The Second is Like That

Alrighty guys, I love the title of this teaching and the second is like it.

Last week we talked about how God loves and we were talking about how to demonstrate love.

And I said we need to start with 1 John 4, 19 and 10.

1 John 4, 19 and 10, that's where we started.

1 John 4, 19 and 10. Just to recap what we said.

1 John 4, 19 says,

We love because he first loved us.

We love because he first loved us.

And 1 John 4, 10 says,

In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us,

and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.

1 John 4, 10.

In this is love, not that we have loved God,

but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.

In this is love, not that I, Jacob, loved God,

but that he, God, loved me, Jacob,

and sent his son, Jesus, to be a propitiation for my sins.

1 John 4, 19 says,

We love because he first loved us.

So last week we talked about this.

That if we want to demonstrate love,

we need to understand some of these things about who loved first.

And we said that God had no necessity to create.

He was quiet, happy and at home in the Trinity.

That he could have created just one walnut and been completely fine with it.

He could have said, let there be walnut,

and there'd be a walnut in his hand,

and he could have walked around that for the rest of his life, completely happy.

And yet, this God who needs nothing

does not necessarily create us into existence.

He loves us into existence.

This is not a guy who's making a robot.

This is a God who loves us into existence.

It comes from his womb.

The word Raham, which means compassion,

is not something that Jesus came up with.

It is something that has been in the womb of God for long.

And he could have been completely satisfied in terms of creating a walnut.

But he loves us into existence. Why?

Why does he love us into existence?

So that he may continue to love us and perfect us.

So what do you mean, Jacob?

He could continue to love us and perfect us.

Guys, because God does not live in tenses, as in past, present and future,

even as he's creating and loving us into existence,

he's already seeing the buzzing of flies around the cross.

He's already seeing the flayed back.

He's already seeing the nails driven through bone and nerves.

He's already seeing the slow suffocation

as his son's body hangs and droops on the cross.

So he loves us into existence.

And then why does he do it?

So that he can continue loving us and perfecting us, knowing what lies ahead.

He causes us to exist, aware that we are going to exploit him and take advantage of him.

He causes me to exist, aware that I, Jacob, am going to exploit him and take advantage of him.

And therein lies the definition of love.

That God first loved me and gave himself as a propitiation of my sin before the foundations of the earth.

Therein is the definition of love.

That's what we talked about last week.

This week we start with a different scripture and you'll see why I titled it the way I titled it.

We go to Matthew 22, verse 36.

Matthew 22:36

I think I'll go on till 12 today.

If I don't finish then we'll see.

We might do it later after I come back.

Matthew 22, 36-40.

Father, I just pray that you'd give peace to our hearts, rest to our hearts.

We've gotten used to finishing early.

Today we're going to go on till 12 or so, Lord.

I pray that you give us peace in our hearts.

I pray that you help me not to rush.

I pray that you give us peace in our hearts.

I pray that you help me not to rush and to take it at the right pace.

I pray that if there's anything you want to do in between, that I won't squeeze you out because of a teaching.

I ask that in our desire to get to places soon, we won't squeeze out learning as we hear the word broken.

I ask for that shalom in our hearts right now.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

Okay, Matthew 22, verses 36-40.

Matthew 22:36–40

If you did make an appointment to get out of here early and you need to be somewhere, just feel free to go away.

Matthew 22, verses 36-40.

Matthew 22:36–40

Let's start at verse 34.

But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.

And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.

Teacher, what is a great commandment in the law?

And he said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind.

This is a great and first commandment.

And a second is like it, depending on your version it says.

And the second is like it.

That's why I titled it this way.

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.

Guys, so here are the things we said last time.

There is love God, love your neighbor, love yourself.

Love yourself.

Or as you love yourself or love yourself.

These are the three legs of the stool we were talking about last time.

Love God, love your neighbor, love for yourself.

Love for yourself.

Let's just leave it as love for yourself.

Love for yourself.

These are the three legs of this chair.

Guys, I'm going to start here.

I'm going to start here.

By the way, if you ask me what is love your neighbor, who is my neighbor, then go read Luke 10, 29 to 37.

And we'll talk about it another day.

Because someone asked Jesus who is my neighbor.

And he said, he didn't say go read Luke 10.

He told them a story which is in Luke 10, 29 onwards.

But that's for another day.

Love for yourself.

I'm going to start here.

Because I think it's important to understand that.

Guys, self-love is legitimate.

Love for yourself is legitimate.

It's an inborn human trait that the Father created.

And in of itself, it is good.

Love for yourself is legitimate.

It's not an illegitimate thing.

It's an inborn human trait that the Father created.

And in of itself, it is good.

In of itself, it's actually very good.

For instance, to want to be safe in crisis, is that an evil thing?

No.

To want to be safe in crisis is not evil.

To want to be warm in winter is not evil.

To want to be healthy during a plague is not evil.

To want to be liked by others is not evil.

To want your life to count in some significant way is not evil.

If you have a desire to diminish pain and to be happy, that isn't evil.

So, self-love is a legitimate thing that the Father created.

And in of itself, it's a good thing, guys.

Otherwise, he would not say, love your neighbor as you love yourself.

This is part of who God created us to be.

So, as we begin to grasp what Jesus meant by, as you love yourself,

so we will be able to grasp, love your neighbor.

Now, this part is important.

Please understand.

For some reason, we think Jesus is saying,

love your neighbor instead of loving yourself.

That's what, when we hear, love your neighbor as you love yourself,

we always hear it as, love your neighbor instead of yourself.

Jesus is not saying, love your neighbor instead of yourself.

Jesus is saying, love your neighbor as you love yourself, not instead of yourself.

This is what makes us fearful of this commandment

where Jesus is saying the greatest commandment and the second is like it.

This is why we shy away from it, because it's almost like,

if I love my neighbor, I'll have to stop loving myself.

And that's part of what Christianity, in a sense, has promoted.

And we get all holy.

No, I shouldn't love myself, I should love my neighbor.

The second thing that we think Jesus is saying is

we think Jesus is saying, seek for your neighbor

the same things that you seek for yourself.

Seek for your neighbor the same things that you seek for yourself,

but that's not what Jesus is saying.

He is not saying, seek for your neighbor the same things that you seek for yourself.

He is saying, Jacob seek for your neighbor in the same way, the same zeal, the same energy,

the same creativity, the same perseverance you use in seeking things for yourself.

In that same way, seek for your neighbor.

Do you understand the difference guys? There is a difference here.

Love your neighbor as you love yourself, not love your neighbor in the things that you have for yourself.

He is not saying, love your neighbor in the same...

He isn't saying, seek for your neighbor the same things that you have for yourself.

No, seek for your neighbor the same way as you seek for yourself.

Meaning, have the same zeal, have the same perseverance, have the same creativity,

have the same longing as you have for yourself, have it for your neighbor.

That's what he is saying here.

It makes a significant difference guys.

Because what is our fear?

Our fear is, if I devote myself to the pursuit of the happiness of others,

then my own desire for happiness will always be threatened.

That's what we think.

If I begin to pursue the happiness of others, my own happiness will be preempted or will be threatened.

And may I say to you that therein lies the root of sin?

Because the root of sinfulness is one.

The root of sinfulness...

This is stunning when you look at it.

The root of sinfulness is A.

The desire for happiness apart from God.

And B. The desire for happiness apart from the happiness of others.

Guys, this is the root of all sin. All sin. This is the root.

The root of sinfulness is A. The desire for happiness apart from God.

And B. The desire for happiness apart from the happiness of others.

All sin starts here.

This is why the Ten Commandments is broken up into four that teach you how to live a life that is never apart from God.

And the next six teach you how to live a life that does not jeopardize the happiness of others.

Do not covet, do not commit adultery, do not steal.

All those are things where you cannot seek happiness for yourself by taking someone else's wife, by lying to someone else, by stealing someone else's things, by coveting what is theirs.

This lies at the root of all sinfulness.

The desire for happiness apart from God and the desire for happiness apart from the happiness of others.

In this, every sin comes from these two.

This is why Jesus...

Pardon?

What triggered the first murder?

Yeah.

Cain was not...

First of all, Cain didn't... wanted a happiness not by giving God a sacrifice but by giving God a very paltry sacrifice.

When it came to seeing his brother prosper, he didn't like it.

So he wanted a happiness apart from his brother's happiness.

Right from the beginning, this is how it works.

Eve was offered a happiness apart from God and she swallowed it.

This is at the root of every sin, which is why Jesus says, guys, the law and the prophets are summed up in this one command.

Love your neighbor as you love yourself.

Love the Lord God with all your heart, with all your strength and all your mind.

Luke 6.31 says that.

Luke 6.31 says...

We'll go there later. Not right now.

Sorry, not Luke 6.31.

Go to Romans 13. Romans 13.

8 to 10.

Romans 13, 8 to 10.

Romans 13, 8 to 10.

Ryan, I'd really like some water, please.

Yeah, I'd like it warm. Thanks.

Romans 13, 8 to 10.

Oh, no one anything except to love each other.

For the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

For the commandments, you shall not commit adultery.

You shall not murder. You shall not steal. You shall not covet.

And any other commandments are summed up.

Any other commandments are summed up in this word.

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore, love is fulfilling the law.

Guys, remember this.

Remember this. All our sinfulness comes from one of these or the other.

Therefore, love is the antidote.

Antidote as in loving the Lord your God with all your heart is one part of it.

The second part of it, loving my neighbor as I would love myself.

In that, I'll begin to remove sin.

When I do not desire my happiness at the cost of jeopardizing your happiness,

it is impossible for me to sin against you.

It is impossible for me to sin against you.

Therefore, he says in this...

Go ahead.

Which part?

We'll explain that. Yeah, we'll talk about that.

Guys, so how do we go... Just think of this.

We are talking about loving ourselves.

So imagine how it'll look.

Just as you long for food when you're hungry,

what if you began to long to feed your neighbor when he's hungry?

These are some simple things.

Just as you long for food when you're hungry,

when the Bible says love your neighbor as you love yourself,

begin to think along these lines.

Just as you long for food when you're hungry,

long to feed your neighbor when he is hungry. Thanks.

Just as you yearn for a nice home,

desire a nice home for your neighbor to live in.

Begin there. Begin there.

God is not asking that you go buy someone else the same kind of home that you have.

But he says in the same way that you're pursuing things for yourself,

begin to have a desire for your neighbor.

Because once these longings, desires, seekings start in my heart,

it will translate into some form of action.

And love like encouragement is an action and a choice.

So, just as you long for food when you're hungry,

long to feed your neighbor when he's hungry.

Just as you yearn for a nice home to live in,

desire a nice home for your neighbor to live in.

As you seek security from disaster and violence,

seek security for your neighbor.

As you seek friends for yourself,

be a friend to your neighbor.

As you seek to be a friend to your neighbor,

as you seek to hide your mistakes in front of people,

so seek to cover your neighbor's mistakes in front of people.

As you seek for your fears to be calmed in a brand new situation,

so seek how you can calm the fears of someone else who you know is in a brand new situation.

As you work to do better in life,

so work to help your neighbor do better in life.

As you want your life to be significant,

desire that the same significance will happen for your neighbor.

As you like being welcomed into strange company,

so welcome your neighbor among strangers.

You see, guys, this was a very interesting question.

Guys, this works.

I've begun to practice it.

It works.

It creates the awareness in my heart that here is a person who is feeling uncomfortable,

who's perhaps not good with a fork and a knife,

who does not know what to do,

who is feeling fearful,

who desires to do better than where they are at.

And suddenly I realized that I remember when I didn't know how to use a knife and a fork.

I remember when I was fearful and was compensating by being boisterous in a company of people

because I didn't know how to cover my fears.

I know what it is to want to be significant and not be able to break through.

And suddenly the same way that I went about desiring it,

I now desire it for the neighbor.

And it begins to translate into action.

It begins to translate into action.

It begins to translate into action.

Where I'll do little things to now make sure that the person's mistakes are not exposed,

that the person's fears are allayed,

that the person has some breakthrough to make of life what they couldn't make of life earlier.

And this applies to me whether I have money or no money,

whether I'm doing well or not doing well.

Because I don't want us to think,

oh, so the better-off guys have to take care of me.

No!

This is common to man regardless of how much you have or how much you don't have.

But this is where you begin.

If I don't begin to love as I love myself,

if I don't begin to see it this way,

if I don't become aware of it,

it doesn't work.

Start here.

Love your neighbor as you love yourself.

Start here.

Whereas you long for security from disaster and violence,

so now you begin to long for the security of your neighbor from disaster and violence

and it will make you do something.

As you long for somebody to stop by when you're stuck on a bridge because you've run out of gas,

so begin to long that you will do something for the Samaritan stuck on the bridge

not knowing what to do.

That's where you start.

Go ahead, Maurice.

Great, Luke 6.31.

Do unto others as you want done to yourself.

But we thought that was if I have a home, I got to give up my home and give it to them.

That may be part of the equation, but that was not what Jesus was talking about.

Because otherwise the first thing he'd have done,

he'd have sold his carpenter business and given it to somebody.

What we need to hear is Jesus saying,

seek for your neighbor the same way with the same zeal, the same energy,

the same creativity and the same perseverance that you seek for yourself

and then let it translate into action.

That comes first.

Why did Paul say in 1 Corinthians 13,

I can give away all my goods and yet it will be a noisy gong or a clanging?

It's not in the giving away of goods that love is expressed.

Love is an attitude that is a God thing that is constant in my heart towards everybody all the time

and accordingly things happen.

It always translates into action,

but it has to start at this level.

Love for yourself.

And this is not some kind of self-indulgent love as you saw.

It's not a self-indulgent love.

It's not a self-indulgent love.

It's not a self-indulgent love.

It's not some kind of self-indulgent love as you saw.

It's not that.

So how do we transform the way we live into this kind of love?

Where do we start?

Guys, let me take an example.

You see Gabrielle there?

You came in at the right time, Mariana.

Does a two-month-old baby display self-love?

Does a two-month-old baby display self-love?

Yes. Yes.

Just in case you thought it's a grown-up thing.

No, it's a legitimate human trait.

Yes, Gabrielle wants to be fed.

Yes, she wants comfort.

Yes, she wants human touch.

Yes, she wants to be cleaned.

Yes, she wants to be rocked to sleep.

Yes, she wants warmth.

Yes, she wants pain relieved.

Do you think this is love for self?

Absolutely.

Starts when you're super young.

But unlike us,

Gabrielle finds the entirety of her love for herself satisfied in and through her mom.

So her mom nurses her, her mom feeds her, her mom holds her, her mom clothes her, her mom cradles her, her mom loves her, her mom protects her, her mom warms her.

So what does this baby learn to do?

She seeks her mom with all her heart, all her soul, all her mind.

Because she knows that her mother's arms are where she's most loved and satisfied.

Guys, please don't lose me on this.

Here is a child who has an innate self-love.

She's born with this need to be taken care of, fed, cleaned, rocked to sleep, cradled, held, touched.

But unlike us, and we have the same needs as we grow up, if anything they grow larger.

Unlike us, this baby has been able to find that there is this one person who can provide all of it, who can clothe, nurse, feed, keep warm, hold, touch, cradle and put to sleep.

One person.

So what does this child do early in life?

Somehow this child clicks on to the fact that I will call out and love this woman that holds me, cradles me, feeds me, nurses me.

I will call out to her with all my heart, all my mind and all my strength because in her all my needs are satisfied.

That's where we start. Go ahead, James.

Hey James, you wanted to share something. I forgot about it, man.

Go ahead.

Can I finish my sermon or do you want to finish the rest of it?

Taking away my points. Yeah, absolutely.

See, she knows that, I mean one of the reasons I sang that song suddenly, In Your Arms I Feel Protected, is because Gabrielle knows that in her arms I will be protected and taken care of.

All and everything is satisfied there.

That's where you and I need to start, guys.

We need to learn to find in the arms of God such a satisfaction, such a significance, such security which is so profound that it fills our hearts, souls and minds.

We won't go looking for it anywhere.

That's where we again come back to the very beginning.

C.S. Lewis called us or used this term.

He said people who begin to do that are jolly beggars.

A jolly beggar is a beggar who is desperately in need but knows where to find everything he needs.

He knows this one benefactor that he can go to again and again, reach out, stretch, take, reach out, stretch, take, ask, and he knows everything he needs will be satisfied in this one benefactor.

And he uses the term jolly beggars.

Meaning we are always aware of our inadequacy and we are always aware of its sufficiency.

Don't get stuck with that. Just call yourself Christians.

I just like that term.

So suddenly guys, your quest for happiness becomes a quest for God because you realize that in only Him are you satisfied.

And not only are you satisfied in Him, when you begin to love Him with all your heart, strength and soul as Gabrielle does her mom,

not only is she satisfied but all the other things that she doesn't know she needs are added unto her.

Go figure. Not only is she satisfied in this one person who takes care of her, that she begins to cry out for with all her soul, strength and heart, which is why she cries as loud as she cries.

Not only that, but she doesn't even know, she's beginning to understand that not only are all my needs met, but all other things are being added unto me.

That there is this funny looking carriage that comes with wheels that I'm going to be put in that they'll push along.

That my clothes are not fitting well and new clothes will come.

That they'll give me some kind of a bottle with a rubber thing on top of it. Soon.

Strange things like this will begin to happen in her life, all things being added unto her.

This is where it starts. Go ahead, James.

Which is why I started with the first part. Remember when I introduced it? Yeah. And then you respond.

Which is where we are heading. Every day it's progressive. I don't think we'll ever come to that point where we'll exhaust our ability to love him.

But every day it increases. I'm amazed that David caught a sight of those guys. When he says the Lord is my shepherd.

I lack nothing. I have everything I need. He somehow caught it. It's not like David loved him 100%. Otherwise, he wouldn't have done what he did.

He wrote Psalm 23 perhaps before he wrote Psalm 51. Not because they are chronological in order. But I'm assuming that's how it worked.

But the point being there was something David knew about being satisfied completely in God.

When he can write the Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing. But it's progressive. Every day I get to go another step.

Guys, if this becomes our focus where loving God becomes our focus and comes first. We've already dealt with this.

If this comes first. Now look at how the equation changes. Listen to this.

As my desire to be loved and cared for finds its fulfillment in an elated, recklessly loving God.

I've chosen all these words carefully guys. Listen to it again.

As my desire to be cared and loved for or as my desire to be loved and cared for is fulfilled in this elated, as in super excited, happy about me.

As in this elated, recklessly loving God, what begins to happen is it begins to overflow to my neighbor.

This is why it's vital that I begin to find the fulfillment of being loved and being taken care of by this elated, recklessly loving God.

If I don't get that right, it cannot overflow. Like I've met kids whose dads used to own candy stores.

And you go to their house with your nephews and they've got no problems giving away candy man.

They don't hoard candy anymore. In Bristol there's a family who owns restaurants and candy and stuff like that.

And whenever I go with my nephews and nieces there, their kids are very generous with candy. Why?

Because there's no dearth of candy. They can get as much candy as they want. They don't have to pay for it.

They just have to put their hands in it and pull it out.

Pull it out. These kids never hoard candy. I get candy when I go to that house.

They're going around distributing it to anybody who comes.

The point being, once you come to this place where you're loved for and cared for by an elated, recklessly loving God,

it is natural for it to overflow into your neighbors. Listen to these lines.

So as I begin to see God's abundance in the supply of food, rent and clothing, what will happen?

I'll begin to long to show others the greatness of His abundance by the generosity that I've learned and found in Him.

Let me say that again. As I begin to see God's abundance in rent, in food and clothing,

I will long now to show others the greatness of His abundance

and I will long to show the generosity that I have found in Him and learned from Him.

And when I say as I begin to see His abundance, I don't mean when I get a million.

I don't mean when I get 20,000. I mean when I get $20 today.

Because I see every little thing as an abundance and the generosity of God.

Then it is natural for me as I begin to see the abundance of what God is providing,

it is natural for me to long to show that abundance to others and to show them the generosity I found in God and learned from Him.

Let me throw another one at you.

As I begin to enjoy more of God's compassion through the comfort that He gives me,

I long to show others more of the compassion through the comfort I extend to them.

to them. Let me say that again. As I begin to enjoy more of God's compassion through

the comfort He gives me, I long to show others more of God's compassion through the comfort

I extend to them. So was I comforted when my dad died by God? Absolutely. Am I in a

position to comfort those whose dads die now? In some cases, yes. How? Not by telling them

what happened with my dad, but by knowing that I can extend to them the comfort that

I receive from God. This is why Paul said, do not be worried about the fact that you've

been through many trials. Some of you are going through these trials so that you are

in a position to console others who are going through these trials. Guys, understand this

here. Don't try to process it here. Some of us are processing it here and it's not

adding up. It's not adding up because you have been so used to living the human way

that it won't add up. It won't add up. Try to process it here. You ain't going to get

it. There's nothing I'm saying that is hogwash, psychobabble, psychology, even though he's

doing a major in it or some kind of shrink stuff.

Yeah, the with us God is already in us doing these things. Let me throw another one at

you. As I begin to savor more of God's wisdom through the counsel he gives me in difficult

situations, I long to extend more of God's wisdom to others in their difficult situations.

This is what I enjoy most. I'll sit here thinking, Father, I face at least six and a half problems

a day and in all those problems if you didn't give me answers, I'd have been dead by now

or not physically. I'd be in bad shape. Oh God, you who give me so much counsel in my

difficult situations, will you now enable me to give counsel and extend counsel to others

in difficult situations? This is not a profession. This is the most natural thing that will flow

out of you, man. What do you do with your kids when you give them counsel? Is it come

sit with daddy? Daddy's a great counselor. No. It must be really funny because Ryan is

laughing. The point is guys, you don't do it because of that thing. You come because

you know that you know the counsel you receive from your dad. Sometimes it was good, sometimes

it wasn't and you're going to make it even better for your kids. So suddenly you begin

to enjoy more of, as you begin to savor God's wisdom through the counsel he gives you in

difficult situations, you long to extend more of God's wisdom to others in their situations.

Here's another one. As you delight in seeing God's goodness, I put it this way, as I delight

in seeing God's goodness, even when I have no need, I long to extend that goodness to others

by favoring them even when they have no need. Hey, we're not supposed to help each other only

when we are in need. We help just because the goodness of God overflows to us when we are in

need and when we are not in need. So what do we do? We now extend the same goodness out to others

even when they are not in need. Here's another one. As I see more of God's grace powerfully manifested

in my life, I long to stretch out grace into the lives of others so that their lives can be

transformed. You don't know how many times my dysfunctional life has been the recipient of the

grace of God. And so it's natural for me who has so much candy to give it away, to stretch out and

give grace to those who perhaps are having the same dysfunctional situations that I had yesterday.

As I love this one, as I enjoy more of God's personal friendship through thick and thin of

life, I long to extend that friendship to others through the thick and thin of their lives so that

I always see the treasure in them. Yesterday I went out for dinner with James and Derek and a couple

of others and I was sitting there and these notes were running through my mind when I was seeing

three, four different people who were not from a Christian, three people, two people from a non-Christian

background and I was saying, father in everything I do today at this table, I know strangely quiet,

I'm usually not quiet at the dining table. These notes were running through my head saying, father,

you've got to show me different ways that I can extend what you have extended to me because I'm

finding my fulfillment in you. I'm finding in your arms that I'm protected, taken care of, loved,

nursed, held, everything I'm finding in you. I find that in you now. Now having found it in you,

help me now to extend it out. May this become a 24-7 awareness. When the awareness comes,

it will translate into action guys. It will translate into action. It'll be natural for you

to hide under your wings those that are fearing and lift up your wings so that they can see the

God that takes away your fear. It'll be natural for you to cover someone's mistakes because you

know how many times your mistakes have been covered and that's why the Bible says, love covers the

love covers a multitude of sins. It'll be natural for you. It'll be natural for you to see someone

who is striving to make a better life and you know that all they need is that one break that you got

and that you did nothing for it. It was a break that came your way through someone else that God

sent and now you begin to long and you start looking for an opportunities to provide that person

a break that will launch them and you won't even claim credit for it.

You will long even when you don't have money in your pocket to provide for a person who's hungry

because you have known how you have been provided for when you did not have a dollar to buy a burger

and you will long to find an opportunity to provide money or provide food because it's just

loving yourself and therefore you love your neighbor and you know that the one who provides

has been doing it for so long that it's natural to extend it. Everything then begins to flow in this

virtuous cycle. You don't know where it begins and where it ends. Love your neighbor? Does it

begin there? No, no, no. It begins at love yourself? No, no, no, no, no. It begins to love you? No, no,

no, no, no. It goes on and on and on because you're caught in a virtuous cycle. Where do you want?

There's no beginning or end to it then.

And sometimes guys these actions will require a sacrifice and I might say

no don't want to sacrifice. Great I can I can long for it but suddenly my longing needs to be now

translated into action and it means I may have to sacrifice more than I want to. I may back off from

it. There may be other times when I may be distracted by things in the world and I couldn't

care two hoots about you because I got stuff to work out on my end. There may be other times when

I may not translate my longing into action just because I'm purely selfish but guess what?

For all this his grace is sufficient and I will repent and start again. For all this his grace is

sufficient and I will repent and start again because this is what's going to distinguish this

bunch of people sitting here. They will know that we are Christians by our love

because there will be times when my selfishness and greed and nature to hoard will take over.

There will be times when I'll decide whether she is deserving or she is not. There will be times

when to give away as much as I know I need to give to give her that break that launcher is

too much it's a sacrifice and I'll hold back but hey my daddy owns a candy store.

But hey my daddy owns a candy store. My daddy owns a candy store and there is no

dirt there. There is no limit to how much he provides giving. May my self-seeking be the

measure of my giving. May how I seek for things for my own from my daddy be the measure of my

giving away because my daddy owns a candy store.

The God I know knows how to supply my needs when I supply someone else's needs. The God I know

knows how to provide for my hunger when I provide for someone else's hunger.

There's a longing. The longing first has to come and the longing has to translate into action.

I love the fact that we don't have to take up an offering after messages like this.

What a shame when they take up an offering after a message like this.

It just dismantles the whole message. These are things we need to go and ponder on ponder on

gestate. Let me conclude. Suddenly guys pouring out my love will not deprive me

will not threaten me will not diminish me will not decrease what I have

because I'm convinced that I am resourced and nourished by God's inexhaustible tangible love.

The reason some of us balk from practicing this kind of love the reason I have held myself back

from practicing this kind of love is it threatens my ways of living. It seems to

it seems to diminish what I can have for myself. It seems to decrease what is mine. It seems to

deprive me of what I have earned by the sweat of my brow and yet we need to first understand

that my dad owns a candy store and there can never be a time when I won't be a resource to supply it

with candy to give away and that his love is inexhaustible and tangible.

Guys here on earth love first needs a body to be poured into and then needs a body to be poured out

to. Love is not this concept that's floating around there otherwise all that God had to do was one day

write across the sky. God so loved the world that he wrote across the sky that anyone who believes

in him shall have eternal life and anyone who does not perish. He could have just written it across

the sky with a bunch of colorful clouds just to add drama to it and that would have been sufficient.

No no no no love needs a body to be poured into so there had to be a body provided for Christ to come

here on earth. Love still needs a body to be poured into. The primary body that it's supposed

to be poured into is the body of Christ called the church. Love needs a body to be poured into

and once it's poured into us it's supposed to be now poured out and it cannot be poured out either as

as a song. We can't stand and say sing a song of we love you.

Yeah the Beatles did that long ago.

Yeah.

We'll come to that. That's what I'm going to end with because this is not over. This is just the

beginning guys. This is 101. I'll talk about that.

When when that when this begins to happen guys people will see that the love of God

people see the love of God working through us. They'll know we're Christians by our love.

Here are some of the topics we'll have to deal with in the future. So how do we deal with people

who are unlovable and by unlovable I mean in our lives they seem unlovable. How do we deal with that?

Where are we going to get the grace to love those that regardless of how much we have shown them

love they treat us shabbily. Where are we going to get the grace? How are we going to respond to

them? How about those that are our enemies? There's a fourth category love the Lord your God,

love your neighbor, love yourself and there's a fourth category called love your

enemies. How do you love your enemies? What about enemies who've abused you done you harm?

How do we deal with that?

And the Bible provides answers for it. Thirdly how do you receive love without reciprocating?

Because we live in a culture where if we receive love we have to show something back. If you do

something nice that's loving towards me I've got to find in a certain time span depending on the

culture you live in to pay it back.

Pay it back bigger. How to receive love without reciprocating it? I mean I remember when my dad

shortly before he died he had had a stroke he he could not do anything he was lying in the bed my

mom had to clean him up my mom had to take care of him my mom had to do everything for him and

there was nothing my dad could do to give him love. He was just lying in the bed and my mom

and there was nothing my dad could do to give love back and he would sometimes just cry because

he wished he could have been even better to her but there he was and sometimes we have to deal

with people like that who who who sometimes are angry with you because they don't know how to

repay back your love.

Because we haven't not I'd suggest to you none of us have really learned how to receive love

without reciprocation. We always want to keep do something back in exchange. It's good to do

something back in exchange but what about receiving it without doing anything back?

It's difficult James for some people who've been especially people who are in a situation where

they are laid in a bed and for years are being taken care of after some time it's overwhelming.

I've heard of few situations like that I've experienced one situation like that.

But that's the inability to do it yourself.

Yeah and your inability to do it.

It doesn't go through there.

Yeah your inability to do it. Here's another one. When does

when is there where are the lines between affection and agape where does it overlap and I'll

explain that where does it overlap where do we need to separate it when when is it that my love

for God should trump my love for my fellow man my love for my son my love for my daughter when should

it trump it when should it overlap.

That's something else we have to look at.

So this is just the first level we are talking about.

Guys go home I have to listen to the CD at least two or three times to get the hang of this.

I have to listen to the CD at least two or three times to get the hang of this.

I'm going to try to get a little bit of a better understanding of what I'm talking about.

I'm going to try to get a little bit of a better understanding of what I'm talking about.

But it's something has begun. I promise you something has begun.

And as you begin to let it develop you'll find that on one hand you are doing things for your

neighbor because you have learned how to love yourself and you will begin to desire for your

neighbor with the same passion the things you desire for yourself. You will desire for them

not by setting aside what is yours but by desiring for them the same way that you've

desired for yourself. And then you will go here and you will remember Gabriel's example

and you will find that Gabriel is completely satisfied in the arms of this woman who seems

to take care of her so well that every time she goes back there and once you begin to develop that

you'll find that you will want to give away what you're receiving from this one benefactor

who has transformed you into a jolly beggar.

But you're constantly receiving and you long because of the compassion you've received to give it.

You long because of the friendship. My God am I a privileged guy to have the kind of personal

friendship I have with the God of the universe. Suddenly even evangelism is not some kind of an

exercise but a result of me sharing the personal friendship that I have it being extended to someone

else who I can be a friend to and point towards the one who's been a friend to me. This is why

Jesus first went to the house of Zacchaeus before he preached a sermon to him.

Can Jason and Heidi come up please? I'm done Wayne.

Guys please go listen to this. You won't get it the first time. You will get it the second time.

Third time you'll begin to get it even more. Wayne could you make me a copy for sure?

Guys I'm going and I want to leave both of them in charge because Heidi is leaving on June.