God's full will to truly lead,
Lying while the harvest and the labor ending,
We shall come, rejoice, be bringing in the sheaves,
Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,
We shall come, rejoice, be bringing in the sheaves,
Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,
We shall come, rejoice, be bringing in the sheaves,
Jewel for the free and free,
And the Buddha's attitude,
We shall come, rejoice, be bringing in the sheaves,
Ringing in the sheaves, ringing in the sheaves.
We shall come rejoicing, ringing in the sheaves.
Ringing in the sheaves, ringing in the sheaves.
We shall come rejoicing, ringing in the sheaves.
A little bit of a word of prayer.
Everybody can thank you for the opportunity to be in your house.
I pray that you would bless all aspects of the service,
the singing, the preaching, the coming, the asking in Christ's name.
Amen.
For a song number 97, a song number 97,
I need thee every hour.
Song number 97.
I need thee every hour, most gracious Lord,
those ever close like mine can be sorrowful.
I need thee, oh, I need thee every hour.
I need thee, oh, bless me now, my Savior.
I come to thee, I need thee every hour.
I need thee every hour, most gracious Lord,
those ever close like mine can be sorrowful.
I need thee, oh, I need thee every hour.
I come to thee, I need thee every hour.
May joy, oh, may you come with me,
and my heart may speak.
I need thee, oh, I need thee every hour.
I need thee, oh, bless me now, my Savior.
I come to thee, I need thee every hour,
most holy one.
Make me like thee, thou blessed Son.
I need thee, oh, I need thee every hour.
I need thee, oh, bless me now, my Savior.
I come to thee.
All right, it's time for our announcements.
If you need a bulletin, go ahead and slip up your hand.
Adam will bring you one.
As always, we have our service time system there
on the upper left-hand side.
We have First Kings, chapter number 15 this Thursday.
We've got the soul wedding and the salvation of the baptisms.
Let's go below that.
We're going to count up the salvation going back
to Friday or Saturday.
We're going to go to the group on Saturday.
You have one there.
And then what about today?
We've got four.
Four, amen.
And a couple of notes regarding the church there,
if you need them.
And also, happy birthday to everybody.
Let's sit over on the right-hand side.
Don't forget the annual mother-daughter tea party
is coming up Saturday, the 14th.
Got some of the decorations back there already,
some ways of going through that.
Be sure to sign up if you're planning on going.
And also, sign up for the Sierra Vista small town solely.
Now, the small town on Sierra Vista
is actually a fairly large town.
It's about, I think, over 40,000 people in the city limits.
And then the greater metro is actually over 100,000 people.
So it's a big project.
But someone's got to knock these doors.
Someone's got to see these soul stakes.
So we're in the neighborhood.
We'll go over there and do that.
There will be more details about that coming up
in the next few weeks.
But if you want to attend, please sign up back there.
Also, on the back, if you buy the memory passage,
keep working on that.
We're going to get all the way through problems chapter 3.
And then we have a note about the Hopi Reservation Mission
trip that the 10B group is putting on.
I have details for you if you like them, like the 10.
And also, the next couple Mondays, we're pushed back.
So that's going to be the 16th this month, not tomorrow.
We're getting men's preaching at the end of the month.
And there's an upcoming FWC Tucson church camp.
I'm excited about that.
That's going to be good for announcements.
We'll go ahead and sing another song before we get to preaching.
Let's go to song number 408.
Song number 408, Loyalty to Christ.
Song number 408.
All hail the Queen, here comes the sweetest ring.
There's loyalty, loyalty, loyalty to Christ.
And we'll take hold of the love, the helping of the song.
All loyalty, loyalty, there's loyalty to Christ.
Love to victory, love to victory.
Rise, don't break away from all of it.
Hail the Queen, here comes the man, the sweetest man.
There's loyalty, loyalty, there's loyalty to Christ.
And we'll take hold of the love, the helping of the song.
All loyalty, loyalty, there's loyalty to Christ.
And we'll take hold of the love, the helping of the song.
All loyalty, loyalty, there's loyalty to Christ.
Love to victory, love to victory.
Rise, don't break away from all of it.
Raise your man, we'll soon possess the man.
All loyalty, loyalty, there's loyalty to Christ.
Join the royal family, we'll gather here in four.
There's loyalty, loyalty, there's loyalty to Christ.
The sweetest man is Lord, we'll send him here for more.
All loyalty, loyalty, there's loyalty to Christ.
Love to victory, love to victory.
Rise, don't break away from all of it.
All loyalty, loyalty, there's loyalty to Christ.
The strength of earth we claim, that Jesus gave today.
There's loyalty, loyalty, there's loyalty to Christ.
There's much more we'll bring, throughout the world we'll make.
All loyalty, loyalty, there's loyalty to Christ.
Love to victory, love to victory.
Rise, don't break away from all of it.
All loyalty, loyalty, there's loyalty to Christ.
Matthew chapter 22, verse 1 of the Bible,
Jesus answered and stated them again by parable,
and said, the keynote of heaven is like a certain king,
between the marriage of his son, and the example of his servants,
who call them their opinions of the wedding, and they would not come.
They sent forth literature, saying, tell them which are good,
and behold, they are prepared by dinner,
and they often might battle to kill,
for all things are ready, come unto the marriage.
But they may lie to them, but their own words,
but to his farm, in other words, to his merchandise.
And the remnant took his servants,
servants of the tree, and them spiked them, and slew them.
For when the king heard their opinions brought,
he sent forth his army, and destroyed those murderers,
for whatever it stands.
Then saith me to his servants, the wedding is ready,
but they were forbidden, why not worthy?
Go ye therefore to the highways,
and as many as ye shall find, and bid you to the marriage.
So the servants went out to the highways,
and gathered together, as many as they could now,
both bad and good, and the wedding was furnished with guests.
And when the king came in to see the guests,
he saw those of man, which had not a wedding garment,
and saith unto them, his hand was grand.
How cameest thou in heaven, not having a wedding garment,
and with species?
Then said they came to the servants,
finding hand and foot, and taking away,
and casting it to outer darkness.
They shall be weeping, and ashing with teeth,
for many are called to see our children.
Then the Pharisees, them of the Pharisees,
and counseled, but it might entangle them with this talk.
They said, I want to hear their disciples,
and the roadies would say, Master, know that there are
truth, and it teaches the way of God and truth,
and that there carest thou for any man, for thou regardest
not the person of men.
Tell us, therefore, what thinkest thou?
Is it lawful to be a tribute unto Jesus,
and not to the Jesus perceived of Jesus,
and said, Like Timothy, me, the hypocrites,
show ye me the truth ye know.
And they brought to him a tenet.
They saith unto them, Whose image and superscript
is it?
Whose is this image and superscripts?
They saith unto him, Caesars.
Then saith he unto them, Run and therefore unto Caesars,
the things which are Caesars, and to God,
the things which are God's.
When they heard these words, they marveled and left them,
and went their way.
Then the same day came to him, the Sadducees,
who saith, There is no resurrection,
and the same Master, the Lord said,
If a man die, and have no children,
his brother shall marry his wife, and raise her caesars
to his brother.
Now there were with us seven brothers,
and first he had married a wife, and ceased,
and in no issue left his wife unto his brother,
like wife the second also, and the third, to the seventh.
And the last of all the wounded died also,
therefore in the resurrection, his wife shall be the seventh,
for they all have him.
He is answered and sends them, and he doeth
earth unto the scriptures, and the power of God.
For the resurrection, the man that is married,
you are given in heaven.
For I say unto you, God in heaven,
that there is such a resurrection of the dead,
and in that red house was spoken unto you by God,
and the same kind of God of Abraham,
and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
I do not think God of the dead, nor of the living,
nor of the multitude of eartheners,
nor of the stonks, nor of the doctors, nor of the Pharisees,
and eartheners, yet from the Sadducees and the Sadducees,
they were gathered together.
Then one of them, which was a lawyer,
asked him a question, tempting him, saying,
Master, which is the greatest commandment of all?
He then said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first that bringeth that, and the second
is like unto it.
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
And these two commandments involve the law of the prophets,
and when the Pharisees were gathered together,
they just asked him, saying, What think ye of Christ?
He sent him.
They say unto him, The Son of David.
He said unto them, How then did David, the Spirit,
call the Lord, say?
The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
for I think thy hand is like a footstool.
Yet David, the colleague, called the Lord, how is he a son?
And no man was able to answer a word,
either with the same hand, and that they poured,
asking many more questions.
Father, pray for us.
And so Matthew chapter number 22, beginning there, verse 35,
the Bible reads, Then one of them, which was a lawyer,
asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master,
which is the great commandment in the law?
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,
and with all thy mind.
So he's asking, hey, what's the greatest commandment?
If there's one thing we need to focus on, what is it?
So this is a pretty serious question.
And of course, Jesus gives him the answer there,
that he's to love the Lord thy God with all of his heart,
with all of his soul, with all of his mind.
But notice, as important as that of a commandment that is,
that's a pretty important commandment, loving God.
And then he follows it up with the second commandment.
He says, this is the first and great commandment,
and the second is like unto it.
So then he gives him the second commandment.
He said, I'm glad you asked about what the greatest commandment is.
This is it.
Love the Lord thy God with all thy soul,
and with all thy heart, with all thy mind.
But while I have your attention, let me remind you also
that the second is like unto it.
So he's taking advantage, opportunity here,
to emphasize something that the Scripture emphasizes quite heavily.
And it goes on and says in verse 39,
the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
And this is a topic I've probably preached about from time to time.
I've touched on here and there about loving our neighbors.
But I can't remember, maybe I have, maybe I haven't,
but I don't think I've ever preached a whole sermon on loving your neighbor,
which kind of surprised me, because the Bible just talks about this so much.
I mean, there is just so many Scriptures on loving your neighbor.
And the fact is, Jesus is bringing it up here and saying,
look, the first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, soul, and mind.
But you know what?
The second is like unto it, that thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
So this is a very important doctrine.
This is something that we have to have as God's people.
We need to learn to love our neighbors.
Nothing is probably going to be new this evening,
but it's going to be a lot of the same.
But hopefully it's going to help us walk out of here
seeing the importance of how to love our neighbors,
what it means to love our neighbors, and who our neighbors are.
He said in verse 40, on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Now that's pretty heavy when you're saying,
look, everything else, all of the other laws, all the other prophets,
they all hang on these two things.
To love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, and mind,
and to love thy neighbor as thyself.
And if you would, go over to Galatians chapter number five.
You know, when you think about just the ten commandments,
of course you can get a sense of that, what he means by that.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
This is loving the Lord thy God with all thy heart.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, nor bow thyself down to them.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
Thou shall remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
Those all deal with God.
That's the first four commandments that are real heavy about God,
about our relationship with the Lord.
So that is the first and greatest commandment.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
But notice, you know, the last of the commandments there,
you know, all deal with our interaction with man.
All have to do with how we behave ourselves with our neighbors.
So you can see what he means by that on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Because it goes on and says, you know, thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother.
Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal,
thou shalt not covet.
I'm forgetting all of them now.
Thou shalt not covet.
I'm skipping one.
Thou shalt not covet.
Thou shalt not bear false witness.
Thank you.
And thou shalt not covet.
So, you know, these two commandments all hang on those.
They all hang on, all the commandments hang on these two commandments.
That we have to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves.
Now you're there in Galatians, if you look there in chapter 5 verse 13, it says,
For brethren, you have been called unto liberty, only use not liberty for an occasion of the flesh,
but by love serve one another.
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
And I'm emphasizing this because I want to get across this point that, you know,
loving your neighbor is a very important commandment.
It's not something we just want to gloss over and say, yeah, I already know what that means.
I already know how to do that.
Because I think we're going to find out tonight that, you know, maybe this is an area that we need to focus on.
Maybe this is something that we need to pay a little bit more attention to.
And he's saying there in verse 14 that all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this.
All the law, all of it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
You know, we'll keep all of those commandments if we love our neighbor.
Obviously, if we love our neighbor, we're not going to kill them.
Obviously, we love our neighbor, we're not going to commit adultery.
Obviously, if we're going to love our neighbor, we're not going to steal.
You know, obviously, if we love our neighbor, we're not going to covet everything that is our neighbor's.
Obviously, if we love our neighbor, we're not going to bear false witness against our neighbor.
We're not going to do any of these things.
And if we love our neighbor, you know, we're going to love God.
Because God or man is made in the image of God.
So you can see how all of the law is fulfilled in this one word, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
If you would, go over to Romans chapter 13.
Keep something in Galatians, but go over to Romans chapter 13.
The Bible just hammers this.
I mean, I went through all, I looked at all these verses, and I mean, I just had to cut out so many verses.
Because there's just so much material on loving your neighbor.
And yet, it's one of those things that, honestly, we don't hear a lot about.
We don't hear a lot of preaching about loving your neighbor.
At least not full sermons about this.
I'm sure they're out there, I know other people have preached on it.
But it's something that we need to talk about.
We need to emphasize what the Scripture emphasizes.
You're going to Romans 13, it says in Romans 15,
Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification.
For even Christ pleased not himself, but as it is written,
The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.
You know, we ought to please our neighbor for his good to edification.
There's this idea that we're to be loving, pleasing our neighbors all throughout the Bible.
Look at Romans chapter 13 verse 9.
For this, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet.
And if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this.
Namely, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
You know, as I was just saying.
If we just make a point of loving our neighbor, look, we're not going to do any of these other things.
If we're tempted to steal, if we're tempted to covet, if we're tempted to bear false witness,
if we're tempted to commit adultery or, you know, even kill.
If we love our neighbor, we're going to say, well, I can't do any of those things because I need to love my neighbor as myself.
So you can see again how all of the law is hanging on this one thing.
He says in verse 10,
Love worketh no ill to his neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
If you want to fulfill the law, you want to keep God's commandments, just start working on loving your neighbor.
You say, well, I'm never going to kill my neighbor.
Yeah, but, you know, if you've hated your brother in your heart, you've committed murder already in your heart.
That's what Jesus taught.
You know, so maybe we need to dig a little bit deeper than just, well, I haven't killed anybody.
You know, I haven't committed adultery. I haven't stolen from them.
You know, the world does that. The world can pull that off.
Unsaved people, as we'll see here a little bit later, they can do that.
No problem.
You know, but we need to learn to not, you know, to love our neighbor beyond just the letter of the law,
but to actually have a compassion, a love, a care for our neighbors.
So love your neighbor.
You know, and let me just say this, is that, you know, loving your neighbor extends beyond the church.
If you would go back to Galatians, go to chapter 6. Galatians chapter number 6.
Because, look, it's real easy to love the brethren. It's real easy to love the people that love our God,
that believe like we believe, that think like we think, that desire the things that we desire.
It's real easy to love the people that are just within, you know, these four walls.
Most of the time.
Right? You know, get what I'm saying? It's real easy to just love the brethren.
I mean, what's not to love? Right?
But when we get out there amongst the sinners, when we get out there amongst the wicked and the ungodly,
when we get out there against people that don't know God, that don't love God,
you know, that's when this really gets put to the test. This idea of learning to love your neighbor.
It says there in Galatians chapter 6 verse 10, now I don't want to start out by underemphasizing the fact that we should love our brethren.
Look, if you can't love the people in this room, you're going to have a whole lot harder time loving the people out there in the world.
At least you should.
It's going to be a whole lot harder to love some, you know, blasphemous, you know,
It's going to be a whole lot harder to love some, you know, blasphemous, ungodly sinner who cares nothing for the things of God if you can't love the people in this room.
He said in Galatians chapter 6 verse 10,
You know, we might be tempted to read that and say, yeah, all men, but only those that are the household of faith. That's not what it says.
Say, well, I'm just loving especially those that are the household of faith. You know, I'm just especially loving the brethren.
You know, your love for the brethren should exceed, you know, your love of all men, but you should still love all men.
You know, you should still be willing to do good unto all men. We should still be extending charity towards those that are without.
Go to James chapter 2, James chapter number 2.
And look at, if we struggle with this, if we're, you know, we can come to church and we can, we can put on a smile and we can shake each other's hands and say it's good to see you, God bless you, and amen to all that.
You know, we can do all that, but then we walk out the door and, you know, every other person is just, it's just evil thoughts.
It's just, we're just putting them down in our mind. We're just, we don't care about them. They're all just in our way.
You know, we need to check that because the Bible says that we are to do good unto all men, that we are to love all men, that we're to love our neighbor.
And your neighbor isn't, you know, I mean, you say, well, who's my neighbor? Everybody. Everybody.
Every single person is your neighbor. The person that you're sharing this planet with is your neighbor.
You say, no, it's just a person that lives next door to me.
Yeah, there's the people in your neighborhood, but you know, honestly, every man is your neighbor. Every person is your neighbor.
We need to learn to do good unto all men, but especially those of the household of faith.
He said to put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work.
This is Titus 3. This is what Paul told them, Titus, to preach. He said, hey, put them in mind to do these things.
To be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates.
To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers but gentle, showing all meekness unto the people that he likes.
To show meekness unto the people that treat you well. To show meekness unto the people that you go to church with.
No, he said to show meekness unto all men. All of them. Every single person.
This is the attitude that we have. This is what it means to love your neighbor.
Hey, this is what all the law is hanging on. To love your neighbor as yourself. To show meekness unto all men.
He said in James chapter 2 where you are in verse 8, if you fulfilled the royal law.
He's saying this is the royal law. This is a kingly law. That's some good verbiage there.
According to the scripture, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well.
He's like, look, if you fulfilled this law, you're doing well.
If you love your neighbor as yourself, God's going to bless you. You're going to do well. You're going to succeed.
Look at verse 9 and it says, but if you have respect to persons, you commit sin.
So if we say, well, yeah, I love my neighbor, but only this neighbor.
But only my neighbor's a church. But only the neighbors that I went to high school with. Or whatever.
When you start saying, well, I'm going to love these people but not these people for whatever reason.
There's some kind of prejudice. They're just looking down on them for thinking they're beneath you.
And look, that's easy to do, folks. It happens.
You know, you get saved and you start cleaning up your life. You start living right.
Then you see that derelict. You see that bum. It's real easy to just start cutting people down in your mind, isn't it?
When you just see them shuffling around and full of sin, life just wracked with sin, it's real easy to start thinking, well, what a loser.
You know, but the Bible says that we should love these people.
But if you have respect to persons, I mean, that's respecting persons, isn't it?
You're saying, I'm going to love this person but not that person because X, Y, and Z.
Then you have respect to persons and ye commit sin.
So you can see how important it is to learn to love your neighbor, to understand what it means and to do it.
He says you commit sin and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
And the law convinces you. Why? Because that's the law. To love thy neighbor as thyself.
And to not sit there and be partial. To do things by preferring one above another.
If you would go over to Matthew chapter 5, Matthew chapter number 5.
It says in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 14,
Now we exhort you brethren, warn them that are unruly.
You know, obviously part of loving our neighbor would probably, you know, might be to warn them.
Hey, you know, you're making a mess of things. You're not doing right.
Hey, yeah, you know what? You need to get off drugs and go get a job.
Warn them that are unruly. Comfort the feeble-minded.
I mean, we might get so impatient with somebody just because they have some kind of a disability.
Just some kind of a handicap.
Their mental faculties aren't as sharp as somebody else's.
I mean, they're feeble-minded. They have a weak mind.
Comfort the feeble-minded. Support the weak.
Be patient toward the people that you like.
The people that can do something for you in return. Be patient toward those people, but everybody else, you know, just treat them however you want.
No, he says be patient unto all men.
You know, that's part of loving your neighbor is to be patient towards all men.
See that none render evil for evil unto any man.
Well, I mean, I can stop loving this person if they treat me poorly.
You know, if they do me wrong, then it's, you know, the gloves come off. It's no holds barred.
I can just fire right back and we can just go at it, right? No.
That's what the flesh is tempted to do.
But, he says, see that none render evil for evil unto any man, but ever follow that which is good.
Meaning, even when someone's rendering evil unto me, even when I'm being mistreated, even when they're a drag on me, they're inconveniencing me, I'm still going to ever follow that which is good.
Both among yourselves, among the brethren, there it is again, and to all men.
Not being partial in this.
Well, I'll forgive brother so-and-so because he's a brother.
I mean, he did evil. I won't render evil again unto him because, you know, I got to see him in church next week.
But that other guy at work, you know, he can just have it.
No, that's not what the Bible teaches. That's not loving your neighbor.
That's doing things by partiality. That's, you know, committing sin. That's being convinced of the law as transgressors.
Matthew chapter 5, where you are, verse 38.
He said, you have heard that it hath been said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I say unto you that you resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, catch him with the left hook.
No, he says, turn to him the other also.
And if any man will soothe thee at the law and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also, and whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee, turn not away.
See, this is where the rubber meets the road, isn't it?
Where people are doing us wrong, where we're being mistreated, when people are inconveniencing us.
That's where you find out whether or not you love your neighbor.
Not just I had a warm, fuzzy feeling.
This is where it gets real.
You have heard that it hath been said, thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy, but I say unto you, love your enemies.
Bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you, that ye may be the children of your father which is in heaven.
Why do I have to be nice to people that mistreat me so that you can be the children of your father so that they can resemble God?
Because, news flash, God still loves those people.
Those people that we'll disparage in our mind, that we'll cast down in our mind, those are still souls for whom Christ died.
Those are still people that God loves.
And he says, I want you to love them too.
I mean, isn't that what he says here?
Ye may be the children of your father, for he maketh the sun to rise on the evil and on the good.
You know, God isn't only just looking out for us.
He's worried about those other people out there that we might have a tendency to look down upon and not love the way we ought to.
He's saying, look, he maketh the sun to rise on the evil and the good, he sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye?
I mean, isn't it easy to love somebody who loves you?
Yeah.
I'm going to treat that person well because they treat me well.
And look, we ought to.
But notice what he says, love them which love you, what reward have you?
Do not even the publicans the same?
I mean, don't even these pharisaical hypocrites know how to do that?
That's a pretty low bar when it comes to loving your neighbor.
Oh, I'll love all my neighbors that treat me well.
You know, I'll love all my neighbors that respect my privacy, that respect the hours that I keep, that keep it down at night,
that put their dumb dog away, that take care of their yard.
I'll love my neighbors, you know, if they do nice things for me.
You know what? I'm going to love that other neighbor too.
I'm going to love that neighbor that doesn't do any of those things.
Because it's easy to just love the neighbors that are perfect, but what about the other ones?
What about the ones that can do nothing for you?
Look at verse 47.
For if you salute your brethren only, what do you more than others?
Do not even the publican so?
Now it's interesting that he's equating loving somebody with saluting them.
If you salute your brethren only, what do you more than others?
You know, one way to know is if you love your neighbors, if you can at least, at the very least acknowledge their presence.
And look, this is something that is going by the wayside.
People are just so isolated today, people are so cut off from the people that live right next to them,
that people can go their whole lives and never even talk to their neighbors, never even wave.
Never even say good morning.
Well, you know, I'd say good morning, I'd say hi, I'd acknowledge their presence, but he's not a brother.
You know, I could see what he's got going on in his life, and it's not good, so I'm just going to ignore him.
No, you need to love him too.
If you salute your brethren only, what do you more than others?
Do not even the publican so.
Look, they know how to slap each other on the back and say it's good to see you.
That's easy.
He said be therefore perfect even as your father which is in heaven perfect.
Perfect meaning complete meaning love everyone.
Love your enemies.
Look, we all understand there's people that we're not to love.
There's some people that we hate.
The reprobates of this world.
We all get that here.
That we hate them that hate the Lord.
We hate them with perfect hatred.
But you know what, that's a very small minority of people.
You know, your beer guzzling neighbor, your foul-mouthed coworker, is probably not a reprobate.
They're probably just another unsaved person in this world that God still loves.
That maybe can't do anything for you, might even be a pain in your neck.
But the fact is that God still commands you to love your neighbor as yourself.
The evil and the good do good unto all men, not just the people that you like.
You can see why this is something that God had to command.
And to say hey, you need to love your neighbor.
This is the royal law.
And not to be partial in yourselves.
Because our tendency, our human nature, is to dislike people like that.
That's natural.
That's what the world does.
They have hatred.
They have strife.
They have emulations.
They have all those things.
But we are God's children.
We need to resemble our Father which is in heaven.
And He still loves those people.
And so we need to as well.
Now obviously some aspects of loving your neighbor are pretty obvious, aren't they?
I mean we went through the commandments.
We saw them listed again.
We shouldn't physically harm our neighbor.
Maybe some of you siblings need to hear this.
You shouldn't physically harm your neighbor.
Holding them down and torturing a sibling is not loving your neighbor.
News flash.
Put it into practice.
There's some practical application for you.
But don't do physical harm.
Thou shalt not kill.
And look, I don't think we need to belabor the point here.
There's a lot of scripture on this.
If you're struggling with this area, come see me after the service.
You know, we can go through the book of Leviticus here.
We can turn, in fact, if you would, go to Leviticus chapter 19.
Leviticus chapter number 19.
The Bible says in Leviticus 24,
He that killeth any man shall surely be put to death.
Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth,
as he hath caused a blemish and a man's soul shall be done unto him again.
God's saying, don't harm your neighbor physically.
Don't kill them.
Care about their safety.
You know, another obvious aspect of loving your neighbor
is to not defraud your neighbor.
Now look, again, these are practical things.
You know, the Bible says in Leviticus 24,
He that killeth any man shall surely be put to death.
Now, these are pretty obvious, aren't they?
But the world struggles with this, don't they?
Isn't the world out there killing each other?
Aren't they out there shooting each other?
Aren't they out there crippling one another?
Aren't they out there harming one another?
That's what they do.
You know, we still have that nature. It's in us.
I'd never do that. Well, you never know.
You go down a dark path, you never know what'll take you.
But another obvious one is to not defraud your neighbor.
Thou shalt not steal.
You know, there's a lot of people that do this.
They're all in Washington.
There's a lot of people out there that will gladly roll you over
and take everything they can get.
I mean, in business, this happens all the time.
People defraud one another all the time.
Good, upstanding citizens. Successful businessmen. Politicians.
People that you would think would know better.
This is how they operate.
They'll defraud, they'll lie, they'll cheat, they'll steal.
You know, we might be tempted,
well, if that's what they're like, I'll just do the same back to them.
But the Bible says we are not to defraud our neighbor.
Look at Leviticus 19, verse 13.
Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbor,
neither rob him.
The wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.
You know, God teaches in his law that you're to get paid every day,
not once a week.
You know, and I've had, you know, godly bosses who've come to me and said,
look, this is how we do things, but if you ever need money the same day, just let me know and I'll pay you.
I've had that agreement with other preachers and things like that.
He's saying, look, what's the point to not defraud them?
Verse 16, thou shalt not go up and down as a tail-bearer among thy people,
neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor, I am the Lord.
Thou shalt not hate thy brethren on heart,
thou shalt not in any wise rebuke thy neighbor and not suffer sin upon him.
Thou shalt not avenge nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people,
but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
So I'm just not sure what that means to love my neighbor.
Exactly how do I do that? It's real easy.
Just ask yourself, would I want to be treated this way?
Would I want to be lied to and beaten and cheated and stolen from?
Would I want to be ignored?
Would I want to be cut down and insulted?
Those are the real obvious ones you would hope, you would expect,
but people still struggle even with the most obvious things.
They don't kill them.
Don't inflict physical harm.
Don't lie and cheat and steal from your neighbor.
But it happens.
I doubt anyone here is really struggling in that area.
Hopefully. No one is.
The less obvious are the more often ignored aspect is
caring about your neighbor's welfare.
Say, well, I haven't killed him. I haven't robbed him.
But, you know, and that's all I need to do for them.
I really don't care what happens to them beyond that.
As long as I'm not doing anything wicked to them,
I really don't care what happens to them.
Well, that's not loving your neighbor, though, is it?
When we just have no regard for our fellow man,
whether saved or not, when we just we don't care at all,
we have no compassion towards them.
If you would, go over to Psalms chapter 15.
Actually, I'm sorry. Go to Luke 10.
We got to look at this. Luke 10.
In Luke 10, I'll begin reading in verse 25.
He says, And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him,
saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
He said to him, What is written in law? How readest thou?
So Jesus already knows that this is one of these guys that wants to earn his way into heaven.
So he's going to say, Okay, well, that's how you think you do it.
You tell me, wise guy, lawyer, you're supposed to know the law.
You tell me, how readest thou?
And he answering said, Thou shalt love thy gourd with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind,
and thy neighbor as thyself.
And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right, this too, and thou shalt live.
He said, Now, wait a minute. I thought salvation wasn't of works.
Yeah, here's the problem. No one does this.
No one loves the Lord their God with all their soul, with all their might, with all their strength.
No one loves their neighbor as thyself perfectly.
And this guy knows it, too. This lawyer that's asking this question,
What do I got to do in here in eternal life? I mean, I know the two great commandments.
That's all you got to do.
You know, and you could tell in this passage that he's kind of convicted by this,
because he hears, and he's not going to stand there before God,
and everybody admit that he doesn't love God the way he ought to.
But he's going to sit there and say, you know, he's already thinking,
Well, I don't love all my neighbors.
In fact, there's some people that I just downright hate.
I mean, there's some people that I just don't care for at all,
and I don't have a shred of love for them.
So that's why he asked this next question in verse 29,
but he willing to justify himself.
So he's convicted by that whole thing about loving your neighbor as yourself,
and he says, Well, how am I going to wiggle out of the way of my way out of this one?
And willing to justify himself, he said unto Jesus,
And who is my neighbor?
Who is my neighbor?
Who exactly is it that I'm supposed to love?
How can I wiggle my way out of this?
And of course, Jesus answers and gives him the parable
of the man who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves,
and he gets robbed, and he gets beaten,
and they strip him of his raiment, verse 30,
and wound him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
So this guy is in real serious dire straits,
and we know the rest of the story in this parable.
The Levite goes by, and he sees him and just goes to the other side of the road.
Well, I'm just going to pretend I didn't see that.
A Levite who should know the law,
that you're to love your neighbor as yourself,
and then you've got the priest who does the same thing.
Goes on the other side.
But who is it that shows up and helps him?
The Samaritan.
The people that guys like the lawyer, in all likelihood, hated.
We all know the story of the woman at the well.
She said, look, why are you talking to me?
The Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
Because they're a bunch of racists.
It's true.
It's what they believed.
A bunch of half-breeds. That was their attitude.
We have no dealings with them.
Well, you know what? That's preferring one above another, isn't it?
Based on something as stupid as skin color or nationality.
You can sit there and tell me you love your neighbor as yourself
when you let something like that get in the way.
But it's the Samaritan that comes by and picks the guy up
and takes him to the inn and pours in the oil and pours in the wine
and pays the innkeeper and says, I'll come back
and whatever more I owe you, I'll pay you then.
And puts this guy back on his feet. This total stranger.
And, of course, Jesus is using that example to really stick it to this guy.
And really cut him down.
Because that's what he's asking. Well, who is my neighbor?
Well, you know, it's too bad you haven't figured that out, you lawyer.
You hypocrite. Because the Samaritan, in my story, already knows.
That person you look down on has figured it out.
He asked him in verse 36, which now these three thinkest thou?
Was neighbor unto him that fell among thieves?
He said, he that showed mercy on him.
The Samaritan. He couldn't even bring himself to say it.
Well, it's the Samaritan. Well, it was the guy that showed mercy.
Who? You know, the guy who took him to the inn.
Who? You know, the guy with the oil and the wine and paid the innkeeper.
Who? The Samaritan. He couldn't even bring himself to say it.
Then said Jesus unto him, go and do thou likewise.
Because he knew that's where you're falling short, buddy.
At least in one area.
So to love your neighbor is to not treat your neighbor poorly.
You know, when we see our neighbor have need, we need to be willing to reach out to them and help them.
You know, and it's great, you know, we do that here in this church. I think our church is very good about that.
When brethrens have needs, you know, they ask, people volunteer, people help one another. It's great.
You know, that needs to extend beyond the church walls.
That's something that you should carry to the world, too.
And not just reserve only, you know, for the brethren.
Don't treat your neighbor poorly. Go to Proverbs chapter 14.
Proverbs chapter 14. He said in Psalms 15, we know this one.
Lord, who shall abide in their tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
He that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness and speaketh the truth in his heart.
He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor.
You know, it's the whole deal here. You want to come into the presence of God, you want to know God's presence, you know, you got to have all of it.
And, you know, we might be real good about walking uprightly, we're getting the sin out of our life, we read our Bibles, we go soul winning, we go to church,
we live for God day in and day out, but if we're not careful, you know, we can end up like one of these Pharisees and just get a little too self-righteous.
But I speak the truth in my heart. And he says, well, also he that backbiteth not with his tongue, who just talks smack about his neighbor,
who does evil to his neighbor. Yeah, but, you know, they had it coming.
Nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor. You know, it's the whole deal.
Look, it's great to have the righteousness and the walking uprightly, but you also got to have the love for your neighbor.
The Bible says in Psalms 101, who so privily slandereth his neighbor, him will I cut off. That's what David said.
He said, I'm not going to have any dealings with people like this. People that slander their neighbor, that just talk crap about other people, I'm just going to cut them off.
I don't want anything to do with it. Him that hath a high look and a proud heart, I will not suffer.
It says in Proverbs chapter 14 verse 21, he that despiseth his neighbor sinneth.
Look, that's something that we've probably all been guilty of.
Our neighbor does something and we just can't stand it.
Don't they know it's 11 o'clock on a Saturday night that I've got to get up and preach tomorrow?
Man, I'd like to just hop that fence and kick their speakers in. Guilty.
What about you? Can you believe that guy just cut me off?
Can't believe she didn't say hello. They took my place. And we just despise our neighbors.
Look, obviously that's a very small thing, but it can get out of hand.
You'll hear things about neighbors who get on each other's bad sides and it just escalates to where they're poisoning one another's dogs.
They're doing all kinds of crazy things.
They're building fences, they're doing that, they're doing that, just to get them away from me.
And in their heart, they despise them.
You know, he that despiseth his neighbor sinneth. Maybe it's not even the, you know, we don't have a vindictive spirit towards somebody.
Maybe it's just that we're cold and callous and just don't really care about our neighbors.
We can't be bothered to help anybody. We can't be bothered to have any compassion.
We can't be bothered to feel bad for somebody that's in a worse state than we are.
So don't treat your, these are the less obvious aspects. You'd think they would be obvious.
I mean, we all know not to kill or hurt our neighbor physically. We know we shouldn't steal things from them.
You know, but that's not where it ends.
You can't say, well, love my neighbor. I didn't steal anything from him. I didn't knock him off either.
I didn't commit adultery with their spouse, so I must love them.
No, you know what? You've got to not treat your neighbor poorly. You can't despise them in the heart.
You should be generous towards your neighbor.
I should have you go to Proverbs 3 if you want to get there real quick.
Proverbs 3, it says in verse 27, withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.
Look, if there's somebody that has a need and you have the ability to do it, and you just turned a blind eye, that's not loving your neighbor.
I mean, in law, he commands if you see your enemy's ass burdened down, fallen down in the way, he's commanding you to go help them or get them out of a ditch.
I mean, even people that you would count your enemy, they're still supposed to help them and not just turn a blind eye.
Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, those that need help, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.
Look, I understand it's not always in the power of our hand to help people out. Sometimes people beat us to it.
Which just emphasizes my point that sometimes the world is better at it than God's own people.
Devise not evil against thine neighbor, he says in verse 29, seeing he dwellest securely by thee.
We should be able to trust our neighbors that we're not going to be harmed or taken advantage of, or that if we have a need, they're going to be there for us.
Be generous. Don't treat your neighbor poorly. How about this one? Proverbs 25. Don't talk smack about your neighbor.
Don't go around talking trash about your neighbor. In the church or out of the church. We shouldn't be bad mouthing anybody.
And especially those that are the household of faith. And look, if you get in the habit of just talking smack about the unsaved out there, it's just a matter of time for you to do it in here.
It's just a matter of time until somebody in the church comes around that you don't like and you think it's just open season on them to speak about them however you want.
Well, you know what? You go ahead and do that, but you're not loving your neighbor.
It says there in Proverbs 25 verse 9, debate thy cause with thy neighbor himself, and discover it not a secret to another.
What's he saying? If you've got a problem, if you've got some conflict with your neighbor, you know what you need to talk to about it? Your neighbor.
And not go around discovering a secret to another. If someone does you wrong, it's like, well, I'm just going to go talk to everybody else about this and let everybody else know how this so-and-so did me wrong, but I'm sure not going to talk to them about it.
You've just done the complete opposite of what the Bible commands. That should be the first and only person you talk to when somebody does you wrong, when you have a cause to debate.
Go to your neighbor and talk to them about it. Work it out. Practice some conflict resolution. Don't go around discovering it to another.
Go to Proverbs 25. Oh, you're already there. Proverbs 25. It says in Leviticus 19, we read it earlier. There shall not go up and down as a tail-bearer among thy people.
Don't go around talking smack about your neighbor. Now let me clarify something.
A gentle, friendly teasing is not talking smack. That's how some of us get along. That's how some of us express love for our neighbor. We poke a little fun.
But here's the thing. What if you find somebody like that and you do like you do, you poke a little fun and they don't like it. That's the time to back off and say, sorry, I didn't mean anything by it.
That's something I've had to worry about because I'm that type of person. When I get comfortable with people, when I feel like I have a friendship with somebody, we'll kind of start taking jabs at one another just to get a laugh.
There's nothing wrong with that if it's in good spirits and you're both okay with that. Obviously, you can go too far with it. You need to know where that line is and try to stay well away from it.
What I realized is that not everybody's like me. Some people don't have the same sense of humor that I do. I'm going to make some light-hearted comment and they're going to take it the wrong way. I didn't mean it like that.
What I'm not going to do is go around and say, oh, so-and-so is just so sensitive. Let me just make this point while we're here. Don't listen to smack talk about your neighbor either. Don't listen to somebody talk trash about your neighbor to you.
Let me just make this point while we're here. Don't listen to smack talk about your neighbor either. Don't listen to somebody talk trash about your neighbor to you. This gets real uncomfortable. People don't like this, but this is something you need to learn.
Sometimes it's okay to just tell somebody to shut their mouth and to not say another word about so-and-so. Say, I don't want to hear it.
Because some people are just looking for an ear to just vomit all their hatred and spew all their dislike for somebody. And you want to let them turn your brain into that receptacle?
For them to just go bleh. No thanks. You know, I don't want to sit there and think evil of people. I don't want to hear something secondhand, thirdhand, and then start thinking that same thing about somebody else. I want to love people.
Look at Proverbs 25 verse 23. So how do I handle it if somebody's talking smack? It says, the north wind driveth away rain. So doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue. You know what's going to shut that person up real quick is when you get mad about it. You know, you furrow the brow and you point the finger and you say, shut your mouth. Don't talk about so-and-so to me. Don't listen to somebody talk trash about your neighbor to you.
Don't come around backbiting to me. I don't want to hear that. Don't come around backbiting to me. You ought to shut your mouth and quit talking like that. Look, I have no center of people that have done that. They said, hey, so-and-so was talking smack and I told them I'm not going to hear it.
And then that person will learn real quick, oh, I can't just go around talking to everybody, talking smack to everybody, and going up and down as a tail-bearer among God's people. And look, I know that this isn't anything new tonight. I understand that, you know, you guys probably understood all this. But this is something that is just all throughout the Scripture. It's just emphasized so much. Go back to Matthew chapter 19. I'm almost done.
I thought it was important to preach this because the fact is that even the world outdoes God's people sometimes in this regard of loving your neighbor as yourself. Sometimes the world's better at this than we are. Because, you know, they're looking at their neighbor and saying, oh, I'm just like him.
It's almost easier for them because they don't know about the things of God. They're not trying to live righteous. You know, there's a tendency, there's a possibility that we as God's people can get just a little too high and mighty and just think that we're above it all and forget that we also are the same way and that we still have that old nature that could just as easily fall into it.
And if we're being honest, probably does. So don't be outdone by the world in this area. Look at Matthew chapter 19 verse 16. It says, And behold, one came unto him and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?
And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is God. But if thou will enter into life, keep the commandments. Because again, this is another guy who wants to justify himself. This is another guy that just thinks, oh, it's all about the good works I do, that wants to rely on his own self-righteousness. So Jesus says, okay, keep the commandments and we'll see how you do.
He saith unto him, Which? Who is my neighbor? Are there some that I don't have to keep? Are there some that I can get away with breaking? Because here's the thing, deep down everybody knows you can't keep the commandments.
And he's saying, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, honor thy father and mother. You know, keep the commandments. I mean, is that a real high bar that he just said?
I mean, when this guy responds, I believe him. He says, Thou shalt not bear false witness, honor thy father and mother, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. The young man said unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up. He's feeling pretty good about himself.
You know, when he says that, I believe him. I believe him. Is it really that hard to not murder people? Is it really that hard to not commit adultery, to not steal, to not bear false witness? Because we think just false witness just means lying. It's more than that.
It's mean we're not bringing a false accusation and trying to get them punished by the law. That's the true meaning of false witness there. Which is a form of lying. I get that. Honoring thy father and mother. Loving thy neighbor as thyself. I mean, is it possible to love your neighbor as yourself? Sure it is.
I think this guy pulled it off. But notice the one thing, he says, What lack I yet? Jesus said, Well, I'm glad you asked. Because if you notice, you know, with the exception of thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, these are all part of the Ten Commandments. But what's the one that he left out? Besides the first four, it's thou shalt not covet.
That's the one thing he didn't mention, which is the one thing that this guy wasn't able to keep, which is why he was asking in the first place, Well, which ones do I have to keep? Because I have a thing with covetousness. And if I could get a pass on that, that'd be great. Because then I think I could make it. Jesus said to him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast and give the poor and thou shalt have treasure in heaven and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, you went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
And don't forget this guy, it says in parallel passage that Jesus, beholding him, loved him. He loved this guy when he responded, I've kept all I've done all this. Jesus still loved him, even though he had this problem. And look, this unsaved guy, this covetous guy, sometimes can outdo even God's own people when it comes to loving his neighbor. I believe he loved his neighbor as himself.
The world can outdo us in this area. I think part of the reason some people struggle with this is because, you know, if we do soul winning, we go out soul winning, we knock doors and we preach people the gospel. We think, well, I love my neighbor. And it's true.
That should be why you win souls. But, you know, loving your neighbor is more than it's not just that. There's a lot more that goes along with loving your neighbor.
You know, we'll knock doors and on a given time during the week, we'll go out and preach the gospel. Within the rest of the week, we're just despising the same people in our heart. It ought not be that way. That's not loving your neighbor.
You can't just do more soul winning and then think, well, then the rest of the week I can just treat people where I want. No, that's not how it works. That's not loving your neighbor.
It's not like a parking meter. I say, well, I'm just going to go and put some coins in and then I'll be good on this whole loving my neighbor self. You know, I'm going to go put the soul winning coin in the machine and rack up some love for my neighbor.
And then I can just go around and treat people however I want because I just keep doing this. That's not how it works.
You know, if you win souls, you should do that because why? Because you love your neighbor. That's what should compel us to go out and preach the gospel.
Not to put another notch on our belt to how many people we got saved. Not to see our name in a bulletin because we need a soul winning time.
Not to be seen of men. Not to just show people how good we are. Whatever. People, you know, it's possible that people can go out and go soul winning for all the wrong reasons.
The only reason to go out is because you love your neighbor. And yes, I understand that God commanded us to go. But if we're just only going out of duty, can we really say that we love our neighbor as ourself?
You know, we're like that Pharisee. We're like that, excuse me, that Levite. We're like that priest.
We shouldn't be like that. You know, if we see our fellow man in dire straits, perishing, it should be love that compels us to go and help them.
You know, to pour in the oil, so to speak. To get the Holy Spirit in them, right? To preach them the gospel and get them saved and get them back on their feet spiritually.
It should be love that compels us to do that. Care and compassion. Loving our neighbors as we would our own self.
Look, if I was a hellbound sinner, and I was, I would want somebody to come preach me the gospel. Give me saying. That's why we should preach the gospel.
If you're still in Matthew, go to chapter seven, Matthew chapter seven. He says in Psalms 126, they that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. You know, if you ever want a soul and just were kind of like meh.
Because look, it's not, he's not saying, look, if you sow in tears, then you'll reap. Like it's some kind of a math equation.
Like, well, you know, I've lamented the, you know, the case of the lost long enough. I felt bad enough about unsaved people.
So now people will get saved. See what I'm saying? Like it's some kind of, you know, magic spell almost or something, or it's just some kind of formula.
Well, if I feel bad enough, then so and so will just, these people will just get saved. No, even if you go out and preach to God.
Look, the gospel is the power of God and the salvation, not how you feel about preaching it.
If I go out with a bad attitude, if I go out, you know, without any love in my heart and preach the gospel, people will still get saved.
But you know what I won't have is joy. I won't have any joy. That's why they that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
Look, if you're going out and preaching the gospel and you're just kind of dragging yourself and going through the motions and people are getting saved and you just don't feel any joy about that,
it's probably because you don't really love your neighbor. It's probably because your love for your neighbor, your love for the lost is very shallow.
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. You've got to have the burden before you can have the joy.
He that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious sheaves shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
Look, I can bring my sheaves with me, but that doesn't guarantee that I'm going to have the rejoicing. The only way I'm guaranteed the rejoicing is if I go with weeping.
If I sow in tears, if I have a burden, if I have what? A love for my neighbor.
And that same love for the lost should spill over into other areas.
And I mentioned earlier common courtesy, which is becoming increasingly less common these days.
I want to close with this thought. Why should I love my neighbor?
Well, consider this. You're somebody's neighbor. You're someone's neighbor.
Look, I know to you everybody else is your neighbor. But from where I'm standing, you all are my neighbor.
And I might need your help someday. You might need your neighbor's help someday.
You might need them to go twain with you. You might need them for a cloak. You might need them for whatever.
You might need them to help you to lift you up and to put you back on your feet in some way.
The Bible says in Proverbs 27, better is a neighbor that is near than a brother that is far off.
You know, if my battery is dead in my car, it'd be a whole lot better if I had a good enough relationship with my neighbor.
I could just go ask them for a jump, then call in one of you in the middle of your day from across the valley and say,
hey, can you come over and help me, brother that is a far off?
You know what's better is my neighbor that's right next door.
But here's the thing, I'm their neighbor. And if I want them to love me, then I need to love them.
And I need to be good to them. And do kind things for them. And be courteous to them.
And put up with them. So that they'll put up with me and do the same for me.
Matthew chapter 7 verse 12. The golden rule. Right? This is it.
Therefore all things whatsoever you would have, you would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.
That's, we boil that down and we say that like this. Treat others the way you want to be treated.
And look, the world gets that. We hear that all the time out there, soul-willing.
What do you think it takes to go to heaven? Just be a good person. Treat people well.
That's a very common answer. And you know, I understand that's not going to get anybody to heaven.
But you know what? That's a good approach to life, isn't it?
That's a good way to live your life. And that's often what I tell those people.
Hey, I'm glad you're doing that. That's a good thing to do.
God did say to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. To love your neighbor as yourself.
You know, that helps me and you get along. But then I lead in with, but that's a lot of work, isn't it?
And they'll say, yeah. And I say, well, salvation's by grace and out of works.
You know, I use that as a lead-in. But I don't go, love your neighbor, doing good. What a stupid philosophy.
That's never going to get you to heaven. Like, discourage them from doing that.
I'm like, hey, that's great. I'm glad you're loving your neighbor as yourself.
I hope I can have that same testimony. That I do that as well as you.
Thou unsaved, non-Bible believer. Hope you're not outdoing me in that area.
Hope you're not like that rich young man who can say, hey, I've kept that for my youth. I've loved my neighbor.
You know, we ought to be able to say the same thing. Why?
For this is the law and the prophets.
That's how he ends it. Why should we do unto others as we have them do unto us?
Because that's the law and the prophets.
Loving your neighbor is a very important commandment in scripture.
It's talked about at length. I mean, I could have spent all night just reading scripture about it.
There's just so much.
So if the Bible is emphasizing that we love our neighbor, we need to ask ourselves, are we doing it?
And are we doing it just beyond the obvious of not defrauding them?
Are we doing it beyond just the church house?
That's what we need to ask ourselves, because this is the law and the prophets, to love your neighbor.
Let's go ahead and pray.
Dear Lord, again, thank you for the great love wherewith you loved us, Lord.
I pray that you'd help us to show that same love to the lost.
Show that same love to the world that doesn't know you.
Lord, not just because we're commanded, but because that's how we're going to be known as your children.
And Lord, we know that you love these people that don't know you,
people that might even mock you, ridicule you, break your commandments, offend you.
You still love those people, Lord.
We know that's true because such were some of us, Lord.
We're the exact same way.
And you still loved us.
Lord, I pray you'd help us to not become so self-righteous and so full of ourselves
to think that we're above loving those that you love.
Help us to love our neighbors as ourself.
We ask in Christ's name, amen.
All right, we'll go ahead and sing one more song before we go tonight.
We're going to sing a song.
It's called 332.
It's called 332, Channels Only.
Channels Only, Channels Only.