Sermon Tone Analysis

Announce Text

Please turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Peter Chapter 1. We’re continuing our series this morning through the book of 1 Peter, and we’re going to be taking a look at Peter’s call to love.

If you’re using one of the pew Bibles, you’ll find our text on page 1,014.

Scripture Introduction

So this morning, what we’re going to be looking at is Peter’s call to love…

Now, up to this point, Peter’s focus primarily has been on us as individuals…

He started out his letter by grounding our faith in the redemptive work of the Triune God… Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (1:1-2).

Then he praises God in an act of worship for granting believers new life… that God has caused us to be born again into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1:3-9)… and that this glory was part of God’s sovereign plan from the beginning, predicted in the Scriptures (1:10-12).

And then he called us to live a holy life… a godly life… and this godly life is rooted and grounded in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.

Because God is holy, we are holy.

(1:13-21).

But now… Peter shifts his focus… he moves from us as individuals to us as a community…

Look with me at v. 22...

his focus from the individual to the community… from the call to live a holy life to how we should live together as God’s people… to how we should relate to one another in the church.

What he’s basically saying is, “because you have been redeemed by the Triune God… because we’ve been born again into a living hope… love one another”.

His focus here is on how we should live together as God’s people… His focus is on how we should relate to one another in the church.

He gives us this call to love…

To what our relationships to one another should look like.

Peter’s primary concern here is that we love one another.

And of course, that raises a question… what does that love look like?

Does it look like the world’s definition of love, or is it something completely different?

Well, we live in a world that has a really distorted view of

Is it primarily just a feeling, or does it require us to do something?

Peter’s primary concern here is that we love one another.

Well, we live in a world that has a really distorted view of

Peter’s primary concern here is that we love one another.

something?

Well, that’s what we’re going to look at today… this Call to Love… and it’s not just any kind of love but love that is distinctly Christian.

It’s love that is rooted and grounded in our identity as followers of Jesus Christ… it’s a byproduct of who we are.

It’s a high calling… it’s a high calling because it’s a reflection of the character of the One who loves perfectly…

It’s a reflection of the character of the One who first loved us.

And this is the love… this love that is a reflection of the character of God is the love that we are to display to one another…

So if you would, please stand with me in honor of the reading of God’s Word, and let’s look together at what Peter has to say about this Call to Love…

So if you would, please stand with me in honor of the reading of God’s Word, and let’s look together at what Peter has to say to us about this call to love…

Prayer for Illumination

Prayer for Illumination

Let’s pray…

Introduction

Introduction

Now, when you think of the word love, what comes to mind?

Is it romance?

Is it primarily a feeling?

Or, is it something else entirely?

Well, here’s how Merriam-Webster’s defines love…

When used as a noun, love is a, “strong affection for another rising out of kinship or personal ties.”

It’s an “attraction based on sexual desire : affection or tenderness felt by lovers.”

It’s an “affection based on admiration, benevolence or common interests.”

When used as a verb, it’s…

“To hold dear,”

“To feel a lover’s passion, devotion, or tenderness for.”

“To like or desire actively : take pleasure in.”

So that’s Merriam-Webster… and if you search the internet, you’ll come up with a myriad of definitions…

One of them says this, “Love is a complex set of emotions, behaviors, and beliefs associated with strong feelings of affection, protectiveness, warmth, and respect for another person.”

Now, what I want you to notice is, all of those definitions center around feelings… around emotions…

Well, we live in a world that has a really distorted view of

Feelings and emotions are what drives the ship…

Now, there’s nothing wrong with emotions in of themselves… emotions are a gift from God… and emotions… expressed rightly… expressed in a godly manner… are a good thing.

At the same time, when they’re not expressed in a godly manner… when they are not shaped by and molded by and conformed to and brought under submission to the Word of God… in other words, when they’re expressed sinfully… emotions can be very, very bad… even incredibly destructive.

They can lead us to do some really bad things…

So when we talk about love in the context of the Christian Community, our emotions can’t be what drive’s the ship...

Our call to love one another can’t based primarily on how we feel.

In other words, should the way that we treat one another be based on the way we feel?

So for example if I feel love toward my brother over here, I’ll act lovingly toward him?

In other words, they way that we treat one another can’t be based on the way we feel about one another.

So for example, I’m called to love my brother over here… if the way that I treat him is based on the way I feel about him… whether or not I’m going to be loving depends on whether or not I feel loving.

So for example, I’m called to love my brother over here… if the way that I treat him is based on the way I feel about him… I’m going to be loving or not based on wether or not I feel loving or not.

So… what if I’m angry with him?

If my emotions are what drives the ship rather than the truth of God’s Word, I’m going to express that anger in ungodly ways…

But when I submit my emotions to the Word of God and walk in step with the Holy Spirt… if I have anger toward my brother I’m going to express that anger in constructive ways… in ways that please the Lord…

I’m able to love my brother regardless of how I feel…

Now, I want you to understand that doesn’t mean that Biblical, Christian love is devoid of feelings… not at all… feelings just don’t drive the ship.

In other words, should the way that we treat one another be based on the way we feel?

So for example if I feel love toward my brother over here, I’ll act lovingly toward him?

In other words, should the way that we treat one another be based on the way we feel?

So for example if I feel love toward my brother over here, I’ll act lovingly toward him?

And that’s radically different from how the world views love.

I heard a story once of a man who was looking to divorce his wife.

He said to his friend, “I just don’t love her any more… the feelings just aren’t there… what should I do?”

The friend replied, “Love her...”

According to the world, feelings and emotions are what drive the ship.

The man looked perplexed and said, “I don’t think you heard what I just said… how can I love her when I don’t feel loving toward her?”

The friend replied, “love her

According to the world, how I feel really determines everything… from the choices that I make, to even how I identify myself.

It’s all about how I feel…

… on the contrary… it’s a love that’s sincere… that’s deep and rich and rooted in God’s love for us…

Feelings are the world’s “over-riding imperative”… Now, I know the word “imperative” is one of those fifty-cent words, so I’ll define what it means.

An imperative is something that what tells us what to do.

It’s what gives us direction.

It’s a command… it’s a set of instructions… it’s what guides our actions…

It’s what drives us

And the world’s imperative is our feelings…

And sadly, that’s true for many Christians as well… many of us are led by our feelings rather than what should guide our actions, which is the truth of God’s Word.

You see, for the Christian, our imperatives don’t come from our feelings but from the Bible… they come from the Scriptures.

Or at least, they should…

They come from an Authority outside of ourselves… an Authority who’s perfections are unmatched… An Authority whose wisdom is incomparable… an Authority whose ways are unsearchable and whose power is surpassing…

The Bible tells us that in Christ are hidden all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge…

He is the One who commands us and gives us direction… He is the one who gives guidance to our actions…

You see, we don’t believe that the Bible is just words on a page but the very words of the Living God Himself… the very words of Jesus Christ who is the divine Word…

And Peter and the Apostles follow a pattern… we’ll see an example of it in a little while…

And Peter and the Apostles follow a pattern… we’ll see an example of it in a little while…

But they follow this pattern where they state a truth… and this truth is something we call an “indicative.”