No Greater Love

God Centered Theology

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We can learn a lot from police officers and firefighters and emergency medical responders.

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They are often cited as heroes and rightfully so in a variety of situations where there are very real life -and -death situations that must be

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Life -and -death decisions rather that must be made and made very quickly there are certain distinctions among these groups no doubt and They protect us they serve us

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What each group does is highly important and Every single community in existence relies heavily on the roles that they play in the community

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But what is far more important and what is far more insightful and instructive is

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The common motivation that they all share you see police officers firefighters

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Emergency medical responders they all act and do What they do because they are motivated by love

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They are motivated by the love they have for people and are motivated by a love that actually compels them to act on behalf of others

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They truly demonstrate a biblical agape love that puts others needs above their own

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In fact in some cases and largely this probably happens far too often

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They are motivated by love to perform an ultimate sacrifice and lay down their life for someone else

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They certainly would do so for their fellow officers firefighters first responders But they also in many cases lay down their lives to protect

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Who for them at the time could possibly be total strangers? But when you are motivated by love and by the kind of love that they are motivated by Everyone in the community you serve becomes your friends your neighbors

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People whom you gladly Lay down your life to protect this love motivation this willingness to protect and serve provide emergency medical care is

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Why they deserve our respect They deserve our love They deserve our support and in a year here at Calvary Baptist Church We were talking about developing a culture of prayer.

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They deserve and need our prayers for sure is this love that they have for us that I want to talk about today because the love that they demonstrate when they perform the roles that they are called to perform is an example of The kind of love we are supposed to have when we are walking as Christians number one it is a self sacrificing love a self

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Sacrificing love John chapter 15 in verse 12 Jesus is talking to his commandments and this is a longer section of John here where he's

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Meeting with him for the last time they're having the Lord's Supper together There he's telling him about how he's gonna go and die for them and he's they're not gonna see him anymore

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He's giving them some final instructions and he tells them this is my commandment that you love one

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Another just as I have loved you greater love has no one than this

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That one lay down his life for his friends Love is best expressed in self -sacrifice

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Whether it is running into a burning building to save someone Rushing to the scene of an accident protecting someone from harm

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All these men and women that serve us demonstrate a self -sacrifice motivated by love and in some cases

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The greatest expression of that love being willing to lay down your life for someone and Jesus is telling his disciples

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I'm gonna lay down my life for you and a lot of things. He told them they didn't fully understand They often would say

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Lord. Are you sure? He had told them plainly on several occasions.

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They just didn't quite get it And he tells him says I call you my friends Because I love you,

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I'm gonna lay down my life for you. It's a self -sacrificing love number two

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It is a commanded love Not only is it self -sacrificing but it's commanded notice once again.

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It says this is my commandment that you love One another if you go back just a chapter or two in the book of John to John chapter 13

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We see the first time he gave this commandment in John 15. It isn't the first time He said this in John 13 34.

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He says a new commandment I give to you that you love one another and notice He says the same way here in 13 that he does in 15 when he says even as I have loved you that you also love

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One another and notice in verse 35 It says by this all men will know that you are my disciples

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If you have love for one another the context of here is Christians Now we are to do the best of our ability love our the lost people around us the unregenerate our neighbors

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We don't when we're told to love our neighbor as ourself or not to judge them or say well

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You must be Christian before I can help you So there is a part of that that is part of the Christian life, but primarily the commandment in context is given to Christians The world is going to act as they act they're going to be of their father the devil

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They're lost and dying and going to hell they need a Savior They have a Savior and they need to know what that Savior looks like which is why in Philippians chapter 2 it says let this

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Mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus He took on the form of a bondservant gave us the example

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We're to be walking in that Colossians 2 6 which is the main text we preach on Sunday mornings for right now

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It says therefore because you have Christ so walk in him the greatest apologetic that we have the greatest testimony and the greatest witness that we have for Jesus Christ to those that need to know about Jesus to those that need to believe in Jesus to those that need to accept the gift of the free gift of salvation

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The best apologetic and witness we have to those people is that we love one another

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When Christians love one another it's different. It's separated. It's called out

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It's not what the world's used to now people that are lost people in the world may demonstrate love at times

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But it doesn't come from the right capacity motivation. They don't have the indwelling Holy Spirit We are to be different and when we are they'll say, you know, they're there's something different about those people

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They love each other even when they don't get along there's something different there whatever it is

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I want it It's the best witness for Christ John chapter 15 and verse 14.

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It says you are my friends if you do what I command now Obviously we are saved by works, but it's not our works.

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It's Christ works is Christ work It is his work on the cross of Calvary that saves us.

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Nothing. We do could ever earn Salvation is a gift of grace and mercy by God Given to us in the person of the

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Son Jesus Christ who died for us and by repentance of our sin turning from our sin and turning in faith and trust in Jesus Christ as the only

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Unique and qualified Savior. Do we have eternal life free and full?

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But once we are saved once we are converted once we are regenerated once we are born again

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We are to walk in Christ. We are to obey his commandments because now we have the capacity

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We have the indwelling Holy Spirit. We have the power over sin flip is 413

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I can do all these things which Christ works and does in and through me It is his power that works through us to perform these book of Ephesians talked about the fact that we are

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Christ's workmanship Created in Christ Jesus for good works so that therefore we are not saved by our good works, but we are saved for them

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We are commanded by Jesus Christ here to love one another if you'll notice in verse 10 of the same chapter

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It says if you keep my commandments you will abide in my love Just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love the ultimate way

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To abide in the love of God For God is love the ultimate lay to abide in Christ to walk in Christ to walk in righteousness

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Is to love one another it's it's more so than anything else You can hang all other of Jesus's commandments on it the fulfillment of it is love

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The fulfillment of all the love is the love that Jesus Christ displayed on the cross. He is the fulfillment of all things

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The complete income to a boss law he came to fulfill it he perfectly obeyed it something that we cannot do

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We that have been born again we that belong to Christ we are his friends When we obey his commandments and these people in this world need to see that in us.

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They need to understand that They need to see what Christ looks like and the way God has chosen for the world to know about Christ Is that they will see it in?

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you skipping over to the fifth chapter of Ephesians One of my favorite sections of scripture the first two verses of Ephesians chapter 5.

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It says therefore be imitators of God To be imitators of God this word translated imitators in the original language is a word that means a mimic so Understand like a shadow a mimic

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So if you were to follow someone around over the course of a day and mimic all their actions Say what they do walk as they do eat like them and and do like them and you follow after the course of their life

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We're to be a mimic an imitator of God More specifically the second person to the

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Trinity were to be the mimic of Jesus Christ in his life here on earth We're commanded to be these imitators.

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Why is this important? Well Because you go back to John 15 We're commanded to love one another but and then you'll notice in John 15 and in John 13

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He says love one another just as I have loved you

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We are to mimic We are to imitate the love that God had and does have

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For us verse 2 and walk in love This word walk is a present tense imperative is a command.

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We are to continuously continuous action Ongoing never -ceasing daily every moment by moment of life walk let the

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Habitation of your life the conduct of your life be a walk in love And This word translated love is the agape love which puts others needs above your own which goes back when we talked about point one the self -sacrificial love

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It's very demonstrated in the men and women were honoring today because they so often are called upon To put someone else's need of the moment above another need and say this is what's important.

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This is the emergency This is where we need to be right now. This is who needs love more than anyone else in the world right now

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This is where I need to be and this is what I need to be doing They walk in love

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It's not just that it's their job or their role but you have to be motivated to do those things and we're very honored and we're very

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Humble that we do have such fine people that do serve us and are motivated by this love

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And we are to love as God loved us The book of first John chapter 3 that's where we're gonna spend the remainder of our time this morning

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But before we move on to number three still looking at the fact that it's a commanded love We'll look at first John chapter 3 in verse 11

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It says for this is the message which you have heard from the beginning that we should love one another

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John the writer the Apostle John is so utterly and so Fascinating a writer he's so abundantly consistent

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There's no doubt of what he wrote and there's no doubt the message He wanted to convey for you see the same terminology the same thought processes everything popping up over and over again

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And he comes right back here reminds us in his first epistle that we were commanded by the Lord Jesus Christ to love one another now when he says from the beginning here

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He's not talking about the literal beginning of time He's going back in his mind to the beginning when they were with Jesus Christ Face to face the time in which

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Jesus Christ began to instruct them and teach them and he says look Jesus Christ has been telling us

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He's telling you as Christians and he'll be speaking into the future to every Christians all the way down to 2019 sitting right here on March 10th that Jesus has been telling us

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He is telling us and he will keep on telling us love one another Just as I have loved you

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Love is the message that screams from the pages of Scripture Anytime you look at a cross like the one we have in our corner here

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If you see one and you're out driving or you see one on the TV, or you see one in a picture

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The first thing you should think about is the love of God manifested fully exegeted by Jesus Christ the second person of the

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Trinity and that love that was Demonstrated when his arms were stretched out and he died for you and me

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It is that love that he showed for us that we are to be demonstrating Number three this morning.

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It is a definitional love. It's not only self -sacrificing. It's not only commanded, but it's definitional to the faith

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You can't have Christianity without it There are many things among in theology and among Christians and there are certain

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Denominational distinctions and there's certain there's multiple levels to it and there are certain things that we can have

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I refer to it as the gentleman's disagreement or different Christians may see things a little differently

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But aside from those there are those things that are definitional to the faith There are those things that we would say this is what

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Christianity is and love was one of them First John chapter 3 skipping down a few verses is in verse 14.

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We know that we have passed out of death into life We're born spiritually dead spiritually lost

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If left to ourselves Every single person that has ever lived would die and go to hell

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If not for the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ and God Almighty Every single person would die in their sins loving their sin, and we remain in that death, but he says we know we've passed

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Out of death into life. Why because we love the brethren He who does not love abides in death

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People say Very often or they come to counsel or they come to ask me questions say, you know, sometimes just don't feel saved

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Well, it's probably a good thing. Our salvation isn't based on how we feel because I wouldn't be sometimes either Sometimes you're not gonna feel safe.

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You're gonna be wrapped up in some sin. You're gonna have that guilt and you're gonna feel it How do you know you're saved?

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Because the Holy Spirit testifies with my spirit that I'm a child of God. I wake up and I have love for God I have love for the brethren

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If you have love for Jesus, you have love for Jesus people. It's a testament the fact that you're saved

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Because someone that has not passed out of death into life doesn't have that capacity And John makes that very clear here

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Love for the brethren is a true mark of the believer Verse 15 everyone who hates his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him now this word

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Dealing here was his hates is this ongoing? Detesting and hatred and Jesus Christ equates it with murdering if you go back and look at the

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Gospels when he says, you know If you've heard it said you should I shall not commit adultery he tells why tell you anybody who looks on a woman with lust

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In her eyes has committed adultery Jesus Christ standard is so high. No one can meet it and he says

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I take love and hate so seriously That if you're gonna sit there and hate your brother and detest them and have nothing to do with them

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I equate that with murder. It's just as bad in his eyes Because we're commanded to love one another not hate one another

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He says, you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him What this shows is that someone that is in constant hate of the brethren?

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What it truly comes down to is they don't have eternal life. They don't possess it Verse 16 we know love by this that he laid down his life for us.

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You see the consistent terminology John 15 greater love has no has no one this but that you would lay down your life for your friends

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First John 3 16. He says we know love by this that he laid down his life

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For us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren There's no excuse to not know what love looks like no excuse

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Love comes in many forms It comes in the beautiful form of loving a child like wonderful little

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Hudson over here and my little girl and all of you that have Children that wonderful example of love.

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There's love and marriage and with my wife and myself and Just in passing one thing that I think

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Calvary Baptist Church, we need to recognize We are most the right word we have a no

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This why you shouldn't talk off the top of your head you I can't think of the word that's strong enough Let's just say we should overly appreciate the fact that we have so many long term

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Christian marriages in our church I wish I could find a war off top my head to stress that even more so you can understand how important this is to Me we have several with 50 years.

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I think some was 60. We just had a funeral service for someone last week. They had 71 we

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Should not take that lightly If they ever need a marriage conference in the state of Virginia they need to come here because we've got it

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And if you're young like me and you want to know what marriage should look like when you be reaching out to those that have Done it and ask them but there's that love there

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But the key to this love but to be between Christians is that everything's on the table

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Up to and including laying you on your life for someone God says you need to love your

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Christian brethren so much that whatever their need is if you can meet it Even if it includes you laying down your life you do it

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That it doesn't mean we all need to run out right now and look for ways to die it's not what he's saying

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But what he's saying is just like the men and women that serve and protect us when they're going into these situations

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They don't go in Questioning. Well if the situation arises, I don't know if I'm be willing to do it.

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I might just kind of go no full focus Determined focus

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Christians need to be the same way if the situation ever arise We'd have no no qualms about saying well, well surely for my wife for my child

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Have you ever thought about your fellow brother and sister in Christ? Jesus says it's for all of them

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We're to love each other so much That everything's on the table

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That's what the early church did They had all things in common They would come and lay their money and their goods at the

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Apostles feet and said here use it now Obviously that probably wouldn't be something we do in this day, but the motivations the same

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We don't come and give all of our sign of our houses and all of our money to the church It's not works nowadays but the

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Point and the motivations the same if I have a brother and sister in Christ and they need Whatever the amount is and I have that I feel so motivated by love to give it to them.

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I shouldn't hold it back We should have all things in common. We should love each other to the degree that we would sacrificially do anything to help them

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Why? Your Heavenly Father hasn't has knowledge of what you need If you give up something that you might have needed that day

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But said this this Christian brother sister needs it more and you give it to them God will take care of you

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I've never seen the righteous begging bread It's definitional

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We have no excuse not to know what love looks like lastly this morning number four

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It is a love that takes action a love that takes action verse 17 says

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But whoever has the world's goods and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him

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How does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but indeed in truth

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If the true love of God If the love of Christ is

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In you If it motivates you It will compel you to action

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There's no sideline Christianity Now me as an individual.

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I can't help and meet every single need of everyone in this room Janet can't love and meet the read of everyone in this room and I could go and pick people and use the same example

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And over we can't do that But you can't help someone and in some cases you might can help more than one we have no excuse the time is now to love and There are some people that are specially gifted by the

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Holy Spirit as a spiritual gift to be sensitive to these needs to be able to Just in some of you that have this gift

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You'll know what I'm talking about you you walk by someone or you're talking to someone and you just know something's there

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It's under the surface, you know, it's there We need you to help us spot things and say hey, you're good at this or you're good at this

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You might be able to help that person But it will compel you to action says You have the world's goods

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See tithing 10 % is an Old Testament thing. We're not we're commanded to tithe We're commanded to give cheerfully and based on the law of Christ Those that have more should give more if you if you're it barely have two nickels to scratch together

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You might could do 1 % and barely do that But there may be some that have more been blessed more

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It says you have the world's goods at your disposal And God has blessed you that way and you see someone in need and you close off your heart to them

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You don't have the love of God in you. You have the love of self And this can cross all income

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Spectrums poor rich in the middle America's far blessed more than a lot of countries in this world

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There's a lot of things we sow in our discontentment and our sin We think well, I don't have enough of this or I don't have that or I don't have that car that You have far more than many people have

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There's never an excuse to close off our hearts and say why I'm not gonna help them because God ain't helped took care of me Yet shame on you

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Love motivates action. It doesn't say it motivates you if it works out for you. It says no it motivates you to act

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Firefighters police officers all these medical responders. They don't say well, do I like this person before I run to that burning building?

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Do I like this person if I want to stop someone else from harming them? Someone's just had a crash and they're you know need some medical attention

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I'm an ambulance heading that way, you know, is this someone I really get along with I don't know if early one You know, no

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They're compelled by loveless Because that person needs something

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We can stand to learn a lot from them, especially in larger Christianity when you look at American Christianity We can stand to learn a lot from them.

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Oh Then we would act in the same manner. Oh How it convicts me in The times that I have had and could have given and didn't because I thought too much of myself

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Talk about convicting your pastor It's a love that takes action every time

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Do you possess this love in your life? Are you motivated by love to serve your fellow

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Christians and let God use that love to witness to a loss and dying world? Are You loving in a way that is active

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If there are no ways that come to mind then you need to get an action in serving because a