Ephesians
6:1
"Children,
obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right."
What
one basic attribute of the human makeup causes children to obey their
parents? Love! And Love causes them to have respect of their parents because them know and understand the household rules because each parent enforces them equally. But it has to be a two-way street. So we have
to look at this whole concept again of love as Paul talks about it in
chapter 5 and 1Corinthians 13, between husbands and wives, and that
same love carries on into the relationship between parents and
children. What is the definition of "LOVE? Love = Seeking the
other person’s highest good, the willingness to lay ones life
down!" That is the best definition of true, Biblical love
that we can ever think of. When we speak of love scripturally of
course, we are not talking about erotic love, or sexual love, or
Hollywood’s view of love, not even what the church calls love (all
miss the mark). But we are rather talking about that God-given
ability to love your neighbor as yourself, which Jesus in His earthly
ministry calls the greatest commandment.
When
you love your neighbor as yourself, what are you really doing? You
are seeking his highest good. Think about that. That has nothing to
do with the physical contact of the hugging and kissing and so forth
that we normally associate with love anymore. But true love is
just simply doing that which will bring about the highest good,
whether it is a neighbor, the good of the nation which we are part of
or our own wife or children. For a moment let’s come back to
the great love chapter in 1Corinthians. You all know the chapter, and
we are not going to read it all, but we do want to read a good
portion of it, because it says it so aptly. We are finding out that
people actually get more out of the Scripture by reading than what we
say, and that is as it should be. We want people to literally let the
Word of God itself speak to them, and not necessarily me. Now look
what the Word says in verse 1. This is Paul speaking through the
ontological essence of Christ's Spirit within him. It might be said
that this is the only way that ant steward of this Gospel is to
speak, by revelation. Here is another question, does your pastor,
teacher speak in this way? Think on this.
1Corinthians
13:1
"Though
I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity,
(love) I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal."
Sort of like rattling a rock in a tin can. That is all we
are if love does not promote it.
1Corinthians
13:2
"And
though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and
all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove
mountains, and have not charity, (love) I am nothing."
As
we read these verses, we can’t help but remember the letter to the
Church at Ephesus back there in the book of Revelation. And what was
the admonition? Oh they had everything up to snuff, their doctrine
was right, their works were right, but what was the Church at Ephesus
lacking? Their first love! And it is the same way today, we do not
care how skilled we are in the Scripture, we do not care how faithful
we are in attending our particular Church and all these things, if
there is no love behind it, then forget it, because it is like
nothing. Its just become the habit of some. They even feel conviction
if they miss any church event and especially a Sunday service, that
ritualism and that is idolatry in practice.
1Corinthians
13:3
"And
though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my
body to be burned, and have not charity, (love) it
profiteth me nothing."
That
is strong language and a lot of times we do not think about it in
this light. But unless we have this ability to seek the other persons
highest good, and out of the motive that has God-given, then it is
totally for nothing. And that is what Paul warned the Hebrews of and
the churches of becoming. But because many shun Paul's kingdom of
Faith in Grace Gospel they remain in darkness and sin.
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