The 6 Marks of the Church:Love
Notes
Transcript
The world needs a church that is walking with Christ.
As the art work on the fireplace mantle in the foyer says:
In such a fearful world we need a fearless church.
More than that:
In an impatient world, we need a patient church.
In such a hate-filled world, we need a kind church.
In such a love-less world, we need a loving church.
In such a transient world, we need an enduring church.
This morning I would like us to think about the kind of church that Jesus wants the world to have.
What are the marks, the characteristics of such a church?
I believe we can find 6 of them in John 17 where Jesus, praying to the Father in prayer, prays. As the heading in my Bible says, it is a High Priestly prayer:
John 17:13-26 “But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they [my disciples] may have My joy made full in themselves. 14 “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. 16 “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 “Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth. 18 “As You sent Me into the world, I also sent them into the world. 19 “For their sake I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. 20 “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. 24 “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. 25 “O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; 26 and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
Did you catch them?
In this passage we hear Jesus asking the Father to do SIX works in His followers (and that would include us). To mark the church in 6 indelible ways:
In verse 13 - Fullness of Joy
In verse 14-16 - Holiness
In verse 17 - Truth
In verse 18 - Marked with a sense of mission
In verse 21-23 - Unity
In verse 26 - Love
A few weeks ago, one of the local pastors asked us to think about an article that was published in his denominational publication .
The article was entitled: Marks of the Church.
In it was an article addressing (as it said):
The Biblical underpinnings of a holy God hallowing a holy people through holy things … and living as a Christian holy people today..
In the article. a denominational leader identified seven marks of the church:
The Word of God, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, the Office of the Keys, the Office of the Ministry, prayer and the cross (i.e., persecution).
Whereas I DO believe these are marks of the church synthesized from scripture, we will instead look this morning at Jesus’ prayer for His church expressed in His prayer to the Father.
May we reflect the same heart as Jesus for His church.
Because as Frank D. Macchia, (2020). The Spirit-Baptized Church: A Dogmatic Inquiry says:
The Spirit-baptized church is also the pilgrim church that is on its way from the gift of being the church in the presence of the Spirit and in communion with Christ to the full visible realization of that gift at Christ’s return. The way that it takes is the way of Christ, the way of the Spirit.
We are called to walk in the Way of Christ:
1 Peter 2:21 (LSB) For to this you have been called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps,
1 John 2:6 (LSB) the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.
Colossians 2:6 (LSB) Therefore as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
So, what does walking in Jesus look likee?
The Church Should Be Characterized By Love
The Church Should Be Characterized By Love
Even though it is mentioned last in our John 17 passage, I believe it is of the first and utmost priority.
We are to be a people, a church, that walks in the love of Jesus.
Ephesians 5:1–2 (LSB) Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved us and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
Of course, we also know that Jesus said in:
(John 13:35) “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
But what does this Christ-like love look like?
Scripture gives us the answer.
The most comprehensive description of love is found in 1 Corinthians 13:4–7.
1 Corinthians 13:4–7 (NASB95) Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly [rudely]; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
In this short passage of scripture Paul shines love through a prism, and out of an infinite number, we can see 15 of its colors and hues.
Each ray gives a different facet of what is called agape love.
The passage does not focus so much upon what love is, but upon what love does and does not do.
Agape love is active, not abstract or passive.
It does not simply feel patient. It is patient! It practices patience.
It does not simply have kind feelings. It does kind things.
Let’s look at just 9 of those 15 characteristics of love.
Let’s think about how they should characterize our lives and this church.
Because …
Love is fully love only when it acts!
Love is fully love only when it acts!
Scripture tells us in (1 John 3:18), “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” .
The purpose of Paul’s prism in 1 Corinthians 13 is not to give a technical analysis of love, but to break it down into bite-size pieces so that we may more easily understand it and apply it in a practical way.
Because this is how Jesus acted.
This is how He lived.
There is a Name that could be substituted for the word agape in these verses.
Only one Name.
That is the Name of Jesus.
We could read 1 Corinthians 13 as, Jesus is…
Patient
Kind
Not ...
Envious
Boastful
Rude
Seek His own way.
Provoked
Jesus does
Believe all things
Endure all things
In essence, this passage is a portrait of the Savior.
At the same time, this passage sets a HIGH bar for OUR behavior as we seek to be
(Romans 8:29) “conformed into the image of His Son” .
Thus, our goal should be to demonstrate this kind of love —
to ALL, but especially
to one to another.
Love is patient.
Love is patient.
First of all, in an especially impatient world, God is calling us to love others so much that we are patient with them.
Full stop!
Altar call.
Pastor needs to be first at the altar.
The word patient literally means “long-tempered.”
This word is common in the New Testament, and it is used almost exclusively in being patient with people (rather than circumstances or events).
Love-patience is the ability to be inconvenienced or taken advantage of by a person over and over again.
Steven’s last words were those of patient forgiveness: “Lord, do not charge them with this sin”(Acts 7:60).
As he was dying, his concern was for his murderers rather than for himself.
This is the love that Jesus speaks of that turns the other cheek (Matthew 5:39).
Its primary concern is for the welfare of others, not itself.
As we looked at many times over the past couple of years:
(Philippians 2:3–4) “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others”
How different this is from the secular thinking of our day, where everyone wants their rights.
The slogan of the day is, “What about my needs?”
We don’t forgive. We get revenge. We sue.
But the love we are to have for others is the direct opposite of that.
Love is kind.
Love is kind.
Just as patience will take anything from others, kindness will give anything to others.
To be kind means to be useful, serving, and gracious.
It is active goodwill.
It not only feels generous; it is generous.
It not only desires others’ welfare; it works for it. God is our supreme model in this:
(Romans 2:4) “Do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience? Not knowing that the kindness (goodness) of God leads you to repentance?”
Yesterday I was getting my car fueled up for Brother Eric to use to transport kids to camp tomorrow.
I decided to stop by McDonald’s and get breakfast.
Afterward, I was walking across the driveway towards my car.
There was a car with its backup lights on, and would be backing across my path, so I stopped and waited.
The driver backed up and, rather than driving on, he backed up further and signaled me with his hand that I should go ahead a cross in front of him.
I thought that was odd, but I went ahead to cross and when I got to the other side he rolled down his window and said, “I’m sorry! I didn’t see you.”
I was forced to think about how kind that was.
Once again:
Altar call.
Pastor needs to be first at the altar.
Oh, the altar call is coming!
Love does not envy.
Love does not envy.
This is the first of eight negative descriptions—what love is not.
There are two kinds of envy:
We want what someone else has.
If they have a better car, house, job, or even wife or husband, we secretly wish that we had the same.
That’s one kind of envy.
Another is: We wish that someone else didn’t have what they had.
This is more than just selfishness; it is desiring evil for someone else.
There will always be someone out there doing better than us.
We can either live with it and be content with such things that we have, or we can be eaten up with envy.
(James 3:14–16) “But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.”
Love does not parade itself.
Love does not parade itself.
Another description of what love is not…
It doesn’t brag or puff itself up in self-importance and arrogance.
In other words, love does not parade its accomplishments.
Bragging is the other side of envy.
Envy is wanting what someone else has; bragging is trying to make others envy what we have.
Even if we make a great sacrifice for others, Christ-like love does not remind a person of it.
Love does not behave rudely.
Love does not behave rudely.
True love has good manners.
That is something that is largely lost today.
But love cares about others and is mannerly.
Love does not seek its own.
Love does not seek its own.
This speaks of that aspect of fallen nature where we always want to have our way.
The world should revolve around us, we think.
Love is not provoked.
Love is not provoked.
To provoke means “to arouse anger, a convulsion or sudden outburst.”
Love guards against being irritated, upset, or angered by things said or done against it.
Ephesians 4:31–32 (LSB) Let all bitterness and anger and wrath and shouting and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Instead, be kind to one another, tender-hearted, graciously forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has graciously forgiven you.
Then we come to the final 2 characteristics of love that we will consider this morning:
Love believes all things.
Love believes all things.
In other words, love believes the best of every person.
It is not suspicious or cynical.
If a loved one is accused of something wrong, love will consider him or her innocent until proven guilty.
Love will will stick up for them!
Love endures all things.
Love endures all things.
It refuses to give up, surrender, stop believing or hoping.
Love will simply not stop loving.
Lord, I Surrender to Your Love Operating in Me
Lord, I Surrender to Your Love Operating in Me
As the worship team comes ...
It was hard for me to prepare this message.
I fall short in so many ways.
I would guess that most of us do.
Maybe you don’t have problems with any of these areas — GREAT!
As the rest of us come to the altar to repent — you can pray for us.
Can we end this service by all of us coming to an altar and asking God to help us display this first 6 marks of the church that Jesus revealed in John 17?
Can we ask Him to help us BE more loving?
To BE loving Christians, and that this will BE a loving church?