Lord, Do You Love Me?
Text: 1 John 3:1-2 “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
Intro:
Have you ever wondered, “Lord, do you really love me?” Sometimes, wives will ask their husbands this same question. One man replied, “I told you that I loved you on our wedding day, if anything changes, I’ll let you know.” This husband, while humorous, didn’t realize that his wife wasn’t looking for information, but reassurance. Sometimes, I think it would be nice if we could hear the Lord tell us how much He loves us. I wonder families of missionaries and soldiers before there were telephones got through those hard years? All they had were a few letters. Tonight, let’s look at God’s love letter, the Bible, together to read how much He loves us.
I. He Loves Us Enough to Draw Us.
A. Jeremiah 31:3 “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”
B. Talk about being in sin. How He sought us to save us.
II. He Loves Us Enough to Die of Us
A. Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
B. John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
C. He didn’t have to die for us. He didn’t have to save us. He could have left us lost.
III. He Loves Us Enough to Discipline Us.
A. Hebrews 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
B. Why do parents discipline their children? God wants to make us better.
IV. He Loves Us Enough to Defend Us.
A. Zechariah 2:8 “…for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.”
B. 2 Thess. 3:3 “But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.”
C. 1Peter 3:12-13 “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. 13 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?”
D. He defends us from evil.
Conc:
Never Been Unloved sung by Micheal Smith
I have been unfaithful
I have been unworthy
I have been unrighteous
And I have been unmerciful
I have been unreachable
I have been unteachable
I have been unwilling
And I’ve been undesirable
And sometimes I have been unwise
I’ve been undone by what I’m unsure of
But because of you
And all that you went through
I know that I have never been unloved
I have been unbroken
I have been unmended
I have been uneasy
And I’ve been unapprochable
I’ve been unemotional
I’ve been unexceptional
I’ve been undecided
And I have been unqualified
Unaware - I have been unfair
I’ve been unfit for blessings from above
But even I can see
The sacrifice You made for me
To show that I have never been unloved
It’s because of you
And all that you went through
I know that I have never been unloved
