An Active Love
Philippians 1:8-11 Monte T. Brown
April 1, 2009 Wednesday Night
Heart O’ the Hills
Scripture
Philippians 1:8-11 For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.
[9] And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;
[10] That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ;
[11] Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
What is Love?
What is Love?
Such a funny little word, but if you ask ten different people to define it, you’d probably get ten different answers.
To most people love is only a base emotion, a sense of fulfillment you get when another person meets your needs.
But the Bible tells us that love is much more than a sense, a feeling.
Love is the greatest characteristic that God can give to man, and true love never stems from our own hearts, but from the heart of God.
Paul was imprisoned in Rome and, while in prison, the Church of Philippi sent an emissary to him (Epaphroditus) (ep-af-rod’-ee-tos) to tend to his needs.
Paul was so moved by the love in action of the Philippians that he, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, penned the Epistle of Philippians, and Epaphroditus carried that letter with him when he returned home.
Love Is The Mark of The Christian
Paul wrote a very interesting statement in Philippians 1.9.
Please follow along with me as I read Philippians 1:8-11 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment
This statement reveals a volume of truth to the Church. Paul says: And this I pray.
The world looks for love in sensuality, in power, in money. Yet God is the source of all true love.
We must pray to Him to release this love to us, to strengthen us so that we can love one another and the lost with His love, not with the pseudo-love of the world.
Do you remember these verses?
1 John 4:7-8 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. [8] He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
Love, AGAPE, Divine Love, is the mark of the Christian, and the mark of the Christ controlled Church.
If we do not have an active love for one another we become no more than a fancy clubhouse, a place where we come to relax while a speaker entertains us.
Love is an action, not just an emotion. God did not say to us, "I love you", and leave us dead in our sins.
He said, I love you then expressed that Love through the terror of the Cross.
When we are saved God plants this seed of Love in us and, as we pray and actively seek his face, we must grow in our love one toward another.
Concern for one another must start in prayer for one another, and one of the prayers that should be foremost in our hearts is Lord, show me how to Love.
Lord, teach us all how to Love.
Again, regard Philippians 1.9: I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more.
The Apostle prayed that the Philippians love may abound yet more and more.
Love is the foremost Gift of the Spirit.
Notice how Love is listed in the following verse: Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, [23] Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
The Closer I Move To God, The Stronger Will Be My Love
If Love is, indeed, a first fruit of the Spirit, and the basis of all Christian virtue, and God is the Author of true Love, then it stands to reason that the closer I move to God in my life, the stronger my Love will be.
In Churches all around our country believers mouth the words I love you, yet no action follows the declaration. In many Churches a visitor may come in, sit down, hear the message, and leave, all without encountering or talking to any of the Christians there.
Why is this?
Because, believers, often we allow the world’s definition of love into our lives while ignoring God’s truths.
Romans 12:9 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. [10] Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another
Love must be without prejudice (dissimulation).
I must love you, and you, and you with the same Divine Love, without favoritism.
Each and every believer is someone for whom Christ died, and each and every one of us is equally human, sinners saved by the Grace of God.
The devil wants to replace Divine Love in your life and walk with another four-letter word called lust.
Or, failing this, he wants you to focus on yet another four-letter word called self. Yet God tells us that true Love is expressed when we, in humility, lower ourselves while in honour preferring one another.
If I make your needs a priority, not your wants but your needs, then my life in enlarged by the flow of God’s Love through it.
But if I make my needs a priority, if I put myself above your well being in Christ, then my life is diminished by this love-less attitude.
We Are Weak And Blinded Without Love
Notice what the Apostle says in Philippians 1.10: [10] That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ;
The lines of right and wrong are not always clearly drawn for the believer, particularly in this evil age.
But, if we focus on the Love of God instead of ourselves, things suddenly become much clearer.
For Love approve(s) things that are excellent.
When you and I have a fight, who is right and who is wrong? What is Love’s answer?
Colossians 3:12-14 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
[13] Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
[14] And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
Love’s answer is no matter who was in the wrong, forgive them.
Anger and hatred are bitter, poisonous pills for anybody, doubly toxic for the believer.
Hatred is an acid that eats away at you, at your loved ones, at those around you.
As believers we will grow no stronger in Christ than we allow Love to grow, for Love is the bond of perfectness.
We weed a lot of foolishness out of the Church by applying Love to it. In your relationships one to another ask the following questions:
• Will what I am doing hurt my brother or sister?
• Is it helpful to our goals as believers, as a Church?
• Am I doing it for myself, or for others?
When we do this, we chase the Devil out of our Church while allowing the Spirit of God full reign. Christian Application
Watch Your Mouth!
Three times in the Psalms King David talked about those who use the deceitful tongue against him (Psalms 52.4; 109.2; 120.2).
You love all devouring words, You deceitful tongue. Psalm 52:4
For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful Have opened against me; They have spoken against me with a lying tongue. Psalm 109:2
Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips And from a deceitful tongue. Psalm 120:2
One of the biggest problems in any Church is a believer who gossips about other believers.
Watch Your Temper!
Ephesians 4:26-27 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: [27] Neither give place to the devil.
As humans we are going to get mad at someone.
But, we have a time limit that God has established on our anger.
When the sun goes down, get over it!
A feud is a continuing state of battle between kinsmen, and God has not given us permission to feud with one another.
Watch Your Step!
Romans 14:13-14 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.
[14] I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
Christianity is a reciprocal faith.
What I mean by that is, if I strive for God and build up my brother in the faith, I will also grow in the faith.
But if I put a stumblingblock through carelessness or willful intent in my brother’s way, causing him to stumble, I will also suffer for that action.
We are members together in a local Church, and as members of the Body must Love and support one another.
This must be more than words, but expressed in action as well.
Who of you bangs a thumb with a hammer and ignores that blow?
No, when we bang our thumb we cradle the whole hand, pamper it, bandage and love it.
In Christianity we have the glorious liberty to follow after God in accordance with the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Yet if my liberty offends you, an integral part of this beautiful Body of Christ, then I have to restrict my activity as if it were sin.
For we are members together in this great Work of God. I pray you will all join me tonight in actively loving one another, not just in word, but in deed as well.
As Spurgeon said, The Church is the Bride of Christ, and for a bride to fail in love is to fail in all things. It is idle for the wife to say that she is obedient and so forth; if love to her husband has evaporated, her wifely duty cannot be fulfilled.
Our love for Christ, and for each other, is the mark that makes us Christians and this a Church. Love ye one another!
