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I have simply wanted to take a little season here,

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to look at some of the most pronounced
attributes of God, or descriptions of God,

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that it feels like we get in God's Word.

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And I dealt with God is Creator,

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just simply because of the weight of the volume
of text that we get throughout our Bibles,

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where God is declaring Himself to be the
Creator of the heavens and the earth.

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That is a very prominent reality in Scripture.

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So we looked at that, God is Creator.

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We looked at God being holy. God is holy, holy, holy.

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That is the only attribute of God that is raised to the third power.

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So we looked at that, that's very pronounced in Scripture.

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Also, we have the various portions of Scripture
where God is not identified with an adjective –

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like He's merciful, or He's faithful –

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but rather God is identified with a noun.

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He is equated to something,

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or something is described as what God is, what His essence is.

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And we looked at God is Spirit, God is light.

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And today, I want to look at God is love. (P)

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1st John. John hits us with these three words twice;

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once in 1st John 4:8, "Anyone who does not love
does not know God, because God is love."

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And then again down in verse 16,

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"So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.

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God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him."

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So that's where I want to go today: God is Love. (P)

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Let's seek the Lord one more time.

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Father, I'm most certain that no man has ever been sufficient

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to even scratch the surface of this.

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And if no other man has, I'm certainly not.

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Father, the apostle Paul prayed long ago that the Ephesians,

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along with all the other saints, would have the power, the strength,

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to comprehend with all the saints, something about the love of Christ.

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When we look at this we recognize it takes
divine power to expand our minds;

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it takes the power of the Spirit of God in our inner beings

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to even be able to unleash the realities of the
kinds of things that we're going to look at.

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And Lord, this will all be dry, and dead,
and no good, unless you attend to it.

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Lord, we can speak, and words can just be words -

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they don't resonate, they don't strike deeply, they don't affect us.

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So often, that's the case.

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But Lord, we know what it is, some of us know;

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Lord we've tasted, we know what it is when suddenly
the truth of God's Word speaks to us, You speak to us.

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And it's full, it's rich, it's electric.

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Father, we pray for that kind of help.

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If Paul found himself feeling weak
and bending his knee before the Father,

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then Lord we would, if not in reality, bend them
and bend our knees in heart right now.

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Lord, calling on You for the help that only You can give,

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the strength that only You can give,

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to comprehend the love of Christ and what it is,

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and the fullness and the vastness and the dimensions of it,

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the height and the depth.

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Lord, to know what it is; for us to perceive,
even in a little bit, that God is love.

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Father, I pray that You would help us to perceive it,

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so that as we walk away from this place today, as we go about our lives,

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something about this would resonate with us in our minds,

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our thoughts, our ideas, our hearts, our worldview of things.

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Lord, move upon us please, in Christ's name I pray. Amen. (P)

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So, God is Love.

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That is the task at hand, to try to just tap this in some way.

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What do I say? I mean, where do I go with this?

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The truth is, I do feel helpless,

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so I'm going to simply attempt to make some observations about this,

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and to bring you along with me in these observations,

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concerning the fact that God is love.

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And I trust that the Lord might in some way, to some degree,

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help make these things real to us.

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So what do I have? I think I have five observations. (P)

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The first one is this.

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It's very simple, but I want you to think about it.

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John says God is love.

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He doesn't say merely, or only, that God is loving.

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And there's a difference, and I think we feel the difference to that.

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We feel a weight, we feel a depth, when you speak that way.

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Scripture says God is merciful, but it never says God is mercy.

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And Scripture says God is holy - even holy, holy, holy -

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but it never says God is holiness.

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That doesn't mean, necessarily, that statements couldn't be made like that,

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but that God never revealed Himself like that.

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That's all that means.

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And God has specifically chosen, not to just come and say,

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"Behold, I am this God who is loving."

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He says, "I am love."

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In other words, I define that.

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I define the essence of what love is.

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John is taking "love", you know what he's doing?

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He is making it the defining moral quality
of God's very being and nature.

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"God is" – that has to do with essence,
who He is, what He is, how He is.

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He's saying, "God is love."

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This is God's representative virtue: God is, Himself, love.

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And listen, this isn't just simply saying, this is how God responds to man;

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that because God is love, God loves man.

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Now that may be true. He is this fountain of love, and He overflows.

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But you know what you find?

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What you find is, Jesus is giving us glimpses, doesn't He?

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He's talking about, to His disciples there in the
Upper Room discourse in John's gospel

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as Jesus is preparing to go away,

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He's talking about the love that the Father has for Him,

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and He's desiring that that same trinitarian love would sweep us in.

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The fact is, God is love; and God is love if man never existed.

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God is love. (P)

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I mean, when you consider angels, God is love.

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But when you consider the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

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what you find, what you look:

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Scripture, you go back before man ever existed,

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and you see that God Himself is a fountain of love.

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And the inner-trinitarian relationship
is one that just overflows with love:

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the Father loving the Son, and the Son the Father; and both, the Spirit.

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That is the nature of God – it is to love.

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And wherever you find Him there is love, whether man is there or not.

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He is hitting at the very essence of who and what God is:

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God is love. Love is what God is.

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God is not God if He is not love.

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I mean, if you remove love from God,
you might as well try to remove God from God,

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because God is love.

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That's what He is, you cannot separate the two.

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To strip God of love is to strip God of God. (P)

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I mean, you think about this: you imagine us.

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I mean, typically among men and women,

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it is women who are considered the fairer sex of humankind.

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You imagine a woman, and she's beautiful.

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She's beautiful in physical appearance, she's beautiful in humility,

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she's beautiful in godliness, she's beautiful in disposition,

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she's beautiful in personality.

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Now look, if somebody recognizes
what everybody tends to recognize

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with these eyes and with our ears, with our perception;

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if somebody says, "She is beautiful,"

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well, we have an idea about that.

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But if someone else says, "She isn't just beautiful, she is beauty itself."

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Now see, suddenly we feel that.

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That's like saying that she defines what beauty is.

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Beauty gets its definition from her:
she's the sum and fullness of the term.

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And that's exactly what John wants us to feel.

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Love gets its very definition from all that God is.

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You have to understand this:

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anything in this world that is true love, resonates,

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it's reflected from, God is responsible for.

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It comes from Him.

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He is the defining One of love.

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He's the defining essence of love.

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He's the defining character of love.

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He is the defining attribute of love.

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All that love is, He defines. It's what He is. (P)

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Yes, this is radical terminology, for God's essence to be defined to us.

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He is the perfection of love. He's the fullness of it.

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Anything, I mean, you want to know the standard? There He is.

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Many have understood God is love.

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They picture it like this: it is His very essence.

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Every other thing that's true about God,
swims in the ocean of this love.

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Every other thing.

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If you take His holiness, you're going to find love there.

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If you take His omnipotence, you're going to find love there.

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Now listen to this, two men

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(these are two of my favorites, and of course they would write on this):

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Edward Payson and Octavius Winslow.

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Edward Payson, who I have grown to
appreciate immensely in the last year,

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listen to what he says:

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"As the light which proceeds from the sun

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may easily be separated into many different colors," –

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and if you have a prism you can do that, that's what the rainbow is.

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Light that comes from the sun to us
actually comes in many different colors,

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and it can be separated.

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And what Payson is saying is: "Just as that light from the sun

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may be easily separated into many different colors,

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so the holy love of God..."

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He sees it to be like that light, that if you bring out the proper prism,

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it may diffuse itself into a multiplicity of colors.

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In other words, God's faithfulness, God's compassion,

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God's mercy, God's justice,

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all these different hues of this light of God.

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He says "which is the light and glory of His nature,

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may be separated into a variety of moral attributes and perfections.

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But though separated, they're still love.

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His whole nature and essence is love.

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His will, His works, His words, are love.

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He is nothing, and can do nothing, but love." (P)

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Octavius Winslow says this: "Love is so completely the essence of God

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that it shines out in every perfection of His nature,

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and is exhibited in every act of His administration.

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He is nothing, and can do nothing, foreign to Himself.

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Consequently, He is nothing, and can do nothing,
in which His love is not an essential quality.

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All the streams of a fountain must partake essentially
of the source from where they rise.

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All the rays of light, whatever their prismatic hues,

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must partake essentially of the sun from where they flow.

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And were not God's perfections thus modified and softened by love,

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were they not led on by this commanding perfection of His nature,

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each one and all combined would be terribly against us.

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His wisdom would baffle us. His power would crush us.

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His holiness would terrify us. His justice would condemn us." (P)

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John Wesley says this: " 'God is love' intimates
that this is His darling, His reigning attribute

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– the attribute that sheds an amiable glory
on all His other perfections."

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I mean, what those men believe, is that love
resonates from God in everything He does.

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It must, because God is love.

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Listen, when you think about the other places

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where a noun is set forth to describe the essence of God –

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God is spirit – is there anything God does where He isn't spirit?

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Is there anything He is, that doesn't come back to the fact that He is spirit?

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God is light – everything He does is light;

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everything about Him reveals light, it sheds light, it gives light.

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He is the Father of lights.

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And in the same way, John says, "God is love."

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Not just that He's loving, He is love.

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That's my first observation: He is love.

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That is the God we have to deal with – a God who is love.

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And it isn't just that He is, He has revealed that to us.

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He said, "Mankind, I reveal Myself to you this way: God is love.

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Whatever else you may think about Me, I am love."

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That is the kind of God we want, folks.

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There are many things about God that are true,

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and they're mysteries because God has never revealed them to us.

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But look how He reveals Himself,
this is how He wants to be known by us. (P)

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Second observation: What do we make of this love?

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Well, I want us to see how John describes this love,

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because he certainly does.

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John says that God is love, and John also gives us some idea.

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He's not bashful as to what he means by love.

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And look, this is important, because in our day and age
we need love to be described to us.

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We live, do we not, we live a world where a guy sleeps with a girl,

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he defiles the girl, and he says, "I love you."

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And so, in our world today love is pretty much set equal to sexual attraction.

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Or a woman comes along, and she says to a man, "I love you."

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And he says, "Okay, marry me." They get married.

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And then before long, she runs off with her boss.

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Why? Because what she really meant by that was,

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"I love you as long as I like what I get from you, as long as you fulfill me;

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but when you no longer fulfill me, then I no longer love you."

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Or somebody says, "I love the San Antonio Spurs,"

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and it's nothing else but another word for idolatry.

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Or somebody says, "Oh, I love that kind of food,"

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and all it is, is a trivializing of a very weighty expression –

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we bring it down to basically mundane likes and dislikes.

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And so we need some idea.

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We need a God-given definition. (P)

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What does love look like? What is John's description of this?

232
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Look, why is it that our world around us
seems to be so blind to what love is?

233
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Well, bottom line this:

234
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What does Scripture say about man in his natural state?

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It says that he's alienated from God.

236
00:19:19,418 --> 00:19:22,727
Well, here's the thing: God is love, man is alienated from God;

237
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man is alienated from what love really is.

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If you want to know love, you have to know God.

239
00:19:28,665 --> 00:19:32,232
And man in his natural state is alienated from God,

240
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so he's alienated from any right perception of what love truly is.

241
00:19:38,150 --> 00:19:40,088
But here comes John.

242
00:19:40,089 --> 00:19:44,636
I mean, this is very telling, very simple.

243
00:19:44,637 --> 00:19:47,671
1st John 3:16.

244
00:19:47,672 --> 00:19:52,074
Not John 3:16, but 1st John 3:16:

245
00:19:52,075 --> 00:19:57,611
"By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us."

246
00:19:57,612 --> 00:20:02,021
Now this is the love of God to us, the love of Christ:

247
00:20:02,022 --> 00:20:09,936
He laid down His life - a willingness to give even if the cost is high.

248
00:20:09,937 --> 00:20:14,815
It's sacrificial. Giving, benevolence, kindness.

249
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That's the idea in his mind. (P)

250
00:20:16,547 --> 00:20:20,966
Now look, he goes on here to say this:

251
00:20:20,967 --> 00:20:24,395
"By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us,

252
00:20:24,396 --> 00:20:28,553
and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers."

253
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In other words, if you come to know this God who is love,

254
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then you will likewise love.

255
00:20:36,606 --> 00:20:40,520
And in fact, John says, if we say we know God,

256
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but we hate our brother, we are liars, we don't really know Him.

257
00:20:48,032 --> 00:20:51,874
Here's what this ought to produce:

258
00:20:51,875 --> 00:20:55,459
it ought to produce a laying down of our lives for our brothers.

259
00:20:55,460 --> 00:20:59,149
But listen to this, verse 17, "If anyone has the world's goods."

260
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Now you have to understand what's going on here.

261
00:21:01,236 --> 00:21:04,506
He's saying, look, you claim to be a child of God,

262
00:21:04,507 --> 00:21:06,210
you'll lay down your life for the brothers.

263
00:21:06,211 --> 00:21:08,648
Why? Because that's what love does.

264
00:21:08,649 --> 00:21:12,843
That's what God's love did, so that's what it ought to produce in you.

265
00:21:12,844 --> 00:21:15,129
God is the standard. God is love.

266
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If you say you know Him, this is what it ought to produce in people that know Him.

267
00:21:20,064 --> 00:21:22,173
And so, He's always the standard.

268
00:21:22,174 --> 00:21:26,772
And so, if God is calling for us to lay down our lives for others,

269
00:21:26,773 --> 00:21:28,589
it's because He first did it.

270
00:21:28,590 --> 00:21:33,313
It's because He is love, and He has done what is the greatest expression of love. (P)

271
00:21:33,314 --> 00:21:36,433
And so in verse 17 when he calls us to this:

272
00:21:36,434 --> 00:21:40,066
"If anyone has this world's goods and sees his brother in need,

273
00:21:40,067 --> 00:21:44,540
yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?"

274
00:21:44,541 --> 00:21:48,482
You see what he's saying? How does God's love abide in him?

275
00:21:48,483 --> 00:21:49,927
Why would he say that?

276
00:21:49,928 --> 00:21:54,355
Because God's love does open His heart.

277
00:21:54,356 --> 00:21:59,774
That is the nature of God, to open His heart where there is need.

278
00:21:59,775 --> 00:22:05,831
Have you... it's mind-boggling; it really is.

279
00:22:05,832 --> 00:22:12,751
You go to Scripture, and you look at anyone
who sincerely calls on the Lord for help,

280
00:22:12,752 --> 00:22:14,494
whatever state they're in.

281
00:22:14,495 --> 00:22:21,408
I mean, they can be as wicked as Manasseh himself, wicked as Ahab,

282
00:22:21,409 --> 00:22:25,277
but when they call unto the Lord, He came.

283
00:22:25,278 --> 00:22:26,874
I mean, you watch Israel.

284
00:22:26,875 --> 00:22:30,517
They turned their back on God, again and again and again.

285
00:22:30,518 --> 00:22:32,883
They went after their idols, again and again and again.

286
00:22:32,884 --> 00:22:34,729
They went after the broken cisterns.

287
00:22:34,730 --> 00:22:38,946
Again, God sent judgments one after another because of their idolatries,

288
00:22:38,947 --> 00:22:43,271
because of their sin, over and over and over and over again. (P)

289
00:22:43,272 --> 00:22:48,302
But you show me any place in Scripture,
where they said, "Lord, we've sinned,"

290
00:22:48,303 --> 00:22:51,326
and they cry out to Him. What does He do?

291
00:22:51,327 --> 00:22:58,359
I mean, what did Jonah know was going to happen if he went to the Ninevites?

292
00:22:58,360 --> 00:23:00,435
He knew his God.

293
00:23:00,435 --> 00:23:03,526
He knew his God better than some of us do.

294
00:23:03,527 --> 00:23:05,298
That's what caused his reluctance:

295
00:23:05,299 --> 00:23:10,024
he was so certain God was going to have
mercy on those miserable Ninevites.

296
00:23:10,025 --> 00:23:15,290
And if you ever study, historically, what the Ninevites were like, they were brutal.

297
00:23:15,291 --> 00:23:18,958
They ripped pregnant women open, and many of them Jews.

298
00:23:18,959 --> 00:23:21,659
They were just brutal people.

299
00:23:21,660 --> 00:23:27,200
And they repent, and God just showers them. That's it.

300
00:23:27,201 --> 00:23:33,483
He says, "If anyone has this world's goods and sees his brother in need,

301
00:23:33,484 --> 00:23:36,772
yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?

302
00:23:36,773 --> 00:23:41,017
Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and truth."

303
00:23:41,018 --> 00:23:44,009
We have a God who loves in deed and truth.

304
00:23:44,010 --> 00:23:47,138
We have a God who doesn't close His heart.

305
00:23:47,139 --> 00:23:51,084
His heart is not closed to your need. (P)

306
00:23:51,085 --> 00:24:01,064
And the beauty of this is, "God is love" trumps whatever wickedness we have.

307
00:24:01,065 --> 00:24:07,101
I mean, you can ever be so wicked, or so foul and filthy with sin,

308
00:24:07,102 --> 00:24:10,845
that if you will but cry to Him, He will love you.

309
00:24:10,846 --> 00:24:14,656
He will love you, not just in word and talk, but in deed and truth.

310
00:24:14,657 --> 00:24:17,897
It's God's nature to give. It's God's nature to be kind.

311
00:24:17,898 --> 00:24:19,140
He's good.

312
00:24:19,141 --> 00:24:23,043
He's not merely benevolent, He is benevolence itself.

313
00:24:23,044 --> 00:24:24,781
That's what John is telling us.

314
00:24:24,782 --> 00:24:28,554
God is infinite with His love, it's like an ocean.

315
00:24:28,555 --> 00:24:31,000
God invites all of us to dive in.

316
00:24:31,001 --> 00:24:34,276
That's what He is doing in Scripture – constantly calling on us.

317
00:24:34,276 --> 00:24:35,312
Constantly.

318
00:24:35,313 --> 00:24:41,885
I am certain God is a thousandfold more willing
to pour His love and kindness upon sinners,

319
00:24:41,886 --> 00:24:44,313
than many of us think He is.

320
00:24:44,314 --> 00:24:51,000
I mean, listen to Scripture, Isaiah 30:18,
"The LORD waits to be gracious to you."

321
00:24:51,001 --> 00:24:54,476
What kind of words are those?

322
00:24:54,477 --> 00:24:58,355
Do you think it might portray a picture of a God

323
00:24:58,356 --> 00:25:03,488
who extends His arms in love, just like a father to his children?

324
00:25:03,489 --> 00:25:04,923
You know how when they're learning to walk,

325
00:25:04,924 --> 00:25:07,338
you put out your hands and you say, "Come to me"?

326
00:25:07,339 --> 00:25:13,122
This is the picture – God waiting to just wrap us up in His arms. (P)

327
00:25:13,123 --> 00:25:16,017
You say, "Is that really what God does?"

328
00:25:16,018 --> 00:25:18,720
I mean, listen to this, Romans 10:21,

329
00:25:18,721 --> 00:25:24,379
"All day long I have held out My hands
to a disobedient and contrary people."

330
00:25:24,379 --> 00:25:29,014
I mean, look at Him in your mind, His hands of love are extended.

331
00:25:29,015 --> 00:25:31,104
This is the God who is love.

332
00:25:31,105 --> 00:25:38,528
He comes to sinners. He really does, with sincerity.

333
00:25:38,529 --> 00:25:40,294
There's no falseness in this.

334
00:25:40,295 --> 00:25:44,579
He bids men to come and dive into His love.

335
00:25:44,580 --> 00:25:47,521
He calls to men to come.

336
00:25:47,522 --> 00:25:56,260
I mean, look at Him there: arms open wide
to receive sin-stained, broken, rebellious people.

337
00:25:56,261 --> 00:26:00,647
If you will fall into those hands I guarantee you this,

338
00:26:00,648 --> 00:26:02,246
you'll find them to be hands of love,

339
00:26:02,247 --> 00:26:05,007
you'll find them to be hands that are gentle.

340
00:26:05,008 --> 00:26:09,940
God will lavish on you the greatest gifts that love can devise.

341
00:26:09,941 --> 00:26:11,341
Do you see John here?

342
00:26:11,342 --> 00:26:15,295
He's looking at other Christians, and he's saying,

343
00:26:15,296 --> 00:26:21,043
"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us,

344
00:26:21,044 --> 00:26:26,667
that we should be called the children of God."

345
00:26:26,668 --> 00:26:35,346
Kevin in the first hour mentioned John 14:21, 23 –

346
00:26:35,347 --> 00:26:40,044
Jesus is promising to manifest Himself to His people;

347
00:26:40,045 --> 00:26:43,736
the Father promises to come and make His dwelling place.

348
00:26:43,737 --> 00:26:46,221
God promises to give Himself to us.

349
00:26:46,222 --> 00:26:48,035
I am His, and He is mine. (P)

350
00:26:48,036 --> 00:26:52,533
You talk about the Song of Solomon, you ever go read there,

351
00:26:52,534 --> 00:26:57,702
you see that the love there is a picture of the love that God has for His people.

352
00:26:57,703 --> 00:27:04,789
And, look, to sinners He holds out those hands, and He bids men – come.

353
00:27:04,790 --> 00:27:07,656
Something you and I would not do to an enemy.

354
00:27:07,657 --> 00:27:13,966
Something you and I would not do
to one that hated us as we have hated Him.

355
00:27:13,967 --> 00:27:15,740
And He beckons us.

356
00:27:15,741 --> 00:27:18,355
You think about what He promises to give us.

357
00:27:18,356 --> 00:27:20,210
We've sang a song, How Beautiful,

358
00:27:20,211 --> 00:27:24,121
that's about Christ given to the church as a husband;

359
00:27:24,122 --> 00:27:27,194
us being given to Christ as a bride.

360
00:27:27,195 --> 00:27:31,802
We get God, we get his manifestations, we get Him in marriage.

361
00:27:31,803 --> 00:27:34,275
We get the love of God.

362
00:27:34,276 --> 00:27:36,899
We get the fullness of these things.

363
00:27:36,900 --> 00:27:41,811
God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.

364
00:27:41,812 --> 00:27:46,399
Here's this Object of His greatest pleasure and delight.

365
00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:51,078
He had glory with the Father before this world began in eternity past.

366
00:27:51,079 --> 00:27:54,425
He was the delight of the Father's heart, the most beloved.

367
00:27:54,426 --> 00:27:57,774
He looks at Him, "This is My Son, in whom I am well pleased."

368
00:27:57,775 --> 00:28:00,704
God's heart is moved by the Son;

369
00:28:00,705 --> 00:28:04,677
and yet [He gave] the Son for His enemies. (P)

370
00:28:04,678 --> 00:28:06,568
He so loved.

371
00:28:06,569 --> 00:28:10,640
The argument of Scripture is, if He did that, how will He not...?

372
00:28:10,641 --> 00:28:15,424
(Kevin also talked about God withholding
no good thing from those that walk uprightly).

373
00:28:15,425 --> 00:28:19,882
God says, if He gave up His son, if He didn't hold Him back,

374
00:28:19,883 --> 00:28:22,970
if He was willing to go that far in His demonstrations of love,

375
00:28:22,971 --> 00:28:25,206
how will He not also give us all things?

376
00:28:25,207 --> 00:28:29,325
All things, whatever it is that love requires, He says He's going to give.

377
00:28:29,326 --> 00:28:32,292
I mean, literally we don't even understand;

378
00:28:32,293 --> 00:28:38,657
we do not yet get it, what God has in store for us.

379
00:28:38,658 --> 00:28:44,953
And John, he's getting a glimpse of it - it's like breathless,

380
00:28:44,954 --> 00:28:46,983
you got to behold this.

381
00:28:46,984 --> 00:28:53,719
I mean, we're getting invited, we're getting adopted,

382
00:28:53,720 --> 00:29:00,748
into the very family of God Himself – sons and daughters.

383
00:29:00,749 --> 00:29:06,465
He's saying this is huge, what God's love does.

384
00:29:06,466 --> 00:29:08,889
God is love. (P)

385
00:29:08,890 --> 00:29:13,420
Love means God won't close His heart to doing the greatest good

386
00:29:13,421 --> 00:29:16,524
to those who want His help and His love,

387
00:29:16,525 --> 00:29:18,716
if they'll have it by way of Jesus Christ.

388
00:29:18,717 --> 00:29:22,470
I mean, that's my second observation:

389
00:29:22,471 --> 00:29:25,631
it is, we need some defining element about love.

390
00:29:25,632 --> 00:29:29,390
And it's giving, it's benevolence, it's kindness.

391
00:29:29,391 --> 00:29:35,096
It's heaping upon the object of love, all the good it can give.

392
00:29:35,097 --> 00:29:39,254
And when you have an Almighty God, with whom nothing is impossible,

393
00:29:39,255 --> 00:29:41,828
who is absolutely filled with love,

394
00:29:41,829 --> 00:29:47,925
and bent on showing the greatest infinite kindness through all the coming ages;

395
00:29:47,926 --> 00:29:51,549
to just pour that kindness on a people of His love;

396
00:29:51,550 --> 00:29:55,435
I mean, you don't want to miss that.

397
00:29:55,449 --> 00:29:57,523
You don't want to be on the outside looking in.

398
00:29:57,524 --> 00:30:00,220
This is not just about missing hell, folks.

399
00:30:00,221 --> 00:30:05,613
This is about getting the riches of Christ Himself, having Him,

400
00:30:05,614 --> 00:30:07,650
and all the fullness of what that is.

401
00:30:07,651 --> 00:30:10,668
You do not want to miss that.

402
00:30:10,669 --> 00:30:14,170
We are called to a world of love,

403
00:30:14,171 --> 00:30:18,110
where we are going to be swallowed up in the trinitarian love,

404
00:30:18,111 --> 00:30:24,559
where the same love that the Father has for His Son,
He has for all those adopted sons.

405
00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:28,131
He pulls us into His family, wraps His arms around us. (P)

406
00:30:28,132 --> 00:30:34,041
In this world, yes, we get manifestations,
but there we get the fullness.

407
00:30:34,041 --> 00:30:40,249
I mean, you go back, you talk about reading these biographies.

408
00:30:40,250 --> 00:30:42,850
Read about some of these people's lives

409
00:30:42,851 --> 00:30:45,576
as they were yet breathing the air of this world

410
00:30:45,577 --> 00:30:47,885
and they were on the very thresholds of heaven,

411
00:30:47,886 --> 00:30:53,910
and their eyes are being opened up to the fullness
of what love has for them on the other side.

412
00:30:53,911 --> 00:30:56,907
And they can't hardly put it in words.

413
00:30:56,908 --> 00:30:59,818
They come back to those on this side, and they say,

414
00:30:59,819 --> 00:31:03,697
"You won't believe it if I told you what I am seeing right now."

415
00:31:03,698 --> 00:31:08,340
They just gasp in joy, astonishment, and awe.

416
00:31:08,341 --> 00:31:12,233
They say, "If only you could see what it is,

417
00:31:12,234 --> 00:31:15,444
you would recognize that the things in this world are but a shadow,

418
00:31:15,445 --> 00:31:18,761
they're diminishing, they're a trifle;

419
00:31:18,762 --> 00:31:23,232
if you could just see what I see right now."

420
00:31:23,233 --> 00:31:29,575
So that was the second thing, we need some
idea about what love does, and love gives. (P)

421
00:31:29,576 --> 00:31:36,190
The third thing: I would say this, this is an observation:

422
00:31:36,191 --> 00:31:44,753
That God is love, that concept, that idea,
it does not excite us as it should.

423
00:31:44,754 --> 00:31:49,998
And when I say us, I mean all mankind,
depending on the category you put them in.

424
00:31:49,999 --> 00:31:53,665
But let's start with the lost man, because we've all been there.

425
00:31:53,666 --> 00:32:00,497
I mean, what does the lost man think when he hears God is love?

426
00:32:00,498 --> 00:32:03,378
They just think, "Well, of course He is."

427
00:32:03,379 --> 00:32:10,183
Lost man loves himself, so lost man expects God is going to love him.

428
00:32:10,183 --> 00:32:11,900
When we were lost, we love ourselves,

429
00:32:11,901 --> 00:32:14,293
we expect other people should treat us well,

430
00:32:14,294 --> 00:32:18,270
we expect people should love us, we expect God should love us.

431
00:32:18,271 --> 00:32:20,936
They expect it. They yawn.

432
00:32:20,937 --> 00:32:23,209
I mean, it's not very impressive.

433
00:32:23,210 --> 00:32:29,003
It doesn't thrill them like professional athletes

434
00:32:29,004 --> 00:32:32,175
trying to put a ball through a hoop or something like that.

435
00:32:32,176 --> 00:32:35,345
They yawn at it, but they expect it.

436
00:32:35,346 --> 00:32:40,332
When they hear God is love, natural man thinks very little

437
00:32:40,333 --> 00:32:50,626
about what that means about the perfections of God Himself.

438
00:32:50,627 --> 00:32:58,026
They just imagine that it means that God must
smile on them no matter what they do.

439
00:32:58,027 --> 00:33:01,435
They can be ever so wicked, they can sin,

440
00:33:01,436 --> 00:33:03,535
they can do the most grievous things,

441
00:33:03,536 --> 00:33:05,478
and yet God is still going to smile on them.

442
00:33:05,479 --> 00:33:08,330
He's just this perpetually smiling Santa Claus,

443
00:33:08,331 --> 00:33:11,623
that's what they feel when they hear God is love;

444
00:33:11,624 --> 00:33:14,438
that God could never hate them,

445
00:33:14,439 --> 00:33:19,256
God could never do anything but show them kindness.

446
00:33:19,257 --> 00:33:24,892
It sounds good in the natural ear to hear that. (P)

447
00:33:24,893 --> 00:33:27,520
Fallen man, they imagine in their darkened minds

448
00:33:27,521 --> 00:33:33,689
that 'God is love' somehow relates to how lovable God finds them.

449
00:33:33,690 --> 00:33:38,515
Men don't see themselves as this vile, wretched, defiled thing.

450
00:33:38,516 --> 00:33:43,330
That kind of terminology, you know, "God saved a wretch like me,"

451
00:33:43,331 --> 00:33:46,645
that's how they used to write the old songs.

452
00:33:46,646 --> 00:33:49,654
But have you ever seen the modernized versions of some of the songs?

453
00:33:49,655 --> 00:33:51,238
They like to take words like that out.

454
00:33:51,239 --> 00:33:53,306
Man doesn't like to hear that anymore.

455
00:33:53,307 --> 00:33:56,848
Man doesn't like to know about a God
that sees him like that anymore.

456
00:33:56,849 --> 00:33:59,219
Man likes to think that they're lovable to God:

457
00:33:59,220 --> 00:34:02,202
"Well, of course, God should love them."

458
00:34:02,203 --> 00:34:08,018
And, you know, 'God is love', that sounds pleasant to the natural ear,

459
00:34:08,018 --> 00:34:09,951
because it doesn't sound threatening.

460
00:34:09,952 --> 00:34:15,183
And what men like to do is, they like to dull, and distort, and dismiss,

461
00:34:15,184 --> 00:34:18,094
everything that makes a God that is threatening.

462
00:34:18,094 --> 00:34:22,951
And by the way, the God of Scripture is very threatening to sinful men.

463
00:34:22,952 --> 00:34:25,181
So this just sounds good.

464
00:34:25,183 --> 00:34:27,655
Men don't like a God that threatens them. (P)

465
00:34:27,656 --> 00:34:30,878
But then what happens where we get saved?

466
00:34:30,879 --> 00:34:33,952
Here you are, you're the new Christian.

467
00:34:33,953 --> 00:34:37,972
We get saved, and you know, just like me when I...

468
00:34:37,973 --> 00:34:41,302
I can remember first being exposed to the Doctrines of Grace,

469
00:34:41,303 --> 00:34:45,717
and you know, I was amazed, as many of you were.

470
00:34:45,719 --> 00:34:47,335
I can remember reading the Old Testament.

471
00:34:47,335 --> 00:34:51,150
I can remember Uzzah, he touches that ark:

472
00:34:51,150 --> 00:34:53,710
Bam!!! God kills him on the spot.

473
00:34:53,710 --> 00:34:58,022
I'm like, "Whoa. I never knew God was like that."

474
00:34:58,023 --> 00:35:04,025
Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, and you see them struck down.

475
00:35:04,026 --> 00:35:05,933
And even in the New Testament, you know,

476
00:35:05,934 --> 00:35:07,579
people say "Well, that's the Old Testament God."

477
00:35:07,580 --> 00:35:10,489
No, you come into the New Testament, you have Ananias and Sapphira,

478
00:35:10,490 --> 00:35:14,207
and God does very similar things there.

479
00:35:14,208 --> 00:35:17,686
And you know, as a young believer, we can really get taken up with,

480
00:35:17,687 --> 00:35:20,154
suddenly we're exposed to the hell of God,

481
00:35:20,155 --> 00:35:22,329
and the wrath of God, and the punishment of God,

482
00:35:22,330 --> 00:35:24,953
and the fury of God, and the justice of God.

483
00:35:24,954 --> 00:35:35,555
And we look at those things and we can be moved by that. (P)

484
00:35:35,556 --> 00:35:39,113
I mean, I can remember as a young Christian not too long...

485
00:35:39,114 --> 00:35:42,569
I think it was about three years in the Lord when ruby and I got married...

486
00:35:42,570 --> 00:35:45,931
and I can remember the first checks we got after I was married,

487
00:35:45,932 --> 00:35:54,794
I had it printed on all my checks - "God is a consuming fire."

488
00:35:58,169 --> 00:36:03,085
And I always had this picture of some bank teller somewhere,

489
00:36:03,086 --> 00:36:07,658
reading Hebrews 12:29 on our checks.

490
00:36:07,659 --> 00:36:10,814
And the truth is, I can remember those early days.

491
00:36:10,815 --> 00:36:19,475
And it's almost like, you come along to something like Mark 10:21 -

492
00:36:19,476 --> 00:36:24,970
"Jesus looking at the rich young ruler, loved him,

493
00:36:24,971 --> 00:36:29,182
and said to him, 'You lack one thing;
go sell all you have, give to the poor,

494
00:36:29,183 --> 00:36:31,785
and you will have treasure in heaven; and come follow Me.'

495
00:36:31,786 --> 00:36:36,370
That man went away sorrowful."

496
00:36:36,371 --> 00:36:41,013
And, you know, I found in those early days
all these Calvinists that come along,

497
00:36:41,014 --> 00:36:45,177
and they try to distort that, and say that it's not what it says,

498
00:36:45,178 --> 00:36:48,695
and that Jesus doesn't really... (that must have been Paul),

499
00:36:48,696 --> 00:36:52,514
because for Jesus to say that He loves somebody like that,

500
00:36:52,515 --> 00:36:56,962
it obviously had to be one of the elect. (P)

501
00:36:56,963 --> 00:37:04,299
You know, the truth is, I probably should have had
"Jesus looked at him and loved him" printed on my checks,

502
00:37:04,300 --> 00:37:09,374
rather than Hebrews 12.

503
00:37:09,375 --> 00:37:15,545
But the fact is, texts like that, early on, probably didn't excite me.

504
00:37:15,546 --> 00:37:18,678
"God is a consuming fire" excited me.

505
00:37:18,679 --> 00:37:21,666
And it should excite us, what is true about God.

506
00:37:21,667 --> 00:37:27,823
But the fact is that what we find in God's Word

507
00:37:27,824 --> 00:37:35,037
is a Book that is meant to express the love of God towards sinners.

508
00:37:35,038 --> 00:37:36,919
And it's everywhere.

509
00:37:36,920 --> 00:37:44,140
And that invitation of Christ was absolutely sincere to that rich young ruler.

510
00:37:44,141 --> 00:37:49,385
And if he would have sold it all and found Christ more precious,

511
00:37:49,386 --> 00:37:52,761
and he would have came to Him, even if he
would have just fallen down right there,

512
00:37:52,762 --> 00:38:00,042
like another man in Mark's Gospel who said,
"Lord, I believe; help my unbelief";

513
00:38:00,043 --> 00:38:03,547
if he would have fallen down and said, "Lord, I'm willing to do this,

514
00:38:03,548 --> 00:38:07,863
I want to do this, but it has such a grasp on me. Save me from it,"

515
00:38:07,864 --> 00:38:10,735
he'd be in heaven right now.

516
00:38:10,736 --> 00:38:13,311
It was a valid invitation.

517
00:38:13,312 --> 00:38:15,771
He did not mock him, it was not empty.

518
00:38:15,772 --> 00:38:18,121
You can't say, "Well, he wasn't one of God's elect,

519
00:38:18,122 --> 00:38:21,415
because he walked away sorrowful
and he walked away to his damnation,

520
00:38:21,416 --> 00:38:26,627
and so Jesus' love for him couldn't have been
valid and real and legitimate and deep."

521
00:38:26,628 --> 00:38:30,253
And it was, and Scripture says it was. (P)

522
00:38:30,254 --> 00:38:32,451
But see, as young believers, we do.

523
00:38:32,451 --> 00:38:35,913
Suddenly, things are revealed to us about God that ought to excite us.

524
00:38:35,914 --> 00:38:37,467
But it's true, as young believers,

525
00:38:37,467 --> 00:38:41,397
sometimes the love of God doesn't excite us near as much as it should.

526
00:38:41,398 --> 00:38:45,103
Do you agree with that? I find that to be the case.

527
00:38:45,104 --> 00:38:50,437
A lot of times, young believers are more like Boanerges (John and James, right,)

528
00:38:50,438 --> 00:38:53,745
who wanted to call down fire from heaven.

529
00:38:53,746 --> 00:38:59,257
It's almost like if we tell people 'God is love,' we're Arminian.

530
00:38:59,258 --> 00:39:03,435
I mean, that's how young believers feel sometimes.

531
00:39:03,436 --> 00:39:09,620
And that's not true at all. That is not true.

532
00:39:09,621 --> 00:39:14,592
God is love. (P)

533
00:39:15,935 --> 00:39:24,362
Speaking of God's love, Octavius Winslow
observed in his day, over a hundred years ago,

534
00:39:24,363 --> 00:39:30,792
that there are but few saints of God
who study God's character and God's acts

535
00:39:30,793 --> 00:39:34,590
in the light of this wondrous perfection of God's nature.

536
00:39:34,591 --> 00:39:37,845
And he's referring to 'God is love.'

537
00:39:37,846 --> 00:39:41,048
He observed that many are awed by God's greatness,

538
00:39:41,049 --> 00:39:44,202
impressed with His holiness, tremble at His power,

539
00:39:44,203 --> 00:39:52,479
but how few are subdued and drawn to Him by His love.

540
00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:54,492
God is love. (P)

541
00:39:54,493 --> 00:39:59,884
Now I had this picture. I was thinking about the apostle John,

542
00:39:59,885 --> 00:40:03,909
and I was getting this picture in my mind of him.

543
00:40:03,910 --> 00:40:06,963
He is writing 1st John.

544
00:40:06,964 --> 00:40:10,834
He's being moved along by the Holy Spirit.

545
00:40:10,835 --> 00:40:16,908
He's being impressed upon: Divine inspiration is taking place here.

546
00:40:16,909 --> 00:40:26,250
Can you imagine, as he's penning this letter,
the first moment that idea crossed his mind?

547
00:40:26,251 --> 00:40:31,392
There was a first moment when the idea that 'God is love'

548
00:40:31,393 --> 00:40:36,814
would have actually fallen upon the thoughts of John the apostle.

549
00:40:36,815 --> 00:40:38,889
And I was thinking about the moment,

550
00:40:38,890 --> 00:40:44,112
the realization that God wants to reveal Himself that way,

551
00:40:44,113 --> 00:40:47,327
and what it must have done to John right at that moment.

552
00:40:47,328 --> 00:40:51,462
I mean, you can tell he's already getting worked up in Chapter 3.

553
00:40:51,463 --> 00:40:55,772
He's like, "Just behold what manner of love this is! Behold what it is!

554
00:40:55,773 --> 00:40:59,672
Listen, this is out of this world, this is beyond.

555
00:40:59,673 --> 00:41:02,940
This is such a love that if you can get a hold...

556
00:41:02,941 --> 00:41:05,088
I mean, look what God has done!

557
00:41:05,089 --> 00:41:07,667
Have we forgotten who we are and what we've done?

558
00:41:07,668 --> 00:41:10,668
Have we forgotten how black with sin we were?

559
00:41:10,669 --> 00:41:12,758
Look what God has done!

560
00:41:12,759 --> 00:41:15,224
Look at the cost it took Him to do it.

561
00:41:15,225 --> 00:41:17,766
Look at the blood of His Son flowing." (P)

562
00:41:17,767 --> 00:41:22,588
And look, He not only just saves us and spares us from hell --

563
00:41:22,589 --> 00:41:26,139
He could have just saved us, set us on a deserted Pacific Island somewhere,

564
00:41:26,140 --> 00:41:27,566
it would have been mercy forever.

565
00:41:27,567 --> 00:41:28,974
You know what He could have done?

566
00:41:28,975 --> 00:41:33,457
He could have just said, "You know what?
When you die, you're just going to cease to exist."

567
00:41:33,458 --> 00:41:41,015
That would have been inexpressible mercies to anybody
destined for hell and for eternal punishment.

568
00:41:41,016 --> 00:41:43,722
But He doesn't just say, "You won't exist."

569
00:41:43,730 --> 00:41:47,401
He doesn't just say, "Well, stay here on in this world forever."

570
00:41:47,402 --> 00:41:49,141
He doesn't do that.

571
00:41:49,142 --> 00:41:52,027
He says, "I'm going to make you My sons and daughters.

572
00:41:52,028 --> 00:41:55,530
I'm going to pull you into My family.

573
00:41:55,531 --> 00:42:04,748
And then in the coming ages, I'm going to
demonstrate the fullness of My kindness,

574
00:42:04,749 --> 00:42:08,032
just immeasurable kindness.

575
00:42:08,033 --> 00:42:12,985
I'm going to heap on you, those of you that are in Christ,

576
00:42:12,992 --> 00:42:14,698
I'm going to pour that out."

577
00:42:14,699 --> 00:42:18,791
And John is just... I can imagine he's carried away.

578
00:42:18,792 --> 00:42:23,162
And then, the Spirit would have just given him that impression:

579
00:42:23,163 --> 00:42:32,470
"John, do you know why My salvation is so absolutely a demonstration of love?

580
00:42:32,471 --> 00:42:35,621
I am love."

581
00:42:35,622 --> 00:42:40,030
And sometimes it's just the simplest thoughts, but they're so profound.

582
00:42:40,031 --> 00:42:42,694
Can you imagine the moment that was impressed upon him,

583
00:42:42,695 --> 00:42:52,092
how it must have just filled him with joy?

584
00:42:52,093 --> 00:42:57,290
What experience must that have been, John just bursting forth. (P)

585
00:42:57,291 --> 00:43:01,573
And if you think about it, think about what God does;

586
00:43:01,574 --> 00:43:07,183
if you just stop and you think for a second,

587
00:43:07,184 --> 00:43:17,890
God is actually the kind of God, that when a man has his little child dying

588
00:43:17,891 --> 00:43:22,490
(that we heard about in the first hour), and he goes and he prays to God,

589
00:43:22,491 --> 00:43:27,949
God says, "Even though death is upon the human race altogether,

590
00:43:27,950 --> 00:43:31,413
I'm just gonna fill them with joy.

591
00:43:31,414 --> 00:43:35,488
I'm gonna save their daughter."

592
00:43:35,489 --> 00:43:39,897
I mean, just think: God created us with human eyeballs,

593
00:43:39,898 --> 00:43:43,321
and He created sunsets.

594
00:43:43,322 --> 00:43:48,742
Once in a while, we need to stand back and say, "Why would He do that?"

595
00:43:48,743 --> 00:43:53,035
Sunsets could have all been brown, or gray,

596
00:43:53,036 --> 00:43:57,801
or He could have made our eyeballs to never see color.

597
00:43:57,802 --> 00:44:03,785
Walk into a garden, like a flower garden or the botanical gardens,

598
00:44:03,786 --> 00:44:06,465
why all the colors?

599
00:44:06,466 --> 00:44:11,176
Why are crepe myrtle in... these oleanders out here,

600
00:44:11,177 --> 00:44:14,219
they're blooming with white, but in my yard they're pink.

601
00:44:14,220 --> 00:44:16,969
I've seen dark red.

602
00:44:16,970 --> 00:44:21,714
Why? Why did God create flowers?

603
00:44:21,715 --> 00:44:26,859
Why did God not only make them beautiful,
but give many of them an aroma?

604
00:44:26,860 --> 00:44:31,049
Have you ever smelled a rose? or a gardenia?

605
00:44:31,050 --> 00:44:34,832
Who invented that?

606
00:44:34,833 --> 00:44:40,449
Have you ever wondered why would He make the trees, especially in the North,

607
00:44:40,450 --> 00:44:46,266
change color to where they're so beautiful in the fall? Why?

608
00:44:46,267 --> 00:44:49,746
Have you ever thought about the intimacy between a man and a woman?

609
00:44:49,747 --> 00:44:51,697
Why would God even create that?

610
00:44:51,698 --> 00:44:56,349
Why would He create us with tongues to delight in food,

611
00:44:56,350 --> 00:45:04,648
and then make food across the spectrum (every color of the rainbow) for us to eat?

612
00:45:04,648 --> 00:45:07,405
Why would He make lemon meringue pie?

613
00:45:07,406 --> 00:45:10,235
Why would He make lemons?

614
00:45:10,236 --> 00:45:14,804
I mean, have you ever just stood back and thought? Why?

615
00:45:14,805 --> 00:45:21,485
You think of the rain falling, you think of a gentle breeze:

616
00:45:21,486 --> 00:45:26,562
we're sinners, and we get to enjoy a breeze?

617
00:45:26,563 --> 00:45:31,119
When the first cool front comes in the fall we get to enjoy that,

618
00:45:31,120 --> 00:45:33,767
when we deserve everlasting burnings?

619
00:45:33,768 --> 00:45:35,753
Have you ever just stood back and asked,

620
00:45:35,754 --> 00:45:40,067
looked at a baby and said, "Why are babies cute?"

621
00:45:40,068 --> 00:45:44,929
Or looked up and said, "Why is the blue in the sky beautiful?

622
00:45:44,930 --> 00:45:51,295
Why are these thunderhead clouds so glorious? Why?

623
00:45:51,296 --> 00:45:53,895
It's because God is a God of love. (P)

624
00:45:53,896 --> 00:45:58,776
I mean, brethren, again this is what we did
this last time we had the Lord's supper,

625
00:45:58,777 --> 00:46:04,158
but have you ever just stop and say, "He sent His Son into the world,

626
00:46:04,159 --> 00:46:11,014
and the first miracle He did was to change water to wine."

627
00:46:11,015 --> 00:46:12,438
Why?

628
00:46:12,439 --> 00:46:19,251
I mean, here, the signature expression of My Son when I send Him

629
00:46:19,252 --> 00:46:24,373
and He's going to do His first public miracle,

630
00:46:24,374 --> 00:46:27,229
I'm going to show you what kind of God I am:

631
00:46:27,230 --> 00:46:31,516
He's going to turn water to wine -

632
00:46:31,517 --> 00:46:38,171
just the joy and the goodness that He means to heap upon mankind.

633
00:46:38,172 --> 00:46:45,895
I mean, just go to Scripture, behold God saving Israel for the hundredth time,

634
00:46:45,896 --> 00:46:48,632
after they've done what's right in their own eyes.

635
00:46:48,633 --> 00:46:50,734
I mean, look at them, start out with them:

636
00:46:50,735 --> 00:46:55,773
they come out of Egypt, and they're grumbling;

637
00:46:55,774 --> 00:47:00,128
and God smites them and then gives them manna.

638
00:47:00,129 --> 00:47:04,191
He smites them, and then He feeds them, and He gives them water.

639
00:47:04,192 --> 00:47:10,025
He destroys all the adults, but He shows kindness

640
00:47:10,026 --> 00:47:13,495
and brings them into the land of Canaan.

641
00:47:13,496 --> 00:47:18,108
The times of the Judges, they're doing what's right in their own eyes,

642
00:47:18,109 --> 00:47:23,333
but as soon as they called upon the LORD, what did He do?

643
00:47:23,334 --> 00:47:27,036
He did the same thing that Jonah knew He was going to do with the Ninevites.

644
00:47:27,037 --> 00:47:29,676
Why? Because God is love. That's how He is. (P)

645
00:47:29,676 --> 00:47:33,036
Brethren, look, let's just think about your own lives.

646
00:47:33,037 --> 00:47:35,767
Look at your lives, God came and saved you.

647
00:47:35,768 --> 00:47:37,886
Look at the things that He has done for you.

648
00:47:37,887 --> 00:47:39,226
Look at how He has cared for you.

649
00:47:39,227 --> 00:47:42,066
I look at the life of this church,

650
00:47:42,067 --> 00:47:45,089
we prayed for young people, and He gave us young people.

651
00:47:45,090 --> 00:47:47,581
We prayed for African-Americans, He gave us that.

652
00:47:47,582 --> 00:47:50,160
We prayed for missionaries, He gave us that.

653
00:47:50,161 --> 00:47:53,673
We've prayed to have a church in Austin, He gave us that.

654
00:47:53,674 --> 00:47:55,827
We prayed to have a church in Corpus, in Laredo.

655
00:47:55,828 --> 00:47:59,802
We have prayed these various things.

656
00:47:59,803 --> 00:48:03,429
I can remember one time we just came together, and for no other reason

657
00:48:03,430 --> 00:48:11,594
(we were in a drought season, there was no prediction of rain at all),

658
00:48:11,595 --> 00:48:13,874
and we got together on a Wednesday night and said,

659
00:48:13,875 --> 00:48:18,286
"Let's just pray to God for rain in this drought time,

660
00:48:18,287 --> 00:48:20,807
just because God can, and He's kind."

661
00:48:20,808 --> 00:48:26,031
And what did we pray for, rain for the next day
or for that Friday, and God brought it!

662
00:48:26,032 --> 00:48:28,094
Do you all remember that?

663
00:48:28,095 --> 00:48:31,793
I mean, why does He do things? Because He's love.

664
00:48:31,794 --> 00:48:45,813
He is a kind of God that says, "I sit on a throne of grace, and I'm sympathetic.

665
00:48:45,814 --> 00:48:51,652
I sent My Son in the likeness of your own flesh.

666
00:48:51,653 --> 00:48:55,640
He's a sympathetic High Priest.

667
00:48:55,641 --> 00:49:00,769
I sent My own Son to become one of you, and then to give Him up.

668
00:49:00,770 --> 00:49:05,308
And if you'll come to His throne, you'll receive mercy

669
00:49:05,309 --> 00:49:08,054
and you'll find grace to help in time of need.

670
00:49:08,055 --> 00:49:12,414
I am the kind of God that is there to give and supply needs.

671
00:49:12,415 --> 00:49:16,818
But come to Me, trust Me, fall into My loving hands.

672
00:49:16,819 --> 00:49:21,893
Cast all your cares, all your anxieties, all your sin, on Me."

673
00:49:21,894 --> 00:49:24,984
That's the kind of God that He is. (P)

674
00:49:24,985 --> 00:49:32,361
Brethren, behold the things He does. Behold Gethsemane!

675
00:49:32,362 --> 00:49:38,085
Behold the blood. Behold the anguish. Behold the cross.

676
00:49:38,086 --> 00:49:43,315
Behold the Son of God crying out,
"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"

677
00:49:43,316 --> 00:49:51,411
Why? Because of love. Yes, justice demanded it, but love initiated that.

678
00:49:51,412 --> 00:49:53,691
Behold that.

679
00:49:53,692 --> 00:49:59,572
Brethren, behold the parable of the prodigal son.

680
00:49:59,573 --> 00:50:05,583
Do you think Jesus Christ was exaggerating when He gave this parable,

681
00:50:05,584 --> 00:50:09,681
and He showed a picture of this father who was waiting?

682
00:50:09,682 --> 00:50:15,302
God waits to be gracious to you: a Father who waits.

683
00:50:15,303 --> 00:50:21,859
And when he sees the prodigal on the horizon, he runs;

684
00:50:21,860 --> 00:50:32,160
the father runs with open arms - ring, and robe, and sandals, and feast.

685
00:50:32,161 --> 00:50:37,911
Now, do you think that when Jesus tells a parable,

686
00:50:37,912 --> 00:50:43,954
that it exaggerates the reality, or it falls short of the reality?

687
00:50:43,955 --> 00:50:50,923
Brethren, if you think God is unkind and harsh and cruel,

688
00:50:50,924 --> 00:50:53,906
you misread that parable, you misread Calvary,

689
00:50:53,906 --> 00:50:58,217
you misread Gethsemane, you misread what He did in the life of israel,

690
00:50:58,218 --> 00:51:00,964
you misread, brethren!

691
00:51:00,965 --> 00:51:04,262
God is love. (P)

692
00:51:04,263 --> 00:51:14,669
How about fourth observation: What about "God is a consuming fire"?

693
00:51:14,670 --> 00:51:19,763
What about the God behind that tornado that ripped through Moore, Oklahoma?

694
00:51:19,764 --> 00:51:24,811
I mean, what about that?

695
00:51:24,812 --> 00:51:30,735
God is a consuming fire - that kind of sounds at odds with 'God is love'.

696
00:51:30,736 --> 00:51:43,404
But listen, if these godly brothers who went before us,

697
00:51:43,405 --> 00:51:47,472
like Payson, Winslow, and Wesley,

698
00:51:47,473 --> 00:51:56,020
if they were right that 'God is love' means this is an essence that permeates everything,

699
00:51:56,021 --> 00:51:59,286
then I have a feeling that if we consider 'God is a consuming fire',

700
00:51:59,287 --> 00:52:03,693
we will find His love is there as well.

701
00:52:03,694 --> 00:52:08,555
And I would just remind you of this:

702
00:52:08,556 --> 00:52:14,905
Why does God even tell us He is a consuming fire?

703
00:52:14,906 --> 00:52:20,352
Is it so that we might cower with fear, and despair,

704
00:52:20,353 --> 00:52:23,964
and just throw up our arms, "Oh well, we're damned"?

705
00:52:23,965 --> 00:52:28,828
Is that why He tells us?

706
00:52:28,829 --> 00:52:31,477
We may find that God even telling us that,

707
00:52:31,478 --> 00:52:37,509
resonates with more love than we might at first perceive.

708
00:52:37,510 --> 00:52:46,878
Isn't God telling us simply this, that today is the day of salvation.

709
00:52:46,879 --> 00:52:54,552
While you have life and breath, cast yourselves upon these arms of love.

710
00:52:54,553 --> 00:52:59,879
Don't spurn them, don't harden yourself, don't be stiff-necked,

711
00:52:59,880 --> 00:53:04,687
don't go on, because God is a consuming fire."

712
00:53:04,688 --> 00:53:09,592
He has given it to us because He indeed waits to be gracious.

713
00:53:09,593 --> 00:53:12,808
And men resist His gracious advances.

714
00:53:12,809 --> 00:53:20,384
And if you keep doing it, if you keep refusing this staggeringly immense love

715
00:53:20,385 --> 00:53:25,599
that has been given to provide a substitute to bear our sins,

716
00:53:25,600 --> 00:53:30,233
then the consuming fire of God's justice will indeed sweep us away.

717
00:53:30,234 --> 00:53:31,729
But it's a warning of love. (P)

718
00:53:31,730 --> 00:53:38,543
And I ask you, even when God must become a consuming fire to His adversaries,

719
00:53:38,544 --> 00:53:41,557
with what heart does He do so?

720
00:53:41,558 --> 00:53:44,641
I mean, think about what Scripture says.

721
00:53:44,642 --> 00:53:48,594
Ezekiel 33:11, you know it well, "As I live, declares the Lord God,

722
00:53:48,594 --> 00:53:51,462
I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked,

723
00:53:51,463 --> 00:53:55,361
but that the wicked turn from his way and live.

724
00:53:55,361 --> 00:53:58,012
Turn back, turn back from your evil ways;

725
00:53:58,013 --> 00:54:00,107
for why will you die, O house of Israel?"

726
00:54:00,108 --> 00:54:06,797
I'll tell you, the feeling you get in Scripture is this: it is easy for God to love,

727
00:54:06,798 --> 00:54:12,633
and God does not take pleasure when His justice must take you out.

728
00:54:12,634 --> 00:54:14,930
That's the feeling you get from Scripture.

729
00:54:14,931 --> 00:54:18,345
God will be just, because He is just.

730
00:54:18,346 --> 00:54:24,901
He will do right - the Judge of all this earth will do right.

731
00:54:24,902 --> 00:54:31,613
But He is a Judge who reveals Himself as the God who is love,

732
00:54:31,614 --> 00:54:38,537
even when He becomes a consuming fire. (P)

733
00:54:39,924 --> 00:54:48,525
Brethren, He sent His Son to this world.

734
00:54:48,526 --> 00:54:52,618
And when they rejected Him, and when they mocked Him,

735
00:54:52,619 --> 00:55:01,314
and when they hated Him, here's the heart of God, Luke 19:41,

736
00:55:01,315 --> 00:55:06,004
"Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem."

737
00:55:06,005 --> 00:55:10,079
In another place He says, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem,

738
00:55:10,080 --> 00:55:14,169
how often I would have gathered you as a hen gathers her chicks."

739
00:55:14,170 --> 00:55:17,724
And what does He say? Not "I would not," but, "You would not.

740
00:55:17,725 --> 00:55:19,823
You would not!

741
00:55:19,824 --> 00:55:25,610
I extend My hands to a disobedient people all the day long;

742
00:55:25,611 --> 00:55:28,092
and you would not, you would not."

743
00:55:28,093 --> 00:55:31,308
When God comes as a consuming fire and His wrath falls,

744
00:55:31,309 --> 00:55:38,117
it falls on those who, with the light of conscience and the light of creation

745
00:55:38,131 --> 00:55:41,020
and the light of the gospel, have resisted the light.

746
00:55:41,021 --> 00:55:42,100
They've turned.

747
00:55:42,101 --> 00:55:46,135
They've exchanged the glory of God for every other thing under the sun.

748
00:55:46,136 --> 00:55:49,588
They've hated God, they despised him, they turned their back.

749
00:55:49,589 --> 00:55:53,269
See the heart of God.

750
00:55:54,820 --> 00:56:01,601
Ladies and gentlemen, no matter how you explain, how you teach,

751
00:56:01,602 --> 00:56:07,973
or how you otherwise interpret God's sovereignty, God's predestination, God's election;

752
00:56:07,974 --> 00:56:13,150
if you find that you cannot say the things I've been saying,

753
00:56:13,151 --> 00:56:15,656
you've gotten the heart of God all wrong.

754
00:56:15,657 --> 00:56:18,617
God is love. (P)

755
00:56:22,107 --> 00:56:28,170
Lamentations 3:33, "He does not afflict from His heart to grieve the children of men."

756
00:56:28,171 --> 00:56:30,402
He will afflict the sons of men,

757
00:56:30,403 --> 00:56:33,494
but it seems like that is the twisting of His arm.

758
00:56:33,495 --> 00:56:37,006
I mean, one of the texts that I came across this week,

759
00:56:37,007 --> 00:56:44,099
that I just felt I needed to stick in here
because I think it's just so telltale of 'God is love'.

760
00:56:44,100 --> 00:56:45,859
I mean, here you have Hosea.

761
00:56:45,860 --> 00:56:54,796
Hosea apparently was a prophet from the northern kingdom, like Jonah was.

762
00:56:54,797 --> 00:57:00,165
Those are the only two we know that were from the northern kingdom.

763
00:57:00,166 --> 00:57:06,370
Listen to what he says in Hosea 7:1, "When I would heal Israel," --

764
00:57:06,371 --> 00:57:10,561
did you get that right there? "When I would heal Israel."

765
00:57:10,561 --> 00:57:13,220
Will God heal you if you're in your sins?

766
00:57:13,221 --> 00:57:16,295
He said so, if you'll come to Him.

767
00:57:16,296 --> 00:57:21,837
But He says this, "When I would heal Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed,

768
00:57:21,838 --> 00:57:24,656
and the evil deeds of Samaria; for they deal falsely;

769
00:57:24,657 --> 00:57:27,451
the thief breaks in, and the bandits raid outside.

770
00:57:27,452 --> 00:57:30,542
But they do not consider that I remember all their evil.

771
00:57:30,542 --> 00:57:35,269
Now their deeds surround them; they are before my face."

772
00:57:35,270 --> 00:57:37,865
But when you read over a few chapters, listen to this,

773
00:57:37,866 --> 00:57:43,762
Hosea 11:8, "How can I give you up, O Ephraim?"

774
00:57:43,763 --> 00:57:48,762
I mean, in light of all their sin, He says, "How can I hand you over, O Israel?

775
00:57:48,763 --> 00:57:53,608
How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim?

776
00:57:53,609 --> 00:58:00,757
My heart recoils within Me; My compassion grows warm and tender."

777
00:58:00,757 --> 00:58:05,847
Can you feel the warmth of God in that? God is love. (P)

778
00:58:05,848 --> 00:58:09,669
We don't want to make light of God's judgments and His eternal punishment.

779
00:58:09,670 --> 00:58:13,861
It's no small thing to fall under the vengeance of the God who is love.

780
00:58:13,862 --> 00:58:19,059
I mean, listen to Octavius Winslow on this point, a point well to be taken:

781
00:58:19,060 --> 00:58:24,831
"Mercy is fearful when it turns to wrath.

782
00:58:24,832 --> 00:58:30,106
Love is consuming when it turns to anger.

783
00:58:30,107 --> 00:58:34,696
There is no wrath like the wrath of the Lamb."

784
00:58:34,703 --> 00:58:37,703
And have you ever thought about that imagery?

785
00:58:37,704 --> 00:58:44,661
The Lamb, the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world;

786
00:58:44,662 --> 00:58:50,730
the Lamb who came to take away the sins of the world.

787
00:58:50,731 --> 00:58:57,591
But when that Lamb is roused to anger, oh what wrath from the Lamb.

788
00:58:57,592 --> 00:59:01,987
I mean, even now the voice of God is this voice:

789
00:59:01,987 --> 00:59:08,424
"Why will you die? Why will you have Me come upon you as a consuming fire?"

790
00:59:08,425 --> 00:59:11,950
Ladies and gentlemen, if there are those here that know not Christ,

791
00:59:11,951 --> 00:59:13,951
is your sin so precious...?

792
00:59:13,952 --> 00:59:16,939
I'll tell you this, God is love;

793
00:59:16,940 --> 00:59:22,838
and if there's anything that will aggravate Him to a fury...

794
00:59:22,839 --> 00:59:27,979
I mean, can you imagine an earthly king if he has been insulted,

795
00:59:27,980 --> 00:59:31,861
he has been sinned against, he has been despised, he has been hated;

796
00:59:31,861 --> 00:59:41,876
and for him to come with terms of love, terms that are so kind -

797
00:59:41,877 --> 00:59:47,682
to have that enemy just hate it, fight against it.

798
00:59:47,682 --> 00:59:50,456
I'll tell you, when his wrath comes, it will come with a severity

799
00:59:50,457 --> 00:59:55,753
that it would have never otherwise come with. (P)

800
00:59:57,086 --> 01:00:04,938
Is your sin so precious that you're going to hold on to it and abandon this?

801
01:00:04,939 --> 01:00:12,579
Is it so precious to you that you would lay down
in the consuming eternal fires of God?

802
01:00:12,585 --> 01:00:17,736
I mean, can you imagine being in hell? Can you imagine?

803
01:00:17,737 --> 01:00:25,315
Can you imagine anybody in this room ending up in these eternal burnings,

804
01:00:25,316 --> 01:00:34,176
and the God who is love offered you an eternal weight of glory?

805
01:00:34,177 --> 01:00:38,621
He offered you membership in His family,

806
01:00:38,622 --> 01:00:44,004
He offered you marriage to His Son,

807
01:00:44,005 --> 01:00:47,005
He offered you full forgiveness and pardon.

808
01:00:47,006 --> 01:00:50,931
He offered to make you white as the new fallen snow.

809
01:00:50,932 --> 01:00:56,427
He offered to forgive all your crimes against Him.

810
01:00:56,428 --> 01:00:58,617
He offered all of that.

811
01:00:58,618 --> 01:01:01,512
He offered over and over. He offered to you.

812
01:01:01,513 --> 01:01:04,230
He came to you with His outstretched hands.

813
01:01:04,231 --> 01:01:10,509
He bid you, "Fall upon My grace, come to Me, know My love, swim in My love.

814
01:01:10,510 --> 01:01:14,820
Have it, I'll bestow it on you. Just come to Me. Surrender.

815
01:01:14,821 --> 01:01:16,329
Fall into these hands."

816
01:01:16,330 --> 01:01:22,192
Can you imagine waking up one day in hell,
and realizing all that was offered to me,

817
01:01:22,193 --> 01:01:25,470
and I resisted it, and I fought against it, and I hated it."

818
01:01:25,471 --> 01:01:30,305
Like these women that were on that boat, these soldiers' wives,

819
01:01:30,306 --> 01:01:36,118
to just say: "I'm going to have my sin.
I think I like my sin better than that."

820
01:01:36,119 --> 01:01:42,198
Are you going throw away your soul for that?

821
01:01:42,199 --> 01:01:45,822
It's an indescribable thing to be lost forever,

822
01:01:45,823 --> 01:01:52,662
especially when God held forth His love to you every day of your earthly life. (P)

823
01:01:52,663 --> 01:01:56,083
You even think about God, the God of that tornado.

824
01:01:56,084 --> 01:02:04,518
Thirty-six square miles, they said, of Moore were wiped out.

825
01:02:04,519 --> 01:02:09,067
You know, people in this world like to say, "Where was God at in that?"

826
01:02:09,068 --> 01:02:13,423
But even in that, even in that, what is it we find from Scripture?

827
01:02:13,424 --> 01:02:16,146
Well, I mean, one thing to think about is,

828
01:02:16,147 --> 01:02:23,338
the United States of America is somewhere around 4 million square miles.

829
01:02:23,339 --> 01:02:34,016
What about all the other 4 million square miles of the US
where sinners lived, and there weren't tornadoes?

830
01:02:34,017 --> 01:02:37,858
And even in the calamity itself,

831
01:02:37,859 --> 01:02:42,375
Daniel 9:13, "All this calamity has come upon us,

832
01:02:42,376 --> 01:02:45,135
yet we've not entreated the favor of the Lord our God,

833
01:02:45,136 --> 01:02:48,600
turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by Your truth."

834
01:02:48,601 --> 01:02:51,972
You see, these things are given to us to gain insight -

835
01:02:51,973 --> 01:02:59,343
the day is coming, time is running out, today is the day of salvation. (P)

836
01:02:59,344 --> 01:03:04,228
Isaiah 9:13, "The people did not turn to Him who struck them,

837
01:03:04,229 --> 01:03:06,095
nor inquire of the LORD of hosts."

838
01:03:06,096 --> 01:03:11,507
That's what He does that for.

839
01:03:13,303 --> 01:03:18,440
I mean, even in the judgments of God, He's beckoning to men: Repent.

840
01:03:18,441 --> 01:03:21,261
When He sends His plagues, there in Revelation,

841
01:03:21,261 --> 01:03:25,762
it says they did not repent and give Him glory.

842
01:03:25,763 --> 01:03:27,669
What did they do? They blasphemed His name.

843
01:03:27,670 --> 01:03:31,892
How many people blaspheme God because of that?

844
01:03:31,893 --> 01:03:34,893
They blaspheme Him in one of two ways, right?

845
01:03:34,894 --> 01:03:38,990
They either say, "God wasn't in that. God's impotent.

846
01:03:38,991 --> 01:03:42,566
God doesn't control storms, He would never do that."

847
01:03:42,567 --> 01:03:45,140
Or they just curse.

848
01:03:45,141 --> 01:03:46,975
You can hear them.

849
01:03:46,976 --> 01:03:49,784
They just use His name in vain, they just blaspheme it,

850
01:03:49,785 --> 01:03:51,585
when they see what happens.

851
01:03:51,586 --> 01:03:54,056
They don't turn to God.

852
01:03:54,057 --> 01:03:59,258
They dismiss Him altogether, or they find fault with Him.

853
01:03:59,259 --> 01:04:02,112
But God is doing this.

854
01:04:02,113 --> 01:04:10,368
I mean, have you ever got the weight of Scripture,

855
01:04:10,369 --> 01:04:17,703
where it says things like this, Psalm 136:1, "Give thanks to the LORD,

856
01:04:17,704 --> 01:04:21,181
for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever."

857
01:04:21,182 --> 01:04:25,005
There's His love; God is love; His love endures forever. (P)

858
01:04:25,006 --> 01:04:28,555
"Give thanks to the God of gods, for His steadfast love endures forever

859
01:04:28,556 --> 01:04:31,281
(or as the old translations say, His lovingkindness);

860
01:04:31,282 --> 01:04:35,204
give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His steadfast love endures forever;

861
01:04:35,205 --> 01:04:39,372
to Him who alone does great wonders,
for His steadfast love endures forever."

862
01:04:39,373 --> 01:04:44,556
But then he says this: "To Him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,

863
01:04:44,557 --> 01:04:48,901
for His steadfast love endures forever;

864
01:04:48,902 --> 01:04:52,528
to Him who overthrew Pharaoh and his hosts in the Red Sea,

865
01:04:52,529 --> 01:04:54,993
for His steadfast love endures forever;

866
01:04:54,994 --> 01:04:59,258
to Him who struck down great kings,
for His steadfast love endures forever;

867
01:04:59,259 --> 01:05:02,552
and killed mighty kings, for His steadfast love endures forever;

868
01:05:02,553 --> 01:05:05,964
Sihon, king of the Amorites, for His steadfast love endures forever;

869
01:05:05,965 --> 01:05:10,553
and Og, king of Bashan, for His steadfast love endures forever;

870
01:05:10,554 --> 01:05:16,962
give thanks to the God of heaven,
for His steadfast love endures forever." (P)

871
01:05:16,963 --> 01:05:20,229
Let me just tell you this, folks:

872
01:05:20,230 --> 01:05:25,411
God's judgments on some are His love to others.

873
01:05:25,412 --> 01:05:33,172
Listen, you need to understand this,

874
01:05:33,173 --> 01:05:37,601
Psalm 86:5 says this, "For You, O Lord, are good and forgiving,

875
01:05:37,602 --> 01:05:41,073
abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon You."

876
01:05:41,074 --> 01:05:48,494
His love is for those who call upon Him.

877
01:05:48,495 --> 01:05:53,516
And for those that don't call upon Him, for those who fight,

878
01:05:53,517 --> 01:05:57,717
all things work together for good to those who do love Him,

879
01:05:57,718 --> 01:06:04,858
for those who are called by Him, even the destruction of the ungodly.

880
01:06:04,859 --> 01:06:10,596
And one of the most amazing things God can do 
for the sake of His people is put Himself on display.

881
01:06:10,597 --> 01:06:14,811
Even when He puts Himself on display in tornadoes, it's for our good,

882
01:06:14,812 --> 01:06:18,602
and it's with loving purposes towards us. His love is in that.

883
01:06:18,603 --> 01:06:20,985
Even when Pharaoh was struck down,

884
01:06:20,986 --> 01:06:24,073
even when Og and Sihon were put to death,

885
01:06:24,074 --> 01:06:29,999
God's lovingkindness, God's enduring love is there.

886
01:06:30,000 --> 01:06:33,489
It's abiding. It's good. It's strong.

887
01:06:33,490 --> 01:06:39,797
Seriously, if you will look at everything God does,
you will find loving purposes there,

888
01:06:39,798 --> 01:06:44,665
even when some of those purposes seem hard. (P)

889
01:06:44,666 --> 01:06:50,024
I'll finish very quickly with this, the fifth observation:

890
01:06:50,025 --> 01:06:55,953
I know that there are people in this church that struggle with fear.

891
01:06:55,954 --> 01:07:04,399
John himself says this, "Love casts out fear."

892
01:07:04,400 --> 01:07:09,735
Fear goes hand-in-hand with slavery, right?

893
01:07:09,736 --> 01:07:16,211
This is not a spirit of slavery that we've been given; it's a spirit of adoption.

894
01:07:16,212 --> 01:07:20,067
And slavery and fear go hand-to-hand in Scripture. Why?

895
01:07:20,068 --> 01:07:24,343
Because fear goes hand-in-hand with, John says, punishment.

896
01:07:24,344 --> 01:07:27,088
Fear has to do with punishment.

897
01:07:27,089 --> 01:07:32,987
Fear has to do with this thought, that if I don't do right,

898
01:07:32,988 --> 01:07:35,671
I'm going to be punished.

899
01:07:35,672 --> 01:07:37,408
That's how the slave works.

900
01:07:37,409 --> 01:07:41,756
If the slave doesn't perform just right, he gets whipped.

901
01:07:41,757 --> 01:07:44,434
If the slave doesn't do just what the homeowner wants,

902
01:07:44,435 --> 01:07:48,280
he ends up with welts on his back, like we heard.

903
01:07:48,281 --> 01:07:50,748
That's the mindset of a slave.

904
01:07:50,755 --> 01:07:55,690
And can I tell you this, some of you are gripped by this fear.

905
01:07:55,691 --> 01:08:04,495
And fear is always, bank on it, you can trace it back to slavery.

906
01:08:04,496 --> 01:08:06,748
You are falling into slavery.

907
01:08:06,749 --> 01:08:14,755
What John wants us to feel is this, we have
been saved by a God who is altogether love.

908
01:08:14,756 --> 01:08:16,982
And we don't have to fear Him.

909
01:08:16,983 --> 01:08:19,642
We don't have to fear Him. (P)

910
01:08:19,643 --> 01:08:26,040
Brethren, we need to have this sink in, that God is love,

911
01:08:26,041 --> 01:08:30,261
and blow away those dark mists that often shroud our thoughts

912
01:08:30,261 --> 01:08:33,586
and our minds with this terror of slavery.

913
01:08:33,587 --> 01:08:35,438
It does, as fear comes on us.

914
01:08:35,439 --> 01:08:38,068
And when does it come? Usually when we're looking at ourselves:

915
01:08:38,069 --> 01:08:40,357
"Well, how good have I been? how well have I performed?"

916
01:08:40,358 --> 01:08:42,501
You see, that's all slavery talk.

917
01:08:42,502 --> 01:08:46,863
And that lends itself to fear, because as soon as you start measuring yourself up that way

918
01:08:46,863 --> 01:08:48,872
with regards to your relationship to God,

919
01:08:48,872 --> 01:08:51,787
you look in the mirror and you see some defect.

920
01:08:51,787 --> 01:08:55,803
And the slavery mentality is: "I got to suffer for that."

921
01:08:55,804 --> 01:08:57,417
And so you walk through life,

922
01:08:57,417 --> 01:09:05,470
and it's like you harbor this underlying, or maybe not so underlying, resentment for God.

923
01:09:05,470 --> 01:09:09,736
You find His ways hard. You end up not liking Him.

924
01:09:09,737 --> 01:09:12,584
You don't like that God, because you see Him as a slave master;

925
01:09:12,585 --> 01:09:15,270
you see Him as hard and harsh; you see Him as unkind.

926
01:09:15,270 --> 01:09:17,890
And the devil will be right there to breathe that in your ears.

927
01:09:17,890 --> 01:09:22,211
Brethren, we have the kind of God that Dan Smith talked about,

928
01:09:22,212 --> 01:09:25,814
that when you do something wrong, 
like enter the army when you shouldn't,

929
01:09:25,816 --> 01:09:27,246
God gets you out of it.

930
01:09:27,247 --> 01:09:29,758
When you do something and resist His leadings,

931
01:09:29,759 --> 01:09:33,997
and go to work with your partner when you shouldn't have, God gets you out of it. (P)

932
01:09:33,999 --> 01:09:39,322
We have the kind of Father that comes along,
and He seeks to wean us from this world.

933
01:09:39,323 --> 01:09:42,959
And as He does so, He prunes off these idols.

934
01:09:42,960 --> 01:09:44,801
And it hurts, it's painful.

935
01:09:44,803 --> 01:09:54,037
But don't you realize, He is so deep in His loving purposes
He means to wean us from this world,

936
01:09:54,038 --> 01:09:58,815
and to grow us more fond, more favourable towards Paradise.

937
01:09:58,816 --> 01:10:03,383
He lessens our grip, He weakens our grip on the things here,

938
01:10:03,384 --> 01:10:06,405
so that we might be more heavenly minded,

939
01:10:06,406 --> 01:10:08,405
and set our minds on things above.

940
01:10:08,406 --> 01:10:09,996
His purposes are good.

941
01:10:09,997 --> 01:10:14,074
His providences, when they seem hard, what are they doing? What do they do?

942
01:10:14,075 --> 01:10:16,375
They test your faith, they make it stronger;

943
01:10:16,376 --> 01:10:19,136
they make you more like Christ; they break your pride;

944
01:10:19,137 --> 01:10:21,124
they make you more prepared for heaven.

945
01:10:21,125 --> 01:10:24,567
Does that sound like a mean and cruel Father?

946
01:10:24,568 --> 01:10:28,051
I mean, does not the writer of Hebrews say there in Hebrews 12,

947
01:10:28,052 --> 01:10:31,078
that we have a Father who comes along and disciplines us. Why?

948
01:10:31,079 --> 01:10:33,799
To be mean, cruel, harsh?

949
01:10:33,800 --> 01:10:38,829
No, to instill righteousness in us. (P)

950
01:10:38,830 --> 01:10:41,916
Fear. We need to put away the fear.

951
01:10:41,917 --> 01:10:45,620
We have a Father who really cares. God is love.

952
01:10:45,621 --> 01:10:50,717
He's saying to His people, I mean if anything,
1st John - yes, lost people can glean from it -

953
01:10:50,718 --> 01:10:57,841
but 1st John is written for God's people, and it's speaking to you.

954
01:10:57,842 --> 01:11:00,980
It's saying, don't fear.

955
01:11:00,981 --> 01:11:05,514
You believe in Jesus Christ? Don't fear.

956
01:11:05,515 --> 01:11:09,801
Fear has to do with punishment. It has to do with slavery.

957
01:11:09,802 --> 01:11:12,654
God is love. That's who your Father is.

958
01:11:12,655 --> 01:11:27,255
Like Psalm 48:14 says, "This is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever."

959
01:11:27,255 --> 01:11:33,857
I mean, you have to think, Christian: God is love - this is my God;

960
01:11:33,858 --> 01:11:36,139
this is my God forever and ever.

961
01:11:36,140 --> 01:11:40,357
The God who reveals Himself this way, He's my God.

962
01:11:40,358 --> 01:11:43,153
You feel like, "Oh, I messed up."

963
01:11:43,154 --> 01:11:45,699
Yeah, but you have a Father who is love.

964
01:11:45,700 --> 01:11:47,822
What does that mean for you?

965
01:11:47,823 --> 01:11:53,207
That means, just like with Dan Smith, He'll work it out.

966
01:11:53,208 --> 01:11:54,584
He'll make it right.

967
01:11:54,585 --> 01:11:56,489
You say, "I've sinned." Go confess it to Him,

968
01:11:56,490 --> 01:11:58,957
He's faithful and just to forgive it.

969
01:11:58,958 --> 01:12:02,580
God very much wants you to get the matter right.

970
01:12:02,581 --> 01:12:05,240
He very much does.

971
01:12:05,241 --> 01:12:07,176
You say, "Man, I blew it this week."

972
01:12:07,177 --> 01:12:11,384
What are you gonna do, look in the mirror and be a slave?

973
01:12:11,385 --> 01:12:15,196
and be riddled with the slave's fear: "Oh, I didn't measure up"?

974
01:12:15,197 --> 01:12:18,561
What? Like any of us have? Any of us had a perfect week?

975
01:12:18,562 --> 01:12:21,765
Any of us had a perfect life?

976
01:12:21,766 --> 01:12:24,311
That's not what He wants you thinking. (P)

977
01:12:24,312 --> 01:12:31,003
And what you're doing is, as He's telling you, He's wanting to convince you,

978
01:12:31,004 --> 01:12:36,507
He's saying, "I'm revealing this to My people now:

979
01:12:36,508 --> 01:12:43,051
I am love; not just loving, I am love. I am your God.

980
01:12:43,052 --> 01:12:45,612
What kind of Father do you think this makes Me?

981
01:12:45,613 --> 01:12:49,292
It makes Me like the father there in the parable of the prodigal son,

982
01:12:49,293 --> 01:12:52,635
the kind who will run to you after everything you've done,

983
01:12:52,636 --> 01:12:58,020
and heap on you a feast - kill the fattened lamb.

984
01:12:58,021 --> 01:13:00,020
"But you don't know what I did."

985
01:13:00,021 --> 01:13:08,536
Well, yeah, I know what the prodigal did, 
he didn't do good things. (P)

986
01:13:08,537 --> 01:13:12,120
Fear comes from trying to be a slave again.

987
01:13:12,121 --> 01:13:15,827
Dear Christian, don't be that.

988
01:13:15,828 --> 01:13:23,201
Your performance - you will fear; you will fear.

989
01:13:23,202 --> 01:13:26,398
Stare at your performance, you'll fear.

990
01:13:26,399 --> 01:13:33,930
But that's not what God wants you to do.
He wants you to stare on "I am love."

991
01:13:33,931 --> 01:13:36,316
And if you've been saved any amount of time,

992
01:13:36,317 --> 01:13:41,900
all you have to do is look at your life, and you know He is faithful.

993
01:13:41,901 --> 01:13:45,810
He is faithful in His love, and He will not let you go.

994
01:13:45,811 --> 01:13:47,680
It's like Lloyd-Jones said;

995
01:13:47,681 --> 01:13:50,393
you know what, we can talk theoretically about love,

996
01:13:50,394 --> 01:13:52,898
we can talk theoretically about God is love,

997
01:13:52,899 --> 01:13:58,007
but there's nothing that matters aside from experiencing it.

998
01:13:58,008 --> 01:14:02,870
You can try to come up with your dictionary definitions of love,

999
01:14:02,871 --> 01:14:06,721
but until you truly experience it
(that's what you want, you want to experience it).

1000
01:14:06,722 --> 01:14:09,983
Look, God is love. That's how He reveals Himself.

1001
01:14:09,984 --> 01:14:14,447
He's Almighty: that means He's got the power to demonstrate that love.

1002
01:14:14,448 --> 01:14:17,372
If you don't know anything about that love,

1003
01:14:17,373 --> 01:14:21,673
He says, "I wait to be gracious; My arms are extended to you."

1004
01:14:21,674 --> 01:14:28,585
I tell you this, you will find Him a thousand times
more inclined to save you than you think.

1005
01:14:28,586 --> 01:14:30,432
Sinners tend to have this hesitation,

1006
01:14:30,433 --> 01:14:34,087
that God somehow stands back and is aloof from them.

1007
01:14:34,088 --> 01:14:39,142
Paul says, "No, He's close. He's close to every one of you,

1008
01:14:39,143 --> 01:14:42,504
and He saves all who call upon Him."

1009
01:14:42,505 --> 01:14:47,273
He will shower you in this love.

1010
01:14:48,231 --> 01:14:50,636
Well, I know this just scratches the surface,

1011
01:14:50,637 --> 01:14:54,269
and I know it's gone long, so we'll end with that.

1012
01:14:54,270 --> 01:14:59,842
May God take something from that and make this real.

1013
01:14:59,843 --> 01:15:01,571
Amen.