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Sample Sermon
Title: KNOWING REAL LOVE
Text: 1 John 3:16-18
Scripture: "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth (New International Version).
Sermon Outline:
I. INTRODUCTION:
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1770-1850) penned these words long ago:
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints,—I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!—and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
A singer a few years ago asked the "How do I love thee?" question in another way: "What's Love Got to Do with It?"
For the believer, love has everything to do with it!
Sacrificial love toward others is a sure sign that we possess saving faith and are children of God. Sacrificial love is a love of action not just words. Sacrificial love produces in those that exercise it, confidence about their right standing with the Father.
Exactly what does the love of God teach us? How does God expect us to love others and to sacrifice for others? Three things come to mind:
II. THE LOVE OF GOD TEACHES US COMPASSION (v. 16)
- Jesus Christ Himself set the standard for compassionate response to human need. We are not left to guess how to show compassion. We are clearly told: "This is how we know what love is…."
- We must remember that the sacrifice of Jesus was for us. Jesus gained nothing by laying down His life for us. The gift was from Him to us, for our sake, not His.
Jesus talked about the essence of sacrificial love in John 15:13 when He said, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends." Our Savior didn't just say this to impress His disciples; He literally acted it out. As verse 16 says, "He laid down His life for us." Jesus Christ died on the cross that we might have life. He did this because He considers those of us who believe in Him His friends. He became the sacrifice to take our place in death when we should be the ones to die for our sins.
The word "sacrifice" portrays the meaning of agape love. The word means, "something given up or lost." When we love someone unconditionally, it means we will sacrifice or give up our own welfare that another person will gain or prosper.
- True compassion seeks no reward.
III. THE LOVE OF GOD TEACHES US MERCY (v. 17)
- The need of others provokes the love of God.
Some people possess the love of God although they possess virtually nothing else.
- The absence of mercy is inconsistent with the love of God.
- The love of God lives (dwells) in our heart to insure mercy.
IV. THE LOVE OF GOD TEACHES US RIGHTEOUSNESS (v. 18)
- Simply speaking words will not cause us to take action on behalf of others. Words are shallow, hollow, and meaningless without action.
John wrote, "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue…"
In the book of James, James asked the question, "Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?" (2:15-16).
- The love of God demands right actions or righteousness from believers.
Notice again what John said: "…but with actions and in truth."
Love requires more than idle talk or exalted theology. Love demands simple acts, which anyone can see, that meet the needs of brothers and sisters in distress.
V. CONCLUSION
In the US, with our prosperity, we may not always see people that appear to live in true poverty. We must learn to open our eyes—to see the needs around us. The poor are there, everywhere, waiting for someone to help.
The poor are in our world, our global community, seeking not only food but also Jesus Christ.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said:
All life is interrelated. We are caught up in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one affects all indirectly. As long as there is poverty in this world, no man can be rich, even if he has a billion dollars. As long as disease is rampant and millions of people cannot expect to live longer than twenty or thirty years, no one can be healthy even if he just got a check up in the finest clinic in the nation.
Think about this truth: I can never be what I ought to be until I am what I ought to be. And you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be.
John Donne caught it years ago and put it in graphic terms. "No man is an island entire of itself-every man is a piece of the continent a part of the main." Then he goes on to say, "Each man's death diminishes me, for I am involved in mankind. Therefore, send not to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee."
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