Wake the Town and Tell the People
I John 4:7-21
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13 We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.
16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.
18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19 We love because he first loved us.
20 If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
21 And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
I once heard someone say that there are four exceptional means of communication:
Telegraph
Telephone
Television
Tell a woman
Obviously this predates e-mail.
Well, the Christian faith is a faith to be told about. We’ve found something wonderful. God loves us in spite of our sin. We’ve learned that Jesus Christ died to save us. We’ve come to know a Savior who is more wonderful than anything else in heaven or in earth.
The Bible instructs us to tell others what we have experienced. Psalm 107:2: “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.”
The angel at the empty tomb of the resurrected Christ said to the women: “Go and tell my disciples what you have seen” (Matt.28:10).
Jesus said, “Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit…”
Just before His ascension, He said, “You will be my witnesses, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
He was simply saying, “You know who I am. You know what I’ve done, and you have a message of redemption for the world. Now go and deliver it!”
Some years ago there was a popular song entitled, “Wake the Town and Tell the People.” Its theme was that of a couple in love who were so excited about their love for one another that they wanted everyone to know about it. O, that you and I would have that same desire—to tell the world about our Savior’s great love.
The world celebrates romantic love; we celebrate a higher love—God’s love.
God has always loved us. He always will. He loves the good and the bad, the rich and the poor, the educated and the ignorant. He loves not just in word, but in deed.
The Bible is full of His love. The world is full of His love. The church is full of His love.
Illus.: “The Things We Do For Love”
Lynette was a typical teenager with typical teenage wants and needs. And like most teenagers, she felt an overwhelming need to be loved. But that need went unmet at home. There was no love there, and the longer Lynette went without it, the more she craved it. Her relationship with her parents continued to deteriorate until one day she ran away from home. Ending up on a street in California, she decided that whoever loved her first could have her. And that’s how Lynette’s need for love was met. Before long, someone did come up to her on that street corner. He put his hand on her head and told her that he would take care of her. True to her ideals, Lynette devoted the rest of her life to that man. What a beautiful story that could have been if only it had been a Christian who had found her first—someone who would have told her about God’s love for her. Instead, the person who found her was Charles Manson. Currently, Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme is serving a life sentence in prison for demonstrating her devotion to Manson. At his request, Lynette attempted the assassination of President Gerald Ford in 1975.
I would dare say that there are numerous “Lynettes” in our world—folks who are looking for genuine love. ..the kind of love that is of the highest quality.
1. God’s Love is a Saving Love
Verses 9,10: This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Bible teacher Gary Burge stood at one end of a long, empty Gaza street. He was in Israel to do research for a book about Palestinian believers, and he wanted to talk to a Dr. Hassan at the Ali Arab hospital. The hospital was at the other end of the street, so he started walking. He soon discovered why the street was empty. On one side was the Israeli militia; on the other were Palestinian youths.
Halfway up the street, the calm was shattered by angry shouts, the chaotic clatter of rocks bouncing off plastic military shields, and the pop of rifles firing rubber bullets. Burge broke into a run. As he reached the hospital, he shouted desperately, "Dr. Hassan! I have come to see Dr. Hassan!" The door opened slightly, and a hand pulled him inside. Burge had called the name of the one who could save his life.
For sinners, "there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). Jesus is that name, "the name which is above every name" (Phil. 2:9). We are all born in sin. We have no hope of ever saving ourselves (Eph. 2:8-9). Our situation is desperate. The only way of escape is to call on Jesus, who promises to save us from all our sin. But we must ask Him.
Mary Had The Little Lamb
Mary had the little Lamb, who lived before His birth;
Self-existent Son of God, from Heaven He came to Earth.
Mary had the little Lamb; see Him in yonder stall --
Virgin-born Son of God, to save man from the Fall.
I
Mary had the little Lamb, obedient Son of God;
Everywhere the Father led, His feet were sure to trod.
Mary had the little Lamb, crucified on the tree
The rejected Son of God, He died to set men free.
Mary had the little Lamb -- men placed Him in the grave,
Thinking they were done with Him; to death He was no slave!
Mary had the little Lamb, ascended now is He;
All work on Earth is ended, our Advocate to be.
Mary had the little Lame -- mystery to behold!
From the Lamb of Calvary, a Lion will unfold.
When the Day Star comes again, of this be very sure:
It won’t be Lamb-like silence, but with the Lion’s roar.
Marv & Marbeth Rosenthal - Copies of this poem may be used without written permission from the authors.
2. God’s Love Is A Keeping Love
2 Tim 1:12: “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to keep what I have entrusted to him for that day.”
Jude 1:24: “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy.”
Phil 4:7: “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
God can make us holy positionally. We have a right standing before Him. But he can also make us holy, provided that we continue in the faith.
3. God’s Love Is A Providing Love
What do you need today? Just go to God for it. In love He will provide it. He has promised to meet all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Phil.4:19).
But wait a minute! We can’t live for the devil and expect God to give us His best blessing. We can’t hold on to the ways of the world and be blest by God. We can’t disobey God’s Word and expect God to prosper us.
But if we live as the Bible teaches us to live, we will find that God is a providing God.
4. God’s Love Is A Comforting Love
In times of sorrow
In times of fear
In times of trial
In times of heartache
Funeral Sermon: Three Sources of Comfort: Scriptures, Spirit, Saints.
5. God’s Love Is A Demanding Love
Isaac Watts wrote a hymn called, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” The last line of the 4th stanza says, “Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.”
The very reality of His great love for us impels us to love Him in return.
G.E. Wagoner penned these lines…
If God can hang the stars on high
Can paint the clouds that drift on by;
Can send the sun across the sky,
What could He do through you?
If He can send a storm through space,
And dot with trees the mountain’s face;
If He the sparrow’s way can trace
What could He do through you?
If God can do such little things
As count our hairs, or birds that sing
Control the universe that swings,
What could He do through you?
Illus.: “Love Made the Difference”
A woman was married to a man she didn’t love. He made her get up every morning at 5:00, cook his breakfast and serve it at 6:00 a.m. sharp! He made her wait on him, and was exacting in his demands on her time. Her life was made miserable trying to satisfy the requests of her husband. Finally he died. And after a few years she married again. This time she married a man she really loved. One day while clearing out some old papers, she came across the strict set of rules her former husband had written out for her to obey. As she carefully read them over, she suddenly realized that she was fulfilling every single one of his demands. She hadn’t realized it because this time she was doing it for love’s sake.
God is the SOURCE of love.
Christ is the PROOF of love.
Service is the EXPRESSION of love.
Boldness is the OUTCOME of love.
6. God’s Love Is an Eternal Love.
This is the love that outlasts everything. 1 Cor 13:13: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
When we get to heaven, we won’t need faith; it will have turned to sight. We won’t need hope; it will have changed to reality. But love will still live on—God’s love for us and our love for Him.
Illus.: “The Big Feather Bed”
Dr. J.C. Massee was pastor of Tremont Temple in Boston but he was reared in Georgia. He said his mother was the sweetest woman in the world, but there was one thing she was very strict about. She wouldn’t let her children play on her snow-white feather beds. She prided herself on having the prettiest and whitest beds in Georgia. He said he often wanted to dive into one of those beds, but knew it would get him into trouble. One day when his mother was outdoors hanging up clothes, he was alone in the house. He walked down the hall past the “guest bedroom” and that big feather bed seemed to beckon him. He forgot his mother for a minute and ran and dove in and had a great time lounging there. Then he heard the rustle of skirts and looked up to see his mother standing in the door. He knew he deserved a whipping and he knew he was going to get one. Just then the window opened and his big six-foot brother crawled in. “Wait a minute, mom,” he cried. Then he went over to the bed and stretched his big body over his little brother. “All right, mother,” he said, “lay it on. I’ll take it for him.”
Dr. Massee said he listened for the switch to fall, but it didn’t. He peeped out and saw tears on his mother’s cheek. She said to her oldest son, “Pick him up and take him out of here.” Dr Massee said that one day many years later he was where he knew he shouldn’t be—away from God, in sin. He said he bowed his head for the rod of God’s justice to fall on him. Instead, he felt the arms of Jesus around him and heard Him say, “I’ll take his punishment for hi, Father.”
Then he said he opened his eyes and saw a cross on a lonely hill and from somewhere there came a voice saying, “The blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin.”
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! (I John 3:1)
