← ArchiveSunday, September 17, 2017DateSeptember 17, 2017Speaker—TextLuke 15Passages in this sermonLuke 1520:36Romans 8:3830:14TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00that which was from the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon and have touched with our hands concerning the word of life the life was made manifest and we have seen it and testified to it and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the father and was made manifest to us that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you so that you too may have fellowship with us and indeed our0:28fellowship is with the father and with his son jesus christ and we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete this is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you that god is light and in him is no darkness at all if we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in the darkness we lie and do not practice the truth but if we walk in the light0:57as he is in the light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of jesus his son cleanses us from all sin if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth and the truth and the truth if we confess our sin is not in us if we confess our sin he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness1:26Good morning church. We have some work to do, so if you have your Bibles with you, join me in the book of 1 John. Towards the end of the entire Bible, towards the end of the New Testament, if you have your Bibles, just to the right, towards the map side of your Bibles, if you have maps there. This is our third week in the book of John in a message series we've entitled Authentic Faith, Shining Light on Authentic Faith.1:54And we're asking questions about our faith. We're not asking what the community says authentic faith looks like. We're not asking what Southern Baptists say authentic faith look like. We're not asking what the pastor says authentic faith looks like. We're asking what does the truth of God's Word say about authentic faith? Because that is truly the only thing that matters in our life. So the first question we had is this. Can we know God?2:25That's a question that we have. Many of you are here today and you do not yet believe. You are unbelievers. I want you to know you can ask that question. Can we know God? And God sent His Son from heaven to earth. God did not stay in heaven. He sent His Son from heaven to earth that you and I would know God. First John answers at verse 1, chapter 1, that which was from the beginning, what we have heard with our ears, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have observed and touched with our hands concerning the word of life.2:50Can you know God? Yes. So then we asked last week, well, what about our sin? And John answers that very clearly in verse 9 of chapter 1. If you confess, He, God, is faithful and just to forgive you of your sins and purify you from all unrighteousness.3:15So what about our sins? We are forgiven in Christ. Can we know God? Yes. Look to Jesus. Can I find forgiveness? Yes. His name is Jesus. So today we ask this question. Does God love us?3:46Does God love me? That's a question we need to ask and that's a question we need answered. In 1943, a man named Abraham Masloff wrote a fascinating article that still reverberates today. The title was not fascinating, but the research is. The title is called A Theory of Human Motivation. So Masloff decided not to study neurotic people. He didn't go to the psych ward and study those that are struggling. He said, I'm going to study those that have succeeded in life.4:14Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, Frederick Douglass. And he mapped out the needs that he said all human beings have. So the first need that he said, and we're not going to debate the merits of this study. I do think it has points of contact with us. The first need that we all have is this. Sometimes you get hungry. So the very basic need of all of our lives is food. If you're hungry right now, you're going to struggle to pay attention.4:44That's reality. The second need, he said, is basic security. So until your hunger is met, you're not going to have satisfaction. So the second is a roof over your head. We have that today. You're good. And then he said this is the third fundamental need of every person that has ever lived. He said, the need of self-acceptance, belonging, or love. Think about that. After food and security, the greatest need you have in your life is need of acceptance and love.5:14Now some of you are thinking, well, I don't need to be loved by anyone. I'm done with being loved. That is foolishness. Because we have a desire for belonging. And I want you to know this. Every need that you have in your life is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. You hungry this morning? Jesus said he is the bread of life. Do you need security? Are you struggling with finding safety in your life?5:43God says that he will hide you under the shelter and the shadow of his wings. Do you need to feel loved this morning? Listen to this verse. Chapter 3 of 1 John and verse 1. The HCSB says it this way. See, look what great love the Father has given us that we should be called children of God.6:05And we are. The reason that the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, we are God's children now. I love that. And what we will be has not been yet revealed. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is.6:33And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure. This morning, John, God's word, answers the question, does God love me? So I have two hopes for you. One, if you do not know Jesus Christ personally and you say, I don't feel loved by God. I don't know how he could love me. My hope is that you will accept God's love in your life by the end of our time together.7:03And maybe you are, maybe you knew Abraham and Moses and you've been a believer in Jesus for years and years and years. My hope would that you would embrace God's love more today than you ever have. Than you ever have. Let's pray. Father, stir our hearts. May we not be lazy or impure.7:32Lord, may your love never grow old or stale. Lord, the fact that you even love us should blow us away. So, Lord, stir our minds to know your truth. Father, we admit that we cannot understand your truth without your spirit. So, Lord, we desperately desire that you pour forth your spirit upon our lives this morning. That we would behold your love.8:00That we would recognize that in Jesus we are children of God. Now and forevermore. Lord, help us live out this truth. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. Two questions this morning and then we will go eat and satisfy your most basic need that you have in your life. And they're this. Does God love? And when we answer that question, then we're going to ask, does God love me?8:27Because those are entirely two different questions, aren't they? Does God love? And then does he or can he love me? So, look at verse 1. This is what the Apostle John does for us. He gives us, for those of you who have ever watched wrestling, he gives us a Ric Flair. Woo! Right? And look at verse 1. Look! See! Sometimes we read God's Word and we just, we gloss over the power of God's Word. We read it and say, look what manner of love God has for us, that we would pontificate and be the children of the King.8:55John says, look, guys. This is John saying, wake up. God loves you. Right? How awesome is that? And that's a Ric Flair moment. Wake up. And we see the great love that God has for us. In verse 1, this word great is also translated what manner or what different kind of love.9:22It's the same word that means a different country, a different race, or a different sort. God loves, but his love is not the same way that we love. Amen? Hallelujah? God doesn't love us in the same way that we love, because our love is conditional. Some days I love broccoli, some days I don't. Every day I love barbecue. I don't know why I'm talking about food so much today.9:51Right? Maybe I'm hungry subconsciously here. Our love is conditional. It's easier for us to love those that love us and not love those who don't love us. God's love is a different sort, from a different country, a different race. The word is only used here in John's writing, and it means a different quality. You see, in the ancient world, in the Greco-Roman Empire, I want you to listen to this and feel10:18the heartache. Fathers in the Greco-Roman Empire were not known for their love. In fact, they were known for being calloused, so much so that children in the Roman era were might and were known of being abused and often unwanted. Fathers were unaffectionate and equally unequitable. When a child was born, a father, listen to this, when a child was born, a father was free10:47to order that his child be exposed to the elements and die if he didn't want that child. Think about that. Now, I know we're thinking, well, we've passed that. We've graduated in our educational understanding. We don't do that. Yes, we do. How often are our children and our unborn babies neglected or killed because we don't love like11:10what God loves. And I'm thankful that we have a father that John says, see what different love. Not only does God love you, he doesn't love you the way that you love you. What different manner of love. What great quality. God will never leave you out in the elements to live or to die on your own.11:36God sent his only son to brave the elements that we would live and know love. What great quality of love. Not only is it great in quality, but the word massive or great is the same word to use, used to picture the magnificent stones in the temple. When you walked up to the temple mount, some of you have been to Israel. We're going in February if you would like to go.12:06It's going to be a phenomenal, life-changing trip. And all that's there is the Western Wall. And for those of you who have been to Israel, these stones are massive. The word great is the same word to use to describe these stones. See how massive God's love is for you. See, God doesn't just tolerate you. He doesn't just have a little love for you or have mad love, as our youth would say. Jesus has massive love. He has massive love for you and I.12:37And if that doesn't stir your heart, you don't have a heart. But I'm thankful that God can give those corpses and those dry bones new life and new hearts. What great love. Can God love? Does he? Look at verse 1. Wake up, see the what love? The great love. Does God love? See the great love.13:06Right? Anyone else awake here? His love is great for us. It is a different quality. Not only is it great, not only is it from the Father. Look at the next word. See the great love the Father has lavished, bestowed, or given. This is the same word, which means a physical representation of something. To do, to make, to give, or bestow. It's the same word used in Scripture to describe the clouds giving rain to the earth.13:35That God has visibly, physically demonstrated his love towards us. And you say, well, how does that happen? Sometimes we don't know there's moisture in the clouds until it rains. Sometimes you don't know that God loves you until you look at Jesus on the cross. That is the greatest physical representation of love the world has ever known.13:59And my heart was stirred as we were singing this morning on Christ the solid rock. And over and over again, we're singing about the cross. Look to the cross of Calvary. That is true love. That is not Instagram love. God didn't like you on Facebook. He didn't just share his son. His son died for us. That is the love that is given.14:28And this word did, oh my, to give. Why is this important? I want you to wrap your minds around God's given love. Because God's love is given to us, it is not something else. So what is this not? Because God's love is already given, he is not waiting to give it. Look at verse 1. See what great love the Father, what? Not will give, not might give, not if you get your act together,14:57then he'll love you, has been given. A past ongoing action. God is not waiting to give his love to you. He's already given it. So church, the question is, are you going to accept his love? Are you going to embrace his love? Or are you rejecting his love? Sometimes I think we fold our hands and turn off our hearts because we don't understand the love God has for us. Because we don't love ourselves.15:26Now this is not going to be a self-help, self-help, behavior modification sermon. You know what? If your behavior changes and you don't know Jesus, it's for naught, for nothing. But if your heart has been stirred, your life will be radically transformed. God is not waiting to give his love. Church, where is it? It has already been given. It has been given. Not only has it been given, think about this.15:55What happens to the rain when it comes out from the clouds? Where does it go? It goes down. What does the rain not do? It doesn't reverse course and go back. Like, God doesn't look at me and I'm praying for rain and it rains halfway and the rain just goes back up. God's like, just kidding. You don't need rain. God's love is given and it's not taken away. Sometimes we struggle with that. Church people struggle with that because we've been in tune16:25that if we just do stuff, if we go to church or if we go to life group or Sunday school, if we give like we should be, then God's going to love us. And if we don't, then the rain drops are going to go back. God's love is going to be withheld. That is not the case. God's love is bestowed upon us. Now, I want you to listen to this. God does not love me more because I'm a pastor. God does not love missionaries more16:53because they are missionaries. And God does not love you less because you are the vilest offender and sinner. God loves us all the same. You say, how do you know that, pastor? Because he sent his son that while I was still a sinner, Jesus died for me. God loves us all the same. Look at the person to your left. I have it easy because there's no one to my left. Look at the person to your right. God doesn't love them any more17:23or less than you. That's freeing to me because some of you are thinking, well, this person on my left, they got it going on. And God's never going to love me like them. And some of you are thinking on the other side, thank God that God loves me more. Right? That is a self-centered, man-centered, foolish lie from hell. God doesn't love us differently. And His love has been given. He will not take that back.17:52Let that hit your heart and transform your life. Not only has God's love been given and it will not be taken, but it cannot be earned. It cannot be earned. So church people, again, this is something we struggle with. We think, we know we can't, but we still try to earn God's love. Verse 1, look at the great love the Father has given. Where is His love from? The Father. Where does it come from? It has been given, not earned, not borrowed.18:22not borrowed. Some of us are making promises to God right now. God, if I come to church, please do this for my life. Please love me more. God loves you extravagantly already. He's not waiting to give His love to you and you cannot earn it. And that's not a, hey, go and sin and live it up. Eat, drink, and be merry. Because when God transforms your heart, He transforms your life. So show me someone living in darkness18:53and say they know Jesus. God's word in 1 John says, you are a liar and the truth is not in you, but Jesus can give you light. And that was written to church people. Right? God's love is not earned and it is not bargained. And lastly, it is given to all. Verse 1, see the great love the Father has given us that we should be called God's children.19:22God's love is given all. I want you to know this. If you're here and you do not believe in God at all and you say, you know, I just can't believe, I can't believe it. If you say, oh, I don't care for God. I am hurt. I am angry. And I will take my last breath rejecting the fact that God exists. I want you to know that He loves you. And He is not scared of your anger.19:51He's not scared of your unbelief. And even in your unbelief, Jesus died for you. Jesus died for the one who does not believe. How do I know that? Because when I did not believe, Christ had already died for me because His love has already been given for me. Does God love? Look at His great love that has been poured out that we should be called children of God.20:20So our second question, church, does God love? Yes. Look. Wake up. Does He love now me? There's two pictures in Scripture that jump out when we ask the question, does God love me? And they both come from Luke 15. The first is the parable of the prodigal son. That's not a good name for it because that focuses on the one son who went away. The best name for this story is the parable of the two lost sons.20:50You see, one son was the oldest son, responsible, well-mannered, hard-working. Tell him my oldest son, right? Stayed at home, structured, you know, not wanting to do anything crazy, just want to stay at home and do the right thing. And he did. And he worked for his dad and worked hard and he was faithful and diligent. And this,21:20And this, the younger brother, the middle brother, we don't know who he was, he was younger, walks up to dad and said, dad, look, I know you're still alive and I'm supposed to wait until you're dead, so can you just kind of really die and give me my inheritance. That's what he said. That was against everything in his culture. He was looking at his dad and saying, dad, I love you, but I don't really love you. I love your stuff. Go ahead and die to me and give me what's mine. And the father, who was,21:50who was, the prodigal means lavish to the point of foolishness. A spin thrift. You see, the father in this story could have been called a prodigal because he gave his son something that his son shouldn't have had. The son looks at the father and says, dad, you're dead to me. And the dad said, okay, here's your stuff. And the son goes out and he spends money on foolishness, prostitutes and drugs and lavish lifestyles. We don't deal with that now,22:20thank God. But he just lived it up. And he gets to the point where he's feeding pigs and the pigs are eating better than he is. And so the son says in Luke 15, and it's a beautiful story, he says, even the servants in my dad's house live better than this. I want to go home and just be a servant. And the Bible says he comes to his senses and he goes home.22:48And when he sees dad, dad runs to him. The son who said, dad, you're dead to me. Dad said,23:18Dad said, welcome home. Behold the love that the Father has towards us. If we don't grasp that, we have nothing. And some of you are here and you've looked at God and you've said, you're dead to me. And God said, you don't understand it. I let my son die for you. And some of you are here this morning thinking, I can't go home23:47because I, look at what I've done and the Father is waiting for you today. There's no greater expression of love than that. And whether you accept it or not, the Father is waiting for you. He's waiting. And this is the picture we need to show to the world. They don't need to look at us and say, man, look at you stuffy people.24:16You are unloving. You're unforgiving. They need to see, look at you prodigal, foolish people. I can't believe you went back to a person, to a guy that you said was dead in your sin and he took you back. And we look at the world and we say, I don't know why he did, but he did because he loves me. This is the great love the Father has towards me. In the same passage, Luke 15, Jesus gives us a parable about sheep. He says,24:46He says, there's a hundred sheep. There's 99 of you stay home. One of you falls down the mountain. He says, guess who the Father is going to look for? Not the fat sheep, not the comfortable sheep, not the happy sheep. He leaves and goes and finds the one. Now, I began to think that probably didn't make the 99 sheep happy. They're like, look, baby brother, he shouldn't have jumped off the mountain. What was he thinking? And God says,25:15I will go pursue you and I know there are people here this morning that God is pursuing and you've said, no thank you, no thank you, no thank you. God is not going to give up on you. Even if you look at him and say, you are dead to me. God, I am angry. I will never turn to you. God says, I will be waiting for you when you come home if you accept my love. God's love is great towards us and we see25:45that God's love results in change. God's love results in change. Does he love us? Yes, he is waiting for you. See what great love the Father has given us that we should be called, what church? We should be called children of God and that is what we are. Not just called, but we are children. We are children. Tim Keller says it best this way. He says, our adoption means26:15means that we are loved like Christ is loved. We are loved like Christ is loved. We are honored like he is honored. Every one of us, no matter what. Your circumstance cannot hinder or threaten that promise. In fact, your bad circumstances will only help you understand and even claim the beauty of that promise. The more you live out who you are in Christ, the more you become26:44like Jesus in actuality. Because of God's love, can he love me? Yes, he adopts you into a new family. He adopts you into, we are God's children. That is what we are. Verse 1, I want you to take that to your mind and to your heart. And lastly, I want us to give us this truth. If God has adopted you and embraced you, God will never unadopt you. God will never27:14unadopt you. Look at verse 1. See what great love the Father has given us that we should be called God's children and we are. The struggle with legalism is this, that you feel like if you don't do the right thing, God is ready to cut the cord and kick you out. That is the failure27:44of legalism. Legalism is I'm going to do this so I will be accepted and embraced by God. And parents, if we are not careful, if we teach our children all you have to do is this and don't do that. If we make it about rules, we have given them a legalistic mindset that will lead them away from the love of God. As some of you grew up under legalistic mindsets or churches where you feel like even today you know that28:14if you confess your sin God will forgive you but you feel like when you sin God is ready to kick you out. God didn't kick the prodigal out. The father didn't say get out. Actually he said welcome home. And he didn't say welcome home as a slave and a servant. What did the father do to this person that should be a slave? He put a ring on his hand and he killed the fattened calf and the second son who was lost. The religious son28:44said dad I don't like that. Father I have been by your side daily working and you have never once thrown me a party. And the father said but your brother was lost. Wake up. For those who are family lost people are important because we want God's family to grow. God's grace doesn't end with you. God's grace29:15God's grace came to me that it might go to others. You say well tell me who that is. Make it easy for me. Anyone have neighbors here? Anyone at all? Not live on a deserted islands. Raise your hand. If you don't live on a deserted islands if you have neighbors they need God's grace. If you have children they need God's grace. If you have a job you have co-workers that need God's grace. If you don't29:46have anything like that go to the store after church. The people that need God's grace and they need to know that the father loves them and cares for them and cherishes them. You need to know that God loves you and cares for you and cherishes you and it is not a love that you know it is a different love. Praise God. It is a different love. Romans 8 38 says it best30:16it best this way about God's love. He will not unadopt us. That not even death or life angels or rulers present nor things to come nor hostile powers height nor depth nor any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Do you30:45Do you need any other answer? There is nothing that will cause you to be unadopted by His grace and His mercy if you know Him. So church how do we live this out? How do we take these truths home? I have four thoughts here as we live it out this week. One seeing and embracing God's grace in our life has radical consequences. if you have not been changed if you31:14if you are not a person who loves you don't know Jesus. That's the most blunt and nice way I can say it. If you are not a loving person you do not know Jesus. Well pastor how could you say that? Because the first oldest son he was just as lost as younger brother. and he was so upset that a lost son would come back and find forgiveness in the father. If you31:44If you are not a loving person you don't know Jesus and that can change today. Some of you are thinking I can't believe he said that to me. Yeah you can. I'm speaking to you. You need God's love. You need his love. You need to be a person that people can come up to you at the store and say I don't know who you are but I just feel there's something different about you. And you can say let me tell you I'm a sinner saved by grace. I don't deserve it. But when I came home father32:13father welcomed me. And he will do the same to you. If you are not a loving person you don't know Jesus. Secondly when you see the love of God you see yourself differently. When you see the love of God you see yourself differently. So do you see yourself as a child as the Lord sees you or do you see yourself from your perspective. I believe some are struggling this morning because you don't feel like you're lovable. But if God loves you what more do32:43more do you need? Why do you want the devils to love you if God loves you? We have a lot of devils in our world. Who cares that the end has already been answered. Jesus wins. Why are you worrying about the love of the devils when the love of the Savior is waiting for you constantly? Do you see yourself as an adopted child of God as God himself sees you? Third when you see the love of God you see33:13you see others differently. You can't help but see and have compassion on others when you know God has compassion on you. And one of the scars and the marks against the church from the world is that the church is not loving. May we break that mold and stereotype. May we do anything that we can to show the world that we love the world because Christ loves us. We33:43We are in the world but we are not of the world. And we need to show people that God loves them. And lastly, if you have been radically transformed by the gospel, you will accept his love for you. You will accept his love and embrace his love towards you. Studies show this about Christmas time, which is nearing, that 40% of you will buy a gift card this year. 40% of you will buy34:13buy a gift card for someone else. And actually more of you want a gift card than anything else. And here's what studies show. This is mind blowing. There's a journal of the state taxation Riveting apparently. The Journal of State Taxation says this, the typical American home has $300 worth of unused gift cards. Some of you are going to go home today and think where is mine?34:42mine? $300 now let me put this in perspective. If you never use those gift cards they're not worth anything for you. God's love is given but it has to be accepted and redeemed. And for some of you God's love is like a gift card you have not redeemed yet. You've come to church and you've heard the good news of Jesus today and you just think you know what I have time tomorrow is a better time35:12time to put my trust in Jesus. There is no better time than today. There is no better time than today. Know that the Savior loves you. You need to see yourself as God sees you. You need to see that you are a sinner unclean and know that when you trust God He will cleanse you of that and bring you and adopt you in a new family. Some of you are here today and you know35:41know God loves you. You struggle with that though. Maybe you just need to stand and sing shortly in our time of response and just declare that powerfully in your life. Maybe you can't sing but you want to sing really loudly and say I'm going to sing loud enough that I can hear it that God loves36:06us that we are his children when what does God's word say about when we are God's children verse 2 dear friends we are God's children now like this morning like right now we are God's children does God love us we can never fathom fully the great love that God has towards us that we like sheep have gone astray each36:35each to his very own way but the Lord has laid upon Jesus the iniquity of us all that same passage by his wounds by his stripes we are healed let's prayMore sermons on Luke →
