1 Thessalonians Ch4v9-12 - Love More & More

Oh yeah, there we go. If you have the church Bible, page 1187, 1187.

And in fact, you do love all of God's family throughout Macedonia.

Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more.

And to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life.

You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you.

So that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders.

And so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

Johnny, let me just pray for you.

Father God, thank you for Johnny.

Thank you for the amazing servant he is to this church, faithfully bringing your word to us every week.

We ask that you fill him with your Holy Spirit.

That it be your message that he preaches today, not his own.

And fill him with wisdom, fill him with your words.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Thanks, Charlie.

Thanks so much, Connor.

Thank you for leading today and for directing us to the theme of love.

I look forward to catching up with you afterwards over tea and coffee if you're able to stay.

That'll be good to do.

Let's keep our Bibles open in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.

1 Thessalonians 4 · chapter mention

You can follow along.

So William Grimshaw was a minister in the north of England in the mid-18th century.

I never met him personally, but he was obviously quite a character.

I'm well known for his dealings with his congregation.

And on one occasion, it came to his attention that a well-to-do couple in his church had been spouting, boasting about their good Christian lives.

Mr. Grimshaw didn't like such talk, so decided to confront them.

So one cold night, he dressed up as a beggar and went knocking on their door.

His only request from this couple was that they'd give him a piece of bread and somewhere to sleep.

The husband refused.

Mr. Grimshaw, still in disguise, asked again, pleading on their Christian charity.

Once again, there was a refusal to help.

Well, that was when Mr. Grimshaw took off his disguise and revealed his true identity to the shock and horror of the elderly couple.

And he berated them at the door for their hypocrisy, their hard-heartedness and their lack of love.

Now, the method may have been pretty harsh, although quite funny, I think.

The message was very clear.

Christians should be known for their love.

In fact, love is the mark of genuine Christianity.

True Christians, as our text says this morning, are to love each other more and more.

And that's the theme today.

Three things we're going to look at.

How we're taught to love.

How we grow in love.

And how we work out love.

How we're taught, how we grow, and how we work it out.

First, we are taught to love.

So it's good to see you here this morning, class.

You are all in good time.

And today, we're going to learn how to love.

In the Bible, God tells us how to love.

Our teacher, Connor, already told us that love fulfills the law.

So I'd like you to look at the screen and follow with me in our learning this morning.

Can you read this verse with me?

Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.

I am the Lord.

Leviticus 19, verse 18.

Leviticus 19:18

So your homework, it's very simple.

Go home and love your neighbor as yourself.

Simples.

Or is it?

You see, we don't have to go very far into our day when we realize that loving others is actually very difficult and very hard.

Forgiving others is hard.

Keeping a grudge is easier.

Serving others is difficult.

Whereas loving yourself is much, much easier.

You see, the problem is, I could sit in a class.

We could all sit in a class.

We can all learn about love for others.

We can look at every verse in the Bible about love.

We can know the Hebrew for love.

We can talk about hesed, steadfast love.

We could maybe tell the difference in our Greek between agape and Philadelphia.

We know what love is.

But we could sit in any amounts of classes.

We could go to MBC College and learn all about love.

But that doesn't mean to say we will love.

And the reason is, we need to be taught to love.

Look at verse 9.

Now, about your love for one another.

We do not need to write to you.

For you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.

Now, that doesn't mean knowing a whole lot of information.

Rather, it requires a heart transformation.

It means that God teaches us inside.

That God works in our hearts by his Holy Spirit.

It's actually a call to conversion itself.

The prophets, people like Ezekiel and Jeremiah,

looked forward to the day when God would teach his people by his Spirit.

But here's what Ezekiel says.

This is what God says through Ezekiel, rather.

He says, I will give you a new heart,

and I will put my spirit in you,

and move you to follow my decrees,

and be very careful to keep my laws.

So all the laws and all the decrees that we can read about in Scripture,

all about how we should love God and love one another,

and how they struggle to do that,

God says, I'm going to send my Spirit,

who will enable you to be able to love as I commanded.

Jeremiah said something similar,

where he said God's laws would actually be written or engraved on your heart.

Now thankfully, we live in an age when the Spirit of God has come.

So when we turn to Christ,

when we repent of our sins as we trust in him,

he gives us, he works in us by his Holy Spirit.

God teaches us by his Spirit,

enabling us to love one another in a way that is not possible by ourselves.

Here's how Paul put it.

I think this is a helpful reference.

He's writing to the church in Rome.

He says,

You see, loving each other is not about learning memory verses.

It's not about the command to learn.

It's not about information.

It's about transformation of our lives on the inside.

It's an overflow of God's love that will bubble out towards others.

By his Spirit, he enables us to do what we could never do ourselves.

You might think of it a bit like this,

of two young lads who turn up to football training.

Neither of them have ever gone to training before.

It's their first time.

They arrive down at the pitches.

The first one is unsure what to do.

Do I pick the ball up?

Do I kick it?

Do I hand pass it?

Which way?

What do I do?

The second lad is straight in there,

in the thick of it,

kicking, passing,

and he's got all the skills to go.

And his friend says to him,

Well, how do you know what to do?

How do you learn so quick?

Well, he says,

My Father taught me.

He learned me.

You see, he already had those abilities within him.

Now, I know it's not a perfect illustration,

but in a sense,

it's reminding us that we too need to be taught by God the Father.

It's much more than just learning information.

It must be an internal transformation of our hearts.

It's a supernatural work of God.

We cannot do this on our own.

We must be taught by God.

So first, how are we going to love?

Well, we must first be taught by God.

We must become Christians.

Second, we're to grow in love.

Now, this church that Paul is writing to,

we're a church that loved each other deeply.

We see that if you go back to chapter 1 and verse 3.

Chapter 1 and verse 3.

He says,

We remember before our God and Father

your work produced by faith,

your labor prompted by love.

So all their serving,

all their doing,

all their work

came from a heart filled with love.

And have a look at chapter 3, verse 6.

This is after Paul had gone away

and he sends Timothy to see how the church is doing.

And he writes and he says,

chapter 3, verse 6,

Timothy has just now come to us from you

and has brought good news about your faith

and love.

And chapter 4, verse 10.

And in fact,

you do love all of God's family

throughout Macedonia.

So they didn't just love one another deeply.

Their love was infectious.

It spread beyond them

to the other local churches around them.

But,

it seems that wasn't enough.

Look at the rest of verse 10.

Yet we urge you,

brothers and sisters,

to do so

more

and more.

Now I'm thankful,

and I hope you are too,

to be in a church

where people

sincerely

and deeply

love you.

You're a people who give

generously when there's need.

you pray and care for one another

when you're facing struggles.

You serve diligently

and continually

in ministries

in the life of the church.

Your love does

overflow to one another.

Yet we urge you,

brothers and sisters,

to do so

more

and more.

Johnny,

come on,

you can't be serious.

I mean,

I do love.

Do you not realise

how much I give?

You want me to love

more

and more?

Sounds like a stick

to beat us with.

You must do better.

You must work harder.

Love more

and more.

In fact,

it can easily

begin to feel

that I must

do more

and more.

If God is going

to love me

and accept me,

I've got to do

more and more.

What I'm doing

is not enough.

I must do,

note to self,

do more

acts

of love.

And if I do

more

and more,

God will love me

more

and more.

Now,

that's a terrible

mistake to fall

into.

We mustn't think

like that.

This isn't a stick

to beat us with.

Rather,

it's an encouragement

to grow us.

Let me help us

think this through

a little bit more,

this more

and more.

Have a look

on the screen here.

There's a verse

from 1 Peter.

It's not

more and more,

but it's

once

and for all.

It's talking

about the death

of Jesus.

It said,

Christ died

for sins

once

for all.

The righteous

for the unrighteous

to bring you

to God.

It's telling us

that Christ's

death

was a once

and for all

act

by which we

are made

right

before God.

It's like

what we looked

at earlier,

being taught

by God.

It's a one-off

act

where we are

converted,

we are changed,

we become

Christians.

That means

God has forgiven

me,

he's accepted

me,

he loves me.

That will

never,

ever,

ever change.

it's once

and for all.

There's nothing

I can do

to make God

love me more

and there's

nothing I can do

to make God

love me less.

It's once

and for all.

And now

that I have

been loved

by God,

I am now

to grow

in my love

for others.

I am to

please God

by loving

others.

Have a look

in Thessalonians

chapter 4

verse 1.

We get

the same

phrase here,

the more

and more

phrase.

Let's read

from verse 1.

As for other

matters,

brothers and

sisters,

we instructed

you how to

live in order

to please

God as

in fact

you are

living.

Now we

ask you

and urge

you in

the Lord

Jesus to

do this

more

and more.

verse 10.

And in

fact,

you are

pleasing

God.

You do

love all

of God's

family

throughout

Macedonia,

yet we

urge you

brothers and

sisters to

do so

more

and more.

It's not

more and

more so

that God

will love

me more

and more.

It's

God

does

love you

once

and for

all.

it will

never

cease,

it will

never

end.

Therefore,

I will

in response

seek to

grow in

my love

for others

more

and more.

But is

it really

possible?

I mean,

think about

it.

All the

loving we

do,

is it

possible

that I

can love

you more

and you

can love

me more?

well,

yes it

is.

But not

by sheer

determination,

not by

sheer will

power,

I must

love more,

I must

love more,

I must

love more.

No,

instead we

come in

our weakness

and we

ask God

to enable

us to

do what

we cannot

do,

which is

to love.

Look at

chapter 3

verse 12.

It's a

wonderful

little prayer.

chapter 3

verse 12.

May the

Lord make

your love

increase

and overflow

for each

other and

for everyone

else.

Lord,

fill me

with your

love.

Pour

into

my life

your love

by the

power of

the Holy

Spirit.

Fill me

so that

it

overflows

more

and more.

So that

when people

come to

me and

ask me,

I will

respond in

love more

and more.

You see,

there's no

level of

love at

which we

can reach

and say,

that's it,

no more,

I've done

it,

I've made

it,

I'm the

lover of

lovers.

No,

there's no

level.

It's

always

more and

more.

And God

will always

increase our

love for

each other

by his

Holy Spirit

filling us

to overflowing

so that we

can love

more and

more.

Not by

ourselves,

but by the

supernatural

in-working

Spirit of

God.

So we're

taught to

love,

we grow

in love,

and third,

we're to

work out

our love.

So what

does loving

one another

look like in

practice?

Well, we

heard this

morning that

it could

involve going

to the

cinema or

surfing,

but that's

not what

this says

here.

let's

read verse

11.

So love

more and

more,

verse 11,

and make

it your

ambition to

lead a

quiet life.

You should

mind your

own business

and work

with your

hands just

as we

told you.

Now I

find it

helpful for

just single

words to

summarize.

summarize.

So we've

got three

words that

summarize verse

11 to

help us

think about

what love

is like.

Love is

quiet.

Love is

quiet.

Isn't that what

it says?

Verse 11,

make it your

ambition to

lead a

quiet life.

love.

Well let

me tell you

a minute how

much I

prayed for

you this

week.

Do you

know how

much I

give to

the church,

shall I

tell you?

And next

week I'm

planning on

inviting three

people for

coffee and

two families

for dinner.

and if

anybody else

wants to

come,

just come

and tell

me I

have so

much love

to give.

No.

Love doesn't

need grand

announcements.

You don't

need to

broadcast

whatever you

did from

Mr.

Old

Jones.

Love is

quiet.

It doesn't

seek repayment

or acknowledgement.

Love just

quietly

gets on.

Setting

up,

serving,

visiting,

offering

hospitality.

No grand

announcements.

Love is

quiet.

So let

us love

quietly.

Second

word

is

humble.

Look at

the middle

of verse

11.

You should

mind your

own business.

That's a

great phrase

isn't it?

You couldn't

possibly say

that.

No, the

Bible says

it.

Now I

can say

it.

Our job

is not

to be

finding out

what people

do and

how often

they're

doing it.

I am

not the

standard of

love and

you're not

the standard

of love.

We're not

to be busy

looking around

going,

oh, they're

always late

and they

always leave

early.

I wonder

why they

do that.

M-Y-O-B

mind your

own business.

How people

use their

time and

their gifts

is not

your business.

We're not

judge and

jury of the

love committee.

The truth

is we

don't know

what people's

circumstances

are.

We have no

idea what

people have

been going

through or

what their

burden is.

perhaps

they're the

person,

instead of

criticising,

we need

to love

more

and more.

Love is

humble,

not

judgmental.

It doesn't

compare with

others.

It doesn't

keep records.

Love

minds

your own

business.

Love is

humble.

So quietly,

humbly,

and third,

generously,

you should

mind your

own business,

verse 11,

and work

with your

hands just

as we

told you.

In other

words,

use the

gifts God

has blessed

you with,

both the

abilities that

we have

and the

resources

that we

have received.

if you're

gifted in

some

particular

way,

use it

to love

others.

If it's

baking,

bake.

If it's

DIY,

go do

some

DIY.

If it's

visiting,

visit.

If it's

teach,

teach.

He's

made us

with all

kinds of

wonderful

talents and

abilities,

and all of

us are

different.

We've

all got

something

different to

bring,

and we

use them

to love

one another.

Work with

your

hands.

And what

about all

the resources

God has

given to

us?

Again,

we are to

steward them

well for

the blessing

of others.

If you're

no longer

in full-time

work,

use your

time to

encourage.

If you

have extra

financial

resources,

use it

to bless

others.

If you've

got a

home,

offer

hospitality.

If you've

got a

car,

offer a

lift.

Work with

your

hands.

Our

abilities and

our

resources are

to be

used

generously.

Don't

hold back.

Don't

settle for

minimum.

It's

always love

is more

and more.

Love is

filled

with

generosity.

So what

does love

look like?

Well, it's

done quietly,

humbly,

and generously.

In fact,

our love

for one

another

has a

profound

impact

on those

around us

who are

not yet

Christians.

Did you

see that

in verse

12?

So here's

the flow

of thought.

God has

taught you

how to

love,

verse 9.

Love more

and more,

verse 10.

Quietly,

humbly,

and generously

work out

your love,

verse 12,

so that

your daily

life may

win the

respect

of

outsiders.

Love is

quiet,

but it

is seen.

Love is

humble,

but it

is felt.

love is

generous,

and it's

experienced.

You see,

our daily

lives,

soaked in

love,

filled by

the power

of the

Holy Spirit,

where love

bubbles out

and over,

will have

an amazing

effect on

our community.

It will,

verse 12,

win the

respect

of outsiders.

We will

begin to

look like

what we

talk about,

if we

proclaim

God loves

you,

well,

we will

be a

people

that love

too.

We will

reflect that

love in

our words

and our

actions.

I've had

this happy

experience

recently of

someone telling

me that

the reason

they started

coming was

because the

love they

received from

the people.

love

never

underestimate

how your

love for

one another

can affect

those who

look on

and see

what's

happening.

Love

wins the

respect

of others.

You see,

what we've

been thinking

about this

morning is

really an

outworking of

Christ's love

in us.

As God

teaches us,

as he gives

us his

Holy Spirit,

we are

enabled to

love because

Christ loves

me and

he loves

you.

In love,

Christ

quietly

came.

No big

announcements,

no shouting

and making

noise.

He entered

the world

through an

unknown teenager

in an

outhouse.

He came

to seek

and save.

He came

in love

so that

we might

know him.

In love,

Christ

humbly

served,

not demanding

his rights

or seeking

his wants.

He didn't

judge or

condemn.

He humbled

himself.

He made

himself

nothing.

He became

a servant

for you

and for

me.

In love,

Christ

generously

gave.

He held

nothing back.

He sacrificed.

He gave

of his life

on the

cross,

suffering

from my

sin and

your sin.

Christ

loved us

to the very

end.

And guess

what?

He still

loves us

today.

Look at

Christ.

See the

wonder of

his love

who quietly

came,

who humbly

served

and generously

give.

May God

fill us

with his

love today

so that

it will

overflow

more and

more to

one another

and to

the

community

in which

we live.

Let's

pray.

for you

yourselves

have been

taught by

God to

love each

other.

Yet we

urge you

and encourage

you to

do so

more

and more.

Father God,

would you

pour your

love into

our lives.

Help us

that we may

experience your

love afresh by

your Holy

Spirit

so that we

may overflow

in quiet,

humble,

generous love

towards one

another.

Thank you for

loving us

so much.

Thank you for

the love of

one another.

Thank you

for this

loving

church.

In Jesus'

name we

pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, we're

going to sing

a song that

brings a

love.