WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: The Second is Like That Publishing Date: 2013-06-02T06:00:44-07:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/the-second-is-like-that/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.000 Alrighty guys, I love the title of this teaching and the second is like it. 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:18.000 Last week we talked about how God loves and we were talking about how to demonstrate love. 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:25.000 And I said we need to start with 1 John 4, 19 and 10. 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:29.000 1 John 4, 19 and 10, that's where we started. 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:34.000 1 John 4, 19 and 10. Just to recap what we said. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:39.000 1 John 4, 19 says, 00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:44.000 We love because he first loved us. 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:47.000 We love because he first loved us. 00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:50.000 And 1 John 4, 10 says, 00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:57.000 In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us, 00:00:57.000 --> 00:01:02.000 and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:05.000 1 John 4, 10. 00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:10.000 In this is love, not that we have loved God, 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:15.000 but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:19.000 In this is love, not that I, Jacob, loved God, 00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:22.000 but that he, God, loved me, Jacob, 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:26.000 and sent his son, Jesus, to be a propitiation for my sins. 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:29.000 1 John 4, 19 says, 00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:31.000 We love because he first loved us. 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:33.000 So last week we talked about this. 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:35.000 That if we want to demonstrate love, 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:39.000 we need to understand some of these things about who loved first. 00:01:39.000 --> 00:01:43.000 And we said that God had no necessity to create. 00:01:43.000 --> 00:01:47.000 He was quiet, happy and at home in the Trinity. 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:52.000 That he could have created just one walnut and been completely fine with it. 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:54.000 He could have said, let there be walnut, 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:56.000 and there'd be a walnut in his hand, 00:01:56.000 --> 00:02:00.000 and he could have walked around that for the rest of his life, completely happy. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:05.000 And yet, this God who needs nothing 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:09.000 does not necessarily create us into existence. 00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:12.000 He loves us into existence. 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:16.000 This is not a guy who's making a robot. 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:19.000 This is a God who loves us into existence. 00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:20.000 It comes from his womb. 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:22.000 The word Raham, which means compassion, 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:24.000 is not something that Jesus came up with. 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:27.000 It is something that has been in the womb of God for long. 00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:32.000 And he could have been completely satisfied in terms of creating a walnut. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:34.000 But he loves us into existence. Why? 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:36.000 Why does he love us into existence? 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:40.000 So that he may continue to love us and perfect us. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:41.000 So what do you mean, Jacob? 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:43.000 He could continue to love us and perfect us. 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:48.000 Guys, because God does not live in tenses, as in past, present and future, 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:51.000 even as he's creating and loving us into existence, 00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:57.000 he's already seeing the buzzing of flies around the cross. 00:02:57.000 --> 00:03:00.000 He's already seeing the flayed back. 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:05.000 He's already seeing the nails driven through bone and nerves. 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:08.000 He's already seeing the slow suffocation 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:12.000 as his son's body hangs and droops on the cross. 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:15.000 So he loves us into existence. 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:17.000 And then why does he do it? 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:21.000 So that he can continue loving us and perfecting us, knowing what lies ahead. 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:27.000 He causes us to exist, aware that we are going to exploit him and take advantage of him. 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:33.000 He causes me to exist, aware that I, Jacob, am going to exploit him and take advantage of him. 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:36.000 And therein lies the definition of love. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:45.000 That God first loved me and gave himself as a propitiation of my sin before the foundations of the earth. 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:47.000 Therein is the definition of love. 00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:50.000 That's what we talked about last week. 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:54.000 This week we start with a different scripture and you'll see why I titled it the way I titled it. 00:03:54.000 --> 00:04:03.000 We go to Matthew 22, verse 36. 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:05.000 I think I'll go on till 12 today. 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:07.000 If I don't finish then we'll see. 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:11.000 We might do it later after I come back. 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:15.000 Matthew 22, 36-40. 00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:19.000 Father, I just pray that you'd give peace to our hearts, rest to our hearts. 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:22.000 We've gotten used to finishing early. 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:24.000 Today we're going to go on till 12 or so, Lord. 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:26.000 I pray that you give us peace in our hearts. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:28.000 I pray that you help me not to rush. 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:30.000 I pray that you give us peace in our hearts. 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:36.000 I pray that you help me not to rush and to take it at the right pace. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:41.000 I pray that if there's anything you want to do in between, that I won't squeeze you out because of a teaching. 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:50.000 I ask that in our desire to get to places soon, we won't squeeze out learning as we hear the word broken. 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:53.000 I ask for that shalom in our hearts right now. 00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:55.000 In Jesus' name, Amen. 00:04:55.000 --> 00:05:00.000 Okay, Matthew 22, verses 36-40. 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:08.000 If you did make an appointment to get out of here early and you need to be somewhere, just feel free to go away. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:11.000 Matthew 22, verses 36-40. 00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:13.000 Let's start at verse 34. 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:20.000 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:24.000 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:31.000 Teacher, what is a great commandment in the law? 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:38.000 And he said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:41.000 This is a great and first commandment. 00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:45.000 And a second is like it, depending on your version it says. 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:46.000 And the second is like it. 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:48.000 That's why I titled it this way. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:51.000 You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:56.000 On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets. 00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:59.000 Guys, so here are the things we said last time. 00:05:59.000 --> 00:06:11.000 There is love God, love your neighbor, love yourself. 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:17.000 Love yourself. 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:19.000 Or as you love yourself or love yourself. 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:26.000 These are the three legs of the stool we were talking about last time. 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:29.000 Love God, love your neighbor, love for yourself. 00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:30.000 Love for yourself. 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:32.000 Let's just leave it as love for yourself. 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:35.000 Love for yourself. 00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:40.000 These are the three legs of this chair. 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:43.000 Guys, I'm going to start here. 00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:44.000 I'm going to start here. 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:53.000 By the way, if you ask me what is love your neighbor, who is my neighbor, then go read Luke 10, 29 to 37. 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:55.000 And we'll talk about it another day. 00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:57.000 Because someone asked Jesus who is my neighbor. 00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:00.000 And he said, he didn't say go read Luke 10. 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:03.000 He told them a story which is in Luke 10, 29 onwards. 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:05.000 But that's for another day. 00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:06.000 Love for yourself. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:08.000 I'm going to start here. 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:10.000 Because I think it's important to understand that. 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:16.000 Guys, self-love is legitimate. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:19.000 Love for yourself is legitimate. 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:25.000 It's an inborn human trait that the Father created. 00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:29.000 And in of itself, it is good. 00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:32.000 Love for yourself is legitimate. 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:35.000 It's not an illegitimate thing. 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:41.000 It's an inborn human trait that the Father created. 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:46.000 And in of itself, it is good. 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:49.000 In of itself, it's actually very good. 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:54.000 For instance, to want to be safe in crisis, is that an evil thing? 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:55.000 No. 00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:58.000 To want to be safe in crisis is not evil. 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:03.000 To want to be warm in winter is not evil. 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:10.000 To want to be healthy during a plague is not evil. 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:15.000 To want to be liked by others is not evil. 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:22.000 To want your life to count in some significant way is not evil. 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:30.000 If you have a desire to diminish pain and to be happy, that isn't evil. 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:34.000 So, self-love is a legitimate thing that the Father created. 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:37.000 And in of itself, it's a good thing, guys. 00:08:37.000 --> 00:08:42.000 Otherwise, he would not say, love your neighbor as you love yourself. 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:47.000 This is part of who God created us to be. 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:53.000 So, as we begin to grasp what Jesus meant by, as you love yourself, 00:08:53.000 --> 00:09:02.000 so we will be able to grasp, love your neighbor. 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:04.000 Now, this part is important. 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:06.000 Please understand. 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:09.000 For some reason, we think Jesus is saying, 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:13.000 love your neighbor instead of loving yourself. 00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:17.000 That's what, when we hear, love your neighbor as you love yourself, 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:22.000 we always hear it as, love your neighbor instead of yourself. 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:25.000 Jesus is not saying, love your neighbor instead of yourself. 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:34.000 Jesus is saying, love your neighbor as you love yourself, not instead of yourself. 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:37.000 This is what makes us fearful of this commandment 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:40.000 where Jesus is saying the greatest commandment and the second is like it. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:42.000 This is why we shy away from it, because it's almost like, 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:45.000 if I love my neighbor, I'll have to stop loving myself. 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:49.000 And that's part of what Christianity, in a sense, has promoted. 00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:50.000 And we get all holy. 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:53.000 No, I shouldn't love myself, I should love my neighbor. 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:57.000 The second thing that we think Jesus is saying is 00:09:57.000 --> 00:10:01.000 we think Jesus is saying, seek for your neighbor 00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:04.000 the same things that you seek for yourself. 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:10.000 Seek for your neighbor the same things that you seek for yourself, 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:12.000 but that's not what Jesus is saying. 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:18.000 He is not saying, seek for your neighbor the same things that you seek for yourself. 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:27.000 He is saying, Jacob seek for your neighbor in the same way, the same zeal, the same energy, 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:32.000 the same creativity, the same perseverance you use in seeking things for yourself. 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:38.000 In that same way, seek for your neighbor. 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:42.000 Do you understand the difference guys? There is a difference here. 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:47.000 Love your neighbor as you love yourself, not love your neighbor in the things that you have for yourself. 00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:50.000 He is not saying, love your neighbor in the same... 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:54.000 He isn't saying, seek for your neighbor the same things that you have for yourself. 00:10:54.000 --> 00:11:00.000 No, seek for your neighbor the same way as you seek for yourself. 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:04.000 Meaning, have the same zeal, have the same perseverance, have the same creativity, 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:12.000 have the same longing as you have for yourself, have it for your neighbor. 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:14.000 That's what he is saying here. 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:16.000 It makes a significant difference guys. 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:18.000 Because what is our fear? 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:24.000 Our fear is, if I devote myself to the pursuit of the happiness of others, 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:30.000 then my own desire for happiness will always be threatened. 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:31.000 That's what we think. 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:40.000 If I begin to pursue the happiness of others, my own happiness will be preempted or will be threatened. 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:43.000 And may I say to you that therein lies the root of sin? 00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:46.000 Because the root of sinfulness is one. 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:49.000 The root of sinfulness... 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:54.000 This is stunning when you look at it. 00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:56.000 The root of sinfulness is A. 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:10.000 The desire for happiness apart from God. 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:30.000 And B. The desire for happiness apart from the happiness of others. 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:40.000 Guys, this is the root of all sin. All sin. This is the root. 00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:48.000 The root of sinfulness is A. The desire for happiness apart from God. 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:53.000 And B. The desire for happiness apart from the happiness of others. 00:12:53.000 --> 00:12:55.000 All sin starts here. 00:12:55.000 --> 00:13:02.000 This is why the Ten Commandments is broken up into four that teach you how to live a life that is never apart from God. 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:08.000 And the next six teach you how to live a life that does not jeopardize the happiness of others. 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:11.000 Do not covet, do not commit adultery, do not steal. 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:22.000 All those are things where you cannot seek happiness for yourself by taking someone else's wife, by lying to someone else, by stealing someone else's things, by coveting what is theirs. 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:26.000 This lies at the root of all sinfulness. 00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:34.000 The desire for happiness apart from God and the desire for happiness apart from the happiness of others. 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:38.000 In this, every sin comes from these two. 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:41.000 This is why Jesus... 00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:42.000 Pardon? 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:44.000 What triggered the first murder? 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:45.000 Yeah. 00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:47.000 Cain was not... 00:13:47.000 --> 00:13:57.000 First of all, Cain didn't... wanted a happiness not by giving God a sacrifice but by giving God a very paltry sacrifice. 00:13:57.000 --> 00:14:00.000 When it came to seeing his brother prosper, he didn't like it. 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:04.000 So he wanted a happiness apart from his brother's happiness. 00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:07.000 Right from the beginning, this is how it works. 00:14:07.000 --> 00:14:13.000 Eve was offered a happiness apart from God and she swallowed it. 00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:24.000 This is at the root of every sin, which is why Jesus says, guys, the law and the prophets are summed up in this one command. 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:28.000 Love your neighbor as you love yourself. 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:31.000 Love the Lord God with all your heart, with all your strength and all your mind. 00:14:31.000 --> 00:14:33.000 Luke 6.31 says that. 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:36.000 Luke 6.31 says... 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:39.000 We'll go there later. Not right now. 00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:41.000 Sorry, not Luke 6.31. 00:14:41.000 --> 00:14:44.000 Go to Romans 13. Romans 13. 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:46.000 8 to 10. 00:14:47.000 --> 00:14:50.000 Romans 13, 8 to 10. 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:56.000 Romans 13, 8 to 10. 00:14:57.000 --> 00:15:00.000 Ryan, I'd really like some water, please. 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:03.000 Yeah, I'd like it warm. Thanks. 00:15:03.000 --> 00:15:05.000 Romans 13, 8 to 10. 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:10.000 Oh, no one anything except to love each other. 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:14.000 For the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:17.000 For the commandments, you shall not commit adultery. 00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:21.000 You shall not murder. You shall not steal. You shall not covet. 00:15:21.000 --> 00:15:24.000 And any other commandments are summed up. 00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:32.000 Any other commandments are summed up in this word. 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:34.000 You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:38.000 Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore, love is fulfilling the law. 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:42.000 Guys, remember this. 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:46.000 Remember this. All our sinfulness comes from one of these or the other. 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:48.000 Therefore, love is the antidote. 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:51.000 Antidote as in loving the Lord your God with all your heart is one part of it. 00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:55.000 The second part of it, loving my neighbor as I would love myself. 00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:58.000 In that, I'll begin to remove sin. 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:03.000 When I do not desire my happiness at the cost of jeopardizing your happiness, 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:05.000 it is impossible for me to sin against you. 00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:08.000 It is impossible for me to sin against you. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:14.000 Therefore, he says in this... 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:15.000 Go ahead. 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:18.000 Which part? 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:26.000 We'll explain that. Yeah, we'll talk about that. 00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:30.000 Guys, so how do we go... Just think of this. 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:35.000 We are talking about loving ourselves. 00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:37.000 So imagine how it'll look. 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:40.000 Just as you long for food when you're hungry, 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:44.000 what if you began to long to feed your neighbor when he's hungry? 00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:47.000 These are some simple things. 00:16:47.000 --> 00:16:50.000 Just as you long for food when you're hungry, 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:54.000 when the Bible says love your neighbor as you love yourself, 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:56.000 begin to think along these lines. 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:59.000 Just as you long for food when you're hungry, 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:03.000 long to feed your neighbor when he is hungry. Thanks. 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:09.000 Just as you yearn for a nice home, 00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:12.000 desire a nice home for your neighbor to live in. 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:16.000 Begin there. Begin there. 00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:22.000 God is not asking that you go buy someone else the same kind of home that you have. 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:25.000 But he says in the same way that you're pursuing things for yourself, 00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:28.000 begin to have a desire for your neighbor. 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:33.000 Because once these longings, desires, seekings start in my heart, 00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:36.000 it will translate into some form of action. 00:17:36.000 --> 00:17:39.000 And love like encouragement is an action and a choice. 00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:44.000 So, just as you long for food when you're hungry, 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:47.000 long to feed your neighbor when he's hungry. 00:17:47.000 --> 00:17:50.000 Just as you yearn for a nice home to live in, 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:53.000 desire a nice home for your neighbor to live in. 00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:58.000 As you seek security from disaster and violence, 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:00.000 seek security for your neighbor. 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:07.000 As you seek friends for yourself, 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:09.000 be a friend to your neighbor. 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:16.000 As you seek to be a friend to your neighbor, 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:20.000 as you seek to hide your mistakes in front of people, 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:24.000 so seek to cover your neighbor's mistakes in front of people. 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:32.000 As you seek for your fears to be calmed in a brand new situation, 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:38.000 so seek how you can calm the fears of someone else who you know is in a brand new situation. 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:41.000 As you work to do better in life, 00:18:41.000 --> 00:18:44.000 so work to help your neighbor do better in life. 00:18:47.000 --> 00:18:50.000 As you want your life to be significant, 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:55.000 desire that the same significance will happen for your neighbor. 00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:59.000 As you like being welcomed into strange company, 00:18:59.000 --> 00:19:01.000 so welcome your neighbor among strangers. 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:06.000 You see, guys, this was a very interesting question. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:09.000 Guys, this works. 00:19:09.000 --> 00:19:12.000 I've begun to practice it. 00:19:13.000 --> 00:19:14.000 It works. 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:20.000 It creates the awareness in my heart that here is a person who is feeling uncomfortable, 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:23.000 who's perhaps not good with a fork and a knife, 00:19:23.000 --> 00:19:25.000 who does not know what to do, 00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:27.000 who is feeling fearful, 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:33.000 who desires to do better than where they are at. 00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:37.000 And suddenly I realized that I remember when I didn't know how to use a knife and a fork. 00:19:37.000 --> 00:19:43.000 I remember when I was fearful and was compensating by being boisterous in a company of people 00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:45.000 because I didn't know how to cover my fears. 00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:49.000 I know what it is to want to be significant and not be able to break through. 00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:53.000 And suddenly the same way that I went about desiring it, 00:19:53.000 --> 00:19:55.000 I now desire it for the neighbor. 00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:57.000 And it begins to translate into action. 00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:00.000 It begins to translate into action. 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:01.000 It begins to translate into action. 00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:05.000 Where I'll do little things to now make sure that the person's mistakes are not exposed, 00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:07.000 that the person's fears are allayed, 00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:13.000 that the person has some breakthrough to make of life what they couldn't make of life earlier. 00:20:13.000 --> 00:20:16.000 And this applies to me whether I have money or no money, 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:18.000 whether I'm doing well or not doing well. 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:20.000 Because I don't want us to think, 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:22.000 oh, so the better-off guys have to take care of me. 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:23.000 No! 00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:29.000 This is common to man regardless of how much you have or how much you don't have. 00:20:29.000 --> 00:20:31.000 But this is where you begin. 00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:36.000 If I don't begin to love as I love myself, 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:38.000 if I don't begin to see it this way, 00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:40.000 if I don't become aware of it, 00:20:41.000 --> 00:20:43.000 it doesn't work. 00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:45.000 Start here. 00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:47.000 Love your neighbor as you love yourself. 00:20:47.000 --> 00:20:49.000 Start here. 00:20:49.000 --> 00:20:55.000 Whereas you long for security from disaster and violence, 00:20:55.000 --> 00:21:00.000 so now you begin to long for the security of your neighbor from disaster and violence 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:03.000 and it will make you do something. 00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:09.000 As you long for somebody to stop by when you're stuck on a bridge because you've run out of gas, 00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:15.000 so begin to long that you will do something for the Samaritan stuck on the bridge 00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:17.000 not knowing what to do. 00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:20.000 That's where you start. 00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:22.000 Go ahead, Maurice. 00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:28.000 Great, Luke 6.31. 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:32.000 Do unto others as you want done to yourself. 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:37.000 But we thought that was if I have a home, I got to give up my home and give it to them. 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:41.000 That may be part of the equation, but that was not what Jesus was talking about. 00:21:41.000 --> 00:21:43.000 Because otherwise the first thing he'd have done, 00:21:43.000 --> 00:21:46.000 he'd have sold his carpenter business and given it to somebody. 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:49.000 What we need to hear is Jesus saying, 00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:53.000 seek for your neighbor the same way with the same zeal, the same energy, 00:21:53.000 --> 00:21:57.000 the same creativity and the same perseverance that you seek for yourself 00:21:57.000 --> 00:21:59.000 and then let it translate into action. 00:21:59.000 --> 00:22:00.000 That comes first. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:03.000 Why did Paul say in 1 Corinthians 13, 00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:09.000 I can give away all my goods and yet it will be a noisy gong or a clanging? 00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:12.000 It's not in the giving away of goods that love is expressed. 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:18.000 Love is an attitude that is a God thing that is constant in my heart towards everybody all the time 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:20.000 and accordingly things happen. 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:22.000 It always translates into action, 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:25.000 but it has to start at this level. 00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:27.000 Love for yourself. 00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:30.000 And this is not some kind of self-indulgent love as you saw. 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:32.000 It's not a self-indulgent love. 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:34.000 It's not a self-indulgent love. 00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:36.000 It's not a self-indulgent love. 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:39.000 It's not some kind of self-indulgent love as you saw. 00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:41.000 It's not that. 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:47.000 So how do we transform the way we live into this kind of love? 00:22:47.000 --> 00:22:48.000 Where do we start? 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:49.000 Guys, let me take an example. 00:22:49.000 --> 00:22:51.000 You see Gabrielle there? 00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:54.000 You came in at the right time, Mariana. 00:22:54.000 --> 00:23:00.000 Does a two-month-old baby display self-love? 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:04.000 Does a two-month-old baby display self-love? 00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:05.000 Yes. Yes. 00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:07.000 Just in case you thought it's a grown-up thing. 00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:09.000 No, it's a legitimate human trait. 00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:11.000 Yes, Gabrielle wants to be fed. 00:23:11.000 --> 00:23:13.000 Yes, she wants comfort. 00:23:13.000 --> 00:23:15.000 Yes, she wants human touch. 00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:17.000 Yes, she wants to be cleaned. 00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:19.000 Yes, she wants to be rocked to sleep. 00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:21.000 Yes, she wants warmth. 00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:23.000 Yes, she wants pain relieved. 00:23:23.000 --> 00:23:25.000 Do you think this is love for self? 00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:27.000 Absolutely. 00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:29.000 Starts when you're super young. 00:23:29.000 --> 00:23:31.000 But unlike us, 00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:39.000 Gabrielle finds the entirety of her love for herself satisfied in and through her mom. 00:23:39.000 --> 00:23:53.000 So her mom nurses her, her mom feeds her, her mom holds her, her mom clothes her, her mom cradles her, her mom loves her, her mom protects her, her mom warms her. 00:23:53.000 --> 00:23:56.000 So what does this baby learn to do? 00:23:57.000 --> 00:24:04.000 She seeks her mom with all her heart, all her soul, all her mind. 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:10.000 Because she knows that her mother's arms are where she's most loved and satisfied. 00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:13.000 Guys, please don't lose me on this. 00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:19.000 Here is a child who has an innate self-love. 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:27.000 She's born with this need to be taken care of, fed, cleaned, rocked to sleep, cradled, held, touched. 00:24:27.000 --> 00:24:33.000 But unlike us, and we have the same needs as we grow up, if anything they grow larger. 00:24:33.000 --> 00:24:44.000 Unlike us, this baby has been able to find that there is this one person who can provide all of it, who can clothe, nurse, feed, keep warm, hold, touch, cradle and put to sleep. 00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:46.000 One person. 00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:48.000 So what does this child do early in life? 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:57.000 Somehow this child clicks on to the fact that I will call out and love this woman that holds me, cradles me, feeds me, nurses me. 00:24:57.000 --> 00:25:05.000 I will call out to her with all my heart, all my mind and all my strength because in her all my needs are satisfied. 00:25:09.000 --> 00:25:11.000 That's where we start. Go ahead, James. 00:25:11.000 --> 00:25:13.000 Hey James, you wanted to share something. I forgot about it, man. 00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:15.000 Go ahead. 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:26.000 Can I finish my sermon or do you want to finish the rest of it? 00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:34.000 Taking away my points. Yeah, absolutely. 00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:45.000 See, she knows that, I mean one of the reasons I sang that song suddenly, In Your Arms I Feel Protected, is because Gabrielle knows that in her arms I will be protected and taken care of. 00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:47.000 All and everything is satisfied there. 00:25:47.000 --> 00:25:49.000 That's where you and I need to start, guys. 00:25:49.000 --> 00:26:00.000 We need to learn to find in the arms of God such a satisfaction, such a significance, such security which is so profound that it fills our hearts, souls and minds. 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:02.000 We won't go looking for it anywhere. 00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:05.000 That's where we again come back to the very beginning. 00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:09.000 C.S. Lewis called us or used this term. 00:26:09.000 --> 00:26:13.000 He said people who begin to do that are jolly beggars. 00:26:13.000 --> 00:26:19.000 A jolly beggar is a beggar who is desperately in need but knows where to find everything he needs. 00:26:19.000 --> 00:26:31.000 He knows this one benefactor that he can go to again and again, reach out, stretch, take, reach out, stretch, take, ask, and he knows everything he needs will be satisfied in this one benefactor. 00:26:31.000 --> 00:26:34.000 And he uses the term jolly beggars. 00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:41.000 Meaning we are always aware of our inadequacy and we are always aware of its sufficiency. 00:26:41.000 --> 00:26:43.000 Don't get stuck with that. Just call yourself Christians. 00:26:43.000 --> 00:26:45.000 I just like that term. 00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:53.000 So suddenly guys, your quest for happiness becomes a quest for God because you realize that in only Him are you satisfied. 00:26:53.000 --> 00:26:59.000 And not only are you satisfied in Him, when you begin to love Him with all your heart, strength and soul as Gabrielle does her mom, 00:26:59.000 --> 00:27:04.000 not only is she satisfied but all the other things that she doesn't know she needs are added unto her. 00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:18.000 Go figure. Not only is she satisfied in this one person who takes care of her, that she begins to cry out for with all her soul, strength and heart, which is why she cries as loud as she cries. 00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:29.000 Not only that, but she doesn't even know, she's beginning to understand that not only are all my needs met, but all other things are being added unto me. 00:27:29.000 --> 00:27:36.000 That there is this funny looking carriage that comes with wheels that I'm going to be put in that they'll push along. 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:42.000 That my clothes are not fitting well and new clothes will come. 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:50.000 That they'll give me some kind of a bottle with a rubber thing on top of it. Soon. 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:56.000 Strange things like this will begin to happen in her life, all things being added unto her. 00:27:56.000 --> 00:27:59.000 This is where it starts. Go ahead, James. 00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:20.000 Which is why I started with the first part. Remember when I introduced it? Yeah. And then you respond. 00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:33.000 Which is where we are heading. Every day it's progressive. I don't think we'll ever come to that point where we'll exhaust our ability to love him. 00:28:33.000 --> 00:28:40.000 But every day it increases. I'm amazed that David caught a sight of those guys. When he says the Lord is my shepherd. 00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:50.000 I lack nothing. I have everything I need. He somehow caught it. It's not like David loved him 100%. Otherwise, he wouldn't have done what he did. 00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:58.000 He wrote Psalm 23 perhaps before he wrote Psalm 51. Not because they are chronological in order. But I'm assuming that's how it worked. 00:28:58.000 --> 00:29:04.000 But the point being there was something David knew about being satisfied completely in God. 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:14.000 When he can write the Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing. But it's progressive. Every day I get to go another step. 00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:20.000 Guys, if this becomes our focus where loving God becomes our focus and comes first. We've already dealt with this. 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:25.000 If this comes first. Now look at how the equation changes. Listen to this. 00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:38.000 As my desire to be loved and cared for finds its fulfillment in an elated, recklessly loving God. 00:29:38.000 --> 00:29:41.000 I've chosen all these words carefully guys. Listen to it again. 00:29:41.000 --> 00:29:56.000 As my desire to be cared and loved for or as my desire to be loved and cared for is fulfilled in this elated, as in super excited, happy about me. 00:29:56.000 --> 00:30:07.000 As in this elated, recklessly loving God, what begins to happen is it begins to overflow to my neighbor. 00:30:07.000 --> 00:30:18.000 This is why it's vital that I begin to find the fulfillment of being loved and being taken care of by this elated, recklessly loving God. 00:30:18.000 --> 00:30:24.000 If I don't get that right, it cannot overflow. Like I've met kids whose dads used to own candy stores. 00:30:24.000 --> 00:30:29.000 And you go to their house with your nephews and they've got no problems giving away candy man. 00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:36.000 They don't hoard candy anymore. In Bristol there's a family who owns restaurants and candy and stuff like that. 00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:43.000 And whenever I go with my nephews and nieces there, their kids are very generous with candy. Why? 00:30:43.000 --> 00:30:48.000 Because there's no dearth of candy. They can get as much candy as they want. They don't have to pay for it. 00:30:48.000 --> 00:30:52.000 They just have to put their hands in it and pull it out. 00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:58.000 Pull it out. These kids never hoard candy. I get candy when I go to that house. 00:30:58.000 --> 00:31:01.000 They're going around distributing it to anybody who comes. 00:31:01.000 --> 00:31:09.000 The point being, once you come to this place where you're loved for and cared for by an elated, recklessly loving God, 00:31:09.000 --> 00:31:14.000 it is natural for it to overflow into your neighbors. Listen to these lines. 00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:24.000 So as I begin to see God's abundance in the supply of food, rent and clothing, what will happen? 00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:32.000 I'll begin to long to show others the greatness of His abundance by the generosity that I've learned and found in Him. 00:31:32.000 --> 00:31:41.000 Let me say that again. As I begin to see God's abundance in rent, in food and clothing, 00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:49.000 I will long now to show others the greatness of His abundance 00:31:49.000 --> 00:31:54.000 and I will long to show the generosity that I have found in Him and learned from Him. 00:31:54.000 --> 00:31:59.000 And when I say as I begin to see His abundance, I don't mean when I get a million. 00:31:59.000 --> 00:32:04.000 I don't mean when I get 20,000. I mean when I get $20 today. 00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:10.000 Because I see every little thing as an abundance and the generosity of God. 00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:16.000 Then it is natural for me as I begin to see the abundance of what God is providing, 00:32:16.000 --> 00:32:26.000 it is natural for me to long to show that abundance to others and to show them the generosity I found in God and learned from Him. 00:32:26.000 --> 00:32:28.000 Let me throw another one at you. 00:32:29.000 --> 00:32:34.000 As I begin to enjoy more of God's compassion through the comfort that He gives me, 00:32:34.000 --> 00:32:40.000 I long to show others more of the compassion through the comfort I extend to them. 00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:46.620 to them. Let me say that again. As I begin to enjoy more of God's compassion through 00:32:46.620 --> 00:32:54.900 the comfort He gives me, I long to show others more of God's compassion through the comfort 00:32:54.900 --> 00:33:00.100 I extend to them. So was I comforted when my dad died by God? Absolutely. Am I in a 00:33:00.100 --> 00:33:05.660 position to comfort those whose dads die now? In some cases, yes. How? Not by telling them 00:33:05.660 --> 00:33:10.620 what happened with my dad, but by knowing that I can extend to them the comfort that 00:33:10.620 --> 00:33:14.700 I receive from God. This is why Paul said, do not be worried about the fact that you've 00:33:14.700 --> 00:33:17.780 been through many trials. Some of you are going through these trials so that you are 00:33:17.780 --> 00:33:22.740 in a position to console others who are going through these trials. Guys, understand this 00:33:22.740 --> 00:33:27.580 here. Don't try to process it here. Some of us are processing it here and it's not 00:33:27.580 --> 00:33:32.320 adding up. It's not adding up because you have been so used to living the human way 00:33:32.320 --> 00:33:37.600 that it won't add up. It won't add up. Try to process it here. You ain't going to get 00:33:37.600 --> 00:33:46.000 it. There's nothing I'm saying that is hogwash, psychobabble, psychology, even though he's 00:33:46.000 --> 00:33:49.560 doing a major in it or some kind of shrink stuff. 00:33:49.560 --> 00:34:05.260 Yeah, the with us God is already in us doing these things. Let me throw another one at 00:34:05.260 --> 00:34:11.620 you. As I begin to savor more of God's wisdom through the counsel he gives me in difficult 00:34:11.620 --> 00:34:16.620 situations, I long to extend more of God's wisdom to others in their difficult situations. 00:34:16.620 --> 00:34:25.740 This is what I enjoy most. I'll sit here thinking, Father, I face at least six and a half problems 00:34:25.740 --> 00:34:31.820 a day and in all those problems if you didn't give me answers, I'd have been dead by now 00:34:31.820 --> 00:34:39.180 or not physically. I'd be in bad shape. Oh God, you who give me so much counsel in my 00:34:39.180 --> 00:34:46.180 difficult situations, will you now enable me to give counsel and extend counsel to others 00:34:46.180 --> 00:34:52.580 in difficult situations? This is not a profession. This is the most natural thing that will flow 00:34:52.580 --> 00:34:58.500 out of you, man. What do you do with your kids when you give them counsel? Is it come 00:34:58.500 --> 00:35:08.620 sit with daddy? Daddy's a great counselor. No. It must be really funny because Ryan is 00:35:08.620 --> 00:35:17.180 laughing. The point is guys, you don't do it because of that thing. You come because 00:35:17.180 --> 00:35:21.580 you know that you know the counsel you receive from your dad. Sometimes it was good, sometimes 00:35:21.580 --> 00:35:26.900 it wasn't and you're going to make it even better for your kids. So suddenly you begin 00:35:26.900 --> 00:35:31.340 to enjoy more of, as you begin to savor God's wisdom through the counsel he gives you in 00:35:31.340 --> 00:35:36.020 difficult situations, you long to extend more of God's wisdom to others in their situations. 00:35:36.020 --> 00:35:41.820 Here's another one. As you delight in seeing God's goodness, I put it this way, as I delight 00:35:41.820 --> 00:35:47.540 in seeing God's goodness, even when I have no need, I long to extend that goodness to others 00:35:47.540 --> 00:35:52.900 by favoring them even when they have no need. Hey, we're not supposed to help each other only 00:35:52.900 --> 00:36:01.020 when we are in need. We help just because the goodness of God overflows to us when we are in 00:36:01.020 --> 00:36:09.300 need and when we are not in need. So what do we do? We now extend the same goodness out to others 00:36:09.300 --> 00:36:16.100 even when they are not in need. Here's another one. As I see more of God's grace powerfully manifested 00:36:16.100 --> 00:36:21.220 in my life, I long to stretch out grace into the lives of others so that their lives can be 00:36:21.220 --> 00:36:26.260 transformed. You don't know how many times my dysfunctional life has been the recipient of the 00:36:26.260 --> 00:36:36.980 grace of God. And so it's natural for me who has so much candy to give it away, to stretch out and 00:36:36.980 --> 00:36:43.100 give grace to those who perhaps are having the same dysfunctional situations that I had yesterday. 00:36:43.100 --> 00:36:52.900 As I love this one, as I enjoy more of God's personal friendship through thick and thin of 00:36:52.900 --> 00:36:58.180 life, I long to extend that friendship to others through the thick and thin of their lives so that 00:36:58.180 --> 00:37:06.820 I always see the treasure in them. Yesterday I went out for dinner with James and Derek and a couple 00:37:06.820 --> 00:37:10.580 of others and I was sitting there and these notes were running through my mind when I was seeing 00:37:10.580 --> 00:37:18.340 three, four different people who were not from a Christian, three people, two people from a non-Christian 00:37:18.340 --> 00:37:22.260 background and I was saying, father in everything I do today at this table, I know strangely quiet, 00:37:22.500 --> 00:37:28.020 I'm usually not quiet at the dining table. These notes were running through my head saying, father, 00:37:28.020 --> 00:37:34.820 you've got to show me different ways that I can extend what you have extended to me because I'm 00:37:34.820 --> 00:37:40.420 finding my fulfillment in you. I'm finding in your arms that I'm protected, taken care of, loved, 00:37:40.420 --> 00:37:49.500 nursed, held, everything I'm finding in you. I find that in you now. Now having found it in you, 00:37:49.660 --> 00:37:57.660 help me now to extend it out. May this become a 24-7 awareness. When the awareness comes, 00:37:57.660 --> 00:38:03.260 it will translate into action guys. It will translate into action. It'll be natural for you 00:38:03.260 --> 00:38:08.860 to hide under your wings those that are fearing and lift up your wings so that they can see the 00:38:08.860 --> 00:38:13.820 God that takes away your fear. It'll be natural for you to cover someone's mistakes because you 00:38:13.820 --> 00:38:19.100 know how many times your mistakes have been covered and that's why the Bible says, love covers the 00:38:19.580 --> 00:38:27.580 love covers a multitude of sins. It'll be natural for you. It'll be natural for you to see someone 00:38:27.580 --> 00:38:34.140 who is striving to make a better life and you know that all they need is that one break that you got 00:38:35.020 --> 00:38:39.500 and that you did nothing for it. It was a break that came your way through someone else that God 00:38:39.500 --> 00:38:45.020 sent and now you begin to long and you start looking for an opportunities to provide that person 00:38:45.100 --> 00:38:50.380 a break that will launch them and you won't even claim credit for it. 00:38:52.300 --> 00:38:58.700 You will long even when you don't have money in your pocket to provide for a person who's hungry 00:38:58.700 --> 00:39:04.220 because you have known how you have been provided for when you did not have a dollar to buy a burger 00:39:05.180 --> 00:39:12.220 and you will long to find an opportunity to provide money or provide food because it's just 00:39:12.220 --> 00:39:16.060 loving yourself and therefore you love your neighbor and you know that the one who provides 00:39:16.060 --> 00:39:21.340 has been doing it for so long that it's natural to extend it. Everything then begins to flow in this 00:39:21.340 --> 00:39:25.900 virtuous cycle. You don't know where it begins and where it ends. Love your neighbor? Does it 00:39:25.900 --> 00:39:29.180 begin there? No, no, no. It begins at love yourself? No, no, no, no, no. It begins to love you? No, no, 00:39:29.180 --> 00:39:32.860 no, no, no. It goes on and on and on because you're caught in a virtuous cycle. Where do you want? 00:39:32.860 --> 00:39:34.300 There's no beginning or end to it then. 00:39:42.380 --> 00:39:46.860 And sometimes guys these actions will require a sacrifice and I might say 00:39:46.860 --> 00:39:53.180 no don't want to sacrifice. Great I can I can long for it but suddenly my longing needs to be now 00:39:53.180 --> 00:39:58.380 translated into action and it means I may have to sacrifice more than I want to. I may back off from 00:39:58.380 --> 00:40:02.860 it. There may be other times when I may be distracted by things in the world and I couldn't 00:40:02.860 --> 00:40:09.020 care two hoots about you because I got stuff to work out on my end. There may be other times when 00:40:09.020 --> 00:40:16.620 I may not translate my longing into action just because I'm purely selfish but guess what? 00:40:17.500 --> 00:40:23.420 For all this his grace is sufficient and I will repent and start again. For all this his grace is 00:40:23.420 --> 00:40:29.020 sufficient and I will repent and start again because this is what's going to distinguish this 00:40:29.020 --> 00:40:33.980 bunch of people sitting here. They will know that we are Christians by our love 00:40:33.980 --> 00:40:41.020 because there will be times when my selfishness and greed and nature to hoard will take over. 00:40:41.820 --> 00:40:47.580 There will be times when I'll decide whether she is deserving or she is not. There will be times 00:40:47.580 --> 00:40:53.980 when to give away as much as I know I need to give to give her that break that launcher is 00:40:53.980 --> 00:40:59.020 too much it's a sacrifice and I'll hold back but hey my daddy owns a candy store. 00:40:59.340 --> 00:41:06.060 But hey my daddy owns a candy store. My daddy owns a candy store and there is no 00:41:06.860 --> 00:41:13.980 dirt there. There is no limit to how much he provides giving. May my self-seeking be the 00:41:13.980 --> 00:41:20.380 measure of my giving. May how I seek for things for my own from my daddy be the measure of my 00:41:20.380 --> 00:41:22.940 giving away because my daddy owns a candy store. 00:41:29.020 --> 00:41:35.740 The God I know knows how to supply my needs when I supply someone else's needs. The God I know 00:41:35.740 --> 00:41:39.100 knows how to provide for my hunger when I provide for someone else's hunger. 00:41:41.180 --> 00:41:46.140 There's a longing. The longing first has to come and the longing has to translate into action. 00:41:50.380 --> 00:41:54.060 I love the fact that we don't have to take up an offering after messages like this. 00:41:54.060 --> 00:41:56.860 What a shame when they take up an offering after a message like this. 00:41:57.820 --> 00:42:03.580 It just dismantles the whole message. These are things we need to go and ponder on ponder on 00:42:03.580 --> 00:42:14.620 gestate. Let me conclude. Suddenly guys pouring out my love will not deprive me 00:42:16.220 --> 00:42:22.300 will not threaten me will not diminish me will not decrease what I have 00:42:22.300 --> 00:42:31.420 because I'm convinced that I am resourced and nourished by God's inexhaustible tangible love. 00:42:33.180 --> 00:42:38.620 The reason some of us balk from practicing this kind of love the reason I have held myself back 00:42:38.620 --> 00:42:45.020 from practicing this kind of love is it threatens my ways of living. It seems to 00:42:45.500 --> 00:42:54.620 it seems to diminish what I can have for myself. It seems to decrease what is mine. It seems to 00:42:56.220 --> 00:43:03.820 deprive me of what I have earned by the sweat of my brow and yet we need to first understand 00:43:04.940 --> 00:43:10.140 that my dad owns a candy store and there can never be a time when I won't be a resource to supply it 00:43:10.140 --> 00:43:15.100 with candy to give away and that his love is inexhaustible and tangible. 00:43:24.540 --> 00:43:32.780 Guys here on earth love first needs a body to be poured into and then needs a body to be poured out 00:43:32.780 --> 00:43:39.340 to. Love is not this concept that's floating around there otherwise all that God had to do was one day 00:43:39.340 --> 00:43:46.700 write across the sky. God so loved the world that he wrote across the sky that anyone who believes 00:43:46.700 --> 00:43:50.940 in him shall have eternal life and anyone who does not perish. He could have just written it across 00:43:50.940 --> 00:43:55.660 the sky with a bunch of colorful clouds just to add drama to it and that would have been sufficient. 00:43:55.660 --> 00:44:04.060 No no no no love needs a body to be poured into so there had to be a body provided for Christ to come 00:44:04.060 --> 00:44:09.900 here on earth. Love still needs a body to be poured into. The primary body that it's supposed 00:44:09.900 --> 00:44:16.780 to be poured into is the body of Christ called the church. Love needs a body to be poured into 00:44:16.780 --> 00:44:21.980 and once it's poured into us it's supposed to be now poured out and it cannot be poured out either as 00:44:24.060 --> 00:44:28.940 as a song. We can't stand and say sing a song of we love you. 00:44:28.940 --> 00:44:33.660 Yeah the Beatles did that long ago. 00:44:35.580 --> 00:44:35.820 Yeah. 00:44:40.380 --> 00:44:44.060 We'll come to that. That's what I'm going to end with because this is not over. This is just the 00:44:44.060 --> 00:44:50.380 beginning guys. This is 101. I'll talk about that. 00:44:53.260 --> 00:44:57.020 When when that when this begins to happen guys people will see that the love of God 00:44:57.740 --> 00:45:01.020 people see the love of God working through us. They'll know we're Christians by our love. 00:45:01.020 --> 00:45:07.980 Here are some of the topics we'll have to deal with in the future. So how do we deal with people 00:45:07.980 --> 00:45:15.500 who are unlovable and by unlovable I mean in our lives they seem unlovable. How do we deal with that? 00:45:16.380 --> 00:45:22.220 Where are we going to get the grace to love those that regardless of how much we have shown them 00:45:22.220 --> 00:45:27.580 love they treat us shabbily. Where are we going to get the grace? How are we going to respond to 00:45:27.580 --> 00:45:34.540 them? How about those that are our enemies? There's a fourth category love the Lord your God, 00:45:34.540 --> 00:45:38.140 love your neighbor, love yourself and there's a fourth category called love your 00:45:38.780 --> 00:45:44.300 enemies. How do you love your enemies? What about enemies who've abused you done you harm? 00:45:47.180 --> 00:45:48.300 How do we deal with that? 00:45:48.300 --> 00:45:56.220 And the Bible provides answers for it. Thirdly how do you receive love without reciprocating? 00:45:59.020 --> 00:46:05.820 Because we live in a culture where if we receive love we have to show something back. If you do 00:46:05.820 --> 00:46:10.620 something nice that's loving towards me I've got to find in a certain time span depending on the 00:46:10.620 --> 00:46:12.780 culture you live in to pay it back. 00:46:12.780 --> 00:46:19.580 Pay it back bigger. How to receive love without reciprocating it? I mean I remember when my dad 00:46:19.580 --> 00:46:27.740 shortly before he died he had had a stroke he he could not do anything he was lying in the bed my 00:46:27.740 --> 00:46:31.820 mom had to clean him up my mom had to take care of him my mom had to do everything for him and 00:46:31.820 --> 00:46:38.380 there was nothing my dad could do to give him love. He was just lying in the bed and my mom 00:46:38.380 --> 00:46:48.060 and there was nothing my dad could do to give love back and he would sometimes just cry because 00:46:48.780 --> 00:46:56.140 he wished he could have been even better to her but there he was and sometimes we have to deal 00:46:56.140 --> 00:47:01.500 with people like that who who who sometimes are angry with you because they don't know how to 00:47:01.500 --> 00:47:02.540 repay back your love. 00:47:02.540 --> 00:47:08.380 Because we haven't not I'd suggest to you none of us have really learned how to receive love 00:47:08.380 --> 00:47:13.980 without reciprocation. We always want to keep do something back in exchange. It's good to do 00:47:13.980 --> 00:47:16.940 something back in exchange but what about receiving it without doing anything back? 00:47:21.260 --> 00:47:26.780 It's difficult James for some people who've been especially people who are in a situation where 00:47:27.740 --> 00:47:33.340 they are laid in a bed and for years are being taken care of after some time it's overwhelming. 00:47:34.460 --> 00:47:38.540 I've heard of few situations like that I've experienced one situation like that. 00:47:39.740 --> 00:47:41.660 But that's the inability to do it yourself. 00:47:43.740 --> 00:47:46.940 Yeah and your inability to do it. 00:47:46.940 --> 00:47:47.740 It doesn't go through there. 00:47:47.740 --> 00:47:52.620 Yeah your inability to do it. Here's another one. When does 00:47:52.860 --> 00:48:01.340 when is there where are the lines between affection and agape where does it overlap and I'll 00:48:01.340 --> 00:48:07.580 explain that where does it overlap where do we need to separate it when when is it that my love 00:48:07.580 --> 00:48:16.140 for God should trump my love for my fellow man my love for my son my love for my daughter when should 00:48:16.140 --> 00:48:18.220 it trump it when should it overlap. 00:48:19.100 --> 00:48:20.940 That's something else we have to look at. 00:48:23.020 --> 00:48:26.620 So this is just the first level we are talking about. 00:48:28.380 --> 00:48:33.740 Guys go home I have to listen to the CD at least two or three times to get the hang of this. 00:48:34.700 --> 00:48:37.500 I have to listen to the CD at least two or three times to get the hang of this. 00:48:39.500 --> 00:48:46.380 I'm going to try to get a little bit of a better understanding of what I'm talking about. 00:48:46.380 --> 00:48:48.540 I'm going to try to get a little bit of a better understanding of what I'm talking about. 00:48:48.540 --> 00:48:51.740 But it's something has begun. I promise you something has begun. 00:48:53.340 --> 00:49:00.780 And as you begin to let it develop you'll find that on one hand you are doing things for your 00:49:00.780 --> 00:49:06.300 neighbor because you have learned how to love yourself and you will begin to desire for your 00:49:06.300 --> 00:49:11.580 neighbor with the same passion the things you desire for yourself. You will desire for them 00:49:11.580 --> 00:49:19.180 not by setting aside what is yours but by desiring for them the same way that you've 00:49:19.180 --> 00:49:24.780 desired for yourself. And then you will go here and you will remember Gabriel's example 00:49:25.420 --> 00:49:30.780 and you will find that Gabriel is completely satisfied in the arms of this woman who seems 00:49:30.780 --> 00:49:37.740 to take care of her so well that every time she goes back there and once you begin to develop that 00:49:37.740 --> 00:49:43.660 you'll find that you will want to give away what you're receiving from this one benefactor 00:49:43.660 --> 00:49:45.580 who has transformed you into a jolly beggar. 00:49:50.060 --> 00:49:55.660 But you're constantly receiving and you long because of the compassion you've received to give it. 00:49:55.660 --> 00:50:03.260 You long because of the friendship. My God am I a privileged guy to have the kind of personal 00:50:03.260 --> 00:50:10.540 friendship I have with the God of the universe. Suddenly even evangelism is not some kind of an 00:50:10.540 --> 00:50:16.540 exercise but a result of me sharing the personal friendship that I have it being extended to someone 00:50:16.540 --> 00:50:21.900 else who I can be a friend to and point towards the one who's been a friend to me. This is why 00:50:21.900 --> 00:50:25.500 Jesus first went to the house of Zacchaeus before he preached a sermon to him. 00:50:33.260 --> 00:50:42.860 Can Jason and Heidi come up please? I'm done Wayne. 00:50:49.340 --> 00:50:56.220 Guys please go listen to this. You won't get it the first time. You will get it the second time. 00:50:56.220 --> 00:51:01.740 Third time you'll begin to get it even more. Wayne could you make me a copy for sure? 00:51:01.740 --> 00:51:08.300 Guys I'm going and I want to leave both of them in charge because Heidi is leaving on June.