WEBVTT 00:00:00.718 --> 00:00:04.406 Well, I won't review some of the things that I would normally review 00:00:04.406 --> 00:00:08.508 if we were speaking with a day or two in between, 00:00:08.508 --> 00:00:13.399 because everything is pretty fresh in our minds. 00:00:13.399 --> 00:00:17.269 This series is about the law of Christ, 00:00:17.269 --> 00:00:20.698 and we still haven't even talked about the law of Christ [Laughter]. 00:00:20.698 --> 00:00:24.780 We haven't talked about what it is. 00:00:24.780 --> 00:00:32.625 But Paul says in Corinthians, there in this passage (we've been reading 1 Corinthians 9), 00:00:32.625 --> 00:00:38.459 he says, "To those who are without law, I became as without law." 00:00:38.460 --> 00:00:41.757 But then he wants us to realize, "not without the law of God," 00:00:41.758 --> 00:00:46.095 and then he identifies that with the law of Christ. 00:00:46.096 --> 00:00:52.353 He says, as Christians we're in-lawed to Christ. 00:00:52.353 --> 00:00:56.960 And he doesn't give us much of a hint here as to what the law of Christ is. 00:00:56.960 --> 00:01:03.640 He doesn't really say anything, which ought to be an indicator to us 00:01:03.640 --> 00:01:10.875 that this was something so familiar to the early church that they didn't need an explanation. 00:01:10.875 --> 00:01:16.801 But what about it? Can you think of anywhere else in Scripture 00:01:16.801 --> 00:01:27.582 where the phrase "the law of Christ" is specifically used? 00:01:27.583 --> 00:01:30.090 Anyone? 00:01:30.090 --> 00:01:34.694 I mean, you just can't come up with something right off. 00:01:34.694 --> 00:01:50.709 But the fact is, it is used, Paul uses it in Galatians 6, so let's turn to that. (P) 00:01:50.709 --> 00:01:59.517 Galatians 6:1, he says, "Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, 00:01:59.518 --> 00:02:04.369 you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; 00:02:04.369 --> 00:02:08.715 looking to yourselves lest you too be tempted. 00:02:08.716 --> 00:02:16.235 Bear one another's burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ." 00:02:16.235 --> 00:02:18.152 Now, there it is. 00:02:18.153 --> 00:02:22.313 And that helps a lot more to give a hint of what is going on – 00:02:22.314 --> 00:02:26.019 bearing one another's burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ. 00:02:26.026 --> 00:02:32.634 Look, the law of Christ has to do with loving one another. 00:02:32.634 --> 00:02:35.067 Now, that brings up a further question: 00:02:35.067 --> 00:02:44.669 Where would they get the idea that loving one another would be called the law of Christ? 00:02:44.669 --> 00:02:55.336 "Love one another" – what do you think? where does that come up? 00:02:55.336 --> 00:02:58.681 [Audience answers] It's one of the great commandments. 00:02:58.682 --> 00:03:03.215 Of course, you could say, "Well, that's the law of God." 00:03:03.215 --> 00:03:07.739 Why would they come up with "the law of Christ"? (P) 00:03:07.740 --> 00:03:15.249 Well, let's look at this in John 13. 00:03:17.815 --> 00:03:26.261 John 13, here we are at the Last Supper, 00:03:26.262 --> 00:03:31.979 and verse 34, "A new commandment I give to you, 00:03:31.986 --> 00:03:38.978 that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 00:03:38.978 --> 00:03:44.214 By this all men will know that you are My disciples, 00:03:44.214 --> 00:03:46.934 if you have love for one another." 00:03:46.935 --> 00:03:57.467 And then over in John 15:12, "This is My commandment," – 00:03:57.467 --> 00:04:02.208 this is the law of Christ – "This is My commandment, 00:04:02.208 --> 00:04:07.222 that you love one another, just as I have loved you. 00:04:07.222 --> 00:04:13.632 Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." 00:04:13.632 --> 00:04:21.825 And then in verse 17, "This I command you, that you love one another." (P) 00:04:21.825 --> 00:04:30.010 Now this is the Lord, here in the upper room on the very last night, 00:04:30.011 --> 00:04:34.259 and giving this new commandment to love one another. 00:04:34.260 --> 00:04:36.420 Love is the new commandment. 00:04:36.420 --> 00:04:43.241 Now the question is: Why does the Lord refer to this as a new commandment? 00:04:43.241 --> 00:04:46.581 Here they are, sitting around here at the Last Supper, 00:04:46.581 --> 00:04:51.598 and He says, "I want to say something; I've got a new commandment for you." 00:04:51.599 --> 00:04:53.472 And they all perk up... 00:04:53.473 --> 00:04:56.043 And He says, "Love one another." (P) 00:04:56.043 --> 00:05:02.213 I mean, has the Bible ever said that before? Absolutely! 00:05:02.214 --> 00:05:04.540 He is calling this a new commandment. 00:05:04.541 --> 00:05:07.651 So the question is, Why? What's new about this? 00:05:07.652 --> 00:05:10.543 God had told them to love one another before. 00:05:10.544 --> 00:05:16.785 In fact, we saw that was one of the two great commandments. 00:05:16.785 --> 00:05:22.487 So why was this a new commandment? (P) 00:05:22.487 --> 00:05:33.725 Well, let me ask you a question, was there anything else that was new that night? 00:05:33.725 --> 00:05:35.830 There was a new covenant. 00:05:35.830 --> 00:05:41.115 He holds the cup up, He says, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood." 00:05:41.116 --> 00:05:43.904 Now He is giving a new covenant; 00:05:43.905 --> 00:05:51.173 and in connection with the new covenant, He's giving a new commandment. 00:05:51.173 --> 00:05:53.987 You remember when the old covenant was given, 00:05:53.990 --> 00:05:58.775 we better turn back there and look at this, Exodus 24. 00:05:58.775 --> 00:06:07.727 We forget about the fact that when the old covenant was given, 00:06:07.727 --> 00:06:16.114 there was the shedding of blood, and there was a covenant meal. 00:06:16.115 --> 00:06:26.453 Exodus 24:7, "Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; 00:06:26.453 --> 00:06:31.173 and they said, 'All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.' 00:06:31.181 --> 00:06:34.652 So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, 00:06:34.653 --> 00:06:38.076 and said, 'Behold the blood of the covenant, 00:06:38.082 --> 00:06:43.204 (think of Jesus' words: This cup is the blood of the new covenant.) 00:06:43.205 --> 00:06:47.757 Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.' 00:06:47.758 --> 00:06:53.282 Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 00:06:53.282 --> 00:06:55.484 and they saw the God of Israel; 00:06:55.484 --> 00:07:01.375 and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. 00:07:01.375 --> 00:07:05.604 Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; 00:07:05.604 --> 00:07:11.076 and they beheld God, and they ate and drank." 00:07:11.076 --> 00:07:13.453 We don't even think about that. 00:07:13.453 --> 00:07:20.509 There was a covenant meal, the shedding of blood, and the giving of law. (P) 00:07:20.509 --> 00:07:23.182 Now what have we got in the upper room? 00:07:23.183 --> 00:07:25.342 They're sitting there, they're having the covenant meal; 00:07:25.343 --> 00:07:27.461 He says, "This is My blood of the new covenant." 00:07:27.462 --> 00:07:30.322 Now He says, "I've got a commandment to give you along," 00:07:30.323 --> 00:07:34.990 not a book with 613 laws, 00:07:34.991 --> 00:07:38.346 "I've got one thing I want you to remember." 00:07:38.346 --> 00:07:41.056 Isn't it something? 00:07:41.056 --> 00:07:45.995 And it's the one thing we forget really quickly. 00:07:45.995 --> 00:07:48.800 I have seen situations as a pastor, 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:52.137 "I've got this hard problem with so and so, what am I going to say to them? 00:07:52.137 --> 00:07:54.924 This is a mess, what am I going to say? 00:07:54.925 --> 00:08:00.804 And as soon as I got to the point where my heart was filled with love for that person, 00:08:00.805 --> 00:08:04.797 I knew immediately what to say to them." 00:08:04.797 --> 00:08:09.785 But when you are angry or frustrated or whatever, you don't know what to do. (P) 00:08:09.785 --> 00:08:18.811 You see, it is not the idea, beloved, that in the Law of Moses we've got 613, 00:08:18.811 --> 00:08:23.201 now in the New Covenant you go through and list all the commandments in the New Testament, 00:08:23.201 --> 00:08:25.823 and you've got this new code of law. 00:08:25.823 --> 00:08:28.345 That's not what it is. 00:08:28.345 --> 00:08:30.115 You don't have that. You don't need that. 00:08:30.116 --> 00:08:37.308 What you've got in the New Covenant is signposts pointing you to the life in the Spirit. 00:08:37.308 --> 00:08:40.328 And this is the big one: He says, Love one another. 00:08:40.328 --> 00:08:44.063 That's the big one. That's going to be the hardest thing. 00:08:44.063 --> 00:08:46.660 I mean, to truly love one another, 00:08:46.661 --> 00:08:49.317 He said that's going to be the hardest possible thing. 00:08:49.317 --> 00:08:55.113 And it's also the thing that He puts in your heart. 00:08:55.114 --> 00:08:58.163 There's nothing more demanding than this, 00:08:58.164 --> 00:09:01.286 there's nothing more exacting, there's nothing more difficult. 00:09:01.287 --> 00:09:07.393 But there's nothing more liberating, is there? Just love one another. (P) 00:09:07.394 --> 00:09:13.057 So, why does He call it a new commandment? 00:09:13.058 --> 00:09:16.557 Because it's associated with a new covenant. 00:09:16.557 --> 00:09:18.892 It's part of this whole thing. 00:09:18.892 --> 00:09:23.619 He's saying, "In the new covenant," as He is getting ready to leave, 00:09:23.620 --> 00:09:30.613 He says, "This is what I want you to keep foremost in your minds: Love one another." 00:09:30.614 --> 00:09:34.557 And so, Paul later, he knows what this means, 00:09:34.558 --> 00:09:39.510 he says, "Bear one another's burdens, and thus fulfill this commandment, this law of Christ, 00:09:39.511 --> 00:09:43.586 this new commandment that He gives to you. Love one another." (P) 00:09:43.586 --> 00:09:46.339 So it was new in that it was part of a new covenant. 00:09:46.339 --> 00:09:54.556 What else? Well, it's new because it has a whole new depth of meaning. 00:09:54.556 --> 00:09:59.345 It's one thing to say, "Love one another," but He didn't say that, did He? 00:09:59.345 --> 00:10:02.925 He said, "Love one another, as I have loved you." 00:10:02.925 --> 00:10:07.776 Now, that just raised the bar out of sight. 00:10:07.777 --> 00:10:09.895 It's new. That's a new commandment. 00:10:09.896 --> 00:10:18.908 Never, in all of human history, has there ever been a revelation of duty like this. 00:10:18.909 --> 00:10:24.393 Love as Christ loved – that's the highest revelation. 00:10:24.394 --> 00:10:26.762 It's the most wonderful - the most exacting - 00:10:26.762 --> 00:10:32.969 but the most wonderful revelation of man's duty that has ever been given. 00:10:32.969 --> 00:10:40.224 And so, to love others as much as Christ loved us by His actions, 00:10:40.224 --> 00:10:42.276 we'll talk about that more in a minute. 00:10:42.276 --> 00:10:47.153 But that was a new commandment. That's something new. (P) 00:10:47.154 --> 00:10:49.359 And so, why is this a new commandment? 00:10:49.359 --> 00:10:52.173 Well, it's associated with a new covenant; 00:10:52.174 --> 00:10:56.384 it gives an entirely new depth of meaning to the word "love" – 00:10:56.384 --> 00:11:02.290 we know love by this, that He did such and such, you see. 00:11:02.290 --> 00:11:03.223 All right. 00:11:03.223 --> 00:11:08.007 But what else? Well, there's a third reason that it's new. 00:11:08.008 --> 00:11:28.023 Let's just turn to this in 1 John 2:7, John brings this up, 00:11:28.023 --> 00:11:33.784 "Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, 00:11:33.784 --> 00:11:37.363 but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; 00:11:37.363 --> 00:11:40.599 the old commandment is the word which you have heard. 00:11:40.599 --> 00:11:44.807 On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, 00:11:44.807 --> 00:11:49.573 which is true in Him and in you, 00:11:49.573 --> 00:11:57.671 because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining." 00:11:57.672 --> 00:12:01.405 What's new about this? Well, the thing that makes it new 00:12:01.406 --> 00:12:06.944 is that there's something that has happened in you, if you're a Christian. 00:12:06.944 --> 00:12:12.170 He says, in a way this is just the same old thing, it was all through the Old Testament. 00:12:12.170 --> 00:12:14.953 But he says, it's new now because the true light is shining, 00:12:14.954 --> 00:12:17.127 the day is already starting to dawn. 00:12:17.127 --> 00:12:22.378 Something has happened in you. It's true in Him and in you. 00:12:22.378 --> 00:12:25.961 And the true light is already shining, the darkness is passing away. (P) 00:12:25.961 --> 00:12:31.300 You can feel a little bit of what this means to love. 00:12:31.300 --> 00:12:36.092 In fact, we know that we've passed from death to life because we love. 00:12:36.093 --> 00:12:39.209 It begins at conversion. 00:12:39.209 --> 00:12:45.692 This is what God meant whenever He said, "I'll write My laws on your heart." 00:12:45.692 --> 00:12:47.694 Remember that, in the New Covenant? 00:12:47.694 --> 00:12:52.103 "I'll write My laws on your heart." What does He write on your heart? 00:12:52.104 --> 00:12:54.556 I remember I was a brand new Christian, 00:12:54.556 --> 00:12:57.968 and first thing I think when I get up in the morning, 00:12:57.968 --> 00:13:01.150 "Wow, I don't want to light a fire in my dwelling 00:13:01.150 --> 00:13:04.791 from 6:00pm Friday night to 6:00pm Saturday night." 00:13:04.791 --> 00:13:08.117 No, that's not the law that He writes on your heart. 00:13:08.118 --> 00:13:09.760 Or, "I really don't wanna... 00:13:09.760 --> 00:13:14.525 No longer do I want to wear garments that are cotton and polyester." 00:13:14.525 --> 00:13:18.212 That's not the law that He writes on your heart. 00:13:18.212 --> 00:13:23.049 But what He does write on your heart is: "Love for God and love for your fellow man." (P) 00:13:23.049 --> 00:13:27.223 I remember I walked to work, and there was a guy at that filling station 00:13:27.223 --> 00:13:31.375 (I used to work for 50 cents an hour, that tells you how old I am), 00:13:31.375 --> 00:13:34.378 and I despised that guy. 00:13:34.378 --> 00:13:38.171 And I walked in there, I'm a new creation, I love. 00:13:38.171 --> 00:13:44.211 Isn't that amazing? He has written His law on your heart. 00:13:44.211 --> 00:13:46.779 It's the big stuff. 00:13:46.779 --> 00:13:50.946 Paul says, "Concerning love for another, I have no need to write you, 00:13:50.946 --> 00:13:56.212 because you yourselves are taught of God to love one another" (1 Thess. 4:9). 00:13:56.212 --> 00:14:02.002 So that's something that happens: every Christian loves God. 00:14:02.002 --> 00:14:03.422 Every Christian. 00:14:03.422 --> 00:14:05.347 Paul calls Christians by that, 00:14:05.348 --> 00:14:13.692 he says, "We know that God causes all things to work together for good to them that love God." 00:14:13.692 --> 00:14:16.295 That's another name for a Christian. 00:14:16.295 --> 00:14:20.890 "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed" (1 Corinth. 16:22). 00:14:20.890 --> 00:14:25.640 And all Christians love their fellow man. 00:14:25.640 --> 00:14:29.001 "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. 00:14:29.001 --> 00:14:31.548 If anybody hates his brother, he is a murderer; 00:14:31.548 --> 00:14:34.854 and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him" (1 John 3:14-15). (P) 00:14:34.854 --> 00:14:39.241 So this is in you when you become a Christian. 00:14:39.241 --> 00:14:44.391 God writes it on your heart. He writes the law of love on your heart. 00:14:44.391 --> 00:14:48.810 And one of the brothers mentioned, Jesus brings this up, 00:14:48.811 --> 00:14:54.395 Matthew 22:36, "A certain man came to Him, 00:14:54.395 --> 00:15:00.884 and he said, 'Rabbi, what's the great commandment in the Law?' 00:15:00.884 --> 00:15:04.613 And He said, the greatest thing of anything there is in the Law is, 00:15:04.613 --> 00:15:10.833 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.' " 00:15:10.833 --> 00:15:13.286 Now, why didn't He just stop with that? 00:15:13.286 --> 00:15:16.139 The guy didn't ask Him, "What's the second greatest commandment?" 00:15:16.139 --> 00:15:18.793 Jesus volunteered it. 00:15:18.793 --> 00:15:20.827 He said, "The second is like it." 00:15:20.827 --> 00:15:24.032 How is it like it? It has to do with love. " 00:15:24.032 --> 00:15:27.187 The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' " 00:15:27.187 --> 00:15:30.051 Now why did He bring that up? why did He volunteer the second one? 00:15:30.051 --> 00:15:35.727 Because He wanted to lay the foundation for an important teaching. 00:15:35.727 --> 00:15:44.525 He says, "On these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets." 00:15:44.525 --> 00:15:48.069 What Jesus is saying is, "These are the big ones; 00:15:48.069 --> 00:15:55.060 and everything else hangs on that, it depends on that." 00:15:55.060 --> 00:15:58.647 Love is the big thing. (P) 00:15:58.647 --> 00:16:06.946 A Brother and I were talking about: adultery is not a big thing to God; 00:16:06.946 --> 00:16:10.380 now listen to me, stealing is not a big thing to God; 00:16:10.380 --> 00:16:13.031 murder is not a big thing to God; 00:16:13.031 --> 00:16:16.369 except as it relates to breaking the law of love. 00:16:16.369 --> 00:16:21.322 Now let me say it another way: adultery is a really big thing to God. 00:16:21.322 --> 00:16:22.939 He hates it. 00:16:22.939 --> 00:16:26.935 Why? Because it's breaking the law of love. 00:16:26.935 --> 00:16:29.428 But you see, what Jesus is saying is, 00:16:29.428 --> 00:16:35.096 all these commandments hang on the Love commandments. 00:16:35.096 --> 00:16:39.147 Murder hangs on the Love commandment. 00:16:39.147 --> 00:16:45.466 It's not something in itself, it has to do with the fact that it is breaking the Love commandments. 00:16:45.467 --> 00:16:47.245 Why are the Love commandments so big? 00:16:47.245 --> 00:16:50.637 Because God is love. 00:16:50.637 --> 00:16:53.061 The Bible never says God is justice. 00:16:53.062 --> 00:16:56.013 It says He is just, but it doesn't say He is justice. 00:16:56.013 --> 00:16:58.624 But it does say He is love. 00:16:58.624 --> 00:17:02.773 Isn't it amazing, we have a God who is love. 00:17:02.773 --> 00:17:08.667 And that law that everybody hates so much is just an expression of who He is. (P) 00:17:08.669 --> 00:17:10.998 So, here you have a God who is perfect love; 00:17:10.998 --> 00:17:17.260 and He gives you a law, He says, "Look, don't curse a deaf man." 00:17:17.261 --> 00:17:22.944 Now what kind of a God would give a law like that? Well, a God of love. 00:17:22.944 --> 00:17:27.395 "You shall not place a stumbling block in front of a blind man." 00:17:27.395 --> 00:17:28.932 Here comes this blind man along, 00:17:28.932 --> 00:17:32.435 you say, "Let's have a little fun with him. Let's stick something there." 00:17:32.435 --> 00:17:38.971 Do you realize if you love that man, you'll keep that law automatically. 00:17:38.971 --> 00:17:44.991 God makes a law, He says, "Look, there's an open pitch, you've got to cover that." 00:17:44.991 --> 00:17:47.881 Why? Because it relates to love. 00:17:47.881 --> 00:17:51.283 "You've got an ox, it gores people, you've got to confine it." 00:17:51.283 --> 00:17:54.625 You go through those list of laws, what are they? 00:17:54.625 --> 00:17:58.522 They're hanging on love. (P) 00:17:58.522 --> 00:18:01.041 Now this is amazing. 00:18:01.041 --> 00:18:03.874 One of those men came to Jesus, he said, 00:18:03.874 --> 00:18:06.127 "Rabbi, what must I do to have eternal life?" 00:18:06.127 --> 00:18:09.601 He said, "Read in the Law, what does it say to you? 00:18:09.601 --> 00:18:11.561 What does the Law say?" 00:18:11.561 --> 00:18:13.301 And he says, "Well, you shall love..." 00:18:13.301 --> 00:18:17.072 This guy must have been a pretty amazing Bible scholar actually. 00:18:17.073 --> 00:18:21.035 He says, "It says you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; 00:18:21.035 --> 00:18:23.010 and your neighbor as yourself." 00:18:23.010 --> 00:18:28.150 Jesus didn't say, "Well yeah, but there's 611 other commandments you gotta keep." 00:18:28.150 --> 00:18:32.540 He says, "You've answered correctly; do this and you will live." 00:18:32.540 --> 00:18:34.383 He says if you'll do those two things, 00:18:34.383 --> 00:18:38.325 you will fulfill everything, you'll have eternal life. 00:18:38.333 --> 00:18:41.824 The problem is, nobody has ever done any of them for five minutes, 00:18:41.824 --> 00:18:46.394 except for one Person - the Lord Jesus. (P) 00:18:46.394 --> 00:18:48.841 But think of this: 00:18:48.841 --> 00:18:53.425 When He said there's a first commandment and a second commandment, 00:18:53.426 --> 00:18:56.970 He wasn't saying there's a long list - there's the third, and the fourth, and so on. 00:18:56.970 --> 00:19:03.749 He said, "These two take in everything. They really do." 00:19:03.750 --> 00:19:07.650 If you love your neighbor you're going to tell him about the Lord; 00:19:07.650 --> 00:19:10.216 it doesn't take some commandments about sharing the Gospel. 00:19:10.217 --> 00:19:12.068 I mean, you can just go down through the list - 00:19:12.069 --> 00:19:15.344 if I love my neighbor, I don't want to steal his wife, 00:19:15.344 --> 00:19:20.455 I don't want to steal his car. 00:19:20.455 --> 00:19:25.405 And as you go through the New Testament you'll find this. 00:19:25.405 --> 00:19:36.089 I won't look up all the verses because we just had lunch, but they are so many. 00:19:36.089 --> 00:19:41.357 1 Timothy 1:5, he says, "The goal of our instruction..." - 00:19:41.357 --> 00:19:43.115 why, why are we spending this time, 00:19:43.115 --> 00:19:45.656 why are the preachers up front there? 00:19:45.657 --> 00:19:50.308 Is the goal of our instruction that we might know what the symbolic meaning 00:19:50.309 --> 00:19:55.639 of the tenth toe of Daniel's image is for prophecy? No! 00:19:55.639 --> 00:20:04.837 "The goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart, an undefiled conscience, and a sincere faith." 00:20:04.837 --> 00:20:06.308 That's the goal of everything. 00:20:06.308 --> 00:20:09.739 Paul says, "Owe no man anything, but to love one another." 00:20:09.740 --> 00:20:16.577 He used "love" in order to fulfill the Law. 00:20:16.578 --> 00:20:19.182 He is writing to Gentiles in Galatians, 00:20:19.182 --> 00:20:24.955 he says, "The whole Law is fulfilled in one word, 'Love one another' " (Gal. 5:14). 00:20:24.955 --> 00:20:28.490 The whole thing. 00:20:28.490 --> 00:20:32.297 They didn't know all the ins and outs of all those commandments, 00:20:32.297 --> 00:20:37.713 but he just tells them, "If you just love, you'll fulfill the Law." (P) 00:20:37.713 --> 00:20:40.330 Maybe I ought to give you the references anyway. 00:20:40.330 --> 00:20:45.048 We've got time, we'll look at some of these. 00:20:45.049 --> 00:20:55.057 1 Timothy 1:5. I mentioned 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13, he says, 00:20:55.058 --> 00:21:00.082 "May our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you; 00:21:00.082 --> 00:21:05.152 and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, 00:21:05.152 --> 00:21:08.811 and for all men, just as we also do for you; 00:21:08.811 --> 00:21:12.425 so that He may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness." 00:21:12.425 --> 00:21:18.604 That's how you grow in holiness - growing in love. 00:21:18.604 --> 00:21:42.217 In Galatians 5:13, he says, "For you were called to freedom, brethren; 00:21:42.217 --> 00:21:46.024 only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, 00:21:46.024 --> 00:21:49.737 but through love serve one another. 00:21:49.737 --> 00:21:52.352 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, 00:21:52.353 --> 00:21:55.032 in the statement, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' " 00:21:55.032 --> 00:21:57.643 Amazing statement! 00:21:57.643 --> 00:22:02.727 And then in verse 6 of the same chapter: 00:22:02.727 --> 00:22:07.727 "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, 00:22:07.727 --> 00:22:12.479 but faith working through love." (P) 00:22:12.479 --> 00:22:17.781 Galatians 5:22, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love" - first thing. 00:22:17.781 --> 00:22:23.058 Galatians 6:2, "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." - love again. 00:22:23.058 --> 00:22:32.301 1 Peter 4:8, he says, "Above all (above all - most important thing), 00:22:32.301 --> 00:22:39.397 keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins." 00:22:39.397 --> 00:22:53.007 Colossians 3:14, he says, "Beyond all these things put on love," 00:22:53.007 --> 00:22:55.807 after he has gone through this whole list, 00:22:55.808 --> 00:22:59.678 "which is the perfect bond of unity." 00:22:59.678 --> 00:23:13.727 And Ephesians 4:31 and on, "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander 00:23:13.727 --> 00:23:17.201 be put away from you, along with all malice. 00:23:17.201 --> 00:23:20.617 And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, 00:23:20.618 --> 00:23:23.054 just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. 00:23:23.054 --> 00:23:26.459 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 00:23:26.459 --> 00:23:30.427 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you 00:23:30.427 --> 00:23:35.367 (you see, that's a new commandment, Love one another as I have loved you) 00:23:35.367 --> 00:23:38.121 and gave Himself up for us, 00:23:38.121 --> 00:23:42.014 an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma." 00:23:42.014 --> 00:23:56.949 One more, Romans 13:8, "Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; 00:23:56.949 --> 00:24:01.924 for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 00:24:01.924 --> 00:24:05.264 For this, 'You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, 00:24:05.264 --> 00:24:07.272 You shall not steal, You shall not covet,' 00:24:07.272 --> 00:24:10.261 and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, 00:24:10.261 --> 00:24:16.188 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 00:24:16.189 --> 00:24:23.316 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." (P) 00:24:23.316 --> 00:24:26.607 So this is a central thing. 00:24:26.607 --> 00:24:31.266 Now think of how much more wonderful the law of Christ is, than going back to the Law of Moses. 00:24:31.266 --> 00:24:35.244 Just think of this in some areas. 00:24:35.244 --> 00:24:47.985 Suppose some brother receives a gift, somebody gives Chad a new car, 00:24:47.985 --> 00:24:54.511 and he already had a car that was better than mine. 00:24:54.511 --> 00:24:59.553 And so, you know, I think back to what Moses said, "Thou shall not covet." 00:24:59.554 --> 00:25:03.612 And I try not to covet, you know, 00:25:03.613 --> 00:25:11.688 and I do fairly well as long as I don't look at his car. 00:25:11.688 --> 00:25:12.629 Think of that. 00:25:12.630 --> 00:25:20.123 But suppose that I love him as Christ loved, and somebody gives him something, 00:25:20.123 --> 00:25:22.000 what's your immediate response? 00:25:22.001 --> 00:25:26.948 You praise God, because you love the person. 00:25:26.948 --> 00:25:30.992 Your attitude is not this attitude of "I've got to try..." 00:25:30.992 --> 00:25:39.402 It's one that fulfills it automatically. You're delighted. (P) 00:25:39.403 --> 00:25:45.557 Here you're going down the street, you meet some woman that's immodestly dressed, 00:25:45.557 --> 00:25:52.897 and you have the thought, you know, "The Law said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' " 00:25:52.897 --> 00:25:56.636 Now how does that compare to, if you've just come out of a prayer meeting 00:25:56.636 --> 00:26:01.356 (your heart is full of love), or you're out on the street witnessing, 00:26:01.356 --> 00:26:05.793 and you see that same person totally different? 00:26:05.793 --> 00:26:12.272 You fulfill the law in a much higher level, 00:26:12.272 --> 00:26:16.516 because you're concerned for the soul, you love the person. 00:26:16.516 --> 00:26:19.126 You love them. (P) 00:26:19.126 --> 00:26:23.587 There was an evangelist a couple hundred years ago, 00:26:23.587 --> 00:26:28.516 I think maybe he was in Boston, he had just been converted. 00:26:28.516 --> 00:26:31.311 Maybe it was a little less than two hundred years ago. 00:26:31.311 --> 00:26:37.493 Anyway, he was a new Christian full of love for God, 00:26:37.494 --> 00:26:42.689 and this woman came up and propositioned him. 00:26:42.697 --> 00:26:46.039 Now he didn't realize what she was asking at first, 00:26:46.039 --> 00:26:50.513 and then he finally thought, "She's a prostitute." 00:26:50.513 --> 00:26:55.775 He burst into tears. And then she burst into tears. 00:26:55.775 --> 00:27:00.381 What is that? He was full of love for her. 00:27:00.381 --> 00:27:05.437 She never had anybody love her. You see the difference? 00:27:05.437 --> 00:27:10.288 Instead of saying, "You wicked woman, what are you doing?" 00:27:10.288 --> 00:27:15.578 It's the law of Christ, and it's such a higher level. (P) 00:27:15.578 --> 00:27:24.194 Giving: you know, "Well, I paid my tithe, and I've got it taken care of." 00:27:24.194 --> 00:27:29.061 How different is that than loving as Jesus loved – He gave everything. 00:27:29.061 --> 00:27:33.310 You know, you might have to give away, not one dollar, but all ten of them, 00:27:33.310 --> 00:27:36.734 and you might have to give away your billfold. 00:27:36.734 --> 00:27:40.754 Or, you might not give away anything. 00:27:40.754 --> 00:27:46.200 Why? Because you're led by the Spirit of God, teaching us, you see, teaching us. 00:27:46.207 --> 00:27:50.457 It's the law of Christ, it's not a list of rules and dos and don'ts. 00:27:50.458 --> 00:27:58.917 It cannot be codified, it's too incisive to be codified. (P) 00:28:03.102 --> 00:28:07.346 Let me give you an example. 00:28:07.346 --> 00:28:13.643 Some of you have read this and you're aware of it. 00:28:13.644 --> 00:28:22.578 This is Evangeline Booth, 00:28:22.578 --> 00:28:29.485 who was a daughter of William Booth, founder of Salvation Army. 00:28:29.485 --> 00:28:40.971 Evangeline Booth: "As one who ministered often to the dregs of society, 00:28:40.971 --> 00:28:45.113 she found herself one morning outside the large iron gates 00:28:45.113 --> 00:28:49.015 of a local police court and temporary prison. 00:28:49.015 --> 00:28:54.211 Waiting for the gates to open she heard the shuffling of heavy feet and loud, agitated voices. 00:28:54.211 --> 00:28:57.183 In her own words (and I'm quoting from her), 00:28:57.183 --> 00:29:02.158 she says, 'The gates opened wide, and I witnessed a sight 00:29:02.158 --> 00:29:06.060 which, if eternity could wash away from my mind, time never can. 00:29:06.060 --> 00:29:08.550 It was a woman. 00:29:08.558 --> 00:29:11.195 Two policemen walked in front and two behind. 00:29:11.195 --> 00:29:13.201 (Now the Salvation Army, in the early days, 00:29:13.202 --> 00:29:18.864 they reached out to the lowest of the low and they were full of life). 00:29:18.865 --> 00:29:21.922 Two policemen walked in front and two behind. 00:29:21.922 --> 00:29:26.076 One stalwart man firmly held the right arm and the other the left. 00:29:26.076 --> 00:29:32.455 (You got six guys escorting this woman out). 00:29:32.455 --> 00:29:36.132 Her hair was uncombed and matted and disheveled. 00:29:36.132 --> 00:29:38.964 Her right temple was blackened with bruises. 00:29:38.964 --> 00:29:43.077 Clots of dry blood stood upon her left temple. 00:29:43.077 --> 00:29:46.488 Her clothes were torn and bloodstained. 00:29:46.489 --> 00:29:49.528 She tried to wrench her arms from the grasp of the policemen. 00:29:49.528 --> 00:29:54.555 The very atmosphere of the morning was laden with her curses and oaths. 00:29:54.555 --> 00:30:00.757 She tossed her head wildly as the six policemen dragged her down the passageway. 00:30:00.757 --> 00:30:02.733 What could I do? 00:30:02.733 --> 00:30:06.924 One more moment and the golden opportunity to be of help would be gone. 00:30:06.924 --> 00:30:09.567 Could I offer a prayer? No, there was not time. 00:30:09.567 --> 00:30:11.950 Could I sing? It would be absurd. 00:30:11.950 --> 00:30:14.797 Could I give her money? She could not take it. 00:30:14.797 --> 00:30:19.386 Could I quote a verse of Scripture? She would not heed it. (P) 00:30:19.386 --> 00:30:25.517 "Whether it was a divine suggestion or not, I did not stop to think, 00:30:25.517 --> 00:30:30.275 but the impulse of a burning desire which filled my heart as she passed 00:30:30.275 --> 00:30:35.778 made me step forward and kiss her on the cheek. 00:30:35.778 --> 00:30:39.592 Whether the police were taken off their guard by my extraordinary action, 00:30:39.592 --> 00:30:42.487 relaxed their grasp, I do not know. 00:30:42.487 --> 00:30:46.876 But with one wrench she freed her arms and clasped her hands 00:30:46.876 --> 00:30:49.335 as the wind spread her matted, disheveled hair, 00:30:49.335 --> 00:30:55.027 and she looked toward the grey skies and said, 'My God.' 00:30:55.027 --> 00:31:00.227 She looked around wildly for a moment and then said, 'My God, who kissed me? 00:31:00.228 --> 00:31:02.632 My God, who kissed me? 00:31:02.632 --> 00:31:06.397 Nobody has kissed me since my mother died.' (P) 00:31:06.397 --> 00:31:10.940 "Lifting her tattered apron she buried her face in her hands 00:31:10.940 --> 00:31:16.393 and, like a little lamb, she was led to the vehicle which took her to prison. 00:31:16.393 --> 00:31:18.915 Later I went to the prison in the hope of seeing her, 00:31:18.915 --> 00:31:20.386 and at the door stood the warden. 00:31:20.386 --> 00:31:25.371 When I approached the warden, she said, 'We think her mind is gone. 00:31:25.371 --> 00:31:28.139 She does nothing but pace up and down her cell, 00:31:28.140 --> 00:31:34.008 asking me every time I go in if I know who kissed her.' 00:31:34.008 --> 00:31:39.799 'Would you let me go in and speak to her?' I asked, 00:31:39.799 --> 00:31:45.124 'I am her only and best friend.' 00:31:45.124 --> 00:31:46.917 The door was opened and I slipped in. 00:31:46.923 --> 00:31:49.890 Her face was clean. Her eyes were large and beautiful. 00:31:49.891 --> 00:31:52.634 And she said, 'Do you know who kissed me?' 00:31:52.634 --> 00:31:54.950 Then she told me her story. 00:31:54.950 --> 00:31:59.372 'When I was a little girl of seven years old, my widowed mother died. 00:31:59.372 --> 00:32:02.355 She died very poor, although she was of genteel birth. 00:32:02.355 --> 00:32:05.989 She died in a back basement in the dark. 00:32:05.989 --> 00:32:09.417 When she was dying she called me to her, took my little face in her hands, 00:32:09.417 --> 00:32:12.832 and kissed and said to me, 'My poor, little girl. 00:32:12.833 --> 00:32:14.324 My defenceless, little girl. 00:32:14.324 --> 00:32:16.173 O God, have pity on my little girl; 00:32:16.173 --> 00:32:19.293 and when I'm gone, protect her and take care of her.' 00:32:19.293 --> 00:32:25.558 From that day to this, nobody ever put a kiss upon my face until recently. 00:32:25.558 --> 00:32:27.811 Then again she asked me, 'Do you know who kissed me?' 00:32:27.812 --> 00:32:30.654 I said, 'It was I who kissed you.' (P) 00:32:30.654 --> 00:32:36.500 "Then I told her of Him whose life was so much more tender than mine could ever be, 00:32:36.500 --> 00:32:40.033 and how He went to the cross and bore our sins upon Himself 00:32:40.033 --> 00:32:41.898 and was wounded for our transgressions, 00:32:41.899 --> 00:32:46.235 that He might put the kiss of pardon upon our brow. 00:32:46.235 --> 00:32:49.787 In Him she found light, and joy, and comfort, 00:32:49.788 --> 00:32:53.368 and salvation, and healing, and love. 00:32:53.368 --> 00:32:55.582 Before she was released from the prison, 00:32:55.582 --> 00:33:00.900 the warden testified not only to the change in her life, but to its beauty. 00:33:00.901 --> 00:33:04.410 She was made, through Christ, the means of salvation 00:33:04.410 --> 00:33:08.419 to numbers of others who were down as low as she had been, 00:33:08.419 --> 00:33:14.832 and who were bound with fetters as heavy as those with which she herself had been bound." (P) 00:33:14.832 --> 00:33:16.162 Now what is that? 00:33:16.162 --> 00:33:21.121 What law are you going to say, "Kiss this woman now"? 00:33:21.121 --> 00:33:22.891 You see how different it is? 00:33:22.891 --> 00:33:28.185 The New Testament is not the idea God gave us a new list of laws. 00:33:28.185 --> 00:33:30.938 He didn't do that. He gave us the life of Christ, 00:33:30.938 --> 00:33:34.578 and He gave us some signposts saying, "Look fellows, this is radical. 00:33:34.579 --> 00:33:37.132 This is what it's going to look like." 00:33:37.132 --> 00:33:41.025 That's what He is doing in the Sermon on the Mount. 00:33:41.025 --> 00:33:46.284 And these things are things that God has given when we desperately need... 00:33:46.285 --> 00:33:49.543 How did she know to do that? 00:33:49.543 --> 00:33:53.655 She knew it because she loved people like that, 00:33:53.655 --> 00:33:56.692 and the Holy Spirit prompted her to do it right then; 00:33:56.693 --> 00:34:00.643 and she just did it, without thinking. 00:34:00.643 --> 00:34:04.487 That's what we need. That's what we're talking about. 00:34:04.487 --> 00:34:06.447 And beloved, I'm speaking for myself, 00:34:06.447 --> 00:34:11.995 we are so quick to become acting atheists and forget about the Lord Jesus, 00:34:11.995 --> 00:34:18.851 and read our Bible verses and do our thing, our Christian thing. 00:34:18.851 --> 00:34:26.167 But if you're full of Christ and full of love, it's totally different, isn't it? 00:34:26.168 --> 00:34:28.976 Totally different. And it's a living relationship. 00:34:28.976 --> 00:34:31.739 We have to be brought back to that over and over and over. 00:34:31.739 --> 00:34:34.364 It's not your list of rules. (P) 00:34:34.364 --> 00:34:42.897 Sometimes I go on trips overseas, come back, my wife's standing at the door, 00:34:42.897 --> 00:34:47.531 she's got a list: "Kiss husband. Hug husband." 00:34:47.531 --> 00:34:51.199 Do you realize how insulting that is? 00:34:51.199 --> 00:34:56.629 If you've got love in your heart you're going to do the right things. 00:34:56.629 --> 00:35:01.459 But a lot of times, that's the way we are treating the Lord. 00:35:01.460 --> 00:35:03.742 "I didn't do this, I didn't do this..." 00:35:03.743 --> 00:35:10.128 He's looking at something a lot bigger than that. (P) 00:35:12.159 --> 00:35:16.321 Now which of these things do you think will most convict of sin: 00:35:16.321 --> 00:35:21.570 the Law of Moses or the law of Christ? 00:35:21.570 --> 00:35:25.136 Here's an example - what I just read. 00:35:25.137 --> 00:35:26.399 I mean, it's convicting. 00:35:26.399 --> 00:35:29.008 I remember when I was a college student, 00:35:29.008 --> 00:35:35.263 I was staying with a family that was full of the Spirit of God. 00:35:35.263 --> 00:35:40.708 And there were always a lot of people coming there for meals, 00:35:40.708 --> 00:35:43.617 and the kitchen was just a beehive of activity - 00:35:43.618 --> 00:35:45.275 women fixing stuff and what have you. 00:35:45.275 --> 00:35:49.985 And one of the kids came in, right in the middle of all that, 00:35:49.985 --> 00:35:53.486 and had to get a glass of milk out of the refrigerator. 00:35:53.486 --> 00:35:56.553 You know, it's like he was already an annoyance. 00:35:56.553 --> 00:36:02.904 And then he opens the door up, and breaks the glass of milk all over the floor, 00:36:02.904 --> 00:36:07.113 right while they're preparing this big meal. 00:36:07.113 --> 00:36:10.019 And his mother turned around like this, 00:36:10.019 --> 00:36:15.065 she said, "Oh, Steven, I love you." 00:36:15.066 --> 00:36:17.390 She took his face in her hand. 00:36:17.391 --> 00:36:20.237 That did more to convict a self-centered college student. 00:36:20.237 --> 00:36:23.354 I mean, we were talking last night about college students. 00:36:23.354 --> 00:36:27.162 They'll come through your door, and they'll say, "Feed me, I'm yours. 00:36:27.162 --> 00:36:31.742 What can you do to serve me?" [Laughter]. 00:36:31.742 --> 00:36:38.334 But to see that, you see, that's much more than the "thou shalt nots". 00:36:38.334 --> 00:36:40.591 It's convicting. (P) 00:36:40.591 --> 00:36:44.770 Watchman Nee tells a story, there was a Christian there in China 00:36:44.770 --> 00:36:48.910 where they had these fields that they would paddle full of water - rice fields - 00:36:48.910 --> 00:36:52.981 they would paddle them full of water using a bicycle-like contraption 00:36:52.981 --> 00:36:55.987 that has a water wheel on it. 00:36:55.987 --> 00:37:01.721 And this man paddled and paddled, filled his field full of water. 00:37:01.722 --> 00:37:03.783 And the neighbor came in the night and opened the gate, 00:37:03.783 --> 00:37:08.171 and let the water out, and it ran down to the neighbor's field. 00:37:08.171 --> 00:37:11.412 So the Christian came the next day, he saw that; 00:37:11.413 --> 00:37:18.996 he closed the gate, didn't say anything, filled his field up again. 00:37:18.996 --> 00:37:21.225 Next night, same thing happened. 00:37:21.226 --> 00:37:24.907 And it was time for prayer meeting, he came in and said, 00:37:24.907 --> 00:37:26.937 "I haven't done anything against my neighbor, 00:37:26.937 --> 00:37:29.921 I haven't said anything hurtful to him or anything. 00:37:29.921 --> 00:37:36.555 But somehow I feel like this is just not measuring up to Christ." 00:37:36.555 --> 00:37:38.482 And they prayed about it. 00:37:38.482 --> 00:37:42.528 The next day he opened the gate and filled his neighbor's field first, 00:37:42.529 --> 00:37:44.964 then closed the gate and filled his field. 00:37:44.964 --> 00:37:49.746 The neighbor came to him, and he eventually became a Christian. 00:37:49.746 --> 00:37:55.883 He said, "What, What, What is this?" 00:37:55.883 --> 00:37:58.630 It's the law of Christ! (P) 00:37:58.630 --> 00:38:03.824 When Jesus said, "If they compel you to go one mile, go with them two," 00:38:03.824 --> 00:38:09.741 you know, the Romans had the right to compel you to carry their burden for one mile. 00:38:09.741 --> 00:38:11.446 So they yell at you and call you over there, 00:38:11.446 --> 00:38:12.933 you think, "Well, I'm doing pretty well. 00:38:12.934 --> 00:38:16.959 I'm not complaining, I'm not really angry, I didn't curse the guy, 00:38:16.966 --> 00:38:19.130 I'm not thinking bad things about him." 00:38:19.130 --> 00:38:22.531 None of that measures up, does it? 00:38:22.531 --> 00:38:25.478 So Jesus said, Go the second mile. 00:38:25.478 --> 00:38:30.577 It's during that second mile the guy is wondering, "What is different about this person?" 00:38:30.577 --> 00:38:36.518 I mean, he starts talking to you, and you have the opportunity to witness to him. 00:38:36.518 --> 00:38:38.582 It all sounds so good, doesn't it brethren, 00:38:38.583 --> 00:38:47.509 until you're carrying that burden the first half a mile [Laughter]. 00:38:47.509 --> 00:38:51.842 It's a lot easier to preach about it than it is to do it, 00:38:51.842 --> 00:38:58.488 because in reality it's sweaty and it's heavy, and your back is hurting. 00:38:58.488 --> 00:39:03.658 It's the same way with our spouses. It's the same way with our children. 00:39:03.658 --> 00:39:07.352 It's the same way in the body of Christ. 00:39:07.352 --> 00:39:10.805 There's nothing more costly than that. 00:39:10.805 --> 00:39:15.272 It's costly. 00:39:15.272 --> 00:39:22.430 But that's where it is. That's what we're talking about. (P) 00:39:24.000 --> 00:39:28.133 Another question comes up, How can you tell what real love is? 00:39:28.134 --> 00:39:32.892 Two college students living in sin, they say, "Well, we love one another." 00:39:32.892 --> 00:39:39.583 Jack Kevorkian, he loves his people so much he helps them commit suicide. 00:39:39.583 --> 00:39:44.359 Love is claimed to support abortion. 00:39:44.359 --> 00:39:49.929 So it sounds like Jesus left us a pretty flexible, mushy-type standard, doesn't it? 00:39:49.929 --> 00:39:52.474 But what did He say? He didn't say, "Love one another, " 00:39:52.474 --> 00:39:55.783 He said, "Love one another as I have loved you." 00:39:55.784 --> 00:40:00.376 In other words, all of His teaching, His holiness, His perfection, His life, 00:40:00.377 --> 00:40:05.630 everything about Him, His manner, all that, that's the standard. 00:40:05.630 --> 00:40:07.829 And that takes care of the problem. 00:40:07.830 --> 00:40:11.648 The conduct and life and person of the Lord Jesus Himself 00:40:11.648 --> 00:40:15.704 is the rule and duty of the Christian. 00:40:15.704 --> 00:40:19.078 We're called upon to be just as holy as He was. (P) 00:40:19.078 --> 00:40:21.853 In closing, what I want to draw your attention to here, 00:40:21.853 --> 00:40:25.193 is how the New Testament teaches ethics. 00:40:25.193 --> 00:40:34.879 You think about giving: how does the New Testament teach giving? 00:40:34.879 --> 00:40:39.146 "Well, you know, in the Law it says you're supposed to tithe, 00:40:39.147 --> 00:40:43.710 and I still believe that is still binding on us: we've got to tithe." 00:40:43.710 --> 00:40:46.085 Oh, the standard is a lot higher than that. 00:40:46.085 --> 00:40:50.691 That's a starting point. It tells you what is reasonable. 00:40:50.691 --> 00:40:54.173 For example, ten families ought to be able to support one. 00:40:54.173 --> 00:40:57.609 We know that's not too big of a burden, the Jews did that. 00:40:57.609 --> 00:41:01.292 You see, there's help from the Law; 00:41:01.292 --> 00:41:07.541 but it's not the standard for the Christian, it's just a starting point. 00:41:07.542 --> 00:41:11.172 It gives us a little thought of what they did then. 00:41:11.172 --> 00:41:13.085 But when you start looking at Christ... 00:41:13.085 --> 00:41:16.990 Well, let's look at it, how does Paul teach giving? 00:41:16.991 --> 00:41:27.432 II Corinthians 8:7, "Just as you abound in everything, 00:41:27.432 --> 00:41:36.271 in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness 00:41:36.271 --> 00:41:38.354 and in the love we inspired in you, 00:41:38.354 --> 00:41:41.770 see that you abound in this gracious work also. 00:41:41.770 --> 00:41:44.580 I am not speaking this as a command, 00:41:44.581 --> 00:41:48.687 but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity of your love also. 00:41:48.687 --> 00:41:50.762 (Love, love, love). 00:41:50.762 --> 00:41:54.659 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, 00:41:54.659 --> 00:41:58.980 that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, 00:41:58.980 --> 00:42:02.390 so that you through His poverty might become rich." (P) 00:42:02.391 --> 00:42:04.512 So, what is the example of giving? 00:42:04.512 --> 00:42:07.113 Well, here is one. 00:42:07.113 --> 00:42:09.237 He was richer than anyone has ever been, 00:42:09.238 --> 00:42:11.657 and He became poorer than anyone has ever been, 00:42:11.657 --> 00:42:13.999 that we might become rich. 00:42:13.999 --> 00:42:15.384 You see what a standard that is? 00:42:15.385 --> 00:42:18.105 It's so much higher than Moses, it's just unbelievable. 00:42:18.105 --> 00:42:20.417 You see what John was saying? 00:42:20.417 --> 00:42:22.651 "The Law came through Moses; 00:42:22.651 --> 00:42:27.555 grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17). 00:42:27.555 --> 00:42:31.174 Beloved, we are not diminishing in the least the Law of Moses. 00:42:31.174 --> 00:42:35.110 It was glorious, it was great, it was perfect. 00:42:35.110 --> 00:42:44.528 But you're talking about a candle in relation to the sun shining in its fullness. (P) 00:42:44.528 --> 00:42:47.600 The way we treat our wives: How should we treat our wives? 00:42:47.600 --> 00:42:51.960 Ephesians 5:25, "Husbands, love your wives, 00:42:51.960 --> 00:42:56.927 just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 00:42:56.927 --> 00:43:01.224 that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word." (P) 00:43:01.224 --> 00:43:04.149 Serving: What about serving? 00:43:04.150 --> 00:43:12.209 John 13:13-15 says, "You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. 00:43:12.210 --> 00:43:15.353 If I then, the Teacher and Lord, washed your feet, 00:43:15.353 --> 00:43:17.593 you also ought to wash one another's feet. 00:43:17.593 --> 00:43:22.498 For I left you an example that you should also do as I did to you." 00:43:22.498 --> 00:43:25.265 There is Christ again, "Love as I love." 00:43:25.265 --> 00:43:28.347 You see how much is coming up? (P) 00:43:28.347 --> 00:43:30.958 Yielding our rights: Romans 15:1-3, 00:43:30.959 --> 00:43:34.243 "We who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of the weak 00:43:34.243 --> 00:43:36.650 and not just please ourselves ... 00:43:36.650 --> 00:43:41.351 For even Christ pleased not Himself; 00:43:41.351 --> 00:43:45.326 but as it is written, 'The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.' " 00:43:45.327 --> 00:43:52.136 So see, Paul says, Look, if you want to talk about ethics, 00:43:52.136 --> 00:43:56.230 there is nothing that you can use that's greater than the example of Christ. (P) 00:43:56.230 --> 00:44:00.157 Kindness: We read that in Ephesians 5:2, "Walk in love, 00:44:00.157 --> 00:44:07.123 just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, 00:44:07.123 --> 00:44:09.884 an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma." (P) 00:44:09.884 --> 00:44:26.430 The way we treat the poor: James 2:8, 00:44:26.430 --> 00:44:30.377 he says, "If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law 00:44:30.377 --> 00:44:35.735 (or, literally, the law of our King, that is, the law of Christ) 00:44:35.735 --> 00:44:39.098 according to the Scripture, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself,' 00:44:39.098 --> 00:44:41.874 you are doing well." 00:44:41.874 --> 00:44:47.087 Verse 12, "So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty." 00:44:47.087 --> 00:44:50.860 That's what he calls this, the law of liberty. 00:44:50.860 --> 00:44:55.015 "For judgment will be merciless to the one who has shown no mercy; 00:44:55.015 --> 00:44:56.785 mercy triumphs over judgment." 00:44:56.785 --> 00:45:01.956 In other words, this law of our King - Love - 00:45:01.956 --> 00:45:07.704 if you're not in that category, judgment is going to be merciless to you. (P) 00:45:07.704 --> 00:45:10.128 How about laying down our lives for others: 00:45:10.128 --> 00:45:17.163 1 John 3:16, "We know love by this, that He loved us, He gave Himself, 00:45:17.163 --> 00:45:23.006 He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." (P) 00:45:23.007 --> 00:45:29.236 Not striking back: 1 Peter 2:20-23, 00:45:29.236 --> 00:45:34.519 he says, "What credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? 00:45:34.520 --> 00:45:39.660 But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, 00:45:39.660 --> 00:45:41.194 this finds favor with God. 00:45:41.194 --> 00:45:46.969 For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, 00:45:46.969 --> 00:45:51.942 leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, 00:45:51.942 --> 00:45:56.026 who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; 00:45:56.026 --> 00:46:00.482 and while being reviled, He did not revile in return." 00:46:00.483 --> 00:46:06.041 It's like any area of duty and responsibility, 00:46:06.041 --> 00:46:10.802 you can never find a better example than Jesus. (P) 00:46:10.803 --> 00:46:13.438 Humility: that's the last one we'll look at. 00:46:13.438 --> 00:46:16.056 Think of humility. 00:46:16.056 --> 00:46:19.627 You could say, "Well, Moses in his day was the meekest man on earth. 00:46:19.627 --> 00:46:21.704 Look at how he fell down and prayed for them." 00:46:21.704 --> 00:46:24.484 He was an example, wasn't he? 00:46:24.484 --> 00:46:30.250 But the humility of Moses is nothing compared to the humilty of Christ. 00:46:30.251 --> 00:46:34.000 He says, "Let this mind be in you that also was in Christ Jesus, 00:46:34.000 --> 00:46:38.688 who, although He existed in the form of God, 00:46:38.688 --> 00:46:43.836 did not regard equality with God a thing to be held onto, to be grasped, 00:46:43.836 --> 00:46:47.814 but He emptied Himself and came down, taking the form of a servant. 00:46:47.814 --> 00:46:50.187 Being made in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself 00:46:50.187 --> 00:46:55.029 by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross" (Phillipians 2:5-8). 00:46:55.029 --> 00:46:57.888 Now how can you have a better example of humility than that? 00:46:57.889 --> 00:47:01.931 There's nothing like it! (P) 00:47:02.655 --> 00:47:10.029 You see, all of this stuff just congeals together, it all fits together, perfectly. 00:47:10.029 --> 00:47:15.191 What's our example? Our example is the Lord Jesus. 00:47:15.191 --> 00:47:16.805 "Love one another as I have loved you." 00:47:16.805 --> 00:47:20.589 You could sum it up if you read 1 Corinthians 13, 00:47:20.589 --> 00:47:29.273 and instead of putting the word "love" in there, just put "Christ" in there. 00:47:29.273 --> 00:47:33.847 "Christ is patient, Christ is kind and is not jealous; 00:47:33.847 --> 00:47:38.539 did not brag, was not arrogant, never acted unbecomingly; 00:47:38.539 --> 00:47:40.803 did not seek His own, was never provoked, 00:47:40.803 --> 00:47:43.613 did not take into account the wrong suffered; 00:47:43.614 --> 00:47:46.892 did not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoiced with the truth. 00:47:46.892 --> 00:47:50.497 He bore all things, He believed all things, He hoped all things..." 00:47:50.497 --> 00:47:53.155 Why? Because He was love incarnate. 00:47:53.155 --> 00:47:56.425 What is God? God is love. 00:47:56.425 --> 00:48:05.044 What you see in Christ is, you see God walking around as a man, 00:48:05.044 --> 00:48:08.923 perfectly fulfilling love to God and to His fellow man. (P) 00:48:08.924 --> 00:48:11.968 Now look at where we've come. 00:48:11.968 --> 00:48:16.077 We're new creatures in a new realm; 00:48:16.077 --> 00:48:19.124 we have a new commandment that has been written on our hearts; 00:48:19.124 --> 00:48:22.139 we have new hearts. 00:48:22.139 --> 00:48:27.869 We have a new standard, and we obey, not by following external rules, 00:48:27.869 --> 00:48:31.051 but by the outworking of an inward power. 00:48:31.051 --> 00:48:32.592 And the standard is Christ. 00:48:32.592 --> 00:48:40.689 He is the ultimate and final revelation of the invisible God and His will for us. 00:48:40.689 --> 00:48:46.959 And He is at work in us right now to will and do of His good pleasure. (P) 00:48:46.959 --> 00:48:53.161 Now, these things that I have said to you have been criticized by some. 00:48:53.162 --> 00:48:57.003 They say, "Look, if you don't have the Ten Commandments, 00:48:57.003 --> 00:49:00.447 if you don't have the Law of Moses, you don't have any objective standard. 00:49:00.447 --> 00:49:04.227 You're just adrift on a sea of subjectivism." 00:49:04.227 --> 00:49:07.139 Well, beloved, we have the whole Bible. 00:49:07.140 --> 00:49:09.938 We have Christ's example. 00:49:09.938 --> 00:49:15.726 But like I said, this is too incisive to be codified in a list of rules. 00:49:15.727 --> 00:49:23.525 You cannot get a list of rules to plumb the depth of Christ's being! 00:49:23.525 --> 00:49:26.923 Only He can do that by His Spirit in various situations, 00:49:26.923 --> 00:49:30.059 like that example that we read. 00:49:30.060 --> 00:49:32.020 You could never possibly list them all. 00:49:32.020 --> 00:49:35.409 It's happened down through church history over and over and over, 00:49:35.409 --> 00:49:40.662 the Spirit of Christ working in His people has caused them to say and do things... 00:49:40.662 --> 00:49:45.143 Haven't you experienced it yourself when the Holy Spirit is with you and God is real? 00:49:45.143 --> 00:49:50.081 You say things that you would not have said otherwise. (P) 00:49:50.081 --> 00:49:55.541 I remember sitting out in my van years ago, reading my Bible in the morning. 00:49:55.541 --> 00:49:59.463 And it was one of those times where the Lord just drew near to me in a measure, 00:49:59.463 --> 00:50:01.036 and He was real. 00:50:01.036 --> 00:50:04.025 First thing I thought of, "There's my neighbor over there, 00:50:04.025 --> 00:50:07.065 I want to talk to him about the Lord." 00:50:07.066 --> 00:50:12.170 I would not have done that, apart from the Holy Spirit prompting. 00:50:12.170 --> 00:50:14.184 That's all we need, beloved. 00:50:14.184 --> 00:50:17.146 All we need is to be in touch with our Lord, 00:50:17.146 --> 00:50:18.879 and to have the help of His Spirit. 00:50:18.880 --> 00:50:23.922 That's all we need. That's all we need. 00:50:23.922 --> 00:50:29.329 That's what we're talking about when we talk about the law of Christ. (P) 00:50:29.329 --> 00:50:33.426 I had a pastor write to me from a different country. 00:50:33.426 --> 00:50:38.162 He was offended by my book, and he said, 00:50:38.169 --> 00:50:41.265 (Now think of this, I'm holding up Jesus as our standard), 00:50:41.265 --> 00:50:47.467 he said, "I can't believe that you would deny the moral law of God." 00:50:47.467 --> 00:50:52.416 Deny the moral law of God?? Jesus? 00:50:52.417 --> 00:50:58.316 But he wanted a list, you see. 00:50:58.316 --> 00:51:01.782 May God help us. 00:51:01.782 --> 00:51:05.135 These are wonderful things, like I said, to talk about. 00:51:05.135 --> 00:51:10.029 The Lord is worthy of our glorifying Him. 00:51:10.029 --> 00:51:14.197 But it's hard, come Monday morning, isn't it, when you're at work. 00:51:14.198 --> 00:51:15.439 We need help. 00:51:15.439 --> 00:51:18.313 We need the Lord's help. Amen.