The Supremacy of Love.
Gal 5:13-16
C:\JAMMc2011\GAL5-3TAB.USE.wpd May 29, 2011
Gal 5:13-16 (NAS)
13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only {do} not {turn} your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the {statement} "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
15 But if you bite and devour one another, take care lest you be consumed by one another.
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. (NAS)
Introduction HUMOR-N-SUCH:
SOME SUREFIRE WAYS TO MAKE A PERSON FALL IN
LOVE WITH YOU'
'Tell them that you own a whole bunch of candy stores.' --Del, age 6
'Shake your hips and hope for the best.' --Camille, age 9
'Yell out that you love them at the top of your lungs ... and don't worry if their parents are right there.' --Manuel, age 8
'Don't do things like have smelly, green sneakers. You might get attention, but attention ain't the same thing as love.' --Alonzo, age 9
'One way is to take the girl out to eat. Make sure it's something she likes to eat. French fries usually works for me.' --Bart, age 9
1. The . . Service of Love. v 13
13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only {do} not {turn} your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
A. Note the . . Origination of this Love. v 13 a
“For you were called to freedom, brethren; . . . “
B. Note the . . Opportunity of this Love. v 13 b
“. . . only {do} not {turn} your freedom into an opportunity
for the flesh, . . . “
C. Note the . . Obligation of this Love. v 13 c
“. . . but through love serve one another.”
Illustration
If you are going to live for the service of your fellow men, you will certainly be pierced through with many sorrows, for you will meet with more base ingratitude from your fellow men than you would from a dog.
You will meet with unkindness and two-facedness, and if your motive is love for your fellow men, you will be exhausted in the battle of life. But if the mainspring of your service is love for God, no ingratitude, no sin, no devil, no angel, can hinder you from serving your fellow men, no matter how they treat you. You can love your neighbor as yourself, not from pity, but from the true centering of yourself in God. Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Application Sun never sets on Southwesterners.
In God's family there is to be one great body of people: servants. In fact, that's the way to the top in his kingdom. Charles R. Swindoll
We must ask ourselves: Do I serve? Why do I serve?
The best answer? I serve because of God’s work in me.
2. The . . Scripture of Love. v 14
14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the {statement} "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
A. The . . Completeness of Love in the Scripture. v 14 a
“14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, . . . “
B. The . . Command of Love in the Scripture. v 14 b
“. . . ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”.
Illustration
A brother and sister were playing Sunday School. The youngest was the teacher and as he turned the pages of the Bible he would say it says “God is Love”. His older sister said “you don’t find those words on every page of the Bible.” He said “yes I do”, and he kept saying “God is love”, as he turned the pages.
The little girl went into her mother and told her what brother was doing. She ask her mother “tell him the Bible doesn’t say God is love on every page.”
The mother thought for a moment and said to her self “how can I tell my son the Bible doesn’t say god is love on every page; for in some way it probably does say God is love.”
Application
Do we believe the Scriptures? Do we obey the Scriptures?
The Bible commands us to Love, but God gives us the ability to move forward in this Love.
Notice the next point in verses 15-16.
3. The . . Spirit of Love. v 15-16
15 But if you bite and devour one another, take care lest you be consumed by one another. 16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
A. The . . Demeanor . . of the Spirit of Love. v 15
15 But if you bite and devour one another, take care lest you be consumed by one another.
1. It is not . . Biting. v 15 a
1143 dakno- Thayer 1) to bite with the teeth
2) metaphorically, to wound the soul, to cut, to lacerate, to rend with reproaches. Only time in N. T.
2. It is not . . Devouring. v 15 b
Strong’s 2719 katesthio (kat-es-thee'-o);
from 2596 and 2068 (including its alternate); to eat down, i.e. devour (literally or figuratively): KJV-- devour.
Strong’s 2596 kata (kat-ah'); a primary particle; down
2068 esthio (es-thee'-o);
strengthened for a primary edo (to eat); used only in certain tenses, the rest being supplied by 5315; to eat (usually literal): KJV-- devour, eat, live.
3. It is not . . Consuming. v 15 c
Strong’s 355 analisko (an-al-is'-ko); from 303 and a form of the alternate of 138; properly, to use up, i.e. destroy KJV-- consume.
Strong 303 ana (an-ah'); a primary preposition, up;
138 haireomai (hahee-reh'-om-ahee); probably akin to 142; to take for oneself, i.e. to prefer:
Illustration Quote
If God is love, he is, by definition, something more than mere kindness. And it appears, from all the records, that though he has often rebuked us and condemned us, he has never regarded us with contempt. He has paid us the intolerable compliment of loving us, in the deepest, most tragic, most inexorable sense.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)
B. The . . Discipline. . of the Spirit of Love. v 16
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
1. The . . Command of Discipline. v 16 a
2. The . . Consequences of Discipline. v 16 b
Illustration Topic: Love Index: 4183 Date: 2/1987.15 Title: Love Must Cost
"Love, to be real, must cost," said the frail and stooped Mother Teresa, 75, whose big voice belies her stature, "It must hurt. It must empty us of self." USA Today, Nov. 17, 1986.
Conclusion
The Supremacy of Love.
The . . Service of Love.
The . . Scripture of Love.
The . . Spirit of Love.