Walking in the Truth: Notes from Sunday School

These notes and reflective thoughts are intended for members of our Friends and Family Sunday School class to stay connected with God through studying His Word in the event of absence from actual Sunday School worship time. The ideas and flow of the lesson comes out of Life Way's Master Work Series. Please provide comments.

On Sunday we continued our study in John Piper's Desiring God; this week's lesson focused on Love, the Labor of a Christian Hedonist. Reading Piper is such a blessing, but is equally challenging. He pushes us to first and foremost engage with God's Word, to find joy in the presence of our savior, to have all of Him. We began the lesson with a recap of Piper's thesis up to this point in the study: "If you Come to God dutifully offering Him the reward of your fellowship instead of thirsting after the reward of His fellowship then you exalt yourself above God as His benefactor and belittle Him as a need beneficiary--and that is evil" (111). Read that statement again. Now, read it a second time. Let it sink in. Let it melt all over you. I pray that we as a class seek him because of His all-sufficiency, because of the fullness of joy in His presence, because of Him, because of the pleasures at His right hand (Psalm 16:11).

Heretofore, we have dealt with the vertical of Christian Hedonism (and remember that Christian Hedonism is simply--and I realize there really isn't anything simple about this study--defined as delighting in God, our source of joy and pleasure)--our relationship with the sovereign God of the universe. On Sunday we shift focus to the horizontal, our relationship with believers and non-believers.

When you think of trademarks, what comes to mind? Some of the more popular? Google, Mercedes Benz, Polo, Izod, Wilson Sporting Goods, Starbucks (my favorite), Apple, etc. What is the purpose of trademarks? The make the product or band visible, noticeable, identifiable. Tony Evans, in his book of illustrations, says "God has sent forth something as irrefutable evidence that we are close to Him--an irrefutable test by which we can measure our own spiritual growth. In fact, so awesome is this trademark of God that He said it would be the major declaration of our faith." (John 13:35). Jesus put it this way. He said, “By this shall men know that you are my disciples, that you love one another.” I also address this 'badge of a believer in an earlier blog post on our right and only response to God's Love. To examine this "mark," read the following three passages. I have provided a brief statement following each one (these notations come from Life Application Bible, NIV). John 13:34-35. Christ presented here a new standard: It is a sacrificial love modeled after His love and it is produced through the New Covenant by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 13:8-10. We are commanded to love other Christians and non-Christians. If we truly love our neighbor--anyone with whom we have contact--see Luke 10:24-37--we will only do what is in the best interest of him, and will find pleasure and joy in doing so. 1 John 3:11. Love is a command, not merely an optional duty for someone claiming to be a Christian, but proof positive that one truly has been born again.

Piper begins with a focus on Paul's writings in 1 Corinthians 13:5. The NASB translates this verse as "love does not seek its own." Also, Romans 15:1-3 reads, "We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: 'The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.'" It seems pretty simple: Love is not boastful, or proud, or selfless, right? It seeks not the good of self, but the good of others. Then Piper says that "the pursuit of pleasure is an essential motive for every good deed." (112). Come again? In essence, love is the pursuit of pleasure, he says. Now, I have to do a double take. So, can we enjoy being loving? Can we find pleasure in loving? Should we find pleasure in being loving? The answer is a resounding "Yes!" Listen to what Micah 6:8 says: "He has told you, O man, what is good;And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness , And to walk humbly with your God? (emphasis added)." Notice that, "to love kindness". The NIV translates it "to love mercy." Piper writes, "In other words, the command is not just to do acts of mercy, but to delight to be merciful or to want to be merciful. if you love being merciful, how can you keep from satisfying your own desire in doing acts of mercy?" (113).

When you think of instances of being loving, what comes to mind? Perhaps, giving a meal, sending a word of encouragement, offering praise for a job well done, mowing the yard of a neighbor who is unable to, random acts of kindness, giving gifts, etc. So, what do we gain when we demonstrate acts of love? Remember 1 Corinthians 13:5 says that "love doesn't seek its own," or as Jonathan Edwards puts it, love does not seek its own "private good." Is there a gain? Are there right gains, wrong gains? Notice that Paul writes in v. 3 of 1 Corinthians: "If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing." What does he imply? If actions committed without love gain nothing, then certainly, actions done in love gain something.Those that are done in wrong motives are those actions that seek self interest, or the private good as Edwards notes; but the gain of loving actions done with the right motivation is "joy." Notice what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:6--"Love . . . rejoices in the truth." Piper says, " love is not a bare choice or mere act. It involves the affections . . . .to rejoice in an act is to get joy from it." (114-115). Read 1 Corinthians 10:24 ("Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others") and 1 Corinthians 10:33 ("even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved").Before Paul writes that "love does not seek its own", he writes the above two verses. Piper returns his commentary to Romans 15:1-3 when he writes, "we should not please ourselves, but instead should please our neighbor for his good, to edify him. . . . Paul doesn't mean we shouldn't seek the joy of edifying others, but that we should let this joy free us from bondage to private pleasures that make us indifferent to the good of others. Love does not seek its own private limited joy but instead seeks its own joy in the good--the salvation and edification--of others" (115-116).

What do the following people groups have in common: Snotty cashiers, unkind spouse, rebellious child, bitter family member, sharp-tongued, church gossip, irresponsible friend, self-ingratiating coworker? They are unlovable. So, how can we love like God loves these people? We must seek the good of others; rejoicing in their salvation; edifying and building them up. If we joyfully love in these moments, then we "are learning the brushstrokes of God's love" as David Jeremiah writes in his book, Signs of Life 232). Jeremiah 9:24 declares,

"But those who wish to boast
should boast in this alone:
that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord
who demonstrates unfailing love
and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth,
and that I delight in these things.
I, the Lord, have spoken!

God loves because he delights to love. So, what does that mean for us? We too should delight in Love.

What does it take to perform loving actions for someone? Is the act and feeling of love a choice? What does it take to really feel genuine love for others? This kind of love can only be expressed if first we receive the Love of the master in our hearts by confessing our sins and declaring Him Lord and savior; then we must by an act of the will allow the Spirit to work His transforming power in our hearts; only then can we express and show Jesus’s love and compassion to others. What does 1 John 4:7-8 say? We are able to love because God first loved us. God is love and love comes from God. The original conveys the idea of making sure that love is an habitual practice--clearly as John has written before (1 John 2:10-11; 3:14), those who are born again will assuredly exhibit the characteristic habit of love. David Jeremiah writes in Signs of Life, “When we have God’s love in us, He loves people through us: (232).

Let's examine a biblical model of this kind of joyful, love that all Christians should emulate. Read 2 Corinthians 8:1-5,8. In this example of the Macedonian church, how were they able to give even though it was a sacrifice for them to give? It was a work of divine grace--the willingness was a gift of God. Notice that in a few verses later Paul writes in verses 16-17, "I thank God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you. For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative." This verse speaks of God's gift and our willingness to give. What did the Macedonians gain for their loving kindness, actions? Look at verse 2: out of their trial, rose up an overflow of joy and rich generosity. They even want to give more, for they begged Paul for the opportunity. But pay attention to verse 5--they first gave themselves to the Lord in total surrender and submission. Wow!!!

Love enjoys service; love enjoys loving. The biblical concept of love and the thesis of this entire week's study is “Love is the overflow of joy in God that gladly meets the needs of others" (131).

To put this in practice and to demonstrate that this joyful love is also costly, our Friends and family Sunday School class concluded Sunday with a study of three examples: Hebrews 10:32-35, Hebrews 11:24-26, and Hebrews 12:1-2. In your quiet time this week, read through these verses thoroughly and reflect upon how these examples demonstrated not only the biblical concept of love state above but also the costliness of this kind of love.

Piper says that "we double our delight in God as we expand it in the lives of others" (141)

I want to conclude with this statement about love, service, the horizontal and vertical:

A.T. Pierson wrote in The Truth: "Whatever is done for God, without respect of its comparative character as related to other acts, is service, and only that is service. Service is, comprehensively speaking, doing the will of God. He is the object. All is for Him, for His sake, as unto the Lord, not as unto man. Hence, even the humblest act of humblest disciple acquires a certain divine quality by its being done with reference to Him.

The supreme test of service is this: 'For whom am I doing this?' Much that we call service to Christ is not such at all....If we are doing this for Christ, we shall not care for human reward or even recognition. Our work must again be tested by three propositions: Is it work from God, as given us to do from Him; for God, as finding in Him its secret of power; and with God, as only a part of His work in which we engage as co-workers with Him."

"The command is to love. The reward is to become like the one who loves" (Piper, Desiring God 138)

Next Week's lesson: Scripture: The Kindling for the Christian Hedonist