April 6, 2025 • 26 mins
Pastor Ken Davis examines what it means to love without hypocrisy, challenging believers to move beyond words to sincere actions that demonstrate genuine Christian love. He shows how love is not primarily a feeling but a choice and action that reflects God's agape love flowing through us to others.
• Love without hypocrisy means being genuine rather than merely pretending to care about others
• Various Bible translations help clarify that love must be unfeigned, genuine, sincere, and real
• Love is not just a feeling but primarily an action and decision we make
• 1 Corinthians 13 provides the definitive description of agape love that never fails
• Like a quality frying pan, genuine love doesn't let negative interactions "stick" to it
• We cannot be the source of love others need—only God can be the source while we serve as channels
• God desires to be the "crust" of our life's pizza—the foundation of everything rather than just a slice or topping
• Sincere love requires us to utterly reject evil while clinging firmly to what is good
Join us for worship at Calvary Chapel Southwest Metro on Sundays at 10:30 am and Wednesdays at 7 pm. Visit heedtheword.org or call 817-447-5675 for more information.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Heed the Word with our pastor
and teacher, Ken Davis.
Pastor Ken is the senior pastorof Calvary Chapel, Southwest
Metro.
Please join us as we study ourseries entitled Lessons in
Christian Living.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Love is not a feeling , love is an action.
No, don't get me wrong, thereare feelings that can go with it
, but love devoid of feelingscan still be love, because love
is a choice, it's a decision,and so what the writer is saying
here is this Don't just pretendthat you love others Really
love them.
(00:38):
So the injunction still is thatwe are to love, but we're to
love from our heart, we're tolove in sincerity.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
There's no shortage of self-help books, motivational
speakers and even opinions outthere about how we're supposed
to live on this earth, but asChristians, we need to take our
direction in this area from theWord of God.
So we're bringing you ourseries entitled Lessons in
Christian Living, taken from the12th and 13th chapters of
Paul's letter to the church inRome.
(01:10):
As believers, we're commandedto love God with all our heart,
soul and mind and to love ourneighbors as ourself.
How do we accomplish this?
In the book of 1 John, we learnthat we're to not love with our
words only, but with actionsand truth, just as Jesus said if
you love me, then keep mycommandments.
Love is a verb.
(01:31):
Don't forget to stay with usafter today's message to hear
more information about Heed theWord, specifically how you can
get a free copy of this teaching.
But for now, please open yourBibles to the book of Romans,
chapter 12, verse 9, as we joinPastor Ken.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Romans, chapter 12, verses 1 through 8, speaks in
turn of how we are to viewourselves in relation to God.
In relation to God, romans 12tells us that we are to see
ourselves as living sacrifices.
It tells us how we are to viewourselves in relation to the
world.
We are not to be conformed tothis world, but we are to be
(02:09):
transformed by the renewing ofour minds.
It tells us how we are to viewourselves in relation to
ourselves, that we ought to notthink more highly of ourselves
than we ought to.
And it also tells us how we areto view ourselves in relation
to the body of Christ, or thechurch as a whole, and that is
(02:29):
by using our God-given gifts toserve the body diligently.
Now, in Romans 12, 9 through 16, today we're going to learn how
we are to view ourselves inrelation to one another, not
just as a body, but asindividuals within that body,
not only from the perspective ofgifts activated in service, but
(02:53):
from the perspective of loveoffered in sincerity.
Let love be without hypocrisy.
Hypocrisy is a bad thing,wouldn't you agree?
I mean, there are a few thingsthat people complain about more
than hypocrisy.
Hypocrisy is a bad thing,wouldn't you agree?
I mean, there are a few thingsthat people complain about more
than hypocrisy.
And I don't want to go tochurch, man, they're just a
bunch of hypocrites, right?
Well, you know, my response tothat, as always, was well, where
(03:16):
would you prefer the hypocritesbe?
I mean, church is kind of agood place, because maybe
they'll hear something therethat will convince them not to
be hypocrites.
Right?
You know, I've often said andyou've heard me say it before
that hypocrisy is not having astandard that you fail to live
up to.
Hypocrisy is having a standardthat you fail to live up to but
(03:37):
then pretending as though youdidn't fail, right.
But you see, we know that weare sinners saved by grace.
If we thought we were notsinners, then we would be prone
to hypocrisy.
But if we just remember that weare flawed and failed people,
that will help shield uscertainly from hypocrisy, though
(03:58):
it is no guarantee.
We must continually examineourselves.
As I studied out this phrase letlove be without hypocrisy I
found it very helpful to look atsome other translations of this
phrase.
The Darby translation says letlove be unfeigned.
Right, when we act like we lovesomebody, but then, as soon as
(04:21):
they walk out of the room, westart to talk badly about them.
That is feigned love, isn't it?
We're just acting like we lovethem.
Well, why would we do that?
Well, because we want them torelate to us in a particular way
, or we want something from them.
So what do we do?
We put on a mask and we pretendthat we love them.
Now, this is not the kind offeigned love that is fake it
(04:41):
till you make it right.
If you're trying to fake ittill you make it, or in other
words, treat someone with loveeven though you don't feel love
for them, at least in thatinstance you have a desire to
feel love for them, and that'sthe motivation behind your
faking it till you make it.
But when our motive is impure,when our motive is for our own
benefit, then that is a feignedlove.
(05:03):
The English Standard Versiontranslates it this way let love
be genuine.
You want it to be the real deal, right?
I mean, if I were to pull out ofmy wallet this morning a $100
bill?
If I pull out a $100, wow, Ihave a $100 bill in my wallet.
That almost never happens,right?
But if I pull this $100 billout of my wallet and I say you
(05:25):
know what?
I'm gonna give this to you andthen, after I give it to you,
you turn it over and you seethat there's a picture not of
Benjamin Franklin but of ColonelSanders on the front.
Then does that $100 bill, whichI'm gonna put back in my wallet
right now, have any particularvalue?
It has no value.
It's probably not worth thepaper that it's printed on.
You know how quickly y'allstarted paying attention.
(05:47):
When I pulled a hundred dollarbill out of my wallet.
Every eye in the house was ishe going to give that away?
That's what you were thinking.
I would give it away, but thenit would like be drawing
attention to myself, so I'mgoing to have to keep it.
You know, if I give you ahundred dollar bill and you're
thinking, wow, that's a hundreddollar bill, that's awesome.
(06:07):
But then you find out it's afake.
What value does it have?
Now, if it's a genuine hundreddollar bill, well, that's really
good.
You're excited about that andyou know what Our love is.
The same way, when we lovesomeone in a genuine way, that
love has great value.
But when we're deceiving themand only acting like we love
(06:28):
them, then where's the value inthat love?
So the English Standard Versionsays let love be genuine.
The International StandardVersion makes it more personal.
It says your love must bewithout hypocrisy.
I like that Because you know wecan sit back here and say, oh
well, love must be withouthypocrisy, and that sounds
really good and we can all agreeto that.
But when we make it personaland we say, look, your love must
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be without hypocrisy, then thatforces you to step back for a
moment and say wait a minute, ismy love without hypocrisy or am
I just lying?
Then the King James version letlove be without dissimulation,
big word right.
Without deception, withoutdeceiving someone.
The New Century Version yourlove must be real, Real love.
(07:17):
That's what we're looking for.
The NIV your love must besincere.
Often I've heard the wordsincere described as without wax
, in other words, your loveshould be sincere.
Often I've heard the wordsincere described as without wax
.
In other words, your loveshould be without fillers, right
or without additives orpreservatives.
You want the organic love.
That's what you're looking for.
Your love must be sincere.
The Good News translation lovemust be completely sincere.
(07:43):
And my favorite rendering of thephrase actually comes from the
New Living Translation, whichsays this don't just pretend
that you love others, reallylove them, and I like that
because it takes away an excuse.
And here's the excuse.
Well, you know, pastor, yousaid my love must be sincere,
(08:06):
that I shouldn't fake it.
So, since I don't really lovethat person, I'm not going to be
loving toward them, becausethat would be deceptive.
Right, there are people outthere, I guarantee you, who are
probably thinking that right now.
Well, if my love has to besincere, then if I don't really
feel love for someone, then Idon't have to be loving toward
them, because to do so would behypocritical.
(08:26):
Right, that's bogus, becauselove is not a feeling, love is
an action.
No, don't get me wrong, thereare feelings that can go with it
, but love devoid of feelingscan still be love, because love
is a choice, it's a decision,and so what the writer is saying
here is this Don't just pretendthat you love others, really
(08:49):
love them.
So the injunction still is thatwe are to love, but we're to
love from our heart, we're tolove in sincerity.
Let love be without hypocrisy.
So, love is to be withouthypocrisy.
But what is the love that Paulis writing about?
(09:09):
Well, it's none other thanagape love, the agape love of
God and, honestly, nodescription of this love would
ever be complete withoutconsidering what Paul had to say
about it in 1 Corinthians 13.
So turn with me there, if youwill.
In the first three verses, paultalks about the importance of
this love, and then in verses 4through 8, he's going to
(09:31):
describe it.
But we'll start in verse 1.
He's saying this no matter whatspiritual gifts you have, no
matter how self-sacrificing youractions may seem to be, no
matter how flashy those thingsthat God has empowered you to do
are, whether you can preach tobring down the heavens, whether
you can speak in tongues,whether you can prophesy,
(09:52):
whether you can lay hands on thesick and they be healed,
whether you have the gift ofgiving and you give thousands
and thousands and hundreds ofthousands of dollars to the work
of the gospel no matter whatyou can do, if you don't have
love, it doesn't matter, it'sworthless, it's not genuine,
it's a fake $100 bill.
You understand me?
(10:12):
So he's saying listen, love isparamount in importance.
Without love, none of the restof it even matters.
So what is the love that he'stalking about?
How do you describe this agapelove?
Well, whenever you describesomething, really, the best you
can do is say things about it,right, well, it's like this and
it's like that, and you try topaint a picture of it.
(10:34):
And so here, in verses fourthrough eight, paul paints a
picture of love.
What does love do?
What does love look like?
Love suffers long and is kind.
You know, when we think aboutlove, we don't often think about
suffering, do we?
When we think about love, wedon't often think about
suffering, do we?
When we think about love, wethink about warm, fuzzy feelings
(10:56):
.
We think about, you know, latenight romantic comedies, or
about candlelit dinners, orabout walks on the beach, or
about all of these otherromantic ideas.
Love suffers long.
In other words, love is patient.
Love doesn't just give out allof a sudden because it gets
frustrated.
And in the midst of itssuffering, love maintains kind
actions.
(11:16):
Love suffers long and is kind.
Love does not envy.
Love does not parade itself andis not puffed up.
In other words, love isn'timpressed with itself.
Aren't you so glad that I loveyou because I'm such a wonderful
person?
You see, that's not love.
That's self-love, isn't it?
(11:38):
But that's not the kind of lovethat God wants us to have.
Love does not parade itself,it's not puffed up.
Love does not behave rudely, itdoes not seek its own, it is
not provoked, it thinks no evil.
Love does not rejoice ininiquity but rejoices in the
(11:59):
truth.
Love bears all things, believesall things, hopes all things
and endures all things.
Love never fails.
You know, when I read throughthat, I think of a really good
frying pan.
I know that sounds ridiculous,doesn't it?
(12:19):
But I do.
I think of a really good fryingpan.
Have you ever cooked with areally bad frying pan?
Have you ever noticed, nomatter how much Pam you spray on
the bottom of that pan, thoseeggs are gonna stick, aren't
they?
But if you get a really good,high quality frying pan, then
(12:39):
just a little dab of butter willdo just a little bit of
lubricant, maybe not even that,and you can cook an omelet in
that thing and it'll come outlooking beautiful, won't it?
A really good frying pan?
You know why?
Because a really good fryingpan, it's not going to get stuff
stuck to it.
And that's what love is like.
When you really have the love ofGod operating in your heart,
(13:02):
then stuff's not going to stickto you.
People are going to say harshwords, but guess what?
They're not going to stick.
People are going to beinconsiderate of you, but it's
not going to stick.
People are going to say harshwords, but, guess what, they're
not going to stick.
People are going to beinconsiderate of you, but it's
not going to stick.
People are going to be rude toyou and you're going to have to
be patient with them.
But if love is there, none ofthat's going to stick and you're
going to be able to allow thelove of God, which is that fire
(13:24):
underneath the pan, to transferits warmth and its heat from you
to the one you're loving.
Does that make sense?
That frying pan takes that heatthat is underneath it and it
transfers that heat to the thingthat it is working on.
And if we allow God's love towork in our heart, then, as
(13:44):
God's love warms our hearts, wein turn will love and warm the
heart of the person that he hascalled us to love.
So love is a frying pan.
So the Bible tells us that lovenever fails.
Now, does that mean that lovealways accomplishes what it sets
(14:06):
out to do?
Maybe it means that.
Now, does that mean that lovealways accomplishes what it sets
out to do?
Maybe it means that, but when Isee the word love never fails.
I think of the fact that lovenever runs out.
The supply of love never fails.
If you find this morning thatyou think, if you believe that
your love has failed, or thatthe love you feel for your
(14:28):
husband or your wife or yourchildren, or your friends or
your family, or whoever it maybe, if you feel that your love
has failed, that your love hassomehow run out, what's the
answer to that problem?
You go to the source, don't you?
If you don't have the love,you're like a frying pan that
isn't sitting on the flame.
So what you need to do is youneed to get that frying pan
(14:52):
moved over on top of the heat.
In other words, if you feelthat you don't have love for
another person, then you need toget right with God and you need
to go to God and you need toask God to fill you with his
love for that person.
You know, guys, I've beenmarried for over 20 years now.
God bless my wife.
One thing that, as a young man,I figured out how I figured this
(15:17):
out is beyond me.
I do not know how I came tothis idea.
It had to be a God thing.
I fully believe that it was theHoly Spirit who communicated
this wisdom to me, because, asan 18 year old young man, I
began, even before we weremarried, to pray and to ask God
(15:38):
to give me the love for my wifethat she needed to receive from
him, and to give her the lovefor me that I needed to receive
from him.
And so, from the very earliestdays of our relationship, my
prayer was that we would each bechannels of God's love to one
(16:00):
another.
You see, somehow or another Ifigured out that I couldn't be
the source of the love sheneeded and that she couldn't be
the source of the love that Ineeded, that only God't be the
source of the love she neededand that she couldn't be the
source of the love that I needed, that only God could be the
source of that love and that thebest I could ever hope for was
that she and I would be channelsthrough which that love could
flow.
May God impart that wisdom toyou this morning, because I can
(16:21):
say it all day long but if Goddoesn't speak it to your heart,
it's not gonna stick.
But the source of this agapelove is not our flesh, it's not
our heart, it is the Holy Spirit, it is God.
Let love be without hypocrisy.
Now, romans 5.8 told us that Goddemonstrates his own love
(16:44):
toward us in that, while we werestill sinners, christ died for
us.
In other words, we didn'tdeserve his love, he gave his
love.
He demonstrated his love evenwhen we didn't deserve it.
And in first John, chapterthree, verse 18, the apostle of
love himself tells us my littlechildren, let us not love in
(17:07):
word or in tongue, but in deedand in truth.
So, in other words, it's notenough for me to say I love you,
it's not enough for me to get abeautiful Valentine's Day card
for my wife or for her to getthis beautiful Valentine's Day
card for me.
I mean, we can profess our loveto each other all day long, and
(17:30):
it might make us feel good, butultimately it's not going to
accomplish anything.
We need to demonstrate our love, just as God demonstrated his.
So, then, if we are to love insincerity, and not in word or in
tongue only, but in deed and intruth, how are we then, as
believers in Jesus Christ, todemonstrate our love?
(17:54):
That is actually the questionthat is being answered in Romans
, chapter 12.
How are you going todemonstrate your love.
Well, we demonstrate our loveto God by presenting our bodies
as living sacrifices holy andacceptable to God.
By presenting our bodies asliving sacrifices holy and
acceptable to God.
In other words, we demonstrateour love to God by giving
(18:15):
ourselves to him, by not holdinganything back from him, by
acknowledging his authority inevery corner and crevice of our
lives.
You've heard me use theillustration before about the
pizza, right, as it compares toyour life.
You see, your life is like areally big, thick crust pizza
(18:39):
and it is awesome.
It's got the sauce, it's gotthe cheese, it's got the
pepperonis and the Italiansausage and the bell peppers and
the jalapenos and all of thatgood stuff.
You notice I left out theanchovies.
Nobody likes those and if youdo, you're just weird.
No offense, I love you, butyou're weird.
So salty fish on a pizza justdoes not work.
(19:01):
I don't understand that.
But anyway, pineapples are good.
So whatever your pizza has onit, if you want anchovies, you
can have them.
But here's the question I havefor you when you think about the
pizza of your life, you thinkabout the fact that it is cut
into slices.
Now, in your life, some ofthese slices are bigger than
others, right?
There's a slice called worklife, and for some of you that
(19:24):
takes up as much as half thepizza, right?
Maybe more For others of you.
There's another slice calledfamily, and that slice of family
is broken down into wife, kids,in-laws, siblings and all of
that.
And then there's this otherpiece called leisure time.
I'm not going to ask you howbig that is and that's cut up
into TV and internet and thisand that.
(19:46):
So there are all thesedifferent slices in your life,
all these different things thattake up your life, and your life
is filled with little toppingsyour interests and your hobbies.
That's the pepperoni and theItalian sausage and all of that.
So my question to you thismorning would be this what part
of that pizza of your life doesGod want for himself?
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What part of that pizza doesGod want to be in your life?
You see, for a lot of people,god is the toppings of life,
right?
They have their life, they havetheir work, they have their
family, they have all of thesethings that they do, and you
know what they think.
It would be a good idea tothrow a little bit of God in too
, so he becomes the Parmesancheese of their pizza.
(20:28):
You know, easter and Christmas,just a little sprinkling of God
in there.
How many of us have been guiltyof that before?
And so that's one way oflooking at it.
Or another person might say well, you know what I love the Lord
and I am going to serve God withall my might, and so I am going
to cut that pizza and I'm goingto give God the biggest slice.
(20:50):
And then there are all theseother little slices that are,
you know, the areas where I'm incharge of.
But God, he gets the biggestslice of my life right.
That's the mentality that saysthat my relationship with God is
based on how I serve him.
You know what I do for God.
Well, you know, I go to churchon Sunday and I go to church on
Wednesday and I read my Bibleevery day and I pray and I do
(21:11):
all the things my pastor told meI'm supposed to do.
Those I do.
So God gets this really bigslice of my life.
But you see, the problem isthat's not enough for God.
God wants to be the crust ofyour pizza, because that crust
permeates the entire pizza.
(21:34):
That crust is in the work life.
That crust is in the familylife.
That crust is in the leisuretime, that crust is in the
service to God.
That crust is part of it, isthe foundation of every part of
that life.
And let me tell you a lifewithout God as the crust is like
(21:54):
a pizza without a crust you caneat it, but it's going to be
messy.
You understand what I'm saying.
You can live a life without God, but the end result is it's
going to be a mess, but the endresult is it's going to be a
mess.
So our love for God isdemonstrated in that we present
our bodies as living sacrifices,holy and acceptable to God.
(22:16):
Now we demonstrate our love forthe body of Christ, the church,
by putting the gifts that Godhas given us to work for the
good of the body and for theglory of God.
So there is a place for ourworks.
Our works are the way that weexpress our love, or demonstrate
our love to the body of Christas a whole, and we can
(22:37):
demonstrate also the sincerityof our love for one another as
individuals by obeying theexhortations that we find in
Romans, chapter 12, verses 9through 16.
Now, if we're going to loveeach other sincerely and without
hypocrisy, we need to carefullyconsider what the Holy Spirit,
through the Apostle Paul, hastold us, that that kind of love,
(22:59):
that sincere love, would looklike.
So for love to be withouthypocrisy, first we must abhor
what is evil and and cling towhat is good.
To abhor evil means to detestutterly everything that is
hurtful in effect or influence.
Now, there are a number ofother ways to describe it, but I
(23:21):
think this suffices to say thatwe are to turn away from those
things that are bad and we areutterly to reject them.
We're not to make an allegiancewith, or a treaty with, or a
compromise with, those thingsthat are evil.
Because when we compromise withthings that are evil ie drug
abuse, alcoholism, pornography,lying when we allow those things
(23:44):
and others like them to haveplace in our lives, when we do
not utterly reject them but weallow the devil to have a
foothold in us and in our lives,then we are ultimately hurting
those whom we are supposed tolove.
By contrast, we are to cling towhat is good.
The idea here is that we are tostick like glue to what is good
(24:05):
.
When we see something that'sgood, that's right, that's fair,
we are to keep our eyes set onthat thing.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
The Christian life was never designed to be a solo
flight.
God designed us with the needfor relationships with others
who can encourage us in ourpersonal journey of faith.
Maybe you're listening todayand you don't have a home church
and this message ministered toyou.
Well, we'd like to take thistime to invite you to join us
for one of our worship services.
Calvary Chapel Southwest Metromeets each Sunday morning at
(24:35):
10.30 am and Wednesday eveningsat 7 pm.
Besides our Sunday morningservices, we have ministries for
children, men, women, couplesand youth.
To learn more about CalvaryChapel Southwest Metro, log on
to heaththewordorg.
That's heaththewordorg, that'sheaththewordorg, and when you
get there, just follow the link.
(24:56):
Or, if you'd like to talk withsomeone, give us a call.
Our phone number is817-447-5675.
That's 817-447-5675.
So visit the website or call ustoday.
Now we also want to encourageyou to review this study.
This study and many more taughtby Pastor Ken are available at
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our website, heedthewordorg.
Many of Pastor Ken's teachingsare available in MP3 format.
You can also receive a CD copyof this message.
Simply log on to heedthewordorgand select the option for CD
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When you fill out the orderform.
Please keep in mind today'sdate.
(25:41):
This helps us make sure that wesend you the correct message.
Well, that's all the time wehave for today.
Please join Pastor Ken nexttime as he continues teaching
through our series entitledLessons for Christian Living,
right here on Heed the Word.
You're listening to Heed the Word with our pastor
and teacher, Ken Davis.
Pastor Ken is the senior pastorof Calvary Chapel, Southwest
Metro.
Please join us as we study ourseries entitled Lessons in
Christian Living.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Love is not a feeling , love is an action.
No, don't get me wrong, thereare feelings that can go with it
, but love devoid of feelingscan still be love, because love
is a choice, it's a decision,and so what the writer is saying
here is this Don't just pretendthat you love others Really
love them.
(00:38):
So the injunction still is thatwe are to love, but we're to
love from our heart, we're tolove in sincerity.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
There's no shortage of self-help books, motivational
speakers and even opinions outthere about how we're supposed
to live on this earth, but asChristians, we need to take our
direction in this area from theWord of God.
So we're bringing you ourseries entitled Lessons in
Christian Living, taken from the12th and 13th chapters of
Paul's letter to the church inRome.
(01:10):
As believers, we're commandedto love God with all our heart,
soul and mind and to love ourneighbors as ourself.
How do we accomplish this?
In the book of 1 John, we learnthat we're to not love with our
words only, but with actionsand truth, just as Jesus said if
you love me, then keep mycommandments.
Love is a verb.
(01:31):
Don't forget to stay with usafter today's message to hear
more information about Heed theWord, specifically how you can
get a free copy of this teaching.
But for now, please open yourBibles to the book of Romans,
chapter 12, verse 9, as we joinPastor Ken.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Romans, chapter 12, verses 1 through 8, speaks in
turn of how we are to viewourselves in relation to God.
In relation to God, romans 12tells us that we are to see
ourselves as living sacrifices.
It tells us how we are to viewourselves in relation to the
world.
We are not to be conformed tothis world, but we are to be
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transformed by the renewing ofour minds.
It tells us how we are to viewourselves in relation to
ourselves, that we ought to notthink more highly of ourselves
than we ought to.
And it also tells us how we areto view ourselves in relation
to the body of Christ, or thechurch as a whole, and that is
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by using our God-given gifts toserve the body diligently.
Now, in Romans 12, 9 through 16, today we're going to learn how
we are to view ourselves inrelation to one another, not
just as a body, but asindividuals within that body,
not only from the perspective ofgifts activated in service, but
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from the perspective of loveoffered in sincerity.
Let love be without hypocrisy.
Hypocrisy is a bad thing,wouldn't you agree?
I mean, there are a few thingsthat people complain about more
than hypocrisy.
Hypocrisy is a bad thing,wouldn't you agree?
I mean, there are a few thingsthat people complain about more
than hypocrisy.
And I don't want to go tochurch, man, they're just a
bunch of hypocrites, right?
Well, you know, my response tothat, as always, was well, where
(03:16):
would you prefer the hypocritesbe?
I mean, church is kind of agood place, because maybe
they'll hear something therethat will convince them not to
be hypocrites.
Right?
You know, I've often said andyou've heard me say it before
that hypocrisy is not having astandard that you fail to live
up to.
Hypocrisy is having a standardthat you fail to live up to but
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then pretending as though youdidn't fail, right.
But you see, we know that weare sinners saved by grace.
If we thought we were notsinners, then we would be prone
to hypocrisy.
But if we just remember that weare flawed and failed people,
that will help shield uscertainly from hypocrisy, though
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it is no guarantee.
We must continually examineourselves.
As I studied out this phrase letlove be without hypocrisy I
found it very helpful to look atsome other translations of this
phrase.
The Darby translation says letlove be unfeigned.
Right, when we act like we lovesomebody, but then, as soon as
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they walk out of the room, westart to talk badly about them.
That is feigned love, isn't it?
We're just acting like we lovethem.
Well, why would we do that?
Well, because we want them torelate to us in a particular way
, or we want something from them.
So what do we do?
We put on a mask and we pretendthat we love them.
Now, this is not the kind offeigned love that is fake it
(04:41):
till you make it right.
If you're trying to fake ittill you make it, or in other
words, treat someone with loveeven though you don't feel love
for them, at least in thatinstance you have a desire to
feel love for them, and that'sthe motivation behind your
faking it till you make it.
But when our motive is impure,when our motive is for our own
benefit, then that is a feignedlove.
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The English Standard Versiontranslates it this way let love
be genuine.
You want it to be the real deal, right?
I mean, if I were to pull out ofmy wallet this morning a $100
bill?
If I pull out a $100, wow, Ihave a $100 bill in my wallet.
That almost never happens,right?
But if I pull this $100 billout of my wallet and I say you
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know what?
I'm gonna give this to you andthen, after I give it to you,
you turn it over and you seethat there's a picture not of
Benjamin Franklin but of ColonelSanders on the front.
Then does that $100 bill, whichI'm gonna put back in my wallet
right now, have any particularvalue?
It has no value.
It's probably not worth thepaper that it's printed on.
You know how quickly y'allstarted paying attention.
(05:47):
When I pulled a hundred dollarbill out of my wallet.
Every eye in the house was ishe going to give that away?
That's what you were thinking.
I would give it away, but thenit would like be drawing
attention to myself, so I'mgoing to have to keep it.
You know, if I give you ahundred dollar bill and you're
thinking, wow, that's a hundreddollar bill, that's awesome.
(06:07):
But then you find out it's afake.
What value does it have?
Now, if it's a genuine hundreddollar bill, well, that's really
good.
You're excited about that andyou know what Our love is.
The same way, when we lovesomeone in a genuine way, that
love has great value.
But when we're deceiving themand only acting like we love
(06:28):
them, then where's the value inthat love?
So the English Standard Versionsays let love be genuine.
The International StandardVersion makes it more personal.
It says your love must bewithout hypocrisy.
I like that Because you know wecan sit back here and say, oh
well, love must be withouthypocrisy, and that sounds
really good and we can all agreeto that.
But when we make it personaland we say, look, your love must
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be without hypocrisy, then thatforces you to step back for a
moment and say wait a minute, ismy love without hypocrisy or am
I just lying?
Then the King James version letlove be without dissimulation,
big word right.
Without deception, withoutdeceiving someone.
The New Century Version yourlove must be real, Real love.
(07:17):
That's what we're looking for.
The NIV your love must besincere.
Often I've heard the wordsincere described as without wax
, in other words, your loveshould be sincere.
Often I've heard the wordsincere described as without wax
.
In other words, your loveshould be without fillers, right
or without additives orpreservatives.
You want the organic love.
That's what you're looking for.
Your love must be sincere.
The Good News translation lovemust be completely sincere.
(07:43):
And my favorite rendering of thephrase actually comes from the
New Living Translation, whichsays this don't just pretend
that you love others, reallylove them, and I like that
because it takes away an excuse.
And here's the excuse.
Well, you know, pastor, yousaid my love must be sincere,
(08:06):
that I shouldn't fake it.
So, since I don't really lovethat person, I'm not going to be
loving toward them, becausethat would be deceptive.
Right, there are people outthere, I guarantee you, who are
probably thinking that right now.
Well, if my love has to besincere, then if I don't really
feel love for someone, then Idon't have to be loving toward
them, because to do so would behypocritical.
(08:26):
Right, that's bogus, becauselove is not a feeling, love is
an action.
No, don't get me wrong, thereare feelings that can go with it
, but love devoid of feelingscan still be love, because love
is a choice, it's a decision,and so what the writer is saying
here is this Don't just pretendthat you love others, really
(08:49):
love them.
So the injunction still is thatwe are to love, but we're to
love from our heart, we're tolove in sincerity.
Let love be without hypocrisy.
So, love is to be withouthypocrisy.
But what is the love that Paulis writing about?
(09:09):
Well, it's none other thanagape love, the agape love of
God and, honestly, nodescription of this love would
ever be complete withoutconsidering what Paul had to say
about it in 1 Corinthians 13.
So turn with me there, if youwill.
In the first three verses, paultalks about the importance of
this love, and then in verses 4through 8, he's going to
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describe it.
But we'll start in verse 1.
He's saying this no matter whatspiritual gifts you have, no
matter how self-sacrificing youractions may seem to be, no
matter how flashy those thingsthat God has empowered you to do
are, whether you can preach tobring down the heavens, whether
you can speak in tongues,whether you can prophesy,
(09:52):
whether you can lay hands on thesick and they be healed,
whether you have the gift ofgiving and you give thousands
and thousands and hundreds ofthousands of dollars to the work
of the gospel no matter whatyou can do, if you don't have
love, it doesn't matter, it'sworthless, it's not genuine,
it's a fake $100 bill.
You understand me?
(10:12):
So he's saying listen, love isparamount in importance.
Without love, none of the restof it even matters.
So what is the love that he'stalking about?
How do you describe this agapelove?
Well, whenever you describesomething, really, the best you
can do is say things about it,right, well, it's like this and
it's like that, and you try topaint a picture of it.
(10:34):
And so here, in verses fourthrough eight, paul paints a
picture of love.
What does love do?
What does love look like?
Love suffers long and is kind.
You know, when we think aboutlove, we don't often think about
suffering, do we?
When we think about love, wedon't often think about
suffering, do we?
When we think about love, wethink about warm, fuzzy feelings
(10:56):
.
We think about, you know, latenight romantic comedies, or
about candlelit dinners, orabout walks on the beach, or
about all of these otherromantic ideas.
Love suffers long.
In other words, love is patient.
Love doesn't just give out allof a sudden because it gets
frustrated.
And in the midst of itssuffering, love maintains kind
actions.
(11:16):
Love suffers long and is kind.
Love does not envy.
Love does not parade itself andis not puffed up.
In other words, love isn'timpressed with itself.
Aren't you so glad that I loveyou because I'm such a wonderful
person?
You see, that's not love.
That's self-love, isn't it?
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But that's not the kind of lovethat God wants us to have.
Love does not parade itself,it's not puffed up.
Love does not behave rudely, itdoes not seek its own, it is
not provoked, it thinks no evil.
Love does not rejoice ininiquity but rejoices in the
(11:59):
truth.
Love bears all things, believesall things, hopes all things
and endures all things.
Love never fails.
You know, when I read throughthat, I think of a really good
frying pan.
I know that sounds ridiculous,doesn't it?
(12:19):
But I do.
I think of a really good fryingpan.
Have you ever cooked with areally bad frying pan?
Have you ever noticed, nomatter how much Pam you spray on
the bottom of that pan, thoseeggs are gonna stick, aren't
they?
But if you get a really good,high quality frying pan, then
(12:39):
just a little dab of butter willdo just a little bit of
lubricant, maybe not even that,and you can cook an omelet in
that thing and it'll come outlooking beautiful, won't it?
A really good frying pan?
You know why?
Because a really good fryingpan, it's not going to get stuff
stuck to it.
And that's what love is like.
When you really have the love ofGod operating in your heart,
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then stuff's not going to stickto you.
People are going to say harshwords, but guess what?
They're not going to stick.
People are going to beinconsiderate of you, but it's
not going to stick.
People are going to say harshwords, but, guess what, they're
not going to stick.
People are going to beinconsiderate of you, but it's
not going to stick.
People are going to be rude toyou and you're going to have to
be patient with them.
But if love is there, none ofthat's going to stick and you're
going to be able to allow thelove of God, which is that fire
(13:24):
underneath the pan, to transferits warmth and its heat from you
to the one you're loving.
Does that make sense?
That frying pan takes that heatthat is underneath it and it
transfers that heat to the thingthat it is working on.
And if we allow God's love towork in our heart, then, as
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God's love warms our hearts, wein turn will love and warm the
heart of the person that he hascalled us to love.
So love is a frying pan.
So the Bible tells us that lovenever fails.
Now, does that mean that lovealways accomplishes what it sets
(14:06):
out to do?
Maybe it means that.
Now, does that mean that lovealways accomplishes what it sets
out to do?
Maybe it means that, but when Isee the word love never fails.
I think of the fact that lovenever runs out.
The supply of love never fails.
If you find this morning thatyou think, if you believe that
your love has failed, or thatthe love you feel for your
(14:28):
husband or your wife or yourchildren, or your friends or
your family, or whoever it maybe, if you feel that your love
has failed, that your love hassomehow run out, what's the
answer to that problem?
You go to the source, don't you?
If you don't have the love,you're like a frying pan that
isn't sitting on the flame.
So what you need to do is youneed to get that frying pan
(14:52):
moved over on top of the heat.
In other words, if you feelthat you don't have love for
another person, then you need toget right with God and you need
to go to God and you need toask God to fill you with his
love for that person.
You know, guys, I've beenmarried for over 20 years now.
God bless my wife.
One thing that, as a young man,I figured out how I figured this
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out is beyond me.
I do not know how I came tothis idea.
It had to be a God thing.
I fully believe that it was theHoly Spirit who communicated
this wisdom to me, because, asan 18 year old young man, I
began, even before we weremarried, to pray and to ask God
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to give me the love for my wifethat she needed to receive from
him, and to give her the lovefor me that I needed to receive
from him.
And so, from the very earliestdays of our relationship, my
prayer was that we would each bechannels of God's love to one
(16:00):
another.
You see, somehow or another Ifigured out that I couldn't be
the source of the love sheneeded and that she couldn't be
the source of the love that Ineeded, that only God't be the
source of the love she neededand that she couldn't be the
source of the love that I needed, that only God could be the
source of that love and that thebest I could ever hope for was
that she and I would be channelsthrough which that love could
flow.
May God impart that wisdom toyou this morning, because I can
(16:21):
say it all day long but if Goddoesn't speak it to your heart,
it's not gonna stick.
But the source of this agapelove is not our flesh, it's not
our heart, it is the Holy Spirit, it is God.
Let love be without hypocrisy.
Now, romans 5.8 told us that Goddemonstrates his own love
(16:44):
toward us in that, while we werestill sinners, christ died for
us.
In other words, we didn'tdeserve his love, he gave his
love.
He demonstrated his love evenwhen we didn't deserve it.
And in first John, chapterthree, verse 18, the apostle of
love himself tells us my littlechildren, let us not love in
(17:07):
word or in tongue, but in deedand in truth.
So, in other words, it's notenough for me to say I love you,
it's not enough for me to get abeautiful Valentine's Day card
for my wife or for her to getthis beautiful Valentine's Day
card for me.
I mean, we can profess our loveto each other all day long, and
(17:30):
it might make us feel good, butultimately it's not going to
accomplish anything.
We need to demonstrate our love, just as God demonstrated his.
So, then, if we are to love insincerity, and not in word or in
tongue only, but in deed and intruth, how are we then, as
believers in Jesus Christ, todemonstrate our love?
(17:54):
That is actually the questionthat is being answered in Romans
, chapter 12.
How are you going todemonstrate your love.
Well, we demonstrate our loveto God by presenting our bodies
as living sacrifices holy andacceptable to God.
By presenting our bodies asliving sacrifices holy and
acceptable to God.
In other words, we demonstrateour love to God by giving
(18:15):
ourselves to him, by not holdinganything back from him, by
acknowledging his authority inevery corner and crevice of our
lives.
You've heard me use theillustration before about the
pizza, right, as it compares toyour life.
You see, your life is like areally big, thick crust pizza
(18:39):
and it is awesome.
It's got the sauce, it's gotthe cheese, it's got the
pepperonis and the Italiansausage and the bell peppers and
the jalapenos and all of thatgood stuff.
You notice I left out theanchovies.
Nobody likes those and if youdo, you're just weird.
No offense, I love you, butyou're weird.
So salty fish on a pizza justdoes not work.
(19:01):
I don't understand that.
But anyway, pineapples are good.
So whatever your pizza has onit, if you want anchovies, you
can have them.
But here's the question I havefor you when you think about the
pizza of your life, you thinkabout the fact that it is cut
into slices.
Now, in your life, some ofthese slices are bigger than
others, right?
There's a slice called worklife, and for some of you that
(19:24):
takes up as much as half thepizza, right?
Maybe more For others of you.
There's another slice calledfamily, and that slice of family
is broken down into wife, kids,in-laws, siblings and all of
that.
And then there's this otherpiece called leisure time.
I'm not going to ask you howbig that is and that's cut up
into TV and internet and thisand that.
(19:46):
So there are all thesedifferent slices in your life,
all these different things thattake up your life, and your life
is filled with little toppingsyour interests and your hobbies.
That's the pepperoni and theItalian sausage and all of that.
So my question to you thismorning would be this what part
of that pizza of your life doesGod want for himself?
(20:06):
What part of that pizza doesGod want to be in your life?
You see, for a lot of people,god is the toppings of life,
right?
They have their life, they havetheir work, they have their
family, they have all of thesethings that they do, and you
know what they think.
It would be a good idea tothrow a little bit of God in too
, so he becomes the Parmesancheese of their pizza.
(20:28):
You know, easter and Christmas,just a little sprinkling of God
in there.
How many of us have been guiltyof that before?
And so that's one way oflooking at it.
Or another person might say well, you know what I love the Lord
and I am going to serve God withall my might, and so I am going
to cut that pizza and I'm goingto give God the biggest slice.
(20:50):
And then there are all theseother little slices that are,
you know, the areas where I'm incharge of.
But God, he gets the biggestslice of my life right.
That's the mentality that saysthat my relationship with God is
based on how I serve him.
You know what I do for God.
Well, you know, I go to churchon Sunday and I go to church on
Wednesday and I read my Bibleevery day and I pray and I do
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all the things my pastor told meI'm supposed to do.
Those I do.
So God gets this really bigslice of my life.
But you see, the problem isthat's not enough for God.
God wants to be the crust ofyour pizza, because that crust
permeates the entire pizza.
(21:34):
That crust is in the work life.
That crust is in the familylife.
That crust is in the leisuretime, that crust is in the
service to God.
That crust is part of it, isthe foundation of every part of
that life.
And let me tell you a lifewithout God as the crust is like
(21:54):
a pizza without a crust you caneat it, but it's going to be
messy.
You understand what I'm saying.
You can live a life without God, but the end result is it's
going to be a mess, but the endresult is it's going to be a
mess.
So our love for God isdemonstrated in that we present
our bodies as living sacrifices,holy and acceptable to God.
(22:16):
Now we demonstrate our love forthe body of Christ, the church,
by putting the gifts that Godhas given us to work for the
good of the body and for theglory of God.
So there is a place for ourworks.
Our works are the way that weexpress our love, or demonstrate
our love to the body of Christas a whole, and we can
(22:37):
demonstrate also the sincerityof our love for one another as
individuals by obeying theexhortations that we find in
Romans, chapter 12, verses 9through 16.
Now, if we're going to loveeach other sincerely and without
hypocrisy, we need to carefullyconsider what the Holy Spirit,
through the Apostle Paul, hastold us, that that kind of love,
(22:59):
that sincere love, would looklike.
So for love to be withouthypocrisy, first we must abhor
what is evil and and cling towhat is good.
To abhor evil means to detestutterly everything that is
hurtful in effect or influence.
Now, there are a number ofother ways to describe it, but I
(23:21):
think this suffices to say thatwe are to turn away from those
things that are bad and we areutterly to reject them.
We're not to make an allegiancewith, or a treaty with, or a
compromise with, those thingsthat are evil.
Because when we compromise withthings that are evil ie drug
abuse, alcoholism, pornography,lying when we allow those things
(23:44):
and others like them to haveplace in our lives, when we do
not utterly reject them but weallow the devil to have a
foothold in us and in our lives,then we are ultimately hurting
those whom we are supposed tolove.
By contrast, we are to cling towhat is good.
The idea here is that we are tostick like glue to what is good
(24:05):
.
When we see something that'sgood, that's right, that's fair,
we are to keep our eyes set onthat thing.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
The Christian life was never designed to be a solo
flight.
God designed us with the needfor relationships with others
who can encourage us in ourpersonal journey of faith.
Maybe you're listening todayand you don't have a home church
and this message ministered toyou.
Well, we'd like to take thistime to invite you to join us
for one of our worship services.
Calvary Chapel Southwest Metromeets each Sunday morning at
(24:35):
10.30 am and Wednesday eveningsat 7 pm.
Besides our Sunday morningservices, we have ministries for
children, men, women, couplesand youth.
To learn more about CalvaryChapel Southwest Metro, log on
to heaththewordorg.
That's heaththewordorg, that'sheaththewordorg, and when you
get there, just follow the link.
(24:56):
Or, if you'd like to talk withsomeone, give us a call.
Our phone number is817-447-5675.
That's 817-447-5675.
So visit the website or call ustoday.
Now we also want to encourageyou to review this study.
This study and many more taughtby Pastor Ken are available at
(25:19):
our website, heedthewordorg.
Many of Pastor Ken's teachingsare available in MP3 format.
You can also receive a CD copyof this message.
Simply log on to heedthewordorgand select the option for CD
requests.
The CD that you'll receive isthe full-length, unedited
teaching.
When you fill out the orderform.
Please keep in mind today'sdate.
(25:41):
This helps us make sure that wesend you the correct message.
Well, that's all the time wehave for today.
Please join Pastor Ken nexttime as he continues teaching
through our series entitledLessons for Christian Living,
right here on Heed the Word.
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