Overview
The reason to love is what Jesus Christ has already accomplished for us: he finished the work, so love is not something we strain to produce but something we can simply walk in. In this closing session of the Faith 2020 Conference, Rev. Jon Ryan traces Paul’s years with the Ephesians in Acts 19, the God who is love in 1 John 4, the feet washing and the new commandment in John 13, and the blessings named in Ephesians 1. He closes at the temple gate in Acts 3, where a man over 40 years old who had never walked received strength in an instant of time, with no training and no exercises, and argues that walking in love works the same way. We can walk as he walked now.
Transcript
A Reason to Love: The Faith of Jesus Christ We Do Not Have to Earn
Thank you. Please take your Bibles and turn to Acts 19. A reason to love.
We’ve certainly been treated to an amazing time in God’s word, and we have learned so much about the faith of Jesus Christ that we don’t have to work to earn it. We don’t have to. You don’t even have to.
Sometimes I’ve sat in classes, or events, or courses, and felt like I had to try and take notes as fast as I could, because I needed to hold on to this. And yet, we’ve only had the ability to do this for a couple 300 years. When Jesus Christ was teaching, Paul was teaching, they didn’t bring their notebooks.
They didn’t even have Bibles. Very few people had a copy of the Bible. Maybe the priests, the rabbis, but they were able to retain what was taught.
They held on to the words. And that’s what you want, is to leave here with impressions that are made on your heart. As we move through life, each of us helps to form one another.
Leaving With Impressions Made on Your Heart
You get to see, and hear, and really receive from each other. And we can love. That’s what Jesus Christ, in his final hours with his men, before he’s going to be crucified, he wanted them to understand how big it is to love.
To understand God, who is love. As Rico was closing out this previous teaching, he read Ephesians chapter 1, verse 15. And I’m going to read it to you from the Amplified.
First, I’ll read it here, so we can read it from King James. Wherefore, I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints. In the Amplified, it says, for this reason.
Because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and your love for all God’s people. I cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. Paul knew these people from Ephesus.
Here, I told you to go to Acts 19. He had spent years with these people. At one point, two years and three months, nonstop, just there with them.
Paul’s Travels From Troas to Philippi and the Macedonian Call
In 19, Acts 19, and in verse, we’ll start in verse 1. Paul had been traveling. He had come through Asia, and was trying to speak the words, look for open doors in Asia. Didn’t see any.
Came over to Troas, which is where he and Silas and Timothy met up with Luke. And there’s where he received more direction. Sometimes it’s called the Macedonian call.
And he went over to Philippi, and their doors opened up for him. Literally, it says, when he met with Lydia, it said, whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended to the words that were spoken of Paul. That’s what he was looking for, was people that had the heart to want to know.
And he was able to give her and that group of women she met with down by the river the word, and teach them about Jesus Christ. And then he delivered a woman that was possessed with the spirit of divination. And ultimately, Paul and Silas were thrown in jail.
And they moved south to Thessalonica, and then to Berea, and then to Athens, and then to Corinth. Paul was down in Corinth for, it says, 18 months. He got to know these Corinthians, their wonderful hearts.
From Corinth to Ephesus With Aquila and Priscilla
As he got to know them, he sent back to Thessalonica with Timothy, how are the Thessalonians doing, these wonderful believers from Thessalonica that he got to spend some time with. But ultimately, after Corinth, he traveled over to Ephesus. He had met this couple, Aquila and Priscilla, and lived with them.
And they came with him to Ephesus. And Paul left them there, didn’t stay long in Ephesus. He had to attend an event in Jerusalem.
And he circled back afterwards, confirming churches where he had been in Lystra, and Iconium, Derbe, and ultimately comes back to Ephesus. And then here we are in Acts 19, and in verse 1. And it came to pass that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper coasts, came to Ephesus. And finding certain disciples, he said unto them, have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? And they said unto him, we have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghosts.
So his heart is, do you know what’s available? Have you heard? In verse 7, it says, and all the men were about 12. There were about 12 households. And he went in unto the synagogue and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.
What Disputing Daily in the School of Tyrannus Really Means
Disputing is not a good translation. It’s the Greek word dialegomai. And it’s they were discussing, they were sharing.
We’ve done that here. We’ve had some teachings of the word. We’ve had some time to just share about it, talk about it with each other.
Well, that’s what Paul did. And he’s endeavoring to have this time with these people. It says, but verse 9, but when divers were hardened and believed not but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus.
So he just moved to an area where they could have this time together. They could continue without those that were going to be hardened against them. And it says in verse 10, and this continued by the space of two years, so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.
Two Years in Asia: How Paul Came to Know the Ephesians
Now, Paul got to know these men, these men and these women, these families, just as we get to. Many of us have come from different places. I used to live for a while in Florida.
I recently moved up to the Northeast. But I have such great remembrances and great opportunities to be again with some of my great close friends from Florida and some of you from other states. David that stood up the other day, I met him in Vermont back in the 80s.
And we get to be with one another and we remember each other. And we make an impression. That helps us to become the men and women that we become.
We want to be around. I love being around you because you are God’s best. He’s told us that in Manifestations.
We hear that. We read it in the word. So Paul got to know these people.
Diana of the Ephesians and the Unknown God at Athens
Look at 1 John chapter 5. What would Paul have shared with these Ephesians? Well, certainly what he would have taught them is about Jesus Christ and about God. Who is God? You know, Ephesus was a great place for idolatry. Great in that it was renowned.
This Diana of the Ephesians, there was people that were put into business because they made these little statues and other things of Diana of the Ephesians all into idolatry. Paul had dealt with that before. He got to Athens and when he saw the idolatry in Athens, he told them, you know, I see that you are very religious.
But let me make known to you the unknown God. Well, here in Ephesus, he got to show them about the true God. And what would he have taught them? Well, certainly here in 1 John chapter 4 and in verse 7. Now, this had not been written yet, but certainly it was well known.
Verse 7, Beloved, let us love one another. For love is of God. And everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God.
He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. And this was manifested, the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation or the payment for our sins.
God Is Love: Jesus Christ Came to Declare God
See, Jesus Christ came to declare God, to make God known. God is love. That’s what he showed people.
That’s what he taught people as he interacted with them, as he went about doing good and healing them, as he declared the greatness of God’s word to them. He was showing people how much God cared for them, how God didn’t have prejudices. He’s sometimes criticized for sitting with tax collectors, publicans, and sinners.
And he said, I came to help those that have need of a physician. Those that are whole don’t need a physician. You know, he would face criticism time and again.
He took his men through Samaria, which was a place you weren’t supposed to go to according to the culture, because people had a real prejudice towards Samaria. When the tribes of Israel had broken up, 10 tribes made their capital Samaria, and the two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, were Jerusalem. So if you were traveling from the north to come down to Jerusalem, you would not even walk through Samaria, even though that was the shortest route.
Through Samaria to the Well: Jesus and the Samaritan Woman
You would go all the way around. And yet when he needed to go to Galilee in John chapter four, he took them right through Samaria, stopped at the well there, and there was an opportunity for him to get this woman who had come to the well to get water and help her to realize that God doesn’t see this prejudice. She says, how can you talk to me? I’m a Samaritan, you’re a Judean.
He just asked for a drink of water. And he didn’t even acknowledge the prejudice. He said, if you had asked me, I’d have given you living water.
And he proceeds to love her and teach her to the point that she runs back to the city to bring everyone out to say, I have seen the Christ. That’s why he went there. See, God directed his steps, just like he’ll direct your steps and my steps.
It’s not a hard thing. He had to do it and believe God to accomplish what he did. We get to benefit from what he accomplished and we could just walk.
Keeping His Word: How the Love of God Is Perfected in Us
It’s that easy. Look at chapter two of 1 John. Chapter two, verse three.
And hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him and keepeth not his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected.
Hereby know we that we are in him. See, as we keep the word. That’s all it is, is we learn what the word is.
We’ve been learning this weekend. Jesus Christ finished the work that God sent him to do. And so we don’t go and try to build more, to do more to make us righteous or to walk before God with the confidence of Jesus Christ.
Walking Without Striving: A Conversation Inside the CVS
We’ve been commissioned to walk as he walked. It’s that simple. It doesn’t take striving and straining and doing more penance.
Oh, I don’t pray enough or I don’t study the word enough or none of these things. You can be driving to work and you get the thought, I need to go into the CVS. And you go into the CVS and you get your needs and you walk up and you hear a private conversation.
Someone mentioning a missing person. Usually those conversations are very quiet. This is a very concerning thing.
This person worked in the store. How did Wendy hear that? Well, it says in the word that we have Christ in us. His eyes behind our eyes, his ears behind our ears.
Right Place, Right Time: His Eyes Behind Our Eyes
She was in the right place at the right time. It wasn’t that she set out in the morning and said, I think I’m gonna go deliver somebody of their fears and their needs. She just walked.
That’s how simple it is. And she had the confidence to just say, hey, can I pray for you? Yeah, you can pray for me. And then to boldly state, you’re gonna be back together.
See, that’s what Jesus Christ, when with the woman at the well in John chapter four, he told her, go get your husband. And she says, I don’t have a husband. He says, well, you’re right.
The man you’re with now is not your husband. You’ve had, I think he said, four husbands. So that’s one of the reasons she’s coming to the well in the middle of the day by herself.
Why the Woman Came to the Well in the Middle of the Day
Because typically the women would come in the morning all together, their safety. They’d go to get the water. But she had had all these husbands and she’s now living out of wedlock.
She’s ostracized. How does she feel about herself? I’ll tell you, when she left Jesus Christ, she felt totally different. I mean, that’s the love that he had for that one person.
And then his apostles, his disciples come back with lunch and he declares, like we heard earlier, we got you lunch. He says, I have meat that you know not of. Oh, somebody bring him a sandwich? No, his meat was to do the will of the father, to do his works, to love.
Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet in John 13
In John chapter 13, look at John 13, please. He loved so big here in the final hours before he’s gonna be arrested. He expected to have this Passover with his followers, with his disciples.
He didn’t know everything ahead of time. He learned just now, as this chapter unfolds, that he’s not gonna be able to celebrate Passover with them. He’s gonna be the Passover.
And so what does he do? But he shows them, with this last opportunity, he’s gonna show them love. In John 13, and in verse four, he rises from supper and laid aside his garments and took a bowl, a towel, and girded himself. And after that, he poured water in a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded.
He’s teaching them. Love has no limits. He’s gonna do the lowliest act of a servant, teaching them this is what it takes.
You’re willing to do whatever it takes. This is how precious they were to him. He loved them, showing them how much God loved them.
A New Commandment: Love One Another as I Have Loved You
In verse 13, it says, you call me master and Lord, and you say, well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. Look at verse 34.
A new commandment. After all that he had taught them, all that Jesus had showed them over this amazing year, so many things that it said the world couldn’t contain the books if they were all to be written down, he’s introducing in his last fellowship with these guys, a new commandment. A new commandment I give unto you that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one to another. Wow. He has an opportunity to just spend this time with them, and he’s teaching them what he’s been trying to teach them, and certainly been successfully teaching them for months, for his whole ministry.
The Work Is Finished, So We Can Walk as He Walked
This is who God is. God is love. We have this opportunity to love one another.
And it’s just simple. It’s not a difficult thing. God has already done all that’s needed to be done.
He gave his son, and Jesus Christ accomplished it by completing the work. It is finished. And now we just have to let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.
We have the capacity to love like he loved, to walk as he walked. Turn back to Ephesians, please. You know, as we’re turning back here, Ephesians, it’s amazing the things that are written here.
Blessed, Chosen, Accepted, Forgiven: What Ephesians 1 Says About You
Paul’s writing to them, telling them in verse three that they’re blessed. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed you with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places in Christ. Tells them that we’re chosen.
You’re chosen before the foundation of the world. You’re accepted. You know, God has chosen you.
You don’t have to try and do anything to make the team. You’re on the team, God’s team. You’re part of his household.
You’ve been forgiven. Look at verse seven. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.
No more payment has to be made. You don’t have to do anything to get the forgiveness that God is making available. It’s yours.
Come Boldly to the Throne of Grace and Obtain Mercy
There’s a great verse that I love in Hebrews chapter four, verse 16, where it says, let us come boldly onto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. God knows there’s gonna be times of need. And he gives us mercy, where when we deserve consequence, it’s passed.
We don’t need to pay. We don’t need the consequence. We’re forgiven.
And it says, come boldly to the throne of grace, obtain mercy and find grace to help. Because there’s gonna be times of need. But it’s just as simple as saying, Father, you know, once again, I didn’t do what I said I was gonna do.
That which I would not, I did. And that which I didn’t wanna do, I didn’t do. Or, you know, we don’t get to get caught up in all that.
No Condemnation: Romans 8 and Who We Are in Christ
We just say, thanks for forgiving me. You know, right after that Romans seven comes Romans eight. Kind of logical.
Eight one says, there’s therefore now no condemnation. See, Paul had written that the thing that he would, the thing that he did not, the thing that he wouldn’t do, that’s what he did. You know, who’s gonna deliver me from this old man? You know, we can get caught up in situations at times, but we just recognize how much God loves us.
Chapter eight of Romans goes on to tell you how great you are. Joint heirs, more than conquerors, nothing can separate you. That’s who we are.
Ephesians 5: Be Followers of God and Walk in Love
Here in Ephesians chapter five, Ephesians five. So what do we do? Since we’re accepted, we’re beloved, we’re forgiven. We have all this that God’s made available to us.
Well, we walk. It says, verse one, be you therefore followers of God as dear children and walk in love as Christ. We can do this.
We don’t have to say, well, I’m not Jesus Christ. Because it’s true, you’re not Jesus Christ, neither am I. But we have Christ within. We can walk as he walked, otherwise it wouldn’t have been written in the word.
In the Amplified Bible, this verse reads, verse one and two, therefore become imitators of God. Copy him and follow his example as well-beloved children, imitators of their father, and walk continually in love. That is, value one another, practice empathy, compassion, unselfishly seeking the best for others, just as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to God, slain for you so that it became a sweet fragrance.
See, he did it. And so because he did it, we can walk. We have a reason to love, is because what Jesus Christ did for us.
Peter and John at the Gate Beautiful in Acts 3
I’d like to close in Acts chapter three, Acts three. And I think most all of us are familiar with this record. So I’m just gonna tell you about it.
Peter and John had spent this amazing time with their Lord, with our Lord. And here Pentecost had come. And Jesus Christ had told them that they would receive power, that they would be witnesses.
They would have the opportunity to do what he did. And in his last hour, he told them that they could do the works that he did in greater works, because he was going to the Father. And here in Acts three, shortly after Pentecost, Peter and John are on the way into the temple.
The Man Over 40 Years Old Who Had Never Walked
And they see this man that was a fixture. He had been laid at the temple gate, beautiful for his whole life. He’s over 40 years old.
Every day he’s there. People would have walked by without even noticing him. And he’s such a common place there.
And yet in this one day, Peter and John, as they’re coming in, they lock eyes with this man, this man that’s never walked. And they approach him. And he looks at them expecting something.
And Peter says, look on us. In Acts three, verse four. Peter fastening his eyes upon him with John said, look on us.
Silver and Gold Have I None: Made Whole in an Instant of Time
And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter said, silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, give I thee in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And then he reached out his right hand.
He took him by the right hand and lifted him up. And immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. Now consider this, his bones, his muscles were completely atrophy.
They had never developed. All that had to, in an instant of time, develop. He didn’t have to learn how to coordinate the movements of his limbs to walk.
All that happened in an instant of time. He didn’t have to do some certain exercises to gain strength. He was walking and leaping and praising God.
We Can Walk as He Walked Now, and We Have Every Reason To
He was made whole spiritually as well as physically. For us to take on the faith of Jesus Christ, we don’t have to learn all about it and gradually become able to walk as he walked. We can walk as he walked now, just like this man walked, like every other person that was walking, probably more exuberantly from the moment that he received.
We can walk in love. We can walk as Christ because of what he accomplished. And we have every reason to do so.
Thank you very much.
Key Takeaways
- The reason to love is not our effort but his finished work: we have a reason to love, is because what Jesus Christ did for us.
- Jesus Christ came to declare God, to make God known, and what he made known is that God is love, and that God didn’t have prejudices.
- In his final hours he gave a new commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you, and made it the mark by which all men know his disciples.
- Washing the disciples’ feet was the lowliest act of a servant, and it teaches that love has no limits: you’re willing to do whatever it takes.
- Ephesians 1 says you are blessed, chosen before the foundation of the world, accepted and forgiven, so you don’t have to try and do anything to make the team.
- The man at the temple gate did not have to learn to coordinate his limbs or build strength first, and neither do we: we can walk as he walked now.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do we have a reason to love?
Because of what Jesus Christ accomplished. As Rev. Jon Ryan puts it, God has already done all that’s needed to be done. He gave his son, and Jesus Christ accomplished it by completing the work. It is finished. Love is therefore not something we work up by striving, straining or doing more penance. We have the capacity to love like he loved, to walk as he walked, and we have every reason to do so.
What is the new commandment Jesus gave in John 13?
A new commandment I give unto you that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one to another. Rev. Jon Ryan notes that Jesus introduced it in his last fellowship with his men, after everything else he had taught them, in the final hours before he was arrested.
What does the healing at the temple gate in Acts 3 teach about walking in love?
The man at the gate was over 40 years old and had never walked, and his bones and muscles had never developed. When Peter took him by the right hand, all that had to, in an instant of time, develop. He didn’t have to learn how to coordinate the movements of his limbs to walk, and he didn’t have to do some certain exercises to gain strength. In the same way, we don’t have to gradually become able to walk as he walked.
Scripture References
Acts 19; Ephesians 1:15; Acts 19:1; Acts 19:7; Acts 19:9; Acts 19:10; 1 John 5; 1 John 4:7; John 4; 1 John 2:3; John 13:4; John 13:13; John 13:34; Ephesians 1:3; Ephesians 1:7; Hebrews 4:16; Romans 7; Romans 8:1; Ephesians 5:1; Acts 3; Acts 3:4
This text was prepared from the teaching audio. Please verify scripture references against your own Bible.
