Love the World as Christ Does

I've got a question for you to begin the sermon, brethren. It's a serious question, and then I'm going to alternate it with another question as we go into the sermon. So here's my question. Do you love the world? Do you love the world? Now, a lot of you may be thinking about, no, I don't do that because 1 John 2 tells me that love not the world, these are the things that are in the world.

So we know, as God's elect, brethren, that we are not to love the world because that symbolizes sin, Satan, the world. And so we don't love the world as John wrote in 1 John 2. Let's add a couple of words to that same question, though, and change it just a little bit.

Do you love the world like God does? A couple of extra words makes a huge difference, doesn't it? And we're not to love the world, but we're to love the world as God does. That's where I want to go today about contrasting not loving the world, but loving the world as Christ and the Father love the world. I'm going to ask a couple of questions, too, about our identifying sign to the world. Is it the Sabbath day or something else?

What is the sign of God's people to the world? So we'll talk about those questions and some others as we go through the sermon today. Let's start, though, in John 3. We're familiar with these two verses in John 3 and verses 16 and verse 17. John 3. I asked Mrs. McNeely if I could borrow a Bible because the Bible I'm taking over to Israel is tiny. Everything you pack is tiny when you're traveling like that, right?

Fifty pounds weight limit, and I've got a tiny toothbrush this long. I never had such a thing. Last night I used it. I said, this is ridiculous. I could afford a full-size one. Well, it's two pieces, and I finally figured that out, right? I'm kind of slow. But I've got Mrs. McNeely's Bible, and brethren, it's the tiny print. I haven't had a tiny print Bible in 15 years, but I'll get through it. I'll endure it. John 3 and verse 16. I appreciate the Bible, though.

John 3 and verse 16. Well, here Jesus Christ is saying in this section, talking to a Pharisee by the name of Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, he says in verse 16, For God so loved the world, that he gave his... So Christ here, brethren, states, the Son of God so loved the world. So Christ loves the world.

Absolutely loves the world. He doesn't love the things of this world, though. There's a remarkable difference. But the Son and the Father loved the world so much that the Father gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. And the reason for this continues in verse 17, For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.

You know, the message, brethren, we need to teach in terms of preaching the gospel is also a world, I mean a message of love and forgiveness. Because that's a part of the gospel. That's what the Son came to the world to do, is to die for them, not to condemn them. You know, as we were talking on the way up today, Jesus Christ only tackled one group of people when he was on this earth, and he tackled them hard, and that was the group of Pharisees and Sadducees and some of these very self-righteous leaders of the Jewish groups.

But he did not attack the person on the street, he did not condemn the world, he didn't blast them and say, What a group of carnal people you are! He didn't do that. He did not judge them, he did not condemn them. He forgave them, as he said as he was dying, because he loves them. So the question, again, I asked today in the sermon is, Do you love the world as Jesus Christ, and the Father loves the world? And that, brethren, is where we want to go in the sermon today. Now let me contrast, as I mentioned earlier, about a sign to the world. What is our sign to the world, do you think?

Is it the Holy Days? Is it the Sabbath? Now, brethren, we all in this room believe in God's Sabbath day. That's why we're here, in part. Is the Sabbath the sign to the world? Now think about it carefully. The Sabbath is a sign, though, isn't it? But what is the Sabbath the sign of? To put it another way, who are the parties involved in this Sabbath sign? Now let's go back to Exodus 31. God says much about the Sabbath, especially in the Old Testament, because we know the New Testament is based on the Old Testament in terms of the spiritual law of God.

The spiritual law of God in the Old Testament is not done away with in the New Covenant. In fact, Christ expanded it. We know that. So in Exodus 31 and verse 12, Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, here would be Jesus Christ. That's the Lord of the Old Testament, Jesus Christ. He spoke also to the children of Israel, saying in verse 13, Surely my Sabbath you shall keep.

And what about the Sabbath? He says, for it's a sign. So Sabbath is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. And you shall keep the Sabbath therefore, for it's holy to you. Everyone who pertains it shall surely be put to death.

For whosoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among the people. And he goes on to say in verses 15 and 16 and 17, that again the Sabbath and not working, but notice verse 17. He says it's a sign again between which parties? God says, Jesus Christ says here, between me and the children of Israel forever. And the sign, brethren, is because God, the Son, is the Creator. Notice in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.

So the Sabbath, brethren, we have been taught this correctly. We know God's word. The Sabbath is a sign between God and God's people. Nothing complicated about these verses, is there? Now sometimes I think we export the Sabbath as a sign to the world. Now that's easy to do, and it's not altogether improper. But sometimes when we're talking to someone new, maybe a family, a coworker, and they ask us what we believe. We say, oh, the Sabbath. Sabbath usually comes up about as fast as any doctrine, doesn't it?

Then that's appropriate. Well, we keep what we call the meat laws or clean, unclean meat laws or foods. We keep the Holy Days. We do this. We do that. Brethren, that sign of the Sabbath is between God's people and God. See, that identifies us to God because we worship, as Christ said here, we worship the Creator of the Sabbath. We submit to Him. He's our Lord. He created us. The Sabbath today is a memorial of God the Creator, and we're a part of that life, a part of that creation.

So the Sabbath is a special sign. It says nothing here, brethren, about the Sabbath being a sign between God and the world. That's in part why people don't understand the Sabbath because that sign is for those that God is dealing with, right? He's telling Israel, this is a sign between me as the Creator and your Lord and you. You're a special people. You don't have the Israelite to be special.

That's not the point. Spiritually, we're Israelite. We're adopted in the family of God. And the Sabbath is a sign that God has adopted us and opened our minds to that. So the Sabbath, we might say, is an internal sign. All right, if I can add the words external here, what's the external sign between God's people and the world? It's not the Sabbath.

It's not the Holy Days. Now, it's certainly appropriate to discuss this with anybody who asks you, like Peter said, give an answer with the open eyes within you. But the sign of God's people to the world, brethren, is not the Sabbath, is it? And we'll investigate that here.

In fact, let's turn over to John 13. And, brethren, this is not new truth. This is something you're very familiar with, but I wanted to kind of emphasize it in those terms. In John 13, starting in verse 34 and verse 35, we do understand the sign, brethren, between the people of God and the world, as Christ clearly outlined it here. John 13 and verse 34. Now, Jesus, as He is wrapping up His earthly ministry, He says in verse 34, a new commandment.

Now, we all know what the word new here means. It doesn't mean a brand new commandment. We're not talking about the 11th commandment. The new in the Greek here means unheard of, unprecedented, or novel or uncommon. And the reason for that is He adds the rest in verse 34. He says, I give to you that you love one another. Now, how?

He says, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. What's unheard of or new about that is that nobody loved the world like Christ loved the world. Nobody ever had loved the world like Christ. Not even close. So that's why He said new. And that doesn't translate well to the English, because new to us means, oh, there's a new car model or there's a new year.

He's saying, no, it's unheard of. The way I've loved the world is unheard of. It's unprecedented. Nobody's ever done it before. And He says in verse 35, by this... So this refers back to what we just read in verse 34. We'll all know that you are My disciples if you have love one for another. That's the sign, brethren, between us and the world, clearly. It's not the Sabbath. Now, we discuss the Sabbath with people. We can defend the faith, and you know all the Scriptures.

We can debate Scriptures with anybody, I think, right? We're good disciples. We're good students. But sometimes we like to discuss doctrine better than we like to discuss example. And what this unheard-of style of life is.

I mean, they're on your doorstep right away. And that's fine. But it's almost like, okay, let's be neighbors, but let's get real here. And so, while I've mentioned we don't keep Christmas, as it brought a Christmas gift to us. Kind of delicate, isn't it? You're new in the neighborhood, and they bring a Christmas gift, and you say, well, thanks, but we don't want to get started down that road.

So, my neighbor came over the following summer. This was six months after Christmas. And so, he was in my garage, and you know, guys do talk in the garage. Ladies talk in the kitchen, but guys are out in the garage. So, he said, see, let me ask you a question.

I should, sure, Roger. He says, okay, you're a minister, right? Yeah. He says, is your faith your religion Christian? Isn't that interesting? I said, yes, Roger. We believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and our Savior. Yeah. Because he identified not keeping Christmas with not being Christian. Christ, Mass. You don't believe in the Christ, Mass. You're not Christian.

So, I explained some of those things. And I'll tell you, you can see the light finally go on. He says, oh, that's fine, Steve. He says, I respect anyone who believes in Christ. That's good. That's fine. So, he's, we're good friends. We're neighbors. But, you know, brethren, sometimes we export maybe the wrong thing. And that's not the sign between us and God. It's our life. It's who we are. You know, people, doctrine to them is pretty minor in a lot of ways.

To us, it's big. And rightly so. But what they're looking for is example. Who you are. He didn't know if I was Christian and said, yes, we are Christian, Roger. So, okay, that's good. Now he's looking to see what kind of Christian I am. Forget that Sabbath stuff. I don't really care about that. And, you know, Christmas is okay, too. I don't care what you do, but I care who you are. That's really what he was telling me that day. Now I'm going to see how you are as a Christian.

And that's, brethren, the exported sign between God's people and the world. Christ said that here in these verses. So, I want to discuss the rest of this in terms of application, brethren. That's the sign between us and the world.

They're going to evaluate us on that sign. In fact, God the Father is evaluating us in a proper way on that sign. Yes, how we keep the Sabbath, the Holy Days, all of that. But, you know, how do you summarize the two of the Ten Commandments? Love toward man and love toward God. And Christ said, I elevated the Ten Commandments to an unprecedented level that nobody has gone to yet.

In fact, nobody really will. So, I think, yes, brethren, it's very profound what Jesus Christ almost ended his entire ministry with. Jesus Christ was a Sabbath keeper. He taught it. He started it. He created the Sabbath, after all. He's the one that sanctified it. He taught it all his life. And yet, at the very end of his ministry, brethren, he did not say, this is how the world will know that you are my disciples if you're Sabbath keepers.

He said, they will know you're my disciples if you love them as I have loved them. That's a tremendously high bar of standard of loving people. We could say, well, I love the world, but Christ is saying, do you love the world as I loved the world? Turn with me to Galatians 5 and verse 22. Now, one of the fruits we know, brethren, of God's Spirit in the life of anybody who has repented and accepted Christ as their Savior, and that the Father has drawn to Christ is, in fact, love, the special love that God sends through his Spirit.

Galatians 5 and verse 22. Now, the fruit of the Spirit, and we'll identify this even further here on the day of Pentecost coming up, is love. I don't know if Paul was inspired to put this first, but I like to think he was. I like to think, brethren, the rest of the fruits of God's Spirit really are based, or let's say, this first cousins, to agape godly love.

I like to think that. Now, they are different to some degree, and yet aren't they all based on love, God's love in us? So he says, love, joy, peace—we heard about peace in the sermonette—long suffering and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control. Against such, there is no law. Aren't they really, brethren, related to what God is? God is love. God identifies himself in some scriptures. He says, I am love. He doesn't say necessarily, I am kindness.

But it really is the same. I am love. Let's turn back now to 1 John 4. So, brethren, part of God, of course, and an immense part, is that love of his, that special love that he gives to his disciples. And we have to have that from him. We can't get it anywhere else. 1 John 4 and verse 7. 1 John 4 and verse 7.

Beloved, let us love one another, for God is of love. So, brethren, as we ask for more of his love, his spirit, of compassion and tenderness and forgiveness and all those things, he says, that is from God.

Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. And he who does not love does not know God, for God is love. Then he says, well, my love in verse 9 is manifested toward us, that God has sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. And in this is love, that nor have we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sin. So, we can't say we love God first. He loved us first and gave himself, Jesus Christ did, for our lives.

There are some churches that identify themselves to the world with doctrine, correct? They baptize in water the Baptists. If you keep the seventh day, you're an Adventist. If you have a universal religion for all man, you're Catholic. And there's many other religions that identify to the world with one doctrine. Right? That's interesting. God doesn't do that. The Church of God. But what is God? Now, you know, again, God is saying, that's what I am.

I lived a whole different life, and I've exported that to the world, and that's what my disciples are called to do. Not to conform, but to change themselves, or have them changed by my spirit. And I think, brother, my point here, if we're not quite clear, is we've got to make sure that what we stand for is not only doctrine, but the true Christlike love.

You know, I don't think it's enough to say, I'm a Sabbath keeper, and we are. We're tithe payers, and we are. We attend the annual Holy Days. They're all commanded. But if we're not living that law of love, then something's really wrong. There's a lot of Sabbath keepers out there. I understand many denominations, they pay tithes. A few keep the annual Holy Days. But I think one reason why Christ said, this is going to be my sign between my disciples and my father's disciples in the world is, because you cannot, rather, have this sign in your life without God in your life.

You can stumble upon some doctrines that are correct without God. I mean, how many of you attended other denominations before God called you? And I did growing up. And they were not like the anti-Christ Church. We believed in Christ as a Savior.

We just didn't know what the Savior meant or what he stood for. Pretty big, wasn't it? But this is unprecedented for us to have the love of God in our lives. That sets us apart. You can't stumble across that in the Bible and say, oh, look at that. You should be tithing today. That only comes from the Father through the Son, and that is because God the Father is drawing you.

So that sign to the world you can't get from the Bible. You can't get from a commentary. You can't just say, I'm going to have it. That is a gift from God. So different. Now, tell me, what was the centurion impressed about when Jesus Christ died in front of him? What was he impressed about? Now, there's a Sabbath keeper for you.

I've never met a Sabbath keeper like him. He was a Sabbath keeper. Well, let's find out what the centurion was impressed about, should we? So we're in Luke 23, verse 44. Luke 23, verse 44. Well, Jesus Christ impressed people, brethren. Yes, he was a Sabbath keeper, and we're not making that argument today at all. We're just simply saying, what impressed the world with Christ when he lived? And the centurion, as we go through this example in Luke 23, verse 44. It was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.

Here Jesus Christ has been impaled, and he is dying. And he has a very short time on this earth, just minutes here. The sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two, and then Jesus cried out with a loud voice. And he says here, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. Having said this, he breathed his last. And so when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, certainly this was a righteous man.

He didn't say, what a Sabbath keeper, what a holy day keeper, what a... What a Jew. No, he said, what a righteous man. Isn't that interesting? Now, your neighbors, your co-workers, some of your family, at all, they know you keep the Sabbath. A couple of my neighbors do. I told a neighbor, he happened to be a Lutheran pastor next to us in Janesville, Wisconsin years ago.

After we met, I said, you know, I'm going to tell you something here, because I said, I'm not going to be... I'm going to be mowing the lawn on Sunday. He said, I don't have a problem with that. I said, look, you're a minister, I'm a minister, we have different beliefs. But I said, you know, I tell neighbors sometimes, look, if you're thinking, what do I believe?

Well, I believe in Saturday. I'm not... I don't keep that from them. Of course, he was out mowing his lawn on Saturday. Not a problem. Rather than, he was mowing his lawn after church on Sunday. And then he went to church again in the afternoon. Again, it's not holy time according to their beliefs. But we do compare beliefs with your neighbors, your co-workers, and friends, and all that. And brother, what they're really going to be impressed about is not that you keep Saturday. They might say, man, I'm not real impressed with that anyway. What they're going to be impressed with is who you are, what you are.

Not that quirky religion stuff in terms of doctrine. They're going to say, what kind of person are you? What kind of neighbor are you? What kind of co-worker are you? What kind of family member are you? That's what impressed the centurion. He didn't go in a doctrine. He said, what a righteous man.

Isn't that amazing? This guy didn't care about religion, doctrine. Forget it. They said he was a different man. He was different. That was the sign that Jesus Christ gave, indeed, to the world. Turn with me over to the prodigal son example in Luke 15. We're very familiar with the story. It seems every time you cover it, brother, there's always something new, right? I mean, how many hundreds of times, perhaps, have we read through this, and every time you read it?

Well, I didn't quite see that last time. Let's see what else we can glean from it in Luke chapter 15 and verse 10. Look at chapter 15 and verse 10. Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents, Jesus says. Now, this, really, brethren, is the theme of the prodigal son story. That's the theme. Before we get in the story, Jesus actually remarks about it. The theme of the story is repentance, isn't it? So he said, a certain man had two sons of verse 11. The younger of them went to his father. You know the story he went out, took the inheritance. Wasted it.

Just went to the world. Wasted his life. And after many days, the younger son gathered altogether, journeyed to a far country. But verse 17 says, when he came to himself, when he grew up a little bit, he was impressed how many, in verse 17 of his father's hired servants, have bred enough, and he was starving.

He said in verse 18, here's his plan. I will go to my father. I will say to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. Now, that is the theme of this whole parable, its repentance. And that is the core of repentance. Father, I have done wrong. I have sinned against you and, frankly, before you. You've seen everything. I'm no longer worthy. He was telling his dad, theoretically, in this plan. I'm no longer worthy because your son made me like one of your hired servants.

And he arose. He came in verse 20 to his father. And when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. Of course, the father parallels God the Father, doesn't his parable. The father is very eager to see one of his children repent. And God more than meets us halfway. Now, they say in the Middle East, it's undignified for a patriarch, a father, to run in public.

That's what commentary state. That may or may not be, but I like that part because the father says, I don't care what tradition states or the culture. This is my boy. I'm running to meet him more than halfway. And remember the son's plot? He says, dad, I'm going to tell you I repented and just throw me in the hired servants' quarters. That's all I care about. I'm sorry. Remember, that's what the son had conjured up. And notice the father here in verse 21. The son said to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.

But notice how the father interjects. But the father said to his servants, bring out the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and sandals in his feet, and bring on the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry. For my son was like dead, and he's alive again. He's lost or was lost. He's found, and they began to be merry.

He didn't even allow the son, evidently, to get out the whole story before he says, it's okay. You're forgiven, and that's God. It's okay. You've repented. You don't have to grovel. You don't have to do penance, like some religions state. Repent. But God doesn't put us in the servant's quarters for months, does he? The father, by rights, could have said, Son, you rascal, you think you repented? I'll tell you, six months from now, after I work you day and night, maybe you'll come to your senses.

Father didn't have that attitude at all. Again, this reflects God the Father, His love, His forgiveness, His quickness to forgive. I think it's a great story, and again, a story for our lives today. You know, Jesus Christ, brethren, in His entire ministry, He was a hands-on, loving servant. He wasn't a distant Jewish rabbi. As many rabbis were distant. They were in the ivory tower, but He was among the people. They loved His personality, they loved His way, His warmth, His care.

I mean, He was real to them. He wasn't just this, oh, this super-serious religious man, and you could hardly come up to Him because, wow, He might call fire down from heaven, and you'd better respect Him or else. He was a man of the people. And, of course, often the Pharisees, the Sadducees, those groups, they were not people.

People, people. They were oriented toward their religion, their doctrine, their structure, their way, and they didn't care about people. Jesus Christ often, brethren, touched people as He healed them. Remember the person that was deaf came to Him for healing? And what did Jesus do? He put His hands up here, and He cried out, Be healed and hear. And so Jesus had this touching ministry, you might say, where He was among the people and glad to be there, and they were glad to be around Him.

They flocked to Him. So, you know, His ministry just showed all the time, again, that concern, that outgoineness. And Christ did state doctrine after doctrine, but rather than He lived all of the doctrines. Perhaps the greatest... What is the greatest doctrine if you were to stack them up out of the Bible? If we were to do this, what would be the greatest doctrine? Well, I think we've just read it, God is love. To me, that's how we would stack the greatest doctrine up.

To me, that just puts everything under that umbrella, don't you? You know, again, God made the Sabbath, but He is the Lord of the Sabbath, and we don't get hung up on, like the Pharisees, adding 39 extra rules. When we see that sun going down Friday night, we know the Sabbath's about to come. We honor God. We're not going to say, well, I'd better not travel more than, what was it? 1,600 yards?

That was the Sabbath day's journey, whatever it was. 3 fifths of a mile? They had a rule, and if you take part of your house with you, like a lamp or whatever, you could double that distance, because that was your temporary house, wherever you went, and then you could triple it. Imagine if God had restrained us from traveling X amount on the Sabbath day. And again, we would be servants to the Sabbath, or slaves to the Sabbath, and say, oh, I'd better not do that, because the God of heaven is a strict God, and He won't allow us to travel beyond that.

Better watch it. Now, rather than we don't violate the Sabbath, we honor God through the Sabbath. But we don't worship the Sabbath, we worship God through the Sabbath. And the Pharisees worship the Sabbath. They didn't worship God. But I've seen people go on both sides of this ditch, as you have over the years. I remember the University of Idaho, where I was a student years ago, and God was beginning to work with me a little bit, and I saw the newspaper come under the door Saturday morning, as I began to keep the Sabbath on.

Well, I don't think I can read that paper, because that's wrong. Well, maybe the headline is okay. That's world news in prophecy. Okay, I'll read the headline. It was probably, Fighting in the Middle East, even in 1967 or 1968. And I said, I don't think I can go to the sports page, because that's really bad. But I had in my mind how to keep the Sabbath day. And my today, brethren, I keep the Sabbath a little different than I did back in the 60s.

I don't say greatly, but I understand what the Sabbath is. I think I keep it. I don't watch a lot of TV on the Sabbath, because I'm too busy anyway. And I know some watch TV. Well, they do what they do before God, but entertainment, that kind of stuff, is clearly wrong. But, you know, again, brethren, we put God first. And Christ was never one to elicit specifics. He said, worship me, honor me. And if you don't want to, rules won't help you. If you don't want to worship God and love Him, rules won't help.

We'll find a way out of it. Listen to James 2 and verse 13. So, yes, a Pharisee—or, excuse me, not a Pharisee, but the centurion was most impressed with Christ because of his words, his life. We call them a righteous man.

James 2 and verse 13. James 2 and verse 13. For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. And that's what the prodigal son story is about. That father could have been harsh. I mean, that's pretty bad for a son or a daughter to take their inheritance and go out to the world and sin.

That's wrong. That's clearly sin. That's horrible. That's not what anyone wants. But the father was so willing when he saw his son in the distance. Look at him. He's coming. Oh, more than meet him halfway. I won't let him come into the family compound and grovel and beg and worry that if he's going to be accepted back. The father was more than halfway. So he was a good example in the hypothetical story. Mercy triumphs over judgment. And that's what Christ always did.

And God has, brethren, righteous indignation. He does put up with sin a very long time, but finally he can say no. That's enough. Look at what happened in ancient Israel. But God is more than fair. Mercy triumphs over judgment. And that's how we should be as people, as parents, as grandparents. Mercy triumphs over judgment. We want to be judged on what we do or under grace.

It's really clear. And God is more than fair, more than giving. Let's turn back to Matthew 25 and verse 32. Matthew 25, brethren, talks about our works, what we are as people. Matthew 25 and verse 32. Now this is associated, brethren, as you know, in the context with chapter 24, or what we call the Olivet Prophecy. There's no break here. It's the same context. The disciples were asking Christ, well, what are some of the signs of your coming?

We want to know. We're curious. And we are today, too. Nothing wrong with learning the signs of Christ's return. We do emphasize that. We read the Scriptures of prophecy. But, you know, brethren, the last part of this prophecy is very interesting because it's about Christian works. If you want to be concerned about the signs of the end, don't leave out who you are.

Christ did. So as we go on to chapter 25, it starts with the parable of the wise and the foolish virgins. And then dropping down to verse 32, "...all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will be separate from them..." or separate them, rather, one from another, "...as the shepherd divides his sheep from the goats." Now, Christ is saying here through this analogy, a metaphor.

He's saying, you know, at the end time, there's going to be signs. There's going to be Jerusalem surrounded by armies. I hope not next week. There's going to be the abomination of desolation, as Daniel talks about. Now, there's other signs that are clear from prophecy. We need to heed those. But this is also a prophetic warning. Actually, maybe even more imperative than the other physical warnings. This is a spiritual warning to those who live.

I don't care whether it's the end of the age or whether it's back in Daniel's time or Christ's time. He says this, there is a judgment. And then he says in verse 34, "...the king will say to those on his right hand, "'You blessed my father, and here at the kingdom, "'prepare for you from the foundation of the world.'" And notice, brethren, why they were blessed with eternal life, at least in part.

But really, I say in part, I don't know if I can qualify that. I don't know if I can qualify that. Because here Jesus is saying, Why are you in the kingdom? They ask, what's going on here? And he says clearly in verse 35, "...I was hungry, and you gave me food.

I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in." Well, hold it now. I'm a Sabbath keeper, and I've tithed, and I've done these other things. And that's good. Nobody's making that argument today. But what did Jesus Christ point out? He says, if you want some signs of the end of the age, well, I'll tell you. But then he morphs from that in earlier chapter 24 to this section of the sermon.

Remember, 24 and 25 are one sermon, all right? So he morphs into the latter part of this message, and saying, fellas, get this, and disciples and readers, get this. It is your Christian conduct that is going to be imperative. Now, if you want to read the signs, that's good, too. Because it'll put an asterisk there. You better get going spiritually, you know? I had a person years ago who called me after 9-11. And he was a dropout who wanted back.

A prodigal son, if you will. Yeah, he read the signs. 9-11 shook him. Because he was a dropout, if you get my drift. He said times are really getting short. Now, 9-11 is a few years ago already. But that motivated him. Nothing wrong with signs of times. That's going to motivate people. And we also think right today, frankly, a lot of people are not motivated because times are still quite good. When things get quite bad, they're going to be motivated. God's used that many times. In the prophets of old, when things got from bad to worse, yeah, people are motivated.

That's human nature. But he is saying here, Christian works, brethren, are something to never, ever forsake. You know, he's really saying, if you want the kingdom, then do the works of the king. I'm the king. I set the bar very, very high for you. Love others, love the world as I love them. So he's saying, I was hungry. And these are not complicated things. Again, they take the faith of God, the Spirit of God, the agape of God to do. And brethren, God's people do those things. But they're extremely important, who we are. So I was sick in verse 36. He says, you were there to visit.

I was in prison, you were there. Now, the righteous will answer in verse 37, saying, well, Lord, when did we see you hungry? You know the story. And he says, well, when you've done it to one of these, my brethren, verse 40, one of these, my brethren, you did it to me.

And brethren, Christ is not limited here or elsewhere to certainly the church. Wouldn't that be pretty self-serving? Oh, I don't worry about the world because they're the world. No, he doesn't make it that easy. But he's saying, you know, since, if you don't have religion at home, you're not going to export it either. If you don't know how to serve your fellow brethren, how can you serve others? The brethren, we brethren, are a way of serving others. We kind of know how to do this.

We're serving each other. And we say, that's how you do that. Now I can go to the world. How can you serve the world if you can't serve your own spiritual family slash physical family? So Christ is not excluding the world. He is, in fact, saying, you always have the family, the church family, and then you do that to others, the world, as you have the opportunity and the experience to do that. Now, of course, you know the alternate to the story is, well, Christ, I don't know why we're not in your kingdom. And he said, because you didn't do these things.

You did not have Christian acts of service. You did not love each other. You did not help each other. So the vital message to me, brethren, in this sermon today is, basic doctrines are a starting point. You know, they're, in a sense, the milk, aren't they? And yet we had to fight over the doctrines, in a sense. Not physical fight, but a spiritual fight, which is very hard.

We had to go through that some years ago. A lot of you went through that. Tooth and tongue. Christ expected that of us. Some years ago, you say, well, you were given the doctrines, the truth on a platter. Remember some of those words years ago? And we were.

And then we had to fight for that platter, because a platter was empty. And we had to get those doctrines back on that platter. But that's a foundation point, because maybe the greatest doctrine of all, if you want to put it this way, is, again, loving the world as Christ loved the world. Maybe that's the greatest doctrine. I think I could make that point. Let's go back to 1 Corinthians 13 as we conclude. You know, brethren, this is something to pray about often.

I know I've heard it said over the years, you pray about love every day, and there's nothing wrong with that, because that's, again, that's where it starts, is the love of God in our lives to be able to motivate us to do works that God expects us to do. 1 Corinthians 13 and verse 1.

Now, Paul is contrasting here the tongues of men and angels, but he says, I don't have God's love. I'm like a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And I'm liking that today, brethren, to other doctrines. These were doctrines during that time that God had for a while, tongues of men and angels. I mean, God can do that again if He chooses. He seems to have taken that gift away, at least for the most part, for a long time. But if we want to contrast doctrines, Paul is saying, I'll tell you, the doctrine of love trumps everything.

This is Hoosier land. You ever played Uchre?

Right?

I don't remember Uchre too well. I never learned how to play that card game.

But I know a lot of card games, brethren. There's a trump card.

Paul is saying, this is the trump card.

If you don't have this in your hand, you don't have anything.

It doesn't matter what else you do if you're not doing this one.

That's kind of blunt, isn't it? That's what Paul is saying to the church of Corinth. They had a lot of gifts, but he says the biggest gift is serving, caring, giving your life for others.

That's the message I had today.

Colossians talks about, above all things, put on love.

That's not a false love. That's not a facade.

That's the love of Christ in us, the love of God in us.

Let's conclude in verse 8.

And Paul, and again, I don't have time today to go through the verses 2 through 7, but he says in conclusion, conclusion, love, brethren, never fails.

The Greek says it's never cast away and it's never denied.

There's never a time that love shouldn't be extended.

It's almost always true. If you have love, you never have to say, I'm sorry.

I say almost, because some can misunderstand your love.

But in theory, brethren, true godly love eliminates the I'm sorry, I meant to do this, I should have done that, because the love of God in us is good.

No reason to apologize.

So, brethren, as we really compare, what is the sign between God's people and God?

It's a Sabbath.

That's why we're here in part.

And the sign between God's people and the world is to love them as Christ loved them.