A JOURNEY LIKE NEVER BEFORE PT 4
1JN 4 VS 7-21
1 John 4:7-21 (NKJV)
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.
15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
19 We love Him because He first loved us.
20 If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
A NEW BEGINNING- WALKING IN LOVE!
**BOY WHAT A MIXED UP WORLD WE LIVE IN.. AMEN?
OUR ENGLISH LANGUAGE ONLY HAS ONE WORD FOR LOVE, SO WE CAN LOVE A HOTDOG, A DOG, OUR WIFE, CAR, HOUSE, JOB, SNOW, HOT, COLD, GOD. WE HAVE ONE WORD AND BY THIS “LOVE” HAS LOST ITS MEANING AND WE SOMETIMES MAKE THE MISTAKE IN THINKING WE LOVE SOMETHING OR SOMEONE WHEN WE MAY NOT!!
**WHEN THE NEW TESTAMENT IN THE BIBLE WAS WRITTEN, IT WAS MOSTLY WRITTEN IN THE GREEK LANGUAGE. IN THE GREEK LANGUAGE THERE WERE AT LEAST 3 WORDS FOR LOVE, SO NOT TO GET IT MIXED UP. THERE WAS (A) PHILEO- WHICH IS A “FRIENDSHIP” LOVE (WE GET THE NAME PHILADELPHIA FROM THIS) WHICH MEANS BROTHERLY LOVE. (B) AGAPE- THIS IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF LOVE- IT IS THE SACRIFICIAL LOVE THAT GOD HAS FOR US (EXAMPLE JN 3:16). (C) EROS- THIS IS THE WORD THAT IS USED – A SEXUAL LOVE- EROTIC COMES FROM THIS WORD AND IT IS NOT IN THE BIBLE.
**THERE IS A BIBLICAL TEST THAT WE CAN TAKE TO DETERMINE – “IS IT REALLY LOVE” ITS FOUND IN 1COR 13. THERE ARE 8 THINGS THAT LOVE IS, AND 8 THINGS THAT LOVE ISN’T. LET US EXAMINE EACH OF THESE TO SEE IF “WE ARE FOUND IN LOVE.”
LOVE ISN’T
A. NOT ENVIOUS- GR: ZELOO(DAY- LAH-OH) MEANS TO BOIL WITH JEALOUSY OR ENVY OVER WHAT GOD MAY HAVE BLESSED SOMEONE ELSE WITH.—ARE YOU JUST BOILING WITH ENVY OVER SOMEONE ELSE’S GIFT OR TALENT (JOSEPH’S BROTHERS, LEADERS IN BABYLON VS DANIEL)
B. DOESN’T PARADE OR VAUNT ONE’S SELF: GR: PER-PER-YOO-AH-MAI- NOT A BRAGGART- IF WE FOCUS ON SERVING OTHERS WE WILL NOT HAVE TIME TO THINK ABOUT TRYING TO LIFT OURSELF UP:
James 4:10 (NKJV)
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Luke 18:10-14 (NKJV)
10 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men--extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.
12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.'
13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!'
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
C. NOT PUFFED UP OR PROUD- GR: FOO-SEE-OH-O : MEANS TO INFLATE, BLOW UP, OR CAUSE TO SWELL- LISTEN TO WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT BEING PROUD:
Luke 14:8-11 (NKJV)
8 "When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him;
9 and he who invited you and him come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place.
10 But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher.' Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you.
11 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
D. DOES NOT BEHAVE RUDELY- AS-KAY-MON-EH-O: MEANS TO ACT RUDE, VULGAR OR CRUDE- WOW!! DOES THIS GENERATION NEED TO REALLY TAKE A LOOK AT THIS POINT- MANY BELIEVE THAT THE MORE RUDE, OBNOXIOUS, CRUDE, OR VULGAR THEY ARE THE MORE PEOPLE WILL “LOVE” THEM:
I HAVE NEVER HEARD LANGUAGE LIKE I HEAR IT NOW—AND UNFORTUNATELY I HEAR MORE WOMEN USING THIS THEN MEN—NOT THAT IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE TO GOD, BUT LISTEN MY FRIEND- IF YOU HAVE TO ACT THIS WAY TO PLEASE SOME ONE- IT’S NOT LOVE, AND IF SOMEONE IS ACTING THIS WAY TO YOU TO IMPRESS YOU- IT’S NOT LOVE!!
E. DOES NOT SEEK IT’S OWN WAY- THE GREATEST DISPLAY OF LOVE WAS SHOWN BY OUR LORD JESUS
Matthew 26:39 (NKJV)
39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."
Matthew 26:42 (NKJV)
42 Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done."
Matthew 26:52-54 (NKJV)
52 But Jesus said to him, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.
53 Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?
54 How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?"
F. IS NOT POVOKED- GR: PAR-OX-OO-NO: WHICH MEANS – TO AROUSE, BURN OR SEETHE WITH ANGER: Love, however, refuses to be provoked into a wrong action and it does not carry a chip on its shoulder. Love is not touchy and it does not nurse a bitter heart.
You never know where anger will take you or others. For example, in the spring of 1894, the Baltimore Orioles came to Boston to play a routine baseball game against the Red Soxs. But what happened that day was anything but routine.
The Orioles' John McGraw got into a fight with the Boston third baseman. Within minutes all the players from both teams had joined in the brawl. The warfare quickly spread to the grandstands. Among the fans the conflict went from bad to worse. Someone set fire to the stands and the entire ballpark burned to the ground. Not only that, but the fire spread to 107 other Boston buildings as well. Watch out for your temper.
G. THINKS NO EVIL- KEY WORD HERE IS THINKETH WHICH IS THE GREEK WORD- LOG-ID-ZOM-AHEE: WHICH IS AN ACCOUNTING TERM WHICH MEANS TO RECKON, OR KEEP AN ACCOUNT- LOVE NEVER KEEPS SCORE:
Love does not keep account of wrongs it suffers, nor does it look for opportunities to get back at others. Love does not hold grudges and nurse resentments over past offenses. Love cannot dwell in a heart like this. True love will help any person to forgive their offenders.
Newspaper columnist and preacher George Crane tells of a wife who came into his office full of hatred toward her husband. She told the preacher, "I do not only want to get rid of him, I want to get even. Before I divorce him, I want to hurt him as much as he has me."
Dr. Crane suggested an ingenious plan "Go home and act as if you really love your husband. Tell him how much he means to you. Praise him for every decent trait. Go out of your way to be as kind, considerate, and generous as possible. Spare no efforts to please him, to enjoy him.
Make him believe you love him. After you've convinced him of your undying love and that you cannot live without him, then drop the bomb. Tell him that you're getting a divorce. That will really hurt him."
With revenge in her eyes, she smiled and exclaimed, "Beautiful, beautiful. Will he ever be surprised!" She carried out the plan with enthusiasm. For two months she showed love, kindness, listening, giving, reinforcing, sharing. When she didn't return, Crane called her, "Are you ready now to go through with the divorce?"
"Divorce?" she exclaimed. "Never! I discovered I really do love him." Her actions had changed her feelings. Her motion resulted in emotion and brought out her true love for her husband.
H. DOES NOT REJOICE IN INIQUITY- WE ARE NOT TO REJOICE OVER THE SHORTCOMINGS OF OTHERS- THIS IS SOMETHING THAT I THINK IS THE MOST “HUMAN” OF ALL THE THINGS THAT “LOVE ISN’T” AND ITS BECAUSE IF WE KEEP OUR FOCUS ON “HOW BAD OTHER’S ARE” THEN WE DON’T END UP THINKING ABOUT OUR OWN SHORT COMINGS, THEREFORE OUR “FLESH” FEELS PRETTY GOOD ABOUT ITSELF:
Proverbs 24:17 (NKJV)
17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles;
**HOW DID WE DO ON WHAT LOVE IS NOT??
**ARE WE FOUND GUILTY??
