Walking in Love (Ephesians 5:1) Part.1 by Gideon Mpeni

Reconciled521/FBC

WHY TRUE LOVE MATTERS TODAY?

As we live in the 21st Century Africa, a post-modern era where truth is relative. Everyone is fighting for their personal rights – personal space – personal privileges and a lack thereof such that when it comes to commitments and relationships, they are all entered with one chief goal – what can I get Out of this?

If things aren’t done my way then this isn’t good for me!

You soon begin to realize that this mindset has crept into the Church too!

Many who profess to know Christ, do think and live just as the world around them, no care – no compassion – no concern for the Lord, His Word, Ways, His Will, His Work, needless to say His people and His World that is languishing in Sin. No wonder the whole understanding of what love is is not defined by the author of Love but the very people who have denied it and are devoid of it!

I fear that we who profess and have been known as “the people of the book” have so quickly not only doubted the book, we have damned the book, disobeyed the book and degrade it to the lower shelf of our lives and in many homes and hearts it has been divorced for some hobby but sadly at most best mere form without substance – Duty void of Devotion!!

What should really be important in the life of the local church?

What are the correct Christian priorities and attitudes?

What is the one character trait that sets believers apart?

To grow to full spiritual maturity, we must build our lives on love and have God’s power to lay hold of and know the unknowable love of Christ.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones (The Unsearchable Riches of Christ [Baker], pp. 181-301)

“God is Love” or the Love of God is one of the common well known attributes that everyone is willing to accept. But why is everyone so eager to embrace this attribute, unlike many other of God’s attributes? Arthur W. Pink tells us:

There are many who talk about the love of God, who are total strangers to the God of love. The divine love is commonly regarded as a species of amiable weakness, a sort of good-natured indulgence; it is reduced to a mere sickly sentiment, patterned after human emotion. The truth is that on this, as on everything else, our thoughts need to be formed and regulated by what is revealed in Scripture.

That there is urgent need for this is apparent not only from the ignorance which so generally prevails, but also from the low state of spirituality which is now so sadly evident everywhere among professing Christians. How little real love there is for God. One chief reason for this is because our hearts are so little occupied with His wondrous love for His people.

The better we are acquainted with His love—its character, fullness, blessedness—the more our hearts will be drawn out in love to Him.

In this Text the Apostle Paul binds all the imperatives he has given perfectly in this one perfect virtue that binds them all - LOVE.

We are taken into the exhortation to "Walk in Love" and we will take time and examine the mandate itself, the motive, the models finishing with the manner we are demonstrate Love for God and for each other.

Take time and listen to the first Part of this sermon series.