Title: Spirit of Sharing (Acts 4:32)
Contents
I. Text Commentary
Jesus said that we should love one another throughout our lives, not at any specific time. Knowing that the time has come when he took up the cross, when he returns to the Father, he loves his people in the world to the end, and he mentions this love more frequently. In particular, the text was speaking with the community of disciples left behind after Jesus departed, and he spoke about ‘love’, which is the center of the new commandment. Whether it is the new commandment or the old commandment (the law), the central point is love, but the old commandment, the law, was given while looking forward to God’s love to be revealed, and the new commandment was given in the midst of God’s full display of love through Christ. different from Jesus had to tell us the nature of the new commandment, which was qualitatively different from the old commandment, which the people of the Old Testament had dimly looked at.
II. visible evidence of the gospel
The gospel needs visible evidence. Of course, the great power of words in moving people and conveying profound ideas cannot be overlooked. Preaching, the word-to-word proclamation, which has become a permanent means of spreading the gospel, still has and will continue to have power. However, it is very necessary to show a life in harmony with the Gospel in order to clearly show the true meaning of the Gospel proclaimed to those who prefer to hear rather than read, and to see rather than to hear.
Therefore, for the gospel to be preached with power, there must be a gospel preached in clear and uncompromising words and a life of love of the saints who live in accordance with the truth of the gospel. Evangelization will take place anywhere in the world when the proclaimed gospel and the life of love between the saints are fully harmonized. Then, how is the ‘life of evidence’ that will reveal the gospel, and what essence does it have?
A. Community life of saints
1. Spirit of Community - Spirit of Jesus: For a life in harmony with the Gospel, the common life of the saints is essential. This does not mean simply being together spatially, but living according to that principle by owning the 'same soul' together. The 'same soul' in the community of saints is the 'Jesus Spirit'.
It's really hard to keep this Jesus spirit when you're alone. The benefit of communal life is that we can have his mind and spirit together. The soul of Jesus is the soul of love, and the community can be made whole by loving one another with this love. The sure proof of the gospel is our love revealed in our common life.
2. The fellowship of the saints - not a means: The fellowship enjoyed in the common life of the saints is not a means to prepare for greater things, but the end of the gospel itself. Just as Jesus wanted to be with Him when He called His disciples, that in itself is a joy and a witness of the Gospel. When God created the heavens and the earth, he connected all things as one and especially connected people with an invisible spiritual bond, that is, the bond of love. Therefore, loving and loving the members fervently in the common life of the saints is the very purpose of fulfilling the purpose of creation. His constant care for us with the bread of the word and the water of grace is also His will to live in harmony with our members and reveal His purpose for creation. Even if we have a lot of vision and a lot of service, if we have complaints and hatred towards the church and the saints, we are betraying the will of Him who saved us.
B. Loving each other:
The visible evidence of the gospel is also love for one another. Love in the community can be thought of in three ways:
1. Likes: Likes to live together and live together and to like members who exist there. This is the key to loving each other. It also means that I like and enjoy whoever is to me because I love the God who put him there. In other words, it is to make each other's existence a subject of joyous gratitude.
2. Sacrifice: To love not only with word and tongue, but with deed and truth, sacrifice is necessary. It is not such a sacrifice of bloody bloodshed once and for all, but a sacrifice accompanied by the renunciation of self-interest and self-brokenness that started with the smallest thing.
3. Commitment: Human beings are destined to commit only to what is worthwhile. This is a love devoted to those who the whole world has rejected as worthless because of Christ.
Ⅲ. love between saints
A. No natural goodwill: What is love between saints, and where does it come from? The love between saints is not a natural good intention or humanitarian love, but a spiritual love. Although natural good intentions have the form of love, the motive for sacrificing others is self-interest because the central axis of that love is not Christ but oneself. However, spiritual love is a love that originates from being wholeheartedly devoted to God. The central axis of love is Christ, and it is a love that is sacrificed for His good, not his own. ‘Spiritual love’ brings us closer to God the more we love our members with that love, but ‘natural goodwill’ does not.
B. Wholeheartedness to God - The root of all service: Love between saints is the love that comes from seeking God with all your heart. It is also the root of all service. In serving God wholeheartedly, we must be careful to be able to distinguish whether we are serving with humanitarian love or with spiritual love through him. Serving inconsistent with that love is always accompanied by pain and wounds due to self-love. It is also an opportunity to prove whether the love in you is true love for Christ or just natural goodwill.
It is not that they came to love because they were patient and meek, but because that love was full in the community, they could be patient and meek. This is the kind of love that Jesus wanted to see in our common life. This love is not obtained by looking at people, but by seeking the face of the Lord completely. Saints are not objects to be expected and depended on, but objects to be loved. Those who live by loving their members with this love will grow into a person of perfect virtue, a person who lives a life that conforms to the purpose of creation, and a person of Jesus who reveals the Lord more and more.
IV. Conclusion and application - love that will last forever
When we show our passionate love for one another in our common life, the truths of the gospel that are proclaimed will come alive and affect people.
Sharing 1. Let's share the life we practiced after listening to last week's Word (Eternal Love, Here).
Sharing 2. Let's share the overall contents of John 13:34-35 and tell each other the parts that came to us deeply.
Sharing 3. Why do believers need to have the “spirit of Jesus,” and what does it mean in our community life?
Sharing 4. Let's say which of the three things we love each other in the community (like, sacrifice, and devotion) that we can apply to ourselves (focused on success and failure).
Sharing 5. Among the love between the saints, how can humanitarian love based on natural goodwill and spiritual love be distinguished?