You Cannot Have Enough Love Series

Introduction

Today, we begin a new series that is based upon the prayer of the Apostle Paul to the church at Philippi. It was a prayer offered up to God for the people in the Philippian church.

I know that we offer prayers for church members who are hurting but this prayer teaches that we should also offer prayers up to God for the whole congregation.

Teenagers, when you pray you might offer a prayer for someone in your group who is hurting, but do you ever offer prayers up to God for your whole teenage group?

Paul is offering a prayer up for all those in the Church at Philippi. And the first thing that he prays for is to give them more love. The point is that you cannot have enough love. Let’s read the prayer from Philippians 1:9-11 and then I want us to ask ourselves some questions to see if our love is growing more and more. After all, Jesus said in the Gospel of John, referring to his disciples (you and I who know Christ), that you will be known by your love.

Please stand as we read from God’s Word.

Scripture

Philippians 1:9–11 NKJV

9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, 10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, 11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Question #1

Do I tend to run away rather than working through loving someone who is difficult to love?

Luke 6:27–28 NKJV

27 “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.

I would say those sound like difficult people to me, and Jesus says on the Sermon on the Mount to love them not run away from them.

And He teaches us by His own personal experience of dealing with difficult people that He loved them instead of running away from them. Jesus had to deal with difficult people in His life like me, you, and us. You are saying to yourself I am not a difficult person, but oh, yes you are.

Romans 5: 12 says this, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.

You and I are sinners, and in the eyes of a Holy God that makes me a difficult person and each one of you- difficult people. He could have run away from us and have been justified because a Holy God cannot look upon sin. But instead, He worked through what separated us by sending Jesus to take upon Himself the sins of the world and die on the cross so that the penalty of sin could be dealt with.

Think what mess we would be in if God chose to run away. And I tell you that because over the years, as Pastor, I have watched people run away from this church rather than working through loving someone who is difficult to love.

It is not just Bala Chitto. All churches have difficult people. And all churches have people running away rather than working through loving someone who is difficult to love.

In Bala Chitto, we have difficult people and yes, we have people coming here who have fled a difficult person in another church. Whether you are a difficult person or a runaway who settled here, today you need to stop being difficult or stop running and allow Christ love to grow in you more and more.

Paul would be saying to each of us: if I am difficult, clean it up; and to those who run- stick it out and work through loving each other.

If you are going to love more and more as Paul prayed, then this is the only way it is going to happen.

Question #2

Do I tend to have a heart that is close to loving some people or do we have a heart that is open wide?

2 Corinthians 6:11–13 NKJV

11 O Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open. 12 You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections. 13 Now in return for the same (I speak as to children), you also be open.

Paul says in this verse that my heart is wide open, but he acknowledges that the hearts of the church members at Corinth were closed.

God acknowledged His heart is wide open in the famous Scripture: God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. But the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, their hearts were closed evidenced by how they treated the people.