Do This & You Will Live
Notes
Transcript
Opening Illustration
Opening Illustration
Just a few years ago, an astonishing thing happened in New York City.
A construction worker named Wesley Autrey was standing on a subway platform with his two young daughters waiting on a train.
Suddenly another man on the platform, apparently suffering from a seizure, stumbled and fell off the platform down onto the subway tracks.
Just at that moment the headlights of a rapidly approaching train appeared in the subway tunnel.
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Acting quickly, and with no thought for himself, Wesley Autrey jumped down onto the tracks to rescue the stricken man by dragging him out of the way of the train.
But he immediately realized that the train was coming too fast and there wasn’t time to pull the man off the tracks.
So Wesley pressed the man into the hollowed-out space between the rails and spread his own body over him to protect him as the train passed over the two of them.
The train cleared Wesley by mere inches, coming close enough to leave grease marks on his knit cap.
When the train came to a halt, Wesley called up to the frightened onlookers on the platform.
“There are two little girls up there.
Let them know their Daddy is OK.”
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Immediately, and for good reason, Wesley Autrey became a national hero.
People were deeply moved by his selflessness, and they marveled at his bravery.
What Wesley had done was a remarkable deed of concern for another person.
He had no obvious reason to help this stranger.
He didn’t know the man.
He had his young daughters to think about.
What he did was at severe risk to his own life.
But a human being was in desperate need, and Wesley saw it and, moved with compassion, did what he could to save him.
“The Subway Superman”--that’s what the press called him, the “Harlem Hero.”
But the headline in one newspaper described Wesley Autrey in biblical terms.
It read, “Good Samaritan Saves Man on Subway Tracks.”
This story of a man risking his life to save a stranger not only brings to mind the parable of the Good Samaritan...
But it also brings to mind the conversion between Jesus and a religious scribe that took place right before Jesus gave told this famous parable...
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So, please turn your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke.
We will conduct our study in Chapter 10 and focus on verses 25 through 28.
Our message this morning is titled, “Do This & You Will Live”
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This message today will focus on what one must do to enter the King of God...
And this message will set us up for next week when we cover in detail the parable of the Good Samaritan.
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So, this morning we will cover three main points:
1) The Question
2) The Source
And...
3) The Answer
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Before we consider our text, please join me in prayer...
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Heavenly Father...
You are such a loving and caring Father.
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Help us understand Your truth that is found in Scripture...
Help us to be united as a church with a heart of love and compassion for each other and for our community.
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Thank You for being patient with us...
Thank You for sending Your Son to model for us what it means to follow You faithfully.
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And it is in Jesus’s name we pray all these things...
Amen.
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Let’s turn to our text for today:
Reading of the Text
Reading of the Text
25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”
27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
So, let’s look at our first point...
1) The Question
1) The Question
Verse 25: And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
This passage opens up with one of the most common and most important questions ever to be asked...
What must we do to inherit eternal life?
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For the atheist, although they know in their hearts that God exists, they pretend at there is no eternal life.
We know this from passages like Romans 1:18-22 which says:
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
For the those in the religions of Hinduism and Buddhism, they avoid the topic of eternal life by adopting the false teaching of reincarnation.
For those who are universalists, they believe everyone gets into Heaven.
And if you follow the current Roman Pope then you believe that all religions lead to Heaven as Pope Francis said earlier this month:
“Every religion is a way to arrive at God.
Sort of a comparison, an example, would be they’re sort of like different languages in order to arrive at God.
But God is God for all.
And if God is God for all, we are all sons and daughters of God.
There is only one God and each of us has a language, so to speak, in order to arrive at God.
Sihk, Muslim, Hindu, Christian.
There are different paths.”
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Yet Jesus Christ and those who follow Him know better.
John 14:6 says:
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
So Beloved, there is only one way to God..
There is only one way to eternal life...
And once we understand that...
We need to know what we must do to inherit eternal life?
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Today we will explore that truth by looking at this question from this “lawyer” who was also know as a scribe who was supposedly an expert in the law of God.
Yet here in our passage we see that he is putting Jesus “to the test,” not genuinely looking for information but for a pretext to accuse Jesus.
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I like how the Pillar New Testament Commentary on Luke puts it:
“ Verse 25 recalls a typical Jewish teaching scene, with teacher surrounded by disciples and hearers, all seated.
Jewish disciples normally honored rabbis by standing when they spoke or asked a question.
The description of the scribe as ‘[standing] to test Jesus’ thus suggests either disingenuousness or duplicity on his part, for his intention does not correspond to his respectful posture.”
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However, regardless of the intention behind the question, thew question itself was on the mind of many...
Scripture records many instances of others who have asked the same question.
The young rich ruler asks Jesus this question in there interaction recorded in Luke 18:18 which says:
18 And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Likewise, the apostles where asked this question when they were confronted with individuals who had their hearts softened and desired to inherit eternal life...
Just look with me at Acts 2:36-37 which says:
36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
And look with me at Acts 16:29-30 which says:
29 And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas.
30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
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This question was not just urgent in biblical times...
It is just as urgent in our time today and many want to know what they need to do.
Many man-made religions today will give you a check list of items that you need to do to be saved...
Jehovah's Witness
Mormons
Catholics
Orthodox
Muslims
Modern Day Jews
Etc.
The list goes on...
All require a list that is require to maintain in order to reach eternal life...
But Jesus...
He gave us another way...
For it was the one and only way to God...
And that truth was found back in the Old Testament...
You see Beloved, the Law tells us what we must do to be saved...
And this take us to our next point.
2) The Source
2) The Source
Verse 26: He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”
Did you see what Jesus just did there, Beloved?
He asked the Scribe what does the Word of God say?
Another reminder that when we have a question on anything...
We must always start at the Scriptures.
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As theologian James R. Edwards says:
“Jesus responds, ‘What is written in the Law? How do you read it?’.
This question corresponds to the way rabbis engaged students in debate, and references to ‘written,’ ‘Law,’ and ‘read’ drive the scribe irrevocably to Torah.
The counterquestion thus implies that the core of the gospel is present and knowable to the scribe in Torah, ‘concealed in the Old Testament and revealed in the New Testament,” as Augustine would later say.”
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Furthermore, the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament on Luke says:
“Jesus responds with a question about the law, which is the expression of God’s revealed will for that time.
By responding this way, Jesus identifies himself not as a radical who wishes to deny the teaching of Jewish tradition but as one who wishes to reflect on what God requires.
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He sends the lawyer to their shared source of authority:
The law, God’s instruction to his people.
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The deflection of the original question also avoids the lawyer’s test, since now the lawyer will take advantage of the opportunity to give the answer to his own question!
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There is a note of irony in this reversal:
He will expound what stands written by God, because Jesus has asked him for scriptural support.”
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So, this is a reminder to us that the Old Testament is not to be unhitched from as false teachers like Andy Stanley claim.
This is not a matter of out with the old and in with the new...
The Old Testament is required reading if you are to understand the New Testament.
Jesus made that point clear in His day too when He said in Matthew 5:17–19:
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
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So, the Scribe’s question will be answered by what the Old Testament says...
Well, let’s look at our third and final point to find that answer.
3) The Answer
3) The Answer
Verses 27-28: And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
The Scribe answered Jesus correctly...
The Old Testament reveals to us that we are to love God with our everything and we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves...
The first part of the Scribe’s answer is found commanded in Deuteronomy 6:5 which says:
5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Now, this verse was called the Shema and a devout Jew would repeat it twice each day.
In the Shema three prepositional phrases describe the total response of love toward God.
It involves the “heart” which means one’s emotions...
It involves the “soul” which means one’s consciousness...
And it involves “strength” which means one’s motivation.
Yet, there is no compartmentalization of response...
The entire person responds.
This love that is described it the highest and greatest form of love we can have for anyone...
And this love comes form our entire being!
That is the kind of love Scripture describes that we must have for God.
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Let me put it this way...
The love you have your pets...
Especially those loyal pets that will sacrifice their life just to be with you...
The love you have for that pet might be great...
So much so that pet feels like a member of the family...
If you have not had the blessing of a love for a pet like that then go watch the film, Hachi: A Dog's Tale
Then you will know what I am talking about.
That love is great but we are talking about a even greater love!
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The love you have for a dear friend...
Someone who is closer to you than most of your blood family...
Someone who has never abandoned you and is always available to support you at a moments notice...
Your love for that person is build on a bond closer greater than just blood...
Think of the relationship between Johnathan and David from Scripture...
That love is great but we are talking about a even greater love!
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The love you have for a precious family member...
Maybe it is a parent or a sibling or a cousin...
This is someone that has poured their life into yours...
They shout for joy when you are happy and they shed tears when you are sad...
Think of the strong family bonds you see in popular TV sitcoms like:
The Waltons, Little House on the Pierre, Full House, Family Matters, or When Calls the Heart.
That love is great but we are talking about a even greater love!
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How about the love you have for a spouse or a child...
They feel like they complete your life...
Your wedding day or their births are days etched into your mind...
You may have lived part of your life without them but once they entered your life you can’t imagine life without them...
Think of Romeo & Juliet, Mr. Darcy & Elizabeth Bennet, Little Orphan Annie, or the popular children’s book Love You Forever.
That love is great but we are talking about a even greater love!
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Our love for God has to far exceed all other loves we have...
God must take the first place in our hearts and who ever comes next must be at a far distant second.
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Yet, the love we have for God produces great love for all our other relationships...
The way you love your friends, siblings, parents, child, and spouse...
That love for them grows stronger if God is the first of your loves...
For the person who surrenders their life to God and puts their trust in Him...
For the person who loves God with their everything...
They will not be able to help it but to grow in love for everyone else...
For even our love for God comes from God and God overwhelms us with an ocean of love that has nowhere else to go but to fall on those around us.
So, to put it plainly, to love the Lord your God involves having faith in Him and also delighting in Him above all else.
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Next, the second part of the Scribe’s answer is found commanded in Leviticus 19:18 which says:
18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
Now, for most Jews a “neighbor” was another Jew, not a Samaritan or a Gentile.
Furthermore, the Pharisees and Scribes did not even include all Jews as neighbors.
However, this is not how God defines a “neighbor.”
We will get into it more next week, but according to the Word of God everyone is our neighbor.
As Romans 13:8-10 says:
8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
So, we can conclude that first set of commands found in the Ten Commandments relates to the first part of the scribe’s answer that we are to love God with our everything.
The second set of commands found in the Ten Commandments relates to the second part of the scribe’s answer that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves.
This was summed up nicely in a note I came across in a commentary I read this week (MacArthur New Testament Commentary of Luke):
“The command calls for total commitment to selfless love (agapaō; the highest kind of love) involving all human faculties, including the heart, soul, strength, and mind.
These two commands sum up the Ten Commandments, the first half of which describes how to love God, while the second half describes how to love one’s neighbor.
Only those who practice such self-denying love can receive eternal life.”
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In fact, Paul the apostle sums up those two commands into a single phrase...
Just look with me at Galatians 5:14 which says:
14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
How does that make sense?
Well, in order to love your neighbor as yourself you have to first love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.
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Beloved, evaluate your relationships...
Are you having a hard time loving your friends?
Are you having a hard time loving your family?
Are you having a hard time loving your kids?
Are you having a hard time loving your spouse?
Then the heart of the matter is your love for God...
Yes, you need to first look to your relationship with God if you want to strengthen your relationship with others.
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Love God with all your heart.
Love God with all your soul.
Love God with all your strength.
Love God with all your mind.
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When you wake up in the morning think of God and His Word...
Pray to Him for guidance for your day.
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In the middle of the day make sure you are still focused on God and remind yourself of all his past faithfulness.
Pray to Him a prayer of thanksgiving.
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At the end of your day, whether it was a “good” day or “bad” day, remind yourself that if you are Christ’s then everything that transpired happened for a reason.
Pray to Him for greater understanding of His ways and His Word.
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Beloved, be in the Scriptures daily meditating on God’s amazing truths.
Live and breathe the Word of God.
Know the Word of God so well that you can disciple others and spot false teaching.
This is not what only Pastors and Deacons need to be doing...
But everyone who claims to follow Christ needs to be praying without ceasing and meditating on the Holy Bible regularly.
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Those actions don’t merit us a good standing with God...
But they are evidence that we have surrendered to God genuinely...
And that means the Holy Spirit lives in us and empowers us to do the things we previously could not do.
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If you are being honest and you can confidently say that you love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind...
Then rejoice in that grace that was given to you and love Him more because you can’t love him enough...
You can’t exhaust the Word of God...
So, keep mining it for Hid truth!
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If you are being honest and you can’t confidently say that you love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind...
Then cry out to God to soften your heart...
Come to me after service and we can talk...
Give me a call or send me a message...
We can talk about it and go through the Word of God together and see what God has to say on the matter.
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This is so important...
We need to make sure we get this part right...
You see, Jesus said in our passage, “do this, and you will live” and that is the promise of the law.
So, Jesus not only accepts the answer of the scribe but also emphasizes that the he needs to carry it out.
Genuine belief always is accompanied by the production of good fruits.
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Knowledge of what God requires is not enough...
Such knowledge needs to be put into practice...
Love that comes from the heart responds with the actions of hands and feet.
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You see Beloved, if one’s hope of eternal life rests on what one does in response to God’s commands...
Keeping the commands to love God with one’s whole person and one’s neighbor as oneself entails keeping every commandment flawlessly.
But since no sinner can obey perfectly, the impossible demands of the law are meant to drive us to seek divine mercy.
So look with me at what it says in Galatians 3:10–13:
10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”
11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.”
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—
Likewise a few verses down from the passage we read Paul says this in Galatians 3:22–25:
22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.
24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.
25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,
So, the way to salvation in the Old Testament and the New Testament is the same...
It was always about grace...
It was always about faith...
And all of it was wrapped up in love...
As the New American Commentary on Luke says:
“Jesus affirmed the law.
The teaching of the law is definitive.
The way to eternal life is the same in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.
It is by grace through a faith that works in love.
At times the word ‘faith’ may need to be emphasized; at other times, ‘love.’
The answer given in Luke 10:27 involves a faith consisting of love for God and one’s neighbor, for it is inconceivable to love God apart from faith.
Furthermore, a faith that does not produce love of one’s neighbor is dead.
It is no faith; it never was faith.”
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That is why a true genuine believer is always identifiable by the fruits they produce...
If one is breaking God’s commands all day...
They they clearly do not know the Lord...
Clearly they are not a believer...
And we are not wrong to say so.
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However, if one truly from their heart loves God...
It will be impossible to hide...
We will keep His commands!
Scripture is as clear on this point as can be...
Just look at what it says in 1 John 5:3:
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
They are not a burden for us to keep for we love His commands...
And that love of His commands comes from the Holy Spirit that now lives in every born-again believer...
Sure, we will not be perfect...
In fact, to claim that we can reach a level of sinless perfection is a heresy and contradicts the Word of God...
Yet, as believers His commands n o longer feel like burdens...
We will find joy is his statutes.
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There will be commands that at one time before we were saved seemed impossible like loving your enemy...
But with the Holy Spirit we can do that which was once impossible on our own.
With the Holy Spirit we can follow what it says in Matthew 5:43–45 which records Jesus saying:
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
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With a relationship with God we will learn to love for He will first pure His love on us...
And His love is an endless ocean!
Consider these words of wisdom found in 1 Corinthians 13:1–13 that Paul wrote as he addressed the church in Corinth:
1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Wow!
That is some powerful words on love.
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So, let love baptise everything you do...
As you talk with others, do it in love...
As you drive on the road, do it in love...
As you work at your joab, do it in love...
As you shop for groceries, do it in love...
As you exercise or play a sport, do it in love...
As you post on social media, do it in love...
As you deal with a difficult person, do it in love...
As you are mocked for faith in Christ, do it in love...
As you share the Gospel with a hostile world, do it in love...
As 1 Corinthians 16:14 puts it:
14 Let all that you do be done in love.
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I like how Darrel L. Bock says it:
“At the heart of believing in God is loving him and one’s neighbor.
In fact, life is found in loving God and one’s neighbor.”
The life that is found in loving God and one’s neighbor is eternal life!
Closing Illustration
Closing Illustration
So, as this message comes to a close...
I would like you to consider this parable called, “Barefoot Christians”:
“I arrived in the city of EVERYWHERE early one morning.
It was cold, and there were flurries of snow on the ground.
As I stepped from the train to the platform, I noticed that the baggage man and the redcap were warmly attired in heavy coats and gloves, but oddly enough, they wore no shoes.
Repressing my impulse to ask the reason for this odd practice, I went to the station and inquired the way to the hotel.
My curiosity, however, was increased by my discovery that no one in the station wore any shoes.
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Boarding the streetcar, I saw that my fellow travelers were likewise barefoot; and upon arriving at the hotel I found that the bellhop, the desk clerk, and all the residents were void of shoes!
Unable to restrain myself any longer, I asked the manager what this strange practice meant.
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“What practice?” said he.
“Why,” said I, pointing to his bare feet, “Why don’t you wear shoes in this town?”
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“Ah,” said he, “That is just it.
Why don’t we?”
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“But what is the matter?
Don’t you believe in shoes?”
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“Believe in shoes, my friend!
I should say we do!
That is the first article of our creed--shoes.
They are indispensable to the well-being of humanity.
Such frostbite, cuts, sores, and suffering those shoes prevent!
It is wonderful!”
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“Well, then, why don’t you wear them?” I asked, totally bewildered.
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“Ah” he said thoughtfully, “That is just it.
Why don’t we?”
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Though considerably nonplussed I checked in, secured my room, and went directly to the coffee shop.
There I deliberately sat down by an amiable-looking but barefoot gentleman.
Friendly enough, he suggested that we look around the city after our meal.
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The first thing we noticed upon emerging from the hotel was a huge brick structure of impressive proportions.
He pointed to this with pride.
“You see that?” said he “That is one of our outstanding shoe manufacturing establishments!”
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“A what?”
I asked in amazement.
“You mean you make shoes there?”
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“Well, not exactly,” said he, a bit abashed.
“We talk about making shoes there, and believe me, we have one of the most brilliant fellows you have ever heard.
He talks most thrillingly and convincingly every week on this great subject of shoes.
Just yesterday he moved the people profoundly with his exposition of the necessity of shoe-wearing.
Many broke down and wept.
It was really wonderful!”
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“But why don’t they wear them?” said I insistently.
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“Ah, that is just it.
Why don’t we?”
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Just then, as we turned down a side-street, I saw through a cellar window a cobbler actually making a pair of shoes.
Excusing myself from my friend, I burst into the little shop and asked the shoemaker how it happened that his shop was not over-run with customers.
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“Nobody wants my shoes,” he said.
“They just talk about them.”
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“Give me what pairs you have ready,” I said eagerly, and paid him twice the amount he modestly asked.
Hurriedly I returned to my friend and offered them to him, saying, “Here, my friend, one of these pairs will surely fit you.
Take them, put them on.
They will save untold suffering.”
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“Ah, thank you,” he said, with embarrassment, “but you don’t understand.
It just isn’t being done.
The front families, well, that is just it.
Why don’t we?”
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And coming out of the city of Everywhere, over and over and over that question rang in my ears;
“Why don’t we?
Why don’t we?
Why don’t we?"
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The parable of the Barefoot Christians was written more than a hundred years ago by an English Preacher named Hugh Price Hughes.
The city of Everywhere could be New York, London, St. Louis, Paris, or Baghdad!
It’s any place in the world where people know the most basic, obvious ways of living in right relationship with one another--yet they refuse to do it!
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The shoes on our feet are to be the good news of peace as Ephesians 6:15 says:
15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
Yet, we go barefoot.
The most basic footwear of life is mutual love for one another.
Beloved, the best way to love your neighbor is to share with the the life saving message found in the Word of God...
The best way to love your neighbor is to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.
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Remember our motivation for loving others is found in the solid foundation of God’s love for us...
He loves us first...
He sent His Son for us...
And Christ laid down his life of us in love and obedience to the Father and love for us...
As Ephesians 5:2 says:
2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
Let’s pray...
.......
Heavenly Father...
If anyone hearing this message right now does not know You in a saving way...
Then given them a brand new heart...
Give then a renewed mind...
Give them an ocean of unending love!
.......
I appeal to Your Name’s sake!
.......
For those hearing this message who already know You...
Remind us that You loved us first...
Remind us that Your love knows no end...
Remind us to love others and to be loving in all we do!
.......
Again, I appeal to Your Name’s sake!
.......
It is in Jesus’s name we pray all these things...
To God be all the glory.
Amen.