Love Is the Greatest Need in the Church

Well, good afternoon, everyone. Very nice to be out here with you. My wife and I have been enjoying coming home again. We fly into LAX. We've flown in and out of there so many times and we lived here for 11 years. And really, we have to say, when we think of places we have lived, Southern California is the top of the list of all the places we've ever lived. We really enjoyed it. It was the longest place we've ever lived in our adult life.

So since leaving home to come to college, it's the place we lived the longest. We also enjoyed Texas, which we had for six years, and now we're in Ohio for ten. Already coming up in October, actually November is when we moved on, will be ten years in Ohio. We really enjoy being back. It's like coming back home, as Barb said. Look around, it's like being back home. And we sure appreciate getting to see so many of you. We've loved seeing the young people that we have.

We have some incredible young people. When I look at the United News and I see all the graduates this year, and I know it's not all of them because we only see those who got their pictures in and their names in and so on in time, we have some incredible young people.

And as I tell them in ABC, I said, you know what? You don't realize how special you are. Not just because you're ABC, but because you're in the church. When you are in the church, there's something special about you that people in the world do see. You don't see it because you're just being you, you and your relationship with God. But there's something special that happens to each one of us.

And I tell them, you don't realize how special you are. When you walk in the community. When I taught at Big Sandy, Texas, we had a chance to meet people and trying to work with some psychological counselors. So in case we needed to send students for something that was more than I could handle, as a licensed marriage and family therapist, I wanted to make connections. And when I made some of those connections, those people sang the praises of ambassador students. They just said, these students, we can tell. We know who they are.

Their character, I think, as Aaron was pointing out in his sermonette, the character that you have really shines forth. We truly enjoyed being there today. We enjoyed being with the young people this morning. I wasn't a young person, but I'll tell you something about young people. They keep you young. You have to try to think like them. I always tell them, I won't be speaking like you, and I won't become like you, because you're you, and I'm me. But I will try to understand you, and I will try to understand where you're coming from.

I certainly want to thank Cameron and Eli for their presentation. It was beautiful. Thank you. We appreciated your singing. It added much to the service. And we did enjoy being there this morning. It was really a nice opportunity, and thanks to the church out here for having us come. We really appreciate the invite, and it's nice to come back again. Last time I spoke to the Garden Grove area, I believe it was around 1999, 98, somewhere in there. You were meeting at a, I think it was a school or somewhere, but it was much bigger than this, as far as I remember the layout.

So I remember coming down and speaking. I think even Mr. Merritt was there still at that time, I believe, Dr. Merritt, before he had moved back to Wisconsin or something. So it's really nice to be back. I bring you greetings from the Cincinnati area, from the home office. It's a privilege and an honor to work with so many people, actually so few people, at the home office. There are not a lot, and many people wear many hats. And it's not at all uncommon to see people, Gerald Seelig, coming from upstairs to help people downstairs, people from upstairs going out and helping with some project out on the gardens or the grounds to help Greg McLeod finish something that he wasn't able to do in time.

So oftentimes, people pitch in and help one another. And many of us wear many hats. I try to write, I try to do good news commentary every so often, try to help out with the telecast beyond today when I'm invited as a guest, try to write, try to do things for ABC, try to promote, and all the rest. So it does keep us pretty busy wearing a lot of different hats, trying to do the job. And yet we're still small enough that we need to keep doing that.

My wife and I will be going to Escondido this year for the feast, so any of you who are going down there, we'll look forward to sharing the feast with you. Our daughter, Susie, and her husband, Todd, and their two children who now live in Frisco, Texas, will be coming out with us as well. Our older daughter is going over to Normandy in France.

But anyway, it's a privilege to be here. We have 39, we actually had 45 students accepted, but gradually one or two here had to drop out. So right now we have a solid 39 coming to ABC, which by the way is the average of all the classes. For 10 years, we have averaged 39. 388 students have walked. And for those of you who have not been to ABC or been around, it is very much like Ambassador College. As far as the atmosphere, the attitude, if you took any of our ABC students and you plugged them in at Ambassador College, they would be just like the Ambassador College students used to be.

With a desire for God's way of life, hopefully we're trying to teach them to stick a little bit more. Hopefully we're trying to teach them to hang on to the truth and not let people tell you otherwise or organizations. I tell my classes, you know for sure that is inspired when I teach you is what I read from the Bible.

Now I hope other things are, and I pray for God to do it, to inspire me. But the only thing you can absolutely know is inspired is when I read from the Scripture. And you know that's God's Word. That's inspired.

And stick with the truth. Internalize it. Let it become you. That's what it's all about. And we had some really nice Bible study exhortations today from four individuals and that should help us to go well. We are Christians because of God's love for us. We're not better than anyone else. I don't know how many from your high school ever came to the church besides yourself.

We had a chance to go back for my 50th reunion. Actually I had two 50-year reunions from my high school. The one I went there for eight years but I didn't graduate. But they always send me an invitation to come because I was so much a part of their class. So I went to that one. Then we had another one from the high school that I graduated from but I was only there two years. But I was student body president there so they always invite me back there as well.

But out of both of those areas there were only like one or two people that ever came out of that high school system came to the church. And the other one there were like two that I knew who came to the church. You and I have been called and we've been drawn and we've been brought to God because of God's love for us.

John 3 16 is the scripture you see plastered on bumper stickers on the back of bumpers. You see it at baseball games and football games and hockey games. If they figure they can get somebody to see, John 3 16, that's all it takes. And you know what John 3 16 says, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever should believe in Him should have everlasting life.

He gave His Son God loved and God gave. 1 John 4 verse 8 1 John 4 and verse 8 God is love. That's what 1 John 4 verses 8 and 16 tell us. 1 John 4 verses 8 and 16 He that loves not knows not God. For God is love. And then notice verse 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has to us. God is love. He that dwells in love dwells in God and God in Him. I want to read you a comment.

Well, let me read that after I give you this next scripture. So God is love. We find that very clearly. Matthew 22 verse 36. What does this have to do with us? It has to do with our calling. It has to do with our drawing. Matthew 22 and verse 36. Matthew 22, 36. One of the lawyers came and asked Jesus Christ a question. He was trying to trip Him up. He would ask Him, Master, what is the great commandment in the law? Of all the commandments that are given, what is the greatest?

Now they figured He'd have Him because Jesus Christ had constantly been reminding them about how they needed to treat their fellow human beings. And if He had said, Love your neighbor as yourself, or love your fellow man, or do good to your fellow man, they would have got Him. What about God? And if He said, Love the Lord your God, then they would have said, Well, then why do you keep telling us to love fellow man?

So they thought they had Him. So Jesus Christ, they said, What's the Master, which is the great commandment in the law? And Jesus said to them, He answered, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And He didn't just stop. He added an addendum. And the second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Both of them involve love. Love toward God, love toward fellow man. Now are we just talking about some nice mellow feeling in your heart? Some people, Oh, I love the Lord. I love the Lord. I got a heartburn sometime after I eat hot food, spicy food. I get a heartburn. That doesn't mean I love the Lord. It's not about just a feeling, though feeling is part of it. It's not just about a feeling. It's also about concern, outgoing concern.

It's about action, as we'll see in a few moments. So Jesus Christ said, The second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself on these two commandments. Mark this and note this. Hang all the law and the prophets. And what were the law and the prophets? They comprised the majority of the Old Testament. The law. All the first five books. The prophets. Big, long books. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel. All the minor prophets. Put those on. So when they say the law and the prophets, He's really saying the entire Old Testament or all the Scriptures hang on these two.

When you study the Bible, when you read the Bible, what should it drive us to do to love the Lord our God more? To love our fellow man. Now some people like to be do-gooders and they say, oh, I'm just do-good, just do-good to people, and that all counts. If you don't have a proper love for God, all the doing good for the people that you do is out of your goodness, out of your love. And it has to be out of the love of God.

And in fact, as we will see, having godly love is a life and death matter. Life and death hangs on whether you or I have the love of God in our lives and express it toward others. Romans 13 and verse 10, we read this, Love works no ill to his neighbor. Love doesn't go out to hurt people. Love does not have evil intent. Love works no ill toward his neighbor.

Therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. If we have the love of God in our lives and we practice it and we express it, there's no law that could be against us. You will be walking in and with the law of God. So having godly love is a life and death matter. Notice 1 John 3.14. 1 John 3.14. We know that we have passed, or are passing, from death into life because we love the brethren. And how can we love the brethren out of our right attitude and right heart if we don't love God first? We can't.

And how can we love the brethren out of a godly love if we don't know God? We can't do it out of our own selfish love. We owned a service station and a motel and a restaurant back in western Pennsylvania. We were nice to people.

We treated them really nice. Why? Because we wanted their business. We were nice to them. We wanted their business. We did good things for them. We wanted their business. We didn't do it because we loved them. The love of God is saying, I'm doing this, never expecting anything in return. If you get something in return, fine. Like a thank you or I appreciate that. The love of God says, I'll do it.

But how many times have I heard people say, I'm not going to be nice to them. They weren't nice to me. I did this for them and they didn't say anything about it. I'm not going to do anything again. How many times do you hear people say that? How many times have you thought that? The love of God says, this is the right thing to do. I do it. This is the godly thing to do. I do it. That's what the love of God is.

Now Jesus Christ had to teach Peter about godly love. John 21, one of the last things he did before he left this earth, finally. John 21, he had to teach Peter about godly love. Peter really didn't understand it. John 21, beginning in verse 15. And by the way, the Greek word for love is agape, and both the noun as well as the verb come from that root.

You can use the word filio, which means I like you or I have a human love for you. But when you talk about godly love, it's agape. John 21, verse 15. So when they had dined, Jesus says to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these? Do you have godly love for me? And Peter said, yes, Lord, of course you know that I am fond of you. Different Greek word. Of course you know I have a human love for you. Of course you know I love you like a friend. But he did not say I have a godly love for you. He said to him, feed my lambs.

He said again, verse 16, he says to him again, the second I'm Simon, son of Jonah, do you have a godly love for me? And he said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I am fond of you. You know that I have a human love for you. But he could not have a godly love for Jesus Christ. And he said to him, feed my sheep. Verse 17, he said to him the third time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me with a human love?

He changed it. Why do you think he changed it? I believe at that time Peter was incapable of having the love of God. He did not have God's spirit in him. It was only with him. Pentecost had not come yet. And so he did not want to push him beyond. He said, do you love me? Do you have a human love for me? And Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, do you love me?

And he said to him, Lord, you know all things. You know that I am fond of you. And Jesus said, feed my sheep. Jesus' lesson to Peter was this. You can't really love me the way I'm supposed to be loved without the love of God in you. The love of God has to come from us.

It's interesting, the quote I was going to read to you and I'll read to you now, an old prince. He said this, when Karl Prince, for many years the Swedish Consul in Toronto, appeared on TV on his 99th birthday, an interviewer asked him, give us the rule that you have followed during your long and useful life. Prince replied, I would mention one definite rule.

One must be temperate in all things. He said, and then he added quickly, perhaps I should say accept one. Should be temperate in all things, except one. And that is to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind, and your neighbor as yourself. These are the only things we can rightly do in excess. It's okay to love more. It's okay to have a godly love for people. It's okay to love more. That's what he was saying. I'm going to read you another quote. Bertrand Russell, commenting on the complexities of the world and its most urgent need, said, The root of the matter is very simple and an old-fashioned thing, a thing so simple that I am almost ashamed to mention it, for fear of a derisive smile with which wise cynics will greet my words.

The one thing that is most needed, the thing I mean, please forgive me for mentioning it, is love. Christian love or compassion. The greatest need for this world is for people to have love. The greatest need in the church, in my opinion, is that we need to have a godly love in our lives. And in fact, it's not my opinion, without it, you will not have eternal life. That's how important it is. We all have to ask ourselves, do I have godly love in my life?

What is love, anyway? Go to the dictionary. Webster's New Collegiate says this, Love is affection based on admiration or benevolence, warm attachment to another. The people get engaged, that's kind of like the love they have, a warm attachment. People are going with their warm attachment to each other. Unselfish concern and seeking another's good. Mr. Armstrong wrote in Mystery of the Ages, he defined love as, Outflowing, loving concern. Outflowing, loving concern. It is a way of giving, helping, serving, and sharing. It's about reaching out to others. You don't have to be outgoing in personality to be outgoing in love. You can be very reserved as a person in personality, and you can still have outgoing concern.

You can still think about the other guy with a godliness. I want to read a quote to you. It's entitled, Love Adds the Chocolate. A house is a house is a house until love comes through the door, that is. And love intuitively goes around sprinkling that special brand of angel dust that transforms a house into a very special home for very special people, your family.

Many of course can build a charming house, but only love can furnish it with a feeling of home. Duty can pack an adequate lunch, but love may decide to tuck a little love note inside. Obligation sends children to bed on time, but love tucks them in with covers around their necks and passes out kisses and hugs. Yes, even the teenagers. Duty writes many letters, but love tucks a joke or a picture or a fresh stick of gum inside. Obligation can pour a glass of milk, but quite often love will add a little chocolate.

How important is love? How important is the outgoing concern? Paul's description of love helps us understand a little better. If I could speak in any language in heaven or on earth, but didn't love others, I would only be making meaningless noise like a loud gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy and if I knew all the mysteries of the future and knew everything about everything, but didn't love others, what good would I be? And if I had the gift of faith so that I could speak to a mountain and make it move, without love, I would be no good to anybody.

If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it. But if I didn't love others, I would be of no value whatsoever. Love is patient and kind. Love isn't jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable. It keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice, but rejoices when the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Love will last forever. But prophecy, speaking in an unknown language, special knowledge, will all disappear.

Now we know only a little, and even the gift of prophecy reveals little. But when the end comes, these special gifts will all disappear. It's like this. When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child does. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, as in a poor mirror. But then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete. But then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me now.

There are three things that we'll endure. Faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love. That's what Paul wrote about love. Now God has love for us. I'm just going to take us to one chapter. It's not pretended love, it's real love. 1 John 4. If you realize in chapter 4 of 1 John, and I like John the Apostle, John the Apostle wrote about love. He was the last of the living apostles of the original 12. He felt that the church needed love.

He wrote about it a lot. He felt it needed truth, too. But notice in 1 John 4, in this one chapter, 26 times love is used. 1 John 4. 1 John 4. And let's notice verse 7. Begin with verse 7. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God. Everyone that loves is born of God, or begotten of God now, you might say, and knows God.

It's so crucial to have the love of God in our lives because we don't know God without it, and we aren't able to reach Him. We aren't of Him, we don't belong to Him. Verse 8. He that loves not and knows not God. He's talking about godly love, not human love, not mother love or father love. I mean, I love my dog, who's deceased now, but I loved her for so long. 16 years we had her, almost 17 years. I loved her. Why did I love her? Because she was my dog. Took care of her, fed her, my wife. Took care of her, fed her. She had doted on my wife.

She adored my wife. She loved me too. Why did I love her? Because I took care of her. That wasn't a godly love, it was just a human love. It was my dog. I liked her better than some other people's dog. It was my dog. That's a human love. But the godly love is what we need to live life.

Verse 9. Verse 8. He that loves not and doesn't know God for God is love. You want to have contact with God. You want to have a rapport with God, you need godly love. Verse 9. It was manifested the love of God toward us. Here's how we know God loved us. Because God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might believe through Him. How do you know God loved you? Because God did something for you. God cared enough for you, for me, for us.

That's why you could know the love of God. He says He gave His Son into the world that we might live through Him. Verse 10. Here's love. Not that we love God, but that He loved us. See, the person in the position who knows has to reach out to the other. It's always important for the person who's in the perceived position of authority to reach out to the other.

The Father reaches out to the Son, the Mother reaches out to the Daughter, or the Son the Father reaches out to the Daughter. How many times did I say, well, I'm not going to be nice to Him until my Son is nice to me? No. Parents, reach out. If you're in the position to reach out, you reach out. God reached out to us. And He said, here's how you know, but He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. God loved us. He reached out to us. Verse 11, Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. This is what the godly love.

So we need to love one another. Verse 18, there's no fear in love. Now people say, well, if I got a phobia, I must not have the love of God. There can be mental difficulties, and mental difficulties occur with all the people. Like you get a cold? Anybody ever get a cold? Yeah, some people get a mental difficulty, need to be tweaked and work with.

Yes. But a person who's fearful all the time, think about it. What is fear? Incoming. I'm worried about what's going to happen to me. I'm worried about what somebody's going to do to me. I'm worried about what's going to happen. It's all incoming, isn't it? Incoming, incoming, incoming. Perfect love casts out all fear. What is perfect love? Outgoing concern. I think about others. I pay attention to the other people's needs. Doesn't mean you don't pay attention to your own needs, too. We'll see that in the seminar that I do later.

You must have a basic love for yourself in order to have a love for others, but it's not a vanity love. It's a real love. We'll see that. There's no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. Because fear has torment, and he that fears is not made perfect in love. The person who keeps has these fears and can't get through them. And again, they can be helped. We all get fearful at times. There are many phobias. You can't even begin to name them all.

The people can be treated for. Those are fears, so they're real. The person who is constantly in fear is incoming, always thinking about what's going to happen to them instead of what they can do for others. Verse 19, we love him because he first loved us. And verse 20, if a man say, I love God and hates his brother, he's a liar. For he that loves not his brother whom he has seen. See, a brother is one in the church. A brother is one who has the Spirit of God. A brother is one who has the love of God coming out of him, that he can see God in that person.

What do you think makes students special? What do you think makes church members special? The Spirit of God.

People don't know what it is. When we were seeking accreditation in Big Sandy, and they visited us from other colleges, you know what they said?

How? Why are your students so special? What makes them so special? Why are they all so happy? Another man in tears said, I wish my students loved their college as much as your students loved your college. He said, I want to clone this man. Can you put him on a duplicator or a Xerox machine and duplicate him for me? I'd like to take him back. And those students weren't just trying to put on a show. They were trying to be who they were. There's something special that happens. And when you have that love, he says, for he that has, kid does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?

See, if we don't see the love of God in each other, and if we don't see the fruits of the Spirit in each other, then something's wrong. If we are brothers and sisters in the faith.

And the love of God is the most important one of those fruits as he mentions it.

Faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love. Verse 21, And this commandment have we from him that he who loves God love his brother also.

If you love God, love your brother also. We cannot have a pretended love, cannot be a put-on love.

Put-on love is way too shallow for any of us. Remember, the love of God is a sign, a sign of God's people. John 13, verse 35. John 13, verse 35. We read again from the Apostle John what he says. How can people tell you're a Christian? What makes you so special? How can they tell it? John 13, verse 35. Because you can quote scriptures? Because you know your Bible from one end to the other? Sorry. They say, sorry, Charlie. No, it's not it. John 13, 35.

By this shall all men know you are my disciples. If you have love, agape, one to another.

How crucial is it that we have the love of God? Is it easy to have? Yes. Is it easy to practice? Not so easy to practice. Is it easy to have? Yes.

It comes as one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, and we'll see that in a moment.

I want to share with you one scripture about pretended love, 1 Peter 1, 22.

We can't be pretenders. There used to be a song out called, Oh Yes, I'm the Great Pretender.

And people used to think that was so great. Oh, I just pretend. It's like flattery. Flattery is so shallow. You hear people give comments that you know they don't believe. They just say it. What's the thing to say? Oh, you look really nice. I see you breathe. What? That's so shallow. It's fake.

It's false. And when you know it, that person loses a lot of esteem in your eyes. 1 Peter 1, 22.

He brings this up, the Apostle Peter, "...seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through unfeigned love of the brethren." Now, the word here is Philadelphia, but it's loving the brethren. You don't have pretended love.

You don't have... I don't... You don't pretend you love people.

You love them genuinely. You don't have a pretended love, unfeigned love of the brethren. See that you love one another with a pure heart fervently.

Love one another with a pure heart fervently. Not with an impure heart, not with a pretended love. Oh, I love you, I love the brethren, and I go off and criticize. No, love the brethren. And that doesn't mean you have pie in the sky. It doesn't mean you don't see truth from error. You certainly should. It doesn't mean that you soft-soap everybody. It doesn't mean that either.

But it does mean you love people. And as an outgoing concern, how can you have the godly love?

How can we have it? Romans 5 and verse 5 tells us. Romans 5 and verse 5. And remember, this is crucial for life. Remember, this is a sign between you and...a sign to the world, to other people, that you have the love of God, or a Christian, by the love you have, one to another.

Romans 5 and verse 5. Breaking into a thought, hope makes it not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. How can you have the love of God as something that generates from you? Something that comes out of you? Something that you become? How do you have that love?

Romans 5 and verse 5. Hope makes not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, which is given to us. It's a change of mind. It's a change of heart. It's thinking, what's good for others? What can I do to honor and please God? What can I do to honor and please human beings? How can I help them? What can I do? I think about them. I care about them. I appreciate them. I tell them that. I compliment them. Do you? Think about it.

It should come out of us. The love of God. Through the love of God. Galatians 5, 22, and 23.

What are the fruits of the Holy Spirit? First one listed. Love. Joy. Peace. It's what the Spirit of God in our lives helps generate. Romans 13 and verse 8. Same book of Romans.

We're not to have debts. We're not to accumulate huge debts, but one debt we owe every human being.

Romans 13.8. Owe no man anything but to love.

We owe love, and not a human love, the love of God. We owe that to others.

We should be giving it. Let me share with you. There's an epigram on love that says this. Love is not what you do, but what you are. You see, if the love of God is shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Spirit, your basic motivation is love. That's what generates. It's thoughts about others. It's being kind to others, caring about others. We're talking to Jackie, and she works with the Mimi's and gets nice tips, because she's nice to people. I say, would you be nice to people even if you knew they weren't going to give you a tip?

Are you nice to them only because they'll get a tip?

If you're nice to them, regardless, you'll get tips. You might not even get it from those people, but the fact that that is part of you. You care about others. You're thoughtful of others. You're doing a good deed. You're going over and above. You're going the extra mile. You're putting chocolate in the milk instead of just milk. You're going the extra mile because you do that.

Other people will notice it will make a difference in this world. It makes a huge difference. I have to relate something about my younger daughter, Susie. She has two little, two of our grandchildren, our granddaughters, nine, ten, and eight. And once they go back to school, she can get a job part-time.

And she thought maybe she would get something, and she happened to be talking to one of the ladies in the church who needed somebody to assist her. And this lady, my daughter said, well, would I do the guy might have a chance? Yeah, come on in for an interview. So she went in for an interview. And after she interviewed, she got the call back shortly thereafter, and they said, you're hired to work part-time. The man said he had all types of people come there for a job, but she stood out. She stood out. He was excited to hire her and have her work with this lady who's in the church. God makes the difference, not us. God makes the difference in you. And you know what? People see it. There's a huge difference between people who have love as their basic format, basic thrust and foundation, and people who are selfish. People are out to get their own way. People are out to quit the moment the five o'clock strikes, but rather people who are willing to go the extra mile. So we can have the love of God, but now we have to know how we can show it.

Just having the love of God is not enough. I'll give you a couple of scriptures on this before I do. One more quote. Anyone can be a heart specialist. The only requirement is loving somebody. You can be a heart specialist if you're willing to reach out and love others. I'm going to give you seven ways very quickly that you can show the love of God. Number one, the love of God may be shown through feeling. Feeling. I want to share with you John 11 and verse 5.

John 11 and verse 5. Jesus Christ himself had the agape love toward his best friends.

And it was a feeling. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister Mary, doesn't say Mary, and Lazarus.

He didn't do anything. But he had the love of God toward them.

He said, I love those people. He felt I love those people. Now Jesus loved them. Agape.

You see people in the church, they're just nice people. You just love them.

You just care about them. You can't help it. They're just nice people because they have the love of God in them. It's a feeling. The rich young ruler who came to ask Jesus Christ, good master, what good thing may I do to have eternal life? Mark 10, 21 says, and Jesus looking upon him loved him. Jesus looking upon him loved him. Agape. It was a feeling he had toward them. The love of God in you gives you a wholesome, pure-hearted, godly love feeling toward others. So the first way you can show the love of God, have feelings for people. Let your feelings go. Not in an impure way. We're not talking impurity. We're not talking dirt and garbage. We're talking, I care about that person. It's a nice person. Sometimes I'm saddened. I see people that I've met maybe in different areas and they're not in the church. And maybe I move away from that area. I think, you know what? I'll probably never see those people again. I'm going to really miss them. That you feel for people, that you care. That's one way to have the love of God and to show it. Number two is through caring.

Third John. We see that Gaius was one that was very well loved because he loved.

Third John won. The elder, and this is John, to the well beloved. Wouldn't it be nice if somebody said that about you? There's John Shishnalski. John is a well beloved man.

Wouldn't that be nice? Put your name in there. For them to say, he is well beloved. He's loved by lots of people. Why? Going on in this particular section in verse five, beloved. So John calls him again, beloved. I love you a lot. Beloved, you do faithfully whatsoever you do to the brethren and to strangers, which have borne witness of your charity, which is agape, before the church, whom if you bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, you do well. This Gaius, who was a friend of John in the church, was good to people. He cared about people. He helped them along the way. So again, one way to show the love of God is by caring. You send a letter out. Do you think that doesn't mean something? Well, you send a card to somebody. People who are sick, they get that card. That means the world to them. You cared. You took a few minutes to stop and say hello to somebody, to stop and visit with someone, to share with them your care and your love and your concern.

That means the world. And you gave of yourself through caring. Number three, through forgiving, through forgiving, it takes the love of God to forgive. Notice in 2 Corinthians chapter 2.

2 Corinthians chapter 2 verses 7 and 8.

This third point on how to show the love of God. 2 Corinthians 2 verses 7 and 8. We read this.

So that contrary wise, as the man who had been put out and was allowed to come back, so that contrary wise you ought rather to forgive him and to comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. Be willing to forgive him as he comes back. Verse 8. Wherefore I beseech you that you would confirm your love toward him.

How do you confirm your agape toward him? By forgiving him. So you show the love of God by forgiving. Being willing to forgive. Number four, through sacrificing. Through sacrificing.

Remember Epaphroditus with the Apostle Paul? He gave up his life. He said he was near unto death to supply for me what was so needed. He brought the necessities of the church. The church gave him some goods to bring. He brought those goods to Paul and almost died in the process.

So over him, but I'm not going to give you the quotes on how you could do Philippians 2 verses 25 to 30 for that example, but 1 John 3 verse 16. 1 John 3 verse 16. We read this. Here's how we know the love of God. Here's how we understand it. Because he laid down his life for us. What does it mean? Sacrifice. Sacrifice. Now we've had as many as 57 elders in our home during the GCE.

And I know the Weisses had 70 of a tear place, not elders but young people.

Do you think that's not sacrifice? I don't mean just cooking the food. When you have people walking all over your home, people coming in and treading through your home, whatever bathroom looks like after 70 people have been through there. Do you think they're going to have to clean up afterwards and the tidying up and getting things ready and getting things put away, getting things stored and having to put refrigerators full of food. Take care of people. Yeah. You see, it's sacrificing. They gave of themselves. I really like the flowers up here. This is beautiful. I guess you must do this every week. Different ones take turns or however you do. It's a really nice gesture. It's beautiful. I think sacrifice. You have to think about others. To plan and prepare for a sermonette or to do a Bible study as the four guys did today.

That's sacrifice. They could have been having fun instead of having to prepare a Bible study, but they took time to do it. Brethren, over the years have sacrificed much for others.

I remember people, every Sabbath, who would go out of their way 40 miles up north. They needed to go east. Sorry, go west. But they went 40 miles north, 40 miles south, then west.

They could have just gone straight, but they went to pick up people to bring them to church, who didn't have a ride. What a wonderful thing. But you know what? How much of their lives did they sacrifice? A lot. Why? Because they cared about people. Why? Because the love of God said, I need to do this for others. I need to be this way. You need to help them.

We were in Texas after we left the employ of the church.

A man called me up. He said, where are you staying? I said, I'm going to stay with my son-in-law and daughter in Dallas and look for a job. He said, you don't want to do that. He said, I said, I've got this house. You can, I thought, well, you know, I don't know if I want to rent your house. I don't know how much money I'm going to have. He said, no, I don't want to rent it to you. I want to let you have it. I want to let you use it as long as you need to. And I said, oh, I can't do that. He said, I'm trying to give this guy something and he won't take it. He said, this man felt like something was just tapping him on the shoulder and saying, help that man.

Help that man. He ended up helping us. We ended up staying there about three months or four months.

I said, I'd be willing to pay for the, you know, all the utilities we used and whatever else. The phone service was already up. He already had everything was connected and everything going fine, all furnished. And I said, well, I'll do what I can. So I fixed up some things for him. You know what? I've never gotten these utility bills. He said, I took care of them for you. That was a person who thought about others, who cared, who sacrificed. Do you sacrifice?

I think you do. First John 3 16 says, we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Every minute you spend on someone else's behalf, you just gave up a minute of your life. Every 10 minutes, every 15 minutes, every half an hour, every evening that you spend for someone else. You just gave up part of your life that you could have been using for someone else.

The love of God leads us to do that sacrificing. Number five, we show the love of God through doing.

Through doing. See, it's one thing to feel good things. It's another thing to think good things. It's another thing to care. But care only goes only so far, unless you're willing to reach out and actually do something. So, 1 John 3 and verse 18, we read this. My little children, let's not love in word, neither in tongue. Now, it's nice to have words. People say, I love you.

Nice to have that. But it's more important if they show it, too. My little children love not in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. By doing something, God wants us to show action. God wants us to show that appreciation. Sometimes people do a nice deed, and you forget to tell them, unless you just bump into them. You know, when you just bump into somebody, oh, by the way, I wanted to tell you, you did a good deed the other week.

That's not good enough. You think somebody did a good deed? Make it a point to go over to them and tell them. Make it a point to go up to them and say, you know what? I really appreciated what you did today. I really appreciated that special music. I really appreciated that beautiful music. Those type of things, you're going out of your way, and you're doing something. You're not just thinking good thoughts, doing something. So love is shown through doing.

Number six, love is shown through obeying. Obeying. 1 John 5.3. 1 John 5.3. For this is the love of God.

This is the love of God that we keep His commandments. If we have the love of God, it leads us to want to walk in God's paths, not against them. It leads us to want to walk down God's path, not the opposite way or across it. The love of God leads you to do what's right.

Obeying God leads you to follow the commandments, leads you to walk in the commandments. 2 John verse 6. Just another scripture to emphasize this. 2 John verse 6. And this is love. This is love that we walk after His commandments. So the love of God leads us to walk in His commandments, which are what? First four, tell us how to love God. The last six, tell us how to love our fellow man. So the love of God, show the love of God, we must do it by obeying. Number seven, the last one, on how to show the love of God is through serving. Through serving. Serving people.

Being a servant, one of the Bible study presenters over at the with the youth talked about being a servant. Through serving, serving others. Galatians 5 and verse 13. Galatians 5 and verse 13.

We all need to be serving, looking to serve and help others. Galatians 5 and verse 13. For brethren, you've been called to liberty only don't use your liberty for an occasion to the flesh. You're free, but it doesn't mean you want to hurt people. I tell them in my class, if I had a glass of water, there were water up here. You could see through this and this were clear.

You might say, I wonder what that is. Now would it be legitimate if this had vodka?

Every so often during the sermon, I just took a little swig.

You didn't know that would that be okay? No, it's okay to drink.

That's a liberty. But would it be proper? Would I offend hurt people? Friend and hurt people, at least many. Wouldn't do it. So even though it's a liberty, I'm not going to get drunk. I'm not going to drink the whole glass. But would it be convenient? No, wouldn't be convenient. Wouldn't be right. But he said, but by love, serve one another.

Serve one another. Oh, wow, they need people to help out. I guess I'll help out. Is that a service attitude? Boy, they need help. I want to go help them. Look, somebody's coming in. Their arms are loaded with stuff. Let me help them. Let me help you. Serving attitude. We need to have that type of an attitude. So you show the love of God through feeling, caring, forgiving, sacrificing, doing, obeying, and serving. Now in conclusion, we definitely need the love of God in the end time. The time is going to come when people's love wax cold. When people will not be loving toward their neighbors. When people will not be loving toward their brethren. Notice Matthew 24 and verse 10. And then many shall be offended, shall betray one another, and hate one another. Just the opposite of love. Many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many.

And because there's so much sin in the world, iniquity shall abound. The love of many will wax cold. We dare not let that happen. If you let that happen, you'll not be passing from death into life. If we let that happen, we will not know God. If we let that happen, we will not have the sign that we are Christians anymore.

John 17 and verse 26. Jesus Christ's final prayer. Final prayer for His servants.

John 17 and verse 26. He said, And I have declared to them your name, and will declare it. I have told them all about you, Father, that the love wherewith you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.

May they have the love that you had for me, Father. May they have that love in them, and I in them.

Jesus Christ's brother Jude said this. This is my final scripture. Jude verse 21.

Admonition for each one of us. Jude verse 21. Jude says this, brother of Jesus, keep yourselves in the love of God. Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. How important is it?

It's the only sign that we have that we're Christians, by the love that you have, one for another. And not only should we have the love of God, but let's grow in that godly love, for it is a sign that we are God's people. It's also a sign that we are becoming more like Him.