I. The Cause Of Love

1
I. The Cause Of Love

• 1 Jn.47, love is of God has its origin in God
  w/o God, there would be no love
• Anyone who shows love is a child of God.
  Wrong!
• Verse 7 is abbreviated 229 323
• If love is of God, how does an unsaved person
  learn love?
• Mt.546 Jn.1519
• Gospel makes people aware of love

2
1 Jn.48

• God is love expresses His nature
• We learn love by studying God (49-10, 19)
• His children try to reproduce His nature
• God is love is not reversible love is God

3
II. Counterfeit Loves

• Lovers of money
• Lk.1614 (2 Tim. 32) cf. 1 Tim. 69-10
• Desire
• Stray
• Mt.19
• Ac.51-11
• 2 Pt.215
• Pierce

4
2. Lovers of praise, Jn.1241-43

• More anxious to please men than God
• To confess Christ would cost them positions of
  power and honor
• Their belief lacked only confes-sion. 1 Co.126

5
3. Lovers of themselves, 2 Tim.32

• Describes times when self-love becomes openly
  avowed and commended
• They love neither God nor men in comparison with
  themselves
• These care more for their wants than for others
  needs

6
4. Lovers of pleasures more than of God, 2 Tim.34

• Ep.51-2, walk in love as Christ
• Popular cultures love is a deadly fraud
• Ep.53-5, contrasts Christs true love and
  societys false love

7
Societys false love

• Sexual immorality, the most popular substitute
  for true love
• Self-gratification not acting in anothers best
  interest
• Uncleanness, every kind of filth and impurity
• Covetousness, a rival to Christ (2) idolatry (5)

8
Be intolerant!

• Ep.51-2, walk in love as Christ
• Ep.53-5, contrasts Christs true love and
  societys false love
• Ep.56-11, true love is intolerant

9

• We take the position that a Christians sins do
  not damn his soul. The way a Christian lives,
  what he says, his char-acter, his conduct, or his
  attitude toward other people have nothing
  whatever to do with the salvation of his soul.
  all the sins he may commit from idolatry to
  murder will not make his soul in any more
  danger... The way a man lives has nothing
  what-ever to do with the salvation of his soul
  (Sam Morris, First Baptist Church, Samford, TX)

10
Pleasure vs true love

• Ep.51-2, walk in love as Christ
• Ep.53-5, contrasts Christs true love and
  societys false love
• Ep.56-11, true love is intolerant
• Ep.512-14, love of pleasure smothers true love
  (1 Tim.56)

11
5. Lovers of the world, 2 Tim.410

• A friend on death row is dangerous
• 2 Co.112-3
• Paul feared they would be seduced from the truth
• Dont give to worldly things what God alone
  deserves

12
1 Jn.215

• Doesnt say, leave the world, or hate people
  of world
• The worldly person says no to spiritual
  opportunities, yes to temptations
• The godly person says yes to spiritual
  opportunities, no to temptations

13
6. Lovers of preeminence, 3 Jn.9-10

• Diotrephes was a church boss
• We dont know why he rejected Johns writings
• If John comes . . . he will remember

14
Love is the make or break commandment

• The extremes
• a. Some will be lost because they did not love
  enough
• Joab, 2 Sm.209
• b. Some will be lost because they loved too
  much
• True love rejects counterfeits

15
Counterfeit Loves

• Money
• Praise
• Self
• Pleasure
• World
• Preeminence