WEBVTT 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:12.800 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:41.920 Some time ago, I was shopping at a store in California called Grocery Outlet, and as always, I wanted to try all the new and different products they have at that store, and we needed something for the kids to drink. 00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:49.119 We were going on a camping trip, and I thought I'm gonna opt for something a little more healthier than plain old soda. 00:00:49.359 --> 00:00:53.600 So my eye caught this bottle on the shelf with the enticing label. 00:00:53.759 --> 00:01:00.320 It had a bouquet of tropical fruit set on a sandy beach with coconut trees. 00:01:01.280 --> 00:01:02.640 I thought I'll take that. 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:04.480 That looks healthy. 00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:10.480 To my surprise, on the checkout aisle, my eye caught the final print on the label. 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:14.560 It said, contains 0% fruit. 00:01:14.879 --> 00:01:15.359 What? 00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:17.040 0% fruit? 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:28.000 Reading the ingredients, it was plain old water with the addition of, get this, high fructose corn syrup, ascopic acid, and nature identical flavors. 00:01:29.359 --> 00:01:33.760 What are nature identical flavors for crying out loud? 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:40.640 I Googled it and it said nature-identical flavors are synthetic fabrications of natural flavors. 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:41.680 What? 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:51.519 Well, they were chemically synthesized in the laboratory, I believe. 00:01:52.159 --> 00:02:06.560 You see that label on the outside promised something of a fruit cocktail, but it overpromised and underdelivered because what the actual contents were just fabrications of the real thing. 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:18.639 In our churches, we might find the very same thing today underdelivering, but overpromising on love. 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:31.360 The label on the outside might read love, but on the inside it is often artificially fabricated rather than divinely generated. 00:02:31.919 --> 00:02:35.680 The title of my message this morning is Love. 00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:40.400 Divinely generated, not fabricated. 00:02:40.879 --> 00:02:45.520 Love divinely generated, not fabricated. 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:53.199 Longtime pastor and author Alexander Strauss will help us shed light on this. 00:02:53.360 --> 00:03:05.360 He says, the longer we work together, the more we get to know one another's faults and annoying personality traits, which can make life together frustrating. 00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:16.319 Understanding the New Testament principle of love will significantly enhance healthy group leadership, group meetings, and congregational life as a whole. 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:24.879 Without love, it is impossible to live and work together in Christian harmony. 00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:30.159 You see, love is often the missing ingredient in the local church. 00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:43.039 And I wonder if love that is missing from the churches as a whole is not the reason why the world accuses us of being hypocritical. 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:55.680 Because if we have the label on the outside door that says church, will the encompassing trademark not be our love for one another, as Jesus said? 00:03:57.680 --> 00:04:04.400 I do believe churches are indeed hypocritical when there is little love for one another. 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:12.960 If that component is missing, it is very off-putting and somewhat hypocritical. 00:04:14.479 --> 00:04:21.360 Because we should be known as a place where people love one another. 00:04:22.319 --> 00:04:29.839 Tragically, what we often find in churches is a substitute, something artificial, something fabricated. 00:04:33.519 --> 00:04:46.000 This love that is fabricated is humanly fabricated, it is not divinely generated, it is a human fabrication, it is artificial, it's an imitation, not the real thing. 00:04:47.759 --> 00:05:05.839 And therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, I do believe the missing ingredient in most churches today is not stellar preaching, neither vibrant children's programs, nor comprehensive doctrinal statements, but what is missing, the missing ingredient is divinely generated love. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:15.839 To help us get a better understanding of divinely generated love, I would like to take you to Romans chapter 12. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:20.480 If you could take your Bibles and turn to Romans chapter 12. 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:24.800 And we'll camp there for a little while. 00:05:27.360 --> 00:05:31.759 I'm gonna just read for us Romans 12, verse 9. 00:05:32.399 --> 00:05:35.439 Let love be genuine. 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:42.319 Abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good. 00:05:44.240 --> 00:05:49.519 Some other translations may read, let love be without hypocrisy. 00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:53.759 Detest what is evil, cling to what is good. 00:05:54.079 --> 00:06:01.600 That is a preferable translation of the Greek word agape. 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:07.120 Agape is without hypocrisy. 00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:21.360 Agape is the Greek word for love in this passage, and I would like to uh go down a bit of a rabbit trail here to talk about the historical and cultural background of the word agape. 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:37.519 Looking at this word love or agape in verse 9, we cannot underestimate the influence of ancient Greek culture on shaping the minds of people on the concept of love. 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:47.360 You see, the Greeks expressed the concept of love mainly through their dramas, their plays, and other forms of performing arts. 00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:53.519 In fact, Greek theater played a significant role in shaping people's minds. 00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:58.639 Very much like the movie theaters of our day shape our minds. 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:11.920 You see, the Greek dramas were mainly stories about history, religion, and mythologies, but they were all blended together under this one main theme, namely love. 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:22.480 The Greeks treasured all forms of love, but they had one thing that was known as noble love, noble love. 00:07:22.560 --> 00:07:26.399 And their concept of noble love was as follows. 00:07:26.639 --> 00:07:30.959 It was the type of love that was a means to an end. 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:39.680 Almost always there were personal rewards of self-gratification and self-glorification. 00:07:40.560 --> 00:07:46.800 This love was noble because it could achieve something. 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:53.600 Noble love was not without ulterior motives. 00:07:55.040 --> 00:08:02.560 However, Christianity will change and challenge culture's prevailing views on love. 00:08:04.160 --> 00:08:13.680 While the Greeks treasured noble type of love, Christians would embrace a new word called agape. 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:22.319 Agape love was contrary to the Greek concept of noble love. 00:08:24.319 --> 00:08:37.840 In fact, etymologists tell us that the word agape was hardly ever found in any form of Greek literature prior to the time of Christianity. 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:48.720 Scholars are of opinion that the word agape only really started gaining cultural support with the advent of Christianity. 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:54.960 Christianity claimed that word agape for itself. 00:08:56.399 --> 00:08:58.240 But Christianity went further. 00:08:58.320 --> 00:09:01.600 It started defining what agape is. 00:09:01.679 --> 00:09:06.320 It gave character to its nature and scope of applications. 00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:15.279 In fact, the word agape in its noun form occurs over 116 times in our New Testament. 00:09:18.639 --> 00:09:23.279 Let's go and see what the Bible says about agape love. 00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:27.279 Firstly, agape is God's love. 00:09:27.759 --> 00:09:30.159 Agape is God's love. 00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:33.840 And here are four thoughts about God's love. 00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:42.000 And I'm gonna run through them as fast as possible because I have a lot to say this morning. 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:49.360 But firstly, agape is God's love because it encompasses all God's attributes. 00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:08.879 Secondly, agape expresses the character of God's actions and dealings with the world. 00:10:10.639 --> 00:10:21.279 God expressed his love in the form of action, John 3, 16, for God so loved the world. 00:10:21.519 --> 00:10:23.840 This is how God loved the world. 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:35.519 God loved the world in this way that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:42.799 However, God's love would not be reciprocated as expected. 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:54.480 Nevertheless, God's love was not a mere emotion, neither was it mere speech, but it was expressed in sacrificial action. 00:10:56.080 --> 00:11:03.600 Namely, sending his only son as the sacrifice for sin. 00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:11.600 Then certainly, a copy of love is God's love because it embodies divine initiative. 00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:17.519 One thing about God's love is it takes the first step. 00:11:17.679 --> 00:11:20.559 It is proactive, not retroactive. 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:25.440 God's love always initiates. 00:11:25.679 --> 00:11:27.840 First John four nineteen. 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:34.240 We love because he first loved us. 00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:40.639 Our love merely is a reaction to God's initiative. 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:53.360 Agape love does not only love the unlovable, but it initiates, it takes the first step, it leads. 00:11:54.960 --> 00:12:05.279 Agape love is also described as God's deliberate self-giving love that is expressed irrespective of a person's worth or merit. 00:12:06.399 --> 00:12:10.720 And therefore, God agape love is from God. 00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:15.519 God is the source of love. 00:12:26.159 --> 00:12:32.240 And whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:48.240 Firstly, agape love is distinctly divine. 00:12:48.399 --> 00:12:50.720 It has a divine origin. 00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:54.879 It is God's own word for love. 00:12:55.200 --> 00:12:58.879 It is the word that describes God's love. 00:12:59.759 --> 00:13:06.559 Now, every agape love is also the church and Christianity's own word for love. 00:13:07.360 --> 00:13:10.720 No one is allowed to just use that word agape. 00:13:10.960 --> 00:13:16.559 It is exclusively divine, exclusively the word for Christian love. 00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:27.840 Take your Bibles and turn to 1 John 4, 7, and I will show you a few things about that word agape and how the New Testament writers use it. 00:13:29.200 --> 00:13:33.279 Making my second point here, agape is Christianity's own love. 00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:36.480 I will have a few subpoints as we move along. 00:13:36.879 --> 00:13:42.799 But secondly, agape is Christianity's word for love. 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:56.559 1 John 4, 7, the apostle writes there, Beloved or loved ones, let us love one another, for love is from God. 00:13:56.639 --> 00:14:02.159 And whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 00:14:02.799 --> 00:14:09.679 Firstly, what the apostle John tells us, and he was known as the disciple whom Jesus loved. 00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:15.120 He says there that God is the source of agape. 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:17.440 We get agape from God. 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:29.120 Secondly, we must notice that the apostle also states that agape is in the grasp of only those who are regenerate. 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:46.879 He says, those who are born of God and those who know God, not know about God, but those who have an intimate relationship with God have the ability to put their hands around agape love. 00:14:48.080 --> 00:15:10.720 Those who have been born of God through the gospel of Jesus Christ, through the knowledge of his son who died on a cross as a payment for sin, and who've made them, made him their personal Savior, will know and understand the depth and the breadth of God's love. 00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:36.159 It does not need to be concocted, it does not need to be made up or fabricated, but rather rather it flows. 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:46.399 It flows from a heart that is being regenerated, from a heart that has an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. 00:15:47.919 --> 00:16:02.879 As one pastor once stated, he said, the saints' love for one another is an outflow from their union and communion and fellowship with Christ Jesus, who is the beloved Son of God. 00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:04.399 He goes further. 00:16:04.559 --> 00:16:12.240 He says, Agape love can only be expressed by those who have experienced the rebirth in its fullest sense. 00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:27.120 Likewise, another pastor said, a person who shows no evidence of agape love has no claim on Christ or on eternal life. 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:45.200 So if agape love is within our reach, if we can love like God loves, because agape is God's love, it is the love that Christians have for one another. 00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:49.039 What will the character be of agape love? 00:16:49.279 --> 00:16:55.440 Let me help define the character of agape love because we want to make sure we have the real thing here. 00:16:55.840 --> 00:16:59.519 We don't want artificial imitations or human fabrications. 00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:03.519 We after the real McCoy, as they would say. 00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:09.680 Romans 12.9, let's go back to that passage. 00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:23.680 Your translation may or may not have the word hypocrisy in there, but I like the word hypocrisy in there because that is the word in the Greek text. 00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:29.599 It says there in Romans 12.9, let love be without hypocrisy. 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:34.480 Literally translate it. 00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:45.920 It makes a claim, a statement about the nature and the character of Agape, love. 00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:54.400 The love is a hypocritical, would be a clumsy, but a very literal rendering of the Greek. 00:17:56.960 --> 00:18:05.920 This specific love that God has and that Christians have is a love free of hypocrisy. 00:18:07.039 --> 00:18:20.319 I'm sure Paul is making a statement here about hypocrisy and about the influences of Greek culture, especially through their stage acting. 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:24.720 You see, the word hypocrisy comes from Greek stage acting. 00:18:24.960 --> 00:18:29.119 You see, actors in those days wore masks. 00:18:30.880 --> 00:18:44.319 And they would use one mask, for instance, to portray a conquering hero, but that same actor would go beyond the stage and put another mask on and come out as the super villain. 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:52.079 Simply switching the mask would essentially make him playing the hypocrite. 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:55.599 That's where that phrase, playing the hypocrite, comes from. 00:18:55.759 --> 00:18:57.920 It comes from stage acting. 00:18:58.799 --> 00:19:00.400 And so what is Paul saying here? 00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:04.640 He says, agape love does not wear a mask. 00:19:05.119 --> 00:19:09.279 It does not portray to be something which it's not. 00:19:10.559 --> 00:19:24.160 In fact, agape love is to be classified as the love that is known for its purity and sincerity, its truthfulness, its genuineness, and of course, its authenticity. 00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:43.200 I don't think there's a command here. 00:19:43.519 --> 00:19:47.519 It's merely giving a statement about the character of agape love. 00:19:47.680 --> 00:19:51.680 Agape love has no ulterior motive. 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:56.079 It can be taken for face value. 00:19:57.200 --> 00:20:04.000 You see, the noble love of the Greeks was a type of love that could manipulate and control people. 00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:06.640 It was a means to an end. 00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:17.359 The noble love of the Greeks was a type of love that you could uh use uh to achieve your own personal goals. 00:20:20.720 --> 00:20:22.319 Not agape love. 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:27.119 Agape love has no ulterior motive, it's not a means to an end. 00:20:27.440 --> 00:20:33.440 It is authentic, it's honest, it's truthful without any pretense or ulterior motive. 00:20:35.839 --> 00:20:43.759 Agape love has no expectation of being reciprocated question. 00:20:48.799 --> 00:20:59.839 Can agape love exist within an environment where people are not really open and honest and truthful with one another? 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:09.680 Can agape love exist within an environment where people put on masks and pretend to be something that they're not? 00:21:11.279 --> 00:21:26.319 Can agape love actually exists in an environment without masks, where people are authentic and honest and true and sincere with one another and relationally honest and transparent with one another. 00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:33.839 Yes, that is the environment in which agape love comes to its best. 00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:40.799 You see, agape love does not need circumstances to be perfect. 00:21:46.960 --> 00:21:51.839 What agape love needs is honesty and truthfulness. 00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:59.759 Ephesians 4 15 is uh another interesting passage. 00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:12.480 Ephesians 4.15 reads, rather, speaking the truth and love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head into Christ. 00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:21.279 Paul is saying there in Ephesians 4.15 that we are to speak the truth and love, but very interesting there too. 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:24.960 There is no verb there for speaking. 00:22:25.839 --> 00:22:30.799 In fact, what it does, it takes the word truth and turns it into a verb. 00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:42.160 You English majors and English teachers, I think they call it a gerund when you take a noun and you turn it into a verb. 00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:42.960 I don't know. 00:22:43.759 --> 00:22:55.599 I'm still trying to figure out the English language, but in any case, what Paul basically is saying there in Ephesians 4.15, he says, truthing in love. 00:22:56.640 --> 00:22:57.920 Truthing in love. 00:22:58.160 --> 00:22:59.839 That's my translation. 00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:09.200 If we are truthing in love, if we have this radical honesty and transparency with one another, we are not faking it. 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:18.559 We in fact will create an environment in which love, agape love, will function at its best. 00:23:18.799 --> 00:23:26.480 And when agape love functions at its best, we will be growing up in every way into Christ. 00:23:27.839 --> 00:23:33.440 God wants us as a body of believers to grow up and mature in Him. 00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:41.359 But by mono means will that ever be accomplished if we are not truthful and authentic in our relationships with one another. 00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:50.720 God calls the Ephesian church here to quit wearing masks and to stop pretending in their exchanges with one another. 00:23:52.079 --> 00:24:01.119 Rather, in their honesty, transparency, their relationships will be fostered in the climate of agape love. 00:24:02.319 --> 00:24:05.279 You know how it goes, dear brothers and sisters. 00:24:05.920 --> 00:24:08.960 Hi! Hi! Good to see you. 00:24:09.119 --> 00:24:11.200 Yes, really good to see you. 00:24:11.440 --> 00:24:12.480 Everything okay? 00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:13.039 Yeah. 00:24:13.279 --> 00:24:14.079 You sure? 00:24:14.319 --> 00:24:14.960 Yes. 00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:18.000 I've just been noticing you've been avoiding me. 00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:19.440 No, no problem. 00:24:25.119 --> 00:24:27.200 I'm preaching to myself. 00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:38.079 Paul in 2 Corinthians 6, 6, makes a powerful statement about the character of his ministry. 00:24:39.440 --> 00:24:54.880 He says the way in which he conducted himself in his ministry was with the purity of heart, in honesty and transparency, and the sincerity of his love was a telltale characteristic of the way that he ministered to people. 00:24:55.039 --> 00:25:00.559 You see, Paul was blatantly honest so that he can be blatantly loving. 00:25:05.279 --> 00:25:14.559 If we are authentic and truthful and honest, our love for one another can be maximized. 00:25:18.480 --> 00:25:31.920 But dear brothers and sisters, this agape love has two tracks, if you like, in which the train of agape love goes forward to proclaim the glories of Jesus Christ. 00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:39.599 Firstly, what agape love disassociates with? 00:25:40.960 --> 00:25:48.240 Agape love has certain disassociations, and agape love has certain associations and affinities. 00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:53.119 Let's think of first what agape love detests. 00:25:53.759 --> 00:25:59.599 Romans 12, 9 says there, let love be without hypocrisy. 00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:00.160 How? 00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:03.279 How is love to be without hypocrisy? 00:26:03.440 --> 00:26:07.599 Well, it must detest of everything that is evil. 00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:11.680 Some translations may read, abore what is evil. 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:13.920 Abore what is evil. 00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:26.000 Agape love literally has a gagging reflex when it sees that which God hates. 00:26:27.279 --> 00:26:30.000 Yes, agape love is God's love. 00:26:30.240 --> 00:26:33.519 God loves, for he is love, but God hates. 00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:35.440 God hates. 00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:44.000 Yes, Psalm 5 says, verses 4 to 6, for you are not a God who delights in wickedness. 00:26:44.160 --> 00:26:46.000 Evil may not dwell with you. 00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:49.440 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes. 00:26:49.759 --> 00:26:52.640 You hate all evildoers. 00:26:52.799 --> 00:26:55.839 You destroy those who speak lies. 00:26:56.160 --> 00:27:01.119 The Lord abores the bloodthirsty and the deceitful man. 00:27:01.680 --> 00:27:04.319 God abores hypocrisy. 00:27:04.960 --> 00:27:09.359 And therefore his love cannot be hypocritical. 00:27:11.519 --> 00:27:20.880 You see, often there are supposed acts of love, no matter how tender, no matter how heart-moving, no matter how generous. 00:27:23.759 --> 00:27:30.799 If it fails the hypocrisy test, then it's not agape love. 00:27:32.640 --> 00:27:45.839 Even the slightest hint of self-assertion, self-seeking, self-promotion, or self-gratification will give this love an evil bent, and then it fails the test. 00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:49.519 Then it's not agape love, but some other form of love. 00:27:53.279 --> 00:28:01.759 So how are we to make sure that the love we have for one another is of that non-hypocritical kind? 00:28:01.920 --> 00:28:07.440 It is the type of love that must flee from all things evil. 00:28:08.160 --> 00:28:18.799 In 1 Timothy 6, 11, Paul speaks to Timothy, he says, But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. 00:28:19.440 --> 00:28:23.119 Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love. 00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:38.960 It is impossible to say I am pursuing the love of others, but with one eye we treasure that which is evil in the eyes of God. 00:28:40.880 --> 00:28:41.359 Dr. 00:28:41.440 --> 00:28:45.680 Kent Hughes explains it very simply in his commentary. 00:28:45.759 --> 00:28:53.200 He says, sincere love, agape love demands God honoring, moral resolve, regarding good and evil. 00:28:55.680 --> 00:29:10.720 You see, agape love follows tightly on the heels of those who flee that which is evil and pursue righteousness, godliness, and faith, as 1 Timothy 6.11 tells us. 00:29:10.960 --> 00:29:16.079 You see, agape love is known for what it hates. 00:29:16.880 --> 00:29:24.000 Agape love is known for what it hates, it hates that which God hates. 00:29:24.160 --> 00:29:30.799 But agape love is also known for what it cleaves to, what it's bound to. 00:29:32.480 --> 00:29:35.599 And it's bound to all that is good. 00:29:37.200 --> 00:29:40.400 Agape love clings to what is good. 00:29:40.559 --> 00:29:42.319 That is a good translation. 00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:45.920 That word cling means glued to. 00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:50.000 The Greek word is glued, bound to. 00:29:52.720 --> 00:30:03.920 Simply state it, agape love abores what the triune God abores, but it delights in what the triune God delights in. 00:30:04.079 --> 00:30:06.960 And God delights in what is good. 00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:09.279 Why? 00:30:10.079 --> 00:30:16.880 Because in Mark 10, 18, Jesus makes the statement, he says, no one is good except God alone. 00:30:17.359 --> 00:30:20.240 God defines the standard of love. 00:30:20.559 --> 00:30:23.839 God will define what is the standard of good. 00:30:26.720 --> 00:30:29.839 Where is God's standards for what is good? 00:30:31.119 --> 00:30:32.400 To be found? 00:30:32.720 --> 00:30:34.960 In the pages of Scripture. 00:30:35.599 --> 00:30:43.119 Psalm 119, verse 68 says, You are good and you do good. 00:30:43.680 --> 00:30:46.799 Teach me your statues. 00:30:48.160 --> 00:30:52.160 Agape love is taught in the word of God. 00:30:52.400 --> 00:31:00.319 Agape love is therefore present amongst those who desire to obey the word of God. 00:31:03.680 --> 00:31:23.680 If there is no submission to the word of God, if we are not willing to be taught by the word of God and submit ourselves to the word of God, there is no hope for us to express a type of love for one another that is to be termed agape love. 00:31:25.359 --> 00:31:34.480 Listen to how 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 5 to 7 describes the godly. 00:31:35.039 --> 00:31:53.920 The God-fearing person in 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 5 says, For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness. 00:31:56.400 --> 00:32:02.000 And godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 00:32:05.200 --> 00:32:09.519 You see, agape love does not stand in a vacuum. 00:32:09.759 --> 00:32:20.160 Agape love is cultivated amongst those who pursue the glory of Jesus Christ and his righteousness. 00:32:21.359 --> 00:32:39.119 Matthew Henry says, Thus love, the greatest of all Christian graces, out of faith, the root, spring the seven fair fruits of godliness, of which love is the fairest and the sweetest. 00:32:42.720 --> 00:33:09.279 If we wonder why agape love so quickly slips through our fingers, it is because we fail to grasp the essence of personal holiness, Christ-like holiness, and obedience needs to be grabbed with both hands, or else agape love will slip through our fingers. 00:33:10.079 --> 00:33:21.279 You see, personal godliness, dear brothers and sisters, is like fertile soil, and Christ-like obedience are like the rays of the sun. 00:33:21.599 --> 00:33:30.160 Without fertile soil and the rays of the sun, those who sow will sow in vain. 00:33:33.359 --> 00:33:40.319 Sincere love demands God honoring resolve, regarding good and evil. 00:33:42.720 --> 00:33:55.359 You may ask, okay, well, give me some examples of how Agape love exerts itself and expresses itself in the body of Christ. 00:33:56.240 --> 00:34:02.160 Go back to Romans twelve and verse ten. 00:34:03.759 --> 00:34:05.119 It says there. 00:34:08.079 --> 00:34:13.679 Love one another with brotherly affection, do one another in showing honor. 00:34:13.920 --> 00:34:29.280 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord, rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer, contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. 00:34:33.599 --> 00:35:06.320 You see, when the people of God are devoted to one another, when they are committed to one another, when they are committed to honoring the other person more important than self, where they serve one another, where they persevere together in tribulation, when they are devoted and committed to one another to pray for each other, and also not only pray but actually contribute to each other's needs, and they practice hospitality amongst one another, dear brothers and sisters. 00:35:06.480 --> 00:35:09.360 Let me tell you, agape love is there. 00:35:11.119 --> 00:35:23.840 But you see, agape love cannot take root in the crusty soil of unaffectionate people, envious, proudful, lazy, and self-serving people, you will not find agape love and they must. 00:35:28.719 --> 00:35:38.400 Agape will not grow in the barren, fell soil of those who are miserly, cowardly, grumbling, prayerless, cold-hearted, and inhospitable. 00:35:40.880 --> 00:35:46.960 But indeed, agape love is the first fruit of the spirit, as Galatians 5.22 says. 00:35:48.239 --> 00:35:55.599 But agape love can only issue from a heart and a mind that is indwelt by the Spirit of God. 00:35:57.760 --> 00:36:04.639 1 Timothy 1 5, Paul says that agape love issues from what? 00:36:05.280 --> 00:36:09.679 A purified heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. 00:36:14.400 --> 00:36:17.920 Now the goal of our instruction, Paul says, is love. 00:36:18.719 --> 00:36:19.760 Agape love. 00:36:19.840 --> 00:36:23.039 And where does that agape love come out of? 00:36:23.519 --> 00:36:32.159 It comes out of a pure heart, a purified heart, a cleansed conscience, and a sincere faith. 00:36:34.960 --> 00:36:40.639 A few months ago, my wife sent me on a mission to buy tea tree oil for her. 00:36:43.039 --> 00:36:45.679 And that was uh quite a challenging mission. 00:36:45.760 --> 00:36:48.079 I'm not sure if you guys have ever experienced it. 00:36:48.159 --> 00:36:52.480 Your wife sends you out to find the holy grail type of thing. 00:36:52.880 --> 00:37:04.639 And so here I go in the store, and there are bottles for six dollars, and there are bottles up towards twenty, thirty dollars. 00:37:05.440 --> 00:37:07.119 I picked up a pattern. 00:37:07.360 --> 00:37:10.480 The smaller the bottle, the greater the price. 00:37:11.199 --> 00:37:14.800 And so I went over to the person that worked there. 00:37:14.880 --> 00:37:18.000 I said, could you help me find some tea tree oil? 00:37:18.159 --> 00:37:23.039 Because uh obviously there are many types available. 00:37:23.760 --> 00:37:28.320 And the person said to me, Look, it's all about the purity. 00:37:28.960 --> 00:37:30.559 It's all about the purity. 00:37:30.800 --> 00:37:34.320 And the purer, the smaller the bottle, but the higher the price. 00:37:34.559 --> 00:37:37.760 But remember, purity equals potency. 00:37:38.079 --> 00:37:41.039 So, okay, give me the smallest, most expensive bottle. 00:37:41.199 --> 00:37:42.800 I'll go home with that. 00:37:44.480 --> 00:37:49.440 The greater the purity, the greater the potency is true for tea tree oil. 00:37:49.679 --> 00:37:51.280 It is true for love too. 00:37:51.360 --> 00:38:01.679 You see, love can only come out of a heart that is pure, a conscience that is cleansed, and a faith that is without hypocrisy. 00:38:05.599 --> 00:38:14.639 Imagine I came home with one of those used motor oil cans. 00:38:15.599 --> 00:38:23.599 And I said, honey, I've uh the guy just decantered some of this tea tree oil in this motor oil can. 00:38:24.960 --> 00:38:28.000 I don't think she would even ask whether that can is clean. 00:38:28.159 --> 00:38:31.360 She would just say, This is not the suitable container. 00:38:33.760 --> 00:38:39.199 Likewise, dear brothers and sisters, sweet water doesn't come out of a brackish spring, does it? 00:38:39.920 --> 00:38:44.880 Can a fleshly uncircumcised heart generate agape love? 00:38:46.880 --> 00:38:55.199 Well would it take a shot at it and produce something that looks like it, but it's artificial. 00:38:55.360 --> 00:38:56.639 It's fabricated. 00:38:59.039 --> 00:39:09.440 Impure hearts can only take a cheap shot at fabricating agape love. 00:39:10.079 --> 00:39:24.800 But dear brothers and sisters, you can maybe synthesize the flavors of oranges and pineapples and coconuts, but there's no artificial equivalent for agape love. 00:39:24.960 --> 00:39:32.480 You see, agape love comes from God, it is generated within us. 00:39:33.119 --> 00:39:41.440 It is not fabricated, it does not need to be fabricated, it's more like a faucet that just needs to be opened up. 00:39:44.480 --> 00:39:51.119 An olive tree cannot produce a single ounce of canola oil, no matter how hard it tries. 00:39:51.519 --> 00:39:57.920 Likewise, 100% pure agape love cannot come from a heart that is not 100% transformed. 00:39:59.599 --> 00:40:08.880 Agape love comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith, as God makes clear to us in 1 Timothy 1.5. 00:40:11.360 --> 00:40:13.360 Let's bring this home to us. 00:40:13.440 --> 00:40:15.199 Here is the body of Christ. 00:40:15.519 --> 00:40:21.039 Let us bring it home to where you are sitting at home, dear brothers and sisters. 00:40:22.320 --> 00:40:27.760 If we claim Christ, we're wearing a label that says agape love. 00:40:28.320 --> 00:40:32.880 We are the people of agape love because we worship the God of Agape love. 00:40:33.599 --> 00:40:40.000 But what the label says on the outside must be true for what is happening on the inside. 00:40:44.239 --> 00:40:48.639 Does the label overpromise, but the inside underdeliver? 00:40:50.159 --> 00:40:56.960 Just like that tropical fruit juice that upon closer inspection had 0% fruit. 00:40:58.400 --> 00:41:20.400 But we have this assurance, dear brothers and sisters, if we are born of God and our hearts and our minds and our spirits have been purified and washed by the Spirit through the Word of God, all we need to do is open up, unleash that which is inside us. 00:41:20.719 --> 00:41:33.840 You see, dear brothers and sisters, it is not that we have to fabricate or concoct Agape love, but we tend to be standing in its way. 00:41:35.280 --> 00:41:41.199 It might come out of the faucet clean, but soon it gets polluted with other things. 00:41:43.760 --> 00:41:52.559 Let us trust and rest upon this promise that agape love will be regenerated by God. 00:41:52.880 --> 00:41:54.320 We will never run out. 00:41:54.480 --> 00:42:00.239 It is not like the faucet that you turn on and the water stops after a while. 00:42:00.719 --> 00:42:02.639 Because God is love. 00:42:02.880 --> 00:42:07.119 He is our source, our infinite source of agape love. 00:42:12.559 --> 00:42:14.639 My dear brothers and sisters. 00:42:17.360 --> 00:42:22.400 Agape love in its purest form is available to the saints. 00:42:22.559 --> 00:42:24.480 It can be expressed. 00:42:25.039 --> 00:42:30.079 Only the purest and the best is fitting for our Lord Jesus. 00:42:31.280 --> 00:42:40.480 Let me close with this saying that I grew up in South Africa, a country known for its diamonds. 00:42:41.039 --> 00:42:49.840 And many years ago there was a diamond found, one of the larger diamonds called the Cullydon Diamond, was found not very far from my home. 00:42:52.000 --> 00:42:58.320 Diamonds, they tell me, is coal. 00:42:58.559 --> 00:43:00.880 Basically, that turned into a diamond. 00:43:01.039 --> 00:43:02.159 But guess what? 00:43:02.400 --> 00:43:06.880 I've never heard of anybody finding a diamond in a coal mine. 00:43:07.440 --> 00:43:22.320 But interestingly, this diamond mine, the Cullinan diamond mine, found one of the most valuable diamonds of its time, not because it was large, but because it was pure. 00:43:24.320 --> 00:43:32.079 And that diamond ended up being the centerpiece to the crown of King the King of England. 00:43:34.800 --> 00:43:42.960 Likewise, agape love is that diamond that makes the centerpiece of the crown of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:43:43.519 --> 00:43:47.760 Not because it's big, but because it's pure and sincere. 00:43:48.719 --> 00:44:03.679 My prayer, dear brothers and sister, is that when someone walks into the four walls here of Faith Evangelical Free Church, that they will find the finest, the purest of love. 00:44:04.960 --> 00:44:13.920 Let us ask God to help us because He desires to help us. 00:44:14.159 --> 00:44:20.400 Dear Father God, what a high standard for love. 00:44:20.880 --> 00:44:24.800 Only the purest love is good for your crown. 00:44:26.480 --> 00:44:30.480 Only the purest love will bring you the praise and glory. 00:44:31.920 --> 00:44:34.960 I pray God that we will make time. 00:44:36.559 --> 00:44:44.159 In a time when we are slowing down, in a time that we ought to reflect on where we stand with you. 00:44:46.159 --> 00:44:58.079 I pray God that we will look at our hearts to make sure that it has been cleansed, that it has been purified. 00:44:59.199 --> 00:45:08.079 Let us make sure that our hearts are indeed pure, sincere, and authentic. 00:45:09.039 --> 00:45:17.440 And that indeed it has been cleansed by your blood, and that it's being regenerated by your spirit. 00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:29.440 I pray for this time that we will live in relative isolation from one another, but let our love for one another not grow cold. 00:45:31.360 --> 00:45:43.760 Let us desire, despite the circumstances not being ideal, desire to unleash our agape love on one another. 00:45:45.440 --> 00:46:15.440 Not because we must, but because we can.com.