Love, Love, Love 1 John 4:7-12

Adapted from a Steve Shepherd sermon

http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/love-love-love-steve-shepherd-sermon-on-love-of-the-disciples-148975.asp

1 John 4:7 NET Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and

everyone who loves has been fathered by God and knows God. 8 The person who does not

love does not know God, because God is love. 9 By this the love of God is revealed in us: that God has sent his one and only Son into the

world so that we may live through him.

10 In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, if God so loved us, then we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God resides in us, and his

love is perfected in us.

You’ve heard the saying: If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it was and always will be yours. If it never returns, it was never

yours to begin with.However!

If it just sits in your living room and messes up your stuff, eats your food, uses your telephone, takes your money and never behaves as if you actually set it free in the first place -- you either

married it or gave birth to it!

Love, love, love. This is what our world needs but the world is often mixed up when it comes to

love. First and foremost, we must consider what the Word of God says about love. Consider some

verses.Romans 12:9 NET Love must be without

hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another with mutual

love, showing eagerness in honoring one another.

This sounds like how brotherly love is supposed to work. Are you devoted to your brothers & sisters in Christ? Do you honor them above

yourself?

1 Peter 1:22 NET You have purified your souls by obeying the truth in order to show sincere

mutual love. So love one another earnestly from a pure heart.

sincere mutual love — that is, of Christians. Brotherly love is distinct from common love.

“The Christian loves primarily those in Christ; secondarily, all who might be in Christ, namely, all men, as Christ as man died for all, and as he hopes that they, too, may become his Christian

brethren” [Steiger].

Bengel remarks that as here, so in 2 Peter 1:5-7, “brotherly love” is preceded by the purifying graces, “faith, knowledge, and godliness,” etc.

Love to the brethren is the evidence of our regeneration and justification by faith.

love one another — When You have purified your souls by obeying the truth in order to show sincere mutual love” has formed the habit, then the act follows, so that the “love” is at once habit

and act. (JFB)

Ephesians 5:25 NET Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself

for her It should be obvious that both husbands and wives should love one another. Sometimes, however, it’s one-sided or lop-sided. Gayla

always says to me, “I love you.” I say, “Yep!”

Just as a side note, FYI, if you will. Wives are NEVER commanded to love their husbands!Depending on the translation you’ll find wives

are told to: submit, be subject to, respect, reverence her husband.

I believe it is only in love a wife will display any of these for her husband.

Of course as fellow “Children of God” wives should have at least “Brotherly Love.”

A couple, Holly and Chris, celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary. Holly wrote these words

on facebook about Chris: I am the luckiest woman on earth today! Today I have been

married 15 years to the most wonderful man, who adores and spoils me constantly. I love you,

Chris!

A friend commented about what she wrote. “Too bad all couples aren't that way! After nearly 55

years, my wife and I are still ‘in love.’ Many things have changed, but our love has only

grown!” Wow! Pretty great, wouldn’t you say? Where

does this kind of love come from? I think we all know. The Lord is the author of true love and

this is what our text is all about.

This text is all about love, true love, the real thing.

1- The charge of love2- The creator of love3- The crown of love

THE CHARGE OF LOVE1 John 4:7 NET Dear friends, let us love one

another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been fathered by God

and knows God.“You’re my kid and you will....whether you want to or not.” Did you ever say those words to your children or your child? “You are going to school like it or not!” “You will clean your plate or else

you’ll go to bed hungry?”

Coercion generally doesn’t work well with some people, but when it comes to God’s command to love one another we have more motivation to do

it. John 13:34 NET "I give you a new

commandment — to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one

another. 35 Everyone will know by this that you are my disciples — if you have love for one

another.“

When Benjamin Franklin wished to interest the people of Philadelphia in street lighting, he didn’t

try to persuade them by talking about it—instead, he hung a beautiful lantern on a long bracket before his own door. Then he kept the glass brightly polished, and carefully hung it at

the approach of dusk.

People wandering about on the dark street saw Franklin’s light a long way off and came under the influence of its friendly glow with grateful hearts. To each one it seemed to say; “Come along, my friend! Here is a safe place to walk.

See that cobblestone sticking out? Don’t stumble over it! I shall be here to help you again

tomorrow night, if you should come this way.”

It wasn’t long before Franklin’s neighbors began placing lights in brackets before their homes and soon the entire city awoke to the value of street lighting and took up the matter with interest and

enthusiasm. Example is always a strong motivation for doing the right thing in life. And the Lord gives us the

best example of all.

A study once disclosed that if both Mom and Dad attend church regularly, 72% of their

children remain faithful. If only Dad, 55% remain faithful. If only Mom, 15%. If neither attended

regularly, only 6% remain faithful. The statistics speak for themselves--the example of parents and adults is more important than all the efforts

of The Church and Sunday School.

Most of us are what we are today because of our parents’ example. Likewise, if parents are loving then there is a very good possibility that

their children will also be loving.

Now if you were to say to your child, “Do as I say, not as I do,” you might not get any action out of them. But Jesus said, “Just as I have

loved you, you also are to love one another.”

I doubt seriously we will ever love exactly like Jesus, but when we demonstrate love to others

we are walking in His steps.

The charge: love one another.

THE CREATOR OF LOVE8 The person who does not love does not know

God, because God is love.Now this is a challenging scripture! Why?

Because how can anyone fully describe our God who is love? But John is clear: if you don’t love then you don’t know God, because God is love. If I say He is the creator of love, that in itself, is a poor way of saying it, because God is more

than just the creator of true love.

Here are some examples of seeing God through the eyes of a child:

- Dear God, I would like to know why all the things you said are in red?—Joanne

- Dear God, Is Reverend Coe a friend of yours, or do you just know him through business?—

Donny- Dear God, Did you really mean ‘do unto others

as they do unto you,’ because if you did, then I’m going to fix my brother.—Darla

-Dear God, Thank you for the baby brother but what I prayed for was a puppy.—Joyce

-- Dear God, I bet it is very hard for you to love

all of everybody in the world. There are only four people in our family and I can never do it.

These are examples of a child’s view of God. What is your view?

What’s your picture of God? What is He like in your heart and mind?

A mean Judge? A weak old man?

A compromising person? A loving Father?

Someone wrote these interesting words about God: Among the first glimpses we get of our God is that of a Seeker: “Adam...Where art

thou?” (Genesis 3:9). In commenting upon this question to his Bible class, a teacher said, “You can never be a preacher if you read it as though God were a policeman. Read it as though God were a brokenhearted Father looking for a lost

child!”

Remember the story of the prodigal son? Luke 15:11 NET Then Jesus said, "A man had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the estate that will belong to me.' so he divided his assets between them. 13 After a few days, the younger son gathered together all he had and left on a

journey to a distant country, and there he squandered his wealth with a wild lifestyle.

14 Then after he had spent everything, a severe famine took place in that country, and he began

to be in need. 15 So he went and worked for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He was longing to eat the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no

one gave him anything.

17 But when he came to his senses he said, 'How many of my father's hired workers have

food enough to spare, but here I am dying from hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father and

say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer

worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired workers." ’

20 So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way from home his father saw

him, and his heart went out to him; he ran and hugged his son and kissed him.

Do you see God in this picture anywhere? The prodigal son’s father is our Heavenly

Father.

There was a Peanuts cartoon strip where Lucy comes up to Charlie Brown and does something that is very unusual for her. She says -- I love you. But Charlie Brown keeps responding by

saying: no you don't. And each time Lucy answers a little louder: yes I do, I really love

you.

But Charlie Brown has been rejected so many times he keeps saying: it can't be true. So in the

last square, Lucy has reached the limit of her patience and she screams out in a loud voice:

Hey stupid, I love you!

I wonder if God has to do that with us sometimes. What does it take to get through to us? Does he have to yell out: “Hey blockhead,

I love you!”

Can't you see that God will literally turn this world upside down in His search for one human soul? Maybe you feel like God has been turning your world upside down a little bit lately. Well, that's love at work. And the supreme sign of

that love is the gift of Christ Jesus.

Mark Guy Pearse used to tell of the time he overheard one of his children admonishing the other, “You must be good or Father won’t love

you.”

Calling the boy to him he said, “Son, that isn’t really true.”

“But you won’t love us if we are bad, will you?” the boy asked.

“Yes, I will love you whether you are good or bad,” Pearse explained. “But there will be a

difference in my love. When you are good I will love you with a love that makes me glad; and

when you are not good I will love you with a love that hurts me.”

This is similar picture of God as revealed in the story of the prodigal son.

8 The person who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

How do you really describe in words God who is love? I’m not sure there is any way you can. God is not the essence of love. He is not the

spirit of love. He is not the extreme example of love. He is not the personification of love. He is not the epitome of love. HE IS LOVE. We will

know when we come into His presence!

THE CROWN OF LOVE

9 By this the love of God is revealed in us: that God has sent his one and only Son into the

world so that we may live through him. 10 In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he

loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Some years ago, a German scientist counted the hairs on different people’s heads. He found that they vary in number, depending seemingly on the color. Thus, there are more on a head

with black hair than red, on brown than black, on blond than brown. The black-haired woman has about 110,000 hairs on her head, and a blonde

around 140,000.

The average woman with a thick head of hair will lose up to 100 hairs a day. Such losses are

increased somewhat if the hair is long and becomes entangled in the brush or comb.

The average man, shaving every day, removes a beard about 1/64 inch in length. This means that between ages 20 and 65, he removes 23

feet of beard.

Matthew 10:29 NET Aren't two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground

apart from your Father's will. 30 Even all the hairs on your head are numbered. 31 So do not

be afraid; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

An old woman, hearing of some preachers who dwelt on the doctrine of predestination, said:

“Ah, I have long settled that point, for if God had not chosen me before I was born. I am sure He would have seen nothing in me to have chosen

me afterward.”I think this is true for us all. There was nothing

good in us that would have caused God to choose us as His children. HOW COULD THIS

BE? Because this is how we be!

Romans 3:10 NET just as it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one, 11 there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away,

together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, not even

one." (Psalm 14:1-3)We all have turned away from the Lord, but

because of who He is, He loves us still.

F.B. Meyer On God’s Love: Never be afraid of God, unless you are sinning against Him.

Always believe that behind what seems difficult and mysterious, there is God’s heart, as true

and tender as the heart of the sweetest, gentlest woman that ever pressed her child to her

bosom. Nay, all the love in all women’s hearts together, compared to the love of His heart, is as a glowworm’s torch compared to the sun at

noon-tide.”

God’s love is the greatest, the supreme love.

Romans 5:8 NET But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still

sinners, Christ died for us.THE CROWN OF LOVE IS THE FACT THAT

CHRIST PAID FOR OUR SINS ON THE CROSS!

There is no greater love than this!

11 Dear friends, if God so loved us, then we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God resides in us, and his love is perfected in us.

Since God loves, so should we love. Love has a double relationship to God. It is only by knowing God that we learn to love and it is

only by loving that we learn to know God. Love comes from God, and love leads to God. (DSB)

It is by love that God is known. We cannot see God, because he is spirit; what we can see is

his effect. We cannot see the wind, but we can see what it can do. We cannot see electricity,

but we can see the effect it produces. The effect of God is love.

It is when God comes into a man that he is clothed with the love of God and the love of

men. God is known by his effect on that man. It has been said, "A saint is a man in whom Christ lives again" and the best demonstration of God comes not from argument but from a life of love.

(DSB)

A man, about to enter a hospital, saw two white coated doctors searching through the flower beds. "Excuse me," he said, "have you lost

something?""No," replied one of the doctors. "We're doing a heart transplant for an IRS man and want to find

a suitable stone."Could it be that our greatest problem in all of life

is our heart?

Matthew 12:33 NET "Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit

will be bad, for a tree is known by its fruit. 34 Offspring of vipers! How are you able to say anything good, since you are evil? For the

mouth speaks from what fills the heart.

We all desperately need a heart transplant. We need the heart of Jesus.

As we acquire it through faith, study, surrender, submission, etc. we will love, love, love just like

Jesus did.