Sermon - Can You Say I Love You

Can you say, “I love you”? I’m not just talking about the random, lack of meaning, “I love you.” JOH 13:35 BY THIS ALL MEN WILL KNOW THAT YOU ARE MY DISCIPLES, IF YOU LOVE ONE ANOTHER." Not by the Christian T-Shirt, not with the carrying around the Bible, not with the necklaces or the fancy scripture talk or your attendance at church. People will know what you label yourself as by these things. But everyone will know who you are a student of when you unconditionally love one another. We can’t lose the grace thing. JOH 8:1 ¶ BUT JESUS WENT TO THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. 2 AT DAWN HE APPEARED AGAIN IN THE TEMPLE COURTS, WHERE ALL THE PEOPLE GATHERED ROUND HIM, AND HE SAT DOWN TO TEACH THEM. 3 THE TEACHERS OF THE LAW AND THE PHARISEES BROUGHT IN A WOMAN CAUGHT IN ADULTERY. THEY MADE HER STAND BEFORE THE GROUP

4 AND SAID TO JESUS, "TEACHER, THIS WOMAN WAS CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF ADULTERY. 5 IN THE LAW MOSES COMMANDED US TO STONE SUCH WOMEN. NOW WHAT DO YOU SAY?" 6 THEY WERE USING THIS QUESTION AS A TRAP, IN ORDER TO HAVE A BASIS FOR ACCUSING HIM. BUT JESUS BENT DOWN AND STARTED TO WRITE ON THE GROUND WITH HIS FINGER. 7 WHEN THEY KEPT ON QUESTIONING HIM, HE STRAIGHTENED UP AND SAID TO THEM, "IF ANY ONE OF YOU IS WITHOUT SIN, LET HIM BE THE FIRST TO THROW A STONE AT HER." 8 AGAIN HE STOOPED DOWN AND WROTE ON THE GROUND. 9 AT THIS, THOSE WHO HEARD BEGAN TO GO AWAY ONE AT A TIME, THE OLDER ONES FIRST, UNTIL ONLY JESUS WAS LEFT, WITH THE WOMAN STILL STANDING THERE. 10 JESUS STRAIGHTENED UP AND ASKED HER, "WOMAN, WHERE ARE THEY? HAS NO-ONE CONDEMNED YOU?" 11 "NO-ONE, SIR," SHE SAID. "THEN NEITHER DO I CONDEMN YOU," JESUS DECLARED. "GO NOW AND LEAVE YOUR LIFE OF SIN." I see three different people in this passage. There are the Teachers of the Law, the Woman and Jesus. If you’re saved in this room, then you’ve been the Woman. She has nothing left. And she’s kneeling before the judgment seat pleading for mercy. She’s got no hope but Jesus. Everything else, everyone else will reject her. And she’s pleading for grace. Who’s Jesus? Jesus is the grace giver. He makes the paupers princes. He makes the petty princesses. He takes the lowly and redeems them. He’s the One who forgives sins.

After a situation like that, your spirit rejoices but your heart remains bowed down knowing you’re indebted to the Forgiver. What happens, sadly, is that we tend to let our hearts rise up from that bowed position and sit in the judgment seat. LU 7:41 "TWO MEN OWED MONEY TO A CERTAIN MONEY-LENDER. ONE OWED HIM FIVE HUNDRED DENARII, AND THE OTHER FIFTY. 42 NEITHER OF THEM HAD THE MONEY TO PAY HIM BACK, SO HE CANCELLED THE DEBTS OF BOTH. NOW WHICH OF THEM WILL LOVE HIM MORE?" 43 SIMON REPLIED, "I SUPPOSE THE ONE WHO HAD THE BIGGER DEBT CANCELLED." "YOU HAVE JUDGED CORRECTLY," JESUS SAID. 44 THEN HE TURNED TOWARDS THE WOMAN AND SAID TO SIMON, "DO YOU SEE THIS WOMAN? I CAME INTO YOUR HOUSE. YOU DID NOT GIVE ME ANY WATER FOR MY FEET, BUT SHE WET MY FEET WITH HER TEARS AND WIPED THEM WITH HER HAIR. 45 YOU DID NOT GIVE ME A KISS, BUT THIS WOMAN, FROM THE TIME I ENTERED, HAS NOT STOPPED KISSING MY FEET. 46 YOU DID NOT PUT OIL ON MY HEAD, BUT SHE HAS POURED PERFUME ON MY FEET. 47 THEREFORE, I TELL YOU, HER MANY SINS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN-- FOR SHE LOVED MUCH. BUT HE WHO HAS BEEN FORGIVEN LITTLE LOVES LITTLE." It’s a picture of the teachers of the law. They haven’t been forgiven much, or rather, they forgot how much they’ve been forgiven. We can’t lose the grace. We can’t lose it for two reasons. 1. It is what set Jesus apart. JOH 3:17 FOR GOD DID NOT SEND HIS SON INTO THE WORLD TO CONDEMN THE WORLD, BUT TO SAVE THE WORLD THROUGH HIM. That’s His trademark. He was sent to save not condemn. If we are truly His students, we will do the same; save not condemn. That’s where His power is. If we judge or condemn, we are like the teachers of the law. What did the people say about the teachers of the law? MT 7:28 WHEN JESUS HAD FINISHED SAYING THESE THINGS, THE CROWDS WERE AMAZED AT HIS TEACHING, 29 BECAUSE HE TAUGHT AS ONE WHO HAD AUTHORITY, AND NOT AS THEIR TEACHERS OF THE LAW.

2. Because we have been forgiven, we are obligated to forgive others. Is there anyone in your life that deserves forgiveness?

No, there are tons of people in our lives that have hurt us, abused us and broke us down and they don’t deserve forgiveness at all. But we didn’t either. There are heavy consequences to those who withhold forgiveness to people who don’t deserve it. JOH 20:23 IF YOU FORGIVE ANYONE HIS SINS, THEY ARE FORGIVEN; IF YOU DO NOT FORGIVE THEM, THEY ARE NOT FORGIVEN." The devil has no power except what we give Him. EPHESIANS 4:27 DO NOT GIVE THE DEVIL A FOOTHOLD. GE 1:28 GOD BLESSED THEM AND SAID TO THEM, "BE FRUITFUL AND INCREASE IN NUMBER; FILL THE EARTH AND SUBDUE IT. RULE OVER THE FISH OF THE SEA AND THE BIRDS OF THE AIR AND OVER EVERY LIVING CREATURE THAT MOVES ON THE GROUND." God gave us dominion, stewardship over the earth. That includes the devil. If he has no foothold on you, he has no power over you. This means that the devil can be totally put at bay in your life if you leave no foothold for him to stand on. It doesn’t mean that you won’t go through trials. However, if you face those trials with your eyes on the Lord and not give the enemy any chance to move in, your trial will be a testimony of God’s sustaining power in your life. Iraq for Damien. In light of this truth, our unforgiveness, judgments or unwillingness to be open with people who are different, give the enemy a foothold in our lives to inflict us with bitterness, pride and overall refusing to let God be God in situations in our lives. We give the devil the reigns. We choose to disobey and we say, “Here devil, take the wheel while I’m doing my thing.” We never steer our own course, we either let one of two people do it: God or the devil. But more than that. Sign… parents who smoke have children who smoke; subjecting our children to abuse indirectly.

When we give the enemy a foothold in our life by our sin, we subject others to that same type of treatment. The enemy is here sitting among us because some of us has let him here by the footholds in our life. I think one of our problems isn’t that we believe that we need to forgive. Our problem is that whatever separates us from showing love to certain people is too big. My hurts, someone’s actions, my judgments are so huge and consuming in my mind we can’t fathom setting them aside to truly say I love you. Either we can’t get past these faults or if we tried, they would continue to come up and plague us, causing us to love only partially. Our solution: A Big God LU 8:22 ¶ ONE DAY JESUS SAID TO HIS DISCIPLES, "LET'S GO OVER TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE LAKE." SO THEY GOT INTO A BOAT AND SET OUT. 23 AS THEY SAILED, HE FELL ASLEEP. A SQUALL CAME DOWN ON THE LAKE, SO THAT THE BOAT WAS BEING SWAMPED, AND THEY WERE IN GREAT DANGER. 24 THE DISCIPLES WENT AND WOKE HIM, SAYING, "MASTER, MASTER, WE'RE GOING TO DROWN!" HE GOT UP AND REBUKED THE WIND AND THE RAGING WATERS; THE STORM SUBSIDED, AND ALL WAS CALM. 25 "WHERE IS YOUR FAITH?" HE ASKED HIS DISCIPLES. IN FEAR AND AMAZEMENT THEY ASKED ONE ANOTHER, "WHO IS THIS? HE COMMANDS EVEN THE WINDS AND THE WATER, AND THEY OBEY HIM." When you read the whole passage you might be thinking, “Didn’t they know? They had Jesus in the boat. Why were they scared? Of course He can calm the storm” My response to that is our perspective is very different when we’re in the storm. Isn’t that true? Here’s another storm experience. MT 14:25 DURING THE FOURTH WATCH OF THE NIGHT JESUS WENT OUT TO THEM, WALKING ON THE LAKE. 26 WHEN THE DISCIPLES SAW HIM WALKING ON THE LAKE, THEY WERE TERRIFIED. "IT'S A GHOST," THEY SAID, AND CRIED OUT IN FEAR. 27 BUT JESUS IMMEDIATELY SAID TO THEM: "TAKE COURAGE! IT IS I. DON'T BE AFRAID." 28 "LORD, IF IT'S YOU," PETER REPLIED, "TELL ME TO COME TO YOU ON THE WATER." 29 "COME," HE SAID. THEN PETER GOT DOWN OUT OF THE BOAT, WALKED ON THE WATER AND CAME TOWARDS JESUS. 30 BUT WHEN HE SAW THE WIND, HE WAS AFRAID AND, BEGINNING TO SINK, CRIED OUT, "LORD, SAVE ME!" 31 IMMEDIATELY JESUS REACHED OUT HIS HAND AND CAUGHT HIM. "YOU OF LITTLE FAITH," HE SAID, "WHY DID YOU DOUBT?"

Jesus is not the only person who walked on water. It’s important to know that. Not only are impossible things possible when your eyes are on Jesus, but when we’re focusing on Him there is a supernatural confidence. Peter was a fisherman. He knew the physics of water. He knew that the surface of the water does not hold the body weight of a man. Yet still he walked out there. Why? Because in that moment, God was bigger than anything he knew. But what happened? He took his eyes off of Jesus and onto the waves. Then, and only then, did he begin to sink. What’s the principle here? We elevate and empower whatever we focus on. And whatever that thing is has the ability to dominate our situation. It’s the principle that was brought up last week. When we focus on God, God is huge. He fills the sky, His power makes every problem, every struggle seem 2 inches tall. When we focus on our problems, our problems our huge. They fill the sky, and they make God seem 2 inches tall. When it comes to problems in general that seem to overwhelm us, make God bigger than your problems. You might ask, “How do you do that?” Get to a place, set aside ample time in your day to worship, pray and read. If you’re too busy to spend time with God, then you’re too busy. To say you’re “Too Busy” is just an excuse to really say, He’s not a priority in your life. Let’s be honest we make time for the things we think are important. And apparently we’re not too busy to be have our problems consume our thought life, why not change the channel and focus on the Lord, and to make that happen, it takes practice. When it comes to our unconditional love for one another, God has always been the answer. Make God bigger than your grievances against someone else. In the midst of your love for Jesus, love other people. In light of your worship to Him, treasure others. Be willing to clear the account, to wipe the record clean with someone because in your worship to Jesus, you know He did the same for you. That’s what true forgiveness means. You release them from any past wrongs and therefore have nothing to hold against them.