Christmas Advent - Love
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 9 viewsNotes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Today marks the fourth week of Advent - love. We know that God’s motivation for sending Jesus to earth in the first place was love.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.
Messiah’s Advent Was Motivated by Love
Messiah’s Advent Was Motivated by Love
So we know that the motivation for Jesus’ coming was love. One of the best bible definitions is here. It says:
My brothers and sisters, do not hold the faith of our glorious Lord Yeshua the Messiah while showing favoritism. For if a man with a gold ring and fine clothes comes into your synagogue, and a poor person in filthy clothes also comes in; and you pay special attention to the one wearing the fine clothing and you say, “Sit here in a good place”; and you say to the poor person, “Stand there,” or “Sit by my footstool”; haven’t you made distinctions between yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
Listen, my dear brothers and sisters. Didn’t God choose the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom that He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor person. Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? Don’t they blaspheme the good name by which you were called?
Love is patient,
love is kind,
it does not envy,
it does not brag,
it is not puffed up,
it does not behave inappropriately,
it does not seek its own way,
it is not provoked,
it keeps no account of wrong,
God himself gave us a great example of this on the very fist Christmas. Let’s read together.
Now there were shepherds in the same region, living out in the fields and guarding their flock at night. Suddenly an angel of Adonai stood before them, and the glory of Adonai shone all around them; and they were absolutely terrified.
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I proclaim Good News to you, which will be great joy to all the people. A Savior is born to you today in the city of David, who is Messiah the Lord. And the sign to you is this: You will find an infant wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.”
And suddenly a multitude of heavenly armies appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth shalom to men of good
will.”
So let’s talk about how shepherd were viewed in Biblical Times. Shepherding was considered the most menial and degrading of all jobs to perform. You had to care for animals out in the heat of the day and during the cold winters. You had to face the peril of wild predators, and then to top it all off, you began to smell like the animals you were tending. Shepherds were considered the lowliest of men, yet who did God esteem so highly as to announce the birth of Messiah? It wasn’t the political leaders or the richest people. It wasn’t even the religious class with all their rules and regulations. It was the lowly shepherd that received the great news about the coming of Jesus. Isn’t it fitting that the same God who inspired James to write what he did about impartiality would have modeled it Himself at the announcement of the birth of His own son?
Messiah’s Advent Produces Acts of Love
Messiah’s Advent Produces Acts of Love
Let’s go back to James and continue there.
If, however, you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well. But if you show favoritism, you are committing sin and are convicted by the Torah as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole Torah but stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. For the one who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the Torah. So speak and act as those who will be judged according to a Torah that gives freedom. For judgment is merciless to the one who does not show mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but does not have works? Can such faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in shalom, keep warm and well fed,” but you do not give them what the body needs, what good is that? So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself.
But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by my works. You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe—and shudder! But do you want to know, you empty person, that faith without works is dead? Wasn’t Abraham our father proved righteous by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith worked together with his works, and by the works his faith was made complete. The Scripture was fulfilled that says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness”—and he was called God’s friend. You see that a man is proved righteous by works and not by faith alone. And likewise, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also proved righteous by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out another way? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
What is James saying?
This passage of scripture contains one of the keys to our success or failure as a church. James, the brother of Jesus- Mary’s other kid- knew a thing or two about the things he was saying. He had grown up with Jesus and had seen him his whole life- Jesus was his big brother! Was it surprising then, that he should have a bit to say about living like Jesus?
Think about it, we know our brothers and sisters. We know things about them that our own parents don’t know! Am I right? ESPECIALLY if you’re a little brother or sister! You know some of the stuff that the older kids get away with. So when James says something, it would be a very good idea to listen to what he has to say.
The Whole Purpose of Faith is Love
The Whole Purpose of Faith is Love
So what does it boil down to? He’s saying, “Look, if you have been truly saved and transformed by a relationship with Jesus, then it will produce in you works- not just any works, but acts of love. The true demonstration of your faith then, is as I have said many times before- love in action.”
Let’s look closely at verses 14-18. What does it profit, my brother… In other words, faith has a reason for being. Faith for the sake of faith is really silly- it has no value. In fact, faith absent the works it produces can’t really be said to be true faith at all can it?
Look at verse 21 and 22 of our scripture. Jacob was justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac? Wait, wait, wait. Aren’t we saved by grace alone? No in fact, we are not. Let’s look at that scripture:
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not from yourselves—it is the gift of God. It is not based on deeds, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship—created in Messiah Yeshua for good deeds, which God prepared beforehand so we might walk in them.
It is by grace through faith! The grace of God comes upon us, but then we are required to exercise faith! We’ve spoken about this before and this is not our understanding of the English word faith, but the Jews’ understanding of the Hebrew word emmunah. The belief within was so certain, so overwhelming, so complete that it produced a work. The salvation is by grace and is an act of God alone, but then look at what the product of that grace is supposed to be. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. The sign then that we have been saved by grace not works, and it is the emmunah that saves that compels us to do good works! That is love in action!
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
What are His commands? Do we remember them?
And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love Adonai your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire Torah and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
There it is! The commandments are summed up in this. Love God, and love your neighbor. How do we love God? We keep His commandments! Which one of the commandments. Well all of them! Because all of the commandments that He gave the nation of Israel are to what end? To salvation? No! The law wasn’t given to salvation, it was given in order to teach us how to love. The word Torah means instructions, not law. If we keep the one commandment that Jesus gave His disciples before He left, we have covered the bulk of Torah and that is this:
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, so also you must love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
And this brings us to our next point. Our love must be directed toward each other.
Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you flavor it? Have salt in yourselves, and keep shalom with one another.”
Be tenderly devoted to one another in brotherly love; outdo one another in giving honor.
Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be proud, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own eyes.
Owe no one anything except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the Torah.
The rest of the one anothers:
Rom 15:5 Be like-minded toward one another.
Rom 15:7 Receive one another
Rom 15:14 admonish one another
Rom 16:16 greet one another with a holy kiss.
1 Cor 12:25 Care for one another
Galatians 5:13 Through love, serve one another.
Eph 4:2 Bearing with one another in love
Eph 4:32 be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another.
Eph 5:19 speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.
Eph 5:21 Submit to one another
And the list goes on. It almost seems as though the care the body has for each other is the principle job of the church doesn’t it? That’s why it’s so dangerous to dis-fellowship ourselves from each other. That’s why it’s important that we be here for each other. That’s why we have Sunday service and Tuesday prayer meetings. It’s so that we can function as a body- so that we have the opportunity to see love in action. To be able to put hands and feet to our words. We can say we love each other, but it’s quite a different thing to actually love one another.
There is another warning that Jesus gave, and that brings us to our next point.
Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you invited Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You? Or thirsty and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger and invite You in? Or naked and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
“And answering, the King will say to them, ‘Amen, I tell you, whatever you did to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ Then He will also say to those on the left, ‘Go away from Me, you cursed ones, into the everlasting fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger and you did not invite Me in; naked and you did not clothe Me; sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
“Then they too will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not care for You?’
How To Love Jesus
How To Love Jesus
We love Jesus when we put our love in action toward the world in which we live. When we do things for people who are unable to do them for themselves we are fulfilling His commandment to love.
“Is not this the fast I choose:
to release the bonds of wickedness,
to untie the cords of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to tear off every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread
with the hungry,
to bring the homeless poor
into your house?
When you see the naked, to cover him,
and not hide yourself
from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth
like the dawn,
and your healing will spring up speedily.
Your righteousness will go before you,
the glory of Adonai as your rear guard.”
Then you will call, and Adonai will answer.
You will cry and He will say, “Here I am.”
If you get rid of the yoke among you—
finger-pointing and badmouthing—
The next thing the church should be doing is loving the people Isaiah says it so beautifully, the heart of God is to set people free! To break yokes! He even says that when we do that stuff our light shall break forth like the morning and our healing shall spring forth speedily. Look at some of the other stuff. God is our rear guard? And when we call the Lord will answer!!!!
Saints, this is so important to catch right now. A church become down-trodden and defensive when it is not doing these things. There is a saying that says, “idle hands are the devil’s work.” In this case this is exactly what we see. If a church is not busy doing the work that God called us to do, then we get busy doing other stuff, and let’s face it the stuff we get busy doing is not always good.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The scripture verse that inspired our name as a church and our logo is
I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me,
And heard my cry.
He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
Out of the miry clay,
And set my feet upon a rock,
And established my steps.
He has put a new song in my mouth—
Praise to our God;
Many will see it and fear,
And will trust in the Lord.
Look at verse 3. It says many will see it. What is the “it”? What is it exactly that will so capture the hearts and minds of people that they will fear and many will trust in the Lord? Is it not the love that we have for God? Is it not the love we have for each other? Is it not the love we have for the world?
If we are not deliberate in our efforts to know and love God, by getting into His word and finding out who He is. If we don’t develop a lifestyle of praise and worship; if we don’t completely sell ourselves out to know His commandments; we will never be able to fulfill the law of love. Love in Action requires that we become well acquainted with the one who was able to love supremely.
By loving each other, we demonstrate to the world who we belong to, by loving the world, we demonstrate to God that we understand Him, that we are His children.
I am happy to say that we are not just giving lip-service. This week I saw us, as a body respond to a call for help from our sister Jane. I am very proud of each of you and I thank God for you daily.