Loving Others

Have your Bibles tonight turn with me if you would first John three and will be looking at verses 17 through 19.

If anyone has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abiding little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the truth and treasure our heart before him spray heavenly father. All of your word is true. So much of your word is convicting much of your word is very comforting. I found this particular passage.

Lord, very convicting for I know my heart is so often devoid of the love that you have called me to to live in when I ask heavenly father tonight as we look at this passage that you might help us, that we might have a better understanding of what Christian love is that we might not see it is some type of mushy sentimentalism Lord we might understand that it's a love that is selfless and giving like not that of our Lord Jesus Christ, God, and directors through this passage this evening.

May Jesus be exalted and uplifted as congregation beatified will give you praise and honor and glory for what you do for us in Jesus name we pray. Amen. Maybe seated be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

That is a passage that Paul gave us from Romans chapter 12 as far as I'm concerned, the book of Romans is the greatest treatise theological treatise that is ever been written. But Paul was not just an academic intellectual.

Paul knew that in this theology did not have feed on it and that it would do very very little good for the kingdom.

So he starts off this practical pump of the book of Romans with this command.

Be not conformed to this world, the world conformed literally means to be poured into the mold you ladies that have made Jell-O you taken liquid Jell-O you portage of all we put in the refrigerator and you take it out and flip it over and that that Jell-O was in the very shape of the of the bowl in which he reported, and that's what he's telling us here. Don't let the secular world system shape your thinking and your behavior. Now there's all this is always been a problem because the world system is always been diametrically opposed to Christ and into absolute truth, but in our society today, there is an all out war that is raging. We live in a society that is a purposeful agenda of changing the way that we think I will start here today with this understanding in mind because John is teaching us of the absolute necessity of love, but most people living in America today will look at the subject of love through a pair of glasses that had been sculpted by culture that equates love with tolerance, a culture that is so politically correct that everyone is walking on eggshells and saying that being truthful is synonymous with the with being hateful. Now let me give you a couple of examples of political correctness gone amok my wife and my sister both went to West Mecklenburg high school in Charlotte for the first 50 years of West Mecklenburg's existence. They were known as the wet with met bird Indians of their mascot was an Indian chief in full headdress and that they wanted that that mascot to be their mascot because of what it stood for that Indian chief stood for something great and it was stiffer strengthen and character in and courage and perseverance and a and toughness. It was the spirit of a warrior symbol. The Indian was chosen as a symbol of honor is not a derogatory symbol at all and it still shouldn't be today.

But there's a politically correct cultural and social movement today in this nation that is creating a generation of very thin-skinned, whining people who spent way too much time worrying about how how there have they been offended, folks. The politically correct crowd, put the pressure on West Mecklenburg school and they came to the point of this and where we have no recourse in the us were going have to change your mascot placement thousands of taxpayers money to to get rid of the logo on the middle of the gym floor to take care of all their stationery and their letterheads that had West Mecklenburg Indians on it. I got rid of all that they had to go and change their uniforms and repaint their helmets and that's all being done under the guise of love. Why doesn't somebody just say to the to the native Americans today while honestly just say we are proud of your heritage.

That's why we've chosen this logo because it means so much to us what we appreciate the character of your forefathers get that's getting very hard to do in the society in which we live because we are being told that we need to be thin-skinned.

We are being taught to be easily offended and underlined agenda of this I believe is selfishness.

You've offended my sensibilities. So I'm going to sue how do you stop being thin-skinned how you stop being easily offended.

How do you stop being filled with the fear of man like Paul gave us an answer in Philippians chapter 2 verses two through five when he said this complete my joy by being of the same mind having the same love, being in full accord, of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourself that each of you look not to his own interests, but also to the interests of others have this mind among yourself which is yours in Christ Jesus. I don't fault the Native Americans for there are against prejudice that is been and that is gone their way over the last few decades, and probably from walking back even before that some of it is been absolutely horrible. They been horribly mistreated.

In many cases there been horrible acts of racial prejudice against them that are sin against God and crime against men.

I mean when I was in Canada several years ago, preaching a series of revival services.

There was a white man that gave a a big bag of of children's close that his children had outgrown to the pastor and to give them to a family that needs some. The pastor took them immediately to an Indian family that he knew and and when the man found out that he was angry and he went back to the pastors that you go back to that family and you get those clothes back.

I don't want my children's close on the back of an Indian when he said that it made me want to fight when he shared that with me, so I'm not saying to ignore prejudice and bigotry of any kind. I'm just saying that this politically correct movement is creating a whining, thin-skinned lawsuit, loving generation. The equates love with tolerance and that is wrong.

One more example the Charlotte Observer on a Monday morning April 19, 2004 I know it because I kept the article. They are printed an article written by a pastor's name was Chris Ayers, Chris Ayers is the pastor of Wedgewood Baptist Church in Charlotte. It was a church that several years before this was kicked out of the Southern Baptist convention for its liberal views in Scripture and hit delete. Chris wrote an article in entitled homosexuality. It's not a sin. I will read only as last paragraph, homosexual Christians, that's a contradiction in terms, homosexual Christians do not need churches that force them to live a lie they need love, acceptance and affirmation saying homosexuals should be tolerated is not enough saying homosexuals are welcome in a church just as all sinners are welcome is not enough saying gay and lesbian clergy can be clergy as long as they're celibate is not enough.

It's time for the church to be honest about biblical interpretation is time for the church to boldly tell the world. Homosexuality is not a sin. Folks there were many people who read that article on Monday morning April 9 19, 2004 and said amen to Chris Ayers. I said that preacher is loving. He is caring he is sensitive and he is tolerant, I will agree that he is tolerant, I will agree that, but he is neither loving nor is he caring. He is a liar and he is a false prophet.

He is been poured into the mold of a politically correct society and he has no right to call himself a pastor.

He says it's time for the church to be honest about biblical interpretation really honest share with you what first Corinthians 692 11 says, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Do not be deceived.

Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, or sodomites nor thieves or coverages, nor drunkards nor violators or extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God and such were some of you but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God are heartlessly honest or biblical interpretation. Hey says don't be deceived if you're a thief if your drunkard if you're Robert if you're homosexual with your sodomite.

You will not enter the kingdom of God. To be honest, to say that what the Scripture says, plain and simple, but it's not an unloving principle is it in fact it's a very hopeful principal. There is hope. What is verse 11 say it says such were some of you in other words, there were people in the church who used to be homosexuals who used to be drunkards who used to be sodomites who used to be fornicators who'd been saved and set free by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ and they were no longer live in that lifestyle. Paul is not being mean. Here he is telling these people not to give up because there is hope in Christ Jesus only ask you something. You went to the doctor and the doctor ran you through a battery of test and found out that you had cancer and and the doctor decided that he knew that if you were told that you had cancer that it was going upset you terribly and that you might do something radical like asked to have surgery done and so what would you feel like if he decided not to tell you that you had cancer when you really did with that offend you. So he just was holds the information he refuses to tell you that you have cancer. He says I love you and I don't want to hurt your feelings. I don't want upset you.

I don't want to offend you, and I'm afraid that if I share with you that you have cancer that is gonna cause you all kind of consternation we say that might sound loving but that is not loving that this is a doctor who is actually if he does that is a murderer cancer cannot be ignored. Cancer has to be dealt with radically homosexuality is a lifestyle that indicates that you've never been saved and for a preacher to affirm a person in his sin and tell that person.

Hey, it's okay it's okay you're accepted and give him that false hope is not love is the epitome of hatred. If you're in bondage to sin. Like homosexuality. We in this church will love you, we will minister to you. We will counsel you. We will pray for you and we will pray with you and we will ask the Lord to give you the power that we know that we don't have our sales and we will not give up on you because we know this, Jesus has power to set us free from any sin that we have a blessed God we need to understand this tolerance is not love that said all that, because it's important to understand what John is talking about when he commands us to love. He's not talking about some subsurface mushy sentimentalism. He's talking about love that call something I want to share with you three things that John teaches us about what true love is here and what God's calling us to be. As Christians number one love and selflessness. Look at verse 17 but if anyone has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him. Whoever has the world's goods artless to stop right there and and you some application do we have the world's goods of lives in America all my life and to be honest, most of us, including myself, have no clue as to how well-off we are. Most Americans I know have electricity, running water and something to eat.

We complain about taxes. Politicians and potholes, but what we call poverty. Most of the world would call affluence. I saw the living conditions in Cabrera when was on a mission trip to Nairobi, Kenya, and we went through the we went there we saw the houses that they had built most of the amount of cardboard we saw down the center of the streets was raw sewage that just ran down the street. We went to an orphanage were there were 600 orphans that were they and they their moms and dad said both been that it was a horrible terrible situation, one that absolutely was heartbreaking to me. We started supporting them and and and in the just meant trying to minister to them, but I had to think about this and several years ago, Larry Warren, who started African leadership, shared with me about how he got started and why he decided to start African leadership. He went to Cabrera and he saw the the needs that were there and he saw the people that were hurting. He saw all the poverty and the children that were more hungry and the children that never heard the gospel in the Lord just absolutely broking at any said, why is it not got 100 times more than they have.

Why should I not be helping them and ministering to them places the thought of this precious little children suffering and dying was more than he could stand and he said he couldn't unburden himself of the thought of one day having to stand before God and give an account why he let the children go on hungry many of them to die without ever hearing the gospel that was more than Larry could bear so Larry went to his concordance of distorted looking up all the references about about our responsive to the poor. He found 205 references in Scripture that dealt with God's calling for us to minister to the poor and because of that African leadership was started and it was birth out of his burden for the poor.

What Scripture to God used to just bring that to a point and it was first John chapter 3 verse 17 and Isaiah chapter 41 the whole chapter that deals with how God has commanded us to dig whales to to take care and slake the thirst of those who are thirsty.

The what leadership got started was by them digging whales for thirsty people, you have the world's goods. I'm not asking you if you live in Valentine.

If you're if you drive in a Rolls-Royce. I'm asking you this.

Are you investing in the kingdom of God by sacrificially regularly, cheerfully giving to the poor. John is telling us here that if we see a brother in need and we have the ability to help that brother and refused to do it. Then he says that house the love of God in you. Let me ask you this 20 investing in Matthew 619 through 21 Jesus said do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where Rustin and Maltin destroy, and thieves can come in and break in steel but lay up for yourselves treasures in in heaven where rust and moth cannot destroy, and thieves cannot break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there were your hearts be also classing chapter 3 and verse two. Paul said sister affections on things above and not on the earth before we talk about eternity. We long for eternity. But do we invest in eternity.

Proverbs 1917 says the US pity on the poor lends to the Lord and he will and he will pay back what he is given. Did you hear that went when you put extra check in the in the offering plate to help a poor family to minister to the orphans and and Cabrera or or Goma or when you see a family that's just desperately struggling and you reach out to help that family than what are you doing you are lending to the Lord, and guess what he pays back John Wesley, the flame and evangelists in the 1700s could have been one of most wealthy men in in all of England. He wrote books, a plethora of books and and pamphlets and those brought in great amounts of money, but he would take that money as soon as he got it and we go out and give it away to people who were in need. When John Wesley diver Mattea what he had. This is all he had in the world all material possessions he had was the clothes on his back opinion, a book where he could write a Bible and two silver spoons. That was it. This limit read your quote that he made about giving to the poor. He said money never stays with me. It would burn me if it did I throw it out of my hands as soon as possible less.

It should find its way into my heart. I talk about John Piper lot. His books have been a great inspiration to me over the years, but his life is been even greater inspiration. One of Piper's life. Verse versus is John 1224 through 25 should most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it produces much grain. He loves his life will lose it, and you hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Piper says he is calling is to create martyrs is to create people who will not Leo for this world. Piper's written a ton of books. One of his books that he wrote was called the passion of the Christ and in the first year that that book had been printed and sold 1.37 million copies. Piper just taken the royalties for that one book and given away all the rest of the royalties he still would've been a multimillionaire today, but he would not do it.

They said no you said all of the royalties I get from the books are going straight onto the mission field. Someone ask him about the incident at the last pastors conference that stimuli retaining back years ago, but I'll never forget his answer to why he gives all his his money that he makes off of his book straight to missions. Any said this, he said I don't want to lose my cutting age.

He said I don't want to be dependent on anything but the Lord he said I don't want to become comfortable with the things of this world. He said I want my investments to be in eternity. He said as long as I'm giving away my goods, the Lord honors me with his presence and he said there can't be anything better than that in this world. None of the danger of reading a verse like first John 317 their shysters out there and you and I know that there people he could work it won't work and know how to manipulate good people that are loving and giving and know how to con people and to get money out of them without having to work without having to do anything. I realize that this is true and that's a legitimate concern, but it's not an excuse for disobedience to this command be discerning but give it will change your life.

What's our example example that we have is Jesus on the cross that Jesus gave his life that he he sacrificed his life for us, suffered our hail for us, that we might have life eternal. I point to his love in action. Look at verse 18 my little children, let us not love in word or in talk but indeed and in truth with you hear this message today or tonight and you nod your head in agreement and you say that's right amen brother the word of God is is explicit in this we are to give to the hungry we are to minister to the poor. We are to help those that are sick.

Yes, that's what were supposed to do, but we walk out of here. We don't do anything about it.

John is telling us that if that so than our words are cheap there has to be action. So what can I do I come to the end of the month and there's more month and there is money. What can you doing well. I think you can a lot of time start evaluating quit your spending. A heavier spin than it yes your spending $250 in the last couple days on pizza that might be too much.

And if you're spending $300 last couple weeks. All movies you might want to rethink that have a yard sale have a yard sale with the purpose. This money is going as a kingdom investment to missions to feed the poor to help in a family that struggling and dance. Be creative in teaching your children the importance of giving kids don't naturally have a giving heart kids naturally have a sin nature just like we all do they have to be taught. They have to be taught the sacrifice for them sales to meet someone else's need work with that child take them to work with and work with you and then pay them then take him to the grocery store, let them buy some food. They are then take it to a family in need. We have an entire generation of passive dads today who believe it is just their responsibility, feed and clothe their children and if they do that, that's all they're responsible for. That's not so irresponsible as a dad to teach your kids the word of God to saturate their minds with God's word and then to teach them how to apply that word that they saturated in their minds and hearts had applied out in life, dads, now is the time to teach your children how to be a cheerful giver teaching that they cannot out give God.

Teach them to live by faith, by giving and trusting God to replenish it does not come naturally.

Husband you gotta be a spiritual leader to your wife.

You need to teach her how to set sacrificially give them notice that when husbands and wives are not on the same wavelength and giving it there's always all kinds of anxiety and frustration. You might need to just give to her sacrificially so that you can be her example before you teach her and tell her how she out the sacrificially give John is rightly telling us that these words are cheap they mean little until they are backed up with action we take a moment reaches some comments that Martyn Lloyd Jones made concerning verse 18. He said that this is the very nature of love. It must express itself is always active and if our love does not do that. I say it's not true love. You see, the real trouble with the person who is seated there in the study, reading beautiful points or books about love and he feels that he is controlled by that he's a fine Christian is this what is really happening to that person is that he simply love himself because he appreciates these elevating thoughts. He's loving himself because he thinks he isn't that this is love is turned in upon himself. That is the very antithesis to love. Love does not look at itself is a forward in the object of its love. However, we need to remain in mirror theory. John brings us right down to the practical level gives us an abundant illustration in the case of this man who shuts up his bowels of compassion, who has no pity. Here's a man who is received. This world's goods, then he sees a brother in Christ is in need. He has no pity owning. He does not do anything about it and he goes on if he had not seen it, and there's no need to argue there is no love of God and that man because he is thinking only of himself. He may be thinking beautiful thoughts about the love of God but it's valueless, says John if he had the love of God in him he would have to do something about it is not truly last point is love and assurance. Verse 19. By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before he once again, John gets back to the purpose of this letter and the purpose of this letter is to test a professing Christian to see if this profession is real.

If these if these live it out in his life.

What he saying out of his mouth.

Is it real. He says if you have a heart that is filled with unselfish Christ exalting love that is a distinguishing mark of a true believer. John says you cannot have assurance without it. And maybe you're sitting there in your sand yourself will I don't have those spiritual gifts might my gift is not the gift of giving.

My gift is not the gift of mercy. I am at gift is a gift teaching or the gift of exhortation of the gift of prophecy and and so I don't have to worry about this agape love stuff I don't worry have to worry about the sacrificial giving stuff because I'm kind of a informational, Christian, John says that won't cut it. Listen to what Paul says in first Corinthians 13, the greatest chapter in the Bible of love is as though I speak with the tongues of me and that of angels, but have not love, I become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and have all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

John is telling us to take the love test prove your salvation, he says, can you walk by starving man refused to give them a morsel of bread. Can you see a loved one that you know is unsaved and you also know that if you go to them and share the gospel. They may be offended that you love enough to share the gospel with them anyway.

Are you willing to be ridiculed and persecuted to be a solid witness for Christ. John Piper believes that America strayed so far away from Christ that the only way America's even to listen to the word of God is if they see a group of genuine Christians who are willing to sacrifice you even die for their faith. Piper's defining love in terms of absolute selflessness think Piper is saying exactly what the apostle John is saying in these three verses only close this message with another statement by Martyn Lloyd Jones, a he said it well. He said John puts it like this, hereby we perceive the love of God, because he laid his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren, if the need should ever arise. There will be no hesitation if there is real love. If we love God will be ready to die flowing the first Christians died by the thousands. They counted, not their lives. Dear and to them, even unto death. They got print gladly and they died for one another. If he did that for us in we say is love is in us, we shall do that for the brethren and obviously if we are prepared to die for the brethren, we surely cannot refuse them when there's some little temporal physical need. If we are called to the greater surely the lesser of the smaller the infinitesimal must be something that we do automatically. Herein, we know love. This is how you get the whole of the doctrine of the atonement in these few words he lay down his life for us.

Beloved friends, let us meditate upon these things. Let us look at them. Let us realize the nature of love and the implication of claiming that the love of God is in us and let us proceed to prove that we have it by loving one another, not in word, not in time but indeed and in truth Sprite heavenly father would convict Scripture father that you would help me that I might be a more loving dad, I might be a loving husband, I might be a more loving pastor help me realize Lord that I have need of faith. The need of hope, the greatest of these is love. Help me heavenly father that I might be concerned for those who are hurting and that Lord Mike concern might be more than just something that I experience in my mind that it might be lived out my help for others to pray heavenly father that you would just continue to bless this church that we are are a giving church Lord, and I thank you that this church just a couple weeks ago was so sacrificial giving to to this particular widow that is in such great need. And Lord, may she be blessed by gift and may you take it and multiplied Lord, you said that you would bless those who live in DU by giving to the poor and that Lord you would repay heavenly father, I thank you for that that Lord when we do act in obedience to human and giving sacrificially that Lord, you bless us back that we might bless others guide us and direct us now, Lord, may we take this passage that we're looking at very seriously tonight. May we be a giving church and it's in Jesus holy and precious and we pray, amen