The Spiritual Life (Love) Part 4 Series

Joe Bedy Central Christian Church

St. Petersburg, Fl 33711

January 16 2002

May I start tonight by giving you a logical conclusion about love, which stems from last week’s discussion on truth.

We have concluded from the scriptures that Christ is the way, the truth, the life and the light. Based on that we know that love is the truth and tells the truth. Because Christ is the truth and if God is love as the scriptures claim and Christ(Truth) is God, than truth has to be love.

Anything less than the truth is not love and lacks God.

Love Rejoices with the Truth - Love rejoices when truth is taught and expressed in a way that reflects the person of Jesus Christ. Love gives joy when truth is the determiner of people’s decisions. Love celebrates whenever truth wins out over distortions of truth. Love recognizes truth as its favorite companion otherwise it would merely become a warm fuzzy affection. Love rejoices with truth because love widens the scope of truth’s lens to include the whole person. Love favors truth because it keeps one honest and complete. Love rejoices in truth because it gives one a balanced look. Love values truth because it supercedes all philosophies with the truth of God’s word. Love values truth because it recognizes that in Christ’s love dwells the secrets of all wisdom and knowledge. Love rejoices in truth because it can reflect more of the whole attributes of God, the Father of law, the Son of love and the Holy Spirit of liberty. Love opens our minds to God’s truth.

Doesn’t Jesus exemplify this with the rich young man in Mark 10:17-31.

You know the story "Good teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Listen to: Mark 10:21 And looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him, and said to him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."

It was Jesus love for this man that compelled Him to tell him that he had a stumbling block between him and eternal life and that block was that the rich young man, loved his money more than he loved God.

It is the scriptures that show us what love is as well as what it is not. Tonight a few examples of what love is not and then a few illustrations of what I hope it look like in our lives:

Listen to this letter I came across:

Dearest Jimmy,

No words could ever express the great unhappiness I’ve felt since breaking our engagement. Please say you’ll take me back. No one could ever take your place in my heart, so please forgive me. I love you, I love you, I love you! Yours forever, Marie.

P.S., And congratulations on willing the state lottery.

Source Unknown.

We get our best picture of love from the apostle Paul to the church in Corinth in that first letter in Ch 13. Sandwiched right there between 2 chapters on spiritual gifts he says greater than all these gifts you may have been given, if you have them without choosing to love you are:

1. Just a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. V1 You are just a person who makes a lot of noise and all you know, teach and preach, that is all it will ever be-just a lot of noise.

2. If we do not have love, what are we? V2 we are nothing.

3. If we give all we have to the Lord, but we are without love, what do we receive? V3 it profits me nothing.

1 Cor 13:1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

1 Cor 13:2 And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

1 Cor 13:3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

1 Cor 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,

1 Cor 13:5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,

1 Cor 13:6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;

1 Cor 13:7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

1 Cor 13:8 Love never fails;

Love never fails.

Jerome who translated the bible into Latin said historically of the apostle John, that as he went from assembly to assembly he would simply say, "love one another."