I am never more at home or comfortable
or happy than I am studying for the distinct purpose of preaching
the gospel to you and standing here preaching the gospel to
you. And I am never more exhausted with a weary mind And that weary
mind, a weary body becomes quickly. But then when this day is over
and I finished what I'm doing, because this is the weightiest
thing in the world to me. To stand here and speak to you
in the name of God, the word of God. to find and deliver a message
from God for your soul for this hour, something you need. Were you to ask me what is the
most blessed, delightful, the most instructive, the most practical
passage in all the word of God, I would point you to my text
for this evening. Were you to ask me to give you
a single passage by which to regulate your life in every detail
for the glory of God, I would point you to my text. If you
should ask me for a portion of scripture, just one portion of
scripture that would teach you how to live peaceably with yourself
and with others in this world, in your home, and in the church
of God, I would say read Ephesians chapter four, verse 32 through
chapter five and verse two. And that's my text for this evening.
Ephesians 4, 32. I hope I've got your attention.
What we are about to read is the strong meat of the word of
God. Compared with the exhortations
here given, election, predestination, and reprobation are just milk. Here is the strong meat of the
word. Lots of folks who love election,
predestination, and reprobation can't begin to enter into this.
Lots of folks who will debate with you various points of what
they consider deep theological controversy can't begin to enter
into this. I hope I can, and I hope you
can. Ephesians chapter four, verse
32. Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven
you. Be ye therefore followers of
God as dear children. and walk in love, as Christ also
hath loved us and hath given himself for us, an offering and
a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor." Here, the Apostle Paul
adopts the strongest, most persuasive, most reasonable, and most gracious
arguments imaginable, urging us to be kind, tenderhearted,
gracious, forbearing, forgiving, loving in all our relationships
and connections with one another as the sons and daughters of
God Almighty. Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven
you. Be you therefore followers of
God as dear children and walk in love as, as. Here's your pattern, as. Here's the example, as. How are we supposed to love each
other? How are we supposed to forgive each other? How are we
supposed to be kind with one another? As. Christ also hath
loved us and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice
to God for a sweet smelling savor. Here are five gracious exhortations. That's the title of my message.
Five gracious exhortations. Keep your Bibles open on your
lap. The text will be my outline and my message. Believers ought
always to be a blessing to one another. Never a hindrance, never
an offense, but a blessing. We ought always to help and never
hurt. We ought always to encourage
and never discourage. Always to benefit and never injure
one another. We ought to make that the desire
of our hearts, the goal of our lives every day. God, make me
a blessing to those whose lives I touch this day. Not a hindrance,
not a hindrance. Cause me to help them, not to
hurt them. Make me do them good, not harm. We ought always to do so. It
does matter indeed how we live in this world. It matters a great
deal. Someone is always watching. Someone
whose life will be greatly affected by what you do and I do for better
or for worse. Do you want to be a blessing
to other people? Do you want to help others? Do you want to
minister to others to build them up rather than hurting, hindering,
offending, and tearing down, rather than driving people away
from the gospel and Christ and the things of God? Wouldn't you
want to be a magnet to draw folks in rather than push them away?
I want that indeed. and I have five gracious exhortations
God has stuck in my heart this day. I pray he will stick them
in yours as well. Let's look at them one at a time.
Number one, be ye kind one to another. How I love that word
kind. I like to be around kind people
and I want to be kind. The word means good, thoughtful,
courteous, amiable, someone you just like to be around, kind,
kind. To be kind towards someone is
to entertain gracious thoughts regarding them, to look pleasantly
upon them, to speak favorably about them and to speak kindly
to them to mutually serve them for good. That's what it is to
be kind. Let me remind you of three very
clear examples, illustrations of this kindness to which we
are urged here in the life of our Savior himself. In John chapter
13, that which is perhaps most familiar to you of the three,
our Lord Jesus took a bowl of water and a towel and girded
himself. That is, he just wrapped a towel
around his waist and took a bowl of water. And he went to his
disciples who had been walking along the dusty roads and hot
day, and he knelt down and washed their feet. Nobody asked him to. He washed
their feet. He did for them that which was
soothing, comforting, refreshing, and cooling. He did for them
that which most people are not willing to do for others. He
knelt down and washed their feet. He took the place of a servant. Usually, the most despised of
servants would be the servants who would be required to wash
your feet, especially if they were good and dirty. The Lord
Jesus knelt down before those 12 disciples, and by the way,
one of them was Judas. But you don't know who I've got
to deal with. He was dealing with Judas. And he knelt down
and took Judas's feet like a poor despised servant who would be
forced to do something totally contrary to his will and nature. He kindly, graciously stooped
to wash their feet. That man he knew who would betray
him. That man he knew Just a few verses later, you can read about,
go out and betray him. He knelt down and washed his
feet. How come he did that? He was
kind. He was doing something for his
refreshments, for his comforts, something not expected, something
he didn't have to do, being kind. Wonder why he didn't wait till
Judas was gone to do that. Reckon why he included Judas
in that. I think there's a good reason.
We all tend to make excuses for being mean. Well, you don't know
how Merle Hart's been lately. You don't know what I know about
him. And we make excuses for being mean. Our Lord Jesus Christ
takes Judas's foot, puts it in his hands, and washes it, just
like he did Peter's, just like he did James, just like he did
John's, to teach us to be kind one to another. In Mark chapter
14, we have another picture of our redeemer. There is a woman,
a woman who had been a questionable figure at the very least, a woman
of ill repute, a woman who had known many men, a woman out of
whom the Lord had cast seven devils, a woman who everybody
knew were in town and they would have anything to do with her.
She had been saved by God's free grace. The Lord Jesus had washed
her in his blood. He had given her his spirit.
He had given her his grace. And she understood. She of all
the disciples is the only one who seemed to have a clear understanding
that he was about to go and die in her stead and rise again from
the dead. And she brought an alabaster
box of spikenard, very precious and very costly. It was worth
300 pence. That's as much money as somebody
would work, an average working man would make in a year. 300
pence. It was everything she had. And
she brought that alabaster box and broke it, anointing the savior
for his burial. She washed his feet with her
tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head. And Judas
said, Judas said, what a waste. We could have taken that alabaster
box, sold that, and we could have fed poor folks. We could
have fed folks all over the place. We could have taken that money
and done so much. And look at this, it's just a waste. And all the disciples
followed Judas' lead, every one of them. They all began to murmur,
what a waste. Why do y'all reckon she did that? Isn't it amazing how we gang
up on anybody to throw mud at them. Just gang up on them. Look
at what she did. Why do you reckon she did that?
Who would ever think of such a thing? And the master said,
y'all shut up and listen to me. This woman has wrought a good
work on me. She did what she could just for
me. She's anointed me for my bearer
because she understood me and she believes me. She having been
forgiven much, loves much. And the Lord Jesus kindly defended
that woman against folks who could not see what she was doing. And because they could not see
what she was doing, they misunderstood what she was doing and misrepresented
what she was doing to one another. And the master said, y'all leave
her alone. She's wrought a good work on me. And then, uh, you
know about Peter. Oh, brother Peter. All of his weaknesses I identify
with quickly. The Lord Jesus was so kind to
Peter. Peter was called by his grace,
chosen of him, redeemed by him. Peter made to be one of his first
disciples and one of the 12 apostles. And the Lord pulled Peter aside
and he said, Peter, Satan has desired to have you, that he
may sift you as wheat. But I prayed for you, that your
faith fail not. And he said, Peter, not only
has Satan desired to have you that he may sift you his wheat,
I'm gonna let him have you for a while. And he's going to sift
you, but he's going to run you through myself. And before the
night's over, before the rooster crows tomorrow morning twice,
you're gonna deny me three times. Peter said, not me. The Lord
Jesus said, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God,
believe also in me. And Peter went through that night,
cussed three times, denied the Lord Jesus, and the Lord was
kind. He looked at him. I've often just sat for a while
and tried to picture that. What a look. What a look. Some have the idea they looked
at him sternly. Like, boy, you're in for it now.
You know, the look a daddy gives to his child when they're misbehaving,
or used to anyway. My daughter, she always knew
when she was going to get blistered when we got home, because she
got a look. That look that just says, not
here, but as soon as we get home, we'll take care of this. And
she understood that that wasn't the look. Oh, no, that wasn't
a look. Rather, it was the look of kindness,
tenderness of a parent whose child has just injured himself
greatly. The Lord looked at Peter, and
then when he was risen from the dead, he sent special messengers
to Peter. He said, tell Peter I'll meet
him at Galilee, just like I said I would. And then he came to
Peter in kindness and said, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me
more than these? You said you did. Lord, you know
I love you. Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou
me more than these? You said you did. Lord, you know
I love you. Simon, do you really love me
more than these? And Peter was pricked in his
heart because the Lord Jesus in great kindness said to him
the third time in such a way as to reach his heart, now Peter,
do you really love me? And Peter was forced to acknowledge
what he could not acknowledge in the face of all his evil until
the master graciously drew it from him. He said, Lord, you
know all things. You know that I love you. Oh,
what kindness. Be ye kind one to another. Kindness is exactly the opposite
of everything mentioned in verse 31. Let all bitterness and wrath
and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you
with all malice. Bitterness. That's ill will,
oppression, hardness, wrath. That's the heat of emotion that
follows bitterness. You get a hard feeling and then
you just build up, you're full of wrath and anger. Anger, that
comes as a result of the bitterness and wrath. It's the desire to
hurt, the intent to hurt and clamor. It's the outbreaking
of anger and wrath into tumult and strife and division and evil
speaking. That's reproach and slander. I carefully say the evil speaking
includes slander because slander, we have the idea somehow that
slander is to speak falsely evil. Slander is to speak evil of another. Doesn't even matter if it's true,
you don't need to tell it. You don't need to tell it, because
your telling it betrays a false heart in you. Slander, slander,
evil speaking. It's that which arises from a
bitter, resentful heart. So I didn't mean this, I didn't
mean that to be mean. Yeah, you did. Yeah, you did. If it came out mean, that's where
you meant it. If it came out mean, that's where
you meant it. That's how we speak is from our hearts. Malice. Malice is an intent to hurt,
even to destroy. It's the vengeful emotion of
an envious, jealous, bitter heart. Those vile works of the flesh,
Oh my God, I must confess, are as natural to me as drinking
water when I'm thirsty. And Jonathan, they're just as
natural to you. And to you. That's the nature
of fallen, depraved men and women. We who are basically petty, Vindictive
creatures by nature are the fallen sons of Adam. But these wicked,
abominable things ought never to be characteristic of saved
sinners. They're what our fallen nature
is, but we must not indulge them. We ought rather to be kind one
to another. So I just can't help it. I ought
not to say that, but I just can't help it. Somehow or another,
adultery is part of our nature too, but you manage to avoid
that. Murder is part of your nature too, but you manage to
avoid that. Fornication is part of your nature
too, but you manage to avoid committing that. Well, you're
just as well committed if it goes on inside you. No, if it
goes on just inside you, you're the only one who has to live
with it. When it comes out of you, now
I've got to live with it. Other folks got to live with
it. Why don't we make any more effort to control ourselves?
I'll tell you why. Because we treat others with
contempt, whom we know it will cost us nothing to treat with
contempt. They're the only ones. They're
the only ones. Or whom We don't care if they
treat us with contempt. Those are the only ones. Husbands
and wives, sadly, get angry with one another and speak contemptuously
and act contemptuously because they know they can get by with
it. They just know it. They just
know it. Children will treat their parents
that way. If they know, they can get by with it. If they know
they can't, they won't. Somehow they'll manage to control
it. If they know, it's going to cost more than it satisfies.
Contentious behavior. We give only to folks, either
folks who care for us enough that we know it won't cost us,
Our folks we despise enough, we don't care if they cost us. Any argument? That's just the
way it is. God forgive us. Henry Clay once
said, I'd rather be right than be president. Well, I would rather
be kind than be right. I hope I just told you the truth.
I would rather be kind than be right. Kindness is always right. I don't know why we ever question
whether or not we ought to be mean to somebody. I don't care
how vile they are. I don't care how wicked they
are. I don't care what they've done. Kindness is always right. It's always right. Someone once
said, be kind. Remember that everyone you meet
is fighting a hard battle. That's pretty good. Everybody
you meet, everybody you meet going through something that's
just painful and hard and hurting. So be kind, be kind to them. Someone else said kindness is
a language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see. Kindness is the honey that takes
the edge off of another person's bitterness. Kind words are music
in a world of trouble and the surest end to strife. Listen
to this. Solomon said, a soft answer turneth
away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger. A soft answer
turns away wrath. Grievous words stir up anger. You start to talk to, me and
Bill Rollins start to have a discussion about which color paint would
look best with that wall there. And maybe which, what do you
think would look best on that door trim there? And he suggests
this color. And I said, well, I think maybe
this would look better. And he comes back with another reason
to defend his color. And I come back with another to defend mine.
And pretty soon you get in a heated debate. Get in a heated argument
over which color to use. And when we began, it didn't
matter to either of us which color you use. How come? Because we will not back up. We just simply won't bow down
to somebody else's opinion. We won't bow down to somebody
else's will. No other reason. A soft answer turneth away wrath. You think that'd be a better
color? Well, great. Go get something. Let's paint
it. That's the end of it. That's the end of it. But I don't
like that color. What difference does it make? It's just paint.
It's just a piece of wood. What difference does it make?
It's insignificant. It's meaningless. Meaningless
compared to my relationship with Bill Rahler and his to me. Just
meaningless. Just meaningless. When Gideon
had taken his 300 and conquered the Midianites, There was one
tribe in Israel that was not included in all those that Gideon
gathered. And they had been mighty men.
Ephraim. Ephraim had conquered two mighty
armies, two mighty kings. And when Ephraim came, they said,
they said, Gideon, why didn't you take us along? And they were
upset. They were upset. You can read
it in Judges chapters seven and eight. And Gideon said, boy,
how am I going to handle this? I'm mad as a hornet. What am I going to do? Ephraim
said, what was I able to do in comparison of you? I just went to those few little
Midianites, and I had these 300 men with me, and God sent me
on. What was I able to do in comparison with you?" And those
Midianites, listen to Scriptures, or those Ephraimites, then their
anger was abated toward him when he had said that. He just gave
them a soft answer. Boys, I'm sorry to mean to upset
you, but what we were doing nothing compared to what you was doing.
And it's, well, all right, you see, that's okay, that's okay.
Second, be ye tenderhearted. Oh, God, give me a tender heart.
The word means sympathetic, compassionate, full of pity. The word's only
used one other time in the whole Bible, 2 Chronicles 13, verse
seven. And there we're told about Solomon's
son, Rehoboam, He was young and tenderhearted. Rehoboam, the
son of Solomon, the grandson of David, he was young and tenderhearted,
and therefore he could not fight against his enemies. He was just
too young, too tenderhearted to engage in the battle. He just
wasn't inclined to it. He just wasn't inclined to it.
Now, I know we must fight the good fight of faith. We must
contend for the truth. We must defend the honor of God.
I think you know that I know those things. But we must never
become contentious, hard, unmerciful men and women. Never. Paul warned
Timothy, he said, the servant of the Lord. must not strive. He just told him to stand fast.
He said, study the word. He said, be steadfast. Those
things I've taught you, you teach faithful men that they may teach
others. But the servant of the Lord must not strive. Now you're
gonna have to deal with Hymenaeus and Vigellus. You're gonna have
to deal with these devils in human flesh. You're gonna have
to deal with them just like Moses did. You're gonna have to deal
with them just like Elijah did. You're gonna have to deal with them
just like Peter did. You're gonna have to deal with them just like
Paul did. You're gonna have to deal with them. but the servant
of the Lord must not strive. Folks come to you asking you
foolish questions, just smile and say, yeah, okay. Just leave
them alone, just leave them alone. I have folks meet me at the door
after I get done preaching all over the place. And you know,
you feel like maybe you've said something important. maybe about
the death of Christ, the glory of God, and I understand that
you believe y'all use wine at the Lord's table. Huh? Why do y'all use unleavened bread?
Why do y'all have multiple cups? Stupid things, by comparison. And I said, well, yeah, we do
use several cups. See you tomorrow. Just leave
it alone, just leave it alone. But be patient, instructing those
who oppose themselves, God just might grant them repentance.
God, give me a tender heart, sensitive to the direction of
your spirit, sensitive and obedient to your will, sensitive to the
glory of Christ, sensitive especially, to the needs and feelings of
your children, so that I may minister to them
and serve them with knowledge and understanding. Number three,
be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another. Forgiving one another. Ah, now
Brother Don, I don't have what you're going to do with that.
How are we supposed to forgive each other? Even as God, for
Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. The secret to peace and happiness
in any association of two human beings or more with one another
is forgiveness. You can't live very long with
anyone in peace and harmony until you learn to forgive. And of
all people in this world, you and I, who are saved by God's
free grace, ought to be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving people. By the grace of God, through
the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, By the
free grace and abundant mercy of God, I have been forgiven
of all my sins. I ought, therefore, to quickly
forgive any evil done to me by anybody, because it's not possible
for you or anyone else to do the evil against me I have done
against God. I've been pardoned of all my
transgressions. That means that I ought to pardon
any transgression any other man commits against me. I've been
cleansed of all my iniquities by the blood of Christ, by the
grace of God, by free mercy. I've been cleansed of all sin. I dare not refuse to forgive
the indescribably lesser iniquities, transgressions, and sins of others
even committed against me. The Puritan Thomas Matten made
the statement, a man may go to hell for not forgiving as well
as for not believing. And Mr. Matten was exactly right.
Hold your hands here in Ephesians, and I'll show you Matthew chapter
six. Matthew chapter six. Grace bestowed makes people gracious. Mercy tasted makes people merciful. Love felt makes people loving. And forgiveness experienced makes
people forgiving. Matthew six, verse five. Our
Lord is preaching. When thou prayest, thou shalt
not be as the hypocrites are, for they love to pray, standing
in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that
they may be seen of men. Religious hypocrites love to
be seen of men. That's the reason they do what
they do, so that you'll look at them, pat them on the back,
and say, my, my, my, what a fine Christian he is. That's the reason
they do what they do. So you'll brag on them. You'll
talk to others about them, so they'll be seen of men. Verily
I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest,
enter into thy closet. Do business with God alone in
secret. When thou hast shut thy door,
pray to thy father which is in secret, and thy father which
seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when you pray,
don't just recite prayers. Don't use vain repetitions as
the heathen do. The heathen, you know, they say,
how does that little prayer go? Now I lay me down to sleep. I
pray the Lord my soul to keep. And if I die before I wake, I
pray the Lord my soul to take. Oh, that's a good thing to teach
children. That's what heathen teach their children. Heathen
teach your children to recite words and call it prayers. When
you pray, don't use vain repetitions. Don't be likened to them. For
your Father knoweth what things you have need of before you ask. After this manner, therefore,
pray ye. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, sanctified
be your name. God, get honor to yourself. Thy
kingdom come, build your kingdom. Thy will be done, do whatever
you will. Do as seemeth thee good. Thy will be done in earth as
it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread.
God, give me what I need today. Now watch this, and forgive us
our debts. Forgive us our debts. That's
not all it says, is it? Forgive us our debts as we forgive
our debtors. What? What? What did he say? He said, when
you pray, ask God to forgive you as you forgive others. How is that? Mark Henson, You have the privilege
and responsibility of forgiving any offense Don Fortner commits
against you for Christ's sake. That's it. For Christ's sake. For Christ's sake. As we forgive
our debtors. God, for Christ's sake, forgive
me. For Christ's sake, I forgive
you. For Christ's sake, I beg your
forgiveness. And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the
power and the glory forever, amen. Now watch verse 14. For
if we forgive men their trespasses, if ye forgive men their trespasses,
your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you just
can't do it, if you just know I ain't gonna do it, I ain't
gonna do it! If you forgive not men their
trespasses, you don't know God from a billy goat. That's exactly
what it say. Neither will your father forgive
your trespasses. You and I who trust Christ have
been forgiven. Forgiven by God. forgiven of
all sin, forgiven for Christ's sake, through the blood and merits
of our blessed Savior, fully forgiven and freely forgiven.
Let us therefore forgive one another. No man or woman has
ever done anything against me or to me that can even begin
to compare with what I've done to God and against God, both
before he saved me and since. I can't tell you how I wish that
wasn't so, but it is. If God in heaven has forgiven
me, surely, surely it is reasonable and right for me to forgive you. We never so touch the ocean of
God's love as when we forgive and love our enemies. We should all purchase a piece
of ground and it costs a good bit. And we should all purchase
a large piece because we're going to need it. We need a large cemetery. Each one of us needs one for
ourselves. A large cemetery in which to
bury offenses done against us. Just bury them and forget them.
We're to forgive one another just like God, for Christ's sake,
forgives us freely and fully. Well, I'll forgive Brother Fortner
what he did if he asked me. Aren't you glad God doesn't wait
for you to ask? His forgiveness is what causes
you to seek it. Before it's sought, forgive from our hearts for Christ's
sake. I mean we're to forgive one another
and forget the injuries done by them. A lot of folks say,
well, I can forgive, I just can't forget it. So they bury the hatchet
but leave the handle sticking up out of the ground so you can
grab it real quick and use it. Forgive and forget. Forgiveness,
we say, is a wonderful thing. All of us say that. Everybody
say amen to that until we have something to forgive. We all like to talk about it
and say, well, we ought to be more forgiving until the forgiving
is needed here. And we have something to forgive
another. We ought not be like that. Rather,
let us forgive anything in anyone and nothing in ourselves. Nothing
in this low, ruined world. So bears the image of God in
man as forgiveness. I have known in my life as a
believer these 49 years, I have known a lot of straight laced,
strict Orthodox people. who, man, they wouldn't be seen
going into a store that even sells something that looks like
it might be beer. They wouldn't even drink Coke
in a can because somebody might think they was drinking a beer.
I'm not exaggerating, I'm telling you. I've known some straight-laced
folks. I've known folks, men, who wouldn't
wear the top button of the shirt unbuttoned because they thought
it was immodest for a man's top shirt to be unbuttoned. I'm telling
you, I've known some straight-laced folks. I've known folks who would
not wear men's shoes that had buckles on them. I've known folks
who wouldn't wear the sideburns. How far was it? Had to have them
up mid-ear when I was in college. That's called gauntlet-ness.
Down here was un-gauntlet. Sideburns like yours, man, they'd
throw you out of school where I went to school. I'm not joking
about it. They'd throw you out of school. But it's gauntlet,
it's gauntlet. Who were mean as hell. Just mean as hell. Nothing so
comes close to the image of God in man as forgiveness. Forgiveness. All right, here's
the fourth thing. Be ye therefore followers of
God as dear children. Ah, what's he talking about?
Imitate God. Act like God. That's what it
is to be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving. That's just imitating
God. That's just imitating, that's
acting like God. Be you therefore followers of God, because you're
His dear children, adopted by Him, made sons and daughters
of the Almighty. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God, made gods by His grace. So be followers of Him. As His children, we're His dear
ones. The apple of His eye, the jewels
of His crown, the treasure of His heart, precious to Him. As a son who has a wise, loving
father honors his father by seeking to follow him. Let us be followers
of God. Be kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath
forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children. Now watch this fifth thing. And
walk in love. Walk in love. That is, love one
another like God loves you. That's the first great commandment.
Love God, however, doesn't exist except in the hearts of heaven-born
spirits who love one another. It just doesn't exist anywhere
else. Not love for God. In our text, Paul is urging us
to walk in love one toward another. Now, that's more than a sentiment.
That's more than an emotion. That's more than a passion. Love
is service. It's commitment. To love somebody
is to live for them. Love is the constant, self-abasing,
self-sacrificing commitment of myself. to the welfare of the
people I love. That's what it is. Love is the
law by which Christ governs his kingdom. The love of Christ constrains
us. Love is the fruit of saving faith. The fruit of the spirit is love.
And love is very easily defined and perceived very quickly. Love
is giving, not taking. Love is serving, not being served. Love is forgiving, not retaliating. Love is overlooking faults, not
exposing them. Love is covering sin, not digging
it up. Love is forbearing, not getting
even. Love is helping, not hurting. That's what love is. That's what
love is. Well, Brother Don, don't you
know this thing's got to be a two-way street? No, that's selfish. That's selfish. Don't you know
it's got to run both ways? No, that's wrong. That's wrong.
It doesn't matter what you do. It's my privilege to love you
and be kind and tenderhearted and forgiving. And my responsibility. Yours, too. Yours, too. Well, Brother Don, that's just
not the way things are. That's the way things are in
God's house. Maybe not in yours. Maybe not
in mine. In God's house, that's the way
things are. Christ loved us with a free,
unconditional, everlasting, distinguishing love. Here's the example we're
to follow. Walk in love. As Christ also
hath loved us, and hath given himself for us for a sweet smelling
savor to God. I have loved you as I ought to
love you. And I am kind to you as I ought
to be kind to you. And I am tenderhearted to you
as I ought to be tenderhearted to you. And I love you as I ought
to love you and forgive you as I ought to forgive you when I'm
kind and tenderhearted and forgiving and loving as Christ is to me. Until I have reached that measure,
I haven't behaved as I ought toward you. And until you have
reached that measure, you haven't behaved as you ought one to another. Oh, God, teach us, teach us as
only you can. Compel us as only you can by
your grace to be kind, tenderhearted one to another. forgiving one
another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven us. And followers
of God as dear children, walking in love as Christ also loved
us and gave himself for us. Amen. All right, Adam, let's
have a hymn and we'll be dismissed.