Covenant Love

11/8/03 and 11/9/03

-Today we are going to receive communion and I want to address some issues that will help us to be in a position to receive it properly.

-I have noticed recently that my love for others has been tested, more than normal.

-That seems to be the case in others as well.

-I am going to very loosely connect covenant/love/communion for today’s message.

Matthew 24

/12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. [1]/

5594. ψύχω psuchō; a prim. vb.; to breathe, blow, to make cool:— grow cold(1).

[2]

6038 ψύχω (psychō), ψύχομαι (psychomai): vb.; ≡ Str 5594—LN 78.39 diminish greatly, formally, grow cold (Mt 24:12+)

[3]

-I have noticed that selfishness and self-serving try to get me to look out for my own interests and just avoid people who stand in my way.

-If we are really pious we will come up with a Biblical excuse to treat them bad.

If you can start the day without caffeine or pep pills,

If you can be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,

If you can resist complaining or boring people with your troubles,

If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,

If you can understand when loved ones are too busy to give you time,

If you can overlook when people take things out on you when,

Through no fault of your own, something goes wrong,

If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,

If you can face the world without lies or deceit,

If you can conquer tension without medical help,

If you can relax without liquor,

If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,

If you can do all these things,

THEN YOU ARE PROBABLY THE FAMILY DOG.

-For the rest of us there are COVENANT RELATIONSHIPS.

Proverbs 27

17 As iron sharpens iron,

so one man sharpens another. (NIV)

/[4]/

17 As iron sharpens iron,

so people can improve each other.” (NCV)

17 As iron sharpens iron, a friend sharpens a friend.(TLB)

Frank Clark- “We find comfort with those who agree with us-growth among those who don’t.”

-I know most of you know Kenneth Hagin died recently and it was very interesting that at the funeral, even though he was known for teaching faith and healing, the people who spoke talked about how he loved people.

-People said that whenever he would be in a conversation where someone was being spoken against, he would walk away.

-I wish I could say that about me!

-This week Pat Harrison was telling us something her father told them as children again and again growing up when they would encounter a difficult person.

“God loves them as much as He loves you-He will bless them as much as they will allow Him to-He will bless you as much as you allow Him to.”

Psalm 133

1 How good and pleasant it is

when brothers live together in unity!

2 It is like precious oil poured on the head,

running down on the beard,

running down on Aaron’s beard,

down upon the collar of his robes.

3 It is as if the dew of Hermon

were falling on Mount Zion.

For there the Lord bestows his blessing,

even life forevermore.

/[5]/

-Where is God’s blessing? It is bestowed in the place of unity and love and proper relationships.

-Bad relationships affect the rest of your life.

1 Corinthians 11 The Message

If you give no thought (or worse, don’t care) about the broken body of the Master when you eat and drink, you’re running the risk of serious consequences. That’s why so many of you even now are listless and sick, and others have gone to an early grave. If we get this straight now, we won’t have to be straightened out later on. Better to be confronted by the Master now than to face a fiery confrontation later.

So, my friends, when you come together to the Lord’s Table, be reverent and courteous with one another. If you’re so hungry that you can’t wait to be served, go home and get a sandwich. But by no means risk turning this Meal into an eating and drinking binge or a family squabble. It is a spiritual meal—a love feast.

/[6]/

-Paul speaks bluntly to the Corinthians about their meetings, communion, unity, love in chapter 13 and tells them to treat each other properly.

-The consequences are something we don’t want to talk about, right?

-Another story that was great at the funeral of Brother Hagin was the only time he fought with his grand daughter and she went off. He was sick but not her. When he saw her he said I’m sorry forgive me. She said to the lord why didn’t I get sick? The key was that the mature person had to take the initiative for reconciliation.

-Noah was commanded to build an ark to save the world. How many of you think you know what Noah’s son’s chores were? How many of you feel like that’s you spiritual job assignment as well?

-The vehicle of our salvation is sometimes stinky but it is the only ride to the other side! Sometimes we feel like we want to jump ship but no matter what is happening inside it sure beats what was happening on the outside.

1. YOUR COVENANT WITH OTHERS WILL NEVER RISE ABOVE YOUR COVENANT WITH GOD.

-We have to be loved in order to love.

-We love because He first loved us.

-We can only forgive and show mercy to the extent that we have been loved and shown mercy.

-Freely you have received, freely give.

-In order to treat people properly you have to see and follow the example of God.

-My acceptance of myself and others is based on God’s acceptance.

Romans 15

/7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.[7]/

Romans 14

/Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. 2 One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. [8]/

-It all begins with God. All of our resources come from Him.

2. COVENANT LOVE COVERS OVER WITHOUT COVERING UP

Proverbs 17

9 He who covers over an offense promotes love,

but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.

-We shouldn’t expose one another’s weaknesses like Noah’s one son. Instead, like his other two sons, we should cover over sin.

-This doesn’t mean we don’t confront.

-This is a tough balance.

-If you love your children you will spank them. God disciplines us because He loves us.

-But, you discipline them in love and in private if possible.

-This has to be balanced with Matthew 18 and 1 Corinthians where church discipline is to take place.

-If a Christian breaks the law they must face the consequences.

-I’ve reported people to the police. That is still covenant love.

-I’ve told people to stop sleeping around if they are a covenant partner. Etc. etc. That is still covenant love.

-Willie George told a great story on a tape of a kid who was acting up on the bus when he was in charge. He finally told him to not come back and he had a Christian really persecute him for addressing this boy’s sin.

-Sometimes we don’t know as Christians how to be firm and still be in love.

-We see love as always gentle and soft spoken.

-The same Jesus who blessed little children made a whip of leather strips and drove people from the temple. He was throwing tables as He did it.

-Yet He is and was perfect love. He never acted in hate.

Ephesians 4

15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

/[9]/

3. LOVE IS A DECISION NOT A FEELING

-God decided to love us even when He knew some of us would spurn Him.

-You decide to love your spouse and when feelings come contrary to that you just remind yourself….I PROMISED….FOR BETTER OR WORSE.

-You love apart from emotions and feelings but by a decision.

-You begin to become mature when you learn to go on loving even when your emotions are childishly yelling to punish them or get even.

1 Corinthians 13

/11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. [10]/

-Don’t be childish, walk in love with one another.

-Love is perfectly expressed by the action it prompts.

-In marriage we have a decision to love, a covenant is made, then that covenant and decision is reaffirmed in the physical act in marriage.

-That puts a whole new light on sex.

-It is the reaffirmation of the covenant.

Protocol for Communion:

· LOOK BACK (TO WHAT JESUS DID ON THE CROSS)

· LOOK UP (HE IS STILL ALIVE AND HE IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER)

· LOOK INSIDE (WHAT DO YOU NEED TO CORRECT)

· LOOK AROUND (DISCERN THE BODY OF CHRIST)

· LOOK FORWARD (JESUS SAID TO DO THIS UNTIL HE COMES-HE IS COMING BACK)

1 John 4

7 /Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son a into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for b our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. [11]/

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[1]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids

prim. primary, primitive

vb. verb

[2]Thomas, R. L. 1998, 1981. New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek dictionaries : Updated edition . Foundation Publications, Inc.: Anaheim

vb. verb

Str Strong’s Lexicon

LN Louw-Nida Greek-English Lexicon

+ More references in GNT4

[3]Swanson, J. 1997. Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Greek (New Testament) (electronic ed.) . Logos Research Systems, Inc.: Oak Harbor

[4]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids

[5]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids

[6]Peterson, E. H. 1995. The message : New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs . NavPress: Colorado Springs, Colo.

[7]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids

[8]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids

[9]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids

[10]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids

a Or his only begotten Son

b Or as the one who would turn aside his wrath, taking away

[11]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids