Stability of Love 2
Notes
Transcript
Title: LOVE IS… THE STABILITY OF LOVE pt 2
Text:
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to the flames, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love
Intro: 1. One of the most famous passages in the Bible
2. Love is the greatest gift of them all
3. Description of God’s love- is submissive, not possessive, not competitive, is positive
4. Stability of Love- the gifts are still working today
5. v13 these three remain- faith, hope and love
6. Faith, hope and love are three qualities linked together in the Bible
· NIV- faith and love spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven
· NIV- But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet
· We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ- NIV
7. These are three characteristics that are linked to Christianity
· Paul has been concerned about the church at Thessalonica because of persecution they are going through. He was worried that his work there might have been in vain. He sent Timothy to check on them and he is encouraged with Timothy’s report. So he opens this letter with thanks to God for these three "signs" that clearly show his labor among them had not been in vain
· These three qualities today are still clear evidence of genuine Christian character
TS: Why these three qualities are linked to Christianity
I. WORK PRODUCED BY FAITH
A. Definition of work
1. Work here means solid achievement, or the results of the activity
2. The work is the visible proof of our faith, or the results of our faith
3. A better word might be fruit
B. Faith produces work/fruit
1. Genuine belief/faith should make a change in our lives
2. We are saved by grace not by works
a. By grace are you saved through faith, not by works lest any man should boast
b. by works no one will be justified
3. But works prove we are saved
a. Faith alone saves, but genuine faith is evidenced by corresponding good works in the Spirit
b. People in the OT weren’t saved by works, but by faith- Abraham believed God
c. They obeyed the law because they believed (had faith) in what God said
d. Faith without works is dead
e. you will know them by their fruit
f. 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness
g. We work because we are saved; we don’t work to be saved. We work from the cross but not towards it- DL Moody
4. You can see faith/trust
a. GPS, coffee (cream, sugar before you taste it)
b. four friends of the paralytic- When Jesus saw their faith
c. this is what their faith caused them to do, the fruit of their faith
1) Abel paid his tithe (better sacrifice)
2) Noah built an ark to save his family
3) Abraham obeyed God and went
4) Moses trusted the blood of the Passover lamb
5. Does your faith work?
a. What are the results of your salvation?
b. What is the evidence, fruit, of your faith/trust in God?
C. Faith remains because our works will remain
1. We will be rewarded for our works/fruit in heaven
a. Judgment Seat of Christ is a time where our works are tested, what we did and why we did it
b. For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do
2. Store up treasures for yourselves in heaven- moths, rust, dust
a. If we get our rewards here we won’t need them in heaven
* faith produces fruit
II. ENDURANCE INSPIRED BY HOPE
A. Definition
1. Endurance means abiding under pressure
2. Abiding (staying) hanging in there, not giving up
3. Hope is a continual anticipation, an expectancy not just a wish
B. Hope inspires endurance
1. The over-riding factor in all the junk we go through is that God is going to fix it one day
2. Hope sees the light at the end of the tunnel and that light is Jesus, the light of the world
3. Hope inspires us to keep going
a. Hope gives faith something to work with that’s why the devils eats at our hope- Bryan Houston
b. Gen. MacArthur had a plaque on his wall about age, “Youth is not time of life it is a state of mind, you're as young as your faith and as old as your fear, as young as your hope and as old as your despair”
c. What kept Jesus going? run the race with endurance- who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the Cross, despising the shame (consider him so you don’t lose heart)
1) Jesus kept His eyes on the prize- our salvation
d. the rapture is our “blessed hope”
e. When Alexander the Great was setting out on his campaigns, he divided all his possessions among his friends. Someone said, "But you are keeping nothing for yourself." "O yes, I am," he said. "I have kept my hopes." A man can endure anything so long as he has hope
4. God gives us hope
a. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have (great explanation of Christianity)
1) Our lives should be an example of hope
2) We don’t live for this world (grab all you can, can all you get)
3) We march to the beat of a different drummer
b. Lord Jesus Christ, who is our Hope
c. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope
1) Peace and joy in trials come through trust
2) Trust is the path to hope (trust in His Word, in His character)
C. Hope remains
1. No matter what I’m going through God can fix it
a. If we have hope only in this life we are of all men most to be pitied
2. Even if I die I have hope to be with Him in a resurrected body
3. Hope is not just a wish but a confident expectation
4. I can always have hope
a. Dumb & Dumber video- So what are my chances, like 1 in 100. Not good, more like 1 in a million. (Slow smile) So you’re telling me there’s a chance?
* hope inspires endurance
III. LABOR PROMPTED BY LOVE
A. Definition of labor
1. Labor means to cause one trouble, to cut
2. Labor as in childbirth- involves toil, fatigue, suffering, weariness and sorrow
a. A mother goes through the pain of childbirth because of her love for the child
b. Or else she would never do it again
3. An intrusion, an inconvenience for you that you do because you love someone
4. A better word might be action
B. Love prompts us to help others
1. Love is selfless, others centered
a. There’s a difference between love and lust
1) Lust is now, love is patient
2) Lust is about the outside, love is about the inside
3) Lust is temporary, love is forever
4) Lust is about me, love is about them
b. Love causes us to be selfless
1) A parent that would risk their life for their family
2) Kids say you don’t love me- go to work, give up nice clothes, drive older cars, taxi kids around
c. No one has greater love than this, that one lays down his life for his friends
d. This is what Jesus did for us
2. Love motivates
a. Our love for Jesus motivates us to move away from self and towards Him
b. True love makes us do something when we see a need
c. Pity doesn’t do this
d. Apathy is from Greek word apatheia- without suffering
e. The Priest & Levite felt sorrow for the man in the ditch, but the good Samaritan loved him
f. The Disciples felt sorry for the crowds (send them home) but Jesus loved them (moved with compassion)
3. Real Christian love will cause us to suffer an intrusion or inconvenience to minister to someone
C. Love remains
1. Love will last forever
2. Heaven will be a place of love, joy and peace
3. A place where we will serve God and each other throughout eternity
* Love motivates us to action
Cncl: 1. The work produced by faith, labor motivated by love, and endurance inspired by hope
2. Faith rests on the past; love works in the present; hope looks to the future
3. Faith looks back to a Crucified Savior
4. Love looks up to a Crowned Savior
5. Hope looks ahead to a Coming Savior
6. Faith, hope and love produce fruit, action and endurance
Altr: 1. Realize you are not a Christian- no fruit, no action, no hope
2. What is the evidence of your faith?
3. When was the last time you were inconvenienced because of your love?
4. Do you a continual anticipation for Christ return?