Westtown Church
Westtown Church
Love Endures All Things
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Love is not a sprinter but a marathon runner. The world record in the dead lift is currently over 1,104 pounds! That is strong! But love is stronger--as the Song of Songs says, even stronger than death. God is love. Love endures all things. We see this so clearly in the sufferings, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Love Chapter Explained
Speaker 1Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13 , verse 7 , 1 Corinthians 13 is known as the love chapter . Love bears all things , believes all things , hopes all things , endures all things . By way of introduction , I want to do a little bit of an extended introduction this morning , just because I think it will make what Paul's saying a little bit more meaningful to us . I want us to notice that little phrase all things that Paul repeats here four times in verse 7 . James Renahan he points out that this phrase is used a good many times , not only in 1 Corinthians , but in other places in the New Testament , and so anytime you hear what theologians sometimes call echoes from other places , it's good to pay attention to those things . Oftentimes repetition is an insight into the meaning of it . Let me give you an example . First of all , we'll just look at the examples within 1 Corinthians . If you look back at chapter 8 , in the first several verses Paul speaks of God , the Father , and he says from whom are all things and for whom we exist ? And then he goes on to say Jesus Christ , through whom are all things and through whom we exist ? And so Paul is using this phrase all things to emphasize that God is the source of all things that exists in creation . He's pounding that home and it's through Jesus Christ , god's Son , by which all things were created and exist . So what's he saying ? He goes on to explain that the very purpose of the existence of all things is for God and His glory . You know , once we begin to understand that in life , a lot of things begin to align Everything , all things exist for God and His glory . Well , it also comes through Jesus Christ . He says Jesus Christ , the Son of God . It comes through Him , god's Son , who's equal in power and glory . So everything is for God and his glory , it's for Jesus Christ and his glory . So we see that in chapter 8 , how he uses all things . And then you can go to chapter 11 . Where again we're reminded all things are from God . Paul says so . He's again emphasizing that God is the source of all things . And in that context , paul , he's discussing that all things are from God . He's trying to pound home there that God created men and women different , that there's a creational order , that this difference between men and women different , that there's a creational order , that this difference between men and women that falls under this umbrella . Of all things , it comes from God and he is talking about in that context of chapter 11 , that within worship , these creational differences between men and women are to be acknowledged and honored . And to not honor the created order which was put there by God is to sin , even rebel against our Creator . And then there's another example from chapter 12 , the previous chapter .
Speaker 1There Paul , of course , is talking about spiritual gifts , and he gets to verses 4 through six of that chapter and he says this that within the body of Christ , within the church , there are varieties of gifts , that is , there's varieties of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit . There's varieties of service but the same Lord . And there are varieties of activities , he says , but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone . It's the same God who empowers them all in everyone . What's interesting about that is that it's literally it is the same God who empowers the all things in all . And so he's pounding home this idea in applying that all things come from God and are empowered by God , because he's pastorally trying to teach the Corinthians there's no need for pride or competition when you're exercising your gifts . They all come from God , they're all for the common good . And if we want to boast about anything , boast about God who gave them to us . And so the Corinthians particularly were impressed with the miraculous spiritual gift of speaking in tongues . We'll see that in chapter 14 when we get there in the near future . But Paul's point , pastorally again , is that when we realize that all things , including spiritual gifts , come from God , whatever they are , it ought to humble us and fill us with a deep gratitude , to use our gifts in humility and to celebrate the gifts of others . For what purpose ? All to God's glory , for he's the one who granted them to us and gave us the privilege to exercise them .
Speaker 1One more example from 1 Corinthians , chapter 15 . If chapter 13 is the love chapter , chapter 15 is known as the resurrection chapter . The apostle Paul . There he echoes Psalm 8 from the Old Testament when Paul says that in light of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ , god has put all things in subjection under his feet . In light of the bodily resurrection . And then here's where he goes to Psalm 8 with an echo God has put all things in subjection under the feet of Christ . That's victory .
Speaker 1Paul chose a great song to open O Victory in Jesus . Right Under his feet it's the picture of the victor whose foot's on the neck of the enemy . He's put all things in the resurrection of Christ . All things come under the feet of Christ , they're in subjection to Christ . And so you look , you go back and you say , why did he give an echo of Psalm 8 ?
Speaker 1Well , the apostles often would just do an echo or a short little phrase or maybe one quote from a psalm or a portion of the Old Testament , and they're assuming that we know what's around it . So when you go back to Psalm 8 , it reminds us that there's this all-powerful , creator and sovereign Lord whose majesty and glory are evident in creation , that same sovereign Lord whose glory , his infinite power and majesty are seen in creation . He is going to one day bring about world peace . A day's coming when God , indeed the risen Christ himself , that one that's greater than King David , he's going to put all things under his feet when , at the second coming . He's beginning to do it now as the church continues to expand into the world , but he'll do it in full at the second coming .
Speaker 1And so all things is used by the apostle Paul in the letter to the Corinthians to focus our attention on our total dependence upon God for all things . We're dependent upon Him for creation itself . We're dependent upon Him for the sustaining of creation . It's not like he made the creation and then just left it to its own . No , he sustains creation at every moment . We're dependent upon Him for our spiritual gifts so that the church of Christ can be built up and encouraged and edified . And we're dependent upon him , thank God , to finally crush all evil and rebellion in the world . One day , when he comes again and makes all things new and ushers in world peace , that'll be a great day , won't it ? I know the news likes to talk about the peace process , but it won't be over till Jesus comes back . But when he does , the Prince of Peace will institute it , he'll establish it in full .
Speaker 1And so everything's about God , everything's about Christ and their glory , and it's why Paul is emphasizing love here in 1 Corinthians 13 . What's he talking about ? He's saying our very purpose as people created by God , as people sustained by God , as people who will give an account to God at the second coming , and certainly as Christians of those who have been saved through Christ and been granted spiritual gifts . We are called , in light of all this , to love one another and to love God . That is the very heart of our purpose for living , because that's how we glorify God . Who is what A God of love . So that's how Paul is beginning to use this phrase , and this is what distinguishes Christians from the world .
Speaker 1There's a distinctive Christian love which is fueled by faith in God and Christ and which gives glory to God in Christ , not just outwardly but inwardly , in the heart and mind and in the motive . And God always cares about the motive and what's in our heart . And so this holy love we're totally dependent upon God to have this kind of love , which is not natural for sinners
"All Things" in Corinthians Context
Speaker 1to have 1 Corinthians 13 is not a natural love , because when we understand it in light of Christ , we come to see that this is a supernatural love . This is the kind of love that the Holy Spirit , by His grace , empowers God's people to have , the same Spirit who gave us those gifts , the same Spirit who transformed our hearts . So it comes from God and it's a distinctive , christ-like , cross-like , self-denying , agape love . And this is why we must know God if we're to have this kind of love . This is nothing we can work up within our natural selves . This must come from God , the God who is love . That's why we must trust him , and as we trust him , we become united with him and then he is the vine , gives us nourishment and grace as the branch , a branch grafted into him through faith .
Speaker 1And so this morning , with that brief introduction , I want us to focus on the fourth phrase in verse seven love endures all things . You may remember when we started verses four through seven a long time ago , I said there were 15 descriptions , verbal descriptions that Paul gives , of what love is like , divine-like love , what it's like Christ-like love . Well , we've reached number 15 . Can you believe it ? This is the 15th out of 15 . So if you're able and I say if you're able , please stand . I want to read to you this portion in context and then we'll dig in .
Speaker 1This is the infallible and errant holy word of the living God . Let's receive it by faith , because he sends it in love to you and me . Paul writes verse one if I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but have not love , I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal . And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge , and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but have not love , I am nothing . If I give away all I have . And if I deliver up my body to be burned but have not love , I gain nothing .
Speaker 1Love is patient and kind . Love does not envy or boast . It is not arrogant or rude . It does not insist on its own way . It is not irritable or resentful . It does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth . Love bears all things , believes all things , hopes all things , endures all things . Love never ends . The grass withers and the flowers fade , but the word of the Lord endures forever .
Speaker 1God's people said amen . Thank you , you may be seated , father , we now come to your word . We want to love you fully . We want to love those in our family fully . We want to love our friends fully . We want to love our brothers and sisters in the church fully . We want to love our neighbors , even our enemies , as Christ would love them . Help us now , in this hour , by your spirit . Understand , Help it to bear fruit for your glory , amen .
Speaker 1So what we're getting at is this phrase , all things it ought to trigger in us , based on how Paul has used it in 1 Corinthians , a radically God-centered view of life . And this isn't unusual in language right . If I say to you four score and seven years , you know exactly what I'm talking about . Well , this phrase , paul knew the Corinthians would know exactly what he's talking about , which I'll flesh out in a minute . But it's meant to trigger in the Corinthians a radically God-centered view of all things , because God , as we just saw , is the source of all things , he's the sustainer of all things , he's the gift giver , and God is the sovereign ruler and judge of in and over all things . And so it begs the question though , as we come to verse 7 of this chapter , why would Paul repeat this phrase in all things four times in a row like this ? Well , because I think it's pretty clear . It's one of the Corinthians' favorite phrases , and you see that earlier in Corinthians , for example chapter 6 , verse 12 .
Speaker 1Paul quotes them by saying all things are lawful for me . He's quoting the Corinthians . Then you go over to chapter 10 , the 23rd verse . What do we see ? Paul quotes them again All things are lawful for me . All things are lawful for me . All things are lawful for me . That seemed to be their catchphrase , and it seems , based on the context of when Paul reminds them of sayings , that they would say they seem to be justifying their sinful behavior by throwing out this phrase In chapter 6 , it appears that they were using it to justify sexual immorality . I mean , all things are lawful for me . Or in chapter 10 , they were using it as an excuse to ignore the conscience of their weaker brother or sister .
Speaker 1In Christ , in the life of the church , all things are lawful for me . The truth is , all things are lawful for us as Christians Properly understood , properly understood . What has God given us in Christ ? He's given us a wonderful freedom . In Christ , we're free from being condemned at the judgment . Aren't you glad ? We're free because what Christ has done to enjoy the smile and favor of God in this life and in the life to come . We're free to enjoy the peace that Christ has secured for us on our behalf , and so the wonderful freedom that we have in Christ . We have the freedom to enjoy God's good creation . He gave us these things to enjoy . We have the freedom to enjoy them . We have the freedom . We're free from having our conscience bound by legalistic demands that either go beyond what God says in His Word , or having our conscience bound by things that are dismissed from God's Word . We're free to be ruled only by God . In other words , it's a scary thing when other men rule our conscience , but what ?
Speaker 1The Apostle Paul is trying to get the Corinthians to see these Christians there . He's trying to get them to think about their Christian freedom , not in a self-serving way , he's trying to get them to think about their freedom in a loving way . So in chapter 6 , verse 12 , listen to what Paul says . He quotes them and then he gives the but All things are lawful for me , but not all things are helpful . And then he says in chapter 10 , verse 23 , all things are lawful for me , but not all things build up .
Speaker 1So imagine being a Corinthian Christian who loves to throw around . All things are lawful for me . All things are lawful for me , for me
Freedom Anchored in Love
Speaker 1, for me , for me , me , me , me , me . All things are lawful , my freedom's all about me , all things are lawful for me . And then Paul gets to 1 Corinthians 13 , verse 7 , and in so many words he's saying to them well , yes , all things are lawful for you , as long as you remember this Christian and Corinth , that love bears all things , love believes all things , love hopes all things , love endures all things . Yes , all things are lawful for you , but Christian freedom never leaves Christian love behind .
Speaker 1You know , one of the weaknesses of our culture right now is the way that our culture is teaching you and trying to teach me what freedom is , and we've gone to what you might call libertarian type of freedom . I live my life , you live yours , you know just , you're over there , I do my thing , you do yours . That's not a Christian freedom . Christian freedom is always anchored to love , and so when I exercise my freedom , it's not enough for me to say can I do that ? The issue is should I do it in light of what love requires ? I may have the freedom oftentimes to do it , but should I do it right now , at this moment ? Maybe , maybe . And so even that phrase life , liberty and the pursuit of happiness how do Americans hear the pursuit of happiness now ? Well , I'm just going to do my thing , stay out of my way . But the founders never thought of the pursuit of happiness , life , liberty and the pursuit of happiness . They never thought of that phrase disconnected from God's moral framework .
Speaker 1Apart from our responsibility and Paul is emphasizing here in Corinth our responsibility to love other people and to think about other people , there are many things you can do as a neighbor in Tampa , but some of those things you probably do as a neighbor in Tampa , but some of those things you probably shouldn't do . If you want to be showing love to your neighbor , it's not enough to have the legal right to do it , is it a loving thing to do ? And so Christian freedom never leaves Christian love behind . You know , I remember years ago , when our kids were a lot younger , we got home in our van . It was a blue bomber and well , I guess we'd traded it out by then . I think it was upgraded , but nevertheless , we get home , we get a call Pastor , I hate to tell you this , but your son's back here at the church . We left him behind . We'll be back in a minute .
Speaker 1So christian parents sometimes leave their children behind , right ? Christian freedom never , ever leaves love behind , and as christians we need that's one thing the church ought to be teaching our culture . Freedom is not about me . Real freedom is about glorifying God , who is a God of love , and so we need to understand that , biblically , satan always takes a truth and slants it a quarter turn , doesn't he ? He slants it a quarter turn to where it's not the truth .
Speaker 1What Paul's doing , inspired by the Holy Spirit , he's taking one of their favorite phrases and he's showing what love does with it ? That's a good question to ask next time you get a thought in your head what does love do with that ? For example , I think a week or two ago I mentioned , when someone shows you who they are , believe them . You see , we can take that phrase and then just use it to harden our heart against somebody . Or we can say well , I believe them . But what does love now do with that ? And that's what God wants us to do .
Speaker 1400 years after the life of the apostle Paul , there was a man who came to be known as St Augustine , the greatest theologian of the first millennium of the church . Here's how he put it in one of his famous sermons Love and do what you will , love and do what you please . And you see , that's what he's getting at there . He's saying do what you want's what he's getting at there . He's saying do what you want , do what you desire , as long as it's rooted and guided by love , the love of christ . That's true christian freedom . Love and do what you will .
Speaker 1And of course , god is love . Right , our culture is trying to teach us that love is god , because then we can take our notion of love and project it up onto God . No , god is love . That's the proper order , and therefore God defines what love is because he is love , and he's the one that reveals what love is like most supremely in the life and sufferings and death of his son , the Lord Jesus Christ . And he reveals what love is like in his written word , including his commandments . How did Jesus summarize the commandments ? To love God with all your heart , mind , soul and strength , and to love your neighbors yourself . We want to know how to love people . We have to obey the commandments of God . That's all Jesus was getting at . And he said if you love me , you'll obey my commandments . And so we don't define what love is .
Speaker 1Sometimes I see signs that are trying to justify unbiblical things , and they just put up love , not hate , but love defined by who ? God alone has the right to define what love is , and he does that in his son and in his word , and so our love must reflect the very character of our holy and loving God . That's true love . And so love and do what you will . That's proper Christian freedom , which is never separated from love . Now , with the rest of the time we have , I want to burrow down a little bit on this .
Love Endures: Remaining Under Pain
Speaker 1Love endures all things . In verse 7 , the fourth one , you got to be careful getting your meaning of a word in Scripture by breaking it up according to its roots and its parts , but in this case I think it's helpful . This word endure here comes from two parts Under and to remain Under and to remain so . Love endures all things . Here Paul's talking about love remains under . Love has this quality that its tendency and its desire , if at all possible , is to remain under the pain , the hardships , the disappointments , the offenses , the betrayals , the persecution , the slander , the hatred , the mocking , the being spit upon . Love endures all things . And so the idea is that the quality of holy love , this divine love , this distinct Christian love , is love perseveres .
Speaker 1Love remains under the nails that painfully pierce the hands and feet of Christ . Love remains under the floggings that turn the flesh of the back to bloody hamburger . Love remains under being stripped naked and put on public display in shame . Love remains under a crown of thorns pressed painfully into the skull . Love remains under the pains of hell itself , as Jesus , love incarnate , god incarnate , drank the cup of God's just wrath , not for his sins but for our sins .
Speaker 1Why ? That we might be saved from the penalty of our sins , that we might be saved from the just wrath of God for our sins , that we might have the free gift of eternal life for our sins . That we might have the free gift of eternal life , and he saved us not just from those things , so that we could be in union and communion with God and relationship now , in this life and in the life to come . Jesus did everything I think John Piper was the one that said this . Jesus did everything on the cross to get everything out of the way between us and God , that we'd have a relationship with us and God .
Speaker 1Not that we just go to this great , abstract place like heaven , as if it was some celestial Disney world or something that we just have but that we could get to God or something that we just have , but that we could get to God . That we could get to God himself . That we could know God , the source of all things , which means the source of all joy , love , peace and happiness . We need to be in relationship with him and that only comes through faith in Jesus Christ . We get to God through Jesus . He is the mediator between God and man . So love endures all things and we see that so clearly in Christ . It endures the cross and Christ , look what he endured for you and for me . He remained under it . He could have called legions of angels down to destroy his enemies and he willfully remained under the pain and the hardships for us .
Speaker 1Song of Solomon reminds us love is stronger than death , and that's what we see in the resurrection of Jesus Christ . His love is so strong the bonds of death can't even hold Him . Love when it bears all things . It's talking about love being very patient . But love also endures all things , and this is emphasizing that we're actively loving others . We're going to remain in difficult situations . We're going to do it why ? For the good of the other person , for the sake of another person , we're going to sacrifice much of ourselves for the other person rather than seeking our own comfort , our own ease , our own pleasure through escape .
Speaker 1Now , as soon as I say that , I just want to hit the pause . I know that there's exceptions when you have sexual and physical abuse , where you have severe emotional abuse . Love actually requires boundaries and separation and discipline and things of that nature . We'll handle that in another sermon . Just know that . I'm aware of that . But Paul wants us to lean hard against our natural inclination that when things get hard , we bail , we want to run , we want to get out , and aren't you glad Jesus didn't get down off that cross ? And we have to come to grips with that Before we get to the exceptions . Let's let the weight of that come upon us in our life . And you know , even when we do have to give separation or have discipline brought to somebody or let them bear the consequences or draw boundaries , we're doing it not just for ourself but also for the good of the abuser . It is not loving to them to let them continue to do that , let alone loving to other people . And so love is .
Speaker 1It's a marathon , it's not a sprint . Picture a Kenyan . That's a good long distance runner . That's love . They can just run and run and run and run . And when they hit that wall , the marathon . There's some marathon runners in here , probably . When you hit that wall around mile 18 or 20 , what does a marathon runner have to do ? They got to push through the wall . Their body is screaming at them to stop , but they go on through , and that's what love is like . It's a marathon , it's not a sprint . They go on through and that's what love is like . It's a marathon , it's not a sprint .
Speaker 1John says Jesus loved them to the end . He loved the apostles to the end , including Judas , and so Jesus loves us to the end too . That's what his love is like for us . And to the best of our ability we want to reflect that to other people , and that's not natural for us . And to the best of our ability we want to reflect that to other people and that's not natural for us . But by the grace of God we can do that and we can persevere in love . Love is not sentimental . Love is not cheap . Love is more like a soldier on a bloody battlefield . If the cross of Christ is to mean anything and it's the supreme picture of the love of God then we have to see that love . It operates in war .
Speaker 1Why does a mother stay up night after night after night after night after night and all she wants is just a good night's rest ? Why does she do that for her baby ? Love endures all things . What about a father who just goes to a job frankly he hates ? I know there's a PCA pastor out there . I read in one of his commentaries once I can't remember where it is , but I know it's there he said his grandfather worked in the coal mines for years and his grandfather , for many , many months out of the year , would go down into that coal mine when it was dark , and when he came back up at the end of the day it was dark . And he did that for decades . And this pastor said to his grandpa one time why did you do that , grandpa ? He did it for the love of his family . Love endures all things .
Speaker 1What about a husband and wife that persevere in marriage for better , for worse , for richer , for poorer , in sickness and in health , to death ? Do us part . Love fulfills those marriage vows . Why does a child continue to honor their parents when they disappoint or hurt them , or disappoint and discourage them ? Love endures all things . Why does a Christian stay in a church that's disappointed them or hurt them or discourage them ? Well , love endures all things . Sinful people always give us a reason to leave . Why does an elder , a deacon , a pastor , continue in ministry when things are rough ? Love endures all things . I really want to explain through an illustration what love looks like .
John Peyton: Love Among Cannibals
Speaker 1In 1839 , there were two missionaries , john Williams and James Harris , and they went to the New Hebrides Islands in the South Pacific . They were from London and they went to minister to cannibals and their fate was met by with what cannibals do . They're part of Christ's martyrs in glory today . More missionaries were sent over the next 20 years or so so that by 1857 , 3,500 cannibals had come to Christ on that island . In 1858 , the very next year there's a 33-year-old Scotsman . His name was John Payton . The very next year , there's a 33 old Scotsman . His name is John Payton . He arrived on the island with his wife , mary , and they had a newborn son . And within five months both Mary , his wife , and the newborn son died and he would sleep on their graves so the cannibals wouldn't dig them up and do what cannibals do . And he labored on that island among these cannibals by himself for four years . You ever had a lonely night . I don't know how he did it . He was eventually driven off the island . He got remarried to a woman named Margaret . They came back for 41 years and Peyton says in his biography , which I have and have read it's remarkable . He came back to people who cannibalized , their enemies , practiced infanticide , they practiced widow sacrifice and they would take the life of the widows so that they could serve their husbands in the next world . He said their whole worship was oriented toward fear . All of it was fear driven because they were trying to appease these evil spirits . These evil spirits who were supposedly in charge of war and peace and famine and plenty and health , and sickness and destruction and prosperity and life and death . All these different spirits . They lived their whole life , peyton says , in slave-like fear . And he says , and so far as I could learn , they had no idea of a God of mercy or grace . Everything was rooted in fear . Well , what did John Peyton and his wife Margaret do ? For 41 years they took the long , patient effort to learn the language and translate the New Testament into the language of those cannibals . They opened orphanages to care for the island orphans . Margaret took time with many women . She taught them how to sew , make hats , sing , read , and the Paytons would then train other teachers who would come in to work with the next generation . They set up a system of medicine in a place where there was no system of medicine they didn't even have medicine and they would help the sick and dying . After 15 years , for all practical purposes , the whole island had come to Christ . Practical purposes , the whole island had come to Christ , john Payton . He took a massive gut punch when his first wife , mary , died and his son . And he says in his biography , his autobiography , that he could not put sorrow into words . But he pressed on in this place . And he pressed on in a place that had no modern medicine . And that's important because when he would get sick , 14 different times he ran a high fever and had disease and he was never sure if it was going to take his life like it did , marry his first wife and his son . But he pressed on through and he had the echoes of criticism of elders where he had served back in Scotland , criticizing him for going to work amongst these cannibals . And at one point young John Payton replied Mr Dixon , one of the elderly elders , you're advanced in years now and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave there to be eaten by worms . I confess to you that if I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus , it will make no difference to me whether I'm eaten by cannibals or by worms , and in the great day my resurrection body will rise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer . That is massive faith . And then one of the converted chiefs of the tribe , cowia . He was dying . He came to see John Payton and here's what it says in Payton's autobiography Farewell , missy , a missionary , missy . Farewell Missy , I'm very near death . Now we will meet again in Jesus and with Jesus . There's another convicted cannibal , abraham sustained him , it says , sustained Cahuilla , tottering to the place of graves . There he lay down and he slept in Jesus . And there the faithful Abraham , this other converted cannibal , buried Cahuilla beside his wife and children and thus died . A man who had been a cannibal chief but by the grace of God and the love of Jesus changed , transfigured into the character of light and beauty . Peyton says what think ye of this , ye skeptics , as to the reality of conversion ? I knew that day and I know now that there is one soul , at least from Tanna , to sing the glories of Jesus in heaven . And oh , the rapture when I meet him there . What's the point ? God put in John Payton this enduring love for cannibals , and God used him in a marvelous way . And here's the point . Don't say to yourself , oh , I've done nothing for Christ . No , you remember this , dear Christian . That same spirit of love that raised Jesus from the dead and that God put in John Payton's heart is in you , and that same spirit in you that comes when we have faith in Christ can transform your heart and your life , and you and me , and make us greater lovers , make us stronger lovers , help our love endure . Christ came to die for us , not just to get us to heaven , but that we would powerfully love other people in the church and out , to show them what our great God is like .