05-26-2019 – Keith Cozort – Love In Its Variations (PM Sermon)

Certainly grateful for your presence this evening, You will notice that Cheryl is not here for those of you who had not heard already. She is headed to Michigan in order to surprise her mother for her birthday this week. And so she’s going to be up there until Friday and then heading back to where she can be home on Saturday. So certainly ask you to remember her in your prayers as she is traveling.

And she is Spending the night tonight in Springfield, Illinois, with our oldest son, Adam and his family worshiping with them this evening. And then she’ll be taking off early tomorrow morning to go the rest of the way to Michigan. But that’s the plan so far It’s evening. I want us to talk about love. We’ve made mentioned at various times how that We have one word,

basically one word that we use and we speak of it as love in the Greek language of which the new Testament was written. There were actually four different words that were used, and yet all four of those are translated into our English version as the word love, but they carry with them different ideas as it relates toward the subject of love. In first Corinthians chapter 13,

sometimes we call this the love chapter because Paul deals extensively with love in this chapter, even though it’s in the context of the miraculous gifts, but he says in the last verse of that 13th chapter and now a byte of faith, hope and charity, or love these three, but the greatest of these is love. When you think concerning the word love,

we often think of it as having a strong affection for or attachment to, or even devotion to a person place or thing. It implies ed intense fondness, a deep devotion towards something or someone. And it may apply also to various relationships in various objects. And so I’ve used the illustration that you hear people say, I love my wife. I love my dog.

I love my house. I love my cat. I love my children. I love my pizza. I love and on and on it goes well, are they trying to say they love their wife as much as they love their pizza. There are some families where that’s true. I know it is, but generally that’s not. We think of, or I love my wife as much as I love my cat or my dog or something such as that.

Well, there are different degrees of love and different ideas as it relates toward the subject of love. And those are some of the things I want us to think about this evening. We’re going to begin. First of all, with marital love the love between a husband and wife. This is certainly supposed to be the strongest emotion, human affection that there is for us today.

The relationship, the love between a husband and a wife, Paul in Ephesians chapter five speaks concerning this again, extensively because he’s going to use the husband and wife relationship to show the relationship between Christ the church, the bride of Christ. And so Paul says in Ephesians chapter five beginning in verse 22 wives submit yourselves under your own husbands as unto the Lord for the husband is the head of the wife,

even as Christ is the head of the church. And he is the savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ. So let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands love your wives. Even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word that he might present it to himself,

a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be Holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself for no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it. Even as the Lord, the church for we are members of his body,

of his flesh and of his bones for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife. And they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular. So love his wife, even as himself and the wife see that she reverends her husband.

I find it extremely curious as to why the apostle Paul spends so much time speaking on the subject of love as it relates towards husband and wife, Paul, wasn’t married. As far as we know, he never was married, never will be married, and yet he speaks extensively on this. And so he’s not speaking from experience. He is speaking by inspiration,

of course, and speaking concerning this relationship, this love that husbands are to have for their wives, wives are to have for their husbands as well. Collagen’s chapter three. And in verse 19, Paul says, husbands love your wives and be not bitter against them. How many marriages have we seen where the husband and wife so deeply in love when they first get married?

And then after a few months, or a few years they’re fighting like cats and dogs stop considering one another, the way that they should husbands love your wives, be not bitter against them. Paul says. And then when he writes to Titus and Titus chapter two, remember that he is instructing Titus concerning those things that the older men are supposed to do.

Those things, the older women are supposed to do beginning with verse three and the older women are to teach the younger women verse four. And he States there that the older women are to teach the younger women to be sober, to love their husbands and to love their children. And so again, the point is being made that this kind of love is not that which automatically comes natural.

It is something that is taught to love. A husband, love a wife, the way that they should, and the older women are to teach the younger women concerning this. The word that’s used here in all of these places for love is the word of God Bay AGA<inaudible>. And it carries with it, the idea of to hold in extreme value and esteem,

to feel, or to manifest genuine concern for and to be faithful towards. And so one who a man who truly loves his wife, the way that Paul talks about, and a woman who truly loves her husband is one whose puts the con consideration and the concerns of the other person ahead of themselves. It is the highest of all kinds of love. And yet it is narrow and it is restricted in that.

It is the love between a husband and a wife. No one else can match with that kind of love that is to be had between the husband and the wife. Then there is parental love. Parental love the love of a parent toward a child. And again, here in Titus chapter two, backing up to verse three. Paul says the aged women,

likewise, that they be in behavior has become a holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine teachers of good things that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste keepers at home, good obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed,

but in the very same verse that he says to teach the younger women to love their husbands. He also says teach them to love them children, which again, shows that a love for child is not something that just automatically comes. We know that to be the case. All you have to do is to look at the number of abortions we have in our country,

let alone around the world every single day, just because a, a young lady or a woman conceives a child doesn’t mean she automatically loves that child. Many of them have no consent consideration, no concern for that child is all at all. And so we see this also played out. When you go back to first Kings chapter three, remember this is where Solomon has just become King.

And we have these two women that come before him. They are harlots. They lived together in the same house. Both of them are pregnant and the one gives birth to her son. And then a few days later, the other gives birth to her son. And the second one, we are told that she lay overlaid on her child and therefore he suffocated to death.

And as a result of that, when she realized what had happened, she switched the babies so that she now had the live one and the other woman had the dead one. And so the woman that is the mother of the live one comes to Solomon and says, she claims that this is her child, but it’s not it’s mine. And she’s the one that has replaced the children.

And so Solomon says, bring this order. And he says, we’ll just divide the child. And each of them can have half. And the true mother says, no, let her have the child don’t harm him. And the other mother says, yes, go ahead. Do it. That’ll be fine. Well, Solomon knows automatically which one the real mother is.

And he gives the child to the real mother. This one, it was a demonstration of Solomon’s wisdom, certainly, but it also demonstrated concerning that parental love that this mother had for her child. And the lack of love that the other woman had for the very same child is it’s a deep and generous love. It’s full of pity and compassion. But again,

it is narrow and restricted in that it’s love for one’s own children. Thirdly, there is Filio love. Filio love the love of a son or a daughter to a parent or parents. This love is still that, which is rooted in the heart. And it is one that has such care and compassion for one’s parents that they are willing to, to provide and to take care of those parents.

Even in there older years, Jesus says in Matthew chapter 15, verses one through nine Matthew records then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem saying, why do the disciples transgress the traditions of the tradition of the elders for they wash not their hands when they eat bread, but he answered and said unto them, why do he also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition for God commanded saying honor,

thy father and mother. And he, the curses father and mother let him die the death. But ye say whosoever shall say to his father, his mother, it is a gift by whatsoever though. It might as be profited by me and honor not his father or his mother. He shall be free. Thus, have you made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition?

Ye hypocrites. Well, did his ASMR prophesied of you saying this people draw nigh unto me with their mouth and honor with me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, but in vain they do worship me teaching for doctrines, the commandments of men here, we have the scribes and the Pharisees that come to accuse Jesus, actually they’re accusing his disciples,

but accusing his disciples of transgressing, the tradition of the elders, because they don’t wash their hands for a ceremonial cleansing before they eat. And Jesus says, well, why do you transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? And he demonstrates how they are doing that in that you have those who are children of parents and they are telling their parents, I’m sorry,

I can’t help you. I can’t support you in your old age because I’ve dedicated everything under the Lord. And therefore there’s nothing left for me to give to you or to help you when you’re in need. Even though we learn in other plants, other places, the history, yeah, the Jews, as it relates toward these things, how that they could use it for themselves.

And that would be fine, but they couldn’t use it to help a parent. Therefore he calls them hypocrites and such. They were, but there is this filial love, the love that children are to have their parents. And it is a love that is, is filled with admiration for them. Those that brought them into the world and cared for them,

tended for them and their growing up years and they’re years of, of need because they couldn’t provide for themselves. And now it comes time for them to reciprocate to their parents kind of love again, is narrow. And it is, it is the love of a child to a parent. And it is so devastating to read of these children who are separated from their parents at birth or shortly after birth because of the necessity of the parent.

And yet they will end up many of them carrying around this hatred within themselves, that they didn’t have that parental love from their own. It’s called rad R a D. But it is devastating with those children so many times because they didn’t have that kind of love. Another kind of love is fraternal love. Fraternal love the love between a brother and a brother,

brother, and brother, and church, or brother, brother, and brother, and the family, whichever the case may be, but it is a tender kind of love. It is a considerate kind of love. It is compassionate. It is companionable. And it is also an exclusive kind of love. When you turn to Genesis chapter 45 verses one through eight,

there you read concerning the love that Joseph had for his brothers. How that he, at this point, he is going to make himself known to his brothers. And yet he knows what they did do. He knows how they treated him. He knows their reaction toward him in that they hate he did him. They were even willing to put him to death.

They talked about it. Fortunately, they didn’t try to do it. And yet now after several years have passed, when he reveals himself under them, they are a gas. They cannot believe that it’s actually Joseph. He asked to assure them of the fact that it’s really me. And I know that you did this as far as selling me into slavery,

that you did it because of your hatred toward me. But actually God did it for saving of our people, including you. And therefore he does not hold it against them concerning that he has this brotherly kind of love. And it is that which is exclusive two brothers. Then there’s the Christian Love. Okay? The love that arises from the heart of a Christian toward others.

It flows two directions. It flows up to God and it flows outward to all mankind. Jesus said, John 14, verse 15. If you love it, let me keep my commandments. Hey, we demonstrate the love that we have for God is by keeping his commandments. If we’re not willing to keep his commandments, that we did not really love God,

we do not really love Christ. And that’s the very point that he is making. And therefore the love this Christian Love flows upward to God, the father and the son and the Holy spirit, but upward to God. But then also it goes outward to mankind much like when Matthew chapter 22 and beginning with verse 34, where the lawyer comes to Jesus and asks,

what is the greatest commandment? Matthew says when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him and saying master, which is the great commandment of the law. Jesus said unto him, thou shall love the Lord, thy God,

with all that heart, with all thy soul and with all thy mind, this is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it. DATIA love thy neighbor as thyself on these two commandments, hang all the law and the prophets. And so this kind of love is that, which is a love for God to put God first in one’s life.

To love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength as Luke would say. But then also the second greatest commandment Jesus says is to love your neighbor as yourself. And remember in another place, he will show to them the neighbor by the good Samaritan, being a neighbor to one who was a Jew, even though he’s despised by the Jews,

yet he is willing to show kindness to this Jew because he is in need when others would not even do that. Jesus demonstrates this love of those who belong to him. Those who are a part of the body of Christ, even though the church is not in existence at this particular time, yet it is going to be descriptive of those who are going to make up the church in having this kind of love.

In first, John chapter four in verses 20 and 21, the apostle John says, if a man say, I love God and hated his brother, he is a liar for he, that loveth not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment have we from him that he who love with God love his brother.

Also there is to be this kind of love and it is to be known and, and demonstrated that it really does exist between one another, between brethren in John chapter 13, verses 34 and 35 Here. Jesus says a new commandment. I give unto you that you love one another. As I have loved you, that you also love one another by this shall all men know that you’re my disciples.

If you have love one to another. And so this love is to be spread out to one another as brethren, but also it’s not limited just to that. This kind of love is broad and it’s unrestrained unrestricted. That of Christian Love. Finally, there is divine love. Divine love the love that God has for mankind. Jesus says John three verse 16 for God.

So loved the world that he gave. His only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. You see God demonstrated his love for mankind because he gave Jesus to come and to die on that cross for us, the demonstration of that greatest of all kinds of love. And again, when the apostle John writes in first,

John chapter four, this time in verses seven through 11, John again speaks concerning this. When he says beloved, let us love. One another for love is of God and everyone that loveth is born of God and North God. He that loveth not North. Not God for God is love in. This was manifested the love of God toward us because that God sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through him here in his love.

Not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved. If God so loved us, we also to love one another. And so John is emphasizing again, concerning this love that is to be had here and how that it is as Jesus says, a new commandment. And it is such that Paul will even speak of it in Romans chapter five,

verses seven and eight. That while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. See, he didn’t just die for the saved. He died for everyone, but only the saved, received the benefits of his death upon the cross. When you think concerning God’s love as it relates toward what the scriptures teach of us, we find that God’s love suffers or in doers,

mankind, man, sins that God’s love gives to a man, both those who are righteous and those who are not righteous, it elevates those that are righteous and striving to be righteous anyway, but also, as we noted this morning in our Bible class from revelation, chapter three here, John Jesus, through the apostle, John says in verse 19, as many as I love,

I rebuke and chasten be zealous, therefore, and repent Jesus. It says those that deity loves. He rebukes for doing what is wrong and chastens, or punishes those in order to get them back on the right track. But he does it because he loves us. He does it, is it because he cares for us. He does it because he’s concerned for each and every one of us.

And so this love is that, which is broad in scope. And it extends to all men kind love. Do we exhibit these kinds of love? Now the divine love, of course we can’t exhibit, but do we exhibit the other kinds of love? Do we exhibit the marriage? The love parental love filial love, fraternal love Christian Love. Well, of course we can exhibit marital love.

If we’re not married, we can’t exhibit parental love. If we’re not parents, we can’t exhibit feely love. If we’re not. If we don’t have siblings, brothers, sisters, we can’t exhibit Christian Love if we’re not a Christian. But if we fall into any of those categories, is that the demonstration of love that God expects for us to show. Of course we know God exhibits divine love always has will without failure with it.

Yes. We see how deficient our word love really is. He is because there are least four different terms in the Greek language. As we stated at the very beginning to, to express these different kinds of love. They’re not all the same. The love that one has for his mate, his husband or his wife is not the same as the love that one has for his children.

And yet, unfortunately I’ve heard parents and probably you have as well who have stated that their children are the most important thing in there. Well, the emphasis is wrong is to be the most important thing in their life. As far as the physical love is concerned, but ultimately their love for God is to be the greatest of all kinds of love. So many times we’ve just simply rearranged things as it relates toward love,

taking things completely out of character and out of kilter. We need to be those who are willing to love the way the Bible speaks of love. And as the apostle Paul brings out in first Corinthians chapter 13, verses four through eight love is an action word. It’s not just an emotion though. That’s what everybody tries to tell us today. And therefore,

if you don’t have the emotion in your heart, you don’t really love somebody. That’s not true at all. The love that we are to have as a husband and wife and those other relationships to different degrees is a love that seeks to do for others to help others, to assist them in the various ways and avenues of their life. It is that which is demonstrated.

It’s not just an emotion and yet in our world today, everybody is just concentrating upon the emotion. The emotion may be good, but it may not be good. And oftentimes it’s not good. And therefore people give up wrong answer. That means you have to work even harder in order to keep things the way that you desire them. You want them to be.

And in order to be what God would have you to be. If your one is outside the body of Christ this evening, our emphasis, this of course, as always that we must put the word of God first and we must do what the word of God teaches in order to be right with him. And in order to become a Christian, you have to do what God says do or else it’s just not going to work no matter what anybody else says,

no matter what anybody else teaches. Jesus teaches that one must hear the word and believe it, John six, verse 45. That one must believe that word. Mark 16, verse 16. Then one must be willing to repent acts two verse 38. Then one must be willing to confess their faith in Christ before men, Matthew chapter 10, verse 32,

and then one must be baptized. Be immersed in water in order to have his sins washed away in order to be saved. Mark 16, verse 16 X 22, verse 16. If you’re needing to do that, we plead with you to do it before it is eternally too late. If you’re already a member of the body of Christ, and yet you’ve brought reproach upon the church,

we plead with you to repent of that. Pray to God for forgiveness and begin again, walking in the way of righteousness so that you can be found faithful in this life. Life is over. If we can help you, please will you come as we stand and as we sing.