Living Hope

Pastor Philip Miller: How are we ever to become people of virtue? How are we ever to live up to Jesus' ethical standards? How are we ever to become righteous on the inside in a way that echoes into every part of our being? How are we ever to fulfill the law of Christ? In Christ, by His spirit, our Father is loving us into loveliness.

Pastor Larry McCarthy: Welcome to Living Hope with Pastor Philip Miller. I'm Pastor Larry McCarthy and we're glad you've joined us for our series through the sermon on the mount. Now Pastor Philip, I guess it's easy to say we love because He first loved us, right?

Pastor Philip Miller: That's right. There's this deep connection in the gospel that we have been so loved by God that it is starting to change our hearts from the inside out. And then because we're being changed, we are becoming people of love as we're led by the Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love. It heads the list. The love that God is requiring of us in the way we love other people is actually a love that flows naturally and necessarily from our lives as we're being transformed through the power of the gospel.

So God loves us when we're unlovely. His love is teaching us to love. It's making us lovely. And then under His influence and guidance and teaching and transformation, we now become people of love who are starting to love others. So what's amazing is that the very standard of love that God has always required, perfect love in every way that reflects His character, is actually something that He's transforming us into people who will actually be able to love like that. This is amazing. It's the deepest renovation you could imagine. God is changing us from the inside out and He's loving us into loveliness.

Pastor Larry McCarthy: Now beloved you want to stay tuned after the message because Pastor Philip is going to lead us in a discussion of how the love of God helps us when we feel unlovely. But now let's go to the pulpit of the Moody Church for part three of the sermon, The Law of Love. You'll hear a reference from Romans but our principle text today will be Matthew chapter 7 verse 12.

Pastor Philip Miller: But we are going to look at one more passage which is in Romans 8 verse 4. Romans 8 verse 4. In the context, Paul's describing how God sent Jesus as our sin bearer in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit. Do you see what he's saying here? He's saying that when we walk in the spirit and we follow the way of love that Jesus patterns for us, and we love others that way, that the righteous requirements of the law are actually fulfilled in us.

This is amazing because the spirit of God, the advocate that Jesus sent to us, is fulfilling the work of the New Covenant in our lives. I will put my spirit within you and I will cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules because the advocate, the Holy Spirit, is teaching us a life of love like Jesus. A life of love like Jesus. Jesus raises the bar and commands us to love one another as He has loved us, and then He sends the Holy Spirit inside of us to give us a new heart, to empower us for a life of love like Jesus.

So that we really do fulfill the law, what the law of God requires. That the righteous requirements of the law are actually fulfilled in us as we become imitators of God and walk in the spirit, in the way of love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us. We're being changed, don't you see, on the inside. We're being made right. We're being made new by grace through faith in Christ. By His spirit, now we have a heart of righteousness. A heart of righteousness, which is our third point and brings us back full circle to the Sermon on the Mount.

I want to show you how rhetorically brilliant Jesus is. He ties this sermon together masterfully. He says in 7 verse 12, which we've read, so whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the law and the prophets. Think with me. When was the last time we heard this phrase, the law and the prophets in the Sermon on the Mount? Where was it? Some of you are very astute, you're like, "Aha! Matthew 5:17." You're right. Matthew 5:17. Jesus says, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets. I've not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."

So immediately after Jesus' introduction, he begins his sermon by telling us that everything in the law and the prophets, he's not here to abolish it, he's here to fulfill it. And now at the end of his sermon, right before his conclusion that we'll look at later, right before his conclusion, his final statement is, "This is the law and the prophets." Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do it to them. So Jesus is, you see, it's framed the whole sermon here. Everything is bookended by these statements.

He says, "You want to know what fulfillment looks like? You want to know what the law and prophets fulfilled in total in my work, in my ministry, it's when people, my followers, follow the golden rule and live in love like me." That's what fulfillment looks like. Remember Matthew chapter 5 verse 20: "For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter into the kingdom of heaven." The scribes and Pharisees were trying really, really hard to be righteous. They were all about behavior modification and cleaning up their act.

And Jesus says, "Look, you're going to need a righteousness that goes way deeper than that, than that kind of sin management lifestyle. You need a heart transformation that only I can give you." And if you come to me and believe in me and trust in me and follow me, I will guide you into the abundant life of the kingdom of heaven as you come under my rule now and finally step into the kingdom of heaven when it comes. I will redeem you with my life. I will send my spirit to indwell you from within and I will teach you to walk by the spirit in the way of love so that the righteous requirements of the law are fully met in you.

Your righteousness will be right at home in the kingdom of heaven as you learn to live in love like Jesus. A life of love like Jesus. Remember right in the middle of the sermon on the mount, Matthew 5:43 to 48. "You have heard it said you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy." That's the way of life. "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." So that, look at this, "so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and the good, he sends rain on the just and the unjust."

"For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do that? You therefore must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." Like Father, like son. Like Father, like daughter. You must be perfect. God is love. God is love. And His children must be filled with love as well. Just like the perfect Son of God, Jesus himself. The righteousness that is at home in the kingdom of heaven is a life of love like Jesus.

C.S. Lewis in *Mere Christianity* says the command "Be ye perfect" is not idealistic gas, nor is it a command to do the impossible. He is going to make us into creatures who can obey that command. Now we won't get there until glory when the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father, as Jesus puts it. But every day, moment by moment, in Christ and by His spirit, our Father is loving us into loveliness. Every day, every moment, in Christ, by His spirit, our Father is loving us into loveliness.

This is what God's doing in your life. When you were unlovely, He loved you with an everlasting love. In love He sent His son Jesus Christ to rescue you. In love Jesus went to the cross and laid down His life for you. In love He sent His Holy Spirit to indwell you, to manifest the love of God and make it real to you. The Spirit crying out "Abba, Father," reminding you who you are. In love the Spirit is conforming you to the image of Christ so that you might walk in love as Christ loved you and gave himself up for you.

And you and I friends, we love because He first loved us. He's loving us into loveliness. How are we ever to become people of virtue? How are we ever to live up to Jesus' ethical standards? How are we ever to become righteous on the inside in a way that echoes into every part of our being? How are we ever to fulfill the law of Christ? In Christ, by His spirit, our Father is loving us into loveliness. That's how. That's how.

Listen to these words from the Apostle Paul in Colossians 3 verses 12 to 14. "Put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness and patience, bearing with one another, and if anyone has a complaint against another, forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive." You see the ethical list? All the virtue lists? How does he end? "And above all of these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony."

Jesus came and solved the great debate of how to bring together all the virtues, all the moral philosophy, all the great law of God. Jesus did what no one else has ever been able to do. He brought it together in love. In love. "A new commandment I give to you: love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you also are to love one another."

Pastor Larry McCarthy: This is Living Hope with Pastor Philip Miller. I'm Pastor Larry McCarthy. Now before we get into today's discussion, we just want to take a moment to thank everyone who keeps this program going through your generosity. Now if you'd like to give today, we'd be honored to send you a helpful resource. Go to livinghopeoffer.com or call us at 1-800-215-5001. We're glad you've joined us today as we dig deeper into loving like Christ.

Now Pastor Philip, I'm just going to speak on behalf of some of our listeners. I sometimes feel like a failure and I feel unlovely. How does the truth that the Father is loving you into loveliness help get us back on track?

Pastor Philip Miller: Well I think we all get there, don't we, from time to time where we stumble, we fall, we go, "Man, why am I still here? Why am I stuck? I'm a mess." And it's tempting I think in that space when we feel so unlovely, it's tempting to kind of give up on ourselves and sort of just be like, well what's the point? And I think the point here is that God is loving us into loveliness, which means He knows. And He's committed to us. He's committed to seeing us become who we were meant to be, people of love like himself.

Conformed to the image of Christ, revealed in glory. He's committed. He sees that with crystal clear vision. Now we're a mess now, sure. But we're on the way to something worthwhile. And so God's not going to quit on us, and so we can't quit either. He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion. And so I think it helps us to remember that all the unloveliness in us did not keep God from loving us in the first place.

He saw us in all of our filth and all of our shame and all of our mess, all of our wickedness, all of our rebellion. While we were yet sinners, enemies of God, Christ died for us. So all the unloveliness in the world didn't keep Him from sending Jesus to die for us in the first place. And all this unloveliness that is a part of our lives as we are in process learning to walk with God, that's not going to keep Him or soften His resolve in His saving work on our behalf. He's committed to the long-term project.

So setbacks, they might discourage us and I get that. But I don't think they discourage Him. I think He's in it for the long haul. And I think that helps us because the reality is we have this weird mix, don't we? That we are both at the same time far more sinful than we ever dared realize and we're increasingly aware of our sin in life. And at the same time, falling on grace that's available in Jesus, we realize we're far more loved than we ever dared hope.

And that weird paradox of knowing we're sinful and we're not where we're meant to be, and the hope of being loved for all eternity into glory, that is our identity. And that allows us to be very realistic. We don't have to pretend we don't have problems and we're not unlovely, but it also means we don't quit because we know what God is doing is going to be accomplished. And that gives us confidence and hope and we can keep moving forward.

Pastor Larry McCarthy: That's so good. You know, you quoted C.S. Lewis who said "Be ye perfect" isn't idealistic gas. I love that. But you know Pastor Philip, loving others the way Christ does, it just sometimes feels like an impossible burden. To love like Christ loved, what hope do we have of being perfect in this life, of being able to love like Christ?

Pastor Philip Miller: Well we'll never be perfect this side of glory, right? So either Jesus is going to return and then we'll be conformed to His image and revealed as sons of God, or we're going to die and we'll go into the presence of Christ and He'll glorify us. And so perfection is not something we should ever expect to attain in this life. That's coming in the future, right? But we're on the way. So the Bible talks about what we call progressive sanctification.

It's kind of like three steps forward, two steps back. The trajectory over time is going to be improving in Christlikeness. Hopefully as we are walking by the Spirit, as we're learning to live in obedience, that there is a trajectory that is supposed to be there as we move closer and closer to the image of Christ and to actually living the way God wants us. That's what obedience looks like. But it's going to be in ebbs and flows, there's going to be fits and starts. There's going to be moments where we fall back and we have to get up again and try again.

I like to use the analogy of when my kids were beginning to walk. They were terrible at it. They were just the worst. They'd get up and they had their hand on the furniture and they would take that first step and then it'd just they'd flop. They'd flop on their face and they'd cry and they'd writhe around and I'd pick them back up and say, "Okay, try again." But I didn't scold them, did I? Because I was happy that they were trying. That they were taking their faltering steps toward me.

Now as their father, I'm never going to be content until they're running and leaping and jumping and doing all the things that they need to do. The standard doesn't change. I still want to see them achieve all those things. But I'm applauding every faltering step as they walk toward me and try the new thing. And I think that's such a helpful picture for me because I stumble and fall all the time and I fall on my face and it hurts and I cry and I'm frustrated and I'm like, here I am stumbling all over again.

But to realize that my heavenly Father is thrilled that I'm trying. That I'm trying to walk in the Spirit, that I'm trying to learn to love. I'm not doing a great job of it most of the time, but you know what? I'm trying. And I'm trying to learn what it means to follow the Lord. I'm trying on obedience and yes I may not do it great but I'm moving toward the right direction. And I think the heavenly Father is delighted in that.

And of course He's not content until we're revealed as the sons and daughters of God that we are. Jesus says the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Romans 8 says all of creation's groaning waiting for the sons of God to be revealed. 1 John says we're children of God now, but what we one day will be has not been yet made known. But when we see Him, we'll be like Him because we'll see Him as He is. And everyone who has that hope purifies themselves as they walk in this life.

And so here we are, we're purifying ourselves as we walk in obedience, keeping our eyes on Jesus and taking every step along the way. I think He's cheering for us as we go. And He's not content until we get all the way home.

Pastor Larry McCarthy: I love that image of faltering steps in the direction of God. I just I need to ask you quickly because it came up in this part of the sermon, so what does it mean to be at home in the kingdom of love?

Pastor Philip Miller: Yes, so the kingdom of God is the place where God is king, where He's ruling and reigning and where His character is exemplified. And so if God has loved us in the gospel in sending Jesus to redeem us, if He loved us when we were unlovely and now He's teaching us to walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, as we're led by the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit is love, and we are fulfilling the law of Christ as we walk in the Spirit, then we are actually starting to live into the character of God himself who loved us, whose love is now transforming us.

And then as we interact with others, we begin to love like Christ has loved us with the very love that God loved us with. It's we've been enfolded into a whole different dynamic, you see. Instead of living from our flesh and doing what we want, we're starting to live and reflect the character of God himself. And so that's what the kingdom means. It means we're under the rule and reign of Christ and we're allowing God's character in life to start to shape us and mold us so that it extends through us.

And so that we become conduits of the love of God with the people around us and extend that love and that grace in the world around us. That's what it means to live in the life of the kingdom of heaven right here and right now.

Pastor Larry McCarthy: It's so practical and so helpful, Pastor Philip. Thank you. Now beloved, because Jesus has invited us into the life of the kingdom of heaven, we're called to be the conduits of love and character right where you are. To help you represent Christ with confidence in today's world, we want to send you Pastor Erwin Lutzer's book, *Christ Among Other Gods*. This resource gives you the necessary truth to counter false claims and fall deeper in love with Jesus, the way, truth, and life.

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Walking in God's love keeps us from wearing a mask of external performance. Next time, we'll contrast the way of Jesus with the way of the Pharisees. Thanks for joining us for Living Hope where you'll always find gospel truth for the journey of a lifetime. Living Hope is a production of Moody Church Media and is sponsored by the Moody Church.