HoHum:
“When he had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship. After we had torn ourselves away from them,” Acts 20:36-21:1, NIV. Paul was determined to do God’s will but we see here the tender affection that these Ephesian Christians and Paul had for each other.
From Blest Be the Tie That Binds- “When we asunder part, it gives us inward pain; But we shall still be joined in heart, and hope to meet again.”
As Christian we should feel tender affections for each other, attachments to each other.
WBTU:
Told us last week that going to talk about the fruit of the Spirit and the emotions that come from those fruits. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,” Galatians 5:22, NIV.
Read the theme verse: 1 Peter 1:22
If we were an American living in a strange country like Tibet, and we were being hounded for being an American, and we heard that there was another American also in the same city, we’d seek him out. We’d cling to him as one who understood what we were going through. That’s Peter’s point, that those who are members of God’s family through the new birth must stick together, because we are aliens and strangers in this world.
Thesis: From 1 Peter 1:22 let’s talk about the kind of love we are to have for each other, who we are to love, and then how this ties in with the emotion of love
For instances:
The Kind of love we are to have for each other
1. First, this love must be pure. Ties in with purifying ourselves
“Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call.” With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”” Acts 2:38-40, NIV.
When we compare this with 1 Peter 1:22 we are struck by the fact that Peter is talking about obeying the gospel commands for salvation. When are our souls purified? At baptism. Now we do not save ourselves, only the blood of Jesus Christ can do that. However, when a person follows the gospel conditions laid out in the NT, when that is done, then a person can in that sense save himself.
To say that our love is pure is to say that Christian love has nothing to do with “using and abusing” another human being. Love must always be kept in the context of moral purity. Under no circumstances is our love to be a cover for sexual immorality. “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality...because these are improper for God’s holy people.” Ephesians 5:1-3. Shame that in our day the only love that people focus on is sensual or sexual love. Christian love is modeled after Christ who gave himself up for us. A sacrificial love.
2. Sincere- genuine. The old word is unfeigned = not faked; not put on or pretended. Have we ever been around someone that was syrupy sweet to our face but something about it wasn’t real?
Some time after she broke up with him she wrote this letter: "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., Congratulations on willing the state lottery."
3. Deeply/ fervently/ earnestly- This is a physiological term meaning to stretch to the furthest limit of a muscle’s capacity. Metaphorically, the word means to go all out, to reach the furthest extent of something. The Greek word is often used about prayer, as when the people prayed for Peter when he was imprisoned in Acts 12. Here the word is translated without ceasing in Acts 12:5. To love deeply means we try to understand the other person. It means we will give the person the benefit of the doubt. It means we will take the effort to reach out to others. This kind of love does not happen by accident. It doesn’t happen automatically. Fervent love is not lazy love; it is not love when it is convenient; it is not mechanical. Love is a choice. When we first fall in love with someone the feelings are powerful. However, after reality sets in, love is a choice. Staying in love takes a commitment. Once we have made the decision that we have found the person we want to be with and commit to, the work begins. A big part of that work is making many other choices. Same is true of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Love is a choice.
Who are we to love- “your brothers”
One of the most profound comments made regarding the early church came from the lips of a man named Aristides, sent by the Emperor Hadrian to spy out those strange creatures known as "Christians." Having seen them in action, Aristides returned with a mixed report. But his words to the emperor have echoed down through history: "Behold! How they love one another." ““A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”” John 13:34, 35, NIV.
In the context of the whole book, these Christians were facing persecution and opposition. They needed to know that when they got back to church, the people there would love them. Love one another emphasizes the love we are supposed to have for each other. This is not about our attitude toward unsaved people- but this love will spill over to them. It is about how we treat other Christians. This is so important but so overlooked. Christian Schwartz, who works for an organization called Natural Church Development, said: “ …Our research indicates that there is a highly significant relationship between the ability of a church to demonstrate love and its long-term growth potential. Growing churches possess on average a measurably higher “love quotient” than stagnant or dying [churches]… Unfeigned, practical love has a divinely generated magnetic power far more effective than evangelistic programs which depend almost entirely on verbal communication. People do not want to hear us talk about love, they want to experience how Christian love really works.”
The tie in with the emotion of love- “from the heart”
English speakers locate emotions in the heart. Speakers of New Testament Greek, however, put them in the bowels or kidneys. The heart, in the language of 1 Peter, was the seat of thinking, willing, choosing, and feeling. The emotional dimension of the inner life isn't absent from the heart, but it isn't the main part either. We have already seen that love is more than feelings. Even so the feelings are involved here. These emotions lead us to do things like this: “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.” 1 Thessalonians 2:8, NIV.
The Righteous Brothers sang this: You've lost that lovin' feelin', Whoa, that lovin' feelin', You've lost that lovin' feelin', Now it's gone...gone...gone. What do we do when our attachments and affections for the church are gone?
1. First, pray earnestly that God, through the Holy Spirit who lives within us, would move in power on our hearts and do what only He can do. Pray that God would change our hearts toward his other children—that God would create new affections, or awaken old ones.
2. Focus on the Eternal. “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18, NIV. We tend to focus almost exclusively on the ways we have be hurt or disappointed. That will defeat us every time. There is a greater reality to think about and focus on, but we must make an effort. Focus on the reality of God's Fatherhood. When we think about a Christian that is hard to feel affection for, say, "God is her Father. God is his Father." When we see them, think, "God is their Father." Then say, "And God is my Father. We have the same Father. Jesus is their Savior and my Savior. The same blood bought them as bought me. The same Holy Spirit indwells them as indwells me. She is my sister. He is my brother. We will live forever in the same family. We will live forever together in joy and ecstasy in the presence of our Father one day."
3. Remember that Christian love is not an all or nothing thing, but a growing thing. “We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing.” 2 Thessalonians 1:3, NIV. Love is a growing thing. The fact that we realize that we fail to have affections for our brothers and sisters is an indication that we are growing. Need to press on to maturity.
4. Don't Be a Relational Fatalist. What I mean by that is the feeling that it's hopeless, and we can never change. Some may say, "I don't feel affection for anybody. My family did not feel or show affection." Well, God did not say, "Do this, if your family did it." Or: "Feel, if your family felt." Consider this: Do we think that married couples always feel tender affection for each other? Always feel tender and warm? They don't. But such affection is the ideal. That is what God calls us to. And one of the reasons he makes marriage unbreakable and seals it with an oath, "For better of for worse, till death do us part," is because he knows that we need to live our lives in the circle of rugged commitment where feelings of absolute hopelessness that affection could ever be awakened again can indeed be overcome and true, new tender affections revived. That is not only true in marriage. It is true in the church.
