1 00:00:15,458 --> 00:00:16,750 Howdy Mars Hill Church. 2 00:00:16,833 --> 00:00:19,833 Pastor Sutton Turner here and I'm in Ethiopia. 3 00:00:19,875 --> 00:00:21,667 And I just want to thank Jesus 4 00:00:21,708 --> 00:00:25,000 for continuing to use Mars Hill Church 5 00:00:25,042 --> 00:00:28,583 to make disciples and plant churches. 6 00:00:29,167 --> 00:00:34,292 Mars Hill Global is the arm of Mars Hill Church 7 00:00:34,333 --> 00:00:35,917 that makes disciples 8 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:38,833 and plant churches all over the world. 9 00:00:38,917 --> 00:00:40,375 We not only do church planting, 10 00:00:40,458 --> 00:00:43,333 but we help better equip church planters. 11 00:00:43,417 --> 00:00:47,042 Most recently we shipped and now distributed 12 00:00:47,125 --> 00:00:49,500 1,000 bibles into Amharic, 13 00:00:49,542 --> 00:00:52,125 which is the language here in Ethiopia. 14 00:00:52,167 --> 00:00:54,042 And we launched a project 15 00:00:54,125 --> 00:00:59,250 to translate Pastor Mark Driscoll's doctrine book into Spanish. 16 00:00:59,333 --> 00:01:02,583 We have people from over 29 different countries 17 00:01:02,667 --> 00:01:06,167 that are giving on a monthly basis to Mars Hill Global. 18 00:01:06,208 --> 00:01:08,125 So whether you're a member 19 00:01:08,167 --> 00:01:11,083 of one of our Mars Hill church locations 20 00:01:11,167 --> 00:01:12,542 in the United States, 21 00:01:12,625 --> 00:01:18,208 or you're 1 of 100,000 podcasters every single week, 22 00:01:18,292 --> 00:01:19,667 we encourage you to pray 23 00:01:19,750 --> 00:01:23,083 about giving above and beyond your tithe 24 00:01:23,167 --> 00:01:24,625 to Mars Hill Global. 25 00:01:24,667 --> 00:01:28,958 Thank you and let's see more materials translated, 26 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:32,167 more pastors sent out, more churches planted, 27 00:01:32,250 --> 00:01:34,500 and more people saved by Jesus Christ. 28 00:01:54,667 --> 00:01:58,417 Brotherhood, it's a bond as old as time. 29 00:01:58,500 --> 00:02:00,958 It's a love that runs deep. 30 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:03,375 It's bold. It's strong. 31 00:02:03,458 --> 00:02:05,167 It's enduring. 32 00:02:05,208 --> 00:02:07,750 There's a trust that's built among brothers, 33 00:02:07,833 --> 00:02:10,833 from the trials to the triumphs. 34 00:02:10,917 --> 00:02:14,375 It's a trust that comes from living life together. 35 00:02:14,458 --> 00:02:17,083 No one knows you like your brother. 36 00:02:17,167 --> 00:02:20,667 He knows your strengths; he knows your weaknesses. 37 00:02:20,750 --> 00:02:25,333 A bold brother will lay it all down for his family. 38 00:02:25,417 --> 00:02:28,958 It is difficult to describe that kind of loyalty, 39 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:32,958 that kind of courage, that kind of strength. 40 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:35,000 It's the love of a brother. 41 00:02:35,042 --> 00:02:37,667 It's that kind of love that compelled James to become 42 00:02:37,750 --> 00:02:41,250 Jesus' bold little brother. 43 00:02:46,333 --> 00:02:48,167 Well, we're talking about love today, 44 00:02:48,250 --> 00:02:51,917 and we just had Valentine's Day, yet again proving that no one 45 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:54,708 in America knows truly what love is. 46 00:02:54,792 --> 00:03:00,500 So, when it comes to words that are misunderstood and misused, 47 00:03:00,542 --> 00:03:04,583 I would submit "love" is a candidate for the most 48 00:03:04,667 --> 00:03:09,875 misunderstood, misused word in the entire English language. 49 00:03:09,958 --> 00:03:12,875 We tend not to know what love is, what love does, 50 00:03:12,958 --> 00:03:17,167 where love comes from, or where it is going. 51 00:03:17,250 --> 00:03:20,083 And so today, as we study the Scriptures, 52 00:03:20,167 --> 00:03:24,667 I want to start in a very broad, Google-Earth 53 00:03:24,750 --> 00:03:26,958 big picture for you. 54 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:29,375 I thought I knew what love was. 55 00:03:29,458 --> 00:03:32,167 When I first met Grace, we were 17 years of age, 56 00:03:32,208 --> 00:03:35,167 and I met her and I thought, "That's it, I love her." 57 00:03:35,208 --> 00:03:37,375 I told her that 2 weeks into the relationship. 58 00:03:37,458 --> 00:03:40,083 I said, "I love you, and I'm going to marry you," 59 00:03:40,167 --> 00:03:42,833 which is either a guy with a plan, or a stalker, 60 00:03:42,917 --> 00:03:45,583 or a stalker with a plan. 61 00:03:45,667 --> 00:03:47,583 And I thought I loved her, 62 00:03:47,667 --> 00:03:50,625 and I want to spend the rest of my life with her, 63 00:03:50,667 --> 00:03:52,833 and I wanted her to love me in return. 64 00:03:52,875 --> 00:03:56,208 And we were dating for a little while as high school students, 65 00:03:56,292 --> 00:03:58,917 and then Grace gave me a gift. 66 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:00,375 It was actually a Bible. 67 00:04:00,458 --> 00:04:01,792 It was this Bible. 68 00:04:01,833 --> 00:04:05,667 It was the first Bible--big, nice Bible--I ever had like that. 69 00:04:05,708 --> 00:04:08,792 And this one has a different cover on it. 70 00:04:08,833 --> 00:04:10,792 Originally, she had my name engraved on it, 71 00:04:10,833 --> 00:04:14,167 but I wore that one out, so I had to get a new cover 72 00:04:14,250 --> 00:04:16,167 put on it, I read it so much. 73 00:04:16,250 --> 00:04:18,167 When she first gave me the Bible, however, 74 00:04:18,250 --> 00:04:19,583 I didn't read it. 75 00:04:19,667 --> 00:04:21,333 I assumed I knew what it said. 76 00:04:21,417 --> 00:04:23,333 I thought it said, "Mark, you're pretty fantastic, 77 00:04:23,417 --> 00:04:25,083 "and God loves fantastic people. 78 00:04:25,167 --> 00:04:26,750 Congratulations, nothing to worry about." 79 00:04:26,833 --> 00:04:28,500 That's what I thought the Bible said, 80 00:04:28,542 --> 00:04:30,500 so I put it on the shelf--this Bible, 81 00:04:30,542 --> 00:04:33,000 the Bible that Grace gave me--and didn't read it for 82 00:04:33,042 --> 00:04:36,000 a long time, and then started reading it and realized it said 83 00:04:36,042 --> 00:04:37,667 something very different than I was anticipating. 84 00:04:37,750 --> 00:04:40,375 "Mark, you're a really bad guy, and God's angry at you, 85 00:04:40,458 --> 00:04:41,792 and you're in danger." 86 00:04:41,833 --> 00:04:44,292 I was like, "Whoa, that can't be what it meant." 87 00:04:44,333 --> 00:04:47,292 And so all of a sudden, I was confronted with my sin 88 00:04:47,333 --> 00:04:48,667 and God's holiness, 89 00:04:48,750 --> 00:04:51,167 and then I started to learn about, from the Bible, 90 00:04:51,250 --> 00:04:52,833 real love, true love, God's love. 91 00:04:52,875 --> 00:04:57,792 And all of a sudden, God's love started to fascinate, captivate, 92 00:04:57,833 --> 00:04:59,500 and transform me. 93 00:04:59,583 --> 00:05:02,500 It's something I'm still learning and will be learning 94 00:05:02,542 --> 00:05:05,042 for the rest of eternity, I suppose, 95 00:05:05,125 --> 00:05:07,667 but one of the things I was most convicted of 96 00:05:07,750 --> 00:05:09,250 is that my love for others, 97 00:05:09,333 --> 00:05:12,167 particularly the person that I loved the most, 98 00:05:12,250 --> 00:05:16,292 is that my love was selfish; it wasn't selfless. 99 00:05:16,333 --> 00:05:19,583 It was about what benefited me, or what benefited us, 100 00:05:19,667 --> 00:05:22,375 not just what benefited them. 101 00:05:22,458 --> 00:05:24,167 And it certainly wasn't a love, 102 00:05:24,208 --> 00:05:25,542 initially and originally, 103 00:05:25,625 --> 00:05:29,042 that included God and was operating in a way that 104 00:05:29,125 --> 00:05:32,792 was loving toward God as God would see and understand love. 105 00:05:32,833 --> 00:05:35,542 And so, as we jump into the Bible today, 106 00:05:35,625 --> 00:05:37,875 I know that some of you are not Christian. 107 00:05:37,958 --> 00:05:40,375 Some of you don't have any familiarity with the Bible. 108 00:05:40,458 --> 00:05:43,583 Some of you grew up in religious homes and you had a Bible, 109 00:05:43,667 --> 00:05:46,083 but you still don't know what it means or understand 110 00:05:46,167 --> 00:05:47,500 how to study it. 111 00:05:47,542 --> 00:05:50,625 And when it comes to the Bible, the truth is it can easily 112 00:05:50,667 --> 00:05:52,375 become a little overwhelming, if not confusing. 113 00:05:52,458 --> 00:05:53,875 It's actually a library, 66 books 114 00:05:53,958 --> 00:05:56,083 written over the course of a few thousand years 115 00:05:56,167 --> 00:05:58,292 by some 40 authors in 3 languages--the Old Testament, 116 00:05:58,333 --> 00:06:00,250 primarily in Hebrew, 117 00:06:00,333 --> 00:06:01,833 New Testament, primarily in Greek, 118 00:06:01,917 --> 00:06:04,667 a few portions, as well, in Aramaic-- 119 00:06:04,750 --> 00:06:09,167 and it has over 700,000 words. 120 00:06:09,250 --> 00:06:11,458 And so if you've ever picked up the Bible, 121 00:06:11,500 --> 00:06:15,583 maybe for the first time, as I did, 122 00:06:15,667 --> 00:06:18,333 and you had a hard time trying to figure out, 123 00:06:18,417 --> 00:06:22,542 in all of this overwhelming amount of information, like, 124 00:06:22,625 --> 00:06:25,667 "Who's most important? 125 00:06:25,750 --> 00:06:32,000 What's most important in this enormous, overwhelming library?" 126 00:06:32,042 --> 00:06:35,042 Jesus Christ is the most important person 127 00:06:35,125 --> 00:06:39,375 in the Scriptures, and I would submit that, 128 00:06:39,458 --> 00:06:42,083 perhaps--you want to be careful with these things-- 129 00:06:42,167 --> 00:06:44,958 the most important theme of the whole Bible is love, 130 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:49,667 that in some regards, this is really a love story of 131 00:06:49,750 --> 00:06:54,333 God's love for his people through Jesus Christ. 132 00:06:54,375 --> 00:06:56,333 And so when the Bible speaks of love, 133 00:06:56,375 --> 00:06:59,625 it sometimes does so with analogies that we can 134 00:06:59,667 --> 00:07:02,000 emotionally relate to. 135 00:07:02,042 --> 00:07:03,958 It says that God loves his people 136 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:05,958 like a husband loves his wife. 137 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:09,167 So, next time you meet a guy who's fallen in love and met 138 00:07:09,208 --> 00:07:13,042 his dream girl, God loves his people like that. 139 00:07:13,125 --> 00:07:16,458 When you see a couple that is dating and the man really loves 140 00:07:16,500 --> 00:07:19,667 the woman, or you see them on their wedding day and you see 141 00:07:19,708 --> 00:07:22,667 that look on his face when the doors open and his bride 142 00:07:22,708 --> 00:07:25,375 is unveiled, God loves his people like that. 143 00:07:25,458 --> 00:07:28,083 When you see a couple holding hands and are still friends 144 00:07:28,167 --> 00:07:29,667 many years into the marriage, 145 00:07:29,750 --> 00:07:31,667 God loves his people like that. 146 00:07:31,750 --> 00:07:34,958 When you see, as I did recently, a very elderly couple at 147 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:40,000 the airport, walking very slowly together, holding hands, 148 00:07:40,042 --> 00:07:42,833 God loves his people like that. 149 00:07:42,917 --> 00:07:46,167 The Bible says that God loves his people like a husband loves 150 00:07:46,208 --> 00:07:49,000 his wife, and the Bible says that God loves his people like 151 00:07:49,083 --> 00:07:51,500 a father loves his children. 152 00:07:51,542 --> 00:07:54,833 Next time you see a man who's married and looking forward to 153 00:07:54,875 --> 00:07:59,000 the birth of his child through the womb of his pregnant wife, 154 00:07:59,083 --> 00:08:02,375 how excited he is, God loves his people like that. 155 00:08:02,458 --> 00:08:04,750 When you see a dad holding a newborn baby, 156 00:08:04,833 --> 00:08:07,833 protecting them because he adores and cherishes them, 157 00:08:07,917 --> 00:08:10,042 God loves his people like that. 158 00:08:10,125 --> 00:08:12,958 When you see a dad holding the hand of a toddler, 159 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:17,292 helping them to walk safely, God loves his people like that. 160 00:08:17,333 --> 00:08:19,792 When you see a kid getting a piggy-back ride 161 00:08:19,833 --> 00:08:21,333 from their dad, 162 00:08:21,417 --> 00:08:24,542 God loves his people like that. 163 00:08:24,625 --> 00:08:26,875 That the Bible is ultimately about God's love, 164 00:08:26,958 --> 00:08:29,250 and before it talks to us about our love, 165 00:08:29,333 --> 00:08:32,292 it talks to us about God's love. 166 00:08:32,333 --> 00:08:34,500 And this is really important, 167 00:08:34,542 --> 00:08:37,750 otherwise the Bible becomes a series of principles 168 00:08:37,833 --> 00:08:41,083 to live by instead of a person to live for, 169 00:08:41,167 --> 00:08:43,667 like Pastor Dave often says. 170 00:08:43,708 --> 00:08:47,542 Before the Bible is a series of principles to live by, 171 00:08:47,625 --> 00:08:51,167 it's a person to live for, a person named Jesus Christ 172 00:08:51,250 --> 00:08:54,333 who is, and shows, and does the love of God. 173 00:08:54,375 --> 00:08:57,833 And this is exactly what Jesus said. 174 00:08:57,875 --> 00:09:01,083 When he was teaching-- and he's many things. 175 00:09:01,167 --> 00:09:02,875 He's Lord, God, Savior, King, and Christ. 176 00:09:02,958 --> 00:09:04,458 He's also teacher. 177 00:09:04,500 --> 00:09:07,042 They called Jesus "rabbi," which means "teacher." 178 00:09:07,125 --> 00:09:10,000 And there was a big debate in his day among various scholars, 179 00:09:10,042 --> 00:09:12,875 "What's the big idea? 180 00:09:12,958 --> 00:09:14,875 What's the big idea of God's Word?" 181 00:09:14,958 --> 00:09:19,167 And so Jesus, in Matthew 22:37-40, 182 00:09:19,250 --> 00:09:21,500 he enters into the conversation and he teaches us 183 00:09:21,542 --> 00:09:23,333 that love is biblical. 184 00:09:23,417 --> 00:09:26,000 And so Rabbi Jesus, looking back on the totality 185 00:09:26,042 --> 00:09:28,500 of the Old Testament, 186 00:09:28,542 --> 00:09:31,167 he says, "Here's really what it's all about." 187 00:09:31,208 --> 00:09:34,292 And he's going to quote for us two things that are called laws. 188 00:09:34,333 --> 00:09:36,292 And the Bible includes a lot of laws, 189 00:09:36,333 --> 00:09:37,792 "Do this, and don't do that." 190 00:09:37,833 --> 00:09:39,792 The first five books of the Old Testament 191 00:09:39,833 --> 00:09:42,500 penned by Moses are often called the Books of the Law 192 00:09:42,542 --> 00:09:46,250 because they contain no less than 613 laws. 193 00:09:46,333 --> 00:09:47,667 And so they're debating, 194 00:09:47,708 --> 00:09:50,125 "Which ones should be at the front of the line? 195 00:09:50,167 --> 00:09:51,500 "What are the big ideas? 196 00:09:51,583 --> 00:09:52,917 What's most important?" 197 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:57,417 And here's what Jesus has to say in Matthew 22:37-40, 198 00:09:57,500 --> 00:09:59,292 saying that love is biblical. 199 00:09:59,333 --> 00:10:01,333 "And he," that is Jesus, "said to him, 200 00:10:01,375 --> 00:10:05,833 "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, 201 00:10:05,875 --> 00:10:08,000 "'with all your soul, with all your mind. 202 00:10:08,083 --> 00:10:10,292 That is the great and first commandment.'" 203 00:10:10,333 --> 00:10:12,917 Here, he's quoting Deuteronomy 6:5. 204 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:15,500 How many of you have heard that before 205 00:10:15,583 --> 00:10:18,000 and never really thought about it? 206 00:10:18,083 --> 00:10:20,000 Think about it for a moment. 207 00:10:20,042 --> 00:10:23,667 "Love the Lord." 208 00:10:23,750 --> 00:10:28,375 Not just yourself, the Lord. 209 00:10:28,458 --> 00:10:33,000 Not just self-love, the Lord. 210 00:10:33,083 --> 00:10:35,625 The Lord. 211 00:10:35,667 --> 00:10:37,167 "With your heart." 212 00:10:37,250 --> 00:10:38,583 How much of your heart? 213 00:10:38,667 --> 00:10:40,625 All. 214 00:10:40,667 --> 00:10:42,625 Any of you convicted by that? 215 00:10:42,667 --> 00:10:45,125 You're like, "I love the Lord with my heart." 216 00:10:45,167 --> 00:10:46,500 All your heart? 217 00:10:46,583 --> 00:10:48,833 "No, there's some stuff in there not good. 218 00:10:48,875 --> 00:10:50,333 "I feel bad about that. 219 00:10:50,417 --> 00:10:51,833 "Some days I want the Lord, 220 00:10:51,917 --> 00:10:54,333 "some days I want the Lord plus some other stuff, 221 00:10:54,417 --> 00:10:56,833 "some days I want the Lord not for a while, 222 00:10:56,917 --> 00:10:59,167 I'd like to just have the other stuff." 223 00:10:59,208 --> 00:11:01,125 "Your soul." 224 00:11:01,167 --> 00:11:02,792 How much of your soul? 225 00:11:02,833 --> 00:11:04,917 All. 226 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:10,208 Whole-hearted, full-throated devotion to the Lord, right? 227 00:11:10,292 --> 00:11:13,417 Passion, all of your affections 228 00:11:13,500 --> 00:11:17,333 pouring out of you. 229 00:11:17,375 --> 00:11:22,333 You say, "Yeah, I couldn't put that on my résumé. 230 00:11:22,375 --> 00:11:26,833 I haven't loved the Lord with all my soul." 231 00:11:26,875 --> 00:11:28,625 "With all your mind." 232 00:11:28,667 --> 00:11:31,333 "Every thought captive to Christ." 233 00:11:31,417 --> 00:11:32,917 That's what Paul says. 234 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:35,375 "Every though captive." 235 00:11:35,458 --> 00:11:40,125 "I'm thinking God's thoughts after him as an act of worship. 236 00:11:40,167 --> 00:11:44,708 "What God says, that's what I think, and there's no variation. 237 00:11:44,792 --> 00:11:46,583 "I don't disagree with the Lord. 238 00:11:46,667 --> 00:11:48,083 "I don't argue with the Lord. 239 00:11:48,167 --> 00:11:49,500 "I don't doubt the Lord. 240 00:11:49,542 --> 00:11:52,167 "I think God's thoughts after him. 241 00:11:52,250 --> 00:11:55,375 I love God with all my mind." 242 00:11:55,458 --> 00:12:01,667 How many of you couldn't say that? 243 00:12:01,708 --> 00:12:06,375 It's impossible. 244 00:12:06,458 --> 00:12:08,667 I want you to feel the weight of that. 245 00:12:08,750 --> 00:12:11,667 The worst Bible teachers in the world are the Bible teachers 246 00:12:11,708 --> 00:12:14,167 that get up and say, "OK, the Bible says it. 247 00:12:14,208 --> 00:12:15,542 Do it." 248 00:12:15,625 --> 00:12:18,542 A real Bible teacher gets up and says, "The Bible says it. 249 00:12:18,625 --> 00:12:20,167 You can't do it. It's impossible." 250 00:12:20,250 --> 00:12:21,667 You're like, "What?" 251 00:12:21,708 --> 00:12:23,500 You're going to need some help. 252 00:12:23,542 --> 00:12:27,875 You're going to need God. 253 00:12:27,958 --> 00:12:31,167 He then continues, "And a second is like it: You shall love 254 00:12:31,208 --> 00:12:32,833 your neighbor as yourself." 255 00:12:32,917 --> 00:12:36,792 He quotes Leviticus 19:18. 256 00:12:36,833 --> 00:12:40,333 Our culture thinks that love is almost exclusively self-love. 257 00:12:40,417 --> 00:12:42,167 "Yes, people should love me. 258 00:12:42,250 --> 00:12:46,583 "I think I'm pretty loveable, maybe even lovely. 259 00:12:46,667 --> 00:12:48,500 "You're right, people haven't loved me well. 260 00:12:48,542 --> 00:12:49,875 "Thanks, Pastor Mark, 261 00:12:49,958 --> 00:12:51,875 "for talking about the sermon on love because 262 00:12:51,958 --> 00:12:54,625 "I've not felt very loved and I brought someone with me 263 00:12:54,667 --> 00:12:56,125 "who's not loved me very well. 264 00:12:56,167 --> 00:12:58,625 "I'm very glad they are here to hear the sermon 265 00:12:58,667 --> 00:13:00,083 "about loving me. 266 00:13:00,167 --> 00:13:01,500 Hi." 267 00:13:01,542 --> 00:13:03,167 It doesn't talk about self-love at all. 268 00:13:03,250 --> 00:13:04,667 Love of God, love of neighbor. 269 00:13:04,750 --> 00:13:06,667 You hear people say this all the time, 270 00:13:06,750 --> 00:13:08,667 "I just have a hard time loving myself." 271 00:13:08,750 --> 00:13:11,333 No, you don't. No, you don't. 272 00:13:11,417 --> 00:13:14,083 You love yourself. 273 00:13:14,167 --> 00:13:15,500 "No, I don't." 274 00:13:15,542 --> 00:13:16,875 Yes, you do. 275 00:13:16,958 --> 00:13:19,500 That's why you're still thinking about it, OK? 276 00:13:19,542 --> 00:13:22,000 That's how much you love yourself. 277 00:13:22,042 --> 00:13:23,750 We become very selfish, we love ourselves, 278 00:13:23,833 --> 00:13:26,958 we think that others should love us, and that God should love us, 279 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:29,167 and we should be the center of the universe, 280 00:13:29,208 --> 00:13:35,250 and everything should proceed toward us for our well-being. 281 00:13:35,333 --> 00:13:37,167 God says, "Let's reorient this. 282 00:13:37,250 --> 00:13:39,500 Love me, love people." 283 00:13:39,542 --> 00:13:42,875 Don't go in, go out. 284 00:13:42,958 --> 00:13:44,500 Don't go in, go out. 285 00:13:44,542 --> 00:13:46,583 And it starts with the love of God. 286 00:13:46,667 --> 00:13:48,250 God does love you. 287 00:13:48,333 --> 00:13:51,917 And because he loves you, he pours his love into you 288 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:54,208 so that his love can be poured through you. 289 00:13:54,292 --> 00:13:56,333 This is what Paul says to the Romans. 290 00:13:56,375 --> 00:13:59,375 "God poured his love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit 291 00:13:59,458 --> 00:14:01,167 whom he has given us." 292 00:14:01,250 --> 00:14:03,000 We're in the middle of winter. 293 00:14:03,042 --> 00:14:05,375 When spring comes, the snow will melt 294 00:14:05,458 --> 00:14:07,167 and it will flow downstream. 295 00:14:07,250 --> 00:14:09,500 God's love is like that. 296 00:14:09,542 --> 00:14:14,000 Love starts upstream with God and it flows through his people 297 00:14:14,042 --> 00:14:18,667 back in worship to him and in help to others. 298 00:14:18,708 --> 00:14:22,292 And he says, "On these two commandments depend all 299 00:14:22,333 --> 00:14:23,667 the Law and the Prophets." 300 00:14:23,750 --> 00:14:27,250 That's their nomenclature for the entire Old Testament, 301 00:14:27,333 --> 00:14:31,250 those books that Jesus read growing up as a little boy. 302 00:14:31,333 --> 00:14:34,667 You go to the Bible and you're like, "There is a lot in here. 303 00:14:34,708 --> 00:14:36,750 "It's a little overwhelming. 304 00:14:36,833 --> 00:14:40,167 "Am I supposed to memorize the list of 613 things 305 00:14:40,250 --> 00:14:41,667 in the first 5 books?" 306 00:14:41,708 --> 00:14:45,042 Probably, we should, but Jesus says, 307 00:14:45,125 --> 00:14:46,792 "Let me make this really easy. 308 00:14:46,833 --> 00:14:50,417 And if you do two things, you'll actually do everything else." 309 00:14:50,500 --> 00:14:53,292 Love God, love people. 310 00:14:53,333 --> 00:14:56,292 We've just covered the whole Old Testament 311 00:14:56,333 --> 00:14:58,250 and the teaching of Jesus, 312 00:14:58,333 --> 00:15:00,625 and now we're going to jump to the instruction 313 00:15:00,667 --> 00:15:03,500 of Jesus' little brother, a guy named James. 314 00:15:03,583 --> 00:15:06,833 He was the pastor of the church at Jerusalem and he writes 315 00:15:06,875 --> 00:15:08,958 a book of the Bible bearing his name. 316 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:11,833 Today, we're in James 2:8-13, and we're looking at 317 00:15:11,917 --> 00:15:14,625 Jesus' love and your love. 318 00:15:14,667 --> 00:15:18,542 And what James is going to do is he is going to quote 319 00:15:18,625 --> 00:15:20,250 his brother Jesus 320 00:15:20,333 --> 00:15:23,250 who is also quoting the Old Testament Scriptures. 321 00:15:23,333 --> 00:15:26,958 So, here's what James has to say regarding love. 322 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:29,625 He is going to tell us that love is sacrificial. 323 00:15:29,667 --> 00:15:33,333 James 2:8, so our theme today is love. 324 00:15:33,417 --> 00:15:36,167 "If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, 325 00:15:36,208 --> 00:15:37,917 "'You shall love your neighbor as yourself,' 326 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:39,333 you are doing well." 327 00:15:39,375 --> 00:15:40,833 So, Jesus and James grew up 328 00:15:40,875 --> 00:15:42,833 studying the Old Testament together. 329 00:15:42,875 --> 00:15:46,625 Jesus studied it, understood it, knew it, taught it. 330 00:15:46,667 --> 00:15:49,958 James learned it, in large part, from his big brother Jesus. 331 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:52,333 Jesus, at this point, has died for our sin 332 00:15:52,417 --> 00:15:53,833 and he's risen from death. 333 00:15:53,917 --> 00:15:56,250 He's ascended and returned to heaven where he's ruling 334 00:15:56,333 --> 00:15:58,625 and reigning as King of kings, Lord of lords. 335 00:15:58,667 --> 00:16:01,583 And James says, "Let me pick up something that my brother taught 336 00:16:01,667 --> 00:16:06,083 that we tend to overlook, that love is sacrificial." 337 00:16:06,167 --> 00:16:10,250 And he says three things about love. 338 00:16:10,333 --> 00:16:13,958 He speaks of it in regards to Scripture, selflessness, 339 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:15,500 and sacrifice. 340 00:16:15,583 --> 00:16:17,458 So, let's look at those in succession. 341 00:16:17,500 --> 00:16:20,250 So he says, first of all, that love is really understood 342 00:16:20,333 --> 00:16:21,750 according to the Scriptures. 343 00:16:21,833 --> 00:16:23,708 This is important. 344 00:16:23,792 --> 00:16:28,125 There is no right understanding of love apart from 345 00:16:28,167 --> 00:16:30,458 the love of God, the God of love, 346 00:16:30,500 --> 00:16:34,833 which is only to be found in the word of God. 347 00:16:34,917 --> 00:16:38,208 Our world has no understanding of love. 348 00:16:38,292 --> 00:16:39,708 It doesn't. 349 00:16:39,792 --> 00:16:41,833 It just doesn't. 350 00:16:41,917 --> 00:16:44,458 To understand love, we don't begin with ourselves, 351 00:16:44,500 --> 00:16:47,167 we begin with the Scriptures. 352 00:16:47,208 --> 00:16:51,833 The Scriptures reveal to us who God is and how God loves. 353 00:16:51,917 --> 00:16:54,458 And I can't overstate this because there are two things 354 00:16:54,500 --> 00:16:58,333 that are customary for people in our culture. 355 00:16:58,417 --> 00:17:02,125 One is to live in a way that is autonomous, 356 00:17:02,167 --> 00:17:04,125 so under their own autonomy, 357 00:17:04,167 --> 00:17:07,417 and to think that all authority is to be found internally, 358 00:17:07,500 --> 00:17:10,208 meaning, "I'm an individual. 359 00:17:10,292 --> 00:17:11,625 "I'm an independent person. 360 00:17:11,667 --> 00:17:14,000 "I live my own life my own way. 361 00:17:14,083 --> 00:17:16,958 "And when it comes to what I think is right or wrong, 362 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:19,667 "loving or unloving, what should be done or not be done, 363 00:17:19,708 --> 00:17:22,000 "I don't go externally, I go internally. 364 00:17:22,083 --> 00:17:24,042 "What do I want? What do I think? 365 00:17:24,125 --> 00:17:26,333 "What do I need? How do I feel? 366 00:17:26,375 --> 00:17:27,958 "How do I see this? 367 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:32,042 What are my inclinations, my preferences, my proclivities." 368 00:17:32,125 --> 00:17:34,750 The Bible sets up an antithetical world view, 369 00:17:34,833 --> 00:17:39,333 that we don't live in a way that is autonomous or live 370 00:17:39,375 --> 00:17:43,167 autonomously, we live under God's sovereignty, 371 00:17:43,208 --> 00:17:45,542 that God rules over us. 372 00:17:45,625 --> 00:17:47,708 That's exactly what he is referring to, 373 00:17:47,792 --> 00:17:53,042 speaking of the royal law, that Jesus is a King; 374 00:17:53,125 --> 00:17:54,958 that today's he's seated on a throne; 375 00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:58,750 that he is high and exalted and he's ruling and reigning; 376 00:17:58,833 --> 00:18:01,875 that we don't live our life autonomously on our own, 377 00:18:01,958 --> 00:18:07,083 we live it under his sovereignty, OK; and that law, 378 00:18:07,167 --> 00:18:10,958 for us, is not to be found internally, but externally; 379 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:13,250 that it is to be found in the Scriptures. 380 00:18:13,333 --> 00:18:16,417 And so we live under the rule of King Jesus 381 00:18:16,500 --> 00:18:19,042 and we live under his royal law. 382 00:18:19,125 --> 00:18:21,750 Now in that day, the highest authority was the king. 383 00:18:21,833 --> 00:18:24,750 We live in a day when the rule of law is sovereign, 384 00:18:24,833 --> 00:18:26,958 but in that day, the king was sovereign. 385 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:28,333 The king was the law. 386 00:18:28,417 --> 00:18:31,042 If the king made a decree, you were bound to it, 387 00:18:31,125 --> 00:18:35,750 or judged by it, or punished for your failure to submit to it. 388 00:18:35,833 --> 00:18:38,417 So, if the king said something, that was it. 389 00:18:38,500 --> 00:18:39,833 There's no court of appeals. 390 00:18:39,875 --> 00:18:43,708 There's no process of due law, not at all. 391 00:18:43,792 --> 00:18:47,333 The king was the sovereign, the king made the laws. 392 00:18:47,417 --> 00:18:49,167 Jesus is King. 393 00:18:49,208 --> 00:18:50,917 Now, he's a good King. 394 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:53,125 That's a good thing, but he's King. 395 00:18:53,167 --> 00:18:56,625 And so he rules over us in sovereignty, 396 00:18:56,667 --> 00:19:01,333 and he has Scripture to be our authority. 397 00:19:01,375 --> 00:19:03,833 That's how we understand what the love of God is, 398 00:19:03,875 --> 00:19:07,083 is by living under his rule according to his word. 399 00:19:07,167 --> 00:19:12,708 Number two, he says that love is also something that is selfless. 400 00:19:12,792 --> 00:19:17,250 "You shall love your"--what's it say? 401 00:19:17,333 --> 00:19:20,542 "Neighbor." 402 00:19:20,625 --> 00:19:23,833 When we think of love, we think, "Yes, I've not been well-loved. 403 00:19:23,917 --> 00:19:25,458 "People haven't loved me, 404 00:19:25,500 --> 00:19:27,500 "or they loved me and stopped loving me, 405 00:19:27,583 --> 00:19:29,833 "or they loved me and then they abandoned me, 406 00:19:29,917 --> 00:19:32,000 "or they betrayed me, or they sinned against me, 407 00:19:32,083 --> 00:19:35,000 or they abused me, or they hurt me, or they failed me." 408 00:19:35,083 --> 00:19:38,000 And all of a sudden, what awakens in us when we think 409 00:19:38,083 --> 00:19:40,500 of love is all the ways we've not been loved, 410 00:19:40,583 --> 00:19:43,708 we don't tend to think of all the ways we've not been loving. 411 00:19:43,792 --> 00:19:46,708 We tend to think of all the people that have failed us 412 00:19:46,792 --> 00:19:48,708 and not all the people we have failed. 413 00:19:48,792 --> 00:19:52,125 We tend to think of all the love that we believe we should still 414 00:19:52,167 --> 00:19:54,125 have coming rather than all of the love 415 00:19:54,167 --> 00:19:55,833 that we should be giving. 416 00:19:55,875 --> 00:19:58,625 And this is a broad statement, 417 00:19:58,667 --> 00:20:02,750 but sometimes counseling in a therapeutic culture 418 00:20:02,833 --> 00:20:05,333 that has no understanding of King Jesus or 419 00:20:05,417 --> 00:20:10,042 the royal decree of God's word, it just feeds the problem. 420 00:20:10,125 --> 00:20:12,667 It's like serving drinks for an alcoholic. 421 00:20:12,708 --> 00:20:14,708 "I love myself. I always love myself. 422 00:20:14,792 --> 00:20:16,708 "I'm consumed with myself. I think about myself. 423 00:20:16,792 --> 00:20:18,708 "I want others to think about me more. 424 00:20:18,792 --> 00:20:20,917 "I want others to be more devoted to me. 425 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:23,125 "I want others to be more focused on me. 426 00:20:23,167 --> 00:20:25,333 "I want others to be more committed to me. 427 00:20:25,375 --> 00:20:30,333 I need more love." And you need more love like an alcoholic needs more drinks. 428 00:20:30,417 --> 00:20:35,958 That's the problem, not the solution, 429 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:39,333 that when we put ourselves as the center of the universe, 430 00:20:39,417 --> 00:20:42,125 and the object and the source of love, 431 00:20:42,167 --> 00:20:44,833 we're miserable because that's not who we are and that's not 432 00:20:44,917 --> 00:20:48,042 what we were created for. 433 00:20:48,125 --> 00:20:50,333 So, God here is doing something incredibly loving. 434 00:20:50,417 --> 00:20:51,750 He's saying, 435 00:20:51,833 --> 00:20:57,375 "Neighbor, neighbor, neighbor." 436 00:21:01,458 --> 00:21:03,875 Other people live on the earth. 437 00:21:03,958 --> 00:21:06,125 Other people are having a hard time. 438 00:21:06,167 --> 00:21:11,333 Other people are feeling lonely and hurting. 439 00:21:11,417 --> 00:21:15,125 God wants you to have his heart for others. 440 00:21:15,167 --> 00:21:17,833 This is profoundly, tremendously, 441 00:21:17,917 --> 00:21:20,208 deeply convicting if we're honest. 442 00:21:20,292 --> 00:21:22,167 All right, we wake up in the morning 443 00:21:22,208 --> 00:21:23,542 thinking about ourselves. 444 00:21:23,625 --> 00:21:25,333 We spend our day consumed by ourselves. 445 00:21:25,417 --> 00:21:27,708 We go to bed at night anxious regarding things 446 00:21:27,792 --> 00:21:30,833 that are only regarding us. 447 00:21:30,875 --> 00:21:33,750 And God said, "Let me put somebody else on the horizon: 448 00:21:33,833 --> 00:21:36,250 neighbor." 449 00:21:36,333 --> 00:21:39,250 In Jesus' day, they came to him and they said, 450 00:21:39,333 --> 00:21:40,667 "Who's our neighbor?" 451 00:21:40,708 --> 00:21:43,000 and they were trying to whittle the list down. 452 00:21:43,083 --> 00:21:45,458 Jesus said, "Anybody's your neighbor." 453 00:21:45,500 --> 00:21:47,000 I'm paraphrasing. 454 00:21:47,083 --> 00:21:49,667 Anybody's your neighbor. 455 00:21:49,708 --> 00:21:52,417 That love is sacrificial, and we see this in the Scriptures. 456 00:21:52,500 --> 00:21:55,167 It is secondly to be selfless. 457 00:21:55,208 --> 00:21:57,667 Does God love you? 458 00:21:57,708 --> 00:21:59,042 Yes. 459 00:21:59,125 --> 00:22:01,500 Am I saying you should hate yourself? 460 00:22:01,583 --> 00:22:05,333 No, but I'm saying since you already do love yourself, 461 00:22:05,375 --> 00:22:09,458 you can check that off your bucket list 462 00:22:09,500 --> 00:22:13,250 and go find somebody else to love. 463 00:22:13,333 --> 00:22:17,958 The Bible assumes that we do love ourself 464 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:20,417 and the Bible assumes 465 00:22:20,500 --> 00:22:23,458 that we often fail to love others. 466 00:22:23,500 --> 00:22:27,042 And thirdly, sacrifice, as yourself. 467 00:22:27,125 --> 00:22:28,542 Think about that. 468 00:22:28,625 --> 00:22:31,417 What have you done for yourself recently? 469 00:22:31,500 --> 00:22:33,250 Have you spoiled yourself? 470 00:22:33,333 --> 00:22:34,750 Have you encouraged yourself? 471 00:22:34,833 --> 00:22:36,167 Have you provided for yourself? 472 00:22:36,208 --> 00:22:37,667 Have you fed yourself? 473 00:22:37,708 --> 00:22:40,167 Have you done anything nice for yourself? 474 00:22:40,208 --> 00:22:41,542 You did. 475 00:22:41,625 --> 00:22:42,958 You have clothes on. 476 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:44,333 You did something. 477 00:22:44,417 --> 00:22:46,542 Thank you, right? 478 00:22:46,625 --> 00:22:49,458 The Bible gets really practical and says, 479 00:22:49,500 --> 00:22:53,542 "Do for others as you do for yourself." 480 00:22:53,625 --> 00:22:55,042 You feed yourself, feed somebody else. 481 00:22:55,125 --> 00:22:56,750 You clothe yourself, clothe somebody else. 482 00:22:56,833 --> 00:22:58,750 You pray for yourself, pray for somebody else. 483 00:22:58,833 --> 00:23:00,500 You help yourself, help somebody else. 484 00:23:00,583 --> 00:23:03,500 It doesn't say hate yourself, it doesn't say destroy yourself. 485 00:23:03,583 --> 00:23:06,333 It just says add other people to the list of people 486 00:23:06,375 --> 00:23:10,833 who get treated the way you treat yourself. 487 00:23:10,917 --> 00:23:14,167 Anyone feeling convicted? 488 00:23:14,208 --> 00:23:18,333 I am. 489 00:23:18,375 --> 00:23:22,708 And this is God's love because the way we've been living's 490 00:23:22,792 --> 00:23:28,833 not working, and so God is going to teach us how he loves, 491 00:23:28,917 --> 00:23:33,167 and he's going to invite us to love with the love that he has. 492 00:23:33,208 --> 00:23:38,250 And I love the fact that he calls this the royal law. 493 00:23:38,333 --> 00:23:42,333 And he says we can fulfill the royal law. 494 00:23:42,375 --> 00:23:47,458 That language, "fulfill," is very important. 495 00:23:47,500 --> 00:23:49,833 You'll do yourself a great disservice as you study 496 00:23:49,917 --> 00:23:54,167 the book of James if you don't begin with Jesus. 497 00:23:54,208 --> 00:23:56,917 You can't just start in James. 498 00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:00,333 James' big brother is Jesus. 499 00:24:00,375 --> 00:24:03,333 He heard him teach, he saw him die, he saw him rise. 500 00:24:03,375 --> 00:24:05,833 James learned from Jesus. 501 00:24:05,875 --> 00:24:08,500 And what he's dealing with is a bunch of religious people 502 00:24:08,583 --> 00:24:11,000 that have been in church for quite a long time, 503 00:24:11,083 --> 00:24:13,208 and they know a lot of the Old Testament, 504 00:24:13,292 --> 00:24:14,708 and most of them are Jewish, 505 00:24:14,792 --> 00:24:16,917 and they grew up reading all of the Scriptures, 506 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:18,542 and they know them very well. 507 00:24:18,625 --> 00:24:20,750 And they've heard all of Jesus' teaching, 508 00:24:20,833 --> 00:24:23,750 and they know what Jesus said, and they know what Jesus did, 509 00:24:23,833 --> 00:24:26,625 but they're not acting, they're not obeying. 510 00:24:26,667 --> 00:24:29,333 For them, it's become information, not transformation. 511 00:24:29,417 --> 00:24:31,667 For them, they have studied to pass a test, 512 00:24:31,708 --> 00:24:34,042 not to live a life. 513 00:24:34,125 --> 00:24:37,000 And so James is pressing them toward the practical application 514 00:24:37,083 --> 00:24:40,458 of the theological instruction. 515 00:24:40,500 --> 00:24:44,833 But you can hear in James the echo of Jesus, 516 00:24:44,875 --> 00:24:48,333 and you do so right here. 517 00:24:48,375 --> 00:24:54,833 James 2 is going to echo a lot of Jesus' words in Matthew 5. 518 00:24:54,917 --> 00:24:57,333 One of them we find here. 519 00:24:57,417 --> 00:24:59,708 "If you really fulfill the royal law." 520 00:24:59,792 --> 00:25:02,833 Fulfilling the law, well, that's what Jesus said he came to do. 521 00:25:02,875 --> 00:25:06,000 He said in Matthew 5:17-18, "Do not think I have come to abolish 522 00:25:06,083 --> 00:25:08,000 the Law and the Prophets," the Old Testament, 523 00:25:08,083 --> 00:25:12,167 "I've come to fulfill them." 524 00:25:12,208 --> 00:25:15,125 Jesus is saying, "The whole Bible's about me and I'm here 525 00:25:15,167 --> 00:25:19,042 to fulfill everything that was prophesied and promised." 526 00:25:19,125 --> 00:25:22,333 Jesus comes--so here's what's amazing. 527 00:25:22,417 --> 00:25:26,750 The King gets off his throne, and he comes down, 528 00:25:26,833 --> 00:25:30,250 and he lives under his own law. 529 00:25:30,333 --> 00:25:32,625 You know what kings didn't do in that day? 530 00:25:32,667 --> 00:25:34,000 Live by their own law. 531 00:25:34,083 --> 00:25:36,958 How many of you don't live by your own law? 532 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:39,208 Let's just be honest. 533 00:25:39,292 --> 00:25:41,542 Some of you say, "Yeah, people should be generous." 534 00:25:41,625 --> 00:25:43,167 OK, show me your bank statement. 535 00:25:43,208 --> 00:25:45,333 "Oh hey, come on, that's personal." 536 00:25:45,417 --> 00:25:46,750 Well, no, that's hypocritical. 537 00:25:46,833 --> 00:25:48,708 That's why I wanted to see it. 538 00:25:48,792 --> 00:25:50,208 "Well, people should love each other." 539 00:25:50,292 --> 00:25:52,958 OK, let me bring in all your enemies, everybody you've hurt, 540 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:55,833 everybody that's grieved by you, and frustrated by you, 541 00:25:55,917 --> 00:25:57,750 and let's let them testify. 542 00:25:57,833 --> 00:26:00,667 "Well, come on, man, that's not loving." 543 00:26:00,750 --> 00:26:04,208 Right? 544 00:26:04,292 --> 00:26:07,333 We make laws, we judge others by our laws, 545 00:26:07,375 --> 00:26:10,167 and we don't live by our own laws. 546 00:26:10,208 --> 00:26:12,250 Jesus does. 547 00:26:12,333 --> 00:26:14,250 He gives us the royal law. 548 00:26:14,333 --> 00:26:16,750 And the king didn't have to abide by the law, 549 00:26:16,833 --> 00:26:19,250 I already told you, because the king was the law. 550 00:26:19,333 --> 00:26:22,000 So, if you made a law, and you broke the law, 551 00:26:22,083 --> 00:26:23,417 who's going to arrest you? 552 00:26:23,500 --> 00:26:25,917 You're the king, and you could just change the law. 553 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:30,958 All the king's laws were in pencil. 554 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:33,458 Jesus gives us his royal law in the Scriptures, 555 00:26:33,500 --> 00:26:35,542 and then the king gets off his throne, 556 00:26:35,625 --> 00:26:39,958 enters into human history, and lives by his own laws. 557 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:43,250 Boy, there's no king like that. 558 00:26:43,333 --> 00:26:48,542 And he lives in such a way to fulfill the royal law. 559 00:26:48,625 --> 00:26:50,042 That's why he said he came. 560 00:26:50,125 --> 00:26:51,458 Here's what this means: 561 00:26:51,500 --> 00:26:53,250 Jesus never sinned. 562 00:26:53,333 --> 00:26:56,833 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart"--check. 563 00:26:56,917 --> 00:26:59,708 "Soul"--check. 564 00:26:59,792 --> 00:27:02,500 "Mind"--check. 565 00:27:02,583 --> 00:27:09,167 Internal, external, continual. 566 00:27:09,208 --> 00:27:14,208 Perfect, sinless. 567 00:27:16,833 --> 00:27:23,542 And Jesus did that for us. 568 00:27:23,625 --> 00:27:29,750 So then, Jesus fulfills the law for us, 569 00:27:29,833 --> 00:27:35,625 and he does a work in us 570 00:27:37,375 --> 00:27:42,250 so that we now love the royal law, and we love the King, 571 00:27:42,333 --> 00:27:46,167 and we want to obey the King, and we want to serve the King, 572 00:27:46,208 --> 00:27:49,125 and we want to become more like the King. 573 00:27:49,167 --> 00:27:53,417 So, that the royal law is fulfilled for us in Jesus, 574 00:27:53,500 --> 00:27:56,250 it's fulfilled in us through Jesus, 575 00:27:56,333 --> 00:28:02,208 and it's fulfilled through us by Jesus so that our desires 576 00:28:02,292 --> 00:28:04,000 start to change. 577 00:28:04,083 --> 00:28:06,500 One of the ways you know you've become a Christian 578 00:28:06,583 --> 00:28:08,000 is your desires start to change. 579 00:28:08,083 --> 00:28:10,542 You're like, "I want to live under Jesus' rule, 580 00:28:10,625 --> 00:28:11,958 "not apart from it. 581 00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:14,167 "I want to live in obedience to the Scriptures, 582 00:28:14,208 --> 00:28:15,958 "not in disobedience to them. 583 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:18,000 "I want to become more like Jesus 584 00:28:18,083 --> 00:28:23,500 and less like who I am apart from him." 585 00:28:23,583 --> 00:28:26,167 And then, as the royal law starts to be fulfilled 586 00:28:26,208 --> 00:28:30,208 through us, we start loving God, we start loving people. 587 00:28:30,292 --> 00:28:33,833 It shows up in intensely practical ways like friendship, 588 00:28:33,917 --> 00:28:37,042 and generosity, and gift-giving, and encouragement, 589 00:28:37,125 --> 00:28:43,167 and forbearance, and patience, and endurance because that's 590 00:28:43,208 --> 00:28:48,542 what our King is like, and he wants us to be like him. 591 00:28:48,625 --> 00:28:52,708 And if we belong to him, we want to be more like him. 592 00:28:55,917 --> 00:28:59,833 He goes on, then, to say that in addition to love being biblical 593 00:28:59,917 --> 00:29:04,583 and sacrificial, love is also merciful. 594 00:29:04,667 --> 00:29:10,042 But, we're talking about love. 595 00:29:10,125 --> 00:29:15,125 But, something can really get in the way of love. 596 00:29:15,167 --> 00:29:17,958 He calls it partiality. 597 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:20,833 "But if you show partiality, you are committing sin." 598 00:29:20,917 --> 00:29:24,042 You're disobeying the royal law. 599 00:29:24,125 --> 00:29:28,750 "And are convicted by the law as transgressors." 600 00:29:28,833 --> 00:29:30,708 You're going to hear a lot of language. 601 00:29:30,792 --> 00:29:33,958 James here turns up the thermostat in the text. 602 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:39,583 Law, sin, transgressors, guilty. 603 00:29:42,208 --> 00:29:46,333 "For whoever keeps the whole law 604 00:29:46,417 --> 00:29:50,917 "but fails in one point 605 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:52,667 has become accountable for it all." 606 00:29:52,708 --> 00:29:54,667 Let's unpack that, OK? 607 00:29:54,708 --> 00:29:56,333 If you're not feeling bad yet, 608 00:29:56,417 --> 00:29:59,125 I'll fix that in just a moment, OK? 609 00:29:59,167 --> 00:30:04,750 My daughter is getting ready to take the SAT. 610 00:30:04,833 --> 00:30:10,042 Imagine if she took the SAT and got one question wrong, 611 00:30:10,125 --> 00:30:14,667 and they gave her a zero. 612 00:30:14,708 --> 00:30:17,500 God's law is like that. 613 00:30:17,583 --> 00:30:21,250 God's law is not on a curve. 614 00:30:21,333 --> 00:30:26,458 Some of us tend to think that God's law is on a curve. 615 00:30:26,500 --> 00:30:29,958 "I did 60% of the stuff. 616 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:34,000 "C's graduate, I'm going to heaven," right? 617 00:30:34,083 --> 00:30:38,250 "C's graduate, I'm going to heaven." 618 00:30:38,333 --> 00:30:42,167 God's law is not like that. 619 00:30:42,208 --> 00:30:49,208 God's law is all or nothing, OK? 620 00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:57,167 He's going to talk here about murder and adultery. 621 00:30:57,208 --> 00:31:03,708 Let me say this: murder and adultery, all or nothing. 622 00:31:03,792 --> 00:31:05,500 Did you murder them? 623 00:31:05,583 --> 00:31:09,708 "Oh, a little bit." 624 00:31:09,792 --> 00:31:12,833 No, you did or you didn't. 625 00:31:12,917 --> 00:31:18,833 There's not, like, a 60% murder, right? 626 00:31:18,917 --> 00:31:20,250 Adultery. 627 00:31:20,333 --> 00:31:22,542 Did you commit adultery? 628 00:31:22,625 --> 00:31:28,333 "Only 72%," or, "Only 28%." 629 00:31:28,417 --> 00:31:31,125 No, it's all or nothing. 630 00:31:31,167 --> 00:31:32,708 And here--let me get you, OK? 631 00:31:32,792 --> 00:31:36,333 Because some of you, you're like little attorneys for the devil, 632 00:31:36,417 --> 00:31:37,750 OK? 633 00:31:37,833 --> 00:31:39,333 You're like that. 634 00:31:39,417 --> 00:31:41,333 And immediately, you'll be building a case, right? 635 00:31:41,417 --> 00:31:43,000 "Well, hey, I'm not totally guilty. 636 00:31:43,083 --> 00:31:46,667 I'm partially--" Guilty. 637 00:31:46,708 --> 00:31:49,458 Guilty. 638 00:31:49,500 --> 00:31:53,833 And you know it when someone sins against you, 639 00:31:53,917 --> 00:31:59,208 and you fight it when you sin against them, OK? 640 00:31:59,292 --> 00:32:01,625 So, let's say you murdered somebody. 641 00:32:01,667 --> 00:32:05,500 You would want them to be--you would not want to be convicted 642 00:32:05,583 --> 00:32:08,208 because you would want to be exonerated. 643 00:32:08,292 --> 00:32:11,458 But let's say somebody murdered someone that you loved. 644 00:32:11,500 --> 00:32:14,458 You would want them to be convicted and not exonerated. 645 00:32:14,500 --> 00:32:17,417 You would say, "No, no, no, it's murder" or "It's not murder." 646 00:32:17,500 --> 00:32:20,833 There's not degrees or variations in the middle." 647 00:32:20,917 --> 00:32:23,667 See, the guilty people always want to negotiate. 648 00:32:23,708 --> 00:32:26,542 Those who've been sinned against want justice. 649 00:32:26,625 --> 00:32:28,250 How about adultery? 650 00:32:28,333 --> 00:32:30,250 I shouldn't say this-- maybe we'll edit it-- 651 00:32:30,333 --> 00:32:33,042 but let's say you're married, you walk in on your spouse, 652 00:32:33,125 --> 00:32:34,458 they're with somebody else. 653 00:32:34,500 --> 00:32:37,833 And they look at you, they're like, "It's only 27% adultery." 654 00:32:37,917 --> 00:32:40,000 Will that help? 655 00:32:40,083 --> 00:32:41,458 You would say, "No." 656 00:32:41,500 --> 00:32:47,250 We have two categories, adultery and non-adultery, 657 00:32:47,333 --> 00:32:52,833 betrayal, non-betrayal. 658 00:32:52,917 --> 00:32:56,417 God's law is like that. 659 00:32:58,500 --> 00:33:01,417 God's law is like that. 660 00:33:01,500 --> 00:33:03,208 It's all or nothing. 661 00:33:03,292 --> 00:33:05,208 Some of you, what we like to do, 662 00:33:05,292 --> 00:33:08,208 we like to pick parts of the law that we're good at 663 00:33:08,292 --> 00:33:09,625 and emphasize those, 664 00:33:09,667 --> 00:33:12,125 and parts of the law that we're not good at 665 00:33:12,167 --> 00:33:14,625 and to ignore those or to say, "You know what? 666 00:33:14,667 --> 00:33:16,833 "I was a good person and a bad person, 667 00:33:16,875 --> 00:33:18,833 "but it's OK because it works itself out. 668 00:33:18,875 --> 00:33:20,208 You know, karma." 669 00:33:20,292 --> 00:33:22,917 Not in the Bible, right? 670 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:26,542 Or, "I'll have my good deeds outweigh my bad deeds." 671 00:33:26,625 --> 00:33:27,958 No. 672 00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:29,458 "Well, I'll die and reincarnate, 673 00:33:29,500 --> 00:33:31,458 and then I'll pay off my bad deeds." 674 00:33:31,500 --> 00:33:33,042 No. 675 00:33:33,125 --> 00:33:37,917 Two categories: perfect, imperfect. 676 00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:39,417 Jesus says it this way-- 677 00:33:39,500 --> 00:33:41,167 we'll mine again back in Matthew 5, 678 00:33:41,208 --> 00:33:42,542 I think it's Matthew 5:48-- 679 00:33:42,625 --> 00:33:45,042 Jesus says, "Be 'blank' as your heavenly father is 'blank.'" 680 00:33:45,125 --> 00:33:46,667 What's the blank? 681 00:33:46,708 --> 00:33:48,333 Perfect. 682 00:33:48,417 --> 00:33:50,333 You hear people say all the time, 683 00:33:50,417 --> 00:33:54,500 "I'm a pretty good person." 684 00:33:54,583 --> 00:33:57,542 Don't change the subject. 685 00:33:57,625 --> 00:33:59,833 We're not talking about good people, 686 00:33:59,875 --> 00:34:02,500 we're talking about perfect people, 687 00:34:02,583 --> 00:34:07,000 and guilty people change the subject. 688 00:34:07,083 --> 00:34:09,333 "I'm a good person." 689 00:34:09,417 --> 00:34:11,542 And then we compare ourselves to someone else, 690 00:34:11,625 --> 00:34:15,250 usually someone we find more pathetic, right? 691 00:34:15,333 --> 00:34:17,542 Some of you, that's how you got your friends. 692 00:34:17,625 --> 00:34:20,542 I hate to tell you, friends who were brought to church today, 693 00:34:20,625 --> 00:34:22,333 but that's why you're here, OK? 694 00:34:22,375 --> 00:34:24,208 Your friend was looking for a person 695 00:34:24,292 --> 00:34:25,625 more pathetic than them 696 00:34:25,667 --> 00:34:29,625 so they could look good in comparison, all right? 697 00:34:29,667 --> 00:34:31,000 "You're sure mean." 698 00:34:31,083 --> 00:34:32,417 "Not like Tom. 699 00:34:32,500 --> 00:34:34,417 "Let me tell you what Tom did. 700 00:34:34,500 --> 00:34:36,333 Thanks for being here, Tom," right? 701 00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:43,500 We're not supposed to compare ourselves to people; 702 00:34:43,583 --> 00:34:46,042 we're supposed to compare ourselves to one person-- 703 00:34:46,125 --> 00:34:51,250 Jesus Christ, the only one who's fulfilled the royal law. 704 00:34:51,333 --> 00:34:54,250 And as we do, we realize it's not about good people 705 00:34:54,333 --> 00:34:55,667 and bad people. 706 00:34:55,708 --> 00:34:57,708 There's two categories in all of human history: 707 00:34:57,792 --> 00:35:03,917 sinners and Jesus. 708 00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:09,125 And as we compare ourselves to Jesus, we see our sin. 709 00:35:09,167 --> 00:35:10,500 He's loving; I'm not loving. 710 00:35:10,583 --> 00:35:11,917 He's generous; I'm not generous. 711 00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:13,333 He's patient; I'm not patient. 712 00:35:13,375 --> 00:35:15,500 He tells the truth; I don't tell the truth. 713 00:35:15,583 --> 00:35:17,000 He loves people; I use people. 714 00:35:17,083 --> 00:35:19,000 He serves people; I take advantage of people. 715 00:35:19,083 --> 00:35:22,458 Yeah, I'm not like Jesus. 716 00:35:22,500 --> 00:35:25,042 Friends, you're a sinner. 717 00:35:25,125 --> 00:35:27,000 Me, too. 718 00:35:27,083 --> 00:35:29,833 There's only one person in the perfect category. 719 00:35:29,917 --> 00:35:35,833 There's only one guy who never said, "Hey, I'm not perfect." 720 00:35:35,917 --> 00:35:38,833 Jesus couldn't have said that. 721 00:35:38,917 --> 00:35:40,500 In fact, he said the opposite. 722 00:35:40,583 --> 00:35:43,708 Looking at a crowd, he said, "Which one of you can point out 723 00:35:43,792 --> 00:35:46,500 any sin in my whole life?" 724 00:35:51,833 --> 00:35:54,333 He continues. 725 00:35:54,375 --> 00:36:00,500 In the next section here, James says this, "But." 726 00:36:00,583 --> 00:36:04,125 Let's read it and jump forward. 727 00:36:04,167 --> 00:36:06,833 "If you show partiality, and are committing sin and are convicted 728 00:36:06,875 --> 00:36:08,375 "by the law as transgressors. 729 00:36:08,458 --> 00:36:11,042 "For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point 730 00:36:11,125 --> 00:36:12,750 "has become accountable for all of it. 731 00:36:12,833 --> 00:36:14,833 "For he who said, 'Do not commit adultery,' 732 00:36:14,917 --> 00:36:17,542 "also said, 'Do not murder.' 733 00:36:17,625 --> 00:36:21,042 If"--you got a decision to make, friend-- 734 00:36:21,125 --> 00:36:23,125 "you do not commit adultery but murder, 735 00:36:23,167 --> 00:36:25,167 you have become a transgressor of the law." 736 00:36:25,208 --> 00:36:29,167 You do one thing wrong, you make one mistake, 737 00:36:29,208 --> 00:36:30,833 you commit one sin, 738 00:36:30,875 --> 00:36:32,667 you violate one Scripture, 739 00:36:32,708 --> 00:36:35,417 the Scripture you don't even know. 740 00:36:35,500 --> 00:36:39,542 That's how the law works, right? 741 00:36:39,625 --> 00:36:42,000 You can't commit murder, show up in court, and say, 742 00:36:42,083 --> 00:36:44,125 "I didn't know that law." 743 00:36:44,167 --> 00:36:46,833 Still guilty. 744 00:36:46,917 --> 00:36:49,542 "So speak and act"--that's where our sin comes in, 745 00:36:49,625 --> 00:36:52,167 and what we say, and what we do-- 746 00:36:52,208 --> 00:36:53,917 "as those who are to be judged 747 00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:55,333 under the law of liberty." 748 00:36:55,375 --> 00:36:57,833 Some of you believers are like, "I won't be judged. 749 00:36:57,875 --> 00:36:59,208 "I'm a believer. 750 00:36:59,292 --> 00:37:00,792 I'm not going to be judged." 751 00:37:00,833 --> 00:37:03,167 You won't be condemned, but you will be judged. 752 00:37:03,250 --> 00:37:05,375 Everyone will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 753 00:37:05,458 --> 00:37:07,500 This is really clear in Revelation, at the end, 754 00:37:07,583 --> 00:37:10,042 that we'll all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, 755 00:37:10,125 --> 00:37:11,542 and our lives will be judged. 756 00:37:11,625 --> 00:37:14,708 And we'll be judged not for our salvation or damnation, 757 00:37:14,792 --> 00:37:17,833 but for our rewards in eternity. 758 00:37:17,917 --> 00:37:19,333 Your life matters. 759 00:37:19,417 --> 00:37:21,542 It really does count. 760 00:37:21,625 --> 00:37:25,333 Everything you're doing will be judged. 761 00:37:25,417 --> 00:37:30,750 "For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. 762 00:37:30,833 --> 00:37:34,292 Mercy triumphs over judgment." 763 00:37:37,833 --> 00:37:40,958 God is perfect. 764 00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:42,958 Heaven is perfect. 765 00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:47,167 God's royal law is perfect, and it perfectly condemns, 766 00:37:47,208 --> 00:37:53,333 judges everyone as a transgressor, as a rebel, 767 00:37:53,417 --> 00:37:57,542 as a law-breaker. 768 00:37:57,625 --> 00:38:04,083 He has transitioned from love to justice. 769 00:38:06,583 --> 00:38:09,333 You've all been lied to. 770 00:38:09,417 --> 00:38:11,250 All religions don't save. 771 00:38:11,333 --> 00:38:13,542 God doesn't love everyone forever. 772 00:38:13,625 --> 00:38:16,042 You don't just die and go to a better place. 773 00:38:16,125 --> 00:38:18,042 Some people die, and they go to hell, 774 00:38:18,125 --> 00:38:21,333 and they live eternally under the conscious eternal torment 775 00:38:21,375 --> 00:38:23,833 of the wrath of God. 776 00:38:23,875 --> 00:38:26,042 The wrath of God, friends, the wrath of God-- 777 00:38:26,125 --> 00:38:27,958 hear me in this-- 778 00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:32,458 it is mentioned in the Bible more often than the love of God. 779 00:38:32,500 --> 00:38:34,833 More often than the love of God. 780 00:38:34,917 --> 00:38:37,250 The Bible does say that God is love, 781 00:38:37,333 --> 00:38:39,958 but more often than the love of God is mentioned 782 00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:41,625 the holiness of God. 783 00:38:41,667 --> 00:38:46,542 The most common attribute of God mentioned in the whole Bible. 784 00:38:46,625 --> 00:38:48,167 The bedrock of it all. 785 00:38:48,208 --> 00:38:51,750 God is holy, God is good, God is right, 786 00:38:51,833 --> 00:38:57,125 God is altogether only and always without sin. 787 00:38:57,167 --> 00:39:02,333 Clean, and pure, and undefiled, and uncompromised. 788 00:39:02,375 --> 00:39:04,417 You've all been lied to. 789 00:39:04,500 --> 00:39:07,583 Not all gods are the same, not all religions are the same, 790 00:39:07,667 --> 00:39:09,500 not all saviors save, 791 00:39:09,583 --> 00:39:13,958 and there's not one good person among us. 792 00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:18,667 We're all guilty under the law of our good King. 793 00:39:18,708 --> 00:39:21,042 And the Bible speaks of the wrath of God 794 00:39:21,125 --> 00:39:25,708 with some 20 words on some 600 occasions. 795 00:39:25,792 --> 00:39:27,833 Some of you say, "Not Jesus. He's very loving." 796 00:39:27,917 --> 00:39:33,458 Jesus talks about hell more than anyone in the whole Bible. 797 00:39:33,500 --> 00:39:35,500 Jesus rules over hell. 798 00:39:35,583 --> 00:39:37,625 Jesus decides who goes to hell. 799 00:39:37,667 --> 00:39:40,542 Jesus decides what the sentence is in hell. 800 00:39:40,625 --> 00:39:42,167 You will live forever. 801 00:39:42,208 --> 00:39:44,542 The only difference is where. 802 00:39:44,625 --> 00:39:47,208 And you can't look at someone who's in line behind you 803 00:39:47,292 --> 00:39:48,708 and say, "I'm better than them." 804 00:39:48,792 --> 00:39:52,833 All that means is they will burn a little hotter than you, 805 00:39:52,917 --> 00:39:56,167 but you'll both burn together forever. 806 00:39:56,208 --> 00:39:59,917 The Bible says that hell was built for Satan and demons, 807 00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:02,917 but there's room for you too. 808 00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:06,250 And many of you are living in the path of the wrath of God, 809 00:40:06,333 --> 00:40:09,542 and you're living under therapeutic, moralistic, 810 00:40:09,625 --> 00:40:15,458 spiritual nonsense, like, "I just need to love myself." 811 00:40:15,500 --> 00:40:17,667 That's insanity. 812 00:40:17,708 --> 00:40:20,167 Who are you? 813 00:40:20,208 --> 00:40:21,833 You don't sit on a throne. 814 00:40:21,917 --> 00:40:23,250 You're not a royal king. 815 00:40:23,333 --> 00:40:24,667 You're not the law. 816 00:40:24,708 --> 00:40:26,042 You're not the judge. 817 00:40:26,125 --> 00:40:27,458 You're not the executioner. 818 00:40:27,500 --> 00:40:29,125 You're a guilty transgressor. 819 00:40:29,167 --> 00:40:32,833 That's what you are. 820 00:40:32,875 --> 00:40:34,750 Stop believing the nonsense-- 821 00:40:34,833 --> 00:40:38,458 "I'm a good person with a good heart who's lived a good life"-- 822 00:40:38,500 --> 00:40:41,500 because that's a damnable lie. 823 00:40:41,583 --> 00:40:44,583 It's a damnable lie. 824 00:40:46,792 --> 00:40:51,625 You cannot save yourself. 825 00:40:51,667 --> 00:40:54,250 You cannot change yourself. 826 00:40:54,333 --> 00:40:57,958 You cannot vindicate yourself. 827 00:40:58,000 --> 00:40:59,750 You're in danger, friend. 828 00:40:59,833 --> 00:41:02,333 You're in dire danger. 829 00:41:02,375 --> 00:41:05,292 Some of you are living with a gun at your head, 830 00:41:05,333 --> 00:41:07,833 waiting for the day when the trigger is pulled, 831 00:41:07,875 --> 00:41:11,750 and it's nothing but what Jesus calls grinding of teeth 832 00:41:11,833 --> 00:41:15,125 forever in torment. 833 00:41:15,167 --> 00:41:16,833 It's my job to tell the truth; 834 00:41:16,917 --> 00:41:19,917 it's your job to make a decision. 835 00:41:23,208 --> 00:41:26,500 And then he uses another word, 836 00:41:31,500 --> 00:41:35,500 "mercy." 837 00:41:38,417 --> 00:41:40,625 God loves us. 838 00:41:41,500 --> 00:41:48,333 We're damnable and in grave danger. 839 00:41:48,417 --> 00:41:52,000 And because he loves us, 840 00:41:52,083 --> 00:41:56,167 he gives mercy. 841 00:41:56,208 --> 00:41:59,667 How many of you, as I was screaming at you, 842 00:41:59,708 --> 00:42:06,167 you were hoping there was a remedy for your condition, 843 00:42:06,250 --> 00:42:10,833 a hope for your salvation? 844 00:42:10,875 --> 00:42:13,750 How many of you were hoping I didn't just end the sermon 845 00:42:13,833 --> 00:42:16,833 there and walk away? 846 00:42:16,917 --> 00:42:18,833 Now that we've stacked up all the kindling, 847 00:42:18,917 --> 00:42:24,792 my job is done, and you're the kindling. 848 00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:31,125 Mercy. 849 00:42:31,167 --> 00:42:37,708 Mercy is where you deserve something and you don't get it. 850 00:42:37,792 --> 00:42:43,708 You get something wonderful instead of something awful. 851 00:42:48,000 --> 00:42:51,542 Every time the Bible speaks of God's love, 852 00:42:51,625 --> 00:42:56,208 it's pointing to Jesus' cross. 853 00:43:02,167 --> 00:43:04,792 James knew this. 854 00:43:04,833 --> 00:43:07,583 He watched his brother get crucified, 855 00:43:07,667 --> 00:43:11,458 and then after Jesus rose from the dead, 856 00:43:11,500 --> 00:43:16,458 he would have explained to James why he died 857 00:43:16,500 --> 00:43:21,833 so that God could still be a good King 858 00:43:21,917 --> 00:43:24,167 with a royal law 859 00:43:24,208 --> 00:43:30,750 and love guilty transgressors 860 00:43:30,833 --> 00:43:35,250 without losing his holiness or his love. 861 00:43:35,333 --> 00:43:39,042 And so the holiness of God and the love of God, 862 00:43:39,125 --> 00:43:45,167 they intersect at the cross of Jesus, and he calls that mercy. 863 00:43:47,125 --> 00:43:52,833 That's where they kiss. 864 00:43:52,875 --> 00:43:55,042 And so there's no understanding of love, 865 00:43:55,125 --> 00:43:56,625 there's no demonstration of love, 866 00:43:56,667 --> 00:44:00,792 there's no reception of love apart from the cross of Jesus. 867 00:44:00,833 --> 00:44:03,667 I'll prove it to you. 868 00:44:03,750 --> 00:44:09,625 Romans 5:8, "God shows his love." 869 00:44:09,667 --> 00:44:12,042 Love has to be shown. 870 00:44:12,125 --> 00:44:14,333 "God shows his love for us 871 00:44:14,417 --> 00:44:18,917 in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." 872 00:44:19,000 --> 00:44:21,917 If you wonder, "Where's love? 873 00:44:22,000 --> 00:44:23,417 "What does love look like? 874 00:44:23,500 --> 00:44:24,833 What does love do?" 875 00:44:24,875 --> 00:44:27,125 close your eyes and think of the King, 876 00:44:27,167 --> 00:44:28,500 getting off his throne, 877 00:44:28,583 --> 00:44:31,333 coming down to obey his own royal law, 878 00:44:31,375 --> 00:44:34,958 and to go to the cross, and to suffer and to die in the place 879 00:44:35,000 --> 00:44:39,000 of his enemies to make them his friends. 880 00:44:39,083 --> 00:44:42,000 Think of Jesus with his arms stretched out, 881 00:44:42,083 --> 00:44:48,458 inviting you to embrace him 882 00:44:48,500 --> 00:44:51,458 like a husband welcomes his wife, 883 00:44:51,500 --> 00:44:55,417 like a father welcomes his children. 884 00:44:55,500 --> 00:45:00,125 1 John 3:16, "By this we know love." 885 00:45:00,167 --> 00:45:03,333 And let me say, apart from this, we don't know love. 886 00:45:03,375 --> 00:45:06,500 The Valentine's nonsense, the sentimental greeting cards, 887 00:45:06,583 --> 00:45:10,833 the inanity and insanity that poses itself as love. 888 00:45:10,917 --> 00:45:12,333 "Why did you commit adultery?" 889 00:45:12,417 --> 00:45:14,458 "Well, I fell out of love with them, 890 00:45:14,500 --> 00:45:16,167 and I fell in love with them." 891 00:45:16,208 --> 00:45:20,667 Gibberish, nonsense, folly. 892 00:45:20,708 --> 00:45:25,167 "By this we know love." 893 00:45:25,208 --> 00:45:26,958 We don't start internal; we start external. 894 00:45:27,000 --> 00:45:29,250 We don't start with ourselves; we start with God. 895 00:45:29,333 --> 00:45:31,667 "That he laid down his life for us, 896 00:45:31,708 --> 00:45:34,958 and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers." 897 00:45:35,000 --> 00:45:38,125 1 John 4:9-10, 898 00:45:38,167 --> 00:45:40,750 "In this the love of God was made manifest 899 00:45:40,833 --> 00:45:42,333 among us." 900 00:45:42,375 --> 00:45:45,333 God send us his written Word. 901 00:45:45,417 --> 00:45:47,917 He also sends us his Son as the living Word 902 00:45:48,000 --> 00:45:50,417 so that we can hear about the love of God, 903 00:45:50,500 --> 00:45:53,458 but we could also see the love of God. 904 00:45:53,500 --> 00:45:56,000 That "God sent his only Son into the world, 905 00:45:56,083 --> 00:45:57,667 "that we might live through him. 906 00:45:57,708 --> 00:46:01,625 In this is love, not that we've loved God." 907 00:46:01,667 --> 00:46:03,000 It doesn't begin with you. 908 00:46:03,083 --> 00:46:05,500 It doesn't begin with me. It doesn't begin with us. 909 00:46:05,542 --> 00:46:06,917 We're not seeking God. 910 00:46:07,000 --> 00:46:08,500 We're not looking for God. 911 00:46:08,583 --> 00:46:10,042 We're not longing for God. 912 00:46:10,125 --> 00:46:12,667 There's not a God-shaped hole in each of us 913 00:46:12,708 --> 00:46:14,333 just waiting to be filled. 914 00:46:14,417 --> 00:46:16,417 Not true. 915 00:46:18,000 --> 00:46:21,208 Not true. 916 00:46:21,292 --> 00:46:26,833 It begins with God seeking us, God loving us, 917 00:46:26,875 --> 00:46:29,958 God pursuing us before we have a sense of need, 918 00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:33,000 before we have a desire or longing because we're 919 00:46:33,083 --> 00:46:37,958 spiritually dead and our desires are corrupted. 920 00:46:38,000 --> 00:46:42,250 "Not that we loved God." 921 00:46:42,333 --> 00:46:44,417 Dear friend, know this: 922 00:46:44,500 --> 00:46:46,333 Christianity begins with God's love for you. 923 00:46:46,417 --> 00:46:49,333 Before God asks you to love him or love anyone, 924 00:46:49,417 --> 00:46:52,833 he loves you first, and he gives you his love to love him back 925 00:46:52,917 --> 00:46:55,750 and to love others. 926 00:46:55,833 --> 00:47:02,708 "Not that we have loved God but that he loved us." 927 00:47:02,792 --> 00:47:05,167 He loves us. 928 00:47:05,250 --> 00:47:07,625 Once I tell you how evil we are, 929 00:47:07,667 --> 00:47:14,667 doesn't that make his love more astonishing? 930 00:47:15,625 --> 00:47:17,750 It's one thing to love your beloved. 931 00:47:17,833 --> 00:47:23,500 It's another to love your enemy and make them your beloved. 932 00:47:23,583 --> 00:47:26,333 "He loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation 933 00:47:26,417 --> 00:47:27,750 for our sins." 934 00:47:27,833 --> 00:47:30,750 That King Jesus got off his throne, lived under his own law, 935 00:47:30,833 --> 00:47:33,250 went to the cross, suffered and died in our place, 936 00:47:33,333 --> 00:47:35,833 paying our penalty for all of our sin. 937 00:47:35,917 --> 00:47:38,833 Jesus said that he would fulfill, Matthew 5:17-18, 938 00:47:38,875 --> 00:47:40,667 the totality of the law. 939 00:47:40,708 --> 00:47:43,833 That "every I would be dotted and every T would be crossed," 940 00:47:43,917 --> 00:47:46,958 is the language that he uses, and he fulfills all of the law. 941 00:47:47,000 --> 00:47:49,167 He is perfect and without sin. 942 00:47:49,208 --> 00:47:52,417 And he goes to the cross, and he who is sinless substitutes 943 00:47:52,500 --> 00:47:54,458 himself for those who are sinful. 944 00:47:54,500 --> 00:47:58,667 He who is in every way obedient substitutes himself for those 945 00:47:58,708 --> 00:48:00,208 who are rebellious. 946 00:48:00,292 --> 00:48:02,667 This is how bad you are: 947 00:48:02,750 --> 00:48:06,000 God had to die for you. 948 00:48:06,083 --> 00:48:12,500 So, self-help, self-love is self-delusion. 949 00:48:14,917 --> 00:48:17,417 We're so bad that God had to die for us. 950 00:48:17,500 --> 00:48:22,167 We're worse than we feared and more loved than we hoped. 951 00:48:22,208 --> 00:48:27,917 We're worse than we feared and more loved than we hoped. 952 00:48:30,833 --> 00:48:34,208 And all of this is made possible through Jesus. 953 00:48:34,292 --> 00:48:39,667 It's only made possible through Jesus. 954 00:48:44,167 --> 00:48:50,958 Jesus became our neighbor and he loved us. 955 00:48:51,000 --> 00:48:54,458 God came into human history, went to the cross, 956 00:48:54,500 --> 00:48:57,458 and he loved us. 957 00:48:57,500 --> 00:48:59,708 And James is saying, 958 00:48:59,792 --> 00:49:02,583 "If you'll allow my brother to be your neighbor 959 00:49:02,667 --> 00:49:08,958 "and your Savior, you need to be willing to be 960 00:49:09,000 --> 00:49:12,458 a good neighbor and to love others." 961 00:49:12,500 --> 00:49:15,542 See, in our day, when the conversation of love 962 00:49:15,625 --> 00:49:19,958 comes about, usually it gets into a dumb ditch, 963 00:49:20,000 --> 00:49:23,833 and the dumb ditch is this: "Love equals tolerance. 964 00:49:23,875 --> 00:49:26,750 "You'll agree with me, you'll support me, you'll stand by me. 965 00:49:26,833 --> 00:49:30,000 "You'll in every way be my advocate 966 00:49:30,083 --> 00:49:32,167 "and you'll just take me as I am. 967 00:49:32,208 --> 00:49:36,000 Don't call me to repentance and change." 968 00:49:36,083 --> 00:49:42,458 God's love begins with tolerance, so come as you are. 969 00:49:42,500 --> 00:49:46,250 Whoever you are, whatever you've done, however you've failed, 970 00:49:46,333 --> 00:49:50,458 whatever laws you have broken from King Jesus, 971 00:49:50,500 --> 00:49:52,750 come as you are. 972 00:49:52,833 --> 00:49:55,250 Broken, needy, rebellious, self-righteous, proud, 973 00:49:55,333 --> 00:50:02,042 religious, clenched fist, or tear-filled eyes, 974 00:50:02,125 --> 00:50:03,500 come as you are. 975 00:50:03,583 --> 00:50:04,917 And God is tolerant. 976 00:50:05,000 --> 00:50:07,625 He welcomes through Jesus Christ 977 00:50:07,667 --> 00:50:10,167 everyone and anyone. 978 00:50:10,208 --> 00:50:12,542 Whatever religion, whatever race, whatever sexuality, 979 00:50:12,625 --> 00:50:17,125 whatever income level, whatever proclivity, whatever activity, 980 00:50:17,167 --> 00:50:18,500 he welcomes you. 981 00:50:18,583 --> 00:50:25,000 But love quickly moves from tolerance to transformation. 982 00:50:25,083 --> 00:50:28,708 You can't receive the love of Jesus and not become 983 00:50:28,792 --> 00:50:31,042 more like Jesus. 984 00:50:31,125 --> 00:50:35,125 You can't receive the love of Jesus and not start loving 985 00:50:35,167 --> 00:50:38,250 what Jesus loves. 986 00:50:38,333 --> 00:50:42,667 God loves us so much that he doesn't just tolerate us, 987 00:50:42,708 --> 00:50:48,333 he transforms us. 988 00:50:48,417 --> 00:50:53,833 The truth is, we want to become like those we love the most, 989 00:50:53,917 --> 00:50:55,958 and if Jesus has loved us the most 990 00:50:56,000 --> 00:50:59,333 and we love him the most, we want to become like him. 991 00:50:59,417 --> 00:51:01,292 I was thinking of it today. 992 00:51:01,333 --> 00:51:02,792 I put boots on. 993 00:51:02,833 --> 00:51:04,333 I almost always put boots on. 994 00:51:04,375 --> 00:51:06,000 I've always worn boots. 995 00:51:06,042 --> 00:51:08,667 One of the reasons I wear boots is my dad's here. 996 00:51:08,750 --> 00:51:10,167 My dad was a construction worker. 997 00:51:10,208 --> 00:51:12,458 My dad always wore boots. 998 00:51:12,500 --> 00:51:14,958 My Grandpa George, whom I loved with my whole heart-- 999 00:51:15,000 --> 00:51:17,833 my mom's here, it was her dad--he wore boots. 1000 00:51:17,917 --> 00:51:19,750 They both wore boots. 1001 00:51:19,833 --> 00:51:23,042 Dad was a construction worker. Grandpa was a diesel mechanic. 1002 00:51:23,125 --> 00:51:25,833 So as a little boy, I'm wearing boots. 1003 00:51:25,917 --> 00:51:29,250 I still wear boots. 1004 00:51:29,333 --> 00:51:35,042 We become like the people we love the most because their love 1005 00:51:35,125 --> 00:51:40,167 compels us to imitate them. 1006 00:51:40,208 --> 00:51:45,333 And what James here is saying, "My brother has loved you, 1007 00:51:45,417 --> 00:51:49,250 "and he accepts you, 1008 00:51:49,333 --> 00:51:54,167 "and his love will change you 1009 00:51:54,208 --> 00:51:58,708 "so that you will love God and love neighbor, 1010 00:51:58,792 --> 00:52:02,833 not just yourself." 1011 00:52:02,875 --> 00:52:06,083 And he says, "What gets in the way of this kind of love 1012 00:52:06,167 --> 00:52:12,125 that my brother demonstrates and makes possible is partiality." 1013 00:52:15,083 --> 00:52:17,042 "Jesus, I know you love all races, 1014 00:52:17,125 --> 00:52:20,333 but there's certain races that I prefer more than others." 1015 00:52:20,375 --> 00:52:23,542 We call that racism. 1016 00:52:23,625 --> 00:52:26,917 "Jesus, I know you love men and women, 1017 00:52:27,000 --> 00:52:28,750 "but I prefer one or the other, 1018 00:52:28,833 --> 00:52:31,833 so I have feminism or chauvinism." 1019 00:52:31,917 --> 00:52:35,833 That's partiality. 1020 00:52:35,875 --> 00:52:39,542 "Jesus, I know you welcome people from every life stage, 1021 00:52:39,625 --> 00:52:41,958 but I'm in school and I like students," 1022 00:52:42,000 --> 00:52:44,500 or "I'm single and I like singles," or "I'm married, 1023 00:52:44,583 --> 00:52:46,042 so we only like married couples," 1024 00:52:46,125 --> 00:52:48,750 or "We have kids and we don't have time for anybody 1025 00:52:48,833 --> 00:52:51,542 who doesn't have kids." 1026 00:52:51,625 --> 00:52:54,042 That's ageism. 1027 00:52:54,125 --> 00:52:57,167 "Jesus, I know you love all the nations, and you save people 1028 00:52:57,208 --> 00:53:01,125 from all the nations, but I prefer my nation." 1029 00:53:01,167 --> 00:53:06,625 It's nationalism. 1030 00:53:06,667 --> 00:53:10,458 "Jesus, I know you love and you save rich and poor, 1031 00:53:10,500 --> 00:53:12,833 but I'm poor so I don't like rich people," 1032 00:53:12,875 --> 00:53:15,167 or "I'm rich so I don't like poor people." 1033 00:53:15,208 --> 00:53:17,500 Classism. 1034 00:53:22,708 --> 00:53:27,833 The answer to all the problems is always the same. 1035 00:53:27,875 --> 00:53:31,458 It's the love of Jesus. 1036 00:53:31,500 --> 00:53:35,750 And if I could be your pastor for a moment 1037 00:53:35,833 --> 00:53:38,750 and make this very practical, 1038 00:53:38,833 --> 00:53:42,667 what he's saying is it's hypocritical to receive mercy 1039 00:53:42,708 --> 00:53:47,667 from Jesus and extend law to someone else. 1040 00:53:47,708 --> 00:53:51,333 When we are guilty, we want mercy. 1041 00:53:51,417 --> 00:53:57,000 When they are guilty, we want law, right? 1042 00:54:00,292 --> 00:54:06,583 "Jesus, I know you forgive people who have done what they 1043 00:54:06,667 --> 00:54:13,417 "have done to me, but they have hurt me so deeply, 1044 00:54:13,500 --> 00:54:16,542 "they have wounded me so significantly, 1045 00:54:16,625 --> 00:54:20,000 "they have disappointed me so painfully 1046 00:54:20,083 --> 00:54:26,083 that I cannot forgive them." 1047 00:54:31,917 --> 00:54:38,667 And Jesus would say, 1048 00:54:38,708 --> 00:54:43,042 "I forgive you, 1049 00:54:43,125 --> 00:54:46,542 "and if you receive my forgiveness, 1050 00:54:46,625 --> 00:54:51,333 it's a gift I'm asking you to share." 1051 00:54:51,417 --> 00:54:54,333 "But Jesus, what they did is so awful." 1052 00:54:54,375 --> 00:54:57,750 And Jesus would say, "I know. 1053 00:54:57,833 --> 00:54:59,833 "It's worse than you think. 1054 00:54:59,875 --> 00:55:03,333 "I had to die for that. 1055 00:55:03,375 --> 00:55:10,417 If you feel that you're hurting, I assure you, I sympathize." 1056 00:55:13,000 --> 00:55:15,958 "But Jesus, I won't let them get away with it." 1057 00:55:16,000 --> 00:55:17,917 Maybe you should call the police 1058 00:55:18,000 --> 00:55:20,958 if a crime was committed, 1059 00:55:21,000 --> 00:55:26,625 but Jesus would tell you, "I dealt with sin at the cross, 1060 00:55:26,667 --> 00:55:28,458 "and no one got away with anything 1061 00:55:28,500 --> 00:55:34,500 because I paid for everything." 1062 00:55:44,000 --> 00:55:49,167 God loves you, and he loves your neighbor. 1063 00:55:49,208 --> 00:55:55,500 And though it seems impossible, 1064 00:55:57,417 --> 00:56:04,333 if you will love your neighbor, 1065 00:56:04,375 --> 00:56:09,208 God's love will be free to change you 1066 00:56:09,292 --> 00:56:13,000 to become more like Jesus, who loves you the most. 1067 00:56:21,667 --> 00:56:24,542 Who do you need to forgive? 1068 00:56:24,625 --> 00:56:29,542 What do you need to let go of? 1069 00:56:29,625 --> 00:56:35,958 What do you need to move on from? 1070 00:56:36,000 --> 00:56:40,458 How do you need to love 1071 00:56:40,500 --> 00:56:45,208 those whom you find it most difficult to love? 1072 00:56:50,667 --> 00:56:55,750 And to get there, you've got to answer this question: 1073 00:56:55,833 --> 00:57:02,875 how has Jesus loved you, and how can you share that love? 1074 00:57:08,833 --> 00:57:12,125 I love you. 1075 00:57:12,167 --> 00:57:16,542 I love you with Jesus' love. 1076 00:57:16,625 --> 00:57:21,167 I've been teaching this book here for 18 years, 1077 00:57:21,208 --> 00:57:23,125 and I don't think I've said that enough, 1078 00:57:23,167 --> 00:57:26,042 so I ask your forgiveness for that. 1079 00:57:26,125 --> 00:57:29,042 And some of you have been hurt by me, 1080 00:57:29,125 --> 00:57:32,458 and it might even be hard for you to hear this word from me, 1081 00:57:32,500 --> 00:57:35,958 and I ask your forgiveness for that. 1082 00:57:36,000 --> 00:57:40,250 The longer I walk with Jesus, the more I want to be like him. 1083 00:57:40,333 --> 00:57:44,750 And the more I become like him, the happier I am 1084 00:57:44,833 --> 00:57:49,167 and the more grieved I am by who I am apart from him. 1085 00:57:49,208 --> 00:57:52,458 And because he loves you and because I love you, 1086 00:57:52,500 --> 00:57:57,042 I invite you to receive Jesus' love and to take it 1087 00:57:57,125 --> 00:58:02,375 as the greatest gift you have to share it with anyone you can. 1088 00:58:02,458 --> 00:58:07,000 In a moment, we're going to take Communion, and as we do, 1089 00:58:07,083 --> 00:58:10,958 we remember Jesus' love at the cross. 1090 00:58:11,000 --> 00:58:17,000 We'll partake together because God loves us and not just you. 1091 00:58:18,625 --> 00:58:20,458 Right now, we'll collect our tithes and offerings. 1092 00:58:20,500 --> 00:58:24,250 And as we do, we're showing that we also love Jesus, 1093 00:58:24,333 --> 00:58:25,833 we love our neighbor. 1094 00:58:25,917 --> 00:58:29,042 And before you go, I want you to do something with me. 1095 00:58:29,125 --> 00:58:31,917 We're going to pray together. Would that be OK? 1096 00:58:32,000 --> 00:58:33,833 We're going to go to 1 Corinthians 13, 1097 00:58:33,917 --> 00:58:36,417 I think it's verses 4-7. 1098 00:58:36,500 --> 00:58:38,333 Paul gives a definition of love. 1099 00:58:38,417 --> 00:58:40,958 So, James has already told us, "Do not merely listen 1100 00:58:41,000 --> 00:58:44,958 to the word and so deceive yourselves, do what it says." 1101 00:58:45,000 --> 00:58:47,458 So, I want to read God's Word to you, 1102 00:58:47,500 --> 00:58:49,458 and then I want you to respond, 1103 00:58:49,500 --> 00:58:54,542 and I want you to respond verbally. 1104 00:58:54,625 --> 00:58:58,542 So, you will read the sections marked "All." 1105 00:58:58,625 --> 00:59:00,292 "Love is patient and kind." 1106 00:59:00,333 --> 00:59:01,792 And you can follow me. 1107 00:59:01,833 --> 00:59:05,875 Jesus, help me to be patient and kind. 1108 00:59:05,958 --> 00:59:08,625 "Love does not envy or boast." 1109 00:59:08,667 --> 00:59:13,000 Jesus, help me to not envy or boast. 1110 00:59:13,083 --> 00:59:15,458 "Love is not arrogant or rude." 1111 00:59:15,500 --> 00:59:19,833 Jesus, help me to not be arrogant or rude. 1112 00:59:19,917 --> 00:59:23,333 "Love does not insist on its own way." 1113 00:59:23,417 --> 00:59:27,833 Jesus, help me to not insist on my own way. 1114 00:59:27,875 --> 00:59:30,542 "Love is not irritable or resentful." 1115 00:59:30,625 --> 00:59:35,208 Jesus, help me to not be irritable or resentful. 1116 00:59:35,292 --> 00:59:38,125 "Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, 1117 00:59:38,167 --> 00:59:40,042 but rejoices with the truth." 1118 00:59:40,125 --> 00:59:43,333 Jesus, help me to not rejoice at wrongdoing, 1119 00:59:43,417 --> 00:59:45,958 but rejoice with the truth. 1120 00:59:46,000 --> 00:59:48,542 "And love bears all things, believes all things, 1121 00:59:48,625 --> 00:59:51,833 hopes all things, endures all things." 1122 00:59:51,917 --> 00:59:58,333 Jesus help me to bear, believe, hope, and endure all things. 1123 00:59:58,375 --> 01:00:01,250 Father God, I pray for your people 1124 01:00:01,333 --> 01:00:04,500 and I pray for your church. 1125 01:00:04,583 --> 01:00:10,458 Lord Jesus, I thank you that you are a good, glorious King. 1126 01:00:10,500 --> 01:00:16,458 And we receive today this law of liberty. 1127 01:00:16,500 --> 01:00:19,708 It is freeing, it is liberating, 1128 01:00:19,792 --> 01:00:22,208 it gets us out of captivity and slavery 1129 01:00:22,292 --> 01:00:25,958 to unforgiveness, to past hurts, to bitterness, 1130 01:00:26,000 --> 01:00:30,167 to self-righteousness, to blame-shifting, to denying, 1131 01:00:30,208 --> 01:00:33,833 to excuse-making, to comparing, 1132 01:00:35,500 --> 01:00:41,458 to judgment under the holy wrath of God 1133 01:00:41,500 --> 01:00:45,333 and an eternally doomed fate. 1134 01:00:45,417 --> 01:00:50,167 Lord Jesus, your love is the key that unlocks this life 1135 01:00:50,208 --> 01:00:52,958 of liberty through the law of liberty. 1136 01:00:53,000 --> 01:00:56,000 We thank you for it, we receive it, 1137 01:00:56,083 --> 01:00:58,333 and we ask for the grace to share it. 1138 01:00:58,417 --> 01:01:01,292 In Jesus' good name, amen. 1139 01:01:02,042 --> 01:01:03,417 Pastor Sutton here, 1140 01:01:03,500 --> 01:01:06,458 we've just finished our services here in the Bellevue church 1141 01:01:06,500 --> 01:01:12,292 and really excited today to tell the extended family of Mars Hill Global 1142 01:01:12,333 --> 01:01:13,958 about Text to Give. 1143 01:01:14,000 --> 01:01:16,667 Just came out and many of you know my story: 1144 01:01:16,750 --> 01:01:20,833 2007 heard Pastor Mark at a pastor's conference 1145 01:01:20,917 --> 01:01:23,167 went there, started podcasting. 1146 01:01:23,208 --> 01:01:26,083 I still gave my tithe to my local church, 1147 01:01:26,167 --> 01:01:29,500 however, gave a contribution amount to Mars Hill Church. 1148 01:01:29,542 --> 01:01:34,167 So this Text to Give, the video that we have produced for you, 1149 01:01:34,208 --> 01:01:36,375 you're going to love, so check this out. 1150 01:01:38,542 --> 01:01:41,250 Hey Mars Hill, my name is Rene and I work here 1151 01:01:41,333 --> 01:01:43,792 at the Media and Communications team at Mars Hill Church. 1152 01:01:43,833 --> 01:01:45,542 If you're a mobile user like me, 1153 01:01:45,625 --> 01:01:47,708 I've got some exciting news to share with you. 1154 01:01:47,792 --> 01:01:50,167 There's a new way to give at Mars Hill Church 1155 01:01:50,250 --> 01:01:52,458 and it's just as easy as sending a text. 1156 01:01:52,500 --> 01:01:55,208 Now, many of you take advantage of our online giving options, 1157 01:01:55,292 --> 01:01:57,958 which is a great way to set up recurring gifts, 1158 01:01:58,000 --> 01:02:01,250 but until now, we haven't had a way to set up mobile, 1159 01:02:01,333 --> 01:02:04,167 where you can give on the spot during our services. 1160 01:02:04,208 --> 01:02:06,167 If you're like me, you don't carry cash 1161 01:02:06,250 --> 01:02:09,792 you don't carry a checkbook, so Text to Give is the way to go. 1162 01:02:09,833 --> 01:02:14,208 It's fun, it's simple, and best of all, it's secure. 1163 01:02:14,292 --> 01:02:16,167 I want you to do something with me. 1164 01:02:16,250 --> 01:02:18,125 Take out your smart phone right now; 1165 01:02:18,167 --> 01:02:19,958 we're going to do something together. 1166 01:02:20,000 --> 01:02:21,875 Don't worry, you're not obligated to give, 1167 01:02:21,958 --> 01:02:23,875 but try this out. 1168 01:02:23,958 --> 01:02:26,750 Simply send the amount you want to give 1169 01:02:26,833 --> 01:02:32,792 and the word "Mars Hill" at the end to the following number: 45777. 1170 01:02:34,000 --> 01:02:35,667 The first time you give via text, 1171 01:02:35,708 --> 01:02:38,333 you will be asked to fill out a one-time form, 1172 01:02:38,375 --> 01:02:41,417 which will safely link your card to your smart phone. 1173 01:02:41,500 --> 01:02:44,833 Now, this new way of giving doesn't go into your phone bill, 1174 01:02:44,917 --> 01:02:46,750 and in case you make a mistake, 1175 01:02:46,833 --> 01:02:50,500 you can always get a refund for the gift that you've given. 1176 01:02:50,542 --> 01:02:52,500 And that's it; you're done. 1177 01:02:52,583 --> 01:02:54,667 You'll receive a text back confirming your gift 1178 01:02:54,750 --> 01:02:57,208 and from this moment forward, you'll be able to give 1179 01:02:57,292 --> 01:02:59,958 anywhere, anytime with just a single text. 1180 01:03:00,083 --> 01:03:02,792 Don't forget to save the number in your contact list. 1181 01:03:02,833 --> 01:03:05,917 I've saved it as "Mars Hill Text to Give." 1182 01:03:06,000 --> 01:03:07,792 For more information about our giving options 1183 01:03:07,833 --> 01:03:11,042 you can visit marshill.com/give. 1184 01:03:15,667 --> 01:03:18,583 Each year, over 10 million Mars Hill church sermons 1185 01:03:18,667 --> 01:03:21,667 are downloaded worldwide for free. 1186 01:03:21,750 --> 01:03:24,292 This ministry is generously supported 1187 01:03:24,333 --> 01:03:26,917 by Mars Hill church members and listeners like you. 1188 01:03:27,000 --> 01:03:30,500 If you'd like to support our efforts to preach Jesus to the world, 1189 01:03:30,542 --> 01:03:33,500 Please consider making a tax-deductible donation 1190 01:03:33,542 --> 01:03:36,375 by visiting marshill.com/give.