Love Part III

Final episode in our short series.

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SPEAKER_00 0:11

Well, welcome everybody. We are going to begin part three in our very brief series on love found in First Corinthians chapter 13. And uh through parts one and two, we got down to the point where we uh discussed the verses one through verse seven. And uh we've had a good time in this study, but we need to uh finish this study uh and and we're gonna do so in this part three. One of the things we mentioned in uh the last time we met was that if you replace the word love in 1 Corinthians 13, and incidentally that word is agape love, if you replace that word love with the word Jesus, you can see exactly how incredible the love the Lord has had and continues to have for this world and for those that receive him as their personal Lord and Savior. It was agape love that um our Lord had that brought him to this earth in the form of a man, a godman, a hundred percent god, and a hundred percent man. It was agape love that had him minister publicly to his area of the world where he walked, uh, for that ministry that was a three three plus years, and it was agape love that drove him to the cross, that allowed him to go through the scourging, the humiliation, and finally the wrath of the Father brought upon himself for the sins of the world. It was agape love that allowed our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to be completely, wonderfully 100% obedient to the Father's will while he was here on earth. And again, it was that love that allowed him to go to the cross because as God, he could have called legions of angels down, he could have annihilated, he could have annihilated the entire planet. He certainly could have taken out those that were against him, those whether they were Jews or Romans that wanted to see him scourged, beaten, whipped, humiliated, and then eventually crucified, which at that time was the cruelest form of death by Rome to those that went against their system. But Jesus' love drove him to go through all of that. It drove him to receive the sins of the world upon himself, the sinless one, to become sin for the world. And then knowing that he would receive the wrath of the Father as punishment for those sins, agape love kept him on that cross until that work was done. And then our Lord eventually died. He physically died because that's the punishment for sin. He was buried and three days later he rose again. His arising from the death, from the grave, he was dead, proves that his sacrifice was acceptable to the Father. He became alive once again, and then the Lord ascended him into heaven, where he now presently sits at the right hand of the Father and will come to judge all those that are alive and all those that are dead at that coming judgment day. Well, while First Corinthians thirteen does not tell us all about Jesus, it certainly gives us a very, very nice picture, a very succinct picture, albeit a narrow one, because Jesus is so much more than we see in First Corinthians thirteen. But we see an incredible amount of his love as we replace the word love with the name Jesus. We also mention the fact that if we replace the word love with our name, we'd have an idea of how well we're doing in obeying that part B of the greatest commandment, and that is loving our neighbors as ourselves. And we come to find that as glorious as the love is that the Lord has for us, we fall woefully short of loving our neighbor the way that we should. Woefully short. So as we go back to the study, we went through again 1 Corinthians up through and including verse 7. And then we get into verse 8, where we read these words, actually, verse 8 through 10. And I'm reading from the New King James Version right now. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail. Whether there are tongues, they will cease. Whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. No matter what happens to everything else, this agape love that Paul is speaking about will never fail. And this love should be placed first on our list. When we think of the love that our Father has for us, aren't we incredibly comforted by the fact that he says that he loves us and his love will never fail? Listen to the type of love that our Father has for us as we go to Lamentations chapter 3, very well-known passage, verses 22 and 23. The steadfast love of our Lord never ceases. Boy, we need to highlight that. And his mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. That came from the ESV version of the Bible. And in Hebrews 13, 5, using the same version, we read this keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for he has said, I will never leave you or forsake you. So what we learn here is that God has incredible, steadfast love for us that is never ending. His mercies are new every morning for us. And if we take that into consideration, his love, we should never yearn for anything else that will pull us away from our relationship with the Lord. Moses, speaking on behalf of God in Deuteronomy 32, 6, says this Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you, he will not forsake you. Is this the same type of love that we are to have for all of those around us? A love that doesn't cease, a love that doesn't wax and wane? The answer, of course, is yes. One writer writes this, and I quote, When I hold this list of characteristics of love up before my life like a mirror, I am immediately shaken by the many ways in which I fall short of the perfect love that Christ modeled for me. But I also know that nothing will be more important to my life than letting God perfect the gift of love in me. Not in some abstract theological way, but by helping me learn to truly love every person as God loves me. These 15 characteristics of God's kind of love would make a good outline for prayer, meditation, and study as we attempt to live the Christian life. Having established that love was the most essential gift, and that it is superior to all other gifts, Paul concludes this chapter by reminding the readers that love is the most important ingredient in the relationship between a Christian and God. And I would add to that, as as it is easily inferred in these two paragraphs, that we also need to be reminded that this type of love is the most important ingredient in a relationship between us and those that God places before us. Now I would like to skip down to verse 13 right now, which says this So now faith, hope, and love abide. These three. But the greatest of these is love. From the preacher's commentary, let me share this. Quote, even of those things that abide forever, such as faith and hope, love is the greatest of all. When I am asked by parents to talk with their children about what God is like, I usually limit myself to a discussion of four questions, all of which can be answered by a knowledge of John 3.16. How does God feel about me? He loves me. How has he shown his love? By sending his son to die for me. What does he want me to do? He wants me to believe on him. What will God bring to my life when I respond to his love? Life that never ends. But as Paul indicates in this passage, that is not an insight just for children. It is the most mature understanding we can come to. When I perform a wedding and read the words, love never fails, I am painfully aware that human affection can and does fail. When I busy myself studying the scriptures for a sermon, I realize that there will come a day when prophecies will cease. But when I am learning to love another with that same unselfish love that God has poured out on me, then I am involved in doing something that will never end because God will never end. In a world that treats those things which are quite temporary as having such great value, the Christian comes and values love and is thought to be impractical. But when everything that seems permanent is gone, our buildings, our bureaucracies, our budgets, our books, and our programs, love will be as enduring as ever. End quote. I'd like to close by reading some of the very words our Savior spoke to you and to me. He spoke them actually to the world. They are words that we need to replay in our hearts and minds on a consistent basis. When Jesus speaks, every word that he says, of course, is of the utmost importance. But when he speaks of love, I cannot think of anything more important for us to read, to listen to, to meditate on, and then to practice. Not just when we want to, not just when it's convenient, not just when our daily reading takes us to these places in Scripture, but every day, always. Here are the words of the Lord Jesus to you and to me. You shall love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and 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 two commandments depend the whole law and the prophets. That's Matthew 22, 37 through 40, and I was reading from the NASB. Again from the NASB in Luke 6, verses 32 to 36. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those that love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount, but love your enemies and do good and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the most high, for he himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. Be merciful just as your Father is merciful. In John 13, 34 and 35, I continue with the NASP, Jesus says, This is a new commandment I give you that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know you are my disciples if you have love for one another. You know, when Jesus told his disciples to love one another, he said to do it as I have loved you. That's tall order. Jesus used the word agape for love when issuing this command. This love is to love like God loves. How does God love us? But God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. That's Romans 5.8 from the NKJV. We're to love with an agape love, expecting nothing in return. Loving, reflecting the love that God has us through Jesus Christ, his son, who died for us and loved us and continues to love us, reflect that type of love to those around us. Does Jesus stop loving us when we sin against him? No. Does Jesus stop loving us when we have evil thoughts, do evil deeds, say evil words? No. His love, as we read from previous passages, does not wax and wane depending on how good we have been as one of his children. Our love for him has nothing to do with the amount of love, the steadfast, perfect love that he has for us, and that's the type of love we are to have for those around us. Wow. Difficult, you bet. Impossible, no. Even though we think it is, it's not, because we have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within us. He will be the power. He will provide the love that we can show to others when we don't want to love them. Some more words from our Lord, coming from John 15, 12 in the NKJV. This is my commandment. Pay attention, everybody. Ears open. This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. In 1 John chapter 4, verses 7 through 11, also using the New King James Version, John writes this. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this, the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. In this is love. Not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. In 1 John, same chapter, verses 20 through 21, we read, if anyone says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, who he has not seen, and this commandment we have from him. Whoever loves God must also love his brother. Get the picture here? How are we doing? And do we care? These are commandments. These show when we when we begin to perfect, carry out, and perfect this agape love for others around us, it shows our love for God and it shows them the love of God that they don't have in their lives yet. Paul writes these words in Romans 13 8. Owe no one anything, o no one anything except to love one another. For he who loves another has fulfilled the law. The law that we cannot keep. The law that's a schoolmaster to show us how much we need Jesus. Paul says, if we love one another, and that should be the only thing we owe anybody, is to love one another. He says that if we do that, we have completely fulfilled the law. Wow. And in Romans 12, 10 he writes, love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Even going back to the Old Testament, once again, we read what Moses said as commanded by the Lord in Leviticus 19, 18, you shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. There's so much more about love in the word that we find so precious. We can be and should be overcome with joy and emotion when we think about the love that God has for us as we have discussed so very briefly tonight. Now as we meet move forward in our Christian walk, may He be overcome with joy in us because we are loving the way that He does. I want to just bring up one more issue, one more point that I think is important. Why do we acknowledge God's love in praise and thanksgiving so often with tears? Because we know that we are unworthy of his love. We know that our hearts are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, as Jeremiah reminds us in chapter 17, verse nine. We know that we have hated his son or at least ignored his son. We had little or no thoughts of how great he was and is and how diminutive we are. We know that things that matter to us were the things of the world and not the things of the Lord. We didn't read his word, we didn't care about what he says. We wanted to be the captain of our own souls. We wanted no authority over our lives except our own. We were selfish and we were self-centered. Like Frank Sinatra, we wanted everything our way. And yet, while we were still steeped in our sin, while we were destined for hell for an eternity, while we were all of those things, he saved us. Think of that again. While we were destined for hell for an eternity, he saved us. He gave us the faith that we were lacking to believe on his son. He removed the blinders from our eyes that you know where we could not see. Instead of seeing just a man wrongfully tried and killed by Romans using the most cruel of punishments, we now saw the Son of God obedient to the Father and to His call to be the Lamb of God, the Passover Lamb, the propitiation for our sins, and that his death was not a tragedy, but when he rose from the dead, it was a triumph second to none the world has ever seen or ever will see, all guided by agape love from our Lord to us. Because of his grace and the agape love of God, he became our God, our Lord, our King, our Savior, and our friend. He became the one to whom we gladly bow now and in eternity. He became the one to whom we will give all praise and will forevermore confess that he is King of kings and Lord of Lords over all. So now I would like to close with this short study, if you will, or short message, taking us to John chapter 21, verses 15 through 17, where we read this, coming from the New American Standard Bible. So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon, Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? He said to him, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, Tend my lambs. He said to him again a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? He said to him, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, Shepherd my sheep. And he said to him a third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said to him a third time, Do you love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. Jesus said to him, tend my sheep. In this scene on the beach, Jesus led Peter through an experience that would remove the dark, nagging cloud of Peter's denial. We know the story well. Peter had denied Jesus three times. Three times Peter had an opportunity to show his love for Jesus by acknowledging that he knew him. When the roaster when the rooster had crowed, Peter wept bitterly. Imagine how Peter feels now. He has denied the Lord three times. Perhaps Peter tucked those denials in the back of his mind. Perhaps he hadn't thought about them for a while. But then he is told that is that it is Jesus on the seashore. What does Peter do? In verse 7 of that same chapter, we read, Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, It is the Lord. So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his outer garment on, for he was stripped for work and threw himself into the sea. Interestingly, you know what the other guys did? They rowed their boat to shore, but Peter could not wait that long. The excitement of seeing Jesus was so strong that he dove into the water and swam as fast as he could toward his master. They all have breakfast together. Is Peter thinking about his denials? Is Peter hoping that Jesus won't bring them up? Is Peter thinking about bringing them up himself? Just trying to find the right time? Maybe if he can get Jesus alone, perhaps. But our Lord doesn't wait. He asks Peter if he loves him. Three times. Jesus asks Peter if he loves him. When Peter answered yes, Jesus told him to feed his sheep. It is one thing to say you love Jesus, but the real test is willingness to serve him. Peter had repented, and here Jesus was asking him to commit his life. Peter's life changed when he finally realized who Jesus was. His occupation changed from fisherman to evangelist. His identity changed from impetuous to rock, and his relationship to Jesus changed. He was forgiven and he finally understood the significance of Jesus' words about his death and resurrection. What's the point of this story for us tonight? It is not only the incredible love that Jesus held constantly and consistently and perfectly for Peter, it was that once Peter was restored to Jesus, once he was back in communion with him, Jesus gave him his marching orders. Feed my sheep. In other words, Jesus is telling Peter, serve me. Do what I command you to do. And now restored, what would be Peter's most important duty to the Lord? It would be to love the Lord with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength. But also Peter has to love his neighbor as himself. If you have repented of your sins and asked Jesus to be both your Lord and Savior, then you are saved. You are saved from spending even a split second in hell. That is what you are saved from. But you and I are also saved to something. We are saved to do God's work while we are here on this planet. Jesus has saved us to his glory, and he has done so with an agape love that I don't think any one of us can fully imagine. When we fall, he picks us up. He is always there for us. Not against us, but for us. His love endures forever. When we ignore him, he does not ignore us. When we sin against him, he does not forget about us. When we are selfish and self centered, he does not cast us away, nor does he ever leave us. In all these cases, his love never stops, his love never changes. Slap him, spit on him, hit him, ignore him, forget about his goodness to you, be ungrateful for all of what he has given you, and what is his response? Ongoing, never ending, never changing, perfect agape love, ready to forgive and ready to receive us once again. And no matter how many times this occurs, his standing toward us is always the same. That is our cue on how to live. And not just live, but live for him. So now as we close, please think about his love for you. A love that we probably sometimes take for granted, something we should never do, for it not only cost him his human life on the cross, he had to bear the punishment for our sins, meted out by his Father, so that his perfect justice and mercy could be maintained all at the same time. How many times are we to forgive our brother? And Peter came in and said to him, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times? Jesus said, I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. But since he did not have the means to repay, his Lord commanded him to be sold along with his wife and children and all that he had and repayment to be made. So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will repay you everything. And the Lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the entire debt. But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii, and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, Pay back what you owe. So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, Have patience with me and I will repay you. But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what he owed. So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. Then summoning him, his lord said to him, You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me? Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave in the same way that I had mercy over you? And his Lord moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that he was owed him. My heavenly Father will also do the same to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart. And John twenty one fifteen. I'm sorry. Brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ. We may have those that have a debt against us. May not be a financial debt. They may have hurt us. They may have stolen from us. They may have stolen our tried to steal our integrity. They may have let us down, hurt us deeply. We may have been on the receiving end of their hate for Jesus, and therefore we get persecuted or discriminated against. All those things, or some of those things, may happen in our lives, may have already happened in our lives. What are we to do? Jesus gives us this example. As the slave owner, if you will, in this passage, we are to forgive. We are to forgive. As Jesus told Peter, forgive them 70 times seven. But we must be very careful that if we are unwilling to forgive, if we stay in our sinful flesh, and those that need to receive agape love from us as we have received from the Father, we better be careful. I'm going to suggest this right now. That the only way, I believe what Jesus is saying right here, is the only way that you and I can forgive with an agape love is by being born again. And that we will not be rejected by the Lord. When Jesus says, My Heavenly Father will also do the same to you, that is being handed over to torturers until the debt is completely repaired. If each of you does not forgive his brother from his heart, I believe that the agape love he places within us is the only way that we can forgive our brothers, and therefore step aside from what the Heavenly Father will do to those that don't love in that way. I end with this. How's your love? How are you loving? Do you realize that you cannot perform the first part of this great commandment without also doing the second? How can you say you love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength if you are not loving your neighbor? If you're not loving your neighbor, you're not loving the Lord the way he has called you to love him. We need to change. My prayer, my hope is that after hearing this message, it isn't me or my words. You heard the very words of Scripture. Those alone should move you and me to respond to the commandments of our Lord in love by being love around those who don't deserve our love. Please, I implore you. As I look at myself, I implore you. Change. Change. Give more glory to God in your attitude about those around you that you don't like, that don't like you, that hate you because you love Jesus, that wish you were dead or would not interfere in their lives because they don't like the one whom you serve. Change. Be more like him. We have to make a habit of that. It doesn't happen by snapping our fingers. It comes through prayer and the reading of his word and having a desire to put our selfish lives in the background and his incredible life dwelling within us in the foreground and allowing the Spirit of God to be our tongue and to be the love that we portray. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I do pray for myself as I pray for all of my brothers and sisters that we indeed would change and be more loving, much more loving, with agape love, Lord God, that the world might see that we are Jesus' disciples and that they might see your incredible love waiting for them to simply respond, to repent of their sins and run to the cross. Oh Father God, may they, may those in front of us, because of new agape love that we portray, may they see that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand and again turn from their wicked ways and ask Jesus to be their Lord and Savior. And I pray these things in his name. Amen. Well, thank you very much for listening to part three of our three-part series on love. I certainly hope that uh not only did you find it uh an enjoyable experience listening to this because of the scripture read, but much, much more importantly, that the words of our Lord and the words found in this book that we call the Bible, this glorious book, that because of the words that we reviewed, you will have a desire to change. Remember these words from uh David from Psalm 37:4. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of the heart. So do you see here that if our delight in the Lord is loving him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and loving our neighbors as ourselves, if we delight in that, he will give us the desires of our heart. He will change us to be more like his son. And he and he alone will get all the glory and honor and praise because it's him and him alone that deserves it. Until next time, may the Lord richly bless you and you're not a micro.