WEBVTT 00:00:03.919 --> 00:00:08.460 In his book, Enjoying Intimacy with God, J. Oswald 00:00:08.460 --> 00:00:14.660 Sanders penned these words, In its essence, love 00:00:14.660 --> 00:00:18.219 is the self -imparting quality in the nature 00:00:18.219 --> 00:00:22.839 of God that moves him to seek the highest good 00:00:22.839 --> 00:00:27.179 of his creatures, in whom he seeks to awake responsive 00:00:27.179 --> 00:00:32.329 love. Because of that love, Because of that, 00:00:32.429 --> 00:00:36.789 love is basic to our knowledge of and intimacy 00:00:36.789 --> 00:00:42.149 with God. Let me read that statement again, I 00:00:42.149 --> 00:00:46.670 hope. Because of that, love is basic to our knowledge 00:00:46.670 --> 00:00:52.450 of and intimacy with God. Love is grounded in 00:00:52.450 --> 00:00:55.490 the nature of God and is the highest expression 00:00:55.490 --> 00:00:59.810 of character. We are mature only to the degree 00:00:59.810 --> 00:01:04.930 we are mature Love is more than sentiment. It 00:01:04.930 --> 00:01:09.090 is an activity. It must express itself, sacrifice 00:01:09.090 --> 00:01:15.269 itself, pour itself out on another. And that 00:01:15.269 --> 00:01:19.709 is what Romans chapter 12 explains to us, that 00:01:19.709 --> 00:01:24.569 love is not mere sentiment or emotion, but love 00:01:24.569 --> 00:01:28.349 is action. It is deeds. It is words. It's what 00:01:28.349 --> 00:01:33.299 we do. Love is the lubrication which allows the 00:01:33.299 --> 00:01:36.299 members of the body of Christ to function smoothly, 00:01:36.500 --> 00:01:42.980 harmoniously, and without friction. He says, 00:01:43.000 --> 00:01:48.400 let love be without hypocrisy, in verse 9. In 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:52.659 other words, let love be genuine, true, real. 00:01:54.420 --> 00:01:57.719 And then he begins to describe to us various 00:01:57.719 --> 00:02:03.209 aspects. of genuine love. He speaks in verse 00:02:03.209 --> 00:02:09.349 9 about love's morality. Love abhors evil and 00:02:09.349 --> 00:02:13.969 clings to what is good. In verse 10, he speaks 00:02:13.969 --> 00:02:19.770 of love's loyalty. He says, be devoted to one 00:02:19.770 --> 00:02:23.370 another in brotherly love. That is, there is 00:02:23.370 --> 00:02:29.650 to be a warm love, a tenderheartedness, within 00:02:29.650 --> 00:02:33.909 the family of God, which causes us then to give 00:02:33.909 --> 00:02:37.729 preference to one another in honor. We seek the 00:02:37.729 --> 00:02:41.629 advance of the other, not ourselves, shunning 00:02:41.629 --> 00:02:46.889 the spotlight for ourselves. In verse 11, we 00:02:46.889 --> 00:02:52.550 see love's energy. Love does not lag behind in 00:02:52.550 --> 00:02:56.210 diligence. That is, it is not slothful. It is 00:02:56.210 --> 00:03:01.080 resilient, not lazy. Love is fervent in its spirit. 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:06.300 It is energetic, zealous, enthusiastic. And it 00:03:06.300 --> 00:03:10.780 causes us to serve the Lord as slaves, as those 00:03:10.780 --> 00:03:14.659 who are entirely given to the will of their masters. 00:03:15.719 --> 00:03:20.740 And so the energy of love is that it boils with 00:03:20.740 --> 00:03:25.379 enthusiasm, it is fervent, it is not slothful, 00:03:25.439 --> 00:03:33.400 and it serves God. as slaves, obediently. In 00:03:33.400 --> 00:03:37.460 verse 12, we come to its buoyancy. There is a 00:03:37.460 --> 00:03:44.360 buoyancy in love. I did not say flippancy. Sometimes 00:03:44.360 --> 00:03:48.719 the two are confused. But there is a buoyancy 00:03:48.719 --> 00:03:56.639 about love. He says, rejoicing in hope, persevering 00:03:56.639 --> 00:04:01.250 in tribulation, devoted to prayer. Let's read 00:04:01.250 --> 00:04:29.350 on through verse 16. Let's think first about 00:04:29.350 --> 00:04:34.389 this aspect of love, its buoyancy. Love rejoices 00:04:34.389 --> 00:04:40.069 in hope. Hope is the reason for love's buoyancy. 00:04:40.769 --> 00:04:45.870 Hope being defined, biblically, as a confident 00:04:45.870 --> 00:04:52.089 expectation which rests upon the promises of 00:04:52.089 --> 00:04:55.670 the God who cannot lie. That's what hope is, 00:04:55.750 --> 00:05:00.120 biblically. It is a confidence in God that he 00:05:00.120 --> 00:05:04.480 is coming through. That what he says he will 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:10.600 do. Rejoicing in hope is the buoyancy of love. 00:05:12.660 --> 00:05:18.220 That hope can be defined in various ways. In 00:05:18.220 --> 00:05:22.980 one sense, it is Christ indwelling us. Paul says, 00:05:23.079 --> 00:05:27.620 Christ in you, the what? The hope. Of glory. 00:05:28.220 --> 00:05:31.160 And so we have a Christ who lives in us who will 00:05:31.160 --> 00:05:36.360 never leave us or forsake us. Never. Even when 00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:39.180 we are caught by surprise with circumstances. 00:05:40.060 --> 00:05:43.519 It does not mean that he has left us or forsaken 00:05:43.519 --> 00:05:48.480 us. Because our hope in him is that he lives 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:54.759 in us. He indwells us. Furthermore, he is in 00:05:54.759 --> 00:05:59.860 control. Our hope rests in a God who not only 00:05:59.860 --> 00:06:03.860 indwells us, but who is sovereign. And therefore 00:06:03.860 --> 00:06:08.160 we can rest in our present circumstances, though 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:13.660 we may not understand them or be able to perceive 00:06:13.660 --> 00:06:17.720 them with all of the depth we would like to, 00:06:17.860 --> 00:06:22.660 we can rest in our present circumstances, knowing 00:06:22.660 --> 00:06:28.329 that God is never caught off guard. Our Lord 00:06:28.329 --> 00:06:30.810 is sovereign. Either He is sovereign or He is 00:06:30.810 --> 00:06:35.069 not sovereign. It's one or the other. And if 00:06:35.069 --> 00:06:37.930 He is sovereign, that means He can take the circumstances 00:06:37.930 --> 00:06:41.430 that we face today as a church and bring them 00:06:41.430 --> 00:06:44.889 out to His ultimate purpose for us. Now that 00:06:44.889 --> 00:06:46.889 we either believe that or we don't believe it. 00:06:46.970 --> 00:06:51.389 But we believe it. And that is the buoyancy in 00:06:51.389 --> 00:06:54.709 our hope. That's the reason we rejoice in hope. 00:06:55.199 --> 00:06:59.180 Because God can take the heart of a king or a 00:06:59.180 --> 00:07:04.819 banker or any of us and turn our hearts so that 00:07:04.819 --> 00:07:09.680 we will accomplish what he wants us to. But then, 00:07:09.699 --> 00:07:12.500 if in this life only we have hope in Christ, 00:07:12.639 --> 00:07:15.720 we are of all men most miserable. Our hope is 00:07:15.720 --> 00:07:18.060 not just for these years that he's in control, 00:07:18.120 --> 00:07:20.920 but the fact that he's in control of our eternal 00:07:20.920 --> 00:07:25.470 destiny. Our hope goes beyond the years of life 00:07:25.470 --> 00:07:29.569 to eternity to come. And our hope is secure in 00:07:29.569 --> 00:07:33.529 Jesus Christ. We have the promise that where 00:07:33.529 --> 00:07:39.449 he is, there we will be also. Therefore, we rejoice 00:07:39.449 --> 00:07:43.389 in our hope in all of its aspects. And this rejoicing 00:07:43.389 --> 00:07:47.949 leads us then to persevere in tribulation. We 00:07:47.949 --> 00:07:51.420 are to expect tribulation. May I remind you of 00:07:51.420 --> 00:07:56.160 what the apostle of our church said, the apostle 00:07:56.160 --> 00:08:01.639 Paul in Acts chapter 14, verse 22. It is through 00:08:01.639 --> 00:08:05.079 many tribulations that we enter into the kingdom 00:08:05.079 --> 00:08:10.560 of God. The Lord Jesus himself said in John chapter 00:08:10.560 --> 00:08:13.540 15, don't be surprised if the world hates you. 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:18.050 Know that it hated me before it hated you. May 00:08:18.050 --> 00:08:20.209 I paraphrase that and say, don't be surprised 00:08:20.209 --> 00:08:23.370 if the world doesn't understand you. It didn't 00:08:23.370 --> 00:08:27.870 understand Jesus either. We are to expect pressures. 00:08:28.970 --> 00:08:33.309 We are to look forward to stress without complaint. 00:08:33.830 --> 00:08:38.610 We are to be courageous as we face them. We are 00:08:38.610 --> 00:08:43.070 to stand quietly. We are not to seek to evade 00:08:43.070 --> 00:08:48.159 tribulation or pressure. but rather we are to 00:08:48.159 --> 00:08:56.360 stand up under it, as did Jesus. John MacArthur 00:08:56.360 --> 00:09:00.700 shares the story of Christendom in his book, 00:09:00.779 --> 00:09:05.779 Kingdom Living. Christendom was a marvelous Christian 00:09:05.779 --> 00:09:10.519 in ancient times, an orator, perhaps unexcelled, 00:09:10.519 --> 00:09:17.230 a mighty preacher. He was summoned to Rome. to 00:09:17.230 --> 00:09:21.330 appear before the emperor Arcadius, and was threatened 00:09:21.330 --> 00:09:24.690 by the emperor with banishment if he didn't cease 00:09:24.690 --> 00:09:30.309 to proclaim Jesus. And to that, Chrysostom replied 00:09:30.309 --> 00:09:35.070 to the emperor, Sire, you cannot banish me, for 00:09:35.070 --> 00:09:39.350 the world is my father's house. Then I'll slay 00:09:39.350 --> 00:09:44.509 you, exclaimed the angered ruler. Nay, but you 00:09:44.509 --> 00:09:48.090 cannot. for my life is hid with Christ in God. 00:09:49.370 --> 00:09:52.149 Your treasures will be confiscated, came the 00:09:52.149 --> 00:09:56.450 fiery retort. Sire, that cannot be. My treasures 00:09:56.450 --> 00:09:58.830 are in heaven, where none can break through and 00:09:58.830 --> 00:10:02.350 steal. But I will drive you from man, and you 00:10:02.350 --> 00:10:05.990 will have no friends left. That you cannot do 00:10:05.990 --> 00:10:08.590 either, for I have a friend in heaven who has 00:10:08.590 --> 00:10:10.750 said, I will never leave you or forsake you. 00:10:11.830 --> 00:10:15.629 What do you do with a guy like that? I'm sure 00:10:15.629 --> 00:10:19.429 Arcadius would like some advice. Ultimately, 00:10:19.710 --> 00:10:22.730 Chrysostom was banished to the edge of Armenia. 00:10:23.769 --> 00:10:27.190 But he so continued there to influence his friends 00:10:27.190 --> 00:10:30.870 by his letters that his enemies determined they 00:10:30.870 --> 00:10:34.309 would banish him even further away. And on that 00:10:34.309 --> 00:10:39.190 journey, he died. There was a man who persevered 00:10:39.190 --> 00:10:46.110 in tribulation. Love does that. It is buoyant 00:10:46.110 --> 00:10:51.909 in the time of tribulation. It perseveres. Now 00:10:51.909 --> 00:10:54.789 how is it that we can rejoice in hope, especially 00:10:54.789 --> 00:10:58.049 in the midst of pressure? The answer is found 00:10:58.049 --> 00:11:00.850 in the third phrase in that verse. Be devoted 00:11:00.850 --> 00:11:04.350 to prayer. That's the source of buoyancy, folks. 00:11:05.909 --> 00:11:08.450 That's how we maintain the first two statements 00:11:08.450 --> 00:11:14.220 in this verse. Give yourselves to prayer. steadfastly 00:11:14.220 --> 00:11:20.580 continuing in prayer. When we pray, we look beyond 00:11:20.580 --> 00:11:25.080 our present circumstances to see the omnipotent 00:11:25.080 --> 00:11:29.639 God who controls our circumstances. Dr. Norman 00:11:29.639 --> 00:11:35.000 Geisler defined prayer recently as that slender 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:38.299 nerve which moves the muscle of omnipotence. 00:11:38.580 --> 00:11:44.409 I like that. Prayer is that slender nerve that 00:11:44.409 --> 00:11:47.149 moves the muscle of omnipotence. When we pray, 00:11:47.289 --> 00:11:51.110 we are not seeking to overcome some reluctance 00:11:51.110 --> 00:11:56.789 on God's part, nor are we attempting to convince 00:11:56.789 --> 00:12:02.350 God of some good thing for us, as we would perceive 00:12:02.350 --> 00:12:06.070 it. But rather in prayer, what we are doing is 00:12:06.070 --> 00:12:08.230 really saying, God, this is what our requests 00:12:08.230 --> 00:12:12.929 are. We know that you are sovereign and you are 00:12:12.929 --> 00:12:16.110 all good. And we're going to be satisfied with 00:12:16.110 --> 00:12:20.529 whatever you do. You see, prayer is not trying 00:12:20.529 --> 00:12:24.289 to convince God of our way. Prayer is saying, 00:12:24.350 --> 00:12:27.049 Lord, what is your way? We want to do it. There's 00:12:27.049 --> 00:12:31.169 a difference. Prayer is not commanding the hand 00:12:31.169 --> 00:12:35.809 of God to do something for us. But prayer is 00:12:35.809 --> 00:12:37.690 coming before our Heavenly Father and saying, 00:12:37.769 --> 00:12:42.179 Father, what would your hand do for us? There's 00:12:42.179 --> 00:12:45.460 a difference. We need to be devoted to that kind 00:12:45.460 --> 00:12:49.019 of prayer. The kind of prayer that gets in tune 00:12:49.019 --> 00:12:54.080 with God and then walks with God. When we are 00:12:54.080 --> 00:12:57.120 devoted to prayer, it will produce love's buoyancy. 00:12:59.080 --> 00:13:03.720 In verse 13, we come to love's liberality. We 00:13:03.720 --> 00:13:07.980 are to be liberals, you know. Not in doctrine, 00:13:08.100 --> 00:13:13.129 but in love. He says, contributing to the needs 00:13:13.129 --> 00:13:18.830 of the saints, practicing hospitality. The verb 00:13:18.830 --> 00:13:24.309 contributing is our word fellowshipping. Koinonia. 00:13:24.629 --> 00:13:28.289 It means to share. And frankly, the idea is to 00:13:28.289 --> 00:13:31.909 share money, to share things, to share material 00:13:31.909 --> 00:13:35.509 wealth with those who have need. We are to look 00:13:35.509 --> 00:13:38.590 out for one another in this way. In fact, as 00:13:38.590 --> 00:13:41.009 Paul pens this epistle, that's exactly what he's 00:13:41.009 --> 00:13:45.169 involved in. Look over in chapter 15, verse 25. 00:13:46.730 --> 00:14:06.509 He says, For if the Gentiles have shared in their 00:14:06.509 --> 00:14:09.389 spiritual things, they are indebted to minister 00:14:09.389 --> 00:14:12.830 to them also in material things. You see, the 00:14:12.830 --> 00:14:14.830 Jewish brothers in Jerusalem were undergoing 00:14:14.830 --> 00:14:18.250 severe persecution, and so the Gentile brothers 00:14:18.250 --> 00:14:20.570 in other parts of the empire took a love offering 00:14:20.570 --> 00:14:23.629 and contributed to the needs of those Jewish 00:14:23.629 --> 00:14:28.110 brethren. Now, Paul says they were pleased to 00:14:28.110 --> 00:14:31.350 do that, but actually they're obligated because... 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:35.620 The Gentiles have come to share the Jewish spiritual 00:14:35.620 --> 00:14:40.019 heritage, their Christ. And because of that, 00:14:40.059 --> 00:14:42.659 there's a debt to them. But nonetheless, he says 00:14:42.659 --> 00:14:45.580 they were pleased to do so. Would it please us 00:14:45.580 --> 00:14:48.580 to contribute today to the needs of the saints? 00:14:50.340 --> 00:14:53.100 I mentioned in my column in the worship folder 00:14:53.100 --> 00:14:57.240 today, an orphanage that I'd like for us to help 00:14:57.240 --> 00:15:01.879 during this Christmas season. Some little children 00:15:01.879 --> 00:15:06.200 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, who are facing some difficult 00:15:06.200 --> 00:15:09.700 circumstances, as I've explained briefly in that 00:15:09.700 --> 00:15:13.120 column. Can we, in this time, when we are so 00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:16.179 focused upon what we're going to give to people 00:15:16.179 --> 00:15:19.740 we know and love, reach out to strangers we don't 00:15:19.740 --> 00:15:24.779 know and say, I want to share with you? How many 00:15:24.779 --> 00:15:26.740 of the people in Macedonia and Achaia, you suppose, 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:30.190 knew somebody in Jerusalem? Well, a few of them 00:15:30.190 --> 00:15:33.750 may have, but not many probably. And yet they 00:15:33.750 --> 00:15:36.769 shared generously because they were part of God's 00:15:36.769 --> 00:15:40.570 family. You see, love was liberal. And he goes 00:15:40.570 --> 00:15:43.309 on to tack it down even further. He says, practicing 00:15:43.309 --> 00:15:47.990 hospitality. A few weeks ago I said that hospitality 00:15:47.990 --> 00:15:54.049 is one of the characteristics of a healthy church. 00:15:55.269 --> 00:16:00.690 Literally the word means to love strangers. The 00:16:00.690 --> 00:16:03.169 Phillips translation puts it this way in this 00:16:03.169 --> 00:16:06.889 verse, never grudging a meal or a bed to those 00:16:06.889 --> 00:16:15.509 who need them. Being hospitable. In Hebrews chapter 00:16:15.509 --> 00:16:19.590 13 and verse 2, we are commanded to show hospitality 00:16:19.590 --> 00:16:24.330 to strangers. And he says, some in so doing have 00:16:24.330 --> 00:16:28.850 entertained angels unaware. And that day there 00:16:28.850 --> 00:16:32.320 were... primarily three groups that would need 00:16:32.320 --> 00:16:35.019 this kind of hospitality. There were those who 00:16:35.019 --> 00:16:38.460 would travel and who were Christians. You say, 00:16:38.480 --> 00:16:40.820 why didn't they stop in at the Holiday Inn? Well, 00:16:40.840 --> 00:16:43.799 I think you know the answer to that. In fact, 00:16:43.799 --> 00:16:45.799 the few inns that did exist in those days were 00:16:45.799 --> 00:16:50.320 more like brothels than they were motels. And 00:16:50.320 --> 00:16:52.899 so if a Christian wanted to maintain a pure testimony, 00:16:53.039 --> 00:16:56.340 he could not stay normally in an inn. He would 00:16:56.340 --> 00:16:59.659 look elsewhere. And the apostle says, take in 00:16:59.659 --> 00:17:01.899 your brothers and sisters who are traveling. 00:17:03.059 --> 00:17:05.079 But then there was a second group, and those 00:17:05.079 --> 00:17:08.680 were those who were exiled for their faith. You 00:17:08.680 --> 00:17:12.240 see, the state had confiscated all of their belongings. 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:16.359 They had nothing, nothing. And they would go 00:17:16.359 --> 00:17:19.160 from place to place, and the apostle says, reach 00:17:19.160 --> 00:17:23.440 out to them and share with them. And a third 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:26.279 group was comprised of those who were messengers 00:17:26.279 --> 00:17:30.210 of the churches. They didn't have a very good 00:17:30.210 --> 00:17:33.650 mail system. If a letter was going to get from 00:17:33.650 --> 00:17:37.089 one place to another, you had to take that letter 00:17:37.089 --> 00:17:40.549 there. And so if a church wanted to communicate 00:17:40.549 --> 00:17:42.769 with another church, they would send a messenger. 00:17:43.269 --> 00:17:46.150 And so the command was for those who were the 00:17:46.150 --> 00:17:48.309 messengers of the churches, receive them, be 00:17:48.309 --> 00:17:52.109 hospitable, share with them. He says practice 00:17:52.109 --> 00:17:56.779 hospitality. That's an interesting verb. The 00:17:56.779 --> 00:18:00.920 word really means hunt. Hospitality. Hunt it 00:18:00.920 --> 00:18:04.579 down. Go out of your way. Seek it with the same 00:18:04.579 --> 00:18:09.460 enthusiasm that a hunter seeks his prey. Search 00:18:09.460 --> 00:18:12.900 out someone who needs to be ministered to and 00:18:12.900 --> 00:18:18.440 do it. Hunt him down. Roy Smith said, The greatest 00:18:18.440 --> 00:18:21.259 difficulty with the world is not its ability 00:18:21.259 --> 00:18:25.990 to produce, but its willingness to share. But 00:18:25.990 --> 00:18:30.490 let that not be said among God's people. That 00:18:30.490 --> 00:18:33.349 brings us to verse 14 where we see love's charity. 00:18:35.869 --> 00:18:38.549 Verse 14 at first glance seems a little out of 00:18:38.549 --> 00:18:41.470 place, doesn't it? I mean, you would think he 00:18:41.470 --> 00:18:45.849 might put that down with verse 17. And yet there's 00:18:45.849 --> 00:18:47.849 a reason for it being where it is, and I think 00:18:47.849 --> 00:18:51.730 the key is found in the word persecute. For the 00:18:51.730 --> 00:18:54.390 word persecute is the same word as the word practice 00:18:54.390 --> 00:18:57.710 in verse 13. And it seems to me that as Paul 00:18:57.710 --> 00:19:01.990 was saying, hunt down people to show hospitality 00:19:01.990 --> 00:19:05.410 to them, he was reminded that some believers 00:19:05.410 --> 00:19:09.970 are hunted down. They are pursued as prey. They 00:19:09.970 --> 00:19:13.970 are persecuted. And so he is reminded to say 00:19:13.970 --> 00:19:17.809 to those who are hunted by the enemies, bless 00:19:17.809 --> 00:19:22.829 those who persecute you. Bless and curse not. 00:19:24.470 --> 00:19:27.009 Jesus said the same thing to us. He said, love 00:19:27.009 --> 00:19:30.950 your enemies. Don't hate them. Here the verb 00:19:30.950 --> 00:19:33.089 is in the present tense. It's to be habitual. 00:19:33.470 --> 00:19:36.950 He says, invoke continually God's blessing upon 00:19:36.950 --> 00:19:39.750 them. And on the other hand, he says, do not 00:19:39.750 --> 00:19:46.029 habitually curse them. Are you facing a persecutor? 00:19:48.079 --> 00:19:52.319 It may be someone in your own family. It could 00:19:52.319 --> 00:19:57.880 be a supervisor in the office. Maybe it's a professor 00:19:57.880 --> 00:20:02.400 at the university where you go. Are you facing 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:04.799 someone who is hunting you down as a Christian? 00:20:05.799 --> 00:20:09.380 What is your response? You say, I'm going to 00:20:09.380 --> 00:20:13.759 put his lights out, poke him in the eyes. No. 00:20:14.220 --> 00:20:16.240 That may be what the flesh would like to do with 00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:19.089 a persecutor. Maybe you'd like to punch him. 00:20:20.170 --> 00:20:23.349 But that's not what God tells us to do. We'll 00:20:23.349 --> 00:20:25.710 get into this more later. But what he tells us 00:20:25.710 --> 00:20:27.650 to do is to bless them. Do you really want to 00:20:27.650 --> 00:20:29.609 get under the skin of somebody who is trying 00:20:29.609 --> 00:20:33.029 to get you? After they have done you rotten, 00:20:33.190 --> 00:20:36.230 after they've stuck the knife in and then turned 00:20:36.230 --> 00:20:42.849 it, say, God bless you. You know what? It'll 00:20:42.849 --> 00:20:46.890 blow their minds away. That's how to really get 00:20:46.890 --> 00:20:51.690 even with them. After they have done what they're 00:20:51.690 --> 00:20:54.049 going to do to you, turn around and say to them, 00:20:54.130 --> 00:20:57.930 well, thank you. God bless you. Bless them continually. 00:20:58.529 --> 00:21:02.450 And do not habitually curse them. That is the 00:21:02.450 --> 00:21:04.589 charity of love. And frankly, that is not the 00:21:04.589 --> 00:21:07.250 kind of love the world knows. The world says, 00:21:07.309 --> 00:21:13.470 look out for yourself. Be assertive. Fight back. 00:21:14.049 --> 00:21:19.509 Right? But among those who know God's agape, 00:21:19.630 --> 00:21:24.950 we are to show charity. It is interesting to 00:21:24.950 --> 00:21:27.710 think that within a few years of these people 00:21:27.710 --> 00:21:29.930 receiving this letter from the Apostle Paul, 00:21:30.130 --> 00:21:36.049 many of them would be found in the arena, being 00:21:36.049 --> 00:21:39.970 eaten by wild animals under the heavy hand of 00:21:39.970 --> 00:21:47.339 persecution of Nero, the emperor. As they walked 00:21:47.339 --> 00:21:50.680 into the arena, hand in hand with other believers, 00:21:50.779 --> 00:21:53.980 and saw the wild animals unleashed to attack 00:21:53.980 --> 00:21:58.220 them and kill them, perhaps it was then that 00:21:58.220 --> 00:22:01.440 they remembered what Paul said, Bless those who 00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:04.940 persecute you, and do not habitually curse them. 00:22:07.240 --> 00:22:09.900 And that kind of sensitivity brings us to verse 00:22:09.900 --> 00:22:14.579 15, where we see love's sensitivity exposed even 00:22:14.579 --> 00:22:18.079 more clearly. He says, rejoice with those who 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:24.740 rejoice and weep with those who weep. In other 00:22:24.740 --> 00:22:27.480 words, be sensitive to where other people are. 00:22:29.619 --> 00:22:34.359 Don't be so preoccupied with yourself that you 00:22:34.359 --> 00:22:40.099 don't sense others' circumstances. My friend, 00:22:40.119 --> 00:22:44.660 today you will brush against numerous people. 00:22:45.400 --> 00:22:48.579 Who are fighting battles greater than yours? 00:22:50.200 --> 00:22:59.200 Be sensitive to that. Rejoice and weep. Frankly, 00:22:59.200 --> 00:23:01.259 I think it's easier for us to weep than it is 00:23:01.259 --> 00:23:06.059 to rejoice, though. That is more natural, isn't 00:23:06.059 --> 00:23:09.539 it? It doesn't mean it's less important. It's 00:23:09.539 --> 00:23:12.180 certainly important. For many of us have stood 00:23:12.180 --> 00:23:16.109 beside a casket, for example. And as we've stood 00:23:16.109 --> 00:23:19.509 there, some other believer has come beside us 00:23:19.509 --> 00:23:21.670 and just put the arm around us, maybe not even 00:23:21.670 --> 00:23:24.609 said a word. But there was that ministry, there 00:23:24.609 --> 00:23:28.309 was that empathy, that feeling, that support. 00:23:29.289 --> 00:23:33.509 And that's important. But let's also remember 00:23:33.509 --> 00:23:35.869 that we are to rejoice with those that rejoice. 00:23:37.890 --> 00:23:40.410 When was the last time that you actually did 00:23:40.410 --> 00:23:44.759 that? I would suppose... That we could remember 00:23:44.759 --> 00:23:48.019 the last time we wept with someone much more 00:23:48.019 --> 00:23:51.140 easily than we could remember the last time that 00:23:51.140 --> 00:23:55.640 we celebrated with someone some victory. But 00:23:55.640 --> 00:23:58.420 we are to do both. We are to be sensitive to 00:23:58.420 --> 00:24:00.839 the successes and the defeats that others are 00:24:00.839 --> 00:24:05.819 experiencing. That is love's sensitivity. Someone 00:24:05.819 --> 00:24:11.079 has said, divided joy is doubled. Divided sorrows 00:24:11.079 --> 00:24:17.549 are halved. I like that. Then we come to verse 00:24:17.549 --> 00:24:20.490 16 where we see the final aspect of love in this 00:24:20.490 --> 00:24:23.589 paragraph we've read. And that is love's humility. 00:24:23.730 --> 00:24:26.109 He says it in three statements. Be of the same 00:24:26.109 --> 00:24:29.470 mind toward one another. Do not be haughty in 00:24:29.470 --> 00:24:32.470 mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be 00:24:32.470 --> 00:24:37.589 wise in your own estimations. In other words, 00:24:37.609 --> 00:24:42.180 be humble. By the first statement, he does not 00:24:42.180 --> 00:24:45.220 mean that we are to always be exactly of the 00:24:45.220 --> 00:24:48.880 same opinion, because that is not possible with 00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:53.220 human beings. But what he is saying, that beyond 00:24:53.220 --> 00:24:57.900 opinions, we are to have at heart the same interest, 00:24:58.220 --> 00:25:07.819 the same goals, the same purpose. And we are 00:25:07.819 --> 00:25:12.279 to cause our differences of opinions to come 00:25:12.279 --> 00:25:16.900 together harmoniously in love and humility so 00:25:16.900 --> 00:25:20.559 that we can achieve our common objectives. That's 00:25:20.559 --> 00:25:26.299 his point. He says, do not be haughty in your 00:25:26.299 --> 00:25:31.700 mind, but associate with the lowly. Literally, 00:25:31.720 --> 00:25:33.920 he says, don't set your mind on high things for 00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:36.400 yourself, but be moved along with the lowly brethren. 00:25:39.039 --> 00:25:46.279 To be associated depicts a flood, which is unleashed 00:25:46.279 --> 00:25:50.400 across a plain and picks up debris and carries 00:25:50.400 --> 00:25:54.259 it along with it. Now what he says is that we 00:25:54.259 --> 00:25:58.160 are to be swept up and carried along with those 00:25:58.160 --> 00:26:03.720 who are lowly. Perhaps you look around and you 00:26:03.720 --> 00:26:07.779 see someone who is lowly. Your response should 00:26:07.779 --> 00:26:11.140 not be, well, I would like to associate with 00:26:11.140 --> 00:26:15.299 them, but I'm really above that. Now, we wouldn't 00:26:15.299 --> 00:26:22.720 say that, would we? But we think it. It really 00:26:22.720 --> 00:26:26.259 concerns me when people and organizations focus, 00:26:26.440 --> 00:26:31.079 for example, on just the wealthy. or just those 00:26:31.079 --> 00:26:35.779 who are leaders. I remember several years ago 00:26:35.779 --> 00:26:39.279 an organization working on the campus which said, 00:26:39.339 --> 00:26:44.099 we are going after the leaders, and we're forgetting 00:26:44.099 --> 00:26:47.119 the rest, because if we get the leaders, we'll 00:26:47.119 --> 00:26:51.619 get everybody else. That may seem wise, but that 00:26:51.619 --> 00:26:55.680 is not God's program. God says that we are not 00:26:55.680 --> 00:26:59.990 to forget those who are not leaders. Those who 00:26:59.990 --> 00:27:03.349 are not wealthy. Don't forget them. We are to 00:27:03.349 --> 00:27:07.089 associate with them. We are to be carried up 00:27:07.089 --> 00:27:11.769 with them and move with them. And why is that? 00:27:13.410 --> 00:27:16.230 Because if you were to examine and survey the 00:27:16.230 --> 00:27:19.349 church during this age, down through the hundreds 00:27:19.349 --> 00:27:22.890 of years, you would find that by far the predominance 00:27:22.890 --> 00:27:26.250 of believers have been among those who are the 00:27:26.250 --> 00:27:33.049 world's lowly people. He concludes by saying, 00:27:33.109 --> 00:27:37.910 do not be wise in your own estimation. The idea 00:27:37.910 --> 00:27:40.609 is here, don't be overcome with your own ambitions. 00:27:43.950 --> 00:27:47.130 Don't be overcome by self -centered living and 00:27:47.130 --> 00:27:53.490 thinking. But remember others. Andrew Murray 00:27:53.490 --> 00:27:57.750 said it this way, do you want to enter what people 00:27:57.750 --> 00:28:02.720 call the higher life? then go a step lower down. 00:28:05.240 --> 00:28:09.619 How well he said it. And maybe that's the reason 00:28:09.619 --> 00:28:11.640 that some of us have had a hard time getting 00:28:11.640 --> 00:28:15.680 into the higher life, as he puts it. Because 00:28:15.680 --> 00:28:20.259 we are not willing to take a step lower down. 00:28:22.500 --> 00:28:25.039 If so, then love doesn't control us, because 00:28:25.039 --> 00:28:28.119 you see, one aspect of love is this humility 00:28:28.119 --> 00:28:33.509 of verse 16. It is good for us to examine ourselves. 00:28:33.750 --> 00:28:38.329 Let me ask some questions of myself, of you. 00:28:39.869 --> 00:28:43.789 Have you taken time to find out what's on the 00:28:43.789 --> 00:28:50.029 mind of your roommate or your spouse, your child, 00:28:50.309 --> 00:28:57.039 your parent, your co -worker? Has that one who 00:28:57.039 --> 00:29:00.779 perhaps is closest to you seen love in action 00:29:00.779 --> 00:29:03.920 as you've taken time just to find out what's 00:29:03.920 --> 00:29:13.319 on their mind? Are you on an ego trip? So much 00:29:13.319 --> 00:29:16.519 so that you are unable to realize that there 00:29:16.519 --> 00:29:18.819 are people around you that are hurting and need 00:29:18.819 --> 00:29:26.529 you? When was the last time you sought out, you 00:29:26.529 --> 00:29:30.569 pursued, you hunted down a needy Christian and 00:29:30.569 --> 00:29:37.349 practiced liberality? Is your Christian life 00:29:37.349 --> 00:29:43.630 noted for its energy, for its joy in the midst 00:29:43.630 --> 00:29:49.809 of pressure and stress, for its devotion to prayer? 00:29:53.769 --> 00:29:56.849 Would others around you characterize you as tender, 00:29:57.009 --> 00:30:06.809 gracious, affectionate, delicate? Or would they 00:30:06.809 --> 00:30:12.970 perceive you as being harsh, brash, perhaps injurious? 00:30:16.750 --> 00:30:22.890 Has love produced in you purity, high standards, 00:30:24.200 --> 00:30:31.960 And above board morality? Are you glued to good 00:30:31.960 --> 00:30:39.420 and a hater of what is evil? Depending on how 00:30:39.420 --> 00:30:41.819 we answer those questions, we have a love that 00:30:41.819 --> 00:30:46.220 is without hypocrisy. The kind of love that God 00:30:46.220 --> 00:30:49.559 produces in the church so that our spiritual 00:30:49.559 --> 00:30:54.609 gifts are ministered in an atmosphere. of harmony 00:30:54.609 --> 00:31:04.609 and unity. If you will go back through this list 00:31:04.609 --> 00:31:11.630 on your own and think about Jesus Christ, you 00:31:11.630 --> 00:31:16.230 will find that Jesus Christ lived exactly this 00:31:16.230 --> 00:31:23.140 way. As you and I live this way, a life of unhypocritical 00:31:23.140 --> 00:31:29.799 love, we will be living like Jesus did. Let's 00:31:29.799 --> 00:31:42.640 pray. Father, this description of love that is 00:31:42.640 --> 00:31:47.740 without hypocrisy causes many of us today to... 00:31:50.279 --> 00:31:57.619 Be ashamed. Because we are exposed in the superficial 00:31:57.619 --> 00:32:03.980 nature of our love. How easily we use the words. 00:32:05.660 --> 00:32:09.000 But when it comes to actions and deeds and what 00:32:09.000 --> 00:32:15.240 we do, we're hypocrites. Father, deliver us from 00:32:15.240 --> 00:32:20.720 hypocrisy. And having understood what your will 00:32:20.720 --> 00:32:23.799 for us is, now I pray, give us wills to obey 00:32:23.799 --> 00:32:28.160 and strengthen our wills so that we will live 00:32:28.160 --> 00:32:32.420 as Jesus did. And Father, wherein there are decisions 00:32:32.420 --> 00:32:36.279 and commitments we need to make today to be humble, 00:32:36.400 --> 00:32:47.539 to be sensitive, to be moral, then give us, I 00:32:47.539 --> 00:32:53.660 pray, obedience, and repentance, that we may 00:32:53.660 --> 00:32:58.000 bring our lives into step with your will. In 00:32:58.000 --> 00:32:59.480 Jesus' name, amen.