December 10, 2025 • 26 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Connect with Skip Heightsing. We're so glad you've
tuned in today at Connect with Skip, our passion is
to help you grow in your relationship with Jesus through solid,
verse by verse Bible teaching that's both clear and practical.
Every message you hear is designed to strengthen your faith
and help you live out God's truth wherever He's placed you.
(00:22):
But did you know that you can stay connected beyond
the broadcast. When you sign up for pastor skips free
weekly devotional, You'll receive biblical encouragement, exclusive content, and free
resources to help you go deeper in God's Word, all
delivered straight to your inbox. It's quick, easy, and completely free,
and it's a great way to stay rooted in truth
(00:43):
every week. Sign up today at connectwiskip dot com. That's
Connect with Skip dot com. Now here's today's message from
Pastor Skip Heightsing.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
If I have such a capacity that the Bible tells
me that I have to love people, that nobody around
me should ever feel love starved. They should never feel
love starved. They should feel love saturated, love soaked, but
not love starved. Because if the love of God is
poured out by His Holy Spirit into me. Then it
(01:15):
can then be poured out through me. I have to
receive it so that I can give it. Our love
then should be plentiful. That's the first attribute of a
mature love. Second, our love should be perceptive. Now watch
what he does. You know, Paul could have just said
in this I pray that your love may abound still
more and more period. But he doesn't do that. He
(01:38):
says that your love may have bound still more and
more in knowledge and all discernment. Now this is important
because now Paul is qualifying what overflowing love is to
look like by adding these parameters of knowledge and discernment.
(01:59):
You see, Paul is not naive. He's not throwing out
love like some cliche is tolerate anything except everything kind
of a love, he says, No, the overflowing love that
I am speaking about to one another needs banks, just
like a river has banks, and one bank is called
knowledge and the other bank is called discernment. And your
(02:19):
love needs to flow within those banks to be safe.
You see, overflowing love sounds really great, but it is
like a river, and if that water has free flow
without any direction or discretion, it can kill people. A
few years ago, I was in Honduras. They had just
had a flood, and I was in a helicopter going
(02:42):
over these villages. The homes were washed out, schools, hospitals
were gone. People were huddled in masses in the jungles,
trying to find a place for shelter. And it was
all because of a river that over flowed its banks.
Water's a blessing, but that much water that just flows
(03:02):
wherever it wants to can destroy people's lives. And so
too with love. If our love is just pure emotion,
without discretion or direction, it can bring devastation. It needs
those banks in which to flow. So let's look at them.
Let's look at them one by one. The first bank
(03:23):
is called knowledge, that your love may still abound more
and more in knowledge. What does that mean? The word epinosis,
the Greek word for knowledge, here means an expert knowledge,
a mature knowledge brought on by experience. If you know
(03:43):
anything about Paul's writing, you know that Paul will often
take love and knowledge and combine them. Sometimes he'll oppose them,
they'll show the difference between them. For example, in One Corinthians,
chapter eight, he says knowledge puffs up but love builds up.
He's contrasting love and knowledge or fet Corinthians chapter thirteen.
(04:08):
Though I speak with a tongue of men or of angels,
but I have not love. I've become like a clanging symbol,
sounding brass. And though I can understand all mysteries and
have all knowledge, but I have not love. I have
become nothing. So he says knowledge needs love, but he
(04:29):
also says love needs knowledge for that love to be
responsible love. Remember when Paul spoke about a zealous group
of religious brethren of his, he said they have a
zeal for God, but it's not according to knowledge, and
he faulted them for that. It's pure emotion but no knowledge. Now,
(04:54):
if you diminish your need for knowledge, and you place
f above knowledge, like so many people do, just do
what's in your heart. Man, whatever you feel like doing.
That is the most dangerous, irresponsible thing you could ever do.
And you would be a dangerous person to live that way.
Why do I say that, Well, you can feel out
(05:18):
of love with your spouse and feel in love with
somebody who's not your spouse. A parent can feel they
ought to give something whatever the child wants to their child.
I'm going to give it because I feel that that's
the loving thing to do. Well, that could be the
worst thing to do, to give them whatever they want.
(05:39):
You may feel that love is letting another Christian do
whatever he or she wants to do. That's where you
need knowledge, the knowledge of Matthew chapter eighteen, where Jesus said,
sometimes the most loving thing you can do is to
confront another brother or sister, and that's love. So mature
love is not sentimentality, nor is it emotion. It has banks.
(06:05):
The first bank is knowledge two Peter chapter one. He says,
make every effort to add to your faith goodness and
to goodness knowledge. So follow me. Our love should be growing,
but our love should also be knowing. Knowledge is one
of the banks that allows the free flow of love.
(06:28):
There's another bank I want you to notice also in
verse nine, and that is discernment, that your love may
abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment.
Discernment means insight, mature insight or sensitive moral perception. Allow
me to explain, we might have an affection for somebody else,
(06:53):
but that doesn't mean we have the right to express
that affection any way we see fit to bring discernment
into it. See, there are moral and ethical considerations that
are to govern the overflowing expression of our love to people.
To discern something is to distinguish, to make a difference.
(07:17):
And so every parent knows this that love is expressed
in different ways at different times to the same child.
One day a parent will give a gift to a child,
another day a parent will spank a child. Both are
legitimate expressions of love. Another example is that of Jesus Christ.
(07:42):
Sometimes he'd heal a person. Another day he would overturn
the tables in the temple and with a whip drive
out the money changers. Both are expressions of love, but
into different contexts. Or one day Jesus would say to
the crowd, you are blessed. Blessed are you? Another day
look at another crowd filled with Pharisees, and you say,
you whitewashed sepulchers. Both are expressions of love from the
(08:06):
one who is the author of love himself. Now most
of us know that the most frequently used Greek word
for love in the New Testament is what tell me
shout it out. Agape. Agape is the Greek word for
love that expresses God's love for us. Generally, love for
(08:27):
one another is to be at that supreme superior. That's
what we aspire to agape love. Well, make sure that
you're a goapi isn't sloppy. Don't love with sloppy agapi,
And sloppy agapi is is saying you love somebody, but
it's really a selfish love. I'm going to do something
(08:49):
or say something because i don't want to be disliked
by that person. That's sloppy agapi. First Corinthians, Chapter thirteen,
verse six sums it up. Love does not rejoice in iniquity,
but it rejoices in the truth. So our love should
be abounding, plentiful love, but it should also be perceptive,
(09:13):
having run within the banks of knowledge and discernment melliga
verse ten, that you may approve the things that are excellent,
that you may be sincere and without offense till the
day of Christ. You see where it begins the sentence
with the word that everything that follows is a purpose clause.
(09:37):
It is called a purpose clause. In other words, it
means sow that, or in order that, or Paul is saying,
here's the reason you need these two river banks of
knowledge and discernment. Here's why, here's the purpose for it.
It's so that you can approve the things that are excellent. Now,
(10:02):
that little word approve was a word used in ancient
times to test metals, to approve metals, to take a
coin and determine how much real metal versus alloy is
in it. You would examine it, you would test it,
and you would test it for purity. So he uses
(10:24):
that word approve, and he means this, we must carefully
examine every expression of our love in the light of
God's word, because then it becomes a different issue. No
longer is it an issue of how do I feel,
But it becomes an issue of what does the Bible
(10:44):
say about how I feel? Does the Bible say this
is a legitimate expression an illegitimate expression? Does the Bible
prohibit this? Does it encourage this? So there was a
mom in Walmart with her screaming little girl girl in
her cart, and the girl was throwing stuff and complaining
and yelling, and just the volume is going up and up,
(11:07):
and that mom was feeling like expressing her love with
a slap to the backside right there in public, but
instead she said out loud calm down, Ellen, It'll be
all right, Ellen. You'll be home soon. Ellen. And as
she got up to the clerk, the clerk said, ma'am,
I've just got to congratulate you on how patient you
(11:29):
are with little Ellen. And the mom turned to her
and said, I'm Ellen. See there's a lady debating, approving
what's the proper expression of my love? Talking to herself through.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
This is connect with Skip Heisig. As we reach the
end of twenty twenty five, generous support from friends like
you is vital to keep connect with Skip Heizig strong
and sharing God's unchanging truth around the world. Your year
end gift helps more people hear the gospel and lasting
hope in Jesus. And to thank you for your generosity,
we'll send you the Daily God Journal, Pastor Skipp's new
(12:07):
year long prayer Journal, together with the digital devotional the
Daily God Book. These resources will guide you through scripture
day by day, helping you align your heart with God
and experience his peace. Request yours when you give a
year end gift of fifty dollars or more at connect
withskip dot com slash offer or call eight hundred ninety
two to two eighteen eighty eight. Let's return now to
(12:30):
today's message.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
So our love should be plentiful, our love should be perceptive.
There's a third quality, a third attribute of mature love,
and that is our love should be pure. Also verse ten,
that you may approve the things that are excellent. And
notice the next phrase, that you may be sincere and
(12:55):
without offense until the day of Christ. You see that
second that in the sentence begins with the word that,
and then there's a comma, and there's another that. Okay,
I'm showing you all this because that's another purpose clause.
It means in order that all of that to say this,
(13:15):
Paul is praying for one thing, one thing, their love,
the expression of their love. I wanted to abound, I
wanted to overflow, but within the banks of knowledge and discernment,
so that you can approve the things that are excellent,
and so that it's all about the same subject. This
is a purpose clause, so that or in order that
(13:37):
you will express your love in the right way, in
a pure way. Look at the words sincere.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
You know what that is.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
When we say a person is sincere, usually that we're
paying them a compliment to us for some reason, sincerity
is like the highest virtue a person can have, no
matter what they believe in. Along they're sincere. That's what
a lot of people say. The word sincere in English
comes from a Latin word, actually two words that sound
(14:09):
very much like our words sincere. I'll say it cna sarah,
sena sarah, two Latin words sena sarah. That's where we
get the word sincere. Cna sarah literally means without wax,
sna without sarah, wax saying I'm praying that your love
(14:32):
would abound and be within the banks of knowledge and discernment,
so that you can approve the things that are excellent,
and so that you may be without wax. You're going,
I don't get it well. In ancient times, porcelain dealers
and statue makers would carve their wares and sell them,
(14:56):
and if they wanted to sell them so that the
buyer would know it it's real, pure, legitimate, through and through,
they would say, it's without wax. Here's a plate of
porcelain or a statue of marble that is sine sarah.
It's without wax. In other words, it didn't break, and
(15:18):
we added dust and wax and patched it back up.
It's a pure work, through and through. Now you could
tell if it was with wax. You would just hold
it up to the sun. It'd be sun tested. You'd
hold it up and you could see the crack running
through it, and you'd feel the wax mixed with a
porcelain or marble dust, and you say, this is a fake.
(15:41):
This thing's busted. They patched it up. And if you
bought a statue for your husband's birthday and it's July,
and you have it in the backyard and you have
a garden party and you're all happy. Everything's good until
the nose falls off and the arm falls off, and
then he says, that is an in sins here expression
(16:01):
of love that has wax in it. That's the idea
of sincere. So the idea means pure, that you may
be sincere and without offense. So the idea is this,
don't let your love be phony, don't let it be mixed,
don't let it have an impure motive. Like a little boy,
(16:25):
his mom said, you know, you've been a bad boy lately.
You need to get on your knees and pray that
God would make you a better boy. You got it right,
down on his knees about his head. He goes, Oh, Lord,
make me a better boy. And Lord, if you can't
make me better, don't worry, because I'm having a real
good time just the way I am. Amen. Sometimes our life,
(16:47):
sometimes our love, sometimes our prayers can be insincere. There's
wax inside. Romans twelve nine says, let love be without hypocrisy,
that is, don't just pretend to love, really love. Best
(17:07):
example of insincere love is Judas Is Scariot betrays Jesus
for thirty pieces of silver and betrays him with a
what a kiss? An expression of love walks up to him.
The garden master goes over to him and kisses him.
Jesus even remarked and says, you betray the son of
man with a kiss. That was insincere, impure love. So
(17:33):
let's personalize it. Let's say you give a compliment to somebody,
a word of encouragement. What could be better? Well, did
you really mean what you said or are you saying
that because you want something from that person? Now it's impure.
Now it's insincere when you go up and hug a person,
(17:54):
is it because you're genuinely showing brotherly love, or you
want to get physically close to that person. That's an
insincere expression of love. Matthew Henry said, hypocrisy is to
do the devil's work in God's uniform. So he says,
I'm praying for your love that keep on growing and overflowing,
(18:16):
but not in a destructive way, but within the banks
of knowledge and discernment, so that you can test it
and approve that it's according to God's will and word,
and so that it's the real deal. It is sincere
without wax. And notice what else, without offense until the
(18:36):
day of Christ. In other words, the best testimony is
a life that is a genuine, authentic Christian life without hypocrisy.
When you have a hypocrite showing impure love, it brings
the offense factor front and center. It turns everybody off.
(19:00):
It would be sincere and without offense till the day
of Christ. So let's sum it up. Our love should
be plentiful, Our love should be perceptive, Our love should
be pure. There's a fourth mark, and we'll close with
this and with his last verse, verse eleven. Our love
should be purposeful. You say, well, it sounds purposeful so far.
(19:22):
Why do you need another purpose, Because Paul always has
a higher purpose, And I want you to see what
it is. Verse eleven. Being filled with the fruits of righteousness,
which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise
of God. What does all that mean. It simply means,
this is the kind of love that is the fruit
(19:43):
of righteousness by which God is glorified. That's all it means.
So when our love abounds, but it's kept within the
banks of knowledge and discernment, it's a pure love. God
is glorified. And that is, by the way, the purpose
of all love, the purpose of marital love, or boyfriend
girlfriend love or friendship love isn't just so you feel better.
(20:06):
The purpose of all love as a Christian is to
glorify God. You know how I know that because that's
the purpose of all life. All of life is to
glorify God. I exist to glorify God.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
I do.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
In Revelation chapter four, the twenty four elders bowed down,
saying for Thy pleasure all things were created. That's why
I exist. First Corinthians chapter ten. Whether you eat or drink,
or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God.
Last time, I checked. Love is under the category of
(20:43):
all whatever you do, all things for the glory of God.
Loving is under the category of all things whatever you do,
do all for the glory of God. So now we
have the ultimate test to know if this expression of
our love is approved or not. And it's simple, does
(21:05):
it glorify Jesus Christ. If it does, then everyone around
us is going to be loved, and we're going to
stick out like a sore thumb in this world. We're
going to be like that early church that the spy
came in and said, my how they love him, and
my how they love one another, because people just don't
(21:26):
do that. But when we do it with the responsible
kind of mature love, people feel loved around us, cared for, invested,
in secure, and God gets the glory. So to sum
it all up, our love should be growing, our love
(21:47):
should be knowing, and our love should be showing. Do
you ever pray for love? Oh? Yeah, I pray that
people love me all the time. No, I mean, do
you pray for your own love for them? That's what
Paul saying. I'm praying for your love for one another.
(22:08):
Do you ever pray that your love would flow out?
Because people around, you would be soaked, wonderfully soaked. They
get it around and go, man, I'm a wet I'm soaked,
like I love so much. She loves so much, and
it's such a pure godly love. I feel so cared for.
My challenge then, as we close this week, is that
(22:31):
you be a person. This week you start praying for
your love, the expressions of your love to be mature,
like what we just pray for. I'm praying that for
you this week.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
I made.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
That's my commitment as I pray for you this week,
and I'll pray for myself this kind of prayer. And
here's why we need to pray for it. Here's why
Paul prays for it, because you know, I just want
to bring this up because sometimes people go, why did
he pray for that? Of all the things to pray for,
why that? Well, you know, in the physical world world,
we have a law called the second law of thermodynamics,
(23:05):
and the second law of thermodynamics basically states that all
matter and all energy in the universe is subject to
and in a constant state of entropy, that is, continual degradation,
ongoing deterioration decay. In the spiritual life, It's like there
(23:26):
is a form of spiritual entropy that pulls us backwards.
So as we go through the day and through the week,
we get pulled back to the values of this world,
the ideologies of this world expressed in their music, their
news articles, they're messaging along the freeway, our friends, we
(23:49):
get pulled back to it. The only way to counteract
that spiritual entropy is to be infusing ourselves with new energy.
We get together a lot, and that's why the Book
of Hebrews says, fellowship come to church a lot, especially
as you see the day of Christ approaching. Do it
(24:10):
more often, pray more often, Bible study more often. You
need to counteract the spiritual entropy. So I'm praying for you,
but I'm not praying for you like Jaren Lowenstein said,
wherever you are in your car, I'm praying for you, crash.
(24:33):
I'm praying for the long haul that your love, your
expression toward one another, would be this kind of mature
love is expressed in these four ways.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
We're so glad you joined us today on connect with
Skip Heitzig.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
And remember before you go.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
Your generosity today makes a real difference. As this year ends,
your gift of fifty dollars or more helps more people
hear God's word and find lasting hope in Jesus. And
to thank you, we'll send you the Daily God Journal
along with the companion digital devotional, the Daily God Book.
These resources will help you start the new year aligned
(25:10):
with God's heart and growing in faith each day. Give
your year end gift now at connectwiskgift dot com, slash
offer or call eight hundred and ninety two to eighteen
eighty eight. Come back next time for more verse by
verse teaching of God's Word Here unconnected with gift Heidsick.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
Make Connect, Make Connect, The crossing just a song, Make Conness.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
Next Connect with Gift. Heidsig is a presentation of connection
communications connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever
changing times
Welcome to Connect with Skip Heightsing. We're so glad you've
tuned in today at Connect with Skip, our passion is
to help you grow in your relationship with Jesus through solid,
verse by verse Bible teaching that's both clear and practical.
Every message you hear is designed to strengthen your faith
and help you live out God's truth wherever He's placed you.
(00:22):
But did you know that you can stay connected beyond
the broadcast. When you sign up for pastor skips free
weekly devotional, You'll receive biblical encouragement, exclusive content, and free
resources to help you go deeper in God's Word, all
delivered straight to your inbox. It's quick, easy, and completely free,
and it's a great way to stay rooted in truth
(00:43):
every week. Sign up today at connectwiskip dot com. That's
Connect with Skip dot com. Now here's today's message from
Pastor Skip Heightsing.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
If I have such a capacity that the Bible tells
me that I have to love people, that nobody around
me should ever feel love starved. They should never feel
love starved. They should feel love saturated, love soaked, but
not love starved. Because if the love of God is
poured out by His Holy Spirit into me. Then it
(01:15):
can then be poured out through me. I have to
receive it so that I can give it. Our love
then should be plentiful. That's the first attribute of a
mature love. Second, our love should be perceptive. Now watch
what he does. You know, Paul could have just said
in this I pray that your love may abound still
more and more period. But he doesn't do that. He
(01:38):
says that your love may have bound still more and
more in knowledge and all discernment. Now this is important
because now Paul is qualifying what overflowing love is to
look like by adding these parameters of knowledge and discernment.
(01:59):
You see, Paul is not naive. He's not throwing out
love like some cliche is tolerate anything except everything kind
of a love, he says, No, the overflowing love that
I am speaking about to one another needs banks, just
like a river has banks, and one bank is called
knowledge and the other bank is called discernment. And your
(02:19):
love needs to flow within those banks to be safe.
You see, overflowing love sounds really great, but it is
like a river, and if that water has free flow
without any direction or discretion, it can kill people. A
few years ago, I was in Honduras. They had just
had a flood, and I was in a helicopter going
(02:42):
over these villages. The homes were washed out, schools, hospitals
were gone. People were huddled in masses in the jungles,
trying to find a place for shelter. And it was
all because of a river that over flowed its banks.
Water's a blessing, but that much water that just flows
(03:02):
wherever it wants to can destroy people's lives. And so
too with love. If our love is just pure emotion,
without discretion or direction, it can bring devastation. It needs
those banks in which to flow. So let's look at them.
Let's look at them one by one. The first bank
(03:23):
is called knowledge, that your love may still abound more
and more in knowledge. What does that mean? The word epinosis,
the Greek word for knowledge, here means an expert knowledge,
a mature knowledge brought on by experience. If you know
(03:43):
anything about Paul's writing, you know that Paul will often
take love and knowledge and combine them. Sometimes he'll oppose them,
they'll show the difference between them. For example, in One Corinthians,
chapter eight, he says knowledge puffs up but love builds up.
He's contrasting love and knowledge or fet Corinthians chapter thirteen.
(04:08):
Though I speak with a tongue of men or of angels,
but I have not love. I've become like a clanging symbol,
sounding brass. And though I can understand all mysteries and
have all knowledge, but I have not love. I have
become nothing. So he says knowledge needs love, but he
(04:29):
also says love needs knowledge for that love to be
responsible love. Remember when Paul spoke about a zealous group
of religious brethren of his, he said they have a
zeal for God, but it's not according to knowledge, and
he faulted them for that. It's pure emotion but no knowledge. Now,
(04:54):
if you diminish your need for knowledge, and you place
f above knowledge, like so many people do, just do
what's in your heart. Man, whatever you feel like doing.
That is the most dangerous, irresponsible thing you could ever do.
And you would be a dangerous person to live that way.
Why do I say that, Well, you can feel out
(05:18):
of love with your spouse and feel in love with
somebody who's not your spouse. A parent can feel they
ought to give something whatever the child wants to their child.
I'm going to give it because I feel that that's
the loving thing to do. Well, that could be the
worst thing to do, to give them whatever they want.
(05:39):
You may feel that love is letting another Christian do
whatever he or she wants to do. That's where you
need knowledge, the knowledge of Matthew chapter eighteen, where Jesus said,
sometimes the most loving thing you can do is to
confront another brother or sister, and that's love. So mature
love is not sentimentality, nor is it emotion. It has banks.
(06:05):
The first bank is knowledge two Peter chapter one. He says,
make every effort to add to your faith goodness and
to goodness knowledge. So follow me. Our love should be growing,
but our love should also be knowing. Knowledge is one
of the banks that allows the free flow of love.
(06:28):
There's another bank I want you to notice also in
verse nine, and that is discernment, that your love may
abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment.
Discernment means insight, mature insight or sensitive moral perception. Allow
me to explain, we might have an affection for somebody else,
(06:53):
but that doesn't mean we have the right to express
that affection any way we see fit to bring discernment
into it. See, there are moral and ethical considerations that
are to govern the overflowing expression of our love to people.
To discern something is to distinguish, to make a difference.
(07:17):
And so every parent knows this that love is expressed
in different ways at different times to the same child.
One day a parent will give a gift to a child,
another day a parent will spank a child. Both are
legitimate expressions of love. Another example is that of Jesus Christ.
(07:42):
Sometimes he'd heal a person. Another day he would overturn
the tables in the temple and with a whip drive
out the money changers. Both are expressions of love, but
into different contexts. Or one day Jesus would say to
the crowd, you are blessed. Blessed are you? Another day
look at another crowd filled with Pharisees, and you say,
you whitewashed sepulchers. Both are expressions of love from the
(08:06):
one who is the author of love himself. Now most
of us know that the most frequently used Greek word
for love in the New Testament is what tell me
shout it out. Agape. Agape is the Greek word for
love that expresses God's love for us. Generally, love for
(08:27):
one another is to be at that supreme superior. That's
what we aspire to agape love. Well, make sure that
you're a goapi isn't sloppy. Don't love with sloppy agapi,
And sloppy agapi is is saying you love somebody, but
it's really a selfish love. I'm going to do something
(08:49):
or say something because i don't want to be disliked
by that person. That's sloppy agapi. First Corinthians, Chapter thirteen,
verse six sums it up. Love does not rejoice in iniquity,
but it rejoices in the truth. So our love should
be abounding, plentiful love, but it should also be perceptive,
(09:13):
having run within the banks of knowledge and discernment melliga
verse ten, that you may approve the things that are excellent,
that you may be sincere and without offense till the
day of Christ. You see where it begins the sentence
with the word that everything that follows is a purpose clause.
(09:37):
It is called a purpose clause. In other words, it
means sow that, or in order that, or Paul is saying,
here's the reason you need these two river banks of
knowledge and discernment. Here's why, here's the purpose for it.
It's so that you can approve the things that are excellent. Now,
(10:02):
that little word approve was a word used in ancient
times to test metals, to approve metals, to take a
coin and determine how much real metal versus alloy is
in it. You would examine it, you would test it,
and you would test it for purity. So he uses
(10:24):
that word approve, and he means this, we must carefully
examine every expression of our love in the light of
God's word, because then it becomes a different issue. No
longer is it an issue of how do I feel,
But it becomes an issue of what does the Bible
(10:44):
say about how I feel? Does the Bible say this
is a legitimate expression an illegitimate expression? Does the Bible
prohibit this? Does it encourage this? So there was a
mom in Walmart with her screaming little girl girl in
her cart, and the girl was throwing stuff and complaining
and yelling, and just the volume is going up and up,
(11:07):
and that mom was feeling like expressing her love with
a slap to the backside right there in public, but
instead she said out loud calm down, Ellen, It'll be
all right, Ellen. You'll be home soon. Ellen. And as
she got up to the clerk, the clerk said, ma'am,
I've just got to congratulate you on how patient you
(11:29):
are with little Ellen. And the mom turned to her
and said, I'm Ellen. See there's a lady debating, approving
what's the proper expression of my love? Talking to herself through.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
This is connect with Skip Heisig. As we reach the
end of twenty twenty five, generous support from friends like
you is vital to keep connect with Skip Heizig strong
and sharing God's unchanging truth around the world. Your year
end gift helps more people hear the gospel and lasting
hope in Jesus. And to thank you for your generosity,
we'll send you the Daily God Journal, Pastor Skipp's new
(12:07):
year long prayer Journal, together with the digital devotional the
Daily God Book. These resources will guide you through scripture
day by day, helping you align your heart with God
and experience his peace. Request yours when you give a
year end gift of fifty dollars or more at connect
withskip dot com slash offer or call eight hundred ninety
two to two eighteen eighty eight. Let's return now to
(12:30):
today's message.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
So our love should be plentiful, our love should be perceptive.
There's a third quality, a third attribute of mature love,
and that is our love should be pure. Also verse ten,
that you may approve the things that are excellent. And
notice the next phrase, that you may be sincere and
(12:55):
without offense until the day of Christ. You see that
second that in the sentence begins with the word that,
and then there's a comma, and there's another that. Okay,
I'm showing you all this because that's another purpose clause.
It means in order that all of that to say this,
(13:15):
Paul is praying for one thing, one thing, their love,
the expression of their love. I wanted to abound, I
wanted to overflow, but within the banks of knowledge and discernment,
so that you can approve the things that are excellent,
and so that it's all about the same subject. This
is a purpose clause, so that or in order that
(13:37):
you will express your love in the right way, in
a pure way. Look at the words sincere.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
You know what that is.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
When we say a person is sincere, usually that we're
paying them a compliment to us for some reason, sincerity
is like the highest virtue a person can have, no
matter what they believe in. Along they're sincere. That's what
a lot of people say. The word sincere in English
comes from a Latin word, actually two words that sound
(14:09):
very much like our words sincere. I'll say it cna sarah,
sena sarah, two Latin words sena sarah. That's where we
get the word sincere. Cna sarah literally means without wax,
sna without sarah, wax saying I'm praying that your love
(14:32):
would abound and be within the banks of knowledge and discernment,
so that you can approve the things that are excellent,
and so that you may be without wax. You're going,
I don't get it well. In ancient times, porcelain dealers
and statue makers would carve their wares and sell them,
(14:56):
and if they wanted to sell them so that the
buyer would know it it's real, pure, legitimate, through and through,
they would say, it's without wax. Here's a plate of
porcelain or a statue of marble that is sine sarah.
It's without wax. In other words, it didn't break, and
(15:18):
we added dust and wax and patched it back up.
It's a pure work, through and through. Now you could
tell if it was with wax. You would just hold
it up to the sun. It'd be sun tested. You'd
hold it up and you could see the crack running
through it, and you'd feel the wax mixed with a
porcelain or marble dust, and you say, this is a fake.
(15:41):
This thing's busted. They patched it up. And if you
bought a statue for your husband's birthday and it's July,
and you have it in the backyard and you have
a garden party and you're all happy. Everything's good until
the nose falls off and the arm falls off, and
then he says, that is an in sins here expression
(16:01):
of love that has wax in it. That's the idea
of sincere. So the idea means pure, that you may
be sincere and without offense. So the idea is this,
don't let your love be phony, don't let it be mixed,
don't let it have an impure motive. Like a little boy,
(16:25):
his mom said, you know, you've been a bad boy lately.
You need to get on your knees and pray that
God would make you a better boy. You got it right,
down on his knees about his head. He goes, Oh, Lord,
make me a better boy. And Lord, if you can't
make me better, don't worry, because I'm having a real
good time just the way I am. Amen. Sometimes our life,
(16:47):
sometimes our love, sometimes our prayers can be insincere. There's
wax inside. Romans twelve nine says, let love be without hypocrisy,
that is, don't just pretend to love, really love. Best
(17:07):
example of insincere love is Judas Is Scariot betrays Jesus
for thirty pieces of silver and betrays him with a
what a kiss? An expression of love walks up to him.
The garden master goes over to him and kisses him.
Jesus even remarked and says, you betray the son of
man with a kiss. That was insincere, impure love. So
(17:33):
let's personalize it. Let's say you give a compliment to somebody,
a word of encouragement. What could be better? Well, did
you really mean what you said or are you saying
that because you want something from that person? Now it's impure.
Now it's insincere when you go up and hug a person,
(17:54):
is it because you're genuinely showing brotherly love, or you
want to get physically close to that person. That's an
insincere expression of love. Matthew Henry said, hypocrisy is to
do the devil's work in God's uniform. So he says,
I'm praying for your love that keep on growing and overflowing,
(18:16):
but not in a destructive way, but within the banks
of knowledge and discernment, so that you can test it
and approve that it's according to God's will and word,
and so that it's the real deal. It is sincere
without wax. And notice what else, without offense until the
(18:36):
day of Christ. In other words, the best testimony is
a life that is a genuine, authentic Christian life without hypocrisy.
When you have a hypocrite showing impure love, it brings
the offense factor front and center. It turns everybody off.
(19:00):
It would be sincere and without offense till the day
of Christ. So let's sum it up. Our love should
be plentiful, Our love should be perceptive, Our love should
be pure. There's a fourth mark, and we'll close with
this and with his last verse, verse eleven. Our love
should be purposeful. You say, well, it sounds purposeful so far.
(19:22):
Why do you need another purpose, Because Paul always has
a higher purpose, And I want you to see what
it is. Verse eleven. Being filled with the fruits of righteousness,
which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise
of God. What does all that mean. It simply means,
this is the kind of love that is the fruit
(19:43):
of righteousness by which God is glorified. That's all it means.
So when our love abounds, but it's kept within the
banks of knowledge and discernment, it's a pure love. God
is glorified. And that is, by the way, the purpose
of all love, the purpose of marital love, or boyfriend
girlfriend love or friendship love isn't just so you feel better.
(20:06):
The purpose of all love as a Christian is to
glorify God. You know how I know that because that's
the purpose of all life. All of life is to
glorify God. I exist to glorify God.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
I do.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
In Revelation chapter four, the twenty four elders bowed down,
saying for Thy pleasure all things were created. That's why
I exist. First Corinthians chapter ten. Whether you eat or drink,
or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God.
Last time, I checked. Love is under the category of
(20:43):
all whatever you do, all things for the glory of God.
Loving is under the category of all things whatever you do,
do all for the glory of God. So now we
have the ultimate test to know if this expression of
our love is approved or not. And it's simple, does
(21:05):
it glorify Jesus Christ. If it does, then everyone around
us is going to be loved, and we're going to
stick out like a sore thumb in this world. We're
going to be like that early church that the spy
came in and said, my how they love him, and
my how they love one another, because people just don't
(21:26):
do that. But when we do it with the responsible
kind of mature love, people feel loved around us, cared for, invested,
in secure, and God gets the glory. So to sum
it all up, our love should be growing, our love
(21:47):
should be knowing, and our love should be showing. Do
you ever pray for love? Oh? Yeah, I pray that
people love me all the time. No, I mean, do
you pray for your own love for them? That's what
Paul saying. I'm praying for your love for one another.
(22:08):
Do you ever pray that your love would flow out?
Because people around, you would be soaked, wonderfully soaked. They
get it around and go, man, I'm a wet I'm soaked,
like I love so much. She loves so much, and
it's such a pure godly love. I feel so cared for.
My challenge then, as we close this week, is that
(22:31):
you be a person. This week you start praying for
your love, the expressions of your love to be mature,
like what we just pray for. I'm praying that for
you this week.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
I made.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
That's my commitment as I pray for you this week,
and I'll pray for myself this kind of prayer. And
here's why we need to pray for it. Here's why
Paul prays for it, because you know, I just want
to bring this up because sometimes people go, why did
he pray for that? Of all the things to pray for,
why that? Well, you know, in the physical world world,
we have a law called the second law of thermodynamics,
(23:05):
and the second law of thermodynamics basically states that all
matter and all energy in the universe is subject to
and in a constant state of entropy, that is, continual degradation,
ongoing deterioration decay. In the spiritual life, It's like there
(23:26):
is a form of spiritual entropy that pulls us backwards.
So as we go through the day and through the week,
we get pulled back to the values of this world,
the ideologies of this world expressed in their music, their
news articles, they're messaging along the freeway, our friends, we
(23:49):
get pulled back to it. The only way to counteract
that spiritual entropy is to be infusing ourselves with new energy.
We get together a lot, and that's why the Book
of Hebrews says, fellowship come to church a lot, especially
as you see the day of Christ approaching. Do it
(24:10):
more often, pray more often, Bible study more often. You
need to counteract the spiritual entropy. So I'm praying for you,
but I'm not praying for you like Jaren Lowenstein said,
wherever you are in your car, I'm praying for you, crash.
(24:33):
I'm praying for the long haul that your love, your
expression toward one another, would be this kind of mature
love is expressed in these four ways.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
We're so glad you joined us today on connect with
Skip Heitzig.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
And remember before you go.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
Your generosity today makes a real difference. As this year ends,
your gift of fifty dollars or more helps more people
hear God's word and find lasting hope in Jesus. And
to thank you, we'll send you the Daily God Journal
along with the companion digital devotional, the Daily God Book.
These resources will help you start the new year aligned
(25:10):
with God's heart and growing in faith each day. Give
your year end gift now at connectwiskgift dot com, slash
offer or call eight hundred and ninety two to eighteen
eighty eight. Come back next time for more verse by
verse teaching of God's Word Here unconnected with gift Heidsick.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
Make Connect, Make Connect, The crossing just a song, Make Conness.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
Next Connect with Gift. Heidsig is a presentation of connection
communications connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever
changing times
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