Sermon Tone Analysis

Let us love one another

Love is From God

WE cannot Love until we have come to Christ

Love is a gift to the believer it comes from Him

the One who does not love does not know God

WE talked several Sundays ago About what love is and inst

John in a sense is reiterating what he has already said

It must be important

Someone say it must be important

Maybe its because our nature is anything but love apart from God and Jesus John Paul Peter Jude all remind us to do what Love one another

I am reminded of the disciples

arguing who was going to sit next to Christ

Brotherly love at the finest who will sit closest to Christ in heaven

What does jesus say to this

Love The brothers were upset and rightly so what James and John were doing was trying to gain special favor from Christ Without re-guard of Christ or His purpose.

James and John were godly men they followed Christ they loved Christ they wanted desperately to sit next to Christ but they were not so loving in the

way they came to this request and the motivation behind the request showed they wanted favor they wanted to be lifted up next to Christ

This was a selfish move not a selfless move

Remember in Matt chapter 19 Jesus said the First shall be last and the last shall be first

Out motives for coming to Christ do matter

are they pure or self serving

do they exault us or Christ

Do they show a love for others before self or is it to be impressed by others

Motives matter

God is love

His love demonstrated fully at Calvary when He laid His life down for you and me

That cup he tells James and John “You do not know what you are asking.

Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?

That cup Gods Holy Wrath full complete intended for all the sin of the world poured out on Him the baptism like Jonah 3 days in the belly of the fish Jesus 3 days in the belly of the earth

He tells them you do not know what you are asking

This is the Love of God His Holy perfect pure judgment that was ment for you and me because we have sinned against a perfect God the wages of that sin is death Spiritual death and all that we can expect is the wrath of God.

But God who is rich in mercy in Love gave His son not to condemn this world but by and through His son that the world might be saved.

This is the love of God He has [paid you bail your ransom the debt of sin that you could not pay Christ paid for you so that all you must do is turn to him trust him with your life call upon his name and you will be saved.

Thats the gospel the good news the greatest news ever

Now this God who loves us so much that gave up so much tells us how much he loves us and says to us now love one another as I have loved you

Be Kind as I was Kind

Be good as I was good ,

Be merciful as I have shown you mercy

be patient as I have shown you patience forgive as I have forgiven you

serve one another I I have served you

He is saying do as I have done

He is not asking that we do something he was unwilling to do

No the opposite is true He came to earth to make a way that trough Him we can accomplish these very things we can be like Christ in this life and we have to stop saying that we cant we are to continue to grow in Him becoming more like him daily not excusing our failures accepting them confessing them turning from them and loving Him and others this is the Call today