Love Must Be Sincere Series

INTRO.- Is there anything worse than fake love or insincere love?

ILL.- After a 4 and a half year ministry with a church in a small Oklahoma town a preacher friend began preaching in Joplin, MO. He figured there would be more church growth in Joplin and one thing he had going for him is a loving relationship with people.

From things that I heard about that church and his relationship to them as the preacher was nothing but great. In fact, nothing but a big loving relationship. And my friend is one of those kind of guys who is quick to say, “I love you!” And I am convinced that when he says those words, he really means it. But, of course, with some people you don’t know or you can’t tell.

It’s been said that the book of Acts is full of love and yet the word love is not even mentioned one time in that book. But it is full of acts of love by the apostles and the early church. And how many times in scripture do you find Jesus saying to people, “I love you!”?

ILL. - I preached in a town one time where another local church hired a new preacher who was a good speaker. But he didn’t call on his people; in the homes or in the hospitals or anywhere. He told them when they hired him that he didn’t make calls and he didn’t. He apparently just wanted to do the preaching. I thought that was strange because that’s not what I was taught and learned. How do you serve Christ without serving people? And this holds true for every Christian. And service is a sign of genuine love!

Matthew 20:28 “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

If anyone ever proved their love for others it was Jesus. When Jesus washed the feet of His disciples He was showing that He loved them. When He fed the multitudes and taught them God’s Word He was demonstrating love. When He forgave the woman caught in adultery while others wanted to condemn her, Jesus was demonstrating love. Every time Jesus served, ministered, healed, or preached He was demonstrating love. And of course, we know about His greatest demonstration of love; Calvary!

If we want to learn how to love people we just need to read about the life of Christ in the gospel accounts. If all people of the world would just look to Jesus they would know what genuine love is and also, know how to demonstrate it.

Galatians 5:13 “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.”

PROP.- Paul describe the sincerity of love in this text.

1- We love by hating evil

2- We love by honoring others

3- We love by showing zeal

4- We love by sharing with others

1. LOVE BY HATING EVIL

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. There is both a bad hatred and a good hatred in this world.

ILL.- One of the worst cases of hatred ever is found in a will written in 1935 by a Mr. Donohoe. It says, "To my two daughters, Frances Marie and Denise Victoria, by reason of their bad attitude toward a doting father, I leave the sum of $1 to each and a father's curse. May their lives be fraught with misery, unhappiness, and sorrow. May their deaths be soon and of a lingering malignant and torturous nature. May their souls rest in hell and suffer the torments of the condemned for eternity."

That father hated his two daughters and who knows why? It was probably because he had a corrupt heart. He apparently felt like they had mistreated him and if they did, where did they learn such attitude and action? Probably from their father.

Matthew 12:34-35 “You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.”

If a person goes around hating people for any reason then they have a real heart problem. It seems like some people do have a bad attitude or a bad heart because they walk around with a chip on their shoulder, ready to criticize, condemn, and fight with anyone who gets in their way.

The kind of hatred that this text is talking about, however, is a hatred for ALL EVIL that exists in this world.