WEBVTT 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:12.480 This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:17.920 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grand Parkway.org. 00:00:19.839 --> 00:00:28.000 Father, when we say again, we're agreeing with Habakkuk in the Old Testament, the prophet who said, Lord, I've heard of your fame and I stand in all of your deeds. 00:00:28.160 --> 00:00:29.760 Renew them in our day. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:34.640 Translation, God, do today what you did years ago because you're the same God. 00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:38.640 You've not lost any power and you've not lost any of your willingness. 00:00:38.799 --> 00:00:48.479 You are still willing to do today what you've always done because there's a consistency and a constancy to your nature that we can build and bank our life on. 00:00:48.640 --> 00:00:49.280 You're the same. 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:57.200 You say the same thing over and over and over through different means and different uh ways, different people, but it's the same message. 00:00:57.359 --> 00:00:59.280 We'll see that in the Bible again this morning. 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:03.039 You don't, hey, start off saying one thing and then go, well, I changed my mind. 00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:07.680 You know, this is the same thing you've heard from the very beginning because you're the same God. 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:14.000 That's a we we take great assurance from that because you are who the Bible says you are. 00:01:14.159 --> 00:01:15.280 It's the Holy Spirit. 00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:21.920 We need you to illuminate the scripture today, make it come off of the page and be more than just words and thoughts and ideas. 00:01:22.079 --> 00:01:28.719 Let it be an invitation, let it be a reminder, let it be this thing that we kind of reorient ourselves around today. 00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:35.439 Holy Spirit, we ask you now to reveal the Father to us, to reveal the truth to us. 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:37.439 We ask for this in Jesus' name. 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:39.840 And everyone said, Amen, amen. 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:40.640 You can have a seed. 00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:44.319 If you got a Bible, I ask you to take it and open up to 1 John chapter 3. 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:45.599 First John chapter 3. 00:01:45.680 --> 00:01:48.079 If you're a guest, we're preaching through the book of 1 John. 00:01:48.319 --> 00:01:50.159 It's our tradition here at Grand Park Way. 00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:53.519 We acknowledge Mother's Day, but we leave it up to you to celebrate your mom. 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:54.480 So, what does that mean? 00:01:54.560 --> 00:01:56.879 I don't have a Mother's Day sermon today. 00:01:58.640 --> 00:02:00.959 And all the women are like, thank the Lord. 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:04.480 Anyway, uh, but I do want to talk to you about the power of love. 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:15.360 The power of love, because the Bible places a priority and a capacity on this thing called love that we I think we've kind of heard it so much, we've kind of lost our sense of wonder for it. 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:20.879 So I'll start reading in verse 11 of 1 John chapter 3, and I'll read that little section down to verse 24. 00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:27.919 And then there's three things that I want to point out from the text because this this little piece of the Bible, it breaks naturally into three parts. 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:30.159 And then at the end, some questions come up on the screen. 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:33.039 We'll have some time of just just, hey, just think about this. 00:02:33.199 --> 00:02:34.000 Just think about it. 00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:35.360 And then we'll be dismissed. 00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:38.960 And you can go get a picture with your mom at the photo booth in the lobby. 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:39.759 You're down for that? 00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:40.719 Say amen. 00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:46.719 Now, if you're like 17 and you just rolled your eyes, see me after the service so I can punch you in the throat, okay? 00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:50.639 Uh, but I'll bless you at the end of the service and it'll all be good. 00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:53.759 Uh, one kid in the first service goes, That's I ain't doing that, that's lame. 00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:55.599 That's like, hey, it's not your day, okay? 00:02:55.680 --> 00:02:56.719 It's your mom's day. 00:02:56.879 --> 00:02:58.240 Don't be selfish. 00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:01.199 So I'll say to all of you, don't be selfish. 00:03:02.159 --> 00:03:03.199 That just make it awkward. 00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:04.240 You feel that? 00:03:04.719 --> 00:03:06.240 You're like, dude, it's Mother's Day. 00:03:06.319 --> 00:03:07.280 Don't get on to us. 00:03:07.439 --> 00:03:14.960 Anyway, 1 John chapter 3, verse 11, the Bible says this, for this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:18.719 We should not be like Cain, who is of the evil one and murdered his brother. 00:03:18.879 --> 00:03:20.240 And why did he murder him? 00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:23.439 Because his own deeds were evil and his brothers righteous. 00:03:23.599 --> 00:03:26.159 Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. 00:03:26.319 --> 00:03:30.960 We know that what we have passed out of death into life because we love the brothers. 00:03:31.120 --> 00:03:33.360 Whoever does not love abides in death. 00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:39.039 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 00:03:39.360 --> 00:03:42.080 By this we know love that he laid down his life for us. 00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:44.479 And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:52.400 But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need and yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 00:03:52.639 --> 00:03:57.199 Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth. 00:03:57.439 --> 00:04:01.520 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him. 00:04:01.759 --> 00:04:06.800 For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. 00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:16.160 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God, and whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 00:04:16.480 --> 00:04:24.480 And this is his commandment that we believe in the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:28.319 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God and God in him. 00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:34.079 And by this we know that he abides in us by the Spirit whom he has given us. 00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:35.279 The power of love. 00:04:35.439 --> 00:04:36.800 Three things from the text this morning. 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:39.759 Number one, loving rightly is evidence of conversion. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:43.439 Loving rightly, not just loving, but loving rightly. 00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:45.360 There's a model for how we love. 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:47.279 That's what I mean when I say loving rightly. 00:04:47.519 --> 00:04:49.360 Loving rightly is evidence of conversion. 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:50.480 If you like, where'd you get that? 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:51.600 Right out of verse 14. 00:04:51.680 --> 00:04:52.079 Look at it. 00:04:52.160 --> 00:04:58.000 He says, We know that we have passed out of death into life because we prayed the prayer when we were 12. 00:04:59.040 --> 00:04:59.360 No. 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:02.079 Matter of fact, it's nowhere in the Bible. 00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:08.480 A lot of people have said some religious incantations, and they're the most unloving people you'll ever meet in your life. 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:12.879 But the Bible comes along, see, you do good until you put yourself in the context of the Bible. 00:05:12.959 --> 00:05:15.120 And then it's like, oh, I gotta think about that. 00:05:15.279 --> 00:05:16.319 Look at verse 14. 00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:19.040 Hey, we know that we have passed out of death into life. 00:05:19.199 --> 00:05:20.480 Now, first of all, stop right there. 00:05:20.639 --> 00:05:29.439 Have you ever had a spiritual experience with God that was so transformative that you had to describe it by saying, I passed from death into life. 00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:32.800 I was dead, I was incapable and unable. 00:05:32.959 --> 00:05:38.560 But God so worked on my dead heart that I now am in life. 00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:42.639 This is how we know we've passed from death into life. 00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:43.199 Why? 00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:45.199 Because we love the brothers. 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:46.879 We love other Christians. 00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:53.920 We're not catty and backbiting and small, or we don't keep score, we don't play relational Red Rover, Red Rover, Red Rover. 00:05:54.160 --> 00:06:00.160 Let everyone come over and feel the way I feel about this person because then I'll be justified in how I feel. 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:03.519 No, loving rightly is evidence of conversion. 00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:09.519 Now, the Bible relies on its simplicity or the simplicity of its message because the truth is willing to stand alone. 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:11.839 So I want you to hear the innocence. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:14.399 That's a word we don't use hardly at all in our culture. 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:20.000 Hear the innocence and the naivety of the Bible as I read verse 11 out loud again. 00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:22.480 For this is the message you've heard from the beginning. 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:23.920 God hasn't changed his mind. 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:26.240 He's been saying the same thing from the very beginning. 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:29.759 And here's the message that we should love one another. 00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:34.399 That we should love one another. 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:36.319 You say, I don't get it. 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:43.279 Imagine if Vladimir Putin called Zelensky, the leader of Ukraine, and said, Would you forgive me? 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:45.279 I don't think we've been loving you. 00:06:48.399 --> 00:06:50.160 There would be no news to report. 00:06:50.480 --> 00:06:57.439 You would have to cancel, you'd lose, you would regain 30 minutes of your day if we just loved one another, because there'd be no controversy. 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:00.720 There would be no, oh my gosh, can you believe? 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:03.920 Because if you love somebody, you wouldn't sin against that person. 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:07.120 Again, notice how innocent the Bible is. 00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:08.800 Hey, this is the message from the beginning. 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:10.639 We should love one another. 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:12.399 In other words, no, not a new message. 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:14.000 This is the same thing he's been saying. 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:15.199 This is what you should do. 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:19.120 And then the Bible flips to the next verse in verse 12 and says, This is what you should not do. 00:07:19.279 --> 00:07:24.879 Pay attention, verse 12, we should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. 00:07:25.040 --> 00:07:28.480 And then the Bible invites us to think a little bit and ask this question. 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:30.319 And why did he murder him? 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:32.079 Cain and Abel were two brothers. 00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:34.319 The Bible talks about this in Genesis chapter 4. 00:07:34.399 --> 00:07:37.680 And one of them was jealous of the other one, and he killed him. 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:39.839 The Bible says, why do you murder him? 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:43.839 Because his own deeds were evil and his own brothers righteous. 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:45.040 Notice the motivation. 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:49.759 It wasn't because his brother was wrong, it wasn't because he disagreed with him. 00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:55.920 It was because he had a deep sense of awareness that my deeds are evil. 00:07:56.079 --> 00:08:01.759 And instead of facing that and repenting, I want to attack my brother who lives the right way. 00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:06.160 If you want to see it on display, turn on your TV anytime, anytime. 00:08:06.319 --> 00:08:14.319 And in front of the Supreme Court will be people with bullhorns screaming at each other on either side of this very controversial issue. 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:18.160 And here's the reality because my self-righteousness flared up on me this morning. 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:30.240 I walked through the living room to get more coffee, and my wife had a TV on, some news show, CBS some Sunday morning or whatever, and they were doing a story, and there were people two feet from each other with bullhorns screaming at each other. 00:08:30.480 --> 00:08:32.240 And I was just like, dude, lighten up. 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:33.279 I don't think that's the deal. 00:08:33.440 --> 00:08:37.440 But the thought went through my mind, you know, they're not, this is gonna sound crazy. 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:42.240 They're not protesting and demonstrating because they think the other person's wrong. 00:08:42.399 --> 00:08:43.840 That's what they want to convince you of. 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:45.759 That's what the media wants to convince you of. 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:56.720 I'm just submitting to you today that, like Cain, deep inside, they know that their deeds are evil, but they think if we can change the law, it's gonna change the moral nature of God, but it's not. 00:08:57.200 --> 00:09:00.559 You cannot legislate morality, oughtness. 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:02.799 And so they're like Cain. 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:14.000 They know that my deeds are evil, but they've doubled down and they've doubled down, they memorized the talking points, and they downloaded the slogans to put on the signs, and they put their pink jackets on, they go out there and they rant and rave and scream. 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:19.039 And here's the thing they get the core issue is not, do you agree with me? 00:09:19.120 --> 00:09:22.480 Because please tell me you're you're not so selfish, both sides of it. 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:27.600 Please tell me you're not so selfishly naive that you think everyone in the world should agree with you. 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:32.240 Remember when it dawned on you that not everybody feels the way you feel about most things? 00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:34.399 Yes. 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:36.879 Yes, you can't be that naive. 00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:39.519 But we've doubled down so much. 00:09:40.159 --> 00:09:42.399 We've kind of lost sight of what the real issue is. 00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:45.039 The core issue is not, does everyone agree with me? 00:09:45.120 --> 00:09:51.600 The core issue is I can't feel the evil nature of my deeds, and like Cain, I would rather attack the righteous than repent. 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:58.960 Because love to ourselves, the natural state, the natural man, the person, our natural state is powerless to change our own heart. 00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:03.440 So it'll always be easier to attack the other person who's been changed by God. 00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:07.600 I walk through and I look at that and I just thought, gosh, don't they know what the real issue is? 00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:10.080 Because that's what my self-righteousness sounds like. 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:12.559 Don't everybody think about this the way I think about this? 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:16.559 It's kind of like you got a fire that's dying down and you throw a bucket of gas on it. 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:19.120 You know that noise it makes almost whoosh. 00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:22.159 That's my self-righteous whoosh, and I was getting coffee. 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:25.200 It's like, oh, that's kind of gross. 00:10:25.519 --> 00:10:26.559 Oh my gosh. 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:33.440 See, the Bible comes along and says, Hey, uh, you're not better than any of those people carrying the sign. 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:41.039 Because I was getting my coffee, walking back to my bathroom, and the Holy Spirit said, You know, the difference in you and those people, and I thought, I'm right, and they're wrong. 00:10:42.159 --> 00:10:45.200 No, no, I've changed your heart. 00:10:45.279 --> 00:10:47.279 I just haven't changed their heart yet. 00:10:48.320 --> 00:10:58.159 And all of a sudden, I'm looking through a different lens, which is why the Bible says in verse 14, uh uh, excuse me, he says, because of his own deeds, he were evil and his brothers righteous. 00:10:58.240 --> 00:10:58.879 Do not be surprised. 00:10:59.039 --> 00:11:02.240 Verse 13, brothers, do not be surprised that the world hates you. 00:11:02.559 --> 00:11:03.679 Do not be surprised. 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:04.320 Why? 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:11.919 The world there's a Greek word cosmos, and it refers to the mass of humanity, alienated from God, therefore hostile to the cause of Christ. 00:11:12.159 --> 00:11:15.200 The mass of humanity, alienated from God. 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:21.039 Does it bother you more that people disagree with you or the fact that they're alienated from Christ? 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:24.399 They're alienated, they don't understand it. 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:26.720 The things of God are foolishness to them. 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:32.879 And then verse 15, the Bible says, Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:35.440 You hate people that disagree with you? 00:11:35.840 --> 00:11:40.080 Everybody who hates a brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life. 00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:45.200 Can you imagine going to Mother's Day brunch today and your mom just confessing, Lord Jesus, thank you for this mimosa? 00:11:45.360 --> 00:11:47.279 I killed six people this week. 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:49.919 Wouldn't that be great? 00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:54.639 Wouldn't you like to say, oh, I crucified Joe Biden on Tuesday and Thursday, God? 00:11:56.159 --> 00:11:56.720 Yeah. 00:11:57.039 --> 00:12:01.200 Oh, God, I just prayed that Donald Trump would not run for president in 2024. 00:12:02.559 --> 00:12:04.320 I got both sides of the aisle. 00:12:04.639 --> 00:12:06.399 Send me your emails. 00:12:09.120 --> 00:12:14.799 It would make lunch more interesting if somebody just said, hey, let's go around the table and talk about who we murdered this week. 00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:16.320 Can you imagine your mom? 00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:18.000 Yeah, I murdered your dad. 00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:22.399 I thought such bad thoughts about him that it was murder. 00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:27.519 Again, when you put yourself, your behavior in the context of the Bible, there's no wiggle room. 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:32.159 Whoever does not love abides in death, and everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. 00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:35.440 And you know it, no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:36.240 Hello. 00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:37.279 What do you mean? 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:39.919 No murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 00:12:40.080 --> 00:12:44.559 When you hear the words eternal life, don't think quantity, think quality. 00:12:44.799 --> 00:12:47.200 Eternal life is not living forever. 00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:49.679 It is that, but that's kind of almost an afterthought. 00:12:49.840 --> 00:12:51.840 Instead, think the life of eternity. 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:59.679 And here's how the Bible, it's the Greek word Zoe, here's how the Bible defines this life that we call the life of eternity. 00:12:59.840 --> 00:13:04.960 It refers to the absolute fullness of life, both essential and ethical, which belongs to God. 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:24.240 Life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed in the portion, even in this world, of those who put their trust in Christ, but after the resurrection to be consummated by new accessions, among them a more perfect body, and oh also almost as an afterthought, and to last forever. 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:34.000 You see, we take what the Bible says as an afterthought and make it the main motivation, and it is not enough motivation if you think eternal life, because your kids think, really? 00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:36.639 You want me to do this for all of eternity? 00:13:36.799 --> 00:13:37.440 No, thank you. 00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:39.919 I'd rather smoke weed with my friends. 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:43.360 But the Bible comes along and says, No, no, no, no, no. 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:46.159 It's not quantity, it's quality. 00:13:46.399 --> 00:13:51.919 And what the text is saying here is that nobody that has this life in them does that. 00:13:52.080 --> 00:14:02.240 The life of eternity is so pervasively consequential that it gets into every nook and cranny and fiber of your being and begins to alter the way you exist. 00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:06.399 Here's the second thing the Bible tells us about the power of love. 00:14:06.559 --> 00:14:08.639 So we now have a frame of reference for love. 00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:10.960 We now have a frame of reference for love. 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:13.679 If you've been married a long time, say amen. 00:14:14.559 --> 00:14:20.480 When you hear people that just getting married or just got married talk about love, do you kind of throw up in your mouth? 00:14:21.600 --> 00:14:29.360 When they pet each other, like I saw a couple of the day in a restaurant sitting on the same side of the booth, holding hands, and he was eating left-handed. 00:14:29.679 --> 00:14:32.000 And I just wanted to go over and go, just stop. 00:14:32.159 --> 00:14:32.879 Just stop. 00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:35.360 This is the dumbest thing in the world. 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:39.200 But I just stared at him from across the restaurant because I'm self-righteous sometimes. 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:46.879 It's like really, really, you don't see married people do that. 00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:53.279 None of you are gonna go to lunch today and go, and they and they held hands the whole time. 00:14:53.919 --> 00:14:55.360 I couldn't even finish my hamburger. 00:14:55.440 --> 00:14:57.759 I was like, oh, just take that away. 00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:01.919 And on the way out, I couldn't help myself. 00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:04.320 I said, Hey, you guys be married a long time? 00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:06.320 They go, we just got engaged. 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:08.879 Of course you did. 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:10.879 You have no idea. 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:14.639 You're like, man, he's my soulmate, and we never fight. 00:15:14.879 --> 00:15:23.919 I wanted to say to her, you're gonna wake up in the middle of the night because that fat pig is snoring, and you're gonna think to yourself, how long do I have to hold this pillow over his face? 00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:26.799 But I didn't say that. 00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:29.840 I just said, Well, congratulations. 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:34.720 What I thought was you morons have no idea. 00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:38.000 You might as well go out here on the interstate and pick up a hitchhiker. 00:15:38.159 --> 00:15:40.000 That's how well you know each other. 00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:41.759 But I didn't. 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:45.200 I know some of y'all think, do you say everything you think? 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:48.480 No, that is the scary part. 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:54.080 And I just walked out and I just thought, see, you have a frame of reference for love. 00:15:54.399 --> 00:15:55.919 By this we know. 00:15:56.080 --> 00:15:57.279 Translation, look at me. 00:15:57.440 --> 00:16:00.320 If this hasn't happened, you would have no idea. 00:16:00.559 --> 00:16:05.360 You just be doing your best and hoping your spouse or your boyfriend or your girlfriend settles for it. 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:07.919 But something happened that was so consequential. 00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:14.480 God says, right here, the whole world can see what love is like and how it acts by looking at this one thing. 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:15.519 And so, what is that? 00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:17.120 It's the cross. 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:19.679 By this we know. 00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:29.919 By this we know that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:32.879 Now, this is what Jesus says all through the gospels. 00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:35.679 John chapter 13, it's the last supper. 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:38.159 It says, Have he loved his disciples? 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:39.679 He cannot love them to the end. 00:16:39.840 --> 00:16:47.600 He gets up from dinner, takes off his outer garment, wraps a towel around his waist, gets a basin of water, and he washes the feet of the disciples. 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:49.759 Judas included. 00:16:50.399 --> 00:16:51.840 Are you kidding me? 00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:54.720 See, too, love makes it capable of. 00:16:54.960 --> 00:16:57.600 Love is compulsion and restraint. 00:16:57.840 --> 00:17:04.400 Can you imagine Jesus kneeling down before Judas and going, we both know you ain't you ain't down with this, right? 00:17:04.880 --> 00:17:06.400 Just want you to know that I know. 00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:10.720 Then he kind of squeezed his leg and wink game, like, hey, hey, I'm on to you. 00:17:11.599 --> 00:17:13.359 No, that's what we would have done. 00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:16.000 I want you to know you're not tricking me. 00:17:16.559 --> 00:17:19.200 No, but Jesus just is like, hey, I'm gonna treat you like everybody else. 00:17:19.359 --> 00:17:20.000 I'm gonna love you. 00:17:20.160 --> 00:17:24.480 And then at the end, he says this, which is the greatest statement in John chapter 13. 00:17:24.559 --> 00:17:29.440 He gets done, sits back down, and he says, Do you understand what I've done to you? 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:33.200 I didn't do it for you, I did it to you. 00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:41.839 In other words, I rang a bell that is so consequential, you guys do not have an excuse the rest of your life for not knowing how to love each other. 00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:48.240 So it starts off, verse 16, with extreme language. 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:50.000 By this we know uh love. 00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:53.599 He laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:56.400 Well, you know, hey, uh, let's get crazy there. 00:17:56.480 --> 00:17:59.519 That's a little old, that's a little out over your skis, don't you think, God? 00:18:00.079 --> 00:18:09.039 And then it gets real practical because the Bible knows that left to ourselves, we'll try to wiggle off the hook and love and word and talk and not deed and action. 00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:15.759 And so verse 16 says, uh, by this we know love that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 00:18:15.920 --> 00:18:17.759 Verse 17, notice the first word. 00:18:17.920 --> 00:18:19.279 What's the first word of verse 17? 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:20.480 Say that loud. 00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:22.799 But why is that there? 00:18:23.759 --> 00:18:29.759 Because you, the Bible knows that you think you're smarter than God and you got some crazy explanation for everything. 00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:41.279 And the Bible says, hey, before you try to wiggle off, but if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need and yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:45.519 Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth. 00:18:45.759 --> 00:18:49.519 Is your love language more word and talk or deed and truth? 00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:57.119 Because if you're just loving in word and talk, the people in your life do not believe you anymore. 00:18:57.680 --> 00:18:58.319 They just don't. 00:18:58.400 --> 00:19:00.720 They won't have the courage to tell you, but they don't. 00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:03.039 They're just like, yeah, yeah, yeah, right, right, right. 00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:06.480 But there's hope today. 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:11.279 Because one of the greatest bands that ever lived called Foreigner. 00:19:13.519 --> 00:19:14.160 Yeah. 00:19:15.119 --> 00:19:19.039 Put out an eight-track tape in the 80s, and I had it. 00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:20.720 And it had great music on there. 00:19:20.880 --> 00:19:22.640 This was a long time ago, boys and girls. 00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:23.920 And where are you, students? 00:19:24.079 --> 00:19:27.119 When musicians could play their instruments and sing. 00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:31.599 This is before Britney Spears ruined music. 00:19:33.839 --> 00:19:34.799 Oh, you hear them? 00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:37.519 Oh, Pastor Neal's being so hard. 00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:39.279 No, Foreigner. 00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:42.160 They had a great A-track, had great songs on, like Head Games. 00:19:42.319 --> 00:19:43.839 It's you and me, baby. 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:52.000 Whoa! I went to school every day before school with a blue cloud of smoke in my brother's cutlass, listening to head games by Foreigner. 00:19:52.400 --> 00:19:56.640 And also they had a great song that said, started with a great line and said, I want to know what love is. 00:19:56.799 --> 00:19:58.480 Kind of this was a slow jam. 00:19:58.559 --> 00:20:01.039 Remember, and now some of you are going, what is an eight-track? 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:01.680 Little music. 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:04.079 There's digital, which is where we live. 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:07.359 And before that, there were CDs, and then there was cassettes. 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:08.480 Remember cassettes? 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:16.319 You can pull them out, and then before cassettes was eight-tracks, they were about that big, about that thick, like a back, big as a sandwich. 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:20.559 You try to explain it together, would you keep them in your tape case in the back window of your car? 00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:21.680 That's where you kept them. 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:24.400 And it had four channels on the eight-track player. 00:20:24.640 --> 00:20:25.519 Click, click, click, click. 00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:28.079 I knew where when this point in the song, oh, go to channel three. 00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:29.359 This song is just starting. 00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:30.559 Yeah. 00:20:30.720 --> 00:20:31.839 I want to know what love is. 00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:33.680 Great, great request. 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:38.079 And then the next line is what I want you to show me. 00:20:38.319 --> 00:20:41.680 Great request, but you asked the wrong person to show you. 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:44.640 Which is why many of you get the love that you get. 00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:46.319 You're asking the wrong person. 00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:47.440 I want to know what love is. 00:20:47.599 --> 00:20:48.559 I want you to show me. 00:20:48.799 --> 00:20:51.599 See, you have a frame of reference for love. 00:20:51.759 --> 00:20:52.160 Why? 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:54.000 Because he's shown you. 00:20:54.960 --> 00:20:59.279 Third thing the Bible says is that loving well gives us an assured confidence. 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:01.759 Loving well gives us an assured confidence. 00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:02.960 Look at verse 19. 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:08.240 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him. 00:21:08.480 --> 00:21:13.519 For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and he knows everything. 00:21:13.759 --> 00:21:17.200 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God. 00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:22.160 And whatever we ask, we receive from him because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:32.000 Some of you, moms, especially, you cannot get to the confidence that is yours in Christ because your heart condemns you on a daily basis, and you just let it happen. 00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:34.960 So let me just get, let me just unpack this just for a minute. 00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:37.920 Loving well gives us an assured confidence. 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:38.640 What do you mean? 00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:42.079 There's one sentence you got to really underline in your Bible. 00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:44.000 It's right there in verse 19. 00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:49.440 Uh, he says, By this we shall know we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him. 00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:55.279 By the way, your heart, mom, is intended before, is intended to be put on display before God. 00:21:55.440 --> 00:21:59.519 Do not put your heart in the presence of your children, they will eat it for breakfast. 00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:08.480 They will say things to you like some of you had a terrible first marriage because your husband was so sorry, and by the grace of God, you met a good man. 00:22:08.559 --> 00:22:11.519 I mean, your kids will look at you and kind of go, I think I want to go live with dad for the summer. 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:13.680 And in your mind, you're like, Are you kidding me? 00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:16.880 After that man treated me like that, you want to leave me and go to him? 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:18.240 Let me help you pack. 00:22:20.160 --> 00:22:21.519 Uh-oh, you feel that? 00:22:22.319 --> 00:22:24.559 Some of you are like, Did my kid text you? 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:26.319 No. 00:22:26.720 --> 00:22:35.759 Your heart, now I'm not saying don't parent out of your heart, but you don't let your kids have access to your heart because depending on how they feel, they'll stomp on it or they'll take good care of it. 00:22:36.400 --> 00:22:41.599 That's why the Bible says very practical things like this, and reassure our heart before Him. 00:22:41.759 --> 00:22:45.279 Your kids don't have enough maturity, mom, to reassure your heart. 00:22:46.240 --> 00:22:47.359 They just don't. 00:22:48.160 --> 00:22:49.759 That's not even the part I want to get to. 00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:52.559 Here's the part where I want to get down to verse 20. 00:22:52.720 --> 00:22:57.599 For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and he knows everything. 00:22:57.680 --> 00:22:59.440 You should underline that in your Bible. 00:22:59.599 --> 00:23:01.440 Men, women, students. 00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:02.079 Why? 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:08.000 Whenever a heart condemns us, your heart condemns you when a worship song starts, you're like, oh, I love this song. 00:23:08.079 --> 00:23:14.880 And you stand up and you're getting your praise on, and about 30 seconds into it, your heart says, Are you serious right now? 00:23:15.359 --> 00:23:18.240 You you expect me to believe that you believe this? 00:23:18.799 --> 00:23:20.880 What about last week? 00:23:21.359 --> 00:23:22.480 What about that? 00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:24.000 Are you kidding me? 00:23:24.240 --> 00:23:25.759 Put your hands down and you agree. 00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:34.640 You put your hands down, and then you kind of look around, and then you begin to think, everybody in this room knows what I'm thinking, and they agree with me that I'm the biggest hypocrite there. 00:23:34.720 --> 00:23:37.279 And so you just sit down and just stop singing. 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:38.400 Why? 00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:40.640 Because your heart condemns you. 00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:47.039 Notice it doesn't say if your heart condemns you, but whenever your heart condemns us. 00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:51.359 Somebody asked me recently, a student going to seminary said, should I take Greek? 00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:53.039 I said, There's a lot of resources out there. 00:23:53.119 --> 00:23:54.240 I don't think you have to take the class. 00:23:54.319 --> 00:23:55.759 Some people are gluttons for punishment. 00:23:56.160 --> 00:23:57.920 But the Bible was originally written in Greek. 00:23:58.079 --> 00:23:59.279 Sometimes it's helpful. 00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:01.920 Sometimes preachers just use it because it makes them look smart. 00:24:02.079 --> 00:24:03.359 Here it's very helpful. 00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:06.799 That word condemns is the Greek word kada gonosko. 00:24:07.359 --> 00:24:08.480 Kada gonosco. 00:24:08.559 --> 00:24:09.039 It's two words. 00:24:09.200 --> 00:24:11.119 Genosco is a Greek word for knowledge. 00:24:11.359 --> 00:24:15.599 Gnosis, the Gnostics that infiltrate this faith community. 00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:17.680 But but but gnosco, knowledge. 00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:19.440 Kada is down. 00:24:20.559 --> 00:24:21.680 Stay with me. 00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:23.279 Kada, down. 00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:25.440 Genosko, knowledge. 00:24:25.680 --> 00:24:34.000