"L" Attributes Of God

All right, let's start off this way. Why is it important? I'm going to ask you a question, you raise your hand and I'll call on you.

Why would it be important to study the topic of the love of God? Okay, so we live in a culture where there seems to be a prevailing idea of God and it would be an improper view of God and He seemed to be this

God of love only today and so it would be good to make sure we believe what the Bible says. I think that's important because if you believe anything about God that's untrue, you are practicing what?

Idolatry, right? Your thoughts of God have to match up to what the Bible says just so or else you're going to think about God in a way that would be unbiblical or it would be an idolatrous view of God and so we want to make sure we think properly.

Any other ideas about why we should study this topic, the love of God? Not just because it's the next attribute letter

L and then M will be mercy but what's another reason why we should study? Yes.

Okay, not only does the culture say things about love that might influence us wrongly but also for us there's different kinds of love, right?

Like today, here's a good illustration. I got done preaching and I went up to Kim today and I went up to my wife and I gave her a kiss on the cheek or lips and I said,

I love you. And then Janet Robinson was standing next to Kim and I gave her a hug and I said to Janet, I love you.

It's the same word but two different meanings, don't you think? And by the way, nobody got mad when I did that.

It's okay for me to have a special select love for my wife and then a more general love.

By the way, one of our questions is going to deal with that but people get really, really mad if you say he loves some people with a special, selective, distinguishing, sovereign love and he loves other people in more a general way.

But what we don't think is wrong in our own lives, sometimes we get mad at God for.

So that's good. How about this? A .W. Pink said, how little real love there is for God.

One chief reason for this is because our hearts are so little occupied with His wondrous love for His people.

The better we are acquainted with His love, its character, fullness, blessedness, the more will our hearts be drawn out in love to Him.

So don't you think it would be good to study the love of God so we can love Him more when we realize how much

He's loved us? One of the most famous theologians of all time was on his deathbed dying and they asked him this question, what is the greatest thought that has ever passed through your mind?

Without hesitation he responded, Jesus loves me, this

I know, for the Bible tells me so. This is a good doctrine to study because the culture says one thing, we ought to be prepared biblically to understand it.

We think we could love God better if we understand His love for us and also this is the kind of doctrine that will help you die well, the love of God.

Alright, let's get right to the quiz. True or false? If false, please correct the statement. I don't know how many we'll get done tonight,

I don't know if I'll count the 10 minute quiz time towards the 50 minute sermon time, I don't have any idea, but you're the elect here tonight of God, chosen of God, beloved, and we'll just see where we go.

Number one, the Bible uses different words for love, just say it out loud. True, alright, give me a couple.

What's one? Shout it out. Agape. Agape would be what kind of love? First, Luke says agape and then this morning he's giving me the every head bowed, every eye closed comments.

I think that's excellent. You know, if I had my way, Luke by the way would probably be the next pastor of Bethlehem Bible Church.

Pastors usually come and go about every three years, either the pastor can't stand the congregation or the congregation can't stand the pastor or both and then off you go and there's no continuity.

I don't mean this in some kind of narcissistic way, but I would mean it in a way that would be good for continuity in a church, at least you would know what you were getting, at least you would understand that he grew up believing these things unless Luke, like so many other people who follow their father's footsteps, becomes more liberal.

So Luke, if you're more liberal than I am, you'll never get the job, alright? How about eros?

Is eros a biblical word for love? Matter of fact, it's a fine word for love. It's good as long as it's in context and context of erotic, sensual, sexual love has a context and that context is marriage.

It's a fine, appropriate word. Can you think of another biblical word for love? Phileo, like we get brotherly love, the city of Philadelphia, brotherly love.

And there's one other word that's only used in a negative fashion for the word love in the scripture. It's not used in a positive way.

It's used for unloving. Where in the scripture could you find the word unloving? It's a different kind of love.

There's emotional love, excuse me, there's a physical love, a sexual love, eros. There's brotherly love, there's agape love, and then there's this last kind of love.

Well, let's just take a look, 2 Timothy chapter 3. Usually I like to find a passage and we just camp in it verse by verse, sequential exposition.

Tonight you'll need to jump around a little bit more until we get to Romans 9, either later tonight or next time. 2

Timothy chapter 3, verse 1, 2, and 3, even moving into verse 4, talk about the difficult times that will come in the end times.

And so Paul says to Timothy, realize this young pastor, 2 Timothy 3, difficult times will come.

And now he describes the men in those difficult times. I find it fascinating that he doesn't say the stock market will be bad, unemployment will be high.

What's difficult day, biblically speaking? It's not the external circumstances, global warming, all kinds of other issues.

It's sinful people. That's what makes a difficult time. Men will be lovers of self, verse 2, lovers of money.

By the way, I find it strange that lovers of self, we have, you know, people talking about self -esteem everywhere you look.

They love themselves, they love money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, and now comes the next word for love, which is storge, estorge, which means having no family affections.

They don't have a love for the family. There's erotic love, brotherly love, agape, self -sacrificial love, and there's family love, storge love.

You want to see if you're in the end days, ask yourself the question, is there a love for the family? And you could come to your own conclusions.

Tonight, I think what we'll focus on, though, is agape love, love that looks for the welfare of its object.

If you'd like to know what agape love is, you could say it's sacrificial love or it's a love that looks for the best good or welfare of its object, seeking the highest good in the one loved.

And actually this word was around in the New Testament times, agape, but it was not used in this context very much.

It was almost like there's a word being used for something else, kind of a general love, and the

New Testament writers grab it and they Christianize it and then they insert it into Christianity because it so emphasizes the central key of Christianity, and that is

God loved me and gave himself for me, Galatians 2 .20.

If you like big definitions, let me give you a big definition of agape love from J .I. Packer. God's love is an exercise of his goodness toward sinners.

As such, it has the nature of grace and mercy. It is an outgoing of God in kindness, which not merely is undeserved, but it is actually contrary to desert.

For the objects of God's love are rational creatures who have broken God's law, whose nature is corrupt in God's sight, and who merit only condemnation and final banishment from his presence.

It is staggering that God should love sinners, yet it is true, God loves creatures who have become unlovely and unlovable.

Number two, second question on your quiz. The biblical idea of God is love is often misinterpreted.

The biblical idea of God's love, rather, is often misinterpreted. If I say

God's love, what would be some negative ways we could think about that?

Some wrong ways we could think about the love of God? I know one of the ways I think about it right away, but I won't tell you what

I'm thinking about until you tell me. Fida.

Okay. It's completely unconditional. Good. Luke? Luke.

Make it good. Part of me wants to be very pastoral.

That was a really excellent answer there, son. I'm glad you're kind of thinking through. And then part of me on the inside wants to go like this, yes!

I think Luke's right in the sense that it could be some kind of sappy feeling of love, kind of almost maybe like a

George Burns, oh God love, this sentimentality kind of love.

Many people in society, movie stars, rock stars, poets, talk about love of God. A .W.

Pink in his book, Attributes of God, said, there are many today who talk about the love of God who are total strangers to the

God of love. Isn't that interesting? They talk about God's love, but they're strangers to the God of love.

The divine love is commonly regarded as a species of amiable weakness, a sort of good -natured indulgence.

It is reduced to a mere sickly sentiment, patterned after human emotion.

I love Diet Coke. I love hot salsa. I love corn dogs. I love my wife.

I love my kids. I love my dog. There's all different ways people could think about love, but if we're not thinking about biblical love, in tonight's case, agape love, we ought to be careful.

All right, let's keep going. So far, I'm having fun. I know preaching's not supposed to be entertainment, but who wants to be boring?

Let's move on to number three. God is love means love is God. What does it mean, love is

God? If love was God, then where would we be? Well, geographically, we'd probably be in India with the other

Hindus, but where would we be philosophically? Would the baby just say, bye -bye?

Oh, what's Popeye? That's you? Okay. I'm with you. You're the preacher,

Bob. That's all right. Let's turn our Bibles to 1 John 4 .8. I do want to establish that God is love.

What we don't want to do at this church is go so overboard because the world is saying God is only love, so then we here at this church, we never talk about the love of God.

We never think about how great He is and how He loves us. We wouldn't want to swing the pendulum too far over.

So let's make sure we understand that God is love. There's no doubt about it. And just because society messes it up and continues to improperly define the love of God, we don't want to say it's not true.

1 John 4 .8, the one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

God is love. God is eternally giving. But love isn't

God. This is not some kind of Dr. Phil Oprah deal. No, this is sacrificial love.

Well, let's keep going. This was brought up a little bit earlier in number four. God is love means love is

God, number three, and now number four. God is only love. God is only love.

If God was only love, where would we be? We'd be in big trouble because it would be difficult for our sins to be forgiven.

Well, what do I mean by that? Tell me the problem with having God only as love. Somebody. Somebody came up to you and said,

God's only love. What would you tell them? Bob? Okay, good.

Steve? Okay, perfect.

What if we, you know what? Let me just hold that thought until the next question.

Let's go to number five. God's holiness and God's love can never be reconciled. We believe God's holy.

We believe God's love. But can they be reconciled? How can you have holiness and love come together so they both still are able to be in the same being as it were?

The love of God and the holiness of God. By the way, do you ever find a place in the Bible where the angels sing or shout or say love, love, love?

No, but you do hear them say what? Holy, holy, holy. So how does the love of God, this proper hatred of sin, this being set apart, this being transcendently moved away from sin, holiness of God, work together with the love of God that gives to His people sacrificially for their own good?

How does it work together? Where does it work together? At the cross.

That's the issue. That is the issue. Love found a way to redeem my soul. Do you know the hymn?

Love found a way that could make me whole. Not at the expense of truth, not at the expense of holiness, the expense was the son of God's death.

It is true God is love. It is true God is holy. How were they reconciled? The love of God is seen at its apex at Calvary.

The holiness of God is seen at its apex in or at Calvary. Turn our Bibles to Romans chapter 5 and let's show this to you.

I want you to see that you can have both holiness and the love of God at the same time. They are reconciled in only one place.

They kiss together in the cross, at the cross. Romans chapter 5.

If you were here for the preach -a -thon, you've heard Bob preach this. Romans chapter 5 yesterday.

And we hear about, in this passage, the love of God, the wrath of God, and other attributes and they all work together perfectly in Romans chapter 5.

Romans chapter 5. I can't just jump in in verse 5 and 8. I've got to start at the beginning.

Romans chapter 5 verse 1. You say, well, I know a lot about Romans chapter 5. If you do, you'll be glad to hear it again.

I love, if I walked into a church and I was a visitor and I walked in and the pastor got up and said, today open your

Bibles to Romans chapter 5, I would be happy. Wouldn't you? Even if I just had heard the passage,

I would be super happy. So how can you say now you don't want to turn your Bibles to Romans chapter 5? I've got you where I want you.

I just led you off the clip. Therefore, having been justified by faith.

Moving back in the argument, chapter 3 verse 20, chapter 3 verse 21. Justified by faith.

Oh, I don't like these big theological words. Friends, if you have a job, you use big words, don't you?

And don't you want to know what the words are in the Bible that are big and theological? And so I don't want to just take justification and turn it into just kind of the minimalistic thing.

What did you learn justification by faith to be when you were a kid or you were younger or in Sunday school? Hopefully not this

Sunday school here. Justification by faith means, Eric, just as if I never sinned.

What's right about that? When we've been justified by faith alone, does

God look at us as if we've never sinned? It's right, but it's not complete. How about does

God look at us because of justification by faith alone? Christ's perfect word. That we've never sinned, we never will sin.

So far so good. That we perfectly kept the law and we've always kept the law. So it's a partial definition, it's not a complete definition.

Partial. Did you know at the Christian booksellers convention, when asked on the street, 2 out of 100 people knew this doctrine, justification by faith alone.

The standing or falling doctrine of the church according to Luther. God living a perfect life in our place, crediting his righteousness to our account.

We perfectly sinning. Christ taking our sin upon him. The great exchange proved by the resurrection.

And so Paul says, therefore having been justified by faith. What happens? Look what you get.

Verse 1, we have peace with God. Right at the top of the list. Preeminent.

Sinner is rebellious. Sinner is angry with God. Sinner is attacking God if he could. He's at war with God.

God is at war with him. People go, I'm not mad at God. If he's an unbeliever, God is mad at him.

This is not peaceful, easy feeling. This is laying down the arms.

Have you ever seen some of these big guns? Have you ever got one of those books? Maybe weapons of the civil war.

Weapons of World War II. Modern warfare weapons. Have you seen some of these huge weapons?

I don't know the biggest gun that you've shot. But sometimes these guns are just massive and huge.

I'm out of my league. I don't know what I'm talking about. But I've seen big weapons. Sometimes I wish I was in the military.

Big caliber guns. Are 88's big? That's pretty big.

Can you imagine an 88? How would an 88 be held? I don't know. On the ground.

And it's aimed right at you. And then because of this justification, what

Christ has done, it's laid down. It's unloaded. It's not aimed at you anymore.

And what does the text say? This is not a feeling in our heart, although that's in another part of the

Bible. We have peace with God. This is not a change of your feelings. This is a change in God's relationship to you.

If there's no peace for the wicked, there is peace for the righteous. Through whom, verse 2, don't you love this?

Through whom we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand.

We've now got an introduction. Before, here's

God, here's heaven. And what did you see outside, as it were? No trespassing. No access.

May not enter. No trespassing. Violators will be shot on sight. That kind of language.

Locked out. Like the angel locking Adam and Eve out of the garden. Like Cain driven out from the sight of Eden.

But now what do we have because of Christ? We have access. We can approach. We have entree, the

French would say. It'd be one thing if the king back in those days said,

I pardon you. It'd be another for the king to say, I pardon you and now you have access into my throne.

And then he just keeps going. This is a pile on. In the Midwest we call this a dog pile.

The New Englanders improperly call this pig pile language. Verse 3, 4, and 5. And not only this.

This is extra. This is added above. We also exalt in our tribulations. All from justification.

Knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance and perseverance. Proven character, proven character.

Hope and hope does not disappoint. Now here we're getting to the love of God. Because why hope does not disappoint is right here.

It's based on the promise of God's fulfillment. And hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been sprinkled on our hearts.

With just a little dab will do you. This isn't, I hate to say it because I have some good friends.

This has got full immersion Baptist language all over it. This isn't sprinkling right here.

This is pouring. There's nothing to do with baptism but just the language of pouring.

Look at what happens. Because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts.

You know what I think about when I think of this pouring out? We can't use this illustration for the patriots today.

One more idol whose feet have clay. Jews. I didn't watch the game.

Aren't you glad? I'm glad I didn't watch the game. I would have wasted three and a half hours for what? A loss. You think why did

I watch? If I watch I hope they at least win. Who's the coach of the Baltimore Ravens?

Jim Harbaugh? John Harbaugh. Okay, what do I know? What are those big things that have electrolytes, liquid?

There you go. I knew that but I wanted to see if you did. And they come over and what do they do to the coach at the end of the game?

It could be freezing. It could be raining. It could be sun. The best player, Ray Lewis, he comes over and he puts his fingers in there.

He gets just a little bit and he sprinkles them. Good job coach. Way to go Harbaugh. Now what does he do?

And you can see it. And you just think just the feeling that must be. Just that utter ice cold feeling.

Yesterday, I don't know why I did it. Probably I did it because I'm stupid. But all the kids were going, sleigh riding.

So off to George Hill we go. The youth group, let's all go sleigh riding together. Okay, I'll go.

I'm almost 50 but not quite. And I'm young at heart. And off we go. And I'm razzing all the guys.

You've got to go sledding. Please go. Bartlett's flying down the hill. Beckwith's flying down the hill.

And finally I go, I might as well go down the hill. But at the bottom of the hill, way down the hill, there's this creek that's flowing.

It's all wet creek. So I'm saying, now kids, put your feet down.

Don't go in the creek. Don't want dad to have to rescue you. Feet down. Be careful. Kids are flying down there.

Brian's trying to stop the kids and everything. And I'm just kind of at the top doing the dad things. Now be careful.

By the way, Brian, make sure you parent my kids down there. So finally

I say, all right, I'll go. I get on the thing. Say my prayers.

I'm just kidding. Down I go.

And we're moving. Literally, don't you think, guys, 30 miles an hour, 25 miles an hour? You're flying down that thing.

I go, I can't be getting close. I can't be getting close. So I start digging my heels in. I'm digging my heels in.

And now the ice is shearing off up into my eyes. I go, I can't do this.

So I thought, I'll just close my eyes for a second. And the next thing I realize, I'm this deep in the freezing cold creek water.

Slam my head on the side of the thing. I'm looking around. I'm so glad it's dark because people would have been laughing their head off if they would have seen.

I can't find my stocking hat. My stocking hat is two feet over here because my head slammed over that way.

And there I go. And here comes Brian and Beckwith flying down the hill as fast they can to rescue the pastor.

Pastor's going to drown. And I'll tell you what, I wish that creek would have just sprinkled a little bit of water on my head.

Phillips said, The love of God does not descend upon us as dew in drops, but as a stream which spreads itself abroad through the whole soul, filling it with the consciousness of His presence and favor.

When you get saved and you realize what you deserved and what you get, and now this

God of love and wrath and holiness has set down His 88's and they're not against you.

And He's given you His Son. You get that feeling. You experience the love of God.

The love of God floods your hearts. Fills your hearts. One man said,

Just as a valley once flooded remains full of water. That's the tense in Greek. I can't stop here.

Take a look at chapter 5. We see in this passage, verse 6, not just the love of God, but we see the wrath of God.

And they work perfectly together because they find themselves meeting at Calvary. If you look at verses 5, chapter 5, verse 6, 7 and 8, you'll see one key word in there and don't forget the key word.

Died. Die. Die. Died. Four times. How can love and wrath be reconciled?

The death of Christ at Calvary. For while we were still helpless, at the right time

Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man, though perhaps for a good man someone would dare even to die.

But God demonstrates, makes conspicuous, puts it on display. Commends, proves, recommends

His own love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

I preached in a Los Angeles rest home years ago. Steve has preached there. It was a Jewish rest home and I said, you need

Jesus Christ because you can't save yourself. You are helpless. And the old Jewish lady in the back, she stood up and she said,

I'm not helpless. Physically maybe she wasn't helpless, but spiritually we are helpless.

And God at the appointed time, at the right time, at the perfect ordained time, before time began it was planned,

He sends His Son to die. Poor Richard's Almanac says,

God helps those that help themselves. And that's such bad theology, that might not even be poor

Richard's Almanac, that might be little Richard's Almanac, it's so bad in theology. You've got the wrath of God, you've got the anger of God, you've got the love of God and the kindness of God.

Where's the wrath? Verse 9, Much more then, this is again pile on language.

Having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.

God's loving, God's wrathful. Simultaneously both.

For if while we were enemies, we are reconciled through the death of His Son. Much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

The greater benefit is bestowed, the Son of God dies in your place. Won't the less be given? God's not going to withhold the lesser gift, if He's already given the greater gift.

If He's loved you as an enemy, won't He now keep you and love you as a son or a daughter?

Number, what number are we on? Number 6,

God's love in saving sinners is in conflict with His other attributes. Well, I'm coming at this from different directions.

These all blend together, like 1 and 2 blended together, 3 and 4 blend together, 5 and 6 blend together as well.

God's love in saving sinners is not in conflict with His other attributes. God's love is eternal.

God's love is holy. God's love is unchanging. Alright, number 7. We've got time for number 7 for sure.

Number 7, God's love is the result of our salvation. God's love is the result of our salvation.

Answer? False. God's love is the cause or reason of our salvation.

Pity maybe, but love never. That's not true.

You say, well, God might pity me, but He'd never love me. If God didn't love you, there's no salvation.

But God didn't love you because there's something in you as an unbeliever that was lovable. What was in you as an unbeliever that somehow called to God, that beckoned

Him, that persuaded Him, that convinced Him to love you? There was nothing in you. It was all out of His own sovereign, uninfluenced, free will.

It was His choice, His decision, and He of His own free will accepted you into His heart.

For only the reasons that are in the counsels of God. Turn with me to Deuteronomy 7. Why did

God pick Israel and not the Hittites, the Jebusites, the Moabites, or anybody else?

Why? Well, if you pick like I pick, you're going to pick the best. But what does God do in Deuteronomy 7?

The same love that picks Israel picks us. Don't you forget it ever, that God's love for you was uninfluenced.

The only influence that God had was from the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, all thinking the same way, all desiring the same thing.

It was a Trinitarian decision. No other factor went into it at all. God doesn't love us because we were lovable.

We love because He first loved us. Never the other way around. God's love is not a response, but the cause.

The only thing we did was sin. Deuteronomy 7, verse 7. I don't know what people do who think,

God can't love me until I let Him. You know, I'm just going to hold you off, God, and now that I've accepted you in my heart,

I've said the sinner's prayer, I acknowledge you, now I'm going to let you love me. What does this language do to that kind of theology?

I'll tell you what it does. It obliterates it. The Lord did not set His love on you, Israel, nor choose you because you were what?

More in number. If you play the game Risk, you probably won a big number, so you can win in your war.

For you were the fewest of all people, but because the Lord what? Why does God choose a nation?

Answer? Because the Lord loved you, kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers.

The Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

God did not love us because we are attractive. God did not love us because we could somehow save ourselves.

No. Christ died not in order to make

God love us, but because He did love us. You say, well,

God looked down the quarter of a time and He saw me believe. Really? I think

God looked down the quarter of a time and said to Himself, if I don't do something, they'll never get saved.

Don't you think that's more biblical? Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, I'm getting ahead of myself, but that's alright.

Number eight. Those that are loved by God must love others. Answer? True.

Let's turn to 1 John 2. 1 John 2. This isn't just a thought that we learn about God, some kind of theology.

I think probably at this church we're good at theology. We're not so good at living what we believe.

But as long as we're good at confessing that sin and that sin of hypocrisy, the Lord will bless our desire to learn more.

What's the option? Let's not learn anything about God? No, that can't be the option. The option is let's learn everything we can and then by the grace of God and the

Spirit of God try to live out what we know. And when we don't, we confess it. I'll be glad to say that I'm the biggest hypocrite in this entire church.

Because I learn and then I do. And I learn and then I do. And I learn and then I do.

And it just doesn't match up. Why am I qualified to be a preacher? Because I hate my hypocrisy. 1

John 2. The one who loves his brother abides in light and there is no cause for stumbling in him.

Chapter 3 verse 15. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

We know, loved by this, that he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Verse 18. Little children, let us not love with word or tongue but with deed and truth. Verse 19 of chapter 3.

We shall know by this that we are of the truth and shall assure our heart before him. Our hearts will be soothed, balmed in whatever our heart condemns us for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.

Say, my heart is convicting me but I'm loving other people.

You can be assured of the love of God in your life. All right. I don't know how long we've been going but let's just do a couple more.

Number 9. Number 9. Let's turn our Bibles to John 3 .16. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.

Number 9. For God so loved the world means that he loves the world in a great immense way.

True or false? According to John 3 .16, so loved means that he loved in a great immense way.

I don't hear you. You're not very confident on this one. Is it true that God has great love?

It's an infinite love, a magnanimous love. That's true. But this verse has nothing to do with this.

This word has nothing to do with magnanimous mega love. Here's what he's trying to say.

You say, why did you put this in here? I don't know. I just like to talk about John 3 .16. We memorize it. We hold it up during football games or at least the guy used to before he got arrested and thrown in jail.

For God so loved the world. I believe in the great magnanimous love of God.

It says it in Ephesians 2 .4. God's great love. But here, what is he trying to say? Most scholars, every good scholar that I could find, with few exceptions,

I can't think of one. For God so loved the world. Here's what John is saying.

For God loved the world in this particular way. He loved the world in this manner. Does God love the world in a great way?

He so loved the world with a great love. It's true, but this verse doesn't teach that.

He loved the world. Here's what the text says. He loves the world in this particular manner. How does God love the world?

He thinks about the world. You know, that whole thing when somebody's going through a problem and you go, our hearts and prayers are with you.

Our thoughts were thinking about you. So God loves the world because he just kind of thinks about them.

No, God loves the world in this manner. What manner does God love the world? He loves the world in this manner.

He gave his only begotten son to die for people. That's what the love of God is.

So if you like to say, well, God so loved the world means it's great love. I think you'll do a little research and you'll come to find out that his love is great.

Ephesians chapter 4, his great love with which he loved us is true. But this particular verse, how does

God love us in particular? By having his son die for us. And this one has nothing to do with the love of God, but I just like to throw it out there whenever I can anyway, so I put number 10 in.

It's my quiz. I get to do what I want. The word whosoever is in John 3 .16,

in the original. Answer? False. It's not even in the

NAS, although whoever is in there. Here's the way it reads in the original language. For God loved the world in this manner, that he gave his only begotten son, that those believing in him shall not perish, but have everlasting, our eternal life.

Those believing in him will never perish. Alright, one last one.

I think we're okay for time. One last one. Number 11. God helps those who help themselves.

This is what I'm going to call from now on, Little Richard Almanac. Let's turn to Ephesians chapter 2, and we're going to look at the love of God, and we're going to look at those who needed help.

If they could help themselves, why kill Jesus? Why crush

Jesus? Ephesians chapter 2, 1, 2, and 3, show us really how great

God's love is in chapter 2, verse 4. Chapter 2, verse 4.

Let's look at that first. But God being rich in mercy, because of his great love. That's so love the world language.

His great love with which he loved us. How can his love be great? Answer, go back to chapter 2, verse 1, 2, and 3.

And I'm not going to spend much time on it, but I'll just go quickly. Why send the

Son to die? For whom did he send the Son to die? Why did he have to send the Son to die?

Because these people can't help themselves. This is the backdrop to the love of God. And you were dead in your trespasses and sins.

Lifeless. Spiritually lifeless. In trespasses? What's a trespass? Do not trespass.

You see the line anyway, and you're with your dad, and you go, well, we're going to go hunt anyway. There's the line that says don't trespass.

You willfully step over it anyway. In trespasses and sins, sins are missing the mark.

You've got the bow and arrow. You shoot for the target. You miss. You fall short. In both of those, sins of omission and commission, active and passive sins, we're dead.

And who's our king when we're an unbeliever? Verse 2, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world.

The world sold things, and we bought it. Hosea was preaching yesterday on the world system. What the world sold, we bought.

Hook, line, and sinker. According to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.

And among them, we too all formerly lived in the lust of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind.

And I only want to focus on that last little part at the end of verse 3, so you can see how great God's love is for you.

And we're by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

When you're children of someone, you have a very close relationship to your parents, don't you? Yes. This is relationship language.

And you are by nature children of wrath. This is just a Hebrew way of saying, from the time you were conceived, you're in a state of being a recipient of the wrath of God.

Children of wrath. Now, don't think that this is some kind of temper tantrum by God.

God's wrath is holy. God's wrath is not some kind of flying off the handle full of revenge and arbitrary caprice.

God's love is judicial, controlled, consistent, holy. It's not a bygones begot bygones kind of love though.

The Lord will judge His people. And what happens if you look at Ephesians chapter 2 verse 4?

What would be the next word if you were going to write the Bible? You're dead in trespasses and sins.

You follow Satan. You follow the world. You're children of wrath. And knowing that God is holy, and knowing that God is just, and knowing that God is righteous, what would be the next word you would write in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 4?

What would be the answer? Therefore, God executes.

And because of that, God slays. But it's interesting.

What's the next word? Martin Lloyd -Jones, if you haven't heard the sermon by Lloyd -Jones called But God, the two most wonderful words in all the

Bible, you need to listen to that. But God. You're dead in trespasses and sins.

You're a child of wrath. But God grades on a curve that's pretty low.

That text doesn't say that, does it? Gersher said this, Could God help us?

Possibly. God. That is the most preposterous appeal of all. It is against Him that we have done all this sinning.

It is His law we violated. It was His commands we disobeyed. It was His image we had ruined. It was

His purposes we were seeking to frustrate. And it was under His wrath we now were. It was

His awful judgment from which we were seeking escape. Why would God ever rescue us from the judgment in which

He placed us? If He's a just God, we must fear. There's no hope for us. But God isn't just just.

God is what? A loving God. And so now what do we hear? But God.

That's the kind of language we have. But God being rich in mercy because of His great love with which

He loved us. Can you imagine thinking about the love of God? I know it's just a small thing.

Comparatively. But I remember when I began to date Kim. Remember that, honey?

Yeah. That's a typical pastoral wife sentence. Yeah, I did. I remember

I began to date her and I thought, I'm falling in love with this girl. But there's something about kind of unrequited love that's not too good.

And you think, well, you know, do I tell her I love her? I love her, but what if it's not going to be reciprocated?

I don't understand. And, you know, you stay up all night. And if you're a guy, you know what I'm talking about. Maybe you're a lady.

It's the same thing. I love this person. And, you know, I want to spend my life with them. I want to marry them. But I've got a problem.

They might say no. So, you know, we're kind of good at it.

At least I think I was kind of good at it. I think about sales. And in sales, you give kind of trial balloons. You kind of float them out there.

See what she might say. It's not as stupid as saying, well, you know, if I were ever to ask you if I loved you, how might you respond?

You have to be a little sly. But I'll tell you, second to God loving me and knowing that salvation experience, when

I heard from Kim the words that I knew she meant, I love you,

I probably had to be cool about it. But on the inside, I was some kind of American Idol dance superstar or something.

I don't know if they dance on American Idol, whatever that dancing show is. I was so happy. She loves me.

Why do you think I tried to get married four weeks later? And we did. I asked her to marry me on May 6th. And June 6th, we were married.

Why? Because what if she changes her mind? Not because she's fickle, but because I'm sinful.

And when she gets to know me, who would then say yes to me? And I thought that she would say, I love you.

And then I would say, will you marry me? She said, yes. I said, I got to make sure I get this right.

I'm going to ask one more time. Will you marry me? Yes, I will. I thought it was so awesome that she would say,

I love you. I'll marry you. We've been married almost 21 years. Last summer, we rent a car.

And so we drive the kids down from Northern California, where Kim's relatives are, down to Los Angeles. And we wanted to take the kids to the spot where I proposed to Kim.

I think it was actually, that was a trial balloon proposal. But we wanted to go to the spot where we were sitting.

11829 Kiowa Street. And we drove the kids up there and showed them. And they were running around.

This is where Dad sat. This is where Mom sat. And you know what the kids were doing? When we go into Disneyland, we could care less about all this stuff.

I just thought, that was weird. I said, 18 of my kids.

And when you think what you deserve because of your sin, and God would say, not out loud, but in the scriptures and at Calvary, I love you.

And you don't have to rush the wedding because God might change His mind, because you might fall out of His hand, because something might happen.

Just like with Israel, God loves with an everlasting, eternal love. And if I was jumping on the inside because a woman loved me, how about, and I say this with respect, a sinful woman, a fallen woman, loves me, and I'm that excited.

How about the God of the universe saying, I love you. And I love you. And I communicate it through my word and at Calvary.

It should change your life. Well, there's more to say next time.

Let's pray. Thank you, Father, for the day today. Thank you for these dear people who want to learn and grow.

I pray that they'd come to appreciate your love for them more and more like Paul prays in Ephesians 3.

Father, would you help them to comprehend what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge.

Would you help them to do that, Lord? Would you help us to realize that you're such a great

God and that you would love us? You could have passed over us. You don't have to love everyone. You weren't unjust because you didn't love the

Moabites. But you loved us. I pray our church would be a church that is known for love.

Love for God and love for their neighbor. And Lord, use this message tonight to help us to be more appreciative of that.