A Sermon I Need To Hear

LET ME ASK YOU A QUESTION?

Have you ever wondered why God is so good to lost people when they do not reciprocate in their feelings toward Him?

Illus: Perhaps the answer can be illustrated by the story of the little girl who went to her mother to show her some fruit her friend gave her.

• The mother said, “Your friend has been very kind.”

• “Yes,” said the child, “She gave me more; but I gave some away.”

• When her mother asked who she gave them to, she answered,

• “I gave them to a girl who pushes me off my bicycle and makes ugly faces at me.”

• When her mother asked why she gave them to her, she replied, “Because, I thought it might make her know I wish to be kind to her, and she will not, perhaps, be so mean to me again.”

Something most folks do not know about is the subject of love.

In this sermon I want to show you…

1. A PLACE WE CAN NOT LEARN LOVE FROM.

2. A PLACE WHERE WE CAN LEARN LOVE FROM.

I. First, let look at a place we can not learn love from…

Let me ask you this question again …WHY IS GOD SO GOOD TO US?

We do not have to do any surmising. His Word says, in Romans 2:4b, “,,,knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”

Every day God is good to mankind. Day after day He is seeking to lead men to repentance as they realize how much He loves them.

Yet ungodly men continue in their ungodliness.

For example:

• They take God’s name in vain.

Illus: When a sinner smashes his finger with a hammer, why does he not say, “Devil damn” when he gets mad instead of taking the name of the God, Who loves him, in vain?

• They reject the teachings of this Bible so strongly that if you even suggest they read It they will get angry.

• They reject the presence of God so much that they get angry even if someone invites them to God’s house.

• They want to only be around ungodly people. They have contempt for the people of God.

It is mind boggling that day after day God showers His blessings on evil men who reject Him daily.

It only makes sense when we realize God loves men and would have all to come to their senses and realize it is God Who has enriched their lives and as a result they will give their lives to Him.

The devil certainly do not love them.

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.

Illus: Suppose you had two neighbors.

• One drove by every morning and dumped his trash in your front yard.

• But the other one, as he drove by, stopped to pick up the trash the first neighbor had thrown out.

Then one day you got the news you won a million dollars on the condition you would select someone from your neighborhood and give them one a hundred thousand of the million.

Now who would you give the hundred thousand to?

• The man who dumps trash in your yard every day.

• The one who comes by and cleans it up.

Without hesitation you would choose the one who has been good to you. That would be the sensible choice.

Why is it that people will give their lives to Satan, who dumps his garbage on them every day?

It is because lost mankind have not learned how to respond to love.

Illus: Suppose out of the goodness of your heart you go and wash your neighbor’s car for him next Saturday. You give it a scrubbing it has not gotten in a long time.

More than likely your neighbor will think:

1. What do you want?

2. What has happened to you? Have you “flipped”?

Why do people think like that? Because we know very little about love.

However, we know a whole lot about selfishness.

There are two reasons people are so unloving toward God. Both reasons have to do with people do NOT KNOW HOW TO LOVE!

Let me show you…

(1) PEOPLE HAVE A WARPED VIEW OF LOVE.

The lost world are trying to teach each other about love when they themselves have not learned the first thing about love!

It is a fact that if you do not know something yourself, you can not teach others.

Illus: Our homes are bombarded nightly by movies which are produced by Hollywood who have been divorced time and time again.

Ilus: Zsa Zsa Gabor was married nine times. They say when she got married the last time she did not wear a white dress she wore a patch blanket around her shoulders.