WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.779 I'm going to invite you to join me in the Word 00:00:03.779 --> 00:00:07.740 of God. We're continuing our series, Love Matters, 00:00:07.740 --> 00:00:10.660 and it's my prayer that through this series, 00:00:10.820 --> 00:00:16.500 you've been able to learn about love and walk 00:00:16.500 --> 00:00:21.260 away with a clear definition of what God's love 00:00:21.260 --> 00:00:24.480 can do for you and what it can do for your life, 00:00:24.519 --> 00:00:27.320 your family, your relationships, for others. 00:00:27.420 --> 00:00:30.800 And so we're going to... Go into the next installment 00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:36.340 today. John chapter 1. This is the base chapter 00:00:36.340 --> 00:00:41.539 that we've been looking at. John chapter, 1 John, 00:00:41.640 --> 00:00:44.939 excuse me, chapter 4. 1 John chapter 4 and verse 00:00:44.939 --> 00:00:48.859 20. And I'll be reading just two verses there. 00:00:48.920 --> 00:00:54.000 It says, if someone says, I love God and hates 00:00:54.000 --> 00:01:01.420 his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not 00:01:01.420 --> 00:01:06.480 love his brother whom he has seen, how can he 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:13.000 love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment 00:01:13.000 --> 00:01:17.700 we have from him, that he who loves God must 00:01:17.700 --> 00:01:30.170 love his brother also. Somebody say amen. A cactus. 00:01:33.969 --> 00:01:37.510 I'll explain what that means. You might already 00:01:37.510 --> 00:01:41.450 be able to use your imagination hugging a cactus. 00:01:41.489 --> 00:01:43.769 Let's just pray briefly and thank God for his 00:01:43.769 --> 00:01:46.689 spirit that we feel today. Father, we love you 00:01:46.689 --> 00:01:48.409 today. We thank you for what you're doing in 00:01:48.409 --> 00:01:52.849 our midst. Visiting us in such a profound and 00:01:52.849 --> 00:01:58.109 tangible way. And we're grateful. every opportunity 00:01:58.109 --> 00:02:00.269 we're given to come into this place and lift 00:02:00.269 --> 00:02:03.010 up holy hands to worship your name together. 00:02:03.329 --> 00:02:06.810 And now, God, speak to us, challenge us, form 00:02:06.810 --> 00:02:10.629 us, disciple us through your word. Help us to 00:02:10.629 --> 00:02:13.949 grow into being the more authentic, more believable 00:02:13.949 --> 00:02:17.349 in our faith. I pray this in Jesus' name. And 00:02:17.349 --> 00:02:20.449 anoint my lips that every word that comes forth 00:02:20.449 --> 00:02:24.539 will be seasoned with holy salts. would be received 00:02:24.539 --> 00:02:27.199 in our hearts. In Jesus' name we pray. Somebody 00:02:27.199 --> 00:02:30.000 say amen. All right, you may be seated in God's 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:35.659 presence. So, I once heard someone describe loving, 00:02:35.759 --> 00:02:44.340 difficult people as hugging a cactus. And it 00:02:44.340 --> 00:02:47.460 sounds funny at first, but the more you think 00:02:47.460 --> 00:02:54.000 about it, the more it makes sense. You can approach 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:58.360 a cactus with the best intentions in the world. 00:02:59.439 --> 00:03:04.479 You can mean well. You can be sincere. But if 00:03:04.479 --> 00:03:10.539 you squeeze too tightly or get too close without 00:03:10.539 --> 00:03:17.740 wisdom, you're going to get hurt. And if you've 00:03:17.740 --> 00:03:19.759 ever touched a cactus, then you know exactly 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:22.750 what I'm talking about. Talking about the plant, 00:03:22.830 --> 00:03:27.689 that is. Looks can be deceiving. How many of 00:03:27.689 --> 00:03:31.069 you ever have seen a flower on a cactus? There 00:03:31.069 --> 00:03:34.409 are some cactuses that bloom, have flowers, and 00:03:34.409 --> 00:03:37.669 they're beautiful. I've seen some very beautiful 00:03:37.669 --> 00:03:40.150 -looking cactuses, and some of you have them 00:03:40.150 --> 00:03:43.469 in your gardens or in your home. They're very 00:03:43.469 --> 00:03:48.889 resilient, too. So this is a special plant, and 00:03:48.889 --> 00:03:53.560 I'm not here to give you a... a lesson, a science 00:03:53.560 --> 00:03:56.180 lesson on cactuses. But we know enough about 00:03:56.180 --> 00:03:59.120 them to know that as nice as they look from afar, 00:03:59.400 --> 00:04:02.379 the closer you get, the more you have to be aware 00:04:02.379 --> 00:04:06.159 of what it is that you're approaching. Now, the 00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:09.099 problem when we look at relationships and love, 00:04:09.180 --> 00:04:11.900 the problem is that it's not that you're not 00:04:11.900 --> 00:04:15.199 trying to love, which I think most of us do. 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:18.360 It's that you're hugging or what you're hugging 00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:24.879 could have thorns. Or sharp edges. And relationships 00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:28.819 can feel exactly like that. You try to be kind 00:04:28.819 --> 00:04:35.620 and you get criticized. Try to make peace and 00:04:35.620 --> 00:04:41.399 you get pricked. You reach out and you walk away 00:04:41.399 --> 00:04:46.560 wounded. That's just a part of life. Loving, 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:51.569 difficult people can feel like... hugging a cactus. 00:04:53.610 --> 00:04:56.050 The question isn't whether we're called to love. 00:04:56.209 --> 00:04:59.589 How many of you know we're called to love? I 00:04:59.589 --> 00:05:00.930 said, how many of you know we're called to love? 00:05:02.730 --> 00:05:04.750 That's not really the question. Scripture has 00:05:04.750 --> 00:05:07.529 already settled that issue for us. The real question 00:05:07.529 --> 00:05:13.870 is how to love when it hurts. And this is the 00:05:13.870 --> 00:05:17.670 tension that lies at the heart of John's writing 00:05:17.670 --> 00:05:22.819 in 1 John. Chapter 4. He's not talking about 00:05:22.819 --> 00:05:30.300 loving ideal people in ideal situations. He's 00:05:30.300 --> 00:05:36.620 talking about real people in real situations. 00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:41.920 And he makes something crystal clear for us. 00:05:43.100 --> 00:05:48.620 If I can summarize what he's writing. it would 00:05:48.620 --> 00:05:54.560 be this, that you cannot be right with God while 00:05:54.560 --> 00:06:00.860 staying wrong with your brother. I'll repeat 00:06:00.860 --> 00:06:04.560 that. You cannot be right with God while staying 00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:09.959 wrong with your brother. No amount of self -professed 00:06:09.959 --> 00:06:16.800 love for God, no amount of rule -keeping, no 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:19.699 amount of... holiness, no amount of anything 00:06:19.699 --> 00:06:25.120 can compensate or can make up the difference 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:31.120 for strife with your brother. And New Testament 00:06:31.120 --> 00:06:35.600 teaching is filled with, not only in the words 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:38.860 of Christ and his teaching, but also in the letters 00:06:38.860 --> 00:06:43.120 of the apostles, filled with instruction and 00:06:43.120 --> 00:06:49.089 examples of this very thing. Even so much that 00:06:49.089 --> 00:06:53.230 Bible teaches with regards to the gifts that 00:06:53.230 --> 00:06:56.589 we may offer God, worship and praise, that if 00:06:56.589 --> 00:07:00.389 we have an ought with or if we are in contention 00:07:00.389 --> 00:07:04.769 with a brother, that we ought to leave that gift 00:07:04.769 --> 00:07:08.250 and go make amends and make things right and 00:07:08.250 --> 00:07:11.529 then come back to that altar of gift giving and 00:07:11.529 --> 00:07:16.439 worship unto God. So God is very clear. In this 00:07:16.439 --> 00:07:19.300 principle of even if you want to know me better 00:07:19.300 --> 00:07:23.379 and approach me, you can't do so at the expense 00:07:23.379 --> 00:07:32.100 of others. And so today I want to, in the fear 00:07:32.100 --> 00:07:35.160 of God, be as practical and as helpful. I want 00:07:35.160 --> 00:07:39.660 to be helpful today in the Holy Ghost and through 00:07:39.660 --> 00:07:43.360 the Word of God to show you what exactly we can 00:07:43.360 --> 00:07:47.120 do because... As I talk, as I teach, as I preach, 00:07:47.220 --> 00:07:50.860 you're going to, without doubt, imagine scenarios 00:07:50.860 --> 00:07:55.139 in your own life, people that are not easy to 00:07:55.139 --> 00:07:59.699 love. But John, he begins to hammer this point. 00:07:59.879 --> 00:08:04.379 He hammers it by saying, if someone says, I love 00:08:04.379 --> 00:08:09.100 God, which is something that I think we all say. 00:08:10.730 --> 00:08:13.629 He says, if they say I love God and hate his 00:08:13.629 --> 00:08:21.990 brother, he is a liar. Whew, that's heavy. That 00:08:21.990 --> 00:08:24.910 is heavy stuff right there. Amen. Somebody say 00:08:24.910 --> 00:08:30.389 that's heavy. And he is basically pointing out 00:08:30.389 --> 00:08:33.289 one of the biggest contradictions, one of the 00:08:33.289 --> 00:08:36.070 greatest contradictions in Christianity, which 00:08:36.070 --> 00:08:43.389 is to love God. with your mouth while despising 00:08:43.389 --> 00:08:49.629 your brother in your heart. That is perhaps one 00:08:49.629 --> 00:08:53.990 of the greatest contradictions in the Christian 00:08:53.990 --> 00:09:00.509 faith is to profess, I love you, God, while at 00:09:00.509 --> 00:09:05.950 the same time holding active contempt, scorn, 00:09:06.230 --> 00:09:11.309 animosity. or hate towards your brother in your 00:09:11.309 --> 00:09:14.490 heart. So he hammers this point and he makes 00:09:14.490 --> 00:09:17.529 things very black and white for us. I'm here 00:09:17.529 --> 00:09:19.269 today to tell you that there's not a lot of gray 00:09:19.269 --> 00:09:22.210 area in what John is writing and the things that 00:09:22.210 --> 00:09:25.370 we're going to look at and cover today. And his 00:09:25.370 --> 00:09:29.789 second statement hits equally hard. When he writes, 00:09:29.850 --> 00:09:33.870 he who does not love his brother whom he has 00:09:33.870 --> 00:09:38.360 seen, how can he love God? whom he has not seen. 00:09:38.980 --> 00:09:44.879 Again, this is huge. Our love for God, the unseen, 00:09:45.220 --> 00:09:49.299 the invisible God, he's saying, is authenticated 00:09:49.299 --> 00:09:53.840 by our love for the visible and seen brother. 00:09:54.539 --> 00:09:58.639 Now, I think this is key for us believers today 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:01.620 because what I have observed, this is just... 00:10:01.929 --> 00:10:04.509 My anecdotal observation, this is what Pastor 00:10:04.509 --> 00:10:07.370 Jacob has observed, not only in my ministry, 00:10:07.549 --> 00:10:10.590 but just being a product of being in the church 00:10:10.590 --> 00:10:13.470 for all of my life, I can tell you that what 00:10:13.470 --> 00:10:16.269 I've observed is that Christians by and large, 00:10:16.529 --> 00:10:20.669 maybe not you, but in general, have it in reverse, 00:10:20.809 --> 00:10:24.929 what I am saying here, what John is saying. They 00:10:24.929 --> 00:10:27.870 believe through either their actions or their 00:10:27.870 --> 00:10:33.490 words that... That the authenticity of their 00:10:33.490 --> 00:10:36.710 faith is found purely in their love for God. 00:10:36.809 --> 00:10:40.950 They assume that their love for God proves that 00:10:40.950 --> 00:10:46.389 they love others. That if I'm close, if I just 00:10:46.389 --> 00:10:48.710 get closer to God, if I'm the closest one to 00:10:48.710 --> 00:10:52.850 God, that validates that I am a loving person 00:10:52.850 --> 00:10:56.750 in general to others. That proves something. 00:10:58.350 --> 00:11:00.970 And what Scripture is saying is that if that's 00:11:00.970 --> 00:11:04.710 how you think, you have it backwards. Your love 00:11:04.710 --> 00:11:10.350 for God is validated by how you love your seen 00:11:10.350 --> 00:11:15.950 brother. That flips our logic on its head because, 00:11:16.009 --> 00:11:19.509 again, there is this idea that if I, as long 00:11:19.509 --> 00:11:24.759 as I'm good with God, I'm good. You can't. Hold 00:11:24.759 --> 00:11:27.220 to that view in your life. Live by that code 00:11:27.220 --> 00:11:31.799 of conduct and not find yourself convicted at 00:11:31.799 --> 00:11:34.899 some point by the word of God because Scripture 00:11:34.899 --> 00:11:38.100 is teaching us that it's not enough just to say, 00:11:38.179 --> 00:11:41.799 I love God. There is both a vertical responsibility 00:11:41.799 --> 00:11:46.000 and a horizontal responsibility. We must love 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:49.200 God, as Jesus said, with all of our hearts. Amen? 00:11:49.899 --> 00:11:51.919 You shall love the Lord your God with all your 00:11:51.919 --> 00:11:53.899 heart, with all your soul, your strength, and 00:11:53.899 --> 00:11:57.899 your mind, and you shall love your neighbor as 00:11:57.899 --> 00:12:03.399 yourself. So it's not one or the other, it's 00:12:03.399 --> 00:12:08.019 both. Amen. Now, all of this sounds great on 00:12:08.019 --> 00:12:10.519 the surface. You're like, well, I, you know, 00:12:10.539 --> 00:12:12.919 I don't object to that, maybe you're thinking. 00:12:14.820 --> 00:12:18.570 Sounds great when you... Think about just loving 00:12:18.570 --> 00:12:23.730 easy people. But the story is different when 00:12:23.730 --> 00:12:29.710 it comes to loving cactus people. I didn't come 00:12:29.710 --> 00:12:32.190 today to tell you how to love people you already 00:12:32.190 --> 00:12:37.129 love. And you're not going to get any credit 00:12:37.129 --> 00:12:40.830 for that either. The archangel is not going to 00:12:40.830 --> 00:12:42.590 put a star next to your name in heaven because 00:12:42.590 --> 00:12:46.929 you love loving people. You don't grow as a believer 00:12:46.929 --> 00:12:49.289 that way. You don't grow as a disciple that way. 00:12:50.210 --> 00:12:54.809 We grow and we are rewarded for how we love those 00:12:54.809 --> 00:13:00.909 that are difficult, cactus people. So this is 00:13:00.909 --> 00:13:03.289 a different story. And when you start to look 00:13:03.289 --> 00:13:06.769 at it from that perspective, through those lenses, 00:13:07.190 --> 00:13:10.429 what John is telling us, let's just be honest 00:13:10.429 --> 00:13:12.750 here. Can we be honest? It almost sounds like 00:13:12.750 --> 00:13:18.159 an impossible standard. Like, is God really going 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:21.159 to hold me to that standard? Is that really the 00:13:21.159 --> 00:13:26.240 bar that is being set for me? It starts to feel 00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:29.460 impossible. How do we reconcile these truths? 00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:33.679 How do we reconcile these bold truths with loving 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:35.960 those difficult people? Well, today I'm going 00:13:35.960 --> 00:13:38.700 to offer you some clarity on that, some peace 00:13:38.700 --> 00:13:42.799 of mind, amen, on how to love those cactus people. 00:13:42.879 --> 00:13:44.879 The first thing I want to impart to you today 00:13:44.879 --> 00:13:47.360 is that and there's going to be three points 00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:49.620 about love. Number one is that love doesn't require 00:13:49.620 --> 00:13:57.080 comfort. Doesn't require comfort. God's not asking 00:13:57.080 --> 00:13:58.700 you to feel comfortable about the people you 00:13:58.700 --> 00:14:03.419 love. That's not even part of the equation. In 00:14:03.419 --> 00:14:05.240 fact, it has nothing to do with how you feel. 00:14:06.100 --> 00:14:09.320 God knows perfectly well that these commands 00:14:09.320 --> 00:14:16.100 will put us in some real -life dilemmas. In situations 00:14:16.100 --> 00:14:20.820 that make us emotionally uncomfortable. And God 00:14:20.820 --> 00:14:23.700 gets all of that. And he understands all of that. 00:14:23.720 --> 00:14:27.860 And he realizes that. God knows that these commands 00:14:27.860 --> 00:14:34.039 are not easy to follow. But they are true. And 00:14:34.039 --> 00:14:37.399 he expects us to do that. And he calls us to 00:14:37.399 --> 00:14:40.080 do it. And you know, it's not unreasonable for 00:14:40.080 --> 00:14:42.940 God. to expect us to do these things, because 00:14:42.940 --> 00:14:47.100 if you and I are recipients of his perfect love, 00:14:47.399 --> 00:14:52.279 if we, in our unlovable, unlikable state, found 00:14:52.279 --> 00:14:55.860 God's love in our life, if we are all benefiting 00:14:55.860 --> 00:14:59.899 from the love of God, how many of you know that 00:14:59.899 --> 00:15:03.759 God loved us when we were unlovable? Come on, 00:15:03.860 --> 00:15:06.360 amen, somebody. So how many of you know he loved 00:15:06.360 --> 00:15:11.529 us? So in the mind of God, it's not easy, but 00:15:11.529 --> 00:15:15.509 it's completely reasonable to expect that since 00:15:15.509 --> 00:15:19.529 we have been freely loved in our unlovable state, 00:15:19.690 --> 00:15:24.429 because we are on opposite ends of God, we are 00:15:24.429 --> 00:15:28.649 everything that is not like God in our humanity. 00:15:29.740 --> 00:15:33.460 Yet God still loved us. So nowhere did God ever 00:15:33.460 --> 00:15:36.120 say that these things are easy. There's not an 00:15:36.120 --> 00:15:39.019 easy button that you can push today. It's easy 00:15:39.019 --> 00:15:41.200 to love God, of course, because God's perfect. 00:15:42.399 --> 00:15:45.840 God's perfect in all his ways. But humans are 00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:51.539 not. Amen. Humans are not perfect. Humans are 00:15:51.539 --> 00:15:59.100 not God. Some think they are. Loving difficult 00:15:59.100 --> 00:16:03.100 people is the litmus test of genuine Christianity. 00:16:03.259 --> 00:16:10.940 It will test you. Amen. It will stretch you. 00:16:11.720 --> 00:16:17.220 It will mature you. In fact, I am a firm believer 00:16:17.220 --> 00:16:21.220 that most of the things that we ask God to mold, 00:16:21.360 --> 00:16:24.299 to make, to develop in us, in our lives, in our 00:16:24.299 --> 00:16:27.549 faith, I don't care how spiritual it is. God 00:16:27.549 --> 00:16:31.950 uses people in our life to work those things 00:16:31.950 --> 00:16:38.789 out. If you say, I want to grow in grace, and 00:16:38.789 --> 00:16:40.470 God will send you somebody who's ungrateful. 00:16:42.370 --> 00:16:45.029 I want to grow in patience. Be careful what you 00:16:45.029 --> 00:16:49.029 ask for. God will put you around some impatient 00:16:49.029 --> 00:16:54.070 people. Or things that test your patience. People 00:16:54.070 --> 00:17:00.279 who test your patience. I want to be more forgiving. 00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:05.700 Whoa. God's going to put people around you that 00:17:05.700 --> 00:17:07.940 are going to hurt you, hurt your feelings and 00:17:07.940 --> 00:17:10.920 offend you that you're going to have to forgive. 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:18.160 Almost every virtue in New Testament Christian 00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:22.960 living is going to be developed, worked out in 00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:26.900 the context of human relationships. Practically 00:17:26.900 --> 00:17:29.630 everything. Except maybe your prayer life. And 00:17:29.630 --> 00:17:31.809 even then that might get challenged in a human 00:17:31.809 --> 00:17:36.109 relationship. But it's going to mature you. The 00:17:36.109 --> 00:17:40.289 true measure of maturity is how you love when 00:17:40.289 --> 00:17:43.930 things get uncomfortable. When they get complicated. 00:17:44.309 --> 00:17:48.269 When they get tense. That is the true test of 00:17:48.269 --> 00:17:54.450 maturity. How you love when it's not easy. Christians 00:17:54.450 --> 00:17:56.529 mistakenly believe that the role of the Holy 00:17:56.529 --> 00:18:00.980 Spirit called our comforter, is supposed to make 00:18:00.980 --> 00:18:05.779 everything comfortable. Don't mistake the title 00:18:05.779 --> 00:18:08.359 of him being the comforter as making everything 00:18:08.359 --> 00:18:10.980 comfortable. That's not the role of the Holy 00:18:10.980 --> 00:18:13.880 Spirit, to make everything comfortable, to make 00:18:13.880 --> 00:18:17.640 loving people easy. The role of the Holy Spirit 00:18:17.640 --> 00:18:23.660 is not to make loving people easy. It's to make 00:18:23.660 --> 00:18:29.680 loving people possible. Never said it would be 00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:34.200 easy, but it will be possible, doable, achievable. 00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:39.079 You should be able to achieve some level of success 00:18:39.079 --> 00:18:43.700 in doing that and trying. So this is what the 00:18:43.700 --> 00:18:45.559 comforter does. It doesn't make things comfortable. 00:18:45.700 --> 00:18:47.559 It makes it possible. It doesn't always remove 00:18:47.559 --> 00:18:50.579 difficult people from our life. Thank God when 00:18:50.579 --> 00:18:53.789 he does, but he doesn't always do that. So when 00:18:53.789 --> 00:18:56.309 God doesn't remove a difficult person from your 00:18:56.309 --> 00:18:59.690 life, then what is your option? The option must 00:18:59.690 --> 00:19:05.710 be to change your response to that person. If 00:19:05.710 --> 00:19:07.630 that person's gonna be in your life in one way 00:19:07.630 --> 00:19:11.450 or another, if you can't avoid it, if you can't 00:19:11.450 --> 00:19:17.430 get out from it, it's there, then that's an opportunity 00:19:17.430 --> 00:19:20.829 for God, for the Holy Spirit to work, to mature, 00:19:20.970 --> 00:19:24.220 to disciple you in a way That your response to 00:19:24.220 --> 00:19:26.779 that situation, that person changes. You may 00:19:26.779 --> 00:19:29.579 not be able to change that person. Oh, it's frustrating 00:19:29.579 --> 00:19:31.680 when you try to change somebody who refuses to 00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:36.279 change. Amen. You may not be able to change that 00:19:36.279 --> 00:19:38.740 person. So when you can't change a person that 00:19:38.740 --> 00:19:42.059 is hard to love, then you must change your response 00:19:42.059 --> 00:19:48.099 to them. Amen. I hope this is going to help somebody 00:19:48.099 --> 00:19:52.420 today. Amen. And maybe nobody's going to, you 00:19:52.420 --> 00:19:54.339 know, run around the church today because of 00:19:54.339 --> 00:19:56.559 this message, but trust me, you'll be running 00:19:56.559 --> 00:20:01.440 in your heart later. Number two is that love, 00:20:01.720 --> 00:20:05.180 this is another point of clarity. That's what 00:20:05.180 --> 00:20:07.319 this message is today, is to clarify something. 00:20:07.720 --> 00:20:13.200 Love doesn't equal agreement. I feel like I'm 00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:14.779 really going to help somebody with this one. 00:20:15.940 --> 00:20:22.369 Somebody say, help me. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul 00:20:22.369 --> 00:20:25.170 lists the attributes of love. 1 Corinthians 13 00:20:25.170 --> 00:20:29.289 is often called the love chapter. And he suggests 00:20:29.289 --> 00:20:32.849 and lists all the attributes there, but he never 00:20:32.849 --> 00:20:37.609 suggests that love ignores mistreatment or excuses 00:20:37.609 --> 00:20:40.990 sin. Never in the attributes and the characteristics 00:20:40.990 --> 00:20:44.670 of love is it ever implied that we are to overlook 00:20:44.670 --> 00:20:50.349 wrong. Or excuse sin. He never implies that to 00:20:50.349 --> 00:20:53.230 love somebody means to agree with their choices. 00:20:54.910 --> 00:20:59.410 Or how those choices affect you. Some have this 00:20:59.410 --> 00:21:03.490 flawed, skewed understanding that to love somebody 00:21:03.490 --> 00:21:06.869 means that I have to agree with their choices. 00:21:07.210 --> 00:21:10.269 To agree with what they're doing. To be on board. 00:21:10.390 --> 00:21:13.589 To co -sign on their... lifestyle decisions, 00:21:13.670 --> 00:21:15.970 to co -sign on what they're doing. That's not 00:21:15.970 --> 00:21:19.190 what love is. Instead, he writes this in verse 00:21:19.190 --> 00:21:22.170 4 of 1 Corinthians 13. Love suffers long and 00:21:22.170 --> 00:21:26.470 is kind. Love does not envy. Love does not parade 00:21:26.470 --> 00:21:31.670 itself. It is not puffed up, not proud. Does 00:21:31.670 --> 00:21:35.309 not behave rudely. Does not seek its own. Is 00:21:35.309 --> 00:21:39.230 not provoked. Thinks no evil. Thinks no evil. 00:21:39.390 --> 00:21:43.819 Does not rejoice in iniquity. But rejoices in 00:21:43.819 --> 00:21:46.319 the truth, bears all things, believes all things, 00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:50.819 hopes all things, endures all things. Notice 00:21:50.819 --> 00:21:53.279 something critical here. In the middle of Paul 00:21:53.279 --> 00:21:57.299 describing to us how to be more patient and kind 00:21:57.299 --> 00:22:02.680 and enduring, humble, he's telling us these things 00:22:02.680 --> 00:22:05.200 about love. He stops there in the middle and 00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:08.940 tells us that love does not rejoice in iniquity. 00:22:10.440 --> 00:22:12.619 He says love doesn't rejoice in iniquity. In 00:22:12.619 --> 00:22:15.000 other words, love doesn't celebrate wrongdoing. 00:22:15.740 --> 00:22:20.680 It doesn't enable sin. It doesn't compromise 00:22:20.680 --> 00:22:24.380 truth for the sake of convenience. Something 00:22:24.380 --> 00:22:27.000 that we have to, as believers, understand. There 00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:29.859 is a big difference between peacekeeping and 00:22:29.859 --> 00:22:34.099 peacemaking. Jesus said, blessed are the peacemakers. 00:22:36.440 --> 00:22:39.380 Peacekeeping is the opposite of peacemaking because 00:22:39.380 --> 00:22:42.380 what peacekeeping does is sometimes we will love 00:22:42.380 --> 00:22:46.279 at the expense of truth, at the expense of, you 00:22:46.279 --> 00:22:48.839 know, rocking the boat, so to speak. And so we 00:22:48.839 --> 00:22:50.859 just sort of get along to go along or go along 00:22:50.859 --> 00:22:53.299 to get along. And we don't want to disrupt and 00:22:53.299 --> 00:22:55.500 we don't want to confront. And that's not what 00:22:55.500 --> 00:22:57.960 true love is. If sin is being committed, then 00:22:57.960 --> 00:23:00.519 it must be confronted. And if wrong is there, 00:23:00.660 --> 00:23:04.259 then while we love and while we are being kind 00:23:04.259 --> 00:23:08.059 and being, forbearing and enduring and believing, 00:23:08.279 --> 00:23:11.400 we are to never compromise our moral and our 00:23:11.400 --> 00:23:14.880 biblical standard. Amen, somebody. We're never 00:23:14.880 --> 00:23:17.099 to put our convictions or the word of God to 00:23:17.099 --> 00:23:19.440 the side because, well, I'm just, you know, I'm 00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:21.779 supposed to love, so I've got to agree with what's 00:23:21.779 --> 00:23:27.279 happening even if it's hurting me. So this is 00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:30.420 how to liberate somebody today in a relationship, 00:23:30.500 --> 00:23:35.849 in a situation, an area of your life where, You're 00:23:35.849 --> 00:23:37.990 loving somebody or you're called to love someone 00:23:37.990 --> 00:23:40.809 that is difficult to love. Oh, not just that. 00:23:40.829 --> 00:23:44.150 You could talk about family members. You might 00:23:44.150 --> 00:23:45.849 be thinking about a coworker. You might be thinking 00:23:45.849 --> 00:23:47.109 about a neighbor. You might be thinking about 00:23:47.109 --> 00:23:50.069 somebody in a social environment or someone that 00:23:50.069 --> 00:23:52.349 you have to work with or you have to see on a 00:23:52.349 --> 00:23:55.190 daily basis or whatever the case might be. It 00:23:55.190 --> 00:23:57.789 might be a brother or sister in the church. And 00:23:57.789 --> 00:24:00.410 what we're seeing here today is that we are not 00:24:00.410 --> 00:24:04.349 to celebrate wrongdoing. But we are still to 00:24:04.349 --> 00:24:06.269 be kind. We are still to be long -suffering. 00:24:06.410 --> 00:24:09.029 We are not to envy. So do all those things, but 00:24:09.029 --> 00:24:12.349 yet hold on to what is true. In Ephesians 4, 00:24:12.470 --> 00:24:17.869 15, it tells us to speak the truth in love. Don't 00:24:17.869 --> 00:24:22.269 be brash. Don't be snarky. Don't be in the flesh. 00:24:22.349 --> 00:24:25.470 Don't be carnal. But speak it in love. Somebody 00:24:25.470 --> 00:24:29.650 say in love. So that I may grow up in all things. 00:24:29.849 --> 00:24:33.839 Amen. That means that truth must be wrapped in 00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:40.000 love. But it still must be true. Proverbs 27, 00:24:40.339 --> 00:24:43.960 6, faithful are the wounds of a friend. But the 00:24:43.960 --> 00:24:50.400 kisses, watch out who's kissing you. Of the enemy 00:24:50.400 --> 00:24:54.140 are deceitful. You got to be careful. What I 00:24:54.140 --> 00:24:55.420 mean by kidding, I don't just mean physical. 00:24:55.539 --> 00:24:57.039 Well, you got to watch out who's, you know, trying. 00:24:58.019 --> 00:25:03.440 Hallelujah. But I mean, by kisses, it's not talking 00:25:03.440 --> 00:25:06.660 about just a natural physical kiss. It's talking 00:25:06.660 --> 00:25:09.339 about people who are constantly flattering you 00:25:09.339 --> 00:25:11.799 and saying what you want to hear and never confronting 00:25:11.799 --> 00:25:15.779 and never rocking the boat. There's a bit of 00:25:15.779 --> 00:25:17.339 deceitfulness in that because they're probably 00:25:17.339 --> 00:25:22.079 not telling you how they really feel. And maybe 00:25:22.079 --> 00:25:23.680 they're not because in some way they're trying 00:25:23.680 --> 00:25:25.619 to manipulate the relationship to continue to 00:25:25.619 --> 00:25:28.180 get out of you what they need. And so if they 00:25:28.180 --> 00:25:30.119 say something that's a bit off or it's a bit 00:25:30.119 --> 00:25:32.140 in disagreement, that's on the opposite end. 00:25:32.900 --> 00:25:37.420 There are myriad ways or types of manipulations 00:25:37.420 --> 00:25:40.240 that go on as to why they wouldn't. But a true 00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:43.660 friend, faithful are the wounds of a friend. 00:25:44.269 --> 00:25:45.930 That doesn't mean a friend is just going to, 00:25:45.930 --> 00:25:47.309 you know, hit you in the back of the head for 00:25:47.309 --> 00:25:49.269 no reason. What it means is that they're going 00:25:49.269 --> 00:25:51.890 to speak the truth. And you know, sometimes the 00:25:51.890 --> 00:25:56.130 truth hurts. Sometimes the truth hurts. Love 00:25:56.130 --> 00:25:59.849 hurts. But this is what we need in order to be 00:25:59.849 --> 00:26:02.269 held accountable, in order to be kept honest, 00:26:02.529 --> 00:26:06.490 in order to be confronted in a godly, God -fearing, 00:26:06.549 --> 00:26:11.009 loving, Christian way. Amen, somebody. So thank 00:26:11.009 --> 00:26:14.500 the Lord that we was of a friend in Romans. 12 00:26:14.500 --> 00:26:20.079 .9, let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what 00:26:20.079 --> 00:26:26.960 is evil. Cling to what is good. Something about 00:26:26.960 --> 00:26:29.759 love is that love never loses its moral clarity. 00:26:32.099 --> 00:26:35.700 Doesn't blur the lines between right and wrong. 00:26:37.039 --> 00:26:41.180 It hates what is evil, but it also clings to 00:26:41.180 --> 00:26:45.410 what heals. I'm going to cling to the good, but 00:26:45.410 --> 00:26:47.529 I'm also going to hate what is wrong, what is 00:26:47.529 --> 00:26:51.809 sinful at the same time. I'm going to love the 00:26:51.809 --> 00:26:53.970 sinner, but I'm going to hate the sin that they're 00:26:53.970 --> 00:26:57.230 committing in their life. I'm going to love the 00:26:57.230 --> 00:27:00.160 person. I hate what they're doing. I hate how 00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:02.420 they're treating me or how they're treating another 00:27:02.420 --> 00:27:04.440 member of my family or how they're treating my 00:27:04.440 --> 00:27:07.059 coworker or my colleague at work or how they're 00:27:07.059 --> 00:27:09.039 treating my brother or my sister in the Lord. 00:27:09.119 --> 00:27:11.180 But I hate what they're doing, but I'm going 00:27:11.180 --> 00:27:13.759 to love them. Why? Because God calls me to love, 00:27:13.900 --> 00:27:21.279 to hug cactus people. This is where people get 00:27:21.279 --> 00:27:24.660 stuck right here. They assume that love means 00:27:24.660 --> 00:27:28.299 blindly accepting whatever. what anyone says 00:27:28.299 --> 00:27:33.119 or does. That's not what love is. Love does not 00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:36.559 require agreement. And some of us may have been 00:27:36.559 --> 00:27:38.839 struggling at one point or another in our life 00:27:38.839 --> 00:27:41.180 to love somebody because we think, well, that 00:27:41.180 --> 00:27:43.380 means I have to agree with what they're doing 00:27:43.380 --> 00:27:45.339 or their lives or how they're treating me or 00:27:45.339 --> 00:27:48.079 how they're treating others or just the situation 00:27:48.079 --> 00:27:50.559 in general that I have to agree. No, you don't 00:27:50.559 --> 00:27:53.420 have to necessarily agree, but you have to agree 00:27:53.420 --> 00:27:56.859 to love them. You have to make up in your mind 00:27:56.859 --> 00:27:59.039 to love them. It doesn't require agreement, but 00:27:59.039 --> 00:28:03.779 it does require Christ -like character. You can 00:28:03.779 --> 00:28:07.380 disagree without being divisive. Amen. You can 00:28:07.380 --> 00:28:09.960 disagree without being rude. You can disagree. 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:12.880 You can correct without being condemning. You 00:28:12.880 --> 00:28:17.140 can stand firm without stomping on top of somebody. 00:28:18.599 --> 00:28:22.000 Stand your ground and still be respectful. Stand 00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:25.769 your ground and still be loving, kind. and generous. 00:28:26.609 --> 00:28:30.349 Now these things are not easy to do. Again, it's 00:28:30.349 --> 00:28:34.130 not going to be easy. But someone here today 00:28:34.130 --> 00:28:37.970 needs to know that love doesn't require, it doesn't 00:28:37.970 --> 00:28:44.349 equal agreement. I don't have to agree with this 00:28:44.349 --> 00:28:48.450 person in order to love them. I might have different 00:28:48.450 --> 00:28:51.339 views. I might have different political views. 00:28:51.460 --> 00:28:53.920 I might have different views on a lot of things 00:28:53.920 --> 00:28:56.460 in life. You see, you call it red, I call it 00:28:56.460 --> 00:28:58.920 black. There's going to be differences of opinion. 00:28:59.220 --> 00:29:01.740 But can we still love? Can we still be the church? 00:29:04.059 --> 00:29:07.759 Within the last, I don't know, maybe, or certainly 00:29:07.759 --> 00:29:12.400 in the last four or five years, it's been disheartening 00:29:12.400 --> 00:29:16.549 to see, even over things like politics, Brothers 00:29:16.549 --> 00:29:19.150 and sisters falling out of communion with each 00:29:19.150 --> 00:29:21.730 other. Being called less of a Christian because 00:29:21.730 --> 00:29:24.950 you don't espouse to the same political view 00:29:24.950 --> 00:29:27.349 that I do. Whether it's right, left, Democrat, 00:29:27.549 --> 00:29:30.170 Republican. And it's got so toxic and hostile. 00:29:31.089 --> 00:29:34.769 You can hardly say anything on Facebook or Instagram 00:29:34.769 --> 00:29:36.990 or anywhere because automatically you get labeled 00:29:36.990 --> 00:29:38.789 and then you get typecast and then that's it. 00:29:40.450 --> 00:29:43.869 I've seen people lose relationships over that. 00:29:44.940 --> 00:29:48.339 Stop talking. If that's how you, I can't be friends. 00:29:48.440 --> 00:29:51.000 Even among family members. I feel like somebody 00:29:51.000 --> 00:29:53.000 here today, you don't have to shout amen, but 00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:55.940 even among family that gets difficult. Hello. 00:29:57.960 --> 00:30:00.140 Some of you might have had a tense Thanksgiving 00:30:00.140 --> 00:30:03.680 recently or tense Christmas. Like, man, I know 00:30:03.680 --> 00:30:15.349 if they bring it up. up if they show me that 00:30:15.349 --> 00:30:18.230 that clip or that meme I just might have to step 00:30:18.230 --> 00:30:20.369 off the cross for a little bit and just give 00:30:20.369 --> 00:30:24.230 them a piece of my mind no no no stay on the 00:30:24.230 --> 00:30:28.470 cross keep carrying the cross don't take the 00:30:28.470 --> 00:30:32.349 bait so you know what sometimes you have to love 00:30:32.349 --> 00:30:36.309 somebody enough not to argue with them because 00:30:36.309 --> 00:30:39.529 you know that in the end even if you win the 00:30:39.529 --> 00:30:45.930 argument you might lose the person So these are 00:30:45.930 --> 00:30:47.769 these moments where, thank God we have the Holy 00:30:47.769 --> 00:30:51.490 Ghost. Hallelujah. Thank God we have the Holy 00:30:51.490 --> 00:30:53.009 Ghost. And we've got to remind ourselves that 00:30:53.009 --> 00:30:55.829 we are children of God. We can't get caught up 00:30:55.829 --> 00:30:58.329 in those things. Now, that doesn't mean you ought 00:30:58.329 --> 00:31:00.609 not to have an opinion, hold a view. You do that, 00:31:00.630 --> 00:31:04.930 that's fine. There's going to be a variety. If 00:31:04.930 --> 00:31:08.529 I take a survey here, we're going to have, you 00:31:08.529 --> 00:31:11.150 know, 40, 50 different views on different things. 00:31:11.609 --> 00:31:15.269 But let's remember that we are God's children. 00:31:16.029 --> 00:31:18.970 And it's Christ. Someone say, it's Christ. It's 00:31:18.970 --> 00:31:21.809 Christ that brings us together. So at the end 00:31:21.809 --> 00:31:23.750 of the day, we might see things. There might 00:31:23.750 --> 00:31:26.329 even be some minor issues in Scripture that we 00:31:26.329 --> 00:31:28.970 don't see eye to eye on. Well, I interpret it 00:31:28.970 --> 00:31:30.829 this way. I interpret it that way. Are we going 00:31:30.829 --> 00:31:32.990 to fall out of communion based on how we interpret 00:31:32.990 --> 00:31:35.490 something that may not even be a heaven or hell 00:31:35.490 --> 00:31:39.289 issue? I tell you, there's brothers, I've got 00:31:39.289 --> 00:31:42.549 friends that are in different places, in different 00:31:42.549 --> 00:31:47.750 religious settings that we believe 99 % of the 00:31:47.750 --> 00:31:51.289 same things. But there's possibly 1 % that we 00:31:51.289 --> 00:31:56.049 don't see eye to eye on. And when those things 00:31:56.049 --> 00:31:58.609 happen, what is my responsibility as a Christian? 00:31:58.710 --> 00:32:04.190 Well, to maintain. If it's possible to maintain 00:32:04.190 --> 00:32:09.630 community, do all that is within your... Amen. 00:32:10.069 --> 00:32:15.549 To love. Number three is that love doesn't need. 00:32:15.670 --> 00:32:18.250 I feel like this is going to help somebody right 00:32:18.250 --> 00:32:22.730 here. Hallelujah. Love doesn't need proximity. 00:32:25.369 --> 00:32:31.390 Somebody say amen. This is probably your one. 00:32:31.509 --> 00:32:34.869 If there was one get out of jail free card, this 00:32:34.869 --> 00:32:39.579 is it. You better take it. If you need it. If 00:32:39.579 --> 00:32:44.819 there's one out clause, and it's not an out clause 00:32:44.819 --> 00:32:48.079 from loving that person, it's just God's grace 00:32:48.079 --> 00:32:52.599 in your own life to give you the wisdom on how 00:32:52.599 --> 00:32:54.380 to manage these relationships. Whether in the 00:32:54.380 --> 00:32:57.339 Gospels or the Epistles, emotional closeness, 00:32:57.420 --> 00:32:59.779 just give me a few more moments, emotional closeness 00:32:59.779 --> 00:33:02.680 is never implied in the command to love. God 00:33:02.680 --> 00:33:04.960 said, look, I'm calling you to love, but he's 00:33:04.960 --> 00:33:08.279 not telling us. that we are to feel a certain 00:33:08.279 --> 00:33:12.180 thing. It's true that Jesus said to love your 00:33:12.180 --> 00:33:15.279 enemies. Amen, somebody. You gotta love them. 00:33:15.940 --> 00:33:20.900 Hopefully you don't have that many of them. But 00:33:20.900 --> 00:33:22.799 notice he didn't say love your enemy. He said 00:33:22.799 --> 00:33:31.940 enemies, plural. He said love your enemies. But 00:33:31.940 --> 00:33:36.250 notice what he didn't say. He didn't say. become 00:33:36.250 --> 00:33:39.970 best friends with your enemies. He didn't say 00:33:39.970 --> 00:33:46.910 trust your enemies. He didn't say give your enemies 00:33:46.910 --> 00:33:50.529 unrestricted access to your life. He didn't say 00:33:50.529 --> 00:33:56.410 give them a key to your house. He didn't say 00:33:56.410 --> 00:33:58.750 invite them on your next vacation with you. Oh, 00:33:58.769 --> 00:34:00.390 Lord, hallelujah. I just gave somebody a nightmare 00:34:00.390 --> 00:34:04.789 right now. Jesus, Lord, hallelujah. Trying to 00:34:04.789 --> 00:34:10.650 escape from these people, Lord. Loving doesn't 00:34:10.650 --> 00:34:18.130 mean surrendering your discernment. It doesn't 00:34:18.130 --> 00:34:21.210 require closeness. It doesn't require all access. 00:34:21.289 --> 00:34:24.949 My life, to love somebody doesn't mean that I 00:34:24.949 --> 00:34:28.449 have to give them a backstage pass to my life 00:34:28.449 --> 00:34:34.190 and open up the treasures of my heart to them. 00:34:34.329 --> 00:34:38.340 No. That's not what loving your enemies or loving 00:34:38.340 --> 00:34:43.659 cactus people is about. You got to be wise. Hit 00:34:43.659 --> 00:34:47.159 me once, shame on you. Hit me twice, shame on. 00:34:47.940 --> 00:34:51.539 I got to wise up. I got to sharpen my discernment 00:34:51.539 --> 00:34:55.159 so that I don't put myself, because I also love 00:34:55.159 --> 00:34:58.539 me. How many of you love you? Somebody say, I 00:34:58.539 --> 00:35:02.960 love me. I love me. I love you. You got to love 00:35:02.960 --> 00:35:07.699 yourself too much. Love yourself enough to avoid 00:35:07.699 --> 00:35:11.400 putting yourself in situations where you know 00:35:11.400 --> 00:35:15.059 you're going to get hurt. I love myself too much 00:35:15.059 --> 00:35:18.340 to go over there and give that cactus a big bear 00:35:18.340 --> 00:35:21.760 hug. Because I know that it's not going to be 00:35:21.760 --> 00:35:26.460 received. I know that if I'm not wise, if I'm 00:35:26.460 --> 00:35:29.579 not careful, if I'm not sober -minded and vigilant, 00:35:29.699 --> 00:35:33.900 that I'm just asking for it. I'm asking for my 00:35:33.900 --> 00:35:36.619 heart to be broken. I'm asking so I can love 00:35:36.619 --> 00:35:40.019 this person. But I'm going to have to do it with 00:35:40.019 --> 00:35:45.420 discernment. Because I also love me. And I also 00:35:45.420 --> 00:35:49.460 love those that are closest to me. Amen. Because 00:35:49.460 --> 00:35:51.679 not everyone has the best intentions. Hello. 00:35:53.760 --> 00:35:56.960 In Jesus' own ministry, for those that might 00:35:56.960 --> 00:35:58.760 not be totally convinced of what I'm saying, 00:35:58.860 --> 00:36:03.150 there were levels of relationships. We see him 00:36:03.150 --> 00:36:06.449 ministering to the crowds, right? To the masses. 00:36:07.670 --> 00:36:10.449 We see him interacting with 70 disciples that 00:36:10.449 --> 00:36:14.170 he sends out. And then he's got his 12 that have 00:36:14.170 --> 00:36:21.590 exclusive access to his life, right? He's in 00:36:21.590 --> 00:36:24.630 communion with them. And then among the 12, he's 00:36:24.630 --> 00:36:28.250 got three. And only those three did he confide 00:36:28.250 --> 00:36:30.869 in in a more intimate way. Peter, James, and 00:36:30.869 --> 00:36:36.840 John. In the life of Christ, there are levels 00:36:36.840 --> 00:36:39.519 of relationship. Now, he loved them all the same. 00:36:39.639 --> 00:36:41.659 He didn't love the person standing out there 00:36:41.659 --> 00:36:45.239 in the crowd less than he loved Peter, James, 00:36:45.260 --> 00:36:49.039 and John. He loved them all the same, but he 00:36:49.039 --> 00:36:53.119 didn't allow them to know him or he didn't connect 00:36:53.119 --> 00:36:55.880 with him all the same. He didn't walk with him 00:36:55.880 --> 00:37:00.199 all the same. He loved them all the same. He 00:37:00.199 --> 00:37:05.639 loved them just like he loves you and me. But 00:37:05.639 --> 00:37:09.699 there were levels. Oh, and what about Judas? 00:37:12.219 --> 00:37:15.800 Judas was among the 12, but he wasn't among the 00:37:15.800 --> 00:37:21.380 three. Even Jesus shows us the wisdom in relationships. 00:37:24.139 --> 00:37:27.500 You're welcome to be a part of the 12. You're 00:37:27.500 --> 00:37:31.760 still a member of the 12. But it's my right to 00:37:31.760 --> 00:37:36.340 decide who's a member of the three. Because even 00:37:36.340 --> 00:37:40.260 though I love you, Judas, I can't trust you. 00:37:42.739 --> 00:37:47.139 Am I helping anybody today? God's not asking 00:37:47.139 --> 00:37:51.500 you to trust everybody. He's asking you to love. 00:37:53.659 --> 00:37:56.000 Jesus loved. You know how much Jesus loved Judas? 00:37:56.099 --> 00:38:01.940 He washed his feet. I don't think he gave him 00:38:01.940 --> 00:38:06.800 a pedicure. I don't think he massaged him, but 00:38:06.800 --> 00:38:14.619 he washed him. He fed him at the table. He said, 00:38:14.659 --> 00:38:17.599 you can eat with us. He even called him friend. 00:38:19.320 --> 00:38:22.820 So I get ready to close here. He didn't exclude 00:38:22.820 --> 00:38:26.199 him in those ways, but it was always, hear me, 00:38:26.260 --> 00:38:32.159 it was always up to Judas. Because at any moment. 00:38:32.409 --> 00:38:35.469 Maybe he could have gotten closer, but it was 00:38:35.469 --> 00:38:39.230 his own issues in his life that kept him where 00:38:39.230 --> 00:38:43.710 he was. He had a chance to repent. He had a chance 00:38:43.710 --> 00:38:48.070 to get things right, but he did not. Jesus did 00:38:48.070 --> 00:38:50.230 not get, even though he washed his feet, even 00:38:50.230 --> 00:38:52.030 though he was a part of the 12, even though he 00:38:52.030 --> 00:38:55.650 got a much closer view than even the crowds did, 00:38:55.789 --> 00:39:01.170 he did not give Judas unlimited, unrestricted 00:39:01.170 --> 00:39:06.650 access. Access to his life. John 2, 24 describes 00:39:06.650 --> 00:39:10.769 how Jesus responded to a crowd who believed in 00:39:10.769 --> 00:39:15.070 his miracles, but he kept them at arm's length. 00:39:16.849 --> 00:39:19.230 He kept them at arm's length. I don't know if 00:39:19.230 --> 00:39:23.829 musicians can come up. Kept them at arm's length. 00:39:23.929 --> 00:39:28.530 It says, but Jesus on his part did not entrust 00:39:28.530 --> 00:39:33.179 himself to them. Why? Because he knew all the 00:39:33.179 --> 00:39:37.639 people. He loved them, but he didn't entrust 00:39:37.639 --> 00:39:44.380 himself to them. They believed in his miracles. 00:39:46.800 --> 00:39:49.699 Because they saw with their own eyes how he was 00:39:49.699 --> 00:39:53.840 healing the sick and raising the dead. But he 00:39:53.840 --> 00:39:56.440 did not entrust himself. That doesn't mean he 00:39:56.440 --> 00:40:00.139 was cold. Doesn't mean he was unloving. You know 00:40:00.139 --> 00:40:06.079 what that means? He was discerning. Jesus was 00:40:06.079 --> 00:40:12.159 discerning. You can love someone, but sometimes 00:40:12.159 --> 00:40:16.059 you have to love them from a distance. Hello, 00:40:16.119 --> 00:40:21.420 somebody. I can't hug them. Well, you're going 00:40:21.420 --> 00:40:28.219 to have to air hug them from afar. You can love 00:40:28.219 --> 00:40:32.849 someone and still use wisdom. You can love someone 00:40:32.849 --> 00:40:38.849 and still have boundaries. If someone doesn't 00:40:38.849 --> 00:40:40.610 like your boundaries, that's their problem. That's 00:40:40.610 --> 00:40:50.670 not yours. Use wisdom. You can love someone and 00:40:50.670 --> 00:40:54.750 still guard your heart with all diligence. Why? 00:40:55.489 --> 00:41:02.380 Because out of it flow the issues of life. I 00:41:02.380 --> 00:41:13.699 invite you to stand with me at this hour. This 00:41:13.699 --> 00:41:26.599 was the point in this series that I knew would 00:41:26.599 --> 00:41:33.739 cause the rubber to hit the road. Because we 00:41:33.739 --> 00:41:39.059 can celebrate and rejoice in many ways the love 00:41:39.059 --> 00:41:44.059 of God shed abroad in our hearts. We can in many 00:41:44.059 --> 00:41:49.179 ways understand that God's love is perfect and 00:41:49.179 --> 00:41:56.300 cast out fear like we heard last Sunday. And 00:41:56.300 --> 00:41:59.199 experience and benefit from the rich and the 00:41:59.199 --> 00:42:03.139 depthness of his love. But hear me today, it's 00:42:03.139 --> 00:42:10.179 all for naught. It all doesn't, it's not complete 00:42:10.179 --> 00:42:18.420 until we can love our brother, until we can love 00:42:18.420 --> 00:42:23.239 our sister, until we can love one another. And 00:42:23.239 --> 00:42:33.309 that includes cactus people. I feel there's a 00:42:33.309 --> 00:42:44.130 soberness to this message. This is sobering because 00:42:44.130 --> 00:42:48.489 I don't, I don't know, maybe I'm wrong, but I 00:42:48.489 --> 00:42:52.429 don't think there's one person in here today 00:42:52.429 --> 00:43:02.090 that can say, well, I don't have any. can relate 00:43:02.090 --> 00:43:09.170 to this. And the hardest situations are those 00:43:09.170 --> 00:43:14.510 that, you know, you can't easily just write off. 00:43:15.869 --> 00:43:21.510 You know, in many ways, you're stuck with them. 00:43:22.010 --> 00:43:30.119 Some way or another. They say you choose your 00:43:30.119 --> 00:43:31.800 friends, but you're stuck with your family, so 00:43:31.800 --> 00:43:37.599 maybe it's a family member. Maybe it's another 00:43:37.599 --> 00:43:42.219 member of the body. Somebody in the church just 00:43:42.219 --> 00:43:47.340 like, bring out the, you're rubbing me the wrong 00:43:47.340 --> 00:43:51.519 way. Well, that's what a cactus feels like. And 00:43:51.519 --> 00:43:58.199 until you deal with that, own it. Don't deflect. 00:44:01.360 --> 00:44:02.840 Just need, you know, no, no, no, no, no. Just 00:44:02.840 --> 00:44:05.739 don't deflect. Say, God, this is what I want 00:44:05.739 --> 00:44:08.519 us to do right now. I want us to get real with 00:44:08.519 --> 00:44:14.340 the Lord today. Say, God, I'm going to need your 00:44:14.340 --> 00:44:19.739 help on this one. I'm going to need your help 00:44:19.739 --> 00:44:23.139 on this one, God. No one said it's going to be 00:44:23.139 --> 00:44:27.340 easy, but if you have the Holy Ghost today, if 00:44:27.340 --> 00:44:31.559 you've got the Spirit of God, Remember, he's 00:44:31.559 --> 00:44:34.639 love. If the spirit of God is in you, you've 00:44:34.639 --> 00:44:36.940 got the spirit of love. You have what it takes. 00:44:36.960 --> 00:44:44.599 It is possible to do it mindfully, wisely, but 00:44:44.599 --> 00:44:50.199 authentically all at the same time. Oh, it's 00:44:50.199 --> 00:44:52.460 possible to do that. But we're going to have 00:44:52.460 --> 00:44:54.739 to get real with the Lord today. We're going 00:44:54.739 --> 00:44:57.469 to say, God, help me, Lord. I'm going to need 00:44:57.469 --> 00:44:59.750 help in this one, God. I can't do this one on 00:44:59.750 --> 00:45:03.070 my own. This is going to be my cross to bear. 00:45:03.210 --> 00:45:04.789 This is going to be my issue. This is going to 00:45:04.789 --> 00:45:06.289 be something, God, that I have to do. Right there 00:45:06.289 --> 00:45:07.329 where you are, I'm going to invite you to close 00:45:07.329 --> 00:45:09.110 your eyes, and we're going to pray together. 00:45:09.269 --> 00:45:12.510 I just feel this in the Spirit of God. I understand. 00:45:12.769 --> 00:45:16.349 I knew very well the nature of this message today. 00:45:16.530 --> 00:45:20.489 I am not in any way surprised or what someone 00:45:20.489 --> 00:45:22.789 might feel or be thinking in their heart today, 00:45:22.949 --> 00:45:26.050 the response. This message doesn't need a response. 00:45:26.090 --> 00:45:29.030 a bunctious response. What it needs is transparency. 00:45:29.349 --> 00:45:31.949 What it needs is a willingness on the part of 00:45:31.949 --> 00:45:34.570 every member and every person in this place today 00:45:34.570 --> 00:45:38.550 that's willing to let the Holy Spirit, the Word 00:45:38.550 --> 00:45:43.349 of God, search your heart. Search me, O God. 00:45:44.349 --> 00:45:47.809 Search me, O God, and see if there be any wicked 00:45:47.809 --> 00:45:51.679 way in me and lead me to the way. everlasting, 00:45:51.820 --> 00:45:55.420 God. Search me and know my anxieties, God. Know 00:45:55.420 --> 00:45:58.079 the anxiousness that I am feeling right now, 00:45:58.139 --> 00:46:01.219 God, about loving that difficult person in my 00:46:01.219 --> 00:46:05.719 life or in my world or in my walk, God. I need 00:46:05.719 --> 00:46:08.599 your help today, Lord. I need your help, Lord. 00:46:09.300 --> 00:46:12.420 Because, Lord, I want my peace back, God. Some 00:46:12.420 --> 00:46:17.269 of you, your peace is all upside down. You haven't 00:46:17.269 --> 00:46:20.590 been yourself lately because of this very thing 00:46:20.590 --> 00:46:22.489 that I'm talking about. And you've been trying 00:46:22.489 --> 00:46:24.469 to sort it out on your own. You've been trying 00:46:24.469 --> 00:46:26.630 to make sense of it. You've been trying to figure 00:46:26.630 --> 00:46:29.889 out how it is that you can move forward and love 00:46:29.889 --> 00:46:34.329 this person or love that group and still maintain 00:46:34.329 --> 00:46:37.090 your testimony and maintain your peace of mind 00:46:37.090 --> 00:46:39.929 and maintain your membership and maintain all 00:46:39.929 --> 00:46:43.449 of these things. But God is here to help you. 00:46:46.280 --> 00:46:48.219 Pray right now. Father, we come before you today, 00:46:48.320 --> 00:46:50.900 Lord. We thank you. Come on. I'm going to help. 00:46:51.059 --> 00:46:56.719 God's here to help. Hallelujah. One day, God, 00:46:56.820 --> 00:47:02.739 we were the cactus. Sin is likened unto a thorn, 00:47:02.760 --> 00:47:06.219 God. And one day, we were a cactus, God. We were 00:47:06.219 --> 00:47:11.880 so untouchable, unlovable, prickly, and sharp 00:47:11.880 --> 00:47:15.309 -edged, God. was us and sometimes we are like 00:47:15.309 --> 00:47:19.829 that now and yet god you accept us and you loved 00:47:19.829 --> 00:47:24.369 us god with an everlasting love god you demonstrated 00:47:24.369 --> 00:47:30.010 your love towards us god in this way ah god it 00:47:30.010 --> 00:47:33.150 wasn't about emotion or feeling god it was agape 00:47:33.150 --> 00:47:37.550 love it was selfless sacrificial love lord that 00:47:37.550 --> 00:47:41.909 you gave to us god so we're standing as cactus 00:47:41.909 --> 00:47:46.369 who have been embraced by a perfect god i'm a 00:47:46.369 --> 00:47:49.590 cactus god i am i am i'm hard to love sometimes 00:47:49.590 --> 00:47:53.789 god but you love me anyhow so lord i pray god 00:47:53.789 --> 00:47:57.309 that with every person in my life that's got 00:47:57.309 --> 00:48:02.250 sharp edges god sharp views that that that bother 00:48:02.250 --> 00:48:05.840 me sharp ways, God, that disagree with me. Sharp 00:48:05.840 --> 00:48:09.440 attitudes and sharp answers and sharp personalities 00:48:09.440 --> 00:48:13.079 and temperament and sharp anger and sharpness, 00:48:13.119 --> 00:48:15.980 God, that are hard, Lord. I pray today, God, 00:48:16.159 --> 00:48:19.099 that with the same love that you loved me, God, 00:48:19.219 --> 00:48:23.179 you would also help me to love my enemies and 00:48:23.179 --> 00:48:25.840 to love those that are difficult to love, God. 00:48:25.880 --> 00:48:28.500 To love those that are hard to love. To love 00:48:28.500 --> 00:48:31.739 those, God, that offend me. To turn the other 00:48:31.739 --> 00:48:37.219 cheek, God. Oh, God, when I'm persecuted, God, 00:48:37.659 --> 00:48:41.059 when I'm, Lord, when I'm criticized, that's all 00:48:41.059 --> 00:48:45.099 right, God. Oh, help me, God, to forgive them 00:48:45.099 --> 00:48:49.239 for they know not what they do, God. They don't 00:48:49.239 --> 00:48:51.820 know, God, that they're hurting themselves more 00:48:51.820 --> 00:48:54.380 than they're hurting me. I'm going to love them, 00:48:54.420 --> 00:48:58.039 God. Oh, God, help me today, Jesus, to show that 00:48:58.039 --> 00:49:01.360 kind of love, God, to be, Lord. an authentic 00:49:01.360 --> 00:49:06.079 believer, God, to be a true disciple of Jesus 00:49:06.079 --> 00:49:13.460 Christ, known by how I love one of us. God, help 00:49:13.460 --> 00:49:15.780 me today. Come on, why don't we just pray that 00:49:15.780 --> 00:49:30.769 this afternoon, Father? Hallelujah! peace in 00:49:30.769 --> 00:49:34.969 this place right now. Pastor, you're telling 00:49:34.969 --> 00:49:37.869 me that they're going to be a different person 00:49:37.869 --> 00:49:41.929 tomorrow? No. No, no, no, no. They're still going 00:49:41.929 --> 00:49:46.510 to be a cactus on Monday, probably. But you have 00:49:46.510 --> 00:49:53.929 been empowered to love. Do it wisely. Do it with 00:49:53.929 --> 00:49:58.550 discernment. Don't ever, don't ever, don't ever, 00:49:59.549 --> 00:50:01.630 Throw yourself in front of the bus, you know, 00:50:01.670 --> 00:50:06.750 like don't kill yourself over it, but do it with 00:50:06.750 --> 00:50:10.329 the wisdom of God. You're going to see that God's 00:50:10.329 --> 00:50:14.150 going to help you. Amen. Church, give God a hand 00:50:14.150 --> 00:50:21.230 of praise. Listen, next, we are building in this 00:50:21.230 --> 00:50:29.840 church a culture of love. this church that need 00:50:29.840 --> 00:50:33.659 love. Amen. They need love. And they're not going 00:50:33.659 --> 00:50:36.800 to always agree. We're not always going to, it's 00:50:36.800 --> 00:50:39.519 going to be a different, people talk about growth, 00:50:39.579 --> 00:50:41.460 but they don't talk about the complications and 00:50:41.460 --> 00:50:44.199 the responsibilities and the problems that could 00:50:44.199 --> 00:50:46.280 arise with growth of different people. Amen. 00:50:48.239 --> 00:50:51.440 But if we learn to love those cactus people, 00:50:52.019 --> 00:50:55.860 hallelujah, I believe God's going to give us 00:50:55.860 --> 00:50:58.420 a greater harvest. God's going to do greater 00:50:58.420 --> 00:50:58.739 things.