Covenant Series

Love: The Foundation of Covenant

Scripture:

John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Introduction:

Father God is the initiator of the covenant we have with Him. He establishes the terms and conditions of the agreement and since He is all about love, the relationships we have with one another is supported by the spirit of love. God is looking for true expressions of love in His people. We are family, committed to one another, and a true covenant relationship destroys all dissention.

I. As children of God, in covenant with Him and each other, love motivates us to make every meeting of the Church a love feast.

I Corinthians 14:26 “How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.”

A. Once we understand covenant, everything we do will be based on the foundation of love.

B. God has gifted each of us with something very valuable to the rest of the body.

Romans 12:4-10 “For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.  6Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; 8he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. 9Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;”

1. Every mention of ministry is followed by an exhortation to brotherly love.

2. Every mention of ministry is about giving what you have in each and every service,

3. We need to spend time before God in regard to every service we are about to attend in order to know what we are to bring to build up our brothers and sisters.

II. The greatest soul winning tactic is a true demonstration of love.

A. Do we love people or love having notches on our evangelism belt?

B. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

C. As God’s covenant people we reach out with the same love that He has bestowed upon us.

Matthew 5:43-48 ““You have heard that it was said, ‘you shall love your neighbor £ and hate your enemy.’  4£But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,  45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.  46For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47And if you greet your £brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the £tax collectors do so?  48Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

1. Holiness is the desire to do God's will so much that we seek to please him in every area of our lives.

2. Jesus’ exhortation to love flies in the face of the religious attitude of the day to “hate the children of darkness”. (Isn’t this attitude still prevalent in religious circles today?)

3. Corrie ten Boom, who had lost most of her family in a Nazi concentration camp, often lectured on grace. But one day a man who came to shake her hand after such a talk turned out to be a former prison guard. Only by asking God to love through her did she find the grace to take his hand and offer him Christian forgiveness.

4. From a sermon by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Nov. 17, 1957 in Montgomery, Alabama)

Certainly these are great words, words lifted to cosmic proportions. And over the centuries, many persons have argued that this is an extremely difficult command. Many would go so far as to say that it just isn’t possible to move out into the actual practice of this glorious command. They would go on to say that this is just additional proof that Jesus was an impractical idealist who never quite came down to earth. So the arguments abound. But far from being an impractical idealist, Jesus has become the practical realist. The words of this text glitter in our eyes with a new urgency. Far from being the pious injunction of a utopian dreamer, this command is an absolute necessity for the survival of our civilization. Yes, it is love that will save our world and our civilization, love even for enemies.

Also from this sermon:

Another way that you love your enemy is this: When the opportunity presents itself for you to defeat your enemy, that is the time which you must not do it. There will come a time, in many instances, when the person who hates you most, the person who has misused you most, the person who has gossiped about you most, the person who has spread false rumors about you most, there will come a time when you will have an opportunity to defeat that person. It might be in terms of a recommendation for a job; it might be in terms of helping that person to make some move in life. That’s the time you must not do it. That is the meaning of love. In the final analysis, love is not this sentimental something that we talk about. It’s not merely an emotional something. Love is creative, understanding goodwill for all men. It is the refusal to defeat any individual. When you rise to the level of love, of its great beauty and power, you seek only to defeat evil systems. Individuals who happen to be caught up in that system, you love, but you seek to defeat the system.

5. We will have to learn to see others the way Jesus sees them if we are to live by this covenant principle.

III. This foundation to the covenant is all about “on earth as it is in heaven”.

Matthew 7:12 “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

A. Love is:

1 Corinthians 13:4-10 RSV "Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away."

B. Love brings increase into your life.

Luke 6:36-38 "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back."

C. It’s time to dwell in covenant blessing.

Mark 12:29-31 “29Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ £ £This is the first commandment. 31And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ £ There is no other commandment greater than these.”