The Love of God

Understand that nothing to do with this man about everything to do with God. This man was in the world is use office space. This man was helpless and it is important to understand that because then we have a true picture of her own spiritual healing.

God doesn't come to those who have a little faith doesn't come to those who say I think I can walk with God doesn't come to those who have a little pious strength comes to those who are spiritually dead or unable to lift even a little finger to help themselves and he says to them arise and will. God loves you. God is God loves everyone. These are phrases that we hear so often that we might not spend time thinking about what God's love really means and why it matters how do we obtain God's love and favor what kind of love does God have, how do we respond to God's love.

These are the questions will look at today working our way through a series called unwrapping the perfect gifts stay with us as Stephen Devi looks at God's perfect gift of love today on wisdom for the hearts we have a challenge for us to discuss and learn about this perfect gift of God's love. One of the things I want to do as we work our way through this text is to use the lyrics of hymn writers. I want to work our way as we work our way through this passage through several great him one that I want to begin with is the him. His lyrics were found in an unusual place an insane asylum at the turn of the last century was being torn down, and they discovered these words written on one of the walls of the room.

The words that were discovered were later added to a him written by F. M. Lehman, a him that he had thought he had finished he had already written two stanzas in a chorus, but as soon as he heard these words, he immediately wanted to add them to his him. That hymn was eventually published in 1917 those anonymous lyrics written on the wall of that insane asylum with these they read. Could we would think the ocean fill and were the skies of parchment made were every stalk on earth a quill and every man a scribe by trade to write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry. Nor could the scroll containing the whole, the stretched from sky to sky to speak today on the subject of God's love is both wonderful and impossible. Charles Haddon Spurgeon wrote in the late 1800s. Can you imagine it the God who is greater than immensity his life is longer than time.

This godly all boundless. One should love you, that he should think about you pity you, consider you this would be expected, but that he should love you that his heart should go out to you that he should choose you, that he should have grave and you on the palms of his hand to think of it, can you, but lift your hands with adoring wonder and say that I love to me was wonderful. My study I was reminded of Augustine the brand church father of the fourth century was walking along the seashore so little boy dug a little hole next to the edge of the water and he was running furiously with a little pale back-and-forth, dipping it into the sea and then running back importing it into a little hole in Augustine stopped and asked him what are you doing in the little boy said, I am pouring the sea into this little hole to try to talk about the love of God to explain it is to try and pour an ocean of infinite truth into our little minds.

It is impossible well after telling you it's impossible to spend about 30 minutes trying to do it here in Romans chapter 5. I'm sure we've been going through a series of studies on the perfect gifts of God, and now we arrive at the treasure of God's love where we start with this gift of love. What I want to do is simply follow what Paul has given us as he describes it in real answer three questions number one will answer what kind of people does God love. Second of all, what kind of love does God give third how do we respond to this kind of love just what kind of people does God love. There are three categories given to us. The first category is in verse six for while we were still helpless at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. That's the kind of person that God loves the helpless person while we were still helpless. You'll find that phrase repeated three times in this text. While we were helpless.

Your translation may render it without power it refers. Obviously, in this context to a man or a woman who is helpless or powerless to please God will use this word figuratively in the English language to refer to someone who cannot lift one finger to help themselves. That person we say is absolutely helpless. The word appears in the book of acts for the sake of time I may just retell the story to Peter and John are going into the temple and they will pass. A man is been lame from his birth, his friends pick him up every morning and I deposit him of the doors of the temple and hopefully they would assume if anybody would give it will be those that are not going to worship God. And so they put it by the doors and he would their bag from the people Peter and John are going in and they're going to pray, and this beggar asks of them would you give me some silver or gold, and Peter looks at this man who is unable to walk absolutely helpless and he says silver and gold.

Have we none but what we do have.

We will give to you in the name of Jesus Christ arise and walk in the text says immediately his feet and ankles were strengthened and with a leap for the first time in his life. He stood upright and began to walk and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. Evidently the first Pentecostal recorded in the Bible you need to understand that it had nothing to do with this manner that everything to do with God. This man was in the word is use us then ace this man was helpless and it is important to understand that because then we have a true picture of our own spiritual healing. God doesn't come to those who have a little faith.

God doesn't come to those who say I think I can walk with God. God doesn't come to those who have a little pious strength he comes to those who are spiritually dead, who are unable to lift even a little finger to help themselves and he says to them arise and walk God loves helpless. Secondly, Paul tells us that God loves sinful people.

Same phraseology is used again in verse eight but God demonstrates his own love toward us, that here is while we were yet sinners while we were helpless. Now Paul writes while we were yet sinners. Since the whole of humanity is sinful.

Does this mean that God loves the whole of humanity. Yes, in some measure all the world benefits from the love of God is the love of God for his creation. By the way he keeps it from being destroyed. Even now it is the love of God manifested in and through common grace that allows an unbeliever to take a breath of air or feel the rain upon his face to be able to enjoy the beauty of the sunset know without a doubt, the only person who can experience fully the measure of God's love is going to loves God's son but God loves the world, Jesus Christ died for the sins of the whole world that means his atonement is unlimited. It is in that unlimited sense of the atonement that allows the unbeliever to curse God and still enjoy his supper tonight, but that will eventually end. Why because the atonement of Jesus Christ is limited by your attention. That is, it is only beneficial in its fullest and eternal measure of those have been redeemed for now. The invitation is universal. God loves the world and the world is full of sinners and God. Can you believe it loves sinners. Now who's a center. The word sinner comes from a verb, which simply was used by the ancient Greeks to originally refer to marksman fired an arrow and miss the target. It then came to be used of someone who'd missed the right way and the Greek Old Testament translation. It was chosen by the Spirit of God to refer to somebody missed the divinely appointed goal which is to please God, a sinner that is not necessarily somebody is way off the market simply somebody missed the mark doesn't mean that if the target was right here that the real bad sinners are the ones raining over here now all of humanity is locked in as people who more than likely in some way try to march and everybody misses for all have what sinned and fall short of the glory of God is the ladies and gentlemen, that's the bad news is you're a sinner.

Did you know that you are a sinner, but the good news is the fact that your center why because God happens to love sinners. You're right with me. You're so far ahead we could pack it up and go home. Not yet.

The truth is we happen to love people who are lovely and easy to love. We tend to like people that are likable. So we assume that that must be the way God loves. Let me use an illustration from DA Carson's commentary is a wonderful theologian who so to speak with the cookies on the bottom shelf or we can all get to the key illustrates the difference in a rather crass earthy way.

I think you get the point. It's somewhat humorous. The difference between our vision of love and God's hero picture this, Charles and Susan are walking down the beach hand-in-hand. They have kicked off their shoes in the wet sand squishes between her toes. Charles turns to Susan gazes deeply into her hazel eyes and says Susan I love you I really do want to see me what he means is Susan. You mean everything to me. I can't live without you. Your smile paralyzes me from 50 yards away your sparkling good humor your beautiful eyes the center of your hair. Everything about you trans fixes me. I love you what he most certainly does not mean is Susan in spite of the fact that your nose is so large it belongs in the cartoons and your hair is so greasy it could lubricate an 18 wheeler your knees so bony a camel looks elegant. Your personality makes Attila the Hun look sweet all but Susan. I love how would be the end of that walk on the beach.

I'm sure so God he goes on to say comes through his word and says I love you, what is he mean oh you mean everything to me. I can't live without you, your personality, your witty conversation.

Your beauty, your smile, everything about you trans fixes me. I love you know what he rather means is listen. Morally speaking, your huge nose and greasy hair your disjointed knees and selfish personality. Your sinfulness makes you disgustingly ugly to me but I love you not because you are attractive, but because I chose to his neck, right, my friend, if you think that you deserve God's love even some small way, you will never feel totally secure because you will always be afraid that you might do something undeserving of his love something that will make you less attractive to him and he will do that today and tomorrow and every day for the rest of your life. The person who knows the God loves them today even though they are undeserving is the person who can rest in the fact that God will love them forever. And even that is undeserved. There is one more kind of person that Paul refers to in this passage the person that would grab surprises.

The most God would ever love looked at in verse 10 is the same phraseology for if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life while we were enemies you want to circle those three phrases and in your paragraph verse six.

While we were helpless.

Verse eight while we were sinners and now verse 10.

While we were enemies is in ascending or you could say a digression of evil enemies of God. This is a serious thing about sin, for sin is ultimately rebellion against God isn't just failure to follow God. It is refusal to follow God, here's Paul's point after you discover what kind of people we all are, you discover that none of us stand a chance. But then you discover the Paul is giving the answer simply to the first question what kind of people does God love, here's the answer to the second question, what kind of love does God give you look back at verse 741 will hardly die for a righteous man, though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died. He goes on in verse seven and he says you know somebody might die for a righteous manner, someone might give their life for a good man, but it would be a rare thing it does happen and when it happens were all hushed by the heroism of someone who saved another forfeiting their own life. We have all been moved by the stories of firefighters who were rushing up the stairs in a burning building while everybody else was trying to rush down now safety and we hear the stories we were amazed because that expresses in some small way giving of God's son. I had lunch with Dr. John no Chaim and we are talking about the seminarian how things were going. How excited we were with God's blessing and the number of students, something prompted me to just ask him about his past. His home life.

He shared with me a story and I asked him for permission to tell you. He gave it had an older brother named William. William was a godly young man who would be a mentor and a leader for John, her father having left them when they were young William shared Christ with people with while he was stationed in the Navy. He shared Christ with some of his buddies. One of them even brought with him to Moody church. They were stationed nearby brought in to Moody church downtown Chicago where he could hear the gospel he had not yet received Christ as his personal Lord and Savior. On one weekend William's friend was getting married and asked William if he would take his duties so he could not only go to the wedding but have a little honeymoon time afterward. William said he would.

While his friend was away at the wedding Navy pilot crashed into the lake and was lost and they sent out a barge to rescue and retrieve this plane in the body of the dead pilot. William was assigned to be on that barge and while they were out there and a diver was already down at the bottom, securing tables deep under the water. A sudden storm came up. They knew they needed to pack up and leave, but they couldn't pull the diver up too quickly or he would perish.

And so they had to take their time and while they were trying to rescue the diver. The water eventually overwhelm the barge and it sank William and all of the men perished. Except for one man. The man that William gave his life jacket to an older man and he said you take my jacket and that man live in the was the only one friend of William who was away came back and attended the funeral and the pastor was able to lead him to faith in Jesus Christ. How could you refuse after knowing somebody died for you. He went on to attend Moody Bible Institute entered the ministry pastor for many decades and is now with the Lord's a rare thing is to hear of somebody giving her life like that, you discover it is with God even deeper and more amazing.

But God verse eight demonstrated his own love toward us in that while we were yet in the act rendered according to the tent while we were in the process of sending violating his holiness, offending his nature. While we were in the process of spurning him.

He died his son did for us. But God. Paul would use that phrase, but you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all lived in the last of flesh, indulging the desires of flesh and mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest, but God. There is, but God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ, we headed to hell. Why were helpless, we can lift a finger. We are sinful and then were hostile we would reject him, he moved on our behalf, but water rescue. What a relief to think he knows the worst about you and he loves that's the love of God.

Another hymn writer try to summarize it when he wrote he left his father's throne above so freeze so infinite is grace emptied himself of all but love then bled for Adams helpless race.

His mercy all in men's and free for oh my God, it found out me. Amazing love how can it be that thou my God shouldst die for me, sinful me, but that's what kind of love he has love that was willing to die word for love in Romans 58 as the word agape, which references the love of God toward us.

It is the love of will is the love infinite intellect, but it is a love that demonstrated through action for God so loved the world that he what that he gave not for God so loved the world that he thought for God so loved the world that he wished now for God so loved the world that at the right time. He gave Jesus Christ died in the anonymous author categorized that great text John 316 and the 12 phrases in an attempt to express the vastness of God's gift of salvation. Listen God, the greatest lover for God so loved the greatest degree for God so loved the world the greatest company that he gave the greatest act, his only begotten son, the greatest gift that whosoever the greatest invitation believes the greatest simplicity in him the greatest attraction should not perish the greatest promise but the greatest difference but have the greatest certainty, but have everlasting life.

The greatest possession, but God demonstrated his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Jesus Christ died for us. I love the way Spurgeon said.

He said that Jesus Christ took the cup of our condemnation and with one long drawn. He drank damnation dry. The final question, how do you respond to this kind of two ways. One, you receive it. It's a gift you don't deserve it. In fact, you can earn it. No one's worthy of it. For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is what is eternal life.

I'm convinced that there will be many people listening to me today who do not have the gift of God's love through Christ. Why because you think in some measure.

You deserve it.

You think you've earned it. Have you been listening, God demonstrates and delivers his love to the center to the enemy to the helpless one and those who recognize they have nothing to offer him but that sinful helpless hostility to them. They are granted the love of God forever. There are people and have to save yours yes and you know you're going to have an all you know why because I believe in Jesus and I'm doing my best. How many saviors are in that answer to what they believe about Jesus and what they're doing. You do not get to heaven with two saviors you get there with only one depend upon yourself and perish depend only on Jesus Christ and you will be saved. I find it fascinating that this text, Romans chapter 5 verse eight was the verse that sparked the great wealth revival of 1904 the young man by the name of Evan Roberts was listening to a man by the name of Seth Joshua preach on this text and he came under such conviction of God's love.

He began to weep and he would later write what literally bent me over was that God would commend as a love for humanity when there was nothing to deserve that love was that text burrowed its way into his heart. He went away and he would pray for 13 months that God would deliver that message somehow to Wales, the people would hear the God love them even though they were sinful and helpless and hostile. Finally, after 13 months of praying intensely.

He sensed God wanted him to speak. He wasn't the speaker but he felt impressed to do so and so he went to his church and he called a meeting of the teenage and had a meeting that went till midnight and then it would be on the doors of that chapel.

In fact would not close as people were always there, praying and repenting and receiving Christ for many days and nights and months. In fact from that chapel revival spread like wildfire and when it was over more than 100,000 people had placed their faith in Christ publicly profess their faith through baptism and I joined the churches of Wales have you ever had a revival in your own heart and life as a believer where you know that he loves you, and it brings you to tears you receive to gift it permanently places you within the family of God.

But over the course of your life.

The second response having received it is to rely upon. It's a guarantee from God, not just a gift, why is it that the first time. Difficulty strikes our lives. One of the first things that we might question is whether or not God, what God loves us if he loved us what he do that, but his love is true is gift is generous as love is a guarantee. Paul would say what can separate us from the love of Christ. Nothing I want to close by reading one more him written by an author who clung to the guarantee of God's love is a believer's name is George Matheson and he pastored for a number of years. What was unique about his ministry was that he was completely blind in his day, which was the turn of the last century, more than 100 years ago he pastored a church of several thousand which was very unique but he love the Lord and the people.

One of the challenges he had was of course being blind commentaries and the Scriptures were not written much of it not written braille in so his sisters lived with him.

They remained unmarried for quite some time in our lives, but they lived with him and they learn personally. The languages of Scripture. They learned Hebrew, Greek and Latin, and they helped him study. They lived together and his sisters would help them by reading the text in commentaries and leading him to verses that would come to his mind and he would ultimately fashion his messages and then he would get up and reach on Sunday, several thousand people. One by one, his sisters married and moved away. Finally, the last sister married and George Matheson was completely alone.

He was able to care for himself.

But of course there was the struggling ministry and now the loneliness going through all the processes in the river friends who tried to help, but nothing like a few months after his last sister moved away he would write that he lost that love, he would right of a love that would not leave.

These were old love that will not let me. I rest my weary soul.

I give the back.

The life I owe in design ocean depths its flow richer name of this him oh love that will not go God's love never isn't that a great way to think about the love of God. God's love for us is a gift that we receive. This is wisdom for the heart with Steve and Davey Stevens currently in a series entitled unwrapping the perfect gifts he's looking at several of the precious gifts that God gives us today's lesson is entitled love. We have one more message to go and it's an important one that people often struggle with assurance. That message will be tomorrow and in the meantime. If we can help you in any way please call our offices at 866-4854 866482425 will be back tomorrow. So join us then here on with