Sermon Central
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For The Love Of God
Contributed by Richard Sharp on Mar 29, 2007 (message contributor)
Summary: We think of Feburary as the Love Month as a result of Valentines Day. This Sermon Reflects God’s Love to Us and It’s outpouring to Others.
For The Love Of God
Feb. Is LOVE month
Valentines Day - What If Everyday was Valentines Day, what would the world be like
Years ago, Back in the 70’s Coke had a tv commercial with a bunch of people holding candles
swaying back and forth to a song whose lyrics are true today as it was back then.
WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS ....LOVE...... SWEET LOVE
May I suggest tonight -What the World needs now is God’s sweet Love.
We want to look in I John. But Before we do. I need you to turn with me to Matt 22:34-40 to serve as a backdrop to our study tonight.
Read Matt. 22:34-40
But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer , asking him a question, tempting him and saying,
Master, which is the great commandment in the Law?
Jesus said unto him, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all Heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and prophets.
In these verses in Matt. Jesus Confronted the Pharisees with the problem of there Heart Attitude.
The Pharisees were the religious leaders of the day. For the most part they held to rigid standards.
They outwardly would do the right things, but for the wrong motives. They encouraged the externals, God Focuses on the internals. God focuses on our heart attitudes.
Joseph Stowell, former President of Moody Bible Institute, writes in his book Fanning the Flame:
"The call of authentic Christianity is to ‘have heart’ - a heart for God . A heart for God requires (1) that we move from externals to internals ,(2) that we reject the easy way of ritual and habit. (3) It requires that we develop a vibrant relationship with Christ at the very core."
Folks we need to Love God & Love our Neighbor by Developing a Heart for God. This in turn causes us to have a heart for one another.
Turn to 1 John 4- While your turning to it, let me share some background to I John. The Epistles of John ( I, II, III John) was written by the same person who wrote the book of John, Revelation.
He was the Beloved Disciple of Christ. He was one of the three disciples who made up Christ’s inner-circle. He was also the disciple that lived the longest.
This Epistle was written in Ephesus late in John’s life around 96-100 AD
The 4-fold purpose of the book------- (1:4) TO ADD JOY
(2:1) To Guard against sin
(2:26) To warn against False Teachers (5:13) To strengthen Faith and give assurance of Eternal life
The Key word are Fellowship , Know and Love.
In chapters 1,2 we see an emphasis on Fellowship . A Christian who is in fellowship w/God
will practice righteous and will love the Brethren.
In Chapters 3-5 we see an emphasis on Sonship. A Christian is born of God adopted into His Family . As a result he will practice Righteous and Love the Brethren.
AS we zoom in and focus our spiritual glasses on I John 4:7-14:
We notice that this is the third time, John addresses this subject of love.
1. In Chap 2, verses 7-11 we see love as proof of fellowship with God. It was a matter of Light and Darkness.
2. In Chap 3, Verses 10-14 we see love as proof of our sonship w/God. It was a matter of Life and death.
Here in I John 4: 7-16 we see the foundation of Love. Why is Love to Characterize our lives?
Why is Love so important in our Lives ? Why is it to radiate from our lives?
They will know that ye are my disciples by our Love.–John 13:34, 35
A new commandment I give unto you , that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
I. LOVE PROCLAIMED (vv. 7-8).
The Scriptures proclaim that God is love. John seems to go deeper and deeper and deeper into the subject of the love of God and comes to the conclusion here "God is love."
A. IT is part of His Nature
The Nature of the Father (v. 7). Notice the statement in v. 7, "for love is of God." It doesn’t say "for love is God." John is not saying that God is some kind of impersonal, intangible being ( Deitism). God in His person, God in His nature is love. This tells us what God thinks about us. God loves us. It’s very important to know the kind of God you serve.
