Love In Action1 John 3:17-24

I Love You?

How do you know for sure?

There is much more to love than saying the words.

Love is proven genuine by actions.

My Riches and My Love

•1 John 3:17-18 -- If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

How Rich Am I?Are we rich?

•As compared to other Americans?

•As compared to most of the rest of the world?

•Do we have possessions?

Are They Poor?

•What degree of poverty is John addressing? What is true NEED?

The Role of Pity in Righteousness

•Know pity, know love.•No pity, no love.

•Isaiah 58:7 -- Is it not to share your food with the hungry    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them,    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

1 Timothy 6:8

•“But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.”

•Do we have “talky” love? Or “active” love?

Testing Our Grasp Of The Truth

•Vs. 19-22 -- This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.

•We can KNOW that we belong to the truth

•Does our heart condemn us as we stand before God?

•Does our grasp of pity and love reflect our understanding of Jesus?

The heart of confidence is a heart of active love.

•God reassures the loving, giving heart.

•God answers prayers for those who are actively loving and keeping His commands.

Faith, love and obedience

Vs. 23-24 -- And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

Commands And Promises

•We are commanded to believe in the NAME of Jesus.

•We are commanded to love one another.

•We are promised the reassurance of the Holy Spirit of God.