Being Helpful Toward Others

It has been a while since I have written a post. I was leading a Bible study yesterday and it was a good lesson on how to be an encouragement while offering constructive criticism. At times we can fall into a critique that points more toward division rather than toward positive change. This can make or break relationships. Honestly, I have had positive and negative examples of this. And if I am honest, I have been a positive as well as a negative example of this. So, let’s dig in.

Advice from a father-in-law?

There can be danger in giving and receiving advice from in-laws. Let me just start off by saying I have the most wonderful in laws ever. You might think you have the best, but you don’t. I am the lucky one that got the best. Early on in my relationship with my wife Amy (because of my immaturity), I felt threatened by them. This type of situation can be an opportunity for conflict and division. We see though in the context of Moses’ relationship with Jethro (his father-in-law) a beautiful example of how a father-in-law can speak, transforming truth into his son-in-law’s life.

We see in this interaction an example that we can follow and attempt to have positive and transforming relationships with not just our in-laws, but with others as well. There is an outline of sorts that can be drawn from the text. The passage we are looking at is Exodus 18. We see that Moses had sent his family (wife and two children) to stay with his father-in-law, and now Jethro was bring them back to Moses (Exodus 18:1-6). At the beginning of this reunion Moses is telling Jethro all that God had been doing in his and the people of Israel’s life (Exodus 18:7-8). Jethro then expressing praise and appreciation about what God has been doing, and he held a celebration of this blessing of God and reunion (Exodus 18:9-12). The next day Moses is busy with his duties as the leader of the people of Israel (Exodus 18:13). Jethro was observing how Moses was conducting his duties (Exodus 18:14). At this point Jethro became concerned about how Moses was doing his work. He sought to understand what exactly Moses was trying to do and why he was going about it that way. Moses described what his duties were (Exodus 18:15-16). At this point Jethro expresses his concern (Exodus 18:17), and validates how difficult the task that Moses is facing (Exodus 18:18). Jethro then proceeded to offer his recommendation of how Moses could more effectively conduct his duties (Exodus 18:19-23). Moses wisely heard and implemented the recommendations that his father-in-law made (Exodus 18:24-26). Now that we have an overview of this whole event let’s dig in and see what we can learn that might apply to our own relationships.

Building an environment of praise and thankfulness

We see at the beginning that Jethro was interested in what Moses had been doing. This is no small matter. In relationships (if you hope to be a positive influence) you must be genuinely interested in what is going on in his or her life. This takes time. Notice also that it was more than a simple catching up on what had happened, but it was a celebration of what God had been doing in Moses’ life. We often as Christians miss the opportunity to praise and celebrate God’s work in people’s life. We talk about the trivial and the mundane all the while neglecting the deeper spiritual nature of life. Also notice that the focus was not on the unpleasant hardships that had been faced. Both Moses and Jethro focused on the positive things that had occurred. This is so important. We can build a culture of grumbling. In Philippians 2:14-16 we read:

Philippians 2:14–16 CSB

Do everything without grumbling and arguing,

so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world,

by holding firm to the word of life. Then I can boast in the day of Christ that I didn’t run or labor for nothing.

In this passage we learn that we are to do everything without grumbling or arguing. One way we can do this is to focus on praiseworthy things. It is interesting as well that this lack of grumbling and arguing is to be faultless in a crooked and perverted generation. When the world around us has descended into a quagmire of grumbling and arguing we as believers have an opportunity to create a community that shines like stars in the dark world. That is exactly what Moses and Jethro were doing here. Moses could have easily fallen into grumbling. In fact, just a couple of chapters earlier grumbling risked tearing this newly established nation apart (Exodus 16:2ff).

1 Thessalonians 5:15–18 CSB

See to it that no one repays evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good for one another and for all.

Rejoice always,

pray constantly,

give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Notice here that giving thanks in everything is God’s will for those of us who are in Christ. Also notice that we are to pursue what is good for one another and for all! This can be demanding work. It is much easier to selfishly seek good for ourselves or for our own group. But the command to seek good for all is unmistakable. Well, that is the environment that Moses and Jethro were creating in their relationship with each other.

Paying attention to and learning what is going on

The next thing we can observe from this interaction between Jethro and Moses is that Jethro was paying attention to the circumstances of Moses’ life (Exodus 18:14). To be a positive influence on others you must be alert and engaged. As a counselor I have learned the power of attentive listening. Unfortunately, in my life I have also learned the damage from inattentiveness in relationships. The problems that inattentiveness can be very hurtful and at times devastating to the relationship. In this case to be engaged is to care for the soul of another. This is no small privilege and this is among the greatest of responsibilities. But Jethro’s example goes even a step further.

No doubt Jethro had already formed an opinion about the foolishness of Moses trying to take on the questions and problems of hundreds of thousands of people all by himself. He could have led with, “Moses you are being foolish.” but instead he chose to ask Moses what he was attempting to accomplish. Being a positive influence is more than just offering your opinion. It deepens your understanding of the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of the other person. It is understanding what makes them tick. What motivates them and why do they do the things that they do? People may be foolish, ineffective, or hurtful in the things they do, but there is always an underlying reason for what they do. Jethro looked beyond the absurdity of the situation to attempt to understand Moses’ heart. We would do well to practice the same in our relationships. This invitation to Moses to share what he was doing reveals that his task was God ordained. Jethro does not take away from this high calling. He is about to share with his son-in-law how he might more effectively accomplish the calling that God has on his life.

A disposition for giving and receiving advice  

Proverbs 25:11–12 CSB

A word spoken at the right time is like gold apples in silver settings.

A wise correction to a receptive ear is like a gold ring or an ornament of gold.

It turns out (not surprisingly) that how you give and receive advice is as (if not more) important as the quality of advice that you are giving. That is in part what we are trying to describe here.

Jethro is gently and humbly approaching Moses with his concerns. So often we are eager to give our opinions to others. And yet the Bible clearly speaks against this type of disposition as seen in Proverbs 18:2 “A fool does not delight in understanding, but only wants to show off his opinions.” Our disposition ought to be to be wise in the timing and manner of our speech. This requires humility and compassion.

It is also important that the person receiving advice has a humble disposition. Proverbs 19:20 “Listen to counsel and receive instruction so that you may be wise later in life.” Proverbs 13:10 “Arrogance leads to nothing but strife, but wisdom is gained by those who take advice.” Having a heart to hear those around you makes you wise. So often we fall into a response that is defensive. Moses could have said to his father-in-law “God chose me to give advice and instruction to the people. Who are you to now instruct me?” Moses spoke to God face to face. And yet with great humility he listened to what Jethro had to say (Exodus 18:24).

Pride and arrogance are antithetical to wisdom. Proverbs 11:2 “When arrogance comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.” So then in both giving and receiving advice humility is a sweet taste to bitter medicine. We do well to remember this very important disposition.

Validation before advice

At the heart of Jethro’s correction of Moses was a care and concern for his wellbeing. This is expressed through his validation that “you will wear yourself out” and “you cannot do this alone.”  No doubt Moses would have been exhausted after a non-stop sunup to sundown counseling session with the people of Israel. Jethro validates this for Moses. He speaks understanding and empathy here. When we can express care and understanding toward others, we place ourselves in the best possible place to give advice. On the other hand, when we fail to validate or worse say things that are dismissive then we could have the most wonderful advice in the world, but it is very unlikely to be received. Validation opens the heart to hear. Validation is an expression of deep understanding and awareness of the other person’s thoughts, feelings, and actions. Now notice Jethro did not have to see Moses’ actions as being good, in fact he says, “what you are doing is not good.”  Validation is not agreement. Validation is compassionate understanding (See Colossians 3:12-15).

Giving advice

Wisdom comes from God! This advice from Jethro was wise. At times wisdom is more than understanding theological truths. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not dismissing the importance of these. Jethro was not challenging the important work or message that Moses was bringing to the people. What he was concerned about was the effectiveness of his ministry and more importantly how that would impact Moses and the people of Israel. I am thankful for those that can investigate a situation, offer a fresh perspective, and further present workable ideas for improvement. We should always be open to hear wisdom even when it comes from our in-laws.

So, in summary, then giving good advice starts with a humble and compassionate disposition as the giver and receiver of that advice. It is best to have a culture of thankfulness and praise. Advice in a grumbling culture is not often well received. Giving advice requires a front-end investment in paying attention and learning about the other person. It is rooted in a deep care and concern for the other person and not an opportunity to pridefully share your opinion. Finally, validation of the other person’s thoughts, feelings, and situation should always precede advice. Being dismissive and invalidating leads to conflict and division. The challenge to us is to “speak the truth in love” and in doing so we will become mature demonstrating that Jesus Christ is our Lord (see Ephesians 4:15). Let us rise to the challenge to offer and receive wisdom from one another. God Bless You!

~BJ

Let Your Light Shine (Good Works)

Matthew 5:14–16 CSB

“You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

The church is to be a light to the world. We are not to hide from speaking the truth. However, in this metaphor Jesus is not talking about preaching or teaching specifically. He is talking about action. And while preaching and teaching are good works for the edification of other believers, preaching and teaching do not necessarily shine a light to the world (unless an unbeliever happens to show up in church).

Notice the phrase “so they may see your good works.” We have this task while on this earth. Jesus has given each and every follower responsibility to live in such a way that good works abound and that they abound for the public to see. In order to be seen then the work here must be some tangible manifestation of goodness. What is “Good?” When we do something that is honorable, beautiful, kind, generous, friendly, pleasant, excellent, and the like then we are doing something good. It is this goodness that honors God and leads others to give glory to our Father in heaven.

Just to be clear these good works are not “works of the law.” Works of the law is man’s attempt to earn favor with God. It reduces the relationship with God to a mere transaction in which we do certain things and God returns the favor. These works of the law are completely inadequate to living a transformed life (Ephesians 2:8-9). If you do not have a relationship with God then you need to receive the good news message of Christ. Works of the law will not rescue you from mistakes, problems, and missing the mark.

If you have a personal relationship with Christ then good works are evidence that you are walking with Jesus and that you are His follower (Ephesians 2:10). These good works are commanded over and again throughout the Bible. Christians are to be known for their goodness.

It is sad to me that we often come up short in showing goodness to those around us. Often times we miss the mark due to poor attention to those around us. We also are so interested in our own agenda that we look at others in our lives as objects and not real people. This self-absorbed approach to life leads to a lack of goodness in our lives. We fail to demonstrate goodness toward others. In many ways the church has put it’s light under a basket. The light of good works is so infrequently celebrated that one begins to wonder whether the church is about the Lord’s work.

Not all is hopeless; I am thankful that there are individuals that are shining a light. They inspire me with kindness, generosity, encouragement, friendliness, and love. I think it is important to celebrate Christians that are shining the light of good works. This is not to glorify them, but rather to say what great glorious work God is doing in and through the lives of His followers. Faithful workers also point the way to restored hope of being the lampstand that God has called His churches to be (Revelation 2:5). May God restore our conviction to be a light; May we be diligent in good works; may God be glorified.

God Bless You

~BJ

Love (Rescue from the Curse)

 I have been posting on love these many months. I have one more post on this topic and will be moving on to other topics. I will, God willing, revisit this subject that has been near to my heart. This post is not directly about love, but rather the removal of the curse as an act of love by God.

There will no longer be any curse.
Revelation 22:3a

There are times when the full weight of guilt rests upon our conscience. The guilt and shame overcome and drag us down to the depths of despair. This tangle of condemnation rests upon everyone. You see there is not a one of us that can escape the reality that we all miss the mark in life (that is sin). Missing the mark is no small thing either. Sure, we can think about minor sins and say that was not a big deal. However, how can we gage how large a sin must be before it is considered bad. Is the badness related to the nature of the sin itself? What if the sin is frequent does that make it worse? Does remorse change the nature of guilt? All of these and more are interesting questions. James an early follower of Christ answered these questions this way: “For whoever keeps the entire law, and yet stumbles at one point, is guilty of breaking it all. (Jas 2:10)” That seems harsh to the modern ear. Paul another follower of Christ said it this way: “For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, Everyone who does not do everything written in the book of the law is cursed. (Ga 3:10).” The point is this if you are depending on being a good enough person to please God you have already come up short.

Loving God and loving others well is a response to having the curse removed from your life. The curse is that we can never be good enough on our own. No amount of good works can make you a good person. However, when the curse is removed, we can reach the full potential of what God has created us to be. In many ways this returns us to the occasion that Jesus said to love God and love others. The question was how to inherit eternal life. To which Jesus replied to Love God (with all heart, soul, and strength) and to love your neighbor as yourself. A follow up question was “Who is my neighbor?”  Jesus used a parable to explain that our neighbor is another human being in need that we care for regardless of what group they identify with.

We come up short though. So, are we hopelessly under the curse? Yes and no.

“Yes”

As I have already mentioned we cannot be good enough to remove the guilt and shame of our sin. We remain under the curse of this sin and our virtuous deeds do not rescue. It is a hopeless and impossible state.

When the disciples heard this, they were utterly astonished and asked, “Then who can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
(Mt 19:25–26)

With man it is impossible to be saved from the curse.

“No”

Our hope is in God’s promise. It is possible to escape the curse when we come to and trust in God.

For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.
(Jn 3:16–18)

Simply stated it is God’s love for us that provides the escape from the curse. The progression is quite simple. God loves us. He gives us a way to escape the curse. His Son Jesus provided the way. If we believe in Jesus, we receive the escape of the curse. Dear friends that is God’s love!

Love Sustaining Love

Watch Sermon Here: https://www.sermonaudio.com/solo/rbcchurch/sermons/213222013388097/

A few weeks back someone asked me, “How love could be both the root and the fruit of the Christian life?” It is a very good question. Today I hope to describe how love and be the root, growth, and fruit of the Christian life. To illustrate this, I am going to use the analogy of an apple tree. I am holding in my hand here an apple seed. And in my other hand an apple. Now we can understand how this can become this over time. This analogy is useful in understanding love of God and how it can be the seed, root, growth, and fruit of our lives.

Another way to examine love is to look at it grammatically. “Love loves love!” is a complete sentence. Love is the subject, action, and object. In this way we can look at love as being a complete package. It is the fullness of love that is lived out in the Christian life.

As I mentioned in last week’s sermon God is the source and author of love. God is love. In this way when we come to Christ God plants the seed of love in our heart and lives that is His Holy Spirit. When we allow this love to mature in our lives it is the action of this love to produce sanctification in our lives. By loving God and others well the seed of love grows into maturity. In the flesh we simply love those who love us. Jesus says “What good is it to only love those who love you. Even sinners do the same.” So, then the higher mature love is to let God through His process of sanctification work in your heart to put to death selfish and unloving ways. As we mature then God uses our lives to produce mature fruit. This fruit of love is then a witness to a lost world, but also a ministry to the brothers and sisters in Christ.

In this way love can be both the source and the fruit. And this should not come as a surprise to us. The Bible frequently describes how we reap what we sow.

Galatians 6:7–9 CSB

Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a person sows he will also reap, because the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.

Why should we expect anything different when it comes to the greatest spiritual virtue of love?

2 Corinthians 9:6 CSB

The point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously.

​

Let’s dig into God’s Word!

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John 15:1–17 CSB

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples. “As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commands you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. “I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. “This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn’t know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me, but I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. “This is what I command you: Love one another.

I have already talked about the second part of that passages in the past two sermons. Jesus has laid down His life for our sins. He is talking about those that place their faith in Him the ones that listen and obey Him. Jesus is calling them friends. This is what happens when we turn from living a sinful and selfish life to trusting in Christ as our Lord and Savior. What a friend we have in Jesus.

This command to love is connected then to the sacrifice that Jesus has made. Jesus also is a commanding us to “love one another.” This command to love one another is connected then to the first part of this passage with an important phrase. Jesus says in John 15:9 ““As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain in my love.” The phrase “remain in my love” establishes a clear connection between the visual of vine and branches and His teaching on loving obedience to God and sacrificial love toward others. Taking it a step further I believe that the description the follows the metaphorical language is one of Jesus’ explanations to his disciples (See Matthew 13:10-17). We know that Jesus would use the metaphorical language of parables and then pull His disciples aside to explain what the parables meant.

The Source of Love

Ultimately Jesus is our source of Life and Love. In this passage Jesus refers to himself as the vine and refers to us as branches. God the Father is the gardener. We see then that it is our connection to and abiding in Christ that gives us life and fruitfulness. We often look at our salvation experience through the lens of getting a ticket to heaven. However, if we take the metaphoric language seriously there is a life sustaining connection to Christ that is needed. It also says that those that are not fruitful are cut off and thrown into the fire.

The question might be what causes a branch to be unfruitful? There is a verse I want to zero in on here. John 15:6 “If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”

I recall when we used to have rose bushes that I would cut back once a year. In the spring as the bush would grow there were on occasion branches on the bush that although they were connected to the base of the rose bush physically, they were not connected in a life-giving way. This is referred to as die back. It is important to cut out the die back when it is detected as whatever is causing it can infect the health tissue in the rose bush and cause it to die. I bring this up because Jesus seems to be saying that there is a difference between being physically connected to the vine and abiding in the vine. When we are merely physically connected, we do not produce fruit because we are dead. In the same way a dead rose branch will never produce a rose and needs to be cut off if we are not connected to abiding in Christ then we will likewise be cut off. That is dead in a spiritual sense. This has eternal consequences. This passage also says that these branches will be burned up. This is a clear representation of eternal punishment in hell in my opinion.

John 3:16 “For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” This is a familiar verse to most church goers. It also can be familiar to the world at large. Less familiar is John 3:18 “Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.” It is this condemnation that leads to branches being burned up.

Notice the connection to love though. In John 3:16 we read “For God so loved the world.” In John 15:9 we read “remain in my love.” The Gospel is an expression of God’s love for us. We experience and are connected to God’s love when we believe in Jesus Christ as our savior.

Jesus is the source of our love. It is his love that flows into our lives and enables us to bear the fruit of love.

Using the picture then this apple seed is symbolic of the gospel of God’s love. If this gospel it received and planted then it grows up. Love, more specifically God’s love is that seed.

The Growth of Love

Pruning

It would seem that there is more to this than simply believing in Christ. In this metaphorical language Jesus also says that God the Father is pruning those that remain in Christ. There is not only salvation, but also a process of sanctification that is occurring as God removes those parts of you that are getting the way of being fruitful. As followers of Christ then we must be willing to respond to God to remove those barriers. Jesus not only describes the action of being cleaned, but also the method of being cleaned. Notice John 15:3 “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”

It is the Word that God uses to do His pruning. Our Heavenly Father is the Gardener and His Word is the pruning shears. God’s word is often represented as an instrument that cuts.

Hebrews 4:12 CSB

For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

There are so many things that get in the way of the fruit of love. None greater in my estimation than the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Truly as I think about the times that I have failed to love well it is nearly always one of these two. On the one hand the way that I think about the other person has a huge influence on how I treat them. It is also possible that when it comes down to it, I really never intended to love them in the first place. My thoughts about the other person simply become a way to soothe my conscience for acting in an unloving manner toward them. I can justify being unloving because they deserve it.

One more point before moving on. I realize that we can push metaphors too far so as to lose their meaning, but if you will indulge me just a bit. Pruning shears are no good to us if they simply sit in the shed collecting dust. It is only when we take them out and use them to prune that the purpose of the shears is fulfilled. Can I just say an unopened Bible is like pruning shears stored away in a shed. As we talked about last week it is only by being in the Word of God that we can know what it is that we are to obey. This week I would extend that to say that it is only by studying the Word of God that God can actively remove those things that God wants out of our lives. If you wonder why God is not producing fruit in our life individually or in the collective lives of our church is it possible that we do not spend nearly enough time in His Word if we spend any time at all?

So back to my analogy then. The seed of the gospel grows up into a tree. This apple tree is cared for by God. He loves and cleans the believer so that they will be fruitful. At times this cleaning is unpleasant.

Hebrews 12:11 CSB

No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

We often consider suffering and discipline as being the opposite of love. But it is not so God genuinely cares for you and longs for good in your life. Submitting to His discipline is for our ultimate well-being. Apathy that is a lack of care or concern is the opposite of love.

Proverbs 3:11–12 CSB

Do not despise the Lord’s instruction, my son, and do not loathe his discipline; for the Lord disciplines the one he loves, just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.

So then love is the growth of the apple tree toward maturity.

The Fruit of Love

Keep my commands / Love one another

I know we discussed this last week. One of the key ways that we express love toward God is through obedience to His commands. Jesus tells us that keeping His commands is the way that we remain in His love. This truth can generally apply to all the commands of God. In the New Testament there are over 300 commands of Christ. Admittedly not all the commands apply to us. Some apply to the disciples alive at the time of Christ. Jesus in this passage focuses on one command in particular. In John 15:9 “As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain in my love.” He then redirects the command to focus on others in John 15:12 “This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you.” He repeats the command again saying John 15:17 “This is what I command you: Love one another.”

The command to “Love one another” placed so closely to the Vine metaphor and the keep my commands statement would make this particular command of primary importance. The fact that Jesus says it twice would make this an especially important emphasis of His teaching to “remain in his love.” It seems that to remain in Christ’s love that we are obliged to love one another. This is consistent with other passages in scripture as well. I have covered many of these “love one another” commandments in my previous two sermons. Just to highlight a couple of them:

1 Peter 4:8 CSB

Above all, maintain constant love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins.

 

1 John 4:11 CSB

Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another.

 

Romans 12:10 CSB

Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honoring one another.

Truthfully, I could go on and on with the multitude of verses that command us to love one another that are in God’s Word. The command to love is an unambiguous teaching of God’s word. If we are to remain in Christ then Love ought to be central theme of our relationships. Further Love that is our ability to love one another is the central evidence that God’s love is in us.

The primary purpose of abiding, pruning, obeying, and loving is found in John 15:8 “My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.” The aim is to glorify God through being fruitful and proving to be Jesus disciples.

In Galatians and Ephesians, we find a good summary of what this fruit is to look like.

Galatians 5:22–23 CSB

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things.

 

Ephesians 5:8–10 (CSB)

Walk as children of light—for the fruit of the light consists of all goodness, righteousness, and truth—testing what is pleasing to the Lord.

Love is a sort of shorthand for all these things. Notice that the in the Fruit of the Spirit that Love is the first thing that is mentioned. It is not a stretch to suggest that Love is the premier fruit. Notice also that the Fruit of Light which is goodness, righteousness, and truth is consistent with Loving God which is to say obeying His truth. Fruitfulness in the Christian life necessarily involves love both loving God and loving others. That is why Jesus said:

Matthew 22:37–40 (CSB)

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

Love also is how we prove that we are Jesus’ disciples as well:

John 13:34–35 CSB

“I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

When the people outside the church look in, they don’t say, “Oh those people sure are smart!” Nor do they say, “Those Christians they are so righteous.” No Jesus says it plainly, “Everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Love is our witness to a dark world. Love is our witness when everything around us is violence. Love is our witness when contempt is the way of the times. Love is our witness while the world is tearing itself apart. Love, it is love that is our witness. It is love that shows others that we are abiding in Christ. In short if you want to Glorify God then you must love Him and love one another.

This apple is the fruit of the seed and the tree of the apple. In this same way Love in particular the love of Christ is the seed of love in our lives. As we abide in Christ the love and life-giving sap allows us to grow up and mature like an apple tree. God prunes us with His word. Finally, this same love become the fruit that glorifies our Heavenly Father. Love sustains love.

Love Sustains Love

As we draw to a close this series of messages on love, I want to challenge you all to consider a few things.

First are you in Christ? This message only makes sense if you are in Christ. If not then I want to encourage you to seek to be in Christ. Truthfully Jesus is seeking for you this morning. If you want to be found in Christ then in a few minutes we will be having a time of commitment. I would love to have a chance to share with you about how to abide in Christ. Our staff would also be available after the service if you want to pull one of us aside to learn more about this.

Second, if you are in Christ are you in God’s Word? As we have learned the only way, we can know what is pleasing to God is to study His message to us found in the Bible. We also learned today That God prunes the dead things in our lives using the Word found in scripture.

Finally, Are you fruitful in love? This is a burden for me. Everywhere I look in our times there is contempt, mean spirited words, hate, and violence. Brothers and Sisters, we must present ourselves different from the world. We cannot fall into the darkness of the world or follow the ways of the world. Let our love that is love for God and love for others shine brightly in a dark dark world. Further let’s not make this love mere lip service. Let’s not make this love be a simple attitude adjustment. No let’s serve God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Let’s sacrificially love and build up one another. Let’s take the greatest love story humanity has ever known to a world that desperately needs His love. That is the heart our Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s pray!

 

From Love Commanded to Love Lived Out

Here is the link to this sermon: https://www.sermonaudio.com/solo/rbcchurch/sermons/26222242321050/

Bible college professor Yohanna Katanacho, who pastors a small church in Jerusalem, is subjected to much persecution. Israeli soldiers who patrol the city looking for potential terrorists impose spontaneous curfews on Palestinians and have the legal right to shoot at a Palestinian who does not respond quickly enough to their summons.

Yohanna tried and failed in his attempts to love his enemies. The Israeli soldiers’ random daily checks for Palestinian identification cards—sometimes stopping them for hours—fed Yohanna’s fear and anger. As he confessed his inability to God, Yohanna realized something significant. The radical love of Christ is not an emotion, but a decision. He decided to show love, however reluctantly, by sharing the gospel message with the soldiers on the street. With new resolution, Yohanna began to carry copies of a flyer with him, written in Hebrew and English, with a quotation from Isaiah 53 and the words “Real Love” printed across the top. Every time a soldier stopped him, he handed him his ID card and the flyer. Because the quote came from the Hebrew Scriptures, the soldier usually asked him about it before letting him go.

After several months, Yohanna realized his feelings toward the soldiers had changed. “I was surprised, you know?” he says. “It was a process, but I didn’t pay attention to that process. My older feelings were not there anymore. I would pass in the same street, see the same soldiers as before, but now find myself praying, ‘Lord, let them stop me so that I can share with them the love of Christ.’ ”

—“When Love Is Impossible,” Trinity Magazine (Fall 2005)

This morning I hope I can give you a taste of what it means to love God and love others. Truthfully, I have been working on this for nearly a year and half and I still believe I have much more to learn about Love. The likelihood that I will be able to condense all there is to know about practically living out love in a 30-minute sermon is nil. If I were to preach on the what the Bible teaches about love every Sunday it would take nearly 4 years to deal with every passage that the Bible mentions love. There is no way possible to accomplish that task in a few sermons. So, my hope is to highlight a few things and then encourage you to do some exploring on your own.

God’s Faithful Love

In God’s word we read that God is love.

1 John 4:7–21 CSB

Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him. Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and his love is made complete in us. This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and we testify that the Father has sent his Son as the world’s Savior. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God—God remains in him and he in God. And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. In this, love is made complete with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because as he is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So, the one who fears is not complete in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother or sister whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And we have this command from him: The one who loves God must also love his brother and sister.

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God is love. We look to the life of Christ as the manifestation of God with us. He is our Emmanuel which means God with us. In this passage I just read Jesus demonstrates His love by pursuing us and ultimately sacrificing His life for our salvation. He was willing to give all for you and for me for our ultimate wellbeing. That we might be able to be saved from sin and destruction.

In the Old Testament we learn about “Faithful Love.” The Hebrew word is hesed (Hay-sayd). This word is most often translated “faithful love.” It also is translated “Kindness” “Loyalty” “Gracious” “Faithfulness” and “Constant Love.” When we say God is love it is this love that we are referencing. God’s love is faithful, God’s love is kindness, God’s love is gracious, God’s love is constant!

The first time this word is used in the Bible it is in a prayer by a servant of Abraham while seeking a bride for Abraham’s son Isaac. Genesis 24:12-14

Genesis 24:12–14 CSB

“Lord, God of my master Abraham,” he prayed, “make this happen for me today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. I am standing here at the spring where the daughters of the men of the town are coming out to draw water. Let the girl to whom I say, ‘Please lower your water jug so that I may drink,’ and who responds, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels also’—let her be the one you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”

As he finishes the prayer Rebekah arrives. She is beautiful and full of hospitality and grace. She invites the servant of Abraham back to her father’s house. She was a perfect match for Issacs. So the Servant praises God saying: Genesis 24:27 “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld his kindness (hesed) and faithfulness from my master.”

Prayer as it relates to love

Before moving on I want to note something about prayer as it relates to love. This servant knew something about God’s faithful love. He prayed that God’s faithful love would be made reality. When it came to pass then He worshiped and praised God for His faithful love. This seems to me a good pattern for us to follow. We seek to learn about God’s faithful love, we pray that God’s faithful love be a reality in our lives, and praise God when His faithful love is manifest in our lives.

There are many other occasions that God’s people praise God’s faithful love. One such instance is in the song the Israelites sang after crossing the Red Sea on Dry land. The whole event was evidence of God’s mighty hand at work. The protection from the Egyptians pursuing them, the parting of waters, the crossing all of it was God’s hand. They sang a song of praise. One stanza of this song says

Exodus 15:13 CSB

With your faithful love, you will lead the people you have redeemed; you will guide them to your holy dwelling with your strength.

 

300 Sermon Illustrations from Charles Spurgeon The Love of God Burns in Our Hearts (1 John 4:7, 19; Jude 21)

You have a magnifying glass and hold it up before the sun until you focus the rays on a piece of dry wood and set it on fire. Now, while you see the wood burning to ashes, will you tell me what it is that burns? Does the heat of the sun burn the wood or does the wood burn? The heat that you feel while the wood is burning, is it due to the sun or to the wood? Of course at first the fire is purely and simply the flame of the sun, but afterwards the wood itself begins to burn; the sun burns the wood and then the wood itself burns.

Even so the love of God comes into our heart, and then our heart loves too, and in both cases “love is from God” (1 John 4:7). No man is a Christian unless he himself loves God with his own heart, but yet our love to God is nothing more or less than the reflection of God’s love to us: so that it comes to the same thing.

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The point I think is to understand how to love God we must first learn to understand God’s faithful love for us, seek to have that love manifest in our lives, and praise Him for his faithful love. The foundation of our love for God is not something that we find in ourselves ultimately. It is a manifestation of God’s faithful love flowing through us back to God and toward others. God’s faithful love in us.

God’s Love Is Faithful

Our affections can ebb and flow. The things I loved as a young adult seem quite trivial to me now. And the things that seemed trivial back then have become more important to me now. Love expressed in this way is not really the type of love we are seeking to understand here. God’s love is faithful. If we are to represent and manifest God’s love then our love ought to be faithful as well. What does faithful love look like?

As a Christian we know that God highest love is the atoning work of Jesus Christ. What does that mean? Jesus said before He died on a cross that

John 15:12–14 CSB

“This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.

We also read that:

1 John 3:16 CSB

This is how we have come to know love: He laid down his life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

When we look at these words of Christ and John, Christ’s sacrifice is central to the love we are discussing here today. You see our sin separates us from the faithful love that God wants to show us. So much so that left to our own ends we remain separated and unable to obey the command to love others. So, is Jesus asking us to do something that is impossible then? Well yes and no. It is impossible to love as God has commanded us without some supernatural change in our hearts and lives. Jesus is more than an example of how to love others. He is the very substance of Love that enables us to love God and Love others. It is the Gospel that is the source of ultimate love that flows into our lives and redeems our souls so that we can love God and love others empowered ultimately by God’s Holy Spirit.

Now if you have obeyed the Gospel then you already know what I am talking about. However, if you are here this morning and you have never received the message of salvation for your soul then the rest of this sermon is unlikely to do you any good. You must settle in your heart today whether you will surrender your life to Jesus Christ and make him savior and Lord of your life. Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection from the dead is the most supreme and loving act of all history. He wants you to respond and follow in his loving sacrifice. That is the obedience Jesus and John are proclaiming here. To Love God is to respond favorably to this Gospel call. This is the first step of obedience that grows and matures into the fullness of loving God and loving others.

Loving God’s Truth

1 Corinthians 13:6 CSB

Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth.

Time and again God’s word connects obedience to loving God. Last week a shared several verses with you that stated how if we love God, we obey his commands.

1 John 2:5 CSB

But whoever keeps his word, truly in him the love of God is made complete. This is how we know we are in him:

Truly obedience to God’s word is our act of love. We are walking in love when we are faithful to God’s commands. This loyalty to God’s commands then is an expression of faithful love. It is this love for which we are striving. Why do we love God? Because God first loved us!

Jesus said it this way:

Matthew 22:37 CSB

He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

You see this love for God is Loving God with all your heart, soul, and mind.

How do we know God’s truth?

So, if loving God is obeying his commands, then the next logical question is how do we know God’s commands? Jesus has already answered that by quoting the verse in the Old Testament. Let’s look at that verse now:

Deuteronomy 6:4–9 CSB

“Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates.

So how do we know God’s commands? Well one thing you are doing correctly right now is showing up. When we come together to hear from God’s Word, we are learning a bit about God’s commands. So, seeking out solid Bible teaching is essential. We have life groups that meet on Sundays and some during the week. These groups spend time in God’s word learning from God’s Word and challenging one another to live out God’s commands in our lives. One thing though that is often missing is study God’s word for ourselves. Your love for God will be directly related to the amount of time that you spend in the Bible. This passage says to have God’s word in your heart repeat them to your children, talk about God’s word as you go through life, bind them to your hand write them on your forehead. God’s word is to be an intimate part of everyday life not just something you study once or twice a week. If you want to love God more, you would do well to spend more time studying and meditating on God’s word. Then as God’s will becomes more and more apparent, then you will learn and live out faithful love.

I just finished reading the Bible cover to cover in 90 days. I am going through a second time and am about a third of the way through. I read about an hour a day. Now think about this how many activities during the day do you spend an hour or more that have no eternal consequence. Would you be willing to join with me this year to give an hour a day for studying God’s word? Maybe you don’t read as fast. That is OK it is not a race. Read at your pace, just get into the word. Maybe you have a short attention span. That is OK as well. Take 20 minutes in the morning, 20 minutes midday and 20 minutes in the evening. My challenge to you is to regularly get into God’s word. It is only by knowing God’s word that we can truly obey His word and it is only by obeying his word that we can genuinely love God! If you commit to this hour a day you will be able to read through the Bible easily within the next year. Even when you miss a day or two along the way.

Loving Others

I would like to now turn our focus on to loving people. I will not be able to adequately cover the breadth of this subject. I only hope that we can get a taste of what it means and that you would as you dig into God’s word to get the depth of how we are to love each other.

Without rehashing last week’s sermon let’s makes some quick observations and then dig into a couple points. When we think about love for others there are multiple categories of people that this applies to. Each group we will experience and express love differently. This is mainly the nature of the relationships that we have. For example, the love I express toward my wife Amy is going to be different in experience and expression than the love I generally express to all of you. Some key groups then we see in scripture are spouses, family, elders (family and church), friends, fellow Christians, enemies, and the people world in general. Quickly then in a marriage love is to be demonstrated in the way that a husband lays down his life for his wife (Ephesians 5:25-33; Colossians 3:19; 1 Peter 3:7). This also is demonstrated in the way that a wife in turn respects her husband’s loving sacrifice toward her and submits to him. The Bible is unambiguous on this: A loving marriage is between a man and a woman. Our culture is working hard to redefine the nature of marital relationships. We cannot compromise on this to disobey God is to say we really do not love Him. That being said Husbands if you want to learn love, learn to lay your life down for your wife. This is not an either or. This love only works when both husband and wife are doing their part in relationship. With family we are to raise our children not in anger but to love and honor God (Ephesians 6:4). With our parents we are to honor them (Ephesians 6:1-3).

With fellow believers we love each other by building one another up, encouraging, meeting together, seeking unity, seeking peace, and provoking loving works (Ephesians 4:1-3,Colossians 3:14, Hebrews 10:24). With our elders we are to care for them (1 Timothy 5:3-4, 8). With church elders we are to honor them and make sure they are adequately compensated for their work (1 Timothy 5:17-20).

With friends we tell them the good news of Christ and serve them where we are able; we love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:31; John 15:12-13). With our enemies we love them by providing for their basic needs, treating them with kindness, and praying for them (Luke 6:27-36). I have included the references to these verses so that you in your personal Bible Study time can get into God’s Word and write upon your heart the reality of God’s faithful love, our love for God, and our love for others. This week and in the last sermon I referenced about 70 passages about this subject. There are so many more I could have referenced. Someone joked after the last sermon “I hope you don’t run out of verses to use in your sermon.” This is not possible. In fact, God’s word mentions love over 752 times. To put this into perspective the Bible (The numbers vary a bit depending on the English translation) mentions the word doctrine 6 times, Discernment 36 times, Teach and teaching 231 times, learn 82 times, truth 170 times, and Holy 653 times. God’s overwhelming message to is in His Word is Love! The word love is found throughout the Bible. Here is a graph that shows the frequency of the word Love.

I will make all the Bible references in the last two sermons available on the RBC website and a paper copy is on the table in the back. I encourage you to dig into God’s word.

What does love look like?

I would like to spend these closing moments highlighting a few things from the love chapter.

1 Corinthians 13:4–8 CSB

Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end.

Love is long-suffering. The word patient is defined as suffering long for the one that you love. It is interesting to me that the very first characteristic of love is suffering. It seems strange, but as you meditate on in it ultimately becomes a profound truth. When we suffer long for the person, we love it becomes the ultimate expression of love.

Love is kind. Kindness is greatly missing from our lives in our culture. We are more likely to experience contempt and rejection that kindness and love. We can all work at being more kind to one another and those around us.

Love is not self-seeking. When we use relationships for selfish ends we cannot claim to be loving.

Romans 12:10 CSB

Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honoring one another.

The goal is to take the lead in the race of loving and honoring each other. Further:

Acts 20:35 CSB

In every way I’ve shown you that it is necessary to help the weak by laboring like this and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, because he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Giving is a blessing. In fact, Jesus says the blessing that comes from giving is greater than the blessing from receiving. Giving Love is greater than receiving love from others! Showing Kindness is greater than receiving Kindness. This is the mark of the Christian faith, “that we love one another.”

Conclusion

What can we say then? First Love reflects God’s faithful love. It is this loyal, kind, gracious, and steadfast love that God has for us that is the foundation of the love that we have for God and others. It is only by having this love in us through faith in Jesus Christ that this love is possible. Second, to obey God is to love God. The only way we can know and obey God is to saturate ourselves lives in His teachings. We do the through sermons, study groups, and most importantly individual study of His word. Third, we know that God has commanded us to love others. This takes many forms depending on the nature of the relationship. It is unquestionable that we are to love in all these relationships whether the inmate relationship of a spouse to the challenge of those that persecute and hate you and everything in between. In all things persevere in love. Finally, we need to recognize the love is long-suffering, kind, and self-sacrificing. When we commit to this type of love, which by is ultimately is expressed in Christ’s laying his life down for our salvation our souls, then we will be revived, our church will flourish, and our world will be transformed by the powerful faithful love of God. Let us pray.