WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.799 Father, we want to just pray and ask for your help this evening as we consider the topic of love. 00:00:07.640 --> 00:00:09.939 We've probably got all sorts of different things going on in our minds. 00:00:10.839 --> 00:00:12.939 Many of us are tired from busy days. 00:00:13.220 --> 00:00:17.480 We ask please now that you just might give us thoughtfulness and attention, 00:00:17.719 --> 00:00:18.940 that this might be a blessing to us. 00:00:19.019 --> 00:00:27.199 Shape our characters, we pray, around your word and around your goodness and grace to us, we pray in Jesus' name. 00:00:27.539 --> 00:00:27.839 Amen. 00:00:28.260 --> 00:00:28.539 Amen. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:36.579 Okay, so we are looking tonight at the topic of love in the Christian character series. 00:00:37.659 --> 00:00:39.420 You did miss somebody. 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:44.019 And so, yes, so we're going to be thinking about the idea of love, 00:00:44.120 --> 00:00:49.539 that Christians should love God, should love others and should be characterized by love. 00:00:50.299 --> 00:00:56.039 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. 00:00:56.039 --> 00:01:01.780 By this will all men know that you are my disciples if you love one another. 00:01:02.920 --> 00:01:05.459 If you have not love, you are a... 00:01:05.459 --> 00:01:12.039 You've already fallen asleep and I've barely started. 00:01:12.039 --> 00:01:15.879 A resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 00:01:15.879 --> 00:01:17.019 Without love, yeah. 00:01:17.379 --> 00:01:21.079 Without love, we are just pagan worship. 00:01:22.459 --> 00:01:25.420 Now, obviously, it is a huge, huge topic. 00:01:25.979 --> 00:01:30.219 Jesus tells us that the instruction to love summarizes the Old Testament law. 00:01:30.219 --> 00:01:32.719 We're told in the Bible that God is love. 00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:36.539 And so, in some sense, love summarizes the character of God. 00:01:36.540 --> 00:01:43.860 So, that means either our choice this evening is we talk about everything and we never end, right? 00:01:43.880 --> 00:01:48.320 We talk about all of who God is and all of what it means to live for him. 00:01:49.219 --> 00:01:58.820 Or, so that's one choice, or we narrow our objectives a little bit and try and spend some time focusing on just a particular aspect of it. 00:01:58.819 --> 00:02:04.379 Now, I've decided that I'm going to focus on just a more narrow aspect so that we are not here all night. 00:02:05.199 --> 00:02:10.620 And I want us to focus our time in 1 John, looking at what he teaches us about love. 00:02:11.359 --> 00:02:19.959 And the first thing I want you to notice in 1 John is that he distinguishes between the world's love and Christian love. 00:02:20.419 --> 00:02:22.840 So, 1 John, chapter 2, verse 15. 00:02:23.379 --> 00:02:27.419 Do not love the world or anything in the world. 00:02:27.419 --> 00:02:31.539 If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:33.699 Or, chapter 4, verse 19. 00:02:34.219 --> 00:02:37.759 We loved because he first loved us. 00:02:38.279 --> 00:02:45.539 In other words, and we'll talk some more about the detail of those verses, but just for now, notice that the world knows about love. 00:02:45.619 --> 00:02:52.579 It uses the word, but its definition is distinct from the kind of Christian love that John is talking about. 00:02:52.580 --> 00:03:00.240 The Christian love that John is talking about is distinct from the world's kind of love and from the love of the things of this world. 00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:09.680 So, there is a love that is only possible, says John, for those who have experienced the saving love of Jesus. 00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:12.439 That's our topic this evening. 00:03:12.580 --> 00:03:16.760 Our topic this evening is this distinctive kind of Christian love. 00:03:16.759 --> 00:03:20.199 So, let's try and tease out first a definition of love. 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:21.179 What is love? 00:03:23.099 --> 00:03:24.219 Well, wet, wet, wet. 00:03:25.039 --> 00:03:26.739 I feel it in my fingers. 00:03:27.060 --> 00:03:28.000 You know this song? 00:03:28.439 --> 00:03:28.780 You don't? 00:03:28.959 --> 00:03:29.679 Anderson doesn't know it. 00:03:29.759 --> 00:03:30.919 I feel it in my toes. 00:03:31.179 --> 00:03:32.379 Love is all around me. 00:03:32.719 --> 00:03:34.039 And so, the feeling grows. 00:03:35.180 --> 00:03:37.979 It's a, in the world, it's a feeling, isn't it? 00:03:38.039 --> 00:03:38.919 It's the tingles. 00:03:39.019 --> 00:03:40.759 It's an emotion that we cannot control. 00:03:40.759 --> 00:03:45.959 It overwhelms us and moves us, coming from the inside out. 00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:48.639 Billie Eilish. 00:03:49.239 --> 00:03:50.060 Heard of her, right? 00:03:50.219 --> 00:03:52.799 So, we're getting a bit more contemporary. 00:03:53.459 --> 00:03:56.239 I wish you were the best for the rest of your life. 00:03:56.239 --> 00:03:58.120 I wish you the best for the rest of your life. 00:03:58.659 --> 00:04:01.399 Felt sorry for you when I looked in your eyes. 00:04:01.780 --> 00:04:04.219 But I need to confess, I told you a lie. 00:04:04.719 --> 00:04:06.819 I said you were the love of my life. 00:04:07.399 --> 00:04:08.079 Interesting, isn't it? 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:15.760 In a sort of pathos in her song, she thought she loved this guy, but it was just pity. 00:04:17.080 --> 00:04:21.360 She felt sorry for him when she looked in his eyes, and she thought it was love. 00:04:21.420 --> 00:04:22.620 The feeling was similar. 00:04:23.319 --> 00:04:28.340 But now that feeling has gone, so it was a lie to call him the love of my life. 00:04:28.400 --> 00:04:30.800 It was just a temporary feeling. 00:04:33.500 --> 00:04:35.060 Stormzy says this, 00:04:35.060 --> 00:04:38.660 If your love is my holy water, girl, just let me drown. 00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:41.079 And even if you don't, it's fine. 00:04:41.720 --> 00:04:42.780 I'm going to read the rest of the song. 00:04:43.360 --> 00:04:50.620 But it's interesting, as you listen to that, it is, Stormzy's definition of love is mostly physical. 00:04:51.399 --> 00:04:53.500 It's mostly about sexual attraction. 00:04:54.220 --> 00:04:56.500 He wants to drown in the love of this girl. 00:04:57.480 --> 00:04:58.800 Sex and love are synonymous. 00:04:59.800 --> 00:05:02.079 Love is a passionate, physical desire. 00:05:02.079 --> 00:05:06.000 Now, of course, the world says more than that about love, right? 00:05:06.800 --> 00:05:10.459 Well, well, well, Billy Eilish and Stormzy are not the great thinkers of our time, are they? 00:05:11.039 --> 00:05:13.719 But still, I think it is a helpful summary. 00:05:14.120 --> 00:05:21.079 In the world, generally speaking, love is a feeling, an overwhelming feeling, but mostly transitory. 00:05:21.219 --> 00:05:21.919 It's passing. 00:05:21.920 --> 00:05:27.319 And it has at its heart some kind of physical desire in its most intense form. 00:05:28.439 --> 00:05:32.759 And with all that, love is really, really important in our world, isn't it? 00:05:33.240 --> 00:05:35.280 The Christian says God is love. 00:05:35.379 --> 00:05:39.000 I think the world probably says something like love is God, really. 00:05:39.420 --> 00:05:41.400 We worship love, don't we? 00:05:41.700 --> 00:05:44.080 Particularly sex and sexual intimacy. 00:05:44.740 --> 00:05:46.759 Really, how do you know who you are? 00:05:46.759 --> 00:05:49.139 You know who you are by who you love. 00:05:49.719 --> 00:05:53.259 Love defines who you are and what your life is for. 00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:55.240 Love is God in our world. 00:05:55.800 --> 00:06:03.139 So even this sort of transitory feeling worked out in physical passion is the holy grail for our culture. 00:06:03.560 --> 00:06:05.099 It's what people build their lives around. 00:06:06.199 --> 00:06:09.079 Now, if you contrast that with what 1 John says about love, 00:06:09.319 --> 00:06:12.920 love in John's letter is defined not by our feelings, 00:06:12.920 --> 00:06:15.759 but defined firstly by God's character. 00:06:16.439 --> 00:06:18.300 1 John chapter 4 verse 7. 00:06:19.220 --> 00:06:25.720 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from an intense internal feeling. 00:06:25.960 --> 00:06:28.060 No, love comes from God. 00:06:28.700 --> 00:06:32.220 Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:36.480 Whoever does not love does not know God because God is love. 00:06:37.240 --> 00:06:41.100 Here again is this idea that the Christian is uniquely capable of love 00:06:41.100 --> 00:06:44.640 because they have been born of God, the God of love. 00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:51.840 God defines what love is in himself because he himself is love and real love comes from him. 00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:56.180 Now, that means a number of things, at least two things, right? 00:06:56.340 --> 00:07:00.620 One, God did not become love when he created the world. 00:07:00.620 --> 00:07:08.220 If, say, we were talking about Islam earlier, Allah is not love in himself 00:07:08.220 --> 00:07:13.100 because he has had no one to love in eternity past, see? 00:07:13.579 --> 00:07:18.280 But God is love because God has been loving in eternity. 00:07:18.939 --> 00:07:23.259 It is intrinsic to who he is, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:07:24.300 --> 00:07:29.340 And so love is not what God became when he created the world, but rather who he is. 00:07:29.339 --> 00:07:32.459 Because the world comes from God's love. 00:07:32.579 --> 00:07:34.679 God's love does not come in response to the world. 00:07:35.419 --> 00:07:37.459 But secondly, it means that, doesn't it? 00:07:38.299 --> 00:07:44.039 You have to know God and know the Bible in order to understand what love is. 00:07:45.219 --> 00:07:47.439 Love requires an understanding of God. 00:07:47.559 --> 00:07:50.919 So listen to what John says next, chapter 4, verse 9. 00:07:51.620 --> 00:07:54.000 This is how God showed his love among us. 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:59.079 He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 00:07:59.819 --> 00:08:08.480 This is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:16.459 So this love that comes from God, that defines who God is, that he has been loving for all eternity, 00:08:16.459 --> 00:08:20.779 because God is love, is seen today in God's actions. 00:08:20.779 --> 00:08:28.339 You know what love is by knowing who God is, and you know who God is by what God does, 00:08:28.779 --> 00:08:31.319 and the explanation then for what he has done. 00:08:32.259 --> 00:08:37.279 So God's love is seen in the sending of the Son to die on the cross. 00:08:38.139 --> 00:08:40.639 I want us to come and think about how that helps us define love. 00:08:41.179 --> 00:08:46.360 But just see how this cements the distinction between Bible love and worldly love. 00:08:46.360 --> 00:08:53.139 The implication here is that you cannot understand love, Bible love, without encountering Jesus. 00:08:54.460 --> 00:08:57.860 God is love in eternity, and that love is revealed in history, 00:08:58.340 --> 00:09:02.419 so much so that to get to the origins of love, you have to get to the heart of God, 00:09:02.480 --> 00:09:05.180 and you can only get to the heart of God through Jesus Christ. 00:09:05.179 --> 00:09:12.339 It means, and I think this would be the most shocking part of what we're thinking about this evening, 00:09:12.339 --> 00:09:16.500 if you were to try and describe it to someone outside of the church, 00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:19.639 or to talk about it tomorrow morning with somebody at work, 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:21.659 or no one's going to work tomorrow, it's bank holiday, right? 00:09:22.559 --> 00:09:25.599 Or your neighbor, or a member of your family, who's not a Christian. 00:09:26.239 --> 00:09:30.759 If you said to them, there is a sense in which that unless you have a saving encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:09:30.759 --> 00:09:32.360 you are incapable of loving. 00:09:33.200 --> 00:09:35.519 It's a shocking thing to say, isn't it? 00:09:35.539 --> 00:09:36.659 But that's what 1 John is saying. 00:09:37.340 --> 00:09:42.659 This kind of love, you are incapable of generating in yourself from yourself. 00:09:44.220 --> 00:09:46.840 And we're going to think about that and how that works in a moment. 00:09:46.939 --> 00:09:52.439 But for now, notice that this means that what the world says about love is actually a gospel issue, right? 00:09:53.240 --> 00:09:55.460 See, we live in a world, don't we, which says love is love, 00:09:55.460 --> 00:10:00.159 so that people should just be allowed to express love in whatever way they want to. 00:10:00.919 --> 00:10:05.199 And, you know, marriage is defined just about two people who love each other and want to spend their lives together. 00:10:05.439 --> 00:10:07.779 It's a feeling that people have towards one another. 00:10:08.500 --> 00:10:11.439 And then people get a bit bent out of shape when we say that actually, you know, 00:10:11.559 --> 00:10:15.459 we want to define marriage carefully and we want to define love carefully. 00:10:15.819 --> 00:10:16.860 But that's right, isn't it? 00:10:16.860 --> 00:10:22.199 Because there is a particular kind of Christian gospel love, 00:10:22.740 --> 00:10:26.220 which is at the heart of who God is, seen in the work of Christ. 00:10:26.319 --> 00:10:27.519 So love is a gospel issue. 00:10:27.519 --> 00:10:30.600 Now, we're going to talk a bit more about that in a moment, 00:10:30.679 --> 00:10:32.500 but I want you now, just with the person next to you, 00:10:32.539 --> 00:10:39.259 to have a look at verses 9 and 10 and see whether you can write a concise definition of love 00:10:39.259 --> 00:10:44.419 from 1 John chapter 4 verses 9 and 10. 00:10:45.480 --> 00:10:46.679 1 John chapter 4 verses 9 and 10. 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:50.179 Let me read them to you again and then you can write your definition of love with the person next to you. 00:10:50.179 --> 00:10:52.979 This is how God showed his love among us. 00:10:53.479 --> 00:10:58.559 He sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him. 00:10:58.839 --> 00:11:06.159 This is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:09.059 Okay, write a definition of love. 00:11:09.159 --> 00:11:11.179 If it rhymes, you get extra bonus points. 00:11:11.359 --> 00:11:15.240 If it has a tune, then you're knocking it out of the park. 00:11:15.240 --> 00:11:15.639 Okay. 00:11:20.100 --> 00:11:20.539 Okay. 00:11:22.980 --> 00:11:26.799 That was quite a difficult thing to do, but does anyone want to... 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:29.139 At least what aspects, okay? 00:11:29.299 --> 00:11:32.279 What kind of things does our definition of love have to have in it? 00:11:36.899 --> 00:11:38.120 Oh, come on, Sarah, yeah. 00:11:38.120 --> 00:11:41.500 God sacrificed his son for me, if that is it. 00:11:41.860 --> 00:11:42.580 Yes, okay. 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:50.940 So sacrifice, giving, for the benefit of the loved one, not the lover. 00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:52.539 Yeah, yeah. 00:11:55.340 --> 00:11:55.779 Great. 00:11:57.860 --> 00:11:58.759 Did it rhyme? 00:11:59.060 --> 00:11:59.779 Was it in a... 00:11:59.779 --> 00:12:00.560 Did it have a tune? 00:12:03.560 --> 00:12:04.539 Yeah, that's right. 00:12:05.060 --> 00:12:05.860 Anybody else? 00:12:05.980 --> 00:12:06.620 Anything else? 00:12:08.120 --> 00:12:08.620 No. 00:12:13.159 --> 00:12:13.600 No. 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:19.279 yeah 00:12:19.279 --> 00:12:32.320 yeah 00:12:32.320 --> 00:12:36.019 yes 00:12:36.019 --> 00:12:39.920 so the love that we're talking about in 1 john 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:48.000 is is not dependent upon loveliness in the object of the love yeah 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:52.879 and so that's really different yeah 00:12:52.879 --> 00:12:56.879 yeah 00:12:56.879 --> 00:12:58.879 something 00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:08.879 yeah 00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:16.559 yeah yeah yeah interesting yeah so we didn't 00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:22.320 go seeking for it it sought us yeah yeah 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:29.120 yeah go on yes interesting yeah 00:13:29.120 --> 00:13:34.159 so that the the sort of the the zenith of its beauty 00:13:34.159 --> 00:13:37.759 is the relational reconciliation that it brings yeah 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:41.839 interesting yeah 00:13:44.399 --> 00:13:47.919 yes god's love as we were talking exists before the foundation of the world 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:55.599 yes and he set his love on us even before the foundation of the world yeah yeah 00:13:55.599 --> 00:13:57.599 which 00:13:57.599 --> 00:13:59.599 yes 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:01.600 yes 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:03.200 yes 00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:07.279 yeah it's reaching out 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:09.279 yeah 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:10.080 yeah 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:11.040 yeah 00:14:11.040 --> 00:14:12.320 yeah 00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:13.040 yeah 00:14:13.040 --> 00:14:14.720 great 00:14:14.720 --> 00:14:21.279 let's keep moving because it's nearly quarter past seven so let's talk about the source of love 00:14:21.279 --> 00:14:26.959 i want to show you next is that uh this love of god is now the source of our love so that 00:14:26.959 --> 00:14:32.319 christian love is unique and distinct from the world not because the world is incapable of 00:14:32.319 --> 00:14:38.959 anything that looks like love or even has some of the hallmarks of it but because it's not possible to love christianly 00:14:38.959 --> 00:14:38.959 00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:43.680 without god's work in our heart look back uh chapter 4 verse 11 one john 00:14:44.800 --> 00:14:50.960 dear friends since god so loved us we also ought to love one another 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:59.920 no one has ever seen god but if we love one another god lives in us and his love is made complete in us 00:14:59.919 --> 00:15:13.759 this is how we know that we live in him and he in us he has he has given us of his spirit and we have seen and testified that the father has sent the son to be the savior of the world 00:15:14.559 --> 00:15:24.959 if anyone acknowledges that jesus is the son of god god lives in them and they in god and so we know and rely on the love god has for us 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:35.840 god is love whoever lives in love lives in god and god in them this is how love is made complete among us so that we may have 00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:45.680 so so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment in this world we are like jesus there is no fear in love 00:15:45.680 --> 00:15:53.519 but perfect love dries out fear because fear has to do with punishment the one who fears is not made perfect in love 00:15:53.519 --> 00:16:05.519 we love because he first loved us now we don't have time to go through all the detail of those verses i'm not sure i understand all of them properly anyway so that's a project for the future but 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:17.439 notice this big idea god is love his love is seen in the person of the son the cross where he died for us in and then we as his children are instructed to love 00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:29.680 in that manner so love is a command that you are given but it's a command that is also enabled because we are able to obey this command to love because this love that we are to have for others is an 00:16:29.680 --> 00:16:41.440 overflow of the love that we have received from god a love poured out into our hearts now by his spirit comes out from us so there's an ought to love isn't there you ought to love others 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:55.440 but there's also a you are able to love others because god has made it possible so just as the definition of love that we considered earlier is different from the world this is because the source of this love is different to the world isn't it 00:16:55.440 --> 00:17:05.440 this love is not an emotional response it is a spiritually empowered generosity that comes from a transforming personal experience of the love of god 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:19.440 let me say that again it's a spiritually empowered generosity a spiritually empowered self sacrificial generosity to others that comes from a transforming personal experience of the love of god in our hearts 00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:49.420 now let's think about the designs then of this love what is this love wanting to achieve what is it trying to get to where is it going what is it hoping will be the fruit come back again to one john chapter 2 and verse 15 which we started with do not love the world or anything in the world if anyone loves the world love for the father is not in them for everything in the world the lust of the 00:17:49.420 --> 00:18:00.420 the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life comes not from the father but from the world the world and its desires pass away but whoever does the will of god lives forever 00:18:00.420 --> 00:18:05.420 now i think if you look at those verses they're quite surprising 00:18:05.420 --> 00:18:19.400 one john you know another famous john book right same john but different book do not love the world or anything in the world if anyone loves the world the love of the father is not in them 00:18:19.420 --> 00:18:26.420 do you not know a verse that sort of seems to contradict that what does john 3 16 say 00:18:26.420 --> 00:18:48.420 for god so love the world right okay so what's what's going on here so i i think you probably i think there's probably something in john's use of the word cosmos or the word world um where he's using it slightly differently here so it could mean creation it could mean humanity and it could mean evil in rebellion against 00:18:48.420 --> 00:19:17.420 rebellion against god and i think here is the latter of those so here in contrast to john 3 16 which i think is about humanity here this is the evil in the world and so we are we are not to love evil or anything evil and there's a contrast isn't there between love from god and love from the world so the love of the world comes from the world and desires the things of the world which will pass away 00:19:17.420 --> 00:19:25.420 which will pass away it's called lust isn't it it is lusting after the flesh the lust of the eyes and pride of life 00:19:25.420 --> 00:19:40.420 whereas the love of god comes from the father and lives forever so love of the world love from the world is self-seeking it desires itself it desires its own satisfaction is self-interested and it is destined for hell 00:19:40.420 --> 00:19:54.420 contrast that with one john chapter 3 16 this is how we know what love is jesus christ laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters 00:19:54.420 --> 00:20:08.420 if anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or a sister in need but has no pity on them how can the love of god be in that person dear children let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth 00:20:08.420 --> 00:20:36.420 john is laboring this point over and over and over again we believe don't we that being a christian is at its heart a transforming experience of the spirit god comes and dwells in our hearts what he has done for us in the person of christ flows into our hearts by the spirit and if that does not lead us to love others like that the question is have we really experienced this kind of love from god if you have no pity on your brother and sister in need 00:20:36.420 --> 00:20:52.420 how can you have no pity on your brother and sister in need how can you have experienced this love from god because it is not seemingly pouring out of you so christian love love from the father desires the good of the other it sets its designs on the well-being of the other and not on itself 00:20:52.420 --> 00:21:05.940 now of course there's a reason isn't there that only a christian can love like that in genuine concern for the other and not for itself is because of where it comes from christian love pours out from the love of god in jesus 00:21:05.940 --> 00:21:26.180 you know a love that gives us everything we need means that we can be generous to others a love that satisfies righteous judgments at our sin love that secures our place in glory love that reconciles us brothers and sisters means that we can love now without any selfish desire because if christ is mine i have all i need right 00:21:26.180 --> 00:21:34.480 so i'm not loving with any selfish desire for credit from god because full credit is mine in christ 00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:44.259 i'm not loving for any desire really in one sense i'm not loving for any desire to build relationships with others because those relationships are secured in the person of christ 00:21:44.259 --> 00:21:52.240 already so i am not loving you so that you're pleased with me and when you're no longer pleased with me i no longer love you 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:56.819 because i'm loving you because christ has brought us together as brothers and sisters 00:21:56.819 --> 00:22:07.579 so christian love is a self-giving commitment focused on the benefit of the other that is empowered by a transforming experience of the love of god 00:22:07.579 --> 00:22:14.559 a self-giving commitment focused on the benefit of another that is empowered by a transforming experience of the love of god 00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:21.079 now if that's right what difference does that make to our church our lives and our relationships with one another 00:22:21.079 --> 00:22:23.879 let me end here we'll have a little bit of chance to discuss it together 00:22:23.879 --> 00:22:30.240 i've been reading um bonhoeffer has anyone read bonhoeffer's book life together 00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:40.720 so bonhoeffer was a german pastor in the 1930s and 40s in nazi germany he was training a group of 00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:47.400 uh young ministers and in an attempt to keep it secret he took the students away they lived together 00:22:47.400 --> 00:22:53.600 in community and they studied in a remote location and the book that he wrote based on his teaching and 00:22:53.600 --> 00:22:59.839 his experience was called life together and it's on christian community and i um i recommend it to you 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:06.640 and he makes a really big distinction between human love and divine love unpicking the the selfish 00:23:06.640 --> 00:23:15.440 undertones of our own human love and he is like penetratingly devastating on this as he says that 00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:23.360 lots of what we experience in church is really just human love and not this kind of divine christ-like love 00:23:24.080 --> 00:23:26.960 let me give you a couple of quotes i think have i put them on your handout i think i have 00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:39.759 human love is directed to the other person for his own sake spiritual love loves him for christ's sake 00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:48.640 therefore human love seeks direct contact with the other person it loves him not as a free person but as 00:23:48.640 --> 00:23:57.680 one whom it binds to itself it wants to gain to capture by every means it uses force it desires to be 00:23:57.680 --> 00:24:05.840 irresistible to rule so this worldly love is trying to shape mold control the person that it's loving 00:24:05.840 --> 00:24:12.720 because it it requires those things back from it in order to keep going because it's a feeling that is 00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:23.200 internally generated human love lives by uncontrolled and uncontrollable dark desires spiritual love lives 00:24:23.200 --> 00:24:31.279 in the clear light of service ordered by the truth human love produces human subjection dependence 00:24:31.279 --> 00:24:38.960 constraint spiritual love creates freedom of the brethren under the word human love breeds 00:24:38.960 --> 00:24:45.840 hot house flowers spiritual love creates the fruits that grow healthily in accord with god's goodwill 00:24:46.640 --> 00:24:55.680 in the rain and storm and sunshine of god's outdoors his point is that human love gives up really easily 00:24:55.680 --> 00:25:02.559 when it ceases to receive back what it wants and then that love can very quickly turn to something that 00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:07.440 looks like hate because we say well if you're not going to behave in the manner in which i want you to 00:25:07.440 --> 00:25:14.960 behave i am going to push you out exclude you and no longer love you and that he says is not spiritual 00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:21.200 love and he says when he's talking about truth what he's saying is is that human love is prepared 00:25:22.080 --> 00:25:27.600 not to deal with the truth it's prepared to build itself on a lie because it so wants this feeling and 00:25:27.600 --> 00:25:33.120 this feedback from one another it's prepared to say things which aren't really true whereas if you want 00:25:33.119 --> 00:25:39.599 to say something that is true and difficult to hear so if i wanted to say someone you wanted to 00:25:39.599 --> 00:25:43.519 say to me something that i needed to hear that was difficult and you knew it was going to provoke a 00:25:43.519 --> 00:25:50.319 response in me that would not be pleasing to you if if it was just human love that was between us you would 00:25:50.319 --> 00:25:56.399 not say it right but you wouldn't care about it because you don't care about truth but if we love like 00:25:56.400 --> 00:26:02.640 christ loves we love the truth so you need to say steve you shouldn't have spoken like that you shouldn't 00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:10.960 have said it like that you were rude it was it was wrong to do that and that might make me bristle 00:26:11.519 --> 00:26:17.519 but that's okay you love me enough you're not loving me on condition of me not bristling you're loving me 00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:23.920 with love that comes from christ which cares about the truth and so you say a difficult thing and that's so 00:26:23.920 --> 00:26:30.400 it's not always that um that love christian love means it's all nice and cozy actually at times it's 00:26:30.400 --> 00:26:35.840 really difficult because we say difficult things to one another so i want you just with the person 00:26:35.840 --> 00:26:41.120 next to you just to have a think about what does that mean it would be like to be a loving church what 00:26:41.120 --> 00:26:48.400 would a loving church look like um if that was true and then we'll stand and sing our closing him in a few minutes 00:26:53.920 --> 00:27:01.759 okay does anyone want to chip in 00:27:04.480 --> 00:27:04.800 yes 00:27:08.560 --> 00:27:08.800 yeah 00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:12.400 yes 00:27:14.880 --> 00:27:16.560 yeah yes 00:27:16.559 --> 00:27:17.119 yes 00:27:17.119 --> 00:27:21.679 that's really a genuine concern for others yeah 00:27:23.279 --> 00:27:28.720 and that's so rare isn't it i you know i confess that i'm not always good at this i i think you can 00:27:31.119 --> 00:27:35.759 you can talk to people without really being that interested in necessarily what they're saying or how 00:27:35.759 --> 00:27:40.720 they're doing and really wanting to get to know you know how can we actually pray for you what's really 00:27:40.720 --> 00:27:46.640 going on in your life how are you really doing yeah yeah yes it can be inconvenient it is always 00:27:46.640 --> 00:27:53.839 inconvenient you're right mike yeah yeah which is why we don't do it yeah yeah but that's a lack of love 00:27:53.839 --> 00:27:59.759 yeah 00:28:14.079 --> 00:28:17.119 yes so sincerity and honesty yeah 00:28:17.119 --> 00:28:23.039 yeah yeah if love in church is conditional on our performance 00:28:23.759 --> 00:28:27.199 then we're not going to be able to be honest with one another are we it's gonna be a very 00:28:27.199 --> 00:28:30.479 difficult place to struggle or fail yeah yeah 00:28:34.399 --> 00:28:37.039 yeah yes accountability yeah 00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:48.319 yeah 00:28:48.319 --> 00:28:50.000 yeah 00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:56.079 yeah 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:28:56.639 --> 00:28:56.639 00:29:07.039 --> 00:29:32.559 to sacrifice yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah um that's so helpful i can't really summarize that 00:29:32.559 --> 00:29:38.639 for you if you're on zoom but uh it's kind of a willingness to push past the discomfort that 00:29:38.639 --> 00:29:43.679 that will cause ourselves so it's possible to say that we love someone and show some level of concern 00:29:43.679 --> 00:29:49.759 but only to the point at which it starts to cost us something yeah go on charleston yeah 00:29:49.759 --> 00:30:05.039 yeah so a willingness to talk to all different kinds of people absolutely yeah yeah go on vanessa 00:30:05.039 --> 00:30:16.319 yeah 00:30:16.319 --> 00:30:26.240 yeah 00:30:26.240 --> 00:30:30.240 yeah 00:30:30.240 --> 00:30:33.279 yeah 00:30:35.039 --> 00:30:53.599 Yeah. So a willingness to accept that. Yeah. One other thing I want to say that I just don't think we've touched on just yet is that I think if we're going to be a loving church, we've we've got to be a church that that goes desperately to Jesus for the resources to love one another. 00:30:53.599 --> 00:31:09.019 If we're essentially being asked to run a marathon, right? We're being asked to do something that's really difficult and really expensive in terms of spiritual resources. So we've got to keep coming to Christ for the resources to love one another, haven't we? 00:31:09.019 --> 00:31:33.839 So I think probably one of the things we'd see if we're a loving church, you see a church that is hungry for God's word, hungry for Jesus, wants to spend as much time with him as they can personally and corporately, because they're feeding on the love of God, because they know that they need to give out in that in that love as well. 00:31:33.839 --> 00:31:45.199 So we we can sustain an unloving church in our own strength, can't we? But if we want to be a loving church, we're going to have to receive that from the Lord and keep receiving it. 00:31:46.259 --> 00:31:53.959 OK, we are going to close by singing. So let me pray for us in summary and then we're going to sing love divine or love's excelling. 00:31:54.279 --> 00:32:02.819 So let me pray. Father, we thank you that your love for us is exceeding all other loves. 00:32:02.819 --> 00:32:08.519 And thank you that you have poured that love into our hearts and now it pours out to others. 00:32:08.679 --> 00:32:15.139 Pray, Lord, that you might help us to be a loving church when that's costly and difficult. 00:32:16.259 --> 00:32:21.259 Because, Lord, you have first loved us in Jesus name. Amen.