Defining a Unique Attribute of God's People and Kingdom

And thank you, Althea. I'm always impressed if someone can play the piano, because I can't even imagine one hand doing something different than the other. But to add singing on top of that and we sing that well is just very, very amazing. Quite talented. So thank you, Althea. You know, I feel right at home. I feel right at home when Mr. Berg announced me, because he did what so many in my life have done.

They pronounced my name the wrong way. It's really Shavey. Long A. I know many of you asked that, but from the time I was very little. I learned when I went to school, I always had to pronounce the name, and I always wished that we had a different name. But, you know, once you hear it, you know it. And I have one distinction. You know, probably only one thing that I'm known for in my life as my kids have gone through the Internet.

I think there's only one Rick Shavey in the entire world. So I say, if you ever hear Rick Shavey did something, I can't even hide. I can't even hide and say it was my cousin, my brother, or dad, or anyone else. Anyway, it's just one of those things.

So very good to be here with you at the Feast of Tabernacles here again today. Everything. Really appreciate all your cooperation and everything that has gone on here. The feast has gone very well so far. Today I want to talk to you about an attribute that we all need to develop. We're here to picture the coming kingdom of God.

As we are in the Church and as we are led by God's Holy Spirit, there are many things we learn about ourselves. Hopefully, as we are in the Church and as we are led by God's Spirit, we become different people. When people see us 10, 15, 20 years later, they realize, I hope, that we're different than we were back at a certain time. That's because of God working in us as we yield ourselves to Him. I want to talk today about one of those unique attributes that mark God's people and a unique attribute of His kingdom that we picture here today.

I want to give you a story on how I even decided to talk about this subject. Back about a month ago, I guess, maybe a little more than that, I got a call one afternoon from someone who wasn't in our church area. I had never met him. I have no idea how he got my name. I guess he must have been on the Internet. Didn't even live in the state that we live in or a state that I've ever lived in.

He called and he said he wanted to talk about a question that he had, something that had been bothering him. They had to come to him because his daughter was in college and she went to a Christian college. She had an assignment. She and several friends had been working on this assignment for some time. It was beginning to bother them because they couldn't answer the question. Any time they went back to the professor and gave him an explanation, he would come back and give them another thing that just kind of threw them into confusion.

So he told her, because he'd been attending church, let's go back to the Bible and find out what the Bible says about this. He was telling me all this before. He told me what the question was. He said that he was even getting confused. He didn't really understand what God was looking for in answer to this question.

One of the girls who never had come to church in that college, in the whole process, he said, had just decided not to come to go to any church anymore. She was wondering what God was all about because this so confused her and so bothered her. So this went on for a while. I was intrigued by what was this question going to be. I thought, is this something about prophecy?

What could it possibly be that would have you so confused? He finally got to the question and he said, here's what it is. Because I want to know, what is love? I kind of started and thought, what is love? That's easy. We can all explain that, right? We know what love is. It's all through the Bible. You've heard about it many times here at the Feast already. Mr. Berg talked about it on opening night.

Mr. Keller's talked about it. He referred to this, that we are celebrating and looking forward to the kingdom of love. What is love? That is basic. And yet it had him confused and it had his daughter very confused. And it made me start thinking because as I talked and he asked more questions, I could see there was a gulf of misunderstanding of what it was. And it made me go back to the Bible and I decided I was going to look into it just from the Bible and see what God had to say about love because it is a key attribute of what God is looking for us to develop and a key attribute of his kingdom.

It's a key attribute. You remember in John 13 verse 35, he says, by this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one for another. So it's an identifying characteristic of true disciples. What does it mean? What is God looking for us to do? What are we supposed to be developing so that when the kingdom, when he returns and the kingdom arrives, we should very well know what this means.

So today I want to go through and I want to talk about from the Bible what is love? What is God looking for? What was Jesus Christ talking about? As I begin that, let me give you the definition and some of what was confusing him and may confuse some of us and some who are newer in the church as well. If you look into the Bible, if you look into the dictionary and you read the definition of love, it's all emotion-based.

It will talk about the love of husband for wife. It'll talk about that sexual love. It'll talk about a love between family. It'll talk about a love between friends. It'll talk about how you love to do something or your favorite movie, your favorite activity, your favorite this or that or whatever. It's all emotion-based. If we try to apply the definition that's in the dictionary to what's in the Bible, we come up with a lot of questions, things that just don't make sense when you apply that. It goes back to looking at what the original text of the Bible says.

Let me remind you, for many of this you'll be a reminder, there are four Greek words that are translated love in the Bible. Now, the Bible, the New Testament, was written in Koine Greek. Koine Greek, if you remember, the linguists and the commentators will say, was the most expressive language ever devised on earth. I don't know how they do that, but I guess they look at the words and say, there's a depth in the words here and a meaning that we just don't have in English or any other language. So, Koine Greek, there were four words that defined love, and when the translators looked at these words, they translated in love in the New Testament.

One was the word sorgi. S-T-O-R-G-E. Now, Mr. Keller has very adequately described sorgi to us the other day. It's the love between parent and child. When you see your child, there's an instantaneous love for that child, and that's a bond that lasts for the rest of life. For the children, it should develop as well, and they have sorga, love, for their family. It can extend to our cousins, to our siblings, to other family members. We're bound by blood, and that love just naturally occurs in human beings.

An interesting thing about the word sorga, it doesn't appear even one time in the New Testament, not even once. But it's a very real love. God created it. He created that emotional bond between parent and child. He created that love between family members. It's very good. It's right. It's something that we all experience. It's very real in the world around us in every nationality, every language, every country on earth. Another word that appears that's translated as love is eros, E-R-O-S. That's the love, the very strong physical attraction, sexual love between husband and wife. Boy meets girl, and there's a spark there that's different than the next type of love we'll talk about. That's eros. Eros isn't found really in the New Testament either. It's certainly talked about in the Bible. It's a natural thing that God built into us. It's good, it's right, and the Bible gives much instruction for husbands and wives and how to live together.

It's natural, and it's an emotion-based love. Next one we'll talk about is the Greek word filia, P-H-I-L-I-A. The verb is filio, P-H-I-L-E-O. That's the base of the word Philadelphia.

We have a city here in America called Philadelphia. It's known as the city of brotherly love. Of course, we have the Philadelphia church in Revelation 3, known for its brotherly love. It's the love that friends have for one another. We meet someone in school. We meet someone through our lives. We just kind of mesh. We have common interests. Our personalities meet each other, and there's a friendship that develops, and we love that person. It's a filia love. The verb filio is very good. It's very right. It's naturally occurring. God expects it. It occurred between Jesus Christ and His disciples. There's nothing wrong with it. It's very good, and that word does occur several times in the New Testament. All those three types of love—we'll get to the fourth one in a moment—are very good, and they do have some things in common. Let's pause for a moment and just review some of the things that those have in common. One, they are all emotion-based. So when we read in the dictionary about all these types of love—the English dictionary—they are all emotion-based. They are all good. They are all right. They are all part of our lives.

But there is one thing about them. Every single human being on earth experiences those types of love. Every single human being on earth. You don't need God's Holy Spirit to have friends.

You don't need God's Holy Spirit to fall in love and get married. You don't need God's Holy Spirit to love your child. Every single human being is born with the capacity to love in that way. God built it into it. It's just part of the human condition. It's good. It's right. There's laws we live by. They define human beings. You may have heard the old saying, love makes the world go round, right? When it talks about love makes the world go round, it's that type of love that makes the world go round. People get excited about friends. They get more excited when they meet the person they're going to marry, and that spark develops. And I know as these young girls who are studying this question were looking at—and the professor would come back with some comments—they were concerned that, you mean the Bible doesn't talk about that type of love at all? It's not even something we should be doing? And a kind of disenchanted them, but no, it's right. It's good. It's part of who we are. It's part of every human being's existence. There's another thing in common about those types of love. They can be added. They can be added to one another. If we take Eros, for instance, sometimes—and maybe some of you—maybe what you first saw in your mate was an instant attraction. You know, love at first sight, they call it. But if all it was was ever Eros, if that's all there was being your relationship, it probably faded. Maybe you've had that experience in your life, and over time it just faded. Because if Philia isn't added to Eros, you don't have the long-term companionship. And when you mix the two together, you have the basis for a very good and a very sound marriage, at least the foundation for it. Same thing with Philia. You can add Philia to Storga. And you hear sometimes that family members, they'll say, my brother or my sister is my best friend. And they go through life that way. They just mesh. They've mixed Philia with Storga. It's a very good thing. There's even a compound word in the Bible that mixes the two of those. Similarly, you know, we have Philia with one another. We love one another, and sometimes that love becomes so strong, it's like the familiar love, that we just feel that bond. And we are all here, bound by the Holy Spirit that bonds us together. So that's another common thing with those three types of love. Another thing is that all three of those loves can fail, can't they? Sadly, they can fail. We know Eros fails. We live in a world, we live in a world where divorce is just commonplace. The people you work with, the people in your neighborhood, it's not uncommon at all to see a marriage dissolve. Somewhere along the line, that love has failed.

We see it in family members, and that's sad, too. But they just won't talk to each other anymore. Whatever's happened, whatever, they can't forgive with one another, it just disappears. And all, there's no longer that storga love between parents and child, or brother and brother, or sister and sister, or whatever it is. It can disappear. It can fail. Philia can fail, too. We've all had friends in high school, maybe even friends who used to go to church with us, that we were very close to. And then situations changed, beliefs changed, and that failed. And we no longer would consider them friends. We don't wish them any ill. But there's just not there at the bond anymore. So those three types of love, they're all very good. They make the world go round, as the saying goes. But they can all be, they can all fail. There's a fourth, a fourth type of love that's mentioned in the New Testament. In fact, the word love appears 320 times. That's a lot of times. 320 times in the New Testament. Of those 320 times, 263 times are not Philia, Eros, or Storga. 263 times is the fourth type of love we'll talk about. God knew that every human being could fall in love and marry. They would have friends. They would be part of a family. Maybe, just maybe, in the New Testament, he was teaching us something about this other type of love that is so prevalently mentioned in his words, in the Gospels, and in the Epistles of the men who spoke later. That fourth word you know, Sagape. A-G-A-P-E. The verb form of it is Agapeo. A-G-A-P-E-O. Today, I'm not going to use Agapeo. I'm just going to use Agape just for simplicity as I speak about it. But Jesus Christ talks about Agape a lot. And I realize, as I went back and studied to try to help this man, and over the course of a few weeks, as we talked about it, I realized how much I had forgotten, or how much I didn't even know about Agape. Because Agape isn't the word that you can just look in the dictionary and find the definition of what God is looking for. It's just not there. There's only one place to find out what the definition of the word Agape is. And that's in the pages of the Bible. And that's what I want to do today. Let's turn back to John 21. John 21. We have an interesting dialogue between Jesus Christ and the Apostle Peter. You're all very familiar with this discourse here, but it tells us something about the word Agape. I'm going to read verses 15 through 17. I'm going to read it in the Bible first, just as it's written and translated in your Bible there. And then we'll come back and look at it. Verse 15. This is after Jesus Christ had been resurrected. It says, So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these? He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. And Christ said to him, feed my lambs.

Christ said to him the second time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?

And Peter answered, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Christ said, tend my sheep.

Verse 17. Christ said to him the third time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, do you love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. And then he went out and he told him another thing to do with his sheep. And we read those and we see that what Christ is telling him is, you have to love these people, you have to take care of them. Your life needs to be concerned with the people that God calls. Take care of the flock in more ways than just liking them, just reading them. Be aware of what's going on with them. But I want to go back and look at verse 15. And this time I want to replace the word love with the actual Greek word that's used there. And it kind of gives us a beginning of a definition of what agape means, because the only place in the world we're going to find what agape needs. The identifying characteristic of God's people and his kingdom is in the Bible. Verse 15. So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonah, do you agape me more than these?

Peter answered, yes, Lord, you know that I fill you.

Now that adds a little different wrinkle, doesn't it? Christ said, Peter, do you agape me? Peter said, well, you know I love you like a brother. You know I love you. You know I fill you.

Now why would Peter have answered that way? Why didn't he just say, yes, yes, I agape you?

Maybe a couple reasons. One, maybe Peter did understand what agape meant, the full scope of it and thought, I can't answer that truthfully. Or maybe he just didn't understand what agape meant at that time of his life. Because when you look at the commentaries, when you look at the Bible dictionaries, when you look at our dictionaries, when you look at the Greek language, you find out that agape is kind of a subject that no one really knows how to explain. Let me read to you from what the English dictionary, how it defines this word agape from the Greek. It says, it's love as revealed in Jesus Christ, seen as spiritual and selfless and a model for humanity, love that is spiritual, not sexual in its nature. Well, that doesn't really give us a whole lot of information at all, does it? Let me read from Strong's concordance and the other concordances in Bible dictionaries that you look up will say about the same thing. From Strong's, it says, it's brotherly love, affection, goodwill, love, benevolence. Well, that's not it. That's not it either. When you look back at the Koine Greek and you look at what linguists say, and either in the scholars, the Greeks knew that there was this love or emotion, and I want to say emotion, this concept out there of agape. It was bigger than filio, it was bigger than eros, it was bigger than storga, but they didn't know how to define it. In fact, they say in Greek literature, agape is used very, very seldom. It's a word that's there, they knew it was big, but they didn't use it very often because they just didn't know what it meant, they knew it was bigger than the other three terms that were out there. So Peter, who spoke Greek, when he heard this word, he probably thought, I don't know, or he could have thought, I don't know. I don't know what agape means. There's this term out there, how can I say yes when I really don't understand what it means? And so he answered it the way that was truthful. Yes, Lord, I love you. I brotherly love you. Let's go down to verse 16. Christ said to Peter a second time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you agape me? Peter answered, yes, Lord, you know that I filio you. He probably thought, why are you asking me this? I don't know how to answer it. Yes, I do love you with all that I'm capable of today.

Finally, the third time, down to verse 17, Christ said the third time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you filio me? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, do you filio me? And he answered, Lord, you know all things. You know that I do filio you.

Well, as we build a definition for agape, we can start with this discourse right here. I think what Christ was doing with Peter was showing him there's a goal for a Christian. Christ had been resurrected. He had paid the penalty for our sins. The kingdom was assured. He had accomplished his mission. Everything from there forth was going to go forth exactly as God had planned. And he knew that he would be resurrected. He knew that the day of Pentecost would come. He knew that he would give the Holy Spirit to those who believed in him. And when the Holy Spirit was there, people would begin to understand the concept of agape, but not before. So as Christ asked Peter those questions, he was setting him a goal, pointing him to the future so that in the future Peter would be able to answer that question and answer it correctly. So in the future, if he said, Peter, do you agape me? Peter could say, yes, I do. But he couldn't at that point in his life. The same Peter who couldn't answer yes to that question here in John 21 seemed to come to understand what the term meant. Let's go back and see his epistle back here near the end of his life in 2 Peter. 2 Peter 1. Peter gives a list of characteristics of our, maybe a progression of our life as we're led by the Holy Spirit. And in 2 Peter 1, beginning in verse 5, he lists those things for us. Let's pick it up there in verse 5, 2 Peter. He says, also for this very reason, giving all diligence. You're going to have to work at this, he says. It's not going to come naturally like Aeros, Philia, or Storgae, may. Also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue. Become a good person the way God would define a good person. Add to your faith virtue. Add to your virtue knowledge. Add to your knowledge. Self-control. Add to your self-control. Perseverance. Add to perseverance. Godliness. Add to godliness. Brotherly kindness. And then finally, at the tail end of this progression of our development, and to brotherly kindness, add agape. Add agape. As we go through life, as we are led by God's Holy Spirit, as He develops us, as He changes us, as He works in us to make us more like Him every day, agape will result. It's not there on day one of baptism. It begins, there's the seed that's there, but it grows through time. And so we can add to our definition. It's a goal for all true Christians and true disciples of Jesus Christ, but it's something that grows. It's something that grows in us as we live, as we follow, as we yield, as we are led by God's Holy Spirit. Peter, at this stage of his life, when he wrote this epistle, if Christ had asked him, Peter, do you agape me?

He would be able to answer. My speculation is, yes, I agape you, and I fill you. Yes, I agape you. Let's turn over to Titus. Titus 2.

In Titus 2, we find the Apostle Paul giving admonitions to various groups. He talks to the older men, the younger men, the older women, the younger women. He talks to employees, tells us what our lives should be like, how we should be displaying the fruits of the Spirit, the type of people we should be. And here in Titus 2, verse 1, he speaks first to the older men. Let's begin in verse 1. As for you, he says, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine, that the older men, of course he's speaking to Titus right there, but in verse 2 he says, that the older men be sober, serious about their calling, that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, sound in agape, and impatience.

Older men, here's what should mark your life if you've been following God. You are sound in all these things, including agape, as you have grown and as you have walked with God.

Now let's drop down to verse 6. Let's see what he says to the younger men.

Likewise, he says, exhort the young men to be sober-minded. Let them be so serious about their calling. Let them be self-controlled as well. Let them be sober-minded. In all things, show yourself. He says to be a pattern of good works. Make that a definition of your life. Show that you are following God. That takes choice. That takes diligence. That takes decisions to make sure that your life becomes a pattern of good works. In doctrine, show integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may not be ashamed or may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you.

Those are all good things, aren't they? That's what young men should do. They should follow those admonitions that Paul gave to Titus that he also gives to us because they're written for us today. But I ask you in that list, where's agape? Where's agape? Why isn't agape listed there for the young men? Certainly as a goal, isn't it?

Maybe, just maybe, Paul was knowing that it's something we grow in. By the time we become older, we understand what agape means. We may not understand it on day one, just like Peter didn't understand what Christ was asking. Or maybe he just couldn't truthfully respond at that time to his question. But as we get older, we begin to understand what that means. We'd better understand what it means because it's an identifying characteristic of God's disciples. By this, you will know that you are my disciples if you have agape for one another. Not if you have filia for one another, but if you have agape for one another, he says. So as we build our definition, we see it's a goal for Christians. It's an identifying characteristic. It's something we grow in. Let's turn back to Matthew 22. Matthew 22, these are Christ's own words that we'll be reading here. Matthew 22 and in verse 37.

As the Pharisees often did, they would test Jesus Christ with a question, and they're doing that here in Matthew 22. And the question to him in verse 36 is, teacher, what is the great commandment in the law? In verse 37, Christ answers it. He says to him, you shall, your Bible says, love, I'm going to replace love throughout this sermon with the Greek word, you shall agape the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. Now those words just roll off our lips, right? Yes, we love God with all our heart, mind, and soul. Take some self-examination to know whether we really love God with all our heart, mind, and soul. That's a goal. It doesn't come easily. It doesn't come naturally. There's choices we have to make, decisions we make in life to know or to come to the point where we love or agape God with all our heart, mind, and soul. Agape. He doesn't say filio. He doesn't say storga. He says, you shall agape the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul. Verse 39, in the second, the answer said is like it, you shall agape your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments, hang all the law and the prophets. You can read the Bible, and this is what God is looking for. Agape him with all your heart, mind, and soul, and agape your neighbor as yourself.

Not filio, your neighbor as yourself. That's good. That's right. That should happen.

Agape your neighbor as yourself. Something bigger than filio. Something bigger than storga. Something God's true people, true disciples of Jesus Christ, will develop in their life. 1 Corinthians 2. 1 Corinthians 2. Verse 9. Another memory verse. I remember growing up, my dad had several verses that he very much liked. This was one of them that we heard often around the house. 1 Corinthians 2 verse 9.

As it is written, Paul writes, I has not seen nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who agape him.

Ah! To be in the kingdom, to experience those things that God has prepared that we don't see yet. That we have a vision of, we need to agape him. Those things he has prepared for those who agape him. So agape is a requirement for God's disciples. It's a requirement to see the things that God has prepared for those that love him. I'd better know what agape is. We'd all better know what agape is. Let's go back to 1 John. 1 John 4.

Mr. Berg used these verses the other night. And you'll remember, he exhorted all of us to love God, to love each other, that the church of God should be marked by love, exactly what Jesus Christ said. And that if we truly loved each other, we would be able to work out any differences that we have because we all have the same goal. We're all of the same Father. Let's go back to the very same verses that he used in 1 John. 1 John 4. Of course, 1 John, written by the Apostle John, who wrote the Gospel of John as well. Who Christ, or who was described as one who Christ loved. 1 John 4, verse 16. Again, I will replace the word love that's translated in your Bible with the Greek word. 1 John 4, verse 16. We have known, well, let me just read verse 15 to set the stage, whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God. And we have known and believed the agape that God has for us. 1 John 3.16, which was quoted the other night as well. For God so agape'd the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever should believe in him should not perish, would have everlasting life. Agape, not filio. Agape, something bigger than those other loves. We have known and believed the agape that God has for us. God is agape. That's what he is. It also says it in verse 8 of this very same chapter. God is agape, and he who abides in agape abides in God and God in him. We need filio. It's right in our life. Storga, Eros. But who abides in God?

You see who abides in agape. Verse 17, agape has been perfected. Ah, we can stop. Again, it's something that's perfected in us during the course of our life as we grow in all areas that Jesus Christ would lead us in and guide us in. One area, agape becomes perfected.

We don't have it on day one. We repent. We're baptized. God puts his Holy Spirit in us.

But agape is perfected in us over the course of our life. Agape has been perfected among us, in that we may have boldness in the day of judgment. But without agape, maybe we won't have boldness in the day of judgment.

Maybe we will be with the next part of this verse as we will be fearful because we neglected something that God has called us to. Or maybe just ignored. Or maybe just didn't put that much stock into. Going on. Because as he is, so we are in this world. Verse 18 is an interesting verse. There is no fear in agape. Isn't that an interesting verse? You know, there is fear in philia, isn't there? In just philia, we can walk down the streets of a maybe area that's not so highly such high a reputation. We can be fearful. Maybe as you look at what the Bible says is going to happen between now and the coming of Jesus Christ, you might feel a little fearful because there are horrific things that will happen in this world. To the whole world. Horrific things that will happen to the people of God. But John, inspired by God here, says there is no fear in agape. Perfect agape casts out fear. Perfect agape casts out fear.

Well, it puts agape in the asset category, doesn't it? I would like to have no fear. One way we have no fear, but God perfect agape in you. The Apostle Peter is a good example of this. Back when Jesus Christ was erected, you remember in the Garden of Gethsemane when they came to arrest him. And he responded then, and he would say, hey, Christ, I philio you. And I do believe he loved him with all his mind and soul. And he would have said, yes, I would die for you, Jesus Christ. Because the love, the emotional, physical love that was there was just that strong. And yet Christ told him, you know what? When I'm arrested, you're going to deny me three times. Peter said, there's no way I would do that. My love is too strong for you. But that's exactly what Peter did, didn't he? When it came time and he saw his own self, he denied him three times. And when he realized what he had done, he went out and he wept bitterly. But Peter, at the end of his life, over the course when he developed agape, he was willing to lay down his life. He was martyred for the word, for the truth, for the word that God had called him to and for the life that he had called him to. Over the course of his life, as he developed, as the Holy Spirit took root, Peter no longer had that fear for his life. Perfect agape casts out fear. And Peter came to understand that. So we can add to our definition of agape. It's more than filio. It provides something to us that we wouldn't have, just from filio. Peter proved that. Filio didn't cast out fear. Filio was still concerned with self. What will happen to me if I say I know him? But later on in his life, when agape was part of it, he didn't care about his life anymore. He was willing to lay it down, something that Christ tells us, be willing to lay down your life. We might all say we would. With agape, we will. Without it, our lot may be just like it was in Peter's in those early, early days. When we look at John 3 16, I quoted it, we don't need to turn there. We find something else out about agape. Jesus Christ, God so agape'd the world that they were willing to give or Christ's life for it. He was willing to lay down his life for you and me. People who have disappointed him so many times, people who have strayed from him. And for the whole world, not just for us, people who reject him, people who will deny that he exists, people who will say awful things about him. He died for all of them. He was willing to do that. What is it about agape that would allow someone to do that? So we find that agape has an element of self-sacrifice. You don't care about yourself anymore. You care about the bigger cause. And Jesus Christ, when he was on earth, he had the same feelings that you and I do. He went through pain just like you and I would if we were nailed to that stake. And yet he was willing to go through all of it. He knew how bad it was going to be, and prayed that if there was another way to do it to God the Father that night, let this lot fall from me. But God said, no, this is the plan. And you must go through it.

And you must go through it. Exactly as it was determined before the foundation of the world, exactly as it was said in the prophets. And he was willing to do it for you, for me, for everyone that has ever lived. Something about agape that is self-sacrifice that has no regard for self and our own well-being. Let's go back to Romans, Romans 5. Romans 5, verse 3. In the first few verses, Paul is pointing the Romans and us to the hope and the glory of God. And in verse 3 he says, And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance, character, and character, hope. There's another progression for you. Now, hope doesn't disappoint because the agape of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which was given to us.

Hope doesn't disappoint because God has given us the spirit of agape.

So we find out something else about agape. It comes from God's Holy Spirit.

Without God's Holy Spirit, you really can't understand what agape means.

The Greeks knew there was a bigger concept out there. They didn't know how to define it.

So they shied away from the use of it in their literature because they knew it was out there, but they just couldn't put their hands on it. How do you put it in a sentence?

Because with God's Holy Spirit, it takes that for us to begin to understand. 2 Timothy 1.7 says, God hasn't given us the spirit of fear. He hasn't given us the spirit of fear, but He's given us the spirit of power, of agape, and of a sound mind.

That's what He's given us the spirit of. Without God's Holy Spirit, we don't experience agape the way Jesus Christ and the true disciples of Jesus Christ will experience it. We don't experience agape the way it will be in the Kingdom and the Millennium.

But without His Holy Spirit, we do. Continuing on in Romans 5.

Verse 6, When we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. We take it for granted because we've done it all our life. Even the churches in the world will talk about how Jesus Christ died for us. For when we were still without strength, without the strength of the Holy Spirit, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. Who would you die for? Your child? Perhaps. Perhaps we would say. It's between my child and me, I will die in His place. And your spouse, yes, I will die that my spouse may live.

But would you die for someone you don't even know? Would you die? And if they lined you up and had someone you've never seen before, you have absolutely no emotional tie to, never laid eyes on them again, had nothing idea, and someone said it's between you and this person. You die or they die. And they wouldn't even know your decision. What would you do? Would you die for them?

It's a tough question, but Jesus Christ died for us when we were miserable. And I use the term ridiculous when we were ridiculous people doing what we thought was best, not understanding what His way was, not following His laws, not understanding who He was, what the plan was, and that God is in control of this earth. God is in control and He has a plan in effect. He died for us even then when we were His enemies, because Romans 8 and 7 is very true. It says, the carnal mind, the natural mind, your and my mind before the Holy Spirit was in it, is enmity against God. We were His enemies. The whole world was. We all made wrong decisions. And yet in that state, He died. He died for us. Verse 8, but God demonstrates His own agape toward us. In that way we were still sinners. Christ died for us. So we can add to our definition of agape. He was willing to do it even when we weren't His friends. And we were living totally apart from Him and letting ourselves dictate our lives. You can be turning over to Luke 10, a very well-known parable in Luke 10 about the Good Samaritan. I'm not going to read the whole parable of the Good Samaritan because you know it. You know how when Christ was asked the question, well, who is my neighbor? He gave this parable and demonstrated something that probably all of us would have done with the first two people did in that parable. A man was beaten, robbed, left to die by the side of the road. He couldn't help himself. He was just laying there. He didn't have a cell phone that he could pick up and dial 911. He was just sitting there with a cell phone that he could pick up and dial 911. He was at the mercy of the elements. He was at the mercy of whoever passed by. And as time went by, a priest came by, and you would think certainly a priest would be able to look at the situation and lend a helping hand and say, oh, we'll help this person, but the priest didn't. He looked over at the man and he thought, well, I don't know him. I've never seen him before. And he decided he would just cross the street, walk the other side, and walk right on by. And then a Levite came by. And he did the same thing. Certainly a Levite that works in the temple of God would stop and help, but he looked at the man and thought, well, I don't know him. I don't know him. And you know what? I'm busy. I need to just walk right on by. But then a Samaritan comes along. And the Jews looked down on the Samaritans. They wouldn't even have dinner with them. And this man is the one. All the three in an unlikely situation shows a sense of agape to him. Let's pick it up in Luke 10, verse 33.

And Christ asked the question, well, which one of these was a neighbor to that man? We learned something about agape and selfless love in that story. What can we find from that story that we would add to our definition of agape? The Samaritan had no emotional ties. It doesn't tell us how he looked over and go, oh, this is my next door neighbor. Oh, I remember him from high school. No. He didn't know him, as the saying goes, from Adam either. But what he did was stop and help him because he saw someone in need. He had no regard to himself. It was totally self-sacrifice. He could have walked on by just like the Levi, just like the priest, just like you or I may have. But he took his time because he was on his way somewhere, too. Used his own resources. Took the time to bandage him up. Used his own resources to bring him to the inn. Told the innkeeper, I'll pay his bill. Get him ready. Get him well. But you know one of the things that he doesn't ask the innkeeper? He didn't say the innkeeper, you know what? Can you get the nightly news out here and let him know what I just did? He didn't say, call the newspaper, you know, let him know this guy was beaten up and by the road and someone brought him here. He wasn't looking for any commendation at all. He doesn't ask the innkeeper for anything. He just did it out of the goodness of his heart. He saw a need and he filled it. He wasn't looking for anything in return. Agape doesn't look for things in return. It's not looking for the pat on the back from someone because Christ said, if that's what you're looking for, then you'll have your reward. There were no emotional ties to this man. No strings attached to what he did. He didn't leave his name and number with the innkeeper and say, when he's well, you can tell him that he can repay me at this address. He didn't do that. He wasn't looking for anything in return. Agape is that selfless love, if I can use the word, that selfless part of us that comes from the Holy Spirit that isn't looking for something in return from someone.

But that comes from our inner being that Jesus Christ with his Holy Spirit puts inside us. It transcends emotion. It's different than Philia, Eros, and Storga. It's nothing wrong with those emotional loves. God put them in motion. It's selfless. It's self-sacrificing. It's not looking for something in return.

There's another song out there that says, What the World Needs Now. Remember that song? What the world needs now is love, sweet love, right?

It's not Philia. It's not Eros. It's not Storga that the world needs. That's there. What the world really needs, as we sit here at the Feast of Tabernacles and look forward to the kingdom of God and the millennial reign of Jesus Christ, what the world needs is agape, sweet agape. That's what it needs to heal its wounds. That only comes from Jesus Christ.

That only comes from the Holy Spirit that God the Father puts in us and develops in us.

There's another element of agape that we should be aware of. Let's go back to Hebrews. Hebrews 12. Many people think or believe that Paul is the one who wrote Hebrews. No one knows we're absolutely sure.

The author of Hebrews, who we know was inspired by God as he wrote these words that were preserved for us today, he also uses the word agape here in Hebrews 12.

Let's pick it up in verse 5.

"'You have forgotten,' Hebrews 12.5, "'you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as two sons.'" When God gives us His Holy Spirit, He sees us as His sons. He loves us. He wants us to have everything He has created us to be.

He says, "'My son, don't despise the chastening of the Lord. Don't be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him.' For whom the Lord agapes, for who the Lord agapes, He chastens and scourges every son whom He receives.'" So there is a part to agape that isn't so pleasant.

Chasing is never pleasant. We remember that as we were kids, right? I know you young people in the audience. Not pleasant when your parents chasten you.

But it is necessary. It is necessary for our well-being. Tough love is what the world would call it today. Parents who never practice tough love are doing their children a disservice because they know what they need in order to grow up to be productive, well-disciplined young people who can be who they can be in this world and who God allows them to be.

God expresses or uses tough love on us, too, because we go through trials. We go through tribulations. We may not understand the reason for those.

But He knows who He wants us to be. He knows what potential He has built in us. He knows where He wants us to be in His kingdom.

And if we resist those trials, if we hate those tribulations, we're doing God a disservice. We're doing ourselves a disservice.

Because if we really believe that God has called us, if we really believe that Jesus Christ is returning, if we really believe what it says that we will be kings and priests in His kingdom, then we would let God just take care of our lives.

We would go through it. We would ask Him, let us learn the lessons. He knows our strengths. He knows our weaknesses.

So my trials and my tribulations are going to be different than yours. We can't judge anyone by the tribulations they go through or the trials they go through because God knows what we need.

In order to become the perfect people that He wants us to become. Because that's what He's called us to, to become perfect.

We don't do that just by good times, handshakes, high fives. We do it for some tough times as well as God grows out of us or evicts out of us.

The weaknesses, the sin, the things that hold us back from being everything that He wants us to be.

So, tribulation, if we're going to add to our definition of agape, has to be there. Trials are part of it. That's part of how God and His agape works toward us.

So let's recap. Let's recap a bit. What agape is, is we've learned from the Bible. Agape is a proof of our discipleship.

If we love, if we agape one another, then God says, you are my disciples. It's totally unselfish. It's an outgoing concern for others. Not motivated by emotion.

You know, we don't always choose who we marry. Well, I guess we do because we have the right to leave them behind, but we can't choose maybe who we fall in love with.

And sometimes you hear people say, I don't understand why I fell in love with that person. But they do. Agape is something that we choose to do.

It's not motivated by emotion. It's not motivated by what we will receive in return. It's motivated by what is best for the other person.

It starts with actions. It's our choice to do it. We can walk on by just like the priest in the Levite did.

We have to make the choice to follow God, yield to Him, let Him develop that in us, and then do the things that He leads us to do.

It involves self-sacrifice, forgiveness, giving of our time, or whatever resource is best for the other person, and it has no respect for persons.

And it doesn't take into consideration our comfort, our convenience. Jesus Christ didn't take into consideration His comfort, His convenience.

If He was, He wouldn't have died for any of us. He would have just said, it's not worth it.

But His agape gave Him the strength to do what He has done.

Let's go back to Matthew 5. I have another element into this just to have us contemplate on agape.

Matthew 5, Sermon on the Mount, where Christ laid out so many of the principles for His disciples.

He makes a hard statement in verse 43, and I'm sure the people who were listening that day, and when we read these words, we might think about them as well and think, how does that happen?

Matthew 5, verse 43. Christ says, You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor, quoting from the Old Testament, and hate your enemy. Well, that's the natural thing to do, right? If you've done me wrong, if I know that you want nothing but the worst for me, I'm not going to like you at all. That's tit for tat, right? That's exactly what humans do. That's how we have the situations in the world today.

We have enemies. They're not going to see eye to eye. They just want what the worst is for each other. Christ said, this is the natural thing. You said that it was said that, but I say to you, agape your enemies.

Man, that is tough. Can you imagine giving your life for someone who has made your life miserable?

Can you imagine doing anything for that person? The natural thing is, I'm glad. I'm glad that they're having a few problems in their lives. They deserve it, right? That's the natural response. When we see someone who has done us wrong have problems. But Christ said, don't do that. Agape them.

Just like He. Agape you and me. When we were enemies.

Because we weren't friends when He called us, we become friends as we follow Him, led by His Spirit, keep His commandments.

Something to contemplate. Not something we're going to be able to do on day one. They take us the rest of our lives to understand what it means and to truly feel that we agape our enemies.

Let me take just a brief diversion here. Let me turn over to Ephesians 5. I want to show you one other interesting element to agape, where it's used here in the Bible.

Ephesians 5, Paul is talking in the latter part of the chapter here. He gives instructions to husbands and wives.

If we follow those instructions, we will have a very happy marriage and a joyous marriage. That's what God created.

Eros is part of it. Philia can be part of it. Something else is a very important part of a successful, happy marriage.

Ephesians 5, verse 25. Paul writes, Husbands, agape your wives.

Isn't that an interesting thing for him to say? Husbands, agape your wives.

Not eros your wives. You think that would be the natural word he would use. Husbands, eros your wives.

Or husbands, philia your wives. Make them your life companion. He says, agape your wives.

Just as Christ also agape'd the church and gave himself for her, that he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word. If there's problems in a marriage between two people who have God's Holy Spirit, we might want husbands to think about agape.

If God wants us to even agape our enemies, we better agape our wives, in addition to the eros and philia and even storga that is there with it.

Two more verses. John 13. John 13. I quoted this before. I want you to look at the verses as we read it. We've built a definition for agape that for the rest of our lives here on this earth, God will help us to understand and help us to develop so that it becomes us, just as it is God, just as it is Jesus Christ.

In John 13. 35, he gives this standard for his disciples, and he says it's an identifying characteristic, a unique characteristic among his disciples.

John 13. 35. Let me start with verse 34. A new commandment I give to you that you agape one another, as I have agape you that you also agape one another.

By this, all will know that you are my disciples, if you have agape for one another.

That's how people looking in on steamboat springs can think, what's different about those people? What is this? We can't define it. There's something about them that's different than all the other groups that we have come in here.

But agape isn't just filia.

You know what? I have a feeling that every convention that's held here in this steamboat springs, there's a lot of fellowship that goes on, a lot of fine talk, a lot of brotherly love, perhaps.

I know when I was working and I went out to conventions and I saw people who I hadn't seen for a while, it was very good to see them.

I wanted to catch up, and there was chatter in the room among those that knew each other.

Filia isn't the defining characteristic. Filia is necessary. Filia is good. We'd better have it. It is important.

I'm not saying anything wrong about that. We should have it. And every morning when you come in here, every time after services you hear all the chatter, it's good.

You can feel the joy in the air. You can feel God's Holy Spirit in the air. But you didn't say it's by filia.

You will know that they'll know you're for the disciples because I can go into another convention. I'm going to find filia there.

You know what? I can go to the Muslim Brotherhood. If they have conventions, you know what? I have a feeling I would find filia there.

Because they have a common cause. They have a common purpose. They like each other. It's wrong what they do. It's wrong what they stand for. But it's there.

God says, among my people, agape is the identifying characteristic. And that's how they will know. Again, something for us to contemplate. Keep in the back of our minds. Ask God to develop that in us and to give us a deeper understanding of who He wants us to become, of who He wants us to be, as He is.

Finally, let's turn in over to a chapter that you've probably been waiting for me to turn to the entire sermon. Over in 1 Corinthians 13, the defining, the quintessential chapter, if you will, on love.

If you have the New King James Version, it uses love throughout this chapter. The Old King James uses charity.

You know why the Old King James uses charity instead of love? Because as they translated this chapter, they knew love probably didn't characterize it well, what Paul was talking about here. There was something big, but there was no other word in the English language they could use, so they used charity.

Let's look at the first few verses of chapter 13 to see how important agape is in our lives.

Chapter 13, 1 Corinthians 1. Paul writes, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, if God's given me this gift, if I don't have agape, I become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

I'm worthless. I'm just a bunch of noise. If I don't have agape.

And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, not one of us have the faith today.

You do. I can't yet say to those mountains outside my window, move and have a move.

Even if I could remove mountains, but if I don't have agape, I'm nothing.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, if I don't have agape, it profits me nothing.

I think it's a goal. Certainly a goal for me.

Certainly something that, after my conversation with that man and looking into the Bible, realizing I need to develop agape.

I need to know what God wants. I need to let Him develop that in me.

Verse 13, Now abide faith, hope, new King James says, love, the old King James says, charity, and now abide faith, hope, and charity, these three.

They're all important. They're all good. All the types of love that God created are good.

But He says of these three, the greatest of these is agape. The greatest of these is agape.

I hope, I hope you go from here, for the rest of this feast, and really for the rest of your lives. You're led by God's Holy Spirit.

We want everyone that's here, everyone who's keeping the feast all over the world, everyone that God calls to be in His Kingdom.

Follow Him, be led by Him, let Him develop agape in you.

And I'm going to conclude with the two words that Paul uses in the first two words here of Chapter 14. As we go forth in all our lives, follow God, be led by His Holy Spirit, pursue agape.