,060 --> 00:17:49,739
In fact, we, we talk
about the word truth here.

396
00:17:50,009 --> 00:17:51,689
We sometimes add a pronoun to it.

397
00:17:51,749 --> 00:17:55,529
My truth, your truth,
his truth, her truth.

398
00:17:57,479 --> 00:18:00,629
Love must be if it's going to
be effective, if it's going to

399
00:18:00,629 --> 00:18:04,050
be useful for God's purposes,
love must be defined by God.

400
00:18:05,219 --> 00:18:08,429
We don't get to redefine love,
we can't inject our own meaning

401
00:18:08,429 --> 00:18:10,590
into it, lest we lose its essence.

402
00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:14,699
If God is love, that means
there's a definition to love.

403
00:18:14,850 --> 00:18:16,620
And love has hard edges love.

404
00:18:16,649 --> 00:18:20,040
First of all, if we're gonna
follow what God says, love first

405
00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:22,080
of all is a decision to exercise.

406
00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:23,129
In fact, let me, let me take you there.

407
00:18:23,129 --> 00:18:24,840
I've got three points
under our first point here.

408
00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:26,610
First of all, love is
a decision to exercise.

409
00:18:27,060 --> 00:18:29,399
We know that because Peter
calls us, he, he gives us the

410
00:18:29,399 --> 00:18:30,479
imperative love one another.

411
00:18:31,094 --> 00:18:32,774
If that's the case, then I should know.

412
00:18:32,780 --> 00:18:34,574
I, I can be compelled to love by God.

413
00:18:34,965 --> 00:18:36,284
God expects me to love.

414
00:18:36,645 --> 00:18:37,905
It's a decision that I make.

415
00:18:37,905 --> 00:18:41,475
It's not primarily a feeling, even
though it comes with feelings.

416
00:18:41,475 --> 00:18:45,885
And ideally, my love for you has feelings.

417
00:18:46,155 --> 00:18:47,235
But before it's a feeling.

418
00:18:47,235 --> 00:18:47,895
It's a decision.

419
00:18:48,645 --> 00:18:49,544
It's a decision I make.

420
00:18:49,544 --> 00:18:54,435
I choose to love you regardless
of whether I feel like it or not.

421
00:18:54,675 --> 00:18:57,314
If I had a bad night of sleep,
that doesn't change the fact that I

422
00:18:57,584 --> 00:18:59,114
love you and I choose to love you.

423
00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:01,590
Love one another is Peter's command.

424
00:19:01,590 --> 00:19:05,340
Therefore, we know our job is to
fulfill that command by, by doing it.

425
00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:08,550
In fact, if you have your Bible,
uh, look at what Peter says in first

426
00:19:08,550 --> 00:19:10,050
Peter chapter four, verse eight.

427
00:19:10,110 --> 00:19:11,130
This is the same letter.

428
00:19:11,790 --> 00:19:14,460
He's so intent on you getting
what he's saying, that he needs to

429
00:19:14,460 --> 00:19:18,450
repeat it, and he says it in verse
eight of first Peter, chapter four.

430
00:19:18,450 --> 00:19:22,620
He says this above all that is more than
the other things I'm talking about here.

431
00:19:22,830 --> 00:19:25,980
Keep loving one another earnestly.

432
00:19:25,980 --> 00:19:28,560
Since love covers a multitude of sins.

433
00:19:29,459 --> 00:19:30,209
Keep doing it.

434
00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:31,230
Don't stop.

435
00:19:31,830 --> 00:19:32,580
You're doing good at it.

436
00:19:32,580 --> 00:19:33,360
Keep going.

437
00:19:33,360 --> 00:19:34,350
Do it even more.

438
00:19:35,189 --> 00:19:35,909
Do it more.

439
00:19:36,060 --> 00:19:36,929
It's so important.

440
00:19:36,929 --> 00:19:38,879
He says it again in his second letter.

441
00:19:39,284 --> 00:19:41,955
I won't turn you there, but second
Peter, chapter one, verse seven, he

442
00:19:41,955 --> 00:19:46,514
tells, he tells his disciples, supplement
your faith with brotherly affection

443
00:19:46,875 --> 00:19:48,885
and brotherly affection with love.

444
00:19:48,885 --> 00:19:51,435
Same, same two concepts built
into that in his second letter.

445
00:19:51,435 --> 00:19:54,705
So first Peter, chapter one is Peter
saying, look, this is so important.

446
00:19:54,705 --> 00:19:57,705
It bears repeating multiple
times over multiple letters.

447
00:19:57,855 --> 00:20:01,814
Love is a decision that you get
to exercise for another person.

448
00:20:01,814 --> 00:20:03,975
That's why he says in his
command, love one another.

449
00:20:04,784 --> 00:20:07,995
Now love is a decision to
exercise, but it's also a decision

450
00:20:07,995 --> 00:20:10,004
to exercise with intensity.

451
00:20:10,004 --> 00:20:11,889
That's why he says love one another.

452
00:20:13,350 --> 00:20:14,010
Earnestly.

453
00:20:14,700 --> 00:20:16,710
The word earnestly is a stretching word.

454
00:20:16,710 --> 00:20:19,410
It means to stretch a muscle
out to its furthest capacity.

455
00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:22,320
Uh, it, it has the connotation
of something like this.

456
00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:25,410
When you exercise, you're working out,
you're lifting weights, uh, you, you

457
00:20:25,410 --> 00:20:28,740
stretch your muscle beyond its current
capacity to expand its capacity.

458
00:20:29,070 --> 00:20:31,500
One of my kids is really into
working out right now, and so

459
00:20:31,500 --> 00:20:33,510
they're always choking down.

460
00:20:33,540 --> 00:20:37,380
Lots of calorie laid in food, and they're
going to the gym and doing heavy weights.

461
00:20:37,980 --> 00:20:39,660
I'll let you figure out
which one of my kids that is.

462
00:20:40,755 --> 00:20:42,375
Adam, but just kidding.

463
00:20:42,380 --> 00:20:42,700
It's not.

464
00:20:42,945 --> 00:20:43,365
It's not Adam.

465
00:20:43,725 --> 00:20:47,145
Uh, he's constantly pushing himself
beyond his limits so that he can

466
00:20:47,325 --> 00:20:50,415
add muscle to his frame, and he's
been pretty successful at it.

467
00:20:50,925 --> 00:20:53,745
This is what God has in mind for
us to love someone earnestly, is

468
00:20:53,745 --> 00:20:57,285
to say, I'm pushing myself beyond
what my natural limitations are.

469
00:20:58,409 --> 00:21:01,110
And I'm doing so with the
intent that I'm growing it.

470
00:21:01,110 --> 00:21:02,009
I'm expanding it.

471
00:21:02,009 --> 00:21:05,009
When God deposits love into us,
he's express, expecting that

472
00:21:05,009 --> 00:21:06,929
we'll express it and expand it.

473
00:21:07,110 --> 00:21:10,409
So when he says love one another
earnestly, he's calling us to love

474
00:21:10,409 --> 00:21:15,120
in such a way that pushes us beyond
what our current capacities are.

475
00:21:16,335 --> 00:21:18,735
This is intensity and intentionality.

476
00:21:19,185 --> 00:21:20,025
I mean, just think about this.

477
00:21:20,025 --> 00:21:24,285
If I, if I'm, if I believe I'm called
to express earnest love for people,

478
00:21:24,885 --> 00:21:28,150
how would that impact the way that
I understand my role here at church?

479
00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:34,230
What I do when I show up, how I interact
with people when I'm setting up or tearing

480
00:21:34,230 --> 00:21:38,880
down, or what time I show up and how late
I stay after it influences and informs

481
00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:42,690
all of these interactions that I have on
a regular Sunday morning, on a Wednesday

482
00:21:42,690 --> 00:21:43,830
night when I'm going to small groups.

483
00:21:44,190 --> 00:21:47,850
It reframes my work as a Christian
from I have things to do.

484
00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:50,400
Two, I have people to love.

485
00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:55,320
Do you see that love one another
earnestly changes it from, I've got

486
00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:57,090
things to do to, I have people to love.

487
00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:02,370
When I preach my job is to say, I have
people to love, not a sermon to preach.

488
00:22:02,399 --> 00:22:05,909
The preaching is the medium that helps me.

489
00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:06,570
Love you.

490
00:22:09,389 --> 00:22:11,790
Love is a decision to
exercise with intensity.

491
00:22:11,790 --> 00:22:14,580
Thirdly, love is a decision
to exercise with intensity for

492
00:22:14,580 --> 00:22:16,620
their good, for their good.

493
00:22:18,780 --> 00:22:23,850
That means my love for you
doesn't have an ulterior motive.

494
00:22:24,210 --> 00:22:25,080
I'm not loving you.

495
00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:25,554
So that.

496
00:22:26,340 --> 00:22:28,260
You give me gifts for my birthday.

497
00:22:28,890 --> 00:22:32,370
I'm not loving you with the understanding
that when I bring you dinner on

498
00:22:32,370 --> 00:22:34,710
Thursday, you bring me dinner on Friday.

499
00:22:35,490 --> 00:22:38,700
I'm not loving you with the intention
that I'm trying to get something from you.

500
00:22:39,660 --> 00:22:42,360
Instead, I'm loving you
to give something to you.

501
00:22:42,390 --> 00:22:45,150
Peter says, you're to love
earnestly with a pure heart.

502
00:22:45,780 --> 00:22:46,770
A pure heart.

503
00:22:47,130 --> 00:22:49,920
Now, if you're paying attention
at the beginning of verse 22, he

504
00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:53,970
says, having purified your souls,
your soul has been purified.

505
00:22:54,554 --> 00:22:57,764
Yet, he now calls them
to act with pure love.

506
00:22:58,365 --> 00:22:59,205
Do you see the connection there?

507
00:22:59,534 --> 00:23:03,195
Peter is saying you might possess
the reality of having been loved and

508
00:23:03,195 --> 00:23:07,905
set apart, but the actuality and the
practicality needs to be lived out.

509
00:23:08,564 --> 00:23:12,044
You can be a Christian who
has been saved by God and yet

510
00:23:12,044 --> 00:23:14,010
your love is stale and cold.

511
00:23:15,405 --> 00:23:18,705
And when you realize that as a Christian,
your job is not to say, I must not be

512
00:23:18,705 --> 00:23:22,245
a Christian, then your job is to repent
and say, Lord, I have a cold love.

513
00:23:22,245 --> 00:23:23,205
Will you forgive me for this?

514
00:23:23,205 --> 00:23:27,315
And empower me to now love the way that
you call me to I repent and I decide

515
00:23:27,315 --> 00:23:28,995
to love the way that God has called me.

516
00:23:30,375 --> 00:23:32,835
Love is a decision to exercise
with intensity for their sake.

517
00:23:32,865 --> 00:23:34,005
It's with a pure heart.

518
00:23:34,815 --> 00:23:35,655
Now, how can we do this?

519
00:23:35,775 --> 00:23:39,825
Romans five, Paul says this, God's
love has been poured into our

520
00:23:39,825 --> 00:23:41,415
hearts through the Holy Spirit.

521
00:23:41,625 --> 00:23:42,855
That is when you became a Christian.

522
00:23:43,005 --> 00:23:47,055
God takes his dump truck of
love and douses you with it.

523
00:23:47,685 --> 00:23:53,775
You've been immersed in submerged in the
love of God, which means you now possess

524
00:23:53,775 --> 00:23:58,785
a new reality, a new ability to love
that is beyond your natural capacity.

525
00:23:59,655 --> 00:24:03,254
This kind of love is impossible,
apart from the power of God.

526
00:24:03,524 --> 00:24:06,105
Let me just say that if you're not
a Christian, this is not to you.

527
00:24:06,405 --> 00:24:09,645
If you're not a believer, I can't
command you to do this because you

528
00:24:09,645 --> 00:24:12,225
don't have the capacity to do it,
not the way that God calls us to.

529
00:24:13,185 --> 00:24:15,975
Something has to happen for this
kind of love to be possible, which

530
00:24:15,975 --> 00:24:19,725
is why we move on to our next
verses here in verses 23 through 25.

531
00:24:19,725 --> 00:24:22,695
Take a look with me first
Peter, chapter 1, 23 through 25.

532
00:24:22,965 --> 00:24:24,945
If you happen not to have your
Bible, it's on the screen for you,

533
00:24:24,945 --> 00:24:27,375
but if you do have your Bible,
please follow along there with me.

534
00:24:30,465 --> 00:24:33,405
He says that you're to have love for one
another, earnestly from a pure heart.

535
00:24:33,405 --> 00:24:39,495
Verse 23, since, or because you have
been born again, not of perishable seed.

536
00:24:39,495 --> 00:24:41,895
That is, we're not just
talking about the biology here.

537
00:24:41,895 --> 00:24:45,135
You're not just, you haven't just
been born a person, but you've been

538
00:24:45,135 --> 00:24:46,875
born again by imperishable seed.

539
00:24:46,875 --> 00:24:48,975
That's a reference to God's
work through the spirit.

540
00:24:49,245 --> 00:24:52,574
You've been born again, John
chapter three, by the work of

541
00:24:52,574 --> 00:24:54,735
God through the spirit of God.

542
00:24:55,395 --> 00:24:58,185
He says here in the second half of
verse 23, you've been born again

543
00:24:58,814 --> 00:25:02,955
through imperishable seed, through
the living and abiding word of God.

544
00:25:04,185 --> 00:25:06,105
Now we're gonna cheat for a
second and look, I want you to

545
00:25:06,105 --> 00:25:07,635
look at the bottom of verse 25.

546
00:25:08,115 --> 00:25:11,084
When we read the word of God there, I
want you to see what Peter has in mind.

547
00:25:11,084 --> 00:25:12,344
Look at the bottom of verse 25.

548
00:25:13,275 --> 00:25:14,655
What is the word of God?

549
00:25:14,685 --> 00:25:16,965
This word is, you see it there.

550
00:25:17,325 --> 00:25:18,255
The good news.

551
00:25:18,345 --> 00:25:19,875
The good news that was preached to you.

552
00:25:20,175 --> 00:25:24,615
So in verse 23, when we read the Living
and Abiding Word of God, we're looking

553
00:25:24,615 --> 00:25:28,335
at Peter's shorthand way of saying,
this is the gospel, the good news.

554
00:25:29,025 --> 00:25:29,325
Okay?

555
00:25:29,325 --> 00:25:32,685
You've been born again, not a perishable
seed, but of imperishable through

556
00:25:32,685 --> 00:25:33,975
the living and abiding word of God.

557
00:25:33,975 --> 00:25:34,995
And now Peter's going to.

558
00:25:36,120 --> 00:25:39,060
Is going to ground that in the
word for Isaiah chapter 40.

559
00:25:39,060 --> 00:25:43,410
He says, all flesh is like grass and all
of his glory, like the flower of grass.

560
00:25:43,530 --> 00:25:45,900
He's saying, all people are like grass.

561
00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:49,620
It's beautiful for one short
season of time, and then it dies

562
00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:51,060
and becomes stale and decays.

563
00:25:51,060 --> 00:25:51,630
It goes away.

564
00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:53,220
He's saying that's what
human life is like.

565
00:25:53,430 --> 00:25:56,190
You start life young and strong
and healthy, have a full head of

566
00:25:56,190 --> 00:25:57,600
hair, and then something happens.

567
00:25:57,690 --> 00:25:59,040
You quickly begin to change.

568
00:25:59,040 --> 00:25:59,910
Things begin to change.

569
00:25:59,910 --> 00:26:00,900
Your life begins to change.

570
00:26:01,020 --> 00:26:03,960
You no longer possess the same
vitality you live and you die.

571
00:26:04,304 --> 00:26:08,864
The grass withers and the flower falls,
but in contrast to the temporal, to

572
00:26:08,864 --> 00:26:12,675
the temporal nature of mankind, he says
The word of the Lord remains forever.

573
00:26:13,229 --> 00:26:15,959
And this word is the good
news that was preached to you.

574
00:26:16,199 --> 00:26:18,840
In other words, to put it
differently, he's saying the

575
00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:22,560
word of God that is powerful and
effective now and to eternity.

576
00:26:22,620 --> 00:26:26,310
There's a power source in the word of
God that is beyond human comprehension.

577
00:26:26,550 --> 00:26:30,239
You and I, we will perish,
we will we'll grow.

578
00:26:30,270 --> 00:26:32,219
We'll experience the glory of
our lives, and then we we'll

579
00:26:32,219 --> 00:26:34,560
perish and, and, and fall away.

580
00:26:35,129 --> 00:26:36,540
But the word of God do the gospel.

581
00:26:37,139 --> 00:26:40,919
Endures and changes, changes
us in fundamental ways.

582
00:26:41,490 --> 00:26:45,000
In fact, the whole reason Peter says
this, the whole reason Peter says this

583
00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:50,310
is because he wants you to believe that
you have everything you need to love

584
00:26:50,310 --> 00:26:51,659
the way that God calls you to love.

585
00:26:52,919 --> 00:26:57,419
He wants you to believe that you have
point number two, ample resources to love.

586
00:26:58,514 --> 00:26:59,564
God calls you to love.

587
00:26:59,564 --> 00:27:02,504
He says, love one another with
brotherly affection, earnestly.

588
00:27:02,564 --> 00:27:05,084
And then he says, by the way,
I've given you the gospel.

589
00:27:05,084 --> 00:27:07,365
I've given you a new, a
new spirit, a new life.

590
00:27:07,514 --> 00:27:11,264
You can do this By God's grace, you
possess everything you need to love the

591
00:27:11,264 --> 00:27:12,675
way that God has called you to love.

592
00:27:13,879 --> 00:27:14,000
I

593
00:27:17,024 --> 00:27:19,425
the love that God gives
us is an enduring love.

594
00:27:20,745 --> 00:27:26,415
In fact, this is one of the qualifiers,
one of the evidences of real love.

595
00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:30,210
This is big because this is
different than what our culture says.

596
00:27:30,810 --> 00:27:32,520
So as you're making your notes, I
want you to hear what I'm saying.

597
00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:34,080
Real love.

598
00:27:34,679 --> 00:27:35,220
True love.

599
00:27:35,220 --> 00:27:35,760
Genuine love.

600
00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:36,449
God's love.

601
00:27:37,110 --> 00:27:39,990
The definitive love that scripture
speaks of is enduring love.

602
00:27:40,710 --> 00:27:41,520
It is covenantal.

603
00:27:42,270 --> 00:27:43,649
It has a permanency about it.

604
00:27:44,159 --> 00:27:46,320
It doesn't wax and wane with the tides.

605
00:27:46,379 --> 00:27:46,949
It doesn't.

606
00:27:47,340 --> 00:27:49,649
It doesn't go away when times get hard.

607
00:27:50,159 --> 00:27:54,210
Real love is a committed love that
says, I'm in it for the long haul.

608
00:27:55,169 --> 00:27:56,220
That's what real love is.

609
00:27:56,729 --> 00:27:58,499
Isn't that the love that God shows to you?

610
00:27:59,100 --> 00:28:01,080
Isn't that the love
that God offers to you?

611
00:28:02,340 --> 00:28:05,070
He says, if you'll repent
over sin and trusts in me, I

612
00:28:05,070 --> 00:28:06,600
will love you to the very end.

613
00:28:07,139 --> 00:28:10,889
In fact, that's how John in chapter 13
talks about Jesus' love for the disciples.

614
00:28:10,889 --> 00:28:16,860
He love them to the end, to the very
end, and so real love them has a

615
00:28:17,100 --> 00:28:20,879
quality and endurance that doesn't
fatigue, at least not ultimately.

616
00:28:22,139 --> 00:28:23,220
This is what love looks like.

617
00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:24,149
It's enduring.

618
00:28:24,450 --> 00:28:27,480
This is the hallmark of the Christian
faith, an enduring, genuine love.

619
00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:28,710
This is what it looks like.

620
00:28:29,760 --> 00:28:30,389
Practically speaking.

621
00:28:30,389 --> 00:28:34,680
Then, if this is your pursuit, if this
is what you're trying to do, you can

622
00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:36,270
understand how this would affect us.

623
00:28:36,330 --> 00:28:38,340
Now I just think about the fact
that when you're interacting with

624
00:28:38,340 --> 00:28:41,100
people, you might say to people, man,
this person's really hard to love.

625
00:28:42,495 --> 00:28:44,235
This person is just difficult to love.

626
00:28:44,445 --> 00:28:45,915
They're a very draining person.

627
00:28:46,605 --> 00:28:50,295
They possess, uh, uh, character flaws
and quirks and idiosyncrasies that

628
00:28:50,295 --> 00:28:51,585
just really rubbed me the wrong way.

629
00:28:52,425 --> 00:28:55,035
Maybe you see this person in church
and instead of, you know, instead of

630
00:28:55,035 --> 00:28:57,555
walking past them, you try to avoid
them so you don't have to talk to them.

631
00:28:58,125 --> 00:29:00,285
They're breath smells, and when they
talk to you, they're leaning into

632
00:29:00,285 --> 00:29:03,105
closely and maybe they're, you know,
they got bo and they're not really

633
00:29:03,315 --> 00:29:04,665
making me feel good when I talk to them.

634
00:29:04,815 --> 00:29:08,565
There's a lot of reasons why you may not
jive with someone who is also a Christian.

635
00:29:10,949 --> 00:29:11,399
Excuse me.

636
00:29:12,479 --> 00:29:15,719
There's a lot of reasons why you may find
it difficult to love someone who's sitting

637
00:29:15,719 --> 00:29:20,550
next to you, and scripture anticipates
that, which is why he's saying, look,

638
00:29:20,550 --> 00:29:23,310
you've been given a spirit, you've
been given a mission to love people,

639
00:29:23,429 --> 00:29:27,060
and whether or not you feel it is not
the question, it's whether or not you

640
00:29:27,060 --> 00:29:31,649
will obey God's call to love the people
that he's put in your, in your midst.

641
00:29:33,659 --> 00:29:34,725
Loving people like this is hard.

642
00:29:36,450 --> 00:29:38,280
Some of you might have said,
I can't keep forgiving him.

643
00:29:38,910 --> 00:29:42,480
I can't keep forgiving This person,
this person in my small group,

644
00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:43,800
they dominate every conversation.

645
00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:45,450
I just don't have the
energy for them anymore.

646
00:29:46,500 --> 00:29:47,850
I don't have the patience for this person.

647
00:29:48,330 --> 00:29:49,410
This person is too messy.

648
00:29:49,470 --> 00:29:50,730
They're too, they're too challenging.

649
00:29:50,730 --> 00:29:51,660
They're too problematic.

650
00:29:52,740 --> 00:29:55,200
Or maybe you might say,
they've never even thanked me.

651
00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:58,710
I serve so I, I'm always serving
and they never even thank me.

652
00:29:59,385 --> 00:30:02,055
They never say, Hey, thanks Tom
for doing the thing that you did.

653
00:30:02,385 --> 00:30:03,435
Hey, thanks for showing up early.

654
00:30:03,435 --> 00:30:04,185
Hey, thanks for coming late.

655
00:30:04,185 --> 00:30:05,175
Hey, thanks for making the food.

656
00:30:05,295 --> 00:30:07,995
They never even thanked me there.

657
00:30:07,995 --> 00:30:11,295
There's so many reasons that we
might struggle to love one another.

658
00:30:11,985 --> 00:30:13,524
And I, the scripture speaks to this, the.

659
00:30:14,475 --> 00:30:15,675
What's God's answer to us?

660
00:30:15,764 --> 00:30:16,245
Keep going.

661
00:30:16,455 --> 00:30:18,614
You can do this at this point.

662
00:30:18,614 --> 00:30:20,145
Lots of people will say, you know what?

663
00:30:20,145 --> 00:30:21,225
I need to find a new church.

664
00:30:21,614 --> 00:30:22,935
I'm just not jiving with these people.

665
00:30:22,935 --> 00:30:23,235
They're not.

666
00:30:23,235 --> 00:30:25,405
I mean, yeah, maybe the,
the, the worship's okay.

667
00:30:25,405 --> 00:30:27,465
Preaching's, right, but man, I
just, I'm just not connecting.

668
00:30:27,524 --> 00:30:27,735
You know?

669
00:30:27,735 --> 00:30:30,104
They, they're just this,
that, the other thing.

670
00:30:30,104 --> 00:30:32,475
Or I had a fight with so and
so and we're just not gonna,

671
00:30:32,534 --> 00:30:33,435
we're not cutting it, Ralph.

672
00:30:33,435 --> 00:30:34,665
I'm just gonna find a new church.

673
00:30:35,534 --> 00:30:38,114
The transient nature of
our love infects all of us.

674
00:30:38,175 --> 00:30:41,685
We're all consumeristic minded to the
point where when things get hard, it's

675
00:30:41,685 --> 00:30:42,915
really easy to say, what's time to bail?

676
00:30:43,395 --> 00:30:44,055
You're hard to love.

677
00:30:44,055 --> 00:30:44,715
It's time to bail.

678
00:30:45,165 --> 00:30:47,264
I mean, people do this all the time
with their marriages, don't they?

679
00:30:48,375 --> 00:30:52,004
People do it all the time
today when you, this is awful.

680
00:30:52,485 --> 00:30:53,024
Today.

681
00:30:53,024 --> 00:30:55,305
It's apropos and even
encouraged in some ways.

682
00:30:55,485 --> 00:30:58,815
If someone has a political disagreement
with you, hey, de unfriend me.

683
00:30:58,905 --> 00:30:59,774
I don't wanna follow you.

684
00:30:59,774 --> 00:31:02,024
I don't wanna talk to you if
you voted, I saw this one.

685
00:31:02,115 --> 00:31:04,635
When, when Trump got elected, if
you voted for Trump, unfriend me.

686
00:31:05,415 --> 00:31:06,105
No friend of mine.

687
00:31:07,545 --> 00:31:07,905
Okay.

688
00:31:12,360 --> 00:31:13,229
Love is transient.

689
00:31:13,229 --> 00:31:16,409
In our culture, it waxes and wanes.

690
00:31:16,469 --> 00:31:17,520
It's up, it's down.

691
00:31:18,179 --> 00:31:21,659
Even within the church, there are times
when we, we might be led to believe,

692
00:31:21,659 --> 00:31:25,020
well, man, if someone's toxic, if
someone challenges the way that you

693
00:31:25,020 --> 00:31:28,560
live and think, then maybe you just
need to exit away from that person.

694
00:31:29,129 --> 00:31:32,669
Remove yourself because they're toxic
to your life, and I understand you

695
00:31:32,669 --> 00:31:34,620
shouldn't be without boundaries.

696
00:31:34,739 --> 00:31:38,760
Not saying that you should be foolish,
but probably scripture pushes us

697
00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:41,790
beyond our comfort far more than
what we might be willing to admit.

698
00:31:42,525 --> 00:31:43,395
Loving people is hard.

699
00:31:43,395 --> 00:31:44,655
Loving them well is hard.

700
00:31:44,865 --> 00:31:45,645
People are messy.

701
00:31:45,675 --> 00:31:46,305
We're all messy.

702
00:31:47,145 --> 00:31:49,275
Loving people well is hard, and
scripture, I think would encourage

703
00:31:49,275 --> 00:31:51,165
us to pursue beyond what's easy.

704
00:31:53,145 --> 00:31:54,765
You guys heard that someone
won the Powerball, right?

705
00:31:55,305 --> 00:31:55,935
Powerball?

706
00:31:56,055 --> 00:31:57,045
Not that I encourage gambling.

707
00:31:59,085 --> 00:32:01,155
The Powerball was $1.7

708
00:32:01,155 --> 00:32:04,640
billion, billion with a b.

709
00:32:05,865 --> 00:32:08,115
I didn't realize that we were
getting that high in the numbers.

710
00:32:10,274 --> 00:32:11,009
$1.7

711
00:32:11,009 --> 00:32:11,745
billion.

712
00:32:12,105 --> 00:32:16,335
You could spend a hundred dollars
every minute for the next 30 years

713
00:32:16,335 --> 00:32:17,415
and still not run outta money.

714
00:32:18,074 --> 00:32:18,764
It's a lot of money.

715
00:32:21,284 --> 00:32:23,804
If it was you, be sure
to tithe off of that.

716
00:32:25,605 --> 00:32:28,365
Don't tell me but tithe.

717
00:32:29,264 --> 00:32:29,655
Just kidding.

718
00:32:29,655 --> 00:32:30,044
Don't do that.

719
00:32:30,690 --> 00:32:31,230
See me after

720
00:32:33,390 --> 00:32:33,900
need a building.

721
00:32:35,010 --> 00:32:37,980
But here's the thing, if that's all
that person has, if that person is

722
00:32:37,980 --> 00:32:43,620
not in Christ, they are poorer than
the poorest Christian, because as a

723
00:32:43,620 --> 00:32:45,540
Christian, you don't just have $1.7

724
00:32:45,540 --> 00:32:46,440
billion.

725
00:32:46,830 --> 00:32:48,930
You have, according to Ephesians
chapter one, the ladies are

726
00:32:48,930 --> 00:32:49,920
studying this, they know this one.

727
00:32:50,550 --> 00:32:57,330
You have with Christ, every spiritual
blessing in the heavenly places.

728
00:32:57,764 --> 00:33:01,815
You have all the wealth heaven has
to offer in and through Christ.

729
00:33:02,835 --> 00:33:03,524
You have everything.

730
00:33:04,365 --> 00:33:06,014
You're not impoverished,
spiritually speaking.

731
00:33:06,014 --> 00:33:07,185
You have everything that you need.

732
00:33:07,305 --> 00:33:10,155
You have all the resources
that God can afford.

733
00:33:10,185 --> 00:33:12,825
He's given them to you generously
so that you can love people.

734
00:33:13,830 --> 00:33:17,250
Here are those three resources
that you have in Christ.

735
00:33:17,250 --> 00:33:17,850
You ready for them?

736
00:33:17,939 --> 00:33:19,709
The three resources, and
we'll break them down quickly.

737
00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:24,360
You have a Christ's spirit, B
Christ's Word, and C Christ's example.

738
00:33:24,810 --> 00:33:26,340
All three of those I can
show you in the text.

739
00:33:26,340 --> 00:33:26,879
Let's take a first.

740
00:33:26,939 --> 00:33:29,489
Take a look first at a Christ spirit.

741
00:33:29,489 --> 00:33:30,600
Look at verse 23.

742
00:33:30,719 --> 00:33:31,320
23 A.

743
00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:33,929
You've been born again
of the imperishable word.

744
00:33:34,169 --> 00:33:36,659
You have Christ's spirit
who has adopted you.

745
00:33:36,719 --> 00:33:37,800
He's made you brand new.

746
00:33:37,925 --> 00:33:41,555
He's made you to be born again so that
you no longer have just a natural spirit.

747
00:33:41,555 --> 00:33:43,774
You have a supernatural
spirit, empowered by God.

748
00:33:43,955 --> 00:33:45,935
You've been changed all over.

749
00:33:46,055 --> 00:33:47,794
And in fact, this is called the new birth.

750
00:33:48,754 --> 00:33:50,405
Lots of babies being born
here, and I love that.

751
00:33:50,465 --> 00:33:51,845
Have more babies do more of that.

752
00:33:52,565 --> 00:33:54,095
Watching a baby being born is awful.

753
00:33:55,365 --> 00:33:59,294
But it's wonderful, the effect
having a baby in your arms.

754
00:33:59,294 --> 00:33:59,655
Awesome.

755
00:33:59,655 --> 00:34:03,045
I'm probably not very helpful for you to
hear that if you're thinking about having

756
00:34:03,045 --> 00:34:04,485
more babies, but we all know, right?

757
00:34:04,485 --> 00:34:06,525
It's not easy, especially for the men.

758
00:34:06,735 --> 00:34:07,154
Just kidding.

759
00:34:07,755 --> 00:34:08,085
Just kidding.

760
00:34:08,235 --> 00:34:08,625
Just kidding.

761
00:34:08,715 --> 00:34:09,014
Just kidding.

762
00:34:11,205 --> 00:34:15,014
When people are born again,
the kind of traumatic events

763
00:34:15,014 --> 00:34:17,054
that scripture uses is birth.

764
00:34:17,565 --> 00:34:18,945
You've been born again.

765
00:34:19,620 --> 00:34:22,290
Think about what it looks like
to maybe don't think about it.

766
00:34:23,580 --> 00:34:24,929
Remember the experience.

767
00:34:24,929 --> 00:34:28,620
Perhaps now someone told you about
what it was to have a brand new

768
00:34:28,620 --> 00:34:30,270
baby pop out of a human body.

769
00:34:30,900 --> 00:34:35,130
That traumatic experience is what Peter
and the Gospels use to say, this is

770
00:34:35,130 --> 00:34:36,600
what it's like to be become a Christian.

771
00:34:37,260 --> 00:34:40,920
When you get a new spirit, it's
like being born all over again.

772
00:34:41,534 --> 00:34:44,234
You have a brand new thing about you.

773
00:34:44,955 --> 00:34:49,185
Two Corinthians five 17 said The oldest
passed away and behold the new has come.

774
00:34:49,335 --> 00:34:51,225
You've been made alive with Christ.

775
00:34:51,764 --> 00:34:54,344
His spirit now empowers your spirit.

776
00:34:54,614 --> 00:34:57,225
Pastor Mark just got
a new iPhone, I guess.

777
00:34:57,464 --> 00:35:00,525
Apple released some new phones and
one of them is a really thin phone.

778
00:35:00,855 --> 00:35:04,035
So small, so light that it
is just ridiculously thin.

779
00:35:04,725 --> 00:35:07,424
This is the first and I think the
only phone that they've ever sold

780
00:35:07,605 --> 00:35:09,345
where they sell it with a battery.

781
00:35:10,005 --> 00:35:12,075
Because there's no room for
a good battery in there.

782
00:35:12,075 --> 00:35:16,035
So in order for your phone to last longer
than 45 minutes, they want you to buy a

783
00:35:16,035 --> 00:35:17,865
hundred dollars battery to keep it going.

784
00:35:19,395 --> 00:35:22,634
You don't rely on the human
battery to do your thing.

785
00:35:22,634 --> 00:35:27,194
As a Christian, you have a connection to
the spirit that empowers your whole life.

786
00:35:27,525 --> 00:35:32,444
You have an unlimited source of energy
and sustaining grace through Christ's

787
00:35:32,444 --> 00:35:36,194
spirit who has made you to be born
again with an imperishable seed.

788
00:35:36,810 --> 00:35:39,629
Unlike human batteries, we
get tired, we grow weary.

789
00:35:39,629 --> 00:35:41,520
We want to go to bed, and
then eventually we die.

790
00:35:42,120 --> 00:35:46,620
But the spirit's battery is a
power source that endures forever.

791
00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:49,799
You have Christ's spirit that
allows you to love people,

792
00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:52,979
even the weird ones.

793
00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:56,700
Don't raise your hand
if you think that's you.

794
00:35:58,470 --> 00:35:59,160
You have Christ's spirit.

795
00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:00,000
You have Christ's word.

796
00:36:00,750 --> 00:36:01,470
You have Christ's word.

797
00:36:01,470 --> 00:36:03,450
It says here that you have
been born again through the

798
00:36:03,450 --> 00:36:04,920
living and abiding word of God.

799
00:36:05,129 --> 00:36:06,480
This is of course the gospel.

800
00:36:06,720 --> 00:36:09,870
The gospel is what allows
us access into God.

801
00:36:10,170 --> 00:36:13,560
And here's the thing, the cool thing
about the word of God is that it governs

802
00:36:14,009 --> 00:36:17,490
and shapes the way that I think about
you and the way that I relate to you.

803
00:36:17,819 --> 00:36:18,690
Let give you an example.

804
00:36:19,740 --> 00:36:22,770
One time I, I had this
student in my ministry who.

805
00:36:24,089 --> 00:36:27,600
He, he is a teenager and so if he
doesn't take proper precautions,

806
00:36:27,660 --> 00:36:31,230
his body begins to emit a smell
that is not the aroma of Christ.

807
00:36:31,860 --> 00:36:36,569
So I had to make a decision and because
I liked this kid, I went and I put my

808
00:36:36,569 --> 00:36:38,819
arm on the shoulder and said, Hey man,
I got, I gotta take you aside here.

809
00:36:38,819 --> 00:36:41,339
So I took him to one of the side
rooms where there would be no one to

810
00:36:41,339 --> 00:36:42,180
hear what I was about to say to him.

811
00:36:42,180 --> 00:36:44,430
I said, man, you really, really stink.

812
00:36:45,509 --> 00:36:49,049
Do you have any deodorant anywhere at all?

813
00:36:50,325 --> 00:36:51,674
And he said, no, it's at home.

814
00:36:51,734 --> 00:36:53,984
And I said, okay, here's my deodorant.

815
00:36:54,404 --> 00:36:55,664
I shared my deodorant with this guy.

816
00:36:55,694 --> 00:36:56,414
Talk about love.

817
00:36:56,624 --> 00:36:59,294
I gave him my stick and
I said, you can keep it.

818
00:36:59,294 --> 00:37:00,075
Please use it.

819
00:37:01,004 --> 00:37:05,024
Please take this and utilize it because
your, your body odor is very offensive.

820
00:37:06,015 --> 00:37:08,805
Now, I can assure you this
was awkward for both of us.

821
00:37:09,404 --> 00:37:11,475
Neither one of us was
enjoying this conversation.

822
00:37:12,015 --> 00:37:14,444
This was not something that he
ever expected his youth pastor to

823
00:37:14,444 --> 00:37:16,185
say, but I did it because I cared.

824
00:37:16,950 --> 00:37:20,820
I leaned into the weird awkwardness of
addressing someone's body odor because

825
00:37:20,820 --> 00:37:25,145
I cared about him and other people who
would be left to smell his residue.

826
00:37:26,250 --> 00:37:30,359
Scripture says that if I have the
word of God, I now think about him

827
00:37:30,359 --> 00:37:32,220
beyond what's comfortable for me.

828
00:37:32,279 --> 00:37:35,730
Christ's word shapes the way that I think
about my interactions with all of you.

829
00:37:36,180 --> 00:37:40,020
It shapes the way that I see conflict,
the way that I see, uh, the, the, the,

830
00:37:40,020 --> 00:37:41,759
the way that I interact and talk to you.

831
00:37:41,819 --> 00:37:45,180
The women went on a retreat recently
all about how their words are

832
00:37:45,180 --> 00:37:48,754
changed because of the word of God
informing their words to other gals.

833
00:37:49,740 --> 00:37:53,430
The spirit is what enables this,
and he does it through his word.

834
00:37:53,730 --> 00:37:55,410
Again, this is not about your feelings.

835
00:37:55,410 --> 00:37:58,230
This is not about whether you
feel affection for somebody.

836
00:37:58,230 --> 00:38:01,620
This is about whether you'll obey
God's direction to love people.

837
00:38:02,070 --> 00:38:06,300
You have his word, his word,
shapes and motivates the way

838
00:38:06,300 --> 00:38:07,350
that you interact with people.

839
00:38:08,100 --> 00:38:12,000
It shapes, it defines the reality, which
means if I have an interaction with you

840
00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:16,290
and I, I'm mad, I'm upset, I'm offended by
something that you say or, or something.

841
00:38:16,320 --> 00:38:17,370
You know, let's just say we have a fight.

842
00:38:17,970 --> 00:38:18,870
I have one of two options.

843
00:38:18,870 --> 00:38:22,620
One, I can talk poorly about you, to
my wife, say, well, man, I was, I was

844
00:38:22,620 --> 00:38:27,450
talking with Jorge and this guy, this guy,
just such a jerk, you know, for whatever

845
00:38:27,450 --> 00:38:30,210
reason, I was just, I'm just complaining
about him at the lunch table after church.

846
00:38:31,170 --> 00:38:36,270
I could, I could do that, or I can let
Christ's word tell me if I have a problem

847
00:38:36,270 --> 00:38:40,230
with a brother, I can cover it and
just say, I'm not gonna think about it.

848
00:38:40,260 --> 00:38:42,570
I'm not, I'm just gonna let
it be covered over with love,

849
00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:44,220
or I can address it with him.

850
00:38:45,029 --> 00:38:48,330
I can go to Jorge and say,
Hey buddy, when you told me

851
00:38:48,509 --> 00:38:50,190
whatever I was offended by that.

852
00:38:50,700 --> 00:38:51,750
I'd really like to resolve this.

853
00:38:51,750 --> 00:38:53,040
Can, can we talk about this?

854
00:38:54,509 --> 00:38:55,440
One of those is easy.

855
00:38:55,980 --> 00:38:58,590
One of those is very hard,
but if I trust Christ's word,

856
00:38:58,590 --> 00:38:59,580
I'm gonna do the second one.

857
00:38:59,910 --> 00:39:03,240
Even though it's awkward and difficult
and challenging in so many ways,

858
00:39:04,020 --> 00:39:05,790
that's the kind of body that grows.

859
00:39:06,210 --> 00:39:07,800
That's the kind of love that expands.

860
00:39:07,800 --> 00:39:09,390
That's the kind of love
that's attracted to people.

861
00:39:09,900 --> 00:39:12,480
It's the kind of love that says,
I prefer your good over mine.

862
00:39:12,480 --> 00:39:14,100
I don't want there to be beef between us.

863
00:39:14,100 --> 00:39:17,940
I'd rather let the word of Christ
direct me to reconcile with you as

864
00:39:17,940 --> 00:39:20,130
opposed to playing this game of I'm
just not gonna talk to you anymore.

865
00:39:21,030 --> 00:39:25,290
And when I see you in the hallway, I'll
smile, but behind my smile is venom

866
00:39:25,830 --> 00:39:27,900
and bitterness because you offended me.

867
00:39:27,990 --> 00:39:29,400
And I'm not gonna forget that, by the way.

868
00:39:29,730 --> 00:39:31,170
I'm gonna, I remember
that you offended me.

869
00:39:31,350 --> 00:39:32,100
Never gonna let that go.

870
00:39:33,570 --> 00:39:34,800
You see how destructive that can be.

871
00:39:35,430 --> 00:39:36,330
I'm getting to my third point.

872
00:39:36,330 --> 00:39:37,140
Let's not go there yet.

873
00:39:37,440 --> 00:39:38,250
You have Christ's spirit.

874
00:39:38,250 --> 00:39:40,890
You have Christ's word, and
you also have Christ's example.

875
00:39:41,640 --> 00:39:45,240
You have Christ's example in verse 25.

876
00:39:45,240 --> 00:39:47,880
Peter says, this is the good
news that was preached to you.

877
00:39:47,880 --> 00:39:51,570
This is, this is the gospel
that was given in the gospel.

878
00:39:51,570 --> 00:39:54,480
You have the example of Christ
who lived and died in your place,

879
00:39:54,480 --> 00:39:55,590
raised for your justification.

880
00:39:55,800 --> 00:39:58,110
You have Christ's life for you.

881
00:39:58,950 --> 00:40:01,170
And if you get that, if you understand
what Christ has done for you.

882
00:40:02,220 --> 00:40:02,970
What else can you do?

883
00:40:02,970 --> 00:40:05,490
But say, well, I wanna live like Christ.

884
00:40:06,480 --> 00:40:11,700
If Christ loved me, stinky, rebellious,
evil, his enemy, if he was able to love

885
00:40:11,700 --> 00:40:15,180
me like that, then surely I can find
it in my heart to love the brothers,

886
00:40:15,360 --> 00:40:17,880
even if we offend one another, even
if we step on one another's toes.

887
00:40:18,570 --> 00:40:19,740
I have Christ spirit.

888
00:40:19,800 --> 00:40:21,120
I have his word, I have his example.

889
00:40:23,310 --> 00:40:28,800
Loving difficult people means
becoming aware that we ourselves

890
00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:31,230
are difficult to love if we're
just honest for a few seconds.

891
00:40:32,100 --> 00:40:35,460
I know that I'm difficult to love,
and yet Kristen, to her credit, has

892
00:40:35,460 --> 00:40:36,810
stayed in this marriage for years now.

893
00:40:37,500 --> 00:40:38,400
I love her for that.

894
00:40:39,870 --> 00:40:41,759
We're all difficult to
love in a variety of ways.

895
00:40:41,820 --> 00:40:42,900
Let's just be honest.

896
00:40:43,620 --> 00:40:44,610
We recognize that.

897
00:40:45,720 --> 00:40:47,310
We recognize that Christ loves us.

898
00:40:47,340 --> 00:40:49,410
He gave us the example of what
it looks like to love to the

899
00:40:49,410 --> 00:40:50,910
fullest, and surely I can.

900
00:40:50,940 --> 00:40:55,259
I can love you and I can forgive
you, and I can do my best to make

901
00:40:55,259 --> 00:40:58,770
it work at a church because I care
about God's glory and about the

902
00:40:58,770 --> 00:40:59,759
people that I'm sitting next to.

903
00:41:01,005 --> 00:41:04,365
Highly countercultural,
but Peter's not done yet.

904
00:41:04,965 --> 00:41:07,695
If this is the kinda love he calls us
to, then he has some really specific

905
00:41:07,695 --> 00:41:08,985
application he wants you to get.

906
00:41:09,645 --> 00:41:10,305
Here's what he says.

907
00:41:11,025 --> 00:41:15,165
In conclusion, he might say the
word so there could be translated.

908
00:41:15,165 --> 00:41:16,455
Therefore, therefore.

909
00:41:17,100 --> 00:41:20,669
If this is the kind of love that God
calls us to put away, all malice,

910
00:41:20,759 --> 00:41:25,680
all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, all
slander, he gives a vice list of all

911
00:41:25,680 --> 00:41:29,160
these kinds of things that can have
an effect on the Christian life.

912
00:41:29,339 --> 00:41:33,990
In fact, these are so, uh, these
sins if allowed to, if allowed to

913
00:41:33,990 --> 00:41:37,560
simmer or to grow in the body of
believers can destroy our church.

914
00:41:37,924 --> 00:41:39,125
I don't think that's hyperbole.

915
00:41:39,125 --> 00:41:39,964
I think that's genuine.

916
00:41:40,234 --> 00:41:44,975
If we allow these sins to permeate
our relationships, we almost guarantee

917
00:41:44,975 --> 00:41:47,645
that our church will die before she
ever has a chance to truly live.

918
00:41:48,634 --> 00:41:49,805
Relationships are that important.

919
00:41:50,345 --> 00:41:51,875
So Peter says, you gotta put these away.

920
00:41:52,265 --> 00:41:53,225
Put these sins away.

921
00:41:53,794 --> 00:41:55,115
Here's what the word put away means.

922
00:41:55,145 --> 00:41:55,535
You ready?

923
00:41:55,654 --> 00:41:56,194
You tracking with me?

924
00:41:56,345 --> 00:41:56,584
Okay.

925
00:41:56,645 --> 00:41:57,484
Here's what put away means.

926
00:41:58,415 --> 00:41:59,404
It means take off.

927
00:42:00,395 --> 00:42:02,464
Take it off and dispose of it.

928
00:42:02,975 --> 00:42:04,504
I'm not gonna put it on the
floor 'cause it's a nice jacket.

929
00:42:05,044 --> 00:42:06,035
Dispose of it.

930
00:42:06,810 --> 00:42:07,620
Get rid of it.

931
00:42:08,520 --> 00:42:11,730
Take off the old garments that you
used to wear when you were a sinner

932
00:42:11,880 --> 00:42:14,280
who hated God and put on new clothes.

933
00:42:14,910 --> 00:42:17,310
Have you ever had the experience
where you put on an old pair of

934
00:42:17,310 --> 00:42:20,310
pants or an old shirt and then
it doesn't quite fit anymore?

935
00:42:20,760 --> 00:42:22,770
Like, oh man, this is, this
is tighter than I remember.

936
00:42:23,490 --> 00:42:24,690
The shirt must have shrunk.

937
00:42:24,810 --> 00:42:27,030
Things are changing in
my, in my, my closets.

938
00:42:28,410 --> 00:42:32,250
Most of us, perhaps we take off the
shirt or the pants and we put them

939
00:42:32,250 --> 00:42:35,070
back in the closet for the day that
we'll be able to fit them again.

940
00:42:36,944 --> 00:42:40,035
Peter is saying you can't
do that with your old sins.

941
00:42:40,214 --> 00:42:42,134
You can't take off those clothes and
say, I'm just gonna put them here in

942
00:42:42,134 --> 00:42:43,904
case I wanna pick up envy again someday.

943
00:42:44,654 --> 00:42:47,354
In case I want to pick up hypocrisy,
I'll put the hypocrisy back on.

944
00:42:47,504 --> 00:42:51,104
Now he's saying, take off the old
cloth, take it off, repudiate it.

945
00:42:51,104 --> 00:42:53,115
Which is why point number
three is repudiate the sins

946
00:42:53,115 --> 00:42:54,674
that corrode Christian Love.

947
00:42:55,185 --> 00:42:55,964
Get rid of it.

948
00:42:56,055 --> 00:42:57,104
Set 'em a fire.

949
00:42:57,194 --> 00:42:57,825
Kill them.

950
00:42:57,825 --> 00:42:59,595
Crucify them, dispose of them.

951
00:42:59,714 --> 00:43:03,104
I can't think of stronger language to
tell you what Peter is saying here.

952
00:43:03,464 --> 00:43:04,455
Put it all away.

953
00:43:05,415 --> 00:43:06,225
Be done with that.

954
00:43:08,295 --> 00:43:13,635
When my brother was young, he, he got
cancer that was aggressive, and so the

955
00:43:13,635 --> 00:43:16,755
doctors prescribed an aggressive form
of treatment for my brother Philip.

956
00:43:17,295 --> 00:43:20,895
We had chemo and radiation
therapy both together attacking

957
00:43:20,895 --> 00:43:22,035
the cancer cells in his body.

958
00:43:22,725 --> 00:43:25,425
The effect on his body was
that he lost all of his hair.

959
00:43:25,515 --> 00:43:26,745
He was thin as a rail.

960
00:43:26,865 --> 00:43:27,855
He lost continence.

961
00:43:27,855 --> 00:43:30,855
He wasn't able even to have the strength
enough to hold his bowels inside.

962
00:43:30,855 --> 00:43:31,605
So everything changed.

963
00:43:31,605 --> 00:43:33,840
I mean, it was a, it was a
horrendous time for my family.

964
00:43:35,250 --> 00:43:39,060
But the doctors assured us this
is necessary because the cancer

965
00:43:39,390 --> 00:43:41,160
is so lethal, it's deadly.

966
00:43:41,160 --> 00:43:42,660
If we don't get a handle on this.

967
00:43:43,440 --> 00:43:46,380
I think Peter would say the sins
here are lethal to our body.

968
00:43:46,620 --> 00:43:50,130
These are cancerous sins that if we
allow them to spread, if we allow

969
00:43:50,279 --> 00:43:54,299
these kinds of sins to permeate our
culture in our body, we're effectively

970
00:43:54,299 --> 00:43:55,740
giving ourselves the kiss of death.

971
00:43:56,520 --> 00:43:59,460
So what you ought to do then is
replace malice with goodness.

972
00:43:59,790 --> 00:44:02,580
We're putting off these old sins,
we're putting on the new goodness,

973
00:44:02,580 --> 00:44:03,959
then means I care about you.

974
00:44:04,049 --> 00:44:04,680
I love you.

975
00:44:04,680 --> 00:44:05,970
I wanna do good to you.

976
00:44:06,509 --> 00:44:07,200
That's my goal.

977
00:44:07,200 --> 00:44:08,669
When I see you, I want to do good.

978
00:44:08,669 --> 00:44:10,830
I wanna make sure that the way
that I interact with you is

979
00:44:10,830 --> 00:44:12,479
righteous and holy and upright.

980
00:44:12,839 --> 00:44:13,950
I want to do good.

981
00:44:14,100 --> 00:44:15,930
I'm not gonna pay you back
when you sin against me.

982
00:44:15,930 --> 00:44:17,549
I'm gonna do what I can to do good.

983
00:44:17,759 --> 00:44:19,439
Don't be malicious, be good with them.

984
00:44:19,890 --> 00:44:23,069
Replace de seat with truth instead
of pretending to be something

985
00:44:23,069 --> 00:44:25,709
I'm not or to, to say something
that I really don't mean to you.

986
00:44:25,709 --> 00:44:27,540
I want to give you the unvarnished truth.

987
00:44:28,260 --> 00:44:31,770
This alone can have the power to
transform our church when we speak the

988
00:44:31,770 --> 00:44:35,700
truth and love, as Ephesians chapter
four says, it creates a context where

989
00:44:35,700 --> 00:44:39,540
there's authentic relationships,
which is why number three, we wanna

990
00:44:39,540 --> 00:44:41,400
replace hypocrisy with authenticity.

991
00:44:41,880 --> 00:44:44,550
We shouldn't have the kind of
relationships where we expect one another

992
00:44:44,550 --> 00:44:46,770
to act in ways that are unbecoming.

993
00:44:47,370 --> 00:44:51,240
In fact, when we talk about hypocrisy and
truthfulness, I mean, just think about

994
00:44:51,240 --> 00:44:53,160
the, the critic who hates the church.

995
00:44:53,370 --> 00:44:55,410
What's the one thing that they're
gonna say about Christians?

996
00:44:56,340 --> 00:44:59,760
Christians are all, say
it with me, hypocrites.

997
00:45:00,690 --> 00:45:02,490
It's the one that we get all the time.

998
00:45:03,090 --> 00:45:05,010
And maybe there's something
to be said about that.

999
00:45:05,070 --> 00:45:05,340
Okay?

1000
00:45:05,340 --> 00:45:07,410
We, we don't live up to the
standard that we profess.

1001
00:45:07,410 --> 00:45:10,530
We know that that's actually why
we're Christians in the first place.

1002
00:45:10,980 --> 00:45:13,230
We believe we don't live up
to the standard of perfection.

1003
00:45:13,230 --> 00:45:18,180
We all fall short of the glory of God,
but it doesn't mean we justify it.

1004
00:45:18,990 --> 00:45:22,830
As Christians, our job is to replace
hypocrisy with authenticity, and at least

1005
00:45:22,830 --> 00:45:26,339
what that means is that we're turning from
our sins on a regular basis, repenting

1006
00:45:26,339 --> 00:45:29,009
of them, and trusting God to change us.

1007
00:45:29,970 --> 00:45:33,990
I understand that when you come
to church on a Sunday, there's

1008
00:45:33,990 --> 00:45:38,790
a there, there's an easier sense
in which you can put on a mask.

1009
00:45:39,555 --> 00:45:42,975
It's easier just because we're interacting
with each other only for a few hours,

1010
00:45:42,975 --> 00:45:45,975
and so, you know, can I really get
into all of my life's messiness right

1011
00:45:45,975 --> 00:45:47,384
here and right now is the best place.

1012
00:45:47,384 --> 00:45:49,154
I don't want people to hear
what's going on in my life.

1013
00:45:49,154 --> 00:45:53,234
So I understand that here you might
be a little more superficial, which

1014
00:45:53,234 --> 00:45:57,225
is why it is essential that you have
a place within the body of Christ.

1015
00:45:57,464 --> 00:46:02,595
Or you can move beyond the superficial
into the substantial to tell people

1016
00:46:02,595 --> 00:46:06,314
where you really are and what's really
happening in your heart and in your life.

1017
00:46:06,660 --> 00:46:08,310
So that people have a
chance to care for you.

1018
00:46:08,820 --> 00:46:10,830
This will then mean we're
not acting hypocritically,

1019
00:46:10,830 --> 00:46:11,910
we're acting authentically.

1020
00:46:12,480 --> 00:46:15,390
We're bringing our baggage and
all of our sins and all of our

1021
00:46:15,390 --> 00:46:17,520
issues to the table and saying,
guys, I don't have it together.

1022
00:46:17,520 --> 00:46:18,360
Will you please pray for me?

1023
00:46:18,360 --> 00:46:19,110
Will you please help me?

1024
00:46:19,380 --> 00:46:20,310
Will you please bring me the meal?

1025
00:46:20,310 --> 00:46:23,880
Whatever it is, this is the way
that we oppose that will truthfully

1026
00:46:23,880 --> 00:46:26,910
and authentically bring ourselves
to the, to the to the table and

1027
00:46:26,910 --> 00:46:27,810
say, this is what's happening.

1028
00:46:28,620 --> 00:46:29,790
Help me with these things.

1029
00:46:30,510 --> 00:46:32,070
This is how God has designed us to work.

1030
00:46:33,315 --> 00:46:34,424
We gotta replace these things.

1031
00:46:34,484 --> 00:46:36,404
We put away the sins
of hypocrisy and desie.

1032
00:46:36,884 --> 00:46:38,174
We bring our truths to the surface.

1033
00:46:38,174 --> 00:46:40,004
If you're not in a community group,
let me just encourage you this.

1034
00:46:40,035 --> 00:46:45,404
This is the time you grow in authenticity
by practicing it with other believers.

1035
00:46:45,975 --> 00:46:48,134
So if you're not in that, let
me encourage you and exhort you,

1036
00:46:48,555 --> 00:46:49,725
make this something that you do.

1037
00:46:50,654 --> 00:46:51,765
Community groups are important.

1038
00:46:54,285 --> 00:46:55,970
Envy, we should replace with honor.

1039
00:46:57,720 --> 00:46:58,830
Envy is resentful.

1040
00:46:58,830 --> 00:47:00,779
Discontentedness as one commentary.

1041
00:47:00,779 --> 00:47:02,670
Put it, it's another way to say jealousy.

1042
00:47:03,060 --> 00:47:05,100
When I see you succeed,
I'm pained by that.

1043
00:47:05,100 --> 00:47:07,770
I don't like to see you get the
things that I think I should have.

1044
00:47:08,520 --> 00:47:10,109
Envy has no place in the Christian life.

1045
00:47:11,549 --> 00:47:14,640
Envy has no place because we're
all recipients of God's grace.

1046
00:47:15,270 --> 00:47:16,745
We all have his grace to varying degrees.

1047
00:47:20,190 --> 00:47:24,750
God has placed us each as he appoints
us, he's given us all gifts of grace and

1048
00:47:24,750 --> 00:47:29,010
gifts of opportunity and gifts of of,
of resources and intellectual ability.

1049
00:47:29,010 --> 00:47:29,730
It's all different.

1050
00:47:30,180 --> 00:47:33,390
Envy doesn't fit because God has
composed us all to be a body, and

1051
00:47:33,390 --> 00:47:35,280
that body of necessity is different.

1052
00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:39,090
One of us is a hand, one of us is an
elbow, one of us is a shoulder, one of

1053
00:47:39,090 --> 00:47:40,710
us is a foot, and one of us is a hip.

1054
00:47:40,920 --> 00:47:42,450
We can't all be the same thing.

1055
00:47:43,035 --> 00:47:44,235
Or else the body doesn't work.

1056
00:47:44,775 --> 00:47:46,245
And so we're all gonna
be in different places.

1057
00:47:46,275 --> 00:47:49,455
And when that happens, sometimes the foot
looks at the eye and says, man, I wish I

1058
00:47:49,455 --> 00:47:53,115
was an eye stinks being down here smells.

1059
00:47:53,415 --> 00:47:56,715
But the eye just gets to sit at the top of
everybody and look at all the cool things.

1060
00:47:56,715 --> 00:47:57,765
I wish I was an eyeball.

1061
00:47:58,485 --> 00:48:00,525
This is actually the
analogy that Paul uses.

1062
00:48:01,155 --> 00:48:02,685
And Paul says, look, you
can't think that way.

1063
00:48:02,685 --> 00:48:05,235
You can't be envious of your
brother or sister because God

1064
00:48:05,235 --> 00:48:06,945
has appointed them to that place.

1065
00:48:07,529 --> 00:48:10,140
Does your brother or sister have a lot
more money than you have and you think,

1066
00:48:10,140 --> 00:48:11,399
man, I'm a harder worker than they are.

1067
00:48:11,399 --> 00:48:12,089
What's going on here?

1068
00:48:12,089 --> 00:48:14,160
Lord, let God be God.

1069
00:48:14,910 --> 00:48:18,600
I could be thankful and I could even honor
them and say, Lord, bless their work.

1070
00:48:18,600 --> 00:48:21,089
Bless their their finances,
bless their investments.

1071
00:48:21,390 --> 00:48:22,680
Make them, make them resourceful.

1072
00:48:22,680 --> 00:48:24,000
Let them be generous of what they got.

1073
00:48:25,140 --> 00:48:27,870
If you are struggling to have a
baby and your closest friends have

1074
00:48:27,870 --> 00:48:29,220
lots of babies, they don't even try.

1075
00:48:29,220 --> 00:48:30,785
They blink their eyes and next
thing you know, they're pregnant.

1076
00:48:31,890 --> 00:48:34,890
You might be tempted to be envious
and say, well, well, Lord, I

1077
00:48:34,890 --> 00:48:35,910
mean, we're better parents.

1078
00:48:35,910 --> 00:48:37,259
If we were parents, we'd be better.

1079
00:48:39,299 --> 00:48:40,290
We gotta stop that.

1080
00:48:40,650 --> 00:48:42,690
We can't let envy infect our hearts.

1081
00:48:42,810 --> 00:48:43,710
It is cancer to us.

1082
00:48:43,710 --> 00:48:45,120
Instead, we ought to honor people.

1083
00:48:45,390 --> 00:48:48,720
In fact, Paul says in Romans chapter
12, he says, outdo one another,

1084
00:48:49,350 --> 00:48:51,600
compete with one another in what?

1085
00:48:51,900 --> 00:48:53,819
You know, this one out doing another in.

1086
00:48:54,600 --> 00:48:55,350
Showing honor.

1087
00:48:56,009 --> 00:48:59,460
If anyone's gonna compete with
anybody, it's gonna be, I want to

1088
00:48:59,730 --> 00:49:01,920
honor you better than you honor me.

1089
00:49:02,370 --> 00:49:04,320
And that's the kind of
competition God can endorse.

1090
00:49:05,310 --> 00:49:07,950
That's the kind of, that's the kind
of competition God would encourage

1091
00:49:07,950 --> 00:49:10,620
us to participate in, out, out,
doing another, and showing honor.

1092
00:49:12,540 --> 00:49:15,630
Last, replace slander with blessing.

1093
00:49:16,860 --> 00:49:17,700
Slander is evil.

1094
00:49:17,700 --> 00:49:21,779
Speech meant to destroy someone's
character to lower their reputation.

1095
00:49:22,620 --> 00:49:25,830
Your job then is not to allow
slander to leave your lips.

1096
00:49:25,830 --> 00:49:28,649
In fact, again, the ladies in
the retreat, one of their key

1097
00:49:28,649 --> 00:49:30,360
verses was Ephesians 4 29.

1098
00:49:31,200 --> 00:49:36,120
Let no corrupting talk come out of your
mouth, but only such as is good for

1099
00:49:36,120 --> 00:49:38,940
building up as fits the occasion that
it may give grace to those who hear.

1100
00:49:40,859 --> 00:49:43,890
Scripture forbids you
to use certain language.

1101
00:49:44,669 --> 00:49:48,149
One of the, one of the means
of the language is to slander

1102
00:49:48,149 --> 00:49:49,710
somebody to cut them down.

1103
00:49:50,445 --> 00:49:53,145
Now if you have a real issue with
somebody, again, you go to them.

1104
00:49:53,595 --> 00:49:55,935
If you have a real problem and you
have, you see some sin that needs to be

1105
00:49:55,935 --> 00:50:00,705
addressed, you go to them, but you do so
first by saying, can I just overlook this?

1106
00:50:00,705 --> 00:50:01,755
Can I overlook this offense with love?

1107
00:50:02,955 --> 00:50:06,194
And if not, and you deem it wise
and prudent, then you go to them.

1108
00:50:06,194 --> 00:50:09,884
You don't character assassin them to
everybody else in their small group

1109
00:50:09,884 --> 00:50:12,404
or the community group and say, well,
you know, I heard Pastor pj, you know,

1110
00:50:12,404 --> 00:50:13,814
he's got this issue and that issue.

1111
00:50:14,055 --> 00:50:17,685
Let's say you resolve it with Pastor
pj, you know you're offense with him.

1112
00:50:17,834 --> 00:50:20,564
You go to him and eventually
you guys, you hug it out.

1113
00:50:20,624 --> 00:50:21,734
There's reconciliation.

1114
00:50:22,424 --> 00:50:25,334
All the people that you talk to about
his sins, what are they thinking?

1115
00:50:26,265 --> 00:50:29,354
They still think he's a big, you
know, knucklehead because you

1116
00:50:29,354 --> 00:50:31,964
slandered his character across
all these different people.

1117
00:50:32,850 --> 00:50:34,290
This can happen all the
time if we're not careful.

1118
00:50:34,799 --> 00:50:37,229
Scripture says that we're called to
love one another earnestly, and what

1119
00:50:37,229 --> 00:50:40,499
that means is that we guard our tongues
and instead of using our tongues to

1120
00:50:40,499 --> 00:50:43,859
slash and dash and to cut people to
pieces, we'll use our tongues instead

1121
00:50:43,859 --> 00:50:47,040
to build up, to edify, to encourage.

1122
00:50:49,770 --> 00:50:50,549
That's what Peter says.

1123
00:50:52,740 --> 00:50:54,390
Now, as I close here,
let me encourage you.

1124
00:50:55,319 --> 00:50:57,120
When I was putting the sermon
together, I thought, you know what?

1125
00:50:57,120 --> 00:50:59,850
Compass North Texas does a
good job at loving people.

1126
00:51:00,509 --> 00:51:01,529
Guys do a good job.

1127
00:51:01,920 --> 00:51:04,470
So many people that visit PPJ has told
you before they come and they say,

1128
00:51:04,470 --> 00:51:05,670
man, that church, they're friendly.

1129
00:51:06,390 --> 00:51:07,230
They don't have cliques.

1130
00:51:07,230 --> 00:51:09,210
They're not, they're not exclusive.

1131
00:51:09,210 --> 00:51:12,029
They, they welcome people and you're
doing a good job at this, guys.

1132
00:51:12,090 --> 00:51:12,870
You're doing a good job.

1133
00:51:13,799 --> 00:51:16,020
Everything I'm saying then
is not to be discounted.

1134
00:51:16,380 --> 00:51:19,830
In fact, here's what Paul says to
the Thessalonian Church, who is also

1135
00:51:19,830 --> 00:51:21,090
doing a good job at loving people.

1136
00:51:21,090 --> 00:51:21,630
Here's what he says.

1137
00:51:22,200 --> 00:51:25,110
He says, now, concerning
brotherly love, you have no

1138
00:51:25,110 --> 00:51:26,670
need for anyone to write to you.

1139
00:51:27,150 --> 00:51:29,940
For you yourselves have been
taught by God to love one another.

1140
00:51:30,750 --> 00:51:32,730
In other words, the Thessalonian
Church guys are crushing it.

1141
00:51:32,790 --> 00:51:34,890
You're loving people,
you're doing it good work.

1142
00:51:35,850 --> 00:51:36,930
But in verse 10, he says this.

1143
00:51:38,580 --> 00:51:42,270
He says, for that indeed is what you're
doing to all the brothers throughout

1144
00:51:42,270 --> 00:51:43,590
Macedonia, you're loving them well.

1145
00:51:43,950 --> 00:51:46,920
But we urge you brothers to do this.

1146
00:51:47,070 --> 00:51:48,990
More and more

1147
00:51:51,030 --> 00:51:54,450
love for people cannot be put
on cruise control or autopilot.

1148
00:51:54,450 --> 00:51:56,790
We have to keep pursuing this goal.

1149
00:51:58,410 --> 00:52:00,839
And when we do it, it cha,
it shape shapes everything.

1150
00:52:00,870 --> 00:52:01,740
It changes all of us.

1151
00:52:01,740 --> 00:52:04,140
It grows our church, it grows
our affection for one another.

1152
00:52:04,140 --> 00:52:05,430
It does good things.

1153
00:52:05,700 --> 00:52:06,810
It transforms everything.

1154
00:52:07,620 --> 00:52:08,640
So our job isn't done.

1155
00:52:08,700 --> 00:52:09,660
You're doing a great job.

1156
00:52:09,930 --> 00:52:10,710
I don't wanna discourage you.

1157
00:52:10,710 --> 00:52:12,060
This message is not meant to do that.

1158
00:52:12,060 --> 00:52:15,360
This job is in fact meant to encourage
you to keep going, to not grow.

1159
00:52:15,360 --> 00:52:18,540
Where we're in doing good for induce
season will reap if we don't give up.

1160
00:52:18,750 --> 00:52:22,200
And when we quit, when the bell
rings, when God either takes your

1161
00:52:22,200 --> 00:52:25,680
life or Jesus comes to retrieve
his bride, his bride, until then.

1162
00:52:26,220 --> 00:52:26,759
Let's keep at it.

1163
00:52:27,359 --> 00:52:27,689
Let's pray.