I Love God, I Ain’t Lying

Jesus commanded us in the Scriptures that we are to love one another. What does that practically look like? How is it worked out in our lives? Open with me to First John, chapter 4.

Good morning, Cross Connection Church! I am so glad you are here. While you are standing, would you take out your Bibles? If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will gladly bring you one. We are in the New Testament book of First John. The New Testament is the last third of your Bible, and the book of First John is almost near the very end. If you open to the last page, the book of Revelation, and turn just a little bit to the left, you will find First, Second, and Third John.

We are in First John, chapter 4 today, and we're going to pick it up in verse 20. There, the Apostle John writes, "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, and 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.

Teach them all things. We trust that we have the same spirit today, your Holy Spirit, here in this place and our presence. We pray, God, that by your Holy Spirit, you would give us wisdom and understanding. Lord, that we would 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, and 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 seen that person maybe ever again. We have brief interactions with strangers all the time. Maybe the person who's 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 have these brief interactions, and we move away from those, and not even an hour later, we've totally forgotten their face and what they look like.

We know that we have those kinds of interactions, but what about the interaction where you meet someone you've never met before, and 15 years later, you're still remembering that? 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 out on the east end of town, and we had finished our lunch. As we were sitting there, this kind of interesting-looking character walked up to us, a stranger, probably in his mid-40s at the time. He said, "Hey guys, I have a magic trick for you."

We looked at my friend, and he said, "All right, well, show us your magic trick." So, he showed us the magic trick. My friend said, "Oh, I can do that magic trick." In frustration, the stranger said, "Really?" My friend then did the magic trick. The stranger said, "Wow, I got another magic trick." So, he did another magic trick. My friend said, "I can do that one too." The frustration level increased a little bit more with this back and forth two or three more times, and finally, after some serious...

Frustration filled the air as 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, making a clinking sound. I thought to myself, "Yes, I can't do that one."

He began talking with us, and within a matter of minutes, he asked, "Hey, can you guys give me a ride home?" We asked where he lived, and he replied, "Valley Center." If you're a Valley Center native, you know this guy's name is Left Eddie. We agreed to give him a ride home, so he got in my car, and I started driving.

As we were leaving the parking lot, he asked, "So, what do you guys do for a living?" We told him we were both pastors. He exclaimed, "Really? Man, I love God! I ain't lyin'!" Left Eddie told us probably eight or nine times, "I love God! I ain't lyin'!"

I cannot read 1 John 4:20 without thinking of Left Eddie. When someone says, "I love God," that's exactly what comes to my mind. I'm 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 ain't lyin'!" Yes, he does.

Left Eddie is not the only person who might profess a love for God. We know that many people make professions of faith and declarations of love and devotion to God. In John's day, that was the case, and in our day, it is still true. 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, opens with a salutation addressed to a man named Theophilus. The name Theophilus means "lover of God," and there are some...

People often profess to be a Theophilus, yet they turn out to be the awfulest people you've ever met. This raises the question of whether they truly 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 gone through the chapters we have been examining.

This short letter was written near the end of the first century AD. 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. He is looking at the church and observing exactly what Jesus had foretold would come: false professors, false prophets, false teachers, and false Christs. These are people who gain prominence among Christians, presenting 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. John is writing to expose and oppose these kinds of counterfeits, making it very clear that a 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 stating that if a profession does not line up with a 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. I know there may be about 5% of you right now thinking that there might be a way to do this, and you might even consider sending me an email later to explain your reasoning. However, 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 we have been studying in First John, we see a number of things that John presents as mutually exclusive. One of them, which we considered in our study together last week, is found in First John 4:18, where he states, "There is no fear in love."

Fear of punishment or torment and love do not go together. There is no fear of punishment or torment in love. In this passage, John presents another important point: one cannot be a lover of God and also hate that which God made in His image. What did God make in His image? He made us in His image; we are the image bearers of God. Therefore, John states that 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 is written, "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, no nuance. John puts forward 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; if that is the case, you are a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?

John returns to this theme in 1 John 4:20 and in the passage we are examining today. He revisits what we might call his tests for authenticity, specifically for Christian authenticity. He is testing the vital signs for the new birth: Is this person truly a follower of God? This is crucial because there were counterfeits entering the church who gained prominence among Christians. They professed, "I know God, I love God, I walk in the light," yet their lives did not reflect what they were saying. John emphasizes the need to clarify whether someone is or is not a follower of God.

To this end, he provides tests for Christian authenticity, which fall under three categories: the test for obedience, the test for love, and the test for faith. These are the vital signs for Christianity that we need to look for. We saw this back in 1 John chapter 2. If you turn a couple of pages to the left, you will find 1 John chapter 2, verse 3. It states, "Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments."

The commandments serve as a test for obedience. We can know that we know God and that others know God by their obedience to His commandments. By this, we know that we know Him if we keep His commandments. Verse four states, "He who says, 'I know Him,' and does not keep His commandments" is a liar, and the truth is not in him. However, 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. This presents the obedience test. We can assess the way a person lives and conclude that, yes, we see in their actions, through their obedience, that they truly are one who knows God, one who follows God.

John then moves from the obedience test to the love test. In 1 John 2:9, it states, "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

Of Jesus' obedience, love, and faith, here in 1 John chapter 4, verse 20, John returns to that language when he says, "If someone says, 'I love God' and hates his brother, he is a liar." Point number 1 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 was looking back over what we've covered previously and considering the things that I've been teaching over the last several weeks, I realize that I may not have developed this point quite 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 this mushy sentimentality, where people feel good about something. That's not what John is talking about.

So when he says that we are to love God and we are to love others, what is he speaking about when he talks about this love? I've called this series "Fullness of Joy," and I am convinced that you cannot experience fullness of joy without understanding what loving God with an alive and active love and loving others with an alive and active love actually looks like practically.

What is this alive and active love that is not just 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.

1 Corinthians chapter 13 is not an unfamiliar passage, even to people who are unfamiliar with the Bible. You may have seen it in a card or in literature. Oftentimes, people hear it at weddings. Pastor Jason's oldest son, Nick, got married yesterday, and Jason did the wedding. He quoted from 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verses 4 and onward. You've probably heard these words before, but they are worth looking at because they describe for us what this quality of active and alive love is.

God desires that certain qualities will be evident in me as a follower of Jesus if I am a person who is born again. So, if you turn to First John and then go to the left, you will reach First Corinthians. You will pass books like Peter's letters, Hebrews, and a whole bunch of Paul's other letters. You will also pass Timothy, Titus, and both First and Second Corinthians. Go to First Corinthians chapter 13. If you get to Romans, you've gone too far.

In First Corinthians 13, I normally 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're reading, but it is pretty close. In verse 4, Paul describes love, saying, "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 should 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. The phrase "increasingly evident" is really important because, on day one, is this love perfectly evident in my life as a child of God? No, but it should be increasingly evident. The attributes of this kind of love should grow in my life toward others as I have been born of God.

As time goes by—and trust me, I'm not there yet—my life should be moving toward this. My love should be patient and kind. Now, it's just rude that you're laughing at me; that is not very loving, because I didn't put your name into it.

I didn't say kin is patient and kind; actually, Miles is patient and kind. Miles is not jealous, boastful, proud, or rude. Come on, please! Miles does not demand his own way. The only person who can laugh at this is my wife; that's the only way. Miles is not irritable. He does not keep a record of being wronged. 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 "agape," should be increasingly evident in my life. Why? Well, for one reason: what we read in 1 John 4:21. The next verse states, "And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also."

So, 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, states that he who loves God must love his brother also. But 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." No, no, no, no, no! Love them how? Be patient with them, be kind towards them, and not rude towards them, not boastful or conceited. Oh man, really? That just ups the game right there!

So, He commanded us to love in this way. When did He command us to love in this way? Well, we've looked at it many times in this series: John's Gospel, chapter 13, verse 34. A new commandment I give to you, Jesus said, "that you love one another as I have loved you; you also ought to love one another." He said it again, the same.

The exact night, two chapters later, in First John, chapter 15, verse 12, it states, "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, don't be in debt to anyone except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law." He continued, "For 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," all come from the Big Ten. If there is any other commandment, all are summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

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, 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 said to him, "You know the commandments. How do you read them?" The lawyer replied with the commandments: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength. You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus affirmed this, saying, "Yeah, go do that."

However, the man, seeking to justify himself, asked Jesus, "Well, who is my neighbor?" He was hedging, right? That's what we do. We want to specify who we have to love. We think, "I get it; I need to be loving, but there have to be 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 going through 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 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? We think, "Yeah, right on!" because then we get to be arbiters of who is our neighbor and who is our enemy. We might say, "I don't like that guy; I don't have to love him." So, we can be rude to him, unkind to him, or irritable towards that person, thinking we don't have to love them because they're not our neighbor.

Now, we're not even going to get into the teaching of Jesus's follow-up to that in Matthew, chapter 5, where he says to love...

Your enemy is a topic for another day. Right 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.

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, considerate, 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 you have trusted in Him, you are born again; you are born of God. Everyone who loves God, who begot the one who begins His children, also loves the person who is begotten of Him.

Point 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, having been born of God, then I am to love everyone who is also born of God.

That is the call that John gives to us, and it is very clear. You might say, "Well, Pastor, I'm not sure if I can do that." I understand, because we are really challenged by this, and we should be. We should be challenged by the reading of the Scriptures because it sets for us God's standard by which He judges. But not only is it a standard by which He judges, it is also that which He ultimately wants to bring us unto.

So, we think, "I'm not sure I can do this," but our concern is invalidated at least by three points. First, Galatians 5:22 says, "The fruit of the Spirit is love." The evidence of God's Spirit being in me is this love.

It is God who is working in me, both to will and to do His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). The fruit of the Spirit is love, and God is enabling me to love in this way. Philippians 4:13 states, "I can do all things through Him who gives me strength." God's Spirit is in me, and the evidence of God's Spirit in me is love. God is enabling and empowering me, supernaturally by His Spirit, to do this. 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 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 do not love with the kind of love described in 1 Corinthians 13, then you do not love God's children. Therefore, you are a liar. 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 point. John adds, "and keep His commandments" right at the end. So how do we draw this all together? This apparent circular argumentation suggests that if you say you love God, then you love His people. If you love His people, then you are going to love God. How do we do all of this? I think it is this way: If I am born of God, then I will love God.

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. When you become a newborn Christian, you are going to love God and love others in response to God's love.

1 John 4:19 states, "We love Him because He first loved us." In response to His love, we love Him and we love those who are begotten of Him. These things are brought together; united. 1 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. So, in loving the people of God, you are loving God, and 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? 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.

Sixteen to eighteen years ago, Eddy said to me, "I love God; I ain't lying." Point number four on your outline is that 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 one another.

This is hard for us, but this is where God wants to bring us: loving our enemies with love that is patient and kind, not irritable, rude, or conceited. They are seeking, by God's enabling power, to love in that way and 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 this question: How do I become a child of God?

God, and I say this because a lot of 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 puts forward here is that you become a child of God, 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 5, verse 3 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're born again, you become an overcomer; you overcome this world. 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.

This is a very important point: by faith in Christ, I become a victorious child of God. It's 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's 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 1, verse 12, say, "As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name." 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, and that is evidenced in your love for God and your love for other people.

I'm stressing this point because it's very important. There was a very religious man who came to Jesus one night; his name was Nicodemus. It's recorded in John's Gospel, chapter 3. He was one of 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, along with all the traditions of Judaism. They justified themselves by the keeping of the law.

Now, how many of you would say that this man was probably a pretty morally good person? I think he probably was. He came to Jesus one night with some questions.

Questions for him: He is the leading rabbi in Israel. When he comes to Jesus, he starts out with some formalities, but Jesus cuts him off mid-sentence and says, "Hey, Nick." I think he called him Nick. Jesus continues, "Unless you're born again, you will not see the kingdom of God."

Nick's brain just popped like a grape right there. He could not comprehend it; it sent him into a kind of weird cognitive dissonance. He was trying to wrap his brain around this statement. "What are you talking about? Of course, I'm going to heaven! I am the teacher in Israel. I follow 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, must I go back into my mother's womb and be born a second time?" He was tripping on this whole thing. Jesus, being full of grace and truth, took the time to explain it. However, Nick 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..."

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 had to do with the judgment of God because of their murmuring and complaining. They cried out to God, "Save us from this!"

God responded to Moses, saying, "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'll be healed."

Now, all the scientifically minded Jewish people said, "That's just stupid! That's not going to save me. I've been bitten by a snake; you have to do something to fix this problem! I'm going to die!" But God wanted them to trust in this and look to that for salvation.

So, Jesus said, "Nicodemus, just like Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so shall the Son of Man be lifted up. 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 whoever 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're going to be born again: by faith. Nicodemus thought that he was going to be saved by his morality, by his keeping of the law. Jesus said that's not going to do it; 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's distressing to me that in 2019, in America, the perception of many non-Christians is that Christians are characterized by hate. That's 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. Jesus didn't do that; He confronted corruption, He confronted sin, and 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, and we endure through every circumstance.

Now, I recognize that in and of myself, I am not sufficient to accomplish that. 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 that you're having a hard time not keeping a record of wrongs with, and he might be standing right next to you.

Father, we do need Your help to love in this way because 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, and You demonstrated Your love towards us. When we were still sinners, You died for us.

You promised that if we trust in You and Your love for us, as demonstrated on the cross, You would make us Your children. Supernaturally, we would be born again, and we would begin to inherit Your nature. It would be evident in us; Your love would begin to 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 maybe consider us, or maybe even we consider them, our enemies.

God, that You would work in us to love in that way. I pray that You would enable us this week to not keep a record of wrongs, to not be irritable or proud, to be kind and patient, to be tender-hearted, forgiving one another just as You have forgiven us. God, do that work in us. I praise You.

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

If you would like to receive God's grace to 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 and professing your faith in prayer. If that's you today, as we're 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. Is there anyone else who says, "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, and the Apostle Paul, inspired of God, said that whoever believes with their heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confesses with their mouth the Lord Jesus will be saved.

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

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.

Praise the Lord! God is doing a good work. How will you praise the Lord together with a song?