The Case for Mutual Affections

Let us pray.

Gracious God and Father, this morning, as we take your word in hand, we remind ourselves

!

The fact that you have given to us the Scriptures, they are one of the sure indicators of your

love.

They are to be prized.

They will abide forever in heaven.

They are the means of blessing and counsel, comfort, correction.

And we are blessed to be able to open this book this morning and rely upon the work of

the Spirit of God.

We ask that you would do a work in us this morning that leads us to confess that what

you've done is of you, not of us, and that it is of eternal significance.

We ask this in your precious name.

Amen.

I want to start.

We're going to be in the book of Ephesians this morning, but I want you to look with me,

if you would, to Psalm 119, verse 18.

Psalms 119:18

Turn to that passage.

Psalm 119, verse 18.

Psalms 119:18

If you don't have a Bible, I want to encourage you to go ahead and take the one that is in

the pew, or if you're sitting on the edges there, you can get it underneath.

But I want you to look at it.

I want you to put your eyes on that text.

We'd have to confess that there are times where we've read the Bible and it hasn't made

a bit of difference.

You ever had one of those moments?

There are times where we have opened the Word, we've either heard it, we've sung the words.

I remember, and I don't remember who it was that said it.

It was a pastor of a previous generation.

He said that the most amount of lying that Christians do is when they sing.

How many of you followed what I said?

Christians lie most often when they sing.

Now, I'm not accusing any of you of being liars, nor am I drawing attention to that in

my own life, but I'm just saying that sometimes we say things and really don't think about what

we're saying.

And sometimes we sit there and we hear what other people are saying.

It doesn't make a bit of difference.

I want you to look at a psalm, one verse, and I am just curious if you have it underlined

in your Bible.

Now, I want to say something.

There's nothing magical about underlining, and I don't want you to ever think that you

get extra points in heaven for having anything underlined in your Bible.

How many of you have seen people that have Bibles that are so full of ink that you're

not sure whether you can really parse what's the rest of it?

You know, it's like I've seen some people, and I hope I'm not tweaking anybody today,

but they have, you know, red for one thing, and they have green for another, and they have

yellow for another, and blue for another.

And their Bible is so color-coded that I'm wondering if they can remember how many of

the different colors are, you know, related and what all the little signals and keys are.

Nothing against that.

But I guess I would say this.

Underlining is one of those things that maybe helps you connect a little bit to things that

are really important.

Agreed?

Look at this passage.

I wonder if it's underlined.

If it's not, I would encourage you to maybe do that.

But more importantly, I don't want you to underline and forget it.

I want you to underline it and weave it into your prayer life.

I have to confess that I remember this in King James, so bear with me.

Open thou mine eyes, that I might behold wondrous truths out of thy law.

That's the psalmist.

He says, I want you to do something with these eyes of mine.

I want you to open them up so I can see what you have for me.

Elsewhere in Psalm 119, it says, every word of God is pure.

It's all valuable.

It's all precious.

It is all significant.

And we, in our natural tendency, come and can sit and endure for a period of time the preaching

of the Word of God.

And apart from the enabling and our desperate dependence upon the Spirit, we can leave relatively unchanged.

It's easy to do.

And so it's appropriate for us to remember, if you think back to the last several sermons that I have preached in Ephesians,

you'll remember that I preached about the importance of you praying for your pastor.

And I am so very blessed to hear numbers of you have said to me this morning.

And it's been a characteristic of our ministry for many years.

People will say to me, I'm praying for you this morning.

I have been praying for you this morning.

I was praying for you earlier.

And I appreciate that.

It is nothing other than a simple reflection of your obedience to the Scripture and a recognition that the Spirit of God has given us careful instruction that it's right to pray for the man who handles the Word.

It's right.

It's right.

The next thing that we looked at was that passage there in Ephesians chapter 6 where Paul says this.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

He says, hey, listen, I want you to understand that preaching is also dependent upon the Spirit of God.

Preaching is not an exercise in rhetoric.

Preaching is a declaration of the glory of God through the enabling of the Spirit of God.

Preaching is not an exercise in the Spirit of God.

Thus saith the Lord.

It is a holy, it is a humbling responsibility.

And at the end of the day, it is one that when it is finished, you should walk out of here and say,

I saw an evidence of the work of the Spirit of God in an earthen, frail vessel.

And it's the Spirit that challenges and makes a difference.

I do say that by way of introduction because this morning we are coming down to this will be the second to the last sermon that I preach on the book of Ephesians.

Lord willing.

Okay?

Now, I mean, where's John?

He's out here.

John, we only have one more because John wants to know months in advance, so what are you going to be preaching on?

He works on our music.

He wants it to be connected to the passage so that there's a direct correlation.

And there's just one more, John.

Okay?

In fact, John emailed me earlier in the week.

He says, can you help me a little bit by telling me what the last…

You're in verse 24.

What are you going to do with verse 24?

That's next week.

This week we are in verse 21 through 23.

Okay?

And as we look at this passage, let me read it to you, lay it out for you, and then we'll get into this passage.

And here's what I want you to understand.

I'm going to tell you ahead of time what the effect of Spirit-enabled preaching will be in the life of humble believers that are dependent upon the Spirit of God to work.

Do you follow that?

You know what's going to happen.

Here's what the effect will be.

You will be unrelenting in your pursuit in loving the people you're with.

Oh, by the way, is it easy to love people you're close to?

Smile, everybody.

I remember the little poem that…

Is Becky Radcliffe in here?

Yeah, there you are, Becky.

I owe a lot to Becky.

She was the first secretary that worked tolerated me here.

And Becky taught me lots of things.

One of them is that you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

Remember that, Becky?

See?

I needed that.

The other thing that she taught me is that little… a poem that goes somewhat like this.

To dwell above with saints we love, oh, that will be glory.

To dwell below with saints we know.

Well, that's another story.

And…

And…

Huh?

You know that, right?

That's the laugh of familiarity.

You're saying, yeah, I'm there.

Ephesians closes off in a very interesting way with the apostle under the prompting of the Spirit of God saying,

let's bring all this grand theology of the work of God in saving us and the Spirit of God in changing us down into very practical terms of how we get along and stay together.

So, verse 21,

I wrote it out here in notes so I could remember how to pronounce it.

Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will tell you everything.

I've sent him to you for this very purpose that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts.

Peace be to the brothers.

Peace be to the Lord, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

It's very interesting that Paul would close off this way.

Because if we were thinking of bringing a grand theological discourse to its conclusion in our own practical thinking,

we probably may not be inclined to think of the last thing that we really should drive home is this issue of love.

But that's what he did.

And it is completely consistent with the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We're going to reference it later.

But one of the things that characterized the early church, the New Testament church,

in the profoundly pagan world,

was the undeniable affection that believers had for one another.

I have spent some time at various moments in my life going back and reading some of the references in ancient literature

about the testimony that early believers gave in their relationships with one another.

An illustration would be this.

There was a Roman governor that appealed very strongly to the Senate,

and the Senate finally passed an edict in which they said,

all right, all right, we are going to send X number of whatever it was,

you know, let's just use the term dollars because we'll identify with that.

We're going to send X number of billions of dollars out to the areas of the country

so that those who are in authority can then show benevolence to the needy.

Now, guess what happened in the ancient world with all that wonderful money

that the Senate allocated for the poor people?

Guess who got most of it?

Does anybody know?

Does anybody have any idea where most of the money went in the ancient world

when it was sent with all this benevolent intention from Rome to the outlying regions?

It somehow or another ended up in the pockets of those who were the distributors of kindness.

Do you realize that's the way it is today?

I might be a surprise to you.

But every time the government has a good idea,

and it appeals to the impoverished conditions of certain…

The vast majority of what is actually translated into pockets

ends up not in the pockets of those that are desperately needy,

but those that have been employed to see to it that the government's benevolence is cared for.

In the ancient world, they were so ashamed

when they saw the testimony of the early church's love for one another

that they had the Senate pass laws to officially show the government's benevolence

towards other impoverished people.

And it never worked.

In one case, when one of the bishops was called to bear testimony to Christianity,

one of the things that he said as he was speaking to the Caesar and defending Christianity,

he says,

the common statement being made throughout Rome is,

see how they love one another.

Speaking of Christians,

see how they love one another.

And I want you to understand that unbelievers were struck in the ancient world

most of all by how the early church cared for one another and loved one another.

And I want you to understand that that genuine affection,

that love and that interest in one another,

did not just kind of pop out in a vacuum.

It took the work of the Spirit of God,

and it took persistent nurturing.

Now, what do I mean by that?

Important things that are hard need to be said,

can I say it carefully,

again and again.

Would you agree with that?

Important things that are hard need to be said again and again.

And so here we are coming to the very end,

and Paul wants to remind us about the importance of loving one another.

And so as he goes about it,

I want you to see that first of all,

he gives us an illustration from his own life.

You look there in verse 21 and 22,

he says,

Now, some of the things that help us stay connected and care about one another,

when we are at distance from one another,

were not available in the ancient world.

Do you follow that?

I have two sisters that,

not presently,

they're here with dad and mom,

but as a general rule,

they're over in Egypt.

And in the olden days,

in order to get to Egypt,

it was a journey of biblical proportions.

Do you follow?

It took an incredible amount of time to travel from point A to point B.

And the only way in which you really could continue to stay connected was,

first of all,

to make a conscious and deliberate point of remembering those individuals

and praying for them.

And here is Paul,

as he is bringing his letter to a close.

He says,

Hey, listen,

here I am.

I'm in prison.

I'm not where you are.

But I know that you care about me,

and I am interested that your heart be comforted.

They knew that Paul was in jail,

and they were concerned for that.

Ancient jails were not the club fed.

They were miserable,

despicable environments in which people were kept only temporarily until their judgment

or their execution or whatever it was.

And Paul says,

Hey, listen,

I know you're concerned for me.

I know you're interested.

And so I'm going to send Tychicus to let you know how things are.

I'm really struck,

as I was reading this passage,

by the confidence that Paul had in the Ephesian believers.

He hadn't seen them for a long time.

And for a lot of us,

when someone is out of sight,

they're also out of what?

Out of mind.

We have a tendency of forgetting.

We have a tendency of,

well,

that was then,

and this is now,

and we kind of move on in relationships,

and we're done.

Paul says,

That's not the way it is with me,

because you're my brothers and my sisters,

and I care about you personally.

Given the natural heart of man.

Now,

what do I mean by the natural heart of man?

I mean the way we are by nature.

Apart from the work of the Spirit of God and His grace,

we are not inclined towards lasting relationships.

Do you follow that?

We just kind of play it the moment,

and we deal with the things that are directly in front of us,

and it takes effort,

and it takes the work of the Spirit

to sustain and nurture lasting relationships.

That's one of the reasons why when you bump into people today

that have been married after 40 or 50 years,

you know the attitude of our culture is,

What?

How did you do that?

Well, it takes work.

It takes prayer.

I want you to understand as you look at this passage,

what we find in 21 and 22 is an illustration of this fact,

that when the Spirit of God is at work in people's hearts,

He breaks down the natural tendencies of separation and malice.

Let me say that again slowly so it sticks in your mind.

When the Spirit of God is at work in a people's heart,

He breaks down the natural tendencies of separation and malice.

Do you know that when we're close together,

over a period of time,

we inevitably end up doing things

that are an irritation and an offense to other people?

Some of the things that are perceived offenses

really don't rise to the level of being significant.

However,

we all over time,

by virtue of our own sinfulness,

do things in relationship

that cause problems.

Would you agree?

I remember hearing John MacArthur say that

if you are going to sustain a relationship,

you must consciously choose to forgive

again and again and again.

And I want you to understand

that when the Spirit of God is at work,

He helps us

go against the grain of our nature

and against the natural tendencies that we have

of being unforgiving,

of being indifferent,

being unwilling to invest in the lives of other people.

I don't know if you know,

but I don't have bumper stickers on my car.

Now, I'm going to have the youth group use my SUV.

Pastor Andrew,

do not bring it back with a bumper sticker.

Do you follow that?

That is a no-no.

No.

No.

No.

But I like reading bumper stickers.

Some of the best bits of philosophy

have been stated on bumper stickers.

Now, some of them are just over the top.

But I have to tell you,

bumper stickers say something about people, right?

Isn't that true?

And so,

when I see a bumper sticker

as I'm kind of driving along

and I see this bumper sticker go by,

it says,

I'm spending my children's inheritance.

Or,

the other one that I really like

is the one that,

no, you can't use my truck.

I'm not helping you move.

I read those bumper stickers

and I say,

well, those things tell me

what people's hearts are like.

And that's the attitude of the world,

isn't it?

It's all about me.

It's for my own interest

and really,

at the end of the day,

it's,

what do I get out of this?

On the other hand,

I think about the illustrations

that I just think of the last couple weeks.

I think of the fact that later in the week,

the week before

Vacation Bible School actually started,

it became evident that we needed,

I think it was 220 cupcakes

that some of the ladies in our church

were going to frost

and then they were going to stick

little red Twizzlers on top.

They were called,

what were they called,

Jody?

Cupcake bombs or something?

Dynamite cupcakes or dynamite.

Anyway,

I saw the,

I thought that's a great idea

and so,

actually,

honestly,

I went out on Facebook

and so I posted,

hey,

we need,

bang,

it was done.

I mean,

minutes,

it's like,

did we have too many

we had to give them away?

Yeah,

it's like,

yeah,

wham,

it happened.

And while we're talking about moving,

I can't help but bring up the fact that,

John,

you're moving,

when are you doing it?

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

26,

okay.

Testimony to our fellowship

is that we're willing to help

one another move,

isn't that right?

When I was at,

by the way,

Mrs. Holopeter,

where are you?

I'm not talking about Carolyn,

I'm talking about Megan.

When I was at Aaron and Megan's wedding,

I got a text

and it really made me,

it made me happy.

I got a text saying

that there were 23 of our people

there to help Steve and Marsha move.

Somebody,

somebody stopped

and went off to the side,

I think you sent him over there,

didn't you?

It was Henry.

Where are you,

Henry?

You're out here somewhere,

probably working with the kids.

Anyway,

I get a text that says,

hey,

guess what,

Pastor?

Because I was a little fretful,

you know,

it's like,

I wonder how many people

are going to be there

to help them move

and I'd like to be there

but I want to be at Aaron

and Megan's wedding

and I get this text

that says,

hey,

it's good,

there's 23 people.

In fact,

they were standing in line

and you know,

some guys want to be able

to carry three or four boxes,

you know,

and when you have that many people,

it's like,

you know,

shoebox,

shoebox,

shoebox,

you know,

it's like,

no,

no,

no,

that's two,

you know,

it's like,

okay.

Do you know what that says

about people?

I know one of the men

in our church

shared that

one of his neighbors

moved that same week

and there wasn't

a single person

from the body of people

that he's involved with

that was there to help.

You see,

I want you to understand

that what Paul is

illustrating here

in this passage

is that

when God's at work

in our hearts,

we end up caring

for one another.

Genuine Christian affection

drives us

to help one another

in need.

It drives us

to help

problems

and tensions

within the family of God

with the intention

of bringing about

reconciliation

rather than flaming out.

One of the things

that as I've gotten

older in the Lord,

I have been

I have been

so blessed

to watch

is that

I have learned

that in many cases

the body

that is healthy

heals itself.

How many of you

understand what I said?

If

someone has an attitude

with someone else

and someone shares it

with other individuals,

often what will happen

in our fellowship

is that

the someone else's

will say,

yeah,

how did it go

when you talked

with them?

By the way,

that's Matthew 18.

Am I right?

How many of you

understand that?

Will you please

nod your head

so I know

that I don't need

to give a little

rendition here.

Okay?

Okay?

It's important.

That's what I mean

by the body

heals itself.

It takes care

of a lot of

the little issues

that happen

in life.

We help each other

with that.

A husband

has something

to say,

struggling in a relationship

or a wife

has something,

someone else

will come alongside

and say,

hey,

let me help you

with that.

I love you.

Don't go there.

Furthermore,

when people

have a genuine

affection for one another,

they encourage

those who are wounded

and are struggling.

You know,

the truth of the matter

is that when you

are close to people,

you know what's going

on in their lives,

whether they intend

to let you know

or not.

You don't know

all the details,

but how many of you

know when someone's

countenance has fallen?

Now,

what do I mean

by countenance?

How many of you

know when a person's

kind of disconsolate

or discouraged

or kind of despondent?

You know,

what happens?

Their face falls,

right?

Now,

I don't mean to the point

of needing surgery,

but I'm talking about,

you know,

it's like,

hey,

you're discouraged.

I can see it.

What's the problem?

Now,

don't ask them

in the lobby.

I want you to know

the lobby is the place

where everything is good.

But,

you know,

catch them on the side

and say,

you know,

in the lobby,

I noticed that instead

of having that,

hey,

I'm great look,

what's wrong?

Genuine Christian affection

leads us

to stay through relationships

despite the challenges

and heartaches

that come over time.

And so,

I want you to stop

and think just for a moment

and put it in very practical terms.

We're looking at

this little passage

where the apostle says,

hey,

listen,

I care about you

and I know you care about me.

I want you to ask yourself,

do my actions

and my inner thoughts

reflect the heart of Christ?

Do my actions

and my inner thoughts

reflect the heart of Christ?

So that we frame this properly,

you're in the book of Ephesians

and we're going to come back there,

but I want you to turn back

just for a little bit

to 1 Corinthians chapter 13.

1 Corinthians 13 · chapter mention

Now,

with your eyes closed,

most of you who are

well-versed in the Scriptures

know that 1 Corinthians

13 is the what?

It's the love chapter

and we all got that down.

I mean,

we don't need any coaching in that,

but let's take a look anyway,

okay?

1 Corinthians chapter 13.

1 Corinthians 13 · chapter mention

Picking up in verse 4,

it says,

love is patient and kind.

Love does not envy or boast.

It is not arrogant or rude.

It does not insist on its own way.

It is not irritable or resentful.

It does not rejoice at wrongdoing,

but rejoices in the truth.

Love bears all things,

believes all things,

hopes all things,

endures all things.

Probably the simplest illustration

I can give you of a love like this

is that Judith and I

are going to play grandparents

to two of our grandsons.

Sam,

my youngest,

is at Fort Sill

for his military responsibilities,

and he's down there,

and they took two of their four,

and guess who has the other two?

Well,

Heather and Todd

kept them for a week,

and now we're going to keep them

for a week,

and guess what we're going to do?

How many of you understand

that having children

when you're young

is a very intelligent thing?

But,

we're going to enjoy,

and we have a wonderful time

entertaining,

and I've set up a tent

in the bedroom.

Does that make sense?

They're going to tent

with Grandpa

in air conditioning.

Could I have the tent outside?

The answer is yes,

but my neighbors

have attacked squirrels,

and I thought it'd be

much better

to put it inside,

and so I pushed the bed

out of the way,

and I set this little

four-man tent up,

and we sent pictures to Sam,

said,

guess where they're going to stay?

And my affection for them

is Judith has bought candy.

Now,

I'm a diabetic,

and should candy

be in the house

of a diabetic?

What's the answer?

No.

I mean,

I like that, Seth.

Just more insulin, right?

Is that what you're thinking?

But here's the deal.

So,

Judith hides the candy

from me,

but I want to tell you

something about somebody

that grew up

in boarding school.

Everybody listen.

You have to get up

pretty in the early morning

to get ahead of me.

And so,

being as

astute as I am,

I think,

well,

grandkids are coming.

Hmm.

I wonder what's

in the bottom drawer here.

In fact,

I happen to open

a thing of Cheetos,

and she says,

I mean,

you know,

kind of that soft,

loving voice,

don't do that,

that's for the kids.

Okay.

Oh,

yeah,

let's talk about music,

right?

Music.

How many of you realize

that all of us

have our favorites?

Smile.

We all have our favorites.

Do you understand that?

We have favorites,

am I right?

When my grandkids

are in my house,

guess what kind of songs

we sing?

Ad nauseum.

So,

what song would you like

to sing,

Calvin?

Well,

let's sing

Jesus Loves Me.

And after we've sung

Jesus Loves Me Once,

okay,

and what song

would you like to sing,

Eliab?

Well,

why don't we sing,

do you follow that?

And my affection

for my grandchildren

leads me

to willingly

do what their

hearts inclined

to do,

right?

I do ask myself

the question,

are there any

Bible verses

that go along

with that?

Yeah,

okay,

so we're okay.

So,

ask yourself

the question

this morning

as you think

about this

concluding little

portion to the

book of Ephesians.

Here's the apostle

saying this,

when the Spirit

of God's at work,

He works

to help me

love other people.

Well,

Paul's given us

an illustration,

but I want to

finish off by

looking at

verse 23,

where we find

a very interesting

theological summary

that is given

for us.

He says,

Peace be to the

brothers,

and love with

faith.

Now,

circle the little

word from.

What we are

looking at here

in verse 23

is the fact

that genuine

conversion brings

peace to us

in our relationships

that the unbelieving

world cannot

understand.

It's interesting

that the unbelieving

world looks at

peace,

honestly,

as the interlude

between conflicts.

Do you understand

that?

Let me say that

slowly.

The unbelieving

world looks at

peace as being

those brief breaks

between conflicts.

It's incredible

to believe

or to discover

just how much

turmoil and

conflict is going

on around the

world.

It's everywhere

you look.

You can't turn

on the news

without finding

some turmoil

and some conflict

that's really

life-threatening.

Genuine salvation,

on the other hand,

brings peace that

is more than

just a cessation

of strife.

God's peace

brings a

sense of

well-being

and it brings

peace in

relationships.

When the

sinner is changed

by the power

of the cross,

he's changed

from being a

child of wrath

and one who

lives a wrathful

lifestyle to

being a child

of God and

one who is

interested in

those things

that bring

glory to God.

He no longer

lives under the

shadow of God's

judgment.

judgment.

And a heart

that is received

complete forgiveness

and savors the

gift is that

peace with God.

And that peace

translates into

relationships with

other people.

Do you follow

that?

I was talking

with an individual

just a couple

days ago where

they were dealing

with kind of

working through

an offense that

someone had done

to them,

someone in the

family of God.

And they came

first to kind of

commiserate.

How many of you

know what I mean

by commiserate?

It's like,

you know,

you kind of

chew on this and

it kind of begins

to eat you up a

little bit and

then you have to

say something to

somebody.

It's like,

you know,

I can't believe

they did this.

You know,

and as this

person was talking

and by the way,

it's not a good

idea to talk to

pastor about things

like that because

you know what

pastor's going to

do?

What's he going

to do?

Huh?

Well,

what's the

pastor going

to do?

Probably going

to bring a

little passage of

scripture alongside

and say,

you know what,

I'm wondering.

And providentially,

the Lord allowed

this person to

have what I

call spiritual

belch.

How many of you

know what a

spirit,

it's kind of a

and I,

whew,

man.

And it dawned

on them that

they'd done this

in front of the

pastor and then

they began to

self-diagnose.

Do you know

what it is to

self-diagnose?

Yes.

Okay?

And then they

said this,

they said,

you know,

I have to

think that

God has

actually been

more patient

with me

than I'm

being with

Bubba.

You know,

is there any

Bubba?

No.

Okay,

it's more

patient with

me than I'm

being with

Bubba and I

need to get

over this.

I said,

well,

yeah,

that's right.

Here's the

point.

It says

there in

verse 23,

peace be

to the

brothers.

Listen,

God wants

us who

are part

of the

family of

God to

be at

peace with

one another,

to be in

unity,

to have

mutual

affections for

one another.

And that

doesn't just

come because

we all

happen to

like to

play golf

together.

It happens

because of

our affection

for the

Lord Jesus

Christ.

And honestly,

when you run

into people

who profess

to be

believers but

are always

at odds

and all

stirred up

about things

and relationships,

one of the

legitimate questions

that you can

ask yourself

is,

I wonder

what's going

on in this

person's

life spiritually.

It can't

be that

way.

Now,

look also

at the

second part

of this

verse.

It says,

peace to

the brothers

and love

with faith

from

genuine

conversion

moves the

believer to

being a

loving

person.

I want you

to have that

stuck in

your mind.

Genuine

conversion,

it's not

going to

pop out

on the

slide,

so just

kind of

write it

down

anyway.

Genuine

conversion

leads you

to love

other people.

Let me

argue this

from the

scriptures.

believers.

And I'm

not going

to have

you turn

at the

passage just

because of

the time,

but in

John

John 13:35

chapter 13

verse 35,

here's what

Jesus said.

He said,

this is how

people are

going to

know you're

a Christian

because you

love others.

Now,

I do want

you to turn.

You're in

Ephesians.

I want you

to go to

John,

1 John.

And by

the way,

1 John is

a book

that was

written to

help people

know whether

they're saved

or not.

Stop,

just for a

second.

Let's

understand this

because it's

important.

It's amazing

how easily

we are

deceived.

I am

convinced

there will

be people

that when

they slip

from this

life into

eternity

are going

to be

absolutely

stunned

to find

out that

they have

never come

to faith

in the

Lord Jesus

Christ.

And because

of their

lack of

belief in

Christ,

they will

spend

eternity

in hell.

Satan

deceived

them in

thinking that

because they

got baptized

when they

were 11,

or because

they showed

up on a

regular basis,

or because

they were a

Sunday school

teacher,

that in

and of

itself is

what guaranteed

them a

rival into

eternity.

That's not

the case.

And

Scripture

is often

interested

in having

us kind

of question

whether or

not we're

the real

thing.

Do you

follow that?

Now,

having said

that,

can I tell

you that

next week's

message is

going to

deal with

that?

But in

1 John,

if you

look,

in 1 John

1 John 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4,

let me just

read it to you.

It says in

verse 7,

Beloved,

let us

love one

another,

for love

is from

God.

That's not

Hollywood.

That's

lasting

covenant

commitment

and enduring

genuine

affection.

Love is

from God,

and whoever

loves has

been born

of God

and knows

God.

I have

known people

that,

boy,

they're

orthodoxy,

they can

slice and

dice verses

with the

best of

them,

but when

it really

comes down

to relationships,

there is no

evidence of

love at all

in their

life,

and here's

what the

passage says,

love's from

God,

and whoever

loves has

been born

of God

and knows

God.

Anyone who

does not

know love

does not

know God

because God

is love.

Well,

if you go

on to verse

12,

and I want

you to look

at that,

no one

has ever

seen God.

That's a

theological

statement,

it's true,

but if we

love one

another,

God abides

in us,

and His love

is perfected

in us.

How do I

know that

God is at

work in me

because I

love other

people?

It's not

natural to

me.

And by the

way,

lest you're

surprised,

it's not

natural to

you.

And so the

argument that

John is

making is,

hey,

when God's

in us,

we love

other people.

Now look at

verse 19

and 21.

We love

because He

first loved

us.

So how do

we get started

at loving,

period?

Well, He

chases us

down in our

miserable,

despicable

condition of

being an

unrepentant

sinner,

rebellious

against the

glory of

God,

seeking only

our own

glory.

And He

finds us in

our despair,

and He

convicts us of

the darkness

and the

wickedness of

our heart,

and draws us

to the cross

by His grace,

and leads us

to cry out

and say,

I am a

sinner,

deserving

judgment,

but Jesus

died for me.

Jesus loves

me.

And I

cast myself

upon His

finished work

and His

mercy,

and I

ask Him

to be my

Savior.

We love

Him because

He first

loved us.

If anyone

says,

I love

God,

and hates

his brother,

he's a

liar.

For he

who does

not love

his brother

whom he

has seen

cannot love

God

whom he's

not seen.

What we're

looking at

in this

passage in

Ephesians,

going back

to it as

we close,

is Paul

is very,

very interested

in our

understanding

that this

whole book,

which begins

by explaining

the glory of

Christ in

saving us,

and the

wonder of

the work

of the

Spirit of

God in

transforming us

through progressive

sanctification,

ends up in

very,

very practical

terms in

the relationships

we have in

the body of

Christ.

So here's

what I want

you to think

about.

Everybody look

at me for a

minute,

please.

I know

more of

what's going

on in your

lives than

you think I

do.

Does that

mean I know

everything?

No.

But my

appeal to

you this

morning is

this.

Don't

allow the

enemy to

dishonor the

testimony and

the power of

the cross by

nurturing an

unforgiving and

ill spirit towards

another brother

or sister.

That's not of

God.

And he

who saved

you wants

your

conversations and

your affections

when you are

working at

McDonald's or

at Meijer or

at Walmart or

at Chase or

at wherever

to cause people

to say,

you know,

there's something

about you.

You actually

have loving

spirit towards

other people.

it's very

unusual.

And you

can say to

them,

well,

it's not

because of

me.

Amen?

It's because

of the power

of the Spirit

of God.

Everybody

smile.

Who won't

let me get

away with an

unloving,

embittered,

sour spirit

towards those

who are part

of the family

of God.

Amen.

Paul wants

us to

remember

that.

People that

are deeply

affected by

His love

show that

love to

others.

Let's

close in

prayer.

Father God,

this morning

our heart

cannot help

but remember

what Zachariah

the prophet said,

not by might

nor by power

but by my

spirit,

saith the

Lord.

You

who loved

us before

the foundation

of the world,

who willingly

sent Your

Son to be

the example

of Your

love and

His

willing,

loving

death

for us,

has given

us the

opportunity

of salvation

through His

blood and

You have

saved us

and called

us to be

an exception

in an

unloving,

unbelievably

wicked world

and we

want to

be all

that You've

called us

to be.

Help us

to have a

holy

dissatisfaction

with an

unwholesome,

ungodly,

despicable

spirit.

where it

exists towards

a brother

or a

sister.

Cause us

to be ashamed

of what that

says for

Your love

and to

repent and

forbear.

I pray for

those individuals

that are here

this morning

that do not

know Christ,

that this

morning Your

Spirit would

draw them to

the cross

to know

the complete

forgiveness

for all

sin that

may be

found only

in the

blood of

Christ.

And we

ask this in

Your precious

name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.