The Next Awakening - Love God, Love Others
The Next Awakening • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Today we wrap up our series of messages from 1 John. This series started back in July and was inspired both by the book of 1 John and the writings of a preacher name Jonathan Edwards in 1741. New England was in the midst of what is now know as the First Great Awakening. People were coming to Jesus, churches were being planted and communities all over were changed by the Gospel.
As with all movements, there were people trying to copy and imitate the real thing and Edwards wrote a short essay outlining what he saw as signs of true, God led revival. Over the last several weeks, we covered each of these points as we’ve read 1 John 4 and today we will cover the last of these points as we finish 1 John 4. Here is his list:
When esteem for the true Jesus is raised
When Satan’s kingdom is attacked (sin and worldly lusts)
When people come to love Scripture more
When men are led away from falsehood to truth (sound doctrine)
When there is an increase of love to God and man
I first read this list as I was reading a book called Gospel Driven Church. This book challenges church leaders to keep the Gospel as the main thing in what we teach, what we say and ultimately what we are about. Here is a quote from that book:
“A gospel-driven church knows that the gospel isn’t one feature of a church, one thing on a checklist, something useful in an evangelistic program. A gospel-driven church makes the gospel the unifying and motivating factor in everything they say and do.” - Jared Wilson, Gospel Driven Church
As we’ve gone through 1 John, and looked at Edwards’ signs of revival, I am all the more convinced that in order for there to be change in our culture, the church has to be about the Gospel of Jesus. All of it....All of the time.
When the church and its people begin to take our eyes off Jesus and put them on something else, the church and its people begin to lose their effectiveness to shape the culture around them.
The key to shaping our culture starts with love. Let’s open to 1 John 4 and read starting in verse 7.
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
I want to read this again, because God’s Word says it much better than I ever could.
Love comes from God because God is the source of love.
In order to show us what love is, Jesus came to be the example.
The example is this - love someone not because they love you, but because that’s what Jesus did for you. Jesus sacrificed, Jesus endured the cross because he loves you. This even before you loved Him. This is our way to witness to the world: Love one another.
The only way to love one another - especially now - is to have God living in us. The Holy Spirit in us making love complete.
People see God
When people see
God’s people loving people.
This is what what John is saying verse 12. How do we do this? I’m glad you asked…verse 13:
13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.
14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.
It starts with us acknowledging Jesus as God’s Son. John is writing to believers here, so he doesn’t go into great detail about what this means, but if you are a Christian - if you believe and acknowledge Jesus as God’s Son and you have acknowledged your need for him, God lives in you and you live in God.
That is good news. That is the Gospel. That is grace. We don’t deserve it, yet Jesus still came, Jesus still died and He still loved you.
Let’s keep reading...
16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.
Verse 16 is a repeat of what we’ve read before - love does not exist apart from God…but then verse 17...
This day of judgment speaks of the place all will end up. We stand before God and answer for this life we’ve lived. If we are in Christ and Christ in us, we have nothing to fear. He’s already answered for our life on the cross.
Then we have the way we can have this confidence: In this world we are like Jesus.
Remember now, any time we read a verse, we must consider the overall context. We are talking about love. John is saying that love is made complete by us being like Jesus in this world.
So, how do we love like Jesus? Hold your place in 1 John and turn with me to John 13…Jesus is preparing to go to the cross. He has a few more lessons for his disciples. They are in the upper room having supper…the last supper and look what it says at the end of verse 1...
1 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
I am not going to read all of this, but you should read the entire story about the feet washing…Jesus gets up in the middle of dinner and washes the disciples filthy feet. A job that is meant for the lowest of servants in the household, Jesus, the Son of God, stoops down and does. Look what he says after:
14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
This thing that Jesus did was the most menial of tasks. As I said the lowest of low tasks. Jesus said to His disciples and says to us - there is no place too low for followers of Jesus to serve others. It might be disgusting, it might be revolting, it might be a task that we hate, but Jesus says to lower ourselves in love when we serve each other.
A little further down Jesus says this verse 34:
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
Then he tells them that He is leaving and Holy Spirit would come to help us and that we should abide or live in him - stay connected like the vine is connected to the branches…one more passage from John…chapter 15 verses 12 and 13...
12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
If I asked you…how are you doing in laying down your life for your friends? What would your answer be? I am sure we can all see areas where we can improve. John has one more thing to say in 1 John and then we’ll spend some time in prayer… verse 19…buckle up, this might hurt a bit...
19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.
Ouch. This is our struggle in the flesh. We get wronged, we are misunderstood, we misunderstand…and we take our eyes off Jesus and look to what we deserve, we are due and hate creeps in. This is a battle we all must fight. We must fight our flesh to humble ourselves, wrap up in a towel and wash feet. Even the feet of Judas, who would betray Jesus just moments after.
Jesus knew it. Judas was going to sell him out for silver and Jesus still washed his feet…
Last verse:
21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
***I may pause here for a minute and say something more…do not put up the next slide until I say it.
***I will pause after each slide. put them up as I say them, not before.
Love like Jesus.
Love those who are unlovable.
Love those who would betray you.
Love those who will never love you back.
Love like Jesus.
***leave this last slide up until after prayer
As we’ve done these last few weeks, we are going to spend some time in corporate prayer. The only way we love like Jesus is with His help - Him living in us and us in Him.
I believe when the church and its people love the world like Jesus loves the world, the world around them will change. Revival will break out in the church and awakening will happen in the culture.
Pray for Crossroads
Pray for other area churches
Pray for our country - that in the midst of division and anger love would prevail.