Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
2/14/99 pm
Living In Love From Above - Part 2
Reading – 1 Corinthians 13
In our study this morning we noted that love was the dominant and indispensable virtue in Christianity. Love is at the heart of our faith. Without it there is no Christianity. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son... This is how we know that we are the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.”
You see, Christianity is not based upon our love for God but His love for us. Because of his love for us we are compelled, motivated, moved to respond to his love by obeying His commands. So the greatest command becomes love God with all our heart, mind, body and soul. To love God with all our emotional, mental physical and spiritual strength; and to love others as ourselves. This morning we learned how we respond to God’s love for us. LIVING IN GOD’S LOVE FROM ABOVE means:
- We must be born again - be changed - converted people. Folk, we can’t live like we want to live and be pleasing to God - we must become changed folks - changed into the image of His Son.
- We must understand our need for forgiveness - we must acknowledge our sins, worship and serve God by doing right things in right ways for the right reasons.
- We must learn to worship in spirit and in truth.
- We must leave our water pots behind - we must reprioritize our lives. By faith, we must live above the world.
- We must be evangelistic - inviting others to “come see Jesus”.
Tonight we want to see how we respond to God’s love in our loving others.
Listen to these scriptures:
I John 3.16 - This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
I John 4.11 - Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
Romans 5.5 - God has poured out his love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit whom He gave us.
You see, our love for God is demonstrated by our love for others. How we love and treat others is how we love and treat Jesus. In Matthew 25 Jesus said: As often as you do it unto the least of these, my brothers, you do it unto me. In John 13 Jesus washes the disciples’ feet and tells them: What I have done for you, you should do for one another - the world will know you are My disciples when you love - when you serve one another. You see, church, we are to be the second incarnation. We are to be like Jesus in our love and serving others. Jesus came to demonstrate and preach God. We are to demonstrate and preach God by acting like Jesus and conforming to His image in this matter of love. The world ought to be able to see Jesus in us as we love and serve others.
Our Christianity... Our love for others is not expressed and celebrated by words but BY DEEDS... BY SERVING.
“A bell is not a bell until you ring it
A song is not a song until you sing it
Love is not put into our heart to stay
Love is not love until we give it away.”
Turn in your Bibles or in your thoughts to Corinthians l3, and let’s make practical application of tonight’s lesson. Let’s read the chapter together:
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
OK — What can we learn here about love and loving one another?
FIRST, PAUL MAKES THE POINT THAT RELIGION WITHOUT LOVE IS USELESS, ACCOMPLISHING NOTHING - IT IS IN VAIN:
If we have the gift to speak in the tongues of angels and have no love we become just a noise, a gong, a clanging cymbal. If we have the gift of prophecy so that we can understand all mysteries and have a faith that can remove mountains, but this gift is not accompanied by love then we are nothing. If we gave all that we possess to the poor - if we surrendered our bodies to be burned as a sacrifice to God - but have not love, we gain nothing.
We know some people like this? Don’t we? They know the Bible inside out They can reach and teach with ease. They give large sums to the church They live a sacrificial life for the cause of Christ, but they do so without love and Paul says they accomplish nothing - no thing!
Folk, love is the dominant and indispensable virtue in our Christianity. Without love there is no Christianity. Genuine Christian love, love from above, acts like this... H as these characteristics:
LOVE IS PATIENT - The Greek literally means long heated. Love is long tempered as versus short tempered. Christian love does not fly-off-the-handle. Love never says what it later wishes it had not said. Love controls its emotions. Love stays calm in the storm of words.
LOVE IS KIND - Love is compassionate. Love is pleasant. Love is easy. The same Greek word that is translated “kind” here is translated “easy” in Matthew ll:30 where Jesus says “my life is easy, my burden is light”. This same word is used outside of scripture to speak of wine that is mellow, smooth, without bite or harshness. Remember how Jesus treated the woman taken in adultery in John 8? He was kind. Christian love is kind.
LOVE IS NOT ENVIOUS - Love is never jealous. Love does not want to possess what others possess. The early church was frequently described as those who had everything in common. They were not envious of one another but shared all they had. Their attitude was what is mine is mine but it is yours if you need it.
LOVE DOES NOT BOAST - Love is not in competition. The attitude of one-up-manship is out of place in the church of God. Anytime we place one personality, ours or someone else’s, above the common good of the whole body we have violated New Testament love.
LOVE IS NOT PROUD - Is not puffed up. Love is not arrogant.
LOVE IS NOT RUDE OR SELF-SEEKING - Love never demands its rights to the hurt of others. New Testament love turns the other cheek.
LOVE IS NOT EASILY ANGERED - Love is not easily provoked. New Testament love does not wear a chip on its shoulder. When someone acts or reacts sharply toward us, love does not react to that ugliness. Just lets it go. Need any of this kind of love?
LOVE KEEPS NO RECORD OF WRONG - In the classical Greek the word describes a bookkeeping mark, a permanent mark. Love keeps no record of evil done to it. Love never holds a grudge. Love never harbors or rethinks evil. New Testament love has a short memory. It keeps, maintains, no permanent mark or record of wrongs suffered.
LOVE HAS NO PLEASURE, NO DELIGHT, IN EVIL. Do you know some people who enjoy seeing others get what they deserve? Mark it down, these folk don’t love. Christian love never rejoices in hurt coming to others.
LOVE REJOICES IN TRUTH - The words of this kind of love can be trusted, even if it is words of discipline.
LOVE ALWAYS PROTECTS YOU - Always trusts you; always hopes the best for you; always perseveres and never gives up on you. Love never fails.
God help us to begin today to make this Valentine’s Day a day of resolve to treat one another with genuine New Testament love.
Burt Bacharach & Hal David composed a song in the 70’s that says it all for us:
“What the world needs now is love sweet love
Not just for some but for everyone
Lord, we don’t need another mountain
There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb
There are oceans and rivers enough to cross
Enough to last until the end of time.”
Yes! Yes, what the world - the church - my family - need now is love sweet love. No, not just for some but for everyone. It’s the only thing there is just too little of: love sweet love. God has poured his love from above into our hearts - now he is asking us to pass it on. Are we willing?
What do you need to do to live in love from above?
What do you need to do to demonstrate Christian LOVE to others?
Do it now... Do it tonight!!
