What is Love?

Introduction

A Joy to be here! My message this afternoon is not going to be specifically about the marital relationship that many make valentines day out to be, but about developing strong bonds within the body of the church.

As I was preparing this material, I asked my kids what might be some different ways to show someone they loved them. Here are a few of their responses (and for context, my kids are 7, 5, 4,)

Hugs. Kisses.

Draw them a picture

Send them a valentines day Card

Send a mothers day card

Send a Fathers day card.

Send a birthday card. (they like cards)

Tell them they look beautiful

Tell them you love them

Be nice to them.

The mind of a child is amazing. Though they are young, they were able to recognize and see that there were many ways that love can be expressed, and each answer reveals a little peak into their minds.

It’s also amazing that God has given us so many ways to express love for one another. There are words we can say, actions we can do, gifts we can give, time that can be spent…

The possible ways this can be worked out are virtually endless, limited only by our imagination.

I’d like to take for our text this afternoon Philippians chapter one. I’m going to read verse 8, and then ask the question: how do we get there?

Philippians 1:8 ESV

8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.

This is Paul’s testimony of his love for the church. He yearns for them. He desires to be with them, he longs for them. He has affection, a tenderness, a compassion for them.

It’s been said that there may be no book more tender than the letter of Paul to the Philippians. Why is that the case? How does this come about?

It’s not like we get the indication that Paul felt this strongly for every church. I mean you read some of his other letters, and Paul seems a little.....upset …at times.

But not toward the Philippians. Tenderness. affection. How do such bonds form within the church?

I followed up my question about showing love to my children by asking them “what is love” and no I did not break into song.

“It mean you lie someone”

“It means you think they are cool”

but my favorite response came from my 5 year old son who said

“I don’t know, but I LOVE cantelope.”

There are many definitions of love but my preferre definition is that it is a mindset or disposition toward someone that affects our behavior toward them. This leas to choices about how we treat them. This may or may not lead to feelings or emotions. But it is that mindset.

Paul had this for the church, and it seemed the church had this for him. Thie mindset toward each other was one of love. They cared for each other. THere was something about the church that stirred this up in Paul. What was it?

For a number of years there has been a push for what is often called “attractional” ministry. This philosophy of church leadership states that we ought to do whatever we can to make the church attractive to the world so that they will come to be part of the church.

But if we take a look at what Paul says is attractive to him, what has caused him to develop such deep love and affection for this church, it isn’t all the flashy things that the megachurches do these day to draw people in.

An attractive church to Paul is one that serves in gospel ministry with and for one another.

An attractive church is one that serves in gospel ministry with and for one another.

Go with me back to verse 3.

Philippians 1:3–4 ESV

3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy,

First, notice how he speaks of prayer:

In all my remembrance of you

Always

in every prayer

This stacking of terms leads to an emphatic point: Paul is actively praying for the church!

Paul is a man of prayer. He speaks of prayer frequently in his letters often detailing what it is specifically that he prays for others. Paul says that whenever he thinks of the Philippians, he always thanks God for them.

I don’t know if you have had the joy of having people like that in your life. Whenever they come to mind, it fills you with fond memories and you are grateful for the chance to get to know those people. Sometimes people come in and out of our lives and if they come to mind we go “huh, good riddance there” right? But sometimes there are special people that do nothing but bring memories and feelings of love and joy.

I think that way about some dear folks I at the church I attended when I was in college. Dear sweet people, who invited me to their home, gave me some books, and fellowshipped with me. They were exceptionally kind to me and whenever I think them, whenever I use the books he gave to me, I recall fond memories of times we were together.

That was the case with the Philippians to Paul. Whenever God brought the Philippians to mind, he always took the time to pray for them and thank God for them, and he does so with joy.

Why is that Paul thinks so highly of them?

Verse five gives us the answer.

Philippians 1:5 ESV

5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

The word translated as partnership can have the idea of working side-by-side toward the same end. They are partners.

They are partners in the Gospel.

The Gospel, of course is the good news of the message of Jesus Christ.

God is holy. I am not. Because of my sin, I am judged as guilty before God. As such, God, being the righteous judge that he is, cannot let my sin go unpunished. Therefore I am righteously and justly condemned to spend eternity in hell.

but God, being rich in mercy, sent forth his Son Jesus Christ, who lived a perfect life, to take on the punishment for human sin by dying on the cross in my place. On that cross he endured the wrath of God and now offers forgiveness for sins, eternal life, adoption into the family of God, reconciliation with the Father, and entrance into the Kingdom for all who will repent of their sin and trust him wholly.

The Gospel. Good news. Grace. Mercy.

Paul says they are partners in this Gospel.

How are they partners?

Some think it refers to partnership in the sense that they both believe in the Gospel. We share in the same Gospel, we fellowship together in the same Gospel, etc. That’s possible, but I think there is more to it than that from the context.

I think there are two main reasons why they can rightly be called partners.

By sending financial aid to Paul. This was one of the main reasons Paul was writing to this church, to thank them for their faithful financial support, which we would see if we skipped to chapter four. The Philippians believed the Gospel, and they wanted others to believe the Gospel, and so, knowing that Paul’s mission was to proclaim the Gospel, they supported his efforts. They invested him financially, and thus became partners in the Gospel in that sense.

By being faithful to proclaim the Gospel themselves. In different places in this letter Paul identifies the church as a suffering church. They wouldn’t be suffering if they were keeping to themselves. They were undoubtedly proclaiming the Gospel with boldness.

Look with me at verse 7:

Philippians 1:7 ESV

7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

Not only are they partners in the Gospel, but they are partakers of grace, both in Paul’s imprisonment, which I do take to be their ongoing financial support for him even while he is in prison, and in the defense and confirmation of the Gospel.

These are gospelizers! They defended the Gospel with Paul. They confirmed the Gospel through their witness with Paul. They got their hands dirty doing the Lord’s work! Not all of them would have been called to preach. Not all would have been called to apologetics work. Not all had the gift of evangelism. But that didn’t seem to stop them. They gave themselves to the work.

Paul say they were engaged with Gospel ministry from day one. They never wavered. From the first day until now they have been faithful fellow workers for the Gospel.

Think about what this cost the Philippians.

It cost them monetarily, as they gave sacrificially for the advancement of the Gospel.

It cost them personal comfort. Their lives were upended. There was no returning to status quo.

It cost them personal safety. Paul is in jail, and several of the Philippians have endured suffering and persecution as well.

But they had counted the cost and had determined that what they were enduring was worth it for the sake of the Gospel.

And this, is what Paul identified as being what drove him to love this church, the reason why he is so thankful for them, the reason why he prays for them with such joy!

It’s because their bonds were forged in Gospel Fire.

Their bonds were forged in Gospel fire. This is a love that forged through mutual labor for the Gospel.

I remember growing up as a baseball fan watching the Cubs one summer and they were really doing poorly. They were off to a bad start, they had some issues within the clubhouse, it just wasn’t looking great. But there was a turning point in the season. A player from another team appeared to intentionally hit several Cubs players with his pitch. After some words were exchanged, the benches cleared and there was a small skirmish on the field. We can look at moments like that as being rather negative, but it was that moment that was a turning point for that team. All the sudden, this wasn’t just some ragtag group of misfits. They became a team in that moment. Now they knew that that guy has my back and I have his. A greater bond was formed in the fight than could ever have been manufactured in another way.

Often times our military veterans experience a camaraderie that can only come from having served in the armed forces. No one else knows what it's like and can empathize with you like someone who fought alongside you against a common enemy. Brothers in arms, are brothers for life.

And such is what it is for God’s people. Obviously, we aren’t fighting a physical war or going to battle with Rifles or Baseball bats. But we are in a spiritual war. And we do go to spiritual war against the forces of darkness, and when we engage in Gospel ministry alongside one another, when we labor in prayer for one another, there is a bond that is formed that is greater than anything else.

Two individuals may even have some secondary doctrinal differences,

but when we labor for the same gospel, you’re my brother! You’re my sister! and I will go to war for you and with you.

That is the kind of bond that Paul has with the Philippians. It’s not uncommon for some individuals within a church to feel like they aren’t developing the relationships they desire to develop from their church community. Are you doing ministry together? Are you praying for and with one another? The deepest bonds are formed through Gospel ministry with one another.

I want to give you two personal illustrations from my own life to highlight this principle.

I remember when I first came to this region of the country and started attending the IFCA pastors meetings. If you aren’t aware, around 7-9 times a year the IFCA pastors from the southern Illinois and Southern Indaiana Region gather for fellowship, prayer, and pastoral sharpening. Well, I had met several of the pastors and was beginning to get to know them a bit. Everyone was always kind and gracious. But those relationship took on another level of depth when we served at Shakamak Bible Camp together. I spoke for the Sr camp that year. I went from friends, to brothers with many of those men in the one week time. Why?

I taught from the Scriptures to the campers. I helped clean things up. I counseled campers. I did battle for the campers souls alongside some the other leaders and we prayed that God would move in their hearts.

A closer bond was formed through the fires of Gospel ministry.

A second illustration of this.

I do open air preaching. I know that makes me a weirdo in these days, but I believe in the power of the Word of God.

I didn’t always do open air preaching. As I was getting started, I had to find some individuals who had experience doing what I wanted to do so that I could so what it looked like in action. But there is also the negative stereotype of guys who do open air preaching and it can hardly be called preaching. It’s open air yelling, a graceless, christless message of condemnation. I wasn’t interested in that.

By God’s grace he brought men into my life from a church that was an hour away from me. The invited me to come and just watch and pray. So I did. Then I started getting involved with things myself. I asked them questions. They gave me pointers.

Before long, I was out there preaching alongside of them, them listening and giving feedback and encouraging me in the task, always being careful to preach the truth about our sinful condition, the need to trust in Christ, and the promise of forgiveness to all who will do so.

These men were not IFCA pastors. They aren’t dispensational. They don’t believe in a pre-trib rapture, or the millennial reign of Christ on the earth.

But let me tell you something. I love those men. I thank God for those men. I would go to war with those guys, and they would go to war with me. When we first launched our church services, those men drove an hour to come to our community and helped our church distribute doorhangers on a day that it poured down rain.

Why? Because we have the same Gospel and we know that whatever other differences we might have, we both want sinners to be reconciled unto God. We have labored side by side together for the sake of the Gospel. I know that they have my back and I have theirs.

It is often so tempting to allow church to be a social environment. This room is an armory. Here you gear up so that you can go out.

Do you want to develop deep and lasting relationships with your brothers and sister in Christ? Find ways to serve one with and for one another. Pray with and for one another. Go door to door with Gospel tracts. Write letters to prisoners. Get a booth at the town festival and take shifts with one another.

Serving with one another within the church is good. It took work and effort from several of you, I’m sure, to put this event on today. These events are good and valuable and they help build the church.

But if you want to take those relationships to the next level, go to war with each other, spiritually. Endure Gospel hardship with one another. Pray for each other.

If you do that, even if God takes you seperate ways, you will always look back at these relationships with the fondness Paul describes

Philippians 1:3–5 ESV

3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

Philippians 1:7–8 ESV

7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.

These are the kinds of relationships I want. These are the kinds of people I want to be around.

This is the kind of person I want to be for others.

I don’t know if you noticed, but I kind of skipped a verse in our paragraph today. I did that intentionally, but I be remiss if I left it off altogether.

Philippians 1:6 ESV

6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

I have fellowshiped with you all enough to know that God has begun a good work in you. You love the Lord, and you want others to have what you have.

I’m also sure that each us can say, hey you know what....I’m not perfect. I often gratify my flesh rather than walk by the Spirit. The good news is that God’s not finished with us yet.

He who began a good work in you when you first came to believe in the Gospel....he’s going to finish that work. He will bring it to completion. Sometimes the process isn’t fun. Indeed, it can be painful at times. But He who promised his faithful, for he himself has said “I will never leave you nor forsake you”.

So I close with that encouragement. God is at work! As you deepen your relationships with one another through mutual Gospel labor, you will see God at work in you and in others. You will develop bonds that are not easily shaken. You will find that you would go to war with these individuals. Because you do. Every prayer. Every Gospel encounter. It is war. Do it together.

Let’s pray

Thank you Lord for today. For the fellowship. For the Gospel that enables it. Help be what you have called us to be. Thank you that we know that you who began a good work with complete it within us. It’s not something we have to fear for or worry about. It’s a sure reality. Guide us. Protect us. Deepen us. Strengthen us. May all we do be done in love you and love for one another, a love born out of mutual Gospel labor.

Amen.