August 1, 2021 - Walk In Love
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Today we will continue making our way through Paul’s letter to the Ephesians...
and BREAK into chapter 5.
For the past several weeks, Paul has been calling us (the church) - to live a certain way!
He started by pointing to the UNITY we have in the Body of Christ...
In context - Both Jew and Greek - NOW ONE - in Christ
For US! - United together (with different backgrounds, lineage, talents, etc)
United together - IN CHRIST
And BEING united - Paul then elevated the DIVERSITY of Gifts given WITHIN the Body of Christ
Each MEMBER - individuals - one of another
Paul said - I am like your eye, you are like my ear!
And when we are ALL working together - properly…the Body BUILDS itself up - IN LOVE
And part of that building up - entails US - believers - PUTTING OFF our old selves...
and PUTTING ON - our new selves!
22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,
23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
And we saw last week - THE AIM of this call!
The likeness of God in TRUE righteousness and holiness!
And in describing HOW we can HIT the MARK - last week Paul got detailed about where the NEW LIFE…is rooted!
We saw how the New Life is rooted in:
Rooted in The Truth
Rooted in Community
Rooted in Prayer & Humility
Rooted in Honesty
Rooted in Grace
Rooted in the Power of the Holy Spirit
And so when we look at these characteristics of the New Life - we realize that EACH of these things - is where WE are to be rooted!
WE - are to be rooted IN THE TRUTH
WE - are to be rooted in Community
WE - are to be rooted in… Prayer / Humility / Honesty / Grace / the Power of the Holy Spirit
AND SO - WITH US PLANTED in the SOIL of these things...
EQUIPPED NOW - with these Spiritual weapons....
TODAY - Paul is going to POINT TO OUR GUIDE...
TO our example.
1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.
2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
What we see Paul call us to here today - is to WALK IN LOVE...
But not just any KIND of love...
He says - Walk in love, AS CHRIST LOVED US
And so - he’s saying - LOVE the way Jesus loved!!
WALK in THAT LOVE...
NOW - when we HEAR this call - Walk in Love...
We might think - OK, I hear the VERB - WALK - and so I need to add more VERBS to my life!!
i need to ADD CERTAIN behaviors to my life SO THAT i can WALK in love...
Well - We need to FIRST know that WALKING IN LOVE - starts on the inside!!
9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
What is this saying?
Let love be - REAL
Love with - REAL LOVE!
It’s saying - LOVE - without hypocrisy!
Well - what are the PILLARS of - REAL love??
The verse will actually tell us!
9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
Here we see 2 Christian PILLARS to - REAL - genuine LOVE!
And this is WHY - the call to WALK IN LOVE is more than just behavior management!!
• We could SO easily read this verse - breeze thru it and think - ok, I just need to choose to walk away from evil, and CHOOSE to walk toward the good....
• But that's not all there is here!
• It's deeper than that!
• Listen to the language he uses...
• Abhor - HATE what is evil
• Hold Fast - or love, or ADORE what is good.
• This is MORE than just choosing.
• The word that PAUL uses here for 'HOLD FAST' in verse 9, is the same word he uses for sexual union in 1 Corinthians 6:16.
• God is not interested in our DUTY driven, external, will power religion, will power morality.
• CHOOSING is NOT enough.
• Here's why...
• If all we do is choose, then ALL we're doing is CONFORMING ourselves to RELIGIOUS PATTERNS
Well - what did Paul say in Romans 12:2?
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
We COULD take a caterpillar - HOLD IT DOWN - get out our HAMMER and HAMMER it into the shape of a butterfly...
We COULD CONFORM it into that shape - -
But would that be helpful?
Would that MAKE it a butterfly?
NO - course not!
What needs to happen?
It needs to TRANSFORM
• Choosing is not enough.
• It doesn’t signal deep moral transformation.
• Do you SEE?
- Paul says, Don’t just avoid evil, hate evil. Don’t just choose good, Love the good.
• The battle of Christian living (the NEW LIFE we’ve been looking at)
- is a battle mainly to get our emotions changed, not just our behavior.
NOW SEE - Paul has been CALLING us to the NEW LIFE...
To LIVE a certain way...
But that’s NOT as deep as it goes!
He also wants us to FEEL a certain way!!
Transformation is needed!
9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
There is an AFFECTIONAL NATURE to the new life!!
AND - there’s a REASON that this verse contains BOTH SIDES of the coin. (Evil and Good)...
The REASON that I THINK - this verse doesn’t just say - Abhor what is evil...
Is because…I would contend...
Just because we HATE the problem, doesn’t mean we LOVE the remedy!
**How many of you LOVE being out of shape??
How many of you love it when you climb a flight of stairs - and you’re winded
Who LOVES taking the medications we take EVERY DAY due to the every increasing breaking down of our bodies..?
No one does right?!!
Ok - SO THEN THAT MUST mean that we LOVE working out every day for 2 hours! Right??
Who LOVES going to the gym for 2 hours a day??
HMM - maybe - just because we hate the problem, doesn’t mean we LOVE the solution!
**How many of you LOVE it when you’re clothes don’t fit....they’re TOO TIGHT!!!
Who LOVES that??!!
No one! Right?
OK - then that MUST mean we all LOVE changing our eating habits to cut out all that BAD food!! Right?
OH - I see - Just because we HATE the problem - doesn’t mean we LOVE the remedy!
The REASON the Bible doesn’t JUST say - ABHOR what is EVIL!!
HATE what is evil!!
Is because Salvation isn’t JUST ABOUT hating what is evil!!
It’s about LOVING the remedy!!
If I don't delight in Christ, then I will walk through my life "DOING THINGS" to avoid hell.
I will walk through life going to church every Sunday...to avoid hell.
I will walk through life fasting every other week...to avoid hell.
I will walk through life reading my bible everyday....to avoid hell.
…NOT because I love Jesus!
Paul says - WALK IN - the love of Jesus...
LIVE out THAT LOVE!!
So let’s look closer now at this UNIQUE LOVE…the love of Jesus...
To DO this - let’s go to the gospel of John...
1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill.
3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”
4 But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
In these first 4 verses of John 11, we see that the stage is set...And Christ gives us the purpose of all of it
We all know and are I’m sure aware = that LOVE - will make us do - crazy things!
It will lead us to:
do things that are out-of-character for us (anyone?)
possibly do extraordinary things
We’re told here in v3
3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”
Jesus loves this man Lazarus...!
He’s sick
And Jesus here tells us why this sickness has fallen upon Lazarus
Jesus says - “this illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
And so for NOW - we need to file this away....REMEMBER it...we’ll come back to it...
But file it away for now
5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
Again - God wants us to KNOW - without a shadow of a doubt...that Jesus LOVED - LAZARUS!
We see this here AGAIN -
Jesus loved Lazarus
Now - there are A LOT of love songs out there ...
And when I think of LOVE SONGS - I usually think of - 8th grade dances
Celine Dion - The Power of Love
“Whenever you REACH for me…I’ll do ALL that I can!”
Whenever you reach for me, I’ll do ALL that I can...
Sounds like something someone would say - to someone they - LOVE
Jesus LOVED Lazarus!
Will Jesus DO ALL THAT HE CAN - for Lazarus?
If ANYONE KNEW HOW to love someone - it was Jesus right?
5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.
OK - listen - I will admit that there are many times -
…when my wife Rachel is talking to me - I’m shaking my head - but....i’m not listenin
AND USUALLY - I don’t realize I’m not listening - until 2 days later when WHAT she had told me - happens, and I’m like - WHAT IS HAPPENING?
Maybe - Jesus didn’t HEAR that his friend was sick?
hmm…the problem with that idea - is that the bible tells us - He heard
WHAT does He do?
He STAYS where He was…for 2 days
Hmm! - What happened to - “Whenever you reach for me, I’ll do all that I can???”
THIS is the EPIC - ONE-OF-A-KIND act of love by Jesus?? toward His friend???
He STAYED where He was - do you know what HAPPENED to Lazarus?
He died!
THIS is what LOVE did?
The Bible made it crystal clear that Jesus LOVED Lazarus!
THIS is what LOVE does???
THIS was LOVING????
SOOO -
Instead of Jesus BELTING out - Whenever you REACH for Me…I’ll do ALL that I can!!
We find Lazarus belting out - ALL By Myself!!
What is going on here?
What we’re ACTUALLY SEEING here - is TRUE love!
And it’s the KIND of LOVE that we need to start DISPERSING in our lives...
• It says - (So) BECAUSE Jesus LOVED Lazarus...He stayed where He was - and DID NOT go to him.
And so we HAVE to ask - HOW is this love??
We’re going to see as we walk through this...And we’re going to pull out some KEY characteristics of TRUE LOVE
And the first one we need to see is this!
SLIDE: Walking in Love: Walking in The Light
Walking In Love
Walking In Love
6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.
7 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”
8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?”
9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
10 But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”
11 After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.”
12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.”
13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep.
14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died,
Jesus here tells the disciples - We’re going back to Judea...
And they respond with their own “WELL BEING” on their mind...
• “The Jews were JUST trying to kill You...and You wanna go back there?”
WHAT’S THE RESPONSE?
• YES...And then Christ explains His answer...
9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
10 But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”
• TRUE Love - operates within the Light of Christ
If we’re going to WALK IN LOVE - then we must WALK in the Light of Christ!!
He and His truth must GUIDE our path!
**Solar Panels - Only work when light hits it...They’re POWERED by - light
True Love - works in the light...the LIGHT of Christ!
To walk in the light of Christ is to walk according to the Spirit...to live according to the Spirit
This is THE NEW LIFE!
to OPERATE - in life - in step with the Spirit of God
And as we can see - sometimes WALKING in the Spirit will cause us to RISK our lives...literally.
• Think about JIM ELLIOT...Missionary to the Auca Indians of Ecuador
• “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”
• His mission: to take the name of Christ to the Auca Indians...
And as they attacked Jim’s crew...they didn’t fight back...
to them - it was worth losing their lives if it meant the Indians would have more time to turn to Christ
And so EVEN as Jim Elliot was being attacked...he was walking in the Light of Christ...
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
10 But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”
YES - Jim Elliot died that day...but he did NOT STUMBLE...!
WHY - for those who walk in the LIGHT....do NOT stumble...!
Those who WALK in the LOVE of Jesus - do NOT stumble!
TRUE LOVE - does its WORK - In the light of Christ!
TRUE LOVE - is POWERED ONLY by the Light of Christ
But that’s not all...
14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died,
15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
16 So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
• Jesus says - He whom I LOVED - DIED!
• And for YOUR SAKE...I’m glad he did (glad I wasn’t there!)
Is this KIND of LOVE hitting you yet?!!!!
• I’m GLAD he died - for YOUR SAKE....so that you may BELIEVE!”
• The DISCIPLES - BELIEF is the goal here...
SLIDE: Walking in Love: Seeking Faith Over Comfort
Walking in Love
Walking in Love
Jesus was GLAD that He wasn’t there to prevent Lazarus from dying...(His friend)
WHY?
• BECAUSE -
SLIDE:
It was more loving that Lazarus die and the disciples come to believe in Christ, due to Lazarus’ resurrection, than for Lazarus not to die, and the disciples remain in unbelief!
• And so - what we need to know is - If we’re going to WALK IN LOVE (Jesus’ Love) - then we will be MORE CONCERNED about other’s FAITH In Jesus - than about their COMFORT in this WORLD.
The LOVE of Jesus - seeks FAITH IN JESUS - over COMFORT IN THIS WORLD
SO - think through now how often we AVOID speaking the truth of God in order to MAINTAIN our comfort...?
Who in here likes to be in AWKWARD situations with people??
We DON’T!!
And BECAUSE we don’t...
we’d rather chat about the weather...than talk about Jesus
we’d rather stay surface level...than get deep into things that actually matter
- But - When we’re WALKING in LOVE - we will seek other’s FAITH over their COMFORT!
And this is why Jesus responds the way that He does in Scripture to many different people!
19 And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
• Jesus here has someone come up to Him and say - Hey - Sign Me Up Jesus!!
• It’s the kind of person the church nowadays LONGS for!!
• That person who sees 14 different sign up sheets in the back and SIGNS ALL OF THEM!!
• That person who hears about a NEED in the church and before the NEED is finished being explained...
• this person has already SIGNED up for IT, made a MEAL, and is heading back to teach the 2 year olds
And what does Jesus do?
He tries to TALK HIM OUT OF IT!
He’s like - ARE YOU SURE?
We’re sleeping outside tonight...you still in?
You know - we may even go get crucified tomorrow...you still in? (Think of Paul and his life)
Christ was ALL ABOUT - people getting real (BEING genuine)
He wasn’t interested in the phony..not interested in the fake!
He wanted people to - COUNT THE COST...do you REALLY want to do this....because THIS is what it looks like...
Another guy said this...
21 Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
Wow - the guys dad had just died...like JUST died
How did Jesus - the ALL-LOVING Jesus respond?
59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
60 And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
Jesus Christ - Mr. Compassion
Now - we read this and think - NO WAY this is compassionate...but LISTEN - Jesus IS - love
So HOW is this LOVING?
It’s LOVING - true love - because true love SEEKS faith over comfort...
Jesus says - FOLLOW ME...
• And this man says - Ahhh well.....I have something more important to do
And Jesus is saying - no...NO - I’m loving you right now because I’m seeking FAITH over comfort...
WE NEED TO KNOW THIS:
SLIDE:
A BILLION years from now, we’ll all look back and SEE and FEEL the importance of...FAITH over comfort!
But when we’re in it....we most often REACH for comfort...
And YET - TRUE LOVE...seeks FAITH
Will we embrace this?
Will we BEGIN to TRULY LOVE those around us - in SEEKING for FAITH to RISE in them?
Will we live in a way that helps them SEE Jesus in life...Because they DON’T SEE Jesus in life...
They don't SEE Jesus in the:
• healing
turning of the tables
turn of events...INSTEAD - they WORSHIP - luck
TRUE LOVE (the Love of Jesus):
Walks in the Light
Seeks Faith Over Comfort
And next we see this very point played out in our text...
17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.
18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off,
19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.
20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house.
21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
• So Jesus here ties RESURRECTION LIFE to WHO HE IS...AND - belief in who He is...FAITH
“Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet he shall live”
True Love - Seeking FAITH over comfort...And isn’t it awesome...
• When Faith is REALIZED...when faith COMES....so comes with it - COMFORT!
• This is the LOVE we are to WALK in...!
• But this isn't all...
SLIDE: Walking In Love: Feeling Empathy
Walking In Love
Walking In Love
32 Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.
34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”
Did Jesus know what He was about to do?
Did He know that He was about to RAISE Lazarus?
Yes - and yet we see here that He became - deeply moved...greatly troubled...
He WEPT...
WHY?
Because that’s what True LOVE does!
What is Empathy?
Empathy:
the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
• And so EMPATHY - STEPS INTO the shoes of the other person
• TRUE LOVE feels empathy!
Jesus looked around at all those Mourning the loss of Lazarus...
and even in KNOWING that Lazarus would soon be raised...Jesus WEPT!
We can all do a better job at this...
Not only that we would be more empathetic when tragedy strikes family or friends...But that we would ALSO more RIGHTLY FEEL the weight of the situation that waits up ahead of those who DON’T KNOW JESUS!
The more we can FEEL this - the more we’ll pursue their FAITH!!
• The more we’ll WALK in Love - for THEIR sake!
This is what WALKING in LOVE looks like!
It feels empathy!
But that’s not all!
SLIDE: Walking In Love: Pursuing Eternal Life
Walking In Love
Walking In Love
41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.
42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”
44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
The love of Jesus Christ - TRUE LOVE - lead Jesus to RAISE Lazarus from the dead!
And this story here - of Lazarus - is a reflection of how we are to live on this earth...
Like Jesus - we are to love with TRUE LOVE...and WHAT did Jesus tell us was the point of this whole episode?
4 But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
SLIDE:
The reason we walk in love is the glorification of God.
If we want to TRULY LOVE someone - then the AIM of that love - whatever the detail is of what’s being done - the AIM of that LOVE has to be the glorification of God.
Think of all that Jesus went through to get to this moment!
SLIDE: SUMMARY
Walking in Love:
Walking in The Light
Seeking Faith Over Comfort
Feeling Empathy
Pursuing Eternal Life
So HOW do we walk in Love?
Well - How does LOVE grow?
Surely Jesus cultivated a relationship with Lazarus over the years!
Through relationship comes a deep love... (NOW - must you have a relationship with someone to love them - NO....but)
Jesus LOVED Lazarus... and that LOVE would have been cultivated!
And because it was Jesus doing the LOVING - Jesus VIEWED Lazarus and all those who would see this miracle...
• Jesus VIEWED THEM ALL in - the Light of Who He was!
Jesus WAITED the 4 days so that He could SHOW up and RAISE Lazarus -
SO THAT there would be NO DOUBT who was to RECEIVE the GLORY!!
Jesus KNEW that the best thing for ALL those who saw this - was to come to - BELIEVE (Have Faith) in HIM!!
This was Jesus - WALKING in the LIGHT of Jesus!
This is where TRUE LOVE can FLOURISH!!
FAITH OVER COMFORT
And we find out that Jesus LOVED Lazarus SO MUCH = that it caused Jesus to forsake COMFORT
Do we FORSAKE comfort, in the cause of LOVE, for the lost of this world?
if our answer is NO - then we’re not REALLY loving anybody.
But it’s not JUST a FORSAKING of comfort that equates to WALKING IN LOVE...
TRUE LOVE will FEEL the weight of life when TRUE LOVE isn’t present...And it will CRAVE to fill that void with itself.
This is where EMPATHY comes in!
WALKING IN LOVE - entails FEELING Empathy!
It’s that UNCEASING ANGUISH of heart that Paul told us about in Romans...It propelled him forward....when the whole world was pushing back!
That’s what it means to WALK IN LOVE!
• And True Love pushes forward, TO THE POINT where Eternal Life is either EMBRACED...or REJECTED!
Meaning - I think many of us (I know I have), we’ve pursued some of these things...And we try and try and try....Until it gets hard...and then we don’t bring it to completion...
Maybe we started to TRULY LOVE someone - sacrificing for them...So that we would be able to one day share the truth of Christ with them....But then time goes by....and the thought of rejection gets too weighty...
And MAYBE we give up...before we ever extend Eternal Life...
Think if Jesus had come to earth, did all that He did...all the miracles...Said ALL that He said...BUT THEN....
Didn’t RISE from the Dead like He said He would.... If He wouldn’t have COMPLETED the work...
What would that mean?
Then His Love wouldn’t have been - TRUE LOVE!
See - When we WALK IN LOVE - we will pursue Eternal Life...for all those around us!
And we might need help with this....This is what our ministries/groups are for...this is what discipleship/bible study is for...
And when all of [THESE] things are present...
We see that OUR WALKING in LOVE - Glorifies God!
That the AIM of our - WALKING in LOVE - is the Glorification of God!
And so - What do we need to do to begin to TRULY LOVE people!??
Bring your love for others to a completion by bringing them to the SAVING Truth of Jesus Christ..
That they might prove themselves to be a chosen, child of God.
Let’s pray...