AGAPE'S MIRACLE MARRIAGES
PART 2
11-15-09
PASTOR LES SANDERS
MILFORD ASSEMBLY OF GOD
I. INTRODUCTION
A. IT CAN BE ARGUED “WE ARE BORN WITHOUT A SMIDGEN OF TRUE LOVE.”
B. LAST WEEK THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF LOVE
1. CONDITIONAL
2. UN-CONDITIONAL
C. THERE ARE THREE PRIMARY GREEK WORDS FOR LOVE
1. EROS = WE GET “EROTIC” AND “EROTICISM.”
a. "EVERYTHING FOR ME, AND NOTHING FOR YOU.
2. PHILEO – BROTHERLY LOVE.
a. TWO-WAY STREET LEADING TO MUTUAL GRATIFICATION.
II. AGAPE
A. NOTHING LIKE IT IN THE WHOLE WORLD
1. THE LAND OF MIRACLE MARRIAGES.
B. SURPASSES OUR BRAINS OR UNFATHOMABLE,
1. WHY? BECAUSE AGAPE IS GOD’S LOVE
2. ABOVE HUMAN UNDERSTANDING
EPHESIANS 3:19 19Christ’s love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then you can be filled with the fullness of God.
C. THE ONLY WAY TO KNOW CHRIST’S AGAPE IS TO EXPERIENCE IT.
1. CHRISTIANITY IS KNOWING EXPERIENTIALLY THAT WHICH SURPASSES KNOWING INTELLECTUALLY.
2. AGAPE PASSES HUMAN KNOWLEDGE,
3. SURPASSES HUMAN LANGUAGE,
a. NOT ONE DERIVATIVE FROM THE GREEK,
D. HOW DOES ONE EXPERIENCE GOD’S LOVE WHICH TRANSCENDS OUR BRAINS BY INFINITY?
1. BORN WITH EROS AND PHILEO, NOT AGAPE.
JOHN 3:7 7Don’t be surprised when I tell you, ‘You must all be born again.’
E. IF WE BY BIRTH AND BY NATURE HAD EVEN SOME OF GOD’S AGAPE-LOVE, WE WOULD NOT HAVE TO BE BORN AGAIN.
1. WE THEN WOULD SIMPLY HAVE TO BE NURTURED AND MATURED.
F. “WE NEED A WHOLE NEW START, A WHOLE NEW NATURE, GOD’S MIRACLE AGAPE-LOVE NATURE.”
1 JOHN 4:7-8 7Dear friends, we should love (agapao) each other, because love (agape) comes from God. Everyone who loves (agapao) has become God’s child and knows God. 8Whoever does not love (agapao) does not know God, because God is love (agape).
G. AGAPE-LOVE IS NOT ONLY FROM GOD,
1. BUT "LOVE (AGAPE) IS GOD."
H. TRUE LOVE IS NOT A BODILY FUNCTION,
1. IT IS NOT A MUTUAL TRANSACTION,
2. LOVE IS A "PERSON." LOVE IS GOD HIMSELF.
3. SO TO BE TRULY IN LOVE, YOU HAVE TO BE IN GOD.
a. GOD IN YOU!!!
4. IF YOU HAVE FALLEN OUT OF LOVE, YOU HAVE FALLEN OUT OF GOD.
I. EROS NEEDS TO BE TICKLED.
1. PHILEO NEEDS TO BE SCRATCHED.
2. AGAPE NEEDS TO GIVE.
JOHN 3:16 16“God loved (agapao) the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life.
a. EVEN WHEN IT HURTS.
3. GOD COULD HAVE RIGHTFULLY CAST US SINNERS INTO THE DUNGEON OF HELL,
a. INSTEAD LOVE GAVE HIS SON FOR US.
b. PREACHING TODAY IS AN IMPOSTOR PREACHED BY IMPOSTORS.
J. MODERN CHRISTIANITY HAS CHEAPENED AGAPE TO THE LEVEL OF EROS AND PHILEO.
a. GOD TODAY IS PREACHED AS THE GIVER OF BANGLES AND BEADS,
1 CORINTHIANS 13:5 5Love is not rude, is not selfish, and does not get upset with others. Love does not count up wrongs that have been done.
K. RECAP
1. EROS IS: EVERYTHING FOR ME AND NOTHING FOR YOU.
2. PHILEO IS: SOMETHING FOR ME AND SOMETHING FOR YOU.
3. AGAPE IS: EVERYTHING FOR YOU AND NOTHING FOR ME.
III. UN-FATHOMABLE AGAPE!
A. NONE OF THE PRINCIPLES OF EROS AND PHILEO APPLY HERE.
1. EROS AND PHILEO ARE ALWAYS HOLLERING UP AT SANTA,
a. I WANT, I NEED, I MUST HAVE.
2. AGAPE IS GOD LOOKING DOWN AT MAN SAYING,
a. I GAVE, I GIVE, I WILL GIVE.
B. WHEN A MARRIAGE OPERATES WITHIN AGAPE, IT IS HEAVEN ON EARTH FOR ALL.
1. NO AGAPE ONLY FRUSTRATED AND NEVER SATISFIED EROS & PHILEO, IS HELL ON EARTH
C. HOW CAN THIS BE? ARE YOU KIDDING?
1. AGAPE BEING “EVERYTHING FOR YOUR SPOUSE AND NOTHING FOR YOU?”
2. NOT NATURALLY, BUT SUPERNATURALLY.
D. AS BORN-AGAIN BELIEVERS,
1. YOU HAVE THE MIRACLE “JESUS-AGAPE-NATURE.”
2. YOU HAVE THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST IN YOU,
a. LIVES AND LOVES LIKE JESUS
b. I WILL DIE SO THAT YOU MY SPOUSE CAN LIVE LIFE ABUNDANTLY!
c. I WILL EMPTY MYSELF FOR YOU MY SPOUSE THAT YOU MAY BE FILLED WITH BLESSINGS TO OVERFLOWING.
d. I WILL SUFFER HELL MY SPOUSE FOR YOU THAT YOU MIGHT EXPERIENCE A TASTE OF HEAVEN.
e. I WILL BEAR THE BLAME THAT SO YOU MY SPOUSE MAY BE FORGIVEN AND INNOCENT.
f. I MY SPOUSE WILL ALWAYS BE LAST SO THAT YOU WILL ALWAYS BE FIRST IN EVERYTHING.
E. WELCOME TO AGAPE’S MIRACLE MARRIAGES.