Jim Styles – Living as a Member of God’s Family – Class 3 – Living by Love and not by Law

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Everyone.
All right.

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A couple of people have asked me
some things about things that I

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talked to you about.
I’ve tried to share with you

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this week.
Things that have taken me a long

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time to learn soon.
I grew up in an ecclesia that

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was had a culture to it of one
way.

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And there are topics that I
discovered over time that I

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didn’t really find out, that our
ecclesial culture had actually

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matched up exactly what I would
say the Bible teaches.

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And so those are things that, as
I’ve grown up, I’ve decided that

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those are things I’d like to
talk about with people because

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it took me a long time to
appreciate them.

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And one of them was the love of
God, living by love and not by

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law.
That’s one of the that’s our

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topic for this morning.
One of the other ones was God’s

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election, and our collegiate
didn’t talk about God’s

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election.
Most people in North America

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didn’t talk about God’s election
and we just sort of assumed that

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we had it all right and and
going through Romans chapter 91

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time and John was listening to
John Martin’s classes.

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He gave like 40 some classes on
Romans and that was great.

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But it opened my eyes to the
fact that I’d read Old Testament

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stories for years without really
understanding a a second level

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to those stories.
And so that’s that’s where the

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my background has come from on
God’s election.

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So I thought, maybe tomorrow if
the company minds on the

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committee, I’ll probably take
about half the class tomorrow,

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maybe 20 minutes and we’ll have
a look at Romans Chapter 9 and

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see where that teaching actually
comes from.

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But today we are going to look
at God’s love.

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Now somebody also mentioned to
me yesterday that they thought

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when I said God is our couch,
that it sounded like to you that

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God was our, how do you
pronounce it?

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Couch.
Couch.

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They said what is he talking
about?

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God is our coach, but it was
actually coach.

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I don’t know how you say it,
coach.

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Anyways, all those all those
teens out there, they know about

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coaches.
So yeah, it was actually, if you

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missed that, it was supposed to
be God is our coach, not our

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coach.
Just wanted to make sure that

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was straight.
All right, so this is one of the

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topics that when I was growing
up, when Sue and I grew up in

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our our local cultural area of
Detroit, people didn’t talk much

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about the love of God.
It wasn’t a topic you could hear

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exhortations on or Bible classes
or anything.

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It was just sort of treated as
an evangelical concept.

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If you started talking about,
well, God loves us, it was like,

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oh, you’re evangelical.
And it’s like, whoa.

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It’s like that was the kind of
reaction we got.

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And yet you find out in the
Scriptures, this is all over the

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Bible.
This was what to me, it’s like

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the foundation principle.
The number one thing we should

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have had in the BASF is it
starts out with God loves us,

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God is love.
And I really find it.

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It really has changed the way we
approach people in life.

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And the way we approach
collegial problems and decisions

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is to remember that we want to
try to do them like God.

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God loves us.
He loves us like a father and as

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a father does as children.
So we ought to look today at

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what in the world does that
actually mean.

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I think it’s it’s important to
realize that God is the one who

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defines love.
This is not like humanism, where

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you just, like, decide, well,
what do you think the love of

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God is, and what do you think
God’s love is?

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And what do you think now?
We’re told in the scriptures

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what love is, the way God
defines it and the way it plays

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out, and how he treats people.
The love of God.

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He’s the one who took the
initiative and he is the one who

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loved us first.
It all comes from God.

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Everything does.
It’s all coming down from God.

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And I really think this helps us
to like, fine tune our

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understanding of how is God
connected with Jesus today?

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Who’s connected with us?
What does this actually mean?

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Does God really need somebody to
stand in between US and him and

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and plead with us to please
forgive these humans?

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I know what it’s like for them.
That’s what the Christian

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churches teach.
That’s not what the Bible

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teaches.
The Bible teaches that God was

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the one who in the beginning
first loved and He’s the one in

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set in motion all of the things
necessary and and all the things

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we talk about in the atonement.
He’s the one who initiated it

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all because he loved us more
than anyone and wanted to save

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us.
He loves us.

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In a sense I think he loves us
more than Jesus ever did because

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he was willing to go through all
of that for us.

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And Christ, what he did is he
worked with God.

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He accepted as as Jack would
call it, God’s righteous way of

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doing it.
He accepted God’s righteousness.

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So look how first John puts it
and I think this helped me

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understand.
And going through first John you

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might wonder like why does John
keep talking about love?

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You ever read that as sometimes
the younger people.

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You read first John and you
think all he does is rank on

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about love and love and love and
love and what are like what?

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What is this all about?
It’s it.

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It’s hard.
It’s like going through the

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Psalms.
Sometimes you wonder like what?

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What are you getting at all the
Psalms.

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But as you go through first John
carefully, you start realizing

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he’s building a case for the
fact that this changes your

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behavior, changes how you live.
And he spirals around this idea

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as he’s working his way up that
God is love.

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Some people have described as
like a spiral staircase and he

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says he’s winding around.
This idea of God is love,

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looking at all the different
ways that it affects how we live

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and how we we view our God.
So he says it in in chapter 4 at

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verse 7.
Beloved, let us love one

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another, for love is of God and
everyone who loves is born of

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God.
See, this is what God’s children

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do.
When we are born from above, we

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understand God’s love and we
know how to show it to others.

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We reveal it to others.
It’s God manifestation at its

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best.
And who knows God?

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He who does not love does not
know God.

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We we better get this right
because if we don’t treat other

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people the way God loves us, we
really in a sense, he says you

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really don’t know God.
You might think you do, but when

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you treat other people in a
different way than God treats

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them, we don’t really know God.
And that’s why we we do become

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like the God who we worship.
So and this was the love of God

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manifested toward us and that he
sent his only begotten Son into

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the world that we might live
through him.

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And this is love, not that we
love God.

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Let’s get it right.
It’s not about us coming up

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towards God.
No, it’s all about top down.

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It’s that he he loved us.
That’s why when when Paul’s

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going through his argument in
Romans, do you ever notice how

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he develops that his Old
Testament background?

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He’s the failure of the
Gentiles, the failure of the

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Jews.
In chapter three he finally gets

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in.
He’s God stepped in and he sent

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his son to save us.
And finally, when you get to

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chapter five, he finally tells
us why.

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Because God loved us.
Even though we were sinners,

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even though he says we were
ungodly and we didn’t deserve

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it, God still loved us and He
sent His Son to save us.

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So it’s all about God having
loved us and sent his Son to be

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the propitiation.
Well, that’s one of those big

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words you can use.
Just like the righteousness of

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God.
We can throw the phrase out all

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the time.
But do you really know what it

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means when he is the
propitiation?

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It’s a word that’s used in the
Old Testament, in the Greek Old

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Testament substituism for the
mercy seat.

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It’s the place of mercy.
He He sent his Son to be the

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place of mercy for our sins.
That’s what our God did because

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he loved us and beloved.
If God so loved us, we ought to

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love epics we look at and going
through the God.

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What does it really mean?
How does he balance justice and

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mercy?
And how does it all play out?

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Because he’s hoping we’ll do
that with our spouses, with our

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children, with our grandparents,
with our collegial members.

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It’s all about the love of God.
It’s a motivator.

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It should be driving us to treat
people the right way.

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So it’s all about God having
first loved us and now we have

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to practice showing that love.
And if we do, John would say,

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well, we’ll know that God abides
in US and his love is perfected

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in US.
Perfected.

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So in first John three look what
he says will happen and that we

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by this we know love because he
laid down his life for us.

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So now he’s talking about Jesus.
We ought also to lay down our

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lives for the brethren.
This is what Jesus was showing

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us in his way of life, right
Right to the end.

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Look at how he functioned all
the way through the day before

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the crucifixion.
The day of the crucifixion.

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He’s always He gets down on his
feet, he’s washes their on his

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knees, he washes their feet.
You know, he’s, he’s weeping for

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the the.
He says don’t weep for me, weep

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for yourselves.
He’s thinking about the

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daughters of Jerusalem.
He’s talking to John, about his

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mother on the cross.
And take care of the thief on

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the cross.
He’s always trying to help other

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people because he loved them and
we ought to lay down our lives

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for the brethren.
But whoever has this world’s

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goods and sees his brother in
need and shuts up his heart from

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him, how does the love of God
abide in him?

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See, it’s very similar to what
James lays out in James chapter

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2.
This idea that you can claim to

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have faith, you can claim to
know the love of God.

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But when you see your brothers
and sisters or young people in

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need, when we see that they have
needs and we don’t help out, but

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as James says, we give them a
pat on the back and say, oh,

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have a good day, good day, mate,
and send them off.

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You know, how does the love of
God live in us?

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That’s not understanding God’s
love or understanding faith.

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James would say, well, if you
really had faith, you would help

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somebody else.
You, you help them because we

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love them and that’s what the
love of God does for us.

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We’ve got to learn to appreciate
that and express God’s love to

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others because God is love and
everything He’s done in our

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creation.
Paul would say in Romans chapter

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5, it really was motivated by
love.

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Love was the driving force,
force for working in our world

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for having created that whole
creation in the 1st place.

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He loves to have children, He
loves that of bringing more

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people into his family.
That’s what God likes.

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And even when we are ungodly
sinners and enemies, enemies, he

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still was willing to send his
Son so understanding the love of

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God and the love of Jesus and
his struggle with sin, These are

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concepts that should motivate
us, brothers and sisters and

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young people, to get involved
with other people’s lives and

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help them when they’re going
through troubles.

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And it it shows you how these
kinds of teachings really do

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affect your way of life.
It’s not just a bunch of and and

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rattle off at a baptismal
interview.

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These are things that are
supposed to change the way we

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live.
So Paul would say the same kind

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of idea in 2nd Corinthians 3 at
verse 17, that now the Lord is

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spirit.
And where the Spirit of the Lord

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is, there is freedom.
Freedom because we’re free to do

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what the law had just said.
Well, you only have to do this

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and do this and do now.
We’re free to to live like God

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and and to treat people the way
God would.

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And we’re all with unveiled face
beholding the glory of the Lord.

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We’re being transformed into the
same image from 1° of glory to

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another.
And for all of this comes from

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the Lord who is the Spirit.
And what God’s doing is sending

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00:11:34,480 –> 00:11:36,280
out his angels to work in our
lives.

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And he’s patiently, through
years and years of training and

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00:11:40,080 –> 00:11:44,000
training, He’s turning us into
different people, people that

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learn to live like him.
So the test, you might say,

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well, I, you know, I know God.
I I know him.

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I I love him and I know love and
I know the love of God.

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So the test is in first John in
two and verse 3.

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By this we know that we know
him.

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And it’s easy to say that we
know God.

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We we read about him all the
time.

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But here’s the test.
If we keep his commandments, do

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we obey him?
That’s what he’s always wanted,

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was obedience to his family
values.

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That’s all he really wanted was
obedience.

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Look at how Jeremiah took the
rechabites in.

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00:12:18,200 –> 00:12:20,320
And he said, all right,
rechabites, all of you guys,

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here’s some wine.
Drink it.

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And they put it out in front of
them and they refused to drink

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it.
All right?

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And and God says, look at look
at these people.

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They’re obeying their dead
ancestor who wrote this rule,

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not even around anymore.
And they’re still obeying him.

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00:12:35,600 –> 00:12:38,560
Why can’t my children alive
today obey me?

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00:12:39,040 –> 00:12:41,000
It it’s what he was after all
along.

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Obedience to him.
But whoever keeps his word

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00:12:44,920 –> 00:12:47,880
truly, the love of God is
perfected in him.

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And by this we know that we are
in Him.

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He who says he abides in him
ought himself also to walk just

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as he walked.
And that’s I guess our question

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00:12:58,440 –> 00:13:02,880
for today is in what ways are we
perfecting the love of God in

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US?
What’s actually happening in our

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00:13:04,640 –> 00:13:07,400
lives?
So again in first John four and

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00:13:07,400 –> 00:13:09,680
verse 12, no one has seen God at
any time.

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If we love one another, God
abides in US and his love has

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00:13:13,880 –> 00:13:16,720
been perfected in US.
See how John builds on this?

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00:13:16,720 –> 00:13:19,560
And he talks about the love
being perfected in US and now he

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00:13:19,560 –> 00:13:21,120
says, OK, he’s going up the
list.

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Well here’s how it really works.
It’s not just knowing God and

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00:13:24,640 –> 00:13:27,120
loving God, it’s about loving
one another.

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If we love one another, God
abides in US and his love has

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00:13:31,360 –> 00:13:34,080
been perfected in US.
And by this we know that we

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abide in him and he and us
because He’s given us a this

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00:13:36,480 –> 00:13:39,560
spirit.
He’s helped us to understand

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00:13:39,560 –> 00:13:43,320
those spiritual things and he’s
working in our minds to help us

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00:13:43,320 –> 00:13:46,480
understand these spiritual
principles so that we can know

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00:13:46,480 –> 00:13:50,800
God and and we John says we have
seen and testified that the

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Father has sent his Son as the
Savior of the world.

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See, that was the motive of the
Father.

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Love is motivation.
It forces us to do things for

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people, not because we have to,
but because we want to.

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That’s what God’s looking for,
his family.

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He’s not looking for people who
came here today because they had

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to come or because they work in
their ecclesia because they have

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00:14:15,120 –> 00:14:18,240
to.
He’s looking for people who love

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00:14:18,320 –> 00:14:21,760
one another and who want to help
one another.

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Then he can afford to give us
immortality, not because we’ve

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00:14:25,520 –> 00:14:29,320
been forced, but because we
really love his eternal way of

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00:14:29,320 –> 00:14:31,280
life.
We love his eternal life and

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00:14:31,280 –> 00:14:34,320
that’s what we really want and
that that’s what he’s after.

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Whereas he says in verse 16 and
we have known and believed the

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00:14:37,640 –> 00:14:41,800
love that God has for us.
God is love, and he who abides

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00:14:41,800 –> 00:14:46,160
in love abides in God and God in
Him because it affects how we

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00:14:46,160 –> 00:14:49,440
live, how we view God, how we
treat one another.

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00:14:50,360 –> 00:14:54,560
So if we misunderstand the
nature of Jesus and what he

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00:14:54,560 –> 00:14:59,240
endured to save us, we won’t
really ever understand the love

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00:14:59,240 –> 00:15:03,400
of God and that we lose our
motivation to loving one another

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00:15:03,960 –> 00:15:06,520
is it?
Jesus came and and the nature

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00:15:06,520 –> 00:15:09,800
that he had we we know as
Chrysadelphians he had the same

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00:15:10,560 –> 00:15:14,600
sinful nature that we do that
he’s got the diabolis in him and

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00:15:14,600 –> 00:15:17,560
he wants to serve himself but he
chooses to serve.

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00:15:17,760 –> 00:15:20,480
And how did he keep getting
through life like that?

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00:15:20,480 –> 00:15:23,120
How did he keep making the right
decisions all the time?

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00:15:23,360 –> 00:15:27,360
How did he come through for his
people and and and the IT was

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00:15:27,360 –> 00:15:30,360
because he he loved them.
He wanted to give his life for

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00:15:30,360 –> 00:15:33,680
them and try to save them.
That was the motivation that

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00:15:33,680 –> 00:15:38,120
drove our Lord Jesus Christ.
So no one has seen God, right?

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00:15:38,320 –> 00:15:41,800
We haven’t seen him, but we can
manifest his character to others

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00:15:42,040 –> 00:15:45,360
and let them see God’s loving us
by the way we live.

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00:15:45,600 –> 00:15:48,360
How we live in our families, how
we treat our spouses.

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00:15:48,560 –> 00:15:51,400
How we take care of one another
in in in marriage.

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00:15:51,600 –> 00:15:54,680
We can do it by, you know as we
get older and hopefully as we

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00:15:54,680 –> 00:15:56,280
get older.
We don’t draw apart.

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00:15:56,480 –> 00:16:00,280
We grow together because the
love of God is being manifested

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00:16:00,280 –> 00:16:02,960
in US.
And what God was hoping by

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00:16:02,960 –> 00:16:06,520
putting us in families where you
could, you could understand his

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00:16:06,520 –> 00:16:10,040
love for for us by having you
have children or having you work

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00:16:10,040 –> 00:16:11,760
with the children in an
ecclesial life.

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00:16:12,040 –> 00:16:16,000
He was hoping that we would
realize that’s that’s the love

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00:16:16,000 –> 00:16:18,320
that we have to expand out to
the community.

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00:16:18,520 –> 00:16:20,640
We have to treat other people
with that love.

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00:16:20,640 –> 00:16:24,680
It expands to the whole Ecclesia
and to the community at at large

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00:16:25,040 –> 00:16:27,080
and to our neighbors that this
is what we do.

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00:16:27,080 –> 00:16:31,520
We talk to our friends and we
try to help them understand how

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00:16:31,520 –> 00:16:37,040
God has changed our life, the
love efforts and it can motivate

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00:16:37,040 –> 00:16:39,280
them.
It can turn them into better

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00:16:39,280 –> 00:16:43,760
people that follow God’s ways.
Or as first John, what John says

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00:16:43,760 –> 00:16:46,360
there and 1st John, what ends up
happening with all of this is

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00:16:46,360 –> 00:16:50,680
that when we develop a a love
based relationship with our God

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00:16:50,880 –> 00:16:54,200
instead of fear, instead of
being afraid that when things go

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00:16:54,200 –> 00:16:56,920
wrong that God’s out to get us
or that he’s sitting there

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00:16:56,920 –> 00:16:58,560
watching all the things that we
do.

320
00:16:58,560 –> 00:17:00,080
Like Job’s three friends
thought.

321
00:17:00,080 –> 00:17:02,040
They thought he’s just watching
you all day long.

322
00:17:02,240 –> 00:17:04,079
What did you say out there
during break?

323
00:17:04,280 –> 00:17:07,040
What did you do after all
afternoon yesterday and and he’s

324
00:17:07,040 –> 00:17:09,640
just watching to see us stumble
and make mistake and then he

325
00:17:09,640 –> 00:17:12,520
brings something into your life
to get you to make you pay for

326
00:17:12,520 –> 00:17:14,880
it.
This whole idea of God punishing

327
00:17:14,880 –> 00:17:17,440
us brothers and sisters like
that, that’s what the three

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00:17:17,440 –> 00:17:18,880
friends had.
That’s what they thought.

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00:17:19,160 –> 00:17:23,480
And and this book of job was
written so early on to try to

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00:17:23,480 –> 00:17:26,680
help us understand that isn’t
the way it works.

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00:17:27,079 –> 00:17:29,880
It isn’t like that.
God doesn’t work that way.

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00:17:29,880 –> 00:17:33,040
He wants you to love him and to
respond in love.

333
00:17:33,360 –> 00:17:35,520
Not because you’re you’re
sitting there thinking that he’s

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00:17:35,520 –> 00:17:38,240
going to give you a spanking or
something like little children

335
00:17:38,240 –> 00:17:40,240
would, that that’s what he
really wants.

336
00:17:40,240 –> 00:17:43,960
And so he says in in verse 17 of
chapter 4 by this love is

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00:17:43,960 –> 00:17:48,040
perfected in us so that we may
have confidence for the Day of

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00:17:48,040 –> 00:17:50,240
Judgement.
He ever wondered, like, how do

339
00:17:50,240 –> 00:17:52,080
you get confidence for the Day
of Judgement?

340
00:17:52,360 –> 00:17:55,600
A lot of Christadelphians still
live in fear of the Judgement

341
00:17:55,600 –> 00:17:58,240
Day.
They’re afraid if Jesus walked

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00:17:58,240 –> 00:18:00,600
in the door back there, I know
there are people that would be

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00:18:00,600 –> 00:18:03,760
afraid to face him.
They’re afraid because they

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00:18:03,760 –> 00:18:06,840
think God’s out to get them.
That isn’t the God who we

345
00:18:06,840 –> 00:18:09,440
worship.
He isn’t like that.

346
00:18:09,880 –> 00:18:12,800
He loves you.
He’s training you like a father

347
00:18:12,800 –> 00:18:15,400
with his child, you know?
Imagine that kind of

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00:18:15,400 –> 00:18:17,480
relationship with a dad.
Did you have a dad that when he

349
00:18:17,480 –> 00:18:19,320
walked in the door you were
afraid to see him?

350
00:18:19,520 –> 00:18:20,960
Or did you run up and give him a
hug.

351
00:18:22,280 –> 00:18:26,240
God was hoping that if we if we
experience this in our families

352
00:18:26,600 –> 00:18:30,880
that then we would understand
how he feels about us, that

353
00:18:30,880 –> 00:18:33,440
that’s the God that we have.
It’s it’s like the father of the

354
00:18:33,440 –> 00:18:35,960
prodigal son.
When the prodigal son comes back

355
00:18:35,960 –> 00:18:38,480
in, in the parable, he doesn’t
he hasn’t grabbed the son.

356
00:18:38,480 –> 00:18:40,480
And they’ll say, well you did
this wrong and this wrong and

357
00:18:40,480 –> 00:18:42,680
this wrong and I’m not sure we
can actually bring you into the

358
00:18:42,680 –> 00:18:44,960
Ecclesia you let until all these
things up.

359
00:18:45,600 –> 00:18:49,240
No, he grabs them and hugs them.
Says I’m glad you finally

360
00:18:49,240 –> 00:18:52,480
learned and you’re back.
That’s what he does.

361
00:18:53,120 –> 00:18:55,320
That’s our God.
He just can’t wait for us to

362
00:18:55,320 –> 00:18:57,760
come back.
So look at how he he words this

363
00:18:57,760 –> 00:19:00,240
in first John 4.
You know, because he’s been

364
00:19:00,240 –> 00:19:02,160
perfected in us as we are in
this world.

365
00:19:02,160 –> 00:19:05,760
So in verse 18 I I can still
remember looking at this when I

366
00:19:05,760 –> 00:19:08,440
was probably a teenager and
giving a Bible class in Detroit

367
00:19:08,440 –> 00:19:11,200
in first John Four.
And I said there’s No Fear in

368
00:19:11,200 –> 00:19:13,960
love.
But perfect love casts out fear.

369
00:19:14,720 –> 00:19:18,600
Fear has to do with punishment
and whoever fears has not been

370
00:19:19,160 –> 00:19:21,880
in love.
And I remember in the class that

371
00:19:21,880 –> 00:19:24,840
the a lot of the older brother,
you know, that commented, they

372
00:19:24,840 –> 00:19:27,600
all just said, well, John’s just
talking about a theoretical

373
00:19:27,600 –> 00:19:29,600
idea.
You can’t really apply that in

374
00:19:29,600 –> 00:19:31,600
life.
That wouldn’t work because we

375
00:19:31,600 –> 00:19:34,000
didn’t fear God.
If we weren’t afraid of the

376
00:19:34,000 –> 00:19:36,800
punishments and the torment that
we might get, then we would

377
00:19:36,800 –> 00:19:41,160
probably get off track.
I remembered that for a long

378
00:19:41,160 –> 00:19:43,200
time.
It’s not right.

379
00:19:43,680 –> 00:19:46,120
That was the culture that we had
in our ecclesia.

380
00:19:46,520 –> 00:19:48,520
That was the culture of the
times back then.

381
00:19:48,680 –> 00:19:51,680
But it’s not right.
Brothers and sisters, I’d

382
00:19:51,680 –> 00:19:54,720
encourage the young people we
have to always be challenging

383
00:19:54,720 –> 00:19:57,920
our culture.
Just because everybody teaches

384
00:19:57,920 –> 00:20:01,520
it doesn’t mean it’s right.
Our our doctrinal principles are

385
00:20:01,520 –> 00:20:04,760
right, but how we apply them in
life, how they work out.

386
00:20:04,960 –> 00:20:07,880
A lot of us have just grown up
in a Christadelphian culture and

387
00:20:07,880 –> 00:20:11,200
accepted it without really
challenging it with the Bible.

388
00:20:12,000 –> 00:20:14,040
John’s not talking about theory
here.

389
00:20:14,080 –> 00:20:17,920
The entire letter isn’t about
theory, it’s about practical way

390
00:20:17,960 –> 00:20:20,960
of life.
You really can get to a point

391
00:20:20,960 –> 00:20:24,320
with your relationship with God
where you love him like your

392
00:20:24,320 –> 00:20:28,000
father, and there is No Fear in
that love.

393
00:20:28,800 –> 00:20:33,240
That perfect love casts out fear
because fear has to do with

394
00:20:33,240 –> 00:20:36,480
punishment.
And I really warn you as parents

395
00:20:36,480 –> 00:20:39,520
and grandparents, don’t talk to
your children and say you’re

396
00:20:39,520 –> 00:20:41,200
going to punish them for what
they’ve done.

397
00:20:41,600 –> 00:20:44,080
They’ll end up thinking as they
grow older that that’s what God

398
00:20:44,080 –> 00:20:45,960
does to them.
And it isn’t true.

399
00:20:46,360 –> 00:20:48,920
You look through the New
Testament, you won’t find that.

400
00:20:49,280 –> 00:20:53,120
You’ll find this, instead that
God loves you and there is No

401
00:20:53,120 –> 00:20:55,720
Fear in love and perfect love.
Really.

402
00:20:55,720 –> 00:20:59,120
Well, cast out fear.
And what God’s looking for is

403
00:20:59,120 –> 00:21:02,360
not people who are motivated by
being afraid of the judgment

404
00:21:02,360 –> 00:21:04,560
seat.
He’s looking for children who

405
00:21:04,560 –> 00:21:08,840
love his eternal way of life.
And you do it no matter what

406
00:21:08,840 –> 00:21:12,200
happens, like Job you can.
You continue and believe he’s

407
00:21:12,200 –> 00:21:14,840
right and you trust him in
everything.

408
00:21:14,840 –> 00:21:17,480
That’s faith.
That’s what he’s looking for,

409
00:21:17,920 –> 00:21:21,560
not fear based people.
He he can’t really afford to

410
00:21:21,560 –> 00:21:24,520
give eternal life to people who
live in a fear based

411
00:21:24,520 –> 00:21:27,120
relationship.
Because once you get eternal

412
00:21:27,120 –> 00:21:30,400
life, the fear is gone and
where’s the motivation anymore

413
00:21:30,400 –> 00:21:33,240
to serve your God?
You’ve lost it because you were

414
00:21:33,240 –> 00:21:36,800
motivated by fear.
And that’s not what you’ll see

415
00:21:36,800 –> 00:21:40,560
in our New Testament writings.
So anyone who says that I love

416
00:21:40,560 –> 00:21:42,760
God and hates his brother, he’s
a liar.

417
00:21:43,840 –> 00:21:45,640
See, that’s the kind of thing
James would say.

418
00:21:45,640 –> 00:21:48,000
It’s it’s so clear.
They bring up these examples,

419
00:21:48,000 –> 00:21:50,760
practical examples, of how we
can monitor.

420
00:21:51,000 –> 00:21:54,120
Do we really love God?
It’s easy to sit there in our

421
00:21:54,120 –> 00:21:55,720
chairs today and say, well, I
love God.

422
00:21:55,960 –> 00:21:57,440
I’ll look at all the things I do
for God.

423
00:21:57,880 –> 00:22:00,120
I love God.
But how do you treat your

424
00:22:00,120 –> 00:22:02,360
brothers and sisters?
How do you treat your children?

425
00:22:02,640 –> 00:22:04,680
How do you treat other people’s
children?

426
00:22:05,240 –> 00:22:07,080
Do you treat them with the love
of God?

427
00:22:08,040 –> 00:22:10,480
This is challenging to us
brothers and sisters.

428
00:22:10,480 –> 00:22:13,640
It’s it’s very challenging.
If you hate your brother, you’re

429
00:22:13,640 –> 00:22:16,440
a liar.
You’re a liar to say that you

430
00:22:16,440 –> 00:22:20,160
really love God because it’s not
playing out in your life.

431
00:22:20,720 –> 00:22:23,760
If you love God, you would love
your brothers and sisters.

432
00:22:24,040 –> 00:22:27,960
For he who does not love his
brother, whom he has seen, can

433
00:22:28,120 –> 00:22:32,880
not God, whom he has not seen.
And I know some of us are

434
00:22:32,880 –> 00:22:35,640
sitting there thinking, well,
yeah, why would God expecting

435
00:22:35,640 –> 00:22:37,680
one of my brother and sister
when they’ve done this to me and

436
00:22:37,680 –> 00:22:40,040
they’ve done that to me and
they’ve done this and we make up

437
00:22:40,040 –> 00:22:43,480
all these excuses.
That’s why Paul said in Romans 5

438
00:22:43,480 –> 00:22:47,120
when we were sinners, when we
were ungodly.

439
00:22:47,480 –> 00:22:50,680
That’s why Joseph said to his
brothers, I know you meant it

440
00:22:50,680 –> 00:22:53,160
for evil.
I know your motive wasn’t good,

441
00:22:53,560 –> 00:22:57,280
but God meant it for good.
To save many as they’re alive

442
00:22:57,280 –> 00:22:59,760
today, you know?
You know, God’s in control of

443
00:22:59,760 –> 00:23:02,440
this.
That’s why Joseph loved his

444
00:23:02,440 –> 00:23:04,160
brothers.
That’s why he forgave them.

445
00:23:04,320 –> 00:23:06,560
See this.
This leads into forgiveness as

446
00:23:06,560 –> 00:23:09,080
to why we forgive one another
for our mistakes.

447
00:23:09,640 –> 00:23:11,400
This is what the way our God
lives.

448
00:23:11,400 –> 00:23:14,440
This is him.
And he’s asking us to take his

449
00:23:14,520 –> 00:23:18,560
eternal way of life and
incorporate it into us.

450
00:23:18,880 –> 00:23:22,160
That’s what he wants.
So you can’t claim to love God

451
00:23:22,360 –> 00:23:24,440
and mistreat your brothers and
sisters.

452
00:23:24,680 –> 00:23:27,160
That’s really challenging, I
think for all of us.

453
00:23:27,160 –> 00:23:29,800
That’s very challenging.
And this is the commandment that

454
00:23:29,800 –> 00:23:33,280
we have from him that whoever
loves God must also love his

455
00:23:33,280 –> 00:23:36,280
brother must also.
Now see, that’s a commandment.

456
00:23:36,600 –> 00:23:41,600
And and the problem with law and
commandments is we can do that.

457
00:23:41,600 –> 00:23:45,960
We can say all right, John said
it’s a commandment or Jesus said

458
00:23:45,960 –> 00:23:49,120
we must love one another.
So I’ll do it because he said

459
00:23:49,120 –> 00:23:54,160
it, but I don’t really feel it.
And that’s that’s the problem we

460
00:23:54,160 –> 00:23:56,800
run into as people.
And thankfully God gives us

461
00:23:56,800 –> 00:24:00,480
years to grow in the truth.
But what we got, we got to know

462
00:24:00,480 –> 00:24:02,720
what the goal is.
What’s the bar that we’re aiming

463
00:24:02,720 –> 00:24:05,160
for?
The bar is that we don’t do it

464
00:24:05,160 –> 00:24:08,840
because it’s a commandment.
We don’t do it by law.

465
00:24:09,200 –> 00:24:14,000
We do it by love, like God does,
like Jesus did, like Paul did,

466
00:24:14,040 –> 00:24:17,440
like all these Bible characters,
Joseph, you you look at how they

467
00:24:17,440 –> 00:24:22,120
live like the angels do when
they grabbed Lot and walk them

468
00:24:22,120 –> 00:24:26,480
hand in hand out out of Sodom.
They loved these people and it

469
00:24:26,480 –> 00:24:29,160
motivated them.
Look at the the Angel with

470
00:24:29,160 –> 00:24:31,360
Abraham when they said to one
another, you know, are we going

471
00:24:31,360 –> 00:24:33,600
to tell Abraham we’re going to
destroy Sodom or shouldn’t we?

472
00:24:33,600 –> 00:24:37,840
Well, we got to tell him we know
him, We love him as an intimate

473
00:24:37,840 –> 00:24:38,680
friend.
We got it.

474
00:24:38,680 –> 00:24:42,200
We got to take care of Abraham.
That’s what changes your life,

475
00:24:42,200 –> 00:24:46,120
brothers and sisters, when love
motivates us to to affect the

476
00:24:46,120 –> 00:24:50,960
way we treat one another, not
because we have to, but because

477
00:24:51,040 –> 00:24:54,400
we want to.
We want to live God’s eternal

478
00:24:54,400 –> 00:24:57,640
way of life.
And what that will do to you is

479
00:24:57,640 –> 00:25:00,000
it casts out all the fear of
judgement.

480
00:25:00,880 –> 00:25:03,440
It really does.
You’re not afraid of of Christ

481
00:25:03,440 –> 00:25:05,480
coming back.
You’re not afraid of what’s

482
00:25:05,480 –> 00:25:09,080
going to happen at the judgement
seat because you know your

483
00:25:09,080 –> 00:25:13,080
loving father, the judge of all
the earth, will do right.

484
00:25:13,560 –> 00:25:15,280
He will.
He’ll do right.

485
00:25:15,600 –> 00:25:17,400
Whatever happens, he will do
right.

486
00:25:17,440 –> 00:25:20,520
And you trust that that that’s
the way it will happen in the

487
00:25:20,520 –> 00:25:23,800
end.
So we we lose that fear because

488
00:25:23,800 –> 00:25:27,080
we trust that he’s in control
and we have confidence in in

489
00:25:27,080 –> 00:25:30,640
God’s love for us and we don’t
have to fear as as Paul would

490
00:25:30,640 –> 00:25:32,160
end.
I love the way Paul ends his

491
00:25:32,160 –> 00:25:35,400
whole section in in Romans one
and one to seven, that whole

492
00:25:35,400 –> 00:25:38,040
section about dealing with the
atonement he gets to chapter 8

493
00:25:38,240 –> 00:25:40,360
deals with the battle between
the mind of the Spirit and the

494
00:25:40,360 –> 00:25:42,440
mind of the flesh.
And then he ends up saying at

495
00:25:42,440 –> 00:25:45,280
the end of the chapter like who?
Who’s going to get in the way of

496
00:25:45,280 –> 00:25:47,600
of God’s love for you?
Who’s who’s going to get there

497
00:25:47,600 –> 00:25:50,120
and stop it.
You know if you really think

498
00:25:50,120 –> 00:25:53,200
God’s going to go after you.
God loved you so much he gave

499
00:25:53,200 –> 00:25:55,760
his son.
Do you think Jesus is going to

500
00:25:55,760 –> 00:25:57,880
condemn you with the judgment
seat of Christ?

501
00:25:58,120 –> 00:26:02,200
Christ loved you so much He gave
his life for you every day of

502
00:26:02,200 –> 00:26:03,680
his life.
He did.

503
00:26:04,080 –> 00:26:06,960
So who’s going to separate us
from the love of God and the

504
00:26:06,960 –> 00:26:09,720
love of Christ?
Nobody can do that, brothers and

505
00:26:09,720 –> 00:26:13,720
sisters, but ourselves.
We’re the ones that have to get

506
00:26:13,720 –> 00:26:16,080
it right and we’ve got to put it
into practice.

507
00:26:17,160 –> 00:26:20,120
So as John says there, really
love.

508
00:26:20,120 –> 00:26:25,240
But perfect love casts out fear,
because fear involves

509
00:26:25,440 –> 00:26:28,000
punishment.
We got to get this punishment

510
00:26:28,000 –> 00:26:32,200
out of our heads.
They may punish our children at

511
00:26:32,200 –> 00:26:35,520
school or somewhere else to
punish criminals.

512
00:26:35,520 –> 00:26:37,640
And what did they do?
They put them in a jail.

513
00:26:37,640 –> 00:26:41,280
And you deserve to be in jail.
They use words like deserve and

514
00:26:41,280 –> 00:26:44,680
punish and all this stuff.
The New Testament doesn’t use

515
00:26:44,680 –> 00:26:47,400
those words.
It’s not what you deserve.

516
00:26:47,800 –> 00:26:50,000
No, God doesn’t give us what we
deserve.

517
00:26:50,000 –> 00:26:53,360
He gives us grace.
He gives more grace.

518
00:26:53,360 –> 00:26:56,280
That’s the God who we worship.
And when you get it right,

519
00:26:56,280 –> 00:26:59,400
brothers and sisters, your
confidence becomes in God, not

520
00:26:59,400 –> 00:27:02,920
in me or not in you.
We’re not confident in ourselves

521
00:27:02,920 –> 00:27:06,520
to save ourselves.
We are confident that if we

522
00:27:06,520 –> 00:27:09,400
cooperate with all the
experiences God brings into our

523
00:27:09,400 –> 00:27:13,480
life and we try to react like
God would, we try to, to reveal

524
00:27:13,480 –> 00:27:16,800
the love of God to other people.
We are confident that that

525
00:27:16,800 –> 00:27:20,760
training program will bring us
to the Kingdom and it will allow

526
00:27:20,760 –> 00:27:24,280
us to join the family of God.
It’s a confidence in God, not a

527
00:27:24,280 –> 00:27:28,480
confidence in ourselves because
love has more power to change

528
00:27:28,480 –> 00:27:31,280
your life than fear.
I don’t know whether you’ve ever

529
00:27:31,280 –> 00:27:33,720
thought of that idea before, but
when you look at little

530
00:27:33,720 –> 00:27:36,120
children, those of you that are
raising little guys over there,

531
00:27:36,240 –> 00:27:38,680
you know that when children are
young and they’re they’re just

532
00:27:38,680 –> 00:27:42,280
growing up and getting started,
we have to have a bit of a fear

533
00:27:42,280 –> 00:27:44,640
based relationship.
They’ve got to at least respect

534
00:27:44,640 –> 00:27:47,600
that or or fear what might come
on them if they do something

535
00:27:47,600 –> 00:27:49,760
wrong.
But when your children get to

536
00:27:49,760 –> 00:27:52,480
teenage years, if you’re still
doing that, you’re going to lose

537
00:27:52,480 –> 00:27:55,640
them that that isn’t what holds
a family together.

538
00:27:56,120 –> 00:27:58,240
Love is what holds a family
together.

539
00:27:59,080 –> 00:28:01,760
I mean, honestly, I used to talk
to people at my school and when

540
00:28:01,760 –> 00:28:03,920
my kids were getting older and
they used to talk about how bad

541
00:28:03,920 –> 00:28:06,240
the teenage years were going to
be and you know what it’s like

542
00:28:06,240 –> 00:28:09,200
to raise teenage children.
And soon I would we’d look at it

543
00:28:09,200 –> 00:28:12,120
and it’s like, I I don’t know
what you’re talking about.

544
00:28:12,720 –> 00:28:16,600
Our kids loved us.
We had wonderful teenage years

545
00:28:16,960 –> 00:28:21,840
because the the family got along
when we chose to live to to move

546
00:28:21,840 –> 00:28:23,640
to California.
We asked the family where do you

547
00:28:23,640 –> 00:28:28,840
guys want to all live?
They said Hawaii, ’cause they

548
00:28:28,840 –> 00:28:31,360
all like the warm weather and
the beaches and all that stuff.

549
00:28:31,680 –> 00:28:34,800
And of course Sue had her vote
and she has the power of veto

550
00:28:35,200 –> 00:28:38,120
and and Sue said Nope, won’t be
Hawaii, there’s no ecclesia

551
00:28:38,120 –> 00:28:41,360
there and but all our kids
thought, well, if we move to

552
00:28:41,360 –> 00:28:43,400
Hawaii and we let everybody know
we’re here, they’ll all come and

553
00:28:43,400 –> 00:28:45,360
visit us.
We’ll have a big Sunday morning

554
00:28:45,360 –> 00:28:49,480
meeting every week, but that
that’s the kind of relationship

555
00:28:49,480 –> 00:28:52,760
you can have with your children
if it’s loved based.

556
00:28:53,200 –> 00:28:56,080
It doesn’t have to be bad years.
It doesn’t have to be living by

557
00:28:56,080 –> 00:29:00,040
a bunch of rules.
It can be living by love and not

558
00:29:00,040 –> 00:29:03,160
by law.
But that transition has to take

559
00:29:03,160 –> 00:29:06,040
place from the time the children
are two and three and four years

560
00:29:06,040 –> 00:29:08,280
old to by the time they get to
be teenagers.

561
00:29:08,600 –> 00:29:11,840
It has to be a transition.
And then what happens when

562
00:29:11,840 –> 00:29:14,520
they’re studying for baptism,
they realize, wow, that same

563
00:29:14,520 –> 00:29:15,920
relationship you got with mom
and dad.

564
00:29:16,200 –> 00:29:19,520
That’s the God that we worship.
All I got to do is transfer it

565
00:29:19,520 –> 00:29:21,400
over to God.
That’s what he hoped would

566
00:29:21,400 –> 00:29:24,160
happen in families.
And it can happen brother than

567
00:29:24,160 –> 00:29:26,680
sisters.
So look at Joseph when, when

568
00:29:26,680 –> 00:29:29,080
they, when they, when the
brothers sold him into Egypt.

569
00:29:29,400 –> 00:29:32,240
You remember the whole issue
that they made-up this whole

570
00:29:32,240 –> 00:29:36,840
story about how, well Joseph was
killed by a wild animal because

571
00:29:36,840 –> 00:29:39,920
they were afraid to tell Jacob
the truth.

572
00:29:40,480 –> 00:29:42,400
They couldn’t tell them what
they really did.

573
00:29:42,760 –> 00:29:46,800
It was all based off of fear.
That’s the relationship they had

574
00:29:46,800 –> 00:29:49,280
with their dad.
And because it’s fearful, you

575
00:29:49,280 –> 00:29:51,760
don’t even tell the truth.
That’s what happens.

576
00:29:52,200 –> 00:29:56,920
But then when Judah pleaded with
Joseph and you watch the change

577
00:29:56,920 –> 00:30:00,240
in the character of Judah over
those years, he pleaded with

578
00:30:00,240 –> 00:30:06,520
Joseph to take Benjamin’s place.
It’s because Judah finally loved

579
00:30:06,520 –> 00:30:09,320
his dad.
You ever noticed that as you’re

580
00:30:09,320 –> 00:30:11,360
reading through the story?
It’s why it’s one of the

581
00:30:11,360 –> 00:30:14,480
emotional, most emotional
stories I find in the Bible.

582
00:30:14,480 –> 00:30:16,680
You can hardly read it without
crying about it.

583
00:30:17,080 –> 00:30:23,720
But finally, Joseph saw that the
love for their father outweighed

584
00:30:23,880 –> 00:30:27,320
their own personal interest.
And Judah says, let me take his

585
00:30:27,320 –> 00:30:31,280
place because I I can’t bear to
see what this is going to do to

586
00:30:31,280 –> 00:30:33,680
Dad.
I can’t disappoint Dad.

587
00:30:33,840 –> 00:30:35,320
I can’t let him go through this
again.

588
00:30:36,120 –> 00:30:38,480
He already saw what happened
when it went through the first

589
00:30:38,480 –> 00:30:41,520
time.
That’s the motivation of love

590
00:30:41,640 –> 00:30:45,360
opposed to fear.
And like Paul says, that love is

591
00:30:45,360 –> 00:30:48,160
a fulfilling of the law.
This is what the driving force

592
00:30:48,160 –> 00:30:50,800
of the law was all about.
And Jesus said that you know you

593
00:30:50,800 –> 00:30:54,280
shall love the Lord your God.
And what’s the second greatest

594
00:30:54,280 –> 00:30:57,200
commandment?
You shall love your neighbor as

595
00:30:57,200 –> 00:31:01,160
yourself.
So Paul says in Romans 13, oh,

596
00:31:01,160 –> 00:31:05,040
no man, anything except to love
one another.

597
00:31:05,280 –> 00:31:09,840
For he who loves one another has
fulfilled the law and he lifts

598
00:31:09,840 –> 00:31:11,960
off all those commandments.
You know, you’ve heard those

599
00:31:11,960 –> 00:31:13,600
commandments.
You shall not commit adultery,

600
00:31:13,600 –> 00:31:16,160
not murder, not steal.
I think Stephen’s probably

601
00:31:16,160 –> 00:31:18,720
telling you about all those
things and bear false witness

602
00:31:18,720 –> 00:31:21,160
and covenant all that.
But if there’s any other

603
00:31:21,160 –> 00:31:24,960
commandment, they’re all summed
up in this saying, namely, you

604
00:31:24,960 –> 00:31:29,280
shall love your neighbor as
yourself, because love won’t do

605
00:31:29,280 –> 00:31:33,000
any harm to your neighbor and
therefore love is the fulfilling

606
00:31:33,000 –> 00:31:36,280
of the law.
So it’s it’s hard to, but we

607
00:31:36,280 –> 00:31:40,000
can, brothers and sisters, get
out of the mode of reacting

608
00:31:40,000 –> 00:31:44,320
against problems in families and
ecclesias by thinking right away

609
00:31:44,320 –> 00:31:47,560
what we’re going to have to do
to bring consequences into

610
00:31:47,560 –> 00:31:50,080
somebody’s life.
What do you do when a when a

611
00:31:50,080 –> 00:31:52,400
young person comes to you, you
find out that they’ve had

612
00:31:52,400 –> 00:31:54,200
premarital sex?
What are you what are you going

613
00:31:54,200 –> 00:31:56,040
to do?
How are you going to react to

614
00:31:56,040 –> 00:31:59,040
that You does your mind go to
the fact that right away you

615
00:31:59,040 –> 00:32:01,320
think about, well we’re going to
have to do this and this and

616
00:32:01,320 –> 00:32:03,640
this and this because of what
you’ve done?

617
00:32:03,760 –> 00:32:05,640
Is that is that where our minds
go?

618
00:32:06,240 –> 00:32:09,000
I I hope as parents it isn’t
what you think.

619
00:32:09,720 –> 00:32:12,720
I I think as parents we’ve we’re
all being trained to realize

620
00:32:12,720 –> 00:32:18,160
when you love your children, we
ask them, well, I’m glad you

621
00:32:18,160 –> 00:32:21,200
told me but what can we do now?
How how are we going to go

622
00:32:21,200 –> 00:32:22,840
ahead?
How are we going to move forward

623
00:32:22,840 –> 00:32:25,840
with this within the framework
of of God’s principles.

624
00:32:26,320 –> 00:32:29,080
But you don’t come after them
with punishment.

625
00:32:29,520 –> 00:32:32,080
We come after them with how are
we going to solve this how are

626
00:32:32,080 –> 00:32:34,520
we going to deal with that.
And and I’ve watched so many

627
00:32:34,520 –> 00:32:37,240
people do this in a collegial
life with their own children.

628
00:32:37,920 –> 00:32:41,320
But then when it comes to
somebody else’s child and

629
00:32:41,320 –> 00:32:45,680
Eurangi Board’s making decision,
it’s very difficult to treat

630
00:32:45,680 –> 00:32:48,720
somebody else’s children like
you would treat your own.

631
00:32:49,440 –> 00:32:52,080
And I would suggest that that’s
one of the greatest things we

632
00:32:52,080 –> 00:32:55,440
can do is to try to put
ourselves in the position of

633
00:32:55,440 –> 00:32:59,240
those parents or that young
person and think like, what do I

634
00:32:59,240 –> 00:33:01,680
really need right now?
What am I really looking for

635
00:33:01,680 –> 00:33:03,400
from the Ecclesia?
I need help.

636
00:33:04,320 –> 00:33:07,720
Who’s willing to help me.
We don’t need people to condemn

637
00:33:07,720 –> 00:33:10,200
us.
We already condemn ourselves.

638
00:33:10,640 –> 00:33:13,800
What we need is people that are
willing to help us move forward.

639
00:33:14,360 –> 00:33:16,960
Now I I really think you see
that in Jesus with the woman

640
00:33:16,960 –> 00:33:19,640
caught in adultery.
In John 8, you know, he gets all

641
00:33:19,640 –> 00:33:21,440
the way to the end.
And he says, well, neither do I

642
00:33:21,440 –> 00:33:23,840
condemn you, but go and sin no
more.

643
00:33:23,840 –> 00:33:26,920
Let’s change, Let’s learn from
this and let’s move forward.

644
00:33:27,280 –> 00:33:30,600
That’s what God’s looking for in
all of us, because that’s how

645
00:33:30,600 –> 00:33:33,280
God treats us.
It’s great.

646
00:33:33,760 –> 00:33:36,320
And so love does no harm to a
neighbor.

647
00:33:36,320 –> 00:33:39,160
Therefore, love is the
fulfillment of the law.

648
00:33:39,880 –> 00:33:42,720
It’s it’s much more important
than just going through a bunch

649
00:33:42,720 –> 00:33:46,200
of legalistic rules.
So parents, as our children are

650
00:33:46,200 –> 00:33:49,440
young, we do lay down the law
because we want to protect them.

651
00:33:49,440 –> 00:33:52,400
I can remember with my autistic
daughter she used to like, want

652
00:33:52,400 –> 00:33:55,480
to walk right out the door,
right down the sidewalk right

653
00:33:55,480 –> 00:33:58,480
out into the street in front of
the cars, had no awareness of

654
00:33:58,480 –> 00:34:01,760
cars going down the road.
And and we had to treat her in a

655
00:34:01,760 –> 00:34:04,280
different way than we treated
the other kids because it was

656
00:34:04,280 –> 00:34:07,720
for safety reasons.
But as they get older, as our

657
00:34:07,720 –> 00:34:11,520
kids get older, we have to turn
our our our course and direction

658
00:34:11,520 –> 00:34:16,600
around culture.
They’re going to do that.

659
00:34:16,600 –> 00:34:19,320
And what do we do and and punish
them?

660
00:34:19,639 –> 00:34:22,320
Or do we try to talk through
these things and explain why we

661
00:34:22,320 –> 00:34:25,239
do that, Open the door to the
fact well, maybe you guys have a

662
00:34:25,239 –> 00:34:27,000
good idea that we hadn’t even
thought about before.

663
00:34:27,000 –> 00:34:29,480
Maybe there is a different way
to do this and we don’t have to

664
00:34:29,480 –> 00:34:32,600
wait that we don’t have to do it
the way we always did, but that

665
00:34:32,600 –> 00:34:34,520
might be a better way to do it
Today.

666
00:34:34,760 –> 00:34:37,440
That’s a possibility.
But we don’t get angry at people

667
00:34:37,440 –> 00:34:40,239
and yell at them and scream and
those kind of things, you know,

668
00:34:40,280 –> 00:34:44,040
our obedience to our parents and
God, it has to come from love.

669
00:34:44,280 –> 00:34:48,080
That’s our goal for them.
You know you look at Deuteronomy

670
00:34:48,080 –> 00:34:50,120
25.
That whole section there in

671
00:34:50,120 –> 00:34:55,760
Deuteronomy 25, in the 1st 10
verses or so it it’s all

672
00:34:56,400 –> 00:34:59,440
problems that people get into.
So he starts out as there’s

673
00:34:59,440 –> 00:35:02,200
there’s a speak to men and they
come to court and the judge may

674
00:35:02,200 –> 00:35:04,640
judge them and they justify the
righteous condemn them.

675
00:35:05,560 –> 00:35:08,440
We’re not going to do things
that humiliate people like that.

676
00:35:08,600 –> 00:35:10,000
That’s not what we’re going to
do.

677
00:35:10,520 –> 00:35:11,720
And then he throws in there.
Oh yeah.

678
00:35:11,720 –> 00:35:14,320
By the way don’t muzzle an ox
when it.

679
00:35:15,400 –> 00:35:18,280
Some of you know Paul’s comment
on it and Corinthians, you know,

680
00:35:18,280 –> 00:35:21,240
But but when we’re first going
through the law, our natural

681
00:35:21,240 –> 00:35:23,400
reaction is just to go.
Here’s another law at home

682
00:35:23,400 –> 00:35:25,160
Muzzle docks when it turns out
the grave.

683
00:35:26,120 –> 00:35:30,240
Paul gives the New Testament
exposition of that which is so

684
00:35:30,240 –> 00:35:32,760
great to have the New Testament
writers tell us what these Old

685
00:35:32,760 –> 00:35:36,240
Testament things really meant.
He says in First Corinthians 9,

686
00:35:36,240 –> 00:35:40,320
he tells us how to read the law.
Here’s really what that meant.

687
00:35:40,680 –> 00:35:44,000
So my defense to those who
examine me, he says, do we have

688
00:35:44,000 –> 00:35:46,800
no right to eat and drink?
Do we have no right to take

689
00:35:46,800 –> 00:35:50,000
along a bleeding wife, wife, or
and do also as the other

690
00:35:50,000 –> 00:35:52,080
apostles and brothers of the
Lord or Cephas?

691
00:35:52,080 –> 00:35:54,800
Or is it only Barnabas and I who
had no right from to refrain

692
00:35:54,800 –> 00:35:57,240
from working?
And so he goes on in verse 8 and

693
00:35:57,240 –> 00:36:01,000
he says, do I say these things
as a mere man, Not the law.

694
00:36:01,000 –> 00:36:04,200
Say the same thing, or it is
written in the law of Moses.

695
00:36:04,240 –> 00:36:07,520
You shall not muzzle an ox while
it treads out the grain.

696
00:36:08,320 –> 00:36:12,280
See, now he goes back.
He quotes that phrase out of

697
00:36:12,280 –> 00:36:15,920
Deuteronomy 25.
And then he says to people, what

698
00:36:15,920 –> 00:36:18,920
do you really think?
Do you think God really just

699
00:36:18,920 –> 00:36:22,840
cared about the oxen?
Is that how you take the law and

700
00:36:22,840 –> 00:36:25,080
you take it word for word and
you read it and you just say,

701
00:36:25,080 –> 00:36:27,720
well, it’s just this, it’s just
this and it’s just that.

702
00:36:27,880 –> 00:36:30,400
And you limit, you limit its
application.

703
00:36:30,880 –> 00:36:33,840
Is it really oxen that God was
concerned about?

704
00:36:33,840 –> 00:36:37,400
Or does he say it all together
for our sakes, and then he

705
00:36:37,400 –> 00:36:39,880
answers his own question for our
sakes.

706
00:36:39,880 –> 00:36:42,920
No doubt this is written that he
who ploughs should plough with

707
00:36:42,920 –> 00:36:46,600
hope, and he who threshes in
hope should be partakers of the

708
00:36:47,000 –> 00:36:50,440
and be partakers of this hope.
It was all written there so that

709
00:36:50,440 –> 00:36:54,360
we would not mistreat people,
people.

710
00:36:54,800 –> 00:36:56,440
It’s about how we treat one
another.

711
00:36:57,000 –> 00:37:00,000
Paul brings it up again in in
First Timothy 5 and again he

712
00:37:00,000 –> 00:37:02,640
shows you about how we should be
reading the law.

713
00:37:03,200 –> 00:37:06,600
So families, what God designed
the family for and that large

714
00:37:07,040 –> 00:37:11,240
extent was to teach us how to
show mercy, how to deal with

715
00:37:11,240 –> 00:37:14,000
people that make mistakes.
You know, our kids make a lot of

716
00:37:14,000 –> 00:37:15,640
mistakes.
I’m sure yours, dude.

717
00:37:16,120 –> 00:37:18,400
Ours make a lot of they did.
They made a lot of mistakes in

718
00:37:18,400 –> 00:37:20,200
life.
Look at ourselves like, you

719
00:37:20,200 –> 00:37:23,520
know, James says in Chapter 3.
For we all make many mistakes in

720
00:37:23,520 –> 00:37:25,520
the RSV.
That’s the way he words that.

721
00:37:25,800 –> 00:37:28,600
So that’s why we don’t judge one
another so harshly.

722
00:37:28,600 –> 00:37:32,200
We all make many mistakes.
But what God is hoping for, and

723
00:37:32,200 –> 00:37:35,640
the wonderful thing about our
God is, is that he can watch our

724
00:37:35,640 –> 00:37:39,480
mistakes and he doesn’t get near
as upset about them as we do

725
00:37:39,480 –> 00:37:42,600
with one another.
You ever thought about that?

726
00:37:42,600 –> 00:37:44,480
And then you think about, like,
what?

727
00:37:44,480 –> 00:37:47,240
What is it like from the angel’s
perspective is if somebody makes

728
00:37:47,240 –> 00:37:49,800
some mistake, take some big
mistake in the community.

729
00:37:49,800 –> 00:37:52,680
If somebody commits adultery or
somebody commits divorce, and

730
00:37:52,680 –> 00:37:55,080
then they get remarried.
And these things that we elevate

731
00:37:55,080 –> 00:37:57,000
up there is like the biggest
things in the world.

732
00:37:57,360 –> 00:38:01,000
What the way God looks at this
is really different than we do.

733
00:38:01,440 –> 00:38:05,120
He sees them as learning
experiences for people.

734
00:38:05,920 –> 00:38:09,880
He’s waiting to see how is that
person going to respond with

735
00:38:09,880 –> 00:38:13,520
that mistake.
And if, if we understand the way

736
00:38:13,520 –> 00:38:18,640
God’s looking at it, we will
help those people respond the

737
00:38:18,640 –> 00:38:21,600
way God is hoping they will
respond, and that they will

738
00:38:21,600 –> 00:38:25,440
learn from those mistakes
instead of condemning them all

739
00:38:25,440 –> 00:38:28,640
the time for the mistakes.
You ever thought of that before

740
00:38:28,800 –> 00:38:30,040
that?
That’s what God does.

741
00:38:30,360 –> 00:38:33,640
It’s a learning program.
It’s it’s a a training program.

742
00:38:33,840 –> 00:38:37,320
So those have been trained, as
Paul says in Hebrews 13, Hebrews

743
00:38:37,320 –> 00:38:39,160
12.
The the the fruit of

744
00:38:39,160 –> 00:38:42,120
righteousness comes out of that.
We’re going through a training

745
00:38:42,120 –> 00:38:44,160
program.
We don’t want a coach who just

746
00:38:44,160 –> 00:38:46,960
sits there for every mistake and
just beats us on the on the head

747
00:38:46,960 –> 00:38:49,200
for the fact he made another
mistake, made another mistake.

748
00:38:49,640 –> 00:38:53,920
Now our coach watches our
mistakes, and what he’s hoping

749
00:38:53,920 –> 00:38:57,760
for is the end product is
someone who has learned to live

750
00:38:57,760 –> 00:39:01,520
his eternal way of life.
That’s different than the way I

751
00:39:01,520 –> 00:39:03,280
grew up.
That’s very different than the

752
00:39:03,280 –> 00:39:07,080
way I used to think.
And I really found it helped me

753
00:39:07,280 –> 00:39:11,880
help other people who had made
mistakes so they can go to young

754
00:39:11,880 –> 00:39:14,240
people and other brothers and
sisters that have done things

755
00:39:14,240 –> 00:39:19,840
that the rest of the ecclesia
might just totally show up

756
00:39:19,840 –> 00:39:21,600
again.
And you can go to them and find

757
00:39:21,600 –> 00:39:24,840
out, well, how can we help you,
what can we do to help and move

758
00:39:24,840 –> 00:39:27,240
forward.
That’s what God does.

759
00:39:27,680 –> 00:39:32,280
He helps us move forward and He
extends mercy to us, hoping that

760
00:39:32,280 –> 00:39:35,560
we will respond and that we’ll
learn that all these things, all

761
00:39:35,560 –> 00:39:37,720
these mistakes we made, and
let’s be honest, friend and

762
00:39:37,720 –> 00:39:40,280
sisters, we all make these
mistakes.

763
00:39:40,280 –> 00:39:42,800
Everybody, just.
Some are more public than

764
00:39:42,800 –> 00:39:45,080
others, but everybody is
failing.

765
00:39:45,240 –> 00:39:47,720
We all are.
And why do you come to meeting

766
00:39:47,720 –> 00:39:49,480
on Sunday and take the bread and
wine?

767
00:39:49,640 –> 00:39:51,800
You ask most people?
What they’re hoping for is

768
00:39:51,800 –> 00:39:55,840
forgiveness and mercy and and if
that’s what we’re hoping for,

769
00:39:55,840 –> 00:39:57,840
don’t you think the rest they’re
hoping for that?

770
00:39:57,920 –> 00:40:00,080
I’m not talking about people
that walk away from the truth.

771
00:40:00,240 –> 00:40:02,120
I’m talking about people who
have made mistakes.

772
00:40:02,400 –> 00:40:05,400
They’re looking for someone to
respond to them like God

773
00:40:05,400 –> 00:40:07,640
responds to them and he’s
willing to forgive.

774
00:40:08,240 –> 00:40:11,120
So family life and a collegial
life, they’re they’re not going

775
00:40:11,120 –> 00:40:13,760
to be perfect and don’t ever
expect them to be.

776
00:40:14,160 –> 00:40:16,440
You don’t develop in a perfect
situation.

777
00:40:16,720 –> 00:40:18,360
Some people get very
discouraged.

778
00:40:18,360 –> 00:40:20,440
Amongst the Christadelphians, I
think some of the young people,

779
00:40:20,440 –> 00:40:23,320
you might get discouraged when
you realize, hey us older guys,

780
00:40:23,320 –> 00:40:26,280
we we are always perfect.
We make a lot of mistakes and

781
00:40:26,280 –> 00:40:29,280
we’re we’re not the perfect
people that we sometimes present

782
00:40:29,280 –> 00:40:33,680
ourselves to be.
But that’s OK because God wants

783
00:40:33,680 –> 00:40:36,080
you to work through those
mistakes, to learn from the

784
00:40:36,080 –> 00:40:39,160
mistakes of others and try to
figure out how can we all get

785
00:40:39,160 –> 00:40:40,760
along, how can we help each
other.

786
00:40:41,160 –> 00:40:44,200
So you consider look at Jesus’s
family and how they treated him

787
00:40:44,520 –> 00:40:47,400
and and the ecclesia itself.
Think of David’s or or

788
00:40:47,400 –> 00:40:49,400
Jonathan’s families.
They weren’t perfect.

789
00:40:49,640 –> 00:40:53,920
No way they weren’t perfect.
And yet still God developed his,

790
00:40:54,000 –> 00:40:57,480
his, his gems, his goal.
Joseph’s family were were

791
00:40:57,480 –> 00:41:00,560
terrible for years.
For years all they cared about

792
00:41:00,560 –> 00:41:03,360
were themselves.
But through the experiences the

793
00:41:03,360 –> 00:41:06,840
angels brought into their life
and that Joseph built on when

794
00:41:06,840 –> 00:41:10,480
they came to Egypt, because he
understood how the angels worked

795
00:41:10,840 –> 00:41:14,520
and he and he put his, his
brothers into situations, not

796
00:41:14,520 –> 00:41:17,760
really just to test them, but to
find out if they would

797
00:41:17,760 –> 00:41:21,280
spiritually grow.
Are they ready now to, like, do

798
00:41:21,280 –> 00:41:24,160
something for somebody else when
before they weren’t?

799
00:41:24,160 –> 00:41:28,480
They didn’t care about Dad.
Before they didn’t care about

800
00:41:28,480 –> 00:41:31,520
Joseph.
And now Judah comes forward and,

801
00:41:31,600 –> 00:41:34,000
oh, I can’t do this to Dad.
I love him.

802
00:41:34,000 –> 00:41:35,720
I’m not going to put him to it
again.

803
00:41:36,160 –> 00:41:39,920
See, that’s how Joseph thought.
He comes about as close as any

804
00:41:39,920 –> 00:41:42,640
Bible character I’ve ever seen
who operates like an Angel.

805
00:41:43,040 –> 00:41:45,880
Not not trying to get people,
but trying to develop their

806
00:41:45,880 –> 00:41:48,280
spiritual character.
And there’s a whole list of them

807
00:41:48,280 –> 00:41:49,920
that, as you can see them
through the Scriptures.

808
00:41:50,240 –> 00:41:53,960
So that’s what God does.
He develops strength through our

809
00:41:53,960 –> 00:41:57,240
weaknesses, but all the glory
goes to God.

810
00:41:57,520 –> 00:41:59,680
See how this works?
Nobody’s going to walk into the

811
00:41:59,680 –> 00:42:01,160
Kingdom saying look at what I
did.

812
00:42:01,400 –> 00:42:04,120
Look at all the rest of my
ecclesia did this or that, or my

813
00:42:04,120 –> 00:42:06,520
family did, but look at me, I I
didn’t do those things.

814
00:42:07,040 –> 00:42:09,280
I think maybe Job’s friends
would have been like that at the

815
00:42:09,280 –> 00:42:10,840
beginning.
They were very much into

816
00:42:10,840 –> 00:42:14,840
thinking they were pretty good.
But in the end, what God was

817
00:42:14,840 –> 00:42:17,200
hoping for is they would all
realize we all make many

818
00:42:17,200 –> 00:42:19,000
mistakes.
And the only thing that’s

819
00:42:19,000 –> 00:42:22,200
different is that God’s working
in our life, He’s extending

820
00:42:22,200 –> 00:42:26,000
mercy to us, allowing us the
opportunity tomorrow to start

821
00:42:26,000 –> 00:42:29,080
again and to grow again.
It’s it’s it’s great.

822
00:42:29,360 –> 00:42:31,760
It’s it’s a wonderful way to
treat people.

823
00:42:32,200 –> 00:42:35,640
So you look at how Jesus reacted
in John 8 with the adultery

824
00:42:35,640 –> 00:42:37,520
case.
I already mentioned it, but, you

825
00:42:37,520 –> 00:42:39,520
know, he knew this woman was
guilty.

826
00:42:39,600 –> 00:42:42,480
He knew it.
And according to the law, if you

827
00:42:42,480 –> 00:42:46,040
read the law legally, he would
say we should stone her.

828
00:42:46,040 –> 00:42:49,800
She’s guilty of adultery and and
a lot of Christadelphians would

829
00:42:49,800 –> 00:42:52,120
would like this.
I mean, let’s be honest,

830
00:42:52,120 –> 00:42:56,080
brothers and sisters, we are
like as people, we tend to be

831
00:42:56,080 –> 00:42:59,240
very judgmental.
We tend to make bad decisions

832
00:42:59,240 –> 00:43:02,720
about how we treat other people.
It’s hard to get into the mind

833
00:43:02,720 –> 00:43:05,000
of God.
It’s hard, but when you

834
00:43:05,000 –> 00:43:09,280
appreciate how God treats you,
it should motivate us to treat

835
00:43:09,280 –> 00:43:12,600
other people in a better way.
And look at things like this.

836
00:43:12,600 –> 00:43:16,240
These kind of stories just stuck
in my head as like, this is so

837
00:43:16,240 –> 00:43:19,560
against the way I grew up.
Jesus, say to all the other

838
00:43:19,560 –> 00:43:21,480
guys, you’re right, she
committed adultery.

839
00:43:21,480 –> 00:43:23,640
The law says we just need two or
three witnesses.

840
00:43:23,640 –> 00:43:26,960
Let’s stone her.
He doesn’t do that and he’s

841
00:43:26,960 –> 00:43:32,440
keeping the law perfectly.
That’s why these are great

842
00:43:32,440 –> 00:43:34,960
examples.
If it’s somebody else, it would

843
00:43:34,960 –> 00:43:37,760
be a different story.
But in the end, all he really

844
00:43:37,760 –> 00:43:41,240
cared about is that the woman
learned from this and she walked

845
00:43:41,240 –> 00:43:43,800
away.
And he says in verse 11, neither

846
00:43:43,800 –> 00:43:46,120
do I condemn you.
He didn’t condemn her.

847
00:43:46,120 –> 00:43:47,560
He wasn’t going to witness
against her.

848
00:43:47,880 –> 00:43:50,680
But go and sin no more.
Learn from this.

849
00:43:50,840 –> 00:43:53,760
Change your life and go and sin
no more.

850
00:43:54,040 –> 00:43:55,640
And he goes on and says to them
right away.

851
00:43:55,640 –> 00:43:57,640
He says, I am the light of the
world.

852
00:43:58,240 –> 00:44:02,160
This was the light, a new way to
treat people different than the

853
00:44:02,160 –> 00:44:04,400
Pharisees that taught those
people of that generation.

854
00:44:04,720 –> 00:44:08,520
But whoever follows me will not
walk in darkness but have the

855
00:44:08,520 –> 00:44:12,600
light of life, the light of
God’s eternal life.

856
00:44:12,880 –> 00:44:16,080
That life that John one talks
about that was in his Son,

857
00:44:16,080 –> 00:44:19,000
manifested from the Father.
That’s that’s our God.

858
00:44:19,560 –> 00:44:21,720
I mentioned to you the other
day, look in Matthew one of how

859
00:44:21,760 –> 00:44:24,680
Joseph reacted.
You know God put this in the

860
00:44:24,680 –> 00:44:28,360
Bible record for a reason, that
even though he’s betrothed to

861
00:44:28,360 –> 00:44:32,720
Mary, she’s now having the child
and she should by law she should

862
00:44:32,720 –> 00:44:35,160
be stoned.
Bible goes out of its way to

863
00:44:35,160 –> 00:44:37,360
tell us.
Matthew says then Joseph, her

864
00:44:37,360 –> 00:44:42,840
husband, being a righteous man,
a just man, and not wanting to

865
00:44:42,840 –> 00:44:46,640
make a public example of her, he
was minded to put her away

866
00:44:46,640 –> 00:44:50,040
secretly.
See, I bet not many of us would

867
00:44:50,040 –> 00:44:53,240
have read the law that way.
I I know I wouldn’t have.

868
00:44:53,240 –> 00:44:55,520
As a young person, I used to
read the law and say, well, if

869
00:44:55,520 –> 00:44:58,440
it says that she should, she
should be stoned for, for being

870
00:44:58,440 –> 00:45:00,800
pregnant now and being patrolled
to him and she’s gone and

871
00:45:00,800 –> 00:45:02,960
faithful to him.
The law said we should all pick

872
00:45:02,960 –> 00:45:07,160
up stones and stone her.
That’s the way I read the law

873
00:45:08,040 –> 00:45:11,400
and I I wrong.
It’s wrong to read it that way.

874
00:45:11,400 –> 00:45:13,560
That isn’t really what it meant
it.

875
00:45:13,560 –> 00:45:17,600
It may be that that’s what we
deserve, yes, But mercy was

876
00:45:17,600 –> 00:45:21,040
always there to be extended God,
hoping that people would learn

877
00:45:21,040 –> 00:45:23,480
from their mistakes.
And in this case, wasn’t even

878
00:45:23,480 –> 00:45:26,280
Mary’s fault.
Look at how Jesus deals with

879
00:45:26,280 –> 00:45:29,480
this in Matthew chapter 12.
And again, these stories are

880
00:45:29,480 –> 00:45:33,160
here for us so that we should
understand how to read this law.

881
00:45:33,520 –> 00:45:35,840
At that time, Jesus went through
the grain fields, right?

882
00:45:35,840 –> 00:45:37,800
And the disciples were hungry,
and they began to pluck the

883
00:45:37,800 –> 00:45:40,080
heads of grain.
When the Pharisees saw it, they

884
00:45:40,080 –> 00:45:43,680
said to him, look, your
disciples aren’t doing what is

885
00:45:43,680 –> 00:45:45,200
lawful.
They’re not doing what they’re

886
00:45:45,200 –> 00:45:47,200
doing what is not lawful to do
on the Sabbath.

887
00:45:47,440 –> 00:45:51,240
They’re breaking this rule.
They’re not following the rules,

888
00:45:51,240 –> 00:45:52,840
right?
We’re all good at that.

889
00:45:52,840 –> 00:45:56,880
We watch people and we can so
easily say they’re not following

890
00:45:56,880 –> 00:45:59,440
the rules.
And then Jesus, what does he say

891
00:45:59,440 –> 00:46:02,040
back to them?
Haven’t you read?

892
00:46:02,920 –> 00:46:06,680
Didn’t you read your Bibles?
And didn’t you notice what David

893
00:46:06,680 –> 00:46:09,480
did when he was hungry and and
he and those that were with him,

894
00:46:09,720 –> 00:46:13,920
how he entered the House of God
and ate the showbread, which was

895
00:46:13,920 –> 00:46:18,560
not lawful for him to eat.
David broke the law and wasn’t

896
00:46:18,560 –> 00:46:23,080
lawful for him to do it and and
God accepted that and and what

897
00:46:23,080 –> 00:46:26,080
is what do you learn from that?
Is that just like a special

898
00:46:26,080 –> 00:46:27,760
exception that David could get
away?

899
00:46:27,760 –> 00:46:30,240
Is that how you read that that
God just made an exception in

900
00:46:30,240 –> 00:46:34,120
his case or or do you start to
understand that What do you do

901
00:46:34,120 –> 00:46:37,200
with the Sabbath, as Jesus says
in the end that the Sabbath was

902
00:46:37,200 –> 00:46:39,440
made for man not man for the
Sabbath.

903
00:46:39,720 –> 00:46:43,320
So when you go to rank God’s
laws which one are you going to

904
00:46:43,320 –> 00:46:46,480
put on the higher scale?
The fact that we love our

905
00:46:46,480 –> 00:46:49,320
neighbor as ourselves or that we
got to keep the Sabbath.

906
00:46:49,320 –> 00:46:51,400
So I’m pure.
Which one are you going to hold

907
00:46:51,400 –> 00:46:53,520
up?
Which one do you give the

908
00:46:53,520 –> 00:46:56,200
greater weight to?
And and if you’re like me

909
00:46:56,200 –> 00:46:58,760
growing up, it would be we got
to keep the Sabbath.

910
00:46:59,200 –> 00:47:01,120
We shouldn’t break this law.
Can’t do this.

911
00:47:01,600 –> 00:47:04,320
But then whatever happened to
love your neighbor as yourself

912
00:47:04,320 –> 00:47:06,520
And these people are hungry and
they need to be fed.

913
00:47:06,880 –> 00:47:07,960
Where?
Where’s that?

914
00:47:08,560 –> 00:47:11,920
Well, you just conveniently
forget about that one.

915
00:47:12,720 –> 00:47:17,240
But Jesus is always ranking
rules, and what what comes out

916
00:47:17,240 –> 00:47:21,080
on top is treating people with
the love of God.

917
00:47:21,080 –> 00:47:24,040
I don’t know whether you’ve ever
noticed that, but that is the

918
00:47:24,040 –> 00:47:25,840
number one rule that got us
after.

919
00:47:25,840 –> 00:47:29,200
He cares about people.
He cares about the widows and

920
00:47:29,200 –> 00:47:32,720
the orphans, He cares about all
of the people and how we treat

921
00:47:32,720 –> 00:47:34,680
them.
And it’s just so clear.

922
00:47:34,680 –> 00:47:37,000
Like look at the other case.
He brings up the priests in the

923
00:47:37,000 –> 00:47:39,520
temple.
They profane the Sabbath and are

924
00:47:39,520 –> 00:47:42,360
blameless.
They broke the rules and they’re

925
00:47:42,360 –> 00:47:45,000
blameless.
That’s OK, because they’re doing

926
00:47:45,000 –> 00:47:48,360
something on the Sabbath day and
and keeping all of the things

927
00:47:48,360 –> 00:47:49,880
that were going on within the
temple.

928
00:47:50,200 –> 00:47:51,960
And so look at how he ends that
section.

929
00:47:51,960 –> 00:47:57,720
But if you had known what this
means, I desire mercy and not

930
00:47:57,720 –> 00:48:01,560
sacrifice.
I want mercy, not some legal law

931
00:48:01,560 –> 00:48:04,000
that you’re keeping.
I want mercy.

932
00:48:04,200 –> 00:48:07,040
Then you would not have
condemned the guiltless.

933
00:48:08,040 –> 00:48:10,600
Well, that’s serious, brother
and sisters, because for all of

934
00:48:10,600 –> 00:48:12,640
us, I hope we go home challenged
this week.

935
00:48:12,960 –> 00:48:15,760
You got to think about decisions
you’ve made in a collegial life

936
00:48:15,760 –> 00:48:18,360
about other people.
You got to think about these

937
00:48:18,360 –> 00:48:20,920
things that are the decisions
that we make about people that

938
00:48:20,920 –> 00:48:24,040
that commit sins or things that
the that our children and other

939
00:48:24,040 –> 00:48:27,360
people have done.
You may be careful because you

940
00:48:27,360 –> 00:48:32,840
could be condemning what God
would consider the guiltless and

941
00:48:32,840 –> 00:48:35,400
you feel totally justified
because you have your rules.

942
00:48:35,920 –> 00:48:38,040
The rules all said they couldn’t
do this, they’re not supposed to

943
00:48:38,040 –> 00:48:40,560
do this.
And we put those rules so high

944
00:48:40,560 –> 00:48:43,640
up there, we’ve lost track of
loving our neighbor as our self.

945
00:48:44,280 –> 00:48:47,320
I really think those, those are
some of the guiding principles I

946
00:48:47,320 –> 00:48:51,240
found for my life that wow,
that’s made a huge difference in

947
00:48:51,240 –> 00:48:54,320
how I approach people today.
So I’ll leave it at that for

948
00:48:54,320 –> 00:48:57,640
today and thanks very much and
give you a few things to think

949
00:48:57,640 –> 00:48:59,640
about.
Enjoy that much?