Love as He loved Us

are you guys having a good morning so far

just making sure my mic's active oh those songs today were very

moving very touching let's pray lord we just thank

you and praise you today Lord for your word for your promises kept your promises to come lord help us to realize

that everything you did was for us not because we did anything great but

because you Lord loved us first and Lord we just ask

you to bring that to mind as we go through your word today and take a look at the things that that you have laid

out for us and we give you we are careful to give you all the praise and all the glory in Jesus' name

so last week we talked about the good

shepherd and I don't know if you guys realize this or not but in the Gospel of

John the good shepherd comes right before Holy Week

that happened just that was the final thing that happened prior to

Jesus's triumphal entry other than he made and it's really

important go to the next slide Chris so Jesus is love how many of you believe

that Jesus is love okay that word

love has a lot of different um meanings It had a lot of

different it it conveys different things to different people but when we're talking about

God's love go to the next slide Chris we're talking about a word in

Greek and it's okay the word is

agapeo it means love um and it's reconnecting don't worry

we'll get you there the word is agapeo in Greek and that word literally translates as love but the love that we

want to look at today is agape it's also pronounced agapee it's a

Greek word and it translates literally as

benevolence or affection that's unconditional you ever been loved unconditionally by another human being

i would say the answer is probably no human beings do not give love without

getting something in return okay that's conditional love that's for all of

us everybody's guilty of it none of us are not but Jesus's love

for us is unconditional

john 3:16 this is probably the first verse every single person who ever gets saved learns for God so what loved the

world and that word is agape god loved us so much and

unconditionally that he came and died in our place john 13 John 14 John 15 they are all

when you read love as it's written there it's all agape it is unconditional paul

talked about it in 1 Corinthians um 13 what they called the love chapter

he said "Love seeks not after its own." It's and all of these things and we have

a hard time with that because love from mankind is reciprocal how many of you

have heard that word recently reciprocal it is if you love me I'll

love you if you hate me I'll hate you but you go back into what Jesus said in

his teachings it was those that hate you love them and pray for them and for us

that's a completely foreign thing we don't understand it it doesn't make sense to us why would I

love somebody who actually hated me you know and u brother Tim was

talking this morning and and I said what I said about my dad which was a true

statement it did not change the fact he was still my dad and I still loved him i just hated the things he did

but all my life I would tell you I loved my mom and dad and I did i just hated the things they

did we have to learn how to love people the way Christ loved us we don't have a

problem extending that kind of love to a stranger that we're trying to witness

Jesus to we'll say "I'm going to go i'm going to tell this person about Jesus i'm going to do the best that I can

possibly do i'm going to try to let the word of God flow out of me into somebody else's life and we do

it but when it comes to people we

know and they don't love us we have a hard time reciprocating love

back and we shouldn't go to the next slide Chris so God's love

for us isn't based on anything you did or I did it is not

based on any actions taken by us

god's love is totally based on God's actions towards us because he came and

died in our place without us asking him to he did it he made that

choice and it's one of the things that we have to share with other

people that that there's nothing you can do as a human being to ever be good enough for the

gift of salvation nothing but God did it

anyway because he wants to spend eternity with his

creation and to do that he had to rescue them from their own stupid

foolishness brought about by Adam do you know if Adam had said

no to Eve none of us would be having this conversation right

now if Adam had said "No Eve I'm not doing this because God said not to

we wouldn't be having this conversation right now and I'm not saying that to blame

women i blame Adam because Adam didn't say

no but if he had have none of us would be having this

conversation stop think about that and you know what god knew he was

going to he was going to do that god knew when he put the rule in place that Adam was not going to say no to Eve he

was going to say yes to Eve and no to God because he already had the plan in

place after he after he created man he already had the plan in

place you ever made plans put things in place in case something happened in the

future you'd know what you were going to do god did the same thing

go to the next slide Chris so we're going to take a look at two

things in scripture today that shows how Jesus

as Jesus Christ in person demonstrated his true love for mankind the first one

is Lazarus that's in John 11 now I want you to keep something in mind after Jesus

had the conversation with the scribes and Pharisees and the other people were there in John chapter 10 about the good

shepherd about himself about all the things he said they got so angry at him

they were ready to kill him they tried to take him prisoner and he fled and guess where

he went have you ever read this story he went back to the place where his

ministry began beyond the Jordan where John was

baptizing that's where he went with his disciples and he stayed

there until they found him and then he took off from there and he went to another place in the wilderness called

Ephraim and he stayed there and this is where we're coming into this part about

Lazarus until someone sent by Mary and Martha to go find Jesus and tell him

that his friend Lazarus was

sick and Jesus when they told Jesus he said "Okay he's sick."

And when you read through chapter 11 he stayed there two more days before he decided to depart so he's two days he's

two days journey from the city of Bethany which is

where Lazarus and Mary and Martha

lived and it's a mile and 78 outside of

Jerusalem you could walk from Bethany to Jerusalem in 30 minutes but he was two days journey away and he

waited two days and then he came and how many of you know this story what

happened when he got there lazarus was dead but yet Jesus told them

"He's not dead he's only asleep." And they couldn't understand "Well if he's only asleep why are we going?" And he

told them "Well because he's dead."

When he gets there he's confronted by Lazarus's sisters they both tell him the same

thing if you had only come he wouldn't be

dead and Jesus's response to him is "Where have you laid him?" Now I want

you to think about something i don't know how much you know about Jewish traditions and Jewish burial rights and

those kind of things they don't inbalm bodies in other words they don't they

don't put them into a funeral home where you can go view the body in fact by

their law they have to bury them within 24 hours because they don't

embomb so Lazarus has been in the in the tomb for

4 days and what happens to a

body that's not been inbalmed and it's laying there dead for

4 days it stinks it starts decomposing if you've ever

smelt a dead human body it's something you will never ever forget especially

one that has began to decompose it's nasty take my word for it i've smelled it before i It's You cannot get rid of

the smell it stays with you for the rest of your life even just thinking about it

you can smell it and they said "He's been in the grave 4 days he already

stinks." And what does Jesus say roll the stone away roll back the

stone and then Jesus calls Lazarus from the grave and he doesn't you know say

"Lazarus come forth." He says "Lazarus come forth." And Lazarus starts jump

hopping as he comes out of the tomb cuz he's wrapped up in linens he's got a

napkin over his face and he says "Loose him and set him

free." Guess what when you accept Jesus as Lord and Savior that's the same thing

he tells Satan "Loose him and set him free." That's mine

loose him and set him free how many of you liked what we were talking about and I was talking about that crazy

Mississippi squirrel you ever heard that song by Ray

Stevens oh Lord something's got a hold on me well you know you need something to get a hold of you you need something

to shake you up because most of the time people come

to church and they aren't even excited about being in God's house the one place you should absolutely be

excited about being every week more so than any other place you could possibly go and why because there's life

here yet we fall into this

trap of we come to church and we sit there like this saying "Okay move

me." You know that song I will not be moved that's not what it

means okay when you say I will not be moved

you mean I will not be moved out of the presence of

God so when you sing I shall not be I shall not be

moved you're not saying I'm going to go to church and sit like a lump on a log

i'm not going to be moved away from Christ who saved

me and sometimes we forget

that we forget just exactly what Christ

did for us now if you haven't figured this out

yet in the Gospel of

John starting at verse 12 or actually chapter 12 chapter

13 every from chapter 13 through chapter 17 all takes place on the same

day in the upper room where Jesus instituted

communion all four chapters Jesus teaching his

disciples because when you get in to chapter 18 they've taken him captive they've

brought him before Pilot they brought him before Herod they brought him before this Sanhedrin court they're preparing

for what's coming and today today is Palm Sunday

Right how many of you sing that song

Hosanna today's the day they sang hosana today's the day they announced him as

king and verified his

death because when he came in and the people threw palm frrons down on the

ground and they screamed "Hosana hosana the king has come!" You know what happened the

Pharisees the priests the Sadducees the scribes said "We got to put a stop to

this or Rome is going to destroy us because we just declared these people just declared that he's their king and

we have no other king besides Caesar

complete denial of who Jesus was stop and think about

it what did Jesus say if you deny me before I will deny you before my father

in heaven he said but if I be lifted up I'll all men unto me and these people he

warned repeatedly warned them of what was coming what was going to happen

totally ignored the message because of

fear they were [Applause] afraid of what Rome was going to do to

them they were looking for a deliverer but they were looking for the

wrong one the deliverer they needed delivered their soul they were looking for a

deliverer that's what the word Messiah means they were looking for a deliverer to deliver them out from underneath

Roman rule and we forget

that we forget the role that Jesus played we forget the importance of his

coming wasn't about being set free from the world's governments it was about

being set free from the curse of sin that Adam brought upon

us that and only that was the reason he

came when he comes back he's coming back as the king of kings the lord of lords

but he came the first time as the savior of

mankind to give us

deliverance from the powers of Satan which he has plainly told you you have

all power over all the powers of the enemy he plainly tells you that right here in John he said "All these things I've done

and so will you and even greater things for I go unto my father to prepare a place for

you." Miracles are not supposed to be the subject of of a uh what do they call

them stupid newspapers you know a tabloid it's not a tabloid event miracles should be happen

on a regular basis you should have enough confidence in the amount amount of God that you

have to walk up and pray for something someone and be confident God heard your

prayer and acted on it how many times have you went to pray

somebody said "Please pray for me." And you went to pray for them you weren't really sure what to pray or how to pray

and you weren't even sure whether or not they were actually going to get an answer to the prayer remember God only answers prayers three ways he either

says yes no or not right now that is the only way God answers prayers yes no or

not right now now if he gives you a not right now that means there's growth

coming if he says

no it's because it's bad for you and you can't see it and if he says

yes it's because you're in line with what he wants for you and he gives it to you freely he only answers prayers three

ways yes no or not right now and we need to become comfortable

with that how how many of you have ever seen a

toddler that you told

Mo and they threw a a screaming fit laid on their back stomped their feet slapped

their hands on the floor and screamed and cried because you told them no

god treats God allows us to have temper tantrums when he says

no and he waits he waits and he does the same

thing I do with my grandsons are you done

now and I'm that I'm that straight with my grandsons they throw a fit i let them

throw their fit one time I was taking them to the airport it was going down the 405 we were going down to LAX right

and uh my youngest grandson needed to use the bathroom but traffic was so backed up there was no way to get off

the 405 so I did the dad thing i handed him a

bottle there he goes and he just throws a fit right we hadn't moved in 5 minutes

literally on the 405 the car sitting there 5 minutes we hadn't moved I got to

go pee I said use the bottle he starts crying you know big alligator tears

running down his face and uh I waited I let him throw his fit I said are you

done now and he goes you're mean grandpa I

said did you pee in the bottom well yeah I wasn't going to pee in my pants and I said okay no harm's

God does that with us we don't get our way and we throw a

fit god just says "Okay let me know when you're

done." Then you come back and say "Okay Lord i'm I'm sorry." He says "Okay."

Changes our diaper says "Now let's go do what I asked you to do."

always based in love he loves you so

unconditionally that he's going to allow you to bump your

head now I want you to think about this other scripture washing the disciples feet you

ever read that jesus said he said "The son of the son of God didn't come to be

served but to serve." And I want you to think about this this

happened the night he was betrayed all 12 disciples were with him

he washed Lazarus's feet before Lazarus betrayed him

he washed Lazarus's feet before Lazarus betrayed him he

shared communion with Lazarus before Lazarus betrayed

him and after that then he told Lazarus "Go do what you need to do."

And at that point he began to teach his disciples what's in John 13:14

1516 into John 17

knowing

knowing Judas was going to betray him that night yet Jesus still washed his

feet if you knew somebody was going to betray you unto

death and you had an opportunity to serve them fried chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy and

biscuits are you going to put cockroaches in it knowing they're about to kill you

they're going to have you're going to die and what did Jesus

do he washed his feet agape love he loved

Judas even though he knew what Jesus was about what Judas was about to do to

him he loved him and washed his

feet would you wash your enemy's

feet probably not yet Jesus after he washed their

feet he to turned to them and said "I I am your

master but I washed your feet now wash each other's feet

because nobody rise above the head and Jesus is the head and

if Jesus washed feet he washed a betrayer's

feet can we do no less this is the time we live

in people are totally focused on

themselves this is the biggest me generation that has ever

existed everything when you talk to people is about what does it benefit

me never asking you how can I help you

it's the MI generation it's all about what they can do what they can get what they can

have and they act like the toddler when you tell them

no well no I'm not going to give you anything well I'm entitled to

it you should see how I react when somebody uses that word with me it's not

nice and I told you guys I'm not nice i'm kind and I care and I love people but

I'm not nice i'm kind and when they pull that entitlement on me I just looked at

him and I go "What makes you believe that belongs to

you or what makes you believe that I owe you that i don't owe you

nothing." But you owe Jesus

everything and not a single one of us would be sitting in this church right

now if it hadn't been for what took place starting with Palm Sunday do you

realize Palm Sunday that's that's the beginning of Passover it's actually Passover started last night at d at

dusk and in Jewish the word's not Passover it's Pac but

anyway that's when it started for the Jews we celebrate Palm Sunday as the

triumphal entry of Jesus but actually it's celebrating the final six

days from the end of his ministry to his

resurrection because three of those days he was in the grave so if you got that

if you got your mind locked around that you realize that everything that happened in John 13 14

15 16 17 happened in one

evening and prior to that one evening when they celebrated the Passover meal it's the

feast of unleavened bread is what it is prior to that there was three days Jesus

was in Jerusalem they were looking for him you know what they said you can read it for yourself what they said was

this well we're going to take him and kill him but should we kill Lazarus

too because he's a witness to the resurrection power of

Jesus he raised him from the dead do we want to let that witness be free to run

around and tell people about this Jesus we're about to kill should we kill him

too what makes you any better than Lazarus because Jesus resurrected you

too you're born again you've been resurrected

we have to do the same thing that Jesus told his

disciples we have to be his

witnesses to the uttermost part of the earth because that's the mandate that's

what he called us to do and if we're not doing it we're not

doing what he said we're not being obedient to

him we like to sacrifice if we don't have to be obedient and he says it's better to obey

than it is to sacrifice but a sacrifice of praise and

a sacrifice of obedience opens the doors for those blessings that brother Tim was talking

about this morning to begin to flow into your life as I said

earlier you have the power to turn it on you have the power to turn it off what

you do determines what flows and when your priorities are

correct when they line up to God's word when your priorities line up to what

Jesus said guess what happens

matthew 6 and33 that's what happens seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness

and all these things shall be added unto you when you put your priorities in

order that does not mean that the enemy doesn't come against you but he tells

you about that too he says "No weapon formed against you shall prosper."

He says when the enemy comes in like a flood that he will raise up a standard against him those are all promises to

you these are things that you can put in your heart and hide them there because

you're going to need them you are going to need them if you go through life and Satan never attacks

you you are the problem not

God because Satan doesn't attack those he has he only attacks those that stand

against him and when you make that stand he's coming against

you and he doesn't play fair i told you guys I don't fight fair i fight to win

okay i had this guy who used to work for my dad he he was he didn't like me very

much at the time i weighed roughly 200 lb i was all muscle um and I move things

around he tells my dad one day he goes "Man," he goes "I don't like that John."

And my dad says "Okay well he nothing says you have to." He said "Well I think

I'm going to whoop him." My dad says "You better pack lunch." And he goes "Why is that?" He

goes "You know his brother Eddie and me we'd stand there and fight you toe to toe we would go you know toe to toe." He

goes "I'm telling you right now he won't do that he's going to hurt you and you

will go to the hospital because he doesn't fight fair he fights to win and

he doesn't care how many rules get broken in that fight he's coming out with as few or no scratches as he

can he says "You're going to get [Music]

brutalized." The next day I go to my dad's and I'm there and he actually

asked me that question he asked me "What would you do if I took a swing at you?" I said "His name is Andy." I said "Andy

I wouldn't do that if I were you." And he says "Why is that?" I said "My brother or my dad might swing back

on you they might stand there in fist fight with you." I said "But I'm going to send you to the hospital with as many

broken bones as I can break." And he goes "That's what your

dad said." And I said "He didn't lie to you so if you're feeling froggy go ahead and

jump we never had a fight that was the end of it cuz I told him the truth i don't

fight fair and I definitely don't fight fair when it comes to the enemy and you

shouldn't either you need to have every weapon you have in place just like Jesus

said to use them he gave you all power over the powers of the enemy for a

reason and that reason is so you don't live a devi a defeated

life so when you're singing hosana today all glory to the king he is that

he is the king of kings he is the lord of lords he deserves our hosana he

deserves our praise and worship he deserves our love because he loved us first for us it's reciprocal for him

it's it's not for him it's

not because he loved us first it's unconditional on his part even people

you know out there that are dying and going to hell he loves them still

that's a hard pill to swallow sometimes because we all know that one guy that or

lady that's completely unlovable bitter angry nasty to be

around that Jesus still loves and if you can't go around them

pray there's someone that can if you can't be the witness pray for

a witness to cross their path are you with me on

that it's the most reasonable thing that we can do considering what Jesus did for

us so I want you to

uh keep that in mind today

jesus washed the betrayer's feet jesus shared communion with the

betrayer jesus still loved the betrayer even after he betrayed him he

still loved him and he loved everyone who put him to

death because as he was hanging on the cross one of the final things he said

was "Forgive them Father for they know not what they do even unto

death he loved us." So I'm going to ask you we're going

to pray i am going to open the altar here in a few minutes

but as we stand here or sit as however we're able and we

begin to enter into an a time of praise and worship with God ask God to examine

your heart to point out within you things that you need to fix and then trust

him to fix them because he will heavenly Father we

just thank you and praise you Lord God your word says that with you all things are

possible and God there's so many things that we face from day to day week to week year to year all of them can be

overcome but a lot of times we get overcome because we forget that you are

above and beyond anything that we're experiencing and if we can put our focus on you

instead of what we're facing that we can have the

freedom that you promised he said "He whom the son is set free is free indeed." And we want to

trust and believe you for that Lord and we thank you and praise you in Jesus name amen chris go ahead and