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Sermon on
Someone Loves You
By Brian Pepper
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Startled motorists watched the
car on bridge pull to the outside lane and stop.
Before the amazed watchers the driver's door flew
open and a young man jumped out and ran to the
railing. He climbed to the top and stood there for
just a moment looking down then he jumped to his
death in the water below. Those who witnessed the
drama were stunned. It was too late to help. As the
police examined the car for identity of the man, the
discovered a number of letters that told the story.
The young man, deeply in debt, had lost his wife and
family. It seemed to him that no one cared whether
he lived or died. No one loved him. What did he have
to live for? Why not end it all?
Many people in the world today
feel just like the young man on the bridge. In this
tense, trouble-filled age they run out of money,
friends and time. Troubles, worry and fear seem to
crush out all hope. They feel they have no place to
turn. No one loves, understands or cares.
Someone that cares
But there is Someone who cares.
One who understands and loves. And regardless of the
mistakes that have been made, is ready to help if
only we will let Him. That friend is God.
I used to think He was a severe
Judge who was just waiting for me to make a mistake
so He could punish me. But as I have studied the
Book that reveals His true character, I have found
Him to be just the opposite. He is loving and kind,
ready to forgive and to help me if only I will let
Him.
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What the Bible says about God
I would like you to notice what
the Bible says about God.
1 John 4:8 says, "He
that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."
That is clear enough. However I
decided that I would look up some other translations
to see how they expressed that thought of love. The
Living Bible has this, "But if a person isn't
loving and kind, it shows that he doesn't know God -
for God is love." However John goes on to say,
"If you do not really believe this, if you think
that what I am saying is not really true, then I can
prove it". Listen to this.
1 John 4:9 reading
from 'Good News to Modern Man' says, "This is how
God showed His love for us: He sent His only Son
into the world that we might have life through Him."
God loves all alike
If you really want proof that God
is love then take a look at Calvary. It took a lot
of love on God's part to allow His Son to go through
all that. The remarkable thing is that God does not
just love the good, but He loves the bad as well. It
is easy to love the nice people, the kind people,
the friendly people. But it is hard to love the mean
people, the unkind people, the cruel people and all
the rest. But God does all this.
Matthew 5:44,45 says, "But I say unto
you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you,
do good to them that hate you, and pray for them
which despitefully use you, and persecute you: That
ye may be the children of your Father which is in
heaven: for He maketh his sun to rise on the evil
and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on
the unjust."
This is real LOVE to be able to
do this. To treat all alike, both good and bad. He
blesses both the good and the bad with the things
they need. After all they are His children. And He
loves them all.
James 1:16,17 says, "Do not err,
my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every
perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the
Father of lights, with whom is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning."
God provides for your needs
Every good gift, every perfect
gift or present comes from the Father above who
loves His children, and is anxious to bestow upon
them the good things that He can so bountifully
supply.
You will remember that Jesus used
the birds as an illustration of God's loving care
for His creatures. He said there are thousands of
birds yet they seem to be able to get their fill.
And I can assure you that just as the birds are
taken care of by a loving God, so we too if we are
willing, can have the assurance that God will
provide for our needs.
Matthew 6:31 says,
"Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we
eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall
we be clothed? ... for your heavenly Father knoweth
that ye have need of all these things."
Now that is just the assurance
that people want. That there is Someone who
cares. There is Someone who is listening. We are not
battling it out alone in this world of ours. Someone
loves us and is ever ready to help us. However we
must remember that if we do not seek Him out, or
believe that God is there to help us, then we limit
God's ability to do for use what He longs to do. He
cannot and will not force His way into our lives.
But He waits for us to call upon Him and to ask Him
to help us, not only in extremity but in every day
living.
God loves the Sinner
Some might say, "I never knew
that God is a God of love, I have always thought
differently." That is what Satan would like us
to believe.
Romans 5:8-10 (Good News to Modern Man)
says, "But God has shown us how much He loves us:
it was while we were still sinners that Christ died
for us! By His death we are now put right with God;
how much more then, will we be saved by Him from
God's wrath. We were God's enemies, but He made us
His friends through the death of His Son."
It was His own love for sinners
that led God to give His Son to die and in doing
this God was involved deeply in Calvary. The wrath
of God mentioned here is God's antagonism to sin.
God hates sin but He loves the sinner. If Christ's
death had been an unwilling one, it would have been
enough to say He died "instead of us". But
Paul says that Christ "died for us, in our
behalf". he deliberately and willingly gave His
own Life because He loved us. And I am glad that
once we have accepted Christ there is nothing that
can separate us from God's love.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God
Romans 8:38,39 (Good News to Modern Man)
says, "For I am certain that nothing can separate
us from His love: neither death nor life; neither
angels nor other heavenly rulers or powers; neither
the present nor the future; neither the world above
nor the world below - there is nothing in all
creation that will ever be able to separate us from
the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus
our Lord."
Paul does not mean by this that
it is impossible for a believer to fall away and be
lost. Paul means that nothing can pluck us out of
Christ's arms against our will.
I want to assure you that there
is Someone who does love us. There is Someone who
does care and I am so glad that our Heavenly Father
does care for you and for me. So much so, He was as
much a part of Calvary as his own dear Son, Jesus
Christ.
Today as we bring the scenes of
Calvary to our attention by celebrating the Lord's
Supper, it is well to remember that Someone did
care. There was One who was concerned and that
Someone was God.
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