Now, the part of the chapter that I wanted to focus on there in Romans chapter 5 is starting
in verse number 6 where the Bible reads,
For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some
would even dare to die.
But God commanded His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us.
And I want to continue my sermon that I was preaching this morning.
I didn't get to a lot of the points that I had in my sermon this morning, so I want
to kind of just pick up where I left off.
And just quickly, what I was preaching about this morning was having compassion upon the
unsaved.
And we read from Jude verse 22 where it says,
Of some have compassion making a difference, and others save with fear, pulling them out
of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
So we were talking about having love and compassion in our heart for those that are not saved
and caring about them and being merciful unto them.
Now the Bible tells us in Matthew 24 verse 12, it says that in the last days, that because
iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
So in the last days, God tells us it will be a time where people don't have a lot of
love like they used to.
And because iniquity abounds and sin abounds, that causes the love of many to wax cold.
And so what I want to continue preaching about tonight is about loving people and loving
the people that are unsaved.
Now in Romans chapter 5 here, we see that Jesus Christ loved those that were ungodly.
It says in verse 6, When we were yet without strength and due time, Christ died for the
ungodly.
Verse 7, For scarcely for a righteous man will one die.
What the Bible is saying there is that it's rare that you would see one person willing
to sacrifice their life for someone else.
I mean the Bible says greater love hath no man than this, than that a man lay down his
life for his friends.
That's pretty much the ultimate show of love when you would actually lay down your life
for someone else or sacrifice your life for someone else.
And the Bible is saying that scarcely or barely would you even be willing to do that for someone
who you consider a righteous person.
If you were going to sacrifice your life for somebody, would you personally lay down your
life and sacrifice your life for just anybody?
I mean if we were to just be honest, are you really willing to die for just any person
that's out there?
Now it says for a righteous person you might be scarcely willing to die.
Hopefully you'd be willing to die for someone that you had great respect for and great love
for and your spouse or someone that you love very dearly, but you probably wouldn't be
willing to die for somebody who was an ungodly person or just somebody that you didn't even
like or didn't like you.
And what the Bible is saying in verse 7 is scarcely for a righteous man will one die,
yet per adventure, per adventure means maybe, for a good man some would even dare to die.
You know if someone was a really good person there would probably be people willing to
lay down their life for that person.
But God commanded His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for
us.
And what the Bible is saying here is that Jesus Christ's love is much greater than our
love because our love might compel us to die for someone that we had great respect for
that was a really good person, a godly person, we might think oh this is a greater person
than I am, I'll sacrifice my life that they might live.
But the Bible is saying God commanded His love toward us in the while we were yet sinners
Christ died for us, Christ died for the ungodly.
Now all the modern versions they all change this verse 8 to say something different.
You know it says God commended His love toward us and all the new versions will say something
along the lines of you know God demonstrated His love toward us or God showed His love
to us.
And really what the word commend there means if you look at the word command and if you
think about when you've heard that word you might think of a police officer getting a
commendation.
What does that mean?
He's getting some kind of praise or he's getting some kind of recognition for something that
he's done.
And if I say you know I commend you brother, what am I saying?
It means that he has done something great and I'm drawing attention to that and acknowledging
that and I'm giving him accolades, I'm praising him for what he has achieved.
And the Bible is saying God commended His love toward us in the while we were yet sinners
Christ died for us.
That God's love is on such a higher level than our love because He's willing to die
for those that nailed Him to the cross.
And He literally said of those who nailed Him to the cross, Father forgive them for
they know not what they do.
That's a higher level of love than you and I have as human beings.
And so it says God commended His love meaning He exalts or shows how much greater His love
is than our love by being willing to die for us when we were yet sinners, when we were
ungodly.
So therefore as Christians should we only love those who are very godly and very righteous
people or should we also love those that are unrighteous and ungodly if we're going to
follow in Christ's example?
Now one thing you have to understand is that even when people get saved they're a babe
in Christ.
I mean when a person first believes on the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior they're
not just going to immediately be on board with everything about the Christian life that
they should be.
I mean you don't just get saved and then the next day you're just living this godly, righteous
Christian life.
You're a babe in Christ and you have to grow and it takes a lot of time to grow.
And if we think about our own lives it took us a long time to grow and get where we are.
So then why do we just turn around and just instantly expect somebody to get saved and
just be where we are?
Even though it took us years to get here.
We just expect everybody to just be right there.
And you'll hear testimonies like this and I think a lot of them are just lying, they're
just bogus.
But you'll hear testimonies of just, man when I got saved I, you know, I never smoked a
cigarette again, I never even wanted to, and I never took a drink again, and I never said
a cuss word again, and I never, you know, watched a movie again.
And it's just like all, you know, when I got saved I got all the way saved.
First of all there is no all the way, you're either saved or you're not.
There's no kind of saved, I'm all the way, no, you're just either you're saved or you're
not and you're saved by grace through faith, not of works that same man should boast.
And a lot of people will boast, like when I got saved I gave up this and I gave up this.
And they'll make statements like I never even wanted another cigarette, I never, you know,
and those are misleading statements because, you know, many people that are saved they
still want that cigarette right now.
You know, they still want to commit sin right now.
Why?
Because when you get saved the flesh does not die, the flesh is there alive and well,
the sin nature is there, the old man is there, every day when you wake up in the morning
that sinful old nature is there to lead you astray and that's why the Bible says that
we have to die daily, we have to daily take up the cross and follow Jesus, we have to
daily deny self, we have to daily decide to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision
for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof.
So this idea that when somebody gets saved just everything just BOOM is just right where
it needs to be, that's a false doctrine.
I mean let's call it what it is, it's false doctrine, it just isn't true, it just isn't
real.
Now, yes there can be a dramatic change when people get saved if they immediately start
walking in the Spirit and immediately get in church and immediately start reading their
Bibles and doing all the right things, yeah you can see a very dramatic change in people
but there still is going to be a growth that needs to take place.
You can't just sit there and just assume they're just an adult.
The Bible teaches that they're babes in Christ, they're newborn babes, they need to desire
the sincere milk of the Word that they may grow thereby, and the Bible says that precept
must be upon precept, line upon line, here a little, there a little, they learn doctrine,
they grow in the Lord, they grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ.
Not this Pentecostal doctrine of just, you just get saved and it's just BOOM you never
sin again, BOOM you're without sin, BOOM.
And they take the verse that you're a new creature and old things are passed away and
old, all things are become new, and they misinterpret that that the flesh isn't in
the picture anymore.
Sure, yeah, I know the new creature is an all new creature, but what about when you're
walking in the flesh?
And plus there's growth, there's knowledge that you need to gain, and so we need to be
patient with people that are at a lower stage of growth than we are and not look down on
them, not be unloving to them because maybe they're a little bit newer in the faith or
newer to church and maybe they are still smoking a cigarette, maybe they are still struggling
with certain things.
Give people time to grow and a chance to grow and don't look down your nose, oh man I can't
believe this guy, I can't believe her, but think back in your own life and sometimes
we forget where we came from.
And you have to stop and think about, wait a minute, what about when I was a teenager,
what about when I was younger, what about a week after I got saved?
You never want to lose sight of that because you don't want to look down your nose at someone
who is a new believer and who is still learning.
Or maybe people just don't know doctrine and you're like, you don't know that?
What?
Everybody knows that.
Well, no they don't.
And people need to be given a chance to read their Bibles and grow and come to church and
learn more.
So we need to be careful that we don't just have love and affection for those that are
righteous and godly.
Those are the people that are easy to love.
People that are righteous and godly, good people, they're easy to love.
We need to also love people that are still struggling with sins and that are still living
a lifestyle that's not exactly where it should be.
Well, you know, they're a babe in Christ.
They need to grow a little bit.
And especially people that are unsaved.
How do you expect people that are unsaved to live a godly life?
They're not even saved.
Why would they live a godly life?
You know, you've got to love them for who they are and try to reach out to them and
win them to Christ.
And not just expect everybody to be perfect or you're not going to love them.
So that's what the difference is between a godly love and just human love that just loves
those that are good.
Well, that's easy.
But God's love reaches out to those that are ungodly and that are sinners.
Now look at Luke chapter 10.
Let me show you another aspect of love that we need to focus on.
And I'm going to cover this later in the sermon.
Are there some people that we should not love?
Well yeah, the Bible does teach that there are some people that we shouldn't love.
Really bad people that are pedophiles and rapists and whatever.
But that's not 99% of people though.
You know, reprobate evil, wicked people.
I'll cover that later in the sermon.
Number one, I want to say this, you know, we should love people who are unrighteous
and ungodly.
I mean, Jesus loved the people who were even nailed unto the cross and said, Father forgive
them for they know not what they do.
He loved the ungodly.
He loved us while we were yet sinners.
We should love those that are unsaved, even that are unrighteous and ungodly.
And even those that are saved, if they're at a lower stage of growth, we need to be
patient and gentle and loving with them and not just expect everybody to be an adult.
I mean, do you think I'm going to look at my newborn baby and get angry at him for soiling
his diaper?
Oh, you probably, well what are you doing, you're going to the bathroom with your diaper
again.
Oh man, you're making a mess.
That would be ridiculous because you say, well he's a baby.
That's all he can do.
Okay?
Now, isn't that the same mentality that looks at somebody who just got saved and just gets
real angry because they're, you know, soiling their diaper so to speak?
I mean, they're a babe in Christ, they're not living the Christian life that they're
supposed to live.
You know, and would I just accuse, well I don't think you're human.
You know, because all the humans that I'm around, they feed themselves and they go to
the bathroom and the toilet, you know, you must not be human.
Well no, you're just a baby.
It's just different.
So to say, well they're not even saved, you know, because they're immature, because they
can't feed themselves, because they're not, you know, getting themselves to church.
You know, my newborn baby has never gotten themselves to church.
I've never had, out of all the seven children I've had, none of them have ever gotten themselves
to church as a baby.
They were always brought to church as a baby, and you know what, maybe that's what we should
try to do with people that we went to Christ, try to bring them to church.
You know, you win somebody the Lord and you want them to come to church, you know, offer
to pick them up and give them the ride, sometimes the babe in Christ might need a little extra
motivation to get them in church because they're a baby.
Not only should we love the unrighteous and ungodly, but the Bible also teaches us in
Luke chapter 10 verse 30 is where we're going to start reading in the story of the Good
Samaritan.
You know, we should love those that are not necessarily just like us.
Now it's easy to love people that are like us, because we can relate to people that are
like us, but we should also be willing to love people that are not like us, okay?
Now let's look at this story, it says in verse 30,
So in
this story we have an unfortunate man who's attacked by thieves, almost killed, almost
beaten to death, left in a ditch, stripped of his clothing, wounded and naked, and when
a Levite comes by that way, and by the way, this guy's an Israelite that's in the ditch,
and the Levite comes by who is his fellow countrymen, and actually the Levite is supposed
to be a full time servant of the Lord, because if you read the book of Exodus and the book
of Numbers, you know the tribe of Levi were supposed to be serving the Lord full time,
and the priests also were obviously serving the Lord full time, but even just the tribe
of Levi that were not priests, that were not of the sons of Aaron, they would do a lot
of the menial tasks of just setting up and taking down the tabernacle and just ministering
about the holy things, the whole tribe of Levi was like that.
So these guys are supposed to be religious minded men, the priests and the Levite.
Not only that, this is their fellow Israelite, their fellow countrymen.
They both, when they come to them, they go to the other side of the street just to get
as far away from this guy as they can, they just don't want anything to do with this guy.
Now do they love this guy?
I mean if you love somebody, you're not going to leave them in a ditch to die.
They have no compassion, they have no mercy, they have what we talked about this morning,
indifference, they don't care.
So they just walk right by.
But then the Bible says in verse 33, but a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where
he was.
I mean he makes a point to go to this guy, and when he saw him he had compassion on him,
and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast,
and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
So the Samaritan who is basically of the northern kingdom of Israel, remember when the kingdom
of Israel split after Solomon into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom
of Judah?
Well that northern kingdom of Israel went captive to the land of Assyria.
They took all the people that were wealthy and important and they transported them to
Assyria and then they brought in people from all different nationalities of the Assyrian
empire and those people basically mixed in with the poor people of the ten tribes of
Israel.
So this became a new nation, because if you think about it, it's not really the ten tribes
of Israel anymore now that they've intermingled with all these other heathen nations that
had come in.
So now it kind of formed its own new nationality of people called the Samaritans.
So the ten tribes, by the time Jesus Christ came on the scene, were already to the point
where it was hard to distinguish, and even today these ten tribes are not recognizable.
You can't really find today the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, the tribe of Simeon.
If you try to research where those people are, no one knows, because they were intermingled,
they became the Samaritans.
And they were also scattered into all nations and just intermingled with all nations.
And so the Samaritans today are probably, you know if you wanted to find the Samaritans
today, it would probably be a lot of the Arab world.
You know everybody likes to just simplify and say, oh the Arab world, it's all the sons
of Ishmael.
Well you know there are a lot of other nationalities involved than to just say, oh it's all the
sons of Ishmael.
I mean it makes for great preaching.
Now the Jews in Israel are the sons of Isaac, all these other people are the sons of Ishmael.
It's like, well what about all the other Midian, and what about all the other ten tribes?
Because the people that are living in Israel today, the Jews, if anything, descend from
three tribes, I mean 90 some percent would come from Judah, Benjamin, and Levi, because
the other ten tribes were scattered and mixed in and would be amongst the Arabs.
You know if you went to Lebanon and Syria, you know those aren't just all Ishmaelites.
A lot of those people are from the ten tribes.
And even a lot of the ten tribes are scattered throughout Europe all the way to Spain.
Even the Assyrian Empire went into Western Europe and even some of them ended up there
in that place, even to the British Isles.
So what I'm saying is, and maybe that was a little too much information, but I like
to teach who the Samaritans are and who the Jews are because a lot of people mistakenly
think that the word Jew refers to all twelve tribes, when it's important to realize that
there's a separation that took place and you have the Samaritans and the Jews.
The Jews are of the southern kingdom, the Samaritans are of the northern kingdom.
This guy, the Samaritan, he is of a nation that does not really get along with the Jews.
Because if you remember, when Jesus speaks to the woman at the well, the Bible tells
us the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
So here you have two nations that are right next to each other, Samaria and Judea, at
the time of Christ, and they have no dealings with each other.
They don't get along.
When Jesus walks up and starts talking to a Samaritan, she says, why are you talking
to me?
The Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
So you can tell these people are not friendly toward each other.
You know, now we have the neighboring country of Canada and a neighboring country of Mexico,
but wouldn't you say that we have dealings with Mexico and dealings with Canada and we
get along with them?
So this is different.
This is people that they don't have dealings with, that they don't get along with.
I mean, these are people that they don't like.
Samaritans don't like the Jews.
The Jews don't like the Samaritans.
They're not friends.
And yet this guy, who's a Samaritan, sees the guy in the ditch, who is a Jew, and loves
him, has compassion on him, takes care of him, pulls him out of the ditch, and puts
in oil and wine in his wounds, puts him on his own beast, and he walks.
He goes on foot while this guy rides the beast.
And then he says in verse number 34, it says, halfway through there brought him to an inn
and took care of him, and on the morrow when he departed he took out two pence, and keep
in mind inflation, two pence, and gave him to the host and said unto them, take care
of him, and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again I will repay thee.
Which now of these three thinkest thou was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?
And he said he that showed mercy on him then said Jesus unto him, go and do thou likewise.
So let me ask this, when the Bible's telling us love thy neighbor as thyself, is he saying
when you love your neighbor you're only loving people of your nationality?
You're only loving people that are like you.
God expects us to love our neighbor as ourself, and that would include people that are different
than us.
Now, nationality is not the only difference, but obviously we should love people of other
nationalities as we love ourself.
So if someone is black or Asian or Hispanic or white, we should love them even if they're
not like us.
Now we have a tendency to love people that are like us, and it might be easier for us
to love people that are like us, just naturally, because we relate to people that are like
us.
And not just with nationality, but what about your economic background?
You know, maybe some people have a lot of money, some people are poor, some people are
middle class, but we should love people that are not like us.
And this usually goes both ways.
Like a lot of people just think, well it's just white people that are just racist against
everybody else.
But is that really the way the world works?
No, because I mean, you could find Chinese people that hate Japanese people more than
any white person ever hated any black person.
You're like, you're both Asians, but to them it makes a difference.
I mean, there could even be Native American tribes that could hate each other, or there
could be Asians that hate each other, and there could be North Koreans and South Koreans
could hate each other, or there could be people that are black that hate white people.
Or there could be Mexicans that hate black people.
I mean, it could go across all different combinations.
Because if you look at it, when you're in the New Testament, the Jews, they don't want
to eat with other nations.
And remember God has to show them, hey look, you need to eat with people of other nations,
you need to stop thinking that you guys are some elite group as the Jews, you need to
realize that Jew and Gentile need to go to church together, we're all baptized into one
body whether we be Jew or Gentile.
But remember in the Old Testament, when you look at the story of Joseph, the Egyptians,
they're refusing to eat with the Hebrews.
And they say it's an abomination for us as Egyptians to eat with the Hebrews.
And then the Hebrews are like, well we don't want to eat with the Egyptians.
So it goes both ways.
It's not just, people often accuse people of being racist against Jews, but here's the
thing, Jews are often racist against everybody else.
So it goes both ways.
Black people can hate people of other races, white people can hate people of other races,
Hispanic can hate everybody and think that they're la rasa, and they even have a magazine
like that, la rasa.
I mean imagine white people coming out with a magazine called The Race.
It's all about white people, you know what I mean?
So it's just stupid to sit there and think that it only goes one way when really, you
know what, people have had a tendency from the beginnings of mankind until now to basically
just easily love people that look like them, act like them, talk like them, and to disdain
people that are different than them.
I mean that's just a tendency but that's part of a sin nature because God expects us to
love people that are different than us and not to look down our nose and it has nothing
to do with skin color because if you go to Europe, everybody's pretty much white and
they all hate each other, you know, and you're like, oh yeah, you know, oh yeah, that country,
it's right near this country.
They're like, no man, we have nothing to do with, you know, what in the world?
You know, there are so many people in Europe that just, man, they hate the people around
them.
Because I've been there, you know, I've been to Germany and France and it's like, man,
they are really nationalistic and they hate their neighbors and they're like, these people,
you know, back in the 1300s, you know, it's like, whoa, you know, let it go.
It's been 700 years, you know, it's all water under the bridge now but it doesn't even have
anything to do with skin color because even white people in Europe hate each other, you
know, or Asians in Asia that to us we just think they're Asians, you know, but they hate
each other, okay?
But our, you know, obviously our society has an agenda, the media has an agenda to try
to foment anger and hatred between races and make it about skin color when really it's
not even about skin color necessarily, it's just different people have different, you
know, preferences of just liking people that are like them.
And even forget skin color, remember when you're in high school, there's like the rockers
and then there's like the country western people, you know, and then there's like the
skaters and then there's the tweakers and then there's the hip hop crowd, you know,
but there are like these groups, right, where people just kind of gravitate toward people
that are like them, right?
But here's the thing, as Christians, as God's people, we need to be able to look past that
and love people that are different than us and really the thing that we should strive
to have the most in common is Jesus Christ, not our ethnicity, not our skin color, not,
you know, what kind of style we dress, not our economic background or where we're from.
We in the church should not like group off into those kind of groupings, but we should
rather, you know, try to love everyone in the church and to love people that are different
than us and sometimes it comes more naturally to love those that we relate to, to love people
that we have something in common with, but we need to work as Christians at loving people
that are not like us.
And you need to really examine your heart if you really do love people and when you
go out soul winning, we talked about it this morning, this morning's sermon was mainly
about soul winning, but you need to love the people that you're giving the Gospel to and
sometimes that person is going to be someone who's easy to love.
They remind you of yourself or you have a lot in common with them or they remind you
of someone that you love, but you know, some people might be of a different nationality
than you're used to loving or maybe it's another economic background, you know, maybe you've
been well to do your whole life.
Now you find yourself in the ghetto, soul winning, you know, knocking doors.
You know, you need to have love and compassion and not look down your nose on people and
think, oh these people, oh man, you know, instead of actually just loving them and caring
about them and having compassion on them, you know, it's easy to love those who are
good looking.
You know, somebody opens the door and they look nice, they're dressed nice, what about
when somebody opens the door and they're a complete slob?
You know, do you love that person also?
You know, what about when somebody's laying in the ditch half dead?
What about when you open the door and maybe somebody is not, they don't look good, you
know, maybe they look terrible, but do you still love that person in spite of whatever's
wrong with them?
You know, people could be handicapped, people could be mentally ill, I mean you run into
strange people that are just mentally ill or people that are a little crazy.
Do you love them or do you just only love people that you like being around because
they're easy to be around and they're fun to be around, they remind you of yourself.
You know, we need to broaden our love to where we love people that are different than us
and not just this childish, juvenile, high school mentality of, well I'm just going to
hang around with people that are just like me and that's my crowd, that's who I like.
We need to expand that to love people that are different than us and to be able to reach
out to them, give them the gospel, and also just in the church to love.
Now as a pastor, and I know many men that are in this room would like to pastor someday
and plan to pastor someday, this is especially important as a pastor to be one that can relate
unto all people.
Because what if I as a pastor just kind of picked and chose certain people in the church
that are the people I like?
You know, that's who I'm going to spend my time with, that's who I'm going to talk to,
that's who I'm going to care about, and then say, you know, a large percent of the church,
you know, I just don't really like that much.
No, see as a pastor, you know, I need to love everybody in the church and I need to be everybody's
friend and not just have a few friends in the church, I need to be everybody's friend.
Okay, but you know what, you and the pews should be the same way, where, you know, you
can be friends with everybody and you can love everybody in the church and not just
certain people that fit your certain criteria.
And let me just say this, you know, on the subject of, because this story brings up,
you know, this difference in nationality between the Jews and the Samaritans, two groups that
hated each other.
Let me just say a little more about the subject of nationality or race.
You know, our society today has become really overly sensitive about this, because it's
just a point that the media loves to just, you know, keep in mind, the media has an agenda
of shaping the way that you think.
They want to shape your thinking.
That's why they bring up sodomites like every week, just in some way.
Thank you, every day, yeah.
It's like you can't turn on the radio or the TV without some mention of sodomites.
Either, hey, they're getting married over here, or hey, they're doing this over here,
or hey, it's on this TV show.
The goal is to get you thinking about that all the time, just so you get used to it.
And you know, when I go and speak at the community college to the heathen students there, and
some of them are saved, thank God, but you know, a lot of them are just non-Christian,
and I go and speak over at the community college and we have just an open question and answer.
So whenever I preach and speak unto them, then it's just opened up for questions.
There's not a class that goes by where they don't ask me about homosexuality every single
time about what the Bible says about homosexuality.
Now, why are they asking?
Is it because they just all have this personal interest in homosexuality?
No.
It's because their minds are brainwashed and programmed to think.
That's the big issue.
That's the big issue we need to be talking about.
That's the big thing in our generation is the gays and the queers, even though it's
some tiny percentage of people that are actually the gays and queers, and faggots, there I
said it.
So even though it's some tiny demographic, it's just like, oh man, let's talk about that
all day long.
Why?
Because you're being brainwashed to think that way, and that's why you need to quit
watching TV, quit listening to radio, get in this book, and get the renewing of your
mind from the Bible, from the word of God.
But here's the thing, they have other agendas.
They always want you to just think of race, race, race, and you know, they made a big
deal about how Obama's black, and that's the big thing.
You know what?
Everybody I know who didn't vote for Obama and hates Obama, it's not because he's black.
They couldn't care less if he was black, and if there was a black guy that would believe
what we want and do what we want, I'd vote for that guy in a heartbeat.
I mean, if there was a godly black man, you know, I would work for him and campaign for
him, you know, if he wants the wrong problem.
Who cares?
And you know what?
Nobody cares except the media that just tells everybody that there's all this racism.
They just, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
It actually makes people probably become more racist, just because they keep hearing that
and then it just gets us thinking along those lines, when in reality most people in America
are already past that and don't really care what color you are.
Right?
I mean, do you really care what color people are?
I don't.
I believe that God has made all nations of the earth of one blood, okay?
And I don't believe that there is even any such thing as race biblically, because the
word race is only mentioned in the Bible about running a race.
You know, it doesn't ever say that there's three races, white, brown, and black, or five
races, white, brown, red, yellow, how does the song go, red, and yellow, black, and brown.
But what I'm saying is, it's not that simple to sit there and say, well these people are
from Shem, these people are from Ham, and these people are from Japheth.
It's been 4,000 some odd years, it's been 4,300 years, you know, it's so mixed in, 4,700
years later, you know what I mean?
It's not that simple anymore.
Who cares?
Get over it.
In Christ there's neither Jew nor Gentile.
It doesn't matter.
We're all of one blood.
Get over it.
But here's the thing though, there are people in this world who do have an attitude that
says, hey, I believe, you know, I've met people that say, I believe that the races should
be kept separate.
Now I don't believe that.
I don't believe that they should be kept separate.
I don't have that doctrine, that's not a biblical doctrine.
But there are people out there who believe that.
And there are some people out there who would say that interracial marriage is a sin.
And they'll say like, you know, I don't think it's right for people to marry outside of
their, and by the way, it's not just white people that are saying that, there are black
people who get angry if their child marries a white person, or there will be Native Americans
who get angry if their child marries a white person, or marries a black person, or marries
a Hispanic.
I mean, there are people who have an attitude that says, hey, let's keep our culture, let's
keep it separate, let's keep the nationality or the race or whatever you want to call it.
Now look, I don't believe that.
I don't agree with that.
I think it's okay.
I don't have a problem.
I've performed wedding ceremonies of people interracially.
I don't have a problem with it.
I don't believe that that's a biblical doctrine.
I don't agree with people who think that.
But let me tell you something, I do not hate people who think that.
See and then it gets quiet.
You know what I mean?
But you know what?
Just as we shouldn't hate other races, we shouldn't hate people because they think that
races should be kept separate either.
Because you know what?
Just because people are wrong about that one thing, should we hate those people now?
And turn around and say, oh man, this guy thinks that interracial marriage is wrong.
Let's kill him.
We hate him.
He's a devil.
He's wicked.
Look, some people that are from the older generation, that's how they think.
And some people that are from certain parts of the world and from certain parts of the
country, that's how they think.
They think like, hey, and a lot of them that you talk to, they don't hate people of other
races.
They just think it should be kept separate.
Now do I agree with that?
No, I don't agree with that.
But should I turn around and just hate people who think that and just say that they're bad
people, they're wicked people because they think that race should be separate.
Look, I have a good friend who's a black guy and he flat out told me, you know, this guy's
in his 40s, and he flat out told me, he said, I am only going to marry a black girl.
I will not marry anyone who's not black.
Now look, if that's what he wants to do, if that's what he believes, if that's his preference,
should I just consider him a wicked person and hate him?
But see, here's the thing.
We're so brainwashed by the media that as soon as somebody has a viewpoint that's different
than what the media is cramming down our throat 24-7, we just want to just turn on
that person and tear them apart and hate them.
And again, I don't share that viewpoint.
You know, people are going to walk out here and say that I do, but I don't really care
because I don't.
And you know what, I've been called a racist so many times, I don't even care anymore.
I'm going to say whatever I want.
I'm going to say whatever I think is biblical.
So look, I don't hate other races, I don't believe in racism, I don't believe we should
separate the races whatsoever, but I don't hate people that do have that viewpoint.
I actually love people and am okay with people if they think, hey, I'm white, I'm going to
marry a white person.
I'm black, I'm going to marry a black person.
You know, I'm Hispanic, I'm going to marry...
You know what, I think that that is a perfectly reasonable opinion for them to have.
It's not biblical.
If they say, hey, the Bible says, well then they're lying because the Bible doesn't teach
that.
Because the Bible teaches we're all of one blood.
So that's not going to get a lot of amens, but it's the truth.
So again, we can't just sit there and just hate people and get angry at people and think
that they're so wicked because they just have different preferences and different opinions
and different attitudes about things.
Maybe they come from a different generation or a different upbringing.
For example, we had somebody visit us that's a relative of ours that kind of had this viewpoint
because they're from a distant part of the world where things are a lot different than
they are in America.
And you know, I tried to tell this person, I said, look, because they'd been in a place
where it was kind of like the brown people in that place were bad people.
And so they came here and I told them, I said, look, you're wrong to basically dislike people
of other races.
I said, look, you know, in America, I said I could show you all kinds of good godly people
of all nationalities, you know, yes, there are some ungodly cultures in other parts of
the world and places, but I told him, I said, look, here's what the Bible says, and I said,
let me show you, and you know what, after being here for several weeks, he said, you
know what, you're right, because he said, I'm seeing people in your church of all different
nationalities that are godly people, and I'm seeing, and that are very sensible, good,
nice people, and I'm seeing people out even in public in America of all different nationalities
that are, I can tell, nice people and normal people and righteous people.
So what I'm saying is some people just haven't been exposed enough to other races, you know
what I mean, they just haven't been exposed to enough examples of people of other nationalities,
and they're kind of maybe being brainwashed in their own way where they live.
Should we just hate those people and be angry at those people?
So I think we need to get a balanced view of the subject from the Bible and say, you
know what, we love people of all nationalities, every nationality is welcome at our church,
no one is second class, everybody is on the same level, but if somebody has a personal
preference where they think, hey, I think that we should stay within our tribe of Native
American, or I think we should stay, you know what, we shouldn't just hate that person and
jump all over it, we should love those people too, and just be a little more tolerant of
views that really aren't that important.
Although the media is going to tell you that's the biggest, most important thing every day
that we need to talk about is race and homosexuality.
And here's the thing, part of it is they want you to group those two things together.
They'll be like, yeah, you know, blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and gays.
It's like, no.
Because you know what, black people are every bit as good as white people, and Hispanics
are every bit as good as white people, but you know what, homosexuals are perverts, and
they're not born that way, it's not a race, but you're being brainwashed every day if
you watch TV and listen to the radio that homosexuality is like the new racism.
I mean I've preached a sermon against homosexuality and had somebody say, you're a racist, what?
You know, it doesn't even make sense, folks, but this is the kind of brainwashing where
it's like, yeah, this is the new civil rights issue.
This is the new thing.
You know, in the 60s it was the blacks, and now today it's the homeless.
And you know, if I were a black person, I'd be very offended to be lumped in with these
bunch of faggots, you know, when you're just a God-fearing, heterosexual black person.
I mean, anyway, you say, oh man, you shouldn't say all that.
I'm going to say whatever I want.
I'm not going to let the media tell me what's politically correct and acceptable to say
behind this pulpit.
I am preaching the truth right now.
Everything I just said for the last 15 minutes is the truth.
I can back it all up in the Bible, that we should love people who have a different attitude
than us, that we should love people who have different beliefs than us, that we should
love people and we should not have an attitude that says people of different nationalities
are inferior.
Everything I said is biblical.
So you can like it or lump it.
You know?
Don't let the door hit you on your way out.
But look at Luke chapter 14.
Luke chapter 14.
So point number one of tonight's sermon was that we should love those who are not necessarily
as moral and as godly as we think they should be.
You know, when we knock on the door of somebody, they might come to the door and we can just
tell they're living a sinful life.
We can just tell they're living an ungodly life.
But you know, shouldn't we still love that person and want to get them saved?
And not just think, oh man, this derelict, oh man, you know.
No, we should think, you know what, I could be in that same boat if I weren't saved.
I mean, you know what, if I weren't saved, I'm sure I'd be a very sinful person.
You know, I mean, I'm a sinner now, but I'm sure I'd be very sinful if I hadn't grown
up in a Christian home and hadn't grown up in church.
So we should love those that aren't godly.
Number two, we should love people that are not just like us.
If they're a different nationality, different economic background, different opinion, even
if it's a really politically incorrect opinion, you know, we should still love people of a
different opinion.
Even those who are maybe ugly, those who are mentally ill, those people who just have other
issues that would make them unlovable, we should love people that are not just like
us.
And thirdly, we should not just love people who can benefit us, but we should love people
who can do nothing for us in return.
Look at Luke 14 verse 12, it says, then said he also to him that bade him, when thou makest
a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor
thy rich neighbors, lest they also bid thee again and a recompense be made thee.
But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maim, the lame, the blind, and thou shalt
be blessed, for they cannot recompense thee, for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection
of the just.
So he's saying, look, do loving things for people that can't return the favor.
You know, love people who can do nothing for you in return.
And that leads me to my last point, go to Matthew chapter 5, love those who will do
nothing in return for you, they don't have anything to bring to the table, you're not
getting anything back from them, just love them, even if it's a one-sided thing.
That's what the Bible's teaching there in Luke 14.
But look at Matthew chapter 5, and really we get the same type of a teaching in verse
46 where it says in verse 46 of chapter 5, for if ye love them which love you, what reward
have ye?
Do not even the publicans the same?
So he's saying don't just love people that love you.
And in other places he says, you know, even a heathen will loan something to somebody
expecting to get the same thing back again.
But he says, you know, give to people who you're never going to get back from.
Love people that can do nothing for you.
But lastly this, we should not just love those who love us.
We should even love our enemies, okay?
Look at chapter 5 verse 43.
So he says don't just love those who are godly and righteous.
Don't just love those who are just like you, whether that be physically or economically
or whatever.
Don't just love those who can benefit you, and fourthly, don't just love those who love
you in return.
Love your enemies.
Then verse 43, ye have heard that it hath been said, thou shalt love thy neighbor and
hate thine enemy.
Now let me ask you this.
Does it say that it was said by God or said in the Old Testament?
Is that what it says in verse 43?
Just because you heard that that was said, does that mean that ever came from the Bible?
No.
And see, a lot of people will twist the Sermon on the Mount here.
They don't understand it.
There are six examples that Christ gives here where he says, it hath been said, but I say
unto you, but some of the stuff that he says, it hath been said, he's not necessarily saying
that it's biblical.
He says, it hath been said, whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing
of divorcement, but I say unto you, that whosoever putteth away his wife, saving for the cause
of fornication, you know, causeeth her to commit adultery, and whosoever shall marry
her that is divorced, comitteth adultery.
But here's the thing, those teachings can be found in the Old Testament also about divorce
and fornication, you know, so Jesus is not coming to destroy the law or to even make
changes in this particular passage, he's expanding upon it and just giving us a more clear understanding.
Nowhere in the Old Testament does the Bible say, hate your enemy.
In fact, the Old Testament teaches you to love your enemy, because if you read in the
book of Leviticus for example, we're not going to turn there for sake of time, but in Leviticus,
it clearly tells you, love your neighbor as yourself, but then it also says, if the ox
or the ass of your enemy falls in the ditch, you pull out the ox or ass of your enemy out
of the ditch and you return it to them and you help them and do right, and that concept
is found all throughout the Old Testament of overcoming evil with good and to love your
enemies.
Nowhere does the Old Testament teach, love your neighbor, hate your enemy, because Jesus
even said that love thy neighbor as thyself even includes the Samaritan, it includes the
person of the other nationality, it includes people that maybe are your enemy, and when
they're in the ditch, you help them out.
So when it says you have heard that it hath been said, thou shalt love thy neighbor and
hate thy enemy, he's just saying that's what people have said, not that that's what God
said, God never said that.
God did say thou shalt love thy neighbor in Leviticus, but he did not say hate thy enemy.
The Bible all the way through teaches that we should love our enemies, all the way back
to the Mosaic law.
But let's keep reading, it says you've heard that it hath been said, thou shalt love thy
neighbor and hate thy 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, for ye maketh his Son
to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye?
Do not even the publicans the same?
And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others?
Do not even the publican so, be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which in heaven
is perfect.
So what the Bible is saying here is that when we have someone who does wrong to us, they
are our enemy because they despitefully use us, they persecute us, they curse us, we should
love that person, bless them, do good to them, pray for them, and overcome evil with good.
Now you can easily see how this would play out in your personal life.
For example, you're on the job and a coworker blows up at you and starts screaming at you
and cursing you, right?
And you're not in the wrong, you haven't done anything wrong, and let's say you decide to
not retaliate.
You're not going to turn around and just return fire.
Oh yeah, well same to you buddy, and start laying into them.
That would be violating this passage.
But rather you're going to take the high ground, and I could give you examples from my life,
I can remember specific examples where people on the job yelled at me, cursed me, blew up
at me, and I just took it, and I was kind to them.
One guy I remember, he laid into me, he blew up at me, he treated me like garbage, and
a couple hours later at lunch time, I bought him a bottle of soda off the roach coach and
I just said, hey, here man, you seem like you're having a rough day buddy.
I bought this for you, I know you like this.
And that guy treated me so well, that was the best two dollars I ever spent in my life,
because that guy treated me great for the whole rest of the time I worked out, and this
guy treated everybody like garbage, except me, because I bought him a soda one time right
after he cussed me out.
So you know, sometimes that can go a long way with people, just not always just feeling
like, oh, I've got to get them back, I've got to retaliate.
Not always when somebody says something to you, you just always come right back at them.
You're going to have people be rude to you and insult you and be a jerk to you, and look,
all of us have the knee-jerk tendency to just want to come right back at them and burn them,
and we've got an even better one-liner than what they came at us with.
We are going to burn them, and we're going to humiliate them, but is that really what
God wants us to do, is that really the right way to handle it when we have enemies?
Now this could go for your neighbors, maybe people in your neighborhood.
Sometimes you get in disputes with your neighbors, right?
Let's say they're being too loud, or you're being too loud, or their yard looks like garbage,
or your yard looks like garbage, or your dog used the restroom in their lawn, or your dog
barked, or your rooster crowed, or whatever, at 4 in the morning your rooster was crowing
and woke them up.
You know, aren't there disputes that can arise between neighbors like that?
And sometimes people can become our enemies, meaning, and look, the Bible defines here
what an enemy is.
What's an enemy according to this passage?
Someone who curses us, right?
Someone who hates us.
Someone who despitefully uses us or persecutes us, and let me tell you something.
There are a lot of people in this world who hate me, and I don't hate them.
You know, there are a lot of independent fundamental Baptist pastors who hate me, but honestly
I don't hate them.
I love them.
I want them to succeed.
I constantly, there are churches where I recommend people, hey you're looking for a church in
that area, go to that church, and that pastor hates me, even though I recommend people to
this church.
Why?
Because just because somebody's my enemy doesn't mean that they're necessarily a bad person.
I mean, is anybody who dislikes me a bad person automatically?
No.
Is anybody who dislikes you automatically just a horrible person?
No.
Sometimes there are misunderstandings, or you know what, sometimes we all just do wrong
and sometimes we just hate people or get angry at people that we shouldn't.
I mean, we're just human, and it happens, and that's why the Bible tells us we should
love our enemies because sometimes your enemies will eventually become your friends.
I remember there was this one guy that I went to school with and we were like 12 years old,
and this guy was my enemy.
You know, I don't even know why, but he and I were enemies and we even got in a few fist
fights, you know, and obviously that isn't right, you know, to just get in these fist
fights when you're 12, but it's just something that happens when you're 12 sometimes.
And you know, I remember getting in a fist fight with him, you know, meet me in the boys'
room and we were fighting in the boys' room and there was blood drawn, and this guy was
just an enemy.
I did not like this guy, this guy did not like me, and then a few years later I showed
up at a church where I didn't know anybody except him.
And instantly he's like, hey Steve, and I'm like, hey buddy, and then we were just buddies
and we were good friends.
So when we were 12 we hated each other, we were just at each other's throats, literally.
And then when, you know, fast forward to when I'm 16, 17, and me and this guy actually became
good friends and it was like we just didn't even bring up that stuff from when we were
12 because this wasn't a big deal.
So what I'm saying is your enemy today could be your friend tomorrow.
And if you actually love your enemies and do good unto them, you'll turn a lot of enemies
into friends.
You can really turn people around and overcome evil with good by doing good to people.
You know, there are people who've done me wrong, should I hate them?
No.
Should I curse them and retaliate them?
And you know, I love the story of Samson, but I always have to laugh when I read the
story of Samson, this one part that just cracks me up, and I don't know how applicable this
is to the sermon but I was just reading this a couple days ago, but the part where Samson,
you know, he retaliates against the Philistines, and then they retaliate against him, and then
he reta... and he says like, well just this once more and I'll be avenged to the Philistines,
and he retaliates again, and then they come into the land of Judah, I'm sorry, the land
of Israel, the Philistines, and they're like, we're coming to bind Samson.
And the Israelites are like, well why do you want to bind Samson?
To do to him as he did to us.
And then they go to Samson, they're like, what are you doing Samson, these people rule
over us.
He's like, well I'm going to do to them what they did to me, you know, and it just back
and forth, it just never ends, right?
And obviously that's a complicated story, but I just always think that's funny how they
just keep retaliating, just keep back, retaliate, retaliate, retaliate.
And you know, that's how it can be with your neighbors, and it can really be a, I just
thank God I don't have any enemies amongst my neighbors.
All my neighbors get along with me.
When the rooster crowed, you know, we gave him a dozen eggs, you know?
Before the cock crowed twice, you know, they denied us thrice as neighbors.
But anyway, we basically don't have any enemies of our neighbors, but you know, if you have
neighbors that are enemies, I mean that can be a real pain, because they live right there,
they're there all the time.
People on the job, you dead sure don't want to have enemies at church, okay?
So we need to make sure that when people do us wrong, we don't retaliate or avenge ourselves,
but that we love our enemies and try to overcome evil with good.
Now a lot of people will misconstrue this passage, Matthew chapter 5 today, and they'll translate
love your enemy as love everybody.
And you know, pretty much the vast majority of Baptist churches or Evangelical churches
will pretty much teach, hey, God loves everybody and we're supposed to love everybody.
Now I don't believe that, because that's not biblical.
There are some people that we should not love, okay?
Now it's a very small group, it's a very small minority, but there are some people, and let's
just look at a few passages, go to Psalm 139, just to look at a few passages.
And by the way, if you don't think Psalms is applicable, let me say this, the New Testament
church is commanded to sing Psalms, these Psalms.
I mean, the Bible commands, listen to me, the Bible commands the New Testament church
to sing Psalms, talking about the book of Psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs.
That's three things, Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
We are commanded to sing as a New Testament church.
So the book of Psalms is something that of course is something that we need today, and
we should be singing these, if anything.
But look what the Bible says in Psalm 139 verse 21, and we could turn to like 20 places.
But it says in Psalm 139, 21, do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee?
And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
I hate them with perfect hatred, I count them mine enemies.
Now this is not just the words of David, this is Holy Scripture.
This is inspired by the Holy Ghost.
Also the prophet Jehu in 2 Chronicles 19 verse 2, flip over there if you would, 2 Chronicles
19, 2.
And again, I don't want to spend the whole sermon on this, I'm just showing you a few
verses.
The Bible does teach there is a time to love and a time to hate, and the Bible does talk
about certain people that we should hate, okay?
In Psalm 139 he said we should hate those who hate the Lord, okay?
And then also it says in 2 Chronicles 19, 2, and Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went
out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, shouldest thou help the ungodly, and watch
this, and love them that hate the Lord?
Therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord.
So you can say, well I'm just going to play it safe and just love everybody.
But the Bible tells us we should not love those that hate the Lord.
If the Bible says something one time in scripture, you might say well maybe I'm just misunderstanding
that, but I just showed you two scriptures that said identical thing.
2 Chronicles 19, 2 said don't love those who hate the Lord.
Psalm 139 said don't love those that hate the Lord.
And we could show you a lot of other scripture, I could do a whole sermon on that if you want,
I could spend an hour showing you that, because there are scriptures like that that could
teach that.
Let me ask you this, and it's so funny, because people just don't get this, and no matter
how many times I preach it, I think they just don't want to get it, because it's not that
complicated.
Because every time I preach Psalm 139, or 2 Chronicles 19, 2, or I go to Hosea, or I
go to all, even it plays in the New Testament, and I show them scriptures, they'll just say
well, but the Bible says love your enemy, what are you talking about?
It's like they can't get past that.
Now let me just break this down, real simple, I don't want anybody to misunderstand this.
It's real simple.
Let me ask you this, do all of my personal enemies, and when I say personal enemy, we're
letting the Bible define that.
That is anyone who hates Stephen Anderson, persecutes Stephen Anderson, despitefully
uses Stephen Anderson, or curses Stephen Anderson.
Let me ask you this, do all the people who hate me and are my enemies, do they all hate
the Lord?
Of course not.
Do you think that everybody who doesn't like me, or attacks me, or fights me, just they
hate the Lord?
Of course not, that would be ridiculous.
What about the border patrol guys who beat me up, smashed my face in broken glass and
tasered me?
Do they all just hate the Lord?
Probably not.
I mean it's possible that one or more of them could, but you know what, if I had to guess
I'd say probably none of them do.
Now I'm not saying that they're saved, but does everybody who's not saved just hate the
Lord?
No, but are there people in this world who do hate the Lord?
Oh yeah, Romans 1.
In Romans 1, the Bible teaches us, and you need to go home and read, no no, better, go
memorize Romans 1.
Don't read it, memorize it, okay?
Because you need it to sink down, because we're living in the day where Romans 1 is
all around us.
And in Romans 1 it's real clear that there are people out there who the Bible says God
has given over to a reprobate mind.
Their hearts have been darkened, and they've been given over to a reprobate mind, and the
Bible clearly says that those people are haters of God, and not only does the Bible say in
Romans chapter 1 that they hate God, it says that they don't even want to retain God in
their knowledge.
I mean they wish that they would just never hear about God again.
And don't you think there are people out there who just hate God, hate the Bible, hate Jesus,
just ugh!
Those people that are reprobate wicked people, and the Bible talks about in Romans 1 that
they go after strange flesh.
That they are men who burn and lust toward other men.
They are women who burn and lust toward other women.
And so when we see people that are pedophiles, and they are rapists and predators and just
God-hating monsters, the Bible's not saying, hey you need to love Charles Manson.
I mean look what kind of a bizarre doctrine is, how did we get here in America today,
in churches?
Love Charles Manson, love Adolf Hitler, love Jeffrey Dahmer, love pedophiles, love rapists,
love murderers.
You know, look, the Bible's not saying to just love every wicked, unimaginable monster
of a person.
Now look, should we love sinful people?
Yes.
Should we love the prostitute?
Yes.
Should we love someone who's had an abortion?
Yes.
Should we love someone who is Catholic?
Yes.
Should we love someone who's Muslim?
Yes.
Should we love someone who's Buddhist?
Should we love someone who's a Mormon?
You know, should we love people who are drunkards and drug addicts?
Yes.
But should we love someone who molests children?
No.
The Bible says they should be put to death.
They're so wicked, I mean it's so bad.
So what I'm saying is, you say, well where do you draw the line?
Where do you draw the line?
Look, I love 90 some percent of people, but I don't love 100 percent of people.
The vast majority of people I love, you say, who do you not love?
The people who hate the Lord are the people I don't love.
If they hate the Lord, if they're a Romans 1 type, I don't love them.
But here's the thing though, 99 percent of the people that we come into contact with
are probably not in that category.
So don't go around just hating every person that's not godly.
Should we hate people that are just horrible, haters of God, reprobate, pedophile, sodomite,
freaks?
But where does God draw the line?
When they hate the Lord.
And read Romans 1 to get the rundown on that.
But to sit there and say that love your enemies is telling you to love everybody, that's just
not what it says.
Because there's a difference between loving my enemies and loving those who hate the Lord.
There's a difference.
Because a lot of my enemies don't hate the Lord.
Some of my enemies probably do hate the Lord, but probably a lot of them don't.
Every person that I had a conflict with on the job, I don't think any of them hated the
Lord or hated the word of God.
They just hated me, perhaps.
But we need to take the whole totality of scripture in view and not get an overly simplistic
view of the world.
What's the sermon about tonight?
Love people.
Same thing we talked about this morning.
Love people that are different than you.
Love people that are not as spiritual as you.
Love people that can't do anything to benefit you.
And even love people who don't love you.
Even love your enemies is what the Bible teaches.
We should love more people.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for your word and for the truths that are found therein,
Lord.
And God, help us to be a loving church.
Help each of us in our personal lives just to love people.
And help us when we go out soul winning and we run into people that are very different
than us, maybe they're very unlovable.
Help us to love them anyway.
Help us to love our enemies.
Help us to love the people at our work and love the people of our church and just to
love people and just to want to get people saved and help people and not to just love
a select group that is lovable.
Help us to love the unlovable.
And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.