WEBVTT 00:00:06.360 --> 00:00:08.580 Several years ago, when I was still in college, 00:00:08.980 --> 00:00:13.779 I thought I was in love with a young lady. Maybe 00:00:13.779 --> 00:00:17.500 some of you can identify with that. I remember 00:00:17.500 --> 00:00:20.539 one night I went out to her house to have an 00:00:20.539 --> 00:00:24.140 evening meal. She came from a large family. I 00:00:24.140 --> 00:00:25.940 think there must have been about ten children 00:00:25.940 --> 00:00:30.079 in this family. She was one of the older ones, 00:00:30.300 --> 00:00:32.200 and so there were a lot of little brats running 00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:35.329 all around. Maybe some of you can identify with 00:00:35.329 --> 00:00:40.070 that, too. I remember as we were talking together, 00:00:40.229 --> 00:00:45.969 the adults, after the meal, that they disappeared 00:00:45.969 --> 00:00:50.130 and came back in. Then we played games or something. 00:00:50.189 --> 00:00:51.670 I don't remember all that we did that evening, 00:00:51.729 --> 00:00:54.049 but it got time to leave about 9, 30, 10 o 'clock. 00:00:55.270 --> 00:00:59.909 So I went out and got in the car and put the 00:00:59.909 --> 00:01:02.109 car in reverse and tried to back up, and the 00:01:02.109 --> 00:01:06.079 car wouldn't move. The wheels would turn, but 00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:07.680 the car wouldn't move. And I got out and looked, 00:01:07.859 --> 00:01:12.780 and those brothers of hers had jacked up my car 00:01:12.780 --> 00:01:15.700 just enough off of the ground so the back wheels 00:01:15.700 --> 00:01:20.040 wouldn't touch. And that was an embarrassing 00:01:20.040 --> 00:01:23.420 evening, I want to guarantee you. They quickly 00:01:23.420 --> 00:01:26.920 remedied the situation. Unless a car has wheels 00:01:26.920 --> 00:01:30.420 in the ground, it doesn't go very far. Let's 00:01:30.420 --> 00:01:34.989 compare that to theology. Except I want to put 00:01:34.989 --> 00:01:36.930 it this way, that theology has to have feet. 00:01:38.409 --> 00:01:41.750 Theology that is not practical is dead and sterile. 00:01:42.950 --> 00:01:46.670 Doctrine must be applied to life in order for 00:01:46.670 --> 00:01:51.629 it to have feet. Theology must be able to walk 00:01:51.629 --> 00:01:54.569 in the real world, in real life, and be applied 00:01:54.569 --> 00:02:02.329 to our decisions, our problems. The Apostle Paul, 00:02:02.530 --> 00:02:05.209 in nearly every one of his epistles, realizes 00:02:05.209 --> 00:02:09.629 that. Therefore, he speaks for the first half 00:02:09.629 --> 00:02:13.050 of the book or so about doctrine, and the last 00:02:13.050 --> 00:02:15.469 half or so of the book, he applies it to life. 00:02:15.590 --> 00:02:19.270 He gives it feet so that doctrine can walk down 00:02:19.270 --> 00:02:22.949 where you and I live and help us in our everyday 00:02:22.949 --> 00:02:27.150 situations. Romans is no different than others 00:02:27.150 --> 00:02:31.379 of his books that do that particular thing. on 00:02:31.379 --> 00:02:34.400 our behalf. Beginning in chapter 12 of Romans, 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:38.120 we have a practical application of the doctrine 00:02:38.120 --> 00:02:41.879 of the righteousness of God, our lack of it, 00:02:41.900 --> 00:02:44.560 how God provides it for us through the sacrifice 00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:47.840 of Jesus Christ, and how we receive it by faith 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:52.599 and are saved. And then he begins to explain 00:02:52.599 --> 00:02:57.909 in chapter 12 how that righteousness of God is 00:02:57.909 --> 00:03:00.870 worked out in our lives in various relationships 00:03:00.870 --> 00:03:06.389 that we have. He spoke in chapter 12 about our 00:03:06.389 --> 00:03:10.569 relationships to other believers in the church, 00:03:10.770 --> 00:03:14.870 our relationships with those who are persecutors, 00:03:14.909 --> 00:03:19.870 who attack us, who are against us. Last week 00:03:19.870 --> 00:03:22.150 we saw what he had to say about our relationships 00:03:22.150 --> 00:03:26.819 with various aspects of government. and authorities 00:03:26.819 --> 00:03:30.039 that God puts into our lives. And as we come 00:03:30.039 --> 00:03:34.139 now to our text, beginning in verse 8, he talks 00:03:34.139 --> 00:03:39.099 about our relationships with our neighbors. Owe 00:03:39.099 --> 00:03:41.879 nothing to anyone except to love one another, 00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:45.539 for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the 00:03:45.539 --> 00:03:50.479 law. For this you shall not commit adultery, 00:03:50.539 --> 00:03:53.039 you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:56.659 shall not covet. And if there is any other commandment, 00:03:56.680 --> 00:04:00.620 it is summed up in this saying, You shall love 00:04:00.620 --> 00:04:04.439 your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong 00:04:04.439 --> 00:04:07.740 to a neighbor. Love, therefore, is the fulfillment 00:04:07.740 --> 00:04:13.360 of the law. And this do, knowing the time, that 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:16.399 it is already the hour for you to awaken from 00:04:16.399 --> 00:04:20.920 sleep. For now salvation is nearer to us than 00:04:20.920 --> 00:04:24.730 when we believed. The night is almost gone and 00:04:24.730 --> 00:04:28.069 the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside 00:04:28.069 --> 00:04:31.209 the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of 00:04:31.209 --> 00:04:34.910 light. Let us behave properly as in the day, 00:04:34.990 --> 00:04:39.029 not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual 00:04:39.029 --> 00:04:43.569 promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and 00:04:43.569 --> 00:04:48.389 jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and 00:04:48.389 --> 00:04:51.839 make no provision for the flesh. in regard to 00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:57.259 its lusts. Among the relationships that we have 00:04:57.259 --> 00:05:01.939 all through life is this relationship that we 00:05:01.939 --> 00:05:06.819 have with those who are our neighbors. Now the 00:05:06.819 --> 00:05:09.660 logical question is, well, who is my neighbor? 00:05:10.600 --> 00:05:15.759 I want us to see that our neighbor is not necessarily 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:19.959 someone who lives next door. or who has a certain 00:05:19.959 --> 00:05:25.060 geographical proximity to where we live. But 00:05:25.060 --> 00:05:28.240 our neighbor actually is whoever has need of 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:32.720 us. I believe that is a biblical definition of 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:36.660 what a neighbor is. My neighbor is whoever has 00:05:36.660 --> 00:05:42.000 a need of me. Would you turn back to the book 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:44.699 of Luke, please, where Jesus was asked this very 00:05:44.699 --> 00:05:50.319 question, who is my neighbor? On this occasion, 00:05:50.480 --> 00:05:54.819 there was a lawyer who tested Jesus by asking 00:05:54.819 --> 00:05:58.759 the question, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit 00:05:58.759 --> 00:06:02.639 eternal life? And our Lord responded to him by 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:06.439 saying, What does the law say? The man responded 00:06:06.439 --> 00:06:09.060 by this summary, You shall love the Lord your 00:06:09.060 --> 00:06:11.339 God with all your heart, with all your soul, 00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:14.420 with all your strength, with all your mind, and 00:06:14.420 --> 00:06:18.160 your neighbor as yourself. And Jesus' response 00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:22.319 to that lawyer of the Mosaic Law was, You have 00:06:22.319 --> 00:06:24.879 answered correctly. Do this and you will live. 00:06:26.600 --> 00:06:28.920 Now immediately there must have been the point 00:06:28.920 --> 00:06:33.100 of conviction in the heart of that man. He knew 00:06:33.100 --> 00:06:37.019 that he had not perfectly kept the law and could 00:06:37.019 --> 00:06:40.240 not perfectly keep the law and therefore could 00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:43.019 not live spiritually. He could not have eternal 00:06:43.019 --> 00:06:50.060 life by his works. But in Luke 10 and verse 29, 00:06:50.540 --> 00:06:54.600 wishing to justify himself, this man replied 00:06:54.600 --> 00:06:59.660 to Jesus, Well, who is my neighbor? And Jesus 00:06:59.660 --> 00:07:02.259 replied and said, A certain man was going down 00:07:02.259 --> 00:07:05.759 from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:08.240 robbers, and they stripped him and beat him and 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:12.439 went off, leaving him half dead. And by chance, 00:07:12.439 --> 00:07:15.600 a certain priest was going down on the road, 00:07:16.300 --> 00:07:19.100 And when he saw him, he passed by on the other 00:07:19.100 --> 00:07:23.860 side. And likewise a Levite also, when he came 00:07:23.860 --> 00:07:26.500 to the place and saw him, passed by on the other 00:07:26.500 --> 00:07:30.540 side. But a certain Samaritan, who was on a journey, 00:07:30.620 --> 00:07:34.899 came upon him. And when he saw him, he felt compassion 00:07:34.899 --> 00:07:38.920 and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring 00:07:38.920 --> 00:07:42.519 oil and wine on them. And he put him on his own 00:07:42.519 --> 00:07:44.779 beast and brought him to an inn and took care 00:07:44.779 --> 00:07:48.420 of him. On the next day he took out two denarii 00:07:48.420 --> 00:07:50.500 and gave them to the innkeeper and said, Take 00:07:50.500 --> 00:07:52.899 care of him, and whatever more you spend, when 00:07:52.899 --> 00:07:58.019 I return, I will repay you. Which of these three 00:07:58.019 --> 00:08:00.920 do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man 00:08:00.920 --> 00:08:05.759 who fell into the robber's hands? The lawyer 00:08:05.759 --> 00:08:08.360 responded to Jesus and said, The one who showed 00:08:08.360 --> 00:08:12.120 mercy toward him. Jesus said to him, Go and do 00:08:12.120 --> 00:08:16.439 the same. Actually, what Jesus does in this parable 00:08:16.439 --> 00:08:19.399 is to reverse the question on the lawyer. He 00:08:19.399 --> 00:08:23.040 asked, who is my neighbor? And the way that Jesus 00:08:23.040 --> 00:08:29.579 responded caused this question to be asked, whose 00:08:29.579 --> 00:08:36.559 neighbor are you? And the way that Jesus responded 00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:40.960 is this, the one who is my neighbor. is the one 00:08:40.960 --> 00:08:43.519 who has need of me, and I am the neighbor of 00:08:43.519 --> 00:08:48.440 the one that I help. So a neighbor can be someone 00:08:48.440 --> 00:08:52.220 that we see frequently, who lives next door perhaps, 00:08:52.559 --> 00:08:57.019 or can be a new acquaintance, like a man who 00:08:57.019 --> 00:08:59.659 has been robbed and stripped and left for dead. 00:09:01.019 --> 00:09:03.879 A neighbor may be one who lives nearby, or may 00:09:03.879 --> 00:09:09.990 be one that we meet in another state. But the 00:09:09.990 --> 00:09:15.070 one who has need of me, biblically, is my neighbor. 00:09:16.250 --> 00:09:18.909 Are you aware that there are people who have 00:09:18.909 --> 00:09:25.509 need of you right where you are? Do you realize 00:09:25.509 --> 00:09:32.110 the needs may be in your own home or your neighborhood, 00:09:32.230 --> 00:09:36.580 as we say it? Or that person who will wait on 00:09:36.580 --> 00:09:38.519 you at the table today in the restaurant? Or 00:09:38.519 --> 00:09:40.500 that person who will fill up your gasoline tank? 00:09:41.659 --> 00:09:43.919 Have you ever thought about the needs they have? 00:09:45.659 --> 00:09:49.120 And what kind of responsibility you have to them 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:56.879 as a neighbor? To be a good neighbor, a Christian, 00:09:56.940 --> 00:10:01.279 must be characterized in two ways. Those two 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:03.700 ways are set before us in our text in Romans 00:10:03.700 --> 00:10:08.360 chapter 13. In order to be a good neighbor, I 00:10:08.360 --> 00:10:11.299 must be characterized by two traits. I must be 00:10:11.299 --> 00:10:17.039 loving and I must be holy. Now you should immediately 00:10:17.039 --> 00:10:20.059 notice that those are two of the chief attributes 00:10:20.059 --> 00:10:25.320 of God himself. For God is both loving, he loves 00:10:25.320 --> 00:10:28.960 the whole world, and yet he is holy and separate 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:35.379 from sinners. God has provided for sinners to 00:10:35.379 --> 00:10:39.740 come to him and be saved. God has provided for 00:10:39.740 --> 00:10:43.080 sinners to be the recipients of his love by the 00:10:43.080 --> 00:10:47.080 work of Calvary. At the cross of Calvary, God's 00:10:47.080 --> 00:10:52.740 love and God's holiness cross, they meet. And 00:10:52.740 --> 00:10:56.399 Jesus Christ provides for God to be holy and 00:10:56.399 --> 00:11:03.179 loving to sinners who will come to him. God expects 00:11:03.179 --> 00:11:06.539 us as His children to be both loving and holy 00:11:06.539 --> 00:11:09.940 as well. There's a certain balance here in these 00:11:09.940 --> 00:11:15.659 two traits, characteristics. Love without holiness 00:11:15.659 --> 00:11:21.000 has no power to it. But on the other hand, holiness 00:11:21.000 --> 00:11:26.379 without love has no attraction. Therefore, a 00:11:26.379 --> 00:11:30.779 Christian must be both loving and holy. He must 00:11:30.779 --> 00:11:35.019 be compassionate and yet righteous and pure. 00:11:36.279 --> 00:11:38.299 Let's talk about them. What does it mean to be 00:11:38.299 --> 00:11:41.840 loving? Well, in the text that we have before 00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:45.039 us, the apostle says we are to owe nothing to 00:11:45.039 --> 00:11:51.179 anyone except to love one another. He is saying 00:11:51.179 --> 00:11:56.659 by this that our first and last debt is to love 00:11:56.659 --> 00:12:03.919 others. When he says, oh, no man anything, he 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:06.720 is not suggesting to us that it is sin for a 00:12:06.720 --> 00:12:10.120 Christian to be in debt. I'm sorry if you are 00:12:10.120 --> 00:12:13.500 one of those who take this as a proof text for 00:12:13.500 --> 00:12:16.240 that, but that is not what he is saying here. 00:12:18.179 --> 00:12:21.460 In fact, the Bible does not forbid legal transactions 00:12:21.460 --> 00:12:27.159 which include debt or the payment of interest. 00:12:29.740 --> 00:12:34.039 The Bible does forbid usury, which is exorbitant 00:12:34.039 --> 00:12:39.320 interest. It also forbids failing to pay honest 00:12:39.320 --> 00:12:44.980 debts and cheating or swindling. But some of 00:12:44.980 --> 00:12:47.919 the parables that Jesus told, including the one 00:12:47.919 --> 00:12:54.259 in Matthew 25, Luke 19, these parables suggest 00:12:54.259 --> 00:12:58.179 to us that God does not condemn banking. or investing 00:12:58.179 --> 00:13:02.879 for gain. Indeed, the servant who did not at 00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:07.279 least invest for gain was condemned because of 00:13:07.279 --> 00:13:11.580 his lack of use of what his master had given 00:13:11.580 --> 00:13:16.720 him. I think that the implication of this is 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:19.779 if it's not wrong to invest for gain, then if 00:13:19.779 --> 00:13:21.860 the need is that we have to borrow to pay interest, 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:26.370 then that neither is wrong. When he says, owe 00:13:26.370 --> 00:13:28.750 no man anything, he is not saying we should not 00:13:28.750 --> 00:13:32.450 be in debt. One is in debt when he is behind 00:13:32.450 --> 00:13:34.509 in his payments and does not pay the interest 00:13:34.509 --> 00:13:39.250 that is due. But his point here is not financial. 00:13:39.549 --> 00:13:44.070 His point is love. He is saying if you have paid 00:13:44.070 --> 00:13:46.590 off everything else that you owe, there is still 00:13:46.590 --> 00:13:48.750 one debt that you have, and that is the debt 00:13:48.750 --> 00:13:54.299 to love one another. This debt is most vividly 00:13:54.299 --> 00:14:00.679 seen when it is expressed to an unlovable neighbor. 00:14:02.440 --> 00:14:05.580 He says, he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled 00:14:05.580 --> 00:14:10.080 the law. The word love is the word agape. It 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:13.379 comes from that word. It means God's kind of 00:14:13.379 --> 00:14:17.620 love. Loving even those who cannot reciprocate, 00:14:17.639 --> 00:14:22.440 those who do not appreciate. Nonetheless, loving 00:14:22.440 --> 00:14:28.179 them, giving, sharing, helping. He says, he who 00:14:28.179 --> 00:14:32.879 loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. The 00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:36.899 neighbor who reciprocates, the neighbor who is 00:14:36.899 --> 00:14:39.539 congenial, the neighbor who is friendly is easy 00:14:39.539 --> 00:14:43.320 to love. But the kind of love that is described 00:14:43.320 --> 00:14:45.460 here really is the kind of love that even goes 00:14:45.460 --> 00:14:49.779 to the other. In fact, the word neighbor in verse 00:14:49.779 --> 00:14:56.629 8, is not actually there. In the Greek, the word 00:14:56.629 --> 00:15:02.549 is other. He says, he who loves the other has 00:15:02.549 --> 00:15:05.129 fulfilled the law, and the word other is a particular 00:15:05.129 --> 00:15:09.809 word. It means one who is of another kind, someone 00:15:09.809 --> 00:15:16.970 who is different. That's his point. He is saying 00:15:16.970 --> 00:15:19.590 that this love that we owe is not just to those 00:15:19.590 --> 00:15:24.149 that we're friends with. But those who are of 00:15:24.149 --> 00:15:27.629 a different stripe than we are, who have a different 00:15:27.629 --> 00:15:32.649 nature, who may not be appreciative or grateful 00:15:32.649 --> 00:15:36.210 in return, we are to love them as neighbors as 00:15:36.210 --> 00:15:43.210 well. The ones who may be presumptuous, the ones 00:15:43.210 --> 00:15:47.850 who may be expecting, we are to love them and 00:15:47.850 --> 00:15:54.779 to give. He says, you shall not commit adultery, 00:15:54.980 --> 00:15:56.940 you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you 00:15:56.940 --> 00:15:59.919 shall not covet. And if there's any other commandment, 00:15:59.919 --> 00:16:02.480 all of these are summarized in this saying, you 00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:06.039 shall love your neighbors yourself, even the 00:16:06.039 --> 00:16:09.980 neighbor who is a little different. Have you 00:16:09.980 --> 00:16:13.980 ever had a neighbor that way? We have always 00:16:13.980 --> 00:16:18.179 been blessed to have neighbors that have been 00:16:18.179 --> 00:16:25.059 kind. We've never been in a neighborhood where 00:16:25.059 --> 00:16:27.120 we did not have neighbors we could not get along 00:16:27.120 --> 00:16:29.720 with. We were not always close friends with them. 00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:33.799 But really a neighbor is more than that. A neighbor 00:16:33.799 --> 00:16:37.799 is someone out there who needs me. Have I ever 00:16:37.799 --> 00:16:40.700 run into anybody who needed me that I didn't 00:16:40.700 --> 00:16:49.220 like? Of course. And so have you. We are to love 00:16:49.220 --> 00:16:52.529 that person who needs us. Even though there may 00:16:52.529 --> 00:16:57.350 not be that natural attraction, how many times 00:16:57.350 --> 00:17:00.350 I have failed in my own life to show that kind 00:17:00.350 --> 00:17:05.630 of love to people. I'm ashamed to admit it. What 00:17:05.630 --> 00:17:07.289 does it mean to love them? Well, it means in 00:17:07.289 --> 00:17:11.049 one hand to not do anything wrong toward them. 00:17:11.690 --> 00:17:15.069 He says in verse 10, love does no wrong to a 00:17:15.069 --> 00:17:19.650 neighbor. And he gives us examples. He says, 00:17:19.829 --> 00:17:22.450 love, for example, means that I will not commit 00:17:22.450 --> 00:17:26.390 adultery against my neighbor. Are there those 00:17:26.390 --> 00:17:29.250 who tell us that adultery is just expressing 00:17:29.250 --> 00:17:35.069 love? Hardly. Hardly. Adultery is not the expression 00:17:35.069 --> 00:17:37.990 of love. It's the expression of personal lust. 00:17:40.250 --> 00:17:45.299 Adultery is not giving. It's taking. Taking another's 00:17:45.299 --> 00:17:49.420 reputation, another's affection, it means to 00:17:49.420 --> 00:17:52.920 steal the love that is owned by another in order 00:17:52.920 --> 00:17:56.319 to fulfill my own passion. That's what adultery 00:17:56.319 --> 00:18:01.019 is. It's not love. And so if I love another person, 00:18:01.059 --> 00:18:06.039 I will not commit adultery. He says if I love 00:18:06.039 --> 00:18:08.160 another person, I'll not kill them. I'll not 00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:12.509 murder them. Murder is an expression of hatred 00:18:12.509 --> 00:18:15.950 in the heart, according to 1 John 3. It has nothing 00:18:15.950 --> 00:18:18.970 to do with love. Nor will I steal from another 00:18:18.970 --> 00:18:23.569 person. Stealing is taking another's possession. 00:18:25.910 --> 00:18:29.170 It's desiring to have without working or paying 00:18:29.170 --> 00:18:33.529 or asking. That's stealing. And it is not love. 00:18:35.289 --> 00:18:42.089 So love doesn't steal. Love doesn't covet either, 00:18:42.170 --> 00:18:44.410 for coveting is a desire to have for oneself 00:18:44.410 --> 00:18:48.509 what another has. It's inward, whereas the stealing 00:18:48.509 --> 00:18:51.549 is outward. Coveting is a heart attitude. It's 00:18:51.549 --> 00:18:54.769 a mindset, being envious, wanting what the Joneses 00:18:54.769 --> 00:18:59.369 have, for example. That is not love. I'm not 00:18:59.369 --> 00:19:02.390 rejoicing in what he has. I want it. But love 00:19:02.390 --> 00:19:04.549 causes me to say, praise God for what my neighbor 00:19:04.549 --> 00:19:09.569 has, and not desire it for myself. Then he says, 00:19:09.630 --> 00:19:12.269 now if there's any other commandment, and of 00:19:12.269 --> 00:19:15.309 course there are others, he says, whatever the 00:19:15.309 --> 00:19:20.349 commandment is, if you love your neighbor, you 00:19:20.349 --> 00:19:24.809 will fulfill that commandment. For he says, love 00:19:24.809 --> 00:19:29.890 is the fulfillment of the law. Where there is 00:19:29.890 --> 00:19:40.440 love, you do not need commandments. One who is 00:19:40.440 --> 00:19:43.019 controlled by love will not sin against another 00:19:43.019 --> 00:19:47.680 by committing adultery, by murdering, by stealing, 00:19:47.880 --> 00:19:51.599 by coveting, by lying, by being disrespectful 00:19:51.599 --> 00:19:55.859 or dishonorable. By the way, I think that's why 00:19:55.859 --> 00:19:58.900 the New Testament does not repeat the Ten Commandments 00:19:58.900 --> 00:20:05.980 as a rule for Christians to live by. You say, 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:10.029 don't we need some rules? We have one rule, and 00:20:10.029 --> 00:20:14.250 that is the law of love. And where the law of 00:20:14.250 --> 00:20:18.089 love is enforced and obeyed, you don't need the 00:20:18.089 --> 00:20:22.650 other commandments. They are superfluous. They 00:20:22.650 --> 00:20:25.890 are a taken. They are understood. If I am loving, 00:20:26.009 --> 00:20:30.130 these other commandments are unnecessary upon 00:20:30.130 --> 00:20:35.630 me. There was no law that said that Samaritan 00:20:35.630 --> 00:20:38.569 had to stop and take care of that man. After 00:20:38.569 --> 00:20:41.329 all, that man was probably a Jew who had been 00:20:41.329 --> 00:20:45.190 robbed and stripped and left for dead. And he 00:20:45.190 --> 00:20:47.589 was a Samaritan, and there was not a friendly 00:20:47.589 --> 00:20:52.490 feeling between the two of them. And yet that 00:20:52.490 --> 00:20:57.390 man, out of love and compassion, helped that 00:20:57.390 --> 00:21:03.630 Jew when his own brothers passed him by. And 00:21:03.630 --> 00:21:05.750 so here was one who was of a different kind. 00:21:07.150 --> 00:21:11.650 A neighbor who was helped by a Samaritan. Not 00:21:11.650 --> 00:21:15.569 because he was commanded to, but because he had 00:21:15.569 --> 00:21:20.849 love and compassion. Do you have that kind of 00:21:20.849 --> 00:21:23.450 compassion for people? Or do you have to be ordered 00:21:23.450 --> 00:21:27.569 to do things right? You boys and girls who are 00:21:27.569 --> 00:21:32.529 listening. You children. Do you do what you do 00:21:32.529 --> 00:21:34.950 because your moms and dads say you have to do 00:21:34.950 --> 00:21:41.240 it? That's one motive, but it's not the best. 00:21:42.619 --> 00:21:45.660 Do you do what you do in your home? Do you do 00:21:45.660 --> 00:21:47.940 your chores, treat your brothers and sisters 00:21:47.940 --> 00:21:51.940 kindly? Do you do that because you love your 00:21:51.940 --> 00:21:53.940 brothers and sisters and you love your mom and 00:21:53.940 --> 00:21:59.319 dad and you want to do what pleases them? Where 00:21:59.319 --> 00:22:01.359 there is love, there doesn't have to be law. 00:22:02.279 --> 00:22:10.109 Love overrules law. Love is its own law. In our 00:22:10.109 --> 00:22:13.690 relationships with others, we should be controlled 00:22:13.690 --> 00:22:18.849 by love. And I should be concerned about that 00:22:18.849 --> 00:22:22.250 person who's different than I am. And who may 00:22:22.250 --> 00:22:24.809 not even understand or appreciate what I'm going 00:22:24.809 --> 00:22:28.990 to do for him. But my love for him should be 00:22:28.990 --> 00:22:32.789 so real, so much like God's love, that I will 00:22:32.789 --> 00:22:38.099 go help. I will go give what is needed. To be 00:22:38.099 --> 00:22:40.039 a good neighbor, I have to be loving like God 00:22:40.039 --> 00:22:44.099 is. To be a good neighbor, I also have to be 00:22:44.099 --> 00:22:52.019 holy. I don't mean holier than thou. But I mean 00:22:52.019 --> 00:22:56.660 being pure and righteous. There are three things 00:22:56.660 --> 00:22:59.980 I want to say about being holy, as we see in 00:22:59.980 --> 00:23:04.599 our text here. In the first place, pure lives 00:23:04.599 --> 00:23:07.579 are the result of a close watch on the time. 00:23:08.680 --> 00:23:11.940 What time is it anyway? You say about 20 to 12, 00:23:12.220 --> 00:23:15.460 about 15 minutes before you're to be done. Well, 00:23:15.619 --> 00:23:19.799 that's right. But that's not the time I'm talking 00:23:19.799 --> 00:23:24.140 about. Notice what he says, verse 11. Do this, 00:23:24.140 --> 00:23:28.599 that is love, fulfilling the law, knowing the 00:23:28.599 --> 00:23:31.799 time. And here's the time, that it's already 00:23:31.799 --> 00:23:34.839 the hour for you to awaken from sleep, for now 00:23:34.839 --> 00:23:37.519 salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. 00:23:38.259 --> 00:23:40.980 What he is saying to us here is that the time 00:23:40.980 --> 00:23:43.779 before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is 00:23:43.779 --> 00:23:48.319 short. He says we are nearing the culmination 00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:51.960 of our salvation. As you know, there are three 00:23:51.960 --> 00:23:57.240 tenses to salvation. I have been saved from the 00:23:57.240 --> 00:24:01.079 penalty of my sin. And that is settled forever. 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:05.180 I will never be called into account for my sin 00:24:05.180 --> 00:24:07.920 because Jesus Christ has taken the penalty for 00:24:07.920 --> 00:24:13.119 me. I was saved one day by faith in him. And 00:24:13.119 --> 00:24:16.200 now as a Christian, I am being saved from the 00:24:16.200 --> 00:24:21.240 power of sin. And someday I'm going to be saved 00:24:21.240 --> 00:24:23.279 from the very presence of it. And that's the 00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:25.720 tense that he has in mind here when he says our 00:24:25.720 --> 00:24:29.279 salvation is nearer to us. than when we believed. 00:24:30.420 --> 00:24:33.220 Obviously, time has passed since then, whether 00:24:33.220 --> 00:24:36.279 it be 2 ,000 years for the people who had read 00:24:36.279 --> 00:24:39.660 this book for the first time, or ourselves, maybe 00:24:39.660 --> 00:24:44.039 two years. Whichever way you look at it, salvation 00:24:44.039 --> 00:24:48.519 is nearer than then. Jesus' coming is at hand. 00:24:49.839 --> 00:24:54.339 The time present is a time of opportunity in 00:24:54.339 --> 00:24:58.319 life. We are given time now and the privilege 00:24:58.319 --> 00:25:02.900 to serve the Lord. And so he is saying, know 00:25:02.900 --> 00:25:08.279 what time it is. Look ahead and see that Jesus' 00:25:08.380 --> 00:25:11.700 coming is soon. The culmination of your salvation 00:25:11.700 --> 00:25:14.599 is at hand. Therefore, take advantage of the 00:25:14.599 --> 00:25:18.119 time that you have right now. He says, this is 00:25:18.119 --> 00:25:24.720 no time for sleep. You don't sleep in the daytime, 00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:27.240 and for us it's day. We are children of the day. 00:25:27.319 --> 00:25:31.359 For the world, it's night. He says to us who 00:25:31.359 --> 00:25:35.200 are children of the day, wake up! Realize what's 00:25:35.200 --> 00:25:38.200 taking place around you, that life's opportunities 00:25:38.200 --> 00:25:41.720 are slipping by day by day, and salvation is 00:25:41.720 --> 00:25:45.599 coming soon. Don't be unresponsive. Don't be 00:25:45.599 --> 00:25:48.900 lethargic. Don't be unaware, unconscious, or 00:25:48.900 --> 00:25:52.599 sleepy in the day in which you're living. Take 00:25:52.599 --> 00:25:57.039 advantage of every opportunity. Know that the 00:25:57.039 --> 00:26:00.099 day is close when Christ will return and will 00:26:00.099 --> 00:26:08.180 establish the new age. If you and I really understand 00:26:08.180 --> 00:26:12.079 that Jesus is coming and what His coming will 00:26:12.079 --> 00:26:15.359 bring, then it's going to cause us to live pure 00:26:15.359 --> 00:26:19.000 lives. 1 John 3 says, He that has this hope... 00:26:20.430 --> 00:26:23.930 the hope of Christ's coming. He that has this 00:26:23.930 --> 00:26:28.130 hope purifies himself, even as he, the Lord, 00:26:28.190 --> 00:26:31.490 is pure. So the first thing he tells us about 00:26:31.490 --> 00:26:34.029 holy living is that pure lives come when we realize 00:26:34.029 --> 00:26:38.029 what time it is. We don't have time to be playing 00:26:38.029 --> 00:26:44.289 around. We don't have time to waste. Opportunities 00:26:44.289 --> 00:26:49.369 are brief at best. The second thing he says is 00:26:49.369 --> 00:26:54.299 that Pure lives in a degenerate society like 00:26:54.299 --> 00:27:01.559 ours mean living properly. Pure lives mean living 00:27:01.559 --> 00:27:05.220 properly. What does it mean to live properly? 00:27:05.400 --> 00:27:08.940 Well, he says, let's behave properly as in the 00:27:08.940 --> 00:27:12.940 day. And he says, not doing these things, and 00:27:12.940 --> 00:27:18.299 he lists six. He's saying that pure lives mean 00:27:18.299 --> 00:27:20.759 that we will separate ourselves from this kind 00:27:20.759 --> 00:27:23.059 of activity. What does he mention? Well, he mentions 00:27:23.059 --> 00:27:27.799 carousing. This word in the Greek comes from 00:27:27.799 --> 00:27:30.440 parades that were held at nighttime in those 00:27:30.440 --> 00:27:37.559 days. These torch -lit processions were processions 00:27:37.559 --> 00:27:41.819 of drunks who would walk through the city singing 00:27:41.819 --> 00:27:47.109 boisterously. in honor of the god of wine, Bacchus, 00:27:47.170 --> 00:27:50.789 or some other deity if they chose. That's the 00:27:50.789 --> 00:27:55.490 origin of this word. And it came to apply to 00:27:55.490 --> 00:27:59.470 all kinds of drinking parties and orgies and 00:27:59.470 --> 00:28:04.269 feasts where people get together and perform 00:28:04.269 --> 00:28:07.829 what they desire in their imaginations. That's 00:28:07.829 --> 00:28:10.650 carousing. And he says that if we are going to 00:28:10.650 --> 00:28:13.779 live pure lives, we separate ourselves from that 00:28:13.779 --> 00:28:20.839 kind of thing. We separate ourselves from the 00:28:20.839 --> 00:28:23.019 kinds of things that happen on a Saturday night, 00:28:23.099 --> 00:28:25.539 for example, in the typical bar in St. Paul, 00:28:25.740 --> 00:28:31.180 and what happens after the bar, or the dance 00:28:31.180 --> 00:28:37.059 floor, etc. A Christian has nothing to do with 00:28:37.059 --> 00:28:39.160 that. As a child of the day, that's a part of 00:28:39.160 --> 00:28:44.220 the night. the degenerate world. He says properly 00:28:44.220 --> 00:28:49.019 behaving means that we also avoid drunkenness. 00:28:50.200 --> 00:28:53.539 In other words, being habitually intoxicated, 00:28:53.660 --> 00:28:57.579 whether it be with wine or some other kind of 00:28:57.579 --> 00:29:03.279 narcotic, we are to have nothing to do with those 00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:06.119 things that cause us to lose control of ourselves. 00:29:06.480 --> 00:29:14.279 That's the thought here. Drunkenness is a terrible 00:29:14.279 --> 00:29:18.680 sin in our society. I am glad that more and more 00:29:18.680 --> 00:29:22.700 we are seeing the government and the surgeon 00:29:22.700 --> 00:29:25.720 general give pronouncements regarding smoking. 00:29:27.480 --> 00:29:29.579 But I wonder when they're going to start giving 00:29:29.579 --> 00:29:32.140 similar kinds of pronouncements regarding drinking. 00:29:34.220 --> 00:29:39.180 For alcohol is just as destructive to the body 00:29:39.180 --> 00:29:46.759 as smoking is. and is infinitely more destructive 00:29:46.759 --> 00:29:57.059 to the home. Today we politely call it alcoholism, 00:29:57.059 --> 00:30:01.880 and we say, well, it's a disease. I'd like to 00:30:01.880 --> 00:30:05.000 say to you that there are some aspects of alcoholism 00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:08.240 which do affect the body, and therefore in that 00:30:08.240 --> 00:30:11.930 sense it may be a disease. But basically and 00:30:11.930 --> 00:30:15.089 primarily and in its root, the Bible says it 00:30:15.089 --> 00:30:21.269 is sin. It is sin. That may alarm a sociologist 00:30:21.269 --> 00:30:24.170 to hear that. It doesn't concern me a great deal. 00:30:25.490 --> 00:30:29.450 The Bible says that drunkenness, being habitually 00:30:29.450 --> 00:30:33.990 intoxicated, is sin. It's a part of the night. 00:30:34.109 --> 00:30:36.950 We're to have nothing to do with that. We're 00:30:36.950 --> 00:30:40.920 to live pure lives. Holy living has nothing to 00:30:40.920 --> 00:30:45.779 do, thirdly, with sexual promiscuity. I think 00:30:45.779 --> 00:30:50.039 that's clear enough. It is the unrestrained expression 00:30:50.039 --> 00:30:55.740 of every kind of lust. It is sexual relationships 00:30:55.740 --> 00:30:58.819 outside of the holiness of the marital commitment. 00:31:02.420 --> 00:31:05.980 We are living in a day when this is not only... 00:31:08.019 --> 00:31:14.279 experienced in secret, in darkness, but it is 00:31:14.279 --> 00:31:16.920 something that is in our living rooms on television 00:31:16.920 --> 00:31:19.539 day in and day out if we choose to watch the 00:31:19.539 --> 00:31:23.700 garbage. I am deeply concerned about what's going 00:31:23.700 --> 00:31:28.660 to happen with cable TV in our communities and 00:31:28.660 --> 00:31:33.200 the kind of filth that will be made readily available 00:31:33.200 --> 00:31:38.869 to people. The temptation is going to be overpowering 00:31:38.869 --> 00:31:43.470 for too many. I expect that we are going to see 00:31:43.470 --> 00:31:47.829 a dramatic rise in all kinds of sexual perversions 00:31:47.829 --> 00:31:52.930 and sexual offenses in our society as a result 00:31:52.930 --> 00:31:55.849 of it being made so readily available to people. 00:31:58.970 --> 00:32:01.329 Christians are to have nothing to do with sexual 00:32:01.329 --> 00:32:04.170 promiscuity. Sex is a wonderful thing that God 00:32:04.170 --> 00:32:07.720 has given to us. It is blessed and it is holy. 00:32:07.940 --> 00:32:10.519 The Bible says the marriage bed is undefiled, 00:32:10.539 --> 00:32:14.700 but notice that it is the marriage bed. In a 00:32:14.700 --> 00:32:17.559 sexual relationship outside of marriage, the 00:32:17.559 --> 00:32:21.039 Bible calls sin. We're not to have anything to 00:32:21.039 --> 00:32:24.900 do with it. You say, what if we have? Or what 00:32:24.900 --> 00:32:27.019 if I have been drunk? Or what if I have been 00:32:27.019 --> 00:32:30.640 carousing? Then, my friend, repent of it. Confess 00:32:30.640 --> 00:32:32.720 it as sin to God and get it out of your life 00:32:32.720 --> 00:32:38.539 if it's there. Sensuality is the fourth on the 00:32:38.539 --> 00:32:42.200 list. A pure life will be one that is separate 00:32:42.200 --> 00:32:48.039 from debauchery or animal lust, shameless greed. 00:32:49.680 --> 00:32:54.279 Sensuality has to do with the thought life as 00:32:54.279 --> 00:32:56.799 much as the activity that we've just talked about. 00:32:59.180 --> 00:33:01.559 There are some of us who would sit here and be 00:33:01.559 --> 00:33:04.579 very... content that we had not been involved 00:33:04.579 --> 00:33:10.420 in sexual promiscuity. But oh, the X -rated movies 00:33:10.420 --> 00:33:12.980 that run through our minds and our imaginations. 00:33:16.460 --> 00:33:19.039 We live in a society which is causing yet to 00:33:19.039 --> 00:33:22.279 be more and more of a problem to all of us. Therefore, 00:33:22.440 --> 00:33:25.000 we need to be more and more in battle against 00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:28.339 it. Sensuality. We're to have nothing to do with 00:33:28.339 --> 00:33:32.210 a sensual. Now, God has given us senses. God 00:33:32.210 --> 00:33:34.950 wants us to enjoy pleasures, but we're talking 00:33:34.950 --> 00:33:37.769 about pleasure here that comes from sinful sources. 00:33:39.230 --> 00:33:43.910 Then he talks about strife, contention, quarreling, 00:33:44.029 --> 00:33:48.529 rivalry. That is not a part of a Christian life, 00:33:48.650 --> 00:33:52.910 a holy life, a pure life. If we're going to live 00:33:52.910 --> 00:33:55.630 before our neighbor a life that pleases God, 00:33:55.690 --> 00:34:00.779 it must be one that is non -contentious. And 00:34:00.779 --> 00:34:04.759 then it must be free from jealousy. A lust for 00:34:04.759 --> 00:34:08.420 what another has. As we said before, trying to 00:34:08.420 --> 00:34:12.900 keep up with the Joneses. Jealousy over what 00:34:12.900 --> 00:34:17.619 they have and desiring it for oneself. No Christian 00:34:17.619 --> 00:34:19.599 should be overcome with that plague. And yet 00:34:19.599 --> 00:34:21.960 in our materialistic world, when there is such 00:34:21.960 --> 00:34:27.440 an emphasis on what people have, it's very difficult, 00:34:27.619 --> 00:34:33.690 isn't it? And jealousy as well as sensuality 00:34:33.690 --> 00:34:36.510 is something inside. It can be hidden, and yet 00:34:36.510 --> 00:34:40.070 God can expose and reveal that to us. My friend, 00:34:40.110 --> 00:34:42.769 a pure life in a degenerate society means behaving 00:34:42.769 --> 00:34:45.210 properly, and that means getting away from this 00:34:45.210 --> 00:34:50.710 kind of thing. How do you do that? Well, thirdly, 00:34:50.710 --> 00:34:52.969 a pure life is only possible when we obey verse 00:34:52.969 --> 00:34:58.619 14. He says, put on the Lord Jesus Christ. and 00:34:58.619 --> 00:35:01.039 make no provision for the flesh in regard to 00:35:01.039 --> 00:35:05.360 its lusts. He says it similarly back in verse 00:35:05.360 --> 00:35:07.940 12. He says, Lay aside the deeds of darkness 00:35:07.940 --> 00:35:10.659 and put on the armor, or literally the weapons 00:35:10.659 --> 00:35:16.460 of light. We are to clothe ourselves, literally 00:35:16.460 --> 00:35:21.079 he says, with Jesus Christ. Now that is a metaphor 00:35:21.079 --> 00:35:24.639 which means that we are to appropriate Jesus 00:35:24.639 --> 00:35:29.550 Christ as our life. It means that not only is 00:35:29.550 --> 00:35:33.369 He our Savior from sin in the past tense, but 00:35:33.369 --> 00:35:36.110 He is our Savior from sin right now in the present 00:35:36.110 --> 00:35:39.730 tense. And as we walk with Him and yield ourselves 00:35:39.730 --> 00:35:42.429 to Him and grow to know Him and therefore to 00:35:42.429 --> 00:35:46.909 be like Him, we will be able to appropriate His 00:35:46.909 --> 00:35:50.650 strength when we are tempted to live impure lives. 00:35:52.550 --> 00:35:55.670 To put on the Lord Jesus Christ means to appropriate 00:35:55.670 --> 00:36:01.840 Him. But then he says at the same time, negatively, 00:36:02.159 --> 00:36:06.619 we are to not make provision for the flesh. The 00:36:06.619 --> 00:36:10.519 idea is here to take no forethought for it. Do 00:36:10.519 --> 00:36:14.559 not plan in advance how to fulfill what your 00:36:14.559 --> 00:36:18.820 flesh wants. The flesh, by the way, is that pattern 00:36:18.820 --> 00:36:23.079 of action, the propensities of our human natures 00:36:23.079 --> 00:36:28.250 which have been established by sin in us. He 00:36:28.250 --> 00:36:32.610 says we are not to fulfill what our flesh wants. 00:36:33.250 --> 00:36:35.889 Go back to Galatians 5 and you can read what 00:36:35.889 --> 00:36:40.650 the flesh wants. It's works. Have you ever found 00:36:40.650 --> 00:36:46.110 yourself planning to sin? You're probably lying 00:36:46.110 --> 00:36:52.969 if you say no. Rare is the person who can't say, 00:36:53.130 --> 00:36:57.489 yes, I can think of times. when I have taken 00:36:57.489 --> 00:36:59.909 forethought as to how I was going to fulfill 00:36:59.909 --> 00:37:05.230 what my flesh wanted. That's what we're not to 00:37:05.230 --> 00:37:08.989 do. The moment that the flesh suggests to us 00:37:08.989 --> 00:37:11.829 a plan of action so that it can have its way, 00:37:12.030 --> 00:37:14.989 we are to come to Jesus Christ and say, Lord 00:37:14.989 --> 00:37:20.090 Jesus, I appropriate you. You subdue what the 00:37:20.090 --> 00:37:24.170 flesh is suggesting that I do. You care for this 00:37:24.170 --> 00:37:28.360 temptation. In doing that, you will be laying 00:37:28.360 --> 00:37:32.059 aside the deeds of darkness and you will be putting 00:37:32.059 --> 00:37:38.239 on the armor, the weapons of light. Only when 00:37:38.239 --> 00:37:42.340 you and I lead holy lives as well as loving lives 00:37:42.340 --> 00:37:48.219 will we be able to help our neighbors. If we 00:37:48.219 --> 00:37:52.519 love them without leading a holy life, then our 00:37:52.519 --> 00:38:00.079 words will be essentially powerless. On the other 00:38:00.079 --> 00:38:05.139 hand, if we are so holy in an extreme and unbiblical 00:38:05.139 --> 00:38:09.480 sense that we don't love our neighbor, then they 00:38:09.480 --> 00:38:11.420 won't have anything to do with us because they 00:38:11.420 --> 00:38:15.019 will see us as being too far above them, too 00:38:15.019 --> 00:38:21.809 perfect, or too snobbish, perhaps. Therefore, 00:38:21.929 --> 00:38:24.349 folks, we need this balance that he tells us 00:38:24.349 --> 00:38:26.489 about here. We need to be loving and compassionate 00:38:26.489 --> 00:38:29.570 and at the same time pure in the way that we 00:38:29.570 --> 00:38:32.929 live. There are people who need you. They need 00:38:32.929 --> 00:38:36.110 you to act this way toward them. Who are they? 00:38:39.949 --> 00:38:44.869 Who is in need of your help today? Whose neighbor 00:38:44.869 --> 00:38:51.019 are you? How then in love will you... reach to 00:38:51.019 --> 00:38:54.019 that person? How in holiness will you express 00:38:54.019 --> 00:38:57.880 to that person the love and the holiness, the 00:38:57.880 --> 00:39:02.679 character of God? It may be a quick little deed 00:39:02.679 --> 00:39:05.380 that you'll do. Maybe the waitress will have 00:39:05.380 --> 00:39:07.260 had a bad morning and as you go in there for 00:39:07.260 --> 00:39:10.239 lunch today, she's going to be a little temperamental. 00:39:11.800 --> 00:39:16.280 Just a word of encouragement. Just a word of 00:39:16.280 --> 00:39:20.739 God's love. Just a brief word of witness. will 00:39:20.739 --> 00:39:25.159 be doing a neighborly deed for that person. Maybe 00:39:25.159 --> 00:39:27.820 it's handing a gospel tract to the person who 00:39:27.820 --> 00:39:32.340 fills up your gas tank. Maybe it's taking a meal 00:39:32.340 --> 00:39:34.440 to that person across the street who's been in 00:39:34.440 --> 00:39:38.000 the hospital. Or maybe it's taking care of the 00:39:38.000 --> 00:39:41.380 kids of your neighbor so that your neighbor can 00:39:41.380 --> 00:39:44.820 be involved in a certain activity. Or running 00:39:44.820 --> 00:39:46.820 them to school. I don't know what it may be, 00:39:46.960 --> 00:39:51.539 but whose neighbor are you? To whom can you be 00:39:51.539 --> 00:40:00.719 a blessing? The ultimate neighbor is whom? Jesus 00:40:00.719 --> 00:40:06.139 Christ. Let's be like him. Father in heaven, 00:40:06.219 --> 00:40:13.619 in so many ways we have been unloving to those 00:40:13.619 --> 00:40:17.360 who've needed us. We've not been good neighbors. 00:40:19.480 --> 00:40:21.500 Father, I confess before you that there have 00:40:21.500 --> 00:40:23.760 been too many times when I've been like the Levite 00:40:23.760 --> 00:40:25.639 and the priest who walked on the other side of 00:40:25.639 --> 00:40:28.840 the road and didn't want to get involved and 00:40:28.840 --> 00:40:33.780 pay a price and be delayed in my own activities. 00:40:34.119 --> 00:40:38.539 Forgive me. And teach me what it is to be like 00:40:38.539 --> 00:40:44.880 Jesus. And Father, there have been times when 00:40:44.880 --> 00:40:49.949 I've been unholy. And when my life did not have 00:40:49.949 --> 00:40:55.969 power because it was not pure. And I know there 00:40:55.969 --> 00:40:57.789 are many brothers and sisters here today who 00:40:57.789 --> 00:41:02.449 identify with what I've said in some way. And 00:41:02.449 --> 00:41:05.210 we cry out to you that you would teach us personally 00:41:05.210 --> 00:41:07.550 and practically what it means to put on the Lord 00:41:07.550 --> 00:41:12.250 Jesus Christ. To appropriate him who is our life. 00:41:13.949 --> 00:41:19.050 That we may lead the balanced. neighborly life 00:41:19.050 --> 00:41:22.949 we've talked about today. Father, make us blessings 00:41:22.949 --> 00:41:30.070 to people every day of the week. And I pray this 00:41:30.070 --> 00:41:35.650 in Jesus' name. Amen. Would you take your hymnal 00:41:35.650 --> 00:41:36.409 now as we close?