Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

When Jesus tells commands us in to love one another, I’m not sure we exactly know what He means by that.

We live in an age that is confused about the nature and definition of love.

And, I think, often, we bring that same confusion to the table when the Bible tells us that we are to love one another in the Church.

Does ‘loving one another’ mean that I should find a church that I get excited about and feel excited about and remain there so long as it stays that way?

Or, does ‘loving one another’ mean that I should tolerate everything I see in my brother or sister’s life so as to not be unloving?

Or, does ‘loving one another’ mean that I work and work and work in my church in spite of the fact that I hate the work and feel contempt for those whom I believe aren’t working as hard?

With all of the false pictures of love we see around us, from the dad who thinks working and providing is enough to the woman believes she can fall out of love with her husband to the college student that feels goose bumps on their arms, I’m not really sure we know what it means when Jesus says that we should ‘love one another.’

So, this morning, we’re going to ask the question: What is true love?

What is the nature and character of the type of love that Jesus calls us to when commands us to ‘love one another?’

God’s Word

Read

Un-Masked Love

“Let love be genuine” I want you to notice something in our text this morning that you’ll be able to pick up on because of what we talked about a couple of weeks ago.

These are the kinds of connections that will help you as become a more serious student of the Bible, and they will slowly begin to jump out at you more.

A couple of weeks ago, we started off this Love One Another series by looking at , which is what many consider to be the love chapter of the Bible.

And, if you’ll remember, we said that the love chapter of the Bible pertained to the church.

We knew that because of what had just preceded it in chapter 12 as Paul addresses the spiritual gifts in the life of the church.

So, he talks about the gifts in the church for the building up of the church, and then he transitions straight into a conversation about the preeminence of love in the Christian’s life.

He is essentially saying that the gifts are only good if they are used with and channelled through love for one another.

Now, I want you to look at our text this morning, and I want you to notice what Paul is talking about and how it is structured.

In verses 3-8, Paul is talking about the gifts once again, and then, suddenly in verse 9, he makes the shift back to love.

These are like mirror passages!

The wording is slightly different, and he goes into detail about some different characteristics of love, but here again we have Paul talking with a local church about the issue of loving one another, and he’s teaching them hear about the nature of true love.

He starts with what is the summary statement of the whole thought.

Everything else he is going to say here flows out of the thought.

And so, he says, “Let love be genuine.”

Most other translations that I read actually translated it more literally than that by saying “Let love be (without hypocrisy).”

That’s really what he’s getting at here.

Hypocrisy is a word that comes from actors who wear a mask.

In other words, what you saw in them was artificial; it wasn’t real.

The person they were beneath the mask was different from the person that you actually see.

So, Paul is essentially saying “Unmask your love!

Let it be real!

Let your love be both internal and external, for one without the other isn’t genuine.”

Genuine, Christian love is inwardly transformative and outwardly expressed.

Love that is only felt inwardly is hypocritical, for it does not love enough to do anything.

It's shallow.

Love that is only outwardly expressed but not inwardly known is hypocritical, for it tries to give the appearance of love where love in fact does not exist.

It's superficial.

Be, then Do

And, you’ll notice this even in the way that Paul structures the exhortations that we read in verses 9-13.

In each one, he tells you a way that you should be and then something that you should do.

We must do, but our doing must come out of our being if it is to be genuine.

In verse 9, he says abhor evil, then he says to hold fast.

In verse 10, he says love one another, and then outdo in showing honor.

Be fervent, passionate, then serve the Lord.

Be hopeful and patient, then comes the expression of prayer.

Be filled with love for one another, then take care of one another.

So, it's be, then do.

5 Marks of Genuine Love

TRANSITION: So, Paul is calling us to genuine, authentic love here, and then he describes for us what it looks like so that we will know whether or not we’ve got it.

Back to our original question: What is true love?

What does un-masked, being and doing, love for one another in the church actually look like?

I think we see at least 5 marks of genuine love here:

1st Mark: Genuine love is pure.

(v.

9b)

“abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good” So, the first way that Paul describes authentic love is to say that is pure, and to be pure, there are two simultaneous realities that must be true: 1) It must hate evil.

2) It must love good.

You see, love is not neutral.

Love is convictional and informed, and it even necessitates hate.

Because authentic love wants what is good for the other person it must necessarily hate anything that will bring them harm.

There is nothing indifferent about it!

If love is indifferent toward sin and toward what is evil then it is something less than love.

And, this is so different from the way we are used to hearing love explained in our society.

Love in our society is typically defined as tolerance.

In other words, love is to tolerate sin and evil for the purpose of having a good relationship with them.

But, this is not gospel love!

The gospel doesn’t tolerate evil; it obliterates it.

In fact, the message of the Gospel is that God who is in his very essence good overcame evil at a great cost to himself.

So, tolerance of evil and indifference toward evil are an insult to love because they are an insult to God who is love!

APPLICATION: So, that’s why there’s such strong, emphatic language here.

Evil is not to be tolerated for it is far too destructive.

And, good is to be much more than tolerated for it is far too good!

There is no place for indifference and apathy in pure love!

So, hate evil, and hold onto what is good with all that you’ve got.

Now, church there is a line for us to walk here that I think is important for us to walk: We must hate what is evil without becoming agents of wrath.

In other words, we must hate evil without becoming vengeful, hateful people.

This is what he’s going to spend a lot of time on in last half of this chapter.

“Bless those who persecute you” “Repay no one evil for evil.”

“Never avenge yourselves.”

No, we must act upon our hatred of evil by clinging with everything we’ve got to that which is good.

Is our brother in sin?

We aren’t to avenge his sinfulness; we are to lovingly, gently, kindly call him to the good of repentance.

Are our students confused about homosexuality or the nature of marriage?

We mustn’t react with wrath; we are to patiently, diligently show them the goodness of Biblical truth.

We, like Christ, are to overcome that which is evil by Him who is good!

Let us hold fast to good, Church!

2nd Mark: Genuine love is affectionate.

(v.

10)

“Love one another with brotherly affection.”

Now, I think this one is really cool, and it gets me excited.

You’ll notice the phrase ‘brotherly affection,’ and that phrase is actually a single Greek word that you all know already: ‘Philadelphia.’

That’s why it’s called the “City of Brotherly Love.”

The Greek word for love at the beginning here starts with the same prefix so that essentially what Paul is saying is: “Affectionately love one another with brotherly affection.”

These are the words that would’ve been used to describe the care and love that you have for your family.

Understand this is how the Bible talks about the Church.

The most common way that you will hear me reference our church is as ‘church family’ and as ‘brothers and sisters.’

I do this, not to sound ‘churchy’, but to reinforce that this is who we are!