Oh yeah, there we go. If you have the church Bible, page 1187, 1187.
And in fact, you do love all of God's family throughout Macedonia.
Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more.
And to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life.
You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you.
So that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders.
And so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
Johnny, let me just pray for you.
Father God, thank you for Johnny.
Thank you for the amazing servant he is to this church, faithfully bringing your word to us every week.
We ask that you fill him with your Holy Spirit.
That it be your message that he preaches today, not his own.
And fill him with wisdom, fill him with your words.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Thanks, Charlie.
Thanks so much, Connor.
Thank you for leading today and for directing us to the theme of love.
I look forward to catching up with you afterwards over tea and coffee if you're able to stay.
That'll be good to do.
Let's keep our Bibles open in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.
You can follow along.
So William Grimshaw was a minister in the north of England in the mid-18th century.
I never met him personally, but he was obviously quite a character.
I'm well known for his dealings with his congregation.
And on one occasion, it came to his attention that a well-to-do couple in his church had been spouting, boasting about their good Christian lives.
Mr. Grimshaw didn't like such talk, so decided to confront them.
So one cold night, he dressed up as a beggar and went knocking on their door.
His only request from this couple was that they'd give him a piece of bread and somewhere to sleep.
The husband refused.
Mr. Grimshaw, still in disguise, asked again, pleading on their Christian charity.
Once again, there was a refusal to help.
Well, that was when Mr. Grimshaw took off his disguise and revealed his true identity to the shock and horror of the elderly couple.
And he berated them at the door for their hypocrisy, their hard-heartedness and their lack of love.
Now, the method may have been pretty harsh, although quite funny, I think.
The message was very clear.
Christians should be known for their love.
In fact, love is the mark of genuine Christianity.
True Christians, as our text says this morning, are to love each other more and more.
And that's the theme today.
Three things we're going to look at.
How we're taught to love.
How we grow in love.
And how we work out love.
How we're taught, how we grow, and how we work it out.
First, we are taught to love.
So it's good to see you here this morning, class.
You are all in good time.
And today, we're going to learn how to love.
In the Bible, God tells us how to love.
Our teacher, Connor, already told us that love fulfills the law.
So I'd like you to look at the screen and follow with me in our learning this morning.
Can you read this verse with me?
Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.
I am the Lord.
Leviticus 19, verse 18.
So your homework, it's very simple.
Go home and love your neighbor as yourself.
Simples.
Or is it?
You see, we don't have to go very far into our day when we realize that loving others is actually very difficult and very hard.
Forgiving others is hard.
Keeping a grudge is easier.
Serving others is difficult.
Whereas loving yourself is much, much easier.
You see, the problem is, I could sit in a class.
We could all sit in a class.
We can all learn about love for others.
We can look at every verse in the Bible about love.
We can know the Hebrew for love.
We can talk about hesed, steadfast love.
We could maybe tell the difference in our Greek between agape and Philadelphia.
We know what love is.
But we could sit in any amounts of classes.
We could go to MBC College and learn all about love.
But that doesn't mean to say we will love.
And the reason is, we need to be taught to love.
Look at verse 9.
Now, about your love for one another.
We do not need to write to you.
For you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.
Now, that doesn't mean knowing a whole lot of information.
Rather, it requires a heart transformation.
It means that God teaches us inside.
That God works in our hearts by his Holy Spirit.
It's actually a call to conversion itself.
The prophets, people like Ezekiel and Jeremiah,
looked forward to the day when God would teach his people by his Spirit.
But here's what Ezekiel says.
This is what God says through Ezekiel, rather.
He says, I will give you a new heart,
and I will put my spirit in you,
and move you to follow my decrees,
and be very careful to keep my laws.
So all the laws and all the decrees that we can read about in Scripture,
all about how we should love God and love one another,
and how they struggle to do that,
God says, I'm going to send my Spirit,
who will enable you to be able to love as I commanded.
Jeremiah said something similar,
where he said God's laws would actually be written or engraved on your heart.
Now thankfully, we live in an age when the Spirit of God has come.
So when we turn to Christ,
when we repent of our sins as we trust in him,
he gives us, he works in us by his Holy Spirit.
God teaches us by his Spirit,
enabling us to love one another in a way that is not possible by ourselves.
Here's how Paul put it.
I think this is a helpful reference.
He's writing to the church in Rome.
He says,
You see, loving each other is not about learning memory verses.
It's not about the command to learn.
It's not about information.
It's about transformation of our lives on the inside.
It's an overflow of God's love that will bubble out towards others.
By his Spirit, he enables us to do what we could never do ourselves.
You might think of it a bit like this,
of two young lads who turn up to football training.
Neither of them have ever gone to training before.
It's their first time.
They arrive down at the pitches.
The first one is unsure what to do.
Do I pick the ball up?
Do I kick it?
Do I hand pass it?
Which way?
What do I do?
The second lad is straight in there,
in the thick of it,
kicking, passing,
and he's got all the skills to go.
And his friend says to him,
Well, how do you know what to do?
How do you learn so quick?
Well, he says,
My Father taught me.
He learned me.
You see, he already had those abilities within him.
Now, I know it's not a perfect illustration,
but in a sense,
it's reminding us that we too need to be taught by God the Father.
It's much more than just learning information.
It must be an internal transformation of our hearts.
It's a supernatural work of God.
We cannot do this on our own.
We must be taught by God.
So first, how are we going to love?
Well, we must first be taught by God.
We must become Christians.
Second, we're to grow in love.
Now, this church that Paul is writing to,
we're a church that loved each other deeply.
We see that if you go back to chapter 1 and verse 3.
Chapter 1 and verse 3.
He says,
We remember before our God and Father
your work produced by faith,
your labor prompted by love.
So all their serving,
all their doing,
all their work
came from a heart filled with love.
And have a look at chapter 3, verse 6.
This is after Paul had gone away
and he sends Timothy to see how the church is doing.
And he writes and he says,
chapter 3, verse 6,
Timothy has just now come to us from you
and has brought good news about your faith
and love.
And chapter 4, verse 10.
And in fact,
you do love all of God's family
throughout Macedonia.
So they didn't just love one another deeply.
Their love was infectious.
It spread beyond them
to the other local churches around them.
But,
it seems that wasn't enough.
Look at the rest of verse 10.
Yet we urge you,
brothers and sisters,
to do so
more
and more.
Now I'm thankful,
and I hope you are too,
to be in a church
where people
sincerely
and deeply
love you.
You're a people who give
generously when there's need.
you pray and care for one another
when you're facing struggles.
You serve diligently
and continually
in ministries
in the life of the church.
Your love does
overflow to one another.
Yet we urge you,
brothers and sisters,
to do so
more
and more.
Johnny,
come on,
you can't be serious.
I mean,
I do love.
Do you not realise
how much I give?
You want me to love
more
and more?
Sounds like a stick
to beat us with.
You must do better.
You must work harder.
Love more
and more.
In fact,
it can easily
begin to feel
that I must
do more
and more.
If God is going
to love me
and accept me,
I've got to do
more and more.
What I'm doing
is not enough.
I must do,
note to self,
do more
acts
of love.
And if I do
more
and more,
God will love me
more
and more.
Now,
that's a terrible
mistake to fall
into.
We mustn't think
like that.
This isn't a stick
to beat us with.
Rather,
it's an encouragement
to grow us.
Let me help us
think this through
a little bit more,
this more
and more.
Have a look
on the screen here.
There's a verse
from 1 Peter.
It's not
more and more,
but it's
once
and for all.
It's talking
about the death
of Jesus.
It said,
Christ died
for sins
once
for all.
The righteous
for the unrighteous
to bring you
to God.
It's telling us
that Christ's
death
was a once
and for all
act
by which we
are made
right
before God.
It's like
what we looked
at earlier,
being taught
by God.
It's a one-off
act
where we are
converted,
we are changed,
we become
Christians.
That means
God has forgiven
me,
he's accepted
me,
he loves me.
That will
never,
ever,
ever change.
it's once
and for all.
There's nothing
I can do
to make God
love me more
and there's
nothing I can do
to make God
love me less.
It's once
and for all.
And now
that I have
been loved
by God,
I am now
to grow
in my love
for others.
I am to
please God
by loving
others.
Have a look
in Thessalonians
chapter 4
verse 1.
We get
the same
phrase here,
the more
and more
phrase.
Let's read
from verse 1.
As for other
matters,
brothers and
sisters,
we instructed
you how to
live in order
to please
God as
in fact
you are
living.
Now we
ask you
and urge
you in
the Lord
Jesus to
do this
more
and more.
verse 10.
And in
fact,
you are
pleasing
God.
You do
love all
of God's
family
throughout
Macedonia,
yet we
urge you
brothers and
sisters to
do so
more
and more.
It's not
more and
more so
that God
will love
me more
and more.
It's
God
does
love you
once
and for
all.
it will
never
cease,
it will
never
end.
Therefore,
I will
in response
seek to
grow in
my love
for others
more
and more.
But is
it really
possible?
I mean,
think about
it.
All the
loving we
do,
is it
possible
that I
can love
you more
and you
can love
me more?
well,
yes it
is.
But not
by sheer
determination,
not by
sheer will
power,
I must
love more,
I must
love more,
I must
love more.
No,
instead we
come in
our weakness
and we
ask God
to enable
us to
do what
we cannot
do,
which is
to love.
Look at
chapter 3
verse 12.
It's a
wonderful
little prayer.
chapter 3
verse 12.
May the
Lord make
your love
increase
and overflow
for each
other and
for everyone
else.
Lord,
fill me
with your
love.
Pour
into
my life
your love
by the
power of
the Holy
Spirit.
Fill me
so that
it
overflows
more
and more.
So that
when people
come to
me and
ask me,
I will
respond in
love more
and more.
You see,
there's no
level of
love at
which we
can reach
and say,
that's it,
no more,
I've done
it,
I've made
it,
I'm the
lover of
lovers.
No,
there's no
level.
It's
always
more and
more.
And God
will always
increase our
love for
each other
by his
Holy Spirit
filling us
to overflowing
so that we
can love
more and
more.
Not by
ourselves,
but by the
supernatural
in-working
Spirit of
God.
So we're
taught to
love,
we grow
in love,
and third,
we're to
work out
our love.
So what
does loving
one another
look like in
practice?
Well, we
heard this
morning that
it could
involve going
to the
cinema or
surfing,
but that's
not what
this says
here.
let's
read verse
11.
So love
more and
more,
verse 11,
and make
it your
ambition to
lead a
quiet life.
You should
mind your
own business
and work
with your
hands just
as we
told you.
Now I
find it
helpful for
just single
words to
summarize.
So we've
got three
words that
summarize verse
11 to
help us
think about
what love
is like.
Love is
quiet.
Love is
quiet.
Isn't that what
it says?
Verse 11,
make it your
ambition to
lead a
quiet life.
love.
Well let
me tell you
a minute how
much I
prayed for
you this
week.
Do you
know how
much I
give to
the church,
shall I
tell you?
And next
week I'm
planning on
inviting three
people for
coffee and
two families
for dinner.
and if
anybody else
wants to
come,
just come
and tell
me I
have so
much love
to give.
No.
Love doesn't
need grand
announcements.
You don't
need to
broadcast
whatever you
did from
Mr.
Old
Jones.
Love is
quiet.
It doesn't
seek repayment
or acknowledgement.
Love just
quietly
gets on.
Setting
up,
serving,
visiting,
offering
hospitality.
No grand
announcements.
Love is
quiet.
So let
us love
quietly.
Second
word
is
humble.
Look at
the middle
of verse
11.
You should
mind your
own business.
That's a
great phrase
isn't it?
You couldn't
possibly say
that.
No, the
Bible says
it.
Now I
can say
it.
Our job
is not
to be
finding out
what people
do and
how often
they're
doing it.
I am
not the
standard of
love and
you're not
the standard
of love.
We're not
to be busy
looking around
going,
oh, they're
always late
and they
always leave
early.
I wonder
why they
do that.
M-Y-O-B
mind your
own business.
How people
use their
time and
their gifts
is not
your business.
We're not
judge and
jury of the
love committee.
The truth
is we
don't know
what people's
circumstances
are.
We have no
idea what
people have
been going
through or
what their
burden is.
perhaps
they're the
person,
instead of
criticising,
we need
to love
more
and more.
Love is
humble,
not
judgmental.
It doesn't
compare with
others.
It doesn't
keep records.
Love
minds
your own
business.
Love is
humble.
So quietly,
humbly,
and third,
generously,
you should
mind your
own business,
verse 11,
and work
with your
hands just
as we
told you.
In other
words,
use the
gifts God
has blessed
you with,
both the
abilities that
we have
and the
resources
that we
have received.
if you're
gifted in
some
particular
way,
use it
to love
others.
If it's
baking,
bake.
If it's
DIY,
go do
some
DIY.
If it's
visiting,
visit.
If it's
teach,
teach.
He's
made us
with all
kinds of
wonderful
talents and
abilities,
and all of
us are
different.
We've
all got
something
different to
bring,
and we
use them
to love
one another.
Work with
your
hands.
And what
about all
the resources
God has
given to
us?
Again,
we are to
steward them
well for
the blessing
of others.
If you're
no longer
in full-time
work,
use your
time to
encourage.
If you
have extra
financial
resources,
use it
to bless
others.
If you've
got a
home,
offer
hospitality.
If you've
got a
car,
offer a
lift.
Work with
your
hands.
Our
abilities and
our
resources are
to be
used
generously.
Don't
hold back.
Don't
settle for
minimum.
It's
always love
is more
and more.
Love is
filled
with
generosity.
So what
does love
look like?
Well, it's
done quietly,
humbly,
and generously.
In fact,
our love
for one
another
has a
profound
impact
on those
around us
who are
not yet
Christians.
Did you
see that
in verse
12?
So here's
the flow
of thought.
God has
taught you
how to
love,
verse 9.
Love more
and more,
verse 10.
Quietly,
humbly,
and generously
work out
your love,
verse 12,
so that
your daily
life may
win the
respect
of
outsiders.
Love is
quiet,
but it
is seen.
Love is
humble,
but it
is felt.
love is
generous,
and it's
experienced.
You see,
our daily
lives,
soaked in
love,
filled by
the power
of the
Holy Spirit,
where love
bubbles out
and over,
will have
an amazing
effect on
our community.
It will,
verse 12,
win the
respect
of outsiders.
We will
begin to
look like
what we
talk about,
if we
proclaim
God loves
you,
well,
we will
be a
people
that love
too.
We will
reflect that
love in
our words
and our
actions.
I've had
this happy
experience
recently of
someone telling
me that
the reason
they started
coming was
because the
love they
received from
the people.
love
never
underestimate
how your
love for
one another
can affect
those who
look on
and see
what's
happening.
Love
wins the
respect
of others.
You see,
what we've
been thinking
about this
morning is
really an
outworking of
Christ's love
in us.
As God
teaches us,
as he gives
us his
Holy Spirit,
we are
enabled to
love because
Christ loves
me and
he loves
you.
In love,
Christ
quietly
came.
No big
announcements,
no shouting
and making
noise.
He entered
the world
through an
unknown teenager
in an
outhouse.
He came
to seek
and save.
He came
in love
so that
we might
know him.
In love,
Christ
humbly
served,
not demanding
his rights
or seeking
his wants.
He didn't
judge or
condemn.
He humbled
himself.
He made
himself
nothing.
He became
a servant
for you
and for
me.
In love,
Christ
generously
gave.
He held
nothing back.
He sacrificed.
He gave
of his life
on the
cross,
suffering
from my
sin and
your sin.
Christ
loved us
to the very
end.
And guess
what?
He still
loves us
today.
Look at
Christ.
See the
wonder of
his love
who quietly
came,
who humbly
served
and generously
give.
May God
fill us
with his
love today
so that
it will
overflow
more and
more to
one another
and to
the
community
in which
we live.
Let's
pray.
for you
yourselves
have been
taught by
God to
love each
other.
Yet we
urge you
and encourage
you to
do so
more
and more.
Father God,
would you
pour your
love into
our lives.
Help us
that we may
experience your
love afresh by
your Holy
Spirit
so that we
may overflow
in quiet,
humble,
generous love
towards one
another.
Thank you for
loving us
so much.
Thank you for
the love of
one another.
Thank you
for this
loving
church.
In Jesus'
name we
pray.
Amen.
Well, we're
going to sing
a song that
brings a
love.