Sunday, June 16, 2013 am
Qualities of a Pure Heart - 7
·
Determination –
undivided, prioritized and resolve
·
Development – integrity,
patience, humility and contentment
·
Result - Kindness,
dignity and confidence
a.
Defined – in Greek there
are at least four words translated as love in our English language.
2 of them are used in the NT (agape and phileo).
Phileo is associated with affection and kindness for another.
The word we want to focus on in this lesson is the Greek word
agape.
“to have love for someone or something, based on sincere appreciation,
loving concern.” (L&N 25:43)
Thayer defines it, “to love, to be full of good will, to exhibit the
same.”
Vine’s describes it as “the characteristic word of Christianity.
Whenever this term is used in a list, it is always presented in a
position of prominence (first - Gal. 5:22-23, last - 2 Pet. 1:7, Col.
3:12-14 – above all these things put on love)
A practical definition
is, caring enough to sacrifice for
what is best. The
emphasis is an attitude of caring about others more than your own
desires.
It is the motive that governs our conduct in every relationship – the
love of God and Jesus toward us (john 3:16, 15:13, Eph. 5:2), our love
toward them (Mark 12:30-31, 1 John 4:19), our love of one another as
brethren (John 13:34), our family (Eph. 5:25-33), our neighbors (Gal.
5:14, Jas. 2:8) and even our enemies (Matt. 5:43-44).
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
describes this love. WE have
alluded to this passage throughout our study.
In this text we are told, love
i.
Suffers long – is
patient; Is kind – discussed last week; does not envy - content, does
not parade itself, is not puffed up -
humility; does not behave rudely – dignity;
Does not seek its own – it is unselfish – it cares about others and even
places their interests above our own.
ii.
Is not provoked – as a
part of dignified behavior, what this expression is actually saying is
that one does not lose his temper.
Thinks no evil – love does not assume the worst in a situation.
We give the benefit of the doubt.
iii.
Does not rejoice in
iniquity, but rejoices in truth – godly love doesn’t want to be involved
in ungodliness and does not endorse it in any way.
Instead, a pure heart will rejoice whenever God’s will prevails.
iv.
Bears all things,
believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things – this again
is a process of one who wants the best in circumstances and will even
endure wrongdoing if it accomplishes good.
v.
Love never fails – you
cannot quit loving. You may
find yourself in a situation where you have to break fellowship with
someone, give up friends and loved ones, but you don’t stop loving them.
I think of Jesus on that cross – you CANNOT out-love Him!
b.
Love must come from a
pure heart –
i.
IF you have a pure
heart, this love is going to manifest itself.
You will find your outlook on life is not so much about what you
want, but determining what is best (not just good or better).
An examination of the qualities we have studies shows how they
will lead to this.
ii.
The importance of this
love is seen in 1 Cor. 13:1-3 – notice the significance of love in what
we do. Our accomplishments
are meaningless without love.
This demonstrates the need for a pure heart.
c.
Consider the following
passages in dealing with love and our heart
i.
Matt. 22:37 –
you shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, soul and mind.
ii.
Col 2:2 speaks of hearts
being encouraged, “being knit
together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of
understanding,…”
iii.
2 Thess. 3:5 – “Now
may the Lord direct your hearts into the Love of God and into the
patience of Christ.” It
was Paul’s desire that our hearts lead us to loving God as we ought to.
iv.
2 Tim. 2:22 – “Flee
also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with
those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”
Love is one of the pursuits of
the pure heart.
v.
1 Pet. 1:22, “Since
you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in
sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure
heart,”
vi.
Rom. 5:5 – “Now
hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in
our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
Why do we have hope?
Because we have the love of God in our hearts.
The love OF God, which we have noted in several passages could
mean, the Love God has demonstrated to us OR it could mean our love FOR
God. Both are true and they
complement one another.
Consider 1 John 4:19, “We love Him because He first loved us.”
vii.
2 Tim. 1:7 – a spirit of
love
d.
That pure hearts are the
motivation behind love is also seen in numerous passages that describe
how love governs our lives.
i.
Rom. 12:9 – “Let love be
without hypocrisy. Abhor
what is evil. Cling to what
is good.”
ii.
1 Cor. 8:1 – “Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.”
The word “edify” means
to build up. (L&N, 74:15) in
this verse says the word means, “To increase the potential of someone or
something, with focus upon the process involved.”
In scripture the term is always used in reference to spiritual
strengthening, rather than social causes.
When we have a pure heart, our interest in our brethren will
prompt us to seek to build them up.
iii.
1 Cor. 16:14 – “Let
all that you do be done with love.”
It is NOT just some things, but ALL.
Love is the motive behind our actions.
Imagine the unity that could be achieved if we all acted with
love.
iv.
Gal. 5:13 “For
you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as
an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”
v.
Col. 3:14 – “But
above all these things put on love, the bond of perfection.”
What are the “things” Paul is speaking of?
Co. 3:12-13, “Therefore, as
the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness,
humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and
forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even
as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.”
vi.
2 Pet. 1:7 – the
pinnacle of Christian growth in faith.
We have appealed to these verses throughout this study.
Gal. 5:22-23 – fruit of the Spirit it is listed first.
a.
By loving God –
more than once we are called upon to love God.
This becomes obvious when we consider His love for us.
Again, I appeal to 1 John 4:19.
But what we need to remember about this love is that is not purely
emotional. It is a RESPONSE
to His love.
HOW do we love God?
John 15:9-10,
“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide
in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just
as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”
John 14:15,”If you love
Me, keep My commandments.”
1 John 5:3, “By
this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep
His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His
commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” (2 John 6)
b.
By loving others
– we have already see that this love is at the foundation of every
relationship we are involved in.
That too is emphasized in scripture.
Matt. 22:39 – the second commandment (second only to loving God)
is to love your neighbor as yourself.
John 13:35, Jesus
expresses that this is how the world knows that we are His disciples, “if
we have love for one another.”
Rom. 13:8-10 – owe no one anything except this love.
IT is the fulfillment of the law, including your neighbor.
1 Pet. 4:8, we are to
have fervent love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.
This is not saying that love automatically overlooks sin.
Rather it is saying that love will prompt us to NOT sin and to
take actions to overcome sins in our lives and that of others.
It will also PREVENT a number of sins involved in mistreating
each other.
c.
Forgiveness –
this is actually covered in the above point, but it is worthy of special
attention. When our heart is
pure, we are not going to hate others, even our enemies.
And whenever we have the opportunity to forgive, we will! NOT
just the deserving, but all.
Jesus was pretty frank about this when He said, “For
if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither
will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:14–15)
This does not mean that one does not need to seek to make amends,
but it does describe the attitude of the godly – he WANTS to forgive,
like the father when the prodigal son returned home (Luke 15:11-31).
He was waiting for him (vs. 20-24).
Jesus said that our forgiveness must BY FAR outdo that of the world –
(Matt. 18:21-22- 70x7; Luke 17:3-4 – 7 times in a day)
Col. 3:13, forgiving one another even as Christ forgave you.
Eph. 4:32.