Sermon: “The Things We Do For Love”

Text: Genesis 29:18-20

18 Now Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, “I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.”

19 And Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me.”

20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her.

Date: February 14, 2021

Place: ALIBC

Occasion: Valentine’s Day

Theme: Maximizing Your Potential

Title: “The Things We Do For Love”

Introduction:

Thesis: When you really love someone you will do some extraordinary things. You will do some unimaginable things, but it is all because of love that we do those things. The word love sometimes is toss around with very little meaning, but the Bible has a lot to say about love. God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son. We ought to love one another for this is how the world will know that we are His disciples.

Beginning at 1 John 4:7-11

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.

10 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.

11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Then we find: verses 20 and 21 It says,

20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?

21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

The Greeks had at least 4 different perspectives or interpretations of love. One was the word Stergo which is family love or the love one has for family members, Phileo - or brotherly love or the love that we have for humanity. This is where we get the name for the city of Philadephia, which is the city of brotherly love. And then there is the word Eros, which is sexual, sensual, passionate love, where we get the word erotic from. But then there is Agapao or Agape.

Matthew 22:34-41 says,

34 But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.

35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying,

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

The word here for love is Agape. Agape love is the kind of love that God has for us, which is unconditional love without any strings attached. This kind of love is not base on (I’ll do this for you, if you do this for me) It is while we were yet in our sins, Jesus died for us.

When you love someone with Agape love, you will do some amazing things. God has done and still is doing some amazing things for you and I.

This is what we see in our text this morning. Jacob did some amazing and extraordinary things for the woman that he met and fell in love with.

Proverbs 18:22 NKJV says,

22He who finds a wife finds a good thing, And obtains favor from the Lord.

We see this amazing and extraordinary love in our text.

Body:

I. The Traveler (28:10–22)

A. Jacob’s vision (28:10–15)

During a dream at Bethel, Jacob sees angels ascending and descending upon a stairway reaching from earth to heaven.

The Lord is standing at the top of the stairway and reaffirms to Jacob the covenant he established with Abraham.

10 Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran.

11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep.

12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants.

14 Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”

Upon waking, Jacob promises to serve God, but only if God protects him and provides for him.

16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”

17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”

18 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it.

19 And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously.

20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on,

21 so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God.

22 And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”

16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”

17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”

18 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it.

19 And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously.

20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on,

21 so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God.

22 And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”

II. The Lover (29:1–30)

A. Jacob’s love for Rachel (29:1–17)

It was love at first sight. God does work that way sometimes you know. So Jacob meets Rachel by a well and rolls away a huge stone from its entrance so she can water her father’s sheep. Her father is Laban, Jacob’s uncle.

And Jacob and Laban meet each other and decide that Jacob should work for Laban.

29:1 So Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the East.

2 And he looked, and saw a well in the field; and behold, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks. A large stone was on the well’s mouth.

3 Now all the flocks would be gathered there; and they would roll the stone from the well’s mouth, water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the well’s mouth.

4 And Jacob said to them, “My brethren, where are you from?”

And they said, “We are from Haran.”

5 Then he said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?”

And they said, “We know him.”

6 So he said to them, “Is he well?”

And they said, “He is well. And look, his daughter Rachel is coming with the sheep.”

7 Then he said, “Look, it is still high day; it is not time for the cattle to be gathered together. Water the sheep, and go and feed them.”

8 But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together, and they have rolled the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep.”

9 Now while he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess.

10 And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother.

11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept.

12 And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s relative and that he was Rebekah’s son. So she ran and told her father.

13 Then it came to pass, when Laban heard the report about Jacob his sister’s son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. So he told Laban all these things.

14 And Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him for a month.

15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what should your wages be?”

16 Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.

17 Leah’s eyes were delicate, but Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance.

B. Jacob’s labor for Rachel (29:18–30)

And the scriptures say Jacob asks to marry Rachel in exchange for seven years of work for Laban.

But after seven long years, Laban plays a trick on Jacob. On the eve of the wedding, Laban secretly substitutes Leah for Rachel, forcing Jacob to work yet another seven years. Notice the text.

18 Now Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, “I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.”

19 And Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me.”

20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her.

21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her.”

22 And Laban gathered together all the men of the place and made a feast.

23 Now it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her.

24 And Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid.

25 So it came to pass in the morning, that behold, it was Leah. And he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served you? Why then have you deceived me?”

26 And Laban said, “It must not be done so in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.

27 Fulfill her week, and we will give you this one also for the service which you will serve with me still another seven years.”

28 Then Jacob did so and fulfilled her week. So he gave him his daughter Rachel as wife also.

29 And Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as a maid.

30 Then Jacob also went in to Rachel, and he also loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with Laban still another seven years.

Closing:

Isn’t it amazing the things we will do for love. And that’s a wonderful thing when you think about it. And it can be an alarming thing when we do wrong for love. But love will make you do right also. But the greatest thing I see about the power of love is that it will make you sacrifice for someone else unconditionally.

On this Valentine’s Day, understand how amazing and extraordinary the power of love is, but most of remember how much God loves you and the sacrifice He made when He gave you His only begotten son that you might have eternal Life.

The things we do for loveWhen you find real love, you will do some amazing things,You will climb the highest mountain,You will swim the deepest ocean,You will cross the widest river,And will go travel the lowest valley,You will make big sacrifices,You will make small sacrifices,You will go to work every day,You will come home and move the lawn, cook the dinner,Take out the trashClean the houseWash the clothesOpen the car doorPay the billsPick up the groceriesGo to the cleanersBuy clothes and outfitsMake big purchasesMake small purchases like,Washers and dryersMicrowaves, Refrigerators, and freezersSUVs and CarsDiamond rings and necklacesThe things we do for love!We will put the other person’s interest before our ownWe will pray for themFast for themAnd even die for themThat’s what Jesus did!Yet while we were sinners,Jesus came down through 42 generationsWrap in swaddling clothesLaid in a mangerGrew up to be a manPreached the Spirit of the Lord is upon meHealed the sickOpen the blinded eyesRaised the DeadWas called everything but a child of GodLead from court room to court roomWhipped and beaten until He bledWas spat uponStretched high and stretched wideNailed to the crossPierce in his sideBut through it all,He never said a mumbling word,But He said, Father forgive them for they know not what they doHe died, but three days later, He got upThat’s what love will make you do

The things we do for love, will make you lay down your life for somebody else.Come on, on this Valentines Day and help me praise Him!