Category: Love

2 Thessalonians 3:1-5

The apostle Paul suffered a great deal because of his ministry in the gospel. He was constantly in peril, and coveted the prayers of the saints for protection. His petition here is especially specific, as he requested protection from “unreasonable and wicked men.”

Why are some men wicked? Because, “not all have faith.” Those without faith are often actively antagonistic toward Christ.

Such a sobering reality is certainly cause for prayer, but not for despair. Despite the antagonism of the worldly, Paul had reason for comfort and confidence. “But the Lord is faithful.” (cf. Romans 8:31).
Not only was Paul confident in God’s faithfulness, he was confident in the faithfulness of the Thessalonians. They were doing God’s will, and he believed they would continue to be faithful to Him.

This prayer was that their hearts (referencing both devotion and will) would be directed into the Love of God (indicating a love for God, seen in obedience) and the Patience of Christ (indicating a need for the same patience evinced by the Savior Himself in His life on earth). A wonderful prayer indeed!

A topical lesson detailing proper attitudes we should have toward other Christians, including:

• Love
• Cooperation
• Appreciation
• Submissiveness
• Hospitality
• Peaceableness
• Gentleness
• Forgiveness

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Guest Speaker Dennis Scroggins delivers a balanced treatment on the subject of discipline. Discipline is a necessary part of every Christian’s life, God’s dealings with mankind, and the work of the local church. It must be present, and is tempered by love and compassion.

Lesson 5 of 9 in Gospel Meeting Series

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Philippians 1:9-11

This prayer of Paul is interesting in that it is on behalf of the Christians at Philippi, and expresses his desire for their continued growth.

He prays for their love to “abound more and more”, but notice how the apostle links love to knowledge and discernment. Why is it that love must be with discernment? So that “you may approve the things that are excellent.”

In our day, love is undiscerning, and tolerant even of error and evil. When evil is tolerated by God’s children, it has the unhappy effect of compromising purity and godliness. It is Paul’s desire that the Philippians (and we) be “sincere and without offense.” In order for that to happen, discernment had to accompany their (and our) love.

We must avoid being influenced to evil. Christians should be careful to develop sufficient knowledge of what God approves, that we might instead be “filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Christ.”

When I moved to Fort Worth from Odessa in 1989, I remember one of the members here asking me if I was used to preaching for such a small church. I assured them that “small” is relative. I grew up in a congregation that numbered about 30-40 for Sunday morning worship. I cut my teeth preaching for a group in Monahans that would have 15 present on a good day. So, West Side seemed to me to be a big church!

Regardless, there is a big difference between a congregation of 100 and a congregation of 200-300 or more. While many would advocate that bigger is better, I would assert that there are actually some benefits to being a member of a small congregation.

Continue reading “The Benefits of a Small Church” →

Philemon 8-11

In the eighth verse of his epistle to Philemon, Paul clearly reveals the purpose of his writing. Philemon’s slave, Onesimus, had apparently ran away from Philemon. He had met Paul, and Paul had converted him to Christ (vs 10). As Paul put it, “who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me” (vs. 11).

While Paul had the authority to command Philemon in his treatment of the slave, he did not exercise that prerogative. Instead, he appealed to Philemon as a faithful and loving child of God.

Onesimus had broken the law in running away. His return could have been dangerous for him, but Paul was convinced that the love of Christ, present in Philemon, would moderate his response to Onesimus’ return — especially since Onesimus was now a brother in Christ.

No matter our relative positions in life, when we are Christians, we are brethren.

1 Thessalonians 4:9-12

In this text, the apostle commended the Thessalonians for the love they exhibited in their lives, especially toward all the brethren in Macedonia.

It is interesting that their expressions of brotherly love extended beyond congregational boundaries. While our work is centered within the congregational construct, we have a brothers or sisters wherever God has children.

Though Paul was impressed with their expressions of brotherly love, he exhorted them to more lofty heights; both in the expression of that love, and in their execution of the Christian life.

They were to avoid conflict and gossip. They were to be industrious. They were to develop a good reputation, even toward those who were not Christians.

Such admonitions are important as we consider that our faith impacts every part of our lives. Only when we give each area sufficient attention can it be said that we “lack nothing” (vs. 12).

The life of the disciple of Christ is characterized by love. Three expressions of that love are especially important:

• Love of God
• Love of Brethren
• Love of the Lost

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Apathy, the distractions of sin, lack of study, discouragement, a lack of love… All of these things can be an impediment to spiritual growth.

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God has always required his disciples to go above and beyond in dealing righteously in all their relationships with others. This is true with family, their brethren, the lost, and even their enemies.

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2 John 4-6

Curiously, some today believe truth and love to be antithetical. If you insist on conformity to truth, you are considered unloving. It is believed that in order to be loving, one must be tolerant of doctrinal error and sin.

A careful reading of our text should dispel this erroneous supposition. John first indicated his pleasure that the “elect lady” had some children who were “walking in truth”, and defined truth as the commandments received from God.

Next, John encouraged her and her children to remember and heed the preeminent commandment, to love one another. (Notice that love and truth are here coupled).

In fact, John defines love (for God) – “that we walk according to His commandment.” Love is not defined as tolerance in scripture… rather obedience — to God and His Word. And if we love our brethren, we will seek to conform them to truth.

1 Corinthians 8:1

“Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.” Someone might, in reading this statement, think that Paul was “anti” knowledge. This is certainly not so. Paul does not condemn, or even minimize, the value of knowledge. Rather, he here condemns certain attitudes that can be present in those who have knowledge.

If it is not tempered by love, knowledge can cause a man to be prideful and dismissive of others. This was the case with regard to the eating of meat offered up to idols. Some knew such was acceptable to God, and as a result were dismissive of their weaker brethren who did not have that knowledge. Rather than refraining from eating, to protect their brother, they instead were willing to risk their brother’s eternal welfare as they flaunted their superior knowledge of God’s will. Such is antithetical to Christ’s cause (vs. 12-13). Love must temper our knowledge!

1 Corinthians 3:1-4

Paul here admonishes the Corinthians for being “carnal.” The word is the greek sarkikos, and means: pertaining to the flesh… by implication, unregenerate (from Strong’s).

This designation is the opposite of “spiritual”, and indicates that the flesh was winning in its conflict with the Spirit in their lives (cf. Galatians 5:17).

What was their sin? They were divided. Rather than expressing love for one another, and “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3), they were “behaving like mere men.”

It is not godly to be a strife bearer and envious. To be so is antithetic to Christ’s cause. Those who are His must show their love to one another as brothers and sisters in Christ (1 Peter 2:22). One way this is done is to “all speak the same thing” and to be “perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (cf. 1:10).

Jesus Christ is our example in obedience, sacrifice and love. We are to obey, live lives of sacrifice, and love one another as we emulate Him.

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I may be a sinner, and unworthy of God’s love and mercy, but he still values me, and desires that I serve him acceptably, that I may attain an eternity in His presence.

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