SPEAKER_00: This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God.
SPEAKER_00: For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_01: Father, what an amazing and freeing truth.
SPEAKER_01: That everything else is fleeting and everything else sinks and everything else gives way.
SPEAKER_01: And everything else that we grab to and try to rescue ourselves is fleeting and sinking and it slips away.
SPEAKER_01: But in you, it's solid.
SPEAKER_01: And it is never bending.
SPEAKER_01: And God, in that is there is hope, and there is comfort and there is truth.
SPEAKER_01: And so, Father, we ask you to speak and we say that we're listening.
SPEAKER_01: And we pray sing as your name.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: You can have a seat.
SPEAKER_01: If you're finding a seat, my name is Wade Collier.
SPEAKER_01: I am the Missions and Outreach Pastor here at Graham Parkway.
SPEAKER_01: As I mentioned before, if you missed, uh Neil McClendon, our lead pastor, is away with Clyde, our worship pastor, and ten of our men as they are leading a men's trip, our third men's trip to Costa Rica, working on the last phase of the school in the village that we adopted.
SPEAKER_01: And so it's my honor as we've been in the midst of this flourish sub-series or caveat, whatever you want to call it, to our sermon series on Exodus, as we're looking at these Ten Commandments.
SPEAKER_01: And you've heard Neil say several times over the last uh few weeks as we've been going through the commandments, that we need to scrub from our hearts and our thoughts that as we read and we study these Ten Commandments, that the sole intention behind them is only to tell you what not to do.
SPEAKER_01: That we have to begin to change our posture in the way that we read these and to uh attempt to hear these in the way and read these in the way and apply them in the way that God intended, because not to try and hem these commandments in that we read as the ten don't do's of our life.
SPEAKER_01: It not only it not only cheats us a full understanding of the text that we're gonna read this morning, but but church, here's my warning to you is it will also cheat you the full understanding of God's character.
SPEAKER_01: And so um for this reason, I'm I'm selfishly excited that the way that the calendar fell, I have the sixth commandment this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Um not because I'm morbidly obsessed with violence, uh, but because I believe that this commandment that we're gonna look at today, it begins to open the doors for us to understand fully God's heart towards violence, God's heart towards hatred, and our amazing ability to try and justify what is right and what is wrong.
SPEAKER_01: And so if you have your Bibles, if you'll turn with me to Exodus chapter 20.
SPEAKER_01: Exodus chapter 20.
SPEAKER_01: If you don't have a Bible, I'm on page 61 and those black pew Bibles around you.
SPEAKER_01: Exodus chapter 20, and we're gonna begin in verse one.
SPEAKER_01: It says, And God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
SPEAKER_01: You shall have no other gods before me.
SPEAKER_01: You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water underneath the earth.
SPEAKER_01: You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
SPEAKER_01: You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
SPEAKER_01: And remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
SPEAKER_01: Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath to the Lord your God.
SPEAKER_01: On it you shall not do any work, you or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the souljourner who is within your gates.
SPEAKER_01: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
SPEAKER_01: Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land of the Lord your God has given you.
SPEAKER_01: And you shall not murder.
SPEAKER_01: This is the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: If someone was to ask you, what is the meaning of you shall not murder?
SPEAKER_01: Think about what your answer would be.
SPEAKER_01: You shall not murder.
SPEAKER_01: What does that mean?
SPEAKER_01: What would your answer be?
SPEAKER_01: Most likely we would tell them that it means exactly what it says as we read it, is that we are not supposed to murder anyone, plain and simple, right?
SPEAKER_01: And that would be correct.
SPEAKER_01: But however, as you continue to read through God's word, as if we read what the New Testament says about murder, especially in light of what Jesus says about murder, the answer would also be incomplete.
SPEAKER_01: It's an interesting situation when you look at parallel scriptures when you do Old Testament and New Testament, because oftentimes when people are addressed with a hard truth or a hard situation from the Old Testament, you'll see them attempt to run to the words of Jesus in attempts to find middle ground, maybe, to find softer ground to land on, which in itself is a heretical joke.
SPEAKER_01: Because if you do that, then you're unknowingly saying a few things.
SPEAKER_01: One, you're saying that the Bible contradicts itself.
SPEAKER_01: And by saying that, two, you're saying that the Lord contradicts himself.
SPEAKER_01: Which, if God is perfect, which he is, then he cannot contradict himself, which he can't.
SPEAKER_01: And then three, now you've said that Jesus is in fact not the Son of God.
SPEAKER_01: And so now this straw man argument that you have built has now turned into this blatantly horrible statement that denies the deity of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And this is a tangent, I know, but I think one worth the walk.
SPEAKER_01: So, with opposite reasoning, I want you to keep your finger there in Exodus 20, but I want you to turn over to the right to the New Testament.
SPEAKER_01: And I want us to have a parallel text for our time this morning.
SPEAKER_01: And so if you would, turn with me to Matthew chapter 5.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew chapter 5, which is on page 810 in the Black Pew Bibles.
SPEAKER_01: And when you're in Matthew chapter 5, I want you to look with me beginning in verse 21.
SPEAKER_01: You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder.
SPEAKER_01: And whoever murders will be liable to judgment.
SPEAKER_01: But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.
SPEAKER_01: Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the counsel.
SPEAKER_01: And whoever says, You fool, will be liable to the hell of fire.
SPEAKER_01: Now we can read verse 21 and even the first half of verse 22, and we can walk away after reading this with an understanding that Jesus is saying, Don't get angry with your brother, and that'll keep you from committing murder.
SPEAKER_01: Which, if you didn't read past the semicolon, all the way to the period at the end of verse 22, you could possibly allow this to become your only landing point, and for good reason, much like with Exodus 20, Jesus is warning that the very act of murder finds its roots in an angry, murderous spirit.
SPEAKER_01: But then what Jesus does, which he often does, he goes on to raise the bar, not only for our understanding, but he also raises the bar of the severity of the sin and the judgment that follows.
SPEAKER_01: So he takes this law from Exodus 20 one step further by explaining the true significance of the law and this deeper spiritual meaning that those that were gathered at the Sermon on the Mount had never heard before.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 21 and 22 again and see what I mean.
SPEAKER_01: He says, You have heard it was said to those of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.
SPEAKER_01: But I, but I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.
SPEAKER_01: Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the counsel.
SPEAKER_01: And whoever says, You fool, will be liable to the hell of fire.
SPEAKER_01: Just some context for us to understand the depth and the width and the levity of what Christ is telling this audience on the mount and us as well today is that Jesus is not only here in Matthew 5 warning us against expressing unrighteous anger, which can lead to murder.
SPEAKER_01: This unrighteous anger that can lead to murder.
SPEAKER_01: And he's warning us against that, but he's clearly commanding us that disparaging insults and name-calling should be avoided.
SPEAKER_01: Now, for years I believed fully in my heart that God had given me an extra biblical spiritual gift of sarcasm.
SPEAKER_01: And it was accompanied by this skill of dry and cynical wit.
SPEAKER_01: So I get that as we're talking about, even with your words, Jesus is saying it's murder, that I probably lost some of you in here when I say that Jesus is cranking up the heat by saying, Not only do not murder, but thou shalt not make fun of your brother and sister.
SPEAKER_01: But hang with me.
SPEAKER_01: Look at the later, the latter portion of verse 22.
SPEAKER_01: Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council.
SPEAKER_01: And whoever says, you fool, will be liable to the hell of fire.
SPEAKER_01: When Christ is saying, whoever insults his brother, he's referring to this word that's raqah.
SPEAKER_01: Rakhah.
SPEAKER_01: And rakah comes from the Aramaic term, it's requa.
SPEAKER_01: Alright?
SPEAKER_01: And what requa is, is it's this horribly derogatory expression meaning empty-headed.
SPEAKER_01: So if you were to call someone stupid, and for the children in the room, don't use the word stupid, and for the adults in the room, don't use the word stupid.
SPEAKER_01: Um, you're saying stupid, sandwiched with some of the most vulgar words you could ever think of.
SPEAKER_01: That's our understanding of what rakha is.
SPEAKER_01: But before you go ahead and jot that down in your notes with the intention of adding it to your repertoire to burn your unsuspecting mother-in-law under your breath, no, know this.
SPEAKER_01: Rakhah is a slang word, and it was considered so offensive, so vulgar in its time, just like Jesus says, if you use the word rakha, if you racah someone, you would be judged by the Sanhedrin, the Jewish authority.
SPEAKER_01: They would pull you in and take you to court, and you would face judgment for saying such a thing to someone.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus then says, if you think that holds a serious consequence, if you think that is bad, I'm about to push you to step your game up.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 22.
SPEAKER_01: Whoever insults his brother, they'll be liable to the council.
SPEAKER_01: You use that rakah, you're going to the Sanhedrin.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus says, whoever says you fool will be liable to the hell of fire.
SPEAKER_01: Whoever says you fool, Jesus is not channeling his inner Mr.
SPEAKER_01: T here.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus, anyone?
SPEAKER_01: 80s?
SPEAKER_01: All right.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: It's a good decade.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is drawing on the truth of his word.
SPEAKER_01: Don't turn here, it'll be on the screens behind you.
SPEAKER_01: But let's look at what the pillars are that are holding up the severity of this word fool.
SPEAKER_01: Psalms 14.1 says this.
SPEAKER_01: The fool says in his heart, there is no God.
SPEAKER_01: They are corrupt.
SPEAKER_01: They do, I've been scared of this word all week that I'd have to say it several times, so hang with me.
SPEAKER_01: They do abominable.
SPEAKER_01: Ha ha, first time, deeds.
SPEAKER_01: There is none who does good.
SPEAKER_01: A few weeks back, Neil made mention that we have a tendency as Christians, as religious people, to try to pluck pieces of scripture out of the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: And we want to use them to hang them on our wall or get them tattooed on our body or get them put on the back of our letter jackets.
SPEAKER_01: But oftentimes we do this without taking on the entirety of its meaning and its purpose.
SPEAKER_01: Just like we don't want to take Joshua 25, 15 for when it's, or 24, 15, rather, when it says, For me and my house we will serve the Lord and put it in a frame and hang it on our bathroom wall, without understanding that the call to make this proclamation accompanies a very, very, very serious and very consequential verse that precedes it.
SPEAKER_01: It says, Now therefore, fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness.
SPEAKER_01: Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve.
SPEAKER_01: Whether the gods of your fathers that they served in the region beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you're living right now, but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And so it's just a small thing that you can buy at the Christian bookstore, but it has so much more depth and so much more consequence.
SPEAKER_01: And so what Joshua is telling these people is if you make this proclamation of, as for me and my house will serve the Lord, you are saying, I'm going to lay aside all of the beliefs that I have that don't line up with God.
SPEAKER_01: If my house is going to worship the Lord, then here's what I'm going to do is I'm going to take I'm going to take every family tradition that I have inherited and put it to death if it doesn't line up with the Lord, his word, or his will.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to take every sin that I do within the secrecy of my own home, and I've convinced myself that it doesn't hurt anybody because I'm doing it behind closed doors, I'm going to repent and I'm going to put it to death because it doesn't line up with God, his word, and his character.
SPEAKER_01: And in the same way, we read this description of what a fool is in Psalm 14, and we have to read deeper into the traits of a fool.
SPEAKER_01: Because as if being someone who says in their heart, There is no God, being someone who's corrupt, being someone who commits abominable deeds and does no good isn't bad enough, right?
SPEAKER_01: It goes on to say this.
SPEAKER_01: They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds.
SPEAKER_01: There is none who does good.
SPEAKER_01: They have all turned aside, verse 3 says, Together they have become corrupt.
SPEAKER_01: There is none who does good.
SPEAKER_01: It repeats itself.
SPEAKER_01: That's how much of a fool they are.
SPEAKER_01: No one does good, not even one.
SPEAKER_01: Have they no knowledge?
SPEAKER_01: All the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: It brings, I pity the fool.
SPEAKER_01: Or even the term a fool's paradise to a whole other level, huh?
SPEAKER_01: So the question is, why all this time spent in the Sermon on the Mount when the sermon is supposed to be on one sentence given by God in the Old Testament, right?
SPEAKER_01: Verse 13 of Exodus 20.
SPEAKER_01: It's because, church, we have to get beyond the do not.
SPEAKER_01: We have to get beyond the do not do this and get what God is saying about our hearts and our actions and our worship and our response to the freedom that God provides through the commandments.
SPEAKER_01: Because that's what it is.
SPEAKER_01: It's not bondage, it's freedom.
SPEAKER_01: Because remember, we're prone to grab at the low-hanging fruits of rules.
SPEAKER_01: And and don't get me wrong, as a father of two young children, I get the order of rules, I get the beauty of rules, I get the reason of them.
SPEAKER_01: And God clearly underlines all these necessities of the rules.
SPEAKER_01: But if we're not careful, church, we miss the beauty of God's rules because we miss this freedom that they provide.
SPEAKER_01: And we get so hung up on this moralism that we think we can control.
SPEAKER_01: So turn back to the left into Exodus 20.
SPEAKER_01: And just like the commandment that we found in verse 3 to have no other gods before the one true God, and how that frees us up to put to death any desire to give our priority or our attention or our affection or our respect to any other authority or any false karma that we've created, and we can be free to turn our priority and our attention and our affections and our respect to the one true God.
SPEAKER_01: And we read this command in verse 7 that injects this freedom in the way that we posture ourselves and how our posture is set up towards God in our speech and our relationship with our Father, and how the command to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy, it breaks these chains of bondage that lie to us, that lie to us and tell us that the Sabbath day is just another day of the week to get stuff done and frees us up to Sabbath or to rest as worship.
SPEAKER_01: And how last week, as we open the Bibles to verse 12, into this freeing truth of how this commandment delivers us into the freedom of trusting this God who is above all other gods, to build and redeem and restore the relationship between us and our parents.
SPEAKER_01: Those two words redeem and restore just drip with freedom.
SPEAKER_01: Let me rephrase that.
SPEAKER_01: Those two words redeem and restore should drip with freedom.
SPEAKER_01: It's kind of like when you're standing outside of the window at a Krispy Kreme donut and they're taking that God-given manna fried batter, and they're dipping it in that heaven-esque glaze, and you're just standing there mouth breathing on the window, like a hyena waiting for your turn at the water buffalo carcass.
SPEAKER_01: Just me, not you?
SPEAKER_01: Alright.
SPEAKER_01: Those words of redeem of redeem and restore, as we look at the sixth commandment here in verse 13, where God's word says, You shall not murder, those words, church, should be redemptive and restorative.
SPEAKER_01: We should read those words and feel freedom, not bondage.
SPEAKER_01: We should feel freedom.
SPEAKER_01: It should be, man, I regularly struggle with anger, and that feeling of anger can sometimes slip into anger fantasies, right?
SPEAKER_01: And if people could read my mind and knew the fact that I obsess on my anger to such a depth that I have a date circled on the calendar and a plan and a location to enact my vengeance, I don't think they'd let me lead this Cub Scout group anymore, right?
SPEAKER_01: But as we read these, it should be, but because of this freeing, this redemptive and this restorative commandment, I don't have to give legs to my anger.
SPEAKER_01: And then because God's word builds on itself, and God is the one true God who provides all that I need from my spiritual and my mental posture to worshipful rest and relationships, He will hear this.
SPEAKER_01: He will and He does provide the redemptive and restorative freedom to turn my anger and all that I've allowed to grow around that over to Him and be done with it.
SPEAKER_01: But here is why we don't feel that way.
SPEAKER_01: Here is why when we read do not murder and the other commandments, we don't feel that way, is we confuse the order of redemption and restoration.
SPEAKER_01: We confuse the order of redemption and restoration.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because everywhere we turn in our society, they're flipped.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what I mean.
SPEAKER_01: My wife, who I love deeply, I guess I don't have to suck up too much, she's not in here.
SPEAKER_01: But my wife mainlines HGTV.
SPEAKER_01: Alright?
SPEAKER_01: And here's what I mean by HDTV.
SPEAKER_01: If there's anyone in here who is aware of a rehab for those inflicted with uh the horrible addiction to Chip and Johanna Gaines and their street drug of fixer upper, alright?
SPEAKER_01: If you know about that rehab, if you could come up after the service and slip me the information on the low low, I'd be forever grateful.
SPEAKER_01: Um so on Fixer Upper, we see folks roll into Waco or the general Waco area, and they find a house that's in dire need of restoration.
SPEAKER_01: And then Johanna jumps on her computer and does her crazy voodoo work and shows you what the house can look like, and then they uh what the finished product would be, and then Chip, who's the redeeming factor in the show, if you've never seen it, it gives a tall, gangly, uh ADD inflicted person hope that they can be successful.
SPEAKER_01: Um and his team get to work, and then the finished product is this redeemed product, right?
SPEAKER_01: And what was once worth$100,000 has now doubled in its value because of the work has been done.
SPEAKER_01: There's this restorative work that's been done, and now we're told that it's it's it's it's doubled in its redeemable value.
SPEAKER_01: But as we read God's word and we we learn his character, this is not what God does.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't fix you up before deeming you worth it.
SPEAKER_01: And more importantly, he's not demanding that you lie to yourself, thinking you have to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and do blank.
SPEAKER_01: Whatever that blank is for you, I gotta do this before God will actually redeem and restore me.
SPEAKER_01: We see this commandment of do not murder, and we realize that yes, it is a commandment not to take someone's life, but it's so much deeper.
SPEAKER_01: And it speaks to our anger, and it speaks to our malice, and our death grip on the fact that we believe we are owed justice.
SPEAKER_01: Really?
SPEAKER_01: You want that?
SPEAKER_01: Here's my question it's a community group.
SPEAKER_01: What are you holding on to that it's time for you to let go?
SPEAKER_01: We believe and we hold on to these things, and we believe that we're owed justice and we believe this lie, much like the struggle that many of you, as well as me, I'll lay myself out here that we had when we talked about keeping the Sabbath holy.
SPEAKER_01: And we think, all right, well, let me get this whole thing figured out, God, the next three to 15 months.
SPEAKER_01: And um, circle back around to me, and then I'll start worshiping you through a 15-minute power nap on Sundays.
SPEAKER_01: Just, just, just for starters, right?
SPEAKER_01: And we believe this lie that we've got to figure it out ourselves.
SPEAKER_01: And in the same way, we think, do not murder.
SPEAKER_01: And we think, man, I liked it a lot better when I simply just had to stop just short of choking that guy out in the parking lot after work.
SPEAKER_01: But now you're telling me that God wants me to turn my anger and the way it manifests itself and the way I think about people that drive me crazy.
SPEAKER_01: The way that I let a little bit of the pressure come off the top and the passive aggressive, or maybe not so passive aggressive words that I use towards people.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, God, go ahead and circle back around to me the next time we're doing a sermon series on the Ten Commandments.
SPEAKER_01: And I'll I'll have it figured out by then, and then we'll talk about redemption, restoration, and freedom.
SPEAKER_01: But the problem is when God gave these commandments to Moses, He's sending him down off Mount Sinai, where the Israelites were literally circled around and worshiping their own fashioned God and their own fashioned preference.
SPEAKER_01: And God sends Moses down with this imperative commandment of do this now.
SPEAKER_01: God says, Hear my word and do this.
SPEAKER_01: Here's how I want us to finish our time together this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Um, back in uh 1563, in a place called Heidelberg, which is present-day Germany, uh, there was something written that was called the Heidelberg, Heidelberg Catechism.
SPEAKER_01: Um there's an original copy of it up there.
SPEAKER_01: Um from Neil McClendon's library.
SPEAKER_01: Not really.
SPEAKER_01: Um a catechism, it's it's it's Christian instruction.
SPEAKER_01: And the reason that this was written, um, it was written as a series of questions and answers, questions about things of faith and then answers.
SPEAKER_01: And it was built to teach Christian doctrine to people.
SPEAKER_01: Um it was it was teached, it was teached, that's not proper grammar.
SPEAKER_01: It was written to teach um these reformed um Christian doctrines.
SPEAKER_01: And so, yes, in my last official sermon as one of your pastors, I'm outing myself as doctrinally reformed.
SPEAKER_01: All right.
SPEAKER_01: Um big surprise.
SPEAKER_01: But the Heidelberg Catechism, it's divided into these series of questions and answers.
SPEAKER_01: And day 40 is written for the sixth commandment.
SPEAKER_01: And so what I've asked the guys to do back there is um they're gonna have the question and the answers.
SPEAKER_01: And I just want us to look at this together as we understand the depth and the width and the levity of when God says, do not murder.
SPEAKER_01: The first question is this What is God's will for you in the sixth commandment?
SPEAKER_01: What is God's will for you in the sixth commandment?
SPEAKER_01: Answer.
SPEAKER_01: I am not to belittle, hate, insult, or kill my neighbor.
SPEAKER_01: Not by my thoughts, my words, my look or gesture, and certainly not by actual deeds.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm not to be party of this and others.
SPEAKER_01: Rather, I am to put away all desire for revenge.
SPEAKER_01: I am to put away all desire for revenge.
SPEAKER_01: I am not to harm or recklessly endanger myself either.
SPEAKER_01: Prevention of murder is also why government is armed with the sword.
SPEAKER_01: Question.
SPEAKER_01: Does this commandment refer only to murder?
SPEAKER_01: Answer.
SPEAKER_01: By forbidding murder, God teaches us that he hates the root of murder.
SPEAKER_01: He hates envy, he hates hatred, anger, and vindicativeness.
SPEAKER_01: In God's sight, all such are disguised forms of murder.
SPEAKER_01: Let that just sink in for a minute.
SPEAKER_01: If you've ever tried to wrap your head around how do I reconcile what Jesus says in Matthew 5 on the Sermon on the Mount?
SPEAKER_01: In God's sight, envy, hatred, anger, and vindicativeness are disguised forms of murder.
SPEAKER_01: But it was just a joke.
SPEAKER_01: Disguised forms of murder.
SPEAKER_01: Question, is it enough then that we do not murder our neighbor in such a way?
SPEAKER_01: Answer no.
SPEAKER_01: By condemning envy and hatred and anger, God wants us to love our neighbors as ourselves, to be patient, peace-loving, gentle, merciful, and friendly toward them, to protect them from harm as much as we can, and to do good even to our enemies.
SPEAKER_01: That's one long sentence, by the way.
SPEAKER_01: That's not divided up.
SPEAKER_01: Understand that, and let me just read this and kind of beat this into the ground one more time.
SPEAKER_01: By condemning envy, hatred, and anger, God wants us to love our neighbors as ourselves.
SPEAKER_01: We're like, well, there's some neighbors I like, I can do that.
SPEAKER_01: Then he wants us to be patient, peace-loving, gentle, merciful, and friendly towards them.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't end with a period there.
SPEAKER_01: It keeps going.
SPEAKER_01: To protect them from harm as much as we can and to do good even to our enemies.
SPEAKER_01: So everything you just read goes to the person that drives you crazy.
SPEAKER_01: That in your mind and in your words and in your looks and the way you talk about them and the things that you think about them and your anger fantasies, that you're murdering them.
SPEAKER_01: But God says, I hate that, and I give you freedom from that.
SPEAKER_01: You get to lay that down.
SPEAKER_01: You get to rest on the Sabbath, you get to worship the one true God, I'll restore relationships within your family, and you get to lay down your anger, and you get to lay down that death grip you have that you just hold on to and be free.
SPEAKER_01: God never once said, though, that this calling to live a life of freedom was an easy one.
SPEAKER_01: He never says that.
SPEAKER_01: He never sends Moses down the mountain and says, Here's the Ten Commandments, and tell him how easy it's going to be.
SPEAKER_01: But he does say in Matthew 11, Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
SPEAKER_01: Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
SPEAKER_01: For my yoke is easy, God says.
SPEAKER_01: The freedom's found in me.
SPEAKER_01: I gave the commandments, I gave you what you need to follow the commandments, and for me it's easy, because the freedom comes from me, and the burden is light.
SPEAKER_01: Because on our own, these commandments they feel burdensome.
SPEAKER_01: But with God, they're redemptive and they're restorative and they're freeing and they're easy.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, do me a favor and stand to your feet.
SPEAKER_01: If you wouldn't put your hands out like this Your Father's character is dripping with redemption and restoration and freedom.
SPEAKER_01: In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.