Love of Life
The sermon 'Love of Life' by Mary Wilder Tileston teaches that the evidence of passing from death to life is the growth in love and living for others, ultimately leading to the life of heaven.
Mary Wilder Tileston preaches about the transformative power of love in our lives, emphasizing that love is the essence of life and lovelessness leads to spiritual death. She highlights that as God's grace works in our hearts, it manifests through love, selflessness, and living for others, serving as evidence of our transition from spiritual death to life. Tileston encourages believers to embrace love, which brings light, peace, and joy even in the midst of challenges, ultimately leading us to experience the heavenly life of God's love.
Text
We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
1 JOHN 3:14
FOR who has aught to love and loves aright,
Will never in the darkest strait despair,
For out of love exhales a living light,
The light of love, that spends itself in prayer.
HARTLEY COLERIDGE
LOVE is life, and lovelessness is death. As the grace of God changes a man's heart and cleanses and sanc-tifies him, this is the great evidence of the change, this is the great difference which it makes; that he begins to grow in love, to lay aside self-seeking, and to live for others--and so he may know that he has passed from death unto life. He may know it even here and now--yes, that great discovery of love, that learning to live for others and finding the grace and gentleness that God is keeping up all over the world--even now it is the way from death to life. Even now it changes homes, it lightens every burden, it brings peace and gladness into the hardest days; it alters even the tone of a man's voice and the very look of his face. But all this, blessed and surpassing as it is, far above all else in the world, still is but the beginning. For that life into which we pass, as God's dear grace of love comes in us and about us, is the very life of heaven.
FRANCIS PAGET
Sermon Outline
- The Evidence of Passing from Death to Life
- The Power of Love in Everyday Life
- The Ultimate Goal of God's Love
- The Life of Heaven
- A Life of Love and Selflessness
- Transforming the Heart and Soul
Key Quotes
“LOVE is life, and lovelessness is death.” — Mary Wilder Tileston
“For that life into which we pass, as God's dear grace of love comes in us and about us, is the very life of heaven.” — Mary Wilder Tileston
Application Points
- As you seek to grow in love, lay aside self-seeking and seek to bring peace and gladness to those around you.
- God's love changes your heart and cleanses and sanctifies you, leading you to grow in love and live for others.
- The ultimate goal of God's love is to bring you into the very life of heaven, a life of love and selflessness.