The hospital's consulting dietician was giving a lecture to several community nurses from the.
'The rubbish we put into our stomachs and consume should have killed most of us sitting here, years ago. Red meat is terrible. Fizzy drinks attack your stomach lining. Chinese food is loaded with msg. Vegetables can be disastrous because of fertilizers and pesticides and none of us realizes the long-term damage being done by the rotten bacteria in our drinking water. However, there is one food that is incredibly dangerous and we all have, or will, eat it at some time in our lives. Now, is anyone here able to tell me what food it is that causes the most grief and suffering for years after eating it?'
A 65-year-old nursing sister sitting in the front row stood up and said, 'Wedding cake.'
Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself
Turn to Luke 10:25-37
Who are our neighbors? Two men were visiting in the front yard when one ask the other what time it was…He replied I am not sure but I can tell with a pan and spoon ..so the other man ask how can you do that ..so he picked up the pan and spoon and began beating on it ..When his neighbor hollered and said quiet down over there it is 3 am…
It helps to define our “neighbor” the way that God does.
In Leviticus 19:18, God describes your neighbor as being…
Someone you knew “one of your people” –
Lev. 19:34 AND someone you DIDN’T know as “The alien living with you” –
..With phones internet tv all that ..makes our neighbors closer then they used to be…When I was a child growing up in Osceola mo. We boiled out cows horns and blew signals to the neighbors
Getting a proper perspective on anything can help change our attitude. Sometimes we form opinions without knowing all the facts or reason .. And that causes us to have a bad perspective about a person
A COWBOY out west was driving down a dirt road with his dog riding in back of the pickup truck and his faithful horse in the trailer behind. He failed to negotiate a curve and had a terrible accident.
Sometime later a state trooper came upon the scene. An animal lover, he saw the horse first. Realizing the terminal nature of its injuries, he drew his service revolver and put the animal out of it’s misery.
He walked around the accident and found the dog, also hurt critically. He couldn’t bear to hear it whine in pain, so he ended the dog’s suffering as well.
Next he tried to locate the cowboy who had suffered multiple fractures when he was thrown out of his pickup. As the officer broke through the weeds he saw him. The cop asked, "Hey are you okay?"
The cowboy took one look at the smoking revolver in the trooper’s hand and quickly replied, "Never felt better!"
Getting a proper perceptive can change our attitude and behavior.
The Law commanded that Israelites were to “love your neighbor as yourself” and so – as all good legalists will do - this lawyer wanted to know who neighbor was so he’d know who he had to love and who he didn’t have to love.
• The Jews typically interpreted “neighbor,” as “one who was near” or a fellow Jew.
• Men like this teacher of the Law tended to reject people who weren’t as religious as they were.
• And there was sect at Qumran (An ancient village of Palestine on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea in the West Bank east of Jerusalem..) That excluded everyone not part of their little group.
So this man wanted to have Jesus draw a circle.
He wanted Jesus to explain who was in and who was out?
So Jesus tells him a story.
Luke 10:25-37
Luk 10:25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
Luk 10:26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
Luk 10:27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
Luk 10:28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
Luk 10:29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
Luk 10:30 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.
Luk 10:31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
Luk 10:32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
Luk 10:33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
Luk 10:34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
Luk 10:35 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.
Luk 10:36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
Luk 10:37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
Now you might say… no one ever acts like that.
No one would ever see a person in need and just walk by and leave them to die, would they?
When I was living on the streets of Kansas City, a street friend passed out on the side walk and his face froze to a metal grate with people walking by him on their way to work and no one even called the police to check on him.
Now why would people behave like that?
Why would they NOT love their neighbor as themselves?
Well, there are at least 3 reasons why this would happen.
I. 1st – they don’t think of people like these as being their “neighbor”.
The guy needing help doesn’t live next door to me.
He doesn’t even live on the same block.
He doesn’t go to my church.
He doesn’t belong to my club or social circle.
I JUST DON’T KNOW THIS GUY!
How did he end up being “my neighbor”?
In the story of the good Samaritan, neither the priest nor the Levite know who this man is.
But then, neither did the Samaritan.
ILLUS: Several years ago a news report told about an incident where a crew excavating a piece of land… when the hole they were digging caved in trapping several men under the dirt.
One bystander was just watching the rescue attempts, when a woman in a nearby house shouted to him “Jim, your brother is down there!”
Instantly he stripped off his coat and began digging frantically.
Why did he do that? What changed his mind he went from casual bystander to frantic rescuer?
Well – up until he actually “knew” someone in that hole – he didn’t care. And so he didn’t get involved.
So the first reason people don’t love their neighbor – they don’t know them
II. Another reason is… they’re afraid they’ll be taken advantage of.
One of the comments I hear from people about giving to the poor is the fear that the person they help will just waste the money, or that their gift will free that poor person to buy alcohol, cigarettes or drugs.
I believe we should help the poor or needy but there are ways to do that without handing them cash... If they need groceries we may give them a voucher to a local supermarket.
If they need gas we’ll take them down to the gas station and fill up their tank. If they need their utilities paid, we give the money directly to the utility company.
Few weeks ago a girl wanted me or the church to pay for a house. I gave her names and phone numbers to get into housing and she declined them. She was playing games ..when you give a person a solution or solutions to their problem and they have 14 reasons not to use your idea they may be gaming you.
..Notice, the Samaritan didn’t give any money to the man he helped. He gave it to the innkeeper, and told him that if there were any other expenses he would pay the innkeeper the difference.
When we try to help the poor, there are times that we don’t have to give them cash to help. But irregardless, God says this command to love our neighbor as ourselves is so important He tells us it is the royal law of His kingdom.
In Proverbs we’re told that “He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and HE WILL REWARD him for what he has done.” Proverbs 19:17
God takes this loving our neighbor seriously.
He takes it so seriously – that when we do it – He wants to reward us.
So, 1st people don’t love their neighbors because they don’t see them as neighbors.
2nd – they don’t love their neighbors because they’re afraid of getting hurt/ taken advantage of.
3rd- they don’t love their neighbor as they should because… they’re selfish.
Often I’ll hear someone quote this passage where says “love your neighbor as you love yourself” and they’ll say… “well you have to love yourself first.”
Have you ever heard someone say that?
It sounds good in a world consumed with loving themselves… but it’s not true.
Jesus DIDN’T say Love yourself so that you can love others!
He said: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Love them in the same way that you love yourself.
The Bible assumes you love yourself.
In fact, in Ephesians 5:28-29 husbands are told Eph 5:28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
Eph 5:29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
The Bible says that you love yourself.
And that is easily proved.
ILLUS: Let’s say you walk into a room filled with people and there on the wall is a huge mirror. You look into the mirror and see all those people in the room. Whose face do you look for 1st?
Your own!
Or you find a family group photo in a desk drawer. It’s a picture of you with your uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters… Whose face is the first one you seek out?
Your own!
You love yourself.
Now, you may not be real happy with yourself at the moment.
You may be disappointed with something you’ve done, or said… or by something you’ve NOT done or said. But the point of the matter is this: You love yourself.
But… aren’t there people who ‘don’t love themselves?’
Well – yes and no.
There are people who are depressed and have a poor self-image.
But the problem isn’t that they don’t love themselves.
The problem is that they’ve got their priorities out of whack. They have a poor self-image because they are “self CENTERED”
If a person wants to heal their poor self-image, then the Bible has a foolproof way to deal with that. It’s like a Doctor’s prescription, and I will guarantee you that if they do it the way God prescribes they will begin to “love themselves” again.
The prescription: love your neighbor.
ILLUS: Studies show "The happiest people are those who help others."
Love your neighbor as yourself, Jesus said.
If you obey this command – you please God enormously.
In james 2:8 we are called upon to fulfill the law of love. If indeed you are fulfilling the law according to the Scripture, YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF," Then you are doing well.
The law of love, you shall love you neighbor as yourself, is called the Royal Law because it is the supreme law and is to be the source of all other laws governing human relationship. It is the sum of all God’s laws (Mt. 22:36-40; Rom. 13:8-10).
It is also called royal or regal because it is decreed by the one true King, the King of Kings (Jn. 13:34).
Love is the law of His Kingdom, it is the law of liberty. To fulfill the royal law is to carry it out, to put it into practice. Obedience to this law of love is the answer to prejudicial favoritism.
There would be no reason for the royal/devine Law if each person truly loved his neighbor as himself. Love for God motivates us to obey the Word of God and treat people as God commands.
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We talk about making America better
I’m interested in making America a better place but all we are doing is making America a better place to go to hell from. People need to be saved.
We need to be going to our neighbors and telling them about Jesus. Nowhere in the bible does it talk about not having a revival in the darkest hours. We are in our dark hours
This generation needs to go "back-to-basics." Nothing is more basic than the "royal law." Frustrated, angry Christians contradict their calling.
Football coach Vince Lombardi was fanatical about basics. Once, his Green Bay Packers
were defeated by an inferior team. At the team meeting, the players had no idea what to expect.
Lombardi gritted his teeth and stared holes through one man after another.
Finally, he spoke: "‘OK, we go back to basics this morning...’ Holding a football high enough for all to see, he continued to yell: ‘Gentlemen, this is a football!’" that is like telling our piano player "This is middle C on the piano
Christ’s people need to get back to basics!
Leviticus 19:18
Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord
Becoming a Christian should have affected every area of our lives especially! relationships
• With God
Eph. 2 says we are God’s enemy until we’re saved, our sin separates us from Him. When we get saved, we’re reconciled to God! “peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinner reconciled!”
Getting saved will affect our relationship with…
• With believers
Before you were saved you may have felt uncomfortable around someone who was on fire for God, but not now! And you can love believers even if they weren’t Baptist.
We don’t have to dot every “i” and cross every “t” exactly the same way to love our neighbor of other denominations!
Getting saved will affect our relationship…
• With enemies
Before, our attitude was, “I’ll get even”… “revenge”
There’s a word which appears 311 times in the bible The key to all Godly obedience/the key to fulfilling God’s law! Love!
The Bible says to love our enemies, do good to those who abuse us!
Getting saved will affect our relationships!
Love Thy Neighbor…God said it, Moses wrote it, Paul explained it, Jesus quoted it,
As Christians, we all have a perpetual debt we cannot fully repay, a debt of love.
“but drops of grief can ne’er repay the debt of love I owe”
We’ll never get out from under our debt to our neighbors because Jesus loves us w/ an infinite love, and He never stops, and we can try to repay, but we won’t succeed…but we need to die trying!
The process: He keeps loving us, we keep loving others [repeat]
It’s not a suggestion, it’s an obligation! 5 of the10 commandments, listed as “thou shalt nots” but all 5 can be done positively by a “thou shalt”!
Break one of these commandments, and you’ve not only sinned against that specific commandment, you’ve sinned against the law of love…it’s impossible to love your neighbor, and commit adultery w/ them/ steal/ lie / or kill/ them,
--abortion clinic says, honey, you’re not ready for this child, you need to get rid of it
And you can’t love somebody while you’re lying/gossiping about them!
Ill.—man spread rumors/lies about his pastor, killed his reputation/got under conviction, asked pastor for forgiveness/ “I wanna make it right”/pastor said, just do 1 thing, open feather pillow, place feather on each doorstep in our town/I don’t understand it, but I’ll do it/took 3 days, but he did it, reported in/ “am I right w/ you now?”/just do 1 more thing, go back and retrieve all those feathers/I can’t, that’s impossible, the wind has scattered them God knows where!/that’s right…I forgive you, but the damage you’ve done is irreversible!
You can’t love your neighbor and say hurtful things about them!
Stealing/coveting demonstrate a lack of love, you should want the best for them.
