A0332_Keep Yourself in the Love of God
Date: 29th August 2007 (Wednesday PM) Ref: A0332
Place: Kambah P.S.
Title: Keep Yourself in the Love of God
Text: & Jude 20:21
Illust: Last night ~ Lunar Eclipse, fascinating to watch. We know that the moon has no light of it’s own but is merely reflecting the light of the sun back to us like a giant mirror. Last night while the sun was still shining brightly in space, a shadow went across the moon; something had got between the moon and the sun. – The earth. Interesting that even though the moon was completely in the earth’s shadow, some light however weak still managed to just filter through. It however cast a rather red glow on the moon.
I. The Love of God
A. Light & Warmth
i. Four parallel clauses, but the diamond in the middle is: & vs. 21a – - keep yourselves in the love of God. – Nothing compares to being in the love of God, but what does this mean?
ii. The sense is not of our love for God but of His love for us. ~ Surely God loves us, Jn 3:16 tells us God loves the world.
1 John 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. (NKJV)
iii. Yes but it is possible to be, by your own actions and omission in a place where the light of God’s love no longer shines directly on you. – Just like the moon in the earth’s shadow, something has come between the moon and the light. This can happen for you & I. We are no longer walking in the direct light & warmth of God’s love.
Can come to the place where we fear the light, the sun brings warmth and makes the flowers and plants grow, lovely to sit basking in the sun. The creature that lives under the rock that you turnover does not think so; he must hide or shrivel up & die. – The light has become an irritant.
B. Obedience
i. Jesus talks a lot about abiding in the love of the father, of His love.
John 15:9-10 9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. (NKJV)
ii. The key appears to be repeated over & over as obedience
John 14:21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” (NKJV)
iii. Sin, disobedience will impose itself between the love of God & your life. It will cast a shadow. If we are obedient then we will continue to abide in His love. Easier said than done. – This is where we all struggle.
II. Building and Praying
A. Building
i. Our text gives us some help in this area. Firstly ~ & vs. 20a - But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith - Truth is that we are all works in progress.
ii. You need to be continually building yourself up, another word for this in the NT is edifying.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing. (NKJV)
iii. How do we do this, well Paul tells Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (NKJV) – So you need to be reading the word of God. As you read & study God’s word you will be built up in your faith. As you do this you both know what God expects and ande demands and you will be strengthened to walk in obedience.
When I was in Jakarta, a number of large multi-storey office/accom blocks in a half finished state. The company had gone broke. – When you see a skyscraper being built it is a hive of activity, when you see one that has just stopped in mid building it is a depressing sight. Rapidly starts to decay and weather.
The key is not to stop the building process but continue to build “line upon line precept upon precept”
B. Praying
i. Secondly Jude exhort us. & vs. 20b - praying in the Holy Spirit - Two main applications.
ii. The first is simply to highlight the importance of prayer, prayer that is Spirit led. We simply must pray. Prayer is our first duty and the highest office to which we are called.
All that we are talking about, keeping in God’s love, by being obedient can be summed up with one word – Consecration. Being set apart, knowing that while 1 Corinthians 10:23 “Everything is permissible”— .. not everything is beneficial. (NIV)
It is Prayer that leads to consecration EM Bounds wrote:
Consecration is one of these things to which prayer is closely related. Prayer leads up to and governs consecration. Prayer is precedent to consecration, accompanies it, and is a direct result of it.
iii. Secondly as Pentecostals we cannot go past this without seeing in it the probability that Jude is writing about a continual exercising of speaking in tongues. – Paul makes it very clear that speaking in tongues edifies / builds you up.
1 Corinthians 14:4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. (NKJV)
iv. Baptised in the Holy Spirit, we need to continually exercise the wonderful gift of praying in tongues – challenge is to keep focussed, don’t throw the mind in neutral, have a definite focus on what you are praying for / about & ask the Holy Spirit to intercede on your behalf.
Romans 8:26-27 26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. (NKJV)
III. Expecting
A. Mercy
i. This leads us to renewing our outlook. When my mum or Janine’s parents are coming up to Canberra the kids will sit out on the door step waiting, any car that turns into our street, they are excited. They are sitting, waiting, expecting, looking for the arrival of their grandparents. & vs. 21b Our Hope ~ looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
ii. Not one of us has attained, if we are even a little bit honest we are all painfully aware of how much we need His mercy. The more we grow in the things of God, the more we become aware of our fallen nature, our sin and desperate need for a saviour.
iii. This was the cry of Paul
1 Timothy 1:15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. (NKJV)
iv. I hazard to guess not many of us match up or even come close to Paul, yet here he is claiming to be the chief of sinners. The closer to God we come the more we realise we are undone. – Desperately need His Grace & we come expecting His Mercy – Amazing Grace
B. Eternal Life
i. Need to keep before us the joy of Eternal Life. No light thing. – Life everlasting in His presence. – Because He 1st loved us.
ii. Lets therefore keep ourselves in the light of His love, be consecrated to Him, building yourself up in Faith, reading the Word and through Holy Spirit led & energised prayer.
Titus 2:13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, (NKJV)