It's the only paralogy that they
have to do. I guess mom, that's like, what's
in our, we got to do it at our house. It's just kind of like,
it's the first time we're at my school. I said when Atari
came out, I said it was a big thing. And my mom, I bought one
because she had, you know, she had started, actually her maid
at that time, And it was like 70 or 90 bucks. That was expensive. And she says, oh, and we kind
of pitched the idea. She said, well, after the day,
we paid Patrick and all that kind of stuff to where she went,
which is crazy. Because she couldn't do nothing.
So after meeting her, she says, I know a lot of people, so a
lot of times I have to go in line to play it. I go all the
way to the middle. So I always like to play that
guy. Then we'd watch it, and now they
would like it. And then we'd give him all kinds
of stuff. Has he ever been big in the music
industry? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. We're going to move to a mysterious
place? The one that I could find was
the supermarket. The one that I know of is the
Spine Museum. The Spine Museum? The Spine Museum. They really liked it. But then
COVID came up because they just lived there and didn't know where
to go to. So we had to come back. I went through this about a year
ago. And there's a couple others that
people know, but that's the line. If you want to sing it, I'll
sing it for you, but there's no time to sing it. Well, we
have a few problems on the first. Oh, I mean, if you want to sing
an a cappella, I'll leave that up to you. That would be a lot
of momentum. The meter is 8686. So I type
on that, and there's all kinds of numbers. I know one 8888. You get one like that, and a
one. I haven't seen the work. It's
a big problem. I like culture, too. I mean,
you know what I'm talking about. You know, I'm very, like, you
know, it's not... I'm not trying to be, you know
what I mean? I'm not trying to be judgmental or anything like
that. It's just the way that we try to make it so it's not
visual. It's like when you're holding a piece of paper and
you have, like, familiar papers and all that. You have to make
it so... Good morning. Let me just give a couple of
announcements while we're just finishing up. I have a directory
here because One of our newer members asked
for a directory. So Michelle has been gathering
some things, and we have it on that Google Drive. But if you
just take a look at this and just write in if you want to
put some updates in there, we'll update it. And then she can push
out the Google Drive. Or for those that don't have
access to it or are having trouble getting access to the Google
Drive, We can print it out or email it, you know, put it into
another document and email it that way. So we're just going
to use this thing and so just update it that way and then that'll
be good. Okay. Let's see here. All right, brethren,
so we're going to begin now in Romans, Romans chapter 13. Romans chapter 13, we'll be looking
at verses 8 through 10. And this is following the Apostle
Paul's address to believers regarding their duty and their responsibility
and attitude towards civil authority. And so Paul now, he proceeds
to put us in remembrance of our Lord's command Our Lord's command,
which is that we are to love one another. Love one another,
and I think you'll see from the context here, our text this morning,
that that love is to extend to all persons. Friend and foe. We're to love all. I've titled
this Always Paying, Always Owing. Always paying, we always have
a debt of love that we owe. And we pay it. We show love to
our brethren, to those we know and are acquainted with, even
those who are our enemies. And yet that debt is never satisfied. It's a debt that we're always
paying and always owing still. And so I've just broken this
down into two divisions. First, and this will be the longer
portion, is our debt of love. And then we'll look at fulfilling
the law with love and what that means there at the end of verse
eight. All right, so let's read Romans 13, verse eight. Romans 13, verse eight. And he
says, oh, no man anything but to love one another, for he that
loveth another hath fulfilled the law. And one of the primary
purposes here of Paul saying this is that believers are to
make good on their obligations. The obligations that they have
placed upon them were to make good on those things. And last week we saw that obligation
in regards to civil authority. in regards to civil authority.
And today, we'll see that it's more of a natural duty toward
others, just how we're supposed to be toward others, whether
they are friend or foe. It includes all men. So just
to start off, we know that there's different kinds of owing, right? There's different kinds of obligations
that we have. If we borrow money from someone,
we have an obligation to pay them back. We should pay them
back. If you borrow a tool, you should
give it back. If you find that you've given
your word about something and you realize I haven't fulfilled
that word, then you should take steps to make good on on that
word and so we want to, we have different types of owing. I had
an experience recently where I borrowed a tool and I used
it and it got used with some damage basically. And so I went
to the brother who I borrowed it from and I just asked, what
can I do to make it right? And I gave him a little bit of
money so he could buy the peace that I had bent up and messed
up. So, you know, we want to, we don't want to owe anyone and,
you know, if we've done harm to them or something of that,
of that nature. So we want to make those things
right. You know, in some concerning
our Lord, we know Psalm 15, none of us can, can meet the obligations
of Psalm 15, but we know that that speaks of our Lord, and
in our Lord we'll stand in the presence of our God. But it says
there that the righteous one sweareth to his own hurt and
changeth not. And that's a good, that's a good
of this kind of obligation, that if we've given our word, even
if we realize, whoa, this now puts me in a bad spot, we still
should fulfill that word, even if it now hurts us and it's harder
for us to fulfill that word. Because our Lord did it for us,
all right? He committed to lay down His
life for His people, even though it hurt Him. in the sense that
he bore our stripes and he was forsaken of the Father to save
us. That's the kind of love that
he showed us. And Solomon tells us in Proverbs
3, verse 27 through 28, he says, withhold not good. from them to whom it is due,
when it is in thy power, or in the power of thine hand, to do
it. Say not unto thy neighbor, go and come again, and tomorrow
I will give, when thou hast it by thee. So if we owe something,
then do it. And that's what Paul's saying
there. Now, there's another contrast to that kind of owing. have been hurt by somebody or
someone has sinned against us, and we think, I'm going to pay
that person back the way they've dealt with me. And then we feel
like I owe them some harm or hurt for what they've done to
me. And that's a grudge. And when
it comes to that kind of owing, we're not to owe them that. He
said, owe no man anything, save to love them. So if you have
a grudge or a debt that you want to pay someone back that hurts
them, he says, don't. Don't hang on to that. Don't
owe them that. Let that go. Pray for them and
pray that the Lord heal you as well to let that go and not to
hold on to that kind of hatred. And in Leviticus, this comes
from Leviticus 19, 18, which says, thou shalt not avenge nor
bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself. I am the Lord. And we know that
verse is familiar to us. Thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. We know it because our Lord spoke
of loving our neighbor, right? And religion, what does religion
do with that word neighbor? Well, they begin to define it
in a manner that suits them, in a manner that they feel like
they can, that they either can achieve or are achieving it.
right now. So they do it, they define neighbor
in a very narrow sense. And they'll update what a neighbor
is as they go throughout life and they begin to face different
circumstances, right? They begin to change what, who
is my neighbor, right? Because we want to feel that
we are meeting it. But if that doesn't sound correct
to you, that we should just change the definition of neighbor, it's
because it isn't. We shouldn't do that. That's
not correct. The Lord didn't, if anything,
it's broader than what we do naturally. And our Lord's word
to us makes us feel uncomfortable in the flesh because it's contrary
to the flesh, right? His word concerning love does
put us out from our comfort zones and what we think we can do.
And it's meant to do that because it should humble us. It should
make us to know what we are in ourselves that without his spirit
and without his grace, I can't hear that. And I can't love as
I ought to love. And it should drive us to the
throne of his grace in confessing, not changing the definition to
make me meet it in the flesh, but rather drive me to my knees
to confess, Lord, I'm the sinner. Lord, I'm not loving as I ought
to love. And I don't love the way you
love me. Help me, Lord. Forgive me and
help me. And that's really what the word
should do. And we see that when others sin
against us, how often do others sin against us and we deal with
it in a right spirit and in a manner of love and grace and kindness? It's very rare. Very rare, and
so we're not just gonna be able to do it. We need his grace and
his spirit ever upon us to help us to do what we should. Now,
there was a certain lawyer, right? We know that there was a certain
lawyer who heard the Lord say this word, and we're told that
when the Lord spoke this word from Leviticus, thou shalt love
thy neighbor as thyself, and we're told in Luke 10, verse
29, that he was willing to justify himself, right? He wanted to
make sure everybody knew, especially himself, that he was meeting
that criteria, and he asked the Lord, who is my neighbor? And that's what we see in us,
that we're willing more to justify ourselves and find justification
for our anger and hatred and saying the words that we say
or mistreating another because of how they've treated us. And
so we look to do that. So we need to seek our Lord for
grace that we may forgive those who sin against us. And that's
going to come by his spirit. And it's going to come by His
grace teaching us and showing us what we are and how He's been
gracious and kind and gentle toward us. And when we see that
gentleness and that kindness toward us, that reveals to us
just how far short we fall of it. And we need that if we're
going to be ambassadors for Christ, because the Lord will use that
demonstration of love to teach others. We saw that a couple
weeks ago in Leave Vengeance with God. Because we don't know
what the Lord has that he may have laid down his life for them
and poured out his vengeance upon Christ for their sakes. And so your love may be a seed,
if you will, that the Lord uses to touch that sinner and turn
them from the error of their ways. He's able to do that. We know that we're happy to keep
his word when it suits our taste or when it's convenient for us.
But it's very difficult when, as most of the time, it catches
us off guard and we realize we've just been offended by somebody. It catches us off. So instead,
we should owe those honor and respect and owe them what is
their due. which should be kindness and
love and gentleness is what Paul is saying. Owe no man anything
except to love them. And we saw that back in Romans
13, 7 where he said, render therefore to all their dues, tribute to
whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear,
honor to whom honor, and love to whom love is due, which is
all men. Owe no man anything except to
love them. Now, if someone needs care, right? And that neighbor,
that word neighbor is much broader than what we'd like it to be.
But just, you know, put yourself, well, I was thinking of the Good
Samaritan, right? And what they did in showing
love. And just think of how if you
were in another land, right, with another people, you weren't
with Americans and you're in another country with their own
customs and own ways and their own language, And suddenly you
were being persecuted or you were hurt and harmed. And everyone
you're turning to, you're looking for some help and some kindness,
some grace, someone to help you. And everyone just passed you
by and maybe kicked you on their way going by you and mistreated
you. And then one person stopped and
showed kindness to you and cared for you and just stooped down
and helped you. and minister to your needs. Just
that first person. What a change that would do. What a comfort. You'd love that
person. You'd be so thankful for that
one person to show you that kind of grace and kindness in that
moment. And that's really what the Lord
is saying, we should be. We should be doing that, right?
Many people have bad days. We've had many bad days ourselves
and we get short and grumpy and angry and then the wrong person
comes with, you know, saying something or doing something
and it just, we're not ready for it and we lash out in anger. But for that, instead, when that
person's grumpy or angry, if you just speak a kind and gentle
word, how it might turn. It might turn them, and we all
can hear that, myself included. We all need to hear that because
we all are guilty of not showing love in that opportunity when
it's given to us. So if you're called upon, any
who needs it, and that includes your enemies, think of what your
Lord did for you. And know that first, if you're
going to be able to show love to your enemies, it's going to
begin with your brethren. And that actually is harder than
it sounds, right? You that have spouses, you know
a lot of times you can be very gracious to people who are not
your spouse or outside of your family in that familiar circle.
And the reason why you get more angry with your spouse or more
angry with those who know you well is because, one, you know
everything that comes along with that. You think, I know why you're
saying that. I know. And you bring all that
baggage to the situation. And you hear them implying things
that they may not be implying. You're inferring things that
they're not necessarily saying. you just assume and so you get
angry or you think you should know better. You shouldn't do
that. You know better. You know I hate that or something
like that. And so, you know, love beginning with your brethren,
it can be harder actually than it sounds. And it might, you
know, we tend to be a lot more gracious to people outside of
our inner circle, right? We're a lot more understanding.
But if you can be gracious and gentle and loving to your own
spouse and your own Family then in that same manner you can show
it to others and for some people it's different, you know, some
people are Kinder and nicer to their family. Some people are
meaner to their own family and nicer to people outside It's
I've seen it in my own family. So it definitely happens but
it begins with our brethren and our Lord said in John 13 that
Verse 34 and 35, a new commandment I give unto you, that ye love
one another as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have
love one to another. And so, you know, we understand
what our Lord has done for us. We need his righteousness. Well,
so do others need his righteousness, right? clothed with his righteousness,
just as we needed his righteousness to cover our sins. They need
to be filled with his spirit, and we need to be filled with
his spirit. And we might hear this and walk in love toward
those. So in other words, we need to
be born again. We must be regenerated. if we're going to walk in that
love and show that love, it's, it first comes by regeneration. It comes by his life working
in us, working, creating that new man and giving us that heart
and that desire to walk in love. And, and frankly, you know, when
our hearts or minds are set upon him, oftentimes it's easier than
in that moment to show that love and that, that gentleness, because
our hearts are set upon him. When our hearts and minds are
set upon other things, It's harder because you're still in that
other place where you ought not to be. So consider your Lord
who took it upon himself to show us love, who bore our burden,
even though we didn't deserve it. And then remember that when
you're talking to others and dealing with others, all right?
And so our Lord, basically, he took, when it came to our debt,
that we have a debt of love to show, he took our debt. He took
the debt of righteousness that we owe to God, and instead we
sin. We sin against him, so our debt
accrues against the Lord, and Christ took that debt, and he
bore our burden of sin, and he paid the price that we owed,
the perfect price of righteousness, and he paid the price of taking
our punishment, and taking our blows upon him that we might
go free, all right? And so he did this. And if you
want to see his love toward us, go to Romans 8. Look at Romans
8, verse 29 and verse 30, where he tells us whom he did foreknow
in verse 29, or whom he did love, he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren, Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them
he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified. And whom
he justified, them he also glorified. And so we see how in love the
father spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all.
He delivered him up for all his people, that we might be delivered
from the debt of our sins and our unrighteousness. we see his
love toward us and then he brings that love into view for us in
Romans 8 verse 35 and then verse 37 he says who shall separate
us from the love of Christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution
or famine or nakedness or peril or sword right what are all these
things but trials that come against the hope that we have in the
Lord all right whether what it doesn't matter what what situation
we're in, that shouldn't change the fact that we love not only
our brethren, but even our enemies. Just because we're put through
hard times, that shouldn't change what we owe to others, which
is love. Actually, it seems like a lot
of times when you have less, it's easier to show that kind
of grace and generosity with others than when you have an
abundance. You ever notice that? When you have an abundance, your
mind starts thinking, oh, I should aim for that goal now, or I should
go for that goal. And so you get less generous
than when you're poor and have very little about you. You tend
to be more gracious, is what I've seen. even in my own heart. But he says, nay, in all these
things, nothing's going to separate us, no enemy is going to separate
us from Christ because in all these things we're more than
conquerors through him that loved us. And so the love of Christ
is central to all of this. We have love because he loved
us and he teaches us that love. All right. What a joy that brings us to
know that there's a tower, right? He's building his house. He's building his kingdom and
he's not leaving off and he's going to return. And so he's
coming again. And so let that remind you and
be an encouragement to you as we seek to serve him and walk
in the love that he's revealed to us. Turn over to Colossians
3. Colossians 3. And let's look at verses 12 through
16. He says there in Colossians 3,
12, he says, put on therefore as the elect of God, holy and
beloved bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness,
long suffering, forbearing one another and forgiving one another
If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you,
so also do ye. Whether it's resolved or not,
forgive them. And above all these things, put
on charity or actionable love, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule
in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body,
and be ye thankful. I've had this verse, 1 Thessalonians
5.18 on my mind, and that's what Paul is saying here. He's saying,
be thankful, even in those difficulties and trials and those hard times
when someone's sitting against you. In 1 Thessalonians 5.18,
speaking of thankfulness, he says, in everything, give thanks,
for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus, meaning
whatever situation you're in, even when someone's sinning against
you and things are hard and it's difficult, give thanks because
God has put you there and he's put you in that situation. And
that's what he's saying here when he says, be thankful. Everywhere
where Paul says, be thankful, he's telling you be thankful
because God has put you right here in this situation. As you're
hearing this word and you're thinking of the things that are
a challenge to the hope and the faith that you have in Christ,
be thankful because God has put you there and he's proving his
faith in you. He's proving you, meaning he's
working in you to reveal to you the faith that he's given you,
and to comfort you and settle you in him. And he says, let
the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching
and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And
that's what I mean by You know, when our heart is set upon Christ,
it's a lot easier to walk in a spirit of love and grace and
kindness to others than when your heart is focused on all
the things you need to do and the things giving you trouble
and the difficulties you're going through. It's a lot easier to
snap in those moments and to show show some kind of anger
or animosity towards someone in that moment than it is to
show them love when your heart's filled with love. And I heard
this today. Look over at Philippians 4, verse
8. You know that verse there, Philippians
4, 8, where Paul says, finally, brethren, whatsoever things are
true, Whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, you
know that? And you think, you know, Paul says, think on these
things. And you're like, well, what does that, what does that
really mean? Like, what does it mean to think
on things that are true and just and honest? And a brother said
this, and I thought, you know, that's really, really helpful. It's in terms of how we think
of our brethren and what the Lord has done for them, right? When your brethren hurt you or
sin against you, and you're tempted to be angry with them and to
think evil of them, Paul says, whatsoever things are true. Well,
what's true? Well, I know that Christ, they're
Christ's. That's true. Let me think of
that about them, that they're Christ's. They're not just some
sinner who sinned against me. They're Christ's. They're a Christ
child. That's honest, right? He laid down his life for them.
He shed his blood for them. Whatsoever things are just, well,
they're justified. And that's my hope, that he's
justified me, too. And he's justified them by shedding
his blood for them. And whatsoever things are pure,
he's made them pure. I see them in the harm that they've
done for me, but I know what Christ has done for them. He's
justified them and made them pure in his sight. And whatsoever
things are lovely, that's lovely. That God, that Christ will lay
down his life for them just as he laid down his life for me. And that's good. That's a good
report. And that's virtue and worthy
of praise. And he says, think on those things.
So when your brethren sin against you, don't see them in light
of the sin, see them in light of what Christ has done for them.
and deal with them in that spirit of what Christ has made them
and who he is and what he's done for them. That's how we should
see our brethren. So when you're looking at Philippians
4.8, think of it in terms of, well, what has the Lord done
for my brethren? just as he's done it for me.
And that, I think, helps you with the context to at least
find a place to dwell on and meditate on that in a good, fruitful
way. Now, let's just look at the end
here. So fulfilling the law with love.
Paul said there at the end of Romans 13.8. For he that loveth another hath
fulfilled the law. Now that's important for you
to remember as you read this next verse, verse nine, because
he quotes from the second table of the law. He says, for this
thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt
not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not
covet, and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended,
or rightly understood, this saying namely thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself now some take that to mean well Paul see there we're
still under the law that's our rule of life Paul's quoting the
law and actually it's the opposite Paul's not turning us back to
the law rather Paul because he loves his brethren so he turns
his brethren to Christ. He turns them away from the law.
When you look at your brethren and you deal with your brethren
through the lens of the law, it's not going to be in love.
You're going to see their faults, and you're going to begin to
bite and devour. You're going to say, you're not
keeping the law. You're not honoring the law and dealing with me as
you're supposed to deal with me. And you're going to get harsh
and critical of that. But now look at your brethren's
sin through the lens of Christ. and what he did for you. And
you see love, right? It doesn't mean that it's right
for them to sit against you. That's not what I'm saying. But
now when you're speaking to them, right, if they've offended you
and it's hurt you or they're continuing to hurt you, now you're
coming to them not in judgment with the law saying, the law
says you're supposed to be doing this and you're not, right? And
you know how that sets you off, right, if you're the recipient
of that. But when they come to you saying, But when you say,
brother, you're hurting me. And this is what is hurting me. This is how it's causing me to
stumble. And you're coming to them with
love. They can tell when you're coming
to them in a spirit of love versus a spirit of judgment. And when
you're going after, because a lot of times we'll use a law to also
sting them with a sharp tongue. you know, to jab them a bit,
you know, make them know that what they're doing is wrong.
But when you come in love and saying, it hurts me what you're
doing, they'll see the difference in when you're coming to them
in the spirit of what Christ has done for you. So remember,
In Romans 8, we could see again, here Romans 8, verse 3, he says,
for what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the
flesh. So the flesh is weak. No one's
going to keep the law, and you're not going to be able to charge
others with keeping the law. And when you expect them to do
that, you're just working in the flesh. And it's weak through
the flesh. God, sending his own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin, in the
flesh, meaning he's delivered us from having to seek righteousness
by the law of Moses because we can't do it. We can't keep that
law perfectly. If we try to, that's walking
in the flesh and it's weak. It's weak. It's not going to
gain you anything with the Lord. All right. So Christ saves us
in love and he fills us with the spirit and gives us life
in himself. Right. Because we're walking.
enables us to walk in the spirit because it gives us a spirit.
And he says in verse four, Romans eight, three, Romans eight, four,
that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us
who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. And so
we're not holding one another or ourselves accountable by the
law because that's just walking by the flesh, but you walk in
the spirit. In other words, believing that
Christ has been raised from the dead and that he dwells in your
hearts by faith. And that's how you walk and deal
with one another in love. All right? And so Romans 13.10,
this undoes the argument that we're under the law. Because
he says in Romans 13.10, love worketh no ill to his neighbor.
Therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. And so that's what. we're declaring is look to Christ,
walk in Christ, trust Christ, believe him, and deal with others
in that same spirit that the Lord's dealt with you in showing
you love and putting away your sin. That's what grace does,
right? We saw how the law brings the knowledge of sin to the flesh,
but grace covers that sin. And when we're walking in the
spirit of grace, we're gonna be forgiving and gentle And kind,
if we have to say something, it'll be in a spirit of gentleness
and love. And so I pray the Lord will bless that word to your
heart and comfort you and help you to walk in the spirit of
love. All right, let's close in prayer. Our gracious Lord,
we thank you, Father, for your grace toward us. We thank you,
Lord, for your mercy and kindness of what you've done for us and
your son, Jesus Christ. Help us, Lord, to walk and that
spirit of grace and faith and love toward others. We know that
in the flesh this is impossible to do, but Lord, we pray that
you would set our hearts upon our Lord and Savior and what
he's accomplished for us. It's in Christ's name that we
pray and give thanks. Amen. All right, brethren. We'll take 15 minutes and then
we'll start at five after the hour on that clock there.