Sermon Tone Analysis

Series: Growing In Your Love Walk—6

*“Knowing that God Loves You”*

/Good Will Hunting/ is the story of a troubled young man—*Will Hunting* (played by Matt Damon).

He’s got a genius IQ, and yet he works as a janitor at MIT.

He comes to meet a girl, *Skylar*—who loves him; *but Will /can neither receive nor /return Skylar’s love.*

*/Why/*?

*/That/ becomes the riddle of the movie*.

After assaulting a child-hood bully, Will turns and assaults the police officer trying to break up the fight.

He’s arrested and ultimately given a choice: go to *prison*, or see a *therapist* on a regular basis.

Needless to say, he chooses to see a therapist—actually 5 therapist—none of whom can crack the hard shell Will has weaved around calloused heart.

/Finally/, in a last ditch effort, *a specially gifted therapist by the name of* *Sean McQuire* [played by Robin Williams] *is called in*.

In the course of therapy, Will reluctantly confesses  that he was physically abused by his alcoholic foster Dad—(beaten many times within an inch of his life).

But in sharing his heart-breaking and horrendous story—Will is somehow strangely /detached/.

*He shows no emotion…for he has learned to not /feel/ his emotions—/any/ emotions…/especially/ emotions of /love/.*

Having a history of being abandoned and abused, *Will’s heart is a locked vault*.

Hence, he is unable to maintain either a steady /job/ or a steady romantic /relationship/.

Will can neither /receive/ love nor /give/ love—neither to his girl-friend nor to the therapist (who against all professional protocol) has come to love this troubled young man.

Will subconsciously blames /himself/ for his unhappy upbringing and thus turns his self-loathing into a form of self-sabotage—in both his professional and his emotional life.

In one dramatic scene, Sean, his therapist, very tenderly says to a still emotionally aloof, detached and withdrawn Will—

*“It’s not your fault.”*

*Will* [staring blankly into space, softly replies]—*/“I know...”/* \\ *Sean *[presses the point /again/]—*“No you don’t. .

.* *It’s not your fault*.”

\\ *Will*: [with a more /serious/ tone in his voice says]—*/“I know.”/*

\\ *Sean* [pressing the point even further says]—*“No.

Listen to me son . .

.* *It’s not your fault*.”

\\ *Will* [trying to /again/ evade the ever-pressing and probing therapist replies]—*/“I know that.”/*

\\ *Sean* [keeps up the anthm]: *“It’s not your fault.”*

\\ [/Will responds with silence…his eyes closed/] \\ *Sean* [again tenderly says]—*“It’s not your fault.”*

\\ *Will* [his eyes now open and beginning to tear up, clearly /agitated/ now says]/ *“Don’t [screw] with me Sean.

Not you.”*

\\ /*Sean* [says it again]—*“It’s not your fault.”*

\\ [Will then violently /shoves/ Sean back, buries his face in his trembling hands, and begins to sob uncontrollably.

Sean then, very tenderly and compassionately puts his hands on Will’s shoulders.

Will grabs him and holds him close, crying out . . .

\\ */“Oh my God! I’m so sorry!

I’m so sorry Sean!”/*

 

[Finally realizing, /in his heart/, that all his life he has pushed people away so that he can avoid the risk of emotional pain, and realizing that the abandonment and abuse he experienced was truly */not/* his fault…Well, *Will is set free! *And being ‘set free’ from his self-imposed emotional exile—*Will** can /now/ not only* ‘*/receive/’ love*…*Will can now also* ‘*/give/’ love*.

I am under the conviction of the Spirit that *God wants to set some of us free today*.

For I think that there are some in this room who can very much relate to Will.

We’ve been talking about “growing in our love walk.”

That’s the “main thing.”

But you know what?

*We can not truly love God or others, until we /know/ that we are loved*.

Or to put it another way:

*You can’t /give/**…what you don’t /have/*.

That is, *if your love-tank is /empty/…you will never be able to give love away*.

The Bible puts it like this in 1 John 4:19

* *1 **John **4:19** *We love /because/ /He/ [God] /first /loved us.

[ESV]

* *1 John 4:16**a *So we have come to */know/* and to */believe/* the love that God has for *us*…” [ESV]

·         [NLT] We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust *in His love*.

*Question*: *Do you truly /know/*…know in your heart-of-hearts . . .

*that God loves you? *That’s a most important question.

For unless the love of God is abiding in your heart…*unless you /know/* in your heart-of-hearts *that God truly loves you*…

*/Your/** heart will forever remain . . .

“a locked vault.”*

I am persuaded by the H. S. that *God wants all of you here today to know that He loves You!*

And as I studied, prayed and meditated upon all of this…the Spirit directed me to the first chapter of the book of Ephesians.

Time constraints will not allow me to go as in-depth as I would love to go…but God wants me to speak today more to your /heart/ than your head.

The fact is…*you can know in your /head/ that God loves you.

But unless you know deep in your /heart/ that God loves you…you will never really be ‘set free’ to love either /God/ or /others/*.

God wants to do some heart surgery today.

[Let’s begin by looking at Eph. 1:3-6 where we see…]

*I.

God’s ‘Selecting-Electing-Adopting’ Love* [Eph.

1:3-6]

* *Ephesians 1:3-6** *Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.

In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

[ESV]

How many of you can unashamedly confess that you have put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and love God?

Again, drawing from 1 John 4:19 I can most assuredly tell you this—*You** love /God/*…*/only/*/ *because*/* He /first/ loved /you/!*

And God loved /you/ . . .

before you were even /born/—“even as he chose us in Christ /before the foundation of the world/…” Try to wrap your mind around /that/ one!

It’s what theologians call “the doctrine of Election”—the fact that God selected, elected and loved you not only /before/ you were born…but loved you from all eternity past.

Question is—*Why*?

~*~*~*In his book, /The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God/,  D. A. Carson gives a helpful picture in story form:

“Picture Charles and Susan walking down a beach hand in hand at the end of the academic year.

The pressure of the semester has dissipated in the warm evening breeze.

They have kicked off their sandals, and the wet sand squishes between their toes.

Charles turns to Susan, gazes deeply into her large, hazel eyes, and says, *“Susan, I love you.

I really do.”*

What does he /mean/?

Well, in this day and age he may mean nothing more than that he feels like testosterone on legs and wants to go to bed with her [right now].

But if we assume he has even [an ounce] of decency…the /least/ he means is something like this: “Susan, you mean /everything/ to me.

I can’t live without you.

Your smile [captivates] me…Your sparkling good humor, your beautiful eyes, the scent of your hair—/everything/ about you /transfixes/ me.

I love you!”

     What he most certainly does *not* mean is something like this: *“Susan, quite frankly you have such a bad case of halitosis* it would embarrass a herd of unwashed, garlic-eating elephants.

*Your nose is so bulbous* you belong in the cartoons.

*Your hair is so greasy* it could lubricate an eighteen-wheeler.

*Your knees are so disjointed* you make a camel look elegant.

*Your personality* makes Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan look like wimps.

*But I love you!”*

[So now *God* comes to us and says, *“I love you.”*

What does he /mean/?

Does he mean something like /this/?]

 “You mean /everything/ to me.

I can’t live without you.

Your personality, your witty conversation, your beauty, your smile—everything about you transfixes me.

*Heaven would be boring without you.