1 Samuel 18:1-5; 19:1-7; 20:1-42
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
- John 13:34-35
“So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.”
- 1 Thessalonians 2:8
Big Idea: People after God’s own heart are called to love deeply and stand firmly.
From Surface Level to Soul Level:
1) Give Generously (18:4)
2) Advocate Faithfully (19:1-7)
3) Commit Wholeheartedly (20:1-17)
3 Choices I Must Make:
1) Choose to open my heart
2) Choose to love
3) Choose to commit
“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”
- 1 Peter 4:8
4) Sacrifice Significantly (20:30-34)
“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”
- John 15:13
“By this we know love, that he (Jesus) laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”
- 1 John 3:16
“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
– Philippians 2:5-8
5) Hold Loosely (20:35-42)
“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what His master is doing; but I have called you friends, .... You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, He may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”
– John 15:15-17
Enduring Principles of Soul Level Gospel Relationships:
1) Love God Over All
2) Love People In All
3) Communicate Clearly To All
4) Trust God With It All
5) Live For God Through It All
“For He (Jesus) Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.”
– Ephesians 2:14-16