Oh say friend, it’s so good to be invited into your home this way. And our visit is made even better by our purpose-- Bible study. We’re In Search of the Lord’s Way of becoming a Christian and the Lord’s way of living like a Christian ought. Today’s program is about loving one another. I’m Mack Lyon. I pray we will both be blessed.
Greetings to you, friend! Thank you for joining in our Bible study today. If you’re a regular viewer of this program, or if you have been hearing these messages by radio or some other way, you have heard me say many times that we believe in the churches of Christ that the Lord’s way of salvation is the only way; and His way to live is the best way that has ever been introduced to the family of man. So, today’s message is titled “Preaching On Love With Love.” Our text will be Ephesians chapter 4 verses 11 to 15.
If you’re new to our program, let me put you at ease now just a little bit if possible. You need not expect any appeals from us for your tithe or your offering or your money in any way. We are sponsored here by some members in some churches of Christ in the broadcast area of this station. Oh say, they would really like you to attend Bible classes and worship with them, too. If you need help locating them, call us and let us be that help; will you?
If you think you might like to study this message more, you may have a printed copy of it, a CD, or an audio cassette tape of it free by sending your request to In Search of the Lord’s Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, Oklahoma 73083 or by e-mail to searchtv@searchtv.org. Our toll-free telephone number for your use, especially for this purpose but for all purposes, is 1-800-321-8633. You may read it, or hear it, or see it again by visiting our website at www.searchtv.org. There’s a lot more on that website, too. Ken Helterbrand’s going to lead us in a hymn now; and then I’ll be back to read Ephesians chapter 4, verses 11 through 16.
Our scripture reading today is in Ephesians chapter 4, and we will begin at verse 11 and read through verse 16. “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in cunning craftiness of the deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things to Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” And we have read through verse 16. Now let us go to God in prayer. Our Father in heaven, we are so grateful to You for every expression of Your love. And when we think about it, and when we begin a study about love, we know that Your love is immeasurable; and it is such an inspiration to us to love one another. We pray, Father, that we may speak all things about Your doctrine and who You are, and all things about Your work and Your church in love for one another. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen!
You may know it, my friend, without my saying it, but I’m going to say it anyway, for those who don’t know. Originally, the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and the New Testament in Greek. It has been said many times in many ways that Greek is one of the richest of all the languages. For example, whereas English has only one word to express all of the kinds of love, Greek has many, as many as four, and perhaps even more than that. One means love between the sexes; and it isn’t used in the New Testament at all. Another Greek word is used to convey the thought of family affection. The third denotes love of true friendship. And the fourth, the most commonly used word in the New Testament for “love” is “agape.” It appears in the New Testament more than 250 times in different forms. It’s defined best by the Savior in Matthew chapter 5, verses 43 to 48.
“You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be the sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes the sun to shine on the evil and on the good and sends the rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love your neighbor, or those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? Therefore, you shall be perfect as your Father is perfect?” What did Jesus say?
Well, He was teaching every person who heard Him say it, and everyone like us has ever read it, and those unborn generations who will read it, to “love one another” as God loves us. In stating the law, Moses repeatedly said, “Love your neighbor,” but he never commanded “hate your enemies.” The God you read about in your Bible is the only God, and He is the only true God, is not a God of hate like you’ll find in some of the religious world today. Our “God is love” personified (1 John chapter 4, verse 8). Therefore, the expression “hate your enemies” must have been an expression in common use; well, as my father’s generation would have said it, “in that day and time.” What do you say, then, that we study what God says about “love, ok?
God loves everybody; I mean He loves all of us. He made us (Genesis 1:27; chapter 5, verse 2). We’re made in His image (Genesis 1:26), meaning that unlike the other creatures He had made, there’s a spirit in man. Well, we are God’s “offspring” then (Acts chapter 17, verse 29). That doesn’t mean that He approves of all human behavior and everything we do any more than you as a father, approve of all your children do. Neither does it mean we’ll all be saved and go to heaven. Yes! God knows the difference between “saints” and “sinners,” and He will judge us all (1 Corinthians chapter 4, verses 1 to 4) through His Son Jesus Christ, of course (Acts 17:31). But, remember Jesus said, “(God) makes the sun shine upon the evil and upon the good, and He sends rain on the just and the unjust” (Matthew chapter 5, verse 45).
I’m sure you also remember what is called the “golden text of the Bible:” “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” Christ died for us when we were at, well at that time, we were lost in sin, friend. Christ died for us because we were lost in sin! You believe that, don’t you? Well, that says God loves the lost. When Jesus “saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). I was reminded of that during the reports of the recent earthquake in Haiti. There was so much lamentation in the news media because some 200,000, perhaps more, died and many, many more that suffered immensely. However, the saddest part of the whole story is that some of them, were not, well, perhaps even most of them, died without Christ. To be like God, to be Christians, we must love the lost. Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. And this is the first and great commandment. And the second is like to it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22, verses 37 through 39).
My friend, it’s useless, well, it’s even hypocritical to preach or profess “love” and not practice it. Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Obedience is the proof of your love. Jesus once asked, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood came, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, because it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built his house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great” (Luke 6:46 to 49). It’s obvious then, that “love” is not merely an emotion. It’s an emotion alright, but it’s more than that; it’s an action. A person doesn’t really love God who doesn’t attempt to do what He says. Neither does a person love his neighbor or his brother in Christ who doesn’t try to do them good!
So, number one: We must love God. Number two: To be like God, we must love our neighbor, and the lost around the world. Biblical admonitions to Christians to love one another are almost innumerable. Well, for example there’s Hebrews 13 and 1 which says simply, “Let brotherly love continue.” There’s Romans 12:8 to 10: “Owe no man anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, You shall not covet, and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in the saying, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” Then there’s a Galatian chapter 5, verses 13-15 and that says, “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty, only do not use your liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” [So, then, brothers if it isn’t love that prompts us to exercise our liberties with His word and His work; then what could it possibly be? Let’s read on,] “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed with one another.”
Well, the next verse begins that long dissertation about the works of the flesh as opposed to the fruit of the Spirit. For time’s sake, suppose we just pick up with verse 22 which says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love.” Oh, look friend; love tops the list. Yes! Of first importance on living the Christian life is to “love one another.” Remember? We’re “In Search of the Lord’s Way” to become and to be a Christian. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” There is also that familiar appeal for unity in Ephesians chapter 4, verses 1 to 3 in which the apostle Paul wrote, “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Let us pray. Holy Father, we are so thankful to You for your teachings about loving one another. We pray this lesson will inspire, encourage, and strengthen our love for each other. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
All those verses reminded me of a very dear preacher-friend of mine who before the days of “power point” was a blackboard sermon, and he used it very effectively. (I seldom used blackboard because neither I or anyone else could ever read my writing. I think I was absent the day the teacher taught penmanship at our school.) Anyway, that good preacher also used a beautiful, oh, and I say a beautiful hand-carved wooden pointer to synchronize his blackboard message with his spoken message. At one point in a sermon about loving one another, he slammed that pointer so hard against the pulpit that it shattered and fell in pieces to the floor as he shouted to the congregation something like, “When I’m finished with this sermon, you’re going to know how to love one another!” Well, bless his heart. He was a good man. And he really did love the Lord, and the Lord’s church, and the lost. He, along with his family, spent several years in the mission field. He just didn’t have the opportunity that some of us had to learn from some good gospel preachers to preach the gospel with love. You know, friend, it hardly behooves any of us to judge harshly those who went before us and blazed the trail for us. We can preach without opposition today in beautiful, commodious, comfortably air-conditioned buildings, multi-million-dollar facilities because they couldn’t, and yet they went without pay, and they preached the gospel to thousands and thousands were saved, and the Lord gave the increase, and the church grew, and some historians testified; well, they identified that Restoration movement as “the “second great religious revival” period in American history. Oh, that was great! I doubt seriously if some of us even would have remained in the faith if we had faced the resistance that they faced.
My friend, if I should see you about to become unknowingly involved in something life-threatening, and I didn’t try to persuade you to stop at once, even if it angered you, it would be extremely difficult to persuade you or your surviving relatives that I loved you, wouldn’t it, now? Of course so! The fact of the matter is, it wouldn’t be love that had restrained me from telling you the truth about it. It would be carelessness or fear or cowardice, fear of losing your friendship or your favor. Oh me! It’s “love” that prompts me to warn people about alcoholism or drug addiction, and other sinful life styles. For example, I’ve seen up-close lives that were wrecked by those evils. I’m not trying to judge. I’ve worked closely with people who suffered, and even agonized with their sins. I don’t “enjoy” seeing others go down the path of such evils. Well, let’s just call them what they are; they are sins. And you may be thinking; you may even write me this week saying in effect, “It’s none of your business, preacher.” But it is “some of my business,” because God says I must love you, and I do; and I love you enough to tell you the truth about it.
The same is true with “the Lord’s way of salvation.” And I love people too much to sit quietly by and know people are going to be eternally lost because they did not know the Lord’s way of being saved. Yes, they believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God and they have been told “that’s enough.” When the truth of the matter is that Jesus, Himself, said: “Unless you repent, you will…..perish” (Luke 13:3). And He repeated it again in verse 5. There were some in New Testament days who believed in Him, but they would not confess Him openly, because they would suffer the loss of friends in their former religion (John 12:42). So, the Scripture says, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” That is Romans 10 and 9. And in Mark 16:16 Jesus said, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved.” Well, every example that He gives us in the book of Acts of the conversion of people, they were baptized; everyone in which the details of their conversion was concern. They were baptized. I don’t want to face you and God in the judgment, not having told you the truth about those things. That’s why I began this program almost thirty years ago. That’s why I’m still here. I must tell you that scriptural baptism is “for the remission of sins” or to “wash away your sins” (Acts 22:16) in the blood of Jesus Christ (Revelation 1 and 5). And I don’t want to see God and face Him in judgment not having told you so.
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