dec 29

We come up on the subject of love and specifically loving other people. the scriptures call it loving your neighbor and that's another way of saying loving the people around you.

It is not reducing it down to just your next door neighbor and that is far as you go. But the intent behind this is the people that is around you.

Loving other people is an interesting and essential topic of discussion when we consider the current culture. I do not think that it is unimportant in different cultures but we specifically live in a culture that is redefining love.

Love is such a positive word therefore it cannot have any negative implications. Therefore anything that is done in negativity cannot be from love. At least that seems to be the understanding today. so our stance as a church against sin will contradict much of our culture's actions.

Therefore , the culture will determine that we are being unloving because our stance that restricts their actions is deemed negative. And if something is negative it cannot be from something positive like love.

But anybody who has been in any relationship knows that protecting a loved one sometimes means you get negative. You have a spouse that is getting worked up and you tell them to calm down. Perhaps an elderly parent is being taken advantage of and you tell them do not listen.

Your child is doing an activity that can harm them and you tell them that is not OK. None of those things come from a place of hatred but they all come from a place of love. Love protects the ignorant. love protects those who stumble.

But Unfortunately for us, we have allowed our culture to take the steering wheel when it comes to the topic of love. But there are bigger issues involved with all of this. It is quite possible that we are living in the most selfish , self gratifying age that has ever lived.

We live in a time where information comes faster than anytime that has ever existed before. We live in a time or we can have food the fastest that it's ever been prepared in the history of man before.

It was not that long ago when the women would be in the kitchen all day just to have dinner ready. You didn't have refrigeration, or microwaves, or grocery stores that packed an unlimited amount of meat.

Nope, the chicken you ate for dinner was plucked that morning. No, today if we are in the fast food line for more than a minute and a half we sit there and we go this is ridiculous. If we don't get the information that we're looking for when we want it then we are upset.

It used to be that if you wanted to look something up you had to go down to your local library and get the encyclopedia and look it up yourself. Before that, you had to pay for higher education and before that you just had to live without the answer.

The point is is that we are in a time where whatever we want we have it and we have it when we want it. And having that kind of power, is dangerous when it comes to our sinful inclinations. Many of us recognize it as a great blessing but what we refused to see is how it actually caters to our sinful inclinations.

In our sin we are selfish people. In our sin people are generally selfish. So providing a world where everybody can have what they want when they want it the slightest disruption of that sets off the mind.

It is to the point where the slightest inconvenience is looked at as in an infringement on us. So we say, I want Christianity but I don't want it the way it has been. I want Christianity but what I don't want is a rigid system that my grandparents used to have.

And because we are a very selfish and self gratifying culture we demand that our churches cater to such attitude. Not only should a ministry offer XY and Z but the pastor must look a certain way, the pastor must act a certain way, the pastor must speak a certain way, and all of these demands have nothing to do with the call of a pastor laid out in scripture but has everything to do with our selfishness and what we think will cause the proper growth.

If the word of God is not the rule in your life, it will be your sin that will make all your decisions for you. If the word of God is not the rule of your life then you couldn't possibly give a biblical response in the first place.

Beyond that, the church better never, ever make any demands upon me. The church better never, ever expect me to go out and do something. So provide me with free therapy, provide me with great entertainment, provide me childcare when I need childcare, and you better not demand anything of me or expect anything out of me.

This is the common attitude if we are being honest. We live in the age of consumerism and that consumerism has hardwired our brain to run and think a specific way and we have applied that to worship. And if this is our attitudes then we can never really be truly loving to anybody.

Selfishness has been alive and well in every single generation since the fall of man. And This is why we have laws in the word of God instructing us to love others because we Are so prone to only caring about ourselves that we would never stop and think of others.

Even the good deeds that we see taking place now , at least a lot of them, are only done because cameras are watching. So there are videos of people going Hey I'm going to give $100 to this homeless guy. Would you still do it if the Camera wasn't rolling and you didn't have the opportunity to post it on YouTube?

That was more for their attention and the hits they get online than it was for the homeless man. Rich celebrities hire image consultants to tell them what causes they should be giving too so that people will like them.

Some of them give to causes that they truly believe in, but a lot are doing it under the instruction of an image consultant because it helps their career. they need a good image so the people will like them so they do the things that people like so people will pay to see there form of entertainment.

In the end it's all selfish. Now if they want to pay millions of dollars to whatever cause, that is their right to. But let's call a Spade a Spade and start seeing things for what they really are. This is why we cannot allow ourselves and our culture to define what love is because the way the world is defining love is always motivated by selfishness.

So today's conversation is on biblical love and specifically our love for others so let's look at our text for today.

Romans 13:8–10 NASB95

Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Now , I didn't see the need to go through these verses that we're covering today one verse at a time because these 3 verses cover a single thought. And whenever we're doing expository preaching, we are trying to proclaim the intent of the thought behind the word.

So we are looking at a single thought and this single thought is really self explanatory. But even though it is self explanatory we can unpack it and be edified by it.

And so we begin where we left off last week in verse eight that says Oh nothing to anyone except to love one another for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

If you remember last week we ended our discussion on the Christians relationship with the state and we transitioned into our relationship in general to everyone.

Paul gives the instruction for us to owe nobody anything and he is not proclaiming that Christian should never have a loan of any sort because that would contradict other sections of scripture but rather our attitude should be that we only owe our love to others.

Now think about that for a second because I think this is a hard pill for all of us to swallow. We owe our love to everyone. Not specific individuals, not the ones who are nice to us, not the ones who can benefit us , but to love everyone as if it is owed to them. To love them as if we are in debt to people.

Now Paul already made a statement like this in this epistle and it was in the 1st chapter.

Romans 1:15 NASB95

So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

Romans 1:14–15 NASB95

I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

It is the same phrase and it is the same concept and it is the same attitude. It doesn't matter who they are , whether Jew or Gentile, weather Greek or barbarian, it doesn't matter who they are I am in debt to these people and the debt that I owe is the love of the gospel proclamation.

And because I am in debt I am eager to give them what I owe them. So we are looking at the same language very much an aspect of love. Now what Paul is saying is said throughout the New Testament and it is emphasized by our Lord and savior Jesus.

James also mentions this and so does Peter. This is a concept that cannot be ignored. Loving people is fulfilling the law. then Paul goes into a paraphrase, he's not quoting in order he is paraphrasing the law. you shall not commit adultery , you shall not murder, you shall not steal and you shall not covet.

Taken from the 10 commandments given to Israel from God himself through Moses. And it is this very law that God requires because he has written it on the heart of man but that heart is corrupted by sin.

So when we look at the second half of the 10 commandments we see that it affects other people. When one commits adultery or murder or they steel or they covet, all of that effects other people and could harm other people.

Then paul doesn't leave it at just these things he says and if there is any other commandment summed up in that saying. Any other commandment that instructs us to either look after other people, protect other people , or stop ourselves from doing something to other people is summed up in that.

It is not in the 10 commandments specifically that we need to look after orphans but there is a command to look after the orphans and that would be one that is summed up in this law to love our neighbor.

That is what Paul means by any other thing that can be summed up in this law. Now Paul makes the statement that love does no wrong which is why it is the fulfillment of the law. True love is not going to wrong anybody which is why true love needs to be practiced bye God's people.

Now there is something to be said about the specific language used here for the word love. What we have is the word agape and all of its forms. To help you understand without giving a boring Greek language lesson, agape should be looked at as kind of the root beginning word but it also has different forms which is pronounced differently for example agapeo, agapen. Each word takes on a different meaning but the route is always the same.

Now a lot of people have heard pastors teach on Greek words for love and a lot of Christians are familiar with the phrase agape. And typically pastors would call this a divine love a type of special love and there is a reason why they say that.

Eros or eron is a lustful love. Could be a lust for people or positions.

Phileo is a love among friends and is often understood as brotherly love. This is what the city of philidalphia is named after which is why that city is dubed or subtitled, the city of brotherly love.

Then you have agape. Which in New Testament times was a fairly new word in the Greek language. And yet it is the dominant word for love in the New Testament. the fact that it is a new word yet the dominant word used I think is a commentary in and of itself.

I do not think it is fair to say that this is a divine love because it is not restricted to the divine. But we can conclude that this is a special word and it was the special word that was chosen to be used in the New Testament quite often.

And so the way many Greek historians and language experts understand agape is they understand it to be a specific love. a precious love. You phileo children but you agape your child. It's restricted down to a specific.

And so it is often dubbed the special kind of love. It is a love that is specific , restricted to something specific but also in a sense intimate. You have a special connection with this object of love.

Verse 8 we see agapen, verse 9 we see agapesis, and in verse 10 we see agape. Agape is a noun but the first two are verbs. They are very active. So the love that is owed to our neighbor by us is a love that is special, that is intimate and it is active.

Now if we are to restrict everything down to these 3 verses and go no further, we have just about covered what these 3 verses have to say.

However, we are christians and we are concerned about what the whole of scripture has to say and as Christians we know that pAul is giving us a thought but it is not a complete thought.

Because if we were to restrict these verses down and ignore the rest of scripture then all we can conclude is that we have to be loving to the world as the world defines it. Secularist would have no problem turning to Romans chapter 13 And reading verses 8, 9 and 10 and say do you see this you must practice this.

They are OK with just this section if they don't have to read before or beyond that. But something to keep in mind, we are in chapter 13. Which means chapters one through 12 must be read through before you get to this point. which is something we have been emphasizing throughout this study.

We know as students of scripture that we cannot restrict it down to just these verses. If we are commanded to love our neighbor and it is the fulfillment of the law then we need to take into consideration the entire teaching of love in relation to this law.

And to make it brief, in order to love our neighbor and have a love that fulfills the law means you must love God 1st. There is no love for your neighbor if there is no love for God.

1 John

1 John 4:7–13 NASB95

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.

Sure, the fallen man can have affection for other people. The fallen man has feelings and these are all gifts of grace. But the fallen man does not love their spouse or their child enough to tell them the message of eternal life.

a love that proclaims I love you so much that I want you to have everlasting life in everlasting joy. And not only do I want you to have that but I want to be there with you in that. But I don't want it for your sake or for my sake I want it for the sake of being with my savior and my creator. and I want it for His glorification.

That, my friends, is a very loving statement to make to another soul. But such a proclamation cannot be made when one is dead in their trespasses and sins. Such a proclamation cannot be made if you do not believe in such a statement and if you do not know the truth of your savior and your creator.

Therefore, you do not know a type of love that is meant for mankind until you know the one who is this type of love. Love does not allow a loved one to drink poison and that is what we are seeing our culture do. we are seeing them drink poison and they are telling us it is harmless.

They are causing great harm and destruction upon themselves and we are letting it go. Revealing that we do not have the love that we think we have. we do not have this biblical love. But we are loving like the world loves. A selfish, self gratifying love.

Which is really no love at all it is lust parading itself as love. the love of God will manifest itself in the ways that Paul has described in the chapters and versus before these verses we're looking at now.

A love for God does not deny God, a love for God does not hate the things that God loves , it doesn't reject the things that God loves, it doesn't criticize the things that God loves. A love for God does not permit us to remain in ignorance but to gain in wisdom and knowledge about him.

But we have just about in an entire generation of Christians claiming to love God and actively running from God. And you cannot blame that generation alone they were taught that. For the most part unintentionally but regardless they were taught it.

When the church of yesterday started to proclaim deeds not creeds, they were unintentionally training this generation's rejection. When the Church of yesterday has put in such a strong emphasis on the phrase its a relationship not a religion they unintentionally handicapped the Christians of this generation.

When we were trying to become clever with our deliverance, with our words, with our approach that's when things were unintentionally mislead.

It wasn't the former generation's intentions to have these results but i'm not concerned with people's intentions. you should not be concerned with people's intentions. And ultimately that is what we get , that is what we deserve when we try to improve God's method of evangelism. By trying to be creative with our speech.

And Paul warned us about preachers who attempt to be clever with their words and clever with their actions. So new programs, talks of vision and growth in creative ways.

this is what the church is doing now. Nobody is going to admit it. But when we take the clear and cut teachings on evangelism and gospel proclamation and we say we gotta try it in a different way to be more relevant to be more whatever, you fill in the blank, in our actions we we're trying to improve God's standard.

this is what the church is doing now. Nobody is going to admit it. But when we take the clear and cut teachings on evangelism and gospel proclamation and we say we gotta try it in a different way to be more relevant to be more whatever, you fill in the blank, in our actions we we're trying to improve God's standard.

So we're getting what we deserve and we're reaping the benefits of what we harvested. We had the plays, we had the Sunday schools, we had the groups, we had the events, we had the activities but what we didn't have is bold gospel proclamation and biblical truth.

And what drives me nuts is that there are ministries upon ministries that believe they did have bold gospel proclamation and biblical truth. If the preaching is not expository in nature then no you don't and no you never did.

We didn't have the unpacking an magnifying of God's word in our sanctuaries across the United States and we want to know why people are so biblically illiterate. We want to know why the next generation is no longer attending church.

because we trained them not to. We didn't show love to our neighbors. We let the world define love. We let the world define love and we let them define it apart from faith. And that is what we are seeing in the church a love without faith.

which is why we see no love from God people claiming to be God's people. No devotion to God. which is what the word religion means , it means a devotion to God. It's not a religion it's a relationship.

Unfortunately we never set the standard of what healthy relationships looks like in our culture. Therefore defining our faith as a relationship can mean anything to anyone. Your parents we're different than my parents so my standard of relationships is not the same as your standard.

So then define to me relationship. Think about that for a minute and you will soon realize what Muddy Waters you are stepping in. Eventually , to establish a proper meaning of the word relationship when it comes to the relationship with God is you have to get to the devotion of God and now you are back at that word religion.

I have no arguments that we do in fact have a relationship with God, I believe that very much and affirm that very much. But I also know that everybody has a relationship with God so that is a dangerous word to build an entire foundation.

Either way, the great falling away that we are all witnessing , that we are all talking about is partially our fault. Because we were not truly being loving and your heart should be breaking right now that we are partially responsible for what we see.

If we didn't show the proper love to the next generation we definitely stayed within our own bubble didn't we? Yes, there is blood on our hands May God forgive us and have mercy on us all.

So I want to challenge you all to recognize and reflect on the history of the American church within the last 50 to 70 years. Recognize that each generation has been stepping away. If one generation has stepped away in greater numbers then you need to look back at the generation prior.

Because you can't blame the schools and you can't blame the peers and you can't blame any system because it is the churches job and the job of faithful parents to equip their children to take on the Wiles and ways of the world.

And if one gave in to the ways of the world just being in the world for a short period of time it is not a reflection on them, its reflection on us. And it has to be a reflection on our lack of agape.

So it's time our love gets active Anne it's time our love gets honest. We need to tell the ones that we have failed we are sorry. But you were drinking poison And I love you so much that I want you to have eterniti and not only do I want you to have eternity I wanna be with you in eternity.

So I don't want to just say you need Jesus but I want to take you under my wing and show you Jesus through the word of God together. There is still hope. Will you be faithful to God and allow your agape to get active? I can't make you do it. Will you do it?