Sermon 01/11/04 pm

Jim Huskey, Love - Applied Christianity

We continue our look in the book of Romans this evening, still in the

12th chapter of the book, because there are a number of practical

admonitions from chapte 12 on to the end of the book that are applied

christianity. In other words, they tell us how we should be living.

This morning we looked at the idea of looking at ourselves properlly,

not thinking of ourselves too highly.

In verse 9 of Romans 12 Paul said, "Let love be without dissimulation.."

Well, that's an interesting concept there. In Galatians chapter 2,

Paul, writing that when Peter had come down, he withstood him to his

face because he was to be blamed. Here was the reason. As long as

there were no other Jews around, Peter would associate with the

Gentiles. However, when other Jews were present, he separated himself

from the Gentiles. What Paul was saying is, let love be without

politics, let love be without a party spirit. Now a lot of folks don't

understand that concept. Let's read a couple other verses, then we'll

talk more about it. In the next verse, Rom. 12:10, Paul said, "Be

kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour

preferring one another." This little four-letter word, LOVE, is one

of the most mis-understood, mis-applied words I believe in our English

language. The Greeks had several different words they used and they

each had a little different flavor or definition. Our English word is

used to translate to many of them. Love. In the first place, most

folks don't know what it is. They think it's something you feel, or

that you catch, or that just grabs you like a big ole hairy hand and

you can't get away from it; they act that way, anyhow. Love, however,

is something that is far different. In John 13:34,35 Jesus said, "A new

commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have

loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know

that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." A little

later in the 15th chapter of John he pointed out in verse 12, "This is

my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you." So

love is a commanded thing. Since love is a commanded thing, there are

several things we need to stop and realize. One is that it is

something over which you have control. I've heard people talk about

how they think they're falling in love. "I just can't help myself."

No; love is something that's commanded, therefore, it's something over

which you have control, something you can either do or not do. It is

a learned process. See, one of the things we have a problem with is

that we don't exactly understand love. Only one time in my recollection

does the Bible ever even attempt to define the word "love". It's

embodied in the song "God is Love". "He that loveth not knoweth not

God; for God is love." I John 4:8. We must look at God's application

of the principle of love. You see, one of the things we do is equate

love and like. Well, they're two different things. You can love a

person and still not like them. Did you know that? You can love a

person and not like what they do. You can love a person and not

approve of the things they do. In fact, you can even condemn them and

still love them. You see, a lot of the times we don't understand

that. The concept of love that most folks have is that it's some

ooshy, gooshy, emotion over which they have no control. No. Love is

something that is controlled. In the book of I Corinthians, chapter

13, we have, not perhaps a definition of love, but rather an explanation

as to what love does in our lives. For instance, Paul said, in verse

4 of that 13th chapter, "Love suffereth long, and is kind.." He

didn't define but he told us what he does. It's a way of acting. If

you go ahead and read through this chapter you'll find "Love envieth

not; love vaunteth not itself (doesn't lift itself), is not puffed

up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not

easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but

rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things,

hopeth all things, endureth all things." vs. 4-7. Love is a way of

acting toward other people. One of the best definitions I've heard of

the concept of love as far as the Bible is concerned is to will the

welfare of the other. In other words, even concerning our enemy,

and Paul got into that later, if we love, then we always want the best

for the other person, even if we don't like them and they don't like

us. We want the best for them, we want to see them do well, we will

their welfare.

Somebody may say, "This person....just isn't what they should be, they

don't act like they should..." I know - that doesn't matter. That

doesn't havea thing to do with it. In counselling those planning

marriage I have a routine I go through. Some of the couples don't

like it, but I ask them "Why do you love this person?" They begin

"Oh, he's so this....she's so that." I tell them that has nothing to

do with it, because you can learn to love a "rat" real easy. I told

some teenage girls that one time and they thought I was crazy. Then

some of them did that very thing. You see, this thing of love is not

based on who the other party is or how they act or what they do.

Loving is based on WHO and WHAT YOU are. Now let me give you the best

illusration of that. "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that,

while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Rom. 5:8. In other

words, while we were unlovable God loved us anyhow, and he sent his

Son to the cross in our stead. Somebody says, "Oh, but that's hard to

do." That's right. Nobody said christianity was easy. It is, however,

what the Lord came to bring and to show to mankind in order that he

might emulate it. As I said, when we got to chapte 12 of Romans, Paul

took off on applied christianity, and HERE IT IS !!!!! "Let love

be without dissimulation..." Love each other and brethren and be

kindly affectioned in so-doing, one toward another. Love is based on

who we are. That's why God loved us. If God had been like we are

most of the time he wouldn't have loved us; but he loved us because of

who HE is, not because of what MAN had become. That's the way our

love is to be toward others. And it's especially true with respect to

brethren. So many times brethren can't get along. Congregation

break up and most of the time it's not doctrinal. It's because

brethren just can't get along with each other. It's because they do

not show love one toward the other, in honour preferring one another.

Then Paul carried it a step further. He said, "Bless them which

persecute you; bless, and curse not." vs. 14. A little later he said,

"Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the

sight of all men." vs. 17. Man has this attitude that if somebody

does him wrong, he'll get even with them. Let me tell you something,

everything you start throwing dirt, you lose ground. You can look at

that any way you wish, but that's the way it winds up. Any time you

start throwing dirt you lose ground. God will take care of those

things in the after-a-while. I know he doesn't act as quickly as we

want him to, but he will take care of those things. He has said

'Vengeance is mine, I will recompense.' He didn't give that to us.

He didn't give that prerogative to us as individuals. He told us

if our enemy hungers, feed him. If he thirst, give him drink, for in

doing so, we shall heap coals of fire upon his head. I heard about a

couple who was having problems and the wife had gone to the preacher

and was talking with him about it. The man and wife were at each

other's throat all time, fighting. The preacher finally asked her if

she had ever tried heaping coals of fire on his head. She said, "No,

but I've tried boiling coffee." Well, I think she missed the point,

just as a lot of folks do. In using that expression, he was telling her

to return good for evil. That's the principle.

Another thing Paul said in this 12th chapter of Romans was this.

"Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep."

vs. 15. Most of the time we find it much easier to weep with folks

that we do to rejoice with folks. That's sort of crazy. Isn't that

really backwards? Shouldn't we really rather be rejoicing than

weeping? But you see, here's the scenario. The Lord told a story in

Luke chapte 15 of a father who had two sons. The younger of those sons

came to his father and said 'give me that portion of goods that

falls to me.' So he divided his living between the two sons and

immediately that young son took his journey into a far country,

wasted his substance in riotous living, wound up in a pig pen. He

would have eaten the pig food but nobody would give it to him. The

record says he came to himself and said, ".How many hired servants of

my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with

hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him,

Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more

worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hired servants.

And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great

way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on

his neck and kissed him.....But the father said to his servants,

Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his

hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring hither the fatted calf, and

kill it; and let us eat, and be merry; for this my son was dead, and is

alive again; he was lost, and is found." Now his older brother was out

in the field and he came near and heard all that music and rejoicing

and he called one of the servants and asked what all that meant.

He said, "..Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted

calf, because he hath received him safe and sound." The record says

the older brother was angry and would not go inside. You see, the

rejoicing was in behalf of somebody else rathe than him. That's why I

say it's easier to weep with those weeping than it is to rejoice with

those rejoicing. Yet, that's what the Lord commanded us to do.

Remember the passage we read from John? "A new commandment I give

to you, that ye love one another.." What will that cause us to do?

to rejoice with those who rejoice. Oh, but he's been out and wasted

his substance. Didn't matter. The father had received him safe and

sound back home and that's what was important to the father. It

should have been important to the elder brother, but it wasn't. That

parable was really given to picture the elder brother, not the

prodigal. See, we do that passage like we do most things. We try to

twist them a little with a different meaning than they were designed

to have. The real purpose of the story was the elder brother, because

the Lord was talking to those hypocritical scribes and Pharisees.

They were pictured by the elder brother. Maybe there's too much of

that in a lot of us and that's why we don't want to emphasize the

side the Lord was emphasizing. I just don't know. But that was the

purpose of the story if you look at the passage and text around it.

This thing of being a christian is serious business and it requirs

some serious effort. It makes us mold ourselves and change ourselves

sometimes - change our thinking, our way of acting - because Jesus

put it this way. "By this shall all men know ye are my disciples;

if ye have love one for another." I know a lot of brethren today

would like to take that passage and elevate it and throw out Acts 2:38,

Mark 16 and a lot of other passages; but that won't cut it either.

Let me tell you something - that's part of it - it's just as much a

part of it as Acts 2:38. "A new commandment..." Last time I checked,

that meant we're supposed to do it.

In Romans 12 Paul was getting down to the "nitty gritty" of

christianity, to the ever-day living. That's where the rubber meets

the road.