1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:01,200 Going to be in Romans 13. 2 00:00:01,200 --> 00:00:05,840 We're going to continue our study in the book of Romans, Romans 3 00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:06,120 13. 4 00:00:06,120 --> 00:00:10,400 We're going to start in verse number eight, Romans 13. 5 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:11,000 Eight. 6 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:15,040 Last week we discussed what it looks like to be a Christlike citizen 7 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:16,480 according to Romans 13. 8 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:20,120 We saw what it meant to be a Christlike citizen, to obey the laws 9 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:24,320 of the land, to be a good follower of those that are in authority, 10 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:26,550 to submit ourselves in the proper manner. 11 00:00:26,550 --> 00:00:30,070 We also saw, though, that that didn't mean that we have blind obedience 12 00:00:30,070 --> 00:00:31,510 to everything that the government says. 13 00:00:31,830 --> 00:00:35,110 We look at the Bible and we say that that's our final authority. 14 00:00:35,270 --> 00:00:37,830 Ultimately, we worship Christ, not Caesar. 15 00:00:38,230 --> 00:00:40,990 But I do believe that there's some clarification that needs to 16 00:00:40,990 --> 00:00:41,670 come from that. 17 00:00:42,070 --> 00:00:44,950 I think that if a believer is following the word of God, we're 18 00:00:44,950 --> 00:00:47,990 going to be the best citizen that we possibly could be in a society 19 00:00:48,070 --> 00:00:49,830 because we're going to be following the rules, we're going 20 00:00:49,830 --> 00:00:52,040 to be helping others, we're going to be loving others. 21 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:54,080 And that's what this passage of scripture that we're gonna look 22 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:57,800 at here this morning is all about, loving one another. 23 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:01,640 Now, we left off in verse number seven, it talks about rendering, 24 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:04,880 therefore to all their dues, Christians should pay their dues, 25 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:08,000 they should pay their tribute, they should pay the customs, they 26 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:10,680 should honor those who need to be honored within the government. 27 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:14,480 Verse 7 says that we shouldn't know any man, we should not be in 28 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:15,240 debt to any man. 29 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:18,240 And that kind of ties together with what's going on in verse eight. 30 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:20,120 He says, oh, no man, anything. 31 00:01:20,820 --> 00:01:23,260 Now this is interesting because you could look at this and 32 00:01:23,260 --> 00:01:25,580 say, does this mean that a Christian can never go into debt? 33 00:01:25,580 --> 00:01:27,460 Well, that's a discussion for another day. 34 00:01:27,460 --> 00:01:31,140 But when we're looking here In Romans chapter 13, we see that it's 35 00:01:31,140 --> 00:01:34,740 tied to how we're dealing with those that are above us in authority. 36 00:01:34,900 --> 00:01:37,660 So basically, don't owe the government a bunch of taxes, don't 37 00:01:37,660 --> 00:01:40,020 owe all of these dues, don't owe any man. 38 00:01:40,180 --> 00:01:42,380 But then he says there is something that we are supposed to 39 00:01:42,380 --> 00:01:43,060 owe someone. 40 00:01:43,460 --> 00:01:47,600 He says, owe no man anything but to love one another. 41 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:50,640 So actually, what the Bible tells us here in Romans chapter 13 42 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:54,640 is that there is one debt that needs to be paid, and love is the 43 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:58,240 one debt that we never finish paying, and that is to love one another. 44 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:03,200 We can pay our taxes, we can pay off our mortgage, we can repay 45 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:06,920 borrowed money within our own life, we can fulfill contractional 46 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:07,680 obligations. 47 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:11,800 But as a Christian, we can never get to the point where we say, 48 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:13,710 I, I've loved everybody enough. 49 00:02:13,790 --> 00:02:14,870 I'm finished, I'm done. 50 00:02:14,870 --> 00:02:16,110 I've paid off my debt. 51 00:02:16,110 --> 00:02:19,030 The Bible says that that's something that is always going to 52 00:02:19,030 --> 00:02:19,350 be there. 53 00:02:19,350 --> 00:02:22,430 We always should be pouring out love to those around us. 54 00:02:22,990 --> 00:02:25,710 So there is a point in time in our life where we might say, you 55 00:02:25,710 --> 00:02:25,990 know what? 56 00:02:25,990 --> 00:02:28,190 I've paid off all of my tax bills. 57 00:02:28,350 --> 00:02:29,950 I've got my mortgage taken care of. 58 00:02:29,950 --> 00:02:31,030 I got my car paid off. 59 00:02:31,030 --> 00:02:32,150 I got everything paid off. 60 00:02:32,150 --> 00:02:32,990 I'm debt free. 61 00:02:32,990 --> 00:02:34,390 And I completely understand that. 62 00:02:34,390 --> 00:02:36,510 And I completely understand the joy of that. 63 00:02:36,670 --> 00:02:39,750 But at the same time, the Bible says that as a believer, as 64 00:02:39,750 --> 00:02:43,800 a Christlike citizen, as someone who is living a life transformed 65 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:48,280 by God, we can never say, I've loved enough, I've done enough for 66 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:48,800 other people. 67 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:53,080 We see that love is the one debt that we never finish paying 68 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:53,360 off. 69 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:57,800 And so we're going to look at this week how to demonstrate our 70 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:02,760 love and devotion to God through our love and devotion to 71 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:03,000 others. 72 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:07,040 We're going to see that the Bible connects those two things together. 73 00:03:07,590 --> 00:03:11,430 The way that I love God dictates the way that I love others. 74 00:03:11,830 --> 00:03:16,150 My devotion to God is connected to my devotion to others. 75 00:03:16,470 --> 00:03:20,630 And a lot of times within the Christian circle, we try to separate 76 00:03:20,630 --> 00:03:21,350 those two things. 77 00:03:21,510 --> 00:03:23,749 We say, well, I love God, but I don't love people. 78 00:03:24,070 --> 00:03:27,190 Or I want to serve God, but I'm not about to serve people. 79 00:03:27,590 --> 00:03:30,630 And what we're going to see here, Romans 13 and many other passages, 80 00:03:30,790 --> 00:03:33,230 is that those two things are connected. 81 00:03:33,230 --> 00:03:37,100 The way that we show our love for God is by loving other people. 82 00:03:37,180 --> 00:03:40,820 The way we demonstrate our obedience to God is by devoting ourselves 83 00:03:40,820 --> 00:03:41,500 to other people. 84 00:03:41,900 --> 00:03:43,340 And that's what this is all about here. 85 00:03:43,340 --> 00:03:43,980 Romans 13. 86 00:03:43,980 --> 00:03:48,100 He says, owe no man anything but to love one another, for he that 87 00:03:48,100 --> 00:03:51,779 loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 88 00:03:51,779 --> 00:03:54,980 So the title of the sermon this morning is the Law of Love. 89 00:03:54,980 --> 00:03:57,780 Let's go ahead and open up in a word of prayer, and we're going 90 00:03:57,780 --> 00:03:59,740 to dive right into the text here today. 91 00:03:59,980 --> 00:04:03,380 Lord, I pray that you'd be with us as we study this topic this 92 00:04:03,380 --> 00:04:06,420 morning, this idea of love, this lifestyle of love. 93 00:04:06,420 --> 00:04:09,660 And I pray that we can understand this type of love that 94 00:04:09,660 --> 00:04:12,580 we are supposed to show through the love that you have displayed 95 00:04:12,660 --> 00:04:13,180 to us. 96 00:04:13,180 --> 00:04:14,500 Lord, we're thankful for your love. 97 00:04:14,500 --> 00:04:15,940 We're thankful for your grace. 98 00:04:16,180 --> 00:04:18,820 We're thankful for the opportunity to live with others and 99 00:04:18,820 --> 00:04:20,900 to serve one another as we serve you. 100 00:04:20,900 --> 00:04:23,780 So, Lord, I pray that you get me out of the way, that your word 101 00:04:23,780 --> 00:04:27,260 shines brightly here this morning that it is understood and 102 00:04:27,260 --> 00:04:29,220 received and applied in our lives. 103 00:04:29,220 --> 00:04:31,300 And so we just thank you for all that you do for us. 104 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:33,510 And I pray that there's someone here today who does not know 105 00:04:33,510 --> 00:04:36,910 you as personal savior, that today can be the day of salvation. 106 00:04:37,310 --> 00:04:39,870 We just thank you for all that you have done and that you continue 107 00:04:39,870 --> 00:04:40,470 to do in our lives. 108 00:04:40,470 --> 00:04:42,030 And we ask all those things in Jesus name. 109 00:04:42,190 --> 00:04:42,830 Amen. 110 00:04:43,470 --> 00:04:48,630 So the command Here in Romans 13 is to love one another, but we 111 00:04:48,630 --> 00:04:51,390 shouldn't owe anybody anything except for love. 112 00:04:51,470 --> 00:04:55,710 And you might say, why do I owe someone else my love? 113 00:04:55,710 --> 00:04:56,910 What have they ever done for me? 114 00:04:58,260 --> 00:05:01,100 What did they do to earn this type of love and devotion? 115 00:05:01,100 --> 00:05:02,420 We're going to talk about that here. 116 00:05:03,300 --> 00:05:06,380 We're going to see what Jesus has to say about this type of love. 117 00:05:06,380 --> 00:05:08,900 Because the Bible is our guide. 118 00:05:08,900 --> 00:05:11,100 It's not the way that we feel because there's going to be times 119 00:05:11,100 --> 00:05:13,580 in our life, let's be honest this morning, there's going to be 120 00:05:13,580 --> 00:05:16,580 times in our life where we don't feel like loving somebody. 121 00:05:16,980 --> 00:05:18,900 Naturally in and of ourselves. 122 00:05:19,300 --> 00:05:21,780 We want to love people that love us. 123 00:05:22,990 --> 00:05:26,430 We, we want to be devoted to people who are devoted to us. 124 00:05:27,310 --> 00:05:29,750 And, and the Bible says that's a good thing, but that's what the 125 00:05:29,750 --> 00:05:30,430 heathen does. 126 00:05:30,830 --> 00:05:33,550 We're going to see here this morning that the Bible calls for 127 00:05:33,550 --> 00:05:34,630 a different type of love. 128 00:05:34,630 --> 00:05:37,830 This word love that's used In Romans chapter 13 is a word that 129 00:05:37,830 --> 00:05:38,430 you've heard before. 130 00:05:38,430 --> 00:05:40,750 It's agape, it's sacrificial love. 131 00:05:40,990 --> 00:05:42,790 It's a love that's not self seeking. 132 00:05:42,790 --> 00:05:45,350 It's a love that looks at someone and says, you know what, 133 00:05:45,350 --> 00:05:46,630 I don't care what you give to me. 134 00:05:46,630 --> 00:05:48,190 I'm going to demonstrate this to you. 135 00:05:48,870 --> 00:05:52,110 We started out in Matthew chapter 22 this morning in our scripture 136 00:05:52,110 --> 00:05:55,270 reading, let's see what Jesus has to say about this type of love. 137 00:05:55,670 --> 00:06:00,670 We see a young lawyer coming to Jesus here and we see that he's 138 00:06:00,670 --> 00:06:01,630 asking some questions. 139 00:06:01,630 --> 00:06:06,310 And we know through the context of the text that he is trying 140 00:06:06,310 --> 00:06:08,150 to tempt Jesus in this. 141 00:06:08,550 --> 00:06:11,670 And we know that the temptation is that Jesus might say 142 00:06:11,910 --> 00:06:16,290 that hey, there is this commandment that's more important 143 00:06:16,290 --> 00:06:17,490 than the other ones. 144 00:06:17,490 --> 00:06:18,810 So you don't have to worry about the other ones. 145 00:06:18,810 --> 00:06:19,610 You need to worry about this one. 146 00:06:19,610 --> 00:06:21,010 So they're trying to get Jesus in a trap. 147 00:06:21,170 --> 00:06:25,250 And Jesus answers in verse 37 when he's asked what is the great 148 00:06:25,250 --> 00:06:25,730 commandment? 149 00:06:25,730 --> 00:06:29,010 Jesus says, thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 150 00:06:29,010 --> 00:06:31,170 with all thy soul and with all thy mind. 151 00:06:31,170 --> 00:06:33,810 This is Matthew, chapter 22, verse 37. 152 00:06:33,970 --> 00:06:34,570 We know that. 153 00:06:34,570 --> 00:06:35,650 We've heard that many times. 154 00:06:36,050 --> 00:06:39,690 We all, I think, to some degree, understand that we're called 155 00:06:39,690 --> 00:06:40,585 to love God. 156 00:06:40,585 --> 00:06:43,030 But now that's a whole message for another day. 157 00:06:43,030 --> 00:06:44,350 What does it mean to love God? 158 00:06:44,350 --> 00:06:47,110 What does it mean to demonstrate our love to God? 159 00:06:47,430 --> 00:06:50,750 I think that all of us would say this morning to some degree that 160 00:06:50,750 --> 00:06:51,510 we love God. 161 00:06:52,310 --> 00:06:54,150 But what does that truly mean? 162 00:06:54,150 --> 00:06:55,990 Does that mean that we just go to church? 163 00:06:56,629 --> 00:06:59,030 Let me ask you a question, and don't raise your hand or don't answer 164 00:06:59,030 --> 00:07:02,470 this out loud, but do you think someone could come to church 165 00:07:02,470 --> 00:07:03,430 and not love God? 166 00:07:03,590 --> 00:07:04,390 I think so. 167 00:07:04,710 --> 00:07:08,260 I think anyone could walk in these doors for whatever reason. 168 00:07:08,820 --> 00:07:11,500 So going to church in and of itself doesn't mean that I love God. 169 00:07:11,500 --> 00:07:13,900 It doesn't prove that I love God, even though it could be part 170 00:07:13,900 --> 00:07:14,260 of it. 171 00:07:14,340 --> 00:07:16,580 There's a lot of other things that we could say that means that 172 00:07:16,580 --> 00:07:17,220 we love God. 173 00:07:17,220 --> 00:07:20,620 But we all know that we can say something, but also in our hearts, 174 00:07:20,620 --> 00:07:21,300 not mean it. 175 00:07:21,300 --> 00:07:23,620 We can say something, but not follow through with it. 176 00:07:23,780 --> 00:07:25,780 I can say that I'm the greatest father in the world. 177 00:07:25,780 --> 00:07:27,020 Like I'm number one dad. 178 00:07:27,020 --> 00:07:28,180 I do everything perfectly. 179 00:07:28,580 --> 00:07:31,460 But the true test of whether or not I'm a loving father is ask 180 00:07:31,460 --> 00:07:32,440 my children, right, to. 181 00:07:32,510 --> 00:07:33,070 Don't ask me. 182 00:07:33,070 --> 00:07:34,350 I can say what I want to say. 183 00:07:34,350 --> 00:07:35,470 It's about what I do. 184 00:07:35,710 --> 00:07:39,270 And so the Bible says here very clearly that the greatest commandment 185 00:07:39,270 --> 00:07:40,390 is to love God with everything. 186 00:07:40,390 --> 00:07:42,590 He says this is the first and great commandment. 187 00:07:43,230 --> 00:07:43,590 So. 188 00:07:43,590 --> 00:07:46,670 So for obvious reasons, we know that loving God is the most 189 00:07:46,670 --> 00:07:48,190 important thing with everything that we have. 190 00:07:48,349 --> 00:07:50,830 But then he says in verse 39 something very important. 191 00:07:51,390 --> 00:07:55,070 And sometimes we look at verse 39 and say, okay, there's this great 192 00:07:55,070 --> 00:07:56,430 commandment of loving God. 193 00:07:57,150 --> 00:07:59,310 And then there's like the secondary commandment that we're 194 00:07:59,310 --> 00:08:00,350 to love our neighbor as ourself. 195 00:08:00,530 --> 00:08:01,970 But I want you to see what he says here. 196 00:08:01,970 --> 00:08:07,170 He says, and the second is like unto it, meaning they're connected. 197 00:08:07,810 --> 00:08:09,890 It's not like I can love God with everything. 198 00:08:10,210 --> 00:08:13,170 And then, well, if I have enough time, I'll love my neighbor. 199 00:08:13,410 --> 00:08:15,450 No, he says, the second is like unto it. 200 00:08:15,450 --> 00:08:17,890 So there's the first and second, and they're connected. 201 00:08:18,290 --> 00:08:19,730 They're connected together. 202 00:08:20,210 --> 00:08:21,930 He says, the second is like unto it. 203 00:08:21,930 --> 00:08:26,530 Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, that agape love. 204 00:08:27,230 --> 00:08:29,470 Then he says something very picturesque. 205 00:08:29,470 --> 00:08:34,390 He says on these two commandments hang all the law and 206 00:08:34,390 --> 00:08:35,150 the prophets. 207 00:08:35,790 --> 00:08:39,470 So if I had time and, and if I had the ability to build something, 208 00:08:39,630 --> 00:08:42,430 I could build like two pillars here, right? 209 00:08:42,670 --> 00:08:43,590 And, and I didn't. 210 00:08:43,590 --> 00:08:45,790 So obviously you've got to picture it in your mind's eye. 211 00:08:45,790 --> 00:08:48,350 But let's say I have a pillar here, and that's love God with everything 212 00:08:48,350 --> 00:08:48,990 that we have. 213 00:08:49,150 --> 00:08:51,390 And then on the other side over here, we have a pillar that 214 00:08:51,390 --> 00:08:53,550 says loving our neighbor as ourself. 215 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:56,960 And then we could tie a line between the two. 216 00:08:56,960 --> 00:08:58,080 And he says, hey, that. 217 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:00,320 That hangs all the law and the prophets. 218 00:09:00,560 --> 00:09:03,520 And you could hang all the law and the prophets on top of that line. 219 00:09:03,680 --> 00:09:06,680 But do you see that if you knock down this pillar over here 220 00:09:06,680 --> 00:09:09,000 about loving God with everything, all those law and prophets 221 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:09,680 would fall down. 222 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:12,840 But at the same time, if you knock down that pillar of loving 223 00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:15,040 your neighbor as yourself, all those things would come down. 224 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:17,320 You see, it's something that we do together. 225 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:18,280 It's in unison. 226 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:20,880 It's a having the heart of obedience to God. 227 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:25,040 A heart of obedience to God is that I will love my neighbor as myself. 228 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:28,880 Loving God with everything and loving our neighbor as ourself is 229 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:31,840 something that Jesus says that it is connected. 230 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:35,800 The love of God and the love of our neighbor are inseparable. 231 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:37,360 I want you to see that here this morning. 232 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:40,880 That's the point of Romans chapter 13, because we're going to 233 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:43,040 go back to Romans 13 and we're going to see something that Paul 234 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:43,680 is missing. 235 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:45,760 You would say Paul's missing something. 236 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:51,890 Well, if we go to Romans 13 again, he says, what do we do? 237 00:09:51,890 --> 00:09:55,690 We're to love one another and that fulfills the law. 238 00:09:56,490 --> 00:09:59,450 Well, what does he say about loving God? 239 00:10:00,170 --> 00:10:02,610 He goes on to talk about all these different commandments in verse 240 00:10:02,610 --> 00:10:03,690 nine, which we're going to talk about. 241 00:10:03,690 --> 00:10:06,449 He talks about in verse 10, love worketh no ill against his neighbor. 242 00:10:06,449 --> 00:10:08,330 Therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. 243 00:10:08,650 --> 00:10:12,930 Some might look at Romans 13 and say, well, Paul is missing something 244 00:10:12,930 --> 00:10:13,250 here. 245 00:10:13,250 --> 00:10:15,610 He says to love my neighbor, but he doesn't mention anything about 246 00:10:15,610 --> 00:10:16,250 loving God. 247 00:10:17,130 --> 00:10:20,570 What we're going to see is though, that loving God means to 248 00:10:20,570 --> 00:10:21,290 love my neighbor. 249 00:10:21,290 --> 00:10:22,970 He's explaining that they're connected. 250 00:10:23,130 --> 00:10:25,650 I want you to see a few other passages of Scripture that speak 251 00:10:25,650 --> 00:10:26,490 to this very thing. 252 00:10:27,370 --> 00:10:31,810 Because what might happen in our flesh is that we say, okay, I 253 00:10:31,810 --> 00:10:34,410 love God and I'm supposed to love my neighbor. 254 00:10:34,410 --> 00:10:38,290 But if you remember there in the New Testament, what was the first 255 00:10:38,290 --> 00:10:41,370 question that was asked after Jesus said, you know what? 256 00:10:41,370 --> 00:10:42,330 You should love your neighbor. 257 00:10:42,330 --> 00:10:42,850 As yourself. 258 00:10:42,850 --> 00:10:43,060 What? 259 00:10:43,130 --> 00:10:44,170 Well, then who's my neighbor? 260 00:10:44,170 --> 00:10:44,490 Right. 261 00:10:44,570 --> 00:10:47,770 We, as humans in our flesh, want to find some kind of loophole. 262 00:10:47,930 --> 00:10:49,730 Like, okay, I know I'm supposed to love God. 263 00:10:49,730 --> 00:10:50,370 That makes sense. 264 00:10:50,370 --> 00:10:52,090 We, we all understand that now. 265 00:10:52,090 --> 00:10:53,170 We all fall short of that. 266 00:10:53,170 --> 00:10:56,290 But we all understand we're supposed to love God, but then we're 267 00:10:56,290 --> 00:10:57,730 supposed to love our neighbor as ourself. 268 00:10:57,730 --> 00:10:58,810 Well, who's our neighbor? 269 00:10:59,050 --> 00:11:01,170 Well, it's the person that lives on your right and on your left. 270 00:11:01,170 --> 00:11:01,530 That's it. 271 00:11:01,530 --> 00:11:02,690 You don't have to love anybody else. 272 00:11:02,690 --> 00:11:04,010 No, that's not what it's saying. 273 00:11:04,490 --> 00:11:06,330 It's whoever you come across in your life. 274 00:11:07,290 --> 00:11:11,050 Because what happened was, was that they said, okay, who's our neighbor? 275 00:11:11,050 --> 00:11:14,770 Then Jesus goes into that wonderful story of the Good Samaritan, 276 00:11:15,170 --> 00:11:16,530 and he challenges them. 277 00:11:16,770 --> 00:11:19,930 He pushes them to say, it's not just about loving people that 278 00:11:19,930 --> 00:11:20,850 you're comfortable with. 279 00:11:21,010 --> 00:11:24,650 Like, the Jew would love the Jew, but the Jew certainly culturally 280 00:11:24,650 --> 00:11:26,050 would never love a Samaritan. 281 00:11:26,050 --> 00:11:28,530 That would be like, all right, we love God, but we can't love the 282 00:11:28,530 --> 00:11:29,170 Samaritans. 283 00:11:29,490 --> 00:11:33,290 With the passage of scripture that Jesus is explaining in, in the 284 00:11:33,290 --> 00:11:37,130 Good Samaritan story is that the, the love of God crosses borders. 285 00:11:37,130 --> 00:11:40,810 The love of God is more than just who I want to love. 286 00:11:40,810 --> 00:11:43,010 It's about loving those that come before me. 287 00:11:43,010 --> 00:11:44,930 So the question could be, who is my neighbor? 288 00:11:45,170 --> 00:11:48,490 Well, your neighbor is whoever you come across in your life, those 289 00:11:48,490 --> 00:11:53,490 that might give you some level of frustration, those who might not 290 00:11:53,490 --> 00:11:54,290 love you back. 291 00:11:54,450 --> 00:11:55,610 That's the understanding here. 292 00:11:55,610 --> 00:11:58,530 In Romans 13, he says, you got to have that type of love. 293 00:11:58,850 --> 00:12:01,430 I want you to go another passage of Scripture and the New 294 00:12:01,430 --> 00:12:03,390 Testament, it's Galatians, chapter five. 295 00:12:04,750 --> 00:12:09,350 Galatians, chapter five tells us a little bit more about this type 296 00:12:09,350 --> 00:12:11,230 of love as we obey the Lord. 297 00:12:12,510 --> 00:12:18,270 You know, I, I, I think all of us here today might know, but I'm 298 00:12:18,270 --> 00:12:22,230 going to explain it a little bit further, is if we love God, how 299 00:12:22,230 --> 00:12:23,550 do we show that love for God? 300 00:12:23,790 --> 00:12:26,590 On the most basic biblical level, how do we show our love for 301 00:12:26,590 --> 00:12:26,910 God? 302 00:12:27,460 --> 00:12:31,820 Well, the Book of John, the book of First John says to keep his 303 00:12:31,820 --> 00:12:33,220 commandments, to obey him. 304 00:12:33,300 --> 00:12:35,380 So the way that I love God is not by. 305 00:12:35,780 --> 00:12:36,460 And by the way. 306 00:12:36,460 --> 00:12:37,340 We should sing loud. 307 00:12:37,340 --> 00:12:37,780 Okay. 308 00:12:37,940 --> 00:12:40,380 Brother Josiah mentioned this morning, make a joyful noise. 309 00:12:40,380 --> 00:12:42,340 It doesn't have to be in tune, but make a joyful noise. 310 00:12:42,340 --> 00:12:42,740 Okay? 311 00:12:42,740 --> 00:12:43,860 We are to sing out. 312 00:12:44,100 --> 00:12:46,140 But it's not just about, hey, singing out louder. 313 00:12:46,140 --> 00:12:47,580 It's not just about being in church. 314 00:12:47,580 --> 00:12:48,660 Every time the doors are open. 315 00:12:48,820 --> 00:12:54,860 The Bible says that loving God is equated with our obedience to 316 00:12:54,860 --> 00:12:55,100 him. 317 00:12:55,100 --> 00:12:57,060 If I love him, I will follow him. 318 00:12:57,550 --> 00:13:00,510 If I love him, I will do what he tells me to do. 319 00:13:01,150 --> 00:13:03,710 So Galatians chapter 5, verse 13. 320 00:13:04,110 --> 00:13:06,750 And we're going to look at verses 13 and 14 here this morning 321 00:13:06,750 --> 00:13:10,150 to talk about this type of freedom that we have to love and 322 00:13:10,150 --> 00:13:13,150 this type of law being fulfilled through the love. 323 00:13:13,150 --> 00:13:16,870 And he says in verse 13 of Galatians 5, for brethren, ye have 324 00:13:16,870 --> 00:13:18,350 been called unto liberty. 325 00:13:18,350 --> 00:13:20,030 So as Christians, we have freedom. 326 00:13:20,430 --> 00:13:21,430 That's a beautiful thing. 327 00:13:21,430 --> 00:13:22,590 That's an exciting thing. 328 00:13:23,010 --> 00:13:24,850 We're not bound by the law anymore. 329 00:13:24,850 --> 00:13:28,250 We don't have to follow every little step to get to a place where 330 00:13:28,250 --> 00:13:30,170 we feel like we have access to God. 331 00:13:30,170 --> 00:13:31,610 He says, no, you have liberty. 332 00:13:31,610 --> 00:13:34,450 But this liberty is to be used for something specific. 333 00:13:34,850 --> 00:13:37,650 Use, not liberty for the occasion of the flesh. 334 00:13:37,890 --> 00:13:40,370 So don't use this freedom just to make yourself feel good. 335 00:13:40,850 --> 00:13:42,850 Like, okay, so I have freedom in Christ. 336 00:13:42,930 --> 00:13:44,090 What do I want to do today? 337 00:13:44,090 --> 00:13:45,930 No, that's not what we are supposed to do. 338 00:13:45,930 --> 00:13:49,170 The freedom is not about exercising our fleshly desires. 339 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:51,920 The freedom is to be free to serve God. 340 00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:56,120 He says, but by love, serve one another. 341 00:13:56,360 --> 00:13:59,760 So part of this type of love that Romans 13 is talking about is 342 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:05,399 about serving one another, serving, sacrificing, giving, being 343 00:14:05,399 --> 00:14:08,880 there in time of need, doing things that needed to be done in 344 00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:12,120 the midst of a human relationship that could be different 345 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:13,000 for different people. 346 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:16,600 Like you serving me might look different than you serving someone 347 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:17,320 who's homeless. 348 00:14:17,790 --> 00:14:17,910 Right? 349 00:14:17,910 --> 00:14:18,430 I have a house. 350 00:14:18,430 --> 00:14:20,830 You don't need to provide for me, a roof over my head. 351 00:14:20,830 --> 00:14:23,790 But there might be someone who is in need of a place to stay at 352 00:14:23,790 --> 00:14:24,110 night. 353 00:14:24,350 --> 00:14:27,110 It looks different in many different scenarios, but we see that 354 00:14:27,110 --> 00:14:27,870 it's about service. 355 00:14:28,030 --> 00:14:31,990 Then he says in verse 14, for all the law, all of the law, everything 356 00:14:31,990 --> 00:14:35,070 that the Bible has ever talked about, for all the law, is fulfilled 357 00:14:35,070 --> 00:14:35,710 in one word. 358 00:14:35,710 --> 00:14:36,270 Even in this. 359 00:14:36,270 --> 00:14:39,150 Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself. 360 00:14:40,110 --> 00:14:42,510 He says, you want to be the right type of Christian. 361 00:14:42,510 --> 00:14:45,260 You want to live the way that God has called you to love you. 362 00:14:45,260 --> 00:14:45,460 You. 363 00:14:45,460 --> 00:14:46,980 You want to obey God. 364 00:14:47,060 --> 00:14:51,260 Obey God by as it says here, summarized all in this way, thou 365 00:14:51,260 --> 00:14:53,620 shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 366 00:14:54,980 --> 00:14:58,620 So is it about loving God, or is it about loving my neighbor? 367 00:14:58,620 --> 00:14:59,380 Which one is it? 368 00:14:59,460 --> 00:15:02,740 And I would answer that with, yes, it's about loving God. 369 00:15:03,060 --> 00:15:04,820 That means that you love your neighbor. 370 00:15:05,140 --> 00:15:06,820 And so that's what he's talking about here. 371 00:15:06,820 --> 00:15:07,740 Romans chapter 13. 372 00:15:07,740 --> 00:15:09,620 So go back to Romans chapter 13 with me. 373 00:15:09,860 --> 00:15:11,900 We're gonna be back to our main text for just a moment. 374 00:15:11,900 --> 00:15:14,470 Then we're gonna jump off and look at another passage, because 375 00:15:14,470 --> 00:15:16,910 there's so much to be said in the New Testament about this. 376 00:15:17,710 --> 00:15:20,110 Romans chapter 13, verse 9. 377 00:15:20,110 --> 00:15:24,030 He says for this, thou shalt not commit adultery. 378 00:15:25,070 --> 00:15:26,190 Thou shalt not kill. 379 00:15:26,910 --> 00:15:28,110 Thou shalt not steal. 380 00:15:28,670 --> 00:15:30,589 Thou shalt not bear false witness. 381 00:15:30,830 --> 00:15:32,110 Thou shalt not covet. 382 00:15:32,350 --> 00:15:35,630 And if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended 383 00:15:35,630 --> 00:15:38,630 in the same, namely, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 384 00:15:38,630 --> 00:15:40,750 He's summarizing what he said in Galatians chapter 5. 385 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:45,800 He now is going to list the commandments that demonstrate what 386 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:47,040 love actually looks like. 387 00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:50,160 He's going to demonstrate it through how we deal with other people. 388 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:54,080 Verse 9 talks all about the commandments that deal with our relationships 389 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:55,160 with other people. 390 00:15:56,200 --> 00:15:58,320 And I want you to think about it this morning this way. 391 00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:02,280 Our faith is inextricably linked to how we deal with others. 392 00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:06,680 The way that I show people what I believe in is linked to how 393 00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:07,720 I treat other people. 394 00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:09,880 So if I say, hey, you know what? 395 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:11,600 I'm just full of God's love. 396 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:13,800 I'm just abounding in God's love. 397 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:15,840 I'm so thankful for the love of God. 398 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:17,440 I'm such a joyful Christian. 399 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:19,600 I'm just so grateful for everything. 400 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:23,600 And then you see me out at lunch, and I'm getting upset that 401 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:24,960 my food isn't coming fast enough. 402 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:27,920 How could these people, do they not know who I am? 403 00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:30,720 Do they not know that I have a schedule and a plan? 404 00:16:30,720 --> 00:16:34,240 And I get angry and I get mad, and I don't show love to that person, 405 00:16:34,850 --> 00:16:35,250 okay? 406 00:16:35,250 --> 00:16:37,450 At the same time, I understand why we're that way. 407 00:16:37,450 --> 00:16:40,250 When we're in restaurants, we want our food, but that's our flesh 408 00:16:40,250 --> 00:16:40,850 coming out. 409 00:16:41,410 --> 00:16:44,650 So if I say, well, I'm full of faith, I'm full of love, I'm full 410 00:16:44,650 --> 00:16:47,490 of grace, but then it's never manifested in my life. 411 00:16:47,490 --> 00:16:50,050 I'm back to that place of where I'm saying something, but I'm 412 00:16:50,050 --> 00:16:50,649 not believing it. 413 00:16:50,649 --> 00:16:51,650 I'm not living it. 414 00:16:51,970 --> 00:16:57,090 So he says here very clearly, these things in verse nine will not 415 00:16:57,090 --> 00:16:57,850 come to pass. 416 00:16:57,850 --> 00:16:59,490 I'm not going to commit adultery. 417 00:16:59,490 --> 00:17:02,970 I'm not going to kill, I'm not going to steal, I'm not going to 418 00:17:02,970 --> 00:17:03,330 lie. 419 00:17:03,330 --> 00:17:04,530 I'm not going to covet. 420 00:17:04,530 --> 00:17:09,610 If I love my neighbor as myself, if I have the faith in the 421 00:17:09,610 --> 00:17:14,330 Lord to love him and to obey him and to love my neighbor, as myself, 422 00:17:14,330 --> 00:17:15,650 I'm not going to do any of these things. 423 00:17:15,730 --> 00:17:18,250 So if I love my neighbor, I'm not going to commit adultery. 424 00:17:18,250 --> 00:17:20,090 If I love my neighbor, I'm not going to murder him. 425 00:17:20,090 --> 00:17:22,290 If I love my neighbor, I'm not going to steal from him. 426 00:17:22,290 --> 00:17:24,330 If I love my neighbor, I'm not going to lie to him. 427 00:17:24,330 --> 00:17:27,010 If I love my neighbor, I'm not going to covet what belongs to him. 428 00:17:27,500 --> 00:17:30,060 So love isn't an alternative to obedience. 429 00:17:31,100 --> 00:17:33,780 Sometimes people think, well, you know, do I need to love that 430 00:17:33,780 --> 00:17:36,180 person or do I need to obey God's word? 431 00:17:36,180 --> 00:17:39,260 Well, it's yes, love isn't an alternative to obedience. 432 00:17:39,260 --> 00:17:43,579 Love is the motive and the expression of our obedience. 433 00:17:44,620 --> 00:17:48,540 So if I'm obeying God, my motive is going to be love. 434 00:17:49,900 --> 00:17:54,550 So someone could hear Romans 13, verses 8, 9, and then eventually 435 00:17:54,550 --> 00:17:58,070 10 and just say, well, if I just love people, I don't need to 436 00:17:58,070 --> 00:17:59,390 worry about God's commandments. 437 00:17:59,710 --> 00:18:00,830 That's sometimes how people think. 438 00:18:00,830 --> 00:18:02,190 They think, well, you know what? 439 00:18:02,590 --> 00:18:05,030 If I'm just full of love and I'm loving my neighbor, I don't need 440 00:18:05,030 --> 00:18:07,310 to worry about all these rules and laws. 441 00:18:07,710 --> 00:18:10,830 Well, that's partially true, but not completely true. 442 00:18:10,910 --> 00:18:13,110 Because if I say, well, I love someone but I'm going to go steal 443 00:18:13,110 --> 00:18:14,230 from them, well, I'm not. 444 00:18:14,230 --> 00:18:14,990 I'm not keeping. 445 00:18:15,070 --> 00:18:16,430 I'm not, not consistent. 446 00:18:16,750 --> 00:18:20,300 So the goal would be for us to follow these commandments, but at 447 00:18:20,300 --> 00:18:22,460 the same time, the motivation must be love. 448 00:18:22,460 --> 00:18:23,980 It's not just about following the rules. 449 00:18:24,060 --> 00:18:26,060 It's about being connected to God. 450 00:18:26,540 --> 00:18:28,860 So our original thought was this. 451 00:18:29,260 --> 00:18:33,140 Why is my love for others connected to my love for God Now? 452 00:18:33,140 --> 00:18:33,900 Why does it matter? 453 00:18:34,380 --> 00:18:36,860 Can't I just love God and not love my neighbor? 454 00:18:36,860 --> 00:18:39,420 Well, let's go to see what he says in Romans 13. 455 00:18:39,420 --> 00:18:42,700 He says, Love worketh no ill to his neighbor. 456 00:18:43,180 --> 00:18:48,460 The idea would be that if I love God and if I am full of his 457 00:18:48,460 --> 00:18:52,120 love in my life, I won't do ill to them. 458 00:18:52,120 --> 00:18:53,880 I won't sin against them. 459 00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:56,680 I won't sin against my brother or sister in Christ. 460 00:18:56,680 --> 00:19:00,760 Now, by the way, I don't see anywhere in Romans 13 where it links. 461 00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:02,360 This is just to other Christians. 462 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:03,200 I see. 463 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:04,600 This is to all of our neighbors. 464 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:07,000 Like we're to not steal from unsaved people. 465 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:07,240 Right? 466 00:19:07,240 --> 00:19:08,360 It's not just saved people. 467 00:19:08,360 --> 00:19:10,760 We're supposed to live this way with everybody. 468 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:15,080 But even in the sense of within the church context, sometimes 469 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:17,410 we have a hard time living, loving our own Christian brothers 470 00:19:17,410 --> 00:19:18,250 and sisters in Christ. 471 00:19:18,250 --> 00:19:19,090 And that's A harder thing. 472 00:19:19,090 --> 00:19:21,210 Like sometimes that's hard because we know someone. 473 00:19:21,530 --> 00:19:23,890 Sometimes I don't know about you, but sometimes it's easier to 474 00:19:23,890 --> 00:19:25,850 be kind to someone who we don't know, because if we get to 475 00:19:25,850 --> 00:19:28,690 know them and we actually see who they are, we sometimes have some 476 00:19:28,690 --> 00:19:29,450 issues with them. 477 00:19:29,690 --> 00:19:33,090 The truth is that sometimes the most difficult displays of the 478 00:19:33,090 --> 00:19:37,050 love of Christ will be within a family, will be within a church 479 00:19:37,050 --> 00:19:37,370 community. 480 00:19:37,610 --> 00:19:40,250 But that doesn't mean that we just forget about the need for love. 481 00:19:40,330 --> 00:19:43,100 It means that we have to strive more and more to come together 482 00:19:43,100 --> 00:19:45,100 and love people for a bigger purpose. 483 00:19:46,140 --> 00:19:48,060 So now we're going to see, why does it matter? 484 00:19:48,540 --> 00:19:52,100 How does my love for others connect to my love for God? 485 00:19:52,100 --> 00:19:54,300 I want you to go to Matthew, chapter 25. 486 00:19:55,740 --> 00:19:57,020 Matthew, chapter 25. 487 00:19:57,020 --> 00:20:01,500 Jesus explains to us how our love for him is connected with those 488 00:20:01,740 --> 00:20:02,780 that are around us. 489 00:20:03,900 --> 00:20:08,260 Now, in the context In Matthew chapter 25, it's talking about being 490 00:20:08,260 --> 00:20:12,330 ready for the coming of Christ, the kingdom of God, being 491 00:20:12,330 --> 00:20:16,690 a good steward of what we have before us in our life. 492 00:20:17,330 --> 00:20:19,690 And we get to the place where there's the separation of the sheep 493 00:20:19,690 --> 00:20:22,210 and the goats, starting there in verse 31. 494 00:20:22,850 --> 00:20:26,570 But, but I want you to see this connection that Jesus makes 495 00:20:26,570 --> 00:20:31,770 to when we are kind and gracious and loving to the least 496 00:20:31,770 --> 00:20:32,170 of these. 497 00:20:32,170 --> 00:20:34,210 What does that mean in our relationship to him? 498 00:20:35,420 --> 00:20:35,940 And he. 499 00:20:35,940 --> 00:20:38,860 He says in verse number. 500 00:20:38,860 --> 00:20:41,340 Let's see, let's see, verse number 35. 501 00:20:41,420 --> 00:20:42,340 Okay, this is the. 502 00:20:42,340 --> 00:20:43,420 The king, verse 35. 503 00:20:43,420 --> 00:20:47,740 The king says, come blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared 504 00:20:47,740 --> 00:20:48,940 for you and the foundation of the world. 505 00:20:48,940 --> 00:20:49,900 That's verse 34. 506 00:20:49,900 --> 00:20:51,260 Now the first 35. 507 00:20:51,420 --> 00:20:54,220 For I was an hungered, and you gave me meat. 508 00:20:54,460 --> 00:20:56,460 I was thirsty and you gave me drink. 509 00:20:56,620 --> 00:21:00,740 I was a stranger and you took me in naked, and ye clothed me. 510 00:21:00,740 --> 00:21:02,380 I was sick and ye visited me. 511 00:21:02,620 --> 00:21:04,460 I was in prison and you came to me. 512 00:21:05,500 --> 00:21:09,500 So there's this explanation of these people meeting all these needs 513 00:21:09,500 --> 00:21:12,060 for the, the king, for the, for the Master. 514 00:21:12,460 --> 00:21:15,180 And then he says, and then the people that are righteous answer 515 00:21:15,180 --> 00:21:15,300 him. 516 00:21:15,300 --> 00:21:15,980 Verse 37. 517 00:21:15,980 --> 00:21:19,620 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, lord, when saw 518 00:21:19,620 --> 00:21:21,660 we thee in hunger and fed thee? 519 00:21:21,660 --> 00:21:24,340 When did we do this and gave thee drink? 520 00:21:24,340 --> 00:21:25,420 When, when do we do that? 521 00:21:25,500 --> 00:21:28,540 When we saw thee a stranger and took the inn, or naked or clothed 522 00:21:28,540 --> 00:21:28,860 thee? 523 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:33,400 Or when saw ye the sick or imprisoned and came unto thee? 524 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:37,360 And the king shall answer and say unto them, verily I say unto 525 00:21:37,360 --> 00:21:42,160 you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these 526 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:44,440 my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 527 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:48,360 So the idea would be the way that I treat the least of these is 528 00:21:48,360 --> 00:21:53,160 ultimately a display of how I think about the Lord, how I serve 529 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:53,640 the Lord. 530 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:57,160 So if I see someone and I think, well, this is, this is typical 531 00:21:57,160 --> 00:21:59,400 in our flesh, I look at someone and I say, you know what? 532 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:02,320 I don't know if me doing something good for them will even 533 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:02,960 be noticed. 534 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:03,840 Will it even matter? 535 00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:06,320 And you know, is it worth my sacrifice? 536 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:09,360 Well, the truth is, is that that's not our job to decide. 537 00:22:09,360 --> 00:22:11,320 Our job to decide is really this. 538 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:13,680 Am I going to obey God and am I going to treat the least of these 539 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:16,160 with the same care as if Jesus was sitting there? 540 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:20,120 Now, I, I know that this is a, a thought exercise that we can't 541 00:22:20,120 --> 00:22:22,400 fully grasp, but if Jesus walked through those doors today, 542 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:25,690 we, we know what we would do if we would, we would worship him, 543 00:22:25,690 --> 00:22:28,210 we would fall at his feet, we would give him anything that he needed. 544 00:22:28,610 --> 00:22:31,050 But oftentimes we'll see other people and we think, well, that's 545 00:22:31,050 --> 00:22:31,810 not someone important. 546 00:22:32,050 --> 00:22:34,610 That's not someone who's going to bring me anything back in my life 547 00:22:34,610 --> 00:22:37,090 beneficial, so I don't really need to care for them. 548 00:22:37,250 --> 00:22:40,690 But what Jesus says is that when we treat people in need with 549 00:22:40,690 --> 00:22:45,130 love and grace and patience and kindness and compassion, that's 550 00:22:45,130 --> 00:22:49,050 us displaying to him kindness, grace, compassion, and that's us 551 00:22:49,050 --> 00:22:50,730 understanding what God has done for us. 552 00:22:50,730 --> 00:22:53,800 Because I'm thankful for the fact that God didn't leave me in 553 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:54,200 the ditch. 554 00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:56,080 You say what, what are you talking about? 555 00:22:56,080 --> 00:22:57,120 What ditch did he leave you in? 556 00:22:57,120 --> 00:22:58,640 Well, I'm not talking about a literal ditch. 557 00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:00,840 I'm talking about the, the sin that I was in. 558 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:02,520 I'm glad God didn't leave me there. 559 00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:05,520 I'm glad God didn't look at me and say, well, is it going to be 560 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:06,440 worth saving Him? 561 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:10,080 The truth is, is I could never repay my Lord for what he has done 562 00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:10,520 for me. 563 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:13,240 You could never repay the Lord for what he has done for you. 564 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:17,050 But yet he still extends that love, mercy and grace to us in, in 565 00:23:17,050 --> 00:23:21,690 those times because of his infinite holiness and his infinite 566 00:23:21,690 --> 00:23:22,050 love. 567 00:23:22,450 --> 00:23:25,370 And though we can never be like Jesus, we can never be perfectly 568 00:23:25,370 --> 00:23:25,810 like Him. 569 00:23:25,810 --> 00:23:29,170 We are all called to be Christlike and to follow that example. 570 00:23:30,370 --> 00:23:33,210 Another passage of Scripture that ties all of this together is 571 00:23:33,210 --> 00:23:34,770 in First John, chapter four. 572 00:23:35,410 --> 00:23:39,650 We know that the Bible tells us in First John that we love God, 573 00:23:40,690 --> 00:23:43,500 not because were good people. 574 00:23:44,460 --> 00:23:45,580 Often I used to think that. 575 00:23:45,580 --> 00:23:47,860 I used to think that when I was growing up that our church was 576 00:23:47,860 --> 00:23:48,860 like, the only good church. 577 00:23:49,180 --> 00:23:52,980 I was like, if people aren't like us, you know, I feel sorry for 578 00:23:52,980 --> 00:23:53,260 that. 579 00:23:54,380 --> 00:23:58,220 I used to think that, like, we were better because of our church. 580 00:23:59,580 --> 00:24:03,140 And obviously I grew up and realized that, you know, that's, 581 00:24:03,140 --> 00:24:04,380 that's a flawed way of thinking. 582 00:24:04,780 --> 00:24:07,020 But sometimes there would be that thing in my mind of like, of 583 00:24:07,020 --> 00:24:07,900 course God loves me. 584 00:24:07,900 --> 00:24:08,140 Of course. 585 00:24:08,290 --> 00:24:10,730 Course God loves these people because I love these people. 586 00:24:10,730 --> 00:24:11,890 And I. I love myself. 587 00:24:11,970 --> 00:24:14,650 But I want you to see that the Bible says in First John, Chapter 588 00:24:14,650 --> 00:24:17,730 4, that we don't love him because we're good. 589 00:24:18,370 --> 00:24:21,490 We love him because he first loved us. 590 00:24:22,210 --> 00:24:26,130 That that's seen here in First John, chapter 4, verse 19. 591 00:24:26,210 --> 00:24:28,290 We love him because he first loved us. 592 00:24:28,370 --> 00:24:33,170 God made the first move by sacrificing himself for us. 593 00:24:33,740 --> 00:24:35,140 And then it says in verse 20, if. 594 00:24:35,140 --> 00:24:40,140 If a man say, I love God and hateth his brother, he is a liar. 595 00:24:40,540 --> 00:24:42,700 Now don't get, don't get mad at the messenger. 596 00:24:43,020 --> 00:24:44,060 This is First John. 597 00:24:44,060 --> 00:24:45,420 This is not my opinion. 598 00:24:45,500 --> 00:24:49,100 The Bible says very clearly here that if I say I love God and 599 00:24:49,100 --> 00:24:51,260 hate my brother, I am a liar. 600 00:24:51,420 --> 00:24:54,740 For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can 601 00:24:54,740 --> 00:24:56,780 he love God whom he hath not seen? 602 00:24:57,260 --> 00:25:01,400 And this commandment we have from him that he who loveth God, 603 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:02,640 love his brother also. 604 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:06,920 I hope you see how many times in Scripture, in the New Testament 605 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:11,760 alone, does it connect my love for God to my love for my neighbor, 606 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:15,600 for my brother, for my sister, for someone who is in need. 607 00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:20,080 And I hope that we can see here In Romans chapter 13 that I 608 00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:23,280 owe that to them, even though they haven't done anything for me, 609 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:26,400 but I owe them that love because of what God has done for 610 00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:26,560 me. 611 00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:28,080 So let's go back to Romans chapter 13. 612 00:25:29,660 --> 00:25:33,980 And I want you to see this last thought here this morning. 613 00:25:34,620 --> 00:25:37,860 And then we're going to kind of take some takeaways with us as 614 00:25:37,860 --> 00:25:38,620 application. 615 00:25:39,260 --> 00:25:39,580 So. 616 00:25:39,580 --> 00:25:41,260 So Romans 13, verse 10. 617 00:25:41,260 --> 00:25:43,980 He says, Love worketh no ill to his neighbor. 618 00:25:45,340 --> 00:25:47,780 So one could read that and say, well, you know what? 619 00:25:47,780 --> 00:25:50,620 Me being loving just means I'm not going to do anything bad to people, 620 00:25:51,580 --> 00:25:51,980 right? 621 00:25:51,980 --> 00:25:54,500 So if I love my neighbor, I'm not going to steal from him. 622 00:25:54,500 --> 00:25:56,620 But I guarantee you, I'm not going to go talk to him. 623 00:25:57,040 --> 00:25:59,000 I'm not going to go give him extra food. 624 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:00,640 I'm not going to do anything good for him. 625 00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:03,720 And so sometimes people live a Christian life that way. 626 00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:05,680 Well, I'm just going to keep my nose out of trouble. 627 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:08,160 I'm Going to not do anything bad to people. 628 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:09,840 And that's, that's good enough. 629 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:13,920 But what we see through other passages of Scripture, like Galatians, 630 00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:17,280 chapter five, where it says in love, serving one another, we see 631 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:19,840 other passages of scripture, like in Ephesians, chapter four, 632 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:23,440 that says, don't just stop stealing, but now make money and 633 00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:24,640 give to those that are in need. 634 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:27,240 Don't stop lying, but now speak the truth in love. 635 00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:30,040 So there's a second part of the love that we have for people. 636 00:26:30,120 --> 00:26:33,400 It's not just holding back ill will towards them. 637 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:36,720 So that's sometimes how it works within a church or within a 638 00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:37,000 family. 639 00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:41,640 Like, well, I know I'm not supposed to hate them. 640 00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:43,600 I know I'm not supposed to be mean. 641 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:46,560 So I'm just going to avoid them and I'm just going to just not 642 00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:47,240 do anything bad. 643 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:49,560 And that's better than the alternative. 644 00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:51,000 It's better than doing bad to them. 645 00:26:51,370 --> 00:26:56,250 But the Christlike way is not just to avoid the ill will, but to 646 00:26:56,250 --> 00:26:59,810 now infuse good into their life and do things in service to 647 00:26:59,810 --> 00:27:01,290 them and sacrifice to them. 648 00:27:01,370 --> 00:27:03,530 And that can look like many different things. 649 00:27:04,330 --> 00:27:06,810 It could be like putting their needs before our own. 650 00:27:07,289 --> 00:27:11,130 It could be giving them things that they are in need of, speaking 651 00:27:11,130 --> 00:27:12,730 the truth to them, encouraging them. 652 00:27:12,890 --> 00:27:15,290 So it could be a material thing, it could be a spiritual thing, 653 00:27:15,290 --> 00:27:16,570 it could be an emotional thing. 654 00:27:17,140 --> 00:27:21,460 But biblical love seeks the good of the person rather than using 655 00:27:21,540 --> 00:27:23,300 the other person for our own good. 656 00:27:23,300 --> 00:27:25,540 I want to say that again because I think that's so important. 657 00:27:25,940 --> 00:27:30,740 Biblical love, this agape love, seeks the good of another person. 658 00:27:30,740 --> 00:27:35,500 Like, I want good to come to them rather than using the other 659 00:27:35,500 --> 00:27:37,500 person for our own good. 660 00:27:37,500 --> 00:27:39,060 That's what the world's way of love is. 661 00:27:39,460 --> 00:27:42,910 The world's way of love is, I'm going to use this person and 662 00:27:42,910 --> 00:27:44,310 love them for my good. 663 00:27:44,790 --> 00:27:45,110 Right? 664 00:27:45,110 --> 00:27:45,430 That's. 665 00:27:45,430 --> 00:27:47,190 That's what they teach with marriages, right? 666 00:27:47,190 --> 00:27:48,790 What does this person bring to you? 667 00:27:49,110 --> 00:27:50,390 How do they make you feel? 668 00:27:50,950 --> 00:27:53,590 And I understand there should be feelings within a marriage. 669 00:27:53,590 --> 00:27:56,790 But if I'm in a marriage or any relationship and I'm thinking, 670 00:27:56,790 --> 00:27:58,550 well, what has that person done for me lately? 671 00:27:58,709 --> 00:28:02,030 I'm probably not in the right place that I need to be in my love 672 00:28:02,030 --> 00:28:03,830 for that person because it's all about me. 673 00:28:04,230 --> 00:28:06,550 But a true love relationship is all about them. 674 00:28:06,550 --> 00:28:08,470 How can I bring good to them? 675 00:28:09,220 --> 00:28:11,700 Now, again, I'm not coming from a perch of perfection in this. 676 00:28:12,020 --> 00:28:15,140 There's many times in my life where I have fallen in this category 677 00:28:15,700 --> 00:28:20,260 because love is sometimes Messy love is sometimes difficult. 678 00:28:20,500 --> 00:28:22,260 With love comes a risk. 679 00:28:23,140 --> 00:28:24,300 We understand that, right? 680 00:28:24,300 --> 00:28:28,540 If I extend myself in love to somebody and sacrifice for them, 681 00:28:28,540 --> 00:28:30,580 there's always going to be a risk that I am hurt. 682 00:28:31,540 --> 00:28:34,340 And I would say to you here this morning, that risk is worth 683 00:28:34,340 --> 00:28:34,500 it. 684 00:28:34,500 --> 00:28:35,940 Because the Bible calls us. 685 00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:37,640 It's not an optional thing. 686 00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:40,000 The Bible calls us to display this type of love. 687 00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:44,840 Love is not just something that God commands us to feel, though 688 00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:45,840 there's feelings with love. 689 00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:50,000 I want to tell you that if you say, well, I love God, but I haven't 690 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:54,000 once ever felt an emotion in a service or ever once felt an emotion 691 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:56,280 when I'm reading the Bible, well, I'm going to tell you that 692 00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:58,320 that's probably a little bit of an issue. 693 00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:02,600 I'm not saying that feelings should be removed from our Christian 694 00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:06,250 life or removed from our love relationships, but I'm saying that 695 00:29:06,250 --> 00:29:09,170 the feelings aren't the only motivation because there's going 696 00:29:09,170 --> 00:29:11,930 to be days when we wake up and the feeling is not there to love 697 00:29:11,930 --> 00:29:13,890 my neighbor, right? 698 00:29:13,890 --> 00:29:14,210 My. 699 00:29:14,210 --> 00:29:14,730 My say. 700 00:29:14,730 --> 00:29:18,050 Say my neighbor said something about me, or maybe my neighbor just 701 00:29:18,050 --> 00:29:19,530 looked at me the wrong way and may. 702 00:29:19,530 --> 00:29:22,410 Or whatever it is, it could be a lot of different reasons why I 703 00:29:22,410 --> 00:29:24,250 don't feel that love today. 704 00:29:24,250 --> 00:29:26,610 But the Bible says that it's more than a feeling. 705 00:29:27,170 --> 00:29:29,450 It's something that God commands us to do. 706 00:29:29,450 --> 00:29:30,210 It's an action. 707 00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:34,280 So therefore I had to make a decision to say, I am going to love 708 00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:38,800 this person not because of my feeling today or not because what 709 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:41,960 they said, but because what God has said and what God has done 710 00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:42,760 in my life. 711 00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:47,160 So biblical love isn't just refusing to hurt someone, though 712 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:48,200 I think that's part of it. 713 00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:52,200 That's what Romans 13 chapter, Romans, chapter 13, verse 10 says, 714 00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:54,120 Love worketh no ill to his neighbor. 715 00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:57,000 Therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. 716 00:29:58,010 --> 00:30:00,050 So you would say, what is he talking about with fulfilling the 717 00:30:00,050 --> 00:30:00,250 law? 718 00:30:00,250 --> 00:30:03,210 Well, we know that we don't have to fulfill the law for salvation 719 00:30:03,530 --> 00:30:04,010 at all. 720 00:30:04,010 --> 00:30:07,050 Like the law, we're free from the bondage of the law. 721 00:30:07,450 --> 00:30:08,850 That's what Galatians talked about. 722 00:30:08,850 --> 00:30:11,970 Remember it said, you have liberty now, but the liberty that 723 00:30:11,970 --> 00:30:15,770 comes with not fulfilling the law doesn't mean that I now can just 724 00:30:15,770 --> 00:30:16,650 like sin. 725 00:30:17,050 --> 00:30:20,090 Okay, now, now that I'm not under the law, I can steal from someone. 726 00:30:20,090 --> 00:30:22,050 Or now that I'm not under the law, I can covet. 727 00:30:22,050 --> 00:30:23,930 No, actually the Bible says that the. 728 00:30:24,080 --> 00:30:26,080 The law is God's morality. 729 00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:29,040 The law is there to show us what the standard is. 730 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:31,120 So the ten Commandments are a good thing. 731 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:33,600 The Ten Commandments are not something that we should throw out. 732 00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:36,680 I've heard people say that now that we're under grace, throw away 733 00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:38,280 the Ten Commandments, we don't need them anymore. 734 00:30:38,280 --> 00:30:39,720 Well, no, that, that's. 735 00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:43,800 That's showing us what we are to do as a believer. 736 00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:44,040 We're. 737 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:45,760 We're not supposed to worship other gods. 738 00:30:45,760 --> 00:30:48,760 We're not supposed to dishonor our parents. 739 00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:51,810 We're not supposed to covet, we're not supposed to murder. 740 00:30:51,970 --> 00:30:55,290 Those are all good things that God has called us to strive for in 741 00:30:55,290 --> 00:30:55,730 our life. 742 00:30:55,890 --> 00:30:58,730 But now the freedom is that I don't have to do all those to keep 743 00:30:58,730 --> 00:31:02,290 my salvation, because all of us inevitably will stumble within 744 00:31:02,290 --> 00:31:03,490 the Ten Commandments. 745 00:31:04,130 --> 00:31:06,650 Maybe if we had more time, I could walk you through each of the 746 00:31:06,650 --> 00:31:09,650 Ten Commandments and we could really have a true assessment of 747 00:31:09,650 --> 00:31:12,130 if any of us have kept all the Commandments completely. 748 00:31:12,530 --> 00:31:15,050 And maybe some of you would say, I've kept every single commandment 749 00:31:15,050 --> 00:31:15,650 my whole life. 750 00:31:16,210 --> 00:31:17,130 Well, praise God for that. 751 00:31:17,130 --> 00:31:19,650 But then also look at what Matthew chapter 5 says. 752 00:31:19,730 --> 00:31:21,970 Jesus says, okay, you think you've kept all the law. 753 00:31:22,050 --> 00:31:23,330 I'm going to take it a step further. 754 00:31:23,330 --> 00:31:26,450 If you've thought about that, you've now broken the commandment. 755 00:31:26,450 --> 00:31:27,410 What was Jesus doing? 756 00:31:27,410 --> 00:31:30,570 Was Jesus freeing us from the morality that's there? 757 00:31:30,570 --> 00:31:30,930 No. 758 00:31:30,930 --> 00:31:34,330 Jesus is actually showing us that none of us in the moral standard 759 00:31:34,330 --> 00:31:37,730 can meet the perfection that is the holiness of God. 760 00:31:38,290 --> 00:31:42,210 So it's this idea that, yes, I am not supposed to just throw away 761 00:31:42,450 --> 00:31:45,290 this 10 commandments, but what I am supposed to understand is that 762 00:31:45,290 --> 00:31:46,330 it's through the grace of God. 763 00:31:46,330 --> 00:31:49,330 So biblical love isn't simply refusing to hurt someone. 764 00:31:49,490 --> 00:31:51,450 It's intentionally to seek their good. 765 00:31:51,450 --> 00:31:51,810 Why? 766 00:31:51,970 --> 00:31:52,290 Not? 767 00:31:52,290 --> 00:31:54,050 Because I'm going to get saved through it. 768 00:31:54,050 --> 00:31:56,530 Not because people are going to do good things for me, but because 769 00:31:56,530 --> 00:32:00,730 it's what God has called me to do and remember what hangs all the 770 00:32:00,730 --> 00:32:01,650 law and the prophets. 771 00:32:01,730 --> 00:32:04,850 Loving God with everything and loving my neighbor as myself. 772 00:32:05,490 --> 00:32:09,130 If I love God, and if I love my neighbor perfectly, I'm going 773 00:32:09,130 --> 00:32:10,050 to obey the law. 774 00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:13,280 Now, we're not talking about the ceremonial dietary laws. 775 00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:15,400 I'm not getting down that rabbit trail this morning. 776 00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:18,680 But there are some things that we can look at in the Levitical law 777 00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:21,080 that you know are not necessarily tied to morals. 778 00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:24,280 They were tied to dietary things and ceremonial things. 779 00:32:24,280 --> 00:32:25,600 But I'm talking about the moral law. 780 00:32:25,600 --> 00:32:28,400 I'm talking about the law that was given in the Old Testament and 781 00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:31,280 then validated in the New Testament, right here In Romans, 782 00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:33,640 chapter 13, we see that these things are important. 783 00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:35,320 I'm not supposed to covet. 784 00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:36,960 I'm not supposed to bear false witness. 785 00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:38,760 I'm not supposed to commit adultery. 786 00:32:38,950 --> 00:32:41,670 As a Christlike citizen, these are things that I should avoid. 787 00:32:41,670 --> 00:32:43,830 But I don't avoid them just to stay out of trouble. 788 00:32:44,390 --> 00:32:47,110 I avoid them because I love God and I love my neighbor. 789 00:32:47,110 --> 00:32:48,310 And that's the heart of it. 790 00:32:48,470 --> 00:32:51,270 We don't love others because they have earned our love. 791 00:32:51,430 --> 00:32:54,350 We don't love others because they are good people. 792 00:32:54,350 --> 00:32:57,510 We love others because God has given his love to us. 793 00:32:58,150 --> 00:32:59,190 Romans 5:8. 794 00:32:59,510 --> 00:33:02,230 But God commended or demonstrated his love toward us, 795 00:33:02,470 --> 00:33:04,670 and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 796 00:33:04,670 --> 00:33:10,260 If we are not able to show love to people at all, if we're not 797 00:33:10,260 --> 00:33:14,260 able to sacrifice to people for people at all, we have to go 798 00:33:14,260 --> 00:33:16,660 back and reassess our understanding of what Jesus Christ 799 00:33:16,660 --> 00:33:17,460 has done for us. 800 00:33:18,100 --> 00:33:20,780 Now, I'm not saying that we'll be perfect, but what I am saying 801 00:33:20,780 --> 00:33:24,180 is that that desire should be in our hearts to look for opportunities 802 00:33:24,180 --> 00:33:27,260 to demonstrate the love that God had for us and that he has for 803 00:33:27,260 --> 00:33:27,540 us. 804 00:33:27,780 --> 00:33:28,100 So. 805 00:33:28,100 --> 00:33:29,780 So the progression that we have is this. 806 00:33:29,780 --> 00:33:30,740 Think about it this way. 807 00:33:31,060 --> 00:33:32,380 We have God's love for us. 808 00:33:32,380 --> 00:33:33,460 That's the starting place. 809 00:33:34,890 --> 00:33:35,850 What's God's love for us? 810 00:33:35,850 --> 00:33:38,410 Let me just summarize it the best way that I can. 811 00:33:38,570 --> 00:33:42,570 You have the Creator of the universe, the one who spoke everything 812 00:33:42,570 --> 00:33:46,890 into existence, the one who did not need us, but wanted to have 813 00:33:46,890 --> 00:33:47,730 a relationship with us. 814 00:33:47,730 --> 00:33:49,530 He created mankind. 815 00:33:49,769 --> 00:33:50,850 Mankind sinned. 816 00:33:50,850 --> 00:33:53,370 We know that we are marred by sin. 817 00:33:53,690 --> 00:33:56,130 If any of you struggle with thinking that there's a sin nature, 818 00:33:56,130 --> 00:33:57,450 you probably haven't had children. 819 00:33:57,610 --> 00:34:00,570 Because I never had to sit my children down and go, hey, there's 820 00:34:00,570 --> 00:34:02,760 an alternative to telling the truth, guys. 821 00:34:03,160 --> 00:34:04,120 You could lie. 822 00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:05,720 You could tell me something different. 823 00:34:06,040 --> 00:34:08,400 No, all of my kids understood how to lie. 824 00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:10,200 Just like they figured it out. 825 00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:14,320 You know, I come into the room and they've got, like, food all over 826 00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:14,640 their face. 827 00:34:14,640 --> 00:34:15,800 And I'm like, did you eat that? 828 00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:16,360 No. 829 00:34:16,600 --> 00:34:16,880 No. 830 00:34:16,880 --> 00:34:18,520 And I'm like, okay, well, you did. 831 00:34:19,160 --> 00:34:19,520 And. 832 00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:23,640 And that's the idea that all of us are marred by sin. 833 00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:26,160 No one had to sit down and teach us how to sin. 834 00:34:26,160 --> 00:34:29,320 Now, someone maybe sat down and taught you how to sin more effectively, 835 00:34:29,660 --> 00:34:31,180 but no one taught you how to sin. 836 00:34:31,180 --> 00:34:35,420 That's in us because of the sin that was committed before us. 837 00:34:35,820 --> 00:34:36,700 That's our flesh. 838 00:34:37,740 --> 00:34:41,700 So God had all these people that he created ultimately to worship 839 00:34:41,700 --> 00:34:41,860 him. 840 00:34:41,860 --> 00:34:42,700 To glorify Him. 841 00:34:42,700 --> 00:34:44,220 And then we turn in our sin. 842 00:34:45,100 --> 00:34:45,420 What. 843 00:34:45,420 --> 00:34:47,020 What would I have done? 844 00:34:47,340 --> 00:34:49,140 I would have been like, well, I'm done with you guys. 845 00:34:49,140 --> 00:34:49,380 You've. 846 00:34:49,380 --> 00:34:49,620 You've. 847 00:34:49,620 --> 00:34:50,860 You've turned your backs on me. 848 00:34:51,020 --> 00:34:52,260 But no, what does God do? 849 00:34:52,260 --> 00:34:57,570 In his perfect holiness and his perfect love, he offers a way. 850 00:34:57,570 --> 00:35:00,570 All the way back in Genesis, chapter three, we see the first mention 851 00:35:00,570 --> 00:35:06,690 of a sacrificial lamb that is to come, a sacrifice seed of the 852 00:35:06,690 --> 00:35:07,610 woman, Jesus Christ. 853 00:35:07,610 --> 00:35:10,370 And God comes up with this redemptive plan to send his only 854 00:35:10,370 --> 00:35:14,570 begotten Son to this earth to live a perfect life, to humble himself 855 00:35:15,050 --> 00:35:16,250 and to go to the cross. 856 00:35:16,250 --> 00:35:19,730 The only one who did not deserve death went to the cross for 857 00:35:19,730 --> 00:35:21,170 our sins, to bear the weight. 858 00:35:21,170 --> 00:35:24,100 The Bible says in Second Corinthians, chapter 5, that he who 859 00:35:24,100 --> 00:35:28,700 knew no sin, he was never, ever even marred by sin, became sin 860 00:35:28,700 --> 00:35:29,100 for us. 861 00:35:29,100 --> 00:35:33,220 Meaning he took on the weight of all of our sin and took that because 862 00:35:33,220 --> 00:35:34,020 he loved us. 863 00:35:34,660 --> 00:35:37,580 If you ever want to go through a really grueling study, go through 864 00:35:37,580 --> 00:35:39,860 what Jesus was going through in the Garden of Gethsemane. 865 00:35:40,420 --> 00:35:42,180 The word Gethsemane means the press. 866 00:35:42,820 --> 00:35:46,580 Jesus was being pressed in his human, in his humanity, of what he 867 00:35:46,580 --> 00:35:48,220 was about to go through, but yet he pushed through. 868 00:35:48,220 --> 00:35:50,700 And he says, nevertheless, Father, your will be done. 869 00:35:51,340 --> 00:35:55,740 And he went to it for us, died on the cross, then conquered death 870 00:35:55,740 --> 00:36:00,300 through the resurrection, and then now offers us in grace, abundant 871 00:36:00,620 --> 00:36:02,620 forgiveness, abundant mercy. 872 00:36:03,260 --> 00:36:06,139 And now all we have to do is trust in that and believe in that 873 00:36:06,140 --> 00:36:08,660 and accept that wonderful gift into our lives. 874 00:36:08,660 --> 00:36:11,060 As John 1:12, I think says. 875 00:36:11,060 --> 00:36:12,940 It says, as many as received him. 876 00:36:13,260 --> 00:36:15,260 Did them be the sons of God? 877 00:36:15,550 --> 00:36:17,110 We now can be children of God. 878 00:36:17,110 --> 00:36:19,710 As Romans 8 says, we can cry out abba, Father. 879 00:36:19,950 --> 00:36:21,950 That's the type of love that Jesus gave us. 880 00:36:22,350 --> 00:36:24,350 Jesus isn't just like, hey, here's a. 881 00:36:24,350 --> 00:36:25,630 Here's a raise at your work. 882 00:36:25,950 --> 00:36:26,950 Here's a good day. 883 00:36:26,950 --> 00:36:30,030 Because, like, when we're little kids, dear Lord, help us to 884 00:36:30,030 --> 00:36:30,550 have a good day. 885 00:36:30,550 --> 00:36:30,870 What's. 886 00:36:30,870 --> 00:36:31,589 What does that even mean? 887 00:36:31,589 --> 00:36:32,350 I don't know. 888 00:36:32,350 --> 00:36:34,150 I mean, good day, everything goes my way. 889 00:36:34,150 --> 00:36:34,550 I don't know. 890 00:36:34,550 --> 00:36:34,950 I know. 891 00:36:34,950 --> 00:36:37,190 I'm not saying that we shouldn't pray for good days, but 892 00:36:37,190 --> 00:36:39,350 I think that we need to see it from the bigger perspective. 893 00:36:39,350 --> 00:36:42,640 God's love is not just limited to me eating a good lunch or having 894 00:36:43,120 --> 00:36:44,240 everyone on my side. 895 00:36:44,400 --> 00:36:48,080 No, God's love is the fact that he took me, that I should be 896 00:36:48,320 --> 00:36:51,160 in a place called hell, that I should be separated from him that 897 00:36:51,160 --> 00:36:52,400 I should have eternal death. 898 00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:55,120 And the Bible says the wages of sin is death, but the gift of 899 00:36:55,120 --> 00:36:57,600 God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 900 00:36:57,920 --> 00:36:59,200 That's the love of God. 901 00:36:59,520 --> 00:37:00,240 And then we take. 902 00:37:00,240 --> 00:37:04,520 So we start with the love of God, and then it turns to our love 903 00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:05,120 for Him. 904 00:37:05,440 --> 00:37:06,520 Why should we love Him? 905 00:37:06,520 --> 00:37:07,440 Why should I love God? 906 00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:09,760 Well, I just gave you a bunch of reasons why you should love God. 907 00:37:10,510 --> 00:37:13,390 And so we see God's love for us, and then we see our love for 908 00:37:13,390 --> 00:37:16,430 him, and then we see how that's tied to our love for others. 909 00:37:16,990 --> 00:37:19,910 And our love for others would eventually be obedience to God. 910 00:37:19,910 --> 00:37:20,990 And then it's a cycle. 911 00:37:21,390 --> 00:37:23,550 We go back to understand God's love for us. 912 00:37:23,950 --> 00:37:27,830 We go to our love for him, we go to our love for others, and we 913 00:37:27,830 --> 00:37:30,590 go to the fact that our love for others is obedience to God. 914 00:37:30,750 --> 00:37:33,510 And that is a cycle that we're supposed to repeat throughout our 915 00:37:33,510 --> 00:37:35,630 lives as we grow in the Lord. 916 00:37:35,630 --> 00:37:39,610 So Romans, chapter 13 down to verse 10 is all about. 917 00:37:39,770 --> 00:37:44,370 As a Christian, as a Christian citizen, I'm not supposed to be known 918 00:37:44,370 --> 00:37:47,370 for all the things that I'm owing people like, oh, you know, 919 00:37:47,370 --> 00:37:49,050 I've got all these taxes, I'm not going to pay it. 920 00:37:49,050 --> 00:37:50,570 I've got all these dues, I'm not going to pay it. 921 00:37:50,570 --> 00:37:51,850 That's what he says there in verse seven. 922 00:37:51,930 --> 00:37:56,210 We're to be living in a society not bound to all of the debts 923 00:37:56,210 --> 00:37:59,130 of this world, he says, but the one debt that you should have, 924 00:37:59,130 --> 00:38:01,890 the only thing that you do owe everyone, that you should be giving, 925 00:38:01,890 --> 00:38:02,650 is that love. 926 00:38:02,650 --> 00:38:05,320 And that love just keeps coming and coming and growing and 927 00:38:05,320 --> 00:38:05,720 growing. 928 00:38:05,720 --> 00:38:08,240 And we're called to exercise that in our lives. 929 00:38:08,480 --> 00:38:11,760 Now we're going to come back next week and we're going to look 930 00:38:11,760 --> 00:38:14,440 at more of what the Christian life actually looks like. 931 00:38:14,440 --> 00:38:16,480 Because I've heard people say, you know what, if you're, if you 932 00:38:16,480 --> 00:38:18,400 love God, it doesn't really matter the way you live your life. 933 00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:22,080 And that is a very, very bad teaching. 934 00:38:22,080 --> 00:38:25,120 Because the bad teaching is, is that God calls us, if we love 935 00:38:25,120 --> 00:38:26,160 him, to obey Him. 936 00:38:26,560 --> 00:38:28,000 Now, does that mean we're going to be perfect? 937 00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:28,480 No. 938 00:38:28,880 --> 00:38:32,490 But it does mean that we're supposed to strive to, to a standard 939 00:38:32,490 --> 00:38:34,650 that God has laid out for us in our life. 940 00:38:34,730 --> 00:38:37,210 Now, is everyone going to be on the same path of that standard? 941 00:38:37,210 --> 00:38:37,530 No. 942 00:38:37,610 --> 00:38:40,170 Someone who got saved yesterday is going to understand 943 00:38:40,410 --> 00:38:43,090 obedience to God a little bit differently than someone's been saved 944 00:38:43,090 --> 00:38:43,850 for 50 years. 945 00:38:44,330 --> 00:38:45,610 Because we go through that process. 946 00:38:45,610 --> 00:38:48,610 We go through that that refining process, as the Bible calls 947 00:38:48,610 --> 00:38:48,890 it. 948 00:38:49,130 --> 00:38:51,290 And I'm going to tell you, and I said this on Wednesday night, and 949 00:38:51,290 --> 00:38:53,690 I think that all of us will understand this, that the refining 950 00:38:53,690 --> 00:38:57,050 process, sometimes there will be difficulties, sometimes there 951 00:38:57,050 --> 00:38:57,850 will be setbacks. 952 00:38:57,850 --> 00:39:00,460 Sometimes there's going to be times where I do sin and that I have 953 00:39:00,460 --> 00:39:01,860 to go to the Lord for forgiveness. 954 00:39:01,940 --> 00:39:04,180 Sometimes there's going to be times in my life where I go through 955 00:39:04,260 --> 00:39:06,340 a struggle, where I go through pain. 956 00:39:06,340 --> 00:39:08,900 And that's not to say, well, God doesn't love me anymore, so I'm 957 00:39:08,900 --> 00:39:10,100 just going to do what I want to do. 958 00:39:10,180 --> 00:39:12,900 No, the Bible is going to tell us that that's the way that we're 959 00:39:12,900 --> 00:39:16,540 supposed to live and not give ourselves over to the flesh. 960 00:39:16,540 --> 00:39:20,060 Because the temptation, the battle, is always going to be whether 961 00:39:20,060 --> 00:39:23,380 or not we're going to yield to the Spirit and obey God, or we're 962 00:39:23,380 --> 00:39:25,860 going to yield to our flesh and give into that and do what we 963 00:39:25,860 --> 00:39:26,460 want to do. 964 00:39:26,460 --> 00:39:29,080 That's the decision that, that we have to make multiple times in 965 00:39:29,080 --> 00:39:29,560 our day. 966 00:39:30,360 --> 00:39:33,400 I can tell you there's been times where I've prayed through a 967 00:39:33,400 --> 00:39:36,680 situation, I've been prepared for a situation. 968 00:39:37,160 --> 00:39:39,320 I said, lord, don't let me fall into this trap. 969 00:39:39,320 --> 00:39:40,680 Don't let me give in to sin. 970 00:39:40,680 --> 00:39:41,920 Don't let me have this problem. 971 00:39:41,920 --> 00:39:44,760 And then I get to a place in my life where I have that problem, 972 00:39:45,320 --> 00:39:46,760 and I see victory. 973 00:39:46,760 --> 00:39:47,640 It's amazing. 974 00:39:48,520 --> 00:39:49,960 And then I think, okay, great. 975 00:39:50,120 --> 00:39:51,800 God worked me through this. 976 00:39:51,800 --> 00:39:53,320 And then the next step would be this. 977 00:39:54,250 --> 00:39:56,330 Then the next trial comes 20 minutes later. 978 00:39:56,810 --> 00:40:01,050 AM I ready and am I just as prepared to yield to the Spirit in 979 00:40:01,050 --> 00:40:01,410 that moment? 980 00:40:01,410 --> 00:40:04,010 Or do I rest back and say, look, I had a victory today. 981 00:40:04,090 --> 00:40:06,690 I'm good, I'm not going to try anymore, you know? 982 00:40:06,690 --> 00:40:07,130 No, it's. 983 00:40:07,130 --> 00:40:10,970 It's about each and every day, multiple times a day, turning ourselves 984 00:40:10,970 --> 00:40:11,570 over to God. 985 00:40:11,570 --> 00:40:14,370 And that's what we're going to talk about more next week when we 986 00:40:14,370 --> 00:40:16,570 look into the end of Romans, chapter 13. 987 00:40:16,810 --> 00:40:18,970 So, very simple message here this morning. 988 00:40:20,880 --> 00:40:22,800 Our love for God is vital. 989 00:40:22,880 --> 00:40:25,600 Our love for God is needed. 990 00:40:25,600 --> 00:40:27,120 It's called for, it's commanded. 991 00:40:27,120 --> 00:40:28,480 It's the greatest commandment. 992 00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:33,760 But our love for God is connected to our love for others. 993 00:40:35,279 --> 00:40:38,920 First John, chapter 4, Galatians, chapter 5, Matthew, chapter 994 00:40:38,920 --> 00:40:41,120 22, Romans, chapter 13. 995 00:40:41,680 --> 00:40:44,640 All these passages of Scripture talk to the connection 996 00:40:45,180 --> 00:40:48,380 that it is to love God and then to love other people. 997 00:40:48,860 --> 00:40:52,140 And I hope that this morning, first and foremost, you have a desire 998 00:40:52,140 --> 00:40:52,860 to love God. 999 00:40:52,860 --> 00:40:54,620 If you don't have a reason to love God. 1000 00:40:54,620 --> 00:40:55,820 We talked about the gospel. 1001 00:40:55,820 --> 00:40:57,340 That's the greatest reason to love God. 1002 00:40:57,980 --> 00:40:59,140 But if you do love God. 1003 00:40:59,140 --> 00:41:03,860 This morning, now I desire for myself and for you to come to a place 1004 00:41:03,860 --> 00:41:07,140 in our life to understand the need for connecting the dots between 1005 00:41:07,140 --> 00:41:09,980 loving God and then loving and sacrificing for my neighbor. 1006 00:41:10,220 --> 00:41:11,340 Am I loving God? 1007 00:41:12,100 --> 00:41:13,220 Am I devoted to God? 1008 00:41:13,620 --> 00:41:14,580 That's the first step. 1009 00:41:15,060 --> 00:41:18,580 But one way that I would say that we can gauge our love for God 1010 00:41:18,580 --> 00:41:22,980 and our love for him and His Word is whether or not we're loving 1011 00:41:22,980 --> 00:41:26,060 others and we're devoted to serve others in this process that 1012 00:41:26,060 --> 00:41:27,140 we call the Christian life. 1013 00:41:27,539 --> 00:41:28,940 So I'm going to ask if you're able to. 1014 00:41:28,940 --> 00:41:31,180 To stand with me, every head bowed, every eye closed. 1015 00:41:31,180 --> 00:41:33,700 We're going to have an opportunity here to respond to the 1016 00:41:33,700 --> 00:41:35,220 preaching of the Word of God here this morning. 1017 00:41:36,580 --> 00:41:42,100 We know that the love of God is a real thing. 1018 00:41:42,660 --> 00:41:43,780 It's a beautiful thing. 1019 00:41:46,660 --> 00:41:49,580 It's something that the Bible even says in Second Corinthians that 1020 00:41:49,580 --> 00:41:53,100 it's an undescribable or indescribable gift, meaning we can't 1021 00:41:53,100 --> 00:41:54,259 even explain it. 1022 00:41:54,660 --> 00:41:56,340 It's beyond our comprehension. 1023 00:41:56,820 --> 00:42:01,700 But what has the love of God meant to you in your life? 1024 00:42:02,340 --> 00:42:05,300 Is it enough to change the way that you deal with your neighbor? 1025 00:42:05,300 --> 00:42:07,460 Is it enough to allow you to forgive? 1026 00:42:07,460 --> 00:42:10,260 Is it enough for you to come to a place in your life where you're 1027 00:42:10,260 --> 00:42:14,620 willing to serve someone who doesn't want to be served, sacrifice 1028 00:42:14,620 --> 00:42:15,260 for someone who. 1029 00:42:15,260 --> 00:42:17,060 Who hasn't sacrificed for you? 1030 00:42:17,460 --> 00:42:21,140 Does the love of God change the way that you think about others? 1031 00:42:22,100 --> 00:42:23,060 I know it's hard. 1032 00:42:23,860 --> 00:42:26,100 And I'm going to tell you that in your flesh, it's impossible. 1033 00:42:26,740 --> 00:42:29,340 It's impossible to love someone who's just so mean to you 1034 00:42:29,340 --> 00:42:30,180 and angry at you. 1035 00:42:30,410 --> 00:42:33,170 But the Bible says that there's more to life than what we 1036 00:42:33,170 --> 00:42:33,530 feel. 1037 00:42:33,690 --> 00:42:36,090 It's about what we know, what Jesus Christ has done for us. 1038 00:42:36,330 --> 00:42:39,850 And when we stand in light of the great grace of who our Savior 1039 00:42:39,850 --> 00:42:43,970 is, we no longer have to worry about the way that we feel, what 1040 00:42:43,970 --> 00:42:45,130 people have done to us. 1041 00:42:45,610 --> 00:42:46,449 Is it worth it? 1042 00:42:46,449 --> 00:42:46,609 No. 1043 00:42:46,609 --> 00:42:47,610 I'm going to tell you here this morning. 1044 00:42:47,610 --> 00:42:51,050 The Bible says it is worth it to love our neighbor as ourself. 1045 00:42:51,050 --> 00:42:51,370 Why? 1046 00:42:51,370 --> 00:42:53,690 Because God has loved us abundantly. 1047 00:42:53,770 --> 00:42:56,450 And so does God's love mean something to you here this morning? 1048 00:42:56,450 --> 00:42:58,450 If it does, allow it to change. 1049 00:42:58,450 --> 00:43:00,050 You allow it to grow. 1050 00:43:00,050 --> 00:43:02,970 You allow it to refine you in that process. 1051 00:43:03,370 --> 00:43:05,450 But maybe you don't know the love of God. 1052 00:43:05,450 --> 00:43:07,530 Maybe you've never trusted in the gift of grace. 1053 00:43:07,690 --> 00:43:10,570 Maybe it's not something that you have ever come to a place in 1054 00:43:10,570 --> 00:43:13,810 your life to realize that it's only by grace through faith that 1055 00:43:13,810 --> 00:43:14,410 I'm saved. 1056 00:43:14,570 --> 00:43:16,410 Maybe you thought in your life it's about working. 1057 00:43:16,650 --> 00:43:18,650 I know I'm not supposed to commit adultery. 1058 00:43:18,650 --> 00:43:20,130 I know I'm not supposed to covet. 1059 00:43:20,130 --> 00:43:21,610 I know I'm not supposed to steal. 1060 00:43:21,690 --> 00:43:24,570 I know I'm not supposed to do all these things and I'm trying really 1061 00:43:24,570 --> 00:43:26,810 hard, but I don't know if I could ever do do enough. 1062 00:43:26,810 --> 00:43:28,730 Folks, I'm going to tell you that none of us can do enough. 1063 00:43:28,730 --> 00:43:30,330 You're not saved by keeping the law. 1064 00:43:30,650 --> 00:43:32,650 You're saved by faith in Jesus Christ. 1065 00:43:32,730 --> 00:43:36,730 And then his love that you experience in that causes us to change 1066 00:43:36,730 --> 00:43:40,490 and causes us to grow in our understanding of what God's morality 1067 00:43:40,490 --> 00:43:41,050 really means. 1068 00:43:41,450 --> 00:43:43,490 So here this morning, don't try to save yourself. 1069 00:43:43,490 --> 00:43:45,090 Allow God to save you. 1070 00:43:45,090 --> 00:43:48,930 Trust in him and allow him to change you instead of trying to change 1071 00:43:48,930 --> 00:43:49,450 yourself. 1072 00:43:49,530 --> 00:43:51,930 Lord, I pray that you be in this time of invitation working hearts 1073 00:43:51,930 --> 00:43:52,250 and lives. 1074 00:43:52,690 --> 00:43:54,610 We thank you for all that you do for us. 1075 00:43:54,690 --> 00:43:57,890 We thank you for your love that you demonstrated through your 1076 00:43:57,890 --> 00:43:58,290 son. 1077 00:43:58,530 --> 00:44:00,050 Lord, help us to live in light of that. 1078 00:44:00,050 --> 00:44:03,930 Help us to love others as you have called us to love in a way of 1079 00:44:03,930 --> 00:44:05,570 obedience, in the way of sacrifice. 1080 00:44:05,570 --> 00:44:07,130 So we thank you and we love you. 1081 00:44:07,130 --> 00:44:08,340 In Jesus name, amen and.