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Last week I talked about the barriers to true Gospel-motivated, self-sacrificial community and unity within the church.
Today I want to talk about how we hit the target presented in .
These verse point out the marks of a transformed mind as it is lived out in community.
Testing Genuineness
My dad’s dad died when I was 6 so I don’t remember much about him.
One of my most my most vivid memories is standing next to the trailer we used to carry water to his trailer and looking up at the moon.
He asked me “do you see the man in the moon?” and pointed out how the shadows on the moon look like a man’s face.
(ever noticed that?)
Obviously there really is no “man in the moon”.
It is just the sun reflecting off the moon and the irregularities of the moon looking like eyes and a mouth.
The reality is we wouldn’t be able to see the moon at all if it wasn’t for the sun.
I ran a thrift store operation in Fargo the last 2 years we lived there.
I think we underestimate the power of the sun’s light.
The moon is literally just a light reflector.
There is no source of light in the moon at all.
Why do I tell you this?
We would often get purses, belts, and other items that had designer logos on them.
Light is a powerfully revealing tool that exposes the legitimacy of something.
The first few times we got those things in I was charged with figuring out whether they were genuine or not.
I got pretty good at it.
There are tell tell signs that point to the genuineness of items.
Today I want to talk about how we hit the target presented in .
The stitching, the quality of materials, the way the material was cut...
After just a few tests it was clear whether or not something was legit.
In Paul’s day, there was a practice of testing the genuineness of pottery by holding it up to the sun.
If a piece of pottery had been broken and repaired it would show when it was looked at under the sun.
The cracks and malformations would point to whether something was what it was claimed to be.
So Paul’s words in vs 9 have an imagine in mind.
If you held our church family and the members of it up to the sun, would you find that our love is really genuine?
Is your love GENUINE?
Love is a primary focus of the bible as a whole.
It is the very root of why Jesus came.
God LOVES us so He sent His Son to save us.
It is declared to be the greatest of the virtues we are to seek in our lives.
And it is the way God intends for Christians to impact the world we live in.
We often read this passage as a list of the “Marks of the True Christians” and put this command to let love be genuine in among the other commands, but that was not Paul’s desire.
Paul meant for us to understand the authenticity of our love to show up in all the other characteristics mentioned.
Genuine love will…
This is non-hypocritical love...
Tests of GENUINE love
1) HATE evil and EMBRACE good.
Maybe this should go without saying, but we should hate evil with intense passion.
When you hate something then you determine to not have any relationship with it.
But how often do we tolerate evil (also known as sinfulness and wickedness) in our selves and in others.
When we hate
Sexual sin, the pursuit of pleasure, greed, gluttony, gossip and slander.
Abhorring evil is a sign of genuine love in that love motivates us to seek the best for those we love.
If I tolerate sinfulness in myself of others I am not showing love, I am showing selfishness.
Instead we are told to embrace what is good.
Abhorring means that we turn our backs on that which is evil.
Holding fast means that we embrace that which is good.
The bible word is righteous- basically meaning that which is pure, right, and what God intended.
Hate the evil that drives us apart as we seek what is best for ourselves, and embrace the goodness that comes from a transformed heart and mind in Christ.
2) Love one another like FAMILY.
I have spoken a lot over the past couple of years about our adoption into the family of God.
How that truth defines who we are in Christ.
We are not disconnected religious types, we are part of the family of God.
Paul says here a mark of true love will show up in HOW we love one another.
We are to be like brothers and sisters.
There is a long held southern tradition to call pastors and ministers “Brother” when referred to them.
It took me a minute to get used to that when I came back south.
And I think it is because I don’t see myself as important, or significant, I just have a particular gifting that puts me up here on Sunday mornings.
I am one of the family, a brother to the sisters in this room today.
Being a part of the family means that we are brought together not be our likeness in worldly standards
We are brought to gather by our shared belief in Christ.
Story of Shane Kosloske.
3) Make HONOR our aim.
I love pointing to this passage in marriage counseling.
What if both you and your husband competed in showing honor toward one another.
It isn’t about getting something in return or waiting on the person to earn your honor.
But just wake up every day trying to out honor your spouse.
or out love, out serve, or out sacrifice for your spouse.
How would that change your marriage.
That is a definition of genuine love.
Not speaking in a way that hurts or demeans your brother or sister in Christ.
Not slandering or gossiping about them.
It has do to with out we handle conflict amongst family members in the church.
lays out how we do it and it was given so that we would go about honoring one another and not bringing accusations against someone publically that should first be brought to the person.
Selfishness drives us to think of ourselves first, but genuine love seeks to make honor the aim.
4) Let the FIRE of the SPIRIT BURN in us.
The passage is saying
Don’t let the fire to live for Jesus die out.
Let the Holy Spirit stoke the fire of faith in your hearts that drive your obedience to Christ.
A Spirit-filled believer by definition cannot be dull and boring.
The Spirit of God in our hearts sets us on fire to:
Serve the Lord in obedience.
It isn’t about our recognition
It isn’t about our salvation
It isn’t about our feeling justified in what we do.
It is about being passionate about knowing and follow the Lord.
Serve one another.
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This reality motivates our service and love for one another.
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Through rejoicing in hope of eternity.
When Paul mentions hope in his letters, he almost exclusively is directing us to the hope of heaven.
Paul is saying “set your hearts not on what is perishing, but what is eternal.”
Let you love for others be motivated by the hope you have in the promises of God.
Through being patient through suffering.
The only way we make it through trials and suffering in our life is if we lean into the comfort of the Spirit of God.
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