From Love Lost and Misguided to Love Commanded

 

Robert Olson / General

 Sermon Preached 1/2/2022 Watch Here: From Love Lost and Misguided to Love Commanded

Love...

…Lost

…Misguided

…Commanded

This morning I am starting a series of three sermons.  Today I am speaking on Love lost, love misguided, and love commanded.  Next week I am going to speak to the practical ways that we can love God and love others.  And then on February the 13th I hope to speak to the consistency and perseverance of love.  

I would like to give you a little background for this series.  Approximately two years ago I was working with a couple in my counseling practice.  We were discussing the Bible’s command for husbands to love their wives and what that meant practically.  This couple had been through many bible studies and marriage conferences. Then the husband who had been in church the whole of his life said something quite amazing to me.  He said, “I don’t know how to love my wife.”  At the time it struck me as odd that a person that had sat under the teaching of some very conservative and seemingly solid biblical teaching would make such a statement.  After all “God is love.” We also have 1 Corinthians 13, the “love chapter.”  Also the predictable sermon on love on or around Valentine’s day.  Several books, retreats, conferences and so on.  How was it possible that that this husband could have spent so many years and not learn what it meant to love. 

I determined to write a study on love.  Initially I was going to write the study on love in the marriage relationship.  It was intended to be an exploration on the “love chapter.”  I was able to complete the draft copy of the study about a year ago.  The preparation and writing of that study has taken me personally on a journey that I did not quite expect.  Not only did that husband not know what love meant, I discovered my own understanding was woefully inadequate to what the scripture has to say about love.  In fact, every time I look into scripture about love I discover more that I had missed. 

I recall that a rather perfunctory survey of 1 Corinthians 13 and some commentary and a few books on marriage counseling had been the whole of my knowledge on this subject.  I was feeling pretty confident.  Little did I know that God was about about to confront my pride on this subject. 

God’s timing is everything.  We as a church were seeking God as to a direction for the future of Richland Baptist Church.  God gave Pastor Travis the wisdom to put together a strategic visioning team.  The team was started pre-COVID but not by much as the majority of our meetings have been over zoom.  In that we developed a statement to guide the future of RBC.  This was a labor of several people in our congregation and the staff to genuinely seek out God’s direction.  Hours of discussion we were able to distill what God was giving to us in three admonitions: Loving God, Loving People, Multiplying Disciples.  For many years RBC has worked hard to fulfill the “Making Disciples” mission of the church.  In some ways this new focus was not really new.  God has used and will continue to use RBC as a shining light for making disciples and supporting missions work.  But God in his timing and wisdom was saying that RBC had lost its way when it came to love.  We had become a organization busy doing important work, but all the while missing the opportunity to really connect in a loving way to God, brothers and sisters in Christ, and the community around us. 

Mission Statement

 “Saturated with continuous prayer, Richland Baptist Church values the glory of God above all things by:  Loving  God,  Loving  People, Multiplying Disciples”

This parallel work confirmed to me and to others I believe that transformation and sanctification needed to get back to a first love.  As such God put it on my heart to advocate for Love at every opportunity.  Ironically I think I have annoyed several with a overwhelming focus on love.  I was initially surprised that there would be some that would be critical of this.   After all Loving God and Loving others are the two greatest commandments.  Yet I did step on some toes. 

God was working on me as well.  I realize that I come up short when it comes to loving as God would have me love.  At every turn over the last couple of years has been a test to love and offer encouragement toward others.  At times I have even thought whether the whole focus on Love was really worth it.  God in His grace always brought me back to the importance of love.  He also made me painfully aware of how I had come up short in this way.  Many tears have been shed as I realize how painfully obvious it is that I really don’t know how to love.  Am I a hypocrite writing and talking about love?  You bet I am.  But at least now God has my attention.  My hope is that He will get yours as well. 

I have to apologize for such a long introduction.  However, I felt it would help you all understand where I am coming from in this focus.  I also know that this journey is shared by many others.  In the Church staff and leadership have been longing for God’s love and transformational love in our lives.  There have been many of you that have encouraged me over the last couple of years.  For every negative God has used several of you to offer encouragement when I thought I might give up.  As much of my thoughts have been public I have been encouraged by pastors, bible teachers, and missionaries.  Often through private messages offering similar sentiment.

So the focus of this morning and next week is Love. 

Love Lost

First I would like to look at love lost.

Revelation 2:2–6 CSB

I know your works, your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate evil people. You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars.

I know that you have persevered and endured hardships for the sake of my name, and you have not grown weary.

But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first.

Remember then how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

Yet you do have this: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

This message is from Christ through divine vision through John to the church in Ephesus.  According to this message the Ephesians had a zeal for God’s righteousness.  Jesus commended them for taking a stand against evil, false teachers, and unrighteous practices.  They also apparently faced hardships that they endured for following Jesus.  They would have appeared to most of us I think as a church that had it together doing the right thing.  However something very important was missing.  Love.  Not only was love missing, but it had been abandoned. 

Love was abandoned in that the actions they were taking while righteous had no thought of love.  Love was something that did not figure into their reasoning.  They had become a church of righteous activity devoid of any thought of love.  Oh how far they had fallen from the love they had at the beginning.  This change in focus also change the mission.  Notice that they also had stopped doing the works they had done at first.  No doubt these early works reflected the love they had for God and for one another. 

In short then they had abandoned the  thought  of love, abandoned the  focus  of love, resulting in the abandonment of  works  of love. 

Living in a loveless relationship erodes the soul.  I have met with many couples that have abandoned the love they have for each other.  It is a sad situation.  Often they are coming to see me to fulfill some obligation that they made to seek counseling before seeking divorce.  Truthfully though they are already divorced in their heart.  They have abandoned their first love. 

The same loveless atmosphere can choke out a local body of believers.  When love is abandoned in a church it becomes agenda driven.  Who ever has the greatest influence wins the agenda.  It becomes works based.  The measure of success becomes programs, classes, and numbers.  Without love relationships take a back burner to the event and the calendar.  Without love guilt becomes the primary driver of relationships.  Every action is taken to minimize shame.  Obligation replaces care and genuine concern.  Without love preaching at people becomes more important than ministering to people.  Without Love so called evangelistic events become more important that addressing the needs of the community at large. Over time it erodes and chokes out the vitality of the church. 

R.C Sproul speaking on common grace said it like this:

This unnatural  schism took place where evangelicals began to say “Oh social action, social concern, concern for the general welfare of the human race that’s a liberal matter. That’s a liberal agenda. Whereas concerns for the souls and personal salvation, that’s the real concern of the church.” If Christ would hear that He would say “A pox on both your houses.” Because the church is called not only to the ministry of special grace, but also to the ministry of common grace… …If you find somebody sick and dying in a ditch you don’t ask them how they got in that ditch. The love of Christ is to constrain you to pull them out of that ditch and do everything you can. That is what the story of the Good Samaritan is all about.

Jesus offers this warning Rev 2:5 “Remember then how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.”

First Jesus challenges them to remember how far they have fallen from first love.  In some ways I am hoping that is what we are doing this morning.  Remember your first love when all was alive, brilliant, and good.  Even bad news was greeted with an eternal optimism in your soul.  Before the bitterness of ideology, demagoguery, and pride settled into your soul.  Remember when the words “I forgive you” flowed freely off you lips as an expression of the forgiveness you had received from God.  Now we choke on the words if they are uttered at all.  Remember when kindness and compassion drove you to care and concern for your fellow humanity. Love my dear brothers and sisters is the thing that is missing.  Jesus continues by commanding repentance.  Repentance is a change of heart and mind toward the subject at hand.  Jesus is saying to change your mind about the importance of love.   Love is the preeminent fruit of a life filled with God’s Holy Spirit.   We must align our minds with this truth.  That without love everything and literally everything we do, say, or think is utter meaninglessness and devoid of anything of value.  We must agree with God.  Here are a couple of verses to keep in mind while repenting of how far we have fallen. 

1 Corinthians 13:1–3 CSB

If I speak human or angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.

And if I give away all my possessions, and if I give over my body in order to boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.

2 John 6 CSB

This is love: that we walk according to his commands. This is the command as you have heard it from the beginning: that you walk in love.

1 John 4:20 CSB

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.

In short religious activity without love is  nothing ,  disobedience  to God is not love, and saying you love God while hating others makes you a  liar . 

Love Commanded

You see love is not a command of God it is the command of God. 

Mark 12:28–31 CSB

One of the scribes approached. When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which command is the most important of all?”

Jesus answered, “The most important is Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.

The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.”

Think about this for a moment.  Jesus the Son of God, creator of the universe, the savior of our souls identifies loving God and loving others as the two greatest commandments.  There are none greater than these.  It would seem to me that if these two are the greatest that we as believers ought to not only understand what it means to love God and Love others, but we also ought to be practicing these as well.  When we acknowledge these commands Jesus says Mark 12:34  “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” So not only are they the greatest commands, but the expression of Love of God and Love of others is directly connected to nearness of the Kingdom of God.  Dear friends this Love is important.  It ought to be the central characteristic of the Christian faith.

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.”

Again Jesus makes love the core identity of being one of His disciples.  And it is the love that we have for one another that marks a follower of Christ.  We cannot miss this point. 

Jesus elevates love as the core of our faith. 

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.

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.

Listen to Paul, John, and Jesus!  We have a problem of Love.  If you are offended by this statement then let me just say you need to examine your rebellious heart! Loving well is the clear teaching of Christ. 

To be offended by love is to be offended by Christ!

Love Misguided

One of the problems that we face when it comes to love is that we can have affection for things that are not of God.  That is to say we can have a misguided love.  The objects of our affection are as important as the affection itself.  If we love something that is false then we become a part of that falsehood.  We become married to something that is not of God. 

Here are some examples of misguided love. Loving only those that love you (Matthew 5:43-46), Loving money (Matthew 6:24), Loving popularity (Luke 11:43; 20:46), Loving evil deeds rather than Christ (John 3:19-20), Loving men’s praise over God’s Praise (John 12:43), Loving the world during hardship (2 Timothy 4:10), Loving the wages of evil deeds (2 Peter 2:15); Loving the things of this world (1 John 2:15); Saying loving words without loving action (1 John 3:18), Loving spiritual sounding displays of religion (Matthew 6:5), Loving favorites in your family (Genesis 37:3-4), Loving evil words (Psalm 52:3-4), Loving ignorance (Proverbs 1:22), Loving to offend and cause strife (Proverbs 17:19).  This list is not exhaustive. However, I think you get the point.

Having the appropriate focus of our love and affection is very critical.  Loving the wrong thing makes you unrighteous not good. We must guard our hearts to love the things that God loves and reject the things that God rejects.  We must set boundaries about our love.  If we do not we will find that our affections do not reflect the genuine love of God.  On the other hand we cannot in our efforts to set boundaries abandon the centrality of Love that God places in our faith and hope.  We must not abandon love of God and others.  Remember the stark warning:

Revelation 2:4–5 CSB

But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first.

Remember then how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

If we abandon our love then God would be just in removing our influence and our very existence as a church from this place.  It is that important to Jesus.  It ought to be that important to us. 

As a preview for next week I want to read a selection of way the scripture commands us to love God and love others.

Loving God

Matthew 22:37 “He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”

John 14:15 ““If you love me, you will keep my commands.”

John 14:23 “Jesus answered, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

John 15:10 “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.”

1 John 2:5 “But whoever keeps his word, truly in him the love of God is made complete. This is how we know we are in him:”

1 John 4:16 “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.”

1 John 5:2-3 “This is how we know that we love God’s children: when we love God and obey his commands. For this is what love for God is: to keep his commands. And his commands are not a burden,”

2 John 6 “This is love: that we walk according to his commands. This is the command as you have heard it from the beginning: that you walk in love.”

 

Loving Others

Matthew 5:44 “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,”

Mark 12:31 “The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.””

John 15:12-13 ““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.”

Romans 13:8-10 “Do not owe anyone anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not covet; and any other commandment, are summed up by this commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law.”

1 Corinthians 14:1 “Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy.”

1 Corinthians 16:14 “Do everything in love.”

Galatians 5:14 “For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement: Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Ephesians 4:1-3 “Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”

Colossians 3:14 “Above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.”

1 Timothy 4:12 “Don’t let anyone despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.”

Hebrews 10:24 “And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works,”

James 2:8 “Indeed, if you fulfill the royal law prescribed in the Scripture, Love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well.”

1 Peter 1:22 “Since you have purified yourselves by your obedience to the truth, so that you show sincere brotherly love for each other, from a pure heart love one another constantly,”

1 Peter 4:8 “Above all, maintain constant love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins.”

1 John 3:11 “For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another,”

Truthfully there are many more passages that I could include.  I did not include Old Testament passages and this was a survey of the New Testament.  God in His word elevates love above all things.  In fact obedience without love is rejected by God.  Faithful love is the Character of God and if we are to reflect God’s character in our lives then faithful love ought to be our aim in our relationship with Him and in our relationship with others.  We will explore this in greater depth next week.  We will look at what does loving God and Loving others practically look like.  For now, let's examine our hearts to determine whether we have come up short in the two greatest commands from our Lord and Savior.  Let us take notice of how far we have fallen.  Let us repent and set our minds on the Love of God.  Finally let us return to the loving works we did when we first came to Christ!  Let us Pray!