Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Love God. and everything else. Falls. into place.
First love God, secondly love your neighbor. The most important, love God, verse 29. The second, verse 31, love your neighbor. Welcome to the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Have you ever wondered where love comes from?
Love comes from God. Love is central to who God is. And long before we were in a position to love God, he first loved us. Today, we're considering this question of love and the fundamental commands to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
So continuing our study on next steps in following Jesus, here's Pastor John Monroe. on loving God. Love is one of the most powerful emotions and experiences in all of the world. As human beings made in the image of a loving God, God made us with the capacity to love others. and to receive love.
Unlike our imperfect love, God's love. is perfect. And one of the invariable characteristics of an authentic follower of Jesus Christ. Is a love for God and others. Love is central to the Christian faith.
to love the Lord their God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And to love our neighbor? as ourself. We are to love God, but God first loved us. Today, let's think of this love as we continue in next steps in following Jesus.
My oldest grandson. Alexander John Monroe was just Two minutes old. I was not there for the birth. There are certain things I just don't want to say. But Approximately two minutes after he was born.
I went into the Hospital room here in Pineville. My three grandchildren have all been born there. wonderful uh hospital but they come out speaking with southern accents, so I'm not so sure about that. But I went in and I was handed this little baby boy. And I stood.
And I'm sure some of you have had this experience. I was absolutely overwhelmed. with the love of God. Absolutely overwhelmed. With love.
It's a strange thing, isn't it? Because it's not as if God in his grace only gives us a certain amount of love.
So that as a husband, I can love my wife, I can love my son, I can love my friends, and there's only so much love. Here is a new human being coming into this world that I've never seen before. True, I'd prayed for the birth of that baby for nine months. And now he was here, and as I was holding that little baby, I was overcome by emotion. I could hardly speak as we.
Thank God for this amazing little boy who is now eight years old. And we ask ourselves I'm sure you have. Where does this love come from? I trust you've all experienced this amazing experience of love in the depth of your heart and your soul. And we asked this morning, where does that love come from?
I want to say, without God, there would be no love in this world. Not only does God love, he does. Not only is God loving, he is. The Bible says very clearly and profoundly: God is. Love.
That is, love is central to who God is and what He has done. And in our series, Next Steps in Following Jesus, I want to talk this morning about the love of God, about loving God. One of the deepest desires of the human heart is to be loved by someone. Only the very cynical, only the disillusioned, only the emotionally disturbed reject love. We want to receive love.
We want to give love. Two others. And so, as we think of this subject of loving God, we must begin not with us loving God, but rather with God's love for us. And the essential key to loving God Is to understand the love of God and personally to experience the love. Of God.
The Apostle John, who writes so brilliantly about the love of God, says in one of his letters, We love. because he first loved Us. Let's stand and read the story. about the love of a father. And the love Of God, as Jesus tells this brilliant story in Luke chapter 15, we're going to read together.
the first seven verses. Read with me.
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them.
So he told them this parable. What man of you, having a hundred sheep, If he has lost one of them, does not leave the 99 in the open country and go after the one that is lost until he finds it. And when he is founded, He lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, Rejoice with me. for I found my sheep that was lost.
Just so I tell you. There will be more joy in heaven. Over one sinner who repents, than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. Please be seated. Let me read verses 8 through 10 to you, still in Luke chapter 15.
What woman having ten silver coins? If she loses one coin, Does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it. And when she has found it, She calls together her friends and neighbors saying, Rejoice with me. For I have found the coin that I had lost. Just so I tell you.
There is joy before the angels of God over one sinner. Who repents? Luke 15 is telling us that God in his love. Searches. For the lost.
God in His love searches for the lost. That is, people who are lost matter to God. In Luke chapter 15, there is a lost sheep, there's a lost coin, and there's a lost boy. But even when they are lost, They continue to be of value to the shepherd. To the woman.
And certainly to the Father. One lost sheep represented only one percent loss. If you're in business, you say, Well, I can handle that. That's only 1% loss. I have 99% still there.
But the shepherd did not ride off that one lost sheep. One lost sheep. matters. to the shepherd. One lost coin matters to the woman.
And the father Certainly did not write off his lost son. No, as we're going to see as Jesus continues to teach with these magnificent parables, the Father loves his boy. That lost son, that son who had wandered away from the father, matters to the father. And Jesus is teaching us this profound truth. That lost people Matter to God.
Do you realize that God made you in His image? Therefore, your life is of value to God. Value and meaning in life is found, are found in connecting with God, not going your own way, not shutting God out. But rather to live a life of joy, a life of fulfillment, a life which glorifies God and blesses others, is a life in connection with God and in great love. God searches For the lost.
Don't you like that? Left to ourselves. All of us are disconnected from God. straying like sheep. But as we read this passage, and as I read the second parable, did you notice what happens?
When that shepherd understands that one of his sheep Is lost. What does he do? He searches And searches for that one lost sheep. Verse 4 says, until he finds it. I don't know how long it took, I don't know how far he went.
But Jesus makes it very clear that this shepherd regards that sheep of such value, he's not going to give up until he finds that one lost sheep. He searches and searches until he finds it. The woman Who had ten coins? Certainly knows the value of a sil silver coin. And she searches diligently for that one coin.
Verse eight. Jesus said, doesn't she light a lamp? She sweeps the house, she searches diligently until she finds it. The shepherd. The women are not going to give up.
Until they find that lost sheep, until they find that lost coin. And even when the sun. Is in a far country wasting his father's inheritance, acting in a very self-indulgent, selfish way. The father. Back home never ever stops loving.
His son. I want you to grasp that. Do you realize Whoever you are. Whether you regard yourself as having a living vital relationship with God. or whether you're someone who's confused.
Or someone who has shut out God from your life, do you understand that God loves you? I'm loved by God. You are of value to God. God made you for a purpose. You matter to God, He is your creator.
He put you on this planet earth for a purpose. He has wonderful plans and purposes for your life. And when you wander off, as all of us do, Jesus is saying. That the father continues to search. And he searches until he finds us.
How does he do that? Luke is going to tell us later in his gospel the answer to that. That the father sends his son to seek the lost. God has gone to tremendous lengths, to unbelievable lengths to find you. Luke 19, verse 10, Jesus says, For the Son of Man has come.
to seek And to save The Lost. That's grace, isn't it? Aren't you glad we have a God like that? A God who doesn't write us off, we sometimes write off other people. We get tired of them.
They've disappointed us. We don't like what they do. And we're perhaps self-righteous, and we shut them out. We want nothing to do with them. And even if they dare to darken a church, we say, in a sense, what are they doing here?
They don't belong here. Aren't you glad that God It's never like that. He comes to seek. and to save you. In his love.
God is searching for you. You matter to God, and even when we stray, particularly when we stray, the Father. always loves us. And he is searching for us. And Jesus came not just to seek the lost.
He came to save. The last. How did he do that? by dying on the cross for our sins. Are we who are selfish?
We who are self-intelligent. We who don't want anyone to tell us what to do, Christ comes in great love, searches for us, and provides a way of salvation through His death on the cross, through His burial, through His glorious resurrection. He provides salvation for people like you. And for me.
So I ask you. Are you saved? Saved, you say, what does that mean? It means being saved from your sins. It means being forgiven.
It means being found. It me it means being brought back To be the person that God created us to be, or are you still lost? Yes, I'm asking you. Have you personally received this salvation? Not whether you're in church, you're in church, that's great.
But I'm asking you Have you received personally the love of God in your heart through receiving His Son, who came not only to seek you, but to save you? God, in His love, searches. For the lost. The old hymn says, in tenderness, He sought me. weary and worn with sin, And on his shoulders brought me back to his fold again.
While angels in his presence sang Until the courts of heaven rang. O the blood that sought me. Oh, the grace that brought me. Oh, the love that brought me. to the fold.
Do you realize That one Sinner. Coming to Christ. causes all of heaven to rejoice. Didn't we read that? I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance.
Verse 10, just so I tell you. Jesus is emphasizing the point: there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who. Repent. God in His grace searches. for the loss.
And secondly, God in his love. Welcomes home the lost. Let me read to you. Luke fifteen, verse fourteen, about this young man. Like many a young man, he thought he knew better than his father.
Tired of life on the farm, wanting to live it up, heading for the big city. And so he goes to his father and says, Look, I know when you die, I'm going to get something.
So give me it now. I want to use it now. I want to enjoy life now. And so the father Gives him his inheritance. Verse 14.
And when he, the son, had spent everything. A severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. I wonder how long the father had worked for that inheritance. Think of the hours and hours and hours. An investment of time and energy that the father had put into that inheritance, and now, probably in a few months, it's quickly blown.
But a famine comes. Verse 15.
So this young man went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of the country. who sent him into his fields To feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. And when he came to himself, he said, How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger? I will arise and go to my Father and will say to him, Father, I've sinned against heaven and before you.
I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me, make me as one of your heart. Servants. A boy running away from home. But now Jesus says he stops running.
Eventually the sun stops running. It's good when we stop running away from God, isn't it? Or the son had obtained his inheritance from his father. What was his philosophy? Give me, give me, give me.
Give me what's due to me and... I've got great plans. I've heard about the big city. I'm going to have a great time spending your money, Dad. And so he does.
He goes to the big city, to the faraway country. He's got many friends there. He becomes, as it were, a party animal. Notice. Incidentally, that his father let him go.
Although that son leaving home must have been a dagger in the father's heart, wouldn't it?
Some of your dads, you know what that means. And for a while, the sun's life is absolutely brilliant. You know, the far country is an exciting place to be, the big city. It's a cool place to be. A lot going on.
Very different from home. It's absolutely great, and for a time, the sun has a great time. but only for a while. Famine comes. And the son's economic life and social life abruptly come to an end.
His money, and his friends disappear. It's been well said. In prosperity, our friends know us. In adversity, we know our friends. Have you found that true?
I found that true. In adversity, we know our friends. Adversity comes to this young man in the far country and he finds out he has absolutely no friends. Jesus said, no one gave to him. Where were all the friends then?
Gone. The money had run out. When trying to survive He gets a job looking after pigs. Hardly a A great job for a Jewish boy, is it? Even the pigs are better off than he is.
At least they've got something to eat. But when he's in the gutter something wonderful happens. Did you notice that verse 17? And when he came to him. Self.
He came to his senses. And as he came to his senses, his thoughts turned to Father And home. That's why it's so important. Dads, mums. That we bring up our children in the ways of the Lord.
They may well reject it as this young man did. But what we teach them, what we model Christ to them, will never be forgotten about them by them. And this young man, in crisis, he comes to his senses. And his thoughts turned back to his father and his home. I hope you've come to your senses.
Can I ask you to take a look at yourself today? Take a look at yourself. Take a look at your life. Are you you happy with where you are? Is this what you want out of life?
Take a good look at yourself. This young man did that and he didn't like what he saw. But notice what happens. This young man says in verse eighteen, I will arise and go to my father and will say to him, Father. I have sinned against heaven and before you.
Oh, that's it. I've sent. I've sinned against heaven. First and foremost, his sin was against heaven. Yes, he'd sinned against his father.
But he realizes His father must have taught him well that his greatest sin was not against his father, his greatest sin was that he had sinned against God, he'd sinned against heaven. And I also like this young man, that he does something. that we need to follow. Do you notice he makes no excuses? He makes no rationalizations.
I'm sure we could have conjured up a case for him. Where is his mother? Perhaps his father is a widower. We just don't know. And he might have thought, you know, I missed my mother.
There was no woman in the home. And that elder brother of mine. What a cold, legalistic fish he is. And the father, he's so involved in his work, he didn't have time for me. He could hardly take me to McDonald's for breakfast.
This man is just terrible. Yes, it's always possible. To point the finger at others, isn't it? And sometimes there's some truth in it. Who has a perfect father?
Who has a perfect mother? Who has perfect siblings? Who comes from a perfect home? Who has never been treated unjustly in life? Yes, there are always reasons, there are always rationalizations, but this man, this young man, we have to say this about him.
He doesn't do that. He's a broken young man. He knows he has sinned, and his running and his rebellion and his self-centeredness and his self-indulgence now are coming to an end. And he's saying to him, What a fool I've been. Here I am.
But even the servants in my father's house. are better off than I am. What does verse eighteen say? I will arise and go. to my father.
That was smart. The biblical word for that is Repentance. With the parable of the Son, we learn that we must repent. If we are going to receive Salvation. This is the verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe.
There's still more to hear when John returns in just a moment, so stay with us. From matters of truth and identity, to the subjects of love and grace, our world seems more confused than ever. but to find truth and certainty about who we are and find peace, we must turn our attention away from the world and look to the Word of God. To help you do that, John wrote a booklet titled Eternal Security, Finding Certainty in a Chaotic World. Through this special resource John shares his personal testimony, along with a careful examination of Scripture, to offer us clarity on matters of eternity.
Get your copy today by visiting our website at the verdict. org. While you're there, consider making an investment in this Bible teaching ministry. Whether it's $5, $50, or more, your gift today helps cover the cost of sharing these gospel messages to listeners around the world. And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to the Verdict Podcast, featuring John's weekly podcast exclusive called Avizandam.
It's available wherever you get your podcasts, or simply go to our website. Again, that's theverdict.org. The verdict is a ministry of Calvary Church in South Charlotte. We're located on the corner of Highway 51 and Ray Road. If you've been looking for a church home or a community to help you grow in your walk with Christ, We invite you to join us for our Sunday services.
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Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? Have you received the love of God? For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. Perhaps you're like the young man in this parable. Up until now, you've preferred to live your own life far away from God, but God loves you.
Today, repent of your sin and ask Jesus to forgive you. Yes, God loves you. And because he loves you, he's made a way for you to have a relationship with him.
Next time we continue with this all-important subject, of the love of God. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
