He's, you know, one thing that we always ask, just advice. And Pastor Peter mentioned it, my parents mentioned it too, is that they wish they can go back and enjoy this time. Because having three kids, time goes by pretty fast. It's kind of hectic. It's very easy for us to just try to get through the day and put them down and just try to correct things as we go along.

And our oldest daughter is already four. And our prayer request is that we would learn to slow things down and be intentional and prayerful. Because as much as we try to correct things and their behavior, in the end, it's God who changes their heart, right? And I've been a recipient of my parents' and grandparents' endless amount of prayers.

And that's what brought me to salvation, I'm confident of, after high school. So, you know, that's our prayer request, that above all things, just remain prayerful, consistent in that, and really trust the Lord with their heart and their salvation. So, thank you. All right, hi everyone. My name is Aaron.

This is my wife, Corinne. And this is our son, Jonah Theodore Goh. He was born pretty much exactly two months ago. And, yeah, it's been a good time. We're first-time parents. So, let's see, why Jonah? So, well, he's not necessarily the most admirable person in the Bible. But there were no other J names left that weren't taken by other brands.

No, I'm just kidding. Actually, Jonah was a name I really liked from the very beginning. I don't know, I just like the sound of the name. And actually, going into checking into the hospital, we still hadn't decided on a name because I had a name I liked, and Corinne had a name that she liked.

And you could say we received a sign from God because the room that we were assigned after we checked in literally had a sign on the wall that said "Jonah" on it. So, at that point, it was pretty much decided. Yeah, so as first-time parents, obviously, we're still learning.

And things like, you know, don't put sunscreen on your baby before six months. Didn't know that one. Learned that after the fact. Like how to hold a baby without getting tendinitis. Learned that after the fact. So, yeah, it's a work in progress, but God's been faithful throughout. I'd say two prayer requests that we have.

One is, I think it's been said, to stay sober-minded. To be able to fulfill both our roles as parents, but also as servants of Christ. To do those both well and honoring to God. And then secondly, just as we raise him, in the context of having unbelieving friends and family, to be able to share the gospel, share our values.

Really, that would be a means that they can understand why we believe what we believe. So, this is our prayer request. Hi, I'm Corbin Bossie. This is my wife, Jen, and older son, Lucas, sitting down. And this little guy is Isaac Blaine Bossie. Blaine is my father's name, so we chose that as his middle name.

And Isaac, we chose because it was one of the few names not taken. And also, we know that it means one who rejoices, one who laughs. So, our prayer request is that he would be content and find his joy in Christ. And that he would be, of course, saved at an early age.

Good morning, Church family. I'm Sam. This is my wife, Ohi, and this is Cannon. The reason why we named him Cannon was to try to kind of match the other two girls that we have. C-named, musical name, Carol and Cadence. So, this is Cannon. But we also named him Cannon because of Canon of Scripture.

And our prayer request really is for him to just know God's Word, truly believe it, use it to guide his life, and just be a follower of God's Word. Thanks, everyone. Hi, Church family. My name is Titus, and this is my wife, Grace. And this is Judah James Chu.

He is our third. And the reason why we named him Judah was because I named my-- or Grace named our first one, and then I named our second one. So, she got to name the third one. And we kept all Js. It makes our life kind of difficult, and we're kind of stuck with it because it would be weird if we didn't go with the third J.

And--oh, okay. And his name means praise, I think. Yeah, so, kind of like everyone else, our prayer request for him is just for him to come to know Christ and for God to really use him for his glory and his kingdom. So, yeah, that's it. All right, thank you.

Okay, so before we dismiss that, I want to read a passage from Psalm 127, verse 4 and 5. It says, "Like arrows in a hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. How blessed is a man whose quiver is full of them." And so, in Psalm 127, it likens having children at a young age of having many warriors.

And so, when you first look at it, that's kind of a strange way to describe children in your home. But in reality, I believe that this is probably the best reminder in soberness that as we try to reach the world with the gospel, that if we don't first start at home with our children, then you can save the world, but if you don't save your children, you know, at the end of our lives, we're going to have the greatest regret.

Especially what's going on in our culture right now, where they are deliberately, the world is deliberately targeting our children to reprogram them, to move them away from biblical Christianity. So we're no longer, and I don't think I'm exaggerating by saying this, we're no longer living in a neutral country where our children can go, and then it's left to the parents to teach about what we value.

It is the system and the authorities where we live have deliberately targeted our children to be reprogrammed and retaught away from the very core of the things that we believe. And if you've been paying attention to the news, and I think most of you will agree with me, and all the more, as we have children in our church, that we need to be deliberate about the way we raise our children.

We don't just assume that if they go to school that they're going to be taught the proper things that we want them to know. And so as our children, however each of the parents choose to raise their children, that as a community, that we commit together. It's not just the Sunday school teachers and the people who are babysitting with the parents, that every single person in this church sees the children as if we are living in a village together, and that we pray for them.

That we come alongside with them. That if we have an opportunity to share the gospel with these children, don't just leave it up to the parents, don't just leave it up to the Sunday school teachers. If you happen to be there, to be a great example, and to actually share the gospel with these young children, so that when they're older they can say that, you know, maybe they heard it from their parents, obviously, they heard it from their Sunday school teachers, but even within the community, that the community that they belong to, that we together raise these children, that the next generation of believers will be even stronger than we are in this generation.

So I pray that, again, not only for our parents, but for the rest of the congregation, that we would have the same commitment to these children as these parents do. Okay? So let me pray for us, and then we'll dismiss them, and then we'll get into our main worship.

Heavenly Father, we thank you so much, Lord, for blessing these homes with these precious souls. And as each one of these parents, Lord, desires so much to see their child come to faith, I pray that you would open their eyes and soften their hearts in an early age, so that they may have a long life honoring you, glorifying you, to being the light that you called all of us to be.

We pray for courage for the fathers, Lord God, to stand for truth, with the shifting foundation, Lord, that is all around us. Give them the courage and strength to lead their homes, Lord, to honor and glorify you. We pray for moms, Lord God, that you would give them the strength that they need in times of discouragement, that they would find encouragement in you.

I pray, Father God, from a very young age, that the gospel would be clear, Father God, in both teaching and in their life. And we ask as a community that you would help us, Lord God, to engage together to raise these children, Lord, that they would know the love of Christ from an early age.

Help us truly be a light during our generation, Lord God, as the world becomes darker and darker, that your light would shine only brighter and brighter, not just during our lifetime, but especially, Lord God, for our children and the next generation. So for that end, we pray for your blessing and your grace to be sufficient for all things.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right, let's dismiss them, okay? If we can stand up--oh, sorry, I forgot to pray for our offering. All right, so as we dismiss them, let me pray for us. And again, if you brought a physical offering, it's in the back. And then for the rest of us, we can give electronically.

All right, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray that in our giving, help us, Lord, to give intentionally, joyfully, generously, Lord God, that it may be multiplied for your use, that more and more people may know that we have hope in Christ, in Christ alone. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

(soft music) - Let's all rise as we sing these praises. (soft music) Blessed be your name. ♪ Blessed be your name ♪ ♪ In the land that is plentiful ♪ ♪ Where streams of abundance flow ♪ ♪ Blessed be your name ♪ ♪ Blessed be your name ♪ ♪ When I'm found in the desert place ♪ ♪ Or walk through the wilderness ♪ ♪ Blessed be your name ♪ ♪ Every blessing you pour out ♪ ♪ I'll turn back to praise ♪ ♪ When the darkness closes in, Lord ♪ ♪ Still I will say ♪ ♪ Blessed be the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ Blessed be your name ♪ ♪ Blessed be the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ Blessed be your glorious name ♪ ♪ Blessed be your name ♪ ♪ When the sun's shining down on me ♪ ♪ When the world's all as it should be ♪ ♪ Blessed be your name ♪ ♪ Blessed be your name ♪ ♪ On the road marked with suffering ♪ ♪ It is paid in the offering ♪ ♪ Blessed be your name ♪ Every blessing.

♪ Every blessing you pour out ♪ ♪ I'll turn back to praise ♪ ♪ When the darkness closes in, Lord ♪ ♪ Still I will say ♪ ♪ Blessed be the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ Blessed be your name ♪ ♪ Blessed be the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ Blessed be your glorious name ♪ Again.

♪ Give and take away ♪ ♪ Give and take away ♪ ♪ My heart will choose to say ♪ ♪ Blessed be your name ♪ Every blessing. ♪ Every blessing you pour out ♪ ♪ I'll turn back to praise ♪ ♪ When the darkness closes in, Lord ♪ ♪ Still I will say ♪ ♪ Blessed be the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ Blessed be your name ♪ ♪ Blessed be the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ Blessed be your glorious name ♪ ♪ Blessed be the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ Blessed be your name ♪ ♪ Blessed be the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ Blessed be your glorious name ♪ Again.

♪ Give and take away ♪ ♪ Give and take away ♪ ♪ My heart will choose to say ♪ ♪ Blessed be your name ♪ (gentle music) (upbeat music) Oh, boy. ♪ I will bury in my Redeemer ♪ ♪ Whose priceless blood has ransomed me ♪ ♪ Mine was the sin that drilled the bitter nails ♪ ♪ And hung Him on that judgment tree ♪ ♪ I will glory in my Redeemer ♪ ♪ Who crushed the path of sin and death ♪ ♪ My only Savior before the Holy Ghost ♪ ♪ The man who wears my righteous clothes ♪ ♪ The man who wears my righteous clothes ♪ I will glory.

♪ I will glory in my Redeemer ♪ ♪ My life He bought, my love He owes ♪ ♪ I have no longings for another ♪ ♪ Unsatisfied and made for naught ♪ ♪ I will glory in my Redeemer ♪ ♪ His faithfulness by standing grace ♪ ♪ Though foes are mighty, I'll rush upon Him ♪ ♪ I'll rush upon Him ♪ ♪ My feet are firm held by His grace ♪ ♪ My feet are firm held by His grace ♪ ♪ I will glory in my Redeemer ♪ ♪ He carries me on eagle's wings ♪ ♪ He crowns my life with lovingkindness ♪ ♪ His triumphs all I'll ever see ♪ ♪ I will glory in my Redeemer ♪ ♪ Who waits for me at gates of gold ♪ ♪ And when He calls me, you will meet paradise ♪ ♪ His face forever to behold ♪ ♪ I will glory in my Redeemer ♪ ♪ Who waits for me at gates of gold ♪ ♪ And when He calls me, you will meet paradise ♪ ♪ His face forever to behold ♪ ♪ His face forever to behold ♪ - Amen, you may be seated.

(audience applauding) All right, if you can turn your Bibles with me to Hebrews chapter 13, and we're gonna be reading from verse one through six this morning. The proper response to God's grace. Hebrews chapter 13, verses one through six. Our main focus this morning is gonna be on the first verse.

Hebrews chapter 13, verses one through six. Reading out of the NASB. Let love of the brethren continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember the prisoners as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body.

Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled. For fornicators and adulterers, God will judge. Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have. For he himself has said, I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.

So that we confidently say, the Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me? Let's pray. Christian loving Father, we pray that you would anoint this time that your word, and your word alone, Lord God, would be heard, and that our hearts may be softened, and that our lives may be changed.

Encourage us, strengthen us, rebuke us this morning by your word. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let me start off this morning by asking a rhetorical question, so don't answer it, okay? Don't even mumble it, because I don't want you to say something wrong, okay? So the question is, if you had a choice between what kind of church you want to belong to, you want to go to a church where they are known for their grace, or do you want to go to a church that's known for their holiness?

Okay, don't answer that question. Let me ask you again. What church would you want to belong to? A church that is known for their grace, or a church that's known for their holiness? I don't want you to answer that question, because generally speaking, I already know the answer. Because I've had so many conversations in the past where even with other pastors that they have said that I'd rather err on the side of grace than to err on the side of being too harsh.

It sounds godly on the surface, because who wouldn't want to be at a church where they're known to be gracious? Because when you say, I go to a church where they're known for their holiness, automatically we think of judgment, right? Everybody is like examining one another, and you've got to jump through hoops to belong to that group.

And so it sounds godly. It almost sounds biblical to say, I'd rather err on the side of grace. But the biblical truth is, to err on the side of grace is error. And that's why I say I would rather err. No, error is error. And the problem is, if you look at the Old Testament false prophets, the primary rebuke to the false prophets was they kept on telling them, peace, peace, when there is no peace.

He was teaching grace. God loves you unconditionally. He forgives your sins. And he kept on saying, peace, peace, while the true prophets were coming and warning them, if you do not turn from your sin, God was going to bring judgment. Let me make this very clear. There is never a time where God does something where he chooses to rather be gracious than to be holy.

God, who cannot lie, cannot change his mind, will never do anything that contradicts his nature. God is holy, holy, holy, and he is love. He is love. Nothing that he does will contradict either side. And that's the whole point of the cross. The whole point of the cross is where God's justice and his mercy and love came in to union, a perfect union, without contradicting one or the other.

We have a tendency to think that holiness and love is on the opposite side and we need to somehow balance this. Sometimes we emphasize holiness, sometimes we emphasize love, and then sometimes we get it wrong, sometimes we get it right. But the accurate biblical understanding of God's justice and his love, they always go hand in hand.

The cross, if you err on the side of grace, you don't need the cross. Because all God has to say is, okay, I'm just going to forget it. I know you guys have been sinning, but this time I'm going to pretend like I didn't see it, just sweep it under the rug.

Right? If we err on the side of grace, we would allow all kinds of sin and say, well, because I'm being gracious. Because we're being gentle and merciful. We're just going to pretend like it never happened, just kind of sweep it under the rug. If we err on the side of just justice, we don't need the cross either.

Because as soon as somebody sins, they get what they deserve and they get punished and the end. So the cross is the perfect union of God's justice and his mercy that came together. That God's justice was satisfied to magnify his grace. So to be gospel-centered is not simply to be gracious.

To be gospel-centered is to have the perfect union that we see at the cross, where God's holiness and his love is in perfect display. And so we have to make sure that we don't embrace one or the other simply because of our own personal prejudice. That whatever it is that we practice in our personal lives and in the life of the church is a clear reflection of who God is.

And what he displayed on the cross. This morning, we're going to be looking at one verse. It's the first verse of many verses that are coming in chapter 13. We have 13 imperatives here in light of all that we have been taught about who Jesus is. He says, "This is how you ought to live." And so in the first line alone, I think there are several things that I want to highlight here because it is so important in application.

We have 13 chapters in the book of Hebrews. 12 chapters are telling us why we shouldn't drift. It will give us motivation because I know some of us who are impatient with theology. Just kind of, you know, just tell us, you know, just briefly what it means and then tell us what we ought to do because we're practical people.

We're type A personality. And so we want to get things done. So some of us are a little bit impatient when we start to get dig too deep into theology. Say, "That's for pastors and theologians, but for the rest of us, just tell us what I'm supposed to do on Monday." Right?

And you probably hated the book of Hebrews because it's 12 chapters of telling us why we shouldn't drift because they were neglecting such a great salvation. He was re-explaining in 12 chapters of this great salvation that if you drift, this is what you're drifting from. And then now that he concluded that, therefore, this is how you ought to live.

And so for the next few weeks, maybe a few months, we're going to be in this chapter describing the application of this grace in our lives. But the most important of these is in verse one, "Let love of the brethren continue." So there's about five things I want to highlight about love in this text.

First of all, love is what sets us apart from the world. Do you remember we talked about last week the word holy? The root basic understanding of the word holy is what? To be set apart. To distinguish from what is common. That whether it was an animal, whether it was an article, once it was taken from the common area and then placed at the temple for God's use, it became holy.

So clothing became holy. Bowls became holy. Animals became holy because it was set apart. What causes us to be holy, to be set apart, the greatest that sets us apart from the rest of the world, he says, is love. John chapter 13, 34-35, Jesus says to his disciples, "A new commandment I give to you." Right?

"A new commandment I give to you." That in and of itself is strange because do you see this commandment in the Old Testament where he says to love your neighbor? Right? Yes. All throughout the Old Testament, God tells his people to love his neighbor. In Leviticus 19, 18, it says, "You shall not take vengeance "nor bear any grudge against the sons of the people, "but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

"I am the Lord." Right? And I could give you dozens of passages where Jesus or God repeats the same thing, to love your neighbor. So why does Jesus say to his disciples, "A new commandment I give to you"? Clearly it's not new. This is what was taught. But you have to read the rest of what he says.

"A new commandment I give to you, "that you love one another, "even as," what? "I have loved you, "you love one another." That's the new commandment. The new commandment isn't simply to love one another because God's been telling his people to love the aliens, love the strangers, love your neighbors.

But Jesus is saying, "The love that I practice with you." But this is the distinguishing mark. So it's not simply love that distinguishes us from the world. It's the quality of this love that distinguishes us from the world. Because the world practices love. Yes or no? Yeah, of course they do.

Your co-workers, they practice love. Your non-Christian friends, Christian or not, they practice love. You didn't have non-Christian friends that loved you? Non-Christian mother and father, they don't love their children? The world practices love. But he wasn't saying just any love. He says, "As I have loved you." The quality of this love is what distinguishes you and the world will know you are my disciples if you practice this love.

Well, what's the distinction? Naturally, we all tend to, in our flesh, love those who are lovable. Love those who are close to us. Love those who can benefit us. Love those who don't hurt us. But the Bible says in Romans 5:8, "God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ loved us." He loved us when we didn't deserve it.

He loved us when we were in rebellion. He loved us when we had nothing to give. While we were still blaspheming and resisting. He said his love, he laid down for sinners who did not deserve it. And he said, "If you practice that love." See, if we practice the love that the world practices, we're no different.

Some of us are better at it than others. But the kind of love that distinguishes us from the rest of the world, the world will not understand. Why would you make an effort to love that guy? That guy's slandering you. That guy hurt you. What benefit do you have from doing that?

And so it's the kind of love that the world cannot understand. And when they see us practicing that love, they will look at us and say, "Oh, it's because Jesus did it." They're doing what Jesus did for them. See, in 1 John 2.10, it says, "The one who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him." The greatest identifier of a Christian is the one who practices this love.

You know, don't be fooled. Just because you love your mom and your dad or your children or your good friends, it's like, "Okay, I'm practicing love." No. He said the love he's asking us to practice, the love that identifies that's different than any other love, is to love people that are hard to love.

Love people that you would not normally love if you weren't affected by the love of Christ. He said that is evidence that you have met Christ. If you remember John, right? John, before he met the resurrected Christ, do you remember what John and James were known for? They were called "sons of thunder." And they weren't sons of thunder because they were big guys.

You know, every time they walked around, the earth shook. That wasn't why they were sons of thunder. Sons of thunder because they had a bad temper. Remember, as they were going through Samaria, and the Samaritans wouldn't help, right? And he got angry, and he said, "Lord, do you want me to pray to kill all these people?" Right?

This guy would have been a mass murderer. But in the New Testament, what is Apostle John known for? Apostle of love. He writes more about love than any other apostle. In the Gospel of John, 1 and 2 John, right? He writes more about love than any other apostle. He's known as the apostle.

If you want to learn about love, you've got to go to the Gospel of John. Because he exposit love in his writings. How did the sons of thunder, a potential mass murderer, and all they did was they just didn't want to help, they said, "Should I kill all these people?" It's because he met the resurrected Christ.

A Christ even after he was crucified and mocked, even after his disciples all took off, even after one of his disciples betrayed him, Jesus resurrects. And this was all part of his agape love to save the world. You could tell John, you know, the lights going off. It's not just John, right?

Apostle Peter, all the lights are going off. Because they could not understand. Why would the King of kings and Lord of lords lay down his life for us? They could not fathom it until he actually did it. And so his disciples began to understand. It's like, "Oh, that's what he meant when he got on his knees to serve." If you want to be the greatest in the kingdom of God, who is the greatest in the kingdom of God but Jesus himself?

And he got on his knees and he served. And so Jesus said, "If you want to follow me, you pick up the cross and you do the same." You remember apostle Paul, another mass murderer, he says, "I'm the worst of sinners." And he literally was because he was responsible for the first martyr in the book of Acts.

If that wasn't enough, he was so angry, he got a bunch of soldiers to go collect all these Christians. He hated Christians. He hated the Gentiles. Until he encounters the resurrected Christ and the very people that he tried so hard to extinguish, he becomes the apostle to the Gentiles as a witness to the world that he wanted to destroy.

Now he became the main mouthpiece to spread God's love to them. And so there was evidence that man must have met Christ. In fact, the greatest witness in the early church was the church itself. In Tertullian, one of the early church fathers, this is what he says about how the church was viewed and he was quoting a pagan authority, and this is what it says, "It is mainly the deeds of a love so noble that lead many to put a brand upon us, see how they love one another, they say, how they are ready even to die for one another, they say, for they themselves will sooner be put to death." He says he's just describing their reputation outside of the church.

In the early church, the greatest evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ was the makeup of the church itself. Do you know how much the Pharisees hated tax collectors? Because they were the ones who betrayed their country. They were collecting money from their countrymen. And Matthew, the tax collector, and you had these fishermen who were walking around calling each other brothers in Christ.

I mean, in a typical setting, they would have killed each other. In the early church, you had the tax collectors teaching, because he was an apostle, he was teaching converted Pharisees, the experts of the law, about the new covenant in Christ. You had runaway slaves and slave owners in the same congregation.

You had the rich and poor. They didn't have rich on one side of the neighborhood and then poor on the other side because clearly they're not going to be the fellowship because if we have home groups, one day you're going to go to the mansion, another day you're going to go to a hut.

So that's practically not going to work. But the greatest evidence in the early church was all of them were together and they loved one another. And so you can look at that and say, "Well, what happened?" My, the early leaders must have been fantastic leaders. They tapped into the organization.

They were able to get people to put away their ego, and they learned a system where everybody can get along. Are you kidding me? That's not what happened. See, the secular world can't explain the church. And if you've ever read anything from the secular world, how they describe why Christianity blew up so much, they'll say, "Oh, because it was the poor people and there was a desperateness." And Jesus described where they started to help each other, and that's why the poor people came in droves.

That's because they didn't study the early church. The early church was filled with poor people, rich people, slave owners and slaves, Pharisees, Sadducees, tax collectors, all in the same church. And so the only logical explanation was the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's no different than if we fell asleep one day and the Republicans, Democrats, you know, they love each other.

What was so powerful that they came together, right? Something--people who hated--they wouldn't even walk into their town because they hated each other, and yet they called each other brothers and sisters in Christ because they met the resurrected Christ. That's what distinguished them from the rest of the world, and that's why it's so hard to understand how that happened in the early church.

So the greatest mark of holiness that sets us apart from the world is love. Second, love is the greatest application of this community. There's a reason why love is at the top of this list, and if you-- I can sit here and go through passage after passage after passage after passage of the various lists of the characteristics of a Christian, and almost always love is at the top of that list.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verse 13, it says, "But now faith, hope, love-- abide these things, but the greatest of these is love." I know if you've been raised in the church, you memorize this verse. You might have a plaque on this at your home somewhere. Your children may have memorized this in Sunday school.

But have you considered the gravity of this verse? We're saved by faith. We persevere through all kinds of trial because of hope. And yet he says, "Above faith, above hope, love is the greatest." Wow. I mean, that really should cause us to take a step back and think about this because the greatest application of God's holy calling is love.

Even though my relationship with God is reconciled because of faith, and it is because of this hope that I'm able to be sanctified, and yet the greatest application of our calling, he says, is love. In 2 Peter 1, 5 through 8, Apostle Peter goes through the list of Christian disciplines that we ought to strive for, and this is what he says, "Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence in your faith, supply moral excellence.

In your moral excellence, knowledge; and in your knowledge, self-control; in your self-control, perseverance; and in your perseverance, godliness; and in your godliness, brotherly kindness; and in your brotherly kindness, love." You notice here on this list that in descending order, that these are the things that Christians who are trying to be sanctified should apply themselves in increasing manner to grow in, and he says, "Moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and ultimately love." The reason why love is at the bottom of this list is because all this striving is to ultimately get to love.

The reason why we discipline is to get to love. The reason why we apply knowledge is to get to love. All the things that we are doing ultimately is to get us to practice the love that Christ practiced with us, and that's what it means in 1 Timothy 1-5 when Paul sends Timothy to go to war in the city of Ephesus because the Judaizers were coming and beginning to spread the false gospel, and he's telling this young man, "Do not be timid.

I give you the authority," and the word "command" here is a military command, where a commanding officer is telling the subordinate, "I'm commanding you to go and command these men to stop teaching false doctrines, and I give you the authority as an apostle of Jesus Christ to go and fight." And this Timothy, he's concerned, he's timid, he has some ailments, and people are falling out, and so Paul is trying to strengthen him up to go fight.

But as he goes to fight, he says, "But remember, the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. The reason why I need you to fight is so that you can establish love. The reason why doctrine needs to be pure is so that we can have love.

The reason why you need to make your stand clear is so that you can ultimately have greater love." See, in our generation, because of the way that the gospel has been watered down, that we somehow think that doctrinal purity and love somehow cannot coexist. But the very reason why God calls us to purity in the church is so that we can have greater love.

These things are not two opposite sides. You cannot have one without the other. Third, we are called to love as we love ourselves. The word here for love is Philadelphia. Philadelphia has two words, philo, love. Adelphia is brother, but literally the word in Greek means of the same womb.

So the Greeks used this word Philadelphia to only refer to blood brothers, that you actually had a physical brother. So the Christians adapted this to apply to all their true believers. So this was a, even though the word existed, the way it was applied in the New Testament to new covenant people is uniquely Christian.

And the reason why it was uniquely Christian is because that idea of family was applied to all true believers because we were all born by the same spirit. So the Greeks used it to refer to people who were born of the same womb. And the New Testament believers used it to all who are genuinely born again by the spirit.

And Jesus himself said when he was hanging on the cross and he was looking at his mother, he looked at the disciples and he said to the mother, "Women, behold your son." Then he said to the disciples, "Behold your mother." From that hour, the disciples took her into his own household.

He said, "Now you are true brothers. That's your mother. That's your father." And so that our community is actually our family. Ephesians 4, 4-5, "There is one body, one spirit, just as you also called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all." Now, like the application of all this sounds great, but what is the application of all of this?

He says we are to love one another as we would love our own family members. That's basically what it says. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and spirit. Love your neighbor as yourself. When we talk about the practice of holiness or practice of grace, we somehow detach these two things.

And I've had a friend tell me years ago that he believes that the greatest problem in our generation is that we don't practice church discipline. That's the problem. That we need to weed out sin. We need to call out people who are in error. And so we need to keep the church pure.

Now, I know what he was saying. I know what he was getting at. But I don't know if I would phrase it that way because I don't think it's accurate. I think the way we should understand is the greatest problem in our generation is that we don't practice true love.

Because the kind of love that we practice sometimes is no more than indifference. We have different degrees of how we practice love. We have people that we really care about and we love them. We rejoice with them and we suffer with them. And so we have that group of people.

And then we have some groups of people we don't either hate them or love them. They're just kind of acquaintances. So when good things happen, we high-five. And then when they suffer, sad face on Facebook. But that's about the engagement that we have. And then we have people that annoy us.

They're acquaintances. So when they suffer, we rejoice inwardly, quietly, because we're Christian. And then when they celebrate, we're kind of like, "Huh, they don't deserve that." So we have different degrees of love that we practice. But the people that we really love, we're engaged. No mother or father who sees a child deliberately choosing a path that they know is going to hurt them and sits there and say, "Well, I want to practice grace and mercy.

I'm just going to let you do whatever you want to do because I'd rather err on the side of grace." No one would look at that and say, "What a great mom. What a great dad." If your child is staying up till 4 in the morning playing video games 14 hours and ruining their life and hanging out with the wrong crowd and they're making decisions that ultimately are going to hurt them, no loving mother, no loving father is going to sit there and watch it and say, "Well, I'd rather err on the side of grace." You'd get involved.

If that was your brother, if that was your sister, if that was your mother or father, because we love them, we would be more concerned about the damage that they're doing to their life than how they would view us. So sometimes our idea of practicing grace is being indifferent because we're afraid how they will react to what we will say.

But we don't do that to people we really love. People that we really love, we will say something, despite how you may perceive me. I will say something to you because I know and I'm convinced that if you keep going down that path, that there is destruction, there's no good waiting for you.

Because we love them, we will speak. So the kind of grace that's supposedly being practiced in our generation is not grace at all. It's just indifference and we're not doing it for them. Even though in the back of our mind we know where, say, "Oh, he's going to point out what's wrong." So the problem in our generation is not that we don't practice church discipline.

We don't truly practice agape love. Because God's love and His grace cannot be separated. If you practice one without the other, it isn't from God. If you practice justice without love, you'll get vengeance. If you practice grace without justice, you have indifference. Just kind of ignore it. Let them be.

They're going to do drugs, let them do drugs. They're going to run down this path and at the end of it there's a cliff. I don't want to bother them. Let them go. You see, God's justice and His mercy and His grace can never be separated. And that's the community that He calls us to, where the gospel of Jesus Christ, where the cross is at the center.

When the cross is at the center, His holiness and His love will never be compromised. Third. Sorry, fourth. Love is not in us. Love is given to us. You notice here He says to continue in my love. He doesn't say practice love. He says continue in my love. The word for continue is a very theologically rich term.

And it's the word meno. So if you've been at our church, I've given several sermons on this, on John chapter 15, when Jesus says, "If you want to bear fruit, you need to remain in me." Right? Remain in me. Continue in me. That word meno is used over 11 times in that passage.

And Jesus is telling His disciples as He is going to the cross, that where I go, you cannot come. But if you want to bear fruit, you need to meno in me. The word meno is one of those words that can't be translated with one word. So some of your translations, it would say remain.

Some of your translations, it says to abide. Some of your translations, it says to dwell. Some of your translations, it says to live. But basically that word means to be connected, to continue what God has started. That's what that word means. So if you notice here, He says, "Let love of the brethren remain." To continue.

In other words, the love of Christ has given to all genuine believers. All genuine believers. Because that was the greatest evidence of separation from the world. In 1 Thessalonians 4, 9-10, it says, "Now as to love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another.

For if indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in Macedonia, but we urge you, brethren, to excel still more." In other words, Apostle Paul is saying, "I don't need to teach you this because God already taught you this." Now what does he mean by that?

That God audibly opened up heaven and said, "Love." So when Apostle Paul showed up, it's like, "Oh, I don't need to teach you because you heard that from heaven." Is that what he means? Well, that's not what he means. He means that the practice of this love is so fundamental to the gospel that as Christ loved us, you would naturally love.

If God was generous to you, you would be generous. And that's what he means. I don't need to teach you because at the root of the gospel, at the root of redemptive history, is God loving sinners. It was given to us, and it was given to us to do by the power of the Holy Spirit.

In 1 John 4:19, it says, "We love because He first loved us." We love because He first loved us. You know, one of the first things that happens when you begin to stray away from God or you begin to drift away from God, you start to get annoyed with people.

That's the first thing because this is impossible to practice. This is impossible to practice. In the Old Testament, God says, "Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth." What is eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth? There's different degrees of relationships that we practice. We practice vengeance, justice, mercy, and grace.

Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth is what? It's not mercy. It's not grace. It's justice. They took an eye, you take an eye. They punch you in the mouth, you punch them in the mouth. That's justice. The reason why God even has to tell us to practice justice is because our natural inclination isn't to practice justice.

What is our natural inclination? To practice vengeance. So as much as people are marching and saying, "No justice, no peace," they're not looking for justice. They're not looking for justice. They're looking for vengeance. You hurt me, I want to hurt you. You punch me, I'm going to punch your family.

You slash my tire, I'm going to burn your car. You rob from me, I'm going to take your whole bank account. That's our natural, in our flesh, our desire. It's not to practice justice. You have to be a righteous man, a self-controlled disciplined man, to practice justice. That somebody hurts you and you only hurt them as much as they hurt you.

That's not our sinful state. Our sinful state is, "You hurt me, I'll kill you." Make sure you never even entertain messing with me. That's our tendency. So imagine if that's our flesh. That not only does He tell us to practice justice, but to have self-control, practice justice. To go beyond that, practice mercy.

It's like not take vengeance and not even justice. Just hold it within yourself. How hard is that when somebody deliberately tries to hurt you and you say, "Eh, whatever." You must be emotionally dead. Or something is you are in so much fear. That's not how we think. We don't practice mercy.

To grace and then go beyond that and then to love them. To do what's best for them. So tell somebody who may or may not be satisfied with vengeance and then command them to practice the love that He gave to us while we were yet sinners. To love them, give to them, take care of them.

And He said, "By that love the world will know you are my disciples." Because that's not something you can do in your flesh. And that's why He says to remain in this love. This love I gave you. So the moment we begin to stray from Christ, it is humanly impossible to even imagine to practice this love.

See, God's holiness that sets us apart from this world is that love that He called us to. That's why He says we love because He first loved us. And then 2 Corinthians 5, 14-15, it says, "For the love of Christ controls us." Apostle Paul is talking about himself and his disciples.

Now understand the context of why he's saying this. Do you remember Apostle Paul, he was writing, and he begged the Lord three times to take away the thorn on his side? And if you read the commentaries, people have done a lot of work to try to figure out what is that thorn on his side?

He begged the Lord to take it away. It was so painful for him. Some people say that maybe he was sick. There's no mention of that anywhere in the Bible. So I'm not sure if that's the best interpretation because if he was sick, that would have been the only problem.

Some jokingly said maybe it was his wife. His wife just couldn't stand that he's not making enough money. You know, he's always away from home. That's a joke. And I don't think--Paul is pretty clear. He says he's not married. But if you read the context of 1 Corinthians, Paul, when he showed up to the city, he was trembling in fear.

He was getting beat up, jailed, whooped, almost died, shipwrecked. So when he comes into the city, he was in fear. He was burnt out. He was tired. And he looked like he was going to quit. That's how he described himself. And the Lord, Jesus, spoke to him and said, "I want you to continue your work because I have many who follow me in this city." So Paul spent a lot of time in this city sharing the gospel, bringing people to Christ, and establishing this church.

So he had a special affection for this church because he spent a lot of time at this church. And it is that church that was falling apart. So if you've ever studied the New Testament, you know the 1 and 2 Corinthians is the harshest letter to these churches because some people were questioning because they didn't like what he had to say.

"That guy's an apostle. How can he be an apostle?" "I follow Peter. I follow Apollos." "Who is this guy?" And he was writing letters to change them, to correct them. They said, "This guy's letters are weighty, but his presence is weak." "He writes with such authority, but when he comes, he's just a tiny little guy, bald-headed guy," according to church tradition.

I don't know about you, but my inclination would have been, "Well, you got Peter. Then go to Peter. That's Peter's problem. You want Peter? Go to Peter. Apollos is the better speaker. Go. No sweat off my back. I got all these other churches I got to attend to. If you just take off and leave, no sweat off my back." I mean, his anguishing letter that he writes, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, questioning his apostleship, begging them to repent, and still them questioning him, "Who is this guy?

I don't like his sermons." And so he begged. I think him begging the Lord was his opposition who were constantly attacking him. And as he says in Philippians, there are some people preaching the gospel just to make it harder for him to preach the gospel. He was not only being attacked by the Judaizers, but within the church who hated him when he was calling them out.

I mean, Galatians starts out, "Am I a servant of man or servant of God?" And he was calling out even Apostle Peter and Barnabas, his mentors, because he was afraid that their actions were going to pervert the gospel. And so because he was bold in preaching the gospel, he had opposition even within the church.

And I believe when he said he begged the Lord to take away the thorn, he was having a hard time with those who were criticizing him. It is in that context, he writes, because it's so tempting to just let it go. It's so tempting to shake off the dust and say, "Good riddance.

I'm here risking my life, almost died, so that you can have the gospel, and this is the way you're going to treat me? Good. Gone." But he perseveres. He agonizes. He pleads. It is in that context, he says, for the love of Christ controls us. It was because of the love of Christ I endured.

Having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died, and he died for all so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who died and rose again on their behalf. I believe when he was writing this, this was his personal testimony. I'm persevering because I'm no longer living for myself.

It's not about me. It's not about my pain. It's not about my sacrifice. But Christ crucified because the love of Christ was compelling him to endure and to love. Fifth and finally, love is the ultimate goal. It is the fulfillment of this holy law. Romans 13, 8-10 says, "Owe nothing to anyone except the love of one another, for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law." For this, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, and he basically gives a brief list of the Ten Commandments, and he says all of this is summarized.

Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. So if you look at the Ten Commandments, the first four commandments is about loving God. Have no worship of any other God, no graven images, not take the Lord's name in vain to keep the Sabbath holy, and then the next six is about the relationship that we have with one another.

He says, "But the purpose of holy living, to obey these commandments, is ultimately practice of love." He's giving us a description of how to love God and how to love one another. And that's exactly what he says in Matthew 22, 37-40. "And he said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" On these two commandments depend the whole law and the prophets. So when we think of the law, we automatically say, "Oh, that goes into the context of holiness." And when we think of mercy, we think of God's forgiveness and what he did at the cross.

But here he says, "The commandment, the holy commandment, the fulfillment of that is love." So these are not separate things. So if you err in love, if you err in love, you err in the law. If you err in the law, you err in grace. You cannot practice one without the other.

Love is the fulfillment of the law. 1 John 4, 16-17, "We have come to know and have believed the love of God, which has for us, God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us." What does that even mean?

There's another word that's important in the New Testament. The word perfected is teleos. And remember, the word teleos doesn't mean that you yourself are morally perfect. That's not what that word means. Perfected means that whatever was intended for that is finding fulfillment. So if a child enters into school, when is he perfected?

When he gets perfect grades? No. When he graduates, right? I mean, he's not saying when you get straight A's all the time, you never get anything wrong, then you are perfected. That's not this word. This word basically means what God had intended, he's bringing to fulfillment. So what does this mean?

Christ was crucified and he gave his love for us and is perfected in us when we are affected and love one another. So his love is perfected in us when we begin to reflect that love in the way that we live. Let me end with this. You know, years ago I would go to retreats, you know, and usually, four out of five times, there's usually somebody I know that asked me to come and speak and I would speak.

And a lot of these churches are not doing well. And so I would come and give a message. And one of the most common questions that I was getting at churches, at retreats, was, "Pastor Peter, when is the right time to leave a church?" This is my friend's church, right, and he's talking about that church.

And so I would get these questions. Eventually, like, you know, I said, "Well, this is one of the most common questions because people are frustrated." And so, one, I can't, I'm at my friend's church. Yeah, get out of here. My friend came to speak so that you guys can benefit and then I said, "Get out of here." So I'm thinking, so I would give them the, you know, what you should give, right.

Well, how much of this is your problem, right? Are you the troublemaker? What kind of view that you have of it? Do you have a high view of the church where you're just going to hop around church to church? So I would give them, not knowing the context, not knowing what the problem is, and I'm more concerned about this is, I can't, I can't tell him to leave.

I don't even want to know what the problem is because even if I wanted to tell you to leave, I can't because I'm at my friend's church. But years would go by and that would be the most common question that they would ask and I'm just wrestling with this.

And so I'm wrestling with this idea of practicing love, love as yourself, and I'm just meditating, thinking about this. And it's a thought came to me. What's the right way to answer this question? And I thought, how would I answer if my son asked me this question? He went to college and he's struggling, he's not growing, there's stuff happening in the church.

How would I answer this question? Because for my son, I wouldn't be as concerned about what they would think of me because I'd be more concerned about him. I wouldn't be so concerned about my reputation because I would be more concerned about him. So I resolved that I'm going to be honest and answer you exactly the way I would answer my son.

And so that's the mindset that I have even inside the church. If you ask me a question, I'm going to answer you like I would answer my own son. Sometimes you may not like it, but that's what I actually believe. I'm not going to dress it up so that you won't hate me.

You might hate me, but that's exactly what I would say to my own son. So even if we have to discipline somebody at church, I'd ask my question, would I do this to my own son? Because I have to believe that this is what's best for him, not because I'm annoyed, not because I'm angered, or not because I'm offended, because I would never approach my children that way.

Even if I'm angered, I would make sure that whatever I say and do is for their own good. And so that didn't solve all the problems, but it made things much more simpler. To practice this love, that I need to practice this love as I would love myself, to love my children, to love my wife, to love people that I genuinely love.

So when a church practices true biblical love, accountability happens. We don't just simply look at that and say, "Oh, what are they going to think if I say something?" and then sweep it under the rug. You would never do that for your child. You would speak up. You would say something.

I'm not saying be jerks. I'm not saying we're going to create an environment and I see everybody is wrong. Because you wouldn't do that with your kids either. You wouldn't be so quick to point out every false thing because you know that's not good for your kids either. But true biblical love never separates holiness and mercy.

They go hand in hand. So in practice, and I know our natural inclination is I'd rather err on the side of grace. Our goal is to not err, period. That we want to know who God is. We want to know what the gospel is. And we want to truly be gospel-centered.

Not what I want the gospel to be, but what the gospel actually is. Let's pray. Again, as our worship team comes, let's take some time to reflect if there's any areas in our life where we superficially applied love, but in reality it was indifference. Where maybe we were overly harsh because we really didn't love.

We said, you know, we're going to speak the truth in love, but it was more truth than love. How are we practicing this in our lives? So we ask the Lord to show us, search us and know us, see if there's any hurtful ways in us, so that our church would truly be identified by the love of Christ, that the world would know that we are his disciples.

So let's take some time to pray as our worship team leads us. (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) (Music) The closing praise. (Music) He became sin. He became sin, who knew no sin. And we might become his righteousness. Humbled in song, he carried the cross. Love so amazing.

Love so amazing. Jesus, Jesus Messiah. Name above all names. Blessed Redeemer, Emmanuel. The rescue for sinners. The ransom from heaven. Jesus Messiah. Lord of all. His body the bread. His body the bread. His blood the wine. Broken and poured out. All for love. All that trembled, the veil was torn.

Love so amazing. Love so amazing. Jesus Messiah. Name above all names. Blessed Redeemer, Emmanuel. The rescue for sinners. The ransom from heaven. Jesus Messiah. Lord of all. All our hope is in you. All our hope is in you. Glory to you, God. The light of the world. Jesus Messiah.

Name above all names. Blessed Redeemer, Emmanuel. The rescue for sinners. The ransom from heaven. Jesus Messiah. Lord of all. Jesus Messiah. Lord of all. Let's pray. Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters.

He restores my soul, he guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil. For you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You have anointed my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Lord, help us, Lord God, to make this our true confession of our hearts this week.

May Christ's name be exalted. May the life of your church, Lord God, shine in such a way that more and more people may know that we are disciples of Jesus Christ, and that his love will be perfected in us in the presence of this dark world. May your name and your Son's name and the Holy Spirit's name be magnified this week.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. God sent his Son. They called him Jesus. He came to earth. He left for you. He laid him down to find a pardon. An empty grave is there to find my Savior lays. As he lays, I can face tomorrow because he lives. All fear is gone because I know he holds the future.

And life is worth the living just because he lays. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.