Good evening, Church of the Advent.
Such a blessing to be with y'all.
It's a privilege to be with y'all again.
If you would, please join me as we go to our Heavenly Father in prayer.
Heavenly Father,
I pray now that the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart would be acceptable in your sight.
Father, please help me to speak as one who speaks the oracles of God.
Father, I pray that you would stir the affections of our hearts now to love Christ more.
Help us to see your love through the scriptures
and give us the grace by the power of your Holy Spirit
to display your love to one another
into the watching world.
I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen.
Church of the Advent,
I want to ask you a question.
What is love?
And I'm not expecting you to answer it from your seat.
But I want to ask that question.
I just want you to think about it.
What is love?
When you think of the word love,
L-O-V-E,
what comes to mind?
Most people in the world think that love is some kind of overwhelming emotion
that overtakes you.
They interpret love kind of like the fairy tale
that we have all heard about.
The fairy tale about Cupid,
some chubby boy
that flies around
with little wings
shooting people with love arrows
causing them to fall
helplessly in love.
Well,
that picture of love
is not only phony and false,
but it's limited to only emotions.
True love moves beyond words.
God's love moves beyond words
and feelings to actions.
The Bible says that God is love.
And in his word,
we see that his love
is not only revealed by his words,
but also by his actions.
The title of my sermon this evening
is Loved to Be
or Loved to Love.
Loved to Loved.
And we are going to see
in 1 John chapter 4
verses 7 through 12
that God,
who is love,
manifested his love in Christ
and continues to display his love
through the church.
So if you want to know
what my main idea is,
it's this.
God,
who is love,
manifested his love in Christ
and he continues
to display his love
through the church.
These six verses
show God's love to us
and how God's love
ought to be displayed
through us.
In verses 7 and 8,
we are going to see
that God is the source of love.
In verses 9 and 10,
we are going to see
God manifest his love
in Christ.
And in verses 11 and 12,
we are going to see
that God continues
to display his love
through the church.
So look with me,
if you have your Bibles,
look with me
at verses 7 and 8.
God is the source of love.
Verse 7 reads,
Beloved,
or beloved could be translated
dear friends.
Dear friends,
let us love one another
for love is from God
and whoever loves
has been born of God
and knows God.
I mean,
this first verse,
this verse in chapter 7,
I'm sorry,
in verse 7,
this verse in verse 7
is self-explanatory.
I mean,
you could just read it
and it's very clear.
Beloved,
dear friends,
let us love
one another.
So you have
John who's
communicating his love
for the individual
he's talking to,
the individuals
he's talking to.
When he says,
beloved,
dear friends,
he's communicating
his love,
but then he tells them
what they should be doing.
Let us love
one another.
Why?
Because love
is from God
and whoever loves
has been born of God
and knows God.
He's pointing out
that as Christians,
we should love
one another
if we are truly
God's children.
And the reason why
is because children
reflect the characteristics
of their parents.
So if God
is the source
of love,
then those who are
his children
should reflect
his nature,
his characteristics,
and they should
reflect his love
to others.
And he's pointing out
that whoever loves
has been born
of God
and knows God.
The individuals
that love,
they have been
regenerated by the power
of the Holy Spirit.
They have been
transformed
and God has worked
so much
in their hearts
to where
they love
not only God,
but they love
people.
And it's evidence
that they know God.
Now I want to make
very clear that
unbelievers
can love too.
Unbelievers
are able to love
because they have
been created
in the image
of God.
But their love
is incomplete.
Only born-again,
regenerated believers
can love the way
God has called
us to love
because the Holy Spirit
that now lives
inside of us
empowers us
to love
with a sacrificial
Christ-like love.
love.
I mean,
as we read
the scriptures,
if y'all remember,
there's passages
in the Bible,
like for instance,
one that points
out how
that it's easy
to love those
who love you back.
And the Bible
says even tax
collectors do that.
Even unbelievers
do that.
But it's hard
to love someone
who doesn't love
you back.
And that's when
Christ is displayed.
Not just when
we love people
that love us back,
but mainly when
we love people
who don't love us back.
Because, I mean,
look at how
Jesus loved people.
He loved
his enemies.
He loved people
who crucified
him on a cross.
Not only that,
he prayed for them.
And then Matthew 5
tells us that
we are to love
our enemies as well.
Matthew, in the Beatitudes,
you just see
Matthew 5, 6, and 7
where the Christian
life is painted
and it displays
a picture of what
the Christian life
looks like.
And we see
within those chapters
that it says
to love your enemies
and to pray for those
who persecute you.
So we are to reflect
this love.
And we are to do it
by the power
of the Holy Spirit.
And we have the power
to do so.
And in verse 8,
he goes on to say,
anyone who does not love
does not know God.
Why?
Because God is love.
I mean,
this is huge
what he's saying.
He's like,
if you don't love,
you don't know God.
Because God is love.
Because God is the source
of love.
if we're really
his children,
then we're going
to display
Jesus to others.
It's like,
man,
if we don't show that,
we don't know him.
Now,
don't get me wrong,
there's times
where we fall short
of that because
we're sinners.
But if we find
this consistent
coldness in our heart
to not want to
love one another,
to not want to
love people
in the body,
to not want to
love people
in the body of Christ,
we need to examine
ourselves.
Because the Bible
makes it very clear
that if anyone
says,
I love God
and hates his brother,
he is a liar.
For he
who does not
love his brother
whom he has seen
cannot love God
whom he has not seen.
So,
1 John 4.20 says,
if you can't love
the person
that's right in front
of you
that you can see,
talk with,
touch,
then how are you
going to say
that you could love
God who you can't see?
So,
the scriptures
is making it
very clear
that the Christian
ought to display
love.
Love to each other
in the body of Christ
and love the unbelievers.
In verses 9 and 10,
we see
God manifested
his love
in Christ.
Verse 9 says,
in this,
the love of God
was made manifest
or noticeable
or visible
among us
that God
sent his son
and not just
anyone,
God sent
his only son
into the world
that we might
live through him.
Now,
a lot of times
we read verses
like that
and we just
gloss right over it.
But we would do
well to really
read verses
like this
slowly
and to really
meditate on
what is being
said here.
So,
I'm going to read it
one more time.
In this,
the love of God
was made
manifest
or
noticeable,
visible.
in this,
the love of God
was made
visible
among us
that God
sent his
only
son
into the world
so that
we might
live through
him.
Now,
just take a moment
to imagine.
Here it is,
God,
the creator
of the universe.
God,
who can't
even look
upon sin,
looks
at this
world
filled
with corruption,
filled
with sin,
filled
with filth,
and he
sends his
son into
this world.
He sent
his son
into a
world that
was filled
with all
manner of
unrighteousness,
evil,
covetousness,
malice,
envy,
murder,
strife,
deceit,
maliciousness,
gossipers,
slanderers,
haters of
God,
haughty,
boastful
people
who the
Bible calls
inventors
of evil.
I mean,
they're thinking
of how
to do
evil.
The Bible
says that
they're
inventors
of evil,
disobedient
to parents,
people who
were disobedient
to parents.
He sent
his son
into a
world that
was full
of foolish
people,
faithless
people,
and
ruthless
people.
God
sent
his
only
son
into
a world
filled
with
sexual
immorality,
impurity,
sensuality,
idolatry,
sorcery,
homosexuality,
jealousy,
fits of
anger,
robberies,
dissensions,
divisions,
drunkenness,
orgies,
a world
full of
drug addicts
and prostitutes
and fornicators
and liars,
a world
full of
self-righteous
people.
The list
goes on
and on
and on,
but the
reason why
I want to
name these
specific things
and go through
this list
so you can
see that
God who
is holy
took his
only son.
He sent
him.
He sent
his only
son.
God the
father
sent his
only son
into a
corrupt
world,
a sinful
world like
this.
Why?
Because he
loved us.
Because he
loved us.
He knew
what he
was doing.
It's kind
of like
when you
think of
ISIS
and we
know what
ISIS has
been doing
in regard
to
slaughtering
Christians
and
you know
the U.S.
has sent
troops over
there at
times to
take them
out.
But imagine
this.
God
sent his
son
on enemy
lines
just like
the U.S.
sent troops
on enemy
lines and
where the U.S.
took their
enemies out.
Jesus Christ
went to enemy
lines and he
didn't take out
his enemies but
he gave his
life for them.
Jesus Christ
didn't take
out his
enemies but
he died for
them.
And this is
what we see
in Romans 5
8 where it
says that
God
demonstrated his
love towards
us that while
we were still
sinners he
sent his son
Jesus Christ
to die.
It was when
we were giving
him the middle
finger that he
said,
that's when
I'm going to
send my
son Jesus
Christ to
die for
you.
It's when
we were in
rebellion
running the
opposite direction
that he sent
his son
Jesus to
die for
us.
This is a
type of
love that
is hard
for anyone
to understand
because we're
used to
loving people
when they
love us.
And a lot
of times when
people treat
us bad we
got to wrestle
with all of
these different
emotions in
order to
respond back
with love.
But God's
love is not
like our
love.
His love is
consistent.
His love
never fluctuates.
His love is
always the same.
His love is
relentless.
His love
pursues us
in our deepest
mess.
And his love
never fails.
verse 10
says,
In this
is love
not that
we have
loved God
but that
he loved
us and
sent his
son to
be a
propitiation
for our
sins.
This
reminds us
of when
the Bible
says the
only reason
we love
him is
because he
first loved
us.
If we
love him
it's because
he first
loved us.
If we're
pursuing God
it's because
he first
pursued us.
If we
want God
it's because
God has so
warmed our
hearts by the
power of his
Holy Spirit
to where we
want to
surrender our
lives to him
because we've
been captivated
by his
love.
Maybe you're
in here
tonight and
you're saying
man I don't
know if anyone
loves me.
Maybe you've
been forsaken
abused
maybe there's
been those
who have
walked away
from you.
Maybe you've
just been
hurt and
you're wondering
if there's
anyone who
loves me.
Well I want
to let you
know that
there is
for sure
and if you
ever want to
know whether
or not God
loves you
just look at
the cross of
Jesus Christ.
Jesus died.
that's how
much he
loves you.
He gave
his life
so that
sinners like
us who
were on
their way
to hell
could be
rescued and
given eternal
life.
On that
cross he
bore the
wrath of
God.
So when it
says here that
he sent his
son to be a
propitiation
for our
sins, the
word propitiation
means that
Jesus was
offered up
as an
atonant
sacrifice
for our
sins.
He turned
away the
wrath of
God.
The wrath
that was meant
to be poured
out upon me
and poured
out upon you,
Jesus turned
away that
wrath with
his blood
when it was
spilt out of
his body for
sinners like you
and I.
The Bible
says in Isaiah
that it
pleased God
to crush
him.
He was
crushed.
Jesus was
crushed by
God the
Father in
my place
and in
your place
so that
we would
never,
ever have
to experience
the wrath.
But now all
we experience
is mercy,
love,
kindness,
grace from
the Father.
And his
love towards
you doesn't
change when
you do
wrong.
His love
towards you
doesn't change
when you
read your
Bible,
when you
seem to be
doing a
bunch of
righteous
works.
His love
doesn't change
when you
fall,
when you
make mistakes
because his
love is not
dependent upon
our works,
but it's
dependent upon
what Christ
did on the
cross.
Imagine
Jesus
hanging on
that cross.
Imagine
him
dying for
you.
And they
were mocking
him.
You had
thieves on
each side.
One of the
thieves were
mocking him.
This is a
man that
they beat,
they ripped
his back
the shreds,
they put a
crown of
thorns on
his head,
blood is
gushing down
his face,
and they're
crucifying him
on the cross.
And here it
is,
Jesus,
on that
cross,
he tries to
muster up
just enough
strength to
lift himself
up just
enough to
be able to
say a few
words.
And I'm
sure those
who were
looking upon
him were
like,
what is he
going to
say?
He's
probably
going to
curse us
from the
ways that
we've been
treated him.
And you
know what
comes out
of his
mouth?
Father,
forgive them
for they
know not
what they
do.
Here it
is that
his enemies
are killing
him.
And his
response to
them is,
I forgive
you.
I love
you.
And he
gives his
life for
them.
God
loves in
a way that
a lot of
us can't
even comprehend.
I want to
read a
passage to
you.
If you
have a
Bible, I
would love
for you to
turn there
with me.
And if you
don't, just
remember where
this is
located.
This is in
John 15
verse 9.
John 15
verse 9.
And this is
what it
reads.
As the
Father has
loved me,
so have
I loved
you.
And then
he says,
abide in
my love.
Remember the
first time I
read that, I
was like,
what?
Jesus is
saying, as
the Father
has loved
me, so I
love you?
now I
don't know
about you,
but I
wrestled when
I read that
because I
said, well
maybe he
loves me
50% as
much as
the Father
loves him.
Maybe Jesus
loves me 75%
as much as
the Father
loves me, but
there's no
possible way
that Jesus
can love
me in the
same way
that the
Father loves
him.
But this
is what the
Bible says,
that Jesus
Christ loves
you as
the Father
has loved
him.
And then he
says this,
abide in
my love.
Can you
imagine that
the King of
the universe,
God,
that Jesus
who is God
loves you
in the
same way
the Father
loves him?
That's
ridiculous,
but it's
true.
It's
true.
In the
last two
verses, we
see that
God continues
to display
his love
through the
church.
So God
is the
source of
love, he
manifested
his love
in Jesus
Christ, and
he continues
to display
his love
through the
church.
Verse 11
says,
beloved,
loved, if
God so
loved us,
we ought to
love one
another.
Again, this
is another
verse we
just don't
want to
gloss over.
The Bible
says, beloved,
friends, dear
friends, if
God so
loved us,
if he so
loved us,
what's the
reaction?
We ought to
love one
another.
brother, it's
one thing for
me to say
that I love
you.
It's a whole
other thing for
me to say, I
love you so
much.
I love you
so much.
And that's
what the Bible
says.
If God so
loved you,
then we
ought to
love one
another.
A lot of
us know
John 3, 16,
where it
says God
so loved
the world
that he
gave his
only son.
But again,
even in
quoting that
scripture, we
need to slow
down because
again, the
text says,
God so
loved the
world.
He so
loved you
that he
gave his
only son,
that whoever
believes in
him shall
not perish
but have
everlasting
life.
And a lot
of us are
familiar with
John 3, 16,
but we need
to become just
as familiar
with 1 John,
3, 16,
where it
says,
by this,
by this we
know love,
that he,
Jesus Christ,
laid down his
life for us,
and we ought to
lay down our
lives for the
brothers.
1 John 3, 16
makes it very
clear that because
Christ laid down
his life for us,
our response
is to lay
down our
lives for
the brothers,
to lay down
our lives for
each other.
As Christians,
we are called
to do whatever
we can to lay
down our lives
for one another
because we are
walking in the
footsteps of
our Savior.
Verse 12
says,
no one has
ever seen
God.
If we love
one another,
God abides
in us,
and his love
is perfected
in us.
I love
this verse.
This verse
tells us that
nobody can see
God with their
physical eyes
loving them.
And Jesus
is no longer
in the world
to manifest
God's love
for natural
eyes to see.
but God
continues to
demonstrate
his love
through his
people,
through his
church.
When outsiders
look upon
Christians
loving one
another
and loving
other people,
they get a
glimpse of
God's love.
This morning
I shared
this story
that I think
you would be
encouraged by
but actually
felt led to
share another
story tonight
that I think
you'll be
encouraged by
as well.
It's a story
about Christian
love,
Christian
sacrifice.
A couple
of months
ago I had
the privilege
to preach
at a church
called La Plata
Baptist Church
and I preached
at an event
called Hope
Night.
And before
I had the
privilege to
go up and
preach God's
word,
I got to
hear these
amazing
testimonies
of people
testifying of
how God's
love transformed
them.
And I
remember
sitting there
listening to
these two
women and
it rocked
me.
And they
were standing
on stage.
One woman
was named
Vivian,
the other
woman was
named Sunny.
And Sunny
had met
Vivian when
she was at
school.
They're both
school teachers.
So she met
Vivian at the
school.
and she
started sharing
the gospel
with Vivian
and eventually
they got
together for
a Bible study
and Sunny
had learned
that Vivian
needed a
kidney.
And she
had learned
that if
Vivian did
not get a
kidney,
that she
was going
to die.
And somewhere
within that
Bible study
and praying,
Sunny felt
prompted by
the Holy
Spirit that
she was
supposed to
give her
kidney to
Vivian.
She was
thinking like,
man, my
husband would
never, ever
believe that
this is something
that I feel
the Lord's
leading me to
do.
But she
went home
and shared
it with her
husband.
And her
husband was
okay with
it.
To make a
long story
short, they
eventually went
to the
doctors and
this was
after Sunny
had to
basically talk
Vivian into
it.
Because Vivian
was like,
there's no
way that I'm
going to
allow you
to give
me your
kidney.
And Sunny
said, listen,
you need
my kidney
more than
I do.
You're a
mother of
three and
they need
you.
So they
go to
the doctors,
their blood
type is
the same,
everything
is perfect
as far as
what needs
to be done
for them
to perform
the surgery.
And this
woman sat
on the
operating
table and
let doctors
cut her
open,
they took
out her
kidney and
they gave
her kidney
to another
woman.
She gave
her kidney
to her.
And I'm
sitting here
listening to
this and
I'm watching
these two
people in
the church
and Vivian
is just
weeping and
crying.
Sunny is
just so
thankful that
she was able
to display
the love of
Christ.
And I'm
like, this
is incredible.
And to the
watching world,
they can't
understand it.
It was in the
newspaper.
I mean, they
just couldn't
understand how
is this
possible?
Why would
somebody do
this?
Well, when
you think of
what Christ
has done
for us,
it really
does move
you to lay
down your
life for
others.
And I'm
not saying
that any
of you in
here have
to display
the love
of Christ
by giving
a kidney,
but God
might call
you to do
that.
And as
Christians,
may we be
willing to
do whatever
it takes to
display the
love of
Jesus if
he calls
us to
that.
Here it
is, Vivian
is attending
the church
faithfully,
and she's
been rocked
by the
love of
Christ.
And God
has been
so good
to Sunny
as well,
because now
she has
experienced
more of
God's
love through
her
surrenderance
in that
way.
Food for
thought.
like heat
that comes
from a
fire,
or sunlight
that shines
from the
sun.
Love
should spill
out of the
Christian,
because God
is love.
Here's a few
closing thoughts.
If we
truly know
God and
are children
of God,
we will
sacrificially
love one
another.
In other
words,
this is a
cause and
effect
relationship.
The cause
is that you
are born
again in a
child of God,
and the
effect is
that you
will
sacrificially
love people.
Ephesians
5 says,
as beloved
children of
God,
we must be
imitators of
him.
1 Corinthians
13 says
that we
could be
doing a
bunch of
things,
even religious
things,
and even
sacrificial
things that
are void of
genuine
love,
things that
are meaningless.
But genuine
love really
reveals itself
from the
inside out,
in our
heart,
in our
thoughts,
in our
speech,
and in
our
relationships
with
people.
Church of
the Advent,
let us
pray that
we would
love
genuinely,
and that
love would
be the
thing that
drives us.
Because
this is the
fruit of the
Spirit,
it's not
something that
we can
create or
make happen.
we must
pray earnestly
for God
to help us
grow in
our
sacrificial
love towards
each other.
We must
pray like
the Apostle
Paul did
in Ephesians,
that we
would have
the strength
to comprehend
with all
of the
saints what
is the
breadth,
and the
length,
and the
height,
and the
depth,
and to
know the
love of
Christ that
surpasses
knowledge.
We are
able to
sacrificially
love brothers
and sisters
because God
first
sacrificially
loved us,
and he
has empowered
us by the
power of his
Holy Spirit
to love
others.
For you
who are here
today who
may not
know Jesus,
I just want
to say,
never forget
that God
is the
definition of
love.
He revealed
his love
toward you
by sending
his son
Jesus to
die on
the cross
for you.
The Bible
tells us to
repent of
our sins
and to
trust in
him for
the forgiveness
of our
sins.
Love
paid the
death penalty
for your
sins.
Love
paid the
death penalty
for your
sins against
a holy
and righteous
and just
God.
receive this
love of
God in
Christ today
and you
will be
forgiven.
You will
become a
part of the
family of
God and
you will
receive
everlasting
life.
You will
have the
privilege to
know God
and to
experience his
love forever.
forever.
Let us
pray.
Let us
pray.
Amen.
Let us
pray.