Final Commands

Transcript

GR 1375
04/20/08
Final Commands
1 Corinthians 16:13-14
Gil Rugh

We're in 1 Corinthians 16 in your Bibles.  Paul has been relating to the Corinthians something of his travel plans as he anticipated coming to visit them.  And the thought at this time is that he will go north and go into Macedonia and visit some of the churches he planted in the northern part of Greece—Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea and those places—and then come down to Corinth.  He has already sent Timothy as his representative to go before him and spend some time in the Corinthian church, instructing them on Paul's teaching and practices.  Paul mentioned that in chapter 4 verse 17.  What he does mention in chapter 16 regarding Timothy, is the church ought to give him the proper reception and welcome, they shouldn't do anything that would cause him to be intimidated, to make his ministry more difficult.

Then he mentioned Apollos.  The church at Corinth had evidently asked that Apollos come to visit them.  They had sent a letter to Paul with certain requests and questions, and one of those evidently at the end was we would like Apollos to come see us.  Now remember there was an Apollos faction in the church at Corinth, talked about in chapters one and three.  Paul makes clear to the Corinthians that he talked to Apollos and urged him strongly to go to Corinth and visit with the church; but Apollos was not open to going at this time.  The reason that's important is, you can understand, if this is not clear those who are the followers of Apollos and less than godly people, some of them with the divisions in the church at Corinth, would easily blame Paul—Paul wouldn't let Apollos come, Paul probably talked Apollos out of coming, I'm sure Apollos would have come if he had, had his way, and so on.  But Paul makes [it] very clear, I did everything I could to encourage him to come to Corinth, but Apollos didn't want to come at this time.  He'll come when it fits his schedule.

With that Paul is now ready to really wrap up the letter.  And as he often does in his letters, as he brings things to a conclusion he gives a series of brief almost abrupt commands, which emphasize the seriousness and urgency of what he has been writing to them about.  Then he'll have some personal comments about individuals and concluding remarks, and the letter is concluded.  So that's what really happens with verse 13.  It's almost an abrupt change.  We're done talking about his travel plans and Apollos and Timothy.  Beginning with verse 13 and in verse 14 there are five commands that he gives.  They are brief, basically in Greek. They end up being one word for the most part, telling them what they must be doing as the church of Jesus Christ in that place.

He does this in other letters as I've mentioned.  Why don't you turn to 1 Thessalonians 5?  Remember the church at Thessalonica? That's in Macedonia, the northern part of Greece.  Paul had established that church when he traveled on his way through Greece and ended up coming down and establishing the church at Corinth as well.  And in 1 Thessalonians 5 Paul writes what may be his earliest letter.  As he concludes the letter in chapter 5, he gives a series of commands, beginning with verse 16.  Just note how these are quick and to the point.  “Rejoice always.  Pray without ceasing.  In everything give thanks, . . . do not quench the Spirit,  do not despise prophetic utterances. [But] examine everything. [Carefully], hold fast to what is good, abstain from every form of evil.”  Just a list of commands, things you must do.  And now he is ready for his closing benediction and ending the letter.  “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely. . . ."  But that series of commands.  We are about serious things here, these are things that you must do, they must characterize you.

Back up to 2 Corinthians and the last chapter, 2 Corinthians 13.  And again as Paul concludes the letter, all the way down in verse 11, finally, brethren, and now you have a series of commands.  “Rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of peace will be with you.”  Concluding remarks, blessing and benediction and encouragement.  But that series of commands.  And we have to be careful, anytime we come to the lists that we find in the New Testament, whether it's the fruit of the Spirit or the works of the flesh or these kinds of commands, it's easy to just read through them because you cover them so quickly.  And we fail to appreciate, this is the Holy Spirit, this is God speaking through Paul, giving commands to the people of God for things they must do.

So as you come back to 1 Corinthians 16, we're going to concentrate our attention on these five commands that God gives to the church at Corinth, a church that the letter indicates has many things that have to be straightened out.  Paul began the letter by reminding them of the Gospel that he preached, and he's covered a variety of topics, he's rebuked them, he's corrected them, he's acted like a loving father in chastening them.  All as God's representative, because remember this is the church of God which He purchased with His own blood, as Paul told the Ephesian elders in Acts 20.  So it must function in a manner that is acceptable and pleasing to God.  We are His slaves. We act according to His instructions.  And so these commands become very important.

These are commands given in the present tense.  Now we call them Greek present imperative, imperative being a way of giving a command; present tense meaning this is something that is to characterize them, that they are to be doing.  You don't do this one time and then you're over and done with it.  No, you are to be on the alert.  We could say continually.  We might say you are always to be standing firm in the faith, continually acting like men, constantly being strong.  Again, because they are in the present tense, this is something that they are to be doing regularly, all the time.

The first four commands are military style commands.  This is the kind of command that would be given to a soldier.  Then the fifth command will be an all-encompassing one that permeates everything and has to do with their relationship to one another.  Let's walk through these and see what God is emphasizing for this church and our church.

The first command is one we're familiar with.  We have it translated in these commands, four words for the first one.  In the Greek text they even come across more clearly abrupt, they are one word.  Gregorata, from the word gregoreo, and we're familiar with that, right?  Gregory, comes from this Greek word, means to be watchful, to be on the alert, be vigilant, if you will.  It's used numerous times in the New Testament in two kinds of contexts primarily.  The first, being on the alert and watching, being vigilant for the return of Jesus Christ.  Jesus used it this way, Himself during His earthly ministry.

Back up to Mark 13, not only take this one example of this context, we may see it as we look at some other passages.  We're familiar with this, parallels perhaps the account we're more familiar with in Matthew 24, the Olivet Discourse.  Mark 13:24, "But in those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light,” and so on.  Verse 26, “Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with power and great glory.”  You come down to verse 33, “Take heed, keep on the alert . . .”  There is our word, keep on the alert, for you do not know when the appointed time will come.  It's like a man away on a journey who upon leaving his house putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert.  Therefore, be on the alert.  You do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening or midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning.  In case he should come suddenly and find you asleep, what I say to you I say to all, be on the alert.  Repeatedly Christ gives that command, be on the alert, be on the alert.  I am returning.  And my servants must be watching and be ready and prepared.

That's the first way this command is used in the New Testament.  The second way is in instructing believers to be on the alert against the enemies of Christ and His truth, the dangers that surround us and threaten us.  Turn over to Acts 20.  You'll pick up something of the military flavor of this.  Soldiers who are on the battlefield have to be alert all the time.  We have soldiers and battlefield kinds of conditions today.  They can't relax their guard.  They can't let down.  The enemy is always looking for a weakness or an opportunity.  So Paul meets with the Ephesian elders.  Remember he is in Ephesus when he writes the letter to the Corinthians.  Then he visits Greece.  Then on his way back he stops and meets with the Ephesian elders outside of Ephesus at Miletus.  And he's giving them instruction.  And in Acts 20, we'll pick up with verse 27.  “I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.  Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.  I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.  From among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them.  Therefore, be on the alert. . . .”  Be on the alert.  Here in the context it's the fact that false teachers, the enemies of Christ will infiltrate among believers, will infiltrate into the church, perhaps sometimes even among the elders.  He warns them, from among your own selves men will come, speaking perverse things, things contrary to the truth that God has revealed.  And their desire is to lure disciples, followers of Christ, away from faithfulness to Christ and lure them after their false teaching.  Remember Paul would write to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 11 and say that he is concerned lest they be led away from purity of devotion to Christ.  And those who would lead them away were false apostles who masqueraded as angels of light, talking about those who come in among believers into the church to teach contrary to the truth of the Word of God.  Be on the alert.

Turn over to 1 Peter 5:8, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert, be vigilant, be watching.  Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”  But resist him firm in your faith, we're going to get the same emphasis in a moment in Corinthians.  Be on the alert.  The devil is prowling about.  Here the picture is like a lion and you're walking along and he is just looking for an opportunity to pounce.  He is our enemy, he is the enemy of our God, he is the enemy of the truth of God, he's the enemy of the people of God.  You have to be alert and be vigilant.

And so as you come back to 1 Corinthians, Paul is exhorting them to be watchful. They must be watchful for the coming of the Lord.  He started out his letter by alluding to the coming of Christ in chapter 1 verse 7.  He said that they didn't come behind in any spiritual gift, eagerly awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of Christ Jesus.  So we are awaiting the return of Christ.  In 1 Corinthians 3 he warned them that when Christ returned they would have to give an account of their service for Him.  And verse 13, “each man's work will become evident, for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire.  And the fire will test the quality of each man's work.”  The master is going to return and the slaves will come before him to give an accounting of their service.  You have to be watching.  You have to be ready.

Over in 1 Corinthians 15, beginning with verse 50 Paul reminded them of the coming resurrection of the dead and transformation of the living.  And so in verse 58 he said, “therefore my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”  We must be “abounding in His work, and our toil won't  be in vain . . . ,” because when the Master comes He will reward faithful service.  So he has reminded them of the coming of the Lord, even though he has not gone into great detail except in chapter 15 on the resurrection, but he has also warned them repeatedly about the danger of departing from the truth that he taught as God's apostle.  They needed to be alert.

1 Corinthians 15 was about those who were teaching there was no resurrection of the body for believers.  What had happened to the church?  Had they gone to sleep, allowing this kind of doctrine to infiltrate among the church?  He had told them in verse 34, “. . . some have not the knowledge of God.  I speak this to your shame.”  From among your own selves men have come, teaching perverse things.  And that's a shame.  You have not been alert, you have not dealt with it.  So the church must be on the alert, be watchful at all times.  Nothing has changed, the devil's tactics have not changed.  Responsibility of us as the church of Jesus Christ is to be on the alert, be watching, be vigilant, for teaching and doctrine and practice that would be contrary to the Word.  Because we are watching for the return of the Lord, to whom we must give an accounting.  And He demands that we be faithful.

In chapter 16 verse 13, the second command, “. . . stand firm in the faith. . . .” Again, a one-word command and then it has a prepositional phrase, “in the faith,” that modifies it, further elaborates it.  Stand firm in the faith.  The faith he is talking about is the truth that has been revealed by God through the apostles and prophets.  They are not to be moved from the firm foundation of God's revealed truth.  Stand firm.  It's not good enough that we stood firm at one time.  We must stand firm all the time.

Turn over to 2 Thessalonians 2.  Paul gives a similar command to the church at Thessalonica.  Verse 15, So then, brethren, stand firm.  There's our command again. “. . . and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or by letter from us.”  The context here, you hold fast to the traditions.  We're not talking about traditions like we think of them today.  The traditions are what Paul taught either verbally or by his letters.  That's what they are to be holding firm to, the teaching of the apostles.  They are what I have taught you, because God has revealed it to me as an apostle.  And I taught it to you when I was there.  Now I'm writing it to you in my letters.  You stand firm, immovable.  You know the church has just totally ignored these commands.  It looks for every new doctrine that comes down the pike and would gladly change.  You know a person who attended this church 35 years ago, if they came back today they ought to say, they stand firm, holding to the same truths they held then.  It hasn't changed.  If the Apostle Paul would walk in and sit down in one of our Bible classes or our services, he should be able to say, they're teaching the same thing I taught.  Two thousand years hasn't made any difference.  They haven't been moved.  They have stood firm in the faith.

Back up to Philippians 1:27, “Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear that you are standing firm, . . . ” there's our word again, in one spirit with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel.  That's what I want to hear.  The church at Philippi is unmoved.  It stands firm in doing battle for the truth of the Gospel, the faith of the Gospel.

Look in Philippians 4:1, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord my beloved.”  I mean, that's our responsibility.  Not to be clever, not to be unique.  To be faithful.  We have been entrusted with a treasure from our Lord and Master.  We have this treasure, as Paul will write to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians, in earthen vessels, that all the glory and honor might go to the God who has given it to us.

Galatians 5:1, “It was for freedom that Christ set us free;  therefore, keep standing firm [and] do not subject again to the yoke of slavery.”  You don't go back under the Mosaic Law.  Christ set us free.  Stand firm, don't be moved.  The truth hasn't changed.  Why are you floating all over the place?  The work of Christ is fixed and done, why are you drifting here and drifting there?  Stand firm, don't be moved.

Look at Jude [1:] 3. He doesn't use the word that we're talking about for stand firm, but you see the same idea communicated and why it's necessary.  “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you, appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith, which was once for all handed down to the saints.  For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation.  Ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”  How do these kinds of men ever get a hearing in the church?  But the same battle continues.  The devil is a master at disguise and believers get distracted like little children.  Your concern is you tell them what to do but you are afraid someone will come in and deceive them and delude them.  And we are like children who will come in and delude us and we lose our focus of what God has told us to do.  And thus we have disaster and we've been unfaithful.  It's been the ongoing pattern of the church, and it is the ruin of many churches today, from within.

Come back to 1 Corinthians 15:1, “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received,”  note this, “ . . . in which also you stand, by which you are saved, if you hold fast the Word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.”  Those that are being moved away from the truth, there is serious question—did they ever understand and grasp the truth?  Had the truth of the Gospel ever transformed their heart and mind and made them new?  Serious matter not to stand firm, to be moved away from the truth.  We get intimidated when the world says, they're stubborn, they're narrow, they want to fight for everything.  No, I don't, I only want to fight for the truth of the Word of God.  I don't want to be immovable on everything.  You want to drive a Ford?  Drive a Ford.  Do you want to drive a Chevy?  Drive a Chevy.  Do you want to drive a Cadillac?  The Lord bless you, drive a Cadillac.  I don't care.  I could be moved all over the map.  If you want to give me a free car I'll drive it no matter what.  Doesn't matter, does it.  We come to the Word of God, we are immovable.  Call it stubbornness if you like, we are.  Stubborn in the sense we will not move, we will not change, this is where we stand.  And we stand firm.  We stand fast.

That's what Paul was talking about in the last verse of chapter 15, verse 58.  ““Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, . . .”  Different word, same concept.  The members of the church at Corinth should be able to come to this local church today, sit down and be perfectly at home because they'd say, that's Paul's letter.  We study that, too.  Yes, same thing Paul said.  That's right.  Nothing has changed.  They would walk in and say, what is this?  What's going on?  They might be amazed at the seats, the building, but the message doesn't change.  They might say, there are a lot of things here we never saw.  But you know what?  It was the same message.  Go to one of our Bible classes.  They're studying the same Word of God we studied, same thing, nothing has changed.

Come back to 1 Corinthians 16:13, immovable.  Stand firm in the faith.  Act like men.  I don't like that translation.  I can't help, but every time I read it, it sounds like pretend like you're a man.  That's obviously not what it means.  This is one word, it's a verb form of the word for a man, one of the words for men in Greek.  And it means to conduct yourself like a man.  The particular word here is often used in the context of a man in contrast to a woman, could be in contrast to a child.  You are to conduct yourself like a man.  It has to do with courage, there is to be a courage that characterizes us.  Not a timidness, not a fear.  One person said this, no soldier in the army of Jesus Christ may be fainthearted, no place for cowards or weaklings.

Turn over to 2 Timothy 1.  2 Timothy, as you remember, is Paul's last letter, written to Timothy.  Verse 7, “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity . . .” A word that means cowardice.  He hasn't made us cowards, timid, afraid.  When we are afraid to stand for the truth, that's not the spirit of God producing that in us.  Timothy, you remember, God doesn't make us cowards, God doesn't bring a spirit of fear in us.  It's the Spirit of God who gives us courage beyond ourselves, that commitment to stand, to be courageous, to conduct ourselves like men.  We'll say more about that in a moment.

Come back to 1 Corinthians 16:13.  I want to take the next command and then I want to take these two commands, act like men and be strong and look at them together, because they are joined together a number of times in the Old Testament.  This fourth command, be strong, be mighty, have strength.  God has not called people to a game.  This is a war.  You need to be strong.  This is not the time you vacillate, get weak in the knees and say, I don't think I can do it.  Do it.  When they train for military, they get men ready to take the command, to do what they're told, when they're told.  No time to get weak kneed now, the shooting starts, I think I want to go home.  That's not an option.  Keep in mind.  This is the Spirit of God revealing the will of God through the Apostle Paul for His church, His people.  They are to be strong, be mighty.  One wrote, the connotation is that we are to be invincible.  The opposite is to be weak and easily defeated.

Now this word to be strong and the previous word to conduct yourself like a man, have courage, are joined together in the Old Testament.  That command to act like men, that's the only time that particular verb is used in the New Testament.  So when they translated the Old Testament into Greek in that time that we call the inter-testament period, between the completion of the Old Testament and before the coming of Christ, they translated the Old Testament into Greek.  We call it the Septuagint.  And there they used these Greek words, and that was the Bible that basically the New Testament writers were using.  So they were familiar with this language.

Come back to Joshua 1.  All the passages we're going to look at will use that verb, to act like a man.  Then we'll look at passages, some of them will use a synonym for being strong and some will use the same word we have in 1 Corinthians.  But you'll get the idea.  Joshua has been the military commander of the armies of Israel under Moses.  Now Moses is dead and now Joshua not only commands the armies of Israel, he is the overall leader of Israel.  And so God speaks to Joshua and says in Joshua 1:5, “No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life.  Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you.  I will not fail you nor forsake you.  Be strong and courageous.  Be strong and act like a man.  Courageous gives the idea, but we have it literally, be strong and act like man, conduct yourself like a man.  The word here to be strong, different word but it would be a synonym and overlaps in meaning with the one we have in the letter to the Corinthians.  Be strong, courageous, conduct yourself like a man.

Verse 7, “only be strong and very courageous . . .”  Same thing.  Verse 8, “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you'll be careful to do according to all that is written in it; [for] then you will make your way prosperous, then you'll have success.”  You see the context here in verses 7-8 of faithfulness to the word of God as He had given it.   Verse 9, “Have not I commanded you?  Be strong and courageous!  Do not tremble or be dismayed . . .”  The same idea that Paul is driving forth.  There is no place for cowards, no place for the timid.  You act like a man.  We're not putting down women.  We’re not putting down children.  But it's the responsibility of the man to stand up and protect and do battle.  The travesty in the church that the men will shrink back and say, I don't know, ask my wife.  And the men are to step up and they don't even know which direction we're going.  What kind of soldier can you be?  We need to be men that know the Word, are committed to the Word and are ready to die for the Word.  You don't tremble and be dismayed.  Why?  Because I pump myself up?  No, because the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.  We have His truth.  I'm not dying for my personal convictions, not worth dying for my personal convictions.  I would die for the Word of God, the truth of God.  That's what we are called to do.  There's no place for vacillating here.  The feminization of the church has been a disaster.  That's how the world thinks, get in touch with your feminine side. What kind of goofy talk is that?  We don't want to be strong, we like to be soft . . .  That's why God made women as well as men.  And the picture here is here.

Verse 18, “anyone who rebels against your command and does not obey your words in all that you commanded shall be put to death.”  They had a way of dealing with those who didn't want to do what he said.  Only be strong and courageous.  There is no going back, there is no vacillating, there is no room for fear.  You have my word, you have my presence.  You be strong and act like a man, conduct yourself as a man.

Come over to 2 Samuel.   Some of you have been part of the studies on Sunday evening as we've gone through Israel's history.  And in 2 Samuel 10, great setting.  Joab is the commander of the armies of the Israel, David is the king.  And Joab has the armies out and the Arameans and the Ammonites have surrounded him and it looks like he's overwhelmed and about to experience a disastrous defeat.  And he speaks to his soldiers, verse 12, be  strong.  And that's the same word for strong we have translated in 1 Corinthians 16 in the command to be strong.  Be strong and let us show ourselves courageous.  Be strong and conduct yourself like men.  Be courageous for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God.  May the Lord do what is good in His sight.  Whether we go down to defeat and die on the battlefield, we will be strong and courageous.  We will die like men.  There are no other options for us.  We go into battle, we will be strong, mighty.  We will conduct ourselves as men, with courage.  And the Lord will decide the outcome.  We may all die, but we will die like men.  Demonstrating strength.  What a great picture.  That's what Paul is calling the church to do, the church that doesn't know whether to take a position on this [I don’t know]  . . .  We want to include everyone, we don't want people to think we're narrow or bigoted or stubborn or that we think we're the only ones right.  We think God is the only one right, and what He said is the only absolute unchanging truth.  And we will stand here unmoved, watching for anyone who attempts to make any changes.  And we will conduct ourselves like men, with courage, opposing any who would try to undermine the truth.  We will be strong in the strength of His might.  That's what God is commanding the church to do.

We won't take time to look at some other passages—Psalm 27:14, Psalm 31:24.  Same words with the same words we have in the New Testament, to be strong, to conduct yourself like men.  This is what God expects of His people.  You understand this soft effeminate approach to Christianity is not what the Word of God is requiring, it's what the world is trying to model as it moves everything to a goddess emphasis, instead of an emphasis on the true God and what He says we are to do.

Come back to Ephesians 3.  Paul tells them what he is praying for in verse 14, “for this reason I bow my knees before the Father.”  Note verse 16, what he is praying for, “that He would grant you according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,”  To be strengthened, that's our word, translated be strong, the command in 1 Corinthians 16:13.  “To be strengthened,” to be made mighty.  With power.  That word power, we get the word dynamite, dynamic from it.  It's like saying, how do I emphasize this enough?  You have to be made strong with power, mighty with power.  But it's by the Lord.  He's not talking about produce soft weaklings who are intimidated by their own shadow.  No, I'm praying that the Lord would grant you according to the riches of His grace, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man.  That's a work of the Spirit of God in the life.  And this weak, soft Christianity that is willing to give up the truth for every whim is not biblical Christianity.  You wonder, is the Spirit of God present at all in those situations.  The people of God don't let go of the truth.  People disguised as the people of God are willing to let go of the truth.  We saw in 1 Corinthians 15:1 that the people of God stand fast, stand firm in the truth.  We're not to be like women, not putting down women; we're not to be like children.  We are to be alert, firm, courageous, strong, manifesting mature, godly character.

Come back to 1 Corinthians 16, there is one more command.  Some people like to play the commands of scripture off against one another, those four military commands.  But now we have, “let all that you do, be done in love.”  They say that's the command I like to emphasize. “Let all that you do, be done in love.”  We have to understand what we're talking about with love.  Today it means that we are soft, yielding, don't have any real firm convictions of our own because we are just open to whatever you would like.  And it's some kind of feeling that's going on.  But that's not biblical love.  When it says, let all that you do, be done in love, in love is what we call the sphere.  That's not just something that is added on, this is the realm in which we live.  Paul has elaborated on the whole issue of love in 1 Corinthians 13, we're not going back into that.  But this is the sphere in which we do everything that we do.  We are on the alert, stand firm, act like men and be strong.  And we do it all in love.  Well I don't think it's loving that you stand like that, firm.  I don't think it's loving when you're talking about act like a man, be courageous, be strong.  I think that love is something more soft and inviting.  Well, get over it.  Love isn't a feeling.

We've been watching some of the activities on TV with a major religious leader visiting our country, and everybody's knees have gone to jelly.  You can't turn on a news program without hearing--he's wonderful, the music. . . .  Listening to a conservative commentator that I hadn't heard for a year or two and I assume is still where he was, but I caught a little snippet and he said, “I never have been so moved emotionally.  The music was . . .”  I say, grow up, get over it.  I mean, so they play moving music and put on pageantry and now we supposedly have a great spiritual activity?  I mean, we move people with music and pageantry.  Has nothing to do with spiritual reality, you understand.

When the Bible talks about love, it's talking about truth.  And we have to go back to John 14, some verses we looked at in a previous study.  Jesus instructing His disciples on His last night with them.  Verse 15, if you love Me you will feel a connection to Me.  John 14:15, read it in your Bible, “If you love Me you will keep My commandments.”  Look at verse 21, “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”  I wonder, what about my feelings?  What about it?  You love Christ, you obey Him, you do what His Word says.

Look at verse 23, “If anyone loves Me he will  keep My word; . . .” You see that's love.  You can't separate love from truth.  We like to think there is love here and there is truth here and it's always intention because sometimes we put too much stress on truth and that makes us harsh.  Or maybe sometimes we put too much stress on love and that makes us soft.  So we're trying to keep a tension.  Forget it, there is no tension.  To manifest true love is to be obedient to truth.  And if you're not obedient to truth, you're not a loving person.  You don't love Jesus Christ, you don't love God the Father, you don't love the people of God.  You say, I don't know whether I agree with that.  You don't have to agree with me, but what does He say?  Verse 21, “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me;”  Verse 23, “If anyone loves Me he will keep My word;”  Verse 24, “He who does not love Me does not keep My words;”  We didn't get it from the positive side, we get it from the negative side.  They say, I really love Jesus Christ, I'm so in love with Him, and yet they're following false doctrine.  They don't love Him at all.  Oh I was so moved, I felt the love for Christ in my heart.  It's a lie, it's a deception, it's not true.  If you loved Him you would obey the truth.  There is no other kind of love that is acceptable in the biblical context.  This is Jesus speaking, he who does not love Me does not keep My words.  You can't play love and the truth off against one another, because once you remove the truth you cannot have love.  Because those who love Christ are obeying what He said, His truth.

Look in John 15:10, “If you keep My commandments you will abide in My love just as I kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.”  He loves me because I'm obedient to Him, I love Him and He gives me His truth.  I obey it.

Turn over to 1 John.  John, who wrote the Gospel of John, wrote the epistles of John, these small letters.  1 John 5, he picked up what Christ said and continued to teach it to the church.  Verse 3, “For this is the love of God that we keep His commandments. . .”  That's what it means to love God.  You keep His commandments.  That's not a feeling, not emotion.  My wife wakes up in the morning and says, I don't love you anymore.  So what?  What are we having for breakfast?  Can't we talk about this after we have coffee and something to eat?  She loves me.  She says, I love you deeply sweetheart, but I'm moving out, getting my own place.  Probably going to do some things I've always wanted to do.  But I just want you to know I really love you.  You don't love me.  Oh yeah, I have strong feelings for you.  Well you may, but you don't have love for me.  Somehow you get in the church and any kook can walk in and say, I really love Jesus and we think, he must be saved.  Oh you do?  Tell me about your obedience to the truth, tell me about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and your response to that, tell me about your walk with the Lord in light of the truth of God.  Oh well, I go to this church.  Well they don't believe the Word, they don't teach the truth of God.  Oh but I love Jesus.  Well, you are a confused person.  Those who love Jesus, keep His Word.

Look in 2 John 1, “The elder to the chosen lady and her children whom I love in truth; and not only I, but all who know the truth” also know the chosen lady.  Maybe in reference to a church.  What is the context?  Love in truth.  You know what?  All believers love those who are in truth.  For the sake of the truth which abides in us will be with us forever.  Look at verse 3, “Grace, mercy and peace be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father in truth and love.”  The Bible knows nothing about playing truth off against love.  Well that's  . . . , they emphasize truth but they're not loving.  That is love, folks, emphasize the truth and submit to it.  That's love.

Verse 4, “I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we received commandment to do from the Father.  Now I ask you, lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have from the beginning that we love one another.  And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments.  This is the commandment just as you've heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.  Many deceivers have gone out in the world. . . .”  Verse 8, “Watch yourself so you don't lose what we've accomplished, . . .”  Verse 9, “Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have God;  the one who abides in the teaching has the Father and the Son.”  We're back to where love is, truth.  Let all you do, be done in love.  That means in the context of God's truth.  We're willing to serve one another.  They serve one another, I am submissive to the truth in doing what He said in being willing to do what is best for you, putting you before me.  Now that I'm a servant of Him it's not all about pleasing myself, it's all about pleasing my Master and doing what is good for the family.  That's biblical love, that's what he is talking about, that's the sphere in which we live and which the truth operates.

Paul had much to say about this as he wrote to the Ephesians about their love and their responsibility to truth, not to be moved from the truth.  It permeates the scripture.

We have to ask ourselves, where are we in relation to the truth, the truth of the Gospel, Jesus Christ the Son of God, His suffering and death on the cross, His resurrection from the dead.  There is no compromise here.  Paul is going to close the letter to the Corinthians by pronouncing cursed to hell to anyone who disagrees with him.  What a way to end a letter, anathema, cursed to hell anyone who disagrees with him.  Because you have to obey the truth, the truth of the Gospel, the truth of the Word of God.  Where are you in relation to that truth?  Not have you heard the truth, have you believed the truth.  Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.  But the word you hear does no good unless you believe it and submit to it, obey it.  How are we doing as a church?  Not to exalt ourselves, there is nothing to praise ourselves about.  This is a responsibility entrusted to us by our Master.  Here is My truth, be faithful to it, be faithful with it.  You guard it, you protect it, you proclaim it, you share it, but you never ever change it.  You don't add to it, you don't take away.  And I will be back and you will give an account.  Were you faithful?  Did you add to it?  Did you take away from it?  Did you give it out?  Did you share it?  Did you tell others?  Did you teach others?  That's our responsibility.  The church is the pillar and support of the truth.  The truth doesn't change and neither should we.  We should be those who are on the alert, who stand firm, conduct ourselves like men, with courage and are strong, and do all that we do in the context of love.

Let's pray together.  Thank You, Lord, for your truth.  Thank You for the privilege of belonging to You, of serving the living God.  What a precious treasure has been entrusted to our care.  We must guard it, we must stand firm, we must not allow the allurements of the world, the confusion of the devil, the selfishness of the flesh to distract us from what is our most precious responsibility—faithfulness to You our God, to Jesus our Savior, to the Spirit who indwells us and empowers us.  May we personally and as a church, take these commands to heart seriously.  We pray in Christ's name, amen.