It opens our Bibles to Romans
13, Romans chapter 13. We're going to be getting a lesson
in love this evening from Paul the Apostle. Do you get that? Lesson of love from Paul of all
people. Here he's talking to these Romans.
And he said, I'm going to tell you something I know. The Lord's
taught me. And this is Saul talking to him.
They heard stories about him. He was infamous, wasn't he? He knows what he's talking about.
Romans 13, verse 8. Oh no man anything but to love
one another. For he that loveth another hath
fulfilled the law. 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 in this
saying, namely, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfilling
of the law. Paul writes there, owe no man
anything. So many people, worldly, in this
world, they think that that means don't owe money to anybody. Don't
owe your word to anybody. Don't let nobody borrow your
tools. Don't long your drills out. Anything. Don't owe them anything but love.
And Solomon said, the borrower is servant to the lender. Borrow
a servant, slave, to the lender, to those that lend to them. Now,
if we owe someone something, there's a pressure there, isn't
there? You ever bumped into somebody on the street you owe money to?
All of a sudden, there's a hindrance there, isn't there? There's a
tension, a pressure. Whether that's a mortgage company
or that's someone that we gave our word to. If that's a grown-up
or it's a little, small child. You ever promised a two-year-old
a piggyback ride? and you get home from work and
you're tired and a 6 foot 5, 250 pound man will shrink. There's
pressure. There's tension if you owe somebody
something. Now that's not saying here that
a believer can't take out a mortgage. It's not saying that believers
are not to tell what time they're supposed to be home for dinner.
It's not telling us that we can't say we'll come over and help
you Saturday with that project around your house. or that we'll
take our nephews fishing. What's it saying? It's telling
us, let nothing come between you and another believer that
would affect the furtherance of the gospel. Paul told us,
I want to know nothing among you save Christ and Him crucified.
Let nothing cloud, let nothing be a hindrance to the worship
and the glory of Christ. Wouldn't that be something? Our walk in this world as children
of God should reflect the love that God has bestowed on us.
And it will. And it will. If He loves His
child, it's going to show. We see that in the small children
walking around this earth, don't we? If they're well loved, you
know it. If a husband or a wife are not Opponents, they're partners.
They have a good companionship. You can tell. If an elderly person
has friends and family that love them, you can tell. You can see
that in somebody. When Christ's love for you is
revealed in that new heart, there's going to be a change. Something's
going to happen. There's a change in knowledge
and understanding. He's revealed himself to us. That's something
we didn't know before. There's a change in attitude.
There's a change in the way that we love. How can we change love? Well now, for the first time
ever, we know what love is. We've finally seen it. Start becoming meek and humble
as he's meek and humble. We start seeing who our wisdom
is. It's not something we know, it's who we know. That's our
knowledge. He is. What's a believer's pressure? Where do we see that? You owe
somebody something, there's a pressure. What's a believer's pressure?
What's our debt? It's the love of Christ for us.
That's a pressure on us. On a believer, that's with you.
It's on your mind. It's on your conscience. We will
never be able to pay off that debt because we can never out
give what the Lord's given us. And I'm okay with that. I'm perfectly
fine not paying that off. I ain't going to be able to.
When we see His love for us, that's what constrains us. He's
the lender. He gives us eternal life to His
people. He gives righteousness to His
people. And we're the willing bond servants.
The willing bond servants. And we owe love. We owe love. Solomon also wrote, train up
a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old, he will
not depart from it. That's true from a parent to
a child. You train them up when they're
little, and there's going to be a remembrance there as they
get older. It's going to be on their mind.
But from our Heavenly Father to His spiritual children, when
we know our Lord, when we've heard His voice, when we've been
taught of Him, we will not depart from it. We may have heard about
Him. We may have heard some things
of Him. But when He speaks to the heart
of His child, we will not depart from that. Why? His Word will
not return unto Him void. He will accomplish that which
He sends it to do. And wouldn't we... Some people
say that's not fair. Wouldn't we do the same thing?
For my children, if I could put my Word in them, what I want
them to do, and I knew that they were going to do it. I'd do it
right now, wouldn't I? It says there in Romans 13a,
Owe no man anything but to love. Owe no man. No man. This isn't just our physical
families, those real close to us. It's not just our spiritual
family here in this local assembly and other assemblies we know
of. This is even to those who have been mean to us. Those that
used us. Persecuted us. We're not to owe
them revenge. It's not ours to owe. Vengeance
is of the Lord. Paul just reminded us of that
there in chapter 12. I've got something for them. Ever thought
that? Boy, I know just what I'll say
next time I see it. When I get a chance. How many
times have I thought that? That's owing vengeance. I have
a debt. That's me being a debtor. We pray that we can be given
the grace to forgive those that sinned against us, those that
persecuted us, those that's mean to us, that harmed us. Our master
told us that in Matthew 6. He said, forgive us our debts
as we forgive our debtors. That's how he taught us to pray.
And he goes on to say, for if you forgive men their trespasses,
your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you forgive
not men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your
trespasses. Now is this quid pro quo? Must we forgive first before
we're forgiven? No. But when we're shown what
we are forgiven, in the eyes of a holy God that we offended,
we've been given atonement, atonement with Him, through the blood of
Christ, then we will forgive as. We will forgive as, in the
like manner as Christ has forgiven us completely. Our new man will. He'll forgive completely. The
love of Christ is our constraint. Scriptures tell us. You know
what the love of Christ constraining us is? It pulls us. It pushes
us. Moves us left and right. It binds
us. It turns us. And it comforts
us. Word that used to be translated
the same was swaddle. Take a little baby and wrap him
up real tight so the arms can't get out. They sleep better that
way. That's what believers are. We're swaddled in the love of
Christ. It says here in Colossians 3,
verse 12, "...put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and
beloved, vows of mercies." Those beloved of God, you made holy,
the elect of God. Put on the insides, the vows,
the heart, bowels of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness,
long-suffering, forbearing one another, and forgiving one another,
owing no man anything, whether it's a debt or a retribution,
forgiving one another. And if any man have a quarrel
against any, no matter what it is, even as Christ forgave you,
so also do ye. And above all these things put
on charity, which is the bond, it's the unity of perfectness,
of perfection. That doesn't sound too peaceful
to me if I've got to forgive everybody. That sounds peaceful
to them, doesn't it? I want to be forgiven. It's hard
to be the one that forgives, isn't it? How can I have peace
knowing that I was right and they were wrong? How can I have
peace in forgiving a debt of offense? Somebody defend me.
Look here in verse 15. And let the peace of God rule
in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body. Well, what a reminder. Christ
saved you. He saved me. And that's personal. And that comes to me. It comes
into my heart. When it comes into a believer's heart, He's
made you one in His body. and be ye thankful. We forgive
all, owing only a debt of love because ye, because I, wretched
sinners, were called unto the body of Christ and His peace
rules our hearts. The peace He gives. When we start
to have that debt of vengeance that I get, when I start to have
that debt of vengeance, Oh, I'm going to get them. Grip my teeth.
I shouldn't be mad. You know what attitude I'll have?
I ought to be thankful. When somebody offends me, if
somebody persecutes me, just mean, I ought to be thankful. Good. That's what I'll say. How
could we be thankful? We're reminded of what we are
by nature and what I just thought. what I just wanted to do, and
I'm reminded of the love that God shed abroad in our hearts,
appointing me once again, turning me again to His throne of grace. That's right where He brought
me. That's something to be thankful for. That's a short, two-second
trial we go through, isn't it? Do I do that? Am I thankful every
time I'm so mad I can spit nails? I don't, do I? But we continually
see our shortcomings in the light of the love of Christ for us.
Just as we saw last time we were here in Romans chapter 13, verse
1 through 7, we're to honor and obey those that are put above
us. They just might be the Lord's people. And our words, or our
actions, are used to draw them to hear the gospel. when they
see the love of Christ working in His people, constraining His
people, and those people forgiving as they've been forgiven. And
that's not our good works, is it? That's not something I choose
to do. It's going to help me out. I'm
going to get another crown, another jewel of my crown in heaven.
That's me desiring to get out of the way, to owe no man anything.
For me not to be involved, to show up, love, and leave. God may use that opportunity
to save His child, and I don't want to be a hindrance. I don't
want anything I've done in the past to be a hindrance, either
word or indeed. Let me owe no man anything but
love so that I'm less likely to bring reproach on the good
news that's Christ and Him crucified. Let me only love. Our Master
said, a new commandment I give unto you that you love one another.
How are we supposed to do that? As I have loved you, that ye
also love one another. By this shall all men know that
you are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. Initially,
it sounds harder for me to forgive my enemies than it is of my close
friends and loved ones. But it can actually be harder
to forgive those that are closest to us. Our family, our friends,
our brethren. Why would it be harder to forgive
them? We know them. It's been more familiar with them. They
ought to know better than talk to me like that. I don't know man anything but
love. And love those that have been mean to you. They've been
against you. Looking back in our text in Romans
13. Don't just forgive the debt of vengeance against an enemy,
but love them. Love your enemies. Love your
enemies. You know, love is not just the
absence of hate. It's not even just liking somebody.
I've heard people say, well, you can love somebody and not
like them. That's true sometimes, isn't it? People say, oh, I don't
know about that. I love me, and there's a lot
of times I don't like me. To love is to spend yourself
to profit another. To spend of yourself to profit
another. And that could be through time,
giving you time for somebody else, giving you preferences.
I'd like to do it that way. We'll do it your way. Because
that's love. You give yourself for another.
Money, anything. But it's without personal benefit.
You don't gain anything from it. It's giving of yourself for
another. And that's why it's translated
so many times, charity. We know that charity is giving
to somebody and you don't get anything in return. That word's love. It's to give something without
return. There's a giving. He says there in verse 8, Oh
no man anything but to love one another for he that loveth another
hath fulfilled the law. And I thought Paul did this once
before. I'm going to look those words up. Those another's there
are two different words. love one another, he that loveth
another hath fulfilled the law." That's the same there as in Galatians
1, when he says, I marvel that you are so soon removed from
him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another
gospel. That means a drastically, totally different gospel, which
is not another. It's not similar. It's not close. It's drastically different. saying
here, oh, only a debt of gratitude, that love debt, to those that
are similar to you, to your brethren, your family, those closest to
you, but also to those that are drastically opposed to you. Completely
another. Our Master said, it's been, you've
heard that it's been said, thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate
thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies. Bless them
that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them
which despitefully use you and persecute you." Praying for those
that use you, that despise you. What do we pray for? Someone,
I mean truly mean, just cutting to the bone, purposely saying
something as ornery to me as they can just to get to me. And
I have to pray for them. What do I pray for? Lord, shut
their mouth. That's what my mind goes to. No, that's not what we would
pray for. Pray that the love of God be revealed in them. That
they come to know Christ. That Christ be exalted in their
hearts. That's the most loving thing we can do, isn't it? That's
the most loving thing we can do. They'd hear the truth. They'd
hear the gospel. You know, that's my responsibility
as a husband and a father, primary. A primary responsibility, if
I know Christ, my primary responsibility is to make sure that woman is
sitting under the sound of the gospel. Doubly so now, I'm the one standing
up here, and those children. That's my primary responsibility.
That's the best way I could love them. That's the best way I could
love them. Now if we earnestly pray for
our enemies, wouldn't that truly solve any argument? Obviously
that takes the steam out of your sails, doesn't it? And if the
Lord did a work in them, if we were fellow debtors, fellow bond
servants to Christ who loved us and gave himself for us, if
we were fellow debtors to that same lender, wouldn't that heal
all of our wounds? What could I have against one
of my brethren? By doing so, the Holy Spirit writes through
Paul that we fulfilled the law. You fulfilled the law. What law?
All of it. by fulfilling that law of grace
that rules and reigns in us. We are fulfilling the entire
law. That's the only way we can fully fulfill the law of grace
is to know the grace of Christ. The only way we can truly love
is to know His love. One who fulfilled the law of God for
His people by living in Him, by dying in Him, being risen
with Him, we are dead to that law of Moses. But here Paul quotes
that second table of the law, the table towards others in the
light of that debt of love towards us and in us. It says in verse
9, for this thou shalt not commit adultery. You know what adultery
is? That's loving yourself. I've
heard people say, well I did that because I loved the other
person. No you didn't. No you didn't. You had no respect
there. There's no love there. Selfishness. Thou shalt not commit
adultery. Thou shalt not kill. How would
I kill somebody else? I'd love myself more than them.
Thou shalt not steal. I like what you have, but I think
it'd suit me better. I'll take it. That's selfish,
isn't it? Thou shalt not bear false witness. That's slander.
That's saying something negative. You can't ever say something
negative about somebody without exalting yourself. The only reason
you say it is because you think more highly of yourself than
you do of somebody else. Thou shalt not covet. And if
there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in
this saying. It boils down to this. Thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself. In a sane person's mind, they
don't want to harm themselves. We protect ourselves, don't we?
I cut my thumb pretty good yesterday on a big piece of cardboard.
I didn't do that on purpose. And the next time I go cut up
cardboard, I'm going to do it a little different. Just a little
cut, but I want to take care of my thumb, don't I? I don't
want to harm myself. To love my neighbors, to protect
them, to look out for them, to pray for them, and to truly,
as Christ has loved me, to love them. That covers the law towards
others. That's that whole tablet. It
covers everything. If I love them the way Christ
loved me, as I love myself, it's fulfilled. It's true and perfect
love that's worked in the heart of His children. By His doing,
it will not work harm to neighbors. It won't hurt your neighbors
by loving them. It won't do any harm. Look here in verse 10.
Love worketh no ill to his neighbor. Now, who's my neighbor? I'm not the only one to ask that
question. Do you know that? Turn over to Luke chapter 10. Who's
my neighbor? Luke chapter 10, verse 25. Luke 10, 25. And behold, a certain
lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I
do? What shall I do to inherit eternal
life? And Christ said unto him, What
is written in the law? How readest thou? How do you
interpret the law? And he answered, saying, Thou
shalt love the Lord God with all thine heart, with all thy
soul, with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy
neighbor as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast
answered right. That's accurate. This do, if
you can do it, do this, and thou shalt live. But this lawyer,
he willing to justify himself, because he hadn't done this,
he thought he could, but he knew it was lacking. Willing to justify
himself, said unto Jesus, and who is my neighbor? He's asking
for rules, guidance, for the working, isn't he? You tell me
who my neighbor is, and that's what I'm going to do. I'll start
fresh today. To believe Christ and love our
neighbors, do we need to justify ourselves? I think a better question
is, can I ever justify myself in anything? Or should I? But can I? Can I ever justify
myself in anything? Paul told us there in Romans
8, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's
God that justifies. He must be the one that justifies.
But we respond to His work of salvation, don't we? There's
a response to it. Our master is going to tell this
lawyer who his neighbors are, and it's not the people that
live in adjoining properties. It's not the people next door.
And he's going to preach Christ to them, not the law. He's going
to preach Christ to them. Look here in verse 30. And Jesus
answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho,
and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment,
and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by
chance, there came down a certain priest that way, and when he
saw him, he passed by on the other side. Didn't even go to
that side of the road. This man's laying over in a ditch.
There's one of these Jews from Jerusalem come down, robbed,
mugged. And this one came by a priesthood,
went completely to the other side of the road. And likewise,
a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked, came
and looked on him, and passed by the other side. This one here
was a little bit more proper, wasn't he? He went by, but he actually
kind of peeked over. Keep on going. But a certain
Samaritan, as he journeyed, he came where he was. Here's a picture
of Christ coming to unconscious, half-dead sinners. Dead in this
flesh, coming to us. Came where he was, and when he
saw him, he had compassion on him. Now, this lawyer knew exactly
what he was talking about. There's rules about the Samaritans
and the Jews being together. If you was walking down the road
and you saw somebody's chariot pulled over and there's a Samaritan
woman having a baby, you're not to go help. You steer clear of
them. Stay away from them. And likewise,
the same the other way. Don't touch them Jews. Stay away
from them. They were at enmity with each other. They were at
war. Enemies. Verse 34, And he went to them,
and bound up his wounds, pouring oil and wine, and set him on
his own beast, and brought him to an end, and took care of him. That's not loving in word only,
is it? That's not loving in a look. That's loving in deed and in
truth. That's loving as Christ loved
us. He's the one picture. Verse 35, And on the morrow,
when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the
host, and said unto him, Take care of him, and whatsoever thou
spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. There was
an earnest money given. Worldly, this man must not have
had much earthly debt, because he had money to give. But he
was to take care of these Jews. that he was enemies with, that's
giving, that's truly giving there, that he was willing to take on
future debt. Anything that come to pass after this to care for
this stranger, this natural born enemy of his. He said, anything
else above this, you tell me next time I'm here and I'll pay
it. Verse 36, now which of these now, of these three thinkest
thou was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? Which
one of these do you think is his neighbor? That lawyer said, he
that showed mercy on him. He that showed mercy on him. And Jesus said unto him, go and
do thou likewise. He that showed mercy, he that
showed grace and love that's been shown to him. Now you get
that and go do that likewise is what he tells him. Just as
Christ loved us while we were enemies, we were ungodly, sinners,
at enmity with Him, He died for us. He didn't give two pence,
He gave His blood for us. And in that same mind, from that
same loving, merciful heart, you who have experienced that
perfect love, you who know Him, go do thou likewise. You go do
the same thing. Turn over to Philippians 4, we'll
close. Philippians chapter 4. These are things to think on.
Thinking on the mercy that God showed us and sending His Son
to live and die in our place. The grace of God in loving us
while we hated Him. That's not to be worried about.
What do we owe? Who owes us? Who our neighbors
are? Who aren't my neighbors? Who
do I have to worry about? What rulers are ruling over us?
What are they doing? That's why I just addressed those
first seven verses of chapter 13, wasn't I? I'm not supposed
to worry about all that? No, think on these things. That's
different than the rest of the world, isn't it? That's different
than a religious world. Current events, it don't matter.
Christ saves His people. That's as current as it gets.
Nothing else matters, does it? That's what Paul was getting
at there in Romans 12 when he said, Be not conformed to this world,
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye
may prove what is that good and acceptable perfect will of God.
Don't be concerned about this world, the debt to this world,
the owing of this world, the neighbors of this world. Just
love them because Christ has loved you. It says there in Philippians
4a, Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things
are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are
pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of a good
report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise. What
is he getting at? Any praise to the God of our
salvation who is truth, that saved us honestly in perfect
justice. That's pure and holy. Christ,
who is lovely to the believer, has proven good report. We know
because of where He is now. He continued in virtue and interceding
for His people, calling them to Himself, and He deserves all
praise for doing so. If there be any praise of Christ,
think on these things. That's setting your affections
on things above, isn't it? Think on these things. What things?
What's going on? Who's doing me wrong? Who do
I owe? Who owes me? No, think on these
good things, on the love of God in Christ towards His people.
Look here in verse 9. Those things which ye have both
learned and received and heard and seen in me of all people, you've seen in me. do and the
God of all peace shall be with you. If I owe no man anything
but love, even my worst enemy, if I only owe them love, is that
going to work out? What's going to be the outcome
of that? You will have God of peace with you. The God of peace
will be with you. Some may say that's just too
much for me to do. I don't know if I can do that. I can't either.
What? How am I going to do that? How
am I going to think on these things and owe no man anything
but a debt of love? How am I going to do that? The
God of peace must be with you. Man can't do it. It has to be
Christ working in us. I pray this week, coming up ahead
of us, and for eternity, I pray for today, for tomorrow, and
any other day, all days coming, that we owe no man anything but
to love one another. Amen. That's part of it.