Ideals and Realities: Love

Introduction

• Church ideals are not always Church realities.
• Meekest man, Moses, lost his temper
• Paul and Barnabas had a season of difference of opinion
• The early church "had all things in common" resulting in an economically depressed church in Jerusaelm.
• We preach, teach, belive, strive for the IDEAL and we wrest with the REALITIES.
• love: to have affection for; Who do I go with? ILLUSTRATON of a magnet

1. The Ideal: Read Texts: LOVE THE LORD THEY GOD

• 9 Deuteronommy passages: Deuteronomy 6:5; 11:1,13,22; 13:3; 19:9; 30:6,16,20

Deuteronommy 6:5 — And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

Deuteronommy 11:1 — Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.

Deuteronommy 11:13 — And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,

Deuteronommy 11:22 — For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him;

Deuteronommy 13:1-5 — If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, 2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; 3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. 5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.

Deuteronommy 19:9 — If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day, to love the LORD thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, beside these three:

Deuteronommy 30:6 — And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

Deuteronommy 30:16 — In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

Deuteronommy 30:20 — That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

• Synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke

Matthew 22:37 — Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

Mark 12:30 — And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

Luke 10:27 &mdahs; And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

• John 13:31-35 [after Judas received the sop (bread dipped in broth) and ran out]

John 13:31 — Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you. 34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

2. Realities

• "I" and not just "US"
• "US" not just "I" --- Spots in "NOT REALLY WITH US"

Jude 1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. [These men are not creaping in their UNDERWARE but UNWARES -- to settle in alongside, i.e. lodge stealthily:]

Jude 1:12 — These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

• "DANGEROUS REEFS" -- of uncertain derivation; a ledge or reef of rock in the sea:--spot (by confusion with 4696 "a stain or blemish").

3. Conclusion

Worship song: I don't want to run on an emotion, I don't want to sing from an "EMPTY" place --> "FALL FRESH ON ME"

Romans 5:5 — And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.