Pastor Paul Chappell: Love Changes Everything

first John chapter four verse nine and we're going to read down through verse number thirteen in our Bibles this morning first John chapter four in this was manifested the love of God toward us because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins beloved if God so loved us we ought also to love one another no man have seen God at any time if we love one another god dwelleth in US and his love is perfected in us hereby know we that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his spirit and we have seen and who testify that the father sent the son to be the savior of the world let us pray father we thank you for the wonderful music and the wonderful fellowship now we open your word the centerpiece of our worship today and we ask that you would speak to us and let us know more of how your love changes everything and we pray and ask this in Jesus name Amen you may be seated well many of us have perhaps been through periods of time in our life when we didn't really feel the love we didn't really sense the the love maybe that we thought we should have even from family members I remember reading years ago about a coach at UCLA named pepper Rogers he was the football coach they were going through a terribly difficult season seemed like they kept losing and losing and losing how many of you know that fans do not like losing coaches and the more they would lose the more he would feel the pain and in fact he was talking about it one day and he said really during that season his dog was his only true friend and he went to his wife and he said to his wife he said sweetheart you know every man needs at least two friends and so his wife got him another dog now that's how rough it was for him and sometimes in life we feel that way like come on I can't really feel the love and you know in the last few weeks America has seen an unusual string of tragedies it's been a amazing in fact Alphen wonder what's it gonna take for God to get the attention of our country we think about Puerto Rico and the massive destruction we think about Florida in the Florida Keys in the incredible loss of homes and life we think about Texas and how they're still uncovering and we think about the most horrific mass shooting in our country's history in Las Vegas Nevada and then this past week and even as I speak the smolder of the flame still rising up in Northern California and over 40 people who have lost their lives in what has now become the greatest loss of life by fire in the history of the state of California and sometimes in the middle of that people might wonder about the love of God and they might wonder about where is God's love in a season like this but I want to remind you this morning that the Bible clearly says in first John 4:8 he that loveth not knoweth not God for god is love love is part of God's innate person and being in this morning we will see that God does love us and that he has revealed that love to us in an amazing way and that he wants to use us to be his manifestation of love in the generation in which we live I want you to notice with me this morning in your outline the manifestation of love how can we know how have we seen the love of God the Bible says in verse 9 in this was manifested the love of God toward us I want you to know that this manifestation of God's love is personal it's very very personal God's love it was manifested this means it was made known I heard of a little girl that was concentrating in Sunday school and she was drawing a picture and and and the teacher said what do you what are you drawing there sweetheart and she said oh I'm drawing a picture of God and the teacher said well honey no one knows what God looks like no one has seen God and the little girl said they will now now the fact of the matter is no one has seen God but God has made known to us in a personal way his character his person hood and his love through the Lord Jesus Christ and so he has personally manifested individual love toward us the Bible says in verse 9 and this was manifested the love of God toward us God's love is toward you God's love is for you God's love is coming to you I think of this phrasing first John 4:19 we love Him because He first loved us is it amazing to you like it is to me that before I ever thought of God before I ever knew God that God already knew me and loved me that God was already for me that God had already planned to give his son to die for my sin what a personal love that has been shown to me and to you and I think of the song we sang this morning written by Frederick layman could we with ink could we with ink the ocean fill and the skies of parchment made were every stock on earth a quill and every man a scribe by trade to write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry nor could the scroll contain the whole though stretched from Sky to sky o love of God how rich and pure how marvelous and strong it shall forever more endure it's an individual love that God has shown to us in this was the love of God manifested toward us it's not only individually toward us but it also is a sacrificial love toward us notice in verse 9 it says because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him when I think about this manifestation of God's love when I think about how personal it is I not only think of the individuality of love coming toward me but I think of the sacrificial nature of it God's love responded to our need as sinners verse 9 says that he gave His only begotten Son into the world Romans 5:8 says but God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us all what a wonderful Savior that even while we were yet sinners he died for us and he did he did God said sin his special son to us notice the phrase that he uses here the Bible says in verse 9 he sent His only begotten son five times in the New Testament we read this phrase the only begotten Son and this speaks of the eternal relationship between the father and the eternal son this does not speak of natural generation it speaks of eternal and unique relationship this term the only begotten Son does not speak of Jesus as a lesser part of the Trinity as the Jehovah Witness falsely teach but it speaks of him as being uniquely exalted in the Trinity for example in your notes you find genesis 22:2 it says and he said take now thy son thine only son Isaac whom thou lovest and in Hebrews 11:17 by faith Abraham when he was tried offered up Isaac and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten Son now we know that Isaac was not the only begotten son we know that Abraham had other sons so why was Isaac referred to as the only begotten son it is because Isaac was born of a miraculous unique way and nature and that he had a relationship with Abraham that no one would ever have again because Isaac was conceived miraculously in the womb of his mother Sarah and so it is that God speaks of Jesus Christ as his only begotten son as being the miraculous one and only relationship in the Trinity Jesus Christ The Anointed the son of God Harry Ironsides said the only begotten Son tells of Our Blessed Lord in the past eternity as one person of the adorable Trinity in eternal relationship with the father others our sons by creation as Adam was and as angels are or by the new birth as believers are but he alone is the unique son so God has manifested his love by sending His only begotten Son and the Bible says God sent his son into the world that we might live he is a sent son the Bible says hereby perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us Romans 1832 he that spared not his own son but delivered him up for us all how shall we not with him also freely give us all things and so we see that he is a personal manifestation Jesus is the personal manifestation of the love of God he is the unique the one in only the begotten son of God and He has come personally to this world and he lived for thirty three and a half years in this world and he died a personal literal physical death on the cross and He shed atoning blood for the sins and the covering of all who would believe in so he's personal but then not only do we see that this manifestation is personal but I want you quickly to see that it is eternal it is an eternal manifestation now notice what it says in verse 9 it says that we might live through him would you say that phrase with me that we might live through him so it is personal but it is also an eternal manifestation it's something that transcends this lifetime into the next lifetime that that we might live this phrase might live speaks of the eternal life that comes through God that we might live eternally through him and unending life in an eternal state we have funerals at this church house almost every week almost every week we pause and we remember the life of someone and we also recognize the scripture says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord and we speak of the eternal life that they are enjoying with Jesus Christ and do you recognize that eternal life according to verse 9 is through him it's through this manifested one this only begotten Son eternal life is not through the baptistry waters it's not through a church eternal life is through him for the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord first John 5:20 and we know the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding that we may know him that is true and we are in him that is true even in his son Jesus Christ this is the true God and eternal life now please notice first on 520 and it's not found in some translations of the Bible I believe liberal scholars infidels and agnostics cut some of these verses out and I'm thankful today that it's in the Bible from which I preach first on 520 says this is the true God and eternal life would you say that phrase with me please this is the true God so the words Jesus and God are used synonymously if you follow verse John first John 5:20 his son Jesus Christ is the true God what is this telling us it's telling us that Jesus Christ alone can give eternal life because He is God and that he was conceived of the Holy Ghost and that that which was born of the Holy Spirit was truly the very son of God and only Jesus the eternal and true God can give eternal life you must be eternal to offer something that is eternal this church cannot offer eternal life I cannot offer eternal life only the eternal God can provide eternal life this is the true God and so the manifestation of love is found in Jesus Christ God's only begotten Son coming down to this world to say I love you but I want you to look now not only the manifestation but secondly at the mercy of this love I want you to see the mercy that Jesus brings to this torn world to this sin-sick world find with me verse 10 please herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins now I want to show you the love of God or the mercy of God now in two orders or two ways first I want you to see the order of his mercy I want you to see the order of it in verse 10 not that we loved God but that he loved us so I want you to see that the love of God was initiated by God it was initiated by God here in his love not that we loved God but that he loved us we love him because he first loved us I'm so thankful for that before your heart ever started beating before you ever had a name God knew you and God loved you and he said his heart toward you and he personalized his love toward you notice it says there in verse 10 not that we loved God but that he loved us and he sent his son oh do you see the Bible says the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth God sent his son to us in order that we might know the mercy of God and and God loved us before we ever thought of him but then not only do we see an order God's love first but then notice secondly an outcome I want you to see the outcome of this what's the outcome of God's love well the Bible says in verse 10 that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins now we're gonna learn a vocabulary word today okay I really believe at church that we need to learn Bible terms and we need to teach them to our children at home and here's a vocabulary word for all of us today it is the word propitiation propitiation and sometimes in the Greek it's the word Hylas derionne which has translated the mercy seat which is where the blood was placed in the Old Testament for the covering of sin in this word in this particular verse it is the word Halasz mas which means an appeasing or a satisfactory payment so the word propitiation means a satisfactory payment so let's work on that together let's say the word first ready begin the word is and it means a satisfactory payment so jesus is our propitiating which means jesus is the satisfactory payment for our sin so let's look at that verse again verse 10 herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation which means what class for our sins Jesus appeased God's just demand for the payment of sin I remember when I was spending time in Colorado and I would finish the day and have dinner with my grandparents and I would sit down in the living room with my grandfather and he would sit in his brown recliner chair and I would sit on the red couch and and he would begin to teach me the book of Romans and he would say now Paul do you realize that God is holy and just and that he cannot let sin into heaven and he cannot be a just God and let us into heaven and so there had to be a covering for our sin and so we would say Romans 5:8 he said God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us and he would teach me that Jesus became the covering for our sin and he would remind me of this simple truth and I learned it in a song as well what can wash away my sin nothing but the blood of Jesus Christ and the outcome of his mercy is that now the whole world can have a covering for their sin you see this covering is a universal propitiation the Bible says he came to be the propitiation for our sins in fact notice in 1st John 2 and 2 the Bible says and he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world friends I want to realize with me this morning that Jesus loves this world and that his blood covers the sin of anyone who would believe and it doesn't matter if they live in Central America or Africa or Asia Jesus loves the world Jesus loves the children all the children of the world red yellow black brown white they are precious in His sight and his blood is a covering his blood is a covering it is a propitiation and I'm saying to you this morning that all who come to Jesus Christ it doesn't matter where they've been it doesn't matter what they've done they can have their sins forgiven because the blood of Jesus is a universal coverage for the sin of the world you say oh how we thanked him for that it's a universal provision and it's a righteous provision it's the right provision God's holiness and justice demanded a payment for sin so God in His love found a way that his righteousness could be appeased you see God who is love is also holy sometimes in the modern-day church we forget that he's a holy God but he's a holy God so God and His love found a way to appease his righteousness and the way is Jesus Christ so look at Romans 3:24 in your notes being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God to declare I say at this time his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus and so this morning we see the manifestation of God's love through Jesus Christ we see the mercy of God's love through the shedding of the blood which is the propitiation for the sins of the world what mercy he has shown to us what love he has shown to us but then I bring to your attention finally this morning not only the manifestation of love not only the mercy of love but I bring to you the mission of love God's mission of love now the world has a strange way of talking about love sometimes young people speak about it and they speak of eros the erotic the lustful that's not what God is talking about sometimes people use the term Follette Oh as in Philadelphia love as in a friendship kind of a love that's not what God is talking about God is using the word here agape he is speaking of the deepest kind of love that we could ever know and he wants our love to get deeper and deeper as we grow deeper and deeper in him and I want you to see the mission of love verse 11 beloved if God so loved us we ought also to love one another if God so loved us all you see the Bible says we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works and if we love the Lord then the outward mission will be as displayed as we love one another and so I want you to notice first of all the basis of this mission why do we need to love someone else what's the basis if God so loved us we ought to love one another some of you say pastor when you're talking about God loving me that resonates when you're talking about God's love for me that is so awesome when you're telling me that means I gotta love him that's not so awesome or I gotta love her that's not so awesome so what's the basis for this mission upon what do you base this command to love one another we'll look at the verse if God loves us if God loved you then you ought to love someone else you see the basis for this love is first of all his example to us you see the Bible says greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends jesus said I tried to show you how to love your family jesus said husbands love your wives even as Christ loved the church I I tried to show you what that means it means laying aside what you could have done and doing what you should have done and being willing to love with a sacrificial love Jesus says I tried to give you an example of love should look like in the family Jesus said I've given you an example and more than that I've given you a command the Bible says in mark 12:29 and jesus answered him the first of all the commandments is hear o Israel the Lord our God is one Lord and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind and with all thy strength this is the first commandment and the second is like namely this thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself there is none other commandment greater than these imagine that in the same conversation jesus places loving him and loving our neighbor in the same conversation he says you can't really love me without loving others you can't say you love God while you hate your neighbor you can't say you love God while you're bitter at your wife you can't say you love God while you're bitter at your husband he says the basis for this mission of love is the fact that I loved you when you did not deserve it I loved you when you were a sinner doomed for a Chryslers hell I loved you when all you could offer was filthy rags now therefore go and love someone else who does not deserve this love the basis of our love for others is the love that we have received from Jesus Christ Ephesians chapter 4 tells us that were to forgive one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us so his example compels us to the mission but notice secondly the behavior of this mission and I want you to think about it as we look at verse 12 no man hath seen God at any time if we love one another god dwelleth in US and his love is perfected in us now since God is the spirit he cannot be seen but in conjunction with verse 11 verse 12 is telling us that Christians are to be the visible evidence of the love of God that since God cannot seem but we have received his love through Jesus Christ then we are to love others and we are to become the manifestation of God's love in this world so when we sent money to Puerto Rico or when we sent funds to churches devastated in texas or Florida we as Lancaster Baptist Church became a manifestation of the love of God and when we serve Thanksgiving meals to the community and when we run buses into homes of destitute situations and when we council and when we care and when we give a cup of cold water in Jesus names then our hands become his hands and our feet become his feet and we behaviorally become the manifestation of the love of God and I think all of us would agree this world needs more of the love of God and that we are called to behave in this way we see that this behavior is simply love perfected do you see that in verse 12 if we love one another god dwelleth in US and his love is perfected in us that is to say it becomes completed through us his love is perfected through us now Jesus was the perfect manifestation but we are also the fruition we're to follow through in that same vein and we are loved perfected through Christ and then secondly we are to be loved practiced we are to be loved practiced I mentioned the family earlier God says I want your love and the family to reflect my love for you it's unconditional it never ends God doesn't stop loving you sometimes in marriage counseling people say well I just can't love him all my friend the fruit of the Spirit is love and God never stops loving and he commands us to love one another husbands love your wives oh how we need husbands today you say how can I love my wife and children the way I should you need to learn from Jesus how to love your family be a lover of Jesus be a follower of Jesus be an imitator of Jesus and you'll become a wonderful husband it's not about trying to learn how to be a better husband or better wife it's all about learning how to be a better follower of Jesus Christ and I say to you this morning the more you are like Jesus the better you will be in your home in God who is love wants a father to bring love into the family and that love is not necessarily a permissive love Jesus does not cover sin in the sense of saying it's not sin he dealt with issues no doubt it's not an angry kind of a of a screaming love or demanding love Jesus had righteous indignation towards sin and father should have righteous indignation towards media or friends or issues that would harm their family but it's not an angry love it's not a permissive love it's a holy righteous balanced love that Jesus has given to us and he calls us to bring it into the family and he calls us to bring it to his church by this Shalom and know that you are my disciples if you love one another I think one of the most tragic things that happens in a community and across the nation and on social media is when Christians criticize one another jesus said by this shall all men know that you are my disciples when you love one another something I've tried to practice for 31 years if I can't say something good about a fellow preacher or a Christian I just won't say anything at all I don't want unsaved people to hear bad things about the people of God listen friends this morning you don't have to agree with everything but we ought to love one another God says even as I have loved you love your family love your Christian Brothers love in the community oh how this church needs to be and a tremendous testimony of love to this Antelope Valley and someone says well how does that happen how do you sustain that love because in my marriage it was good for a while but it's hit a plateau and with my neighbor you know I tried for a while but I'm sick of it how does someone continue to love like God loved well I have to tell you this morning you can't do it you can't continue like God did unless God does it through you unless it's God working through you you're gonna Peter out you're gonna fall down notice the verse as we close verse 13 of chapter 4 hereby know we that we dwell in him and because he hath given us of his capital s what's the word please spirit say it with me he has given us up is what friend if you are saved today on the day that you asked Jesus to be your savior his spirit took up residence in your life this past Saturday I was teaching some of our teenagers at 12 o'clock I'm going through a series on Saturdays every Saturday at noon for all the teens that just want to get to know pastor and they're interested in spiritual leadership and serving God I think there were about 40 of them and I was talking to our teenagers yesterday about what it means to walk in the spirit and I shared with them a little phrase that I sometimes teach our staff and the phrase is simply obey every impulse of the Holy Spirit of God would you say that with me obey every impulse of the Holy Spirit of God and I was teaching them that sometimes the Holy Spirit will put on our heart to witness to someone or as he has with my wife and I may be to take some bread to a family that's hurting or to visit someone in the hospital or to witness to someone and and I just try when the Lord puts those things on my heart to say yes to the Holy Spirit to walk in the spirit and you're never gonna remember how to be the right husband good night you can't even remember her birthday half the time but the Holy Spirit is a good reminder and the Bible says in verse 13 he has given us of his spirit first Peter 1:22 seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit unto unfeigned love of the Brethren seed that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently all my friends today God is calling us to enter into this mission of his love and to be the manifestation today of his love I think of these fires in Northern California they have so devastated neighborhoods a friend of mine who's a pastor a fire came right to the walls of their church burned down the business next door over 40 people have lost their lives even as the flames are still leaping up on buildings and in some cases beautiful trees and vineyards have been wiped out even some redwood trees have been lost and not the giant sequoias but many large sequoia trees in Napa Valley and it's interesting when you study these forest fires and these types of fires because they truly do have hope on the other side you see the fact is that in these forests as the ashes settle and as the flames cease oftentimes well below the ash there are little tiny cones that have fallen from these sequoia trees not much larger than a penny really but inside of them they are filled with seeds and God has a way of covering with ash the seed of life that only he can give and God has a way through time of bringing the water of his word into the seed of life and through time he'll birth once again one tree and another tree and another tree and God can bring a tremendous miracle out of even a fiery trial God from a difficult Flood God from a difficult shooting God through your difficulty in life perhaps will bring forth the sprouting of life that only could have happened through that trial and while all we see is the ashes and the destruction God knows about the seed that God knows about the miracle God knows about the work he knows about the giant miracle that he wants to bring to pass because God is love he has manifested his love and he shows his mercy through his love and he calls us into the mission of spreading his love every day wherever we are

Channel: Lancaster Baptist Church

Views: 1,791

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Keywords: preaching, sermon, Christian, God, Jesus, Lancaster Baptist Church, Lancaster Baptist, Pastor Paul Chappell, Paul Chappell, love, game, changers

Id: ITgaxNq0gy8

Length: 32min 58sec (1978 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 16 2017