Love Covers a Multitude of Sins

"One Another" series  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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As Believers are called into a community with others in the church, we have a responsibility to love one another.

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Introduction:

Last time I stood up here to preach I brought a message on the need for a true sense of community and belonging within the church. As I studied for that message I came across a pattern in scripture. Throughout the NT, we are commanded to live a certain way because we are united as a body in the church. As I studied, the pattern that I noticed dealt with the phrase one another or among yourselves in scripture. I plan on preaching a series dealing with the one another’s in scripture, but as I thought about where to begin, my mind went to the one found in this verse first because I believe it is the foundation of all of our relationships with other believers. That requirement for true Christian community in a church is authentic love found in the phrase have fervent charity one for another.

I. The setting- but the end of all things is at hand vs 7

Believer’s since the time of the apostles have lived their lives as if the Lord could come back at any moment. We are now and Christians have been living in the last days since the time of the apostles. It’s hard not to think of so many things that have been happening all around us and not think about the end of the world. 2020 has shaped up to be a rough year. We have Coronavirus still lingering on with all the lockdowns, unemployment, deaths, and just general craziness. In the middle of all this, we have the death of George Floyd at the hands of the cops and then the riots that came afterwards with the burning buildings, looting and vandalism. With the police withdrawing from parts of the country we have sections of cities like the Chaz development in Seattle being taken over by random groups seeking control and making demands.
All these things should remind us that we are still living in the end times and because we live in such times our lives should be lived in a certain way. You know what the solution is to all these problems? Its Christians living the life described in these verses. People don’t believe Christianity is authentic and impactful because we don’t live as if it were.
1. We are told to be sober
2. We are told to watch and pray
3. We are told to love
This statement was written in 60 AD and yet Peter thought of the Lord’s coming as near at hand.
James 5:7–9 KJV 1900
Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.
John said that it was already the last time
1 John 2:18 KJV 1900
Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
Paul fully expected to be alive when Christ returned
1 Thessalonians 4:15 KJV 1900
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
1 Thessalonians 4:17 KJV 1900
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Hebrews 1:1–2 KJV 1900
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Why is it important that the end is near?
Peter was encouraging these believers that their struggle would not last forever and while we endure, we should live a certain way.

II. The command - above all things have fervent charity one toward another

have - keep on having
charity- αγαπη Why is it that the King James Translators used the word Charity so much when translating αγαπη? Clearly they used the regular word love in other parts of the translation. Charity deals with love in action.
1 Corinthians 13:4–7 KJV 1900
Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
fervent- authentic, deep, real , eager, earnest, constant
What does real love look like? True love isn’t just saying I love you or even saying I’m praying for you. True love is actually praying meaningful prayer for someone, it is meeting the financial needs of each other; it is being there for someone to pour out their heart to; it is visiting those who can’t get out of the house; its encouraging someone who is down; it is correcting someone lovingly ; it is being real with people; its watching someone’s kids when they need some time away; its fixing meals for people who have just been through something difficult. Its a real, practical, hands-on kinda love.
one toward another- as believer’s called into a local body together one of our main responsibilities to one another is love. This is a love that we give and receive among each other.

III. The reason- love covers a multitude of sins

Jas 5:20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
Proverbs 10:12 KJV 1900
Hatred stirreth up strifes: But love covereth all sins.
covers- kalypto- literally to hide or conceal it comes from the idea of putting cloths over- the implication here is that love hides the sin from our eyes. I believe that it implies that love causes me to hide the sin from my mind. When true forgiveness occurs, it will be continually choosing to cover or put it out of sight in our minds eye. Putting it out of mind. When studying this passage I couldn’t help but notice the similarity between our word cover and the Hebrew concept for atonement. In the OT, a lamb would be brought and the blood placed on the altar to atone for sin. It could never take away the sin, but it did cover it until Jesus’s sacrifice paid the penalty for our sin and redeemed us. In essence, love doesn’t take away the offence but it allows us to overlook it. By loving in this way, we are in essence atoning for their sin, but taking the pain that they deserve in punishment upon ourselves. We are giving up our right to see vengeance.
Does this mean that churches should ignore all sin in their midst?
The answer is a clear No. Looking at the descriptions of love throughout the bible, it is clear that love protects the innocent and while I can choose to forgive sins against me personally that does not mean that people do not have to suffer the consequences for their sins. The NT also teaches that love will cause us to deal with sin in our midst. Matthew 18 describes the steps needed to confront sin in the church. Churches have failed in the past to deal with serious sin in their midst and thus brought shame on the name of Christ. Sins like molestation, murder, embezzlement must be brought to the proper authorities.
“Where love abounds in a fellowship of Christians, many small offences, and even some large ones, are readily overlooked and forgotten. But where love is lacking, every word is viewed with suspicion, every action is liable to misunderstanding, and conflicts about – to Satan’s perverse delight.” (Grudem)

Conclusion:

So love can either cover sin or it can deal with sin. How do we decide which course we should take? As I was reading an article on this topic the following advice was given from a book called Unpacking Forgiveness:
Examine yourself- Matt 7 we are not to judge people hypocritically
Examine yourself to see if your motives are right and to see if your truly were sinned against.
Determine how important it is- Will this sin have long term consequences? Are you making a rule out of your own personal preferences?
Look for patterns- sometimes people act out of character As person who is always punctual might have a day where they messed up and were late.
Be sensitive- Are there stresses in their life that might be affecting their situation? Gal 6:1 tells us to confront in the spirit of meekness
Seek Counsel- Seek our advice from mature believers. It might help to double check your assessment of the situation. The caution here is to make sure this doesn’t become gossip.
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