1 John 3:16-24 Love is...

Sing Since Jesus Came into my heart and songs about LOVE of God but we will be singing those again next week you could use 1 Corinthians 13 as scripture reading

I have an unpopular opinion. If I were to ask the majority of people I would assume to get the same response. What is the Love chapter of the Bible. I would expect to get the answer

1 CORINTHIANS 13 you know the passage

Love is patient, Love is kind, you know the thing we like to read at weddings. What I will not do is take anything away from the magnificence of that chapter. Don’t you dare go to your next wedding and say “my pastor says that this isn’t the real love chapter.” I am not telling you that. If you were to ask me the love chapter of the Bible, it is 1 John 4 and chapters and verses aren’t inspired by God. So we have to begin here with John’s intense teaching of love and it will get more intense as time goes on. 1 Corinthians 13 is for the wedding day. 1 John 3 and 4 is for the preparation for our better wedding day. You say to me Pastor my wedding was amazing. We had a 1,000 dollar dress. handsome groomsmen the most beatiful bridesmaids. The sun was shining, it was on a beach in cancoon, the decorations were on point. The flower girl and ring bearer were perfect age and cuteness. The food was perect, Gordan Ramsey personally catored it The cake was delicious, the dancing was wonderful, grandpa even smiled for every picture. You couldn’t have asked for a better day.

I had a student who had such a wedding. Her husband’s parent hosted the wedding in Costa Rica and paid for people to fly there and get rooms. They sent all the groomsmen to Aspen Colorado for skiing the week before for the bachelor party. I kept hearing these things and was shocked. I don’t know why I wasn’t invited to the wedding. But let me tell you..…

Nothing compares to the marriage supper of the lamb, but those who want to experience the amazing wedding moment of the marriage supper of the lamb must first learn to love like the most honored guest of that wedding the GROOM Himself JESUS Christ.

1 Love is a cross.

1 John 3:16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

The Bible is very clear, the best form of love that this world has to offer is that which Jesus did when He died on the cross. I could give you dozens of references to this fact the Bible is full of them. Real love is the cross. Last week we looked at the opposite of love. Hate! The kind of hate that Cain had in his heart. That hate looks ugly it is pride, jealousy, anger, hatred, and murder. You can’t have both hate and love. God’s people are commanded to love and I think that some people, some affirming churches think of it like this. I love you, I love you, I love you. No matter what you are into I love you. But ewe don’t touch me with the dirt on your shoes. No LOVE looks like a cross where Jesus died to pay for your sin and mine.

Superior love is a cross.

John 15:12–13 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

Again we can quote so many verses on this topic. But God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. Love is ugly! The cross is not pretty. It is beautiful, the beauty is found in its grace and mercy but it is not pretty. We know John 3.16 For God so loved the world. You see God’s love is best seen on the cross and that is the kind of love that John wants us to understand.

The cross is a marriage proposal.

Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”

I will tell you what. I wasn’t the greatest romantic in the world on marriage proposal day. I wanted to be but failed. My wife and I met at summer camp and so I planned to propose to her at summer camp in the dining room one staff retreat in the middle of December. I had it all planned out I was going to be there have roses and every thing get down on one knee in the place that started it all and give her the ring. Well when I was setting things up still in my pajamas. She came down the stairs way too early and interupted the entire thing and so there was no going back and I just went for it. Thankful she said yes to this guy. I should have taken her to the some expensive restaurant or to the beach or some magical place. NOPE!!!! I would rather have real love with my best friend than a magical fleeting moment. That ring is a token to remind me of my love and committment and action to keep my love and marriage alive.

The cross it isn’t a ring but it is a tolkien of our life for Christ. I see his statement to take up our cross and follow Him as a marriage proposal. One day us the bride willl join Him at the marriage supper of the lamb and the cross is a tolkien of His love. The blood shed their is the dowery the payment for the sin debt that we owed so that we can spend forever in our new home with our Savior Jesus Christ.

Where your wedding ring with pride and commitment, do the same with the cross. Both should be a sacrificial love that will bring you more joy the more serious you take your wedding vows.

Love is action.

1 John 3:17–18 But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

Jesus is the example here. Did Jesus just say I love you. Did He just put LOVE on a picture frame hang it on the wall and that was good enough for Him. Know Jesus love looks like a cross. Jesus had to

LEAVE HEAVEN

BECOME A MAN

BE A FRIEND OF SINNERS

GET DIRTY IN THIS WORLD I think of Jesus loving the blind man and spitting in the mud to heal him

TAKE UP HIS CROSS

PAY FOR OUR SINS!

That is love in action. JESUS tell us don’t just say, I LOVE YOU GOD!

Live it. You live it by doing stuff. Church isn’t just. I went to church on Sunday, good for me! I got my God in for the week. Some of you that may be what marriage is. I checked in with her once. I took the trash out after she yelled at me six times. No Love is something you do, it’s not something you say.

LOVE looks like feeding the homeless, holding the hand of someone in a hospital bed, singing to people at nursing homes, sharing the gospel with people who need it the most. Loving the sinner. Starting a Bible study in your school, cleaning someone’s home that can’t do it themselves, not because you are getting paid or because you are related to them, but real love is when you go out of your way to do the hard things.

Remember this is not a rag on 1 Corinthians 13 Love is patient love is kind. Women it’s easier to be kind to a man when he is buying you flowers and chocolate, Men it is easy to love that beautiful woman who gives you a hug. BUT Love is patient, Love is kind is difficult when it is someone you have never met in a prison cell and they are yelling at you for no reason. Those are the moments love is put to the test.

Every Action should be done in love.

1 Corinthians 16:14 Let all that you do be done with love.

We often use the verses in everything give thanks, that’s easier than this one. Man you ever have a no good horrible day with a no good horrible boss who was always riding you and your employees were awful. It puts these verses to the test. Yes boss I will work faster even though I have been working as hard as I can to make $1.75 an hour when I could leave Mc Donalds and go Burger Fling and make $2. Or I love you boss, I will work as hard as I can and keep my station as clean as possible, and thank you God that I get to take home a paycheck. Those Christian kids working in China who clothing I wear are lucky if they get a piece of bread for working all day. WOW! Or everything. YES DEAR It is my pleasure to take out the trash, thank you for that wonderful meal. You see real love is taking out the trash not looking through the roses.

Our Action of love is a reaction to His Love.

John 13:34–35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

You ever hear Newton’s 3rd law of motion for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The love of God given on the cross is so powerful it is like an earthquake that triggers a tsunami that spreads his love to the far reaches of the globe. It is the greatest thing that this world has ever seen and it shall forever more endure the saints and angels song!!!!! The Love of Christ is also evidence that you are His child. Love is evidence that you have been Redeemed. I remember a time in my life where I was a miserable mean person. I didn’t like people. I didn’t like my mom, my brother, my classmates, and didn’t like to come to church. BUT, Jesus changed all that. I love people I couldn’t imagine loving. I try love everyone like Christ did. Do I fail and have to ask forgiveness? Yes but that is the beauty of this salvation process we aren’t yet who we want to be or should be but praise God we aren’t who we used to be. But I think that the supernatural love I feel for others is evidence of God working in my heart. What about you, do you feel the love of Christ in your life. Is the love of Christ in Action? Or are you like Cain miserable to everyone.

2 Love is assurance of salvation.

1 John 3:19 And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.

There is a lot that I am not sure of. Did we really go to the moon? I mean I am pretty sure. Is the earth really, a sphere, I guess so! True story! I you know like science. So Michelle and I went on a missions trip to Argentina. There you won’t find the same constellations. So I guess there’s some proof in that. I believe that we went to the moon and I believe the world is a sphere because of the evidence, but there is a tiny smidgin of doubt. What if Adolph Hitler went to Argentina, maybe Big foot romes the hills of Port Crane, could the loch ness monster be a dinosaur? None of that matters for eternity. There is one thing that I want to know for sure. Is Jesus my Savior? Is heaven my home? I lknow I said two things, but they are really one and the same. If Jesus is your Savior, heaven is your home. You can be sure of that. John says if you have Christ kind of LOVE, than you can be sure in your heart that you belong to Him. CHRIST LOVE ON THE CROSS IS WHAT SAVES YOU. You emulating His love in the world verifies to your heart gives you assurance that you belong to Him and thus heaven is your home. I don’t care if NASA went to the moon, but the one thing, the only thing that matters is that one day you will have a one way trip to the celestial city! A million years from now that is all that will matter.

Christians will have insecurities.

1 John 3:20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.

Yes Fruit and especially the love of Christ is an assurance that you are saved. But the devil stands before the throne accusing the Christian. Don’t think that he won’t try to spread deceit into you heart also.

Your heart will lie to you.

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

There will probably be days that you feel that you don’t measure up, that you aren’t worth it. Let me tell you, there are days that I feel that way. I can spend all day every day serving the LORD. Calling people on the phone, visiting them in the hospital, helping someone and preparing Bible study. All those things are deeds of Love and fruit that God has changed my life, BUT I get insecure. If I realize I haven’t talked to someone in church for a month. I will say what is wrong with you, PASTOR SCOTT. Why haven’t you hunted that person down at church given a phone call. WHY! Your not a good pastor. You would be that pastor left behind in Tim Lahey’s book. When the heart lies to your spirit it is a dangerous thing. I am no good, God couldn’t love me. What worth do I have, I don’t belong in church. GUESS WHAT YOUR RIGHT!!!!!

God is greater than our heart.

Titus 3:5–6 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

Don’t ever forget that verse. Jesus LOVE is why you are worthy. All the stuff you do, doesn’t save you. It’s purpose for you is that it is evidence that you are saved. Yes I am saved. I am a life that was changed. But when the devil really sows seeds of doubt. It is in those moments that you have to remember that JESUS PAID IT ALL!!!!!!! ALL TO HIM I OWE!

You can have Confidence in Christ.

1 John 3:21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.

When you heart stops lying to you. That is when you will have confidence in this Christian life. Hey I am still working on it. 99 days out of 100 I don’t doubt my relationship with Christ, but boy I hate it when the doubt is there. The best days are the ones that I embrace the confidence I have in Christ.

Keep Christ’s commandments.

1 John 3:22–23 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.

You ever watch that show cops. You want to know what burns me… A criminal says you work for me buddy, I pay your salary as they are getting hauled away in a cop car. That person probably paid $2 in taxes last year, but they still have the audacity. The authority of church is interesting. I work for all of you from a wonderly perspective. My responsibility is that I watch after your souls before God. I am the undershepherd. But I think this is the most important thing. We all work for Him! Everything else is just checks and balances. I watch out for you and you watch out for me, but in the end who do you listen to PASTOR SCOTT, NO! You listen to Jesus. In the end who do I listen to the church board, NO! I listen to JESUS!!! He has two things that we are responsible for.

Commandment 1 Believe on the LORD Jesus Christ

Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Commandment 2 Love one another

John 15:12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

Jesus says it. That settles it. Tomorrow, I will try to love everyone especially my brothers and sisters in Christ. That guys that smells bad. I am going to try my best to love him. That homeless guy on drugs who is trying to scam me I am going to try and love Him because Jesus said so. I LOVE YOU, Because Jesus said so. No not just that I genuinely like you even with your faults. But it is by the grace of God that I can live my love to the world.

Does Jesus live in your heart?

1 John 3:24 Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

I really don’t like telling children that they need to ask Jesus into their heart. I try never to say that to children . I try to focus on believing in JESUS the Son of God, who died to save you from your sin and the punishment of hell and in His bodily resurrection offered you an alternative eternity in heaven with Him. Believe and you will receive. But I will never stop singing the song. SINCE JESUS CAME INTO MY HEART! I understand why someone would tell a child to invite Jesus into their heart. It is part of the process. But! You need to believe. I find that all through the scripture. I think you skip a step when you jump over that, but when you believe, Jesus has His Spirit enter your heart. He abides right here. Your heart is the temple of the HOLY SPIRIT! You bear fruit when you abide in the vine. Rest square in the arms of Jesus. My question fro you today though, is does Jesus abide in your heart. You will know them by their love. Think back to those two commandments. Do you believe that Jesus is the only son of God. You have a sin problem and Jesus in HIS LOVE died on the cross to save you from those sins and their consequences. He rose three days later to give you the hope of heaven. If you believe that your heart belongs to Christ. His Spirit lives right here. Next you need to display that love. That same love that drove Jesus to the cross, should drive you to love. Even that neighbor who ran over your roses in a druken stuppor. That love is the evidence that the Holy Spirit lives in your heart. BELIEVE, and allow the Holy Spirit to let you love.