Affirming People in Their Sin Is Hate

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. Affirming people in their sin is actually, hey, why do people affirm them in their sin? Because if you say something, they're just going to get upset, and you don't want to deal with it.

It's easier to just tell them what they want to hear, and it's so much easier for you. I'm not saying that's what people's motivation is, but dig down to the root cause. That's what it's about. You cannot affirm people in their sin.

Say, but pastor, doesn't the scripture say that God loves us just the way we are? Do you think that God loves you just the way that you are? No, he doesn't. He loves you despite the way you are. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

So God may love me just as I am, but he doesn't want me to stay just where I am. Yeah, but we have that hymn, right? Just as I am. Yeah, but you don't stay there. You grow. Christians are to be overcomers, but the world wants us to tolerate and accept anything and everything, and it's just a way of, well, it's a really clever way of doing it, you know.

If somebody comes to you and says, hey, the Bible's not true, deny the Bible, go against God, you're not going to do that as a believer. But when the serpent approached Eve, he had all sorts of double talk and convinced her with this, well, it sounded good, you're going to be like God, but it wasn't true.

So we, as Christians, we don't tolerate certain things. Oh, I can't believe that. There's not a single person in this world who tolerates everything. Even the people that talk about tolerance and acceptance, there are certain things they don't tolerate.

So now, does that mean be rude and be confrontational and be unkind? No, I believe in being kind, but we need to be kind and firm, don't we? Oh, but you need to be more open-minded to what the world is saying.

Some people are so open-minded, their brain has fallen out. Well, I'm glad I got a few laughs out of that one. But really, when we do that, when we go against what God's word clearly says, with the excuse of love or whatever it is, what that really says is we love ourself.

We love ourself, because we don't want to deal with this. We don't want to run the risk of, you know, remember that verse, Leviticus? You shall surely rebuke your neighbor. You know, sometimes that doesn't go well and you don't want the grief, so we just tell people what they want to hear, because that will make things easier for me.

Loving Your Neighbor as Yourself

Now, speaking of that loving yourself, we've been talking about what? Love your neighbor? That's the title of the sermon, love your neighbor. I think this is worth mentioning, because you don't talk about it a lot in church, but do you know that you are supposed to love yourself?

It's kind of built into that statement. Love your neighbor as what? Yeah, love your neighbor as yourself. If you don't love yourself, then you really can't love your neighbor. Now, the scripture talks about how in the last days, perilous times will come.

Men will be lovers of self. So we don't want to be lovers of self. We don't want to be selfish. We don't want to be self-absorbed, but we do need to love ourselves. So what does that mean? You take care of yourself.

You know, you don't, hopefully, you don't do things that are self-destructive, although that's a pretty common thing as well. But we are to love ourselves. And if we love ourselves, we recognize there are certain things about ourselves that are not good.

There are certain things about me that I need to change. There are certain things about me that I need to work on. If I just affirm myself in whatever I decide to do, that is self-destructive. You know your bad habits.

You know your temptations. You don't affirm yourself in that. Same thing, you don't affirm someone else in sin and temptation as well. I mean, this is pretty simple, I think, to understand, but it's a harder thing to do to apply.

So affirming people in sinful and destructive behavior is not healthy physically or spiritually. And most importantly, affirming people in their sin is not loving. Okay, so now that we've covered that, what is loving?

What is love? When Christians talk about the word love, there's a few different Greek terms, phileo and eros, but the word we usually refer to is what? Agape love. In Christianity, agape is the highest form of love.

It's the love of God for man and of man for God. Agape love embraces a deep and profound sacrificial love that transcends and persists regardless of circumstances. When Jesus came, he perfectly embodied this agape love.

And did Jesus affirm people all the time? No. He loved them, he cared about people, but he didn't always love what they said and what they did. Jesus could balance all of this perfectly. We can't, but we should try.

We should look to the scripture as our example. In the New Testament, agape love refers to the covenant love of God for humans, as well as the human reciprocal love for God. The term also extends to the love of one's fellow human beings.

You say, well, I love God, but loving others is really hard. We love, the scripture says, 1 John 4, 19. We love, why? Because God first loved us. God, the Holy Spirit, when you come to faith in Christ, God, the Holy Spirit, pours out that love, the divine love, into your heart.

So that's what true love is. It is from God. It's not based on circumstances. You love this person, you want what's best for them, no better one. So when people try to redefine the term or to pervert it to mean something else, that cannot go unchallenged.

Love in Action Through Patience, Prayer, and Practical Service

Okay, so this is the final point where we get into some of the application. What are some things that you and I can do to show love for neighbor? We all agree, this is one of those verses, I don't think anybody, of all the things Christians disagree on, this is one thing that I don't think any Christian disagree.

Have you ever heard someone take issue with this? Love your neighbor as yourself. I've never heard anyone argue against that. Okay, so how do we do it? D .L. Moody once said that faith makes all things possible, but love makes them easy.

1 Corinthians 13, 4 through 7, love suffers long and is kind. You know, really caring about someone and being patient, sometimes it's hard. You know, it takes self-sacrifice. Sometimes you don't always get your way and things don't happen on your timetable.

It can even bring grief into your life, but we bear with one another. Love suffers long and is kind. Love does not envy. You know, we shouldn't look at what someone else has and be upset about it. Well, I want that too.

Love does not parade itself. It's not puffed up, meaning it's not proud. Love does not behave rudely. Love does not seek its own. Love is not provoked. Love thinks no evil. Love does not rejoice in iniquity, going to the redefining of terms.

Love does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in what?

The truth.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things. Love endures all things. So we have to be in the habit to walk in the spirit, just a way of life, putting other people ahead of ourselves.

Love your neighbor as yourself. Put them and their needs ahead of you. If you want to be happy in this life, that's how you do it. Serve others. If you just try to serve yourself and make yourself happy, it's counterintuitive, but you'll just make yourself miserable.

People who put themselves first are some of the most miserable people out there. So we must put this divine love for God and for others into daily practice.

Who comes first?

Who's on top? God is first. In the world, man is first. Take care of number one. But in God's system, God is first.

Amen.

And who's second? Not you. You're not on top and you're not even number two.

Who's?

Yeah, your neighbor. Love your neighbor as yourself. You can say your neighbor and you are equal, but knowing you're tempted, you need to put them ahead of you. And then you, we get to be number three.

Okay.

So what can we do? Love isn't just a concept. It's more than a feeling. If love is powerful, and it is, it has to be accompanied by action. So I would start by praying for people. Prayer is step number one.

And when you pray for somebody, pray for them by name. Pray for someone by name. Just like when we pray to God, we should be specific. Pray that God, not just increase our faith, but pray, Lord, increase my love for this person.

Because whatever love you have for them probably isn't reaching that divine love. So pray to God, vocalize it. If you mean it, start by confessing it, then move into action. One thing you can do, you can meet a tangible need.

Everyone can do this. In Luke's version of the great commandment, the scribe, he asked, who is my neighbor? The parable of the Good Samaritan was Jesus' response to this question and ours. So remember, there's the priest that saw the guy, and he just went to the other side of the road, walked away.

Then there's the Levite.

He sees it.

He crosses the road. He doesn't want anything to do with it. That's usually the way, well, in our flesh, that's how we would respond. That you just don't want to deal with people.

Right?

Isn't this how a lot of folks feel? I just don't want to deal with it. I can't stand people. People, the way they are, you don't want to get your hands dirty, whether it's physically or literally or figuratively.

See, I'm stepping on some toes here. That's the way a lot of Christians feel. A lot of people will openly profess this. I don't care. I don't want to deal with other people. Sometimes loving our neighbor is as simple as meeting a need.

Well, you need to deal with other people. Because the world is filled with other people, and you're here too, and they have to deal with you, and you have to deal with them. So your posture is either going to be love your neighbor as yourself or forget them, and I'm just going to do what I want.

It's one or the other.

It will be one or the other.

So we can either meet a tangible need. Sometimes loving your neighbor can be as simple as mowing a lawn for someone who's sick, taking out your elderly neighbor's trash, something very simple. You know, little things go a long, long way.

Just as faith without works is dead, love without action is dead. You can tell someone you love them, but unless you're actually doing something, it seems like empty words. Therefore, show your love. Serve others.

Reach out to others. Send people a card. You know, sometimes we have in the fellowship, we have a few weeks where, you know, you don't see someone for a while.

Oh, whatever.

Let them do you. Reach out to them.

Let them know you miss them.

Send them a card.

Give them a call.

Let them know you care. If someone's in the hospital, go and visit them. If someone's in the nursing home, go and visit them. Bring them flowers. Bring them a meal. If you have a neighbor, invite them to church.

Invite them to a small group Bible study. You know, there's not one correct way of doing it or one correct order, but if you do want to invest in someone or if you do want to invite someone to church, it's better to invest in them first so that they can see that you're willing to spend the time.

Holidays are the best time to bring people to church. They're most likely to come around Easter and Christmas or after the death of a loved one. Obviously, there's a long list of things that you can do.

Maybe you work with someone that doesn't seem to have a lot of friends. Maybe you can be their friend. Isn't this what Christ would do? So, in conclusion, last but certainly not least, let your service and good works point to and be motivated by the gospel.

Just being kind, letting someone know that you care about them. Put love into action. That is what makes love powerful. That's the agape love of God that is willing to have something behind it or someone behind it.

Because this type of love, who's behind it?

Christ.

And it is Christ who quotes Leviticus and says, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornett Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscornettchurch .com.

We'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.