Matthew 22:34-40 (#75.2023.11.12)

Scott Keffer [: 00:00:03

Hi. If you're looking for greater hope, assurance, and confidence through the shifting sands of life, Then join me on today's episode as we dig deep into the Bible to discover rock solid truth for life and living from the God of the Bible. I'm your host, Scott Keffer. Well, we continue our journey with the lord as he encounters increasing opposition from the religious leaders, see How he responds, and we can take our own insight from him. Let's read this section of scripture. Stand if you will out of reverence for god and his word. From Matthew 22, when the crowds heard this, They were astonished at his teaching. But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, They gathered themselves together.

Scott Keffer [: 00:01:04

1 of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him. Teacher, what is the great Commandment of the law, which, and he said to him, you shall love lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these 2 commandments, depend the whole law and the prophets. The word of the lord. Thanks be to god.

Scott Keffer [: 00:01:35

So it says when Jesus answered the Sadducees, the crowds were amazed. And I was Thinking about that. Right? In the midst of these encounters, you always think about the different kinds of people involved in here. Here here are the Sadducees. Here are the Pharisees, and there's a crowd around it, and there's Jesus as he interacts with them. And I always think about what were people thinking. Right? Where were they and what were they thinking? Right? They're observing as Jesus interacts. These are the religious elite, The one who are religiously in power.

Scott Keffer [: 00:02:09

Right? They have power and authority. Right? They have status among the people. So the Crowd is around, and there's Jesus interacting with him. And it says the crowd was amazed or astonished as Jesus taught. And yet it made me think being amazed is not being convicted. Being amazed is not conviction. Being amazed is not conviction. And so you tend to think, boy, if I could answer all the questions of unbelievers, that would be it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:02:39

Have you ever thought that? Have you tried to you interact with it. You think I have an answer for this, and I have an answer for that. And they say, what about this and what about that? If only I had an answer, that would do it. How many have thought that? Right? You wanna answer that. And you realize Jesus had all the answers. In fact, more than having all the answers, he was the answer. Sir, and they were amazed, but they weren't convicted. And there's a big, big difference.

Scott Keffer [: 00:03:04

Right? Big difference. So the 2 things that are required, I've seen, is you first, they need to be convicted. Convicted. Convicted of what? Sin and righteousness and judgment. When he comes when he comes, who's that? The holy spirit. When he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment concerning sin because they do not believe in Jesus, concerning righteousness because he said, I go to the father And you no longer see me, so the the spirit will be required because Jesus is not in their midst. But I'm reminded, If they weren't convicted when Jesus was in their midst, the Holy Spirit is doing work, right, convicting the same way. And lastly, concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged, and judgment is coming.

Scott Keffer [: 00:04:01

Judgment is coming for sure. And scripture says he came to his own, and those who were his own did not Receive him. This is the judgment that the light has come into the world, and men loved Darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil. How many can remember when they loved darkness rather than light. I can remember loving darkness rather than light, being a professional heathen, A professional gentile, a professional unbeliever, right, and studying for advanced degrees in heathenism. Right? I was stacking up my degrees. And I love darkness rather than light. And not just literally the night, which is all of that in the sense that My deeds would never come to light.

Scott Keffer [: 00:04:53

And and as god began to convict me 1 by 1, he began to show me, right, that that I was convicted by the things that I did. And then as I read scripture, I was convicted by who I was. I was convicted by my thoughts, Right. Internally. Right? Think it's about outside, and then you start to realize Jesus said, oh, no. If you look on a woman to lust for her, you can you've committed adultery already in your heart. If you call a man a fool, a moron. Right? That's what he's saying.

Scott Keffer [: 00:05:26

How many people call people morons? Today, he said if you call a person a moron, an idiot, right, a fool, he says. You you you know, it's the same as murdering a Soul, if you will. Dang. Loving darkness. So if you read this let's read from 2nd Corinthians. It says even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled for those who are perishing, in whose case The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of god? For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as lord. For god said, light shall sigh, Out of darkness is the one who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of god in the face of Christ. God must speak light into men's darkness.

Scott Keffer [: 00:06:26

God must speak light into men's darkness. Because darkness is the absence of light. So god must speak light into darkness. And that's the 2nd part. And that's why I pray that God would convict and convince. God would convict and convince. He's required for both, isn't he? The spirit of God must convict, then God must speak light. He must speak light into the dark hearts of people.

Scott Keffer [: 00:06:56

Well, if you think about it, everyone's born into Sin, which means we're not sinners because we sin. We're sin because we're we're sinners because we're born into sin, and our and our sin validates god's judgment. So in Adam, all fell. And that Judgment is validated when the sin begins to show up, right, which doesn't take long. We now have grandchildren, and you start to see nobody teaches them no, But they know the word no. No. I'm not. No.

Scott Keffer [: 00:07:29

Right? Rebellion is in our nature, in our DNA. Right? And so scripture says that for those who sin, they're slaves of sin. God has to break that slavery. He breaks the darkness by speaking light into your heart. So it's our understanding that we all will not Receive him unless his grace shows up to convict and convince. And and in a sense, he gives us the supernatural power to respond to his invitation, if you will. The gospel goes out. Why is it that some respond and the others don't? Oh, it's because I have better will.

Scott Keffer [: 00:08:13

No. It's because he is his grace has overridden my know. Right? And so he speaks light, think about it, into darkness. He takes a dead body, and he raises it from the dead. You were dead in your sins and Trespasses by grace, you have been saved through faith. That's not of yourselves. It's a gift from God. Not of yourselves.

Scott Keffer [: 00:08:35

It is a gift from God. So he speaks forth light into darkness, which is a bit of a a quandary for everybody. How come he doesn't speak light into everybody's heart? But he's free to do that. Right? And that That is a supernatural mystery, but it's clear his grace has overwhelmed my darkness, my nose. His grace overwhelms my nose, He speaks that light into my darkness. How many are grateful that he spoke in light in dear darkness? So, John, when we share, We share the word. Right? The word. Right? I preach Christ and him crucified.

Scott Keffer [: 00:09:14

Right? I create Christ and him the lord, and it's up to god to convict and to convince. And sometimes, you just it's like, what? But I remember, they're blind. Right. They're blind. I'm showing them Rembrandt. Can't you see it? No. I'm blind. Can't you see it? No.

Scott Keffer [: 00:09:33

I don't want to see Right? So he convicts. So we need him to convict and to convince. Praise god for that. He has delivered us out of Darkness into the kingdom of his beloved son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of our trespasses. Right? He has he has delivered us. He has redeemed us. Right? He's brought us out of darkness and delivered us into his kingdom. It's mind blowing if you think about.

Scott Keffer [: 00:10:03

Right? It should be, you You know, why is it that I wake up and believe every day because I've been adopted as his? I've been I've been, you know, called out of darkness. I mean, at one point, I thought Christians were idiots. And then all of a sudden, I'm convicted, and now I'm 1. Right? Where did that happen? Right? It's by the grace of God. It is by the grace of God. Now I'm one of those idiots. John MacArthur used to said his dad would Sandwich sign that would tell you where MacArthur gets his fire fire, and it would say, I think, I'm I'm a fool for Christ. And the other side, it said, who's who's fool are you? Right.

Scott Keffer [: 00:10:42

I'm a fool for Christ. I'm not sure that sign was the best way to share the gospel with a. So here are the crowds. Right? And you wonder. You've got you've got friends. You've got neighbors. You've got folks around you. You share the gospel.

Scott Keffer [: 00:10:54

And there at times, they're amazed, but Conviction is a different story. It really requires him. The Sadducees, right, the religious elite, they were silenced, literally means, muzzled. They couldn't speak, but that's not conviction. In other words, they couldn't come back. They couldn't ask another question To put Jesus on the hot seat, but that's not conviction. Right? Nothing happened for them. Then the Pharisees said, get out of the way.

Scott Keffer [: 00:11:21

Let's we're up next. Right? So they're standing in line, and it says right. If you look at it, it says that they they gathered themselves Together. Isn't that an interesting phrase? Right? So if you look at at at the scripture, when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced The Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. If you look at Psalm 2, It says, why are the nations in an uproar and the people devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth, they will take their stand, and the rulers take counsel Together against the lord and against his anointed, saying, let us tear their feathers apart and cast away their cords from us. So we are in society. And what is society saying? Let us tear apart their feathers and cast away their cords. I don't wanna be restricted.

Scott Keffer [: 00:12:16

All authority is being disassembled. Right? Deconstructed. We're in the age of deconstruction. Why? I don't want any more restrictions upon me. Right? When I was growing up, it was free love. Let's have free love. Right? Love ain't free. Right? But it sounded good, didn't it? Hey.

Scott Keffer [: 00:12:37

Free love. Right? No more authority. And and So I put they gathered themselves together as was prophesied. This is not surprising. We look around, and we think the world is not friends with Christians. It never was. Why? Because the prince of the power of the air is a And diametrically opposed. Right? And it says that unbelievers are held captive by the evil one.

Scott Keffer [: 00:13:07

Blinded. Right? Look look what it says here. He has blinded the minds of the unbelieving. So in a sense, you go back to their volition, John, but their minds are blinded by the evil one. This is a Supernatural. It's a supernatural battle, and it's part of the judgment. Blinding is part of god's judgment against sin. So we see that.

Scott Keffer [: 00:13:31

Right? They take their stand, and the lord is bothered by it like we are. Doesn't it say in Psalm 2? He who sits in the heavens is bothered. He's frustrated. He can't believe CNN isn't happy with Christians. What's he say? He sits he who sits in the heavens, he laughs. He laughs. The Lord scoffs at them. He's not afraid.

Scott Keffer [: 00:13:55

He's not fearful. This is part of his plan and purpose. This is part of it. We shouldn't be going around fretting, pulling our hair out. Oh, social media doesn't like Christians. Oh, the lord, he sits in the heavens. He laughs. He scoffs at them, And it's prophesied, which means it's on target.

Scott Keffer [: 00:14:18

So, of course, they had thought the law wasn't enough, so let's add 613 more commandments. Started with 1, then 2, then 3, then More than 10 and 6 and they were ranked and, you know, there's a whole bunch of this is our version of what we should add to the law. Christians are kinda like that too, aren't they? Right? If you're really a Christian, you'll do this or this and that. Well, I've ranked them, and I use it. My ranking fits me, Right? Which means I can keep these and you can't. Right? So you dance? Oh, you dance? Oh. Mhmm. Right? You know? And so you go through there and you start to think.

Scott Keffer [: 00:14:57

We right? Because you look at the Pharisees and go, I can't believe they would do that. No. We do the same thing, don't we? This is why we're a Christian. How many times do you come to church? Oh, okay. Check. Check. I come more than you. We all have our own little checklist, don't we? We're checking them off.

Scott Keffer [: 00:15:15

So they're testing it. I love this because Jesus is Capital t, capital h, capital e. He is the authority. T h e. He's the authority. He doesn't need to answer to anyone. They put him on the spot, they hope, and he doesn't. Right? He is the word.

Scott Keffer [: 00:15:36

And I love it. He says, you heard That the ancients were told, but I say to you but I say to you, alright, do not think that I came to abolish. She says, Says I'm not here to abolish the law and the prophets. In fact, I'm here to fulfill. Truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the law. Whose law? My law, not your law. My law, not man's law. God's law, not your law.

Scott Keffer [: 00:16:07

So he says, here's what you should do. Right? He loved that. So he says, teacher, teacher, can you hear this? Teacher. I still remember in the choice. Right? Teacher. Right? With a little arrogance to it, they should have said. Right? If I were to play the fair sight, say, Teacher. Right? Come on now.

Scott Keffer [: 00:16:27

Right? Because it's kinda like mocking teacher, soul, Which is the great commandment. We got them now, and they're all going, yeah. Like, that's a great question. You know? Like, on Jeopardy, I got you The double daily double. You know? And the the lord the Jesus said right? He says to them, you shall Love the lord your god. You shall love the lord your god. So if you were to answer that, so what does that mean? You answer that in that blank. What does it mean to love the lord your god? So each of us has our definition.

Scott Keffer [: 00:17:02

Right? Because Jesus said, you shall love the lord your god with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your Fine. This is the great and what's the scripture say? This is the great and foremost Foremost. What's foremost mean? Top. Priority. Right? Ultimate. Right? So you should love the lord your god Foremostly. You should love the lord your god foremostly. Is that a word? No.

Scott Keffer [: 00:17:29

It's not a word. I just made it up. That's what the role of a teacher. I get to make up words. But think about it. It's for mostly. What does that mean? Right? It means centrally. Right? Who is in the center? He's at the center.

Scott Keffer [: 00:17:41

Right? That's what it means. Jesus said, it's not there isn't a second commandment, but this is the foremost one. This is the ultimate. It's the centrality of our love for the lord. Right? There's a sense of exclusivity that comes with that. Right? Jesus answered and said to them, it is written in the law, you shall worship you shall worship the lord and serve him Only there's right? Only. Right? There there is a sense of exclusivity, but sent centrally. Whom have I in heaven but thee? And besides thee, I desire nothing on earth, centrally, Foremostly, ultimately, right, it's at the core.

Scott Keffer [: 00:18:26

And then he says, of course, this will compete, Right? Dimetrically with the things in the world system. So he says, do not love the world system. If anyone loves the world system, the love of God is not in him. The world has a system, doesn't it? Who is the prince of the power of the air. Yeah. And, of course, you can see those are in opposition To god's priorities. Right? So we love the lord our god, not the world. Right? That shouldn't be in the sphere.

Scott Keffer [: 00:19:01

But then Again, he's he he defines as we go out out of the sphere, right, there are secondary and thirdly things that we love, but centrally, For mostly, we love the lord our god. He is our priority. And the 2nd part, it says we love God, obediently, if you love me, you will, yeah, keep my commandments. You'll keep my commandments. Dang. That means I also love the Lord authoritatively. Right? Obediently means authoritatively. Right? He is my not only my Priority, but he's also my authority.

Scott Keffer [: 00:19:41

He's my priority, and he's my authority. Dang. I hate having authorities. Wanna begin to understand the role of the you know, because we came to Christ kind of outside of the local church Through, through Navigator, really through, you you know, ministries outside of it, through radio, John MacArthur, and then Navs learned how to grow. So, becoming a a a a b a b, like, to the local church was hard. So a number I've twice I had to go through this. I'd meet with Ron and said I have to confess. I'm a rebel without a Church.

Scott Keffer [: 00:20:21

I'm a rebel without a pastor. Right? It's my nature to be a rebel. Some would say, well, that's the nature of being protestant Protestants. Right? Our nature is we are protesters. Right? That is our nature. So, being obedient. Right? So God is our priority, and God is our Authority. So it means to love the lord your god.

Scott Keffer [: 00:20:47

Right? Love the lord your god. He is our priority, and he is our authority. Well, that's challenging, ain't it? Because I got a lot of other priorities, and I got a lot of other authorities like me. Right? Like me. So this is a struggle, isn't it? This is a struggle on a daily basis. No. It's a struggle on a Moment by moment basis. Right? I need the oh, lord.

Scott Keffer [: 00:21:13

I need the every hour, every minute Of every day. Right? Every minute of every day. If you love me, you'll keep my commandments. Dang. So it's a constant surrendering of our priorities, right, and our authority. The good thing is about it at at the core of that, god is for our good. We just have a different opinion about what we need for our good. Right? So we Oftentimes, no more than God knows.

Scott Keffer [: 00:21:47

Anybody been in that boat before? So we think, Yeah. That's a good point. That's how we think, so we believe. Right? So I shuffle my priorities. So it's about the question. What are your priorities? Is God central in authority and god's central in priority. Then he says, what this looks like is with all your Heart with all your soul, with all your mind. And he quotes from Deuteronomy 6:5.

Scott Keffer [: 00:22:17

So scripture says It's spirit, soul, and body. Spirit, soul, and body. The soul being the mind, the will and the emotions, the mind, the will, and the emotions. And when we went through I think it was Colossians. The the Christian goes from outside in to inside out. Right? We go from outside in. In other words, before before We become a Christian. Right? It's it's inside out.

Scott Keffer [: 00:22:50

Right? Everything appeals to our emotions, Our body right? First of all, our body, our feelings, right, which then impact my mind, my will, and my emotions. I live backwards. I lure I live outside in. Right? And the enemy, of course, comes with temptation, the world system. Right? So before Christ, we live outside in. Right? We live through our body, essentially. Right? What does it feel like? And then that impacts our soul, And our spirit is dead. We have no spirit.

Scott Keffer [: 00:23:23

Right? So when we become a Christian, our we are born Again. Right? And what's he say? I will take out their heart of stone, and I will give you a heart of flesh, and I will put I will give you a new Spirit, a new spirit, and I will put my spirit within you. And so this is before Christ. So This is this is before Christ, after Christ. Right? After Christ, we live inside out. Right? So this is outside in. We live inside out. And that is we have our spirit a new spirit.

Scott Keffer [: 00:23:58

Right? Born again, plus the Holy Spirit Inside, and that impacts our mind, our will, and our emotions, which then should command our body, And so we live outside in. That make sense? So be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Mind, right, be transformed, which impacts our will. This is what I think. This is what I do. This is what I feel. What I think, what I do, what I feel. So so the Christian lives from the inside out.

Scott Keffer [: 00:24:29

Truth applied to our mind, transforming our will, right out into our emotions. Emotions, how many struggle with emotions? They are not my friend. They just aren't. My feelings often are counterfeits. Right? They're often way out of whack. Right? And, of course, we have the old self inside of us who are Battling the old man, but we're being transformed. Right? So we live inside out. That's why Jesus said on the mount of Transfiguration, metamorphumae, right, on the he transformed.

Scott Keffer [: 00:25:03

He said, here, gonna see what's in me? Light, Glory. Right? So he says 2 times that word is used, be metamorphomied by the renewing of your mind. Right? Be metamorphomized. Right? So mind will emotion. So we're living from the inside out, but we battle because we're being transformed. We're being transformed. Right? And he says with all your with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. Right? Let's read The scripture now, may the god of peace himself sanctify you entirely.

Scott Keffer [: 00:25:39

Spirit, soul, body be preserved complete without blame at the coming of our lord Jesus Christ. So may the god of peace sanctify you entirely. Right? So the sanctification process. We'll talk about deeply next week. I think that'd be a great lesson. So he says spirit, soul, and body. So what does that mean? In all your ways. So fundamentally, to love the lord your god is to need him.

Scott Keffer [: 00:26:09

It's to need him. It's to Trust him. It's to hope in him. In all your ways, acknowledge him. Trust in the lord with all your heart and do not Lean. Do you like that? Do not lean. Look. When I lean on something, I'm trusting it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:26:27

I lean on a bureau. I lean on Chair. I lean on the podium. I'm trusting it's gonna hold me. He says don't lean don't lean on your own understanding. Well, Lord, you don't understand. My understanding's pretty good. I understand a lot.

Scott Keffer [: 00:26:44

I'm pretty smart. Lean on your own understanding in all your ways, In all your ways, in all your ways, not all. I mean, in most of your ways, lord. Right? Oh, dang. And he will make your Pass straight. To make your pass straight. So here's my question for you. Which for you are the hardest ways To acknowledge him, which for you are just the if you think about it in life, what's the hardest ways? So he's saying, he'll make your path straight.

Scott Keffer [: 00:27:16

Right? In other words, What should I do? What's the hardest way for you to trust him and to acknowledge him? And you think about it in decisions. Right? What's the hardest way? Is Is it with what you do? Is it with how you spend your money? Is it how you invest your time? Where is the hardest way for you to acknowledge him? So what's the hardest way one of the hardest ways for you To trust in the Lord, to not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him. Time and money, those are the big ones. Right? Time and money. And he says, not only in all your ways, but in all your days. In all your ways And in all your days. One thing I've asked of the Lord, one thing that I shall seek, that I might dwell in the house of the Lord all All the days of my life, all the days of my life.

Scott Keffer [: 00:28:11

Well, you better pray that because that's what he's saying. Pray it and seek it. Pray it and seek it all the days of your life. So we talked about and finished strong, finished well all the days of my life. Better pray that one thing. If you pray anything, pray that one prayer. Pray that one prayer. So it says, love the lord your god with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, in all your ways And in all your days.

Scott Keffer [: 00:28:36

That's the foremost commandment where we make him our priority and our authority. He says that if that isn't hard enough, how about love your neighbor as yourself? Love your neighbor as yourself. Well, that's a New Testament thing. Right? Love your neighbor as yourself? So let's look at this. What I want you to do is see this is where he's quoting. This is what Jesus is quoting when he quotes this. So I want you to pick out what do you see here because this is the essence. He's defining what does it mean to love your neighbors yourself.

Scott Keffer [: 00:29:09

He says, now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am Yahweh your god. What does that mean? All your stuff ain't your stuff. So he's saying all your stuff ain't your stuff. Right? So if you're if you got a field, the edge of the field is for the poor and needy. You got a vineyard. It's not all your stuff.

Scott Keffer [: 00:29:40

Right? There's a portion of that for the poor and needy. Right? The needy and the Stranger, oh, which is weird. That's doesn't mean of our flock, a stranger. Then he says, you shall not steal nor deal falsely, nor lie nor lie to one another. You shall not swear falsely by my name so as to not remain, to profane the name of the lord your god, that profane the name of your god, I am Yahweh. What's that mean? So he says don't steal, Don't take advantage. Don't deal falsely. Don't lie to one another.

Scott Keffer [: 00:30:22

Then he says, you shall not oppress your neighbor nor rob him. The wages of a hired man are not to remain with you all night until morning. Like, pay your worker on time. It's interesting. Pay your worker on time. Why would I keep it overnight? You shall not Curse a deaf man nor place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall revere your god, I am Yahweh. You pay your worker on time. And, by the way, don't take advantage, right, of the blind or those.

Scott Keffer [: 00:30:56

Right? He says, you shall do no injustice in judgment, just wait. You shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great. So don't be partial to those with nothing, and don't be partial to those with lots. Neither don't show partiality. But you are to judge your neighbor fairly. You shall not go about as a slander among your people, You are not to act against the life of your neighbor. I am Yahweh. You shall not hate your fellow countrymen in your Heart, dang.

Scott Keffer [: 00:31:29

But you don't know what they did to me, lord. You may surely reprove them, but you shall not incur sin because of them. You shall not take Vengeance. I'm gonna get them. I'm gonna get them. Nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people. Then he says, but You shall love your neighbor as yourself. So write down.

Scott Keffer [: 00:31:50

What do you see? So he's saying this is love right there. That's what he's saying. This is love. So what do you see in there? He says, this is love. This is love the Lord. This is love your neighbor. You shall not hate with your heart. So So you think in the Old Testament, it's just all about a law, but no.

Scott Keffer [: 00:32:06

He's saying you shall not hate with your heart. And why would I hate with my heart? Because somebody's done me wrong. Right? That's the context of wrong. Shall not return evil for evil. Right? So all you See all of that in here. Shall not hate him. Right? Shall not incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance nor bear a grudge against the sons of your people, But you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Scott Keffer [: 00:32:34

Shall love your neighbor as yourself. So when I think about that, I think about there's 3 context for this. 2, really, but a sub, A a a subgroup. 1 is fellow believers. Right? The application of this, love your neighbor, is for fellow believers. Love your neighbor. Right? And this is the commandment, right, that I that I write to you. What is that? The one who loves god Should love his all of them? Gee.

Scott Keffer [: 00:33:06

All of them? Many of them are annoying, lord. They're frustrating. They're aggravating. Yeah. He says he who loves god should love his Brother also, do good to all, especially to those of the household of God. So there is a priority. Same way, there is a priority in our love our neighbor. Right? There is a priority at the center of this piece.

Scott Keffer [: 00:33:35

Right? There is a priority here. At the center, our fellow believers. Do good to all, but to say in Galatians, but especially the household of God. That's a Priority of our love to fellow believers. Love one another. That's a priority. But then he says other people. And, of course, In the good Samaritan, he's wishing to justify himself.

Scott Keffer [: 00:33:58

He says, yeah, lord, but, hey, Who's my neighbor? I mean, like, my next door neighbor or the one down the street? Like, who is it? Right? So here's the challenge. Right? The neighbor, right, we have believers, then we have unbelievers that we come in contact with. Right? And the reminder for me is, today, it's getting more difficult to love people who aren't believers. Is it not? Yes. Okay. So let's realize this. In the last days What will happen? In the last days, Paul writes to Timothy, in the last days, difficult. You could actually, Underline that, it it almost means wicked.

Scott Keffer [: 00:34:49

Right? Perverse. It means perverse. Perverse days, Times will come. Let's read this. What will men be like, lord? Men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, Irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, Reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Gee. Does anybody live in times like that? So he says, in the last days, perverse times will come. You look around and you think, does that describe it? Sure does.

Scott Keffer [: 00:35:37

It's just increasing. So he's saying this will be in increasing amount. So will it be more difficult to love unbelievers? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. For sure. For sure.

Scott Keffer [: 00:35:52

And among this other people, they'll not only be Those right. Everything from just annoying and frustrating. Right? And we go over right? If we if we Follow the scale over to those who are in opposition and persecution to those who are your enemies, Even enemies. Right? So there there's you know, as we as we move out here, there's gonna be other people. And within that, they'll there's a Gale of folks, right, just from those who are frustrating to those who are active in persecution to those who are literally out as our enemies. But I say to you, love your enemies. Oh, dang. Pray for those who persecute you.

Scott Keffer [: 00:36:39

Dang. Dang. Dang. Dang. Yeah. I like the psalm prayer where he says, lord, bring fire down upon their head. May their name be be blotted out Forever, may their generations be gone. May their money be wiped out.

Scott Keffer [: 00:36:52

May their children's children be decimated. May they be just crushed and pulverized and reduced to nothing. I may read that, Tom. You go like, yeah. There's some people. That's what I wanna pray. Right? Get, like, Curse them and bring them to nothing. Right? Yes.

Scott Keffer [: 00:37:10

That's a better prayer than that one. But I love that because in the Psalms, you see the reality because As David you he's just saying to God, this is what I want. Right? And you'll see, he reconciles. I don't know that that was, You know, sometimes in the Psalm, you think, oh, they rec he reconciled real quickly. No. He may have written the rest of the Psalm a week later, days later. I don't know. But that's where he was at the time.

Scott Keffer [: 00:37:35

Why? When somebody does evil to you, that's what you wanna pray. Lord, Lord, take them, you know, take them to the woodshed. Right? Don't you wanna do that? Like, take them to the woodshed. Okay, lord. And then at the end, you know, he kinda brings you around. Yes. So bless those who curse you. Yeah.

Scott Keffer [: 00:37:55

That ain't easy. So he says, love the lord your god, and then love your neighbor as you would Wanna be loved as yourself. Love your neighbor as yourself. So you might say, I don't really like myself. Does that mean I cannot like other people? Hey. There are pea that that's not a joke totally. Right? There are there are other people who struggle with liking themselves. Right? So he says, love your neighbor as yourself.

Scott Keffer [: 00:38:16

What is that? Priority is believers and then other people. But there's a scale from just those who are frustrating, annoying, to those who are active in persecution to those who are literally bent on our enemies. Right? Who is an enemy of the church for a while? The apostle Paul. So God God called him out of darkness and made him an apostle. Right? He was He was a persecutor of the church. Right? So you can pray for your enemies, even those who persecute you. So love the lord your god with all your soul heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. This is the foremost Commandment.

Scott Keffer [: 00:39:01

The second is like it. So write your application if you would, please. So love the lord your god with all your heart. This is the the great and foremost commandment. Love the lord your god with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. The second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Amen.

Scott Keffer [: 00:39:21

May the god who has loved you, may he bless you. May he keep you. May he cause his face to shine upon you. May he lift up his countenance and grant you his shalom deep in your soul. May the grace of the lord Jesus Christ, the love of god the father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you now and always. Lord bless you and keep you. Amen. Thanks for listening.

Scott Keffer [: 00:39:47

I hope you have greater hope, assurance, and confidence in your life and a deeper trust in the God of the bible and his son, Jesus Christ. Until next time, may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. And may the lord lift up his countenance on you and give you his peace, his Shalom in your soul and in your life. Until next time. May god bless you and keep you.