name. Amen. Now, we're going to read in our Bibles together from 1 Samuel chapter 20.
This is a part and the story of the life of David when he has been anointed to be the next king.
King Saul has been rejected as God's choice of king, but Saul is not happy. Rather, he is angry
with David. He's wanting to kill David. David is on the run. But in chapter 20, we are reminded of this
wonderful friendship between David and Jonathan, who is the son of King Saul. And we see Jonathan
acting in an honorable and a wonderful way in this friendship. So, we're going to read 1 Samuel 20,
verses 1 to 8, and then 24 to 34. So, let's hear God's word together.
Then David fled from Nioth at Ramah and went to Jonathan and asked, what have I done? What is my
crime? How have I wronged your father that he's trying to kill me? Never. Jonathan replied, you're
not going to die. Look, my father doesn't do anything great or small without letting me know.
Why should he hide this from me? It isn't so. But David took an oath and said, your father knows very
well that I have found favor in your eyes. And he has said to himself, Jonathan must not know this or
he will be grieved. Yet as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, there is only a step between me and
death. Jonathan said to David, whatever you want me to do, I will do for you. So, David said, look,
tomorrow is the new moon feast and I am supposed to dine with the king. But let me go and hide in the
field until the evening of the day after tomorrow. If your father misses me at all, tell him, David
earnestly asked my permission to hurry to Bethlehem, his hometown, because an annual sacrifice is being
made there for his whole clan. If he says very well, then your servant is safe. But if he loses his
temper, you can be sure that he is determined to harm me. As for you, show kindness to your servant,
for you have brought him into a covenant with you before the Lord. If I am guilty, then kill me
yourself. Why hand me over to your father? And then from verse number 24. So, David hid in the field
and when the new moon feast came, the king sat down to eat. He sat in his customary place by the wall
opposite Jonathan and Abner sat next to Saul, but David's place was empty. Saul said nothing that day,
for he thought something must have happened to David to make him ceremonially unclean. Surely he's
unclean. But the next day, the second day of the month, David's place was empty again. Then Saul
said to his son Jonathan, why hasn't the son of Jesse come to the meal either yesterday or today?
Jonathan answered, David earnestly asked me for permission to go to Bethlehem. He said,
let me go because our family is observing a sacrifice in the town and my brother has ordered me to be there.
Have I found favor in your eyes? Let me go to see my brothers. That is why he has not come to the
king's table. Saul's anger flared up at Jonathan and he said to him, you son of a perverse and
rebellious woman. Don't I know that you have sided with the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the
shame of the mother who bore you? As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor
your kingdom will be established. Now send someone to bring him to me for he must die. Why should he be
put to death? What has he done? Jonathan asked his father. But Saul hurled his spear at him to kill him.
And Jonathan knew that his father intended to kill David. Jonathan got up from the table in fierce
anger. On that second day of the feast, he did not eat because he was grieved at his father's shameful
treatment of David. So we'll leave our reading there and we'll reflect on it as we think about 1 Corinthians
13. Now we're going to hear another psalm sung, which of course at home you can sing. We will reflect on
Psalm 119 and the section from 65 to 72.
Psalm 119 and the section from 66 to 73.
Although the proud spear me with lies, I keep your decrees from the heart.
Their hearts are unfeeling and heart. I love what your precepts impart.
It was good that I suffered distress, so that I might learn your commands.
Your law is more precious to me than silver or gold in my hands.
Now, in just a moment, we're going to pray again.
Two things that we are going to focus on in particular.
Again, we're going to pray for the Reannos as we look forward to hearing from them on Wednesday.
We'll pray about their situation in Columbia.
But we've also been able to ask to pray for the Free Church Youth Camp Connect program this year.
They can't have physical camps, but they're doing stuff online.
So we'll pray about that.
So will you join me?
Stand and we can pray together.
Let's stand and call on God's name in prayer.
Lord, our God, we want to say thank you to you for your precious word.
Along with the psalmist, we pray that you would help us to live by your commands.
That we would regard your word as more precious than silver or gold.
That in your word we would discover that you are good and that you do what is good.
And that that would help us to know how we are to live for you.
Thank you that we see your goodness and your love in the sending of your son Jesus to be our savior.
We thank you for his perfect life of love and obedience.
We thank you that he has lived that life that we never could live.
And he's died in our place so that right at the center of the good news of the Bible stands your seeking and saving love.
Lord, may we never forget how precious that is.
May we recognize it as life-giving so that we would want others to know your word.
That you would give us a hunger and a thirst for your word.
Lord, may we recognize it as life-giving so that we don't live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
And that what we would want for the people that we care about most would be that they too would come to know you in your word.
Lord, we recognize how much as a country and how much the nations of the world need to know our creator as our redeemer and savior.
To be able to call you our father in heaven.
To not have to live with a fear of death and judgment,
but to know assurance of your welcome and your forgiveness in and through the Lord Jesus.
And so we pray that you would be at work in this country and in the nations of the world.
That wherever today the good news of the Lord Jesus is read and proclaimed.
That it would strengthen the faith of your people.
That it would draw us to greater worship and love.
And that it would draw men and women and boys and girls to put their trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior today.
Lord, we think of the Free Church Youth Camps program.
We thank you for decades of teaching your word to children and young people.
Of lives that were changed through coming to faith in Jesus.
Through those camps of friendships that were established.
That continue of being strengthened in faith and understanding of your word.
And Lord, as we think about that rich legacy in the past,
we pray that this year, while it's so very different, would still serve a vital purpose.
And we do pray for wisdom and creativity for those who are developing the online program.
That you would, as they pray and as they think,
that you would give them wisdom to know how best to communicate truth.
How best to organize themselves to make sure people have a really great week.
Lord, we pray for folks who'll tune in to those different sessions for the different age groups.
That it would be a place where they might be able to meet new people.
To enjoy different fun activities.
But also a chance where they can hear your word being taught.
And where you might draw them to faith in the Lord Jesus.
Lord, we also pray for our friends Manuel and Patty in Colombia.
We think of the nation of Colombia struggling with the pandemic and struggling to cope.
We think of Manuel and Patty as they look to love and serve so many hurting and suffering people.
So many who have been bereaved.
We think of their counseling ministry to pastors and their wives.
As they look to care for churches that are straining with all the sadness and the pressures that they have faced.
Lord, as they bear the burdens of others.
May they know you coming alongside of them to bear them up.
May they hear that invitation from Jesus.
Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.
Lord, may they come to know your grace that is sufficient for them.
Your strength being made perfect in their weakness.
Lord, we thank you that we can partner with them in their work.
Thank you that we can share that call on Wednesday night with them.
Lord, we pray that you would help us to persevere in our prayers.
Lord, we pray that we pray that as we want that for nations, that we would want that for our own lives.
Lord, as we shortly come to sit under your words, we pray that the spirit who inspired your word to be written would be at work in all of our hearts.
Helping us to hear from you.
Helping us to see more of Jesus.
So that our lives would be changed as we spend time together in your presence.
We ask in Jesus name.
Amen.
Now, before we turn to 1 Corinthians 13, where we will be this morning, I want us to read together from another letter that Paul wrote, 2 Timothy chapter 3.
It's a letter written shortly before Paul would die for his faith in the Lord Jesus.
And he writes to Timothy, his friend, and he says this in chapter 3.
But mark this.
There will be terrible times in the last days.
People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents,
ungrateful, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal,
not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
having a form of godliness but denying its power, have nothing to do with such people.
Speaking there of false teachers within churches.
Verse 10.
You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings.
What kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, the persecutions I endured, yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.
In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
while evildoers and imposters will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you have learned it,
and how from infancy you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness,
so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
And so we'll reflect on those words as we come to 1 Corinthians chapter 13.
We've been here for the last few weeks.
Today we are in verse 6, where we read,
Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.
So here we are again, thinking about the most excellent way of love that Paul is encouraging this church in Corinth to stick with and to return to.
And we've been really in the nitty-gritty, the specifics of what love looks like over the last few weeks.
And this time we're going to sort of, in a sense, pan back a little, and we're going to invite ourselves to reflect,
to ask the question, am I making progress in my love?
Are we making progress as a church in our love, particularly in view of Christian love, love for God, love for others?
It's important that we measure progress.
I imagine, like many families, we have a height chart in our house,
and the boys enjoy charting their height every so often to see if they are growing up.
And it's interesting that whenever they get one of those updates,
usually a couple of days later they'll go back to the chart to see if they have grown since the last time.
And we have to keep reminding them, often you don't see progress over days, sometimes not even over weeks.
You have to go back months or years to see growth and development.
But measures of growth and progress and success are important, aren't they?
They're important in our workplace and in our studies.
What does success look like?
Am I developing?
We think about it, too, in our skills and our hobbies.
Am I becoming more competent?
How am I doing better than this time last year?
There's value in reflecting on that so that we can, if necessary, make changes.
But what about the question, am I making progress in love?
In some ways, that's harder to assess, isn't it?
Love for God, love for others.
Paul, in 1 Corinthians, has been giving, as I was saying, a list of specific measures in verses 4 and 5.
Here are ways that we can see how we are doing in terms of love.
Love is patient.
Love is kind.
Love does not envy.
It does not boast.
It is not proud.
It does not dishonor others.
It's not self-seeking.
It's not easily angered.
It keeps no record of wrongs.
We can see how we are doing.
But here in verse 6, we're zooming out, in a sense, to look at the big picture.
What's the general pattern?
What's the general direction of your life and my life?
Are we making progress so that we're not delighting in evil but rejoicing with the truth?
Am I making progress in my love?
Am I more like Jesus in certain aspects of my character perhaps than I was five months ago, five years ago?
To help us to reflect, a couple of questions.
One about direction.
What direction does my love follow?
And a question about delight.
What is it that I delight in?
What do I rejoice in?
So let's begin with this question.
Which direction does my love typically follow?
Maybe you saw a story in the news this week coming out of an auction house in Glasgow.
There was a young couple from the north of England who wanted to start a new life in Scotland.
And so they decided what they would do is they'd come to an auction house in Glasgow to bid on a property.
They wanted a small flat in Glasgow.
But as the bidding began and the speed picked up and the tension picked up and the accent was not one they were familiar with.
They were looking for a flat in Glasgow, but they accidentally bid on a wrecked house in Danone.
And what they discovered is that a misdirected bid can not buy you a dream property, can buy you a wreck.
But far more important is the point that Paul is making.
Misdirected love can wreck a life and can wreck a church.
Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.
Do we see there there's a fork in the road?
There are two directions we can follow.
We can love the way of evil as defined by the Bible, or we can love the way of truth.
And bear in mind that the truth in the Bible isn't just what we know in our heads.
It also has an impact on how we live.
So truth and goodness go together.
Now, if you've been around in the last few weeks, you'll know that the church in Corinth,
they had problems in that their love was becoming misdirected.
They were loving to make much of themselves.
Their spiritual gifts.
They were wanting to take others to law courts to claim what they felt was theirs.
And so Paul wants to correct them to redirect their love, to focus their attention on God.
What about for us?
How do we stay on course?
If we want to follow the way of love and truth, how do we make progress?
Well, let's begin with some pointers.
The first one from this verse, Christian love delights in God's truth.
Or to put it another way, Christian love stands opposed to everything in life and practice,
which is evil.
And so we are delighting in what is good and true.
That's why we read from 2 Timothy 3.
Hopefully, as you read it, you would have seen Paul's concern.
He is concerned that Timothy, living in the culture that he lives in, would come under pressure
to misdirect his love.
So it talked about not being a lover of self or being a lover of money, choosing to love
what is not good, choosing to love pleasure rather than to love God.
And Paul's heart for Timothy, Paul who's about to die for the sake of Jesus, he wants Timothy
to stand out, to stand up for God's love and God's truth in a culture that was seen to be
self-centered.
And that love and that truth was found in God's Word.
That's why he directed him at the end of 2 Timothy 3, to remember God who breathed his
Word out.
So that was Paul's heart for Timothy, because Christian love delights in God's truth, God's
love.
A second pointer, and it's related, is that Christians love to walk in God's truth.
That's our general tendency, because when we turn to trust in Jesus, we're given a new
heart and we're given new desires.
There's a lovely little letter that the Apostle John writes, 3 John, and in verse 4 of 3 John,
he says,
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
As he thinks of those who have come to faith in the Lord Jesus under his teaching and in
his churches, his love.
What gives him greatest happiness is to see them continue in the way of truth.
And do you know that's the joy of our Father in heaven too?
He has joy to see his children, his church, walking in the truth, the truth that is shown
in love.
Crucial to the gospel, one of the most beautiful images that we find in the Bible of our salvation
is that God in love adopts us into his family.
That God the Father in love sends his son Jesus into the world.
And Jesus the Son gladly dies to become the firstborn among many brothers to share the
joy of heaven with his brothers and sisters, those who put their faith in him as Savior,
who then call God our Father in heaven.
And God gives the spirit to come and live in our hearts, the spirit of adoption.
And all of that means that we now have a new desire as Christians to please our Father in
heaven.
That's not natural to ourselves.
That's a gift of God when we want to please our Father in heaven.
So Christians love to walk in God's truth.
And it's also important to recognize that God's truth shapes our head, our hearts, and our
hands.
When God's truth and God's love comes to us, it totally changes everything.
We know, don't we, that there's a world of difference between knowing about someone and
knowing someone personally.
We can go to the Wikipedia entry or pick up the biography of one of our heroes, and that
will give us much by way of information, but it will not give us access to their friendship.
And the wonderful thing about Jesus is Jesus is God revealing his truth to us.
Jesus is God revealing his love to us and inviting us to know him and his love and his truth personally.
So the starting point for our lives following the right direction is that we must know Jesus
personally as our Lord, as our Savior, as our friend.
To have him take our sin, to recognize that when he dies on the cross, he's dying for my sin.
To trust him as the Lord and Savior and King, and to enjoy his friendship.
We come to know Jesus in God's Word, and what we read and what we learn, that shapes our faith,
it shapes what we believe, but then by God's Spirit, we also know that our hearts change.
So our love changes.
So all of a sudden we have love towards God, and that then influences our love towards others.
We find ourselves worshipping the right things rather than living for ourselves or for idols.
And as we come to know Jesus, that also shapes and transforms our actions.
So that as we know more of his love and truth, it leads us towards serving others,
and loving others, and forgiving others, and honoring others in the nitty-gritty of life.
So let's apply those principles to our lives for just a moment.
Let's think about the big picture, the general direction that our life is taking.
Do we love to delight in evil, or do we love to rejoice in and with God's truth?
What is a Christian?
A Christian is someone who has received God's love expressed to us in the sending of Jesus Christ.
It's enjoying that gift of adoption, knowing the love of God as our Father in heaven.
And as we know that, we then love what God loves.
We love his truth and his goodness.
And if that describes you today, then you should praise God for the gift of adoption.
We should never grow tired or grow cold towards the reality
that in Jesus we are sons and daughters of the living God.
And if it doesn't describe you, then you should ask him for that gift,
that you would know God as your Father in heaven personally,
that you would trust in Jesus and have your sin forgiven to enjoy life with him.
But then let's move from the big picture.
Let's zoom in to think about the choices that we make in particular moments in our lives.
Let's move from Sunday morning to Monday morning.
Typical Monday morning, perhaps.
Perhaps we find, well, it's different, but there's still break rooms.
And in break rooms, we still find gossip, don't we?
We still find schools, universities, workplaces,
where people want to share the weekend scandal.
We move from Sunday, we move to Monday.
We're living among different people.
Perhaps we're speaking with non-Christian family with very different values to our own.
Perhaps we're, as parents, dealing with children who don't want to go to school.
There's all kinds of tensions there.
Perhaps we're engaging with someone in an issue over social media,
and it's precious to us, and it's important to them.
And how do we speak?
And that's crunch time as Christians,
to think about in that moment,
what direction is my life going to take?
Am I going to love what is evil,
what is false?
Or am I going to love what is true and what is good?
If we are to make progress in the right direction,
we need to remind ourselves daily of God's love to us.
We need to be humbled,
to have that sense of wonder
at the extent of God's love for us.
Because as soon as we forget that,
it's like we're closing off the power source
that then fuels our love towards others.
And we also need to remind ourselves regularly
of how God measures love.
That we need to be patient,
and we need to be kind,
and we need to be humble,
and we can't keep a record of wrongs
because that's not what love looks like.
Just like in Paul's day,
where he was very aware of the challenge facing Timothy,
our culture is following a different direction
to Jesus Christ.
Not always, but sometimes.
And so then there will be a necessity for us as Christians
to stand up for what is true.
We don't have to dig too deep, do we,
to see that as a society,
we are losing the virtue of forgiveness.
That in the realm of social media in particular,
but not exclusively,
there is that tendency to act as judge,
jury, and executioner of another.
Very quick to condemn,
very slow towards grace.
We live in a day when in so many areas of life,
right and wrong are being redefined,
and those voices and that pressure is real,
and it's easy for us to go with the flow
unless we remind ourselves regularly
of God's love and God's truth.
There is the very real danger
that our love might be misdirected
towards what is evil
as it becomes socially acceptable.
And we need to recognize
that what God says is evil
has the capacity to wreck a life,
to wreck a relationship,
to wreck a church.
And so we need to pay close attention,
choosing to love God,
choosing to love God's truth
as the general pattern of our life,
and in those moments
where we are tempted otherwise.
So that's the first question,
which direction does my love follow?
But the second reflective question
we could draw from our verse here
is what do I delight in?
We are nearing holiday time.
As many of us as families
looking forward to getting a break,
hopefully we'll all get to have
some kind of rest and refreshment.
But as we near holiday time,
sometimes we have those questions
and conversations.
What is it you're looking forward to
about the holidays?
And what becomes apparent
is that because we're all different
as people,
we're all looking for different things
because we enjoy different things.
So we'll choose different destinations.
We'll pursue different activities.
Our idea of what's a real treat
and a luxury on a holiday
might not match up to another.
But that will influence the decisions
that we take
for something like a holiday.
Because as people,
we are wired to pursue happiness.
And we are making decisions
based on what is it in this moment
do I think will give me
the most joy and happiness?
That will determine,
in large measure,
the direction our life takes.
Now that becomes very relevant
to this question,
am I making progress
in my love as a Christian?
Because we need to think about
what is it that I delight in?
What is it that I rejoice in
in the day-to-day of life?
So I want to think about
two very practical aspects of life.
I want to think about conversation,
the conversations that we engage in,
either face-to-face
or over the internet.
And I want to think about
character and conduct
by which we'll think about
how do I assess and consider
and speak of
the character of someone else,
particularly in our case,
another Christian.
So when it comes to conversation,
do I delight in the truth
or do I delight in evil?
I heard it said this week
that we are part of a suspicious society.
And that makes sense.
We see suspicion towards our politicians,
towards the police,
towards almost anybody
in a position of leadership
and authority,
and that makes its way
into a church as well.
And along with that,
suspicion can come a delight
in cynicism
and a delight in speaking badly
of dishonoring
those who are
in positions of authority.
Alongside that,
there is,
in the minds of some,
the idea that there are
conspiracies to be found,
that there are deeper
and darker truths
that are being hidden,
and that's all leading
to mistrust and bitterness,
and that often can come out
in conversation.
So there's suspicion
that we need to reckon with,
but there's also,
within the sinful human heart,
the enjoyment of scandal.
We think about what makes
the pages of our newspaper,
what draws the attention
in social media,
often in our friendship circles,
it can often revolve
around the darker side of life.
When leaders fail,
when celebrities are being exposed,
or simply what the person
down the street
has been engaged in
and found out.
And there's a poison in that.
And the Bible would say,
what's the antidote
to that poison?
It's to delight in Christ,
to delight in His love,
and to delight in God's truth.
To borrow from another
of Paul's letters,
Philippians chapter 4,
he calls the church
to think about,
to talk about,
what is true,
and what is noble,
and what is right,
and what is pure,
and what is lovely,
and what is admirable.
What does progress look like
when it comes to
our conversations,
so that we're delighting
in what is true?
Perhaps for some of us,
it will be determining
to stop gossip and lies
from spreading,
to be truth tellers.
Perhaps it will look like
being ready to walk away
from those negative,
harmful conversations,
or to call out those jokes
that are inappropriate,
offensive.
Maybe it's pursuing
conversations that encourage
thankfulness,
rather than grumbling.
They encourage the praise
of God among God's people,
rather than a spirit
of bitterness.
In general terms,
that it would be
speaking well of others.
As I read someone say
this week,
if Christians are to err,
let us err on the side
of love.
Let's be ready
to show grace
in our conversations.
What about character?
When we think about character,
especially looking
at someone else,
what do we delight in?
Do we delight in failures
that we see,
or do we delight
in the faith
that we see?
It's one of the things
I love about Jonathan's example
in the Old Testament.
The pressure he was under
from his father,
the king,
the lies he was being sold,
the pressure to establish
his own kingdom
at the expense
of his friend David.
But what Jonathan does
is he chooses relentlessly
to honor David,
to choose the way of truth,
to defend his friend's character.
And that was profoundly costly to him,
as we saw in our reading.
We think about Paul
and Paul's letter
to the Corinthians.
Now, we've already seen
in the letter,
and you read it,
and you see it,
Corinth is by no means
a perfect church.
Many, many problems.
Paul doesn't delight in that.
What Paul delights in
is the faith that he sees.
That's what he headlines
in chapter one.
He loves them,
and he's thankful
for the faith
that he sees in them,
for the gifts
that God has given to them,
for the grace,
the evidence of God's grace
in their lives.
Yes, he's going to correct them
and discipline them,
but he delights
in their faith.
And that's what he wants
to draw attention to.
That's delighting in the truth.
To see brothers and sisters
in Christ
as the image of God,
to see Christ
in our brothers and sisters.
Now, we know
there is a pressure
to think another way,
but we are called
to see Christ
in our brothers and sisters.
That when we are hurt
and when we are let down,
we are to use
our imagination
to look forward
to spending eternity
with that brother
and sister in Christ
in a world
of perfect love,
when there will be
no sin,
no misunderstanding
between us,
when we will be so glad
to love that person
perfectly,
to spend time with them,
with Jesus,
our Savior.
We are to bring,
in other words,
the culture of heaven
down to earth today
in our church,
in our conversation,
how we look at,
think about,
speak of one another.
So what does progress
look like?
Progress will look like
relentlessly thinking
the best of others,
our brothers and sisters
in Christ,
assuming Christians
will act like Christians.
It will look like us
learning to celebrate
when we see others
standing firm,
growing in truth,
giving evidence of grace,
not focusing on failures.
It will look like praying
for those who hurt us,
for those who offend us,
thanking God for the grace
that we see in their lives.
So the conversations
that we enjoy
and that the character
that we focus on,
they can prove
a really helpful measure
for us
of how our love is doing.
Where am I showing
a lack of love?
Where have I misdirected
my love so I actually
enjoy what's evil
rather than what's good
and true?
As we reflect,
I'm sure you,
like me,
will want to ask
God's forgiveness.
We'll want to ask
for help,
that we would be
the kind of people
and the kind of church
that would delight
in the way of God's love
and love God's truth.
We need to learn
to measure
what love looks like.
Both our boys
just now in their school,
they're learning
about measuring
volume and length
and such things.
It's really important
when we learn
how to measure
to think what's
the appropriate unit
to use
in this context.
and they're also
at the same time
learning to measure
by comparison,
which is bigger,
which is smaller.
We know with kids
that's always really
important to find out
who's biggest
and tallest in the class.
It was always a big deal.
But when it comes to love,
what unit do you
and I use
to measure love?
Could be a slippery word,
can't it?
Defined in lots
of different ways.
But Christian love
is defined by the Bible.
It's set by the God
who is love.
Love is defined
by what we see
in Jesus.
He shows us
what perfect love
looks like.
We know what love is
in the gift of Jesus.
Remember Jesus said,
I am the way,
the truth,
and the life.
No one comes to the Father
except through me.
Jesus has come
to bring that truth
that through him
we can be adopted
to enter into
this experience
of God's perfect love.
So again,
to help us
if we want to make
progress in our love,
in the first place
we must receive
God's love for us
in the Lord Jesus.
That love
that deals
with our sin,
that deals
with what separates,
that brings us
to him.
And we must delight
in that love.
And we must allow it
to set our direction.
Who is Jesus?
Jesus is the Son of God
who's come to reveal
the truth of God
and goodness
and love
to the world.
And what did Jesus
do?
He died on the cross.
Having lived
a life of perfect
obedience
and love
towards God
and towards others,
he then died
as our substitute,
died as that
sacrifice
that we need
for our misdirected love,
for our lack
of love
before rising again
in victory
on the third day.
And why did
Jesus die?
He died to show us
what perfect love
looks like,
love that is self-giving,
love that is sacrificial,
love that makes us
children of God.
Let me read for us
1 John 4,
verses 9 and 10.
This is how God
showed his love
among us.
He sent his one
and only Son
into the world
that we might live
through him.
This is love.
Not that we loved God,
but that he loved us
and sent his Son
as an atoning sacrifice
for our sins.
What do we receive
from Jesus,
the one who is love?
We receive everything.
We enjoy the love of God,
Father, Son, and Spirit.
We enjoy peace with God,
knowing our sins
are forgiven.
We enjoy the hope
of eternal life,
knowing God now
with the hope
of enjoying him forever.
Knowing the love
of Jesus
changes everything.
So the measure of love
truly is the Lord
Jesus himself.
And we are all invited
to receive that love
and to enjoy it
for ourselves
and to keep moving
towards him,
the one who is love,
the one who is truth.
I was conscious this week
that when you're in a section
like 1 Corinthians 13,
it's really easy to feel
bad about ourselves.
Because when we're honest,
we come to a section like this,
we know how far short
we often fall
when it comes to our love.
Even today,
we recognize,
probably as we begin
to reflect,
that there are times
where we choose
the wrong path.
We do delight in what's evil
rather than what's good and true.
That's what we need,
and this is how we're going
to close.
We need to remind ourselves
of the gospel,
to take our eyes off ourselves,
to fix our eyes on Jesus again.
Because the gospel,
it speaks of three things.
It speaks of grace.
You and I,
we're not children of God
because we are able
to love well
or love perfectly.
We are children of God
because of the perfect love
of God,
his grace in sending Jesus
to love us and save us
when we couldn't save ourselves
and we couldn't love God.
So we need to remember
God's grace.
The gospel also speaks
of growing in love.
One of the wonderful things
is that when we become a Christian,
we're not then left to ourselves
to kind of figure it out
and to make improvements.
No, the Spirit comes to live in us
and we get a new heart
and we get new desires.
And so we have this promise
that as the Spirit is working in us
and the Spirit wants
to make us more like Jesus
and show us more of his glory,
that we will make progress.
That as we're walking with the Spirit,
we will change,
that he is making us
more and more like Christ.
And sometimes we have to look back
over the years
and we have to learn to reflect
to see,
I can see.
I know I'm not perfect,
but I am making progress.
But we also need to remember
when it comes to the gospel,
we need to remember
the promise of glory.
That reality that while
as much as now we feel
our struggles and our failures,
there is a day coming
when we will measure up perfectly.
When Jesus returns in his glory
and we are with him,
we will see him
and we will be made like him
and then,
then we will love perfectly.
Then we will pursue his truth
perfectly in heaven,
a world of love.
And we need to remember
that the God who has begun
a good work in us
will certainly complete it
all the way until the day
of Christ Jesus.
Let's pray together.
Lord, our God,
we recognize so much
that is contrary
to what is good and true
in our lives,
in our conversation,
in how we think of others
or treat others.
Lord, we want to take a moment
to confess that.
Lord, at the same time,
we are so thankful
for the gospel,
for that reminder
of your perfect love,
of your transforming love.
may you cause us
to rejoice in that,
to find our hope in that,
to have our character,
our conversation,
our conduct be changed
as we are directed
by your truth
and your love,
as led by the Spirit,
and we day by day
delight in it.
Lord, please help us
in this coming week
to make progress
in our love,
to be thinking,
to be guarding our hearts,
to be dependent on you
so that we might live for you.
We pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Now, you may have seen
through social media
that we're going to sing a hymn.
Well, we're not going to sing.
We're going to listen to a hymn.
A hymn being sung.
My hymn of praise,
Forever Jesus.
A wonderful song
written a couple of years ago
that hopefully,
before too much longer,
we will get to sing,
but for now,
we can reflect on
its wonderful truth.
Amen.
My hymn of praise
shall be forever,
Jesus,
my firm foundation
in shifting sands,
my strength and hope.
Through many fears and failures,
the disappointments of the past,
His constant love has held me fast.
forever,
Jesus.
So for all my days,
I will sing my praise
to the King,
forever,
Jesus.
Though the storms may rage,
He is strong to save.
He's the King,
forever,
Jesus.
My song of joy
shall be forever,
Jesus,
who bore the suffering,
who made a way.
His life a gift,
His death a precious ransom,
that wipes the sinner's guilt away,
and turns our night
to glorious day.
So for all my days,
I will sing my praise
to the King,
forever,
Jesus.
Though the storms may rage,
He is strong to save.
He's the King,
forever,
Jesus.
Jesus
My final breath
Shall be forever Jesus
When shadows lengthen
For my eyes
My Lord and friend
Companion through the valley
When dearest ones are left behind
His hand will lead me to blindness
So for all my days
I will sing my praise to the King
Forever Jesus
Though the storms may rage
He is strong to save
He's the King
Forever Jesus
When I meet His case
I will sing my praise
To the King
Forever Jesus
All my sorrows past
I am home at last
With my King
Forever Jesus
With my King
Forever Jesus
With my King
Forever Jesus
We stand together
to receive
Now may the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with you all
Amen