494 0610 carter conlon loving your neighbor as yourself

8/3/2019 494 0610 Carter Conlon Loving Your Neighbor as Yourself

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LOVING YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELFby Carter Conlon

Matthew 22:35-40: Then one of them, which was a lawyer, askedhim a question, tempting him, and

saying, Master, which is the greatcommandment in the law? Jesus

said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and

with all thy soul, and with all thymind. This is the first and greatcommandment. And the secondis like unto it, Thou shalt love thyneighbour as thyself. On these twocommandments hang all the lawand the prophets.

In this second commandment of Jesus, he said you need to love your neighbor as yourself, but that is notas easy as it sounds. I would like toshare with you a revelation the Holy

Spirit gave to me concerning thispowerful truth.

I A CERTAIN LAWYER

The lawyer Jesus was speakingto actually was an interpreter of theOld Testament law. As an expositor,he would take the law and make itclear to the people. He was trainedto explain the law and show where itwas leading. He was probably a veryarrogant man with an attitude of,“Let’s see if you’re as smart as

people seem to think you are.”So he asked Jesus a question inorder to test him, “Master, what isthe greatest commandment in thelaw?” In other words, “Of all thethings that are written in the lawand in the prophets, if you were tosum them up, what one truth standsout above and beyond all the other things that are contained in the book?In your estimation, what is the singlegreat commandment?”

I THE FIRST AND

GREAT COMMANDMENT

Jesus said to him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, andall thy soul, and all thy mind. This isthe first and great commandment andthe second is like unto it. Thou shaltlove thy neighbor as thyself. On thesetwo commandments hang all the lawand the prophets. Jesus clearly said,“Everything that you’re supposed tobe teaching the people is summed upin these two commandments. If whatyou are communicating does not leadthe people to these two things, thenyou need to go back to the drawingboard, because you are completelymissing the mark.”

Since this also applies to us today,

it is to this same end that I set thedirection of my will, my soul, mymind, and the outflow of all myinner abilities. In other words,the totality of my life is directedto loving, knowing, understanding,and allowing him to work within me.When you put all of this together, itmoves into the second commandment,which he says is like the first: Thou

shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Theultimate expression of how deeply Ilove God is reflected in how I interact

with other people—how I allow thestrength he implants in my life tobegin to flow out to all of humanityaround me. That’s why in 1 John4:20, John said, in essence, that if any man says he loves God and hateshis brother, he is a liar and the truthis not in him. The word hate in thisverse also has the connotation of indifference. The Word is saying,If a man claims to love God, but isindifferent to his fellow man,

indifferent to their pain anddifficulty in living without God,then the truth is not in him. If he says, “God is in me and I’min God,” yet there is no outflowof passion to fallen humanity,the truth is not in him.

I WHAT IF I DO NOT LIKE MYSELF

The scripture says I am to love my

neighbor as myself. But this is whereit gets a bit tricky. What if I don’tlike myself? Didn’t Paul say that hewas convinced that within him dweltno good thing? Now I’m told that themeasure of how I love my neighbor isdetermined proportionately with howI love myself. Some people may feel

justified in hating their neighbor because they hate themselves.This is true of so many today wholook in the mirror and don’t like whatthey see; they don’t like the way God

made them. If this is true of you, thenyou will have a controversy with Godbecause you have a wrong definitionof what beauty really is. You’ve beenwatching too much media, readingtoo many magazines, and acquiringa Hollywood concept of beauty.

You may even continue theargument, “Well, what if all I seeis failure? What if I look into mylife and regardless of all the

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In other words, theultimate expressionof how deeply I loveGod is reflected inhow I interact withother people.



magnificent promises God hasfor me, I don’t seem to be achievingany of them? Sure, there are a fewlittle victories here and there, butthe overall picture is one of failure.

I don’t see myself becoming whatGod intended me to be.” Thereare many who receive the liethat they are not complete inChrist; they believe God madesome kind of tragic mistake inthe way they were created. Or somehow they have taken thislife that God gave them and havemade such a mess of it, that it’s nolonger recoverable.

I

HOW CAN I LOVE OTHERSIF I DON’T LOVE MYSELF

So, how do I love people, especiallyif I don’t love myself? How do Ifulfill the law of God if I see myself in a negative light? Jesus said thatyou can take all the teachings of the law and the prophets, and hangthem on these two great commands.“But I’m afraid to reach out to peopleand I don’t know how to change,” youmay say. “I’m afraid of people. I loveGod and I can open the Bible and

read it. I can even come into theprayer closet to pray, but when itcomes to people, I have a hardtime relating. I have been deeplywounded by people, and, therefore,I have difficulty loving them.”

I NO FEAR IN LOVE

Your problem may be in notunderstanding the scriptures.1 John 4:18 says, There is no

fear in love; but perfect lovecasts out fear, because fear has

torment, and he that fears is notmade perfect in love. In a realsense God is saying, “You areafraid of people because youare not perfected in love.” Againyou may say, “I know that; that’sfairly obvious. If God’s love is inme then I should not be afraid of people. I should not be afraid of stepping out of my comfort zone, intoplaces where they live in order to seeGod touch their need through me.”

I WHAT IS AT THE ROOT

OF MY FEAR?

But my question remains; “Whatis the root of this fear in me thatkeeps me from loving who I am.And, therefore, from loving others?What is this fear? Why don’t I lovewho I am?” Have you ever pondered

this question? You understand that inthe Bible there is a great commissionto reach the lost with the gospel of Jesus Christ. You acknowledge allof this but there is a fear in you thatkeeps you from loving who you are.If you don’t love who you are, youcan’t possibly love your neighbor.“How can I love other people whenI hate myself? I don’t think it canhappen.” You see, here’s the fear that many men and women carry,a deep fear that God sees us the

way we see ourselves. It’s the fear that God sees us with all our frailtiesand failings just as we see ourselves.This deep-seated fear keeps peopleout of the prayer closet; they lift uptheir hands, and this whole scenarioof failures appears before them. Allthey see is how far they have fallenshort of the glory of God; howmuch they have failed God; howlittle they do in the name of God;how seemingly insignificant their victories have been. Although theyare told in the scriptures they shouldbe mighty and that God should bedoing exploits through them, theycan’t reach out to others. Theycan’t even speak to the groceryclerk in the local store and tellhim that God loves him. They areso afraid of speaking to people thatwhen they see a person weeping on apark bench they can’t stop and reachout. And the root of it is this inwardloathing of self, an unholy loathing

that God does not want you and meto have. We are not to live there; weare not to focus on those things.

I HIS EYE HAS ALWAYS

BEEN ON MEIn Ezekiel 16:5-7, None eye pitiedthee, to do any of these unto thee, tohave compassion upon thee, but thou

wast cast out in the open field, to thelothing of thy person, in the day thatthou wast born.

And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee [when thou wast] inthy blood, Live…

I have caused thee multiply as thebud of the field, and thou hastincreased and waxen great…

In verse 5, God says, No eye pitied thee, speaking of Israel,his own people, who are a typeof you and me. In other words,“You were in a terrible condition,and everybody passed you by; noone had compassion on you. Youwere out on the open field, to be

loathed on the day you were born,but God says he saw you. He wasthe only one who saw the potentialin your life, saw what you weregoing to be, not what you are. Tothe casual passerby, who didn’tknow God’s heart, there was nopity, no compassion. You wereseemingly dropped off in an openfield with no hope and no helper the day you were born. In thatcondition, without Christ, nobodywould have any hope for you for

the future. Our songs would beempty songs; our hope for eternitywould be in vain. But God had hiseye upon us from the very beginning.In verse 6, he says, And when I

passed by thee, and saw thee pollutedin thine own blood… Another translation says, And when I

saw you trodden underfoot…

God was saying, “When I saw thatyou had no hope, I said unto you

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You see, here’s thefear that many menand women carry, adeep fear that Godsees us the way wesee ourselves.



‘Live.’” This word live in the originaltext means to enjoy life, to live again,to recover and be quickened. “I passedby you,” God said. “I saw you in your condition, in your helplessness. I

saw you as hopeless. But I am notlike other people. I stopped andbegan to speak to you, and I said ‘Live.’I said, ‘Enjoy life, live again. Do notlive being trodden underfoot, or inyour failure, but simply, live again.Recover from your condition and bequickened.’” And in verse 7, God said,“I have called you to multiply. Not onlydid I speak the word ‘live’ to you, but Igave you the strength to becomesomeone other than who you oncewere.” If any man be in Christ, heis a new creation; old things are

passed away; behold, all things arebecome new. When you trusted in himfor your salvation, he spoke into your heart and gave you the power tobecome new in Christ.

God loved you when no one elsedid, and God cleansed you whenno one else would. John says inRevelation 1:5: Unto him who lovedus, and washed us from our sins in

his own blood… He came downand gave his life on a cross andwashed away all the filth and iniquitythat you and I were born in—becausewe were born in sin and with a sinnature. And then God took thepenalty of that sin upon him,and washed us clean in his ownblood. This is love: not that weloved God, but that God loved us!

I NOTHING LEFT UNCLEAN —

NO RECORD OF WRONG

Now let’s look at Acts 10:10-16,…he fell into a trance. And sawheaven opened, and a certain vesseldescending to him as it had been a

great sheet knit at the four cornersand let down to the earth. Wherein

were all manner of four-footed beastsof the earth, and wild beasts, andcreeping things, and fowls of theair. And there came a voice tohim, “Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.”

I want to show you this principleas a reality. This is a story of Peter, who was visiting at thehouse of Simon, the tanner. Justbefore lunchtime, Peter went up

on the roof to pray and while hewas praying, a vision unfoldedbefore him. Again, this is a typeof many believers who cometo Christ because as a believer,you are on a journey with Christ.You know that God loves you;you know that God has acommission for you and youhave received that. You aregoing out with this commissiondeep in your heart, but you feelso powerless to go where Godis calling you to go. You go intothe prayer closet and in a momentyou are accused by the devil. Yousee this sheet of unclean thingscome down as a type of memoriesof the past, the awareness of your shortcomings. You understandwhat the scripture called youto be and how far short youfall of the glory of God. Youlook at this and you can’t getbeyond it. As the Lord told Peter,

there was something in this thathe wanted him to see concerningthe Gentiles. So, too, there is atruth you need to see concerningfailures in your life.

Peter was so entrenched in hisown scriptural view of himself and of other people that he couldnot see beyond it at that moment.So God had to repeat it to himthree times (see Acts 10, 14-16)and even then after the third time,

he was not sure that he understoodwhat it was that God was trying toget through to him.

Peter saw all of this uncleanness,and the Lord told him, “Peter,it’s now yours for the taking.”And Peter replied, ”No, I can’tdo this! These are unclean things, Ican’t accept this. You are presentingsomething to me that I am not willingto accept. God, are you trying to

tell me that these things I onceconsidered unclean are nowcleansed?” In the same waythis applies to the Christianwho is in prayer, “God, are you

trying to tell me that there is norecord of my failure? Are you tellingme that there is no record of pastwrongs? That heaven hasn’t recordedmy past or present struggles? That allthese things have changed? That theyare not the way they used to be?”The Lord was trying to get thismessage across to Peter, but hecouldn’t hear it and so many of God’s people have this samedifficulty. You might bestruggling today, but if youare a true believer, there isno record of your struggle inheaven. You are received of God.

If nothing else makes you shout,this should! It should make youshout in the presence of God. Itshould bring joy! “Lord GodAlmighty, you are trying to tellme that in Christ, the work iscomplete, that all my struggles,

all my failures, all my trials, allmy horrible self–image, and theway I feel about myself have beendealt with in Christ. I am notto call any of it common andunclean any longer.”

This is what the Lord is sayingto his church in this hour. Youmust not call yourself commonor unclean anymore. Don’t lookto your failings, look to the one

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It is this new naturethat you are to love:“I love the new natureof Christ within me. Ilove what God is doing;I am not happy aboutsome of the struggles,but I do love theman that God ismaking me into.”



who has cleansed you. Don’t lookat yourself, but look to the onewho has covered you. Don’t lookto where you have fallen short of the glory—look to the glory that

now sits at the right hand of Godand is resident within you in thepower of the Holy Ghost. Look tothe promises of God—look to thefaithfulness of God. Look tothe fact that God is well ableto make you into everythinghe has promised.

I LOVING WHAT GOD

IS DOING IN ME

Now we get back to our originalpoint. You may say, “I thoughtself was to be crucified, to bedenied.” Yes, it is, but it is theold self, your old nature, that isto be crucified. The old natureis the one Paul was talking aboutwhen he said that in him (that is,in his old nature) dwelt no goodthing. But you have a new naturerecreated in Christ Jesus. Themoment you came to Christ andwere born again, you received abrand-new nature. You received

the Spirit of God and he began torecreate you into the image of hisSon. It is this new nature that youare to love. I love the new natureof Christ within me; I love what Godis doing in me right now. It is true,I am not happy about some of thestruggles, but I do love the man thatGod is making me into. Therefore,I am not outside the scripture in saying that I am to love my neighbor as I love myself. It is not the oldself I am to love, but the new life

that God has placed in me in Christ.

If I love God, I have to love hisnew creation within me. I lovethe fact that he has taken a man

who didn’t even care about peopleand given me a heart of compassionfor all people, as far as I know. I lovethe fact that he has taught me howto be a husband, and he is teaching

me how to be a father, and now agrandfather. I love the fact thatthings that were not in me arenow there by the grace and gloryof Almighty God. And now I lovethis and you should love it.

Love the work of God withinyou. It’s great to love the church,to come in and love the sanctuary.It’s awesome to come in and lovethe praises of God. But all of thatis just leading to something greater;it is leading to the work thatGod himself is doing withinyou. Ironically, as we do this,we find ourselves walking closer to God than any number of Biblestudies or tapes you listen to canproduce in your life. We end uploving God with all our heart,soul, mind and strength. Webegin our day by saying, “God,I love you so much, and in spiteof what I see in the mirror, that’s

not what you see when you lookat me.” We look in the mirror and we begin to realize, “God,you don’t see this person anymore;there is a brand-new creation goingon inside of me and that is theperson you are looking at. Your Son Jesus Christ is now livinghis life in me, changing me everyday from image to image and gloryto glory.”

Carter ConlonMay 28, 2006©2006 Times Square Church

REV. CARTER CONLON

Carter Conlon is senior pastor at

Times Square Church, where he

has been on the pastoral staff

since 1994.

TIMES SQUARE CHURCH

Times Square Church was founded

in 1987 by Pastor David Wilkerson,

author of “The Cross and the

Switchblade.” It is an interdenomin

tional church located in the heart o

New York City.

Founding PastorRev. David Wilkerson

Senior Pastor

Rev. Carter Conlon

Tel:

212-541-6300

Fax:

212-541-6415

Church Location:

237 West 51st Street,

Between Broadway & Eighth Avenu

Mailing Address:

1657 Broadway, 4th Flr.

New York, NY 10019

e-mail:[email protected]

WEEKLY SCHEDULE OF SERVICES

Sunday 10:00AM 3:00PM 6:00PM

Tuesday 7:00PM Church Service

Thursday 7:00PM Intercessory Pray

Friday 7:00PM Church Service

www.tscnyc.org

VING YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF

This message is an edited version of a sermon given in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in New York City. Other sermons

are available by visiting our website www.tscnyc.org or calling 1-800-488-0854 . You can also write to: Times Square Church, Tape

Ministry, 1657 Broadway, New York, NY 10019. You are welcome to make additional copies of this sermon for free distribution

to friends. However, for all other forms of reproduction or electronic transmission existing copyright laws apply. This sermon cannot

be posted on any website or webpage. However, you are free to provide a hyperlink from a website to the Times Square Church

website by notifying Times Square Church in writing.

494 0610 carter conlon loving your neighbor as yourself

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