1 John 4:20

If someone says, "I love God," and he 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? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. His commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world? But he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

Father, I pray that You would give us wisdom and insight supernaturally. Jesus, You promised on that night that You would be betrayed and arrested. You promised that You would not leave Your disciples as orphans, but that You would send the Spirit of Truth who would guide them into all truth and teach them all things. We trust that we have the same Spirit today, Your Holy Spirit, here in this place, in our presence.

We pray, God, by Your Holy Spirit, that You would give us wisdom and understanding, Lord, that we not only know intellectually what the text says, but that we would understand what it means for us in this moment today, in August of 2019. God, teach us, give us wisdom, help us to know how to apply these things in our lives, that our lives would be transformed in a measurable way, that we would be somewhat more like You tomorrow because of Your word. We pray this in Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said, "Amen."

You may be seated.

Have you ever had a brief interaction with a stranger, and yet many years later that interaction still kind of lingers in your mind? You still remember that interaction, though you haven't...

We have brief interactions with strangers all the time. Maybe it's the person at the cash register when you're at the grocery store, the person scanning your card when you go to the gym, or the person making your coffee at Starbucks. We move away from those interactions, and not even an hour later, we've totally forgotten their faces.

However, what about the interaction where you meet someone you've never met before, and 15 years later, you're still remembering that encounter? Such is the case with an interaction I had probably about 16 or 18 years ago. I was out to lunch with a friend of mine, another pastor. We were on the east end of town, and after finishing our lunch, we were sitting there when an interesting-looking character walked up to us. He was a stranger, probably in his mid-40s at the time, and he said, "Hey guys, I have a magic trick for you."

I looked at my friend and said, "All right, well, show us your magic trick." So he showed us the trick, and my friend responded, "Oh, I can do that magic trick." In frustration, the stranger said, "Really?" My friend then demonstrated the trick. The stranger, undeterred, said, "Well, I got another magic trick," and he performed another one. My friend replied, "I can do that one too." The frustration level increased a little more. This back-and-forth continued for two or three more rounds until, finally, after some serious frustration, the stranger sat down next to us and said, "I got a trick you can't do."

He picked up a butter knife and started tapping on his left eye, a glass eye, clink, clink, clink. I thought to myself, "Yes, I can't do that one." We started talking with this guy, and within a matter of minutes, he asked, "Hey, can you guys give me a ride home?" I replied, "Well, where do you live?" He said, "Valley Center. I'm a Valley Center native. You know this guy; his name's Left Eddie."

We agreed to give him a ride home. As we got into my car and I started driving, he asked, "So what do you guys do for a living?" We said, "Well, we're both pastors." He responded, "Really? Man, I love God. I ain't lying." Left Eddie told me probably eight or nine times, "I love God. I ain't lying." I cannot read 1 John chapter 4, verse 20, without remembering that encounter.

Thinking of Left Eddie, if someone says, "I love God," that's exactly what comes to my mind when I read these words. I love God. I am happy to report that a Valley Center native came up to me after the first service and said, "I just saw Left Eddie last week." So he's still around. You know what? I think Left Eddie probably does love God. I love God. I am not lying. Yes, he does.

Left Eddie is not the only person who might profess a love for God. We know that there are many people who make professions of faith, statements of love and devotion to God. In John's day, that was the case, and in our day, it is still the case. However, we recognize that not everyone who makes such a profession really follows it up with the actions of their life. There are many potential lovers of God by profession.

It's fascinating that the Book of Acts, the history book of the New Testament, begins with a salutation to a man named Theophilus. The name Theophilus means "lover of God." Yet, there are some people who profess to be a Theophilus, and they turn out to be the awfulest people you've ever met. This raises the question of whether they really are what they profess to be. We can have a profession that doesn't always align with our lives.

This is exactly what the writer of this letter has been dealing with as he has been going through the chapters we have been examining. This short letter was written near the end of the first century A.D. The author of this letter, the Apostle John, is probably the last living apostle, the last one who had seen the risen Jesus at this point when he writes this letter. He is looking at the church and sees exactly what Jesus had foretold would come: that there would be false professors, false prophets, false teachers, and false Christs. These are people who gain prominence among Christians and have a profession that sounds very Christian-like, but their lives do not align with it.

This is obviously a problem because such counterfeits can lead people astray. So, John is writing to try to expose and oppose those kinds of counterfeits.

It is very clear that this person's life does not measure up to their profession. There are things, as we might say in our time, that are mutually exclusive. He is saying that if a profession does not line up with the way of life, then those things are mutually exclusive. For example, you cannot be turning right at the same time that you are turning left; it's mutually exclusive.

Now, I know there is probably about 5% of you right now who are thinking, "No, I think there's probably a way, and I'm going to figure it out. I'm going to send them an email later; there's a way." However, you cannot be in Los Angeles at the same time you are in Washington, D.C. Again, there are the amateur physicists in the room who might argue, "No, no, no, there's a way; I know there's a way," and you may find a way. But really, logically speaking, we understand that there are certain things that are mutually exclusive. They are incompatible with one another, much like oil and water.

In the passage here in 1 John that we have been studying, we see a number of things that John puts forward as being mutually exclusive. They do not go together. One of them we considered in our study together last week. In 1 John 4:18, he says there is no fear in love. Fear of punishment or torment and love do not coexist. There is no fear of punishment or torment in love.

He gives us another example in this passage. One cannot be, at the same time, a lover of God and also hate that which God made in His image. And what did God make in His image? He made us in His image; we are the image bearers of God. So, he says you cannot profess to be a lover of God and at the same time hate those who bear His image. In 1 John 4:20, it states, "If someone says, 'I love God' and hates his brother, he is a liar." It cannot get any clearer than that. There is no gradation; there is no nuance.

John presents many clear contrasts in this letter: light and darkness, life and death, good and evil, love and hate. You cannot love God and hate your brother; you are a liar if that is the case. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?

John returns here in 1 John 4:20 and in the passage we are looking at today, and he comes back to what we might call his tests for authenticity, for Christian authenticity.

He's testing vital signs for the new birth. Is this person truly a follower of God? This is really important because there were counterfeits coming into the church who had gained prominence among Christians. They had a profession: "I know God. I love God. I walk in the light." Yet, their lives did not live up to what they were saying. John is saying we need to make it very clear whether this person is or is not a follower of God.

He gives these Christian authenticity tests, which fall under three categories: the test for obedience, the test for love, and the test for faith. Obedience, love, and faith are the categories he says we need to look for. We saw this back in 1 John chapter 2. If you are in 1 John 4, just turn a couple of pages to the left to 1 John chapter 2.

Look at verse 3: "Now by this we know, this is how we gauge authenticity. Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments." This is the test for obedience. We can know that we know God and that others know God by their obedience to His commandments. Verse 4 says, "He who says, 'I know Him'—a profession—and does not keep His commandments—an action—is a liar, and the truth is not in him."

"But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him." He who says he abides in Him ought also to walk as He walked. So there is the obedience test. We can assess the way a person lives and say, "Yes, I see in their actions, by their obedience, that they truly are one who knows God, one who follows God."

John moves from the obedience test to the love test in 1 John chapter 2, verse 9. "He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him." "He who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness and does not know where he is going, for the darkness has blinded his eyes."

So we have the obedience test, which involves walking in and keeping the commandments of God. We also have the test for love. Do we see that this person loves God and loves other people, or is there evidence to the contrary?

Do we live in kind of a hatred towards other people? Well, then it exposes that maybe we are not what we say we are. Finally, he has a test for faith in 1 John, chapter 2, verse 22: "Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is anti-Christ who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either. He who acknowledges the Son has the Father also."

We see these three tests in 1 John, chapter 2. They also appear in 1 John, chapter 1, verses 6-10; chapter 2, verses 15-16, 18-19, and 29; and chapter 3, verses 6-9 and 10-15. They keep coming up over and over again. Why do they keep coming up? Because John is seeking to expose and oppose those who had a profession but did not have a life that backed up that profession, as they were leading people astray.

We need to gauge authenticity. How do we know if a person is born again? How do we know if they have the vital signs of a follower of Jesus? The answer lies in obedience, love, and faith. In 1 John, chapter 4, verse 20, John returns to this language when he says, "If someone says, 'I love God' and hates his brother, he is a liar."

On your sermon guide, if I love God, I will love others. By loving others, we are not simply talking about heartwarming affection. I think this is worth noting. As I look back over what we've covered previously and consider the things I've been teaching over the last several weeks, I realize that I may not have developed this point as well as I could have. The love that John is calling us to is not merely a warm-hearted, sympathetic feeling or a mushy sentimentality.

I would suggest that a lot of modern thinking on love falls into mushy sentimentality, where you just feel good about something. That's not what John is talking about. So when he says that we are to love God and love others, what is he speaking about when he talks about this love?

Now, I've called this series "Fullness of Joy," and I'm convinced that you cannot experience fullness of joy without understanding what it means to love God with an alive and active love.

Loving others with an alive and active love actually looks like something practical. So, what is this alive and active love that is not just a mushy sentimentality? What does it look like?

The interesting thing is that virtually every time the writers of New Testament Scripture talk about this characteristic, this quality of love, they use a very specific word for love that is most clearly defined in the Apostle Paul's letter to the Corinthians, specifically in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. This chapter is not unfamiliar to many, even to those who are not well-versed in the Bible. You may have seen it in a card or in literature, and oftentimes people hear it at weddings. For instance, Pastor Jason's oldest son, Nick, got married yesterday, and Jason quoted from 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verses 4 and onward during the ceremony.

You've probably heard these words before, but they are worth examining because they describe the quality of active and alive love that God desires to be evident in me as a follower of Jesus, if I am a person who is born again.

So, if you are in 1 John, turn to the left. We are going to go to 1 Corinthians. You will pass books like Peter's letters and Hebrews, along with several of Paul's other letters, including Timothy and Titus. Keep going until you reach 1 Corinthians chapter 13. If you get to Romans, you've gone too far.

Normally, I read from the New King James Version, but I want to read from the New Living Translation, so it might be a little different from what you are reading, but it will be pretty close.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verse 4, Paul describes this love. He says, "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud. It is not rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable and keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice in injustice, but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance."

This is what God's love is supposed to look like practically in my life. This is what ought to be exhibited in the life of the person who says, "I am a lover of God. I know God. I follow God."

If you are walking in the light, then what will be evident in your life will be this kind of love towards other people. If I love God, I will love others.

Point number two on your outline is that the attributes of God's love should be increasingly evident in my life towards others. This increasingly evident aspect is really important because, on day one, is this love perfectly evident in my life when I'm a child of God? It should be increasingly evident, the attributes of this kind of love in my life toward others as I've been born of God.

As time goes by, and trust me, I'm not there yet, my life should be moving toward this. Miles is patient and kind. Now, that's just rude that you're laughing at me. God is not very loving because I didn't put your name into it. I didn't say Ken is patient and kind; I said Miles is patient and kind. Miles is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Come on, please. Miles does not demand his own way. The only person that can laugh at this is my wife. Miles is not irritable. He does not keep a record of being wrong. He never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Now, I joke, but it is laughable because we realize that we don't live up to that. I'm not there yet. God's love, the word here, Agapao, should be increasingly evident in my life. Why? Well, for one reason, what we read in 1 John 4:21: "And this commandment we have from him, that he who loves God must love his brother also."

At the very least, this love—patient, kind, not jealous, not boastful, not proud, not irritable, not rude, bearing all things, believing all things, hoping all things, enduring all things—should be increasingly evident in my life as a follower of God because it's been commanded. I have been commanded to love in this way, to love God, and to love others in this way. This commandment we have from him, verse 21, is that he who loves God must love his brother.

This is not a suggestion. God didn't say, "If you get around to it, maybe try to be patient with people." No, He said, "Love one another." You might say, "Well, okay. I feel warm towards them. I love them." But that's not enough. Love them. Be patient with them and kind towards them. Do not be rude or boastful or conceited. Oh man, really? That just ups the game right there. He commanded us to love in this way.

When did He command us to love in this way? We've looked at it many times in this series. In John's Gospel, chapter 13, verse 34, Jesus said, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you. You also ought to love one another." He reiterated this the same exact night, two chapters later, in John chapter 15, verse 12: "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, but that a man would lay down his life for his friends."

The Apostle Paul, picking up on this teaching years later, wrote a letter to a church in Rome. In Romans chapter 13, verse 8, he said, "Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law." He then lists the commandments: "You shall not commit adultery. You shall not murder. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. You shall not covet." These all come from the big ten. If there is any other commandment, all are summed up in this saying: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Now, at this point, if you are anything like me—and you are, because I'm a sinner and you're a sinner—you might be hedging a little bit. What do I mean? You might be thinking, "I need to love one another. I need to love my brother, my sister. I need to love my neighbor." That's what the Scriptures say. Just like the lawyer who came to Jesus one day and asked, "Master, what shall I do to get into heaven?" Jesus replied, "You know the commandments. How do you read them?" The lawyer recited, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength. You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

And Jesus said to him, "Yeah, go do that." The man, seeking to justify himself, then asked, "Who is my neighbor?" He's hedging, right? That's what we do. We want to specify, "Who do I have to love?"

I get it. I need to be loving, but there are some people I don't have to love. Why do I say that? Because that's exactly what the minds of people 2,000 years ago were thinking in Jesus's day. They would say, and Jesus points this out in the Sermon on the Mount, "You have heard that it has been said of those of old time, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'" That was the teaching of that day: love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

Now, how many of us do not want to sign up for that? It sounds appealing because then we get to be arbiters of who is our neighbor and who is our enemy. We might think, "I don't like that guy; I don't have to love him." This leads us to be rude, unkind, and irritable towards that person. We convince ourselves that we don't have to love them because they're not our neighbor.

We're not even going to get into Jesus's follow-up teaching in Matthew chapter five, where he says to love your enemy. That's for another day. For now, we're just talking about loving those who are the children of God, which is hard enough. This is what He calls us to. So we start to hedge. We think, "I've got to love my brother. I've got to love my neighbor." Let's clearly specify who exactly that is. Who is my brother? Who is my sister that I have to be kind to, patient with, humble with, unconceited, and hopeful?

First John 5:1 states, "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." So if you believe that Jesus is Savior and have trusted in Him, you are born again; you are born of God. Everyone who loves God, who begot the one who begets His children, also loves the person who is begotten of Him.

Number three on your outline: if I am born of God, I will love all His children. Now, maybe not perfectly on day one, but increasingly over time, progressively, as God works in my life, this will begin to be evident. We've already established that this love with which we love is not just a mushy sentimentality; it is alive and active. By this alive and active love, we demonstrate that we are God's children. There is no gradation; there is no gray area here. If I am a child of God and have been born of God, then I am to love everyone that is.

Also born of God, that's the call that John gives to us, and it is very clear. You may wonder, "Pastor, I'm not sure if I can do that." I understand this concern because we are truly challenged by this, and we should be. The reading of the Scriptures challenges us because it sets forth God's standard by which He judges. Not only is it His standard for judgment, but it is also what He ultimately wants to bring us unto.

We might think, "I'm not sure I can do this," but our concern is invalidated at least by three points. Galatians 5:22 says, "The fruit of the Spirit is love." The evidence of God's Spirit being in me is this love. A verse I often refer to is Philippians 2:13, which states that it is God who is working in me both to will and to do His good pleasure. So, the fruit of the Spirit is love, and God is working in me, enabling me to love in this way.

Philippians 4:13 is another verse that many people consider their favorite: "I can do all things through Him who gives me strength." Therefore, God's Spirit is in me, and the evidence of God's Spirit in me is love. God is enabling me and empowering me supernaturally by His Spirit to do this, and I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.

If I am born of God, I will love all of God's children. This love with which I am to love the children of God is to be alive and active. It is a love that is displayed in patience, kindness, and humility. But how do I know if I am actually loving the children of God in this way? John answers that exact question in 1 John 5:2: "By this, we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep His commandments."

Now, if you are not a little confused, you may have missed what seems to be circular reasoning. John appears to have made something of a circular argument here. The argument is this: If you say that you love God, but you do not love with the kind of love described in 1 Corinthians 13, and you do not love God's children, then you are a liar.

Got it. If you love God, you will love His children. By this, we know that you love the children of God because you love God. We just circled back to that and keep His commandments. He throws that in there right at the end: keep His commandments.

So how do we draw this all together? This apparent circular argumentation—if you say you love God, then you love His people. If you love His people, then you're going to love God. How do we do all of this? Well, I think in this way: if I am born of God, then I will love God and others. If I'm born again, if I've been transformed by the Spirit of God and regenerated, then I will love God and love other people.

Love for God and love for others are united together as one thing in John's view of the new birth. If you become a newborn Christian, you are going to love God and love others in response to God's love. First John 4:19 states, "We love Him because He first loved us." In response to His love, we love Him and we love those that are begotten of Him. These things are brought together, united as one. John does not see a difference between loving God and loving His people.

Why? Because the church, the people of God, are called the body of Christ. In loving the people of God, you are loving God. In loving God, you are loving the people of God. They are united together as one, as John sees things, even though that might be really hard for us to wrap our brains around.

All of this is expressed and evidenced in keeping His commandments. What is His commandment? Well, in Matthew chapter 22, a lawyer came to Jesus one day and asked, "What is the greatest commandment of the law?" Jesus replied, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength. You shall love your neighbor as yourself." On these two commandments, all of the law and the prophets are fulfilled; they are all summed up in this.

So, 16 to 18 years ago, Eddie said to me, "I love God. I ain't lying." Point number four on your outline: the true child of God is known by their obedience to the laws of love. How do I know if a person is really a follower of God?

They are seeking, by God's enabling power, to love God and to love others, both the people of God and their enemies. This is hard for us, but this is where God wants us to spring forth in love—loving our enemies with a love that is patient and kind, not irritable, rude, or conceited. They are striving to love in that way, to obey the law of love.

Now, with all of this talk of obedience, it puts us in a challenging place because we have to ask the question: how do I become a child of God? I say this because many people believe that we become a child of God by keeping the commandments of God. They think that if they just do those things, then they become a child of God. However, what John has put forward here is that you become a child of God first, and then you fulfill these commandments by the enabling power of God at work in your life.

So how then do you become a child of God? First John chapter five, verse three states, "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world." When you are born again, you become an overcomer. You overcome this world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world? It is he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

This is very important. By faith in Christ, I become a victorious child of God. It is crucial to make this point because we want to be careful not to fall into a pattern of thinking that says, "If I just keep the commandments of God, then I will earn my place as a child of God." That is not what the Scriptures say. They make it very clear that you and I become the children of God by believing in Christ.

The very opening words of John's Gospel, chapter one, verse twelve, state, "To as many as received Him, who believed in His name, He gave them the right to be called the children of God." When you become a child of God by the grace of God, through the work of Jesus on the cross, then God works in you. This is evidenced in your love for God and your love for other people. I am stressing this point because it is very, very important.

There was a very religious man who came to Jesus one night. His name was Nicodemus, and it's recorded in John's Gospel, chapter three. He was one of the, if not the leading rabbis of Jesus's day. He was a Pharisee, meaning he was part of a religious sect in Judaism that sought to keep all of God's law perfectly, not just the law of God, but all the traditions of Judaism as well. They justified themselves by the keeping of the law.

Now, how many of you would say that guy was probably a pretty morally good person? I think he probably was. He came to Jesus one night with some questions for Him. As the leading rabbi in Israel, he approached Jesus and started out with some formalities. However, Jesus cut him off mid-sentence and said, "Hey, Nick, unless you're born again, you will not see the kingdom of God."

At that moment, Nicodemus's brain just popped like a grape. He could not comprehend what Jesus was saying; it sent him into a kind of cognitive dissonance. He was trying to wrap his brain around this concept. "What are you talking about? Of course, I'm going to heaven. I am the teacher in Israel. I've kept the law according to the law, like Saul of Tarsus. I'm blameless. What do you mean I will not see the kingdom of God unless I'm born again?"

He was trying to figure this out and asked, "Wait, what must I be like? Go back into my mother's womb and be born a second time?" He was struggling with this whole idea. Jesus, being full of grace and truth, took the time to explain things. However, Nicodemus was still not getting it. He said, "I don't understand how this whole born again thing happens."

So, Jesus said, "Let me try to speak in earthly terms because I know I'm speaking about heavenly things, and you're not grasping it. I'll bring it down to your level." He continued, "In the same way that Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness..." At this point, Nicodemus was thinking, "Now you're speaking my language."

Why? Because Jesus was quoting from the Old Testament book of Numbers, which Nicodemus knew really well. There is a story in the book of Numbers about how the children of Israel, after they had left Egypt, were wandering in the wilderness. At one point, a whole bunch of venomous snakes came into the camp and began biting the people. This was apparently related to the judgment of God because they were murmuring and complaining.

They cried out to God, "Save us from this!" God then instructed Moses, "Here's what you're going to do: make a snake out of bronze and put it on a pole in the middle of the camp. If anyone is bitten by a snake, all they have to do is look to the pole, and they will be healed."

Now the scientifically minded Jewish people said that it was just stupid. They thought, "That's not going to save me. I've been bitten by a snake. You have to do something. You have to fix this problem. I'm going to die." Yes, they were told to trust in this and look to that, and they would be safe.

Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Just like Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so shall the Son of Man be lifted up, and everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life." He repeated it twice: "Whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life." This is how you are going to be born again—by faith, Nicodemus.

Nicodemus thought that he would be saved by his morality, by his keeping of the law. Jesus told him that this would not do it. He needed to look to Him to be saved. Not too long later, within a couple of years, Nicodemus saw Jesus lifted up on a cross, and something clicked. After Jesus died, Nicodemus was one of the two men who showed up to take His body, prepare it for burial, and put it in a tomb. Why? Because something clicked. I have a feeling we will see Nicodemus in heaven, not because he did good works, but because he trusted in Jesus as the Christ.

How do we know that a person has trusted in Jesus as the Christ? It will be evidenced in their life. It will be seen in their love for God and their love for others. This is why Jesus said, "They will know that you are my disciples, my followers, by the love that you have one for another."

I don't know about you, but it is distressing to me that in 2019, in America, the perception of many non-Christians is that Christians are characterized by hate. That is what people think of when they think of Christians. Jesus said, "They will know that you are my disciples by the love that you have one for another."

In saying that, I think it's worth noting that our love for others does not mean that we overlook or blindly look away when it comes to sin, because Jesus didn't do that.

He confronted corruption. He confronted sin. He confronted wickedness, but always with grace, truth, and love. Would to God that it would be evident in my life, and in an increasing manner in your life, that we are those who are patient and kind, not jealous or boastful or proud, not rude, and that we do not demand our own way. We are not irritable. We don't keep a record of wrongs. We do not rejoice in injustice, but we rejoice when the truth wins. We never give up. We never lose faith. We are always hopeful. We endure through every circumstance.

Now, I recognize that in and of myself, I am not sufficient to accomplish that. So, I need God, by His Spirit, to enable me to love in that way. Would you agree for yourself? So why don't we stand and pray and ask God to help us in that today? I have a feeling there may be somebody in your life with whom you're having a hard time not keeping a record of wrongs. He might be standing right next to you. So, maybe we need God's help.

Father, we do need Your help to love in this way. There are people in our lives, maybe in our own homes, certainly in our neighborhoods, or in our workplaces, or on the school campus we are at. There are people that we find unlovely. But Jesus, every single one of us here today was unlovely. You demonstrated Your love towards us that when we were still sinners, You died for us. You promised that if we trust in You, in Your love for us as demonstrated on the cross, You would make us Your children supernaturally; we would be born again. Your nature would begin to be evident in us, and Your love would compel us to love You in response to Your love and to love others—first those who are a part of Your body, and then to go from there to people who are outside.

Those who may consider us, or even we consider them, our enemies, God, I pray that you would work in us to love in that way. Enable us this week to not keep a record of wrongs, to not be boastful, irritable, or proud. Help us to be kind and patient, to be tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as you have forgiven us. God, do that work in us. We praise you, Jesus.

It may be that as we stand here today, you have been religiously trying to earn God's favor to become His child. This may be the first time you recognize that this is not how it happens. You want to receive His grace and His love so that you can be His child, and that God would begin to work in you in this way.

If you would like to receive God's grace and become a child of God today, to be born again, I want to give you an opportunity to do that by simply calling out to the Lord, professing your faith in prayer. If that's you today, as we are in an attitude of prayer, would you just lift up your hand high so I can see it?

Is there anyone here today who says, "I need the grace of God and the forgiveness of God"? Just lift your hand up high. I see you right there in the middle, in the back. God bless you both. Anyone else? You say, "I need God's grace." I see you back there.

If that's you, I want to lead you in a simple prayer. Jesus said, well, the Apostle Paul, inspired of God, said, "Whoever believes with their heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confesses with their mouth the Lord Jesus, you will be saved."

If that's you today, would you just pray with me? You can do so out loud where you're at.

Dear Jesus, I know that I need your grace. I've been trying to fix myself, but I know I can't do it. I recognize my failures today. I pray that you come into my life, forgive me of my sin, and help me to follow you by faith. In Jesus' name, amen.