1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:05,660 You’re listening to a sermon from Pastor Colin Smith 2 00:00:05,660 –> 00:00:07,060 of Open the Bible. 3 00:00:07,060 –> 00:00:13,860 To contact us call us at 1-877-OPEN365 or visit our website 4 00:00:13,860 –> 00:00:14,860 openthebible.org. 5 00:00:14,860 –> 00:00:18,940 Let’s get to the message, here is Pastor Colin. 6 00:00:18,940 –> 00:00:24,719 Well please, have your Bible opened at First John Chapter 4 7 00:00:55,279 –> 00:00:56,820 We always thought love is our greatest need. 8 00:00:56,820 –> 00:01:01,099 It is our greatest need because love is essential for ministry. 9 00:01:01,099 –> 00:01:05,260 Is our greatest need because love will equip us for life 10 00:01:05,260 –> 00:01:08,040 and we saw it as our greatest need because everything else 11 00:01:08,040 –> 00:01:13,080 will pass away but love will endure forever. 12 00:01:13,080 –> 00:01:17,120 So we have spent two weeks looking at the why. 13 00:01:17,120 –> 00:01:23,580 Why grow in love and today we are looking at the question 14 00:01:23,820 –> 00:01:24,779 But how? 15 00:01:24,779 –> 00:01:25,660 How? 16 00:01:25,660 –> 00:01:26,980 How is this going to happen? 17 00:01:26,980 –> 00:01:30,980 Let’s assume that we’ve all come to the place this morning 18 00:01:30,980 –> 00:01:35,339 of saying I want to grow in love. 19 00:01:35,339 –> 00:01:37,760 How is that going to happen? 20 00:01:37,760 –> 00:01:43,739 Well, the place to begin is 1st John, and chapter 4. 21 00:01:43,739 –> 00:01:45,959 If you were to ask John the question, 22 00:01:45,959 –> 00:01:49,080 how can I grow in love? 23 00:01:49,080 –> 00:01:52,699 The answer he would give is in verse 19. 24 00:01:52,699 –> 00:01:58,800 We love because he first loved us. 25 00:01:58,800 –> 00:02:02,839 Verse 19 is really a summary of everything that John says 26 00:02:02,839 –> 00:02:05,500 in verse 7 to verse 21. 27 00:02:05,500 –> 00:02:06,820 Or to put it another way, 28 00:02:06,820 –> 00:02:09,740 everything that John says in verse 7 to verse 21 29 00:02:09,740 –> 00:02:14,339 is really an exposition of what he says in verse 19. 30 00:02:14,339 –> 00:02:20,619 We love because he first loved us. 31 00:02:20,619 –> 00:02:24,080 John is telling us that’s how we love. 32 00:02:24,080 –> 00:02:26,279 Understand then that love is not something 33 00:02:26,279 –> 00:02:30,880 that we have to dredge up from within ourselves, 34 00:02:30,880 –> 00:02:34,479 nor that love in its very nature comes down. 35 00:02:34,479 –> 00:02:39,679 He tells us verse 7, love is from God. 36 00:02:39,679 –> 00:02:43,119 He tells us verse 8 that God is love, 37 00:02:43,119 –> 00:02:46,419 and he says it again in verse 16. 38 00:02:46,419 –> 00:02:48,520 He explains in these verses that God’s love 39 00:02:48,559 –> 00:02:51,880 comes to us in Jesus Christ, 40 00:02:51,880 –> 00:02:55,880 and lives in us by the Holy Spirit. 41 00:02:55,880 –> 00:03:00,880 We love because he first loved us. 42 00:03:02,619 –> 00:03:06,220 Now this wonderful truth opens the door of hope 43 00:03:06,220 –> 00:03:08,240 for each and every one of us. 44 00:03:08,240 –> 00:03:09,720 The reality is, of course, 45 00:03:09,720 –> 00:03:14,479 that our experience of human love varies greatly. 46 00:03:14,479 –> 00:03:16,539 Some of us have been really well loved 47 00:03:16,580 –> 00:03:18,520 from the very moment we were born. 48 00:03:19,419 –> 00:03:21,460 And others of us have experienced 49 00:03:21,460 –> 00:03:25,520 a marked lack of love in our lives. 50 00:03:26,500 –> 00:03:28,860 And if that has been your experience, 51 00:03:28,860 –> 00:03:33,460 you may fear that because you have received little, 52 00:03:33,460 –> 00:03:37,220 it may then follow that you have little to give. 53 00:03:38,179 –> 00:03:42,539 There are some among us who have suffered from neglect. 54 00:03:42,539 –> 00:03:45,779 Some among us who have suffered from abuse. 55 00:03:46,860 –> 00:03:50,119 You have experienced the opposite of love 56 00:03:50,119 –> 00:03:52,699 and it’s left deep wounds. 57 00:03:52,699 –> 00:03:53,839 And sometimes you wonder, 58 00:03:53,839 –> 00:03:57,059 could such wounds ever really be healed? 59 00:03:58,240 –> 00:04:00,860 The good news is that these verses are telling us 60 00:04:00,860 –> 00:04:05,539 that you can love and the reason that you can love 61 00:04:05,539 –> 00:04:09,960 is that you are loved, far more than you think, 62 00:04:09,960 –> 00:04:12,179 far more than you know. 63 00:04:12,179 –> 00:04:15,399 And as God’s love flows into you, 64 00:04:16,260 –> 00:04:18,779 so God’s love will make it possible 65 00:04:18,779 –> 00:04:22,559 for love to flow out from you as well. 66 00:04:22,559 –> 00:04:27,559 We love because He first loved us. 67 00:04:29,279 –> 00:04:34,279 Now, these verses tell us certain things that God does 68 00:04:34,760 –> 00:04:38,720 and certain things that we are able to do in response 69 00:04:38,720 –> 00:04:43,720 as a result of what God has first done for us. 70 00:04:43,799 –> 00:04:46,920 And you may have noticed, when you read John’s writing, 71 00:04:46,920 –> 00:04:49,679 especially this first letter of John, 72 00:04:49,679 –> 00:04:53,239 it’s a little bit like spaghetti on a plate. 73 00:04:53,239 –> 00:04:55,480 Everything sort of runs into everything else 74 00:04:55,480 –> 00:04:58,079 and it’s a little difficult to sort of separate out 75 00:04:58,079 –> 00:04:59,880 the individual strands, 76 00:04:59,880 –> 00:05:04,679 where does one piece begin and where does one piece end? 77 00:05:04,679 –> 00:05:07,160 So let me for a few moments try and pull out 78 00:05:07,160 –> 00:05:11,059 six different strands that are all mixed up 79 00:05:11,119 –> 00:05:13,820 and woven together to change the analogy 80 00:05:13,820 –> 00:05:17,320 in these remarkable verses. 81 00:05:17,320 –> 00:05:20,040 There are six distinct elements. 82 00:05:20,040 –> 00:05:23,380 Number one, as we look at God’s part, is that God loves us. 83 00:05:23,380 –> 00:05:26,700 Verse 19, He first loved us. 84 00:05:26,700 –> 00:05:29,420 Verse 10, in this is love, not that we loved God 85 00:05:29,420 –> 00:05:32,799 but that He loved us. 86 00:05:32,799 –> 00:05:35,799 Verse 11, God so loved us. 87 00:05:36,500 –> 00:05:38,299 Us. 88 00:05:38,299 –> 00:05:41,600 God loved you before you ever loved Him. 89 00:05:41,600 –> 00:05:43,579 God loved you when you had no interest in Him, 90 00:05:43,579 –> 00:05:47,540 when you ignored Him, when you resisted Him. 91 00:05:47,540 –> 00:05:51,440 You did not win the heart of God by loving Him. 92 00:05:51,440 –> 00:05:54,600 No, God has won your heart by loving you. 93 00:05:54,600 –> 00:05:56,739 He first loved us. 94 00:05:58,679 –> 00:06:01,820 Now, how do we know that God loved us? 95 00:06:02,059 –> 00:06:04,179 Well, second great truth here. 96 00:06:04,179 –> 00:06:07,079 God sent His Son for us. 97 00:06:07,079 –> 00:06:08,779 Look at verse nine. 98 00:06:08,779 –> 00:06:12,399 In this the love of God was made manifest or shown, 99 00:06:12,399 –> 00:06:16,980 made known to us that God sent His only Son 100 00:06:16,980 –> 00:06:20,320 into the world, so that we might live through Him. 101 00:06:20,320 –> 00:06:21,519 Or verse 10. 102 00:06:21,519 –> 00:06:22,959 In this is love. 103 00:06:22,959 –> 00:06:24,440 Not that we have loved God, 104 00:06:24,440 –> 00:06:28,640 but that He loved us and sent his Son 105 00:06:28,640 –> 00:06:31,500 to be the propitiation for our sins. 106 00:06:31,540 –> 00:06:33,500 Or verse 14. 107 00:06:33,500 –> 00:06:38,500 The Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. 108 00:06:39,799 –> 00:06:41,619 And so John here is answering the question, 109 00:06:41,619 –> 00:06:44,119 how do we know that God is loved? 110 00:06:44,119 –> 00:06:47,279 This first great truth that he’s affirmed for us. 111 00:06:47,279 –> 00:06:49,920 How do we know that God loves us? 112 00:06:49,920 –> 00:06:53,440 And he’s telling us, don’t try and discern 113 00:06:53,440 –> 00:06:57,440 the love of God from the state of the world 114 00:06:57,440 –> 00:07:01,000 or from your own experience in life. 115 00:07:01,019 –> 00:07:04,660 This world is in rebellion against God, 116 00:07:04,660 –> 00:07:06,640 and because it’s in rebellion against God, 117 00:07:06,640 –> 00:07:09,480 it suffers the severe and pervasive effects 118 00:07:09,480 –> 00:07:11,480 of its own rebellion. 119 00:07:11,480 –> 00:07:13,920 And because we live in this world, 120 00:07:13,920 –> 00:07:16,040 we experience in our lives 121 00:07:16,040 –> 00:07:19,260 a very strange mixture of good and of evil. 122 00:07:19,260 –> 00:07:23,119 But God has given to us what we most need. 123 00:07:23,119 –> 00:07:25,480 God wants us to live. 124 00:07:25,480 –> 00:07:28,279 And so He has sent His Son into the world, 125 00:07:29,079 –> 00:07:32,880 that we might live through Him. 126 00:07:32,880 –> 00:07:34,380 And this is why Jesus came. 127 00:07:34,380 –> 00:07:37,339 This is why He suffered and died on the cross 128 00:07:37,339 –> 00:07:41,420 to be, John says, the propitiation for our sins, 129 00:07:41,420 –> 00:07:44,559 which simply means that the sacrifice of His life 130 00:07:44,559 –> 00:07:47,480 would remove the judgment and condemnation 131 00:07:47,480 –> 00:07:51,799 that otherwise sin would bring to all of us. 132 00:07:53,160 –> 00:07:55,559 So God loves us. 133 00:07:55,619 –> 00:07:58,320 God sent His Son for us. 134 00:07:58,320 –> 00:08:01,179 And then the third great truth in regards to God 135 00:08:01,179 –> 00:08:05,359 and what He has done is that God abides in us 136 00:08:05,359 –> 00:08:06,920 by His Spirit. 137 00:08:06,920 –> 00:08:08,140 Verse 13. 138 00:08:08,140 –> 00:08:11,980 By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us 139 00:08:11,980 –> 00:08:15,760 because He has given us of His Spirit. 140 00:08:16,899 –> 00:08:18,679 Then He says in verse 12, 141 00:08:18,679 –> 00:08:23,220 if we love one another, God abides in us 142 00:08:23,220 –> 00:08:27,559 and His love is perfected in us. 143 00:08:27,559 –> 00:08:31,459 In other words, the love of God has been poured out 144 00:08:31,459 –> 00:08:34,400 and it is poured in. 145 00:08:34,400 –> 00:08:36,859 It was poured out on the cross 146 00:08:36,859 –> 00:08:39,039 where Jesus died for our sins 147 00:08:39,039 –> 00:08:42,559 and it is poured in by the Holy Spirit 148 00:08:42,559 –> 00:08:46,400 who John says, abides in us. 149 00:08:46,400 –> 00:08:50,880 The Holy Spirit brings the presence of God 150 00:08:50,880 –> 00:08:53,000 and since God is love, 151 00:08:53,000 –> 00:08:56,460 He thereby brings the love of God 152 00:08:56,460 –> 00:09:01,020 into the life of every believer. 153 00:09:01,020 –> 00:09:04,700 John says in verse 7, love is from God 154 00:09:04,700 –> 00:09:08,840 and whoever loves has been born of God. 155 00:09:08,840 –> 00:09:10,219 Born of God. 156 00:09:11,099 –> 00:09:14,080 Now to be born off someone 157 00:09:14,080 –> 00:09:17,780 means that something of that person’s life is in you. 158 00:09:17,780 –> 00:09:20,479 That’s what it means to be born off someone. 159 00:09:21,359 –> 00:09:23,260 What John is telling us is that when 160 00:09:23,260 –> 00:09:26,359 we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, 161 00:09:26,359 –> 00:09:29,260 the life and the love of God come 162 00:09:29,260 –> 00:09:34,260 to be in us by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. 163 00:09:35,039 –> 00:09:38,099 And this, John says, is how you can love. 164 00:09:38,099 –> 00:09:41,140 Not only are you loved by God, 165 00:09:41,140 –> 00:09:43,340 but God’s love has come to you. 166 00:09:43,340 –> 00:09:44,739 It reaches you. 167 00:09:44,739 –> 00:09:48,020 It is actually in you by the abiding presence 168 00:09:48,059 –> 00:09:50,679 of the Holy Spirit in your life. 169 00:09:50,679 –> 00:09:53,479 The Spirit of God abides in you, 170 00:09:53,479 –> 00:09:56,119 and if the Spirit of God abides in you, 171 00:09:56,119 –> 00:09:58,880 then by definition, the love of God 172 00:09:58,880 –> 00:10:01,520 abides in you. 173 00:10:02,520 –> 00:10:04,280 One writer puts it this way. 174 00:10:05,219 –> 00:10:07,840 “‘Love cannot be got up, 175 00:10:08,799 –> 00:10:12,340 it is the result of God entering 176 00:10:12,340 –> 00:10:15,179 and possessing the soul.’” 177 00:10:16,159 –> 00:10:18,179 Love is not something you have to dredge up 178 00:10:18,179 –> 00:10:19,539 from within yourself. 179 00:10:20,500 –> 00:10:24,380 It is the effect of God himself, 180 00:10:24,380 –> 00:10:27,979 who is love, entering and taking possession 181 00:10:27,979 –> 00:10:31,219 of your own soul. 182 00:10:31,219 –> 00:10:33,619 The Spirit of God 183 00:10:34,380 –> 00:10:39,020 living in you. 184 00:10:41,500 –> 00:10:43,219 Now I want you to think by way 185 00:10:43,219 –> 00:10:45,539 of illustration for a moment 186 00:10:46,780 –> 00:10:48,539 about what it would be like 187 00:10:49,500 –> 00:10:54,500 if the Spirit of Mick Jagger lived in me. 188 00:10:56,380 –> 00:10:58,179 This, for anyone who has not been around 189 00:10:58,179 –> 00:10:59,460 for the last 60 years, 190 00:10:59,460 –> 00:11:02,059 Mick Jagger is the lead singer of the Rolling Stones 191 00:11:02,059 –> 00:11:03,820 and I’ve chosen him as an illustration 192 00:11:03,820 –> 00:11:05,659 because I can hardly imagine a person 193 00:11:05,659 –> 00:11:07,700 who’s more different from me. 194 00:11:07,700 –> 00:11:12,700 The idea of the Spirit of Mick Jagger 195 00:11:12,820 –> 00:11:16,280 living in me is just totally incongruous. 196 00:11:17,500 –> 00:11:18,340 I mean, here I am, 197 00:11:18,340 –> 00:11:19,859 I know I sort of walk around 198 00:11:19,859 –> 00:11:22,219 a little bit stiff and a little bit starchy 199 00:11:22,219 –> 00:11:23,940 and Mick Jagger moves about 200 00:11:23,940 –> 00:11:25,859 as if he had joints of rubber. 201 00:11:27,460 –> 00:11:31,340 I try my best to speak in what we used to refer to 202 00:11:31,340 –> 00:11:34,140 as the Queen’s English. 203 00:11:35,200 –> 00:11:38,099 And Mick Jagger says things like, 204 00:11:38,099 –> 00:11:40,940 let’s rock that baby to the max. 205 00:11:41,539 –> 00:11:42,979 And he’s not even talking about 206 00:11:42,979 –> 00:11:45,020 trying to put a child to sleep in the nursery. 207 00:11:45,020 –> 00:11:49,059 I mean, if I spoke like Mick Jagger, 208 00:11:49,059 –> 00:11:52,979 people would say what in the world is wrong with Colin? 209 00:11:54,419 –> 00:11:55,320 And then someone would say, 210 00:11:55,320 –> 00:11:57,539 oh well, you see, it’s the spirit of Mick Jagger 211 00:11:57,539 –> 00:11:59,239 that’s in him, you see. 212 00:12:01,460 –> 00:12:03,799 If the spirit of Mick Jagger lived in me 213 00:12:03,799 –> 00:12:06,979 I would be a totally different person. 214 00:12:08,419 –> 00:12:10,859 And of course, this rather incongruous thing 215 00:12:10,859 –> 00:12:12,739 were to happen, I would also experience 216 00:12:12,739 –> 00:12:14,099 a great deal of tension. 217 00:12:14,099 –> 00:12:16,719 Can you imagine the spirit of Mick Jagger in me 218 00:12:16,719 –> 00:12:19,820 would want to dance all the time. 219 00:12:19,820 –> 00:12:22,460 And I think it would take time for this body 220 00:12:22,460 –> 00:12:24,940 to adapt and become responsive 221 00:12:24,940 –> 00:12:27,739 to the prompting of that new spirit. 222 00:12:28,979 –> 00:12:31,780 But one thing is very obvious and clear, 223 00:12:31,780 –> 00:12:33,780 and you have the point, 224 00:12:33,780 –> 00:12:37,380 that if the spirit of Mick Jagger lived in me, 225 00:12:37,380 –> 00:12:42,380 I would be very different from the way I am, right now. 226 00:12:45,299 –> 00:12:46,599 Now try and take this in. 227 00:12:48,059 –> 00:12:52,400 As you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, 228 00:12:53,559 –> 00:12:58,559 the Spirit of God comes to live in you 229 00:12:59,859 –> 00:13:02,659 and abide in you. 230 00:13:03,500 –> 00:13:08,340 Over time, the presence of the Spirit of God 231 00:13:08,340 –> 00:13:12,200 who is love will change you. 232 00:13:13,500 –> 00:13:16,280 It will change the way you speak, 233 00:13:16,280 –> 00:13:18,780 it will change the way you think, 234 00:13:18,780 –> 00:13:20,780 it will change the way you act, 235 00:13:21,739 –> 00:13:24,219 and it will change the way that you love. 236 00:13:25,380 –> 00:13:30,380 Friends, these really are life-changing truths. 237 00:13:30,479 –> 00:13:32,520 God loves you. 238 00:13:32,739 –> 00:13:34,239 God loves us. 239 00:13:35,340 –> 00:13:38,880 God sent His Son for us. 240 00:13:38,880 –> 00:13:43,419 God abides in us by His Holy Spirit. 241 00:13:43,419 –> 00:13:46,280 If you’re a believer, you can personalize these truths. 242 00:13:46,280 –> 00:13:48,159 You can say, God loves me. 243 00:13:49,700 –> 00:13:52,099 God sent His Son for me. 244 00:13:53,000 –> 00:13:57,340 God’s spirit lives in me. 245 00:13:58,080 –> 00:14:02,520 Now, there are, as it were, the three strands 246 00:14:02,520 –> 00:14:05,219 that we can pull out from what John is saying 247 00:14:05,219 –> 00:14:07,440 of what God has done. 248 00:14:08,619 –> 00:14:11,380 What about the strands of what we do? 249 00:14:11,380 –> 00:14:13,219 What about our part? 250 00:14:13,219 –> 00:14:15,479 Well, first, our part is that we love. 251 00:14:15,479 –> 00:14:17,559 Notice he says in verse 19, 252 00:14:17,559 –> 00:14:21,820 we love, because He first loved us. 253 00:14:21,820 –> 00:14:24,840 Verse seven, let us love one another, 254 00:14:24,840 –> 00:14:27,159 for love comes from God. 255 00:14:28,159 –> 00:14:30,299 Or verse 11, if God so loved us, 256 00:14:30,299 –> 00:14:34,299 we also ought to love one another. 257 00:14:34,299 –> 00:14:37,159 Or verse 12, if we love one another, 258 00:14:37,159 –> 00:14:42,179 God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. 259 00:14:43,340 –> 00:14:48,340 So, God calls us to actively love one another 260 00:14:48,919 –> 00:14:51,119 in the way that He has loved us, 261 00:14:51,119 –> 00:14:56,020 that is, we are to give what we have first received. 262 00:14:56,340 –> 00:14:58,119 And John says here very beautifully 263 00:14:58,119 –> 00:15:02,460 that God’s love is perfected in us. 264 00:15:02,460 –> 00:15:05,799 And what that means very simply, is it’s made complete. 265 00:15:05,799 –> 00:15:09,099 It fulfills its own ultimate purpose. 266 00:15:09,099 –> 00:15:11,200 In other words, God did not intend 267 00:15:11,200 –> 00:15:13,219 that His love should end with you. 268 00:15:14,820 –> 00:15:17,940 The purpose of God is that His love should flow into you 269 00:15:17,940 –> 00:15:20,380 in order that it should flow out from you 270 00:15:20,380 –> 00:15:21,940 into the lives of others. 271 00:15:21,940 –> 00:15:24,640 And God’s love fulfills its ultimate purpose, 272 00:15:24,640 –> 00:15:26,099 that it is perfected 273 00:15:26,099 –> 00:15:31,099 when we give what we have received in loving one another. 274 00:15:32,659 –> 00:15:37,659 We love, and then John tells us, we believe. 275 00:15:37,780 –> 00:15:42,039 Verse 15, whoever confesses that Jesus is the son of God, 276 00:15:42,039 –> 00:15:45,179 God abides in him, and he in God. 277 00:15:45,179 –> 00:15:49,280 Or verse 16, so we have come to know and to believe 278 00:15:49,280 –> 00:15:52,380 the love that God has for us. 279 00:15:53,219 –> 00:15:58,219 So to believe is to be fully persuaded that God loves you, 280 00:15:59,539 –> 00:16:02,059 that God’s Son gave himself for you, 281 00:16:02,059 –> 00:16:05,780 and the God’s spirit lives within you. 282 00:16:05,780 –> 00:16:08,179 And believing these truths, 283 00:16:08,179 –> 00:16:10,219 and you don’t actually have to believe them, 284 00:16:10,219 –> 00:16:12,719 believing these truths of the gospel 285 00:16:12,719 –> 00:16:15,059 will enable you to love, 286 00:16:15,059 –> 00:16:18,979 and the more deeply you believe these life-changing truths 287 00:16:18,979 –> 00:16:22,619 the more deeply you are going to be able to love. 288 00:16:23,739 –> 00:16:27,119 And then John has a third strand of what we do 289 00:16:27,119 –> 00:16:30,039 and that is that we abide. 290 00:16:30,039 –> 00:16:35,039 Verse 16, God is love and whoever abides in love. 291 00:16:35,059 –> 00:16:36,979 So there we are, we are abiding in love. 292 00:16:36,979 –> 00:16:39,700 Whoever abides in love abides in God 293 00:16:39,700 –> 00:16:41,940 and God abides in him. 294 00:16:41,940 –> 00:16:44,179 Or verse 15, whoever confesses 295 00:16:44,179 –> 00:16:46,280 that Jesus is the Son of God, 296 00:16:46,359 –> 00:16:50,080 God abides in Him and he in God. 297 00:16:50,080 –> 00:16:54,080 Or verse 13, by this we know that we abide in him 298 00:16:54,080 –> 00:16:57,479 and he in us because he has given us of his spirit. 299 00:16:58,380 –> 00:17:03,380 Now to abide simply means to live or to dwell. 300 00:17:03,460 –> 00:17:06,420 Abide is what you do in your home, 301 00:17:06,420 –> 00:17:09,800 so you can get the meaning from that analogy. 302 00:17:10,979 –> 00:17:14,979 At home you rest, you eat, 303 00:17:14,979 –> 00:17:17,579 you find joy. 304 00:17:17,579 –> 00:17:19,880 That’s the place where you’re more yourself 305 00:17:19,880 –> 00:17:21,699 than any other place. 306 00:17:22,619 –> 00:17:26,040 And John says we abide in God. 307 00:17:26,040 –> 00:17:27,599 That means that we rest in God. 308 00:17:27,599 –> 00:17:29,619 We find joy in God. 309 00:17:29,619 –> 00:17:32,180 We’re at home with God. 310 00:17:32,180 –> 00:17:36,900 We walk with God, we nourish ourselves on God. 311 00:17:36,900 –> 00:17:41,900 We have a living heart-to-heart communion with God. 312 00:17:42,380 –> 00:17:47,119 So now, here are three things that God does 313 00:17:47,119 –> 00:17:51,540 and three things that we do. 314 00:17:51,540 –> 00:17:55,219 God loves us, God sent his son for us 315 00:17:55,219 –> 00:17:58,760 and God’s Spirit lives in us, abides in us 316 00:17:58,760 –> 00:18:02,000 and as a result of these things that God does, 317 00:18:02,000 –> 00:18:06,760 we are able to love and to believe and to abide. 318 00:18:07,680 –> 00:18:10,459 So now you have six major themes. 319 00:18:10,459 –> 00:18:14,579 Three that are God’s part, three that are our part 320 00:18:14,579 –> 00:18:17,219 and I tried to draw them out 321 00:18:17,219 –> 00:18:20,020 like individual strands of spaghetti 322 00:18:20,020 –> 00:18:23,380 so that we can see the different elements 323 00:18:23,380 –> 00:18:26,300 that are here in what John is saying to us. 324 00:18:26,300 –> 00:18:29,699 But of course, no one serves spaghetti 325 00:18:29,699 –> 00:18:34,219 with individual pieces laid out straight on a plate. 326 00:18:34,219 –> 00:18:36,400 The way you serve and the way you eat spaghetti 327 00:18:36,400 –> 00:18:39,119 is it’s all mixed up and it’s beautifully 328 00:18:39,119 –> 00:18:43,979 heaped together on the plate, and that’s the point, 329 00:18:45,540 –> 00:18:49,319 that while each of these elements is so important 330 00:18:49,319 –> 00:18:52,780 to the whole, you cannot pull them apart. 331 00:18:53,939 –> 00:18:56,540 To change the analogy and put it another way, 332 00:18:56,540 –> 00:19:01,540 think of these six as being like individual threads, 333 00:19:01,699 –> 00:19:04,900 each of a different, beautiful color 334 00:19:05,859 –> 00:19:09,020 and what John is doing is he’s weaving these threads 335 00:19:09,040 –> 00:19:11,579 together into one fabric. 336 00:19:11,579 –> 00:19:13,800 If you were to try and pull one of the threads out, 337 00:19:13,800 –> 00:19:15,400 you’d destroy the whole thing. 338 00:19:15,400 –> 00:19:17,359 Each of them is interconnected, 339 00:19:17,359 –> 00:19:19,380 each of them are interdependent. 340 00:19:23,079 –> 00:19:27,439 So let me just show you this from the passage, 341 00:19:27,439 –> 00:19:29,839 you’ll quickly get the idea and then you can work it out 342 00:19:29,839 –> 00:19:31,719 with regards to all of the other verses. 343 00:19:31,719 –> 00:19:36,640 Each verse is connecting different elements 344 00:19:36,660 –> 00:19:39,859 of God’s love for us, God sending his Son, 345 00:19:39,859 –> 00:19:41,739 God abiding in us by his Spirit, 346 00:19:41,739 –> 00:19:46,260 us loving, us believing, and us abiding. 347 00:19:46,260 –> 00:19:49,660 So for example, verse 7, love is from God 348 00:19:49,660 –> 00:19:54,180 and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 349 00:19:54,180 –> 00:19:55,939 So what we have here is the connection 350 00:19:55,939 –> 00:20:00,939 between God’s love for us and our ability to love, 351 00:20:01,239 –> 00:20:02,800 love as we saw, it’s not something 352 00:20:02,800 –> 00:20:05,060 that we have to work up from within, 353 00:20:05,079 –> 00:20:09,459 love is from God and the reason that you can love 354 00:20:09,459 –> 00:20:11,540 is that God himself has entered into 355 00:20:11,540 –> 00:20:13,400 and taken possession of your soul. 356 00:20:13,400 –> 00:20:15,900 Whoever loves has been born of God. 357 00:20:15,900 –> 00:20:17,000 That’s the connection. 358 00:20:18,160 –> 00:20:23,160 If you look at verse 11, beloved if God so loved us, 359 00:20:24,040 –> 00:20:25,979 we also ought to love one another. 360 00:20:26,920 –> 00:20:28,819 And when he says if God so loved us, 361 00:20:28,819 –> 00:20:30,420 he’s referring back to verse 10 362 00:20:30,420 –> 00:20:32,239 where he says that God sent his son, 363 00:20:32,239 –> 00:20:34,579 that’s how we know that God loved us. 364 00:20:35,140 –> 00:20:36,859 And so what he’s doing here is he’s making the connection 365 00:20:36,859 –> 00:20:39,900 between God sending his son for us 366 00:20:39,900 –> 00:20:41,560 and our calling to love. 367 00:20:42,540 –> 00:20:44,300 Or verse 12, 368 00:20:44,300 –> 00:20:46,699 if we love one another, 369 00:20:46,699 –> 00:20:51,219 God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 370 00:20:51,219 –> 00:20:54,699 Now you see this verse begins with us loving 371 00:20:54,699 –> 00:20:57,599 and John tells us that if we love one another, 372 00:20:57,599 –> 00:20:59,579 then God abides in us. 373 00:20:59,579 –> 00:21:01,699 So he’s making a connection though 374 00:21:01,699 –> 00:21:05,319 between our actively growing in love 375 00:21:05,319 –> 00:21:10,319 and the continuing work of the Holy Spirit within us. 376 00:21:12,859 –> 00:21:14,920 Or verse 15, 377 00:21:14,920 –> 00:21:18,619 whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, 378 00:21:18,619 –> 00:21:22,079 God abides in him and he in God. 379 00:21:22,079 –> 00:21:23,739 Now John is telling us 380 00:21:23,739 –> 00:21:27,000 that there is a direct connection between our believing, 381 00:21:27,000 –> 00:21:30,420 our confessing faith in the Lord Jesus Christ 382 00:21:30,500 –> 00:21:32,699 and the work of the Holy Spirit within us. 383 00:21:32,699 –> 00:21:34,400 Now gonna be a great work of the Holy Spirit 384 00:21:34,400 –> 00:21:38,380 going on in you apart from faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 385 00:21:38,380 –> 00:21:39,560 These are connected. 386 00:21:40,760 –> 00:21:42,079 Or verse 16, 387 00:21:43,339 –> 00:21:45,260 God is love. 388 00:21:45,260 –> 00:21:48,500 And whoever abides in love, abides in God 389 00:21:48,500 –> 00:21:50,219 and God abides in him. 390 00:21:50,219 –> 00:21:52,619 So now John is making the connection 391 00:21:52,619 –> 00:21:56,180 between us walking with God, abiding in God 392 00:21:56,180 –> 00:21:58,099 and the work of the Holy Spirit in us. 393 00:21:58,099 –> 00:22:00,219 If you never opened the Bible and don’t pray very much, 394 00:22:01,099 –> 00:22:01,939 you don’t expect a thriving work 395 00:22:01,939 –> 00:22:03,119 of the Spirit in your soul. 396 00:22:04,619 –> 00:22:08,119 Verse 19, 397 00:22:08,119 –> 00:22:11,859 we love because he first loved us. 398 00:22:12,660 –> 00:22:14,859 So you see here John is showing the connection 399 00:22:14,859 –> 00:22:16,920 between our ability to love 400 00:22:17,800 –> 00:22:21,680 and God’s great love for us. 401 00:22:21,680 –> 00:22:24,119 Now you can work this out on other verses as well, 402 00:22:24,119 –> 00:22:26,420 but what I want you to see big picture 403 00:22:26,420 –> 00:22:29,599 is that these are all beautiful threads 404 00:22:30,439 –> 00:22:33,380 that are interwoven together. 405 00:22:33,380 –> 00:22:35,160 If you were to pull any one of them out, 406 00:22:35,160 –> 00:22:36,979 you would destroy the whole fabric. 407 00:22:36,979 –> 00:22:38,839 How can we grow in love? 408 00:22:38,839 –> 00:22:39,920 That’s the question. 409 00:22:41,280 –> 00:22:44,880 Well we can grow in love because God loves us. 410 00:22:45,760 –> 00:22:48,819 Because he sent his Son for us. 411 00:22:48,819 –> 00:22:52,780 Because his Spirit abides in us 412 00:22:52,780 –> 00:22:57,780 and we will grow in love in as much as we believe 413 00:22:58,359 –> 00:23:03,260 and abide in these wonderful realities. 414 00:23:07,599 –> 00:23:12,599 Now, drawing from what John says here, 415 00:23:12,839 –> 00:23:16,400 I want then to offer by way of application 416 00:23:16,400 –> 00:23:21,400 six practical strategies for growing in love. 417 00:23:23,160 –> 00:23:25,680 Six practical strategies for growing in love 418 00:23:25,680 –> 00:23:28,400 and the first is reflect often then 419 00:23:28,400 –> 00:23:31,660 on how much God loves you. 420 00:23:32,859 –> 00:23:34,760 Reflect often on how He loves you. 421 00:23:36,239 –> 00:23:39,979 We love because He first loved us. 422 00:23:39,979 –> 00:23:42,780 God loved us first. 423 00:23:44,520 –> 00:23:49,520 In any relationship, someone makes the first move 424 00:23:51,359 –> 00:23:53,400 and the other person responds. 425 00:23:54,319 –> 00:23:55,699 And you know, you sometimes see this 426 00:23:55,699 –> 00:24:00,000 at a wedding reception when the couple are embarrassed 427 00:24:00,000 –> 00:24:04,640 by being asked questions like, you know, 428 00:24:04,640 –> 00:24:08,359 who was the first to say I love you 429 00:24:08,359 –> 00:24:10,420 and, you know, this sort of thing? 430 00:24:10,420 –> 00:24:14,040 Who went first and how long did it take 431 00:24:14,040 –> 00:24:16,939 the other person to get the idea? 432 00:24:16,939 –> 00:24:20,959 You know, someone said I love you 433 00:24:20,959 –> 00:24:24,839 and then someone else said I love you too. 434 00:24:24,839 –> 00:24:27,439 But there’s always someone who went first. 435 00:24:27,439 –> 00:24:31,900 And God is the one who said I love you first. 436 00:24:31,900 –> 00:24:33,979 God loved us when we were his enemies 437 00:24:33,979 –> 00:24:37,199 and he sent his son even then to save us. 438 00:24:38,219 –> 00:24:42,719 So you see, when you love first, 439 00:24:44,239 –> 00:24:46,880 that is, when you show patience and kindness 440 00:24:46,880 –> 00:24:50,319 to a person who doesn’t show patience and kindness to you, 441 00:24:50,339 –> 00:24:52,140 you are reflecting the love of God. 442 00:24:53,119 –> 00:24:54,780 And you are giving evidence that in fact, 443 00:24:54,780 –> 00:24:57,359 you are born of God, that something of the life of God, 444 00:24:57,359 –> 00:25:00,599 the spirit of God, the love of God is actually in you 445 00:25:00,599 –> 00:25:04,619 because how else would you be in a position 446 00:25:04,619 –> 00:25:08,540 of loving first, which is the way that God loves? 447 00:25:09,760 –> 00:25:13,180 Second, remember that love is God’s command. 448 00:25:13,180 –> 00:25:15,239 You can’t avoid this here, look at verse 21. 449 00:25:15,239 –> 00:25:19,359 And this commandment we have from him. 450 00:25:19,359 –> 00:25:22,619 Whoever loves God must also love his brother. 451 00:25:23,939 –> 00:25:27,079 So as we think about how we can grow in love, 452 00:25:27,079 –> 00:25:31,040 it is helpful and important for us to keep in our minds 453 00:25:31,040 –> 00:25:32,540 that love is not an option. 454 00:25:32,540 –> 00:25:33,380 This is not something 455 00:25:33,380 –> 00:25:35,400 that we hope we’ll get around to someday. 456 00:25:35,400 –> 00:25:39,099 It is our central calling from God. 457 00:25:40,359 –> 00:25:44,920 Jesus died to redeem us from the curse of the law. 458 00:25:44,920 –> 00:25:48,000 That is the condemnation that the law would have brought 459 00:25:48,140 –> 00:25:49,680 because we had not kept it. 460 00:25:49,680 –> 00:25:52,900 But remember that the new Testament tells us 461 00:25:52,900 –> 00:25:55,920 that God gives us his Holy Spirit 462 00:25:55,920 –> 00:25:58,979 so that the righteous requirements of the law 463 00:25:58,979 –> 00:26:01,319 will be fully met in us 464 00:26:02,400 –> 00:26:04,839 so that we will fulfill the purpose of God 465 00:26:04,839 –> 00:26:07,359 which is summed up in this one word, love. 466 00:26:08,619 –> 00:26:10,920 That’s Romans chapter eight and verse four 467 00:26:11,880 –> 00:26:14,160 or first Peter chapter two and verse 24. 468 00:26:14,160 –> 00:26:17,459 He bore our sins in his body on the tree 469 00:26:17,459 –> 00:26:21,540 that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. 470 00:26:21,540 –> 00:26:23,520 This is the life to which we’re called. 471 00:26:24,959 –> 00:26:29,959 So our new life in Jesus Christ is a gift and praise God, 472 00:26:30,380 –> 00:26:32,420 it is freely given. 473 00:26:33,540 –> 00:26:36,199 But never forget that our new life in Jesus Christ 474 00:26:36,199 –> 00:26:41,199 is also a calling and the heart of that calling 475 00:26:42,540 –> 00:26:45,780 is to live a life of love. 476 00:26:46,660 –> 00:26:50,239 Third strategy for growing in love, very practical. 477 00:26:50,239 –> 00:26:54,060 Ask God that you may grow in love. 478 00:26:54,060 –> 00:26:55,819 Again and again in the New Testament 479 00:26:55,819 –> 00:26:59,979 we have the apostle Paul praying that this will happen. 480 00:26:59,979 –> 00:27:02,140 So that’s clearly something that we should do. 481 00:27:02,140 –> 00:27:06,239 It is my prayer, that your love may abound more and more. 482 00:27:07,459 –> 00:27:11,859 May the Lord make you increase and abound in love. 483 00:27:12,219 –> 00:27:15,780 May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God. 484 00:27:15,780 –> 00:27:20,780 Ask God to help you grow in love. 485 00:27:20,780 –> 00:27:23,819 Ask Him, tell Him this is what you want. 486 00:27:25,339 –> 00:27:29,819 Bring my faces and the situations of particular people, 487 00:27:29,819 –> 00:27:33,339 perhaps those you find it hard to love, into your prayers. 488 00:27:33,339 –> 00:27:37,979 Pray that God will help you to love that person, 489 00:27:37,979 –> 00:27:39,500 these people, more. 490 00:27:40,140 –> 00:27:41,900 Growing in love is an effect of the work 491 00:27:41,900 –> 00:27:43,900 of the Holy Spirit in you. 492 00:27:44,900 –> 00:27:48,260 So, ask Him, and ask Him to reveal anything 493 00:27:48,260 –> 00:27:51,579 that is hindering your growth in love. 494 00:27:51,579 –> 00:27:54,219 Deal with it, so that nothing within you 495 00:27:54,219 –> 00:27:56,619 grieves the Holy Spirit in this regard. 496 00:27:59,380 –> 00:28:00,900 Then, strategy number four. 497 00:28:01,859 –> 00:28:06,260 Be intentional in your pursuit of love. 498 00:28:06,300 –> 00:28:10,459 The New Testament regularly speaks to Christian believers 499 00:28:10,459 –> 00:28:13,079 in a way that you couldn’t speak to anyone else, 500 00:28:13,079 –> 00:28:18,060 because a Christian believer has the abiding presence 501 00:28:18,060 –> 00:28:21,020 of the Holy Spirit within them. 502 00:28:21,020 –> 00:28:22,780 And it’s for that reason you see that, 503 00:28:22,780 –> 00:28:24,920 in the New Testament, we can read very simple, 504 00:28:24,920 –> 00:28:27,260 plain, straightforward language like this, 505 00:28:27,260 –> 00:28:29,819 above all these put on love. 506 00:28:30,839 –> 00:28:34,219 Or just husbands, love your wives. 507 00:28:34,439 –> 00:28:36,500 Or just husbands, love your wives. 508 00:28:36,500 –> 00:28:37,640 Just do it. 509 00:28:39,160 –> 00:28:41,719 Or second Peter, the long list of things 510 00:28:41,719 –> 00:28:43,719 that we’re to add to our faith. 511 00:28:43,719 –> 00:28:45,319 Let me just give the short version 512 00:28:45,319 –> 00:28:46,640 from the beginning and the end. 513 00:28:46,640 –> 00:28:50,439 For this reason, make every effort to add to your faith 514 00:28:50,439 –> 00:28:52,939 or to supplement your faith with godliness 515 00:28:52,939 –> 00:28:57,239 and brotherly affection and love. 516 00:28:57,239 –> 00:28:58,079 You see the point? 517 00:28:58,079 –> 00:29:01,020 If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, 518 00:29:01,939 –> 00:29:06,699 if the Holy Spirit lives in you, 519 00:29:06,699 –> 00:29:10,660 if you are walking with him and abiding in him, 520 00:29:10,660 –> 00:29:12,540 loving is something you can do. 521 00:29:12,540 –> 00:29:14,599 So, go out this week and do it. 522 00:29:15,859 –> 00:29:17,800 Stop repeating Satan’s lies 523 00:29:17,800 –> 00:29:21,420 when he tells you that you can’t love. 524 00:29:21,420 –> 00:29:24,180 God tells you that you can, 525 00:29:24,180 –> 00:29:27,540 and by his grace, you will. 526 00:29:28,300 –> 00:29:30,739 So, make it your daily commitment 527 00:29:30,739 –> 00:29:33,479 and intent when you get up in the morning. 528 00:29:33,479 –> 00:29:35,420 Lord, let this be a day 529 00:29:35,420 –> 00:29:38,219 when I seek the good of others, 530 00:29:38,219 –> 00:29:40,979 when I think more about their interest 531 00:29:40,979 –> 00:29:44,500 than I think about my own. 532 00:29:44,500 –> 00:29:48,060 Lord, let me bring the blessing of your patient, 533 00:29:48,060 –> 00:29:51,900 kind love into the lives of others 534 00:29:51,900 –> 00:29:55,060 with whom I interact today. 535 00:29:56,500 –> 00:29:57,280 And then, number five, 536 00:29:57,880 –> 00:30:04,060 get in touch with your own deepest desire. 537 00:30:04,060 –> 00:30:05,180 Here’s a wonderful truth 538 00:30:05,180 –> 00:30:10,959 stated by Peter, in 1 Peter 1, verse 8, 539 00:30:10,959 –> 00:30:14,900 though you have not seen him, 540 00:30:14,900 –> 00:30:16,859 you love him. 541 00:30:16,859 –> 00:30:18,000 And when you are born of God, 542 00:30:18,000 –> 00:30:20,000 you know that is the deepest reality 543 00:30:20,000 –> 00:30:21,500 about you. 544 00:30:21,500 –> 00:30:23,979 You love him. 545 00:30:23,979 –> 00:30:26,000 You really do. 546 00:30:26,439 –> 00:30:31,099 Because you’re born of God. 547 00:30:31,099 –> 00:30:34,500 I’ve been helped here by a comment of Dr. J.I. Packer. 548 00:30:34,500 –> 00:30:37,479 Let me read it to you, he says, 549 00:30:37,479 –> 00:30:41,979 again and again, it appears that Christians 550 00:30:41,979 –> 00:30:47,560 are not sufficiently in touc with themselves, 551 00:30:47,560 –> 00:30:51,020 because they do not know themselves 552 00:30:51,020 –> 00:30:55,119 well enough to realize that because of the way 553 00:30:55,260 –> 00:30:58,420 in which their nature has been changed, 554 00:30:58,420 –> 00:31:04,619 their hearts are now set against all known sin. 555 00:31:04,619 –> 00:31:08,959 Here’s the common problem for Christians, says packer. 556 00:31:08,959 –> 00:31:12,199 We don’t know ourselves well enough. 557 00:31:12,199 –> 00:31:16,880 We don’t realize that because our own hearts 558 00:31:16,880 –> 00:31:19,579 and therefore natures have been changed, 559 00:31:19,579 –> 00:31:21,040 because we’re born of God. 560 00:31:21,040 –> 00:31:23,380 Our hearts at the deepest level 561 00:31:23,640 –> 00:31:29,780 are actually set against all known sin. 562 00:31:29,780 –> 00:31:30,979 Bakker puts it this way, 563 00:31:30,979 –> 00:31:38,660 the degenerate heart, cannot love what it knows God hates. 564 00:31:38,660 –> 00:31:40,520 Can’t do it. 565 00:31:40,520 –> 00:31:43,760 It’s not possible. 566 00:31:43,760 –> 00:31:48,199 Now, Satan wants to dupe you 567 00:31:48,199 –> 00:31:50,040 into believing that what you really want 568 00:31:50,040 –> 00:31:52,040 is to live for yourself. 569 00:31:53,760 –> 00:31:58,640 But if you’re in Christ that is not true. 570 00:31:58,640 –> 00:32:00,280 When you are born of God, 571 00:32:00,280 –> 00:32:03,420 what you really want, at the deepest level, 572 00:32:03,420 –> 00:32:06,819 is to please Him. 573 00:32:06,819 –> 00:32:09,719 It’s to be like Him. 574 00:32:09,719 –> 00:32:12,199 It is to love. 575 00:32:12,199 –> 00:32:18,459 And when you love, you fulfil your own deepest desire. 576 00:32:18,459 –> 00:32:20,900 It’s beautiful. 577 00:32:20,900 –> 00:32:23,280 The last thing is simply this. 578 00:32:23,380 –> 00:32:27,500 Find joy in the great privilege of your calling. 579 00:32:27,500 –> 00:32:30,000 We are called to a life of love, 580 00:32:30,000 –> 00:32:33,439 and what a privilege that is. 581 00:32:33,439 –> 00:32:35,619 Notice verse 12 in this last moment, 582 00:32:35,619 –> 00:32:38,079 No one has ever seen God. 583 00:32:38,079 –> 00:32:43,520 If we love one another God abides in us. 584 00:32:43,520 –> 00:32:48,520 And His love is perfected in us. 585 00:32:48,520 –> 00:32:51,800 We saw earlier what that means, perfected in us is 586 00:32:52,760 –> 00:32:54,579 It fulfills its intended purpose, 587 00:32:54,579 –> 00:32:56,319 which is that it doesn’t end in us, 588 00:32:56,319 –> 00:32:57,439 but it flows through us 589 00:32:57,439 –> 00:33:01,140 and on into the lives of other people in this world. 590 00:33:02,140 –> 00:33:03,400 And you see John’s point. 591 00:33:03,400 –> 00:33:08,400 He says, look, no one has ever seen God. 592 00:33:10,699 –> 00:33:12,040 No one has ever seen Him. 593 00:33:13,459 –> 00:33:17,040 So, how then can God’s love be seen 594 00:33:17,040 –> 00:33:18,859 and known in this world? 595 00:33:19,739 –> 00:33:22,180 And John gives us this amazing answer 596 00:33:22,180 –> 00:33:27,140 that God loves others through us. 597 00:33:28,819 –> 00:33:31,079 And when we love others, 598 00:33:32,319 –> 00:33:37,319 His presence and His love are seen and made known. 599 00:33:41,119 –> 00:33:42,119 Let’s pray together. 600 00:33:49,819 –> 00:33:53,400 May the love of Jesus fill me 601 00:33:54,979 –> 00:33:58,680 as the waters fill the sea. 602 00:34:00,680 –> 00:34:05,680 Him exalting, self-abasing, this is victory. 603 00:34:08,260 –> 00:34:13,260 And may His beauty rest upon me 604 00:34:14,139 –> 00:34:16,939 as I seek the lost to win 605 00:34:17,600 –> 00:34:22,600 and may they forget the channel, seeing only Him. 606 00:34:27,979 –> 00:34:31,500 Father we thank you for your great love, 607 00:34:33,439 –> 00:34:36,719 loving us first, sending your son 608 00:34:38,919 –> 00:34:41,399 and coming to abide in us 609 00:34:41,399 –> 00:34:44,219 by your Holy Spirit. 610 00:34:44,820 –> 00:34:47,320 And may your Holy Spirit 611 00:34:50,239 –> 00:34:52,320 grant that believing 612 00:34:53,959 –> 00:34:55,760 and abiding 613 00:34:57,060 –> 00:35:00,340 we too may love 614 00:35:02,239 –> 00:35:04,260 for these things we ask, 615 00:35:04,260 –> 00:35:06,159 in Jesus name. 616 00:35:07,459 –> 00:35:08,360 Amen. 617 00:35:10,300 –> 00:35:12,959 You’ve been listening to a Sermon with Pastor Colin Smith 618 00:35:13,280 –> 00:35:17,479 When you’re ready for practice call us at 1-877-OPEN-365 619 00:35:17,479 –> 00:35:23,260 or visit our website openthebible.org