Father, we just lift up all these
prayer requests to You. We pray that Thy will would be
done, that You would be glorified and magnified in each situation,
that You'd give grace and strength where needed and guide hands
of doctors where needed if there's surgeries being done. We just
lift up all these requests to You, Lord. And we go through
trials and tribulations in this world, but we need Your strength,
Lord. We can't do it on our own. So we pray that You would strengthen
each believer and give them grace to make it through whatever situation
is before them. We pray that you'd be with us
today as we worship and praise your mighty name. We pray that
you give me freedom and liberty to preach the gospel, to be with
us in the singing. And may we glorify you today. May you be magnified and may
you be lifted up and may our eyes be fixed upon thee. We love
you and praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. Today we're going to be, this
morning we'll be in 1 John 3, verse 1. 1 John 3. And we'll
just look at one verse right there. Verse 1. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the
sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us
not, because it knew him not. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us. Sinners. The love of God, the eternal
God. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the
sons of God. Now in the religious world, there's
a lot of talk about the love of God. They magnify it to a
point where it becomes the main attribute of God, sacrificing
all the other attributes of God. And that's not right. That's
not right. God is love. He is love. But God is a just God, too. And
God is a holy God. And God is a righteous God. So
we can't sacrifice one attribute and uplift that, because all
His attributes are the same. And He's a holy God. He's a holy
God. In religion, they talk about
God loving everyone, without exception. They say that God's done His
best at Calvary, and now the rest is up to the sinner. And they say that God loves everyone,
even those in hell. Well, God's not trying to save
a sinner. If God desires a sinner to be
saved, He'll save them. not trying to do anything. We
try to do things. God is God. His thoughts are
not our thoughts. His ways are not our ways. The
God of the Bible saves His people from their sins. Those for whom Christ died are
lovingly drawn to Him with cords of love. We're not robots. were lovingly drawn to the Savior. Born again by the Holy Spirit
of God. And then what happens? We trust Christ, don't we? We
trust Christ. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
45, verses 21 and 22. Our God is a God of love. Our God is a God of righteousness. He's a holy God, a just God. Look at Isaiah 45, verses 21
and 22. Tell ye and bring them near.
Yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient
times? Who hath told it? from that time
have not I the Lord, and look at this statement, and there
is no God else beside me, a just God. God is a just God. He's a holy God. He's a God of
love. He's a God of mercy. He's a just
God. And look what it says, and a
Savior. He's a just God. and a Savior. And then he closes
the statement, there is none beside me. There is no other
God. All other gods are figments of
man's imagination. Look unto me. Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. Scripture says that God is a
just God and a Savior. Look unto Me. And what do we
do as believers? We look to Christ, don't we?
We look away from ourselves and we look to Christ. And there
is none else. And His love, God's love is always
in harmony with His characteristics. It's a fact that He is a just
and holy God. Turn, if you would, to Romans
chapter 8. Those for whom He loves in Christ Those for whom
He loves in Christ, He elected in Christ. Those who He redeemed in Christ
must be justified in Christ and be called out of bondage into
life. And His love, God's everlasting
love was set upon His people in eternity. In eternity. And that love doesn't change.
We know scripture says that God doesn't change, right? Therefore,
his love never changes. Now, our love does, doesn't it?
We waver and we... Beloved, God's love never changes. I've loved thee with what? An
everlasting love. An everlasting love. His love
was set upon us in eternity. We really can't fathom that,
can we? When we really stop to think about it, it really kind
of just, it fills you with awe. But it's
a truth. It's a precious truth. And we
do say, why me? Because it pleased him. Because it pleased him to set
his love upon you, you who believe. Oh, look at this. The love of God is manifest and
revealed in Christ Jesus. We'll look at some things here.
The love of God is manifest and revealed in Christ Jesus. Look
at Romans 8, starting in verse 32-39. He that
spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all. The Lord Jesus Christ was delivered
up for every single one of the elect of God. How shall he not
with him also freely give us all things? Look at this. Now,
think of this, beloved. We can condemn ourselves in our
own heart, can't we? Because of what we are. We know
what we are. We're sinners, right? And other people can say things
about us. I like what one old grace preacher said. Well, it's
a lot worse than what they say. But look at what the next scripture
says. And this is only in Christ. This
is only in Christ. Only in Christ. Look at this.
This is marvelous. Who shall lay any charge, anything
to the charge of God's elect? Anything. Why are we chargeless? Because Christ's blood has washed
away all our sins. If I could just live here, In
this verse, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's law? Look
at this. It is God that justifies. We
cannot justify ourselves, but praise be to God. He justifies
His people. He justifies. Who is He that condemneth? And
if you look at the very first verse of Romans 8.1, there is
therefore now no condemnation, right? So He's continuing the
same vein in this chapter. Who is He that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation,
or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril,
or sword? As it is written, for thy sake
we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for
the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth,
That covers everything, doesn't it? That covers everything. "...Nor any other creature shall
be able to separate us..." Look at this. "...from the love of
God, which is in Christ Jesus." The love of God is in Christ
Jesus. It's in Him. It's in Him. In Christ Jesus
our Lord. manifested in and through Jesus
Christ our Lord. The love of God is. The second
point is the love of God is sovereign. And it's given to whomever the
Lord pleases. Turn over one chapter over. One chapter over. Romans 9, look
at verses 13 and 14. The love of God is sovereign.
It's given to whomever He pleases, He gives it to. That's why I
say His love was set upon us because it pleased Him in eternity. Look at Romans 9, verses 13 and
14. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we then say? Is there
unrighteousness with God? That's the automatic answer,
right? When this Scripture is brought before people. That's
not fair. You don't want fair. You don't
want fair. Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. And like I said last week, the
wonder of verse 13 is that God loved Jacob. That's the wonder
of that verse. Because we're all sinners. The
only one who made you and I who believe to differ is God. That's
the only one. We're all clay. We're all come
out of the same clay, sinners to the core, and the only one
who made us to differ is God. And outside of Christ, look at
this in Hebrews 12, turn there, verses 28 and 29. Outside of
Christ, beloved God is a consuming fire. He hates the workers of
iniquity. He's a consuming fire outside
of Christ. Hebrews 12, verses 28 and 29. Oh, the love of God is sovereign.
And it's given to whomever He pleases, but outside of Christ. Verse 28 and 29. Wherefore we
receiving the kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace whereby
we may serve God acceptably and with reverence... Oh, we have
a reverent fear of God, right? Not a slavish fear, but a reverent
fear of God. in godly fear. For our God is
a consuming fire." Oh, the love of God is sovereign.
And it's given to whomever God pleases to give it to. And if
He's given it to you, praise His mighty name. Give Him all
the glory. Because it's Him who made you
to differ. The third point is the love of God is eternal. And
it will never ever be discontinued. Never. It never stops. The love of God to His people
never ends, even when we're in eternity. He will always love
us. I've loved you with an everlasting
love, He tells us. Turn, if you would, to Ephesians
2, and I'll read Jeremiah 31. The Lord hath appeared of old
unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee. with an everlasting
love. Therefore, with love and kindness,
because He loved us, with love and kindness, I've drawn Jeremiah
31.3. Oh, the whole reason we're drawn,
we're bought to Christ, is because we're one of the ones who His
love was set upon. And this is why we preach the
Gospel to all. We have no clue who God's elect
are. This is why we pray for our family
members too. We don't have any idea who God's
elect are. Oh, but we pray, Oh, Lord, save Your sheep. And He
will. He will. Here, draw His people to Him.
Oh, look at Ephesians 2. Our God is eternal. Therefore,
His great love must be eternal. Look at Ephesians 2, verses 4-7. But God, and we could just underline
this, who is rich in mercy. God's rich in mercy, isn't He?
Rich in mercy for His great love. Oh, His love is a great love.
It's an everlasting love, beloved. And it's set upon His people.
Wherewith He loved us. Sinners. We know what we are. We know what we were. Oh, He
loved us even when we were dead in sins. Remember where you were. We were dead. Dead spiritually, weren't we?
with no hope. Oh, even when you were dead in
sin, have quickness. You're born again with Christ. By grace, you are saved. and
hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might
show the exceeding riches of His grace, trophies..." Believers
are trophies of the grace of God in Christ. Oh! "...riches of His grace and
kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." But look at that. Verse
4, "...for His great love wherewith He loved us." This is not a humanistic
love. This is an eternal God's love.
The one true God who dwells in eternity. The fourth point is the love
of God is sacrificial love and will redeem His people from all
their sins. Turn, if you would, to 1 John
4. Beloved, He gave His Son to pay for our sins. The Lord Jesus
Christ, God in the flesh, purchased us with His own precious blood.
The sinless one dies for the sinner. 1 John, look at this. The love
of God is sacrificial love. 1 John 4. In this was manifested
the love of God. God's love was manifested. 1 John 4, verse 9. It was manifested. In this was manifested the love
of God toward us. Towards His people. Towards the
elect. because that God sent His only
begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. Remember,
we're dead in Ephesians 2. We just saw that. We who were
dead. Dead spiritually. Look at this. Herein is love. Not that we love
God. Herein is love. Here is that
sacrificial love of God. Herein is love. Not that we love
God, but that He loved us. He loved us, and look, it gets
even better, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our
sins. All the sins of all the elect,
of all the ages, and Christ paid it all. Look at the next verse. Beloved,
if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. Shouldn't
we love one another? Amen. Amen. The love of God in us should
spur us to love one another. And it does, doesn't it? I was
thinking we're having Easter, our fellowship dinner next week
in Easter, and I thought, we're going to be with our families.
We're going to be with you guys. It's wonderful. It's wonderful. But the love that we have for
each other, is born of the love that God
has for us, right? Because think of this. I remember We had an elderly
gentleman who used to attend in Oregon, and he went home to
be with the Lord. And I've told you guys this before,
but it's worth repeating. And he said, I would never have
hung out with you guys. I would never have fellowship
with you guys unless we were saved. And the love we had for
each other, is it not the same with all of us? When you stop
to think about it, think of who we used to hang out with, who
we used to fellowship with, or not fellowship, but just be with. I don't want to be with anyone
else but God's people now. What causes that? The love of
God in Christ. The love of God in Christ. The love of God is also permanent.
Turn with you, if you would, to John chapter 13, verses 1. The love of God is permanent. It doesn't stop. In Malachi 3, turn there as well. John 13, verse 1, Now before
the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour was
come, that He should depart of this world unto the Father, heaven
loved His own which were in the world. He loved
them until the end. It's amazing. It's amazing. And then look at Malachi chapter
3. So he loved his own, right? It says in that text. He loved
them. He loved his own. And He loved them unto the end.
And then look at Malachi. And this is where earlier I said
the love of God doesn't change because God doesn't change. Look
at this marvelous text in Malachi 3. And may we just hang our hearts
and souls upon this, we who believe. Look at this. For I am the Lord. Malachi 3, verse 6. For I am
the Lord. I change not. God does not change. The God
of the Old Testament is the same God. I remember in religion,
they used to always tell us, and I believed it foolishly,
they used to say the God of the Old Testament was for the Jews,
and the God of the New Testament is for believers. It's the same
God. He doesn't change. The same God
in the Old Testament elected a nation, Israel, is the same
God who elected a people in the turn. His love never changes. His love
never changes towards His people. For I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore, look at this, ye sons
of Jacob are not consumed. It begs the question of what
if there was no election? We'd all be consumed, wouldn't
we? Everyone would be lost. Everyone. But praise God, He chose a people
to have mercy upon. And those are His elect. His
people. So the text says that God does
not change, therefore His love to His people does not change. The sixth point is the love of
God is electing love unconditionally. God unconditionally chose us
in Christ. Turn, if you would, to 2 Thessalonians
2. God unconditionally chose us
in Christ before the foundation of the world. And I'll read John 17, verses 2 and 3, which says, As
thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give
eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. Christ has all
the power, beloved. Man has no power. Man has no ability. Christ gives eternal life to
as many as the Father has given Him. His love is set upon His people.
It's not universal like folks like to say. And this is life
eternal that they might know Thee, the only true God in Jesus
Christ whom Thou hast sent. But look at 2 Thessalonians 2.13
as well. But we are bound to give thanks always to God for
you. Paul was always thankful. We're seeing that in Colossians.
He's always praying for the saints in the churches. We are bound
to give thanks always to God for you. Brethren, beloved of
the Lord, look at this, because God hath from the beginning,
and this is humbling, God hath from the beginning chosen you. Marvel of marvels, isn't it? chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth. And
He did not look down through time and see who would choose
Him. He looked down and saw everyone was sinners. I remember an old
commentator said, God chose us in our fallen state. He saw we're all lost and He
had mercy upon whomever He'd have mercy upon. Aren't you thankful
that you were one? Unconditional love. The next
point is the love of God is unmerited. Turn, if you would, to Romans
chapter 5 and put your finger in Deuteronomy chapter 7. The
love of God is unmerited. We don't deserve it. We don't do anything to deserve
it. Do you see how all these are
the opposite of what religion teaches? It's the opposite. But our final
authority is what sayeth the Scriptures, right? That's where
we rest. Not in man's opinion. We rest
in Scripture. What does the Scripture say? Look at Romans 5. The love of
God is unmerited. We've never done anything to
deserve His favor or His mercy. And we know that from Titus,
which says, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to His mercy He has saved us. Look at this in Romans 5, verses
6-9. For when we were yet without
strength, born dead in trespasses and sins. In due time, Christ
died for what? The ungodly. I remember reading Spurgeon's All
of Grace, and he just hammered that. We're ungodly. in our natural
state. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even
dare to die. But God commandeth," remember?
His love. He commandeth His love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He commanded His love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us much
more than being now justified by His blood, by what He's done. Justified in the presence of
God. We shall be saved from wrath
through Him. Remember, God is a consuming fire. Oh, we'll be
saved from wrath through Him. And then look at Deuteronomy
7. The only reason for His love to us is found in Himself, not
in us. I know I got you turning around
a lot of places. We're almost done. Deuteronomy
chapter 7, look at verses 7 and 8. Now I know this is speaking to
Israel, but we can apply this to spiritual Israel. Look at
this. The Lord did not set, verse 7,
the Lord did not set His love upon you nor choose you because
you were more in number than any people, for you were the
fewest of all people. But look at this, but because
the Lord loved you, because the Lord loved you and because He
would keep the oath that He had sworn unto His fathers, hath
the Lord bought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you
out of the house of the bondman. We were in bondage, beloved.
We were in spiritual Egypt. We were. We didn't have a clue. We were having a great time in
our flesh, weren't we? Oh, we were in so much bondage.
Remember last week we looked at the freedom that we have in
Christ now? Brought you out with a mighty
hand. He redeemed you out of the house of the bondman and
from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Oh, because He loved
you. The love of God doesn't find
anything that would be meritorious in our lives or in our doing.
It's because He loved us. And He loved us with an everlasting
love. The last point is the love of
God is constraining love, and it motivates everyone who believes
the gospel. Turn, if you would, to 2 Corinthians
chapter 5. It motivates everyone who believes the gospel to obedience
as a willing and loving bond-slave of Christ. We are bond-slaves
of Christ. There's one more point after
this. I'm sorry. I said this was the last one,
but no. 2 Corinthians 5. Look at 2 Corinthians 5. For
whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God. For whether we
be sober, it is for your cause. For the love of Christ constraineth
us, because we thus judge that if one died for all, then we're
all dead. The love of Christ is constraining
love. And that He died for all, in
that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves. We don't live unto ourselves
anymore. But unto him which died for them and rose again. Oh,
we no longer live for ourselves. There was a time when we did
live for ourselves, but we don't anymore. We want to glorify God.
That's the chief end for us is to glorify God, isn't it? To
glorify God. The last point is the love of
God is a holy love. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
45. We already looked at this portion, but we'll turn there
again quick. The love of God is a holy love. And God in Christ is both a just
God and a Savior. Isaiah 45, verses 20-22. Assemble yourselves and come,
draw near together ye that are escaped of the nations. They
have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image
and pray unto a God that cannot save." And we looked at that.
Remember the piece of wood? They're bowing before the piece
of wood and they use some of it to warm their house and they
use some of it to cook the fire. And then they mold an idol out
of the piece of wood and they bow down to it. and bring them near. Yea, let
them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient
times? Who hath told it from that time? Have not I the Lord?
And there is no God else beside Me, a just God and a Savior."
Oh, God is holy. He's a holy God. There is none
beside Me. Look unto Me and be ye saved.
All the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else. Always let us remember we should
never ever sacrifice, as I said at the opening, one attribute
of God for another. He's a God of love. He is. But He's a holy God. And He's
a just God. And He's a righteous God. And
He's our Savior. So we never ever sacrifice one
attribute for another. And His love is a sovereign love. He bestows it to whomever He
pleases, and it's set upon His people for eternity. So let us
meditate this week on the great love that God has for His people. When we're going through a trial
or something comes up, let us think, God's loved me and He'll
never leave me. It'll bring comfort to your soul.
It'll be comfort to your soul. And always remember this, We
love him because he first loved us.