MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
(REVISED - 2018)
(PowerPoint slides used in this sermon are available at no charge. Just e-mail me at mnewland@sstelco.com with your request - #227.)
TEXT: 1 John 2:3-5, 4:11-16; John 17:20-21;
A. Last week, my sermon was titled "The Love Test," & we looked at a couple of passages of Scripture. The first was 2 Corinthians 13:5 where Paul tells the Christians in Corinth to examine themselves to see if they are in the faith.
He says, "If you are in the faith, Christ will be living in you, unless you fail the test." And then we found that the Bible is very specific in describing what it means to be "in the faith".
We also looked at 1 Corinthians 11:28, where Paul says that we are to examine ourselves before we partake of the Lord's Supper to make sure we are "recognizing the body of Christ".
SUM. So I hope you passed that love test. And assuming you did, let’s consider 4 results of loving God that will be evident in our lives.
I. IF WE LOVE GOD, WE WILL KNOW GOD & HE WILL KNOW US
A. The Bible tells us that if we really love God, then we will know God & He will know us. How well do you know God? How do you picture Him? What is He like?
ILL. Psychologists say that most of us perceive God to be much like our earthly father. So if your father was a strong disciplinarian, you probably see God as a strong disciplinarian. If your father was kind & tender, then you probably see God like that, too.
B. I think some people were like that back in O.T. times, too. For hundreds of years they kept looking toward heaven, saying, "Does God care? Does God know our pain? Is God grieved when our nation suffers?"
You see, many of them thought of God as being harsh & full of wrath. But then God came to earth as Jesus. John 1:14 says,
"The Word became flesh & made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One & Only, who came from the Father, full of grace & truth."
What they saw in Jesus was a God of love & forgiveness - concerned & compassionate. You didn't have to be someone important to gain an audience with Him. In Jesus they saw a God who really cared.
ILL. Some years ago a friend of mine went back home to be with his father while his mother was in the hospital. He says that this was the first time that he had ever spent 4 consecutive days alone with his father since he was a little boy.
He said, "Now I did see dad when he & mom came to visit. And of course, we went there to visit, too. But there were always other people around."
"He really can't remember ever just sitting down & talking one on one with him like he did during those 4 days. And it was a revelation to him.
He said, "My dad was a strong disciplinarian. You knew what was right & wrong. And if you didn't do what was right, you suffered the consequences. My sister & I knew that."
"And I think that I have probably always looked at God in that way, too. But during those 4 days I saw my dad in a different light. We were dealing with a crisis in our family. The doctors came in more than once & told us that it was touch & go & that mother might not make it."
He said, "I saw my dad cry. He reached over & touched my hand, & I heard him say, ‘Let's pray together.' I had never heard him say that before. And we prayed many times together during those 4 days."
"I saw a father who was getting old, who needed help. And I thought how our roles had reversed. He used to lead me. Now I am helping him find his way through the hospital & to the cafeteria. It was a complete role reversal."
"When I left to go home, we drove down the road together. I drove my car & he drove his until we came to a fork in the road where he would turn one way & I would turn another. Then he pulled off to the side & stopped & waved me down.
"As I got out of the car on this lonesome country road, dad came over, big tears in his eyes. He said, ‘I just can't tell you what your coming has meant. I don't think I could have made it through these last 4 days if you hadn't been here.'"
"We embraced, & he said, ‘I love you.' I'm not sure, but I think that may be the first time that my dad ever said that to me. I saw a different side to him that week than I had ever seen before."
APPL. Something like that happened when Jesus came. In Jesus we can see God more clearly than we ever did before - His love for all; His willingness to suffer & die for our sins. Through Jesus we have a whole new picture of God.
Then 1 Corinthians 8:3 says, "The man who loves God is known by God."
SUM. So first of all, if we really love Him, we will know Him, & He will know us.
II. IF WE REALLY LOVE GOD, WE WILL OBEY HIM
A. The 2nd result of loving God is found in 1 John 2:3-5 where it says that if we really love God, we will obey Him. "We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands. The man who says, ‘I know Him,’ but does not do what He commands is a liar, & the truth is not in him ... This is how we know we are in Him."
Now 2 simple but wonderful things happen when we become a Christian. The 1st is that we are being saved. God has forgiven us, & we stand before Him righteous because our sin is covered by the precious blood of Jesus.
The 2nd thing that happens is that we realize God loves us in a very special way. Yes, we were loved before, because God is love. We were loved as a Creator loves His creation.
But now we’re loved as a Father loves His children. And that love is beyond our understanding. And when we realize the scope of His love, we want to do what pleases Him. That is called obedience.
B. Now how do we know what pleases God? Well, the answer is found in God's Word. There I learn what pleases God, & about His will & plan for my life. And by reading God's Word & obeying it, I express my love for Him again & again.
But one of our problems is that most of us want to live life our way, to do what we want to do, & not necessarily what God wants. There are too many people sowing their wild oats, then praying for a crop failure. But God's word warns us about reaping what we sow.
ILL. If you jump off a 10?story building, you're going to meet with an abrupt & sudden stop. If you flirt with alcohol & drugs, you will reap what you sow. If you're immoral in your lifestyle, you will reap what you sow.
SUM. But by obeying His Word we express our love for God & reap the benefits of His guidance & love. Obedience is a result of really loving God.
III. IF WE REALLY LOVE GOD, WE WILL LOVE EACH OTHER
Now a 3rd result of loving God is that we will love each other.
A. 1 John 4:11-12 says, "Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us & His love is made complete in us."
John emphasizes this over & over again. 1 John 4:20 says, "If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen."
And 1 John 2:11, "Whoever hates his brother is in the darkness & ... does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded him."
Do you get the point? John emphasizes it to make sure that we don't miss it. He is saying that if we love God we will love each other.
ILL. If you know your history, you know that the Marquis de Lafayette was a French officer & nobleman who served under George Washing-ton during some of the most desperate times of the American Revolution, & who played a major part in the final victory at Yorktown.
After the war was over, he returned to France & resumed his life as a farmer of his vast estate. The 1783 harvest in most of Europe was a terrible one, & many people were on the verge of starvation. However, Lafayette’s farms were largely unaffected by the devastating blight, & his barns were full of grain.
One of his friends offered Lafayette what he felt was very good advice, "The bad harvest has raised the price of wheat dramatically. This is the time to sell."
After thinking about the hungry peasants in the surrounding villages, Lafayette disagreed, "No, this is the time to give." That’s the kind of love God is talking about!
B. In the Upper Room, after praying for the apostles Jesus prayed for us. "I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me & I am in you." (John 17:20-21)
Think of the oneness of the Father & the Son. They're so much one that we have a hard time explaining their difference. And God wants His people to be just as united.
ILL. Juan Carlos Ortiz calls that "mashed potato love," & he illustrates it this way, "You go out to the potato patch & dig up all the potatoes & put them in one big bag. Now, all the potatoes are in the same bag, but they're still individual potatoes."
"Next, they go to the packing shed where they are cleaned & put into smaller bags, & sent to grocery stores. But even though they are in smaller bags, they are still individual potatoes."
"Then a customer buys 5 lbs. of potatoes, takes them home & peels them & puts them in the cooking pot. Now they're closer together. Their skin no longer separates them. But they're still individual potatoes."
"It is not until they're boiled & mashed & mixed together that they really become one. That is what God wants for us. No super star standing up & saying, ‘Look at what a big potato I am.' But all of us mixed & blended together, one in Jesus Christ.
SUM. You see, if we really love God we will love each other.
IV. IF WE REALLY LOVE GOD, WE WILL ABIDE IN HIM
Finally, if we really love God, we will abide in Him. Listen to 1 John 4:15?16, "If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him & he in God. And so we know & rely on the love God has for us."
I think those words were probably prompted in John's mind by the words of Jesus recorded in John 15:5 where Jesus said, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me & I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."
Then Jesus says, "If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned." (John 15:6)
Now what does it mean to "abide in Christ?" Does it mean we offer an occasional prayer? Does it mean a visit to church once or twice a month? No!
If I abide in God, & God lives in me, then I’m a branch receiving life from the vine. The vine supplies all the nutrients I need to grow & produce fruit, because life comes from the vine.
CONCL. Do you really love God? Well, if you do, then these 4 results will be a part of your life, too. You will know God. You will obey Him. You will love each other. You will abide in Him.
ILL. An old legend has it that a wealthy merchant of the 1st Century who wanted to meet the Apostle Paul encountered Timothy, who arranged a visit for him with Paul who, at that time, was a prisoner in Rome.
Stepping inside the cell, the merchant was surprised to find an old man, physically frail, but whose serenity challenged the visitor. They talked for hours. Finally the merchant left.
Outside the prison, he asked Timothy, "What is the secret of his serenity? I have never seen anything like it before." "Did you not guess?" replied Timothy. "Paul is in love."
The merchant looked bewildered. "In love?" "Yes," Timothy answered, "Paul is in love with Jesus Christ." The merchant looked even more bewildered. "Is that all?" Smiling, Timothy replied, "Sir, that is everything."
INVITATION: We offer God's invitation this morning. Maybe there are those here who need to acknowledge their love for Christ by accepting Him as Lord & Savior. Come & make that decision known by confessing your faith, & being faithful to Him in Christian baptism.
Maybe there are others who are already immersed believers in Jesus who would choose to become a part of this congregation, & share in the ministry that God has given us here.
Whatever your need is this morning I know the Lord stands ready to meet it. Will you come as we stand & as we sing?
