SOMEBODY, SOMEWHERE, DOES LOVE YOU
Below are notes to a sermon preached Sunday morning, Feb. 14, 1999, at Gospel Light Baptist Church, Albany, Georgia:
SOMEBODY, SOMEWHERE, DOES LOVE YOU
By Michael D. O’Neal……Pastor, Gospel Light Baptist Church……Albany, Georgia
Scripture Reading: Rom. 5:1-8
Text: Romans 5:8
Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Introduction: On Jan. 23, 1999, the diaries of the famous atheist, Madalyn Murray O’Haire, were auctioned off to pay creditors and back taxes. O’Haire, as you all know, is the person responsible for having prayer and Bible reading thrown out of the government schools in this country. Madalyn has been missing since 1995. Within the 2,000 pages of handwritten material, at least a half-dozen times, sometimes set off in a separate box, she pleaded: “Somebody, somewhere, love me.” What a miserable cry! What a sad plea! Such is the emotional turmoil of a man or a woman who foolishly says in his heart, “There is no God.” In spending her life trying to run from God and to exercise her right to AVOID God, Madalyn missed out on the greatest, purest, source of love she could have ever known. You see, God IS love. 1 John 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
I. GOD’S LOVE IS DEMONSTRATED CLEARLY
1 John 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
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.
A. By His Passion on the Cross
B. By His Presence During a Crisis
C. By His Preparation for our Future
II. GOD’S LOVE IS DURABLE
Romans 8:38-39 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 creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
A. Even when we are not attractive before Him
B. Even when we are not affectionate toward Him
C. Even when we are not aware of Him III. GOD’S LOVE IS DECLARED PLAINLY
1 John 4:9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
A. He penned His love for you in the scriptures
* Madalyn Murray O’Haire wrote 2,000 pages of her own dreams, desires, and deeds. At least six times she cried out on those pages, “Somebody, somewhere, love me.”
* God wrote a Book of over 1,000 pages, and from the first chapter of Genesis to the last chapter of Revelation, it is the story of God’s love for sinners.
B. He has proclaimed His love for you through the saints
C. He personalizes His love for you through His Spirit
IV. GOD’S LOVE IS DECLINED BY MANY
John 5:40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
A. Many reject His love’s purity 1. Sinners by nature do not desire a pure love 2. I’ve seen this kind of thing often in human relationships. Sometimes one young person avoids the love of another person because they don’t want a relationship with someone who really loves God.
B. Many reject His love’s plan 1. Christ-rejecting sinners are afraid of the obligations after accepting His love. This is the same reason why some people continue in relationships without being willing to marry.
C. Many reject His love’s pardon