[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word. Chapter 13, verse 1. The Bible says, Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers, for there is no power but of God.
[0:14] The powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God, and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
[0:26] For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same.
[0:37] For he is a minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid, for he beareth not the sword in vain. For he is a minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
[0:51] Wherefore you must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. I'll get to this in a second, but I hope you underline those. Would you underline that? You know, you ought to obey because you don't, you'll get in trouble.
[1:05] The government will get angry. You could go to jail. But that's not why we obey. Look at the verse. We obey for something higher than that, conscience sake.
[1:16] We are the children of the God of heaven. We obey for conscience sake. Verse 6, For this cause pay you tribute also. For they are God's ministers, God's servants, attending continually upon this very thing.
[1:31] Render therefore to all their dues, tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. Owe no man anything but to love one another.
[1:42] For he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet.
[1:54] And if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
[2:09] And so we're going to look at this today. Love is the fulfilling of the law. And I know last week you went through the first five verses, so I'm only going to hit them on the skim, because I think it all works together.
[2:20] But I want you to know today that we live to a higher standard than anybody else on the planet. We are born again Christians. We have been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.
[2:31] If you've been saved, say amen. If you know that Jesus Christ is your Savior, say amen. Now understand something here. He said for us to love him first and to love men after that. Is that true or not?
[2:42] Amen. So when it comes down to our relationship with the law, this passage goes through three steps. It says you better obey or you get in trouble. Wrath. But it says we don't just obey out of wrath.
[2:55] We obey out of conscience. We do what's right because we know what's right. Their conscience may be burned up. Their conscience may be seared. They might not have a good attitude. They might not have a good opinion.
[3:06] But we are born again children of God. We got a different conscience. Can you say amen right there? But then he ends up saying this. Hey, that's not enough either. We do it because we love. You want to sum it up?
[3:16] We love. So walk with me through Romans chapter 13 if you would. The first thing I wish you'd write down if you do that is that God placed authorities in our lives. God placed authorities.
[3:27] I'm just going to give you a few things because Trent covered that well last week and I've heard that and I'm glad. We are to be good citizens. Would you hear that? We are to be good citizens.
[3:38] The Bible says in Titus chapter 3 and verse 1, Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers to the princes and to the authorities and to obey magistrates and to be ready to every good work.
[3:50] To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers but gentles showing all meekness unto all men. And as Christians we often have bad attitudes and we get involved in politics. And you spend all your time watching one of your news channels and you develop some really bad attitudes.
[4:06] But just let me go ahead and tell you the Bible says that God placed authorities. That's what Romans 13 says. If you agree with that say amen. Number two, we recognize that God's the one that's truly in charge.
[4:20] You know above and beyond any government we have in place there is a God above all and he is in charge. 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 13 the Bible says submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake.
[4:34] Not for the party's sake, not for the country's sake, not for patriotism, but for the Lord's sake. Whether it be king as supreme or in the governors as unto them that are sent by the punishment of evildoers for the praise of them that do well.
[4:48] Do you understand this wasn't written in a country near as free as the United States of America? Do you understand that this is a country that killed James with a sword? Do you understand this is a country where God's people were being persecuted and they were to respect it?
[5:04] The government's in place can't really hinder the work of God. Listen to that. The government that's in place cannot really hinder the work of God. Probably the most eye-opening thing for me was living in Peru, South America for 18 years.
[5:19] And living there at a time when there was literally communism was there was a civil war going on. It was nothing at all unusual to wake up in the morning and read in the newspaper that 50 people got killed.
[5:31] People had their heads cut off. Bombs blew up. We would make bombs blew the windows out of our house. I would preach and hear bombs going off. The people would get scared and I'd just say, sit down guys, we're okay. You're here at church.
[5:41] God's going to take care of it. Just hope your Bible's not going to keep preaching. And we lived in that time and yet God built a work for his honor and his glory. And I know our government's got some mess going on right now and it's got you tore up.
[5:54] But I'd just like to remind you, you have a God bigger than every government official on the planet. He's bigger than the ones that live in communist countries.
[6:04] He's bigger than the ones that live in democratic countries. He's bigger than everybody else. And God will take care. The government's not going to hinder us. Figure out what's happening in North Africa.
[6:14] A young man was arrested and spent a sentence of two and a half years for witnessing for Jesus Christ. And yet God keeps winning souls. Aaron Bayshore will step out. Tyler Masters will step out.
[6:26] Cesar Coppa will step out. And God will do a work. So you don't need to be getting hung up in all the political stuff. You need to be getting hung up on what's really going to change eternity is what God's people do with the Word of God as they build churches and preach the gospel.
[6:40] Salvation and what the world needs never comes from the government. Salvation and what the world needs never comes from the government. And I vote. I'm all for voting.
[6:51] I'm not telling you not to vote. I salute the flag. And I'm a very patriotic American. I love this. But I just want you to know there's something far bigger than that. That's the cause of Jesus Christ. This world is not my home. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.
[7:03] I'm only passing through this here place. And I'm serving the Lord God of heaven. Can you say amen right there? Hey, I'm serving God. I used to tell the Peruvians, Hey, you know what? I'm not American and you're not Peruvian.
[7:14] We are citizens of a new kingdom. We have a new president and his name is Jesus. And we have a new constitution and it is the Word of God. And I hope you can get some part of that.
[7:26] Jesus told Pilate when he says to him, Don't you know I have the power to take your life? And Jesus looked at him and said, In John 19, 11, Thou couldest have no power at all against me except it were given thee from above.
[7:38] Too many times we look to men for solutions that only God can give. The only hope for this world is Jesus Christ. More important than any political movement is the church of Jesus Christ. Help us build a church.
[7:50] Help us start new churches. Help us send the gospel message. And you will accomplish more for the cause of good and the cause of right and all the things that you're so interested in than you will ever with your political party.
[8:03] Be salt and light. Watch how God affects the world you live in. All I need is a government to stay out of my way and let me preach. And by the way, if they try to stop me from preaching, we will keep on preaching.
[8:15] The Bible says in 1 Timothy 2, verse 1, I exhort therefore that first of all supplications, prayers, and intercessions, and giving a thanks be made for all men, for kings, and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and honesty.
[8:31] We're going to obey out of conscience sake. Romans chapter 13 and verse 5. That brings me to the second thing you should write down. That was last week's message rehashed. Number two, we pay our taxes.
[8:45] We pay our taxes. Now that makes you mad, doesn't it? I don't like them either. But in Romans chapter 13 and verse 6, the Bible says, For this cause pay ye tribute also, for they are God's ministers attending continually upon this very thing.
[9:03] No mention is made that we are in agreement with how they spend the money or how the governments run. I doubt seriously when Paul writes a letter to the Romans that he was like saying, I'm all for the Caesar.
[9:17] And I'm all for the political government we have. And I'm all for all that's going on here. So we pay taxes for that. I doubt seriously that Jesus, when he told Peter, Go get the coin, now the fish is about to pay our taxes.
[9:27] I doubt seriously that he was all in favor of what Pilate was doing in government. But we are to pay our taxes. We pay taxes because we recognize that God puts men and women in power.
[9:39] We pay taxes because we have a Christian conscience. We pay taxes because we know that God appointed government to take care of many points of business. We pay taxes. Now that wasn't popular.
[9:51] I need to form the Tea Party. And I need to fight with you. But we pay taxes. That's what this book said. Could I get an amen?
[10:01] Amen. You see, we're here to study this book. And we're not here to defend the Constitution. We're not here to fight for the Constitution. We came into this house to open this book to find out what God said to us.
[10:13] This isn't the opinion of the Apostle Paul. This isn't what Paul told the Romans to do. This is what God wrote down for us to do today in the place where we live. And you need to say amen right there.
[10:25] Number three, we're to show respect for those that are in authority. We're to show respect. I got in big trouble when the president, the current president, was elected.
[10:38] I didn't vote for him. I don't talk politics, but I didn't vote for him. But I put on my blog that as soon as he got elected, he is to be respected. He is to be honored because that's what your book says.
[10:52] This one. Read with me what it says, if you would, in Romans chapter 13 and verse 7. Render, therefore, to all their dues tribute to whom tribute is due, taxes to whom taxes due, custom, another form of taxes to whom custom, fear or respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.
[11:11] You know, when you're a young guy and you get stopped by a policeman, he's like an old man. But when I get stopped by a policeman, which, thank the Lord, I haven't been stopped in a long time, but usually when I get stopped by, the last time I was stopped, the punk wasn't as old as my kid.
[11:26] And he'd come walking up in that pompous little attitude that they get when they put that on. And he came up to the door and he's like, can I see your license and registration, sir?
[11:37] And I started to say, son, you remind me of David. And that makes me laugh. But I didn't. I said, yes, sir.
[11:50] And I reached and I pulled out my stuff and he said, well, sir, no sliding stops when you see me, all right? And I said, sure, no problem. And I left.
[12:01] But I'm to honor him. You know why I'm to honor him? Because God said I was to honor him. That's a weak one. You see, you like preaching when it says you're free.
[12:12] You like preaching when it says God loves you. You like preaching when it's grace. I can keep on living like a heathen and grace. But when it says the truth, you're like, oh, I don't like that. But it says it.
[12:23] Say amen. Amen. Not only do we pay taxes and import fees, but look at this. Here's what Jesus said. Tell us, therefore, Matthew 22, 17.
[12:34] Tell us, therefore, what thinkest thou, Jesus? Tell us, Jesus, what do you think? Is it right? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar or not? And Jesus perceived their wickedness and said, why are you tipped in me, you hypocrites?
[12:47] Show me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. And he said unto them, whose image is the superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's. Then said he unto them, render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar, and unto God the things which are God's.
[12:59] We are to show respect to those that God has placed in governmental authority. We are to give respect to those that are being respected whether they deserve it or not. We not only respect them, but we show them honor.
[13:10] That's the word the Bible used. Remember, others do things because they're supposed to. We do it because we have a clear conscience before God. Can I get an amen there? Whew!
[13:23] I've been gone a week, and y'all want me to be gone another week, don't you say amen? We preach the Bible right through the verses. See, you could go to the regular church, and the only thing you'd hear preached out of Romans 13 is how well to tell the present what to do.
[13:35] But that's just not what it says in the passage. Now, I want to get you to the last point, and I want to spend the rest of the time, if you would, in verse 8 to 10. Put love into action.
[13:47] Put love into action. The Bible says, Owe no man anything but to love one another. For he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. With this, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet.
[14:05] And if there be any other commandment, any other commandment, he said, I'm not getting them all written down here, but you can understand them all with this brief statement. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
[14:16] Love works no will through his neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. Would you circle that phrase? Love is the fulfilling of the law.
[14:28] That's what the Bible says. And you see, as I love God and as I love man, I'll be a good citizen. As I love God and as I love man, I will treat others like they ought to be treated.
[14:38] As I love God and I love man, I'll do right. We are to do right by every man. Here's the first thing he said in the list, starting in verse 8. Pay your bills.
[14:51] Pay your bills. We are not to be one who doesn't pay. When you don't pay your bills, it brings a bad testimony on Jesus and a bad reputation on you.
[15:03] Oh, no man, anything. But to love one another. You're to pay your bills. You got a house payment? Pay your house payment. You got a car payment? Pay your car payment.
[15:15] We're to pay our bills. We're to pay our bills. I love being a Bible preacher. We do not obey out of fear only, but also of conscience, but more than that, out of love.
[15:32] We are filled with the love of God. And we learn to express that love, and it will cause us to obey all the law. Love causes us to never do certain things.
[15:44] Love causes us to never do certain things. And I'm fixing to mention them to you that are mentioned right here in this passage of Scripture. And you can breathe a sigh of relief. You've only got 14 more minutes. But here comes the 14 minutes.
[15:55] Number one, he said that we would not take another person's spouse. Would you underline that in the Bible? Thou shalt not commit adultery. Underline that. Write it down somewhere. We are not to take another man's spouse.
[16:08] Now, Matthew chapter 5, Jesus had a discussion about that. You see, the religious people always, good fundamentalists always figure out a way to do wrong and still call it right.
[16:18] Good fundamental religious people, good moral people always figure out a way to do wrong and still call it right. But the Bible says in Matthew chapter 5, verse 27, which you ought to open your Bible and mark, it says this.
[16:32] You have heard. I wish you'd done that in your Bible. Jesus looked at it and said, you guys have heard. You've always heard it taught. And everybody's always said to you that of old time thou shalt not commit adultery.
[16:43] But I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her in his heart. I want you to notice this. He said, I know what the religious guy's been saying.
[16:55] What the religious guy's been saying is there's a way you're not to commit adultery. And so don't have sex with another man's wife. And they want that really clearly defined so they can get all the way up to the very edge of it and still not be called sinning.
[17:11] And he said, but here's what they said. But let me just say what I say to you. I say to you, if you look at her and you lust after her in your heart, you have committed adultery. Now look this way just a second.
[17:22] I realize that today is not going to be my popular day. Not my fault. It's Romans 13. I thought about doing a Reader's Digest version and skipping to 14.
[17:32] Amen. But look if you would at this. Look if you would. We are to avoid all sexual immorality. That includes pornography. You see, I'm not to commit adultery.
[17:45] But I'm not to look on a woman to lust after her or I'm committing adultery. So I'm not to look at pornography. Hey, I can hear you saying that.
[17:56] When a brother at our church, we're gray. Grace. There's grace here. Yeah, there is. But here's what the Bible said in grace. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Grace doesn't make us religious prostitutes.
[18:12] It's wrong. We're not to get into pornography. We're not to get into any type of sex outside of marriage. Anything done sexually outside of marriage is stealing from your brother. Keep your eyes on your own wife.
[18:25] Keep your text to your own wife. Text. T-E-X-T-S. Keep your conversations to your own wife. Develop a relationship with your own life.
[18:36] We do not. We do not. Develop these relationships. It might lead to that. We do not commit adultery. Because we love Jesus. And we love our brother.
[18:49] Thank you. Two. We shall not kill. We shall not kill. If you'll look at the verse in there. If you look at the verse that said. It said. It says in the verse.
[19:03] It says. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not kill. So we're not going to kill. We will not kill. And so look. If you would. In Matthew 5. 21. Again.
[19:13] It says. You've heard. That it hath been said. In old time. Thou shalt not kill. And whosoever shall kill. Shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you. That whosoever is angry.
[19:23] With his brother. Without a cause. Shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother. Whosoever will say to his brother. Racka shall be in danger of the council. But whosoever shall say.
[19:34] Thou fool. Shall be in danger of hell. Fire. Here comes another one. As long as I don't kill you. I can defame you. I can be angry with you.
[19:45] And I can hate you. That's what they said in old time. And Jesus said. No, no, no. That's how it works. See. We are love. We don't. Not do stuff. See.
[19:55] We're not that. We don't do stuff. We're the. We do stuff people. We're known most of the time. As being against everything. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not kill.
[20:07] But here's what Jesus said. You've heard it said in old time. Don't shoot him. And don't kill him. But in new time. I'll tell you what you're going to do. You're not to even be angry with him. Without a cause. Killing is obviously taking another's life from.
[20:18] It's stealing their life. We will not steal. It says thou shalt not steal. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 28 says. Let him that stole. The stole will steal no more.
[20:29] But rather let him labor. Working with his hands a thing which is good. That he may be able to give to him that hath need. I've got to hurry. Because I've got to spend some time on something. Really kind of aggravate you today.
[20:39] Since it's that day. But you know what? You know what he said to us about stealing? He said. He didn't say stop stealing. In the Bible it's almost never stop. We have turned separation into quit and stop.
[20:54] But in the Bible real separation is not quit and stop. Really it's start and do. That's Bible separation. You see when I got married I didn't stop loving all other women.
[21:07] I started loving a woman. Which meant I'd stop the other. But it's a way. I'm not separated from sin. I'm separated to God. Which separates me from sin.
[21:18] It's a whole different way. So what do you tell him about stealing? He said. You used to steal. Stop it. And get a job. Read the verse. Stop it and get a job. And then when you make money.
[21:29] Give. Did you know you used to be a thief. Now you're a giver. Say amen. You used to be a thief. Now you're a giver. You used to steal for yourself. Now you don't steal for yourself. You actually get a job and become a giver.
[21:40] We ought to walk into this room. And this ought to be a room full of givers. Everybody in this room. I'll be walking in here. Instead of saying. What can I get out of somebody else in here? How can I take advantage of somebody? How can I pick up something for somebody?
[21:51] Everybody in this room. I'll be walking in here. Go man. I'm a giver. I'm just looking where I can give. I got a job. I got me a job. I'm a giver. Next. We're not to lie. Thou shalt not bear false witness.
[22:03] Ephesians 4 29. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. But that which is good to the use of edifying. That it may minister grace to the hearers. We want to be careful to have the right kind of words come out of our mouth.
[22:15] We want words that encourage and build up. Controlling our tongue is the biggest problem we have. We're to be careful about foolish talking. Crude language. These things ought not be named among us.
[22:26] Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 3. Fornication and all uncleanliness or covetousness. Let it not be once named among you as becoming saints. Neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor jesting.
[22:38] Which are not convenient. I want to take you to the last thing. Because I only have seven minutes. We are not to covet. Now this never gets talked about. But we're fixing to.
[22:49] We are not to covet. In Romans chapter 13. In Romans chapter 13. We are not to covet. Look at what it says if you would. In chapter 3 verse 5 of Colossians.
[23:02] Mortify. Put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth. Fornication. Uncleanness. Inordinate affection. Evil concupiscence. And covetousness. Which is idolatry.
[23:13] I want you to listen to me real quickly. A horrible sin. That is completely acceptable among us. A horrible sin.
[23:25] That we have completely accepted. And made biblical. There's a whole religious system built on. You get the prosperity when you serve God. There's a whole thing based on covetousness.
[23:38] And I would like to take you through briefly. What the Bible says about covetousness. You and I are deciding. I love God. And I love my neighbor. And coveting. Will not be a part of my life.
[23:49] It's idolatry. And we would look at Thailand. And see all those idols that Philip and Lori Basham face every day. As they go out to go to language school. And as they.
[24:00] He witnessed for the first time to somebody. We would see that. And we would say man. That's wicked. That place is full of idolatry. But I don't know if there's a place on the planet. That's any fuller of idolatry than Alpharetta.
[24:11] Why? Because covetousness. Which is. Would you say the word with me? Covetousness. Which is. You would say. No, no, no. We're never idolatrous. He would say.
[24:22] No, we are idolatrous. Coveting is desiring to have something that belongs to another. Some covet or desire or crave another man's wife. Some covet or want things from dishonest gain.
[24:36] They want to take things that belong to God like Achan did. You remember the story of Achan? When they went in and. They went into the city of Jericho. And they conquered the city of Jericho. God said. Don't take any of that stuff.
[24:47] It's all mine. And Achan saw some. Some riches. And some garments. And he said. I like that. I want that. And I will take it. Brother John just talked to you about. A people that.
[24:58] Promised it all to God. And then kept it. He coveted what was God's. He wanted what God said was his. It's an inordinate desire to have more. It's the love of money.
[25:09] Man, we're eat up with it. We're eat up with it. So just listen. Here's a story Jesus told. So we can understand what it means to covet. You see.
[25:20] We don't have to give an illustration out of Time Magazine. We don't have to give an illustration off the internet. Here's a story for you. Luke 12, 15. Write it down and study it later. The Bible said. And he said unto them.
[25:31] Take heed and beware of covetousness. For a man's life consists of not in the abundance of things which he possesses. Your life is not made up by how many things you have. You know, we're so big on this.
[25:43] What are you worth? What's that man worth? We print the list. Forbes has a list for us. These are the wealthiest guys. We are big on money. We rank people by money.
[25:56] Verse 16. Jesus said. In case you didn't understand what I'm telling you. And I really wish you'd open your Bibles here. Because I really think it would help you. And it's for you. And it's the word of God for us. In Luke chapter 12, verse 15.
[26:07] A man's life consists not in the things he possesses. Verse 16. He spake a parable unto them saying. The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. This guy was rich. He already had a lot of money.
[26:18] And he had a big harvest. And in verse 17. The Bible said. He said within himself. What shall I do? Now I wish I could show you my notes. Where I've highlighted the words.
[26:30] But I wish you. If you got your Bible open. Circle himself and I. And my. And listen to what it says. He said within himself. What shall I do? Because I have no room.
[26:40] To bestow my fruits. And he said. This will I do. I will pull down my barns and build greater. I will bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say. I will say to my soul.
[26:51] So thou is goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease. Eat, drink and be merry. But God said unto him. Thou fool. This night. Thy soul shall be required of thee. And then whose will all these things be?
[27:04] So he that laid up treasure for himself. So is he that layeth up treasure for himself. And is not rich. Toward. God. Rich. Toward.
[27:15] God. And in case you don't know what he means. Verse 22. He said unto his disciples. Therefore I say unto you. Take no thought for your life. Underline that. Take no thought for your life.
[27:28] And let me help you sew this all up together. Romans 13 comes after Romans 12. In Romans 12 he ended. In Romans chapter 11. The last part of 11.
[27:38] He ends the doctrinal part. And he's now into real practical stuff. And he says. I'm going to talk to you about living. A sacrificial Christian life. I beseech you therefore brethren. By the mercies of God. That you present your bodies. A living sacrifice.
[27:50] Which is your reasonable. Acceptable service to God. It's reasonable that you would give your life to God. And then he comes down to just nitty gritty stuff. I mean we're not talking about God is great.
[28:01] And God loves us. We're talking about how his love. And his saving me. And his changing me. Affected me. Did you know that if I'm not. Did you know. I can tell you how to know if you're covetous.
[28:11] Are you rich. Towards. God. Are you rich. Towards. God.
[28:22] He said. Take heed and beware. He said. A man's life does not consist in the abundance of things that he possesses. He said. Let me explain to you what that means. I will tell you a story.
[28:33] There was a rich man. And he had a great harvest. And when the great harvest. Came forth. The rich man said. Man. I was rich when I started this thing. But now I am really rich. And I have my life set.
[28:44] And I can think of what I'm going to do. And I'm going to tear down my barns. I'm going to build bigger barns. I'm going to do better stuff. I have got my life made up. And then God says. But you know what happened? The angel.
[28:55] The death angel. Knocked on the door and said. You die today buddy. Now who gets all your junk? And he said. In case y'all didn't understand what I was telling you in the story. Here it is.
[29:06] That's how a man acts. Who is not rich towards God. Can I just be honest with you? We're a rich church. I got money.
[29:18] You'll compare me to almost anybody in this world. I am a very rich guy. I drive a nice vehicle. My wife drives a nice vehicle. We live in a nice house. I wear nice clothes. And I eat a lot of nice food. I am rich.
[29:30] I am rich because I am healthy. I am rich because I have a wonderful wife. I am rich because I have wonderful friends. And I am pastor of a wonderful church. I am rich. But here comes the question. Am I rich towards God?
[29:43] That was the question. Don't covet. Don't lust after money. And most of us are like this. I will give God money one day.
[29:55] In fact, as Christian money raisers have figured it out, the best way to get money out of you is let you put it in your will. When you can't spend it anymore, then you can give it. So they want to come to the church.
[30:06] They want to come and say to you, let us have you make out a will so when you die you leave money to vision. That way you never have to feel the loss of it. That way you get to keep being rich towards yourself until you die. And when you're dead, you can be rich towards God because you're dead anyway.
[30:19] You might as well as be. Covetousness. Thou shalt not covet. Thou shalt not covet. Take no thought for your life.
[30:31] Whatever you're going to eat or if your body, what you put on. Because life is more than food and more than clothes. We will love our neighbor as ourself.
[30:44] We treat others like we want to be treated. We give them the respect we want. We take care of others and watch out for others. That fulfills the law of God. Look at verse 10 and I'll close.
[30:55] We do nothing that would harm our neighbor. Love works no ill to his neighbor. Love is the fulfilling of the law. Treat people right. Do right. We don't need rules.
[31:07] We know what love would do. If you got your Bible opened, go back with me to Romans chapter 13. In verse 8, just let me show you something. Romans 13 to me is an unusual chapter.
[31:22] It is a chapter we don't really like. It doesn't fit your political platform. It doesn't fit how we need to establish democracy in every country around the world.
[31:35] It doesn't fit how you would give so much money and so much energy and so much time to watching so much TV and reading so much newspapers about what politics could do to save the world.
[31:46] But you won't read your Bible and you won't seek God and you won't pray and you won't share Jesus and you won't start a church and you won't do the work to get the word of God around the world. Basically what Romans 13 is saying is you guys are messed up.
[31:59] That includes me. We're messed up. It's not the government's job. It's the church's job. We're to share Jesus. Say amen.
[32:10] We're to share grace. By the way, in communist China today, they preached. In communist China today, I'm pretty sure somebody probably got saved.
[32:23] And hey, in northern Africa, in Morocco, in Tunisia, in Egypt, our guys went to church and probably in those Muslim countries with a government we would never agree with, somebody probably got saved.
[32:36] In Burkina Faso with a country that's horrible. In South America with tons of governments all messed up, including Venezuela, we have missionaries and people are getting saved. It's not government's job. It's a preaching job.
[32:47] Tell people about Jesus. Tell people about Jesus. We're love. Say, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice.
[32:58] A living sacrifice. Hold it acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And so I would tell you, you know, I think when I say don't commit adultery, most of y'all are going, got that one down.
[33:11] I say, don't look at porn. You go, not quite so good on that one, but we won't let anybody know. Because that's the one good Christian sin you can pretend not to have and nobody really knows.
[33:22] But you are looking at somebody else's wife or somebody else's daughter. Amen.
[33:37] Don't kill. I got that one down. How about this? Don't be angry with them without a cause. Don't be so mean. No road rage. No cutting them off. No acting like jerks. Because we're love.
[33:51] Don't covet. Because that's idolatry. Ooh. That's tough. How do I know if I'm coveting?
[34:02] I can give you a good hint. You see, coveting is for me. And so he said to this guy, take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. Take heed. Don't worry about all this riches stuff.
[34:12] Because a man's life doesn't consist in the abundance of things that he possesses. And he proceeds to tell me a story. And the moral of the story is this. That guy was rich to himself, but he wasn't rich towards God.
[34:24] And I would like to challenge you this morning to look at your checkbook and say, How much given do I do? What are you doing for world evangelism? What are you doing for the cause of Jesus Christ?
[34:35] How rich are you towards God and his causes? How rich are you towards God and his causes? See, God has given us money.
[34:47] And I am not trying to raise the offering. And the church is in beautiful financial shape. We pay cash for the land. So that's not the point. The point is what the passage is about. Are you rich towards God?
[35:00] And you know and I don't know. I have no idea what you give, but I do know this. I know my heart. And can I just tell you, man, I deal with covetousness all the time. Man, I'm always wanting stuff.
[35:13] I mean, I want the latest Apple product. I usually get it. I got a 5S already, yeah. I won't.
[35:25] I won't. I won't. I won't. I see other things and I won't. Of course, you'd say, no, I don't have that problem. I don't even have an Apple computer. Oh, but you got that other thing you got, whatever it is.
[35:39] That latest toy. That latest thing. And if you were to look at your checkbook and find out, are you rich towards God, you might find out you have a covet problem, too. And it's easy for us to look at a political system and say, those guys are messed up.
[35:54] Adultery. Same-sex marriage. Let's rip on that a while. Get off that covetousness. Get off that covetousness. And that's what I'm saying. Because that strikes too close to home. So I challenge you.
[36:06] Is love the motivating factor in your life? Your walk with God. Loving God first and loving others second. Father in heaven, I love you. I praise you and I thank you.
[36:18] I pray your name would be glorified. I pray you'd show your power. I pray you'd touch hearts. I pray you'd be magnified. And I'll give you praise. This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia.
[36:28] For more information, log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times, location, contact information, and more audio and video recordings.