WEBVTT 00:00:00.940 --> 00:00:04.080 and they always seem to be in front of me. Not 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:05.940 that I feel like Rodney Dangerfield or anything, 00:00:06.139 --> 00:00:08.220 but they always seem to be there in front of 00:00:08.220 --> 00:00:11.500 the line where I'm trying to go. I saw a man 00:00:11.500 --> 00:00:14.560 yesterday, and his car had held up traffic I 00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:17.379 don't know how far, probably miles it looked 00:00:17.379 --> 00:00:21.420 like, not literally, but a long way over on Fairview, 00:00:21.559 --> 00:00:23.960 and he was walking back, trudging through the 00:00:23.960 --> 00:00:27.100 snow with a little can of gasoline. And I thought 00:00:27.100 --> 00:00:31.300 to myself, oh my, watch your gas. You know, it's 00:00:31.300 --> 00:00:33.700 possible to have a car and to have it in good 00:00:33.700 --> 00:00:39.100 shape, nicely polished, new tires on it, AM FM 00:00:39.100 --> 00:00:43.479 stereo in it, have the bags all packed and the 00:00:43.479 --> 00:00:45.960 family in the car packed and ready to go on vacation, 00:00:46.380 --> 00:00:48.679 but you've got to have the gas in it, don't you? 00:00:48.740 --> 00:00:53.759 The gas is pretty important. If you're an athlete, 00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:57.259 you can get into a beautiful gymnasium with a 00:00:57.259 --> 00:01:02.090 nicely laid floor. You can have the backboards 00:01:02.090 --> 00:01:05.049 there and the goals are ready and the stands 00:01:05.049 --> 00:01:09.030 are full of fans clapping their hands and cheering 00:01:09.030 --> 00:01:11.230 and you can be well equipped and prepared to 00:01:11.230 --> 00:01:13.909 play and yet you've got to have the basketball, 00:01:14.170 --> 00:01:17.069 right? That's a pretty important piece of equipment 00:01:17.069 --> 00:01:20.390 when it comes to a basketball game. Well, as 00:01:20.390 --> 00:01:24.129 important as gas is to an automobile and a basketball 00:01:24.129 --> 00:01:29.760 is to a basketball game, so is love. to the exercise 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:35.859 of spiritual gifts. In fact, every time that 00:01:35.859 --> 00:01:39.599 spiritual gifts are mentioned, it is always in 00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:43.560 the context of love. Isn't that interesting? 00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:47.519 God knows that it's not enough for us to have 00:01:47.519 --> 00:01:52.280 the capability, the Spirit -given ability to 00:01:52.280 --> 00:01:55.700 do certain things in serving Him. But we have 00:01:55.700 --> 00:02:00.019 to do it with the right motive. We have to deal 00:02:00.019 --> 00:02:03.959 with the heart of love. Let me illustrate what 00:02:03.959 --> 00:02:06.140 I'm talking about. Turn back to 1 Peter chapter 00:02:06.140 --> 00:02:18.960 4. We'll begin in verse 8. He says, Above all, 00:02:19.099 --> 00:02:23.960 keep fervent in your love for one another, because 00:02:23.960 --> 00:02:29.780 love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable 00:02:29.780 --> 00:02:33.780 to one another without complaint. As each one 00:02:33.780 --> 00:02:37.879 has received a special gift, employ it in serving 00:02:37.879 --> 00:02:40.639 one another as good stewards of the manifold 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:42.979 grace of God. And then he mentions some of the 00:02:42.979 --> 00:02:46.620 gifts that God gives. And so here in the context 00:02:46.620 --> 00:02:49.639 of the gifts, we find keep fervent in your love. 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:54.960 Love covers a multitude of sins. Turn back a 00:02:54.960 --> 00:03:03.599 few pages to Ephesians chapter 4. He begins in 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:06.800 verse 1 of this practical section of the epistle 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:09.979 by saying, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, 00:03:10.060 --> 00:03:14.460 entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the 00:03:14.460 --> 00:03:18.360 calling with which you have been called, with 00:03:18.360 --> 00:03:23.280 all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:28.719 forbearance to one another in love. being diligent 00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:31.620 to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond 00:03:31.620 --> 00:03:36.379 of peace. Then he speaks about our unity. And 00:03:36.379 --> 00:03:39.520 in verse 7 he says, But to each one of us grace 00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:42.000 was given according to the measure of Christ's 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:45.939 gift. He goes on to talk about spiritual gifts. 00:03:47.219 --> 00:03:50.460 And so once again, in the context of love within 00:03:50.460 --> 00:03:55.400 the body, he speaks about our service. And then 00:03:55.400 --> 00:03:58.199 to 1 Corinthians chapter 12 to perhaps the key 00:03:58.199 --> 00:04:01.139 passage in the whole New Testament regarding 00:04:01.139 --> 00:04:05.419 spiritual gifts, the charismata, the grace gifts 00:04:05.419 --> 00:04:09.780 given to us by the Holy Spirit to serve in the 00:04:09.780 --> 00:04:14.479 body. There are a couple of lists within chapter 00:04:14.479 --> 00:04:18.540 12 and notice how he concludes the chapter. Earnestly 00:04:18.540 --> 00:04:21.740 desire the greater gifts. Now please understand 00:04:21.740 --> 00:04:25.029 he is not saying that to individuals. as though 00:04:25.029 --> 00:04:27.790 we are to personally seek out certain gifts. 00:04:28.610 --> 00:04:30.769 We've already learned in this chapter, if we 00:04:30.769 --> 00:04:34.050 read it, that the Holy Spirit bestows the gifts 00:04:34.050 --> 00:04:38.149 sovereignly on whom he will. But what he's saying 00:04:38.149 --> 00:04:40.850 here is a church, as a body of people, we are 00:04:40.850 --> 00:04:43.769 to earnestly desire to seek out, to emphasize 00:04:43.769 --> 00:04:47.029 the greater gifts and not the lesser ones. That 00:04:47.029 --> 00:04:49.189 was an exhortation to the Corinthian church, 00:04:49.269 --> 00:04:52.209 which had a tendency to exalt the gifts that 00:04:52.209 --> 00:04:55.949 were lesser. and yet more spectacular, and to 00:04:55.949 --> 00:04:59.189 de -emphasize the gifts that were more important. 00:04:59.910 --> 00:05:04.529 And then he says, and yet I show you still a 00:05:04.529 --> 00:05:08.889 more excellent way. In other words, I want to 00:05:08.889 --> 00:05:12.449 talk to you now, he says, about how to exercise 00:05:12.449 --> 00:05:16.110 these gifts we've just talked about. And then 00:05:16.110 --> 00:05:18.829 in chapter 13, he lays out before us this beautiful 00:05:18.829 --> 00:05:23.209 writing. This expression, this exposition of 00:05:23.209 --> 00:05:28.089 what love is. And so again, we see the spiritual 00:05:28.089 --> 00:05:31.850 gifts and love together in the very same context. 00:05:32.189 --> 00:05:35.810 Please note that. But let's go back to our text 00:05:35.810 --> 00:05:41.790 for today, which is in Romans chapter 12. Last 00:05:41.790 --> 00:05:44.949 week we looked at verses 6 through 8, dealing 00:05:44.949 --> 00:05:47.870 with the spiritual gifts as they're found in 00:05:47.870 --> 00:05:51.930 this context. After talking about them, he goes 00:05:51.930 --> 00:05:56.329 right on in verse 9 to say, Let love be without 00:05:56.329 --> 00:06:01.990 hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what 00:06:01.990 --> 00:06:05.750 is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly 00:06:05.750 --> 00:06:09.490 love. Give preference to one another in honor. 00:06:10.050 --> 00:06:14.870 Not lagging behind in diligence. Fervent in spirit. 00:06:15.649 --> 00:06:20.639 Serving the Lord. Rejoicing in hope. persevering 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:24.560 in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:27.839 to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:32.279 Bless those who persecute you. Bless and curse 00:06:32.279 --> 00:06:35.959 not. Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep 00:06:35.959 --> 00:06:39.740 with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward 00:06:39.740 --> 00:06:43.560 one another. Do not be haughty in mind, but associate 00:06:43.560 --> 00:06:48.360 with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. 00:06:49.279 --> 00:06:54.079 We'll stop at that point. Notice again that love 00:06:54.079 --> 00:06:56.339 is mentioned in the same context with the spiritual 00:06:56.339 --> 00:07:00.639 gifts. Dear people, love is the lubrication which 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:05.579 allows the members of the body of Christ to function 00:07:05.579 --> 00:07:10.360 smoothly, harmoniously, and without friction. 00:07:12.439 --> 00:07:17.019 The love we're talking about is agape love, God's 00:07:17.019 --> 00:07:23.199 love. It is not sentimental love. It is not a 00:07:23.199 --> 00:07:29.899 mere emotion. It is not only a feeling. But the 00:07:29.899 --> 00:07:32.819 love he is speaking about here is love that is 00:07:32.819 --> 00:07:36.220 action. It is deeds. It is words. It's what we 00:07:36.220 --> 00:07:42.480 do. Love is that which causes us to give, to 00:07:42.480 --> 00:07:46.339 reach out, to help those who have perhaps no 00:07:46.339 --> 00:07:49.800 capacity to appreciate it. or to return the favor. 00:07:50.680 --> 00:07:55.459 That's agape love. Love is to be our motive for 00:07:55.459 --> 00:08:01.100 exercising our gifts. If the reason that I teach 00:08:01.100 --> 00:08:04.339 my Sunday school class is because I like to have 00:08:04.339 --> 00:08:06.500 people come up to me and pat me on the back and 00:08:06.500 --> 00:08:09.579 say I'm doing a good job, that's the wrong motive 00:08:09.579 --> 00:08:14.259 for exercising my gift of teaching. If the reason 00:08:14.259 --> 00:08:19.689 I do it is because I'm... undesirous of feeling 00:08:19.689 --> 00:08:23.889 guilty if I don't, and I have a legalistic sense 00:08:23.889 --> 00:08:27.269 of obligation that I have to do it or else, then 00:08:27.269 --> 00:08:32.750 that's a wrong motive. Why do you do what you 00:08:32.750 --> 00:08:39.250 do? In what way do you exercise the gifts that 00:08:39.250 --> 00:08:41.629 God has given you in the body? Let it be done 00:08:41.629 --> 00:08:46.830 by love. And he says, let your love be without... 00:08:49.319 --> 00:08:54.679 He's talking here about genuine love. The word 00:08:54.679 --> 00:08:57.679 hypocrite has a very negative connotation to 00:08:57.679 --> 00:09:00.879 us today. Originally it did not have that meaning. 00:09:02.019 --> 00:09:08.159 It came out of Greek drama. The actors would 00:09:08.159 --> 00:09:10.519 speak to one another in dialogue. That's what 00:09:10.519 --> 00:09:13.679 drama is about. And that's where the word hypocrite 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:17.700 originated. It was used of those dramatic actors 00:09:17.700 --> 00:09:19.960 in the Greek plays who would carry about with 00:09:19.960 --> 00:09:24.960 them their masks. Their masks would express different 00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:33.440 emotions, happiness, sorrow, whatever. And as 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:36.500 they would give their lines, they would occasionally 00:09:36.500 --> 00:09:38.700 take the mask and put it in front of their face 00:09:38.700 --> 00:09:41.980 so the audience would be reminded of the part 00:09:41.980 --> 00:09:46.659 they were playing. Now from that background, 00:09:46.700 --> 00:09:49.580 the word began to take on the meaning of playing 00:09:49.580 --> 00:09:55.059 a part. And it picked up a negative connotation. 00:09:55.740 --> 00:09:59.879 And it was Jesus who nailed it down, right? When 00:09:59.879 --> 00:10:01.799 he spoke especially to the religious leaders 00:10:01.799 --> 00:10:05.600 of his day who were playing a part, and he called 00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:11.740 them hypocrites. Hypocrisy is a poison. It is 00:10:11.740 --> 00:10:15.019 so powerful that only a drop or two of it can 00:10:15.019 --> 00:10:20.799 poison a whole life. Those who are hypocrites 00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:23.120 are more concerned about appearance than truth, 00:10:23.360 --> 00:10:28.519 more concerned about reputation than reality. 00:10:30.299 --> 00:10:34.179 The apostle says here, when you love others, 00:10:34.299 --> 00:10:39.700 do not do it as a hypocrite. Do not do things 00:10:39.700 --> 00:10:44.019 for the appearance of them. but do it rather 00:10:44.019 --> 00:10:49.059 out of a genuine heart of love for people and 00:10:49.059 --> 00:10:55.500 for God. Let your love be unassuming, without 00:10:55.500 --> 00:11:01.019 hypocrisy. Now this kind of genuine love is described 00:11:01.019 --> 00:11:03.620 for us in the verses, the phrases, the clauses 00:11:03.620 --> 00:11:17.340 that follow. pithy kinds of statements. First 00:11:17.340 --> 00:11:19.840 he talks about love's morality in the rest of 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:26.620 verse 9. He says, abhor what is evil, cling to 00:11:26.620 --> 00:11:32.779 what is good. That's the morality of love. You 00:11:32.779 --> 00:11:37.399 see, love is not without its dark side. The word 00:11:37.399 --> 00:11:42.529 abhor means to bitterly hate. You say that is 00:11:42.529 --> 00:11:48.250 a Christian virtue? That's right. He says we 00:11:48.250 --> 00:11:54.090 are to despise certain things. That's love's 00:11:54.090 --> 00:11:57.750 morality. Notice not people. We're not to hate 00:11:57.750 --> 00:12:04.250 people. But we are to hate, to abhor what is 00:12:04.250 --> 00:12:08.720 evil. We are to hate sin. The word evil here 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:13.679 connotes that which destroys, that which injures 00:12:13.679 --> 00:12:18.080 people. You and I, as those who are controlled 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:23.039 by love, are to bitterly hate those things that 00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:28.039 destroy people. I think an example of that is 00:12:28.039 --> 00:12:33.440 alcohol. I believe that alcohol is one of the 00:12:33.440 --> 00:12:39.669 root sins. root problems in our society. And 00:12:39.669 --> 00:12:42.570 I hate it. That's why I believe every Christian 00:12:42.570 --> 00:12:46.129 ought to be a total abstainer from alcohol. I 00:12:46.129 --> 00:12:49.370 believe that is what honors God. It may be true 00:12:49.370 --> 00:12:51.409 that it's not commanded in the Bible, but that 00:12:51.409 --> 00:12:55.049 is honored in the Bible. Abstinence is exalted 00:12:55.049 --> 00:13:00.190 by God. There's wisdom in that. It has become 00:13:00.190 --> 00:13:04.460 such a fierce destroyer. of our society, of our 00:13:04.460 --> 00:13:08.840 homes, of our families, of people, that we as 00:13:08.840 --> 00:13:11.879 believers ought to despise the stuff and have 00:13:11.879 --> 00:13:17.980 nothing to do with it. I have worked in enough 00:13:17.980 --> 00:13:23.720 rescue missions to see what alcohol does to people 00:13:23.720 --> 00:13:28.539 who are educated and who at one time had every 00:13:28.539 --> 00:13:33.080 advantage. I have talked to teachers. I have 00:13:33.080 --> 00:13:36.120 talked to doctors. I have talked to preachers. 00:13:36.200 --> 00:13:38.740 I have talked to blue -collar workers who once 00:13:38.740 --> 00:13:42.220 had good jobs. And time after time after time, 00:13:42.299 --> 00:13:44.399 they explained what alcohol did. It destroyed 00:13:44.399 --> 00:13:48.240 them. And they lost their homes. They lost their 00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:51.059 mates. They lost their kids. And now they had 00:13:51.059 --> 00:13:55.980 nothing. They just walked the streets. I don't 00:13:55.980 --> 00:13:59.019 know how any Christian can hate something that 00:13:59.019 --> 00:14:01.820 is so evil and so injurious and so destructive. 00:14:02.379 --> 00:14:06.120 is alcohol. And in the same basket, you find 00:14:06.120 --> 00:14:10.620 something like pornography, which destroys, it 00:14:10.620 --> 00:14:18.100 injures, it ruins, it mars, it scars. We ought 00:14:18.100 --> 00:14:23.120 to hate and despise that which is evil. We would 00:14:23.120 --> 00:14:27.100 not love cancer, would we? Of course not. We 00:14:27.100 --> 00:14:30.399 hate cancer. The very word we spit out of our 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:34.539 mouths. And we long for that day when some kind 00:14:34.539 --> 00:14:37.639 of a breakthrough will occur and we'll have an 00:14:37.639 --> 00:14:42.220 answer to how cancer can be cured. But now it's 00:14:42.220 --> 00:14:44.799 malignant, it's active, and it destroys people 00:14:44.799 --> 00:14:50.000 that we love. And we hate it. This is love's 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:58.460 morality. Jesus hated. You say, wait a minute, 00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:00.639 he was love incarnate. That's right, my friend, 00:15:00.720 --> 00:15:04.679 but Jesus hated some things. Jesus hated sin. 00:15:07.399 --> 00:15:10.000 Jesus hated it because of what it does to you 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:15.639 and to me. He not only loved you, but he hated 00:15:15.639 --> 00:15:18.340 your sin and what it does to you so much that 00:15:18.340 --> 00:15:21.399 he went to the cross of Calvary and died there. 00:15:23.259 --> 00:15:28.730 Absorbed the penalty of sin. For our sake. That's 00:15:28.730 --> 00:15:33.789 how much he loves you and hates sin. Jesus spoke 00:15:33.789 --> 00:15:36.769 to the hypocrites, the Pharisees of his day, 00:15:36.889 --> 00:15:42.909 rebuked them openly because of sin. He hated 00:15:42.909 --> 00:15:46.070 the hypocrisy and what it had done to the religion 00:15:46.070 --> 00:15:53.009 of the Jews. The verb that is used here is a 00:15:53.009 --> 00:15:56.330 compound verb and the idea... It involves separating 00:15:56.330 --> 00:15:59.289 yourself from it. That's why some translations 00:15:59.289 --> 00:16:03.230 put it this way, shrinking from what is evil. 00:16:03.929 --> 00:16:08.590 It means to keep away from it. These kinds of 00:16:08.590 --> 00:16:10.570 things we've talked about are like tar babies. 00:16:10.769 --> 00:16:13.750 You put your hands to them, and it's very difficult 00:16:13.750 --> 00:16:19.409 to extract yourself. So stay away from evil is 00:16:19.409 --> 00:16:22.019 what he says. That's why in Thessalonians the 00:16:22.019 --> 00:16:25.179 apostle says, avoid every appearance of evil. 00:16:26.019 --> 00:16:28.940 However it may raise its head, stay away from 00:16:28.940 --> 00:16:32.860 it. Because it destroys, it will injure you. 00:16:34.840 --> 00:16:41.320 Is it any wonder that Satan is called Apollyon 00:16:41.320 --> 00:16:44.940 in the Bible? The word which means destroyer. 00:16:45.720 --> 00:16:48.240 Because you see, he constantly comes up with 00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:52.860 potions. that taste good going down to the natural 00:16:52.860 --> 00:16:58.139 man, but which are actually destructive and killing 00:16:58.139 --> 00:17:05.380 and poisonous. Satan would destroy you. Yes, 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:09.640 you, Christian. Those who are without Jesus Christ, 00:17:09.779 --> 00:17:12.119 who've never trusted him yet as Savior, are being 00:17:12.119 --> 00:17:15.019 destroyed. Satan would have you, Christian. He 00:17:15.019 --> 00:17:17.400 would destroy you if God would allow him to do 00:17:17.400 --> 00:17:20.779 it. How do you stay away from that? Just abhor, 00:17:20.940 --> 00:17:24.339 hate, despise what is evil. That's love's morality. 00:17:27.539 --> 00:17:29.819 But there's a bright side here too. He says cling 00:17:29.819 --> 00:17:33.920 to what is good. Not only hate the evil, but 00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:37.519 he says glue yourself to what can be characterized 00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:45.180 as being good. Be devoted to it. Be attached 00:17:45.180 --> 00:17:50.900 to it. Support what is good. That's the other 00:17:50.900 --> 00:17:56.299 side of it. Are you doing that? We need to. We 00:17:56.299 --> 00:18:00.059 need to encourage that which is good in our world 00:18:00.059 --> 00:18:03.980 today as much as we try to despise and stop and 00:18:03.980 --> 00:18:09.380 hinder that which is evil. We need to be active 00:18:09.380 --> 00:18:14.480 in doing this, folks. If good men do nothing, 00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:20.500 evil will succeed. In this realm of things, in 00:18:20.500 --> 00:18:24.339 this world system that Satan controls. That's 00:18:24.339 --> 00:18:27.559 why we are to so bitterly hate the evil, and 00:18:27.559 --> 00:18:30.680 yet with the same devotion we are to cling to 00:18:30.680 --> 00:18:37.859 what is good, support it, establish it, build 00:18:37.859 --> 00:18:45.319 it up. I had occasion to write another letter 00:18:45.319 --> 00:18:48.180 a couple of weeks ago. Periodically, I do this. 00:18:50.519 --> 00:18:56.700 There was a television station out of St. Cloud, 00:18:56.880 --> 00:19:00.839 Channel 41. Some of you may watch it. Basically, 00:19:00.980 --> 00:19:02.880 I think they have some good programs on there. 00:19:03.339 --> 00:19:05.740 Some of the ones that take me back to yesteryear. 00:19:07.980 --> 00:19:15.279 Fury. Remember Fury? Some of you oldies do. The 00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:19.259 Cisco kid, remember the Cisco kid? Him Cisco, 00:19:19.539 --> 00:19:27.039 me poncho. A couple of weeks ago, they had a 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:33.559 Saturday night, prime time movie, unedited, R 00:19:33.559 --> 00:19:37.859 -rated, which included frontal nudity. This is 00:19:37.859 --> 00:19:39.940 not scrambled now, this is just stuff that your 00:19:39.940 --> 00:19:42.000 children can turn to on the television, even 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:48.549 by accident, and see. I didn't like that. And 00:19:48.549 --> 00:19:52.410 so I wrote the station manager. And I first thanked 00:19:52.410 --> 00:19:54.369 him for the good programming they have on the 00:19:54.369 --> 00:19:58.130 station. And then I told him about the other, 00:19:58.230 --> 00:20:02.750 my concerns about it. People, whether it be by 00:20:02.750 --> 00:20:08.569 telephone calls or by letters, to the media or 00:20:08.569 --> 00:20:12.440 to newspapers or to individuals, whatever, You 00:20:12.440 --> 00:20:15.140 and I are to bitterly oppose and hate what is 00:20:15.140 --> 00:20:20.400 destroying our society and people. And we are 00:20:20.400 --> 00:20:26.160 to cling tenaciously to that which is good and 00:20:26.160 --> 00:20:29.779 supported. Now, of course, this is not what the 00:20:29.779 --> 00:20:33.819 world likes to think love is. The world says 00:20:33.819 --> 00:20:38.880 that love never condemns. And that kind of thinking 00:20:38.880 --> 00:20:42.799 has crept into Christian theology. In some circles. 00:20:43.819 --> 00:20:46.220 There are those who say that if you love, it 00:20:46.220 --> 00:20:48.579 means that you will never expose, you will never 00:20:48.579 --> 00:20:51.259 confront, you will never condemn. And my friend, 00:20:51.279 --> 00:20:56.660 that's a lie. That is a lie. Jesus Christ, who 00:20:56.660 --> 00:21:02.079 is love incarnate, rebuked and exposed the hypocrisy 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:06.339 of the Pharisees. Why? Because he hated them? 00:21:06.400 --> 00:21:08.900 No, but because of what that sin was doing to 00:21:08.900 --> 00:21:14.119 them and to God's people, the Jews. They were 00:21:14.119 --> 00:21:18.500 self -righteous. He rebuked them openly for it. 00:21:19.019 --> 00:21:23.039 And yet he was love incarnate. Love incarnate 00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:26.380 also went into the temple and saw people there 00:21:26.380 --> 00:21:31.259 who were disgracing God's temple by what they 00:21:31.259 --> 00:21:35.460 were doing. They were thieves. And so he overturned 00:21:35.460 --> 00:21:37.799 their tables and chased them out with a whip. 00:21:38.180 --> 00:21:42.180 That was love incarnate doing that. There is 00:21:42.180 --> 00:21:46.059 a time when love exposes, when it confronts. 00:21:47.299 --> 00:21:51.720 Oh yes, some people say, but Jesus understands 00:21:51.720 --> 00:21:57.519 and Jesus doesn't ever condemn. And very often 00:21:57.519 --> 00:22:00.000 the incident that people use to illustrate that 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:02.920 is found in John chapter 8. Just turn back there 00:22:02.920 --> 00:22:06.019 a minute. Let's look at this. Because you hear, 00:22:06.240 --> 00:22:10.240 may I say it kindly, ignorant people, people 00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:12.920 who have not studied the Word, say regarding 00:22:12.920 --> 00:22:17.319 this passage that Jesus doesn't confront sin. 00:22:19.519 --> 00:22:24.259 Here we have a woman who was taken, that is, 00:22:24.259 --> 00:22:29.640 who was caught in the very act of adultery. And 00:22:29.640 --> 00:22:32.369 it was set up. We have reason to believe that. 00:22:33.250 --> 00:22:35.829 They brought her to Jesus where there was a crowd. 00:22:35.910 --> 00:22:38.369 They put her in the midst. In verse 4, John 8, 00:22:38.750 --> 00:22:41.769 Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery 00:22:41.769 --> 00:22:46.650 in the very act. Now in the law, Moses commanded 00:22:46.650 --> 00:22:50.170 us to stone such women. What then do you say? 00:22:51.630 --> 00:22:55.329 And the Holy Spirit says that they were saying 00:22:55.329 --> 00:22:58.150 this, testing him in order that they might have 00:22:58.150 --> 00:23:02.059 grounds for accusing him. But Jesus stooped down 00:23:02.059 --> 00:23:06.819 and with his finger wrote on the ground. Wouldn't 00:23:06.819 --> 00:23:10.099 you love to know what he wrote? I would. Maybe 00:23:10.099 --> 00:23:13.980 it was the Ten Commandments. I don't know. But 00:23:13.980 --> 00:23:17.059 when they persisted in asking him, What do you 00:23:17.059 --> 00:23:20.160 say? He straightened up and said to them, He 00:23:20.160 --> 00:23:23.019 who is without sin among you, let him be the 00:23:23.019 --> 00:23:25.259 first to throw a stone at her. That's usually 00:23:25.259 --> 00:23:30.549 where people stop, isn't it? You can't condemn 00:23:30.549 --> 00:23:33.549 anybody. You can't rebuke anybody. Nobody can 00:23:33.549 --> 00:23:35.849 do that unless it's without sin. Jesus says so, 00:23:35.890 --> 00:23:40.130 doesn't he? Well, it says that again, he stooped 00:23:40.130 --> 00:23:42.869 down and wrote on the ground. And when they heard 00:23:42.869 --> 00:23:46.970 it, they began to go out one by one, beginning 00:23:46.970 --> 00:23:50.150 with the older ones. And he was left alone and 00:23:50.150 --> 00:23:53.670 the woman where she had been in the midst. And 00:23:53.670 --> 00:23:55.809 straightening up, Jesus said to her, woman, where 00:23:55.809 --> 00:23:59.650 are they? Did no one condemn you? And she said, 00:23:59.690 --> 00:24:03.250 no one, Lord. And Jesus said, neither do I condemn 00:24:03.250 --> 00:24:06.369 you. And again, that's where most people stop. 00:24:06.970 --> 00:24:09.630 And they say, well, here Jesus is condoning this. 00:24:10.430 --> 00:24:17.190 Jesus didn't expose her. Jesus was love. And 00:24:17.190 --> 00:24:20.630 Jesus was, my friend, very kind to this lady. 00:24:21.430 --> 00:24:24.029 But notice that he didn't stop with that statement. 00:24:24.589 --> 00:24:30.240 He said, go your way from now on. sin no more. 00:24:32.480 --> 00:24:34.579 Now when he said, I don't condemn you, what he 00:24:34.579 --> 00:24:38.539 was really saying was, I've come to save, not 00:24:38.539 --> 00:24:41.460 to condemn. He's not saying that there's not 00:24:41.460 --> 00:24:44.519 condemnation with sin. He's not even saying that 00:24:44.519 --> 00:24:46.599 he would not perhaps even condemn her someday 00:24:46.599 --> 00:24:51.140 as her judge, but he had come now to save. But 00:24:51.140 --> 00:24:55.720 he says to her very clearly, go and sin. No more. 00:24:55.759 --> 00:25:00.319 He called it sin, what she had done. You see, 00:25:00.380 --> 00:25:03.819 here is love incarnate dealing with, confronting, 00:25:03.900 --> 00:25:08.400 exposing sin and calling it what it is, but in 00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:14.640 a very kind way. Jesus did not condone. He confronted 00:25:14.640 --> 00:25:21.119 her sin. That should be our spirit, too. We do 00:25:21.119 --> 00:25:26.670 not hate people. But we do hate sin. We hate 00:25:26.670 --> 00:25:30.130 that which destroys people. And we ought to stay 00:25:30.130 --> 00:25:32.509 away from it personally and have nothing to do 00:25:32.509 --> 00:25:36.470 with it and cling to what is good. A young man 00:25:36.470 --> 00:25:42.170 emerging from an evil place accidentally met 00:25:42.170 --> 00:25:47.150 his pastor on the street. He stammered for words 00:25:47.150 --> 00:25:49.650 and he said, I'm sorry, I had no business being 00:25:49.650 --> 00:25:58.130 there. And the pastor kindly but wisely replied 00:25:58.130 --> 00:26:04.650 to him, When you came out and I saw you, you 00:26:04.650 --> 00:26:08.730 lost only your reputation. But when you went 00:26:08.730 --> 00:26:12.970 in and only God saw you, you lost your character. 00:26:16.450 --> 00:26:20.809 We need to avoid... Separate ourselves from, 00:26:20.890 --> 00:26:26.190 abhor, despise that which would destroy our character. 00:26:27.069 --> 00:26:29.829 That which would destroy our spiritual walk with 00:26:29.829 --> 00:26:34.849 God. That's love's morality. Don't ever, don't 00:26:34.849 --> 00:26:37.630 ever be deceived into thinking that love is some 00:26:37.630 --> 00:26:41.250 kind of a wishy -washy compromising thing. It 00:26:41.250 --> 00:26:48.400 is not. It is not. Love draws the line. between 00:26:48.400 --> 00:26:55.539 evil and good. And it bitterly hates and opposes 00:26:55.539 --> 00:27:00.220 evil as much as it clings to and supports that 00:27:00.220 --> 00:27:05.539 which is good. That's the kind of love that's 00:27:05.539 --> 00:27:09.160 without hypocrisy. The kind of love that never 00:27:09.160 --> 00:27:13.319 confronts is hypocritical love. That's not real 00:27:13.319 --> 00:27:17.420 love. For if you see your brother involved in 00:27:17.420 --> 00:27:19.619 something that will destroy him and you do not 00:27:19.619 --> 00:27:24.660 go to him and try to help him, you can't say 00:27:24.660 --> 00:27:28.759 you love him. Really, you hate him because you're 00:27:28.759 --> 00:27:34.940 allowing him to be destroyed. Let love be without 00:27:34.940 --> 00:27:40.799 hypocrisy. Then in verse 10, we have love's loyalty. 00:27:41.869 --> 00:27:45.069 He says, be devoted to one another in brotherly 00:27:45.069 --> 00:27:47.869 love. Give preference to one another in honor. 00:27:48.309 --> 00:27:51.470 He speaks here about the affection that is naturally 00:27:51.470 --> 00:27:55.009 expressed among blood relatives. And my Christian 00:27:55.009 --> 00:27:58.690 brother and sister, are we not blood relatives? 00:28:00.450 --> 00:28:04.109 We should therefore express that delicate affection 00:28:04.109 --> 00:28:11.839 mutually as those who cherish one another. a 00:28:11.839 --> 00:28:17.019 parent and a child, or a brother and sister once 00:28:17.019 --> 00:28:20.839 they've grown up a little bit. There ought to 00:28:20.839 --> 00:28:24.160 be that kind of devotion, that brotherly love, 00:28:24.200 --> 00:28:26.259 and the word brotherly love here is Philadelphia. 00:28:29.779 --> 00:28:33.440 We should be characterized by it loving warmly, 00:28:33.460 --> 00:28:35.539 literally it says. In other words, full of tenderness. 00:28:37.940 --> 00:28:43.079 Are you a tender -hearted person? Sometimes men 00:28:43.079 --> 00:28:48.160 have a hard time being tender, loving warmly. 00:28:49.599 --> 00:28:53.900 We need to correct that, gentlemen. There is 00:28:53.900 --> 00:28:59.299 nothing unmanly about warmth in expressing love. 00:29:00.240 --> 00:29:03.559 I'm not talking about the gloppy syrupy junk 00:29:03.559 --> 00:29:07.519 that you get in some places, but I am talking 00:29:07.519 --> 00:29:11.339 about the health food. of genuine warm love. 00:29:12.359 --> 00:29:16.400 It comes out of a loyalty in the family of God. 00:29:16.859 --> 00:29:20.859 And he says that that will produce our giving 00:29:20.859 --> 00:29:24.900 preference to one another in honor. That's the 00:29:24.900 --> 00:29:28.200 result of this affection. It means that none 00:29:28.200 --> 00:29:30.940 will seek his own honor, but is willing to give 00:29:30.940 --> 00:29:34.480 honor to others, pushing others into the limelight. 00:29:39.180 --> 00:29:42.160 One way to put this, and some translations do, 00:29:42.359 --> 00:29:46.160 try to outdo one another in showing respect. 00:29:47.720 --> 00:29:51.799 That's the idea here in loyalty. It is seeking 00:29:51.799 --> 00:29:55.440 the advance of another, trying to make others 00:29:55.440 --> 00:29:58.660 successful, while at the same time shining the 00:29:58.660 --> 00:30:08.039 spotlight for oneself. It is with a sad sort 00:30:08.039 --> 00:30:12.880 of humor, I suppose, that I watch some of the 00:30:12.880 --> 00:30:16.859 television programs that are called Christian, 00:30:17.039 --> 00:30:24.039 and the host invites on some well -known person, 00:30:24.119 --> 00:30:27.859 and they begin to talk. And you know what happens 00:30:27.859 --> 00:30:33.059 so often? It becomes patently clear. very soon, 00:30:33.099 --> 00:30:35.279 that the reason that person is brought on is 00:30:35.279 --> 00:30:38.660 to help build up the program. The host didn't 00:30:38.660 --> 00:30:41.279 put him on to build up his ministry, but so that 00:30:41.279 --> 00:30:43.619 that guy could come on and say, my, if it weren't 00:30:43.619 --> 00:30:45.200 for your program, if it weren't for what you're 00:30:45.200 --> 00:30:46.940 doing around the world, there'd be nothing being 00:30:46.940 --> 00:30:53.480 done, essentially. That's not the loyalty of 00:30:53.480 --> 00:30:59.440 genuine love. Genuine love seeks to build the 00:30:59.440 --> 00:31:02.140 other person up while desiring nothing for oneself. 00:31:03.400 --> 00:31:08.220 Give the other person the credit. This kind of 00:31:08.220 --> 00:31:13.720 unhypocritical love works behind the scenes so 00:31:13.720 --> 00:31:18.200 that other people will become known. So that 00:31:18.200 --> 00:31:20.920 if there is credit to be given, the other guy, 00:31:21.119 --> 00:31:24.299 the other person, is the one who will be named. 00:31:26.279 --> 00:31:30.140 You know, when a person does this, God works, 00:31:30.400 --> 00:31:37.640 God develops his character. It produces a burst 00:31:37.640 --> 00:31:41.599 of maturity when an individual can come to the 00:31:41.599 --> 00:31:44.920 point of saying, Lord, I want to make others 00:31:44.920 --> 00:31:48.980 successful. That's why, and it's so ingenious, 00:31:48.980 --> 00:31:53.539 that is why God's Word says to us, humble yourself. 00:31:57.579 --> 00:32:04.640 And in due time, God will what? Exalt you. But 00:32:04.640 --> 00:32:07.880 if we seek to exalt ourselves, we will be what? 00:32:08.720 --> 00:32:13.339 Humbled. And oh, God has neat ways of doing that, 00:32:13.400 --> 00:32:17.680 doesn't he? When we try to push ourselves into 00:32:17.680 --> 00:32:23.900 the spotlight, click goes the spotlight. But 00:32:23.900 --> 00:32:26.740 when we humble ourselves and seek to put others 00:32:26.740 --> 00:32:29.019 out there in front so that they get the credit, 00:32:29.140 --> 00:32:34.059 then God begins to work in our lives and build 00:32:34.059 --> 00:32:37.500 our character so that when he sees we're ready 00:32:37.500 --> 00:32:40.220 for it, he can push us out into the spotlight. 00:32:40.480 --> 00:32:43.380 My friend, never seek greatness for yourself. 00:32:44.400 --> 00:32:49.500 Only seek to make others great. And in the process 00:32:49.500 --> 00:32:53.650 of that, you will become genuinely great. in 00:32:53.650 --> 00:32:57.970 the eyes of God. Now that just happens naturally 00:32:57.970 --> 00:33:00.730 when we have love in the family. That's the loyalty 00:33:00.730 --> 00:33:05.210 of love. It seeks the welfare, the benefit of 00:33:05.210 --> 00:33:09.630 the other. We will close with verse 11, which 00:33:09.630 --> 00:33:14.970 speaks about love's energy. Not lagging behind 00:33:14.970 --> 00:33:18.890 in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the 00:33:18.890 --> 00:33:23.150 Lord. Do you see the energy that is just bubbling 00:33:23.150 --> 00:33:28.349 here? He says that real, genuine love is energetic 00:33:28.349 --> 00:33:32.009 love. It is that which does not lag behind in 00:33:32.009 --> 00:33:34.470 diligence. Literally, the Greek says, in zeal, 00:33:34.589 --> 00:33:38.569 not slothful. Do you ever have trouble procrastinating? 00:33:40.269 --> 00:33:42.630 I guess all of us do to some degree, don't we? 00:33:43.730 --> 00:33:47.190 But spiritually, we are not to be procrastinators. 00:33:48.200 --> 00:33:51.460 We are not to put off till tomorrow some good 00:33:51.460 --> 00:33:55.539 we may do today. We are not to be characterized 00:33:55.539 --> 00:34:01.700 as those who are idle or lazy. The idea in the 00:34:01.700 --> 00:34:04.200 word here also involves a certain resilience. 00:34:05.920 --> 00:34:08.739 There is a temptation for love to get tired and 00:34:08.739 --> 00:34:13.059 worn out because love just gives and gives and 00:34:13.059 --> 00:34:16.460 gives and gives, expecting nothing in return. 00:34:17.289 --> 00:34:21.289 and often not getting anything in return. And 00:34:21.289 --> 00:34:24.130 there comes the temptation, oh, aren't you tired? 00:34:25.530 --> 00:34:29.429 You better stop this. You're getting worn out. 00:34:30.769 --> 00:34:33.050 And we begin to listen to that, and we begin 00:34:33.050 --> 00:34:38.230 to slack off and lag behind in our fervency. 00:34:38.550 --> 00:34:46.349 Never, never. Love needs to be resilient. It 00:34:46.349 --> 00:34:51.210 needs to stick with it. Love needs energy, which 00:34:51.210 --> 00:34:55.469 can be described as diligence. Are you diligent 00:34:55.469 --> 00:34:58.889 in your spiritual disciplines? Are you diligent 00:34:58.889 --> 00:35:05.929 in your Bible study? What about prayer? Do you 00:35:05.929 --> 00:35:08.489 know that the average Christian I heard some 00:35:08.489 --> 00:35:13.969 time ago spends less than two minutes a day in 00:35:13.969 --> 00:35:18.670 prayer? I would like to think that we are above 00:35:18.670 --> 00:35:25.550 average, but I wonder. Are you resilient? Are 00:35:25.550 --> 00:35:30.690 you diligent in reading Christian books? I heard 00:35:30.690 --> 00:35:34.550 recently that 90 % of evangelical Christians 00:35:34.550 --> 00:35:38.809 have never been in a Christian bookstore. I can 00:35:38.809 --> 00:35:41.610 hardly believe that, but a publisher told me 00:35:41.610 --> 00:35:45.989 that. It was a good survey. 90 % of evangelical 00:35:45.989 --> 00:35:48.329 Christians have never been in a Christian bookstore. 00:35:48.969 --> 00:35:50.530 Obviously, they've never been to a Christian 00:35:50.530 --> 00:35:52.949 college, right? Where you have to go and buy 00:35:52.949 --> 00:35:57.829 books, whether you like it or not. Because of 00:35:57.829 --> 00:36:01.989 that statistic, we have kept book tables in the 00:36:01.989 --> 00:36:05.090 back of our church to expose the people who come 00:36:05.090 --> 00:36:08.510 here to what we feel are good books, helpful 00:36:08.510 --> 00:36:11.510 books. I hope we can continue doing that in our 00:36:11.510 --> 00:36:14.710 new building. We had to cut out the bookstore 00:36:14.710 --> 00:36:17.489 area because of trying to cut the costs down. 00:36:17.809 --> 00:36:21.429 Maybe we'll find a spot for it. When was the 00:36:21.429 --> 00:36:24.929 last time you picked up a biography? You say, 00:36:24.969 --> 00:36:29.409 by what? When was the last time you read a story, 00:36:29.630 --> 00:36:34.309 a life story of somebody, like Billy Graham or 00:36:34.309 --> 00:36:40.579 D .L. Moody or Andrew Murray? Or Harry Ironside. 00:36:41.099 --> 00:36:44.780 Say, Harry who? Isn't it sad that our generation 00:36:44.780 --> 00:36:50.820 today has lost sight of some of the greats? We 00:36:50.820 --> 00:36:56.059 need to rediscover them. What about G .H. Morrison? 00:36:57.500 --> 00:36:59.900 When was the last time you picked up a Christian 00:36:59.900 --> 00:37:02.219 book and read it through and profited from it? 00:37:03.360 --> 00:37:05.659 I'm not talking about the theology book now that 00:37:05.659 --> 00:37:08.449 the prof requires. I'm talking about a... a book 00:37:08.449 --> 00:37:11.909 for your personal edification. Be diligent in 00:37:11.909 --> 00:37:15.650 that. I tell you, people who are now dead have 00:37:15.650 --> 00:37:18.550 so much to teach us through what we can learn 00:37:18.550 --> 00:37:22.170 about their lives by their writings or the writings 00:37:22.170 --> 00:37:26.570 about them. What about your diligence in giving? 00:37:26.969 --> 00:37:34.309 Are you lagging behind in what you give? What 00:37:34.309 --> 00:37:37.670 about your physical disciplines? What about how 00:37:37.670 --> 00:37:41.949 much you eat? What about the exercise that you 00:37:41.949 --> 00:37:44.570 give your body? Now I know those are not as important 00:37:44.570 --> 00:37:46.409 as the spiritual disciplines, but they are not 00:37:46.409 --> 00:37:50.010 unimportant. Our body is the temple of the Holy 00:37:50.010 --> 00:37:54.230 Spirit. Fervent in spirit, he says. In other 00:37:54.230 --> 00:37:57.869 words, in spirit be boiling. Compares it here 00:37:57.869 --> 00:38:02.909 to a steam locomotive. Now well outdated, I suppose. 00:38:04.969 --> 00:38:07.690 But in those days, that steam had to be built 00:38:07.690 --> 00:38:10.329 up in the boiler in order for the wheels to spin. 00:38:11.489 --> 00:38:13.710 I tell you, these days there are some Christians 00:38:13.710 --> 00:38:15.530 that don't have enough steam in them to make 00:38:15.530 --> 00:38:19.769 a locomotive spit, let alone spin. He says we 00:38:19.769 --> 00:38:24.150 are to be boiling in our spirit. One translation 00:38:24.150 --> 00:38:27.510 says, be aglow with the spirit. The idea is to 00:38:27.510 --> 00:38:30.889 be so filled with the spirit of God that Jesus 00:38:30.889 --> 00:38:34.960 Christ radiates from your life. That like Peter 00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:38.639 and John, those around us may recognize that 00:38:38.639 --> 00:38:42.760 we've been with Jesus. And then serving the Lord 00:38:42.760 --> 00:38:46.420 as a slave. One who is a slave directs all of 00:38:46.420 --> 00:38:49.579 his efforts toward the will of his master. And 00:38:49.579 --> 00:38:52.239 we think of a slave as a very lowly kind of person, 00:38:52.280 --> 00:38:55.360 and in one sense that's not inaccurate. But don't 00:38:55.360 --> 00:38:57.739 ever forget that there were some slaves in ancient 00:38:57.739 --> 00:39:00.639 Greece and Rome who were very important people. 00:39:02.570 --> 00:39:05.889 They managed estates. They were stewards of great 00:39:05.889 --> 00:39:10.210 properties. They had influential positions, though 00:39:10.210 --> 00:39:12.849 they were slaves. What that means is that they 00:39:12.849 --> 00:39:15.769 belonged to someone else, and they were concerned 00:39:15.769 --> 00:39:20.710 about their boss's concerns. Are you concerned 00:39:20.710 --> 00:39:23.130 about those things that are concerned to your 00:39:23.130 --> 00:39:28.989 owner, Jesus Christ? You need to direct your 00:39:28.989 --> 00:39:31.980 diligence, your fervency. to the Lord's will. 00:39:32.900 --> 00:39:34.960 Now for students, that means to be diligent, 00:39:35.199 --> 00:39:38.800 to be fervent in your studies. That's your primary 00:39:38.800 --> 00:39:41.179 focus now at this point in life. God's called 00:39:41.179 --> 00:39:43.920 you to be a student. For the business person, 00:39:44.099 --> 00:39:47.940 it means to do your work as unto the Lord. For 00:39:47.940 --> 00:39:50.079 the homemaker, it means to go through your daily 00:39:50.079 --> 00:39:53.039 routine as unto the Lord, being fervent in spirit 00:39:53.039 --> 00:39:56.099 and diligent. For the athlete, it means to enter 00:39:56.099 --> 00:39:59.539 onto the playing floor. to do your job there 00:39:59.539 --> 00:40:03.960 as unto the Lord. Everything is not found in 00:40:03.960 --> 00:40:06.340 winning, but in being a man, a woman of God. 00:40:07.699 --> 00:40:10.260 Whatever we do, whether talking on the telephone 00:40:10.260 --> 00:40:13.460 or driving the car in the expressway or shopping 00:40:13.460 --> 00:40:15.760 in the store or looking at television or reading 00:40:15.760 --> 00:40:23.059 a book, we are to be serving the Lord. We need 00:40:23.059 --> 00:40:25.840 to be in sync with God's plan for our own lives. 00:40:26.380 --> 00:40:31.800 That is... Keeping pace with him. There are some 00:40:31.800 --> 00:40:35.619 people who can serve the Lord at a very fast 00:40:35.619 --> 00:40:40.099 pace. God's given them that freedom and that 00:40:40.099 --> 00:40:43.119 constitution. There are others who are residents 00:40:43.119 --> 00:40:48.119 of nursing homes, retirement centers. They can't 00:40:48.119 --> 00:40:51.460 do as much as perhaps they once did. But whatever 00:40:51.460 --> 00:40:55.059 the pace is that the master says keep, we're 00:40:55.059 --> 00:40:59.050 to serve him at that pace. being diligent and 00:40:59.050 --> 00:41:05.730 fervent. That's genuine love in its morality, 00:41:06.010 --> 00:41:10.829 in its loyalty, in its energy. We'll continue 00:41:10.829 --> 00:41:17.429 next week. Heavenly Father, I pray that unhypocritical 00:41:17.429 --> 00:41:20.630 love will characterize every one of us who knows 00:41:20.630 --> 00:41:29.110 Jesus Christ. May we not play a part May we not 00:41:29.110 --> 00:41:31.530 be concerned about appearance, forget truth, 00:41:31.869 --> 00:41:37.389 or think only of reputation and be unconcerned 00:41:37.389 --> 00:41:43.170 about reality. But may love be genuine in us 00:41:43.170 --> 00:41:47.030 so that as we minister and serve you in the body 00:41:47.030 --> 00:41:50.150 and function using our spiritual gifts, that 00:41:50.150 --> 00:41:52.090 love will produce a fruit that will honor you. 00:41:52.909 --> 00:41:59.210 In Jesus' name I pray, amen. It's hard to find 00:41:59.210 --> 00:42:01.289 a fitting hymn to close a message like this, 00:42:01.349 --> 00:42:06.710 and I didn't. But there is a hymn that says something 00:42:06.710 --> 00:42:10.329 that's important, and that's 312. Because you 00:42:10.329 --> 00:42:14.070 see, I'm aware that as we talk about unhypocritical 00:42:14.070 --> 00:42:16.869 love, God's Spirit is going to be working in 00:42:16.869 --> 00:42:19.989 your heart as He does in mine and exposing areas 00:42:19.989 --> 00:42:22.070 where we have lacked, where we have not been 00:42:22.070 --> 00:42:26.570 genuine. And like the prodigal son who was out 00:42:26.570 --> 00:42:29.690 wasting what he had, we may be outwasting our 00:42:29.690 --> 00:42:33.869 lives, our gifts, our abilities. And our need, 00:42:33.869 --> 00:42:36.969 like the prodigal son, is to come home. So as 00:42:36.969 --> 00:42:41.769 we sing about wandering far away from God and 00:42:41.769 --> 00:42:45.250 deciding now to come home, if that's your decision, 00:42:45.389 --> 00:42:47.230 if that's your commitment today, will you come? 00:42:48.429 --> 00:42:50.809 Or if we can show you what it means to be a real, 00:42:50.809 --> 00:42:54.329 genuine Christian. We have people who are able 00:42:54.329 --> 00:42:57.050 to sit down with you in private. and show you 00:42:57.050 --> 00:43:00.409 from the Bible how to be sure that you're saved. 00:43:01.150 --> 00:43:03.469 Will you come and give us that opportunity? Let's 00:43:03.469 --> 00:43:04.650 stand as we sing together.