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Speaker 1: Life Audio.

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Speaker 2: For more resources to help you in your walk with Christ,

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Speaker 2: please visit us at Bible Studyheadquarters dot com. This morning,

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Speaker 2: we're going to continue our look at this idea of

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Speaker 2: glorifying God and enjoying Him forever, and we're going to

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Speaker 2: be in Matthew chapter twenty two. So if you take

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Speaker 2: your Bibles and turn there with me, we're going to

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Speaker 2: be talking about this idea of loving others like Jesus,

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Speaker 2: loving others like Jesus, and the fact that as we

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Speaker 2: do that, we actually have the opportunity to glorify God.

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Speaker 2: So Matthew chapter twenty two, We're going to pick up

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Speaker 2: a verse thirty four and I'll read down to verse

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Speaker 2: forty Matthew twenty two, starting with verse thirty four. This

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Speaker 2: is what it says about this idea of loving others

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Speaker 2: like Christ loves. Verse thirty four. It says, but when

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Speaker 2: the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they

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Speaker 2: gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him

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Speaker 2: a question to test him, teacher, which is the great

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Speaker 2: commandment in the law.

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Speaker 1: And he said to him, you.

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Speaker 2: Shall love the Lord your God with all your heart

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Speaker 2: and with all your soul and with all your mind.

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Speaker 2: This is the great and first commandment, and a second

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Speaker 2: is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

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Speaker 2: On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.

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Speaker 2: Let's pray, Father, as we look at this portion of

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Speaker 2: your Word together this morning, we pray that you'd give

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Speaker 2: us wisdom and insight. We pray that you'd help us

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Speaker 2: to understand more about your nature, more about your desires,

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Speaker 2: more about the very.

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Speaker 1: Things that you have called us to do. Lord.

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Speaker 2: We're grateful for the fact that as we read your word,

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Speaker 2: we understand more about your mind and more about your heart.

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Speaker 2: And we're grateful Lord that you empower us to live

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Speaker 2: these things out. We know that by our own strength

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Speaker 2: and by our own nature, we wouldn't be able to,

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Speaker 2: but you empower us to do what you've called us

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Speaker 2: to do. And so Lord, we pray that now, as

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Speaker 2: we study your word together, that you'd give us wisdom

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Speaker 2: and insight, that you'd help us to grow, and ultimately, Father,

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Speaker 2: we pray that you'd help us to love others with

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Speaker 2: the love that your son Jesus Christ demonstrated throughout the

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Speaker 2: course of his earthly ministry. We pray that we would

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Speaker 2: internalize that truth and practice it in day to day life.

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Speaker 2: We thank you for all these things in Jesus' name.

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Speaker 1: Amen.

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Speaker 2: Now, over the past group of weeks, as we've been

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Speaker 2: working our way through just a series of portions of

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Speaker 2: scripture that talk about this idea of glorifying God, one

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Speaker 2: of the things that I've been doing is this. So

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Speaker 2: taking this initial question from the Westminster Shorter Catechism that

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Speaker 2: begins with this question, it says, what is the chief

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Speaker 2: end of man? And I've asked you almost like a quiz.

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Speaker 2: I'm not going to quiz you today. I think you've

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Speaker 2: got it, but I will remind us of the answer.

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Speaker 2: So when we look at this idea what is the

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Speaker 2: chief end of man? We're talking about what is the

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Speaker 2: purpose for which the Lord's created us? And I know

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Speaker 2: you have thought about that at some point during the

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Speaker 2: course of your life. It's something that we all think about.

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Speaker 2: It's something I've thought about related to myself. It's something

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Speaker 2: you think about. The young people in our church think

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Speaker 2: about that, the older people in our church, everybody in between.

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Speaker 2: We all think about that, Lord, what is my purpose?

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Speaker 2: Why am i here? What have you created me to do. So,

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Speaker 2: what is the chief end of man? Why did God

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Speaker 2: create us? Well, the answer to that is that our

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Speaker 2: chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

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Speaker 2: And when you look at what Scripture says, it gives

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Speaker 2: us multiple examples of how that's actually to be lived out.

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Speaker 2: And just a moment ago, I read for us from

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Speaker 2: Matthew chapter twenty two, and in this portion of scripture

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Speaker 2: we have Christ explaining this idea of love. So we're

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Speaker 2: going to elaborate on this, but we're not going to

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Speaker 2: do this from a superficial standpoint, because sometimes when I

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Speaker 2: hear people talk about this idea of love, I don't

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Speaker 2: know that I always hear it illustrated the way the

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Speaker 2: Bible actually explains it. And so I want us to

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Speaker 2: understand it on the deeper level, because the Bible brings

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Speaker 2: this concept up in such a way that we're supposed

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Speaker 2: to understand more about the heart.

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Speaker 1: Of God when we talk about it.

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Speaker 2: And one of the clearest signs that we understand the

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Speaker 2: heart of God is the way we treat people. Do

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Speaker 2: you ever think about that the way you treat people

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Speaker 2: as one of the clearest signs that you understand the

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Speaker 2: heart of God, because I think it's possible for us

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Speaker 2: to know a great deal about theology. I think it's

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Speaker 2: possible for us to attend church faithfully. And I'm glad

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Speaker 2: that you do that, especially in the month of August

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Speaker 2: when so many people are on vacation. And by the way,

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Speaker 2: you're welcome to take vacation, but I'm just glad.

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Speaker 1: On a Sunday morning.

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Speaker 2: I'm like, and you know, when it's August, I'm thinking,

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Speaker 2: wonder if anyone will be here today. We're all just

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Speaker 2: going to be somewhere else. You're here, You're here. I

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Speaker 2: know it's possible to memorize scripture. I know it's possible

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Speaker 2: to do all sorts of things that we would say these.

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Speaker 1: Are good things to do.

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Speaker 2: Attend church, you know, learn theology, all that, but then

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Speaker 2: still struggle to love other people. Well, you know, you

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Speaker 2: could check a lot of things off the checklist and

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Speaker 2: still struggle to love other people.

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Speaker 1: Well.

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Speaker 2: I think we can become skilled at discussing truth while

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Speaker 2: at the same time remaining impatient or harsh, or unforgiving

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Speaker 2: or self centered or anything like this.

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Speaker 1: How about this.

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Speaker 2: I was reading something just either last week or the

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Speaker 2: week before, and it was someone's account of something that

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Speaker 2: they witnessed when they were at.

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Speaker 1: A Christian bookstore.

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Speaker 2: Don't know which Christian bookstore they were at, but they

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Speaker 2: did say this, and it made an impression on me.

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Speaker 2: They said that they were at a Christian bookstore and

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Speaker 2: they witnessed a man who was telling one of the

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Speaker 2: employees there about his thesis.

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Speaker 1: Now, if there's.

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Speaker 2: Anything more boring conversationally than that, I don't know what

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Speaker 2: it would be. But he was telling one of the

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Speaker 2: employees about his thesis. Apparently he had just finished up

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Speaker 2: his Masters of Divinity degree and he was planning to

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Speaker 2: serve in some form of vocational ministry. But during that conversation,

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Speaker 2: his son came up to him and just asked him

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Speaker 2: a simple question. It wasn't something, you know, like too

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Speaker 2: crazy or anything like that. But the man responded so

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Speaker 2: harshly and so hurtfully to being interrupted by his son

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Speaker 2: while he was talking about his thesis that he actually

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Speaker 2: made all those who around him feel so uncomfortable, and

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Speaker 2: people actually left the conversation questioning whether this person had

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Speaker 2: the like, really the temperament to serve in some form

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Speaker 2: of church leadership. That man thought his big test was

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Speaker 2: his thesis. The big test was actually whether or not

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Speaker 2: you showed love to your son when you got interrupted.

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Speaker 1: He misunderstood the assignment.

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Speaker 2: And when you look at what Jesus talks about, Jesus

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Speaker 2: never separated devotion to God from love for people. They

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Speaker 2: aren't separated. There two versions of the same internal change.

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Speaker 2: And when you look at Matthew Chapter twenty Matthew Chapter

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Speaker 2: twenty two, he brings those two responsibilities together and he

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Speaker 2: shows us that they stand at the center of a

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Speaker 2: life that honors God. If you want to have a

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Speaker 2: life that honors God, it's going to involve loving God

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Speaker 2: the way Scripture defines love. And again we're going to

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Speaker 2: define that better in just a moment, but it's also

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Speaker 2: going to involve loving people. We were created to glorify God,

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Speaker 2: and we glorify Him with our whole being, and that's

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Speaker 2: what he desires that we do. And we also glorify

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Speaker 2: him by loving the people that He's placed around us. Now,

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Speaker 2: a little bit of background on Matthew Chapter twenty two.

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Speaker 2: Matthew twenty two takes place during the final week just

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Speaker 2: prior to Christ's crucifixion, So in just a few days

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Speaker 2: he's about to be crucified, and at this point, one

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Speaker 2: of the things that the religious leaders would do related

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Speaker 2: to Jesus is they would test him. They would repeatedly

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Speaker 2: come up to him and try and get him to

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Speaker 2: get tripped up on his words in some way, and

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Speaker 2: they were approaching him, they would think through questions. They

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Speaker 2: were trying to trap him. You have the religious group

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Speaker 2: called the Pharisees that had been doing that. Yet another

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Speaker 2: religious group called the Sadducees, they had also been doing that,

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Speaker 2: And there were other leaders that were also trying to

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Speaker 2: expose so form of weakness in Jesus. They were trying

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Speaker 2: to figure out, there's got to be something wrong with

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Speaker 2: this guy that we could expose so that people stop

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Speaker 2: following him. And when you look at verse thirty four,

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Speaker 2: it says this, but when the Pharisees heard that he

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Speaker 2: had silenced the Sadducees. So the Pharisees different group from

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Speaker 2: the Sadducees. They're like, oh, he gave a good answer

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Speaker 2: to the Sadducees. We could do better than the Sadducees.

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Speaker 2: When they heard that Jesus silenced the Sadducees, it says,

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Speaker 2: then they gathered together. They're like, all right, what's our

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Speaker 2: best tool?

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Speaker 1: What could we do?

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Speaker 2: So one group had failed to discredit Jesus, and so

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Speaker 2: now another group is going to make the attempt. And

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Speaker 2: Matthew is going to tell us here about one of them,

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Speaker 2: who is also a lawyer. He says, he's he asks

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Speaker 2: Jesus a question to test him.

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Speaker 1: And here's the question. Here's the context. Verse thirty six.

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Speaker 2: He says, teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? Teacher,

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Speaker 2: which is the great commandment in the law. Now keep

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Speaker 2: in mind, at the time that this question is being asked,

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Speaker 2: the New Testament hasn't yet been written and inspired the

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Speaker 2: Old Testament scriptures, which they would typically just refer to

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Speaker 2: as the Law and the profits. They didn't call it

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Speaker 2: the Old Testament prior to the New Testament being written.

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Speaker 1: They just called it the Law and the profits. Sometimes

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Speaker 1: they would also call it the law.

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Speaker 2: The writings, and the prophets, but usually they would shorten

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Speaker 2: it and they just refer to the scriptures as the

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Speaker 2: law and the prophets. It starts with the law, ends

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Speaker 2: with the prophets. And so he says, all right, teacher,

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Speaker 2: which is the great commandment in the law. And by

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Speaker 2: the way, just so you understand the context. This wasn't

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Speaker 2: just an innocent request for information. Keeping in mind the

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Speaker 2: verses that come before this, this man was testing Jesus.

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Speaker 1: He's trying to trip him up in some way.

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Speaker 2: Now, when you go through the Old Testament, when you

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Speaker 2: go through the law and the profits, the Old Testament

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Speaker 2: contains hundreds of commands, hundreds of things that the people

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Speaker 2: living under the Old Covenant were instructed to do.

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Speaker 1: Different regulations.

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Speaker 2: They were required to keep, ceremonial laws, civic laws, all

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Speaker 2: sorts of things. And the Jewish leaders would vary frequently

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Speaker 2: discussed which commands carried the greatest weight. They'd be like,

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Speaker 2: all right, is this one weightier than this one? And

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Speaker 2: maybe this one is lesser than this one. And this

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Speaker 2: was a common debate. And so this lawyer asks Jesus

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Speaker 2: to basically summarize the heart of God's law. It's not

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Speaker 2: too different from some of the conversations that they would

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Speaker 2: have amongst themselves.

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Speaker 1: And Jesus gives them an answer.

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Speaker 2: And what Jesus does is he quotes from the Book

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Speaker 2: of Deuteronomy. By the way, I'll just throw this out there,

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Speaker 2: so it's in the back of your mind. When Satan

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Speaker 2: tried to test Jesus.

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Speaker 1: Do you remember where.

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Speaker 2: Jesus also quoted. It's also from the book of Deuteronomy.

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Speaker 2: He quoted to the devil multiple times from the Book

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Speaker 2: of Deuteronomy. And here you could see that the devil's

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Speaker 2: behind this man's motives and his actions and his questions.

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Speaker 1: And what does Jesus do.

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Speaker 2: He quotes from Deuteronomy, just like he did when Satan

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Speaker 2: tried to tempt him in the wilderness. But in verse

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Speaker 2: thirty seven, Jesus said this, he's quoting actually from Deuteronomy,

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Speaker 2: chapter six, verse five. But he says, all right, your

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Speaker 2: two year question, right, what is the great commandment in

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Speaker 2: the law. He says, you shall love the Lord your

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Speaker 2: God with all your heart, with all your soul, and

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Speaker 2: with all your mind.

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Speaker 1: So that's the answer he gives him.

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Speaker 2: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,

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Speaker 2: with all your soul, with all your mind. And then

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Speaker 2: Jesus said this in verse thirty eight. He says, this

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Speaker 2: is the great and first commandment. This is the great

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Speaker 2: and first commandment. Basically, everything begins here saying love God,

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Speaker 2: not partially, not occasionally, and not only just in an

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Speaker 2: intellectual kind of way, which it seems like some of

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Speaker 2: these groups, like the Pharisees and Sadducees and some of

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Speaker 2: the other groups that were existing at the time, seem

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Speaker 2: to be doing He say, not just intellectually, not just partially,

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Speaker 2: not just occasionally, love him completely. We're to love God

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Speaker 2: with our whole heart. We're to love God with our

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Speaker 2: whole soul, and we're to love God with our whole mind. So,

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Speaker 2: in other words, God isn't asking for one compartment of

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Speaker 2: your life. He desires the whole thing, every single part

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Speaker 2: of us. And Jesus is saying love him. But he says, heart, soul,

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Speaker 2: and mind. Do you ever kind of break that down

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Speaker 2: why he's saying that When he's trying, as he's using

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Speaker 2: that to illustrate what it looks like to love God completely,

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Speaker 2: He says, love God with your heart, Love God with

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Speaker 2: your soul, love God with your mind. Again, he's quoting

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Speaker 2: from Deuteronomy chapter six as he's elaborating on these things. Well,

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Speaker 2: our heart speaks to our desires and our affections. So

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Speaker 2: he's saying, love the Father with your desires, love the

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Speaker 2: Father with your affections, soul, and he talks about that

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Speaker 2: that's speaking to the totality of who you are. It's

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Speaker 2: like every aspect of your being, your core. From your core,

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Speaker 2: love God and then mine. That's the idea of our thoughts,

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Speaker 2: our understandings, our convictions. He's saying, So love God, just

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Speaker 2: even in your thinking about things, with your convictions, with

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Speaker 2: your understanding, Love God in all of these areas.

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Speaker 1: Meaning God isn't satisfied with being one priority among many.

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Speaker 2: He's worthy of the highest place in our lives because

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Speaker 2: he's our creator, he's our redeemer, he's our Lord. So

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Speaker 2: love him with everything. That's what Jesus is getting out here.

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Speaker 2: Love him with everything. And by the way, this is

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Speaker 2: where glorifying God begins. You know, we're talking about this

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Speaker 2: idea of glorifying God. This is where glorifying God begins.

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Speaker 2: We glorify God when we recognize his worth and we

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Speaker 2: respond with whole hearted love.

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Speaker 1: So that's what Jesus says here.

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Speaker 2: Now, this is where we have to differentiate something from

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Speaker 2: how the world typically uses that word love, because this

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Speaker 2: love that Jesus is speaking about isn't primarily based on

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Speaker 2: an emotion. Most people when they talk about love, they're

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Speaker 2: talking about emotional love. Well, Jesus isn't talking about something

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Speaker 2: here that's primarily based on an emotion. It includes emotion,

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Speaker 2: but it's so much deeper than that. And I would

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Speaker 2: also acknowledge feelings certainly do have a place in our

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Speaker 2: relationship with God, but biblical love goes beyond feelings. I've

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Speaker 2: noticed that the people in this world that tend to

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Speaker 2: make sometimes really the most foolish decisions are people who

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Speaker 2: make their decisions primarily based on feeling. And anytime when

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Speaker 2: I look back over my own life, lest I be

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Speaker 2: critical of other people, if I look over my own life,

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Speaker 2: I think, Yeah, the dumbest decisions I made over the

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Speaker 2: course of my life, most of those were decisions I

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Speaker 2: made primarily based on feeling. And so Jesus here is saying,

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Speaker 2: you know, this kind of love, it's deeper than emotion.

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Speaker 2: It's deeper than feeling. It's a love that involves loyalty

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Speaker 2: and devotion, and trust and obedience and worship, all of

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Speaker 2: those things. Jesus also said, by the way, don't forget

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Speaker 2: what he said in John fourteen fifteen. He says, if

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Speaker 2: you love me, you'll do something about it. There's going

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Speaker 2: to be something noticeable. It's not just a feeling right,

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Speaker 2: you're saying, if you love me, something changes what happens.

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Speaker 2: He says, if you love me, you'll keep my commandments.

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Speaker 2: If you or I say that we love Jesus, but

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Speaker 2: we spend a life in complete rebellion against him, we

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Speaker 2: don't really love him. We're just saying we love him.

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Speaker 2: If we love him, will honor him. If we love him,

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Speaker 2: will obey him. Jesus says, if you love me, you

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Speaker 2: actually will keep my commandments. Why because the greatest motivation

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Speaker 2: for obedience is love. When you love somebody, you do

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Speaker 2: what honors them. When you love somebody, it's not just

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Speaker 2: a compartment, unless you're just talking about feelings. If it's

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Speaker 2: just feelings, you'll just make a lot of foolish decisions,

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Speaker 2: and you will love somebody until you don't love them,

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Speaker 2: and then you'll love somebody else until you don't love them.

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Speaker 2: Which shows that when that's the way we go about life,

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Speaker 2: we don't even understand what love is. But love for God,

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Speaker 2: the way it's spoken of here in this passage, love

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Speaker 2: for God actually changes how you live. When we love God,

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Speaker 2: his desires start to shape our desires. His word becomes

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Speaker 2: our authority, His character becomes our model, and his glory

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Speaker 2: becomes more important than our reputation or anything that this

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Speaker 2: world can offer. And likewise, his approval becomes more significant

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Speaker 2: to us than the approval of others. We care more

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Speaker 2: about what God thinks than we care about what anybody

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Speaker 2: else would think. Now, this isn't something that happens instantly

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Speaker 2: or perfectly for us this side of Heaven. Spiritual growth

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Speaker 2: is a gradual thing over the course of your life.

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Speaker 2: In my life, we keep progressing in that direction. There

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Speaker 2: will be a day when we will be fully holy,

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Speaker 2: and we will be in the Lord's presence, and we

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Speaker 2: will no longer struggle with any of the things that

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Speaker 2: we struggle with right here and now. But in the meantime,

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Speaker 2: we are progressively growing in this kind of love and

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Speaker 2: in this kind of understanding, and this kind of devotion

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Speaker 2: to the Lord. The direction of the Christian life is

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Speaker 2: toward this greater love for God. And then something happens.

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Speaker 2: As that love.

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Speaker 1: Grows, We start to love what God loves.

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Speaker 2: As we start to develop an appreciation for the love

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Speaker 2: of God, and He starts to develop within us that

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Speaker 2: love for him, we begin to love what He loves,

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Speaker 2: and that leads us directly to that second command that

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Speaker 2: Jesus gave when he was being tested.

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Speaker 1: In verse thirty nine, he says this, and.

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Speaker 2: A second is like it, you shall love your neighbor

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Speaker 2: as yourself. Now, if I thought to bring a prize,

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Speaker 2: this would have been a fun moment to offer a prize.

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Speaker 2: But it's just gonna have to be a mental thing

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Speaker 2: because I don't have a prize to offer anybody. Although

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Speaker 2: if you didn't, you know, stop by the welcome tables

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Speaker 2: out there and get some of the snacks before a

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Speaker 2: church you missed out because it was delicious. I help

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Speaker 2: myself to two pieces of that castrole that's out there. Delicious,

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Speaker 2: So that could be your prize, a pre prize. But

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Speaker 2: the question I would ask is this. Jesus says, a

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Speaker 2: second is like this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Well,

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Speaker 2: where where's he quoting from when he said this, because

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Speaker 2: he quoted from Deuteronomy six when he was talking about

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Speaker 2: loving God. But then he says, there's a second command

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Speaker 2: in the Old Covenant. There's a second command in the

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Speaker 2: Law and the prophets that's like it. And the second

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Speaker 2: command is you shall love your neighbors yourself.

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Speaker 1: Well, where's that from?

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Speaker 2: Now, I didn't you know, I don't know if you know,

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Speaker 2: maybe an maybe you don't know. But it's from Leviticus

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Speaker 2: nineteen eighteen, one of the least read books.

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Speaker 1: In the Bible.

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Speaker 2: Most people don't read Leviticus. Most people skip that. Even

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Speaker 2: good Christians skip Leviticus.

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Speaker 1: Read it. It's good.

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Speaker 2: And in Leviticus nineteen eighteen it tells us this idea,

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Speaker 2: this idea of loving your neighbor as yourself. So Deuteronomy

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Speaker 2: six love God, Leviticus nineteen love your neighbors yourself. So

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Speaker 2: that first commandment deals with our relationship with God, but

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Speaker 2: the second concerns our relationship with people. And Jesus says

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Speaker 2: the second one is actually like the first. He says,

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Speaker 2: they're like each other. Why well, because genuine love for

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Speaker 2: God inevitably affects the way we treat those who have

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Speaker 2: been created in the image of God. You're going to

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Speaker 2: if you love God, you're going to treat those who've

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Speaker 2: been created in the image of God with very intentional activity,

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Speaker 2: or just in a very intentional way. The apostle John

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Speaker 2: said it this way in First John fourth. He says,

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Speaker 2: if anyone says I love God, and hates his brother,

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Speaker 2: He's a liar. Well, that's like, that's a very direct statement, right,

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Speaker 2: And I kind of get the impression that John was

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Speaker 2: a very kind and maybe in many respects, a soft

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Speaker 2: spoken guy in some respects, although in other ways I

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Speaker 2: think he was kind of a very thunderous kind of guy.

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Speaker 2: But he says if anyone says I love God.

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Speaker 1: And hates his brother, he's a liar. It's like, it

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Speaker 1: can't you can't do both.

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Speaker 2: Can't say I love God and hate those who have

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Speaker 2: been created in his image. It doesn't work that way.

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Speaker 2: You don't understand the love of God if you hate people.

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Speaker 2: Just doesn't work that way right now. And those words

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Speaker 2: are strong here that John is using. Because the scripture

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Speaker 2: refuses to allow us to separate spirituality from relationships. Some

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Speaker 2: people would try and claim that they're spiritual people, but

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Speaker 2: then you look at how they treat people, and you think,

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Speaker 2: I'll believe that you care about the things that the

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Speaker 2: Lord cares about. When I see you treating people the

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Speaker 2: way the Lord treats people. I don't think you can

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Speaker 2: claim to love God and then can distantly treat people

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Speaker 2: who've been created in his image with contempt I don't.

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Speaker 1: Think you can really do that.

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Speaker 2: I don't think you can worship God on Sunday and

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Speaker 2: then spend the rest of the week tearing people down.

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Speaker 2: It just doesn't work that way. I don't think you

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Speaker 2: could celebrate grace and then refuse to extend grace or

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Speaker 2: praise God for his patience and then refuse to be patient.

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Speaker 1: With another human being.

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Speaker 2: If that's the case, it means you don't understand love yet.

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Speaker 2: And if we're giving ourselves credit for being spiritually mature,

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Speaker 2: but yet we can't love other people, then stop giving

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Speaker 2: yourself credit for being spiritually mature because you're not there yet.

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Speaker 2: Love for God is meant to overflow into love for people.

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Speaker 2: It's a very simple concept. It's just extremely hard to

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Speaker 2: live out. But it's one of the primary ways that

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Speaker 2: God's glory becomes visible through us. It's one of the

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Speaker 2: main ways, some would argue, it's the main way that

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Speaker 2: people actually notice that Jesus is Lord of your life.

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Speaker 2: And Jesus actually said in verse forty of Matthew twenty two,

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Speaker 2: he said, on these two commands, this idea of loving

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Speaker 2: God and loving those created in his image.

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Speaker 1: Says, on these two.

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Speaker 2: Commandments depend all the law and the prophets, meaning the

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Speaker 2: entire Old Testament hangs on those two.

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Speaker 1: Things, love God and love people.

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Speaker 2: So you're like, oh, great, the Old Testament thirty nine books,

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Speaker 2: it's kind of long to read. That's the cliff notes

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Speaker 2: version of it, Love God and love people. It doesn't

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Speaker 2: excuse you from reading it, by the way, you still

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Speaker 2: have to read it, but you do understand the essence

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Speaker 2: of it if you understand the concept of love God

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Speaker 2: and love people. Jesus says, the whole thing, all the

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Speaker 2: law and the prophets, the whole Old Testament, as we

435
00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:46,640
Speaker 2: would call it, the whole thing, depends on those two statements,

436
00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:50,240
Speaker 2: those two concepts. Right, and again, Jesus wasn't abolishing the

437
00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:51,919
Speaker 2: rest of scripture when he was saying this. He was

438
00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:56,080
Speaker 2: summarizing the direction, the moral direction of the Old Testament.

439
00:21:56,640 --> 00:21:58,760
Speaker 2: The commands of God teach us what it looks like

440
00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:01,280
Speaker 2: to love him. Demands of God teach us what it

441
00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:05,000
Speaker 2: looks like to love other people. So let's give let's

442
00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:07,960
Speaker 2: use a few examples, right, Like, think about some of

443
00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:09,440
Speaker 2: the things that the Old Testament tells.

444
00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:10,080
Speaker 1: Us to avoid.

445
00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:14,840
Speaker 2: You know, why should we avoid or refuse idolatry that

446
00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:16,520
Speaker 2: comes up all the time in the Old Testament. Why

447
00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:20,760
Speaker 2: should we refuse idolatry because we love God? If I

448
00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:23,520
Speaker 2: love God, I'm not going to want to welcome idols

449
00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:26,359
Speaker 2: into my life trying to crowd out his presence. Or

450
00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:31,120
Speaker 2: why should we honor his name because we love God?

451
00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:36,160
Speaker 2: Or why should we honor our parents because we love

452
00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:40,720
Speaker 2: others right? Or why should we refuse murder and adultery

453
00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:43,920
Speaker 2: and theft and false testimony and coveting and all those

454
00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:45,880
Speaker 2: other things that are brought up in the scriptures. Why

455
00:22:46,119 --> 00:22:50,480
Speaker 2: because love seeks the good of his neighbor. If you

456
00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:55,160
Speaker 2: love people, you're not going to steal from them or

457
00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:57,639
Speaker 2: lie against them, or covet what they have, et cetera.

458
00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:01,000
Speaker 2: So the law isn't a collection of arbitrary restrictions.

459
00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:02,080
Speaker 1: That's not the idea.

460
00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:05,800
Speaker 2: The law is trying to reflect God's character and teach

461
00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:09,439
Speaker 2: God's people how love should operate in a fallen world.

462
00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:12,560
Speaker 2: And we need to be instructed because naturally speaking, we

463
00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:15,440
Speaker 2: didn't quite get this, And so the Lord was trying

464
00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:17,200
Speaker 2: to help us to understand his heart because we didn't

465
00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:20,680
Speaker 2: understand his heart. But these commands also reveal a very

466
00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:23,200
Speaker 2: serious problem that we all have to be honest enough

467
00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:27,480
Speaker 2: to admit we have not loved God perfectly, and we

468
00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:30,199
Speaker 2: have not loved others perfectly either. And there's not a

469
00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:32,320
Speaker 2: single one of us, myself included, that could say that

470
00:23:32,359 --> 00:23:34,760
Speaker 2: we've done either of those things perfectly throughout the course

471
00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:36,600
Speaker 2: of our life, nor could any of us say that

472
00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:38,560
Speaker 2: we're even if right now you're at the spot of

473
00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:41,000
Speaker 2: your life where you're the most spiritually mature that you've

474
00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:44,320
Speaker 2: ever been, it would be dishonest to say that you've

475
00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:45,400
Speaker 2: loved God perfectly.

476
00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:47,720
Speaker 1: It would also be dishonest to.

477
00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:52,679
Speaker 2: Say that you've loved other people perfectly. But then you

478
00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:55,080
Speaker 2: look at what Jesus says here, and if these are

479
00:23:55,119 --> 00:23:58,600
Speaker 2: the greatest commandments, then I guess they also reveal the

480
00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:02,720
Speaker 2: greatness of our sin. Because if Jesus is saying, love

481
00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:05,840
Speaker 2: God with every ounce of your body, every ounce of

482
00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:08,200
Speaker 2: your mind, every ounce of your soul, everything you think,

483
00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:12,159
Speaker 2: and then love other people the way God loves other people.

484
00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:14,840
Speaker 2: And then I look at my own actions and my

485
00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:18,920
Speaker 2: own behaviors and my own thoughts, and I realize I'm

486
00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:23,840
Speaker 2: definitely trying, and I definitely care about these things, and

487
00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:25,680
Speaker 2: I definitely goof them all up.

488
00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:28,000
Speaker 1: I've never done them perfectly.

489
00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:30,919
Speaker 2: So if my relationship with the Lord depended on me

490
00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:33,120
Speaker 2: doing those things perfectly, even though he says the whole

491
00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:35,520
Speaker 2: law and the whole prophets hang on those two statements,

492
00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:38,879
Speaker 2: my relationship with him hung on the fact that I

493
00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:40,480
Speaker 2: had to do that perfectly, or that you had to

494
00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:44,840
Speaker 2: do that perfectly, we'd be in a tough bind. I mean, thankfully,

495
00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:47,439
Speaker 2: it doesn't hang on that. Think about that first command.

496
00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:52,240
Speaker 2: Though we always love God with our whole heart, no

497
00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:56,600
Speaker 2: our hearts wander. You know, we become fascinated with lesser things.

498
00:24:56,640 --> 00:25:01,120
Speaker 2: We sometimes value comfort more than we value obedience. Sometimes

499
00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:03,840
Speaker 2: we fear people more than we fear God. We pursue

500
00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:08,040
Speaker 2: success more passionately than we pursue holiness, and then we

501
00:25:08,119 --> 00:25:11,200
Speaker 2: teach our children to pursue success more than we teach

502
00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:12,560
Speaker 2: them to pursue holiness.

503
00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:14,280
Speaker 1: We allow things.

504
00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:18,560
Speaker 2: Like entertainment and possessions and work and relationships and personal

505
00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:21,000
Speaker 2: ambition to occupy places in our hearts that should only

506
00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:23,600
Speaker 2: belong to God. So I look at that, I'm like, Lord,

507
00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:26,560
Speaker 2: I have not loved you perfectly. And then I consider

508
00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:30,400
Speaker 2: the second command. If I always love my neighbor as

509
00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:32,919
Speaker 2: I love myself again.

510
00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:35,280
Speaker 1: No, I haven't, right.

511
00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:39,880
Speaker 2: I think we're naturally very attuned to our own needs.

512
00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:41,280
Speaker 1: I know my own.

513
00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:43,720
Speaker 2: Needs really, really well, way better than I know anyone

514
00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:46,480
Speaker 2: else's needs. Right. And when we're tired, what do we

515
00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:49,080
Speaker 2: want from other people? We want other people to understand

516
00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:52,920
Speaker 2: because I'm tired, right, So I want you to understand

517
00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:56,960
Speaker 2: because I'm tired, right. Or when we make mistakes, we

518
00:25:57,000 --> 00:25:59,960
Speaker 2: want other people to be patient. I'm only human, right.

519
00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:02,960
Speaker 2: You remember that song from the eighties, I'm only human.

520
00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:06,919
Speaker 2: Andrea hates that song. Hates that song. She's like, that

521
00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:09,720
Speaker 2: is the excuse for so much stupid behavior. I'm like,

522
00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:11,200
Speaker 2: so we can't listen to it. She's like, no, we

523
00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:11,680
Speaker 2: can't listen.

524
00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:12,800
Speaker 1: Fine, it's fine.

525
00:26:13,119 --> 00:26:15,560
Speaker 2: I want to be other centered. You will choose what

526
00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:20,320
Speaker 2: song we will listen to. But when we make mistakes,

527
00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:22,720
Speaker 2: we want other people to be patient. When we fail,

528
00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:28,680
Speaker 2: we want grace when we're hurting, we want compassion when

529
00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:30,880
Speaker 2: we accomplish something, we want the pat on the back.

530
00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:34,280
Speaker 2: We want encouragement. Right, we want all those things. And

531
00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:36,520
Speaker 2: none of that is really other centered. It's really just

532
00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:39,359
Speaker 2: us centered. It's just us being attuned to our own needs.

533
00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:45,120
Speaker 2: But here's the thing. Loving our neighbor as ourselves. We're

534
00:26:45,119 --> 00:26:47,840
Speaker 2: going to love our neighbor as ourselves. It means learning

535
00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:50,560
Speaker 2: to offer others the kind of care that we're so

536
00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:54,639
Speaker 2: quick to desire for ourselves. Means I've got to offer

537
00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:57,679
Speaker 2: you and everybody else the very things that I actually

538
00:26:57,680 --> 00:26:58,240
Speaker 2: want from me.

539
00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:01,280
Speaker 1: That's what it means to.

540
00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:04,760
Speaker 2: Love somebody else the way I love myself. And I

541
00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:06,560
Speaker 2: think that can be difficult because I have a little

542
00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:07,480
Speaker 2: secret I'm going to tell you.

543
00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:09,359
Speaker 1: And maybe already know this, but maybe some of you don't.

544
00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:11,199
Speaker 2: I've met a lot of people in this world, and

545
00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:14,240
Speaker 2: sometimes people can be frustrating. I'm just saying that, I

546
00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:16,480
Speaker 2: hope I didn't burst anyone's bubble. You're one of those

547
00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:19,399
Speaker 2: people that likes people. Sometimes they can be a bit

548
00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:22,680
Speaker 2: frustrating throughout the course of my life. When I think

549
00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:24,800
Speaker 2: through the toughest moments of my life, you know what

550
00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:25,920
Speaker 2: they involved.

551
00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:30,560
Speaker 1: Not whether people people things.

552
00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:35,000
Speaker 2: People misunderstand us, They disappoint us, They act selfishly. They

553
00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:39,240
Speaker 2: hurt us, sometimes accidentally, they hurt us, sometimes purposely. Sometimes

554
00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:42,200
Speaker 2: this is a weird dichotomy in life. Sometimes the people

555
00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:44,200
Speaker 2: that are hardest to love in this world. Aren't even

556
00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:47,639
Speaker 2: our distant enemies. They're the people we actually have closest

557
00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:50,720
Speaker 2: to us. Right, They're the people we see in everyday life.

558
00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:53,399
Speaker 2: They're our very own family, or our friends, or our

559
00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:55,280
Speaker 2: coworkers or our neighbors, the people that are in our

560
00:27:55,359 --> 00:28:01,280
Speaker 2: day to day life. Right, your spouse. Sometimes your spouse

561
00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:04,880
Speaker 2: things and behaves differently than you do. Sometimes they'll lift

562
00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:06,520
Speaker 2: you up and sometimes they'll let you down. And they

563
00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:08,120
Speaker 2: have the power to hurt you more than a lot

564
00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:10,040
Speaker 2: of other people have the power to hurt you. Why,

565
00:28:10,119 --> 00:28:14,000
Speaker 2: because you've made yourself vulnerable to them. Anytime you love somebody,

566
00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:16,000
Speaker 2: you've made yourself vulnerable to them, and that means they

567
00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:19,440
Speaker 2: have the power to hurt you. And guess what they will.

568
00:28:19,880 --> 00:28:21,800
Speaker 2: Most of the time it'll be on accident. A few

569
00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:25,040
Speaker 2: times it'll be on purpose. So what do you do?

570
00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:28,560
Speaker 2: Or how about your children? Your children ever test your patients?

571
00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:31,880
Speaker 2: Children block your ears? Your parents want to confess something,

572
00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:36,840
Speaker 2: right now? Your children ever test your patience? I have

573
00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:38,920
Speaker 2: to tell you, like people have heard me say, I

574
00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:42,240
Speaker 2: apologize for saying this, but people have often heard me

575
00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:44,480
Speaker 2: me joke about the fact that you know who we're

576
00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:47,560
Speaker 2: empty nesters. Now right, kids went off, got married, they

577
00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:49,320
Speaker 2: moved out of the house. I got to tell you, though,

578
00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:52,280
Speaker 2: you know what's kind of delightful. It reminds me of

579
00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:54,240
Speaker 2: when Andrey and I first got married and it was

580
00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:55,440
Speaker 2: just the two of us that are like, hey.

581
00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:56,520
Speaker 1: What do you want to do or what do you

582
00:28:56,560 --> 00:28:57,000
Speaker 1: want to eat?

583
00:28:57,040 --> 00:28:59,480
Speaker 2: Whatever we want right, And you look at that, you're like,

584
00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:01,600
Speaker 2: this is great, and it's like, hey, did you have

585
00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:02,680
Speaker 2: to correct anyone today?

586
00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:05,400
Speaker 1: No, not a single person meant either. Did you get

587
00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:09,200
Speaker 1: SaaS from anyone? Not a soul? Not a soul?

588
00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:13,880
Speaker 2: And you're like, okay, that's great until we make each

589
00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:15,480
Speaker 2: other mad and we're like, wait a second, this is

590
00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:18,280
Speaker 2: supposed to be different. The other day, I got mad

591
00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:20,240
Speaker 2: at Andrea because I said, look behind me, see if

592
00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:21,600
Speaker 2: there's a car. She's like, no, you're good, and I

593
00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:23,000
Speaker 2: start backing up and there.

594
00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:24,960
Speaker 1: Was a car. It's like, there's a car.

595
00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:29,080
Speaker 2: And then you realize every argument you have in marriage

596
00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:32,600
Speaker 2: is over something stupid. It's I argued about a blue

597
00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:35,640
Speaker 2: Prius with Andrea yesterday or on.

598
00:29:35,680 --> 00:29:38,400
Speaker 1: Friday, I guess it was. But regardless, you look at this,

599
00:29:38,520 --> 00:29:38,760
Speaker 1: you know.

600
00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:42,080
Speaker 2: There are people in your life, the people that are

601
00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:43,760
Speaker 2: in your life that you are the closest to, or

602
00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:46,720
Speaker 2: that you make yourself the most vulnerable to because you

603
00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:48,760
Speaker 2: choose to love them. They also have the capacity to

604
00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:51,680
Speaker 2: hurt you the deepest, and they will. That's gonna happen.

605
00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:53,840
Speaker 2: Or how about co workers you have any? Don't say

606
00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:55,800
Speaker 2: this out loud, you could think it in your head.

607
00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:58,200
Speaker 2: Do you have any co workers who annoy you? Maybe

608
00:29:58,200 --> 00:29:59,960
Speaker 2: you do, maybe you don't. Some of you're like, I'm ritten,

609
00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:02,760
Speaker 2: but you still think about annoying co workers. They still

610
00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:03,320
Speaker 2: come to mind.

611
00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:07,200
Speaker 1: Now, definitely, don't say this out loud. Do you have any.

612
00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:09,920
Speaker 2: Church member in our church here like church members that

613
00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:14,600
Speaker 2: annoy you? Obviously not obviously not someone's like the Pastor

614
00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:19,160
Speaker 2: do you have a neighbor who makes your life difficult sometimes?

615
00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:21,480
Speaker 2: Do you have a relative who knows exactly the button

616
00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:23,040
Speaker 2: to push?

617
00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:25,360
Speaker 1: You? Know? What those people provide for you and for me?

618
00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:29,200
Speaker 2: They provide for us opportunities to practice christ like love.

619
00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:31,160
Speaker 1: If this was.

620
00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:33,400
Speaker 2: Easy and took no thought and took no effort, if

621
00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:36,480
Speaker 2: this was something we did not directly need to rely

622
00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:39,480
Speaker 2: on the very one who spoke creation into existence to

623
00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:42,000
Speaker 2: actually live out he wouldn't have bothered to tell us

624
00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:45,000
Speaker 2: to do it, because we'd be doing it automatically. He's

625
00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:49,240
Speaker 2: telling us, practice these things, do these things, notice these things,

626
00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:53,040
Speaker 2: because naturally speaking, we would prefer to notice ourselves. I

627
00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:57,040
Speaker 2: would prefer to notice me. And he's saying, no, notice me,

628
00:30:57,720 --> 00:31:00,400
Speaker 2: and notice the people I've placed around you. And by

629
00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:02,880
Speaker 2: the way, just try and love them in your own strength.

630
00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:05,960
Speaker 2: That's gonna fail. And when you finally fail, then rely

631
00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:08,000
Speaker 2: on my strength, and I'll show you what it's actually

632
00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:10,520
Speaker 2: like to love people. And that's what christ is trying

633
00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:12,400
Speaker 2: to get at here. He doesn't tell us to just

634
00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:14,640
Speaker 2: love people who are easy to love, and he doesn't

635
00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:17,200
Speaker 2: just to tell us to just love people when they're

636
00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:20,520
Speaker 2: easy to love. He tells us to love our neighbor.

637
00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:24,000
Speaker 2: And in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter five,

638
00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:25,160
Speaker 2: he went even further.

639
00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:26,120
Speaker 1: Look at the way he says this.

640
00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:29,120
Speaker 2: In Matthew five forty four, he says, love your enemies,

641
00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:35,200
Speaker 2: and pray for those who persecute you. Love whom my enemies,

642
00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:38,520
Speaker 2: Love my enemies, and pray for people who persecute me.

643
00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:42,440
Speaker 2: What he's saying is Christian love isn't just reciprocal. You

644
00:31:42,440 --> 00:31:45,600
Speaker 2: don't just love because you're getting love. You know, this

645
00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:48,680
Speaker 2: world understands the idea of loving those who love us first,

646
00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:52,440
Speaker 2: and Jesus says, no love even when that love isn't returned.

647
00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:57,640
Speaker 2: Love those who don't love you, Love those who hate you.

648
00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:01,520
Speaker 2: Love the people who wish you were dead. Love the

649
00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:09,080
Speaker 2: people who wish you didn't even exist. Love them. And

650
00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:12,560
Speaker 2: you know what that love does. When you love your enemies,

651
00:32:14,200 --> 00:32:17,280
Speaker 2: you stop calling them your enemies. By the way, when

652
00:32:17,280 --> 00:32:19,600
Speaker 2: you love those who persecute you, when you love those

653
00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:21,760
Speaker 2: who actively hate you, you know what that does. It

654
00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:25,000
Speaker 2: points directly to the heart of the Gospel. Why am

655
00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:26,480
Speaker 2: I saying that, Well, think about what it says in

656
00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:29,240
Speaker 2: Romans chapter five, verse eight. How did God show his

657
00:32:29,320 --> 00:32:31,640
Speaker 2: love for us? But God shows his love for us,

658
00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:35,160
Speaker 2: and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

659
00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:37,720
Speaker 1: So Jesus didn't look at me and say.

660
00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:40,640
Speaker 2: I'm gonna wait till that guy matures. He'd be waiting

661
00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:45,800
Speaker 2: a long time in some categories. And he said, no,

662
00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:47,880
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna wait till he matures.

663
00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:48,000
Speaker 1: To love him.

664
00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:51,320
Speaker 2: I'm gonna love him now. I'm gonna love him while

665
00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:55,000
Speaker 2: he's a mess. I'm gonna love him at his lowest.

666
00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:57,520
Speaker 2: That's the kind of love he showed to you and

667
00:32:57,560 --> 00:33:02,000
Speaker 2: to me while we were still sinners. Either way, that

668
00:33:02,040 --> 00:33:03,920
Speaker 2: statement also points out to the fact that there's going

669
00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:07,600
Speaker 2: to be a day when we're not still sinners. That's

670
00:33:07,640 --> 00:33:09,680
Speaker 2: gonna be great. It's gonna be very easy to love

671
00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:12,200
Speaker 2: people in heaven. I'm very much looking forward to it.

672
00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:15,640
Speaker 2: But while we were still sinners, while it's hard to

673
00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:21,280
Speaker 2: love one another, what did Jesus do showed us love

674
00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:24,000
Speaker 2: while we were still sinnered? Scripture says God chose his

675
00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:26,400
Speaker 2: love for us that while we were still sinners.

676
00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:27,520
Speaker 1: Christ died for us.

677
00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:29,280
Speaker 2: He looked at you, and he looked at me. He said,

678
00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:31,720
Speaker 2: I'm not waiting for you to catch up. I'm not

679
00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:34,400
Speaker 2: waiting for you to do something you actually don't even

680
00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:36,680
Speaker 2: have the capacity to do. I'm going to love you

681
00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:40,280
Speaker 2: in your messiest state. And in fact, Scripture says, we

682
00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:44,040
Speaker 2: weren't just ambivalent to God. We were living as his enemies.

683
00:33:46,040 --> 00:33:48,280
Speaker 2: And He loved his enemies enough to die for them.

684
00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:51,600
Speaker 2: He didn't wait for us to become lovable. Christ didn't

685
00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:54,120
Speaker 2: die for people who had finally earned his affection.

686
00:33:54,840 --> 00:33:58,080
Speaker 1: He died for sinners. He loved rebels.

687
00:33:58,160 --> 00:34:02,760
Speaker 2: He gave himself for the very people who had rejected him.

688
00:34:02,840 --> 00:34:07,720
Speaker 2: Now making this personal to us, that's where Christian love begins.

689
00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:11,000
Speaker 2: That's the kind of love that scriptures talking about this

690
00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:15,120
Speaker 2: world uses love and feelings or love and affection as

691
00:34:15,160 --> 00:34:17,319
Speaker 2: the same concept. And I mentioned a little bit ago

692
00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:19,719
Speaker 2: that we're going to go way deeper than that with

693
00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:23,439
Speaker 2: this concept. This is where Christian love begins. We don't

694
00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:27,920
Speaker 2: manufacture christ Like love by trying to be or trying

695
00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:32,560
Speaker 2: harder to be nice. It's somebody's talking about here. We

696
00:34:32,640 --> 00:34:37,640
Speaker 2: receive the love of Christ, and then as he empowers us,

697
00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:44,200
Speaker 2: we learn to extend it. So the Cross becomes both

698
00:34:44,239 --> 00:34:49,320
Speaker 2: the source and the pattern for our love. Jesus loved sacrificially.

699
00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:54,640
Speaker 2: He didn't just speak about love, he gave himself. Also

700
00:34:54,680 --> 00:34:56,759
Speaker 2: loved the fact that on the night before his crucifixion

701
00:34:56,800 --> 00:34:59,239
Speaker 2: he told his disciples something and John thirteen this is

702
00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:01,319
Speaker 2: what he said. On thirteen thirty four. He says, a

703
00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:03,520
Speaker 2: new commandment, I give to you. So here he's been

704
00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:06,520
Speaker 2: asked like, what's the greatest commandment? He says, A new commandment,

705
00:35:06,560 --> 00:35:08,480
Speaker 2: I give to you. And it's not really new, it's

706
00:35:08,520 --> 00:35:10,759
Speaker 2: just new in emphasis. It's kind of what he's getting at.

707
00:35:11,120 --> 00:35:14,200
Speaker 2: He says, a new commandment. I give to you that

708
00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:18,160
Speaker 2: you love one another just as I have loved you.

709
00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:21,600
Speaker 2: That's what he's saying. I want to emphasize this. It's

710
00:35:21,640 --> 00:35:26,200
Speaker 2: like a new way to summarize Deuteronomy six and Leviticus nineteen.

711
00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:29,600
Speaker 2: He's saying, how about this, Let's summarize it into a

712
00:35:29,640 --> 00:35:35,160
Speaker 2: new statement, a new emphasis. Love one another just as

713
00:35:35,200 --> 00:35:38,520
Speaker 2: I have loved you. Love one another just as I

714
00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:42,680
Speaker 2: have loved you. I love that as I have loved you.

715
00:35:43,440 --> 00:35:45,680
Speaker 2: That's what he's saying here. Well, how did Jesus love?

716
00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:46,760
Speaker 1: He served?

717
00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:50,200
Speaker 2: He watched his disciples feet, He showed patience when they

718
00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:53,799
Speaker 2: were displaying weaknesses. He taught them the truth, so he's

719
00:35:53,840 --> 00:35:56,880
Speaker 2: actively sacrificing his time to teach them the truth. He

720
00:35:56,960 --> 00:35:58,799
Speaker 2: corrected them when they were wrong, but he did so

721
00:35:58,880 --> 00:36:02,080
Speaker 2: in a loving manner. He forgave them when they failed,

722
00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:04,840
Speaker 2: He prayed for them.

723
00:36:05,600 --> 00:36:09,520
Speaker 1: Ultimately, he died for them. Here's the thing, biblical love.

724
00:36:10,120 --> 00:36:12,440
Speaker 2: We're actually going to practice this and glorify God and

725
00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:16,800
Speaker 2: the way we demonstrate love. Biblical love isn't simply affirming

726
00:36:17,040 --> 00:36:19,200
Speaker 2: everything somebody else wants.

727
00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:20,279
Speaker 1: Somebody's getting at here.

728
00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:29,000
Speaker 2: Sometimes love encourages, sometimes love confronts. Sometimes love serves, Sometimes

729
00:36:29,040 --> 00:36:33,680
Speaker 2: love sacrifices. Sometimes love tells the truth, even when doing

730
00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:37,080
Speaker 2: so is painful. Jesus did every single one of those things.

731
00:36:38,040 --> 00:36:38,799
Speaker 1: His love was.

732
00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:43,319
Speaker 2: Never cruel, But it also wasn't sentimental in the sense

733
00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:45,919
Speaker 2: that people just think about like a gushy kind of love.

734
00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:47,920
Speaker 2: That's not what he's talking about here. By the way,

735
00:36:47,960 --> 00:36:50,480
Speaker 2: can I also confess to you a pet peeve? I'm

736
00:36:50,520 --> 00:36:53,080
Speaker 2: going to confess to you a pet peeve. I hear

737
00:36:53,120 --> 00:36:55,640
Speaker 2: this all the time. You will not hear me say

738
00:36:55,640 --> 00:36:58,120
Speaker 2: this when I preach, other than when I say, don't

739
00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:01,719
Speaker 2: say this because it sounds silly to me. Do you

740
00:37:01,760 --> 00:37:06,760
Speaker 2: ever hear people say just this idea of And sometimes

741
00:37:06,760 --> 00:37:08,799
Speaker 2: I hear preachers say this, and I'm like, oh boy,

742
00:37:08,840 --> 00:37:11,600
Speaker 2: this just seems so flaky to me. People are like,

743
00:37:11,640 --> 00:37:15,359
Speaker 2: I'm just so in love with Jesus, or I want

744
00:37:15,360 --> 00:37:17,120
Speaker 2: you to be in love with Jesus. I was like,

745
00:37:17,239 --> 00:37:22,600
Speaker 2: Jesus is like that just sounds like romantic love, like

746
00:37:22,719 --> 00:37:24,080
Speaker 2: the feeling kind of love.

747
00:37:24,160 --> 00:37:25,680
Speaker 1: Where in the Bible does it say that.

748
00:37:26,239 --> 00:37:28,359
Speaker 2: It doesn't say that. That's not how it describes love

749
00:37:29,160 --> 00:37:30,919
Speaker 2: just in love with you, You should be in love

750
00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:33,719
Speaker 2: with Jesus. I mean, today we're talking about the love

751
00:37:33,760 --> 00:37:37,800
Speaker 2: of God. We're not talking about being in love with Jesus.

752
00:37:37,880 --> 00:37:39,840
Speaker 2: The world uses that term. I think it's the silliest

753
00:37:39,840 --> 00:37:41,920
Speaker 2: thing when I hear people say that in regard to

754
00:37:41,960 --> 00:37:44,239
Speaker 2: our walk with the Lord. And maybe you think I'm nitpicking,

755
00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:47,000
Speaker 2: but I promise you I'm not trying to nitpick here.

756
00:37:49,160 --> 00:37:51,360
Speaker 2: Jesus wasn't trying to be all mushy.

757
00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:51,920
Speaker 1: When he was saying this.

758
00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:54,480
Speaker 2: What he's saying is it's probably going to be one

759
00:37:54,480 --> 00:37:57,800
Speaker 2: of the hardest things you ever do. It's not just

760
00:37:57,880 --> 00:38:00,799
Speaker 2: about your feelings of being in love with God and

761
00:38:00,840 --> 00:38:04,359
Speaker 2: your feelings of being in love with other people. He's saying,

762
00:38:04,360 --> 00:38:06,640
Speaker 2: I'm literally asking you to do one of the hardest

763
00:38:06,640 --> 00:38:09,520
Speaker 2: things that I will also empower you to do. I'm saying,

764
00:38:09,560 --> 00:38:13,919
Speaker 2: love your enemies. Actively seek what is best for them,

765
00:38:14,080 --> 00:38:15,840
Speaker 2: even if it costs you something.

766
00:38:16,280 --> 00:38:17,600
Speaker 1: That's what biblical love is.

767
00:38:17,920 --> 00:38:20,359
Speaker 2: By the way, that's what it's like to actually love

768
00:38:20,400 --> 00:38:23,600
Speaker 2: your spouse. You actively seek what's best for them, regardless

769
00:38:23,600 --> 00:38:26,440
Speaker 2: of how you feel, even if it costs you something.

770
00:38:26,719 --> 00:38:29,640
Speaker 2: That's what it means to love your kids, you actively

771
00:38:29,680 --> 00:38:33,160
Speaker 2: seek what's best for them, even if it costs you something,

772
00:38:33,920 --> 00:38:35,360
Speaker 2: regardless of how you feel.

773
00:38:35,800 --> 00:38:36,480
Speaker 1: That's what it means.

774
00:38:36,520 --> 00:38:39,600
Speaker 2: To love your neighbor, your coworker, your fellow church member,

775
00:38:39,920 --> 00:38:42,840
Speaker 2: anyone the Lord puts in your life. You actively seek

776
00:38:42,880 --> 00:38:45,280
Speaker 2: what's best for them, even if it costs you something,

777
00:38:46,520 --> 00:38:49,560
Speaker 2: regardless of how you feel. It's not about being in

778
00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:53,040
Speaker 2: love with people and in love with God. One of

779
00:38:53,040 --> 00:38:55,040
Speaker 2: the hardest things he will ever ask you to do

780
00:38:55,480 --> 00:38:58,319
Speaker 2: is rely on his strength to actively show love the

781
00:38:58,360 --> 00:39:02,360
Speaker 2: way He showed love, and He showed us love ultimately

782
00:39:02,400 --> 00:39:05,799
Speaker 2: by going to the cross. In practical terms, sometimes it's

783
00:39:05,800 --> 00:39:09,160
Speaker 2: going to mean that the Lord asks you to be

784
00:39:09,280 --> 00:39:12,040
Speaker 2: giving towards somebody else, or generous towards somebody else with

785
00:39:12,080 --> 00:39:16,239
Speaker 2: your time, your resource is something your attention when you

786
00:39:16,280 --> 00:39:19,160
Speaker 2: don't feel like being giving, or you're gonna say in

787
00:39:19,200 --> 00:39:24,520
Speaker 2: your mind, love as Christ has loved, Love as Christ

788
00:39:24,600 --> 00:39:27,359
Speaker 2: is loved, just as I've loved you, and you're gonna say,

789
00:39:27,400 --> 00:39:30,200
Speaker 2: all right, what does it look like to love this

790
00:39:30,280 --> 00:39:33,120
Speaker 2: specific person in this specific context.

791
00:39:32,920 --> 00:39:34,160
Speaker 1: In this specific moment.

792
00:39:35,120 --> 00:39:37,200
Speaker 2: All Right, it looks like that, all right, I'm gonna

793
00:39:37,200 --> 00:39:41,120
Speaker 2: be giving Sometimes it's going to mean listening. There's some

794
00:39:41,120 --> 00:39:44,200
Speaker 2: people that are gonna test that, but you're gonna listen

795
00:39:44,600 --> 00:39:47,279
Speaker 2: because nobody else in their life will listen. So the

796
00:39:47,320 --> 00:39:48,960
Speaker 2: best thing that you could do for that person in

797
00:39:48,960 --> 00:39:52,399
Speaker 2: that moment is love them like Christ loves and you're

798
00:39:52,440 --> 00:39:54,640
Speaker 2: gonna listen, and you don't even have to have all

799
00:39:54,640 --> 00:39:58,560
Speaker 2: the answers. You're just gonna be a good listener that day.

800
00:39:58,560 --> 00:40:02,560
Speaker 2: Often it's going to mean there's not a single person

801
00:40:02,560 --> 00:40:08,160
Speaker 2: in your life who deserves your forgiveness. Nobody deserves your forgiveness.

802
00:40:12,520 --> 00:40:15,200
Speaker 2: And that's an interesting thought to think about, because we

803
00:40:15,239 --> 00:40:18,160
Speaker 2: live as men and women who have been forgiven. And

804
00:40:18,200 --> 00:40:19,920
Speaker 2: then I look at the nature of the forgiveness I've

805
00:40:19,920 --> 00:40:20,560
Speaker 2: been blessed with.

806
00:40:20,600 --> 00:40:22,399
Speaker 1: Did I deserve it? No?

807
00:40:23,800 --> 00:40:26,320
Speaker 2: So then do I have any right to withhold forgiveness

808
00:40:26,320 --> 00:40:29,839
Speaker 2: from somebody else as a recipient of undeserved forgiveness?

809
00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:32,440
Speaker 1: No? I can't withhold it, can I?

810
00:40:32,440 --> 00:40:35,600
Speaker 2: I can't say I love God who's forgiven me and

811
00:40:35,640 --> 00:40:39,440
Speaker 2: then refuse to love those He's created in his image

812
00:40:39,880 --> 00:40:42,840
Speaker 2: by failing to forgive them. Isn't that one of the

813
00:40:42,880 --> 00:40:45,239
Speaker 2: hardest things the Lord ever asks you or me to do?

814
00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:48,800
Speaker 2: There's some things that are very, very difficult to forgive.

815
00:40:49,840 --> 00:40:52,160
Speaker 2: But what ends up happening is we start to see

816
00:40:52,160 --> 00:40:56,279
Speaker 2: things the way he sees things, and people, We start

817
00:40:56,320 --> 00:40:58,440
Speaker 2: to see people as he starts to see people. And

818
00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:00,879
Speaker 2: I'll tell you what, I promise you this. The more

819
00:41:00,920 --> 00:41:03,120
Speaker 2: you start to see people the way he sees people,

820
00:41:03,160 --> 00:41:08,160
Speaker 2: the easier it gets to forgive hard things. I've seen

821
00:41:08,239 --> 00:41:11,440
Speaker 2: him take some hard spots in my heart and soften

822
00:41:11,520 --> 00:41:15,160
Speaker 2: them through developing an appreciation of what he did for me.

823
00:41:17,560 --> 00:41:20,440
Speaker 2: And as I find myself willing to just look to

824
00:41:20,480 --> 00:41:22,360
Speaker 2: the Lord and say, Lord, I think I have a

825
00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:27,239
Speaker 2: habit of minimizing my own faults, don't I, And minimizing

826
00:41:27,480 --> 00:41:30,319
Speaker 2: just how deep the forgiveness you've shown me really is.

827
00:41:30,800 --> 00:41:33,440
Speaker 2: I think I don't need forgiveness until I look deeply

828
00:41:33,480 --> 00:41:34,959
Speaker 2: at the things that I try not to think about,

829
00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:37,560
Speaker 2: and then I'm like, oh, no, No, I need forgiveness,

830
00:41:37,560 --> 00:41:40,960
Speaker 2: don't I. It's like, yeah, so when you encounter somebody else,

831
00:41:41,000 --> 00:41:43,319
Speaker 2: what are you going to do? I guess if I

832
00:41:43,360 --> 00:41:44,920
Speaker 2: love you and love what you've done for me, I'm

833
00:41:44,920 --> 00:41:48,879
Speaker 2: going to try and do this. This new commandment you've

834
00:41:48,920 --> 00:41:51,279
Speaker 2: given me, a new commandment I give to you that

835
00:41:51,360 --> 00:41:53,560
Speaker 2: you love one another, just as I've loved you. Well,

836
00:41:53,560 --> 00:41:56,520
Speaker 2: I don't deserve the love of God. I don't deserve

837
00:41:56,520 --> 00:41:58,960
Speaker 2: what Christ's done for me. So I guess when I

838
00:41:58,960 --> 00:42:02,560
Speaker 2: interact with other people who are also undeserving, I guess

839
00:42:02,600 --> 00:42:05,719
Speaker 2: I'll just do the hard thing, and I guess I'll

840
00:42:05,719 --> 00:42:08,040
Speaker 2: love them, and I guess I'll forgive them.

841
00:42:08,280 --> 00:42:09,000
Speaker 1: But I also know.

842
00:42:08,960 --> 00:42:11,360
Speaker 2: I can't do it my own strength. I do not

843
00:42:11,560 --> 00:42:14,480
Speaker 2: have the strength to do that. But I can do

844
00:42:14,600 --> 00:42:18,919
Speaker 2: it because Christ will give me his and he'll give

845
00:42:18,960 --> 00:42:20,879
Speaker 2: you his strength as well as.

846
00:42:20,800 --> 00:42:22,120
Speaker 1: You trust in Jesus Christ.

847
00:42:22,440 --> 00:42:24,400
Speaker 2: He doesn't just leave you in this world to float

848
00:42:24,440 --> 00:42:27,640
Speaker 2: along and just try and function in your own wisdom

849
00:42:27,640 --> 00:42:30,760
Speaker 2: and strength. He Scripture specifically says he is the wisdom

850
00:42:30,760 --> 00:42:33,600
Speaker 2: of God. He gives you his wisdom, he gives you

851
00:42:33,680 --> 00:42:36,160
Speaker 2: his love, and he doesn't ever ask you to do

852
00:42:36,200 --> 00:42:39,680
Speaker 2: something that he wasn't willing to do first. Do you

853
00:42:39,719 --> 00:42:42,160
Speaker 2: ever notice that with certain leaders that you've had the

854
00:42:42,160 --> 00:42:45,520
Speaker 2: opportunity to either work with or serve with, there's some

855
00:42:45,560 --> 00:42:47,520
Speaker 2: people that will tell you go and do this thing,

856
00:42:48,239 --> 00:42:50,960
Speaker 2: but you never actually see them do the type of

857
00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:54,840
Speaker 2: thing that they ask you to do. But then good leaders,

858
00:42:54,880 --> 00:42:57,439
Speaker 2: what do they do? They do it first and they say,

859
00:42:57,440 --> 00:42:59,480
Speaker 2: all right, now I've shown you the prototype.

860
00:43:00,400 --> 00:43:01,040
Speaker 1: Go do this.

861
00:43:01,239 --> 00:43:02,840
Speaker 2: See what it did to my hands. It's gonna do

862
00:43:02,880 --> 00:43:04,879
Speaker 2: that to your hands. See what it did to my shirt.

863
00:43:04,920 --> 00:43:07,719
Speaker 2: It's gonna mess up your shirt. Just be prepared the

864
00:43:07,760 --> 00:43:09,759
Speaker 2: same things that you saw. Dude, it's gonna happen to you.

865
00:43:09,800 --> 00:43:11,040
Speaker 2: But you're like, all right, yeah, but if so and

866
00:43:11,040 --> 00:43:12,600
Speaker 2: so is willing to do it, I guess I'll do it.

867
00:43:12,840 --> 00:43:16,239
Speaker 2: Jesus is saying, just as I have loved you, that's

868
00:43:16,239 --> 00:43:19,399
Speaker 2: how you're gonna love. So what he's saying is even

869
00:43:19,440 --> 00:43:23,120
Speaker 2: to the point of death. Like sometimes we can't even

870
00:43:23,200 --> 00:43:25,880
Speaker 2: love to the point of having our patience tested. And

871
00:43:25,920 --> 00:43:28,359
Speaker 2: then we look at what Jesus did, and he loved

872
00:43:28,400 --> 00:43:31,080
Speaker 2: us to the point of death. And I think, you

873
00:43:31,120 --> 00:43:33,000
Speaker 2: know what, Lord, I don't think I've gone far enough.

874
00:43:34,040 --> 00:43:36,040
Speaker 2: I think in some ways you've been easy on me.

875
00:43:37,239 --> 00:43:38,799
Speaker 2: The things that I used to think were so hard

876
00:43:38,840 --> 00:43:43,360
Speaker 2: to forgive. I look at that I didn't die. I

877
00:43:43,480 --> 00:43:49,840
Speaker 2: just had my feelings hurt. It's like, yeah, you loved

878
00:43:49,840 --> 00:43:53,399
Speaker 2: me in ways that I didn't deserve. And now you say,

879
00:43:53,440 --> 00:43:55,880
Speaker 2: this is the great this great commandment, I give you

880
00:43:56,840 --> 00:43:59,520
Speaker 2: love one another just as I have loved you. Let

881
00:43:59,560 --> 00:44:02,520
Speaker 2: me say that as we finish up, I know that

882
00:44:02,600 --> 00:44:05,040
Speaker 2: many of us, as we gather here, it's our desire

883
00:44:05,080 --> 00:44:08,520
Speaker 2: to glorify God with our lives. Relying on our own

884
00:44:08,600 --> 00:44:10,200
Speaker 2: strength isn't going to get us there.

885
00:44:10,640 --> 00:44:11,480
Speaker 1: We can't rely on.

886
00:44:11,440 --> 00:44:14,000
Speaker 2: Our own strength and glorify God. That's just not how

887
00:44:14,040 --> 00:44:18,799
Speaker 2: it works. We have to rely on His strength. And

888
00:44:18,880 --> 00:44:21,560
Speaker 2: if you choose to love others as Christ is loved,

889
00:44:21,560 --> 00:44:23,040
Speaker 2: like we already said, it's going to be one of

890
00:44:23,040 --> 00:44:25,759
Speaker 2: the hardest things, possibly the hardest thing the Lord ever

891
00:44:25,840 --> 00:44:29,640
Speaker 2: asks you to do. And yet he'll make you able

892
00:44:29,680 --> 00:44:32,400
Speaker 2: to do it in his strength. Did you recognize what

893
00:44:32,440 --> 00:44:35,200
Speaker 2: he's done for you? That hard family member to forgive,

894
00:44:35,719 --> 00:44:37,720
Speaker 2: He'll make you able to do it. That difficult person

895
00:44:37,760 --> 00:44:40,080
Speaker 2: in your life that's so tough to love, He'll make

896
00:44:40,120 --> 00:44:42,880
Speaker 2: you able to do it. If you could see beyond

897
00:44:42,960 --> 00:44:45,239
Speaker 2: the faults of the person who annoys you the most,

898
00:44:45,719 --> 00:44:47,919
Speaker 2: or who has hurt you the most, and you could

899
00:44:47,960 --> 00:44:50,719
Speaker 2: see them the way I mean, just think of how

900
00:44:50,760 --> 00:44:53,240
Speaker 2: you see your own kids when your kids were little,

901
00:44:53,880 --> 00:44:57,560
Speaker 2: right when they're little. My grandson, he's six weeks old.

902
00:44:57,960 --> 00:45:01,480
Speaker 2: I look at him and I'm like, like, they're just

903
00:45:01,480 --> 00:45:05,080
Speaker 2: so perfect and so innocent at that stage. And you

904
00:45:05,120 --> 00:45:06,520
Speaker 2: look at that and it's like, it doesn't matter what.

905
00:45:06,760 --> 00:45:07,520
Speaker 1: He could cry loud.

906
00:45:07,520 --> 00:45:10,359
Speaker 2: I think it's the cutest thing, make the biggest mess

907
00:45:10,360 --> 00:45:10,840
Speaker 2: of himself.

908
00:45:10,920 --> 00:45:14,240
Speaker 1: I'm like, that's so adorable. You're a wreck. How cute.

909
00:45:16,000 --> 00:45:18,239
Speaker 2: And you look at that and then you realize the

910
00:45:18,280 --> 00:45:20,920
Speaker 2: person that has hurt you the most, or the person

911
00:45:20,920 --> 00:45:24,359
Speaker 2: in this world that sometimes you despise the most, that's

912
00:45:24,400 --> 00:45:27,400
Speaker 2: one of God's children that he still sees like that

913
00:45:27,480 --> 00:45:30,920
Speaker 2: innocent little baby in a sense that he loves that

914
00:45:31,080 --> 00:45:34,400
Speaker 2: image bear and he's saying, look, I know my kid's quirky,

915
00:45:35,160 --> 00:45:38,319
Speaker 2: but can you just love my kid, like could you love?

916
00:45:38,440 --> 00:45:40,440
Speaker 2: I loved you? You think you didn't have quirks?

917
00:45:40,480 --> 00:45:43,799
Speaker 1: I loved you. You just love my child the way

918
00:45:43,840 --> 00:45:46,799
Speaker 1: I love my child. Be patient with them. They'll get there.

919
00:45:46,920 --> 00:45:49,880
Speaker 1: Be patient with them right now. They're going through some stuff.

920
00:45:49,960 --> 00:45:51,360
Speaker 1: Right now, their brain's all whacked.

921
00:45:52,280 --> 00:45:55,360
Speaker 2: Love them through that, and then on the other side

922
00:45:55,400 --> 00:45:57,239
Speaker 2: of it, maybe you'll even be able to laugh about

923
00:45:57,280 --> 00:45:59,800
Speaker 2: it someday and we'll all testify together.

924
00:46:00,440 --> 00:46:02,680
Speaker 1: Just the beautiful.

925
00:46:02,239 --> 00:46:04,440
Speaker 2: Things that the Lord did in our lives to glorify

926
00:46:04,520 --> 00:46:09,239
Speaker 2: his name things that we didn't deserve. So this is

927
00:46:09,280 --> 00:46:11,480
Speaker 2: what Christ instructs us to do, and he says, as

928
00:46:11,520 --> 00:46:15,360
Speaker 2: you and I do this, we bring glory to our creator.

929
00:46:16,320 --> 00:46:18,319
Speaker 2: And we do so as he empowers us, as we

930
00:46:18,400 --> 00:46:22,439
Speaker 2: trust in him. Let's pray, Father, thank you so much

931
00:46:22,560 --> 00:46:27,040
Speaker 2: for who you are and for how you operate in

932
00:46:27,080 --> 00:46:28,080
Speaker 2: our day to day lives.

933
00:46:28,080 --> 00:46:29,160
Speaker 1: Lord, there's just so many.

934
00:46:28,960 --> 00:46:31,680
Speaker 2: Things that we look at and we realize the way

935
00:46:31,719 --> 00:46:34,920
Speaker 2: the world sees these things. It's just we miss the point.

936
00:46:34,960 --> 00:46:37,000
Speaker 2: We've all missed the point. This world misses the point.

937
00:46:38,560 --> 00:46:41,399
Speaker 2: But Lord, help us not to miss the point. As

938
00:46:41,440 --> 00:46:43,560
Speaker 2: you have loved us, we pray that we would learn

939
00:46:43,600 --> 00:46:46,600
Speaker 2: to love others. And again, Lord, we fully acknowledge that

940
00:46:46,760 --> 00:46:49,359
Speaker 2: is a very very difficult thing to do, and it's

941
00:46:49,440 --> 00:46:51,600
Speaker 2: not something that in our own strength we're really going

942
00:46:51,640 --> 00:46:52,200
Speaker 2: to be able to do.

943
00:46:52,320 --> 00:46:52,520
Speaker 1: Well.

944
00:46:52,560 --> 00:46:54,399
Speaker 2: We want to love you and we want to love

945
00:46:54,480 --> 00:46:57,960
Speaker 2: other people. We have the desire to do that because

946
00:46:57,960 --> 00:47:00,000
Speaker 2: you place that desire in our lives and you play

947
00:47:00,160 --> 00:47:02,520
Speaker 2: that desire in our hearts. But sometimes we get goofed

948
00:47:02,560 --> 00:47:04,799
Speaker 2: up and we start thinking about love like love is

949
00:47:04,800 --> 00:47:08,120
Speaker 2: what this world talks about This world's talking about infatuation

950
00:47:08,320 --> 00:47:12,839
Speaker 2: and lust and all sorts of things that are just temporary.

951
00:47:13,719 --> 00:47:15,920
Speaker 2: And you're not calling us to be in love with you.

952
00:47:16,600 --> 00:47:19,520
Speaker 2: You're not calling us to be in love with humanity.

953
00:47:20,360 --> 00:47:22,200
Speaker 2: That's not what your word says. Your word tells us

954
00:47:22,239 --> 00:47:26,880
Speaker 2: to love one another, to actively seek what is best

955
00:47:26,920 --> 00:47:30,480
Speaker 2: for somebody else, even when it costs us something, and

956
00:47:30,560 --> 00:47:34,120
Speaker 2: even when we don't feel like doing it, and certainly

957
00:47:34,719 --> 00:47:38,279
Speaker 2: when that other person doesn't deserve it, knowing that we

958
00:47:38,360 --> 00:47:42,480
Speaker 2: didn't deserve it either. So, Father, thank you for these

959
00:47:42,520 --> 00:47:45,160
Speaker 2: reminders from your word, and I do pray that, by

960
00:47:45,200 --> 00:47:47,719
Speaker 2: your grace you'd help us to live these things out.

961
00:47:48,080 --> 00:47:48,319
Speaker 1: Again.

962
00:47:48,400 --> 00:47:50,479
Speaker 2: Father, there are some people in our lives that are very,

963
00:47:50,600 --> 00:47:53,480
Speaker 2: very challenging, some people in our lives that have either

964
00:47:53,560 --> 00:47:56,359
Speaker 2: hurt us deeply or just have a way about them

965
00:47:56,440 --> 00:47:59,960
Speaker 2: that we find very abrasive. Help us to love evil

966
00:48:00,080 --> 00:48:04,520
Speaker 2: in them, Bring them to mind when the test comes today,

967
00:48:04,640 --> 00:48:06,880
Speaker 2: or this week, this month, this year, whenever it comes,

968
00:48:07,520 --> 00:48:10,399
Speaker 2: help us to live out the very things that you've

969
00:48:10,400 --> 00:48:13,560
Speaker 2: instructed us in your word to do. But Lord, in

970
00:48:13,560 --> 00:48:15,640
Speaker 2: those moments, again, we pray that you'd help us to

971
00:48:15,680 --> 00:48:18,440
Speaker 2: rely on you. And we're just so grateful, Lord for

972
00:48:18,480 --> 00:48:20,920
Speaker 2: the love that you've shown us. That we can come

973
00:48:20,960 --> 00:48:22,799
Speaker 2: before you as men and women knowing that we are

974
00:48:22,800 --> 00:48:25,439
Speaker 2: genuinely loved. That you looked at us and you said,

975
00:48:25,480 --> 00:48:27,200
Speaker 2: I love you so much. I'm going to atone for

976
00:48:27,239 --> 00:48:28,919
Speaker 2: your sin. That you looked at us and you said,

977
00:48:29,719 --> 00:48:31,880
Speaker 2: I'm going to take your sin upon myself so that

978
00:48:31,880 --> 00:48:35,360
Speaker 2: I could look at you as forgiven. And you've cleansed

979
00:48:35,440 --> 00:48:40,279
Speaker 2: us of all unrighteousness, Father, through your son. So Father,

980
00:48:40,400 --> 00:48:42,319
Speaker 2: thank you for these things. We pray that we would

981
00:48:42,360 --> 00:48:46,439
Speaker 2: learn to see ourselves and others through your eyes as

982
00:48:46,440 --> 00:48:50,919
Speaker 2: we adopt your perspective, that more and more that would

983
00:48:50,960 --> 00:48:53,680
Speaker 2: be demonstrated in the ways we interact with other people.

984
00:48:54,360 --> 00:48:56,560
Speaker 2: We commit ourselves to you, Lord, We commit this week

985
00:48:56,600 --> 00:48:58,600
Speaker 2: to your care, and we thank you, Lord for your

986
00:48:58,600 --> 00:48:59,440
Speaker 2: presence with us.

987
00:49:00,080 --> 00:49:03,520
Speaker 1: Pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen.