Neighbors - Exodus 20:16-17

[0:00] Oh, good morning, everybody. Welcome to Calvary Chapel Charlotte.! What a beautiful morning just to be together, to worship the Lord, to receive from His Word,! And to know that He is coming soon. Coming so soon. I don't think we stop and think about it very often, but He's never failed. And He never, ever, ever will. You know, that means that in Christ we can't fail.

[0:26] Now, we will fail, but in Christ, that the relationship we have with Him cannot fail. His Spirit cannot fail. The work He's doing in our lives, it cannot. It just can't. It's just amazing.

[0:39] Okay, if you would turn your Bibles to Exodus 20, if you're not already there, we're going to finish up the last two commandments of the Ten Commandments. We didn't take ten weeks to do Ten Commandments, almost, but not quite. But it's been so, it's been good. It's been good for me just to sit in this and go through this and search my own heart and my relationship with the Lord in light of His Word, as always. But I think also just the foundation of what that is in our society, in our world, in our faith. We're not going to come back here again, in the sense I don't really anticipate us teaching through Exodus again. You know, we just started in Genesis a little over two years ago, and if we teach straight through the Bible, by the time we get through to the end, we'll be raptured, or I'll be beyond the point of understanding what I'm teaching.

[1:26] So, we want to really have a good foundation and dig in and dive in to the areas that God brings us through. We don't just want to bounce through them. I don't want to drag our feet and make it feel like that all you remember is a verse or a word from Exodus. We want to have the full context and the narrative, the story, the flow. But understanding, too, that God, when He wrote this down, you know, He wrote it this way. It wasn't like Moses was like, well, I'm just going to kind of paraphrase. You know, the Lord, He took so much time to say that. I'm just going to write down, like last week we looked at, thou shalt not murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal. You know, God said so much more, but I'm just going to shrink that down. No, God just gave those quick bullet points. Boom, boom, boom. That's how He wanted us to receive that. I think part of it is so we can remember it. I don't know if you've memorized the Ten Commandments, but I bet everybody knows that one of them is thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery. Today, we're going to look at verses 16 and 17. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor, and thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is his neighbors. And so, obviously, the topic for today is kind of neighbors. So, if you remember last week, we talked about, like I said, thou shalt not murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal. And we were saying how our natural state is always to do what feels right. That's just my natural state is to do what feels right. I don't go out of my way to try and do what feels wrong. You know, I live my life making decisions, acting upon what

[3:04] I feel is right, what I think is right, what I expect to be right. But I'm not so much worried about if it is right. Because I have a standard in my life, which, unless someone else is setting it, like God's word, where do I get that standard? Where's that coming from? Well, you know, I know not to speed.

[3:26] Because if I do, I'm going to get a ticket. Well, no, I know not to speed to the point where I get a ticket. But I'm going to go past the speed limit, because I think that's right. We can take that off the live stream. Right? I'm going to do what I think is right. And I'm not going to so much worry about if it's not. Well, the law declares, as we saw last week, that man has that right. Man is an autonomous moral being, that I have that right to make a choice. But what I don't have, is I don't have a right to your rights. I don't have a right to take from you that is what is rightfully yours.

[4:05] I can't do that. We do have the right to make our own decisions, but I don't have the right to make your decision for you. We saw how even God wouldn't do that. God wouldn't twist our arms and force us to make decisions. We have to make them.

[4:20] No man has the right to take from another man that which is his by the will of God. It's God's will. Who am I then to step in and say, well, if God gave you life, it's my will that you die. Thou shalt not murder. You know, if God gave you a wife, what's my will? She's now my wife. Well, who am I to take take from someone? Thou shalt not steal. But while we have no right to take, we do have this amazing ability to give. What is our right? Jesus says in John 10, 18, we saw this. No man takes his life from him, but he lays it down of himself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my father. Who gave the command? Well, his father.

[5:06] But who's the one choosing to do it? Jesus says, I lay it down. I have power to lay it down. I have power to take it again. Yes, God gave me the command, but I have the right to do that. I have the choice to do that. Jesus's heart was to use what he had to produce life in others, to give on behalf of others.

[5:28] It was never to seek what another had for himself. Did Jesus ever selfishly seek something from someone else? No, he never did. He used his life to give. He used what he had and he had the greatest amount of life that ever walked this earth. And he gave. Galatians chapter 5, beginning in verse 15, Paul writes to the church. He says, but if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you be not consumed one of another. This I say, then walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. You be not consumed. What is that word consumed? Well, it's not a great word. You know, I'm consumed with fear. I'm consumed with anxiety. I'm consumed with anger. I'm consumed with desire. It's probably not that great to be consumed. Well, our world says being consumed with stuff is a great idea. Consumerism is the theory that an increasing consumption of goods is economically desirable. That's the definition of consumerism. Well, we live in a world that says that the increasing consumption of anything is personally desirable. Oh, it is very good to be a consumer in our world. Increase your consumption of whatever it is. Fulfill your desires. Follow your heart. But Galatians says that if we seek to consume, what happens? Oh, I'm not giving life. I'm taking it.

[6:53] I have to then take from someone else to try and fulfill something that I have, which is what? It's the flesh. It's myself, which can never be fulfilled. The flesh can never find fulfillment in itself. It never will. And then he links it. If we go back to Galatians, it's very interesting.

[7:11] This I say, then walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the desires of the flesh. What is he saying there? Well, he's saying the flesh is always seeking to fulfill itself by consumption. It's always seeking to take, always seeking to do that. But if I walk in the spirit, I won't be desiring to take.

[7:29] I'm going to now be in a place where I can give, give life. In James chapter one, beginning in verse 14, we read that every man, when he is tempted or tested or tried, or he's drawn away of his own lust, his own desire. Lust, what is lust? We think of something really bad. Well, it's just the desire for my flesh to be fulfilled. Desire for it to fulfill itself. And usually it's a now scenario. I want fulfillment now. I'm not going to wait for it. I'm not going to look for it anywhere else. I need to be fulfilled. Every man when he's tempted is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. And then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin. And sin, when it's finished, brings forth death. It starts out so good. It seems so desirable. I just want it to be fulfilled. It's just a desire. And in the end, it turned into death. And James says, don't be in error, my beloved brethren, because every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. What's he talking about there? Don't be in error? Well, the error is thinking that God's desire is to fulfill my desire and that every desire he gives me, even the bad ones. Well, it's just God, he wants to fulfill me and he wants to fulfill my desires.

[8:40] And he says, well, that's an error because every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the father of lights with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

[8:52] Well, no, no, no. You see, if your desire leads to death, it can't come from God because God's gifts are good. They come down from above and there's no variableness. And there's not going to change like, well, God maybe is using this in my life right now. You know, I'm a really selfish person, but I'm selfish so that I can then use that to help others. You know, no, God's not going to do that. That's not how it works. God's gifts are always obtained God's way. That's just how it is.

[9:21] Following our lust or the desire of fulfillment for our flesh, our natural desires, will only ever lead to a dead end. James just told us it leads to a dead end. So it's a good way for us to say, well, how do I know if my desires are fleshly or not? Well, where are they leading you? Whereas that desire leading you as it is conceived, as it sprouts, you know, when it's a little seed, the idea is it sprouts and it doesn't look so bad. No, that's not that bad. That's just a little thing and maybe it'll turn into something good. It looks just like this seed over here that sprouted, that is something good. That's the fruit of the spirit. But as it grows, it becomes this thing that then it just consumes. It turns into something that leads to death. So how do I know if my desires are fleshly or not? How do I know if my desires are things that are of the Lord? What is the end result? Where is it leading you? The desire for fulfillment in the flesh, you see, it expresses itself in our lives as sin. That's what we would say is sin. Someone sinned. Well, they're expressing simply the desire of their flesh, their own desire, which is contrary to God's desire.

[10:26] And it becomes what? A life-consuming action. Sin is a life-consuming action. The flesh will consume life, but the spirit gives life. What are you consumed with? What is it that consumes your time?

[10:42] What consumes your thoughts, your life? It doesn't have to be, you know, we think of lust as like some inordinate affection, like, oh, this is really, really bad. Like, I would never do that. But I'll have my life consumed with my work, my hobby, my sports, my whatever. You know, what is my life consumed with?

[10:59] Jesus says in John 6, 63, it's the spirit that quickens. The flesh profits nothing. It's never going to turn out well. It's never going to lead to an end that is not a dead end. Jesus says the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. These words that he speaks unto us.

[11:21] So as we read in the book of the law, as we read this, these words are spirit and they're life to us. Now, sometimes they cut right across my desires. Sometimes they cut right across what I think is going to be something that's a blessing or a benefit. But then God's word, which Jesus says, is spirit and is life. And I already just, we just read, where does the spirit lead? Spirit leads to life.

[11:47] Those who sow to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption. Those who sow to the spirit, shall of the spirit reap everlasting life. So if I turn to God's word and it is contrary to what I feel is right, then what needs to change? Probably my idea of what's right. And as we saw already, we have that ability to choose. Now, can we just determine I shall therefore be right? No, but we can choose to choose what's right and then receive from Jesus the ability to live out what we couldn't otherwise. So as we get into verse 16 here, as we continue reading this, we're understanding that, okay, we want these words to shape our lives. I want the words that are spirit and that are life, that Jesus is speaking, that God's word is speaking. I want it to shape my life. I want it to shape my views and my desires. Verse 16 says, thou shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

[12:45] Okay. A lot of times we'll see that shrunk down to, you know, you shall not lie. Thou shalt not lie. Well, yes, we want to practice truth and we'll look about that, look at that, but we want to, why did God write it that way? He could have just said, thou shalt not lie. He said, thou shalt not steal.

[13:01] He said, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Well, you think, well, why would anybody do that? Why would anyone give a false testimony or a false word against their neighbor? And who is it that's going to desire to do such a thing? And what does it mean? Well, those are the questions we want to ask as we look at our neighbor today, these two verses.

[13:23] What are these scriptures saying? What is it saying? I want to know what these life-giving words mean. Why are they telling us these things? What is the point of telling me that? And then who does this really apply to? Is this just to Israel? Is it to us? Who's my neighbor? Well, a few of these words, we're going to break them down to give us some understanding as we go through this. Thou shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. The word bear is to answer or to respond or to dwell.

[13:49] Of the 329 times that this word appears in the Old Testament, 242 of them, it's interpreted answer. Usually this word is answer. So thou shall not answer a false witness against your neighbor.

[14:04] Thou shall not bear. Thou shall not answer. Thou shall not respond. Dwell? It's interesting. That was kind of had a meaning in it as well. What does that mean? Thou shall not dwell a false witness with your neighbor? Yeah, because he is your neighbor. So you don't want to dwell in falsehood with your neighbor. Proverbs 15, 28 uses this same word and interprets it answer. We're looking at a lot of Proverbs today, guys. Proverbs is just really good when you want to go to find out what the Bible says about truth and deception. Proverbs 15, 28 says, the heart of the righteous studieth to bear.

[14:38] That's that word, to answer. But the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things. We're also going to see as we go through this, that it's very much associated with the mouth, is to speak. I guess you could write out a false statement, but you're essentially speaking when you deceive. Proverbs 25, 18 says, a man that beareth, a man that answers false witness against his neighbor is a hammer, a sword, and an arrow. He beats down, he cuts up, and he stabs. Right? A man that bears false witness against his neighbor. That's his relationship with his neighbor. Just beats him down. So that's what it means to bear. Thou shall not answer a false witness. False being a lie or whatever deceives.

[15:26] That word false also has the idea in it of disappointment. Very interesting. Thou shall not answer thy neighbor in that way. Do not bear, do not answer a disappointing witness. Proverbs 25, 14 says, whoso boasts himself of a false gift, that's that same word, is like clouds and wind without rain.

[15:51] So if you're in an agrarian society, and you're needing the rain to water your crops, and the wind's blowing up, and it looks like a storm's coming, and it just blows through empty, what are you?

[16:03] You're disappointed. You're very disappointed. Whoso boasts himself of a false gift, a lie, whatever deceives, whatever promised one thing and then disappointed me with something else.

[16:16] That's the idea that's behind that. Thou shall not answer this deceiving word of disappointment to your neighbor. You should not bear this false witness. Well, the New Testament, witness means martyr. It's the same kind of idea in the Old Testament. It means testimony or evidence. So you're not going to answer your neighbor in a deceiving way, causing disappointment by giving this false testimony, this false evidence. You know, this word witness, it's actually used to describe a prophecy regarding Jesus in Isaiah. Isaiah 55.4 says, behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. Well, that gives us a different viewpoint now.

[17:06] Witness, a testimony and evidence. Yes, Jesus is the testimony of God's goodness and love and grace and righteousness. Jesus witnesses to that, that that's who God is in his relationship to us.

[17:18] Thou shall not bear this false witness against thy neighbor. So who's a neighbor? You know, if you're sitting on that side of the sanctuary, is that side of the sanctuary your neighbor? Well, only the people in the middle. You know, you guys have to have multiple neighbors. How does it work? Who's your neighbor? Is it only the guy next door or the guy two houses down? You know, which guy is it? A neighbor, it just means a friend, companion, or fellow. Okay. And then I like this, the last meaning. One who stands in reciprocal relation.

[17:53] I'm sure y'all know what that means, right? One who stands in reciprocal relation, a like relation. Then I'm related to them in the same way they're related to me. And that's very true. Think of where you live. Your neighbors. My neighbors, we relate to each other the same way. He lives in his house and I live in mine. I don't go over there and raid his fridge. He doesn't come over and, you know, pick my flowers, right? We are related to each other reciprocally. Now, it's not saying what the depth of our relationship is. It's just talking about the way we relate to one another.

[18:24] This word neighbor is actually found in Genesis chapter 11. It's after the flood. Noah's come off the ark. He's had his descendants. And then the heart of man, as we saw, which is autonomous, it makes its own free moral choices. You think that Noah, preacher of righteousness, well, all his descendants are going to be righteous, right? No, it wasn't very long. And the independent heart of man chose not to follow God. And they decide to make a tower that's going to reach into the heavens.

[18:56] It doesn't mean like height because they know there was a worldwide flood that covered the highest mountain. And they're not going to be able to get higher than that. The idea is to reach into the place of the heavens. They wanted to get up into the heavens that they could essentially be God.

[19:11] It's Genesis chapter three all over again, you know, the fall. But they said to another, they said one to another, that's the same word we just read for neighbor, a friend, a companion, or a fellow. Go to and let us make brick and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone and slime they had for mortar. Say, we're going to build this thing. But it makes now a little more sense.

[19:34] It's not just the people who were there, but they said, oh, we're friends, companions, and fellows. We're working together in this. So what does all this mean regarding our neighbor?

[19:45] Well, it means that my relationship to those that are in reciprocal relation to me is meant to be initiated and maintained without the presence of deception or a false position.

[20:01] No matter what it costs me. This is not about, well, what do I get out of this? God is saying here, your relationship with your neighbor, you shall not bear false witness.

[20:12] The one that you are in reciprocal relationship with doesn't matter like, well, I don't know him really well, or we don't have a really great, we're not really deep in our relationship, doesn't matter. They have the same reciprocal relationship with you. You are both accountable to God.

[20:25] You are to maintain and initiate that relationship without any deception or falsehood present. It's not to be there. You're not to bring it out into that relationship. Now, remember, God is talking to the nation here.

[20:38] We have a group of over 2 million people who have been slaves for millennia, not millennia, centuries. Not thousands of years, hundreds of years. And the relationship of the people then in this society, well, how do we relate to one another?

[20:51] Well, the relationship in a mutual society, one of reciprocal relationship, it must be unhindered by deception. And that's where that word dwell can come in. It must not dwell with them.

[21:04] It must not dwell and it must not disappoint. A society that is founded upon truth does not allow falsehood, deception, to be part of the mutual relationship, to be part of the accountability and respect we have for one another.

[21:20] If you can keep that falsehood out and you don't build deception into it, great, wonderful. Because a lie will undermine credibility.

[21:30] And without credibility, what's credibility mean? Credentials, right? Street cred means your credentials. What you bring that validates who you are. So a lie or a deception or falsehood in our relationship or a culture, it undermines credibility.

[21:47] And without credibility, there is no basis for trust in a relationship. None at all. Proverbs 14, 5 says, A faithful witness will not lie, but a false witness will utter lies.

[22:00] A faithful witness will not lie. Well, how do I know if he's a faithful witness? He won't lie. But if he does, then all of a sudden, that lie has undermined all credibility that that person had.

[22:11] What does it matter what their credibility was before that? They've lied. Listen, there's now no basis for trust. You can come with all of your credentials. I can bring you, well, let me tell you all that I am and what I've done.

[22:23] But yeah, but you lied to me. But you broke my trust. What? How can I rebuild that based upon what? Well, we have to base that upon truth.

[22:34] We rebuild trust and credibility when we rebuild truth into our life and our relationship. You see, once we open that door to deception, it's almost impossible to close it again.

[22:46] When you open a door to deception in a relationship, it's almost impossible to close it again. I mean, even if you say, hey, I'm really sorry. You know, I forgive you. How can I trust you?

[22:56] I want to trust you. How do I do that? The truth is a reflection of God's relationship to man. Why is the truth so important?

[23:08] Because it's how God relates to us. God is truth. When we are deceived, deceit then moves the deceiver further from relationship with God.

[23:19] Because we can't maintain a relationship with God outside of truth. So when I deceive, when I allow a false witness to be part of my relationship with someone else, I've now moved myself further from my relationship with God.

[23:32] I have to maintain my relationship with God in truth. Then how am I going to maintain my relationship with you if it's not in truth? That's what God says it must be. And unfortunately, if I deceive you, it very often will move you further from your relationship with God too.

[23:47] Because you'll say, if I can't trust him, he said he would be faithful. He said I could trust him and I did. And how do I know God's going to be faithful?

[23:58] How can I trust God? And so what may look in the moment, as we read in James, like just such a little thing. I mean, it's just a little thing. But when lust is, you know, when desire is conceived and it brings forth lust and lust leads to sin and then to death.

[24:12] These little things of these little areas of deception or a false witness or, you know, I mean, I said that behind their back. I didn't really mean it, but it was in the moment and, you know.

[24:25] Well, then we break trust, which then reflects upon God's heart for us as well. Proverbs 16, 6 says, Praise God for that.

[24:38] How do I rebuild trust into a broken relationship? By mercy and truth. Mercy. Man, you better have mercy and patience and humility. If you've deceived someone, if you've broken a relationship, you better come back with mercy.

[24:53] Like, hey, you know, take your time. And build truth in that relationship. For those of us, if you've been in a relationship or a situation where there was a false witness given against you and you're like, ah, they were my neighbor.

[25:04] I thought we had a mutual. Well, how do you rebuild that? Well, with mercy and truth. It purges iniquity. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

[25:18] If we say we've not sinned, we make him a liar. And the truth is not in us. And by the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil. Proverbs 23, 23. Buy the truth.

[25:29] Sell it not. Also, wisdom and instruction and understanding. You know, it's like a sale. Hey, you can get truth. And if you buy that, you get wisdom, instruction, understanding with it. That's a good deal. Buy that. Buy the truth.

[25:40] Sell it not. At all costs. And this is where we go back to that we are to maintain relationships no matter the cost and truth without the presence of falsehood or deceit.

[25:53] At all costs. Hold on to the truth. Proverbs 8, 7. From my mouth shall speak truth. Wickedness is abomination to my lips.

[26:04] And there it comes back to the mouth. It comes back to it. And we know that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. That's why it's so hard. So hard to rebuild trust. Because out of your heart, you've spoken to me.

[26:16] And you broke this relationship. Well, I didn't mean it. I just said it. Then why did you say it? Proverbs 12, 19. The lip of truth shall be established forever.

[26:29] I love this verse. But a lying tongue is but for a moment. Man, it looks like in that moment you can gain a great advantage through this lie. Through this deceit. Through this false witness.

[26:40] But the truth. Truth has an everlasting benefit. The truth. You cannot quantify the benefit of the truth in our lives. Jesus in John 14, 6.

[26:55] He says, I am the way. The truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. The truth has unquantifiable personal benefit in our lives.

[27:07] Can you quantify the benefit of Jesus in your life? That is a benefit that will last for eternity. That is a truth that is built into our lives that we have no idea even the smallest amount yet.

[27:19] Of what that's the fruit that's going to bear. Are you going to give that up in a moment? To try and gain an advantage over your neighbor? To gain an advantage in a situation? To use a lie to just kind of, oops.

[27:30] You know, are you going to let falsehood and deception come into your life? And give up truth? Buy the truth and sell it not. 1 John 5, 20. Written by the Apostle John.

[27:41] Much later in his life. And we know that the Son of God has come. And he's given us an understanding. That we may know him that is true. And we are in him that is true.

[27:53] Even in his Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God in eternal life. We have that capacity. God has given us the understanding that we can enter into truth. And truth can enter into us.

[28:06] John 1, verse 14. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory. The glory of the only begotten of the Father. Full of grace and truth. The words that I speak unto you.

[28:17] They are life. And they are truth. The Word became flesh. Full of grace and truth. And then verse 17. For the law, where we're at today, was given by Moses.

[28:29] But grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The law was given by Moses. It was given from God to Moses. Moses was temporary. The law was temporary.

[28:41] The law and Moses were for here. Truth is for eternity. Truth will last forever. And then lastly in John. You shall know the truth.

[28:54] The truth shall make you free. The word know there isn't just why I know it. It's to know by experience. By putting into practice. Man, I know the truth. I know what the truth has done in my life.

[29:06] I know it's rebuilt relationships. It's rebuilt credibility. It's rebuilt trust. It's worked an eternal fruit in my life. And it's made me free. I am not free when I'm in deception.

[29:20] You ever try to keep a deception going for a long time? It's exhausting. It's binding. So, what does it say? That's what it says.

[29:31] But why? Why would someone ever bear false witness against their neighbor? I'm not going to do this. I promise. I don't want to do this. I'm not going to bear false witness against my neighbor. That's terrible. Look at the results here. Proverbs 3.29 says, Devise not evil against your neighbor.

[29:46] Seeing he dwells securely by you. Don't break that security. Don't devise evil against him. Why would you do that? Why would I do that? Because sin seeks to take advantage.

[30:00] It seeks to advantage itself at the expense of another. Why am I going to tell a falsehood against my neighbor? Why am I going to bear false witness? Because I believe there's an advantage in it. I believe I can advantage myself.

[30:11] Remember we talked about being consumers? I believe I can gain something. I can get something at another's expense. Which leads us into verse 17 in Exodus 20.

[30:24] I shall not covet. So it said, Don't bear false witness against your neighbor. And also don't covet your neighbor's house. Interesting word. Covet. It says don't covet his house, his wife, his manservant, his maidservant, his ox, his donkey, anything that your neighbors don't covet.

[30:42] Well, Paul in the New Testament will tell me to covet. In 1 Corinthians 12, 31, the last verse of the chapter, before he gets into 1 Corinthians 13, which talks about love, this more excellent way, he says, covet earnestly the best gifts.

[30:55] Covet them. And yet I show you a more excellent way. The gifts of the Spirit. Covet the excellent ones. Well, covet just means to desire. It means to desire or wish for something.

[31:06] To desire earnestly to obtain and possess. And that's what Paul means in 1 Corinthians. Here in verse 17 of Exodus 20, it has with it the idea that I desire and wish for, I earnestly want to possess that which is unlawful.

[31:21] To be obtained or possessed. You say, well, I covet. And God says, don't covet. Well, what are you coveting? You're coveting something that's not yours to possess. Don't covet your neighbor's house.

[31:32] Well, it's not my house to possess. Don't covet your neighbor's wife. His wife's not yours to possess. Or his manservant. Or his maidservant. Or ox.

[31:43] Or donkey. Or anything. Why? Does it mean, well, I, you know, like Paul said, desire that. You know, he's got a great donkey. I would wish, I wish I had a donkey like that.

[31:55] Is that bad? No, it's not bad. To be like, that's really nice. I really wish I had one of those. No, but it is to earnestly desire to obtain, to possess it. So I want that.

[32:09] Micah chapter two. The prophet Micah, the Lord is speaking to him and he says, woe to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds. They're, they're, they're, um, mulling over.

[32:22] They're meditating upon those desires. What do they want? When in the morning light, they practice it because it is in the power of their hand. And they covet. That's the same word fields and take them by violence and houses and take them away so that they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.

[32:41] Notice the, his, his house, his heritage. They're taking something that's not theirs. Covetousness seeks an advantage that belongs to someone else. I'm seeking an advantage for myself that clearly belongs to someone else.

[32:55] Well, that's my neighbor's advantage, his house, his wife, his donkey or whatever. But I want that advantage. I want it for myself. I want to take it. Um, if any of you ever read, uh, the screw tape letters by C.S.

[33:07] Lewis, I heard of them where he's writing, like it's, it's from the perspective of like a senior demon. It's kind of like an office setting instructing his middle management, junior demon and how to, you know, and he said in writing that, that it was all dust and grit and thirst and itch.

[33:23] Just such a bother. I felt like that going through the section on covetousness. It's just like, Oh, cause like looking at the scripture and then looking at my heart and being like, now, why would I covet? And it was terrible to go through and just like, Oh, this is just so.

[33:35] Hmm. But realizing that's what covetousness is. I'm seeking to advantage myself with someone else's advantage. I want their advantage. Hmm. How come they got that promotion?

[33:47] How come they got that nice wife? How come they're, their kids listen to them? How come whatever it is, I want that advantage for myself. The word for covet, meaning desire, was also used about Jesus.

[34:04] Speaks about him in Isaiah 53. It tells us that he was, he will grow up before them as a tender plant, a root out of a dry ground. But it says that he had no former comeliness, that we should covet him.

[34:16] He had no former comeliness. There was no beauty in him, that we should covet him, that we should desire him. In other words, nobody looked at Jesus and said, I want what that guy's got.

[34:29] They didn't look at him and just think, yeah, wow, blue eyes, six foot four, white robes and a purple sash. I want that. Man. No, they would have just been, that's just some other dude.

[34:40] But if they talked to him, if they heard the words, that's truth. If they heard the words of life and spirit, then they would say, I do want that. I want that. Turn over to first Kings, if you would, chapter 21 for a moment.

[34:58] See, covetousness involves something that is believed to myself, that I want it. It's believed that it's to be attainable. I don't covet things that I don't think I can obtain. You see, I want something that is someone else's advantage.

[35:10] I desire to have it, but I also believe it can be attained. I really wish that was mine. And under the right circumstances, I believe I could attain it. Do I, I desire, you know, which one of you guys drove here in a Corvette?

[35:23] No? Oh, well. You know, I desire that Corvette. Can I afford that? No, but under the right circumstances, it could be attained, right? Possibly, maybe.

[35:35] But there's also this idea behind it, that I believe I deserve it. Covetousness has this idea, that I believe I deserve this thing I desire. And in first Kings, chapter 21, we meet up with Ahab.

[35:48] Remember Ahab? He was the king of Samaria, where you had the nation split after Solomon, his son Rehoboam, ruled in Judah, and Jeroboam ruled in the rest of the nation in Samaria, most of the rest of the tribes.

[36:01] And so Ahab comes on the scene. And Ahab is, Ahab's happy to be, let his life be ruled by his wife, his wife, Jezebel. Now guys, your wives should be your helpmeet, but you don't want her to be a Jezebel.

[36:17] But the thing that was so bad about Jezebel, was Jezebel was one who thought, yeah, I can go and do whatever I think is right in my own eyes. And Ahab completely abdicated his responsibility, as a husband, as a king, and just said, whatever.

[36:29] I'm just going to live to fulfill my desires. As we pick up here in first Kings 21, we read, that it came to pass after these things that Naboth, the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel.

[36:42] And it was hard by right next to the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria. So it looks out his window, this beautiful vineyard belonging to another, his neighbor. So Ahab goes and speaks to Naboth and says, give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs.

[36:59] That seems like a terrible idea. Rip out this nice vineyard and put in some herbs. That I may have it as a garden for herbs, because it's near to my house. It's convenient. And I'll give you a better vineyard for it, if it seems good to you, or I will give you money.

[37:14] Whatever you want, just give it to me. And Naboth said to Ahab, the Lord forbid it. Sorry, bro, I can't do this. It's not mine to give. It belongs to God. The Lord forbid it.

[37:26] The Lord forbid me that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto you. And Ahab came into his house, heavy and displeased. He was pouting. He's a pouty face. Because of the word which Naboth, the Jezerite, had spoken to him.

[37:39] For he said, I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned his face away, and would not eat. What a man.

[37:49] Is there anything wrong with him wanting a place near his house to have a garden of herbs? Not at all. Not at all. Problem was, he looked at this and saw, I want the advantage that clearly belongs to him, and it doesn't belong to me, but I believe it.

[38:04] I deserve it. And I'm going to go about to obtain it. And Jezebel, his wife, came to him in verse five, and said unto him, why is your spirit so sad that you eat no bread?

[38:14] And he said unto her, because I, because I, usually, the reason that we're turning our face to the wall, and pouting, is because I, because I, spake unto Naboth, the Jezreelite, and said unto him, give me your vineyard for money.

[38:30] And he wouldn't do it. Could you believe it? I demanded it, and he wouldn't give it to me. Give me your Corvette. I'll give you a Camry. Or else, if it please you, I'll give you another vineyard.

[38:41] And he answered, I will not give you the vineyard. And Jezebel, his wife, said unto him, do you now govern the kingdom of Israel? Arise, and eat bread, and let your heart be married. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite.

[38:54] See, Jezebel was an enabler, but she wasn't an enabler in the things of the Lord. She was enabling Ahab's destructive behavior. So covetousness, we believe it's something that is attainable under the right circumstances, if I have enough money, or whatever.

[39:10] But I also believe I deserve that. But the problem is, it's clearly not mine. It's not like, I think I deserve a new Corvette. Guys, I don't like Corvettes that much. I'm just using that. Okay, and I'll go down to the dealer, and I'll buy one.

[39:25] That's not the issue. It's, I think I deserve yours. Paul says in Romans 7, he says, for when we were in the flesh, the motions of sin that were by the law did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.

[39:39] What does that all mean? The way the King James writes it there. He just says, so when we were, we weren't in the spirit, we were in the flesh. Well, sin, which was in my heart, which was in who I was, well, the law kept bringing it out, and kept pointing out that what I am doing is leading to death.

[39:55] It's telling me that my sins, and my actions, and my natural inclinations, it kept pointing out to me, it's leading to death, it's leading to death, it's leading to death. This is what the law was in my life. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead, wherein we were held, that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

[40:14] So that person died at the cross with Jesus. That person went down into death, was raised in newness of life, that now I have Christ's life. I'm free from the law. The law is no longer telling me, I'm wrong, I'm wrong, I'm wrong.

[40:26] I have Jesus telling me, I'm in his righteousness. Okay? So now, I do not live under the oldness of the letter. Well, what shall we say? Was the law sin? Since the law, all it did was point out the fact that I'm a sinner, over and over and over, is the law bad?

[40:42] Is the law sin? Well, God forbid. I hadn't known sin, but by the law. For I had not known lust, except the law had said, Paul's referring to this scripture right today, thou shalt not covet.

[40:56] Paul said, I didn't know that. The law then pointed out my sinfulness. Covetousness, Paul is saying, is an inward state of sin. That declares me unlawful.

[41:07] That's it. That's terrible. The law declared me unlawful. No, that is our hope. The law qualifies us. The law gives us standing in redemption. Jesus said, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

[41:22] How do you know you're a sinner? The law has declared me so. Thou shalt not covet. I've coveted. I have. I've coveted. Man, now the law tells me I'm a sinner.

[41:33] Is the law bad? No, but I am. But the law qualifies me for a very particular opportunity. As a sinner, I have access to redemption. Without the law, I don't know I'm a sinner.

[41:46] And without that, I don't realize that Jesus is giving me redemption. The law places me in a position that I could never have been in, and that is that of a sinner.

[41:58] Paul would write to Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 6. He's speaking about, in a sense, covetousness. And he's telling Timothy, he says, hey, Timothy, godliness with contentment is great gain.

[42:10] First is godliness. Recognizing as a sinner, I become qualified to become one of those who Jesus saves. I then obtain his new nature.

[42:22] Okay, godliness with contentment. Well, maybe contentment's the cure for covetousness. If I could be content with what I have, all right, I'll just stick with the Camry. No, it's fine. I'm good.

[42:32] That's the cure. It's not the cure. It's its opposite. It's a life-giving opposite that is only found in Christ. I'm not going to find it in this world. Contentment allows me to live fulfilled already because I found my contentment in Christ.

[42:48] Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world and it's certain we can carry nothing out of it. We are to be content with what God's given us. But if I live a fulfilled life, my neighbor then becomes an opportunity to receive blessing from me, not potential for me to receive blessing from him.

[43:10] See the difference? Covetousness says, I need a blessing from you. Give it to me. Contentment says, I have a blessing to give to you. You're no longer a source of expected blessing in my life.

[43:25] So why would someone covet? Why are we going to do this? Why would you covet something clearly belonging to another when you know it's forbidden? Well, who's going to do that? Okay, just like we said, don't bear false witness.

[43:38] I'm not going to covet, but it's too late. I've done it. I'm covetous. I recognize my nature within me. The law tells me this because I have this desire. And then I find that it leads to a dead end because the law declares to me, nope, that's not a desire that leads to life.

[43:57] Sin consumes, but love fulfills. Sin will always consume. Covetousness expresses my desire to have fulfillment in my life. I want my life fulfilled.

[44:08] There's nothing wrong with that. But I think it's by having. And I consider those closest to me, my neighbor, as a very plausible source of that fulfillment. I see you.

[44:21] I want fulfillment. And you look like a very good source for fulfillment in my life. So our relationship becomes one where I expect blessing from you, where I'm coveting something in your life. I see an advantage you have.

[44:32] And you know people like that. You can never tell them anything good without them trying to either one-up it or like have a piece of it too. Like, you know, rejoice with those that rejoice.

[44:43] Can I not be fulfilled and content enough that when you tell me, someone gave me a Corvette? Praise God. I hope you can afford the insurance. If you need help, come to me.

[44:56] I'll pray for you. McCovitchousness, it expresses that desire to have fulfillment. Galatians chapter five says, for all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this.

[45:10] Love your neighbor as yourself. Don't love myself as my neighbor. Love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour, that's the verse we started with, one another. Take heed, you be not consumed one another.

[45:22] In other words, love will not consume. Love won't consume. Love will fulfill. The law is fulfilled through love. You see, the law places a boundary around my natural inclinations, right?

[45:35] My sinful desire wants to be expressed in coveting. The law says, boop, boop, boop. Nope, that's a boundary. Nope. Oh man, I'm coveting. Oh no. But it's doing that for the protection of love. The law protects love.

[45:46] Do you know that? Protects me from being unloving towards you. That's what the law does. But love has no boundaries. Love has the boundless ability to express blessing.

[45:57] Is there a law that says, man, you are just too, you're loving me too much. Cut it out. You know, you're too loving. You're going to break the law with your lovingness. Stop it. Stop giving away so much.

[46:11] Stop being so, such a source of blessing in people's lives. You're just too fulfilling. I can't take it. No, there's no boundary to that. Love is without boundaries. The law is a boundary.

[46:22] The law says, oh, stop. It's not loving. You're now consuming something from that person and you're calling it love because in the moment you're feeling fulfilled. But as we saw, that lasts but a moment where truth and love are eternal.

[46:36] The law places a boundary around my relationships to protect them, to protect love. But love removes those boundaries because it doesn't need them. There's no need for a boundary with love.

[46:49] Why? Because love never has the possibility of seeking its own. Ephesians chapter 5, beginning in verse 2, Paul writes, and walk in love. As Christ also has loved us.

[47:02] Walk as Jesus loved us, the person who never sought his own and has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor. His relationships didn't stink.

[47:14] That means. What is your relationship? Are you offering yourself? Are you sacrificing yourself in love and in truth? Or is it a relationship where you expect the other person to sacrifice?

[47:26] I need to be fulfilled. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be once named among you. Things that seek advantage by taking advantage of someone else.

[47:39] That seeks my advantage at your cost. Don't do those things. Instead, those things that you once did, but oh, now do what becomes saints. I mean, you're a child of God. You've been born again of the Spirit.

[47:52] We don't walk after the letter of the law. Neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor jesting, which are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks. Thank you, God. I have more than I need, Lord.

[48:03] I'm so fulfilled in you. Can I give this away to someone else? Can I bless someone else? 1 Corinthians 13, verses 5 and 6. Love does not behave itself unseemly.

[48:15] It does not seek her own. It's not easily provoked. And it thinks no evil. It rejoices not in iniquity, but what does it rejoice in? It shall not bear false witness. It rejoices in the truth.

[48:28] What is my relationship? What is my relationship with God? Am I expecting that God's all about just fulfilling me and I'm so provoked because he didn't give me what I want? Is my relationship with you that I think, well, I love you.

[48:41] I love you so much. Why won't you give me what I need? Well, it doesn't seek its own. So why would we not covet that which is our neighbor's?

[48:53] Because in Jesus, we have all things we'd ever need. We're fulfilled. Love is boundless. I don't want to go back to the law. I don't want to be in those boundaries. Don't do this and don't do that and don't overstep and don't, well, I'm trying to live a fulfilled life.

[49:08] That's not fulfilling. So, our last question. Who does it apply to? That's great. I got to do that with my neighbors. Thankfully, I only have one on this side and one on this side and one over there and one over there where I live.

[49:22] Phew, not too many neighbors. You know, man, you live in one of those, you know, a housing development with lots of neighbors. Sorry, that's going to be hard for you. no, who's my neighbor? Who is it? Do I, if I move to the mountains, am I good?

[49:35] My first neighbors are a mile away? Turn to Luke chapter 10. We will finish here. Our neighbor is whoever God has put in our lives to express boundless love to.

[49:55] Who is our neighbor? We're going to pick up in verse 25 when you get there in Luke chapter 10. So, we're getting a series of Jesus' interactions with people in his ministry and one of them picks up here in verse 25 of Luke 10.

[50:13] It says, Behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him or tested him. Those lawyers, well, it just means one who's well-versed in the law. Saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

[50:27] What must I do to be judged worthy? He's like, I'm a lawyer, I'm an expert in the law. What must I do to be judged worthy? Why would he say that? I think he knows he's not. And he said unto him, Jesus said to him, what is written in the law?

[50:42] How do you read it? Do you know what's there? The answer, in a sense, is already there. It just needs to be read. How do I know what to do in this situation? How do I show love in this?

[50:54] It's there. Just read it. And he answered and said unto him, well, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.

[51:09] Love. He answers right and says love makes a man worthy. Love for our neighbor is the outward evidence of an inward love for God. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself because that expresses outwardly this inward love I have for God.

[51:25] 1 John 4.20 says, if a man say, I love God and hates his brother, I love you, God, but I just can't stand all these people. Well, then he's a liar. For he that loves not his brother whom he's seen, how can he love God whom he's not seen?

[51:42] How are you going to say you love God? When you see God face to face, if you can't love your brother face to face, good luck. Love for our neighbor is that outward evidence, but love sets our priorities.

[52:00] Thou shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself. Love sets the priority. And Jesus responds to him and said, you've answered very well. You've answered right. This do, and you shall live.

[52:12] Well, the answer was right. The result was very real, but the ability was out of reach. The answer was right. And the result of that would be life eternal if he could do it.

[52:24] But he couldn't. Jesus said, this do, and you shall live. And I think the guy's thinking, I've been trying to do this my whole life. The problem was not that the man did not know what was right.

[52:36] He knew it was right. As we go through the law, we know it's right. Problem is, I'm not right myself, so I can't do it. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, well, who is my neighbor?

[52:49] All right, I can love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Really? That's the neighbor part I got a problem with. If I just didn't have neighbors, I'd be good. Well, who's my neighbor? To justify here means to render or pronounce righteous.

[53:03] He's willing to justify himself. He wants to render and pronounce himself righteous. I want to know that I'm righteous. Those who seek to establish their own righteousness, who seek to justify themselves, whenever I try to justify myself, I then remove myself from a righteousness that's already been established for me.

[53:24] You see, God has justified me. I'm justified in Christ Jesus, just as if I had never sinned. When I justify myself, I remove myself now from that place where God has justified, or I'm already been justified.

[53:38] He's just done the justification on my behalf. He's established that for me. Do I not lose my salvation? No, not at all. But I'm now in a relationship of works, of law, again, of trying to justify myself.

[53:52] Romans 10.3 says, for they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. How silly when God has exactly what I'm looking for, but I won't submit myself to that because what does that require?

[54:09] I am a sinner, so the law tells me, and I need a savior. Well, I'd rather establish my own righteousness than I don't have to admit that I'm a sinner and I can still live a covetous life.

[54:21] Romans 3.24, but being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. So this man thought he had a shot at justifying himself. If only he could limit his fear of accountability.

[54:34] If I could just limit that, if I could just bring it inside something I can do. What do you do really well? Are you really organized? Are you really creative? What is it that you think, I do this really well?

[54:47] Well, okay, if I could do that really well, maybe God will accept me. We never choose to justify ourselves with things we don't do well. Right? I'm not super good at finishing things.

[54:57] As has my wife, projects. I start, I don't like to pick up, and I don't like to finish. You know, man, maybe my ability to finish will justify me before God. I'm not going to use that. No way.

[55:10] No way. You know what I like doing? I like studying. I like learning. I like diving in and digging. Well, maybe that will justify me before God. This man thought he had a shot if he could just limit this sphere of accountability.

[55:25] So who's my neighbor? 1 John 4, 21, in this commandment have we from him that he who loves God love his brother also. It's a command. And Jesus answered and said in verse 30, he gives this answer.

[55:39] He speaks it back. He says, here's what it is. But this answer is going to place far out of this man's reach any ability for him to establish his own righteousness. He said, I can't live up to that standard.

[55:54] But Jesus is going to give him a standard that he can attain. The same one you and I can live by. Love. We receive by faith the love of God. And Jesus answering said, a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves.

[56:09] Well, that's very plausible. I mean, the road to Jericho is windy. It goes really deep into a valley and then comes on up and it was a place where thieves would sit. And he fell among thieves and they stripped him of his raiment and wounded him.

[56:23] Look where he was coming from. He was coming from Jerusalem. Jerusalem, the epicenter of God's people. He was a Jew coming from Jerusalem and he was beaten, stripped, and wounded, and departed.

[56:36] And he left him half dead. The thief comes but to steal, kill, and destroy. And by chance, there came down a certain priest that way and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

[56:46] And likewise, a Levite, when he was at that place, came and looked on him, passed by on the other side. These religious men, they wanted to justify themselves.

[56:57] To do so meant what? They had to limit their sphere of accountability. They had to remove themselves to a place where they felt they could keep the law. The desire of them to justify themselves, though, closed their hearts to compassion.

[57:12] They're not going to have compassion on him because I need to be justified. They needed to be justified in their own eyes and to do that, they had to limit their sphere of accountability and responsibility.

[57:26] They advantaged themselves at the expense of another. I'm not going to be defiled by you so I'm going to stay over here and advantage myself and you're the one who's going to lose out. But a certain Samaritan, and at this point, the people listening and this teacher of the law or this lawyer, he would have been like, oh, Samaritan, we don't have anything to do with them.

[57:45] So you had in the north where in Samaria, up here where at the time where Jesus was, well, Ahab was ruling from Samaria. By the time Jesus comes on the scene, Samaria is filled with Samaritans, which the Jews considered not even proper Jews, half-breeds.

[58:02] So to get from Galilee to Jerusalem, they would go way out around and they would come up to Galilee. They would take that Jericho road. Better to take a chance of getting robbed than to go and be with these Samaritans.

[58:16] But the Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was and when he saw him, he had compassion on him. So all three of these men saw the man and they saw the need, but only one of them had compassion on him. Compassion seeks to understand the need and then it seeks to meet that need, even at an expense to itself.

[58:34] And he went to him and bound him up with his wounds, pouring in oil and wine and set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn and took care of him. Compassion is willing to risk reputation, resources, and ruin for the sake of a neighbor.

[58:54] Reputation, this man's reputation as a Samaritan, he wouldn't have anything to do with the Jews and he's going to go home and they'd be like, you're what? You did what? You're sponsoring a Jew? His resources and ultimately could mean his ruin.

[59:07] As he stays there, what prevents the thieves from coming and taking him out? But love draws near. Like a good neighbor, love draws near.

[59:20] A good neighbor responds to need when he sees the need. He seeks to make whole. The neighbor seeks to make whole, not use to take to be whole.

[59:31] A good neighbor uses his own resources and he takes responsibility as this man did. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence and gave them to the host.

[59:42] So he stayed with him all night to care for him and he took care of him. He said, take care of him and whatever you spend more, when I come again, I will repay you. We were just talking in the beginning about Jesus coming again.

[59:53] When he comes again, he says, you put that on my account. So a good neighbor responds to need, seeks to make whole, uses his own resources, takes responsibility, but he also sees past the moment and he continues to care.

[60:06] It's not just, well, everything good? Okay. He stays involved and he ensures the result. That's what a neighbor does. That's love. Is there a limit to that?

[60:17] Is there a boundary to that? I don't think so. Lastly, a good neighbor releases all debt. Hey, whatever's all, I'll repay it out of my own.

[60:29] Romans 13, 8 says, Oh, no man anything but to love one another for he that loves another has fulfilled the law. Now, Jesus says in verse 36, which of these three do you think was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?

[60:44] And it was crickets. And he, the lawyer said, and this is so sad, he that showed mercy. He wouldn't even say Samaritan. He wouldn't even say who it was. Well, he, he that showed mercy on him and said, Jesus said to him, go and do thou likewise.

[60:58] Why? So you can earn your way now because if you do that, it's a change of heart. There's a reality that you have love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and all your strength because that's going to work itself out that you know what?

[61:11] I'm not looking at you what I can advantage from you anymore. How can I advantage you? How can I bless you? Who is my neighbor? Whoever needs fulfillment. The one who needs fulfillment is my neighbor.

[61:26] Who is a neighbor? Who is the one who brings fulfillment? How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things.

[61:41] Who is a neighbor? The one who brings fulfillment. And we know and believed the love that God has to us.

[61:55] God is love. He that dwells in love dwells in God and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect. Do you want that love? I do. I want a love that can love a Samaritan.

[62:09] I want a love like that. How do I find that love? How do I move from a relationship which is that I have all these boundaries around so that I don't go too far and you don't go too far and like don't take from me and don't I need that where it's covetousness and how do I have a relationship that's in truth?

[62:28] Herein is our love made perfect made complete made whole that we may have boldness in the day of judgment because as he is so are we in the Lord in the world I'm sorry.

[62:39] How's our love made perfect? Because God is love and he that dwells in love dwells in God. 1 Corinthians 10 24 says let no one seek his own good but the good of his neighbor.

[62:53] Let no one seek his own good but the good of his neighbor. What a world that would be someday when Jesus makes all things new. How good would that be? If you're seeking my good if all of you are seeking my good that's great but if all of us are seeking your good that's great but if we each seek our own good well I'm probably gonna have to take from you and take from you and take from you and take from you to kind of feel a little bit fulfilled.

[63:20] Let us not therefore judge one another anymore says Romans 14 13 but judge this that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in another's way. Love does not seek to advantage itself but to give itself for the advantage of another.

[63:37] Do you want to be fulfilled? Give yourself away. Compassion is willing to risk a reputation resources and ruin and Jesus did all of that for us. At the cross Jesus risked his reputation he gave his resources and it was his absolute ruin as he took the sin of the world upon himself.

[63:57] And he says my God my God why have you forsaken me? As he experienced the separation that deceit that a lie that a broken trust that covetousness all of these things the law declares as sin Jesus took that on himself.

[64:13] His reputation he had no reputation in Israel. Jesus doesn't have a reputation today as the world slanders him and uses his name as a curse word.

[64:25] Gave all of his resources everything he had so that we could enter into life and he went down into death into ruin so that we could overcome.

[64:38] You know the man who came to Jesus he thought he had it all together. There's just one thing lacking. I'm sure if there's just one more thing there's always going to be one more thing guys and the enemy is going to be happy to keep you on a path of one more things for the rest of your life.

[64:55] But when we come to Christ and realize it's finished and as we read where Paul says but I show you a better way oh I show you something so much better. It's love. It's love. As we finish up the Ten Commandments we've gone through these.

[65:08] The end is love and the law is good. The law qualifies me as a sinner so that I can come into redemption and I can receive salvation. If you haven't done that why not?

[65:20] Why not walk in love instead of law? Receive from Jesus who gave his reputation his resources and his ruin for you and walk in love. It's an eternal result.

[65:31] If you have received that but you look at your life and you just see it's a dead end well that's really simple. It's really really easy. Go to Jesus.

[65:44] Let him remove the boundaries. Maybe you've been putting so many boundaries upon your expectations of yourself your relationships and you're just too afraid to let him go. But remember who you are.

[65:55] For any man being Christ he's a new creation. God's got you. If you don't know who I am in here don't worry about it. You don't need a law. God's got you. Lord we thank you so much Lord as we wind down this section of the Ten Commandments Lord as we have seen your heart for us over and over and over you want us to know we're sinners.

[66:19] You want us to know we've broken the law. You want us to know that we are lost separated from you under condemnation and doomed to wrath.

[66:32] But you don't want us to know that because you want us to go in that direction. You want to warn us. The law is simply a warning to us time and time again don't go that way. It leads to death.

[66:44] Don't go that way. There's no life there. Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Learn of me. For I'm meek and lowly in heart.

[66:56] you shall find rest under your souls. Thank you Lord that we can rest our souls in you. Thank you for the boundless love that you have given us and that we can express to one another and to the world.

[67:08] Forgive us Lord for thinking that we need to be fulfilled by taking when fulfillment comes through receiving from you and then giving to others.

[67:20] We love you Jesus name. Amen. You know the amazing thing is he can and he will change our hearts. We don't have to do it. We don't have to figure out a way to apply these things to our lives.

[67:33] We just have to ask him to change our hearts and he'll do it. Don't try to do this on your own. That's why we went through the law through these ten commandments the way we did. Because so often we live our Christian experience as if we're under a law.

[67:45] As if we have to try and set boundaries and keep rules and regulations and all we have to do is just ask for a new heart and receive his love. You know if we don't love our neighbors who will?

[67:59] How's God's love going to be expressed in this world if not through us? Allow yourself to be filled with his love. Allow your heart to be changed. Ask him. Ask him.

[68:11] He's got everything you need. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you. The Lord be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you peace.