Loving Like Family

Love is the foundation the church was built on, and it remains the clearest proof that someone has truly passed from death to life. Drawing from 1 John 3:11-18, the command to love one another is not new. Jesus gave it at the Last Supper and declared that the world would recognize His disciples not by their titles or their religious activity, but by the way they loved each other. The story of Cain and Abel illustrates what happens when that love is absent. Cain's hatred did not begin with the act of murder. It began with jealousy that was left unchecked, and it ended in destruction. The same pattern can play out in any church community where love is performed on the surface while something very different is harbored underneath.

Jesus is the standard of love, and the cross is the definition. He laid down His life knowing exactly who He was and what it would cost Him. That kind of love is sacrificial, unconditional, and visible. It is not optional for believers. According to 1 John 3:16, we are obligated to love one another in the same way. But love must also move beyond words. When someone has resources, sees a need, and chooses to do nothing, John calls that shutting the heart. Real love acts. It makes the call, provides the meal, shows up in the hard moments, and does so without needing applause. The early church grew not because of programs or platforms, but because they were doing something the world had never seen: loving people that society had thrown away. That same love, practiced genuinely within the body of Christ, remains the most powerful tool for reaching the world today.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

We celebrate you. We thank you for joining the service today. And if your father are there, we wish you happy Father's Day. Amen. And can you please out of reverence for God's words stand with me as we read through our main text today, please? Please open your Bibles to 1 John. We'll go to verse 3. And our text is from uh chapter 3. I'm sorry, 1 John 3. And then from verse 11 to 18. And as always, my preference is reading from the New International Version. A New King James version of the Bible. Whatever version that you have, please read along. They're going to be projecting hopefully the uh the uh the scriptures on the screen, and that will be the new international version of the Bible. So read along, but preferred if you have your own Bibles to open to 1 John 3 1 to 18 and follow along as we read. For this is the message that we heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain, who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brothers righteous. Verse 13 says, Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. Verse 14, please underline this verse, please. We'll come back to it. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Verse 15. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. Verse 16, by this, underline that as well. We are by this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for one another or for our brethren. I'm sorry. But whoever has this world's goods and see his brother in need and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? Verse 18. My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. May we bow their heads for a short time of prayer. Father, we thank you, Lord, for your word, which is eternal. Your word declares, Lord, that your word is able to give give us inheritance among those who have been sanctified. We pray this morning, Lord, that your word will come swiftly with power, with lead and with direction. That your word will affirm certain truths that you've already shared with us, O Lord. I pray for every single heart in this place, every single person online, that by the end of this service today, that whatever the Holy Spirit intended to communicate to his people will be communicated to them. And I pray, Lord, that everybody leave this place changed with understanding of who you are and what you expect us to do to enhance the life that you have given us, Lord. So, Lord, we want to bless you, we want to adore you, we want to worship you, we want to praise you, we want to thank you for this opportunity that you're given unto us, Lord, to look into the perfect law of liberty. And even as your brother James said, whoever looks in the perfect of liberty and abides in there, that person will be prosperous in all their way. I pray, Lord, that you challenge us today, Lord, to look into the perfect law of liberty. And not just look into the perfect of liberty, but abide in, Lord. In other words, help us, Lord, to live our lives by what you teach us today. Because in doing that, it's where we see the breakthroughs that you have already purpose for us in heaven. We want to love you, we want to adore you, we want to thank you in Jesus' name. And everybody says, Amen. Again, those online, we're welcome into a service today. If we have not met. My name is Augustine. Hi to you too. And today I have the privilege of sharing God's word as we go through and we celebrate Father's Day in this place. So before we start, I want to wish all the fathers in the house and those online and whoever comes across this uh joining us and service Happy Father's Day. Now, whether you are a biological father here, you are a spiritual father, you are a father figure in somebody's life, or even those who carry the spirit of fatherhood in them in someone else's life, we want to say happy Father's Day. And before we go on, I want to say to you that you matter to God. And God sees you. And in this house, we honor every father who is here today. So I'm going to say amen to that. I was just sharing glory with Gloria this morning. Um, Mother's Day. I mean, we can leave service today and probably just walk to the restaurant and we'll get a reservation. But Mother's Day, if you don't have a reservation, you're not getting there. But what we tend to forget is that without fathers, there'll be no mothers. You didn't hear me. Without fathers, there will be no mothers. But today I want to begin uh uh our um seminar message that I took today from an interesting verse that some of you may be aware of it, and the Lord laid upon my heart this week. I was preparing this verse, and I want to kind of go through it quickly. Um so open the Bibles, and I don't, I think that's probably on the schedule, but if it's not, I'm just gonna take a little detour before we come back to our subject matter today. I want to take you to Malachi chapter one, and we'll look from verse six onwards. And this is a very interesting, um, very interesting verse. For those of you who know, Malachi, it's the last book before the New Testament. And in theology, there's something called the intertestamental period. An intertestamental period is very interesting. It's a 400-year period from the Malachi to uh the New Testament, where there was no prophetic voice in the land of Israel. In other words, heaven was very quiet for over 400 years before the New Testament began. And one of the things, interesting things about the Old Testament prophets are this, is that when the Old Testament prophets were writing, were speaking, we all know that in the Old Testament the prophets were the voice of God. Amen. And so they wrote scripture as if God Himself was communicating the scripture to his people. And if you take a look at that verse closely, and I want to begin from here today, the verse begins that a son honors his father. Okay? So the way I look at it is that God is trying to just basically communicate to each individual that this is something that is it's obvious that if you are a father, you are honored by your children. Does that make sense? So God says, as all accepting in society, that what children do is that they honor their fathers. And he goes on and says, a servant honors his master. Okay? If you are a servant and you have a master, you don't honor your master, you don't want a job. So it's something that comes with being a servant. You know how to honor who your master is. And then he asks a very interesting question. He said, If I am the father. Now, the word that qualifies the father, there's the word the father. Now, in the in the in the Hebrew, the word in the old language, the word used here for father, it's where we get the word abba from ab. Okay. And it's a similar word used in the New Testament. That word in the New Testament is translated Pater, which is a very interesting word. Now, if you guys recall, there's a time that Jesus was telling disciples that do not call anyone your father on earth. Now, was Jesus literally telling us that we shouldn't honor earthly fathers? No. Because that word pater means source. Amen. And so what Jesus was trying to communicate to his followers is that don't depend on any person because God is your source. And so in this text, God is saying asking him a very interesting question in Israel. It says, if I am, now the word for father, the word ab is translated principal or chief. Okay? So in other words, he's the first. There's there's everything else comes from him. Okay? So the question here is if I am the first, all right, if everything springs from me, then he has a very interesting question. Where is my honor? And he says, If I am a master, where is my reverence? Now this one I want everybody to pause and really think about this very closely. You see, and if you read further, let me just finish this verse and then we'll look for other things. To the priest. So this was referencing to the priest. Now, if you notice the story behind this here. Um, the priest who was serving in the temple, and then the Bible says everybody in the New Testament is a priest, by the way. So this is direct reference to you, okay? The priest. That their job was basically that people will bring their sacrifices, and then the priest would take the sacrifices, and then they offer the sacrifice on behalf of the person. So whether it was uh a sin offering or whatever it was, and what the Lord demanded from them was maybe a bull or bullock or whatever, you bring that to the temple, and then the priests would take it and then offer it on the altar to God for you. So basically, that was what the priests were doing. And so this text was referred directly to the priest because the backstory behind this was that it got to a time that the priests were being neglected by the children of Israel. Okay. That basically what they were supposed to do was to they were responsible for the act upkeep of the priest, but they stopped doing that. Um so the priest now devised a cunning scheme to be able to stay on top. They needed to take care of themselves and their family. So what they did was if Brother Kwame brought an offering, and the instruction that was given to them was that whatever offering they were bringing had to be without blemish. In other words, that would be the perfect. And this is what the third is all about: the heap, the top, the best, the best is what you give God. But what the priest decided began to do was that when Tony or Kwame brought an offering that was perfect, I would take that offering and then substitute it with something else. Something else that was lame, that wasn't befitting for an offering. And I offered that on the on the altar for God. And then I'll keep the good one and sell it. They were put in that awkward situation to do that because they were not being taken care of. So they had to kind of divide the scheme to take care of themselves. So this is the backstory of what God has asked them. And God is saying to them that he was talking to the priest directly, that in spite of what is going on, listen carefully, in spite of you having grievances, in spite of you having challenges, in spite of everything else, you are dishonoring me. Okay? So he says to the priest who despise my name. Now, this is critical. Why is God saying that despising his name? The priest didn't think there's anything wrong. So many of us in a kingdom today don't think that there's anything wrong with the way we approach God and the way we do things. As far as they're concerned, they were justified by what they were doing. Okay, they were not being taken care of. And so, you know, what is the big deal? It's only just a sacrifice and it's just going to be bent offering to God. So why should I give the best? I can keep the best and sell it. But God says that they were dishonoring him. The father said they were dishonoring him because of the approach of how they were bringing the sacrifices to him. So God that to end this verse, there's a simple question that said, Yet you say, in what way have you despised my? In other words, they were they were not aware of what they were doing. Okay? They thought that what they were doing was acceptable. Now, the reason why I wanted to begin from here is very interesting because today we are talking about, and if you look at your uh handouts, uh seven handouts, if you look at the first page, it talks about a serious context. He said we are in the series The Family of God. We began last week exploring what it means to truly belong to the household of faith. And last week we discovered what makes a family. Today we are we asked the question: how should family members treat each other? The answer is found in one word, love. And so basically, we're talking about loving life family, and we're talking about belonging to the household of the father. We're talking about having a principal, a chief, a father that we all look up to. And it's critical that in this series we set our hearts well in how we approach him and the things we do. He asks a very simple question: if I am your father, then God deserves honor from us. Somebody say amen. And so today, this morning, we want to talk to you about the father, and this is why I began from here. The father who made all things possible. The father who created a family that we belong to. Now, I don't know about you. In growing up, I grew up in a very, very big family. We had um the Sid born out of seven boys and one girl. So we had a we had a family of about eight. And in my household, when we're growing up, everybody's voice needed to be heard. And um there are certain times that the uh the arguments were so, so loud that neighbors will walk by and they thought that we're literally fighting with one another. And the next day they see us playing out and they're asking the question weren't these people the same people at each other's throat yesterday. But it wasn't that case. Now, watch this now. And I believe that every father in this room, in one state or another, has asked this question. When there is a dispute between siblings in the house, I know that a father will do something, will ask a simple question, do you love your brother or do you love your sister? And the question, the answer will be, if you do love your brother and sister, then show it. Now, from the text we read, Apostle John is writing to the early church with a very piercing message. And I want us to now begin to visit our text and begin to unfold the subject matter today. Go back with me to 1 John chapter 3, verse 11. And again, my reference point is in the New King James Version. And he said, This is the message that we had from the beginning, that we should love one another. Now, John, I've used this word from the beginning in a couple of places in his writing. In the Gospel of John, we all know that John chapter 1, he began the what's it called, the gospel by saying the beginning was the word. Now, when you trace the Hebrew word for the word beginning, it really talks about a turn of past before the beginning began. So one of the ways you got to look at it is that God did not begin the beginning. God began the beginning. The beginning did not begin God. That makes sense. So in the beginning, God began the beginning. Okay? And so John in John chapter 1 says, in the beginning was a word. So before the beginning began, the commencement of everything there was God. And then God began that. But I want to ask a question: is it the same beginning that God is John is making reference to here? Bible school students, we welcome to Bible School. In John chapter 1 in the Gospels, John talked about the beginning of everything was the word. And the word began the beginning. And here we come back to 1 John 3.11, and he begins this verse by saying, This is a message. What message that we heard from the beginning? What beginning is he referencing to? That is that that is an amazing answer. Thank you for that. Now watch this now. As Bible students, again, we know that in uh what's it called? Um the upper room. Um on um the uh the last apostle term in the upper room. If you go back to John, the Gospel of John, there's chapter 13. And that verse actually was very interesting. That that that that um chapter was actually very interesting. It was in my early days in my Christian walk that really kind of changed my perspective about certain things. Now, if you read the chapter 13, and I think it's a verse 20 um 32 or 33, one of them before the 34, because we're gonna look at the 34, 35. This is the way John began that verse. He said, Jesus, after supper, knowing who he was, where he had come from, where he was going. That was a profound verse. Knowing who he was, where he has come from, where he was going. You know, one of the reasons why we find it very difficult to serve one another is because it challenges who we are. Now, the reason why Messiah was easily able to take a towel, gird his waist, and wash the feet of the apostles was because he knew exactly who he was, and washing the feet or serving that wasn't gonna change who he was. Okay, and so he says, after supper, he took a towel, gathered his waist, and then he washed the feet of the apostles. And in verse 34, which we're gonna go to John 13, 34 now, says a new commandment. Now, please take a look at this verse critically. This is not saying a new suggestion. This is saying it's a new commandment I give you. And most people say that they are there are no more commandments in the New Testament. I I bet you differ. If you're a Bible student, you will know that there's profound commandments that Jesus gave his church, and this is one of them. Okay, and so a commandment, it's a command and instruction, is something that you have to obey. It is not optional, it is not when you feel like it, it is something that you are expected to do. Does it make sense? So, a new commandment I give you, and what is a commandment that you should love one another. As I have loved you, love one another. Tell someone this commandment. Now, watch this. Now, verse 35 says, By this, all will know. By this, all will know that you're my disciples. It is not about how you pray, it is not about how you serve in the church, it is not about the position you hold in society, it is about how you love one another, reflects that you are a disciple of Jesus. If you love one another, now watch this now. What John was trying to communicate to his readers was that the concept of love, we're loving one another, it's not a new idea. Okay? And this is why John said from the beginning. Okay? Now, from the beginning, they received this commandment. In other words, when Jesus actually began, when the church, Pasmano said Jesus' ministry, is actually the inception of the church. Okay? The instruction they received from the inception, the beginning of the church, which these readers have come to be part of. Okay? They came, and John says that. And so when John is trying to communicate to us today, is that the very foundation of what the church was built on was built on this instruction. Nothing else. Love one another. And John says from the beginning, this is the commandment that we've heard from the beginning. In other words, the whole church is structured upon this one command. Now, it's interesting that John explains this further in his lecture and he traces it all the way back to the book of Genesis. Okay? And it deals with the issue between Cain and Abel. Let's go to John 1, John 3.13. It's interesting how John will involve Cain in this conversation. Watch this now. He says, not as Cain. So right now, John is trying to create a clear distinction between the love he's trying to teach the New Testament church and the love that Cain demonstrated. So John said, the list love I'm talking about, which is not a new concept, is not as Cain did, it's not as Cain. Who was wicked, who was from the wicked one and murdered his brother. And he asked a question: why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brothers are righteous. Now, when I was looking at it, I thought, wait a minute. Most of us think that Cain's what's it called, attack on his brother or something that just happened. He got angry and he just decided, I'm going to kill him. No. Based on what John is saying, this is there was a hatred between the two of them. And when God accepted Abel's sacrifice and did not accept the sacrifice, was a climax of the hatred. Okay? Do you see that with me? He says, why would John say, because his works were evil and his brothers were righteous. So the foundation, there was a jealousy initially there, and the ice on the cake, if you want to put it that way, was when God decided not to accept. And this is what is so interesting about human beings. When somebody's doing well, you don't go to the person and ask the person why that person is doing well. You don't do that. You feel like you're left out of the equation. You're left out that, you know, jealousy steps instead of figuring out what the person did. These guys were brothers. All you could have done was, okay, what did I make? What did I get this wrong here? Why is it that God accepted yours and God not accepted mine? But because there was an aligning issue already, he attacked his brother. And John is showing us what happens when love is absent from a family of God. The first family that we know was the family of Cain and Abel. And from something happened, there was a fracture between them. There was a hatred, underground hatred. And because love was absent, it led to what? Death. So Cain did not just hate his brother, he actually killed him. And John says, listen to this. John says, the spirit of the same murder lives in anyone who harbox hatred towards a fellow believer. Many a time we want to be, you know, I don't hate the person, but I can't stand the person. Oh, you're not hearing me. Now watch this. Most fathers here. Let's say when Precious and Jason were growing up, they were always fighting the house. What do you think Dr. Gogo was going to do? He's going to teach them how to get along. So what do you think Gogo is going to tell them when they have a major argument? He's just going to gather them and say to them, I don't care who started it. You are family. You share this home. Now make it right. A father will never take the side of another because the father wants peace in the house. And this morning I want to tell you, every person here, that God is saying the same thing to you this morning. It's not about who is right or who is wrong. What is most important is fixing what is wrong. Amen? Now watch this now. So this morning, God is calling us to stop performing love and start practicing it. Most of us in church today, we perform love. It's so interesting. There's underlying issues, and nobody wants to talk about them. And so when you see people, you cordial with them, you laugh with them. But deep, you can't stand these people. And it's what we call performing love. But practice love is different. Now, when we take a look at the text, what we're going to do today, following me on the handouts, we're going to look at three movements that we learned from our main text today. Okay? So let's begin. Let's dive into it. Time is on our side today. The first movement is love is the mark that proves you are alive. It's in your handouts. Love is a mark that proves you are life. Let's take a look at this. The text that explains that. 1 John 3 12. Now we know that we are passed from death to life. Because we loved the brethren. He would do not love his brother abides in death. Stop. This is huge. Take a look at this verse again. This verse is saying, it's not telling us that we know that we are saved because we said a prayer. Or because we attend church, or because we carry a Bible, or because maybe you're a leader in the church, you have a title. The text is saying that it's not the performance, it's not the things we do. How we know we are saved is the evidence of love. Now remember this. The Messiah has already told us that the foundation of the church is love one another. There's nothing else apart from loving one another. Remember, put it at the back of your minds here. Okay? As we go through this. And now John is communicating to us in 1 John 3.12 that the evidence that we are actually alive, the evidence that you are saved, the evidence that you have that you're going to heaven, it's because you live your love in life, in your life in love. Does it make sense? Now, Cain represents the counterfeit. Religious on the outside, murderers on the inside. There are so many believers, man. We do these religious things and we we we kind of cover what is actually going on. Amen. God is saying to us this morning, the very evidence that you are saved, the very evidence that you're on your way to heaven, it's how you live your life or how you demonstrate love to your brothers and sisters sitting next to you. Most of us, Cain brought an offering to God while holding hatred inside for his brother. And John warns us, the church can be full of kings. We're doing things out of compulsion, not because we want to do them. We're doing things justified in our own minds that what we're doing is right. And this is why Malachi was so profound. We do these things and we don't even know that we're dishonoring God. Okay? You cannot. There are certain things you don't want to do. You hover certain things in your heart. And this is why it's so interesting that Jesus told his disciples, instead, you're sitting in church, it's offering time. You're going to bring your offering to God. He says, if you know that you are loggerhized with somebody, don't come and offer it. Go sort it out. This is how God, it's about loving one another in the church. Go sort it out with your brother and sister before you come and offer it to me. You don't bring an offering to God like Cain did when you hover hatred in your heart for your brother. Okay? People who worship on a Sunday but will not speak to your fellow brothers on Monday. Now watch this. Write this statement down. It is a critical statement. The absence of love is not spiritual neutrality, it is death. You cannot be a Christian. You cannot be a Christian and live your life in the community without loving truly. And being neutral, it's not acceptable. In 1 John 3:14, this is what John continues by saying. We know that we are passed from death to life because we love the brethren. We know that we are saved. We know that we're going to heaven. We know that all is well. Why? Because we love one another. Tell somebody say love one another. And he says, He who does not love his brother abides in death. This is not hyperbolic. This is not saying that loveless, it's like saying a loveless Christian is a contradiction in terms. God doesn't expect any Christian to live a loveless life. You understand? It's a contradiction to who you are. It's not you. I'm not making sense at all. And if you look at the verse 15, it kind of escalates it. 1 John 3:15. It's a whoever hates his brother is a murderer. You know, hearing me. And you know that no murder has eternal life abiding in him. Whoever hates his brother. And this is interesting. Watch this now because Jesus almost said the same thing word for word. We go back to the gospels and look at Matthew, Matthew chapter 5, verse 21 to 22. Now watch this. Jesus said, You've heard that it is said to those of old, making reference to the Old Testament, the law now. You should not murder. And whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment. Verse 22, but I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother without whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever saves his brother Raker shall be in danger of the counsel. But whoever saves you fool shall be in danger of hellfire. This is the way you gotta look at this verse. Hatred in the heart for somebody carries the same moral weight as violence in their hands. Jesus said, watch this now. You don't literally need to sleep with the woman to commit adultery. When you take a look at her lastfully, you've already committed adultery already. Why? Because the heart, it's in the heart. And so you can't have a hatred for your brother and sister and sit down next to the person and think that all is well. God sees that. You see, you can kill somebody, what's it called, a dignity. You can kill somebody, you can just destroy somebody's reputation, you can destroy somebody's opportunity without even raising a hand. One word from your mouth can destroy somebody. In 1 John 3 14b, the Bible says, He who does not love his brother abides in death. So on this Father's Day, I was thinking about this. What a godly father will pass down to his children. Every godly father here will pass down values, legacy, blessing. And John tells us the same truth in the family of God. Listen to this. Love is not just a feeling we have, it is a lifeblood that flows through the body of Christ. If we do not love one another, if there's no demonstration of love, it is literally the blood that flows through the eternal body. And without it, the body is dead, no matter how many services we hold. Imagine going to a doctor's office and imagine that there's a you go to the mortuary and there's a dead cops, and the cops is dressed up. You know how they dress dead people, man. Beautiful suit and everything else. The dead thing might look the part, but it's no life in the person. Regardless of how it looks. Now, John is saying, look for love. If there is no love, there is no spiritual life. You may have the appearance, but not the reality. The absence of love means that there is death. Okay. Real love is the pulse of the body of Christ. If it's absent, we must ask ourselves are we truly alive? Nobody needs to wind you up this morning to live your life in life. Now, this Father's Day. There's something our fathers know how to do it impacts life. Now, this is what I need you to know. God the Father impacts his life through love. The first way we prove we are his children is by loving the way he loves. The Bible tells us categorically that when we are yet sinners, Christ died for us. The way that God sees you is not how you pray, how loud you are. The way that we demonstrate that we're his children, it's when we love the way he loved us. Let's go to movement number two. Love as a standard, and his name is Jesus. Let's move to verse 11 of our text. 1 John 3, 16. Verse 16 of our text. It's about this we know because he laid down his life for us. You're not here on me. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brethren. What is John telling Live Touch this morning? Love is not Cain's hatred, it is not passive indifference, it is not empty words that we've already established. Now he tells us what love is, he shows us what love is, and he's telling us that love is the cross. So Jesus did not deny what's defined love with words, he defined it with his body. Now we all know the story of Easter as Jesus hung on a cross, bleeding, suffocating, suffering. I just want to kind of paint that picture in your mind this morning. Kept his mouth shut. Now he took it all in. Why did you think he did that? To set an example for us. So now he says, Look at what love is do the same. You're not hearing me this morning. Now we've just read a text. Love one another as I have loved you. Okay? Now you want to ask any Bible student here this morning, how did Jesus love us? How did he love us? The cross is the greatest example of love. And so when he says, Love one another as I have loved you, and we look through all the uh the passion, as they say it, and he kept his mouth shut. Being ridiculed, being beaten, he kept his mouth shut. And he tells Lifetime this morning, look at the cross. This is love. So when we look at 1 John 3 16, the B he says, and we also ought to lay down, listen carefully, ought to lay down lives for our brethren. Now, if you look at your notes, the Greek word for ought used there. I'm not even going to try and pronounce it. My Greek scholar is not here today. But it simply means we are obligated to do that. It is a heavy word. The couple of plague is that the word ought to be used in the New Testament. One of them is Jesus looked at his disciples and said, Man ought to pray. It's not optional. And so Jesus is telling us that loving one another as he has loved us is not optional. We are obligated, listen carefully, obligated, we're indebted to one another to lay down our lives for them. We do not lay down lives because we feel like it. And love flows downward from Calvary. Does it make sense to anyone? Now John 30, verse 34, it's interesting. It says, A new command I give you that you should love one another. As I have loved you, that you also should love one another. So Jesus said, As I have loved you, this is the standard of love. So in case anyone here is confused about what the Bible is trying to communicate to us today, God was very, very clear about the standard he set. And he says that look at what I did for you, and you go and duplicate it, replicate it, and do the same thing. Okay? And so that we are all clear, love is not defined by the culture we live in. Okay? It's not defined by feeling led to do it. It's not when you are when convenience allows it. Does that make sense to everyone this morning? It's not about, you know, the culture that we live in, how the culture defines what love is. And most of us are confused in the church because we live in a culture and we are we we we tend to lean towards what the culture is telling us. So in the Bible, in scriptures, God is very definite about how he wants us to do this. So that nobody here should be confused when God is demanding love from us. He says that you are confused. Look at the standard I set for you, to the point of death, giving up everything for you. Now you go do the same to one another. As Jesus loved us. So that means that you love it's sacrificial. Somebody says sacrificial. I remember I remember a few years ago, I was having a conversation with somebody. We're switching from uh uh online platforms to uh a company called, I think, Box Cast or something it was. Devon and I were going through that. And the the sales rep for the company, his father was a pastor. And so, you know, I called him and we started having a conversation and all that. And, you know, my big mouth, I started talking about sacrificial things. That thing spooked the guy. You know, in those, they don't talk sacrificial. You do that, you scare people off. But listen to me this morning. What God is expecting us, if we understand the standard that is set, that there is no way that we can live this life without sacrifice, sacrifice being part of it. So it's not that you are waiting to be loved first, but you love proactively. Does that make sense? That's being sacrificial. And so there is no, I mean, honestly, I'll be very honest with you guys this week. I was thinking about this thing, looking through it, praying through it, you know, preparing for today. I'm thinking, man, this is tough. Because you gotta deal with human beings, man. Oh Lord, be back. So the love that Jesus is talking about is number one, sacrificially, number two, unconditionally. Okay? It's not based on whether someone deserves it, but because we are called to do it. And so you don't look at somebody's situation, what a person is doing and says, This person I deserve my love. No, it's not for you to determine, you are simply called to extend the love to the person. Okay? So love that the Bible talks about is unconditional. And the most important part of the three aspects of it is it has to be visible. Okay? Now, by this, all will know that you are my disciples. So, in other words, Jesus is saying to you, love is supposed to be observable by the world. The world needs to see it because that is a determination that you are my disciple. It's one of the things we do in the secrets in the basement. The world ain't gonna see how you pray and how you speak in tongues. You know, they see you don't hear me. What the world sees is how you extend love to them. That is what convinces them that we belong to a different breed. Doesn't make sense. And so we come here and we sit in the basement, we're kind of hidden in our churches, and all we do in our churches is do and we speak big and do things, and when we go out there, there's no demonstration of that. That is why the church, the world is asking questions, are you really disciples of Jesus? Because what I read in the Bible, I don't see in you. Okay. So God said it has to be visible. If people spend time with us and cannot see love in action, something is wrong. I don't know, come with judgment this morning. We came to all listen to the heart of the Holy Spirit this Father's day and really turn our hearts and understand what this Christian walk it's all about. Now, Paul explains this standard beautifully in the book of Romans. Let's go to Romans chapter 12. Now we read from verse 9 to 13 quickly. He says, Let love be without hypocrisy. You know, hearing me. You laugh in one person's face and you turn back and you just destroy them. Let love without be with hypocrisy. It said, abhor what is evil, cling to what is good. Verse 10, be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor, giving preference to one another. And it says, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation. Okay, continue stiffly in prayer, distributing to the needs of the saints, giving to hospitality, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continue stiffly in prayer. It doesn't matter what is happening or what is not happening, it says keep praying. Stephens in prayer. Okay? And above all, distributing to the needs of the saints, giving to hospitality. So here's what we're going with this. He's saying, love without hypocrisy. You know that word in the Greek is very interesting. It's like an actor who has a mask on. Okay. So they go to uh what they do, this is a phantom or whatever it is. They have a mask on, right? That word means that you're wearing a mask. Paul says, take off the mask and love properly. I want to see your face without makeup. You're hearing me. Real love in the family of God means. Means, number one, be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love.

SPEAKER_00 44:07

Hmm.

SPEAKER_01 44:08

And this is where we get the group where Philadelphia from the warmth of a sibling bond. The seat of brotherly love. Paul is saying that be affectionate to one another. So in a family of God, in a church community, one of the things that is foundational in that church community is how we are affectionate to one another, how we love one another. Okay? And it says in honor giving preference to one another. That word here was interesting. Many years ago, there was a prayer camp in the UK called Ashburnham. And my cousin and I, and a couple of ladies, went out for, it was the Easter weekend, and we went out for uh three days of fasting and prayer, you know, we're dry fasting. And I think on the second day we went to the chapel to pray. And as we're praying, God gave me the word in the Philippians. It says, uh, with uh esteem one another better than yourself. That word in Philippians chapter 2. Interesting word. And Paul is repeating the same word here, choosing to put uh someone's else first, celebrating their wings even when you are still waiting for yours. I remember many years ago, uh my my uh my pastor uh had a decent sized church in the UK, that's where I grew up. And um for many years they were waiting for God the blessing of the fruit of the womb. His wife was believing God for a child of her own. And this one went on for many years, and you know, she couldn't conceive. And can you imagine being a pastor of a church, growing church, and people get married and they give birth and they come to dedicate your children? Your children, you're dedicating your children, you're waiting for yours. Paul is saying to us that celebrate the wins of others when you're still waiting for yours. Amen. Choosing to put others first. So he says, in honor, give giving preference to one another. And then he ends by saying, distributed the needs of the saints, giving to hospitality. So he's talking about practical material love, showing, sharing what you have, opening your home, putting money where your love is. And so, but that word hospitality interest in the Greek word, I think it's in your notes. It's it's actually talking about strangers. So it talks about, you know, taking care of the saints and also hospitality, which is to strangers. That's a word used there. Now, you know, in this country, one of the highest uh honors that they can give a military person, it's the purple heart. Okay, and what is the purple heart? The purple heart is a soldier, it's possibly guys in war and there's enemy threats are coming, and then somebody decides to kind of shield other soldiers, right? They put their own life online to protect other soldiers, and they come back and they're honored with purple hearts. And so, what is that that we say in it? When the soldier is doing that, he's not kind of figuring out, is this person I'm saving worth it? No. In this perfect moment they throw themselves out, he's not asking about how much money the person is worth. This is the standard that Jesus has set for us. This is the kind of love he calls us to as a family, that we should selflessly put ourselves in the foreign line for brothers and sisters, selflessly. The same way the soldier will cover, you know, a couple of soldiers, somebody might be from Africa, someone might be from whatever, but they're all American citizens, they go to war, and then they put their lives up for their neighbor, for their brothers. The same way that Jesus did it for you saying here, God is saying that we should put our lives in foreign line for brothers and sisters in the Lord. So I want to now, since this is fathers, they want to address the fathers in the room now. Now, I know that every father here knows what it means to later in their life. There are jobs that we do that we don't want to do because our family needs to be fed. There are times that we lose sleep. There are so many times that I know that certain fathers in this place have sacrificed their dreams to invest in their children. So we clearly understand the love that John is describing here because we practice a version of it. So, what is the meaning of all this? God is asking somebody here, will you extend the same love to your brothers and sisters in Christ? The same sacrifice. I was talking to Pastor Manuel in the room that he hasn't slept all night, he's sitting in church. Why does he go to work all night and come to church the next day? Because he needs to provide for his family. So God is saying, take that level of sacrifice and make sure that you are not only to your family, but to every single person I've called. Does it make sense? The standard of love in God's family is not how you feel. Dude, if you are to love people because of the way you feel, you'll never do it. Because people don't deserve it. But you know what? It is because of what Jesus did. And when he did it, he gave everything he had. And so this Jesus is communicating to us this morning. You are my disciple. This is the foundation of our work. Demonstrate pure love to one another. Let's take a look at the third movement quickly, and then we pray. Love moves from words to work. Okay. What's the first movement? The first movement. Love is the mark that you are life, the evidence that you are Christian. Everything we do is because of the foundation we have. If I'm building a hundred skyscraper building, we dig seven floors, eight floors to the ground, lay a foundation before we raise the building. The building is only as strong as the foundation is. And this morning, the reason everything that we do is as a result of the foundation that God gave us, the command of loving one another. Does it make sense? Okay, let's take a look at the third movement. Love must move from words to work. So John reaches the climax in 1 John 3, 17 and 18. Whoever has his this world's goods and sees his brother in need and shuts up his heart from him. How does the love of God abide in him? He says, My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. He calls that you are shut in your heart. You see, your feeling might be momentary, but then you walk away from it. And then he asks a very rhetorical question. How does the love of God abide in this person? The answer is very simple, it doesn't. He's saying that as a Christian, when you have resources, when you have, you're able to meet a need. You know, my mom taught us something when we're growing. You know, in the little village that we raised up, you know, folks thought that we're well to do in that village. And so whenever somebody needed something, they'll always come to a house to ask my mom for it. And my mom had a very simple principle. He doesn't learn to anyone by gifts. So let's say you come and ask for $1,000. Mom will say, I don't have $1,000, but take $200, don't pay me back. Okay? Just take it, don't pay me back. The point is this that as believers, God has placed resources within our control. And those resources, as much as you think that you are the person that gets up every morning and goes and works for it, it doesn't belong to you alone. Hello. So everything to do with the church is very contrary to do what the world teaches us. You gotta understand that. Every single person who is a disciple is commanded to love. And love means of meeting the needs, desperate needs of people. Does it make sense? So love that never acts is not love, it is a performance. A feeling without feet, it's not love, it is a sentiment. And so 1 John 3.18 says, My little children, let us not love in words or in tongues, but in deed and truth. In other words, love is not simply telling somebody I love you, or picking up a phone and texting someone is a happy father's day. No, you have to be able to back up what you're saying if there's a need to be met. You know, hearing me. And he says, watch this now. He uses two words, but indeed and in truth. And we're gonna kind of look at those two words quickly when we pray. Indeed and in truth, two dimensions of love that must work together. If love is present, John is saying indeed and in truth. So, what is indeed? Love does something, it moves, it acts. What does love do? It writes the checks, it makes a phone call, it provides the meal, it shows up in the hospital, hospital room, it stands in a gap. Did love is love with hands and feet. Does it make sense? Love is acting. When love sees a need, you don't want somebody to come and ask you, you see the need and you step forward and do it. Why? Because we are commanded to love one another. There's a need you can. Yes, this is so interesting. What is God trying to communicate to his church today? It's very interesting. You are his responsibility, you're not hearing me. In truth, love is not manipulative or it's not performative, it is not done for applause or for Instagram. It is sincere, grounded in who God is and what he has commanded. So, true love is this love is rooted in the word, not in motions. Again, a father does not just tell his children, I love you, and then lead them to go hungry. He provides for them, he protects them, he shows up. So, John, I think it was James that said it. He says that, you know, somebody comes to you for something and he says, I'm praying for you. Go hunger, I'm praying for you. The word a father does matters, but the deed proves the word. Does it make sense? So when he tells someone I love you, great stuff, but then how you backing up that word that you love the person, the deed proves that you really love them. And in God's family, our deeds are the proof of our professions. Does it make sense? The things we say have to be backed up by the things we do. Now, in the beginning of the year, we began with a principle called the one-to-one-to-one evangelism, where it's a very simple principle. Um, it's a form of active love. And what that principle really is, is that one member reaching out one person in their relational network. Okay? So every single person demonstrates God's love by reaching out the people in your, I call it the circle of influence. But today the word is asking have we first practiced love inside our own house? Before we reach out outside, are we loving the one sitting next to us? Or are we just wearing, like Paul said, a hypocrites, you are wearing a mask. How do you really feel about the person sitting next to you? So in Romans 12 says that it says, distribute to the needs of the saints, giving you hospitality. In the Greek word for hospitality, we've read it, I'm not going to try it. I've already explained it means a stranger. But John says that start with the brethren, start with your spiritual family. Okay? So start here, start now. You cannot export what you do not possess. The reason why, and this is the truth, the reason why we find it very difficult to extend God's love to those outside is because we are not even practicing it internally. And you can only give what you have. And so let's begin by practicing love from today. This is amazing Father's Day. Let's start doing that now. And before you realize it will become an overflow, you can extend it to others outside. Does it make sense? This is the reason why the church doesn't know, or I don't know, we understand, that the greatest extension of love to the world is giving them Jesus Christ. And we find it difficult to do it because we are not even practicing eternally now. We say we are, but we are not demonstrating it. Doesn't make sense to everyone. Okay. So you cannot bring somebody into God's family whilst, you know, family while refusing to love the ones already in it. How am I going to go out and evangelize when I don't love the people sitting next to me? What they're going through, the situations they are facing, doesn't really bother me. But I show up at church of it and I'm praying. And God says, wait a minute, man, put the brakes on there for now. This is not about showing church and praying. It's about literally demonstrating the person next to you means something to you. Does it make sense? Okay. So to the fathers in this room, the greatest thing that you can ever leave with your children is no money, no education. You don't just a name. But the greatest thing a father can do. And most of the time when I have the privilege of constantly families, our children are literally growing up and just watching what you do. And the things that you're doing, the things you're saying at home, this is what your children are going to end up becoming. Because children are not listening to what you're telling them, they are absorbing what they see in the house. And I'm telling you today, a picture of a father, it's not just what you say to your children. When they see the love you have for your family, sacrificing for them, they learn what God looks like. Now it's interesting. I made a statement when we began that without fathers, there will not be mothers. When God created this world, he placed men where he was supposed to place them, but within the man was a woman. Amen. What I want to tell any father in this place today is that you are the first window through which your children will see the Heavenly Father. And this is why there are so many unfortunate women who are currently uh struggling a little bit with their relationship with God because of what their fathers were. You know, listening to me. There are certain women, unfortunately, these days are having challenges with men because of their fathers. What they saw, what their fathers did, the way their fathers were. They're having challenges. So literally Satan's strategy of really disrupting the whole human relationships. And so I want to encourage fathers today, wherever you are in the world. The first window for your children to see who God is is what they see in you. And to every member in life at community church, today is not just Father's Day. Today is a day that God calls us to a family decision. John says, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. So, real love in God's family is this. Number one, proves that we are alive. Okay? Now it's so interesting. If you notice when the church began, and you read the account in the book of Acts, the church exploded in the face of persecution.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:48

Why did the church explode? Why do you think the greatest expansion of the church was in times of persecution?

SPEAKER_01 1:01:08

You see, as human beings, God has built in every human being here an a desire to be loved. Amen. It doesn't matter the um the falling of man and all that's going on. But deep in the in the heart of every man is someone to be accepted, someone to be loved. And when these what these people were doing was amazing. In their culture, there were so many bad things that were happening in their culture that people will give birth to children and they're going, damn them somewhere because they were the women or men or whatever. And these Christians will go and pick up these kids in society that have been abandoned and we're loving them. And there's so many interesting accounts what the church was doing when the church began that it was very attractive to people. Let me tell you, somebody might refuse prayer, somebody might refuse everything, but no human being alive today refused to be loved. This is why God told the men, husbands, love your wives. This is why. Everybody wanted to be part of the movement. Today, prove that you love one another, because prove it's what makes us alive. It is a pulse of our salvation. Number two, it points to Jesus. Okay? Here is our standard, our souls, and our strength. And number three, it produces results. We want to grow, understand what it means to put on the heart of love. It moves from our hearts into the hands and changes everything it touches. So when Jesus told this church, love one another as I have loved you, you knew exactly what he was telling us. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a formula of growth. That is a formula of attraction. That is a formula that is missing in the world. And today I believe the Holy Spirit is telling us something. Now remember this story. When God came to Cain, we go back to the Old Testament now. When God came to Cain and asked him a question in Genesis chapter 4, verse 9, he said, Where is my brother? Where is your brother? He said, It's not God didn't know. God knows what he has done. What did Cain answer? I'm I'm a brother's keeper. Do you know what's interesting? Jesus answered that question for us on the cross. Yes, you are. Touch someone to say, Yes, you are. Today you are my brother, you are a brother's keeper. Okay? What your brother is going through, what he doesn't have, what he needs, you are a brother's keeper. We've got to look out for one another. So, yes, we are. And this is what it means to belong to the family of God. So let us be a family that does not just carry the name. I'm a Christian. Let us carry the nature of our father. What is the nature of our father? Love. John says God is what? Love. Amen. So this is not difficult. The formula is not really difficult at all. The formula is not you are not the most important person in the room. Hello? You are not the most important person in the family. You are not the most important person. The person sitting next to you, God says they're the most important person in the room. You step back and afford extend something to that person, and then you become God's responsibility to take care of you. May we stand and pray, please.