“Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” Jude 21 God’s love for us Our love for God

1 John 4:8

Isa. 42:1 “…in whom my soul delights!” John 1:18 “The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. John 5:20 “For the Father loves the Son, and shows him all things that he Himself does.” John 17:24 “…for you loved Me before the foundation of the world,…”

9. "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.” 10 "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.”

And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." “This is my dearly loved Son” BBE

1 John 4:16 “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.”

John 17: “O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. 26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.” “They may share in the love with which thou lovest me” Living Oracles

Romans 5:5 “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Poured out – used in Acts 2:17 to describe the outpouring of the Holy Spirit God has blessed His spiritual children with an abundant amount of love

Romans 8: For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39. nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Some Christians cease to love Christ  Christ will never cease to love them

Rom. 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  Love – Agape = 82 times in N.T.  Selfless love – sacrifice on behalf of others  “Christian Love” 1 Cor. 13:13 “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three: but the greatest of these is love”

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” God loved the world  Not the physical world  God loved the people  God loves the souls of every person. Gave His Son to Save the world from sin

God despises sin, but loves sinners Acts 17:30 “now commandeth all men every where to repent.” 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

God delays the second coming of Christ Not because He is undependable or incapable His love motivates Him to give sinners more time to repent 1 Peter 4:17 “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God” 2 Peter 3:7 “But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”

We must abhor sin Romans 12:9 “Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.”  We must not admire the actions of sinners  But abhor the sin  Love the souls of men Mark 16:15-16 Go Preach B + B = Salvation

John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another”  Command to love our neighbor is not new  Leviticus 19:18 “you shall love your neighbor as yourself”  Commanded to love as God loves us John 13:35 “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

“As love is the highest expression of God and His relation to mankind, so it must be the highest expression of man’s relation to his Maker and to his fellow-man.”

“The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.” Jer. 31:3 John 14:15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”

Sermon by Arthur Pigman Evans Church of Christ 515 Gibbs Road Evans, Ga Sunday Morning November 25, 2012