I had a
sermon all prepared for this Sunday that was a follow up to last week's sermon, The title of that sermon is “This Too Shall Pass” “All we need is
love”.
Events of this past week, past
few months, in fact over the last few years, have really pointed out the divisions that
exist between us here in this country and throughout the world. Divisions of race, gender, religion,
politics, nation against nation, I could go on and on.
In The Sermon on the Mount which, is in chapters 5-7, of Matthew, Jesus
said that we should agree with our advisory.
Matthew
5:25-26 (NKJV)25 Agree with
your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary
deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be
thrown into prison.26 Assuredly, I
say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last
penny.
What Jesus is talking about was what to
do in the event you have a dispute about property or money. The adversary here was a creditor, who
demands and insists upon payment. Jesus
said agree before you go to court because if you lose and can’t pay the judgement
you could be put in prison until it was paid.
Later in this same sermon Jesus said that
not only should you agree with your adversary, but that you should also love
your enemy.
Matthew 5:44 (NKJV)44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless
those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who
spitefully use you and persecute you,
He was even more specific than that at
another time. When He was asked what
was the greatest commandment;
Matthew 22:37-39 (NKJV)37 Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD
your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'38 This is the
first and great commandment.39 And the
second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
To make it plain He went on to describe, with
a parable, exactly who that neighbor we are to love is. In His parable that neighbor actually turns
out to be an enemy.
We all know the parable of the Good
Samaritan. I’m not going to read it
because we’re familiar with it. If you
want to read it’s in Luke 10:30-36. To summarize;
There was this Jewish guy who got beat up
and robbed and was laying on the side of the road in bad shape. A couple of Jewish men, in fact a couple of religious
leaders, a priest and a Levite, passed by, saw that he was in bad shape, looked at him,
and even crossed to the other side of the road as to not come close to
him. Then a Samaritan came by. Now if you look at the history of the Jews
after their return from exile in Babylon, you’ll see that the Jews and
Samaritans were mortal enemies. It was a
lot like the animosity today between Christians and Muslims, Jews and Muslims,
or the feeling of some toward someone of a different race or today between
Democrats and Republicans or liberals and conservatives. It was that way
between Jews and Samaritans. So this Samaritan, an enemy, somebody who was
supposed to hate Jews, is the one who stopped to help, even to the extent of
spending his own money to see that his enemy, the Jewish guy, was taken care
of.
What Jesus was saying through this
parable is that we are suppose to show love to everybody, friends, enemies,
everybody, no matter who they are.
What does love have to do with solving
the problems that we have here in this country and in the world? I may be naive but, if we love each other
then we can talk to each other, if we love each other we can admit that we all
have problems, if we love each other we can agree to seek help to solve our
problems.
In order to have that that kind of love, we have to love like God loves. However the
presence of sin in the world prevents us from loving like God loves all the
time. Sin is really rebellion against
the authority of God as the Creator of all things. He told Adam and Eve that there was only one
thing they couldn’t do and that was to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil they disobeyed, and rebelled and sin entered the world that God
created. Since all mankind inherited
that sin nature it became impossible for sinful man to have the God kind of
love for everybody, all the time, even though Jesus told us to have it.
Scripture tells us that God is love.
1 John
4:7-8 (NKJV)7 Beloved, let us
love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and
knows God.8 He who does not love does not
know God, for God is love.
The scriptures also tell us that
if we believe in Jesus that we are born of God.
1 John 5:1 NIV Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is
born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.
When you are born of God as we mature we
should become more like God. God is love
so we should become love.
It’s funny that we don’t talk a lot about love for each other until something bad happens. Like the murders yesterday or a terrorist attack or families being separated. Then everybody, white folks, black folks, red folks, yellow folks, Christians, Muslims, Jews, Gentiles, Catholics, Protestants, gays, straight folk, start saying that we should all love each other. It's probably going on today in churches, and other places, across the country. There have been prayers about love, speeches about love, blogs about love, editorials about love. Love, love, love. Like the song written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, everybody is saying, “All You Need Is Love”.
It’s funny that we don’t talk a lot about love for each other until something bad happens. Like the murders yesterday or a terrorist attack or families being separated. Then everybody, white folks, black folks, red folks, yellow folks, Christians, Muslims, Jews, Gentiles, Catholics, Protestants, gays, straight folk, start saying that we should all love each other. It's probably going on today in churches, and other places, across the country. There have been prayers about love, speeches about love, blogs about love, editorials about love. Love, love, love. Like the song written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, everybody is saying, “All You Need Is Love”.
Love is a wonderful thing and if
we all really start to love each other there will be big changes, not only here in America, but throughout the
world.
But it is going to take more than just talking about it.
It’s going to take the kind of love that Jesus taught when He walked the
earth. It’s going to take the kind of
love that God has for us to make the kinds of
changes in us that will heal all these
divisions between us.
Yes, love is really all we need, but that means that many
of us are going to have to open ourselves up to what it really means to love
like God loves.
His love is unconditional.
The fact that you are a human being is
all that’s needed for God to show His love for you. He did that in
sending His son to die for you. There are no conditions on that love.That’s
the kind of love that we need before we can begin to solve the problems between
us.
The Greek word that was translated love in the New
Testament is agape. Agape is not
the natural kind of love that we have for a friend, or relative, or
spouse. It is the kind of love that God
has for us, the kind of love we don’t deserve
and can never earn.
That is the kind of love that caused Him to give His Son
for our salvation and to give us eternal life when we were sinners and His
enemies;
Romans 5:8-10
(NKJV)8 But God demonstrates
His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for
us.9 Much more then, having
now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.10
For if when we were enemies we
were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been
reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
Agape is the kind of love that
Jesus showed as He offered Himself as the sacrifice for the sins of all
mankind. The scripture that I just read said that it was through the death of God’s Son
that we are reconciled. Jesus loved us so much that He gave His life
for us while we were enemies. That’s
real love and the kind of love that we should have for each other and
our enemies.
John 15:12-13
(NKJV)12 This is My
commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay
down one's life for his friends.
1 John 3:16
(NKJV)16 By this we know
love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
That doesn’t mean that we always agree with each other but it does mean that we should love each
other enough to talk. That’s what you do when you agree with your adversary
quickly. You have to talk to each other in
order to start to agree.
So what does agape, the God kind of
love, look like.
Let’s go to a scripture that we’re all familiar
with;
1 Corinthians
13:4-8 (NKJV)4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love
does not parade itself, is not puffed up;5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own,
is not provoked, thinks no evil;6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in
the truth;7 bears all things,
believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail;
whether there are tongues, they will
cease; whether there is knowledge, it
will vanish away.
The first part of verse 4 tells us what love is like. It’s patient and kind. That’s the attitude that God has toward us.
2 Peter 3:9
(NKJV)9 The Lord is not
slack concerning His promise, as some
count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should
perish but that all should come to repentance.
That’s the way we should be with each other and with our
enemies. Be patient. Make your point, state your case and then wait. Give God a chance to work on your enemy, and
on you.
The rest of verse 4 through verse 7 tells us
what people with agape, the God kind
of love, do not do.
1
Corinthians 13:4b-6 (NKJV)4 love does not envy; love does not parade
itself, is not puffed up;5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own,
is not provoked, thinks no evil;6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in
the truth;
●
People with agape don’t envy others they are not
jealous. The kind of jealousy I’m
talking about is the destructive kind.
The kind that is suspicious of someone or their achievements.
●
People with agape
are not boastful. People boast to make
others notice them. It’s not possible to
be boastful and love at the same time.
Remember the Pharisee that Jesus talked
about in Luke 18:9-14, who in his prayer thanked God that he wasn’t like other
people especially the tax collector who
was also praying at the same time. It
was the tax collector, who was humble, who went home justified not the boastful
Pharisee.
●
People with agape are not puffed up or proud. A proud person thinks too much about his own
importance. A person with agape is humble.
Romans 12:3 (NKJV)3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to
everyone who is among you, not to think of
himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God
has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
The
point here is that you are saved through God’s grace not because of anything
you did or because of who you are.
●
People with agape don’t behave rudely or badly or
act inappropriately. That means more than just being polite. It means to think about others above
yourself.
Romans 12:3 NKJV For by the grace given
me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you
ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the
faith God has distributed to each of you.
●
People with agape don’t seek
their own first. They don’t look out for
their own interest before considering others.
1
Corinthians 10:24 (NKJV)24 Let no one seek his
own, but each one the other's well-being.
Philippians 2:3 (NKJV)3
Let nothing be done
through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem
others better than himself.
●
People with agape are not easily provoked. They do not easily become angry. Paul started
this description by saying that love is patient. One kind of patience is to be able to keep
calm when other people are angry. Agape
doesn’t answer insults with anger.
It’s alright to be angry at times but love is
patient even in anger.
Ephesians
4:26-27 (NKJV)26 "Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on
your wrath,27 nor give place
to the devil.
●
People with agape don’t take pleasure in evil
things, they don’t rejoice in iniquity, the fact that someone has fallen into
sin, has made a mistake, and is now suffering the consequences.
Proverbs 24:17 (NKJV)17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do
not let your heart be glad when he stumbles;
A loving
Christian doesn’t try to find fault in other people.
●
People with agape don’t keep a record of how people
have hurt them. God in Christ does not keep a record of our sins once we’re
saved so if we have agape we
shouldn’t keep remembering an action or
insult against us.
Ephesians 4:32 (NKJV)32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.
Some people say, ‘I will forgive but I will not forget.’
This statement means that the person has not really forgiven. To truly
forgive, we should treat the person as though what happened never
happened.
Now we can’t
do that on our own but I’ll tell you how you can in a couple of minutes.
Agape is permanent.
1 Corinthians
13:8-13 (NKJV)8 Love never fails.
But whether there are prophecies,
they will fail; whether there are
tongues, they will cease; whether there
is knowledge, it will vanish away.9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part.10
But when that which is perfect has
come, then that which is in part will be done away.11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I
understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put
away childish things.12 For
now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but
then I shall know just as I also am known.13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.
There are three things that are essential in the
life of a Christian, and really all people, they are
faith, hope and love. Faith that God will forgive us because of Jesus’ sacrifice,
hope for the future because of Jesus’ resurrection and His love. When Jesus
returns on the clouds with a shout there will be no
more reason for faith or hope but love will last through eternity because God
Himself is love.
Everything that I’ve said about agape sounds
great doesn’t it, and if everybody
had that kind of love there would be no problems in the world. Jesus said we must love not only our
Christian brothers and sisters but our enemies too.
John
13:35 (NKJV)35 By this all
will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
Matthew
5:44 (NKJV)44 But I say to
you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate
you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,
The only way that we can obey the
commandment to love everybody, to have agape,
no matter who they are is through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said;
John 14:26 (NKJV)26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the
Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your
remembrance all things that I said to you.
The Holy Spirit will produce
godly characteristics or fruit in you.
Galatians 5:22-23 (NKJV)22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there
is no law.
We have seen some glimpses of this kind
of love. We always see it in the
aftermath of tragedies.
Matthew 7:12 (NKJV)12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you,
do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Let’s start looking at these tragic
events as opportunity.
In fact scripture tells us that no matter
what happens God will work if for our good.
We don't know how but we trust that He can and will because He is love
and He has an eternal purpose for us.
Romans
8:28-29 (NKJV)28
And we know that all things work together for
good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son,
that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
God’s purpose for us to conform us to the
image of His Son Jesus, who is the
embodiment of LOVE.
What matters to God is our love for Him and our love for
each other. Wealth, power and status count for nothing in the kingdom of God.
When we truly love our neighbors, we do our part to make the world a better
place, and we find our own fulfillment in life.
Scripture
tells us to love one another, bear our brothers' burdens, and confess our sins
to fellow believers.
John 13:34 (NKJV) A new commandment I give to you, that you love
one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
Galatians 6:2 (NKJV) Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the
law of Christ.
James 5:16 (NKJV) Confess your
trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.
The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
Romans 12:18-21 NKJV If it is possible,
as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather
give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine , I will repay, says
the Lord. Therefore “if your enemy is
hungry, feed him, if he is thirsty give him a drink; For in so doing you will
heap coals of fire on his head”. Do not
be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:18-21
NKJV If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is
written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore “If your
enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing
you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but
overcome evil with good.
The scriptures
that I read today were written for and to Christians. In other words, we're to give ourselves away
to others and receive from them in return. That's how we Christians can
stimulate one another to Christlikeness and when others see our love for each
other and for them it’s an opportunity for the Holy Spirit to show them through
us how much God loves them and wants to save them.
These times are an opportunity
for us to let our lights shine. To take
our lamps from under the bushel, to be that light to show the world what agape is and lead them to Christ.
Matthew 5:14-16 NKJV “You are the light
of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a
basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they
may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
If you're here today and want to experience the agape that God has for you it's simple. All you have to do is to accept the work that Jesus has already done on your behalf paying the price for all your sins. Here’s what the Bible says;
If you're here today and want to experience the agape that God has for you it's simple. All you have to do is to accept the work that Jesus has already done on your behalf paying the price for all your sins. Here’s what the Bible says;
Romans 10:8-10 (NKJV)8 But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart"
(that is, the word of faith which we preach):9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord
Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will
be saved.10 For with the
heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation.
Is there
anyone here today that has not accepted Jesus as your Savior come now.
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in
believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy
Ghost. Romans 15:13
