WEBVTT

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 I am excited to be able to preach this morning.

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 I'm going to make sure this works here.

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 I'm not really good with these things here.

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 This morning, we are going to be continuing through the book of Romans as we have been.

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 Romans is a very wonderful letter or book, whichever one you want to call it.

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 And it's one of my favorite letters to read in the scriptures.

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 It is hard to go over two chapters.

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 That's what we're doing today.

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 We're going to go through Romans 13 and 12.

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 And for Romans, one Sunday is not enough simply for one chapter and let alone two.

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 So I will not be covering every single point of each thing in Romans 12 and 13.

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 But my hope is that we all come to understand what the scripture is saying.

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 Let's see.

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 I'm not quite certain if I've got this working or not.

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 If I point to you guys, will you change it because it's not working for me.

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 Oh, there we go.

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 Ha-ha.

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 Fantastic.

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 Good.

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 Okay.

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 So this morning, the message is titled two chapters, one focus because we have two chapters to cover, but they all have one focus.

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 So as Pastor Samuel will preach through Romans, one of the things that's beautiful about Romans is that Paul is making this huge theological, you could use the word treatise or treatise, whatever you want to call it.

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 He's making this huge theological argument about God's sovereignty, his righteousness, his holiness, his goodness, all these awesome things.

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 And it leads up to 12 on to 16, right?

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 So from 12 to 16, what we see is how do we live as believers?

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 That's kind of what we see from 12 to 16 onward in Romans.

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 So last week we talked about God is love.

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 Does anybody remember that slide that Sam put up, that God is love?

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 You remember that?

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 We've got great memories.

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 Awesome.

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 Okay.

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 So God is love, and he also said that love is sacrifice, and that is true.

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 God understands sacrifice.

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 Jesus understands sacrifice.

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 And then the beautiful thing is that God's sacrificial love has been manifested to us in this church and throughout all of time through the person and the work of Jesus and his continual pursuit of us.

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 We did not pursue Jesus first.

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 It was Christ who pursued us because Scripture says that we didn't love God, but God loved us first.

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 So as my desire this morning is that we would see that God loves us infinitely and intimately, we serve this awesome God who loves and cares for us to a degree we cannot even begin to comprehend or fathom.

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 So love is what we're going to talk about this morning.

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 The first thing is this.

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 A supreme ethic of the Christian life is love.

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 So hopefully I don't spend too much time in this one here.

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 This is the thing that I was really drawn into when I was reading the Scriptures and going through Romans 13.

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 But there are three points I want us to see here, and these are the main points of Romans 13.

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 It is to submit to authorities, only owe love, and make no provision for the flesh.

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 So all those things do lead into loving our neighbors and to loving God.

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 And let's kind of dive into how that works.

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 So the first thing is this, submitting to authorities.

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 We're not going to read the entire chapter of Romans 13 in one go because our brains would all fry.

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 And so let's just kind of go into Romans 13, 1 through 7 to start with.

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 And I'll read it for us.

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 Please follow along in your Scriptures there.

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 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.

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 For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

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 Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed.

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 And those who resist, they will incur judgment.

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 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad conduct.

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 Would you have no fear for the one who has an authority?

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 Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval.

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 For he is God's servant for your good.

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 But if you do wrong, be afraid.

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 For he does not bear the sword in vain.

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 For he is the servant of God, this governmental authority.

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 He is a servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.

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 Therefore, one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath,

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 but also for the sake of conscience, Christian conscience.

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 For because of this, you also pay taxes for the authorities or ministers of God attending to this very thing.

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 Pay to all what is owed to them, taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed,

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 respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

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 So Paul, in this little bit of Romans 13, he's making a quick case, but a logical case,

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 for the submitting to civil authorities.

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 Submitting to civil authorities.

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 Because they are an extension of his own, God's own authority.

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 They are an extension of God's grace and of God's care for creation.

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 If we didn't have any government, I'm not condoning this movie, but if we had no government, we would have the purge.

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 Genuinely, we would.

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 If you want to see the truth in that, go read the book of Judges,

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 where you see many times after awful things, the scriptures say,

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 man, and the men did what was right in their own hearts.

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 Because the heart of man is wicked.

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 It's evil in its natural carnal state.

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 It's evil.

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 And so the law is there to bless those who are good doers and to judge those who are evil doers.

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 Now, the thing is, we see a lot of times in our world, we see the bad guy get away, right?

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 There have been plenty of bad guys in our lives we've seen get away with things.

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 But God's justice is not able to be outrun.

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 We may see people who have petty crimes or petty whatever kind of things may have capital crimes,

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 and they will receive judgment here on earth via the court systems.

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 That's the civil authorities.

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 And that's God's, that's the sword for the Lord there, right?

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 That's what civil authorities are for.

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 But we also see that sometimes they slip through the cracks because we are humans and we are flawed.

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 And so God's ultimate judgment is eternal conscious torment in a place called hell.

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 Now, that hurts us, I think, in our modern sensibilities to hear that there is this place that's eternal and it's tormentous.

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 But God's justice is poured out there.

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 And so the governing authorities, realistically, they are meant to show the wrongdoer grace in how they proceed with governing.

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 So when someone goes to jail, it's supposed to show them, like, look, this is wrong,

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 and you have a period of grace to repent, to turn your mind to the right way.

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 So all that being said, there's a reason why this seems so random in the scripture,

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 why all of a sudden we go from, if you read Romans, you go from talking about spiritual life,

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 and then here's authorities.

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 Why?

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 Well, here's the context of Romans.

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 So there's a guy named Emperor Claudius.

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 I'm not perfect on my Roman history, but when I studied, at least,

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 a guy named Claudius, and he's the emperor from about 54 or 41 AD to 54 AD.

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 And then you have a young emperor, Nero, who comes into place.

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 If anybody here knows Nero, young emperor Nero comes in.

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 And in 64 AD, he begins his persecution, kind of like formerly of the Christians, like officially, right?

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 So Romans is written in this period of time, 56 to 57 AD is what most scholars think Romans is written in.

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 That is hugely significant because Paul is calling the Romans here to submit to the very ones who are slaughtering them.

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 This is the context.

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 And this is the love which God calls us to, to submit to the ones who actively hate us.

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 That's not easy when you are persecuted, whether in name, in word, in deed.

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 That is hard to, it is hard to love somebody like that.

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 But again, like we were saying, the authorities are there.

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 They're supposed to protect us from the evil things.

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 When they don't, we don't have hope in the authorities.

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 We have hope in who?

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 Jesus.

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 Jesus.

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 The eternal hope we have is in Christ, not in the earthly authorities to take care of these things.

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 Which means then that it's not on us to take vengeance.

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 It's not on us to take vengeance.

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 And we'll kind of go through that in Romans 12.

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 But if you want to, you feel free.

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 Go Romans 12 and in verse 19.

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 It says, beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God.

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 Leave it to the wrath of God.

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 For God says, vengeance is mine.

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 Our pay, says the Lord.

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 We don't take vengeance.

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 The civil authorities do that.

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 There's a difference between civil authorities and the church.

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 Church, we are called to administer the gospel, to administer grace and truth to the world, not cast judgment.

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 That's a civil authority's job.

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 We allow them to cast judgment on the evil, wicked people.

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 We share the gospel with them, and we love them.

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 Now, we may have Christians that are in civil authority.

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 That's wonderful.

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 Please keep doing that.

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 But you uphold justice in that place and uphold grace in this place, right?

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 So that's kind of like where we're going with this is that we submit to these ones.

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 So when the authorities, if they're good, protect us.

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 When they're evil, we are still called to obey them.

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 When the authorities are not explicitly calling us to sin, and we choose to disobey those authorities,

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 or we just don't honor them, we don't respect them,

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 and we don't pay our taxes properly,

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 or you kind of like hide a little bit of the taxes back,

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 because you know, like, you know, I can kind of speak by those.

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 You know, I don't know how you do that.

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 If you are, don't tell me, please.

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 But when we do those things, we're choosing to disobey not simply man, but also God.

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 Paying all of our earthly debts is actually an indicator of how seriously we take God and his word.

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 So we have to ask you this question, and you don't have to answer this.

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 Think of it yourselves, because it was something I had to pour over my heart.

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 We know the scripture tells us to pray for our rulers, our leaders,

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 but do we always want to pray for our rulers and leaders that we don't care for,

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 that we don't agree with, that seek our harm?

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 Because that's what Paul is doing here.

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 Paul would call them to love the ones who are actively attacking their very way of life.

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 Do we love God and submit to authorities only when it suits our fleshly desires?

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 And what I mean by that is, do we only submit to God when that political candidate I like gets into office?

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 Do I only submit to authorities and submit to God in this way when at the city, county, state, national level,

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 the right people are in office for me?

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 But then when the wrong people are in office, oh, I'm going to pray against those guys.

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 I'm going to pray imprecatory prayers against those guys, and they deserve all that's coming to them.

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 Do we only submit to God when our flesh desires it, or should we submit to God at all times?

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 Because in submitting to authorities, we are showing that we love others, and we love God.

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 1 Peter 2.13 says this,

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 Be subject for the Lord's sake.

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 Not for our sake, but for the Lord's sake to every human institution.

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 Now, of course, when they call you to sin, you do what the Lord calls you to do.

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 But if they're not calling you to sin, they're just calling you to submit.

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 It says do it for the Lord's sake.

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 I want to continue on in the next point here of Romans 13 so that we don't get too bogged down to this.

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 But the next point is this.

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 Romans 13, 8 through 10.

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 A little bit less for us to read.

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 We only owe love.

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 So Paul says this.

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 Read along with me, just in your minds.

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 Owe no one anything except to love each other.

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 For the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

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 For the commandments, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, and any other commandment are summed up in this word.

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 You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

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 Love does no wrong to a neighbor.

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 Therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

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 So you see how we've just moved from a civil authority to more spiritual law.

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 So you see Paul makes this like logical step forward so that in all aspects of a Christian life, we submit to God and submit to authorities so that we can love.

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 So let me ask you this.

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 What is the law of God?

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 What is the law of God?

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 I feel like sometimes we say that we have no clue really what we mean by the law of God.

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 Some people just say it's the Bible.

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 That's the law of God.

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 The law of God is this moral conscience I have.

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 The law of God is the Ten Commandments given to Moses, right?

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 These Ten Commandments were the law given.

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 Paul defines this here because he's saying this is the law of God.

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 Right here he says the commandments.

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 He says when he says the one who loves one another has fulfilled the law.

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 And he says for the commandments.

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 So he shows us that the commandments are the law, in fact.

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 So the law of God is fulfilled or kept in us when we love God and each other and those around us.

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 But the law is broken when we choose to fulfill ourselves.

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 The law is broken when we choose to fulfill ourselves.

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 That can look like so many different things.

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 Like I said, did you choose to submit or not to submit to authorities?

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 Do you pray for them or not pray for them?

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 Do you love your neighbor as yourself or do you not?

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 Do you have some sort of bias against them because, oh, that person doesn't love the way I live.

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 Oh, that person looks different than I do.

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 I don't like how they do this.

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 So I'm not going to, I'm going to give a little bit less love to them and more love to them.

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 The laws that were given to the Jews, the Ten Commandments, again, the context is to some of these Jewish believers.

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 The laws were not meant to actually just beat people down.

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 Now, they are impossible to keep morally for us, but they're not meant to beat people down.

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 They were to teach everyone or teach the Jewish people how to love God and one another.

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 That's the basis of the Ten Commandments is how do I love God?

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 How do I love other people?

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 Now, I think there's also this understanding some people think that the law of God is evil in the sense that it's so, it's so strict.

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 It's so binding.

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 It's so, oh, no.

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 The scripture says the law of God is perfect.

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 It is holy.

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 It is good.

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 And we see King David and many other people meditate on the law to know how to best live out the law and how to serve the Lord and serve others in the law.

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 The law of God is a good thing.

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 The Ten Commandments are a good thing.

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 They're not evil.

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 And they're not this, I don't know how to explain it, but not this like strict grasp on your life that just controls.

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 No, it is this freedom to know how to now live in love towards God and towards man, to our brothers and sisters.

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 The law, the Ten Commandments, it is binding on us today in the sense that we are loving God first, God chiefly, and then we are loving our neighbors as ourself.

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 So whenever I choose to transgress or to sin against my brother or my sister or my family, whenever I choose to sin against God, what I'm saying is I choose me and then I forsake everybody else.

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 Like I am the most important part of my life, so I will do what pleases me in this moment.

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 And that may be to put you on blast, to call you out, but not in a loving way, just so I look better, I'm going to call you out and say, well, so and so, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

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 I don't know what language that is, but that would be something you could say in that language.

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 I don't know if I just cursed in that or not.

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 I'm worried.

00:16:50.179 --> 00:16:56.779
 The point of this, though, is that Paul tells us to only owe one thing.

00:16:56.939 --> 00:16:59.779
 He said, owe no one anything except to love each other.

00:17:01.739 --> 00:17:02.639
 I love this.

00:17:02.759 --> 00:17:09.299
 I don't know the man's first name, but from enduringword.com, he quotes a man named Morris, and he said this,

00:17:09.399 --> 00:17:12.079
 We may pay our taxes and be quiet.

00:17:12.879 --> 00:17:18.119
 We may give respect and honor where they are due and have no further obligation.

00:17:18.359 --> 00:17:19.480
 You've done all that you had to do.

00:17:19.480 --> 00:17:24.519
 You've paid your honor and your due to the people that you needed to, and you're done.

00:17:24.680 --> 00:17:25.200
 It's done.

00:17:25.360 --> 00:17:25.640
 It's settled.

00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:32.819
 But we can never say, I have done all the loving I need to do.

00:17:35.519 --> 00:17:43.360
 Love, then, is a permanent obligation, a debt impossible to discharge from our account.

00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:46.699
 We are in debt to everybody around us.

00:17:47.119 --> 00:17:55.819
 Knowing this person, whether I know the person, I don't know the person, whether I like the person or don't like the person, I agree or don't agree, I am in debt to them in love.

00:17:55.819 --> 00:17:59.379
 I must love that person.

00:17:59.859 --> 00:18:06.119
 That's why I said earlier that this point is called a supreme ethic, love, because that is the supreme ethic of a Christian life.

00:18:06.379 --> 00:18:07.379
 It is to love.

00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:11.119
 To choose them over myself.

00:18:11.220 --> 00:18:14.119
 We'll get into the context of what love is in a moment.

00:18:14.119 --> 00:18:19.019
 But one thing that's interesting, you know, in 1 Corinthians 13, 13, it says this.

00:18:19.019 --> 00:18:22.200
 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three.

00:18:22.519 --> 00:18:25.259
 But the greatest is love.

00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:26.500
 It's love.

00:18:26.980 --> 00:18:28.220
 That's Paul writing that again, by the way.

00:18:28.379 --> 00:18:31.220
 So Paul's got, he's on the same track with himself here.

00:18:32.680 --> 00:18:33.420
 Consider this.

00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:39.379
 Faith is meant for us personally, in our personal lives, in believing.

00:18:40.200 --> 00:18:42.920
 Faith is our believing in the Lord Jesus.

00:18:43.539 --> 00:18:48.400
 Hope is what we have had to look forward to in eternity.

00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:51.019
 Our hope is in Christ in eternity.

00:18:51.480 --> 00:18:55.680
 And in a sense, those two things, faith and hope, are internal realities.

00:18:56.220 --> 00:19:00.660
 It's like I couldn't walk up and say, hey, you know, I've never met this man over here.

00:19:01.600 --> 00:19:02.740
 I've never seen him anywhere else.

00:19:02.800 --> 00:19:03.400
 I've seen him on the streets.

00:19:03.880 --> 00:19:05.800
 I can't tell if he's a Christian or not.

00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:08.980
 He could be a faithful, hope-filled man.

00:19:09.480 --> 00:19:13.100
 Or he could be a faithless, desperate, hopeless man.

00:19:13.340 --> 00:19:17.780
 I have no clue because there's not a lot of external, on first glance, external,

00:19:17.779 --> 00:19:22.299
 external explanation and expression of the faith and hope that's in or not in a man.

00:19:23.359 --> 00:19:26.359
 But how do I know that somebody is faithful and hopeful in Christ?

00:19:27.240 --> 00:19:32.819
 By the way they love the brothers and sisters and the way they love the world.

00:19:32.819 --> 00:19:36.779
 So faith and hope are internal realities.

00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:43.519
 Love is the external expression of what God has produced in you, the fruits of the Spirit.

00:19:43.839 --> 00:19:49.279
 And love is also the external expression of what God is producing still inside of you.

00:19:49.879 --> 00:19:51.879
 Who here can say they are perfect?

00:19:51.880 --> 00:19:56.920
 Lord, it's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way.

00:19:57.740 --> 00:19:59.160
 I can't wait to look in the mirror.

00:19:59.260 --> 00:20:00.860
 I keep getting better looking every day, right?

00:20:00.980 --> 00:20:01.680
 Anybody know that song?

00:20:02.340 --> 00:20:03.140
 Come on, this is Henry.

00:20:03.280 --> 00:20:04.220
 Y'all know that song.

00:20:04.280 --> 00:20:05.140
 I love country too.

00:20:05.360 --> 00:20:07.160
 Y'all gotta be not ashamed of country music.

00:20:07.260 --> 00:20:08.200
 I love country music too.

00:20:08.680 --> 00:20:11.440
 But the idea is that I'm perfect.

00:20:12.180 --> 00:20:12.880
 I'm good.

00:20:12.980 --> 00:20:14.020
 I'm loving enough.

00:20:14.180 --> 00:20:15.100
 I'm kind enough.

00:20:15.099 --> 00:20:22.219
 In the Christian life, holy, as in this life here now, holy, I'm holy enough.

00:20:23.219 --> 00:20:24.599
 Those words don't go together.

00:20:25.099 --> 00:20:26.019
 I'm loving enough.

00:20:26.699 --> 00:20:27.799
 I'm kind enough.

00:20:27.859 --> 00:20:28.679
 I'm patient enough.

00:20:29.099 --> 00:20:33.899
 Enough does not work with Christ in the Christian life.

00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:35.799
 We are never loving enough.

00:20:36.159 --> 00:20:41.319
 We must be loving and growing in our love for God and for others.

00:20:41.319 --> 00:20:46.859
 That is the call Paul has here for the Jewish and Christian believers in Rome.

00:20:49.259 --> 00:20:57.279
 What our faith and hope are in, though, informs how we love and who we love.

00:20:57.700 --> 00:21:08.099
 If your faith and your hope are in your business, you very likely will love your business and your money more than your workers.

00:21:08.099 --> 00:21:18.000
 If your faith and your hope are in your children and your children grow up and become crazy hooligans doing all sorts of wild things,

00:21:18.599 --> 00:21:24.339
 at some point you will say, I have failed and your identity was in yourself.

00:21:25.240 --> 00:21:31.119
 When you focus on anything other than Christ as your central rock in formation of life,

00:21:31.579 --> 00:21:34.219
 you will find that you will crumble.

00:21:34.839 --> 00:21:36.619
 You will crumble as a person.

00:21:36.619 --> 00:21:41.339
 My kids doing travel ball and they're finding their identity in that thing.

00:21:41.879 --> 00:21:47.659
 So that when they get to be in the college and they can't do travel ball anymore because they hurt their knee and they can't play the sport anymore,

00:21:48.519 --> 00:21:49.179
 what do they have?

00:21:50.139 --> 00:21:51.119
 Maybe their grades.

00:21:51.579 --> 00:21:53.000
 Maybe they start failing in their grades.

00:21:53.359 --> 00:21:54.000
 What do they have?

00:21:54.979 --> 00:21:58.099
 If there's no Christ in there, you have nothing.

00:21:58.099 --> 00:22:08.279
 If we have love for others, but our love is not based in the love that Christ has for us first, what kind of love do we have?

00:22:08.679 --> 00:22:13.799
 A superficial love that only works as long as I can get along with you.

00:22:13.799 --> 00:22:18.019
 Have you ever met a superficial Christian before?

00:22:18.500 --> 00:22:19.299
 You don't have to raise your hands.

00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:22.480
 I don't want to get any implications in here.

00:22:23.059 --> 00:22:25.779
 But have you ever met a superficial Christian who says, yeah, I love everybody.

00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:30.539
 But then when you go to talk to them, like, oh my goodness, that Jared guy, he's just the worst.

00:22:30.539 --> 00:22:33.139
 He just talks too much.

00:22:34.379 --> 00:22:40.299
 Man, you know, that person's love is enough.

00:22:41.159 --> 00:22:41.839
 It's just enough.

00:22:42.099 --> 00:22:45.639
 They're not fully loving for the first that they could do so in Christ.

00:22:47.099 --> 00:22:55.180
 So to continue on then in Romans 13 and kind of land that thing into this next part is Romans 13, 11 through 14.

00:22:55.299 --> 00:22:56.659
 And we're almost done with Romans 13.

00:22:56.779 --> 00:22:57.299
 We'll go to 12.

00:22:58.420 --> 00:22:59.599
 And I love this so much.

00:22:59.599 --> 00:23:00.919
 I'm actually only going to read verse 14.

00:23:01.000 --> 00:23:01.619
 I think that's enough.

00:23:02.939 --> 00:23:03.480
 Get it?

00:23:03.939 --> 00:23:04.799
 No one laughed there.

00:23:04.879 --> 00:23:05.240
 No one laughed.

00:23:06.139 --> 00:23:12.559
 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.

00:23:14.179 --> 00:23:16.099
 Now, before that, he does say this.

00:23:16.179 --> 00:23:21.959
 He says, besides, you know, this, you know, the time, the hour has come for you to wake from sleep,

00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:25.779
 for salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.

00:23:27.059 --> 00:23:28.899
 Hey, Jesus is coming back soon, guys.

00:23:29.599 --> 00:23:31.259
 He genuinely is coming back soon.

00:23:31.379 --> 00:23:32.659
 It's actually going to happen.

00:23:35.119 --> 00:23:36.799
 And some people just sleep on that.

00:23:38.059 --> 00:23:39.539
 No, probably not in my lifetime.

00:23:40.219 --> 00:23:40.699
 It's fine.

00:23:41.799 --> 00:23:43.779
 Or, you know, I'm pretty ready whenever he's here.

00:23:43.779 --> 00:23:46.819
 I'm ready to go whenever he's ready, you know, just kind of hang around here.

00:23:49.059 --> 00:24:01.940
 Paul calls for the believers there and for us as well to make no provisions, no chances, no place for the flesh to gratify our sinful desires.

00:24:01.940 --> 00:24:03.600
 Now, here's the thing.

00:24:03.599 --> 00:24:09.959
 And the text, that means if you look at the, if you read the scriptures, it understands that we do have flesh to desires.

00:24:09.960 --> 00:24:12.640
 So I'm not saying that everybody here is perfect.

00:24:12.700 --> 00:24:13.640
 We have no flesh to desires.

00:24:14.120 --> 00:24:17.720
 But if you do have them and where you have them, don't give provision for it.

00:24:17.819 --> 00:24:19.019
 Don't make space for it.

00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:24.380
 Like, if there's an area in your life that's like, yeah, if I tiptoe into that, I'm definitely going to fall into that thing for sure.

00:24:25.200 --> 00:24:26.299
 You know what you should not do?

00:24:26.299 --> 00:24:28.599
 Don't tiptoe into that thing.

00:24:29.059 --> 00:24:32.559
 Like, stay away from the box of temptation, whatever it is, and go the other way.

00:24:32.619 --> 00:24:35.319
 Make no provision for the flesh there to gratify it.

00:24:37.819 --> 00:24:47.299
 We are called to remember Christ, the greater beauty, the truer truth, because he died for our freedom from the sin that enslaved us.

00:24:47.299 --> 00:24:59.019
 So, the coming of Christ being soon, this darkness, the former ignorance, as the scripture would say, veiled the understanding of the Messiah, but the Messiah is revealed as Jesus.

00:25:02.240 --> 00:25:03.899
 Love this from the book of John.

00:25:04.319 --> 00:25:08.039
 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

00:25:08.619 --> 00:25:10.700
 So we walk in the daytime.

00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:11.659
 We walk in the light.

00:25:11.720 --> 00:25:14.200
 We walk in Christ, not in the darkness.

00:25:14.200 --> 00:25:23.700
 The darkness was defeated on the cross when Jesus rose from the grave, and soon the king will return to bring the saints home and make his enemies his footstool.

00:25:23.900 --> 00:25:25.059
 Now, let me ask you guys this.

00:25:27.600 --> 00:25:28.480
 What's that man doing?

00:25:30.120 --> 00:25:31.640
 He is sleepwalking.

00:25:31.680 --> 00:25:32.400
 That dude is out.

00:25:32.500 --> 00:25:35.500
 I've never seen somebody with those kind of jammies on in my entire life.

00:25:35.680 --> 00:25:38.299
 If you wear that, we'll have to have a discussion about that later.

00:25:38.759 --> 00:25:40.259
 But, especially the hat.

00:25:40.279 --> 00:25:40.960
 Who sleeps in a hat?

00:25:41.059 --> 00:25:41.279
 Come on.

00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:45.680
 Um, so, sleepwalking is an odd thing.

00:25:46.339 --> 00:25:53.799
 Sleepwalking is an odd thing, because you can have a completely coherent conversation with the person who's sleepwalking, and their eyes are wide open.

00:25:54.319 --> 00:25:59.220
 Um, I recently had this happen in my life with a family member.

00:25:59.740 --> 00:26:01.200
 Um, I won't name names at the moment.

00:26:01.200 --> 00:26:07.559
 But, I had somebody who, like, I was in the kitchen, washing dishes, AirPods in, I'm locked into my music, man.

00:26:07.600 --> 00:26:08.340
 I'm jamming out.

00:26:08.559 --> 00:26:11.620
 And all of a sudden, I hear a, and I feel that on my back.

00:26:11.700 --> 00:26:13.440
 I jumped, freaked out a little bit.

00:26:13.779 --> 00:26:18.200
 And I look around, and there's a certain person in my house, close to my height.

00:26:18.900 --> 00:26:21.600
 Um, I didn't say names.

00:26:21.640 --> 00:26:22.080
 I didn't say names.

00:26:22.139 --> 00:26:22.599
 I love you, babe.

00:26:22.740 --> 00:26:23.480
 I didn't say names.

00:26:23.819 --> 00:26:35.579
 But, she begins a conversation with me, full on, asking me about my day, you know, seeing how the day at the office went, what else do I have to do tonight for my chores I'm doing.

00:26:35.819 --> 00:26:37.720
 And I'm like, I'm like, yeah.

00:26:37.939 --> 00:26:39.000
 And she, full conversation.

00:26:39.000 --> 00:26:45.619
 And then, she, like, about faces, and then turns and walks back to the bedroom, goes out.

00:26:45.960 --> 00:26:46.400
 It's gone.

00:26:46.599 --> 00:26:47.000
 It's sleep.

00:26:48.640 --> 00:26:50.980
 Anybody here ever had an experience with sleepwalkers before?

00:26:51.299 --> 00:26:53.779
 You don't have to tell me, but just, like, you know, raise the hand if you have.

00:26:53.980 --> 00:26:54.700
 No judgment.

00:26:54.880 --> 00:26:55.640
 I've dealt with it.

00:26:55.940 --> 00:26:56.859
 It is scary.

00:26:57.519 --> 00:26:59.019
 It is genuinely a scary thing.

00:26:59.259 --> 00:27:06.079
 Because I thought I was talking to a coherent person, and they were, just not in this realm of existence.

00:27:06.200 --> 00:27:07.700
 And so, it really scared me.

00:27:07.700 --> 00:27:14.660
 And, the reality is, sleepwalkers can do many things.

00:27:15.200 --> 00:27:17.380
 But, they're not living in reality.

00:27:17.980 --> 00:27:19.940
 They don't live in the truest of realities.

00:27:20.660 --> 00:27:22.860
 They're kind of there, kind of not.

00:27:23.259 --> 00:27:25.740
 And when they wake up, they don't even realize they've done a thing sometimes.

00:27:26.660 --> 00:27:27.960
 And that's scary.

00:27:29.240 --> 00:27:34.640
 Because, Christians, sometimes we live in this sense with the Lord,

00:27:34.640 --> 00:27:38.580
 where we have been sleepwalking in our faith.

00:27:40.259 --> 00:27:41.740
 Where we say, I'm a Christian.

00:27:42.600 --> 00:27:43.720
 I love Jesus.

00:27:43.720 --> 00:27:47.680
 And somehow, you stumble into good works.

00:27:48.900 --> 00:27:52.000
 And what I mean by asleep in Christ, I don't mean that you're dead.

00:27:52.640 --> 00:28:00.500
 What I mean is that you have not been vigilant and diligent to walk regularly with the Lord,

00:28:00.620 --> 00:28:01.360
 to be with the Lord.

00:28:01.359 --> 00:28:07.539
 And you're being dragged along, almost, into a good thing.

00:28:07.539 --> 00:28:09.980
 And so, you serve in that good thing.

00:28:10.019 --> 00:28:10.839
 You do that good thing.

00:28:11.559 --> 00:28:15.220
 But, you're not truly, like, awake in it.

00:28:15.799 --> 00:28:18.500
 Like, when I went back to said person in my household,

00:28:19.039 --> 00:28:21.159
 and asked, do you remember this conversation?

00:28:21.359 --> 00:28:27.759
 Said person did not remember a single thing that was done in that conversation.

00:28:27.759 --> 00:28:33.879
 Like, the tap, the me freaking out, any part, the plate I almost dropped on the ground, right?

00:28:33.980 --> 00:28:34.779
 Nothing was remembered.

00:28:35.879 --> 00:28:41.700
 And so, for a Christian sleepwalking in the Lord, are you there?

00:28:42.339 --> 00:28:47.640
 Are you actively engaging with God in your life, walking with Him actively and intentionally,

00:28:48.019 --> 00:28:52.379
 or are you just kind of going through the motions with Jesus and claiming Christ?

00:28:52.380 --> 00:28:58.760
 Because, I promise you, the Jewish people and the Christians in Rome at this time

00:28:58.760 --> 00:29:02.060
 could absolutely not sleepwalk through their faith.

00:29:02.280 --> 00:29:03.960
 And if they did, you know what happened?

00:29:05.200 --> 00:29:05.600
 Nothing.

00:29:06.400 --> 00:29:09.400
 They would probably live happy lives under Nero and under Claudius.

00:29:09.620 --> 00:29:11.060
 Or, whatever his name was.

00:29:11.080 --> 00:29:11.820
 I don't remember his name now.

00:29:14.040 --> 00:29:15.180
 They would live happy lives.

00:29:17.660 --> 00:29:20.060
 Unoffended by the world, unattacked by the world,

00:29:20.059 --> 00:29:22.500
 if they were sleepwalking in Christ.

00:29:23.299 --> 00:29:28.940
 But to actively live for Christ means you're an enemy of the world.

00:29:30.740 --> 00:29:32.659
 Not easy to be an enemy of the rest of the world.

00:29:33.799 --> 00:29:36.740
 When maybe you're like the 10% or so that are different in the world.

00:29:38.159 --> 00:29:40.519
 When it means persecution comes against you,

00:29:40.599 --> 00:29:42.279
 people come against you, people say things against you.

00:29:42.419 --> 00:29:43.039
 It's not easy.

00:29:43.139 --> 00:29:45.200
 And then, we're even called to love those people.

00:29:45.200 --> 00:29:51.259
 The Christian life is such a radically different life from the rest of the world.

00:29:53.180 --> 00:29:55.519
 But somehow, we always look so similar lately.

00:29:56.660 --> 00:30:01.039
 The church just looks like a bunch of dressed up holy people in a building.

00:30:02.240 --> 00:30:06.299
 Not living out the faith, but simply staying the faith.

00:30:06.819 --> 00:30:08.100
 I call it egghead theology.

00:30:08.539 --> 00:30:10.519
 It's my favorite term I learned the other day.

00:30:10.519 --> 00:30:11.859
 I came up with it.

00:30:11.879 --> 00:30:12.379
 I don't know which one.

00:30:13.319 --> 00:30:16.779
 But egghead theology is when you get so much Bible in your head,

00:30:17.079 --> 00:30:19.519
 somehow your hands aren't moving.

00:30:21.579 --> 00:30:22.599
 This is important.

00:30:23.319 --> 00:30:25.200
 But it better translate to this,

00:30:25.720 --> 00:30:27.279
 or you have a dead faith.

00:30:28.579 --> 00:30:30.359
 Don't be asleep in Christ.

00:30:31.160 --> 00:30:32.279
 If you are a believer,

00:30:33.400 --> 00:30:34.240
 get active.

00:30:34.299 --> 00:30:35.259
 Maybe not in the church,

00:30:35.819 --> 00:30:36.960
 in a parachurch ministry.

00:30:36.960 --> 00:30:40.319
 Some way that you are actively sharing the gospel,

00:30:40.620 --> 00:30:41.600
 living out Christ,

00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:43.039
 in your workplaces,

00:30:43.400 --> 00:30:45.519
 in other areas that you get to live in.

00:30:45.740 --> 00:30:46.840
 Your circle of influence.

00:30:47.660 --> 00:30:49.579
 Don't sleepwalk in Christ.

00:30:50.039 --> 00:30:52.420
 Walk actively with the Lord Jesus.

00:30:55.539 --> 00:30:57.759
 So as we transition to chapter 12,

00:30:58.059 --> 00:30:59.980
 as we transition there,

00:31:00.019 --> 00:31:01.620
 I'm going to get off those silly sleepwalking things,

00:31:01.680 --> 00:31:02.200
 be focused.

00:31:02.200 --> 00:31:07.019
 The flesh will be as active as we allow it to be.

00:31:08.360 --> 00:31:10.420
 Are you making provision for your flesh,

00:31:10.720 --> 00:31:14.620
 or are you giving every chance to the Spirit in you,

00:31:14.740 --> 00:31:15.220
 within you,

00:31:15.319 --> 00:31:16.220
 to guide you,

00:31:16.779 --> 00:31:17.680
 to inform you,

00:31:17.960 --> 00:31:19.160
 to lead you into all righteousness,

00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:20.980
 to do good works?

00:31:22.500 --> 00:31:22.840
 So,

00:31:24.279 --> 00:31:25.080
 I have to ask this question,

00:31:25.120 --> 00:31:26.039
 because I started at the beginning here.

00:31:26.720 --> 00:31:27.799
 How is then,

00:31:27.980 --> 00:31:28.960
 with all this evidence,

00:31:29.059 --> 00:31:30.400
 and our brain's already fried a little bit,

00:31:30.400 --> 00:31:31.220
 let's take a second here.

00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:33.500
 How is love,

00:31:34.600 --> 00:31:36.100
 the supreme ethic of the Christian life,

00:31:36.580 --> 00:31:38.620
 how is Paul then making his argument,

00:31:39.500 --> 00:31:41.259
 that love is this important?

00:31:44.420 --> 00:31:45.440
 I don't think it's that way.

00:31:45.519 --> 00:31:46.000
 It's not like that.

00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:49.320
 I got that one kind of mind,

00:31:49.400 --> 00:31:50.220
 where like as soon as something happens,

00:31:50.280 --> 00:31:50.840
 you got to look at it.

00:31:50.920 --> 00:31:51.480
 It's terrible.

00:31:52.400 --> 00:31:53.700
 I'm awful in Walmart, man.

00:31:53.759 --> 00:31:54.120
 It's awful.

00:31:54.119 --> 00:31:54.679
 So,

00:31:56.959 --> 00:31:59.739
 the way that Paul is making the argument,

00:31:59.859 --> 00:32:00.839
 that love is so important,

00:32:02.079 --> 00:32:03.119
 it's because this,

00:32:03.459 --> 00:32:05.039
 God's love for us,

00:32:05.819 --> 00:32:07.339
 starts here in 13,

00:32:07.919 --> 00:32:09.059
 that we have civil authorities,

00:32:09.059 --> 00:32:10.539
 to govern and protect us.

00:32:10.859 --> 00:32:11.099
 So,

00:32:11.179 --> 00:32:12.459
 God has care,

00:32:12.859 --> 00:32:13.759
 love for us,

00:32:13.799 --> 00:32:14.599
 and has a grace,

00:32:14.659 --> 00:32:16.000
 that we have civil authorities,

00:32:16.000 --> 00:32:17.019
 to protect us.

00:32:18.439 --> 00:32:19.879
 It is God's love,

00:32:20.199 --> 00:32:21.419
 that we have the law of God,

00:32:21.420 --> 00:32:23.860
 to guide us into how to love him,

00:32:24.100 --> 00:32:24.940
 to love others,

00:32:25.080 --> 00:32:27.000
 and how to live out rightfully.

00:32:28.100 --> 00:32:29.300
 And it was love,

00:32:29.539 --> 00:32:31.120
 that drove Jesus,

00:32:31.640 --> 00:32:32.800
 to the cross.

00:32:34.660 --> 00:32:35.740
 One of my favorite verses,

00:32:36.160 --> 00:32:37.340
 in scriptures in all the Bible,

00:32:37.460 --> 00:32:38.420
 is Romans 5, 8.

00:32:38.660 --> 00:32:38.820
 So,

00:32:38.840 --> 00:32:39.980
 I'm going to read a little bit before that though,

00:32:40.019 --> 00:32:41.060
 Romans 5, 6 through 8.

00:32:42.920 --> 00:32:43.620
 And it says,

00:32:43.700 --> 00:32:44.340
 these are some of the scriptures,

00:32:44.460 --> 00:32:45.940
 you want to take notes right down,

00:32:46.240 --> 00:32:46.960
 in your stuff.

00:32:47.220 --> 00:32:47.820
 These are the scriptures,

00:32:47.880 --> 00:32:48.539
 we're going to go through here,

00:32:48.680 --> 00:32:50.259
 over this next few minutes.

00:32:50.259 --> 00:32:50.539
 But,

00:32:51.059 --> 00:32:52.099
 Romans 5, 6 through 8.

00:32:52.480 --> 00:32:53.660
 For while we were still weak,

00:32:54.759 --> 00:32:55.640
 did not have faith,

00:32:55.740 --> 00:32:56.900
 while we were still enemies of God,

00:32:57.420 --> 00:32:58.519
 at the right time,

00:32:58.920 --> 00:33:00.420
 Christ died for the ungodly.

00:33:01.240 --> 00:33:01.519
 For,

00:33:01.940 --> 00:33:03.240
 one will scarcely die,

00:33:03.299 --> 00:33:04.079
 for a righteous person.

00:33:04.160 --> 00:33:04.299
 So,

00:33:04.720 --> 00:33:05.440
 you don't have to raise your hand,

00:33:05.480 --> 00:33:06.059
 but think about this.

00:33:06.359 --> 00:33:06.980
 Would you,

00:33:08.500 --> 00:33:09.920
 if you didn't know somebody,

00:33:10.140 --> 00:33:11.099
 you knew they were a good person,

00:33:11.500 --> 00:33:12.339
 would you say,

00:33:12.680 --> 00:33:12.980
 you know what,

00:33:13.000 --> 00:33:13.720
 that guy's going to die,

00:33:13.759 --> 00:33:14.579
 I'm going to die for him.

00:33:14.759 --> 00:33:15.779
 I've got my whole life to live,

00:33:15.839 --> 00:33:16.359
 I've got my family,

00:33:16.440 --> 00:33:16.579
 everything,

00:33:16.640 --> 00:33:16.960
 my business,

00:33:17.059 --> 00:33:17.279
 everything,

00:33:17.579 --> 00:33:18.019
 but you know what,

00:33:18.019 --> 00:33:18.779
 I know that guy's a good guy,

00:33:18.779 --> 00:33:19.640
 I'm going to die for him.

00:33:20.259 --> 00:33:22.039
 It would be a hard decision to make.

00:33:23.359 --> 00:33:23.759
 But,

00:33:23.920 --> 00:33:24.599
 Paul goes even further,

00:33:24.680 --> 00:33:24.980
 he says,

00:33:25.440 --> 00:33:26.579
 though perhaps for a good person,

00:33:26.839 --> 00:33:27.720
 one would even dare to die.

00:33:30.859 --> 00:33:33.319
 Would you die for an unrighteous person,

00:33:34.200 --> 00:33:34.500
 though?

00:33:35.460 --> 00:33:37.480
 Would you die for somebody who is evil,

00:33:39.240 --> 00:33:40.000
 wicked person,

00:33:40.200 --> 00:33:42.619
 who has committed many crimes?

00:33:42.619 --> 00:33:46.239
 Would you die in their stead?

00:33:47.719 --> 00:33:48.319
 Christ did.

00:33:49.199 --> 00:33:50.579
 That's the love that he has.

00:33:51.799 --> 00:33:52.399
 Verse 8,

00:33:52.459 --> 00:33:52.979
 my favorite verse,

00:33:53.059 --> 00:33:53.500
 it says this,

00:33:53.739 --> 00:33:55.500
 but God shows his love for us,

00:33:55.939 --> 00:33:57.239
 and that while we were still sinners,

00:33:57.399 --> 00:33:59.399
 Christ died for us.

00:33:59.919 --> 00:34:01.919
 Jesus willingly died for us,

00:34:01.959 --> 00:34:03.039
 while we were enemies of God,

00:34:03.459 --> 00:34:04.679
 and not all cleaned up,

00:34:04.719 --> 00:34:05.839
 not the cleaned up version of us.

00:34:06.839 --> 00:34:08.199
 God loves those,

00:34:08.880 --> 00:34:10.460
 who will come to him,

00:34:11.259 --> 00:34:12.619
 while they were still his enemies.

00:34:13.639 --> 00:34:15.019
 And then in 1 John 4,

00:34:15.039 --> 00:34:15.579
 10 through 11,

00:34:15.639 --> 00:34:16.119
 it says this,

00:34:16.360 --> 00:34:17.639
 in this is love,

00:34:17.840 --> 00:34:19.480
 not that we have loved God,

00:34:19.559 --> 00:34:21.340
 but that he loved us,

00:34:21.400 --> 00:34:22.319
 and sent his son,

00:34:22.619 --> 00:34:23.639
 to be the propitiation,

00:34:23.840 --> 00:34:25.400
 or the sacrifice,

00:34:25.840 --> 00:34:27.019
 for our sins.

00:34:27.819 --> 00:34:28.179
 Beloved,

00:34:28.219 --> 00:34:29.279
 if God so loved us,

00:34:29.279 --> 00:34:30.980
 we also ought to love one another.

00:34:31.860 --> 00:34:32.719
 So what we see here,

00:34:32.760 --> 00:34:33.900
 is we didn't even love God,

00:34:33.940 --> 00:34:34.519
 to start with,

00:34:35.059 --> 00:34:37.599
 but God pursued us.

00:34:39.639 --> 00:34:40.980
 If you were in a relationship,

00:34:40.980 --> 00:34:41.639
 with somebody,

00:34:41.740 --> 00:34:42.740
 and that person was a wicked,

00:34:42.880 --> 00:34:43.420
 evil person,

00:34:43.719 --> 00:34:44.740
 would you pursue them?

00:34:47.380 --> 00:34:48.559
 Would you pursue them?

00:34:49.119 --> 00:34:49.519
 No.

00:34:50.400 --> 00:34:51.019
 You'd cut them off,

00:34:51.079 --> 00:34:51.719
 like dude,

00:34:51.760 --> 00:34:52.179
 you're toxic,

00:34:52.440 --> 00:34:52.920
 you're terrible,

00:34:53.179 --> 00:34:53.679
 you're mean,

00:34:54.440 --> 00:34:54.940
 you're kind of,

00:34:55.659 --> 00:34:56.559
 how your personality,

00:34:56.659 --> 00:34:57.500
 is kind of like ugly to me now,

00:34:57.619 --> 00:34:59.000
 like I'm not going to be around you.

00:34:59.539 --> 00:35:00.300
 You'd cut them off,

00:35:00.300 --> 00:35:01.680
 but God pursued us,

00:35:01.840 --> 00:35:03.539
 even in our sin.

00:35:06.039 --> 00:35:06.900
 In 1 John 5,

00:35:06.940 --> 00:35:07.660
 3 it says this,

00:35:07.960 --> 00:35:08.900
 for this is the love of God,

00:35:08.940 --> 00:35:09.980
 that we keep his commandments,

00:35:10.120 --> 00:35:10.660
 and his commandments,

00:35:10.780 --> 00:35:12.320
 are not burdensome.

00:35:13.060 --> 00:35:13.260
 Right,

00:35:13.280 --> 00:35:13.780
 the 10 commandments,

00:35:13.920 --> 00:35:14.800
 they're not burdensome,

00:35:14.900 --> 00:35:15.760
 they're not something,

00:35:15.880 --> 00:35:16.680
 that weighs you down.

00:35:17.920 --> 00:35:18.740
 For most of us,

00:35:18.780 --> 00:35:19.700
 that grew up in church,

00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:21.220
 they're the foundation of our life,

00:35:21.240 --> 00:35:21.980
 how we treat others,

00:35:22.039 --> 00:35:22.920
 and how we love God.

00:35:23.560 --> 00:35:24.780
 They're not burdensome.

00:35:24.780 --> 00:35:30.000
 How do we show,

00:35:30.200 --> 00:35:31.200
 we love God though?

00:35:32.420 --> 00:35:33.640
 Because this is all about love,

00:35:33.700 --> 00:35:34.240
 as you can see,

00:35:34.320 --> 00:35:34.900
 this is a very,

00:35:35.019 --> 00:35:36.560
 very loving passage.

00:35:38.140 --> 00:35:38.900
 How do we show,

00:35:39.000 --> 00:35:39.500
 we love God?

00:35:40.019 --> 00:35:41.480
 By keeping his commandments,

00:35:42.019 --> 00:35:42.900
 to greater degrees,

00:35:43.100 --> 00:35:44.600
 as we grow in sanctification.

00:35:44.599 --> 00:35:47.139
 So from the submitting,

00:35:47.239 --> 00:35:48.000
 to civil authorities,

00:35:48.699 --> 00:35:51.259
 to loving those who hate us,

00:35:52.480 --> 00:35:53.839
 on into this next part,

00:35:54.019 --> 00:35:54.519
 we see that,

00:35:54.599 --> 00:35:55.779
 that Paul is showing us,

00:35:55.920 --> 00:35:56.759
 that love,

00:35:57.119 --> 00:35:58.960
 is our supreme ethic,

00:35:58.960 --> 00:35:59.860
 as Christians.

00:36:01.139 --> 00:36:02.239
 This is the last little bit,

00:36:02.259 --> 00:36:03.079
 we're going to go through here,

00:36:03.559 --> 00:36:04.139
 Romans 12.

00:36:08.139 --> 00:36:09.039
 1 John 4,

00:36:09.079 --> 00:36:09.940
 19 says this though,

00:36:10.380 --> 00:36:10.980
 we love,

00:36:11.059 --> 00:36:12.500
 because he first loved,

00:36:12.500 --> 00:36:13.539
 us.

00:36:15.519 --> 00:36:16.539
 So God is love,

00:36:17.039 --> 00:36:19.079
 and love is sacrifice.

00:36:19.800 --> 00:36:20.699
 Which leads us,

00:36:21.699 --> 00:36:22.679
 all the way back to,

00:36:22.699 --> 00:36:23.500
 which is kind of weird to say,

00:36:23.559 --> 00:36:24.500
 all the way back to,

00:36:24.800 --> 00:36:25.460
 Romans 12.

00:36:25.739 --> 00:36:26.280
 So go ahead,

00:36:26.340 --> 00:36:26.860
 and look in your scriptures,

00:36:26.980 --> 00:36:27.420
 Romans 12.

00:36:27.739 --> 00:36:28.440
 We're going to go through,

00:36:28.539 --> 00:36:30.079
 verses 9 through 10,

00:36:30.179 --> 00:36:31.900
 and then 14 and 21.

00:36:32.019 --> 00:36:32.480
 It's a really,

00:36:32.900 --> 00:36:34.179
 I didn't know how to write that up there,

00:36:34.519 --> 00:36:35.960
 but we're going to go through that.

00:36:36.820 --> 00:36:37.099
 So,

00:36:38.019 --> 00:36:39.800
 beginning in verse 9 and 10,

00:36:40.119 --> 00:36:40.699
 verses 14,

00:36:40.780 --> 00:36:41.480
 and then verse 21.

00:36:41.480 --> 00:36:43.300
 Let love be genuine,

00:36:44.159 --> 00:36:45.960
 abhor what is evil,

00:36:46.219 --> 00:36:47.460
 hold fast to what is good,

00:36:47.760 --> 00:36:49.360
 love one another with brotherly affection,

00:36:50.079 --> 00:36:51.960
 outdo one another in showing honor,

00:36:53.440 --> 00:36:54.980
 bless those who persecute you,

00:36:55.119 --> 00:36:55.400
 bless,

00:36:55.659 --> 00:36:57.300
 and do not curse them.

00:36:59.139 --> 00:37:01.599
 Do not be overcome by evil,

00:37:02.019 --> 00:37:04.740
 but overcome evil with good.

00:37:04.739 --> 00:37:09.019
 Paul is calling us,

00:37:09.679 --> 00:37:11.019
 call the Jewish people here,

00:37:11.219 --> 00:37:11.639
 and the Romans,

00:37:11.759 --> 00:37:12.399
 the Christians here,

00:37:12.659 --> 00:37:13.759
 calling us now as well,

00:37:14.579 --> 00:37:17.579
 to a radical life of love.

00:37:18.579 --> 00:37:20.299
 A supreme life of love.

00:37:21.119 --> 00:37:22.219
 But the problem is that,

00:37:22.279 --> 00:37:24.579
 the world has redefined love,

00:37:25.019 --> 00:37:27.199
 in so many ways.

00:37:27.339 --> 00:37:29.019
 Very simplified it,

00:37:29.019 --> 00:37:31.480
 or has taken it and stretched it to,

00:37:31.800 --> 00:37:32.039
 extent,

00:37:32.139 --> 00:37:33.179
 it's not supposed to go to.

00:37:33.920 --> 00:37:34.759
 I think of one thing,

00:37:35.480 --> 00:37:37.719
 I call it sentimentalism,

00:37:38.239 --> 00:37:41.440
 where they reduce love to kind of just these feelings,

00:37:41.699 --> 00:37:43.239
 like the butterflies in the tummy,

00:37:43.340 --> 00:37:44.440
 when the person walks in the door,

00:37:44.539 --> 00:37:44.639
 like,

00:37:44.699 --> 00:37:44.820
 oh,

00:37:44.820 --> 00:37:45.460
 you're so pretty.

00:37:45.699 --> 00:37:45.860
 Like,

00:37:45.860 --> 00:37:47.360
 that's the sentimentalism,

00:37:47.880 --> 00:37:49.079
 so that,

00:37:49.140 --> 00:37:49.280
 you know,

00:37:49.300 --> 00:37:49.940
 when the love,

00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:50.920
 the love fades,

00:37:51.000 --> 00:37:51.900
 the feelings fade,

00:37:52.559 --> 00:37:53.680
 the love goes away too.

00:37:54.519 --> 00:37:55.620
 That's that sentimentalism.

00:37:57.140 --> 00:37:57.880
 We use the word,

00:37:57.960 --> 00:37:58.700
 I love pizza,

00:37:59.280 --> 00:38:00.039
 in the same sentence as,

00:38:00.140 --> 00:38:00.920
 I love my wife,

00:38:00.980 --> 00:38:02.039
 but we know they have two different meanings,

00:38:02.160 --> 00:38:02.300
 but,

00:38:02.980 --> 00:38:03.140
 man,

00:38:03.180 --> 00:38:04.800
 the way we have diluted the word love,

00:38:05.420 --> 00:38:06.160
 it's insane.

00:38:07.840 --> 00:38:08.680
 The problem is,

00:38:08.680 --> 00:38:08.860
 you know,

00:38:08.960 --> 00:38:10.360
 in the Western world,

00:38:10.460 --> 00:38:11.860
 in the Western Christians like us,

00:38:13.140 --> 00:38:14.360
 we have this view of love,

00:38:14.620 --> 00:38:15.579
 that's so weak,

00:38:16.260 --> 00:38:17.620
 that we can fall in and out of it.

00:38:19.059 --> 00:38:19.280
 Oh,

00:38:19.320 --> 00:38:20.220
 I fell in love with that person,

00:38:20.300 --> 00:38:21.240
 I fell in love with that person.

00:38:21.579 --> 00:38:22.680
 It's all over the place.

00:38:23.940 --> 00:38:25.860
 Love is not about burning intensity,

00:38:26.579 --> 00:38:27.320
 or calm,

00:38:27.440 --> 00:38:29.780
 cool seasons of calmness.

00:38:30.820 --> 00:38:34.039
 It's not about whether or not I'm currently a huge fan of you,

00:38:34.400 --> 00:38:37.000
 or I can't stand your guts right now.

00:38:38.240 --> 00:38:42.380
 It's about actively choosing the other over yourself.

00:38:43.039 --> 00:38:44.900
 It is covenant keeping.

00:38:44.900 --> 00:38:47.440
 And that goes for marriages,

00:38:47.960 --> 00:38:50.039
 and it goes for churches.

00:38:51.019 --> 00:38:52.160
 In your marriage,

00:38:52.820 --> 00:38:58.000
 you may not always love your spouse the exact same way as when you first met them.

00:38:58.000 --> 00:39:00.579
 John Piper,

00:39:00.880 --> 00:39:01.780
 I read an article,

00:39:01.880 --> 00:39:02.440
 and John Piper,

00:39:02.539 --> 00:39:03.000
 he's a pastor,

00:39:03.119 --> 00:39:03.880
 he wrote this,

00:39:03.960 --> 00:39:04.340
 and he said,

00:39:04.820 --> 00:39:05.500
 he said,

00:39:06.639 --> 00:39:07.420
 if you love,

00:39:07.519 --> 00:39:07.940
 basically he said,

00:39:07.980 --> 00:39:09.940
 if you love somebody for 60 years,

00:39:10.019 --> 00:39:11.019
 the same exact way,

00:39:11.340 --> 00:39:12.880
 you've neither grown with them,

00:39:12.960 --> 00:39:14.099
 or really known them.

00:39:16.360 --> 00:39:19.260
 If you love somebody the exact same way when you first met them as you do,

00:39:19.559 --> 00:39:20.099
 now,

00:39:21.099 --> 00:39:22.940
 have you actually grown with them?

00:39:22.940 --> 00:39:24.579
 Do you know more about them,

00:39:24.599 --> 00:39:27.599
 or do you just live off the scraps you got in the beginning?

00:39:29.059 --> 00:39:30.099
 And in the church,

00:39:30.700 --> 00:39:31.880
 the way we love each other,

00:39:33.139 --> 00:39:35.480
 I might not be a huge fan of everybody,

00:39:36.280 --> 00:39:37.960
 or maybe a huge fan of everybody.

00:39:38.980 --> 00:39:40.179
 You might not be a huge fan of me,

00:39:40.900 --> 00:39:41.920
 or maybe a huge fan of me.

00:39:42.480 --> 00:39:43.960
 Might be hot or cold some days.

00:39:43.960 --> 00:39:48.539
 Does that change how you love one another in the church, though?

00:39:49.720 --> 00:39:50.119
 No.

00:39:50.860 --> 00:39:51.220
 No.

00:39:51.599 --> 00:39:52.360
 It ought not to.

00:39:53.539 --> 00:39:56.380
 Love has also been equated with tolerance rather than truth-telling.

00:39:57.199 --> 00:40:00.199
 Love has been turned into a term for the acceptance of sin

00:40:00.199 --> 00:40:03.480
 rather than a driving conviction to call people out of sin.

00:40:05.059 --> 00:40:07.019
 When we share the uncomfortable truth,

00:40:07.320 --> 00:40:10.000
 we do it not to hear our own voices or to be right,

00:40:10.260 --> 00:40:12.260
 we do it because we love others.

00:40:12.559 --> 00:40:13.579
 I've told the students this before,

00:40:13.579 --> 00:40:14.559
 and I love this phrase,

00:40:14.799 --> 00:40:19.340
 that a really incredibly awkward five-minute conversation

00:40:19.340 --> 00:40:20.619
 with the gospel for somebody

00:40:20.619 --> 00:40:25.099
 could cost them an eternity in heaven.

00:40:26.159 --> 00:40:28.099
 Like, is it easy to share the gospel sometimes?

00:40:28.239 --> 00:40:28.480
 No.

00:40:28.579 --> 00:40:30.460
 It's awkward to just start a conversation with somebody and say,

00:40:30.860 --> 00:40:32.319
 hey, do you know if you're going to heaven or hell?

00:40:33.519 --> 00:40:35.079
 That's a really hard conversation to start.

00:40:35.699 --> 00:40:38.279
 It's hard to break into the gospel conversation sometimes.

00:40:38.539 --> 00:40:40.219
 But that five minutes with somebody

00:40:40.219 --> 00:40:44.559
 could start the conversation for them to know the Savior.

00:40:45.199 --> 00:40:46.519
 And it's awkward and uncomfortable.

00:40:47.480 --> 00:40:51.799
 But sometimes love does require sacrifice.

00:40:52.579 --> 00:40:54.980
 Sacrificing my comfort, my desires,

00:40:54.980 --> 00:40:59.460
 my reputation for someone else's good.

00:40:59.860 --> 00:41:02.019
 For someone else's good.

00:41:02.099 --> 00:41:04.199
 So when Paul says to let love be genuine,

00:41:04.820 --> 00:41:07.679
 he's calling for believers to love how Jesus loved.

00:41:07.679 --> 00:41:17.339
 We don't love so everybody can see how holy we are, though.

00:41:18.279 --> 00:41:19.480
 If you're loving people,

00:41:20.339 --> 00:41:21.639
 they gain some following,

00:41:21.839 --> 00:41:23.119
 or you're loving people so that people would see

00:41:23.119 --> 00:41:25.139
 just how much holiness you have.

00:41:26.339 --> 00:41:27.219
 Oh, look how holy I am.

00:41:27.259 --> 00:41:28.539
 I love the unloving person.

00:41:28.699 --> 00:41:30.480
 Look at me on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter and all.

00:41:30.699 --> 00:41:31.980
 Look at all the things I'm doing.

00:41:32.399 --> 00:41:33.419
 I'm so holy.

00:41:33.480 --> 00:41:34.079
 I'm so loving.

00:41:34.079 --> 00:41:34.119
 I'm so loving.

00:41:34.920 --> 00:41:36.119
 Is that really love?

00:41:36.819 --> 00:41:37.099
 No.

00:41:38.699 --> 00:41:39.860
 Let love be genuine.

00:41:39.980 --> 00:41:40.639
 Let it be real.

00:41:40.739 --> 00:41:41.480
 Let it be authentic.

00:41:41.940 --> 00:41:44.420
 And it ought to be an overflow of your life with Jesus.

00:41:46.259 --> 00:41:48.559
 Part of that love is our hatred of evil, though.

00:41:48.920 --> 00:41:50.559
 And that's a huge part of this text here.

00:41:51.179 --> 00:41:52.400
 He tells us to abhor.

00:41:52.719 --> 00:41:56.239
 How many of you are using the word abhor in your daily life?

00:41:57.960 --> 00:41:59.019
 Not many, apparently.

00:41:59.460 --> 00:42:00.259
 Nobody's saying that.

00:42:00.460 --> 00:42:01.340
 Like, we're not using that word.

00:42:01.519 --> 00:42:03.480
 But the word is a very strong word.

00:42:03.480 --> 00:42:09.659
 It means to cast away, to detest, to loathe, to despise, to reject all evils.

00:42:10.139 --> 00:42:12.920
 And hold fast to what is good, to truly love.

00:42:13.460 --> 00:42:15.719
 And here, like we were saying, God is love.

00:42:16.199 --> 00:42:21.780
 Love is about sacrifice.

00:42:23.380 --> 00:42:23.960
 Say it with me.

00:42:24.000 --> 00:42:25.860
 Love is about sacrifice.

00:42:27.219 --> 00:42:28.659
 Absolutely about sacrifice.

00:42:28.659 --> 00:42:36.480
 So at 2 in the morning when my, or sorry, about 10, 30 in the afternoon, in the evening, when my sweet little daughter was crying.

00:42:37.099 --> 00:42:37.920
 And I'm tired.

00:42:38.000 --> 00:42:40.779
 I'm typing up some final things on this message.

00:42:41.199 --> 00:42:42.819
 I'm like, I'm so tired.

00:42:44.139 --> 00:42:47.239
 My poor wife is laying in the bed because she's been exhausted because this week has been crazy.

00:42:47.379 --> 00:42:49.379
 And so she's just dead on her feet.

00:42:49.380 --> 00:42:51.559
 And I look over her in the bed as I'm sitting in the computer.

00:42:51.700 --> 00:42:54.539
 And I'm like, lazy bones.

00:42:54.599 --> 00:42:55.559
 Get up and go take care of the kid.

00:42:57.760 --> 00:42:58.559
 Is that love?

00:42:59.480 --> 00:43:00.700
 Love is sacrifice, right?

00:43:00.720 --> 00:43:01.780
 I'm dead tired too.

00:43:01.940 --> 00:43:02.559
 So you know what I have to do?

00:43:02.599 --> 00:43:03.980
 I have to get up and go take care of my baby.

00:43:03.980 --> 00:43:10.840
 Church, when you see somebody on the side of the road that you don't, that you think, oh, why aren't they working?

00:43:12.000 --> 00:43:12.699
 Lazy bones.

00:43:13.360 --> 00:43:14.139
 Get up and do something.

00:43:16.000 --> 00:43:16.740
 Is that love?

00:43:17.820 --> 00:43:18.079
 No.

00:43:19.000 --> 00:43:23.380
 Love would be sharing the gospel with them and seeking to provide for them.

00:43:24.920 --> 00:43:26.960
 It's not your job to judge what they're going to do with it.

00:43:27.760 --> 00:43:29.059
 It's your job to love them.

00:43:29.559 --> 00:43:32.039
 Remember, because the civil authorities deal with the governing side.

00:43:32.039 --> 00:43:36.779
 And then we have the church that extends the gospel and grace.

00:43:37.960 --> 00:43:38.279
 Grace.

00:43:38.679 --> 00:43:40.219
 We extend gospel and grace, not judgment.

00:43:43.219 --> 00:43:44.480
 Love is about sacrifice.

00:43:44.800 --> 00:43:46.340
 And we sacrifice our prides and egos.

00:43:46.420 --> 00:43:47.099
 I'm going to wrap up here.

00:43:47.159 --> 00:43:48.779
 I know it says 12, 11, 58 right there.

00:43:49.320 --> 00:43:51.199
 Some of y'all are looking at your watches like, get this kid off the stage.

00:43:53.519 --> 00:43:54.659
 Love is about sacrifice.

00:43:54.860 --> 00:43:57.739
 And the one thing we sacrifice are these, our pride and our ego.

00:43:57.739 --> 00:44:02.639
 So the person who trashed you on Facebook, speak good of them.

00:44:03.759 --> 00:44:04.479
 It's crazy.

00:44:05.359 --> 00:44:08.779
 The person who bullies you in school, serve them.

00:44:09.619 --> 00:44:14.479
 The person who cheated on you and broke your heart and caused your marriage to fail, pray for them.

00:44:15.179 --> 00:44:20.259
 The person who stole money from you, forgive them of their debts.

00:44:20.260 --> 00:44:23.100
 If they won't pay you back at all.

00:44:23.800 --> 00:44:25.420
 The person who voted opposite of you.

00:44:26.740 --> 00:44:27.520
 And I hear that again.

00:44:27.580 --> 00:44:31.040
 The person who voted opposite of you, genuinely love them.

00:44:32.220 --> 00:44:38.200
 The person who doesn't do as good a job as you would, drop your pride and help them.

00:44:38.199 --> 00:44:43.980
 And lastly, the family member you're holding a grudge against right now, whoever it is.

00:44:45.980 --> 00:44:48.239
 Forgive them and love them.

00:44:49.719 --> 00:44:51.699
 Love one another with brotherly affection.

00:44:51.960 --> 00:44:53.079
 Seek to build each other up.

00:44:53.179 --> 00:44:55.539
 Stir up each other in good works to do good works.

00:44:56.319 --> 00:44:59.159
 And I want to end with this last little bit here on living sacrifice.

00:44:59.299 --> 00:45:02.779
 I think this is the most important parts of the scriptures to me.

00:45:02.780 --> 00:45:08.680
 A radical life is a living sacrifice.

00:45:09.120 --> 00:45:10.380
 I don't know how far I am on this.

00:45:10.420 --> 00:45:11.360
 I'm terrible at these things.

00:45:11.700 --> 00:45:12.060
 There we go.

00:45:12.760 --> 00:45:13.160
 Sacrifice.

00:45:14.220 --> 00:45:14.980
 I looked at the word.

00:45:15.500 --> 00:45:22.000
 Sacrifice means to give up something valued for something else regarded as more valuable or worthy.

00:45:25.460 --> 00:45:32.480
 Are you willing to sacrifice something in your life so that somebody else you may not even know

00:45:32.480 --> 00:45:34.199
 could benefit from it?

00:45:34.400 --> 00:45:35.300
 Because Christ did.

00:45:35.820 --> 00:45:36.860
 Now Christ knows everybody.

00:45:37.880 --> 00:45:38.659
 Christ already knew us.

00:45:39.619 --> 00:45:45.400
 But he gave up his life, a sacrifice, so that we may be able to enter in the gates.

00:45:46.119 --> 00:45:49.400
 With thanksgiving and praise, like Brother Greg sang with us this morning.

00:45:49.820 --> 00:45:50.780
 With thanksgiving and praise.

00:45:50.940 --> 00:45:53.440
 And he's made us glad because of what he's done.

00:45:53.440 --> 00:46:05.519
 But if he's not made you glad, if he's not the thing that makes you glad daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, hourly, minutely, I think,

00:46:06.240 --> 00:46:11.000
 you have to ask yourself, what is your hope in?

00:46:12.179 --> 00:46:13.420
 Who is your hope in?

00:46:15.480 --> 00:46:17.780
 What is informing how you love and who you love?

00:46:17.780 --> 00:46:22.200
 A living sacrifice.

00:46:23.420 --> 00:46:27.240
 The Jews would have had a hard time with this because they'd give up animal sacrifices.

00:46:27.900 --> 00:46:29.000
 And you can look at this if you want to.

00:46:29.160 --> 00:46:30.120
 We can get to that.

00:46:30.400 --> 00:46:31.620
 You can come back to me and ask me later.

00:46:31.860 --> 00:46:34.360
 But I just want to put that up there for you guys to see.

00:46:36.080 --> 00:46:43.960
 A living sacrifice involves not just giving something up now, but living out the new thing.

00:46:43.960 --> 00:46:48.420
 We were born one way.

00:46:48.760 --> 00:46:50.360
 We are called to be born again.

00:46:51.880 --> 00:46:56.599
 In our lives now, we are called to give up our old ways and our old desires in gratifying the flesh

00:46:56.599 --> 00:47:02.619
 for the joy of the promise of newness in life and eternal life in Christ Jesus.

00:47:04.440 --> 00:47:07.720
 So, I want to land us here on this last part.

00:47:07.719 --> 00:47:15.279
 The ultimate goal of any preaching on a Sunday morning in any place

00:47:15.279 --> 00:47:20.739
 is that you would see the power of God in the work of Christ Jesus

00:47:20.739 --> 00:47:21.719
 and that you would love him more.

00:47:21.799 --> 00:47:25.419
 That's the goal of the preacher, is that you would love Jesus more after the guy is done.

00:47:27.759 --> 00:47:30.419
 And because of Jesus' obedience to the Father unto death,

00:47:30.500 --> 00:47:33.699
 because of Jesus' desire to glorify the Father in all his ways and circumstances,

00:47:33.699 --> 00:47:36.799
 because of the great love the Father has for us,

00:47:38.119 --> 00:47:44.099
 we who have believed and trusted in Jesus have been made right with Christ.

00:47:45.239 --> 00:47:46.839
 But if you haven't trusted in Jesus,

00:47:47.279 --> 00:47:50.099
 if you're here today and you're questioning your walk with the Lord,

00:47:50.139 --> 00:47:52.239
 if you're questioning, what is my hope truly in?

00:47:52.480 --> 00:47:53.219
 What am I really loving?

00:47:53.619 --> 00:47:56.339
 Are the indicators of my life showing that I love God?

00:47:56.340 --> 00:48:00.840
 But if they're not, if they're not showing that,

00:48:01.340 --> 00:48:02.680
 I'm not calling you not a Christian.

00:48:03.360 --> 00:48:06.539
 What I am saying is examine your life

00:48:06.539 --> 00:48:12.000
 and seek counsel from people who have walked with the Lord for a long time.

00:48:12.220 --> 00:48:15.260
 And the best thing to do is seek the counsel of the Holy Spirit and the Word.

00:48:15.920 --> 00:48:17.120
 That's where you will find the truth.

00:48:18.700 --> 00:48:20.420
 If you don't know Christ this day,

00:48:20.760 --> 00:48:22.860
 if you've not trusted in Jesus as your Savior,

00:48:22.860 --> 00:48:24.840
 please come talk with me.

00:48:24.860 --> 00:48:26.880
 I'd love to discuss with you after the service.

00:48:28.240 --> 00:48:30.519
 I'd love to discuss with you what that looks like.

00:48:31.500 --> 00:48:33.160
 If you have any questions on the message

00:48:33.160 --> 00:48:34.820
 and you want to talk further about it,

00:48:35.280 --> 00:48:36.220
 please come talk with me.

00:48:37.820 --> 00:48:39.400
 But that's all I wanted to bring to you this morning

00:48:39.400 --> 00:48:42.099
 is that the supreme ethic of the Christian life is to love.

00:48:42.760 --> 00:48:43.420
 It is to love.

00:48:44.280 --> 00:48:46.120
 Our lives are a living sacrifice to the Lord.

00:48:46.620 --> 00:48:49.220
 We give ourselves over to God and always say things and do.

00:48:50.360 --> 00:48:52.220
 And so this morning I would like to close with some prayer.

00:48:52.860 --> 00:48:53.680
 And we will be dismissed.

00:48:53.880 --> 00:48:54.820
 And I actually have one more message

00:48:54.820 --> 00:48:55.980
 before we actually walk out the room.

00:48:56.099 --> 00:48:56.960
 So let us pray.

00:48:57.260 --> 00:48:58.420
 And I'll close this.

00:48:58.960 --> 00:49:00.360
 Lord Jesus, thank you so much for this morning.

00:49:01.180 --> 00:49:03.680
 I pray, God, that as we close this message

00:49:03.680 --> 00:49:07.180
 that you would be glorified and honored, made much of.

00:49:07.480 --> 00:49:09.140
 God, I pray that you would work in our hearts

00:49:09.140 --> 00:49:14.380
 to continue to desire you to grow in love for others.

00:49:15.019 --> 00:49:17.200
 God, where we are failing, where we are falling short,

00:49:17.199 --> 00:49:22.179
 Lord, show us that we can walk in greater love for you

00:49:22.179 --> 00:49:23.739
 and greater love for others.

00:49:24.359 --> 00:49:25.639
 Lord, as we leave this place,

00:49:26.339 --> 00:49:29.000
 remind us that our lives are not our own.

00:49:29.739 --> 00:49:30.799
 We've been bought with a price.

00:49:31.659 --> 00:49:33.279
 And that we would now go out and live

00:49:33.279 --> 00:49:34.659
 not a sleepwalking faith,

00:49:35.279 --> 00:49:37.379
 but a very active, awake faith.

00:49:38.079 --> 00:49:38.859
 So Jesus, I pray.

00:49:39.460 --> 00:49:39.699
 Amen.

00:49:39.699 --> 00:49:39.799
 Amen.

00:49:39.799 --> 00:49:39.859
 Amen.

00:49:39.859 --> 00:49:39.859


00:49:39.859 --> 00:49:39.859


00:49:39.859 --> 00:49:39.859


00:49:39.859 --> 00:49:39.859


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00:49:39.859 --> 00:49:39.859