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1 Peter 1:3-7 (ESV) ³  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
⁴  to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
⁵  who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Peter reveals the tremendous depth and scope of God’s plan. God chooses, destines, cleanses, and covers those who believe. All three members of the Trinity—God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—work together to take us to our final destination. What amazing teamwork and strategy.

With God’s strength, we can try harder to do more at greater risk without fear. We can face trials knowing that the final victory belongs to God.

Despite the growing threat of organized persecution, he reminded the Christians that they were and would remain God’s selected and loved people who, although strangers in this world and often persecuted by it, would eventually find their eternal rest and home with Christ.

This letter continues to encourage Christians facing trials. Two-thirds of believers around the world live under governments more repressive than the Roman Empire of the first century.

Christians everywhere face misunderstanding, ridicule, and even harassment by unbelieving friends, employers, teachers, and family members.

In some countries, converting to Christianity is punishable by death. No one is exempt from catastrophe, pain, illness, and death—trials that, like persecution, make us lean heavily on God.

The first verses of the first chapter show the perspective we should have in trials. We are chosen, but we must live as resident aliens. We know that we belong to the triune God rather than to this world. For today’s readers, as well as for Peter’s original audience, the themes of this letter are hope and assurance in Jesus Christ.

When Peter says “Grace and peace,” he’s saying much more than “Have a nice day!” Grace describes God’s character. It’s a theological statement of immense importance. The heart behind the universe is a gracious heart of love. Although he is the center of all power, God cares for you as a person.

The meaning of peace goes far beyond merely the cessation of hostilities. Peace between you and God settles your biggest problem—sin.

When God saves us, he removes all our rebellion and indifference to him. Peace with God gives you the base for solving your second tier of problems—relationships with everyone else in the world. With your relationship with God made right, you have the energy and insight to work on your human relationships. All this comes at a price you could not pay yourself; it was prepaid by Jesus on the cross.

By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.^NRSV We find God’s mercy always at the center of any discussion of salvation. Only God’s mercy would allow him to have compassion for sinful and rebellious people.

Salvation is all completely from God; we can do nothing to earn it. Salvation is given to us because of God’s great mercy alone.

Christ Jesus has given us hope of eternal life. Our hope is not only for the future; it is “living.” Eternal life begins when we trust Christ and join God’s family. Regardless of our pain and trials, we know that this life is not all there is. Eventually we will live with Christ forever.

We have hope based on our conviction that God will keep his promises. We base our hope in a future resurrection on the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

By rising from the dead, Christ made the necessary power available for our resurrection. Christ’s resurrection makes us certain that we too will be raised from the dead.

We shouldn’t be discouraged by earthly trials, for we have the Resurrection to be our backup.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is one of the crucial and non-negotiable doctrines of the Bible. Here are just a few reasons why this is true:

• Jesus declared that His resurrection would serve as His final sign, which would demonstrate that His claims and teachings are true (Matthew 12:38-40; Romans 1:4).
• The resurrection is an inseparable part of the gospel, which must be believed (1 Corinthians 15; Romans 10:9f,).
• The resurrection is one of the ways the Holy Spirit bears witness to the truth of the gospel, convincing men that Jesus has been raised from the dead because His grave is empty and we see Him no more (John 16:8-11; note especially verse 10).
• The resurrection is a powerful warning to those who reject Jesus as Savior because there will be a future judgment with eternal consequences. In short, the unsaved dead will be raised to life, to live forever away from the presence of God (Daniel 12:2; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10; Revelation 20:11-15).
• In the Book of Acts, it was the apostles’ proclamation that Jesus had risen from the dead that the Jewish religious leaders found intolerable and sought to suppress (Acts 1:22; 2:31; 4:2, 33; 23:6-8).

But by the time we reach Peter’s epistles, we find Peter defending the very suffering he had avoided.

Indeed, we find him declaring suffering for Christ’s sake not only to be the will of God but the cause for rejoicing:

In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, 7 that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;” (1 Peter 1:6,7).

Items Which Bring About Chaos
A. Absence of Biblical authority.
(1 Pet 1:13) “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

Chaos will always result when there is no authoritative source of truth. What fills that void? The WORD OF GOD, the revelation of God who has always spoken the truth, who always declared what is right.

Truth is not merely some abstract body of orthodox religious laws – truth is that which makes life work…grow…to be rich and full … in contrast, lies are what make our lives small, shrink and die

1:13: “Prepare your minds for action.”

Gird up loins, roll up sleeves. We’re going to have to THINK!

3;15: “Be prepared to give an answer”

When our faith is on trial, we will be found immune and deficient: no answer/ reason to offer for our hope … and hope without a reason is ultimately hopeless.

People who know their theology … will not be such easy prey to modern secularism, or theological liberalism, or New Age pantheism.

1. Absence of moral identity.
   (1 Pet 1:15-16) “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; {16} for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.””
   
   Peter makes sure his church knows who they are:

• God’s elect/chosen (1:1-2)
• obedient children (1:14)
• blood-bought redeemed (1:18-19)

1. Absence of the experience of transcendence.
   (1 Pet 1:8-9) “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, {9} for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

What we have to offer is not some religious adrenalin experience (“getting high on Jesus”) .….but the possibility of a living relationship with a transcendent God, creator of the deepest joys the human heart can know.

The truth never loses its power. People, however, often lose their grip on truth. The struggles in the Corinthian church made it clear to Paul that they needed to refocus their attention on the gospel.

The resurrection of Christ is not just a matter of fact, which can be taken lightly–it is literally a matter of eternal life or death. The resurrection is not simply a fact to be believed or rejected, it is a fact to which our response will determine our eternal destiny.

Unlike most of 1 Corinthians, chapter 15 is devoted entirely to doctrine, and to a single doctrine at that. In these 58 verses Paul gives the most extensive treatment of the resurrection in all of Scripture.

Just as the heart pumps life-giving blood to every part of the body, so the truth of the resurrection gives life to every other area of gospel truth. The resurrection is the pivot on which all of Christianity turns and without which none of the other truths would much matter.

It is of great importance to remember that the Corinthians were denying not the Resurrection of Jesus Christ but the resurrection of the body.

Without the resurrection, Christianity would be so much wishful thinking, taking its place alongside all other human philosophy and religious speculation.

The resurrection was the focal point of every other truth Christ taught. He taught His disciples that “the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31).

He said, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies” (John 11:25).

The first two sermons preached after Pentecost focused on the resurrection of Christ (Acts 2:14–36; 3:12–26).

Because of that truth the heart-broken followers of the crucified Rabbi were turned into the courageous witnesses and martyrs who, in a few years, spread the gospel across the Roman empire and beyond. Belief in the resurrection, the truth that this life is only a prelude to the life to come for those who trust in Jesus Christ and are baptized into Christ, could not be obliterated by ridicule, prison, torture, or even death. No fear or dread in this life can quench the hope and joy of an assured life to come.

True New Testament Christianity is a religion of the resurrection. John Locke, the 18th-century British philosopher, said, “Our Savior’s resurrection is truly of great importance in Christianity, so great that His being or not being the Messiah stands or falls with it.”

Because it is the cornerstone of the gospel, the resurrection has been the target of Satan’s greatest attacks against the church. If the resurrection is eliminated, the life-giving power of the gospel is eliminated, the deity of Christ is eliminated, salvation from sin is eliminated, and eternal life is eliminated.

“If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied” (1 Cor. 15:19). If Christ did not live past the grave, those who trust in Him surely cannot hope to do so.

Without the resurrection salvation could not have been provided, and without belief in the resurrection salvation cannot be received. “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved” (Rom. 10:9). It is not possible, therefore, to be a Christian and not believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Proof #1—their salvation (vv. 1-2).

Proof #2—the Old Testament Scriptures (vv. 3-4).

Proof #3—Christ was seen by witnesses (vv. 5-11).

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, ² and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

³ For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ⁶ Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. ⁸ Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

—————–

When your leader dies, what do you do? When Jesus died the hopes of eleven men were shattered. The disciples like many others had hoped for a kingdom. The disciples expected Jesus to establish that kingdom.

They had argued over who would have the highest station in the kingdom (Matthew 18:1). Asked “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” The mother of two of the disciples had tried to influence Jesus to give her sons places of preference in the coming kingdom (Mark 10:37 and Matthew 20:21).

The disciples of Jesus, like their fellow Jews, were looking for an earthly kingdom. That kingdom would be brought about by a messiah. The disciples and many others thought that that Jesus was that messiah.

The disciples’ hope for a kingdom was shattered. Jesus, the man they thought was the messiah, was dead. Jesus had been crucified as a criminal. Peter followed at a distance to see what would happen to Jesus (Luke 22:54f).

Jesus had told the disciples about his death. The apostle Paul later wrote, “…but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews….” (I Corinthians 1:23)

In a little over a month a great change took place. The disciples began to declare a new message in Jerusalem. The disciples, who had given up hope and hid in fear, now boldly proclaimed that Jesus was indeed the messiah (Acts 2:36). “Therefore let all the house of Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

They proclaimed that the death of Jesus had been in the will and plan of God even though it was an inexcusable murder (Acts 2:23).

Their conduct and their attitude toward Jesus had been radically changed. Was it the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost? Important to the birth of the church – very important. Not the only changing element in the disciples.

The disciples were changed from a terrified, hopeless band of men to the bold preachers of Jesus the messiah and savior.

• In the Gospels we read of the event that transformed the disciples: the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
• The dead teacher had become the risen, living savior.

THE STORY OF THE RESURRECTION

Jesus was buried just before the Sabbath began. The women go to the tomb on the first day of the week. Mary Magdalene

Mary, mother of James and Salome. They brought spices to anoint the body. They wondered who would move the stone for them. Luke says, “They found the stone rolled away from the tomb.” (24:2)

Matthew states that a great earthquake had occurred. An angel of the Lord rolled the stone away. The guards were frightened.

The women found the tomb empty. The angels told them that Jesus had arisen from the dead. The women brought the news of what they had seen to the eleven disciples. The disciples did not believe the women.

Peter and John go to the tomb (John 20:1-9) John outran Peter, stopped at the tomb’s entrance, and looked inside, seeing the linen cloths. Peter entered the tomb. The linens were neatly arranged.

Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene. Jesus asked her why she was crying (20:15). She thought he was the gardener. Wanted to know where the body of Jesus had been taken Jesus called her by name: “Mary” (20:16). Mary recognized Jesus and said, “teacher”. Mary told the disciples what had happened.

Jesus appears to ten of the disciples.

1. Jesus appeared to his disciples, except for Thomas. At first, they were frightened. The disciples were glad when they realized that Jesus was alive. “The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord” (John 20:20). Jesus appears to Thomas and the other disciples. Thomas was not about to believe that Jesus was alive. Jesus appeared again when Thomas was present.
2. Jesus made other appearances. John 21:1-24 – to seven disciples by the Sea of Galilee
3. Jesus appeared to the eleven on a mountain in Galilee. Jesus made a final appearance to his disciples and then ascended into heaven. This event would change the world.

THE CERTAINTY OF THE RESURRECTION

Many find the idea of the resurrection hard to accept. The disciples were hard to convince. Many modern people, including some Bible scholars, consider the resurrection of Christ to be impossible.

The resurrection had to occur. God, the creator, made the “laws of nature”. He can also break them. If the resurrection did not occur the rest of the story does not make sense. Just because we have not seen a man raised from the dead does not mean it could not happen. We are confronted with an empty tomb. How can we explain it?

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RESURRECTION

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the central event in Christianity. Early preaching centered on the fact of the resurrection. Jesus had been raised. Jesus was exalted to God’s right hand in heaven. If Jesus was not raised our faith is worthless, we are in sin, and the dead have perished. Jesus must have arisen from the dead or we are without hope

Leon Barnes – “As powerful as the cross of Christ is, it would have no power had Jesus remained in the tomb. The act which validated His death was the resurrection (Romans 1:4). The resurrection of Christ is central to the gospel itself. There would be no good news without the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-3).”

1. F. Bruce – “The crucifixion and the resurrection are necessary to each other. There can be no gospel without both, for neither is meaningful without the other.”
2. J. Hoover has well written: The Resurrection isn’t just a pretty optional extra of Christian theology, invented by some Pollyanna theologian to give a happy ending to the tragic death of Jesus. No! The Resurrection is the linchpin of our complete system. Remove it and the whole structure of Christianity collapses. . .. If the cross was the last thing we knew about Jesus we would judge him a failure. His death would have justified the Sanhedrin in executing him for blasphemy.” (A. J. Hoover, The Case for Christian Theism (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1976), 227.)

Professor C. E. M. Joad, the noted philosopher of London University, was asked which one of all the figures of history he would most like to meet, and what he would most like to ask that person. He replied that he would most like to meet Jesus. The question he would most like to ask was what he described as “the most important question in the world”: “Did You or did You not rise from the dead?” (Quoted in Michael Green, The Day Death Died (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1982), 15. – Tommy South)

CONCLUSION. I Corinthians 15:20 – “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

“Jesus is well and alive today. He makes his home in my heart. Nevermore, will I be alone, since he promised me that we never would part.”

Jesus lived and died. Jesus arose from the dead to die no more. Paul Harvey – “And that’s the rest of the story.”

After explaining what love does not do (13:4b–6), Paul listed four positive attributes of love. First of all, love always protects. The word in Greek, stego, means “cover” or “hide by covering.” This does not refer to hiding hurtful sin but to protecting someone from embarrassment, gossip, or any other such harm. When believers love one another, they refuse harmful gossip and protect one another from those who would try to inflict harm.^[1]

Love can endure anything.  It is just possible that this may mean “love can cover anything,” in the sense that it will never drag into the light of day the faults and mistakes of others.  It would far rather set about quietly mending things than publicly displaying and rebuking them.  More likely it means that love can bear any insult, any injury, any disappointment.  It describes the kind of love that was in the heart of Jesus himself, “Thy foes might hate, despise, revile, Thy friends unfaithful prove; Unwearied in forgiveness still, Thy heart could only love.”

The four qualities mentioned in verse 7 are hyperbole, exaggerations to make a point. Paul has made it clear that love rejects jealousy, bragging, arrogance, unseemliness, selfishness, anger, resentment, and unrighteousness. It does not bear, believe, hope, or endure lies, false teaching, or anything else that is not of God. By all things Paul is speaking of all things acceptable in God’s righteousness and will, of everything within the Lord’s divine tolerance. The four qualities listed here are closely related and are given in ascending order.

Stegō (to bear) basically means to cover or to support and therefore to protect. Love bears all things by protecting others from exposure, ridicule, or harm. Genuine love does not gossip or listen to gossip. Even when a sin is certain, love tries to correct it with the least possible hurt and harm to the guilty person. Love never protects sin but is anxious to protect the sinner.

Fallen human nature has the opposite inclination. There is perverse pleasure in exposing someone’s faults and failures. As already mentioned, that is what makes gossip appealing. The Corinthians cared little for the feelings or welfare of fellow believers. It was every person for himself. Like the Pharisees, they paid little attention to others, except when those others were failing or sinning. Man’s depravity causes him to rejoice in the depravity of others. It is that depraved pleasure that sells magazines and newspapers that cater to exposés, “true confessions,” and the like. It is the same sort of pleasure that makes children tattle on brothers and sisters. Whether to feel self-righteous by exposing another’s sin or to enjoy that sin vicariously, we all are tempted to take a certain kind of pleasure in the sins of others. Love has no part in that. It does not expose or exploit, gloat or condemn. It bears; it does not bare.

“Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all transgressions” (Prov. 10:12). We can measure our love for a person by how quick we are to cover his faults. When one of our children does something wrong we are inclined to put the best face on it. “He didn’t understand what he was doing,” we explain, or “She didn’t really mean what she said.” With a person we do not like, however, our reaction is likely to be the opposite: “That is typical of John,” or, “What would you expect from someone like her?”

Love does not justify sin or compromise with falsehood. Love warns, corrects, exhorts, rebukes, and disciplines. But love does not expose or broadcast failures and wrongs. It covers and protects. Henry Ward Beecher said, “God pardons like a mother who kisses the offense into everlasting forgetfulness.”

The mercy seat, where the blood of atonement was sprinkled (Lev. 16:14), was a covering, not only for the ark itself but for the sins of the people. The mercy seat was a place of covering. That covering prefigured the perfect and final covering of sin accomplished by Jesus on the cross in His great propitiatory sacrifice (Rom. 3:25–26; Heb. 2:17; 1 John 2:2). In the cross God threw the great mantle of His love over sin, forever covering it for those who trust in His Son. By nature, love is redemptive. It wants to buy back, not condemn, to save, not judge.

Love feels the pain of those it loves and helps carry the burden of the hurt. True love is even willing to take the consequences of the sin of those it loves. Isaiah wrote of Jesus Christ, “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; … He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him” (Isa. 53:4–5). As Peter knew firsthand from Jesus’ great patience and kindness, “love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet. 4:8).

During Oliver Cromwell’s reign as lord protector of England a young soldier was sentenced to die. The girl to whom he was engaged pleaded with Cromwell to spare the life of her beloved, but to no avail. The young man was to be executed when the curfew bell sounded, but when the sexton repeatedly pulled the rope the bell made no sound. The girl had climbed into the belfry and wrapped herself around the clapper so that it could not strike the bell. Her body was smashed and bruised, but she did not let go until the clapper stopped swinging. She managed to climb down, bruised and bleeding, to meet those awaiting the execution. When she explained what she had done, Cromwell commuted the sentence. A poet beautifully recorded the story as follows:

At his feet she told her story, showed her hands all bruised and torn, And her sweet young face still haggard with the anguish it had worn, Touched his heart with sudden pity, lit his eyes with misty light. “Go, your lover lives,” said Cromwell; “Curfew will not ring tonight.”^[2]

In this one verse, Paul speaks of four different qualities of love, all linked to each other by the word rendered “all things.” This rendering, “all things,” seems to fall short of communicating what Paul is saying. Love does not, for example, believe everything.¹⁸⁸

It is not “love” for a mother to believe her child when he denies getting into her freshly made pie, when the meringue has formed a mustache around his mouth.

• Love bears all things: the word bears (stegei) means both to cover all things and to bear up under all things.
• Love does both: it stands up under the weight and onslaught of all things and it covers up the faults of others.
• It has no pleasure in exposing the wrong and weaknesses of others.
• Love bears up under any neglect, abuse, ridicule—anything that is thrown against it.
• When it learns something unpleasant about another it does not run and scatter it all over the neighborhood. It does not take delight in some of the misdeeds of others.
• Not that it will not do something about it, but it does not spread it about for others to hear.

Paul has just written that love “does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth” (verse 6). How can he now inform us that “love” accepts everything as truth, believing whatever one is told?

For these reasons, some translations have chosen to render Paul’s words differently:

7 “There is nothing love cannot face; there is no limit to its faith, its hope, and its endurance” (The New English Bible).

7 “Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything” (Phillips).

Love is always characterized by certain qualities, without exception. Throughout history, man has sought to excuse disobedience or sin by convincing himself that his situation is an exception.

Jesus was asked if a man could divorce his wife for any reason at all (Matthew 19:3). His response was a refusal to dwell on the exceptions and to focus on the rule.

The love of Jesus always protects; it bears all things. He did and still does endure, support, forbear, and cover all things. His death on the cross covered our sins, and now he provides the power necessary to help us grow in our love for him and for each other.

He continues to provide forgiveness for our failures. This covering includes discipline when necessary (Hebrews 12:5-13).

This is why Paul has already excluded any “loopholes” in the Bible, by insisting that whenever we succumb to temptation, it is not because we had to (“There was nothing else I could do … after all, I’m only human …”), but because we failed to act upon God’s divinely provided “way of escape”:

13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it (1 Corinthians 10:13).

And so Paul informs his readers that there are four things love never ceases to possess and to practice, four things which can always be expected from genuine love.

(1) Love always bears up under adversity (“bears all things”).

Love “patiently accepts all things” (NCV)
Love “always supports” (TNT)
Love “never gives up” (GNB)

… here the apostle seems to be saying something about the endurance of love, its ability to go on no matter what the opposition.¹⁸⁹

Edwards points out that the Greek term employed by Paul has two senses:

The term used here by Paul “… means originally ‘cover over,’” … then, “contain as a vessel.” From this latter meaning two metaphorical uses of the word are derived, either of which may be here adopted: (1) that love hides or is silent about the faults of others; (2) that love bears without resentment injuries inflicted by others.¹⁹⁰

I do not believe we are forced to one choice or the other. It is completely within the realm of possibility that Paul meant us to understand this word in terms of its broader range of meaning. If this is so, we can see two major dimensions to love’s consistent capacity to “hold up” rather than “fold up.”

First, love bears up silently; that is, love covers sin with a cloak of silence. Sin is shameful, and love does not wish the sinner to be shamed more than necessary.

“Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all transgressions” (Prov. 10:12). We can measure our love for a person by how quick we are to cover his faults. When one of our children does something wrong we are inclined to put the best face on it. “He didn’t understand what he was doing,” we explain, or “She didn’t really mean what she said.” With a person we do not like, however, our reaction is likely to be the opposite: “That is typical of John,” or, “What would you expect from someone like her?”

Love does not justify sin or compromise with falsehood. Love warns, corrects, exhorts, rebukes, and disciplines. But love does not expose or broadcast failures and wrongs. It covers and protects. Henry Ward Beecher said, “God pardons like a mother who kisses the offense into everlasting forgetfulness.”

Noah’s son, Ham, broadcast his father’s shame to his brothers when Noah was drunk and naked in his tent. His brothers “covered” Noah’s nakedness in a way that prevented them from viewing his shame (Genesis 9:20-23).

Peter reminds us that Jesus suffered silently, not responding verbally to the abuses hurled upon Him, and that this pattern of silent suffering is to be followed by all the saints (1 Peter 2:18–3:15; 4:8).

Matthew’s Gospel sheds further light on this matter of our silence when Jesus teaches His disciples about church discipline (Matthew 18:15-20). We are to go privately to a brother who has sinned against us, and if he repents as a result of our rebuke, the matter is settled, never to be made public.

If, however, this wayward brother resists and refuses to repent, then the matter once dealt with in the strictest privacy must now be dealt with in a way that becomes more and more public. After all efforts to turn the wayward brother from sin have been rejected, the whole church must be notified of his sin, and he must be publicly ex-communicated.

Love always seeks to keep the sin of a wayward brother as private as possible, but this does not mean we cannot and should not be confronted publicly, if all private efforts have failed.

The mercy seat, where the blood of atonement was sprinkled (Lev. 16:14), was a covering, not only for the ark itself but for the sins of the people. The mercy seat was a place of covering. That covering prefigured the perfect and final covering of sin accomplished by Jesus on the cross in His great propitiatory sacrifice (Rom. 3:25-26; Heb. 2:17; 1 John 2:2). In the cross God threw the great mantle of His love over sin, forever covering it for those who trust in His Son. By nature, love is redemptive. It wants to buy back, not condemn, to save, not judge.

Love feels the pain of those it loves and helps carry the burden of the hurt. True love is even willing to take the consequences of the sin of those it loves. Isaiah wrote of Jesus Christ, “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried;… He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was rushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him” (Isa. 53:4-5). As  Peter knew firsthand from Jesus’ great patience and kindness, “love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet. 4:8).

During Oliver Cromwell’s reign as lord protector of England a young soldier was sentenced to die. The girl to whom he was engaged pleaded with Cromwell to spare the life of her beloved, but to no avail. The young man was to be executed when the curfew bell sounded, but when the sexton repeatedly pulled the rope the bell made no sound. The girl had climbed into the belfry and wrapped herself around the clapper so that it could not strike the bell. Her body was smashed and bruised, but she did not let go until the clapper stopped swinging. She managed to climb down, bruised and bleeding, to meet those awaiting the execution. When she explained what she had done, Cromwell commuted the sentence. A poet beautifully recorded the story as follows:

At his feet she told her story; showed her hands all bruised and torn, And her sweet young face still haggard with the anguish it had worn, Touched his heart with sudden pity, lit his eyes with misty light.

“Go, your lover lives,” said Cromwell; “Curfew will not ring tonight.”

Love … bears all things…

How long must I put up with you?  Jesus’ actions answered his own question.… Until the rooster sings and the sweat stings and the mallet rings and a hillside of demons smirk at a dying God. How long? Long enough for every sin to so soak my sinless soul that heaven will turn in horror  until my swollen lips pronounce the final transaction: “It is finished.” How long? Until it kills me.

Paul was never more the wordsmith than when he crafted this sentence. Listen to its rhythm as originally written: panta stegei, panta pisteuei, panta elpigei, panta upomenei. (Now when people ask you what you are doing, you can say, “I’m reading some Greek.” Say it humbly, however, for love does not boast.) Did you notice the fourfold appearance of panta ?

Expansions of panta appear in your English dictionary. Pantheism is the belief that God is in all things. A pantry is a cupboard where one can, hopefully, store all things. A panacea is a cure for all things. And a panoply is an array of all things. Panta means “all things.”

Such love isn’t easy. Not for you. Not for me. Not even for Jesus. Want proof? Listen to his frustration: “You people have no faith. How long must I stay with you? How long must I put up with you?” ( Mark 9:19 ).

To know Jesus asked such a question reassures us. But to hear how he answered it will change us. How long must I put up with you?

“Long enough to be called crazy by my brothers and a liar by my neighbors. Long enough to be run out of my town and my Temple. Long enough to be laughed at, cursed, slapped, hit, blindfolded, and mocked. Long enough to feel warm spit and sharp whips and see my own blood puddle at my feet.” ^[3]

^[1] Bruce B. Barton and Grant R. Osborne, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Life Application Bible Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1999), 190–191.

^[2] John F. MacArthur Jr., 1 Corinthians, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1984), 352–353.

[3]Lucado, M. 2002. A love worth giving : Living in the overflow of God’s love. W Pub. Group: Nashville, Tenn.

Love rejoices in the truth: rejoices when the truth is known and when it prevails; rejoices when others are recognized and promoted for whom they are and for what they have contributed.

Love rejoices when the truth is rooted and grounded in a person and among the people of the world. Note that love never covers nor hides the truth; love is courageous in that it faces the truth.

Love rejoices with the truth. That is not so easy as it sounds.  There are times when we definitely do not want the truth to prevail; and still more times when it is the last thing we wish to hear.  Christian love has no wish to veil the truth; it has nothing to conceal and so is glad when the truth prevails.

After mentioning eight negatives, things that love is not or does not do, Paul lists five more positives (see v. 4a). The first is a contrast with the last negative: love rejoices with the truth.

At first glance it may seem strange to contrast not rejoicing in unrighteousness with rejoicing in the truth. But the truth Paul is speaking about here is not simply factual truth. He is speaking of God’s truth, God’s revealed Word.

Righteousness is predicated on God’s truth and cannot exist apart from it. Love always rejoices in God’s truth and never with falsehood or false teaching. Love cannot tolerate wrong doctrine. It makes no sense to say, “It doesn’t make a great difference if people don’t agree with us about doctrine. What matters is that we love them.” “Why do we nit-pick so much about who is a Christian?”

That is the basic view of what is commonly called the ecumenical movement. But if we love others it will matter a great deal to us whether or not what they believe is right or wrong. What they believe affects their souls, their eternal destinies, and their representation of God’s will, and therefore should be of the highest concern to us. It also affects the souls and destinies of those whom they influence.

What is Truth? This is an age-old question, but many of our time feel it has become an accepted fact among most “learned” people that we can know “truth” (with a small “t”)–but that we cannot know “Truth” (with a big “T”). We can identify pieces of data, events, conditions, etc., as being real and factual–but the big questions of the universe, ultimate Truth, are impossible to answer.

Love is consistent with kindness but it is not consistent with compromise of the truth. Compromising the truth is not kind to those whom we mislead by our failure to stand firmly in the truth. 2 John 6–10 (ESV) And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. ⁷ For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. ⁸ Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. ⁹ Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰ If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting,

“This is love,” John tells us, “that we walk according to His commandments” (2 John 6).

To compromise, for example, with those who cast doubt on the incarnation is not loving, and it risks losing reward (vv. 7-8).

Love, truth, and righteousness are inseparable. When one is weakened the others are weakened. A person who teaches falsehood about God’s truth should not even be received into our home or given a greeting (v. 10). We are not to rejoice in a wrong doctrine that he teaches or in a wrong way in which he lives. Love rejoices in the truth and never in falsehood or unrighteousness.

On the other hand, love does not focus on the wrongs of others. It does not parade their faults for all the world to see. Love does not disregard falsehood and unrighteousness, but as much as possible it focuses on the true and the right. It looks for the good, hopes for the good, and emphasizes the good. It rejoices in those who teach the truth and live the truth.

Do you want to know if your love for someone is true? If your friendship is genuine? Check the room key. Ask yourself: Do I influence this person to do what is right?

(Matthew 10:15 NIV)  I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

(Matthew 10:42 NIV)  And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”

(Matthew 18:3 NIV)  And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

 (Matthew 19:23 NIV)  Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

(Matthew 21:31 NIV)  “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.

 (Mark 10:29 NIV)  “I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel

(John 4:23-24 NIV)  Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. {24} God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

(John 6:53 NIV)  Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

 (John 8:32 NIV)  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

(John 8:44-46 NIV)  You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. {45} Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! {46} Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me?

(John 8:51 NIV)  I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”

(John 14:6 NIV)  Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

(Galatians 4:16 NIV)  Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

(1 Timothy 3:15 NIV)  if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.

(2 Timothy 2:15 NIV)  Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

(Hebrews 10:26 NIV)  If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,

(1 John 1:6 NIV)  If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.

(1 John 1:8 NIV)  If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

(1 John 2:4 NIV)  The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

(1 John 3:18-19 NIV)  Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. {19} This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at ry.

est in his presence

 (1 Corinthians 13:6 NIV)  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

”What is a Christian?” The Bible has a definitive answer to this question, as it does with most others. According to the Scriptures, Christians are those who have come to realize their own sinfulness before God and their inability to save themselves, have turned to Jesus Christ in faith and repentance, they are willing to confess the name of Jesus in public and are gladly immersed in water in order to have their sins forgiven/washed away.

But it does not end there…there is growth or maturity as one seeks to become more like Jesus and seeks to know God’s will…and have the courage to act on it.

The first principle is: There IS such a thing as Truth, it is propositional, it is recorded in God’s Word, it is to be the focal point of our lives, and it is personified in Jesus Christ. Contrary to the teachings and beliefs of human philosophers and occult religionists, Truth exists. Truth is propositional, that means it is something we can put into word, phrases, and sentences that make sense. Truth is recorded in God’s Word (John 17:17). We can find the answers to life’s questions in the Book of Books. Truth is meant to be the focal point of one’s life We are to know the Truth and to live it.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

The second major principle of THY Word is Truth is that Biblical Truth is objective “TRUE” Truth. Unlike liberal, existential forms of the Christian faith, Biblical faith teaches that the events recorded in the Bible are reliable historical facts.

Thirdly, what does the Bible say about the Purpose of Human Life? It teaches that the human race is a special creation of a personal, loving, God, and our purpose as a race and as individuals is to glorify Him, to be conformed to the image of Christ Jesus His Son, and to live with Him forever.

It is our destiny and reward as believers to be conformed to the likeness, the image, of Christ. We won’t BE Him; we will never have His attributes of Omnipotence, Omniscience, Omnipresence, and Immutability–but our actions and our countenance will be more like Him.

Philippians 2:9–11 (ESV) Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

God has decreed that every knee will bow to His son, including those under the earth, which is a Biblical reference to Hell. We were created to glorify God, and every human being will.

Some will do it as they rejoice in heaven over the salvation of Christ, and some will do it as they suffer the just eternal punishment for their sins.

The final part of the purpose of our existence is to Live with God forever. Oh, what a joy, to live in the presence of God eternally, to have no sin or human troubles to worry us, and to enjoy sweet fellowship with Him!

When all of this is taken together, a balanced Christian life will emerge. We will not be either lazy or workaholics; we will have an ordered family with a loving atmosphere; we will serve God in every way.

This is how life is to be lived–our life is not separated into our “private, religious life” and our “secular” life. The life of a Christian is to be one seamless tapestry, with all parts working together under the direction of the Holy Spirit, by the rule of God’s word, following God’s Son for the glory of the Triune God.

Today, let’s decide, as best we are able, to recognize truth, to appreciate it for what it is, and act, with God’s help, to practice it till the last breath we take.

Love rejoices in the truth: rejoices when the truth is known and when it prevails; rejoices when others are recognized and promoted for whom they are and for what they have contributed.

 Love rejoices when the truth is rooted and grounded in a person and among the people of the world. Note that love never covers nor hides the truth; love is courageous in that it faces the truth.

Love rejoices with the truth. That is not so easy as it sounds.  There are times when we definitely do not want the truth to prevail; and still more times when it is the last thing we wish to hear.

Christian love has no wish to veil the truth; it has nothing to conceal and so is glad when the truth prevails.

 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.

At first glance it may seem strange to contrast not rejoicing in unrighteousness with rejoicing in the truth. But the truth Paul is speaking about here is not simply factual truth. He is speaking of God’s truth, God’s revealed Word.

 Righteousness is predicated on God’s truth and cannot exist apart from it. Love always rejoices in God’s truth and never with falsehood or false teaching. Love cannot tolerate wrong doctrine.

It makes no sense to say, “It doesn’t make a great difference if people don’t agree with us about doctrine. What matters is that we love them.”

“Why do we nit-pick so much about who is a Christian?”

That is the basic view of what is commonly called the ecumenical movement.

The ecumenical movement is the brain child of the Roman Catholic Church. This moment gained momentum during the Second Vatican Council held in Rome from 1962 to 1965. The primary purpose of the ecumenical movement is to draw individuals, groups and churches back into the Roman Catholic religious system.

But if we love others it will matter a great deal to us whether or not what they believe is right or wrong.

What we believe affects our souls, our eternal destinies, and our representation of God’s will, and therefore should be of the highest concern to us. It also affects the souls and destinies of those whom they influence.

What is Truth? This is an age-old question, but feel it has become an accepted fact among most “learned” people that we can know “truth” (with a small “t”)–but that we cannot know “Truth” (with a big “T”). We can identify pieces of data, events, conditions, etc., as being real and factual–but the big questions of the universe, ultimate Truth, are impossible to answer.

Agape (love) is consistent with kindness but it is not consistent with compromising of the truth.

Compromising the truth is not kind to those whom we mislead by our failure to stand firmly in the truth.

2 John 6–10 (ESV) And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. ⁷ For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. ⁸ Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. ⁹ Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰ If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting,

To compromise, for example, with those who cast doubt on the incarnation is not loving, and it risks losing reward.

Love, truth, and righteousness are inseparable. When one is weakened the others are weakened.

We are not to rejoice in a wrong doctrine that he teaches or in a wrong way in which he lives. Love rejoices in the truth and never in falsehood or unrighteousness.

On the other hand, love does not focus on the wrongs of others. It does not parade their faults for all the world to see.

Love does not disregard falsehood and unrighteousness, but as much as possible it focuses on the true and the right.

It looks for the good, hopes for the good, and emphasizes the good. It rejoices in those who teach the truth and live the truth.

Do you want to know if your love for someone is true? If your friendship is genuine? Check the room key. Ask yourself: Do I influence this person to do what is right?

(Matthew 10:15 NIV)  I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

(Matthew 10:42 NIV)  And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”

(Matthew 18:3 NIV)  And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

 (Matthew 19:23 NIV)  Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

(Matthew 21:31 NIV)  “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.

 (Mark 10:29 NIV)  “I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel

(John 4:23-24 NIV)  Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. {24} God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

(John 6:53 NIV)  Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

 (John 8:32 NIV)  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

(John 8:44-46 NIV)  You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. {45} Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! {46} Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me?

(John 8:51 NIV)  I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”

(John 14:6 NIV)  Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

(Galatians 4:16 NIV)  Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

(1 Timothy 3:15 NIV)  if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.

(2 Timothy 2:15 NIV)  Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

(Hebrews 10:26 NIV)  If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,

(1 John 1:6 NIV)  If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.

(1 John 1:8 NIV)  If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

(1 John 2:4 NIV)  The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

(1 John 3:18-19 NIV)  Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. {19} This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence

 (1 Corinthians 13:6 NIV)  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

1. S. Lewis wrote that when one comes to see and understand the truth. “I must do something about it.”

This congregation has always been part of “The Restoration Movement.”

There are some common statements that help to explain this:

 “What is a Christian?” The Bible has a definitive answer to this question, as it does with most others.

According to the Scriptures, Christians are those who have come to realize their own sinfulness before God and their inability to save themselves, have turned to Jesus Christ in faith and repentance, they are willing to confess the name of Jesus in public and are gladly immersed in water in order to have their sins forgiven/washed away.

But it does not end there…there is growth or maturity as one seeks to become more like Jesus and seeks to know God’s will…and have the courage to act on it.

Philippians 2:9–11 (ESV) Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Today, let’s decide, as best we are able, to recognize truth, to appreciate it for what it is, and act, with God’s help, to practice it till we take our last breath.

Love does not rejoice in iniquity: unrighteousness, evil, wrong-doing. Love does not take pleasure in the un-righteousness and sin of others; it does not feed upon sin and wrong, nor does it pass along the stories of sin and wrong. Man’s too often has fed the tragedy of evil, whether personal sin or natural disaster.

When believers show love, they do not delight in evil, either by showing superior morality over it or by taking pleasure in another’s fall. Love does not take pleasure in any kind of evil. Instead, love does the exact opposite—it rejoices with the truth. Through their relationship with Jesus Christ, believers possess the one and only truth (John 14:6). Those who love should remain untainted by evil. Instead, they ought to always seek truth, desire that truth win out, protect the truth, and proclaim the truth whenever.

Love finds no pleasure in evil-doing.  It might be better to translate this that love finds no pleasure in anything that is wrong.  It is not so much delight in doing the wrong thing that is meant, as the malicious pleasure which comes to most of us when we hear something derogatory about someone else.  It is one of the queer traits of human nature that very often we prefer to hear of the misfortune of others rather than of their good fortune.  It is much easier to weep with them that weep than to rejoice with those who rejoice.  Christian love has none of that human malice which finds pleasure in all reports.

The rejoicing at sin, the taking pleasure in them that commit sin, the exultation over the fall of others into sin, are among the worst forms of malignity:

(Romans 1:32 NIV)  Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

(2 Thessalonians 2:12 NIV)  “…and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

The Greeks had a word, ejpicairekaki to describe “rejoicing at the evil” (whether sin or misfortune) of others:

(Proverbs 24:17 NIV)  Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice).

Love never takes satisfaction from sin, whether our own sin or that of others. Doing wrong things is bad enough in itself; bragging about them makes the sins even worse. To rejoice in unrighteousness is to justify it. It is making wrong appear to be right.

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil,” Isaiah warns, “who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness” (Isa. 5:20). That is turning God’s truth upside down.

Among the most popular magazines, books, and TV programs are those that glorify sin, that literally rejoice in unrighteousness. More and more explicitly they declare that anything goes and that every person sets his own standards of right and wrong.

The belief today: what is right is doing what you want! Even much news amounts to rejoicing in unrighteousness, because violence, crime, immorality, slander, and the like are attractive to the natural mind and heart.

Christians are not immune from enjoying such things, either because we find them entertaining or because we feel self-righteous about not doing them ourselves.

Sometimes rejoicing in unrighteousness takes the form of hoping someone will make a mistake or fall into sin. I have known Christians who wanted to be rid of their marriage partners or were already divorced.

But because they believe that remarriage is unbiblical unless the other party was unfaithful, they actually hoped their spouses would commit adultery so that they themselves could be scripturally free to remarry!

Rejoicing in sin is wrong first of all because sin is an affront to God.

We cannot imagine taking delight in a tragedy that befalls a friend or loved one; yet when we delight in sin, we are delighting in that which offends and grieves our heavenly Father and which is tragedy to Him.

If we love God, what offends Him will offend us and what grieves Him will grieve us.

(Psalms 69:9 NIV)  for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.

When God was dishonored David was grieved, because the One whom he loved above all others was maligned. When we enjoy sin, either directly or vicariously in seeing others sin, we prove our lack of love for God.

One of the most common forms of rejoicing in sin is gossip. Gossips would do little harm if they did not have so many eager listeners. This sin, which many Christians treat lightly, is wicked not only because it uncaringly reveals the weaknesses and sins of others, and therefore hurts rather than helps them, but because the heart of gossip is often rejoicing or seemingly delighting in evil. Gossip that is true is still gossip.

It is the way unfavorable truth is passed on, and often simply the fact that it is passed on, that makes gossip gossip. The essence of gossip is gloating over the shortcomings and sins of others, which makes gossip a great sin itself. A person is never helped by spreading the news of his sin.

Granville Walker said, There are times when silence is yellow, times when we ought to stand on our feet and regardless of the consequences challenge the gross evils of the time, times when not to do so is the most blatant form of cowardice. But there are other times when silence is golden, when to tell the truth is to make many hearts bleed needlessly and when nothing is accomplished and everything is hurt by a loose tongue.

Second, rejoicing in sin is wrong because of the consequences it has on the one who sins.

Sin can produce nothing but harm. In the unsaved person sin is evidence of his lostness. In a believer sin is evidence of disobedience and broken fellowship with God. To love a person is to hate his sin. Discipline in the church is necessary not only to protect the purity of the body but to help the sinning believer confront his wrong and to repent:

(Matthew 18:15-20 NIV)  “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. {16} But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ {17} If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. {18} “I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. {19} “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. {20} For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”

Paul had reminded the Corinthians of his command:

(1 Corinthians 5:11 NIV)  But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.

 In his second letter to Thessalonica he said,

(2 Thessalonians 3:6 NIV)  In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.

 That the apostle considered this principle entirely consistent with love, in fact a necessary part of love, is seen in the previous verse: “And may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ” (v. 5). Love cannot tolerate evil or rejoice in it in any way.

Finding out what a person enjoys—what gives them pleasure and causes them to rejoice—may be very revealing about the character of that person. For example, an off-color joke may be funny or enjoyable—but not righteous. Paul says love looks to the truth of God’s Word (and secondarily to truth in general) to define that which it can enjoy, that over which it can rejoice.

Secular entertainment offers a good illustration; many movies set us up to take pleasure in that which is not righteous. Often the villain is characterized by incredible violence and cruelty. All through the movie, he does things designed to cause us to hate him with a passion. We don’t want him to be caught and sent to prison. We don’t want him to be convicted and given the death penalty. We want this person to die in the worst conceivable way.

And so, in the end, the individual gets his reward, dying the most painful, violent death the film writer can conceive. And we find ourselves watching this man die with great pleasure, rejoicing in that which is far from righteous.

Christians reject a great many movies for explicit sex, violence, or filthy language, and rightly so. But these blatantly offensive or evil films tend to desensitize us toward films which are evil in a more subtle way.

We breathe a sigh of relief when we find a movie with a “G” or perhaps a “PG” rating. Here is a movie we can take the family to see. But some of these movies may tempt us to rejoice in unrighteousness without even realizing it.

A few years ago, a family film started with a woman taking off her wedding ring and leaving it with a note to her husband. As the movie went on, the woman was portrayed as a caring woman who developed a special relationship with a handicapped child. She met a warm, sensitive doctor with whom she “fell in love.”

The calloused, insensitive husband then appears, and as the drama concludes, the husband is sent packing as the woman, the doctor, and the young girl are brought together—a supposedly happy ending which makes the viewer feel good.

You find yourself thinking the husband deserved divorce, and the woman deserved “happiness.”  But there is a problem: there were no biblical grounds for divorce.

From the standpoint of biblical revelation, the woman and the doctor were committing adultery. And so, in what seems like a “good, clean, family film,” we rejoice over that which is not righteous.

Love takes no pleasure in unrighteousness. Love sets its mind on what is right:

8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things. 9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things; and the God of peace shall be with you (Philippians 4:8-9).

Here is the way to unity. Love dwells on what is right and then does what is right. This is the way to peace.

Want to separate the fake from the factual, the counterfeit from the real thing? Want to know if what you feel is genuine love? Ask yourself this:

Do I encourage this person to do what is right? For true love “takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the truth” ( 1 Cor. 13:6 jb) .

For instance, one lady calls another and says, “We’re friends, right?”

“Yeah, we’re friends.”

“If my husband asks, you tell him we were together at the movies last night.”

“But we weren’t.”

“I know, but I was, well, I was with another guy and—hey, you’ll do this for me, won’t you? We’re friends, right? Tighter than sisters, right?”

Does this person pass the test? No way. Love doesn’t ask someone to do what is wrong.

If you find yourself prompting evil in others, heed the alarm. This is not love. And if others prompt evil in you, be alert.

Here’s an example. A classic one. A young couple are on a date. His affection goes beyond her comfort zone. She resists. But he tries to persuade her with the oldest line in the book: “But I love you. I just want to be near you. If you loved me …”

That siren you hear? It’s the phony-love detector. This guy doesn’t love her. He may love having sex with her. He may love her body. He may love boasting to his buddies about his conquest. But he doesn’t love her. True love will never ask the “beloved” to do what he or she thinks is wrong.

Love doesn’t tear down the convictions of others. Quite the contrary. “Love builds up” ( 1 Cor. 8:1 ).

“Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light and will not cause anyone to stumble” ( 1 John 2:10).

“You are sinning against Christ when you sin against other Christians by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong” ( 1 Cor. 8:12 nlt ).

Do you want to know if your love for someone is true? If your friendship is genuine? Ask yourself: Do I influence this person to do what is right?

You want to plumb the depths of your love for someone? How do you feel when that person succeeds? Do you rejoice? Or are you jealous? And when he or she stumbles? Falls to misfortune? Are you really sorry? Or are you secretly pleased?

Love never celebrates misfortune. Never. I like the way Eugene Peterson translates the passage: “Love … doesn’t revel when others grovel, [but] takes pleasure in the flowering of truth” ( 1 Cor. 13:6 msg ).

1. B. Phillips is equally descriptive: “Love … does not … gloat over the wickedness of other people. On the contrary, it shares the joy of those who live by the truth.”

You know your love is real when you weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice.

God passes the test of 1 Corinthians 13:7 . Does he want the best for you? “God himself does not tempt anyone” ( James 1:13).

Every action of heaven has one aim: that you know God. “He … made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him” ( Acts 17:26–27 msg ).

And does God rejoice when you do what is right? Certainly. “The Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love” ( Ps. 147:11 niv ).

Does he weep when you do? Absolutely! He is the “God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times” ( 2 Cor. 1:3–4 msg ).

Do you want to know what love is? “This is what real love is: It is not our love for God; it is God’s love for us in sending his Son to be the way to take away our sins” ( 1 John 4:10 ).