LOVE GOD.....LOVE PEOPLE.
Notes
Transcript
Text:
Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God.
And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
Intro:
First Thought: We have to work on our love for God.
The greatest command that has been given by the LORD is found in Deut 6:5
And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
God just doesn’t want us to serve Him, He wants us to love Him.
The Israelites served God. But after awhile, their love waned and their attention went elsewhere.
The Israelites had worship down, they had the form, they had the outer appearance, but they didn’t have the heart for worship and they really didn’t have a love for God. Because if they loved God, they would have remained faithful to Him. If they loved God, they would have kept his commandments.
God is not impressed by how well we sing, how well we play, how good our fancy footwork is, how much we serve in the church, if our HEART IS NOT RIGHT!!!
This was one of the lessons that Jesus taught his disciples:
If ye love me, keep my commandments.
The commandments of Jesus echoed those of the Father.
And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
Treat them like native-born Israelites, and love them as you love yourself. Remember that you were once foreigners living in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
I know that our text is coming from the 6th chapter of 1 John, but in chapter 5 John wrote:
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.
His commandments are not hard, but they will be difficult for you to follow if you don’t love God. They’ll be difficult for you to follow if you don’t die to self and your sinful nature.
Jesus said in Matt 5:44 “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.
But until you are FILLED with the Holy Ghost and until you die to self......it’s not going to happen.
Until you get to a point that you realize “hey, I love God.......I LOVE GOD SO MUCH......I’M GOING TO DO WHAT HE TOLD ME TO DO. GOD’S BEEN SO GOOD TO ME, HE SACRIFICED HIS LIFE FOR ME.......I GOTTA LOVE MY NEIGHBOR, I GOTTA LOVE MY ENEMY, I GOTTA BLESS THOSE WHO CURSE ME, I GOTTA PRAY FOR THOSE WHO DESPITEFULLY USE ME AND GIVE ME A HARD TIME!!!!
But why??? Because Jesus said that you may be children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust! We weren’t always saved, but God was still looking out for us......he still loved us!
THEREFORE WE OUGHT TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER!!!!
On one occassion, Jesus was talking to the religious leaders of his time. He said:
But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.
When you truly have the love of God in you, you will believe and honor God’s word.
Jesus told the Jewish Leaders of his time “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life.” They thought that because of what they were real religious.....they thought that because they searched the scriptures that they had eternal life. They believed Moses, yet Moses pointed to Jesus as the source of eternal life. Jesus said that I have come in my Father’s name yet you rejected me.
If you love God, then you would love Jesus. If you love Jesus then you’ll keep his commandments, and you can’t love Jesus without loving one another.
GOD DOES NOT CARE ABOUT YOU COMING TO CHURCH IF YOU STILL HAVE HATRED IN YOUR HEART FOR YOUR BROTHER OR SISTER, YOU HOLDING ON TO A GRUDGE, FROWNING UP YOUR NOSE WHEN SOMEONE WALKS IN THE CHURCH, SMILING IN PEOPLES FACE AND TALKING ABOUT THEM BEHIND THEIR BACK! PICKING UP YOUR BIBLE TO READ IT, BUT, YOU FASTING AND PRAYING YET AT THE SAME TIME YOU’RE TRYING TO GET EVEN WITH SOMEONE THAT HAS DONE YOU WRONG!!! DOING SOMETHING WILLFULLY AND INTENTIONALLY TO HURT SOMEONE.
If we want God to be pleased with us, its not done by merely outward adherences to liturgy, sacraments, and formality. We must first love God, we must love our brothers and sisters, we must love our neighbor as ourselves!
When we get our love for God where it ought to be.....everything else will fall in line:
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Paul wrote to the church of Galatia:
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
THE GREATEST COMMAND GIVEN TO US IS TO LOVE GOD AND TO LOVE OUR NEIGHBOR AS WE LOVE OURSELVES!!!
Let all that we do center around our love for God.
Let all that we do center around our love for God.
If we can learn to adopt this to our mindset, we’ll be alright.
Encourage three people and tell them “Let all that we do center around our love for God.”
Joshua warned Israel, to take good heed therefore to yourself, that ye love the LORD your God.
Main Text:
Main Text:
(Verse 16) 1John 4:16.
We know, or we should know and believe the love that God has for us. How should we know that God loves us?
God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
John furthermore says “we have put our trust in his love.” This is what it means to believe the love that God hath to us. Do you believe that God loves you this morning?
God is love, and if you live in love you live in God and God lives in you. Because God is love.
Important Disposition:
God’s love for us is consistent. His love (hesed) is not based upon an emotional response. It is a moral attitude that he has towards us concerning the good he has towards us......whether we deserve it or not, whether or not we are worthy or not worthy. Because if God was emotional like we are......our emotions are all over the place at times. One minute we are up, the next we are down, one moment we are happy, the next we mad.
But with God.....his love is stable.....that’s why throughout scripture his love is described as a “steadfast love”.
God’s steadfast love is seen in his dealing with Israel. Many, many, many times Israel failed, but God’s love for them remained consistent.
Now, just because God loved them, did not mean that God wouldn’t seen judgement upon them. God loved Israel, but God also sent his judgement upon them.
God loved Israel, but the very ones who he delivered out of Pharaoh’s hands are the same ones who tragically died in the wilderness because of unbelief and disobedience.
God loved Israel, but the same ones who he established in the promise land unfortunately was defeated by the Assyrians and taken into captivity, their way of life destroyed, their nationhood abolished because now they were assimilated into another culture and called a mixed-people.
Many today mistakenly think that because God is love, that he will withhold his judgement.
Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?
Yet we see throughout scripture, that all though God judged Israel, his steadfast love, his faithfulness still remains.
There has been times in which God has had to discipline us, yet, thank God that his love for us has remained the same.
(Verse 17)
Herein denotes a fixed present state (now). When we live in God and God lives in us, our love is made perfect. The implication of living in God is that it produces a mature love. Complete love.....in labor, growth, mental, and moral character.
This simply means, that if we love God, and God lives in us, and we are in God, then our labor (works) will reflect that perfect love, our love for God will continue to grow, it will show forth in our mentality and disposition, it will be on display because of the right moral choices we make.
When our love is where it should be, John says that we can have boldness in the day of judgement. Simply put, when Christ comes back to rapture the church, when judgement day comes, we won’t have anything to be afraid of. If I were to tell you that Jesus is coming right now and the rapture is going to happen in 5 seconds, some of you would have a heart-attack. Because you’d be thinking about what you did, or the things that you should’ve done but didn’t have time to do.
When the Lord comes, you’re not going to have time to get anything straight and Jesus Christ is not going to give you a pre-announcement “HEY......I’M GETTING READY TO CRACK THE CLOUDS.” No we have to be ready and we have to stay ready!!!
The only way that you can be ready is that you gotta get that love in you! You gotta to be in God and God has to be in you!
This is why John says in verse 13:
Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
If we have his Spirit in us, if we have the Holy Ghost you got God in you. And if you have have God in you, then you have love in you!!! And if you love God and His Spirit is in you John says in the rest of verse 17 “because as he is, so are we in this world.”
My brothers and sisters, we the time of judgement comes, we can face The Lord with confidence, because we live like Jesus lived here in this world!
When you have this type of love, when we really love God, John says in verse 18 “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment.” If you are afraid, it is for fear of punishment.
That’s why I always say, WE DON’T SERVE GOD OUT OF FEAR OF GOING TO THE LAKE OF FIRE........WE SERVE GOD BECAUSE WE LOVE HIM.......WE SERVE GOD BECAUSE HE LOVES US.......WE SERVE GOD BECAUSE HE’S GOOD TO US!!!
If you are afraid of the judgement, it shows that we have not fully experienced God’s perfect love.
YOU NEED TO KNOW THAT GOD LOVES YOU!!!! ON YOUR BEST DAY GOD LOVES YOU, ON YOUR WORST DAY GOD LOVES, WHEN YOU DO RIGHT GOD LOVES YOU, WHEN YOU MESS UP GOD LOVES YOU!!!!
Verse 19 is a powerful scripture:
We love him, because he first loved us.
This ought to be motivation enough to love God, we love Him because he first loved us. God’s love is a perfect love and we didn’t do anything to warrant this love. Matter of fact, we were messed up, we were sinners, we were deserving of death, we deserved to go to Lake of Fire, but despite of our sins, despite of our transgressions, despite of our failures, despite of our unfaithfulness, GOD LOVED US........GRACE SAYS HE DID NOT HAVE TO DO IT.....BUT I’M SO GLAD HE DID......LET’S TESTIFY TO ABOUT THREE PEOPLE........TELL THEM NEIGHBOR, I GOTTA TESTIFY TO YOU......GOD DIDN’T HAVE TO LOVE ME......BUT I’M SO GLAD HE DID!!!
Close:
Our love for God should be displayed in many ways. It should be exhibited in our devotion to Him, it should be displayed by honoring Him through living for Him, it should be displayed in our worship, it should be displayed in prayer, it should be displayed in song, it should be displayed forming a relationship with Him, it should be displayed in learning about Him, learning his will, and obeying his will. It should be displayed in thanksgiving, it should be displayed in the sacrifice of time, the sacrifice of substance, the sacrifice of self. SIMPLY PUT.....IF GOD LOVES US.....WE OUGHT TO LOVE HIM BACK!!! IF GOD GAVE HIS BEST.....WE OUGHT TO GIVE GOD OUR BEST!!!!
Finally, If we say we love God, we must love one another. Anyone who says they love God but hate their brother or sister is a liar. If we don’t love people that we can see......how can we love God, whom we cannot see?
The reason why we love people is that God wants to use us to reach the world. Through love and kindness.....have I drawn thee.