Sermon by Pastor Dr Ng Swee Ming on 29 July 2012 @ SSMC

1. Amy
Born 16 December 1867

2. 4 Golden Globe
Awards for
i. Best Actress -
Drama Film,
ii. Best Director -Film,
iii. Best Screenplay -
Motion Picture,
iv. Best Drama Film
1 Academy Award for
Original Music Score

4. 1 John 3:11-24
11 This is the message you heard from the
beginning: We should love one another.
12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil
one and murdered his brother. And why did he
murder him? Because his own actions were evil
and his brother's were righteous.
13 Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world
hates you.
14 We know that we have passed from death to
life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who
does not love remains in death.

5. 1 John 3:11-24
15 Anyone who hates his brother is a
murderer, and you know that no murderer
has eternal life in him.
16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus
Christ laid down his life for us. And we
ought to lay down our lives for our
brothers.
17 If anyone has material possessions and
sees his brother in need but has no pity on
him, how can the love of God be in him?
18 Dear children, let us not love with words
or tongue but with actions and in truth.

6. 1 John 3:11-24
19 This then is how we know that we
belong to the truth, and how we set our
hearts at rest in his presence
20 whenever our hearts condemn us. For
God is greater than our hearts, and he
knows everything.
21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not
condemn us, we have confidence before
God
22 and receive from him anything we ask,
because we obey his commands and do
what pleases him.

7. 1 John 3:11-24
23 And this is his command: to believe in
the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and
to love one another as he commanded
us.
24 Those who obey his commands live 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.

8. 1 John : Summary
3 L’s of 1 John
God is ...
LIGHT (6)
LOVE (46)
LIFE (18)

9. 1 John - Recap
God is LIGHT
1 John 1:5 “God is light”
Light is a symbol of Purity / Holiness
Light also Reveals ....
–our true self “Knowing & Making Known”
–the ways of the world “The Christian and
the World”
–false teachers and teachings : “Do Not
Drink the Kool Aid”

10. 1 John 4:7-5:3
God is LOVE
• 1 John 4:8, 16 “God is love”
 What does that mean ??
 God = Love OR Love = God ??

11. Strangers
Heartbreak
Friends
Boyfriend/ Best Friends
Girlfriend
‘In Love’

12. 1 John 4:7-5:3
God is LOVE
• 1 John 4:8, 16 “God is love”
 What does that mean ??
 God = Love OR Love = God ??
 “Love does not define God,
but God defines Love.”

13. 1 John 4:7-5:3

14. 1 John 4:7-8
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for
love comes from God. Everyone who loves
has been born of God and knows God.
8 Whoever does not love does not know
God, because God is love.
Love comes from God
Love BEGINS with God
Love BEGINS from God
GOD IS LOVE

15. “GOD IS LOVE”
Not just a statement of doctrine in the Bible ?
It is much more than that :
–An eternal fact
–Clearly demonstrated at Calvary
–God has done something for us
–God is saying something to us
–& God is still DOING & SAYING ...

17. 1 John 4:9-10
9 This is how God showed his love among us: He
SENT HIS ONE AND ONLY SON INTO THE
WORLD that we might live through him.
10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that
he loved us and SENT HIS SON as an atoning
sacrifice for our sins.
GOD showed His Love
He sent His Son - Jesus Christ,
the best demonstration of
God’s love...

18. HE
Shows
LOVE

19. 1 John 4:9-10
9 This is how God showed his love among us:
He sent his one and only Son into the world
THAT WE MIGHT LIVE THROUGH HIM.
10 This is love: not that we loved God, but
that he loved us and sent his Son as AN
ATONING SACRIFICE FOR OUR SINS.
We are to RECEIVE HIS Love
In Receiving His Love –
We have Salvation

20. We
Receive
LOVE

21. 1 John 4:11
11 Dear friends, since God so loved us,
we also ought to love one another.
We love others ...
Consequence of
God’s Love for us

22. 1 John 4:12-16
12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one
another, God lives in us and his love is made complete
in us.
13 We know that we live in him and he in us, because he
has given us of his Spirit.
14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent
his Son to be the Savior of the world.
15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,
God lives in him and he in God.
16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and
God in him.

23. 1 John 4:12-16
He CHOOSE to live in us ...
He gives the INDWELLING HOLY SPIRIT
AS A SIGN of Him living in us.
1 Cor 6:19 Do you not know that your
body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who
is in you, whom you have received from
God?

24. We
Show
LOVE

25. Summary :
God is Love
God SHOWS His love for us
We RECEIVE God’s Love
God comes & dwells within us
Holy Spirit’s Presence
WE ARE TO SHOW FORTH THE LOVE WE
HAVE RECEIVED ...
OUR LIFE MUST REFLECT THE GOD WITHIN

26. The Drama of Life

27. Is It Possible ?
1 John 3:16-18
16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ
laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down
our lives for our brothers.
17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his
brother in need but has no pity on him, how can
the love of God be in him?
18 Dear children, let us not love with words or
tongue but with actions and in truth.

28. "Rev. and Dear Sir: I have
often been struck with the
beauty of the passage of
Scripture quoted in your
John letter,
Wesley
but I must confess that I
never saw such a useful
"Dear Sammy: ‘trust in
‘EXPOSITORY NOTE’ on it
the Lord, and do good; so
before."
shalt thou dwell in the
land, and verily thou shalt
be fed.’
Attached to the letter was
£5 Samuel Bradburn

29. Is It Possible ?
1 John 3:17
If anyone
has material possessions
and sees his brother in need
but has no pity on him,
how can the love of God be in him?

30. Amy Carmichael:
• Young Indian temple
children
• When asked what drew
them to Amy,
• “It was love. Amma (Amy)
loved us.”
“You can give
without loving
But you cannot love
without giving”

31. Amy Carmichael:
• Amy when asked : "What
is missionary life like?"
• Her reply, "Missionary
life is simply a chance to
die.“
 Her example as a
missionary inspired
others (including Jim &
Elisabeth Elliot) to
pursue a similar vocation

32. John 13:34-35
34 "A new command I give you:
Love one another. As I have loved
you, so you must love one
another.
35 By this all men will know that
you are my disciples, if you love
one another."

33. Mark 12:30-31
30 “Love the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your soul
and with all your mind and with
all your strength.”
31 The second is this: “Love your
neighbor as yourself.
There is no commandment
greater than these."

35. 1 John 4:12, 17
12 No one has ever seen God; but if we
love one another, God lives in us and his
love is made complete in us. (his love is
perfected in us ESV, NKJV)
17 In this way, LOVE IS MADE COMPLETE
AMONG US...
 COMPLETE or
PERFECT ...

36.  COMPLETE

37. 1 John 4:17
17 In this way, love is made complete
among us...
so that we will have CONFIDENCE ON
THE DAY OF JUDGMENT, because in this
world we are like him.
 CONFIDENCE

38.  COMPLETE
 CONFIDENCE

39. 1 John 4:18-19
18 There is no fear in love. But
perfect love drives out fear,
because fear has to do with
punishment. The one who
fears is not made perfect in
love.
19 We love because he first
loved us.
 PEACE WITHIN

40. 1 John 4:20-21
20 If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his
brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not
love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot
love God, whom he has not seen.
21 And he has given us this command:
Whoever loves God must also love his
brother.
 PEACE WITHOUT

41.  COMPLETE
 CONFIDENCE
 PEACE :
 WITHIN
 WITHOUT

42. Standard Vs Optional

44. BENEFIT PRIVILEGE
• Coming & Accepting • Being a Disciple
what God has done • Cont. to Experience
for us what God can do in us.
• thus receiving – Fellowship &
Relationship
–Forgiveness
– Leading & Guidance
–Salvation – Being an Instrument
–Sonship of God to love &
touch others

47. “If” by Amy Carmichael
• If I have no compassion on my
fellow servant, even as my Lord
had pity on me, then I know
nothing of Calvary love.
• If I can easily discuss the
shortcomings and the sins of any;
if I can speak in a casual way even
of a child’s misdoings, then I
know nothing of Calvary love.

48. • If I can enjoy a joke at the expense of
another; if I can in any way slight
another in conversation, or even in
thought, then I know nothing of Calvary
love.
• If I can write an unkind letter,
speak an unkind word, think
an unkind thought without
grief and shame, then I
know nothing of Calvary love.
“If” by Amy Carmichael

49. • If I put my own good
name before the other’s
highest good, then I
know nothing of Calvary
love.
• If I myself dominate
myself, if my thoughts
revolve around myself, if
I am so occupied with
myself, then I know
nothing of Calvary love.
“If” by Amy Carmichael

50. • If I say, "Yes, I forgive, but I cannot
forget," as though the God, who
twice a day washes all the sands on
all the shores of all the world, could
not wash such memories from my
mind, then I know nothing of Calvary
love.
• If souls can suffer alongside, and I
hardly know it, because the spirit of
discernment is not in me, then I
know nothing of Calvary love.
“If” by Amy Carmichael

51. Today I want to be a beneficiary of God’s
Amazing Love for me.
I am already a beneficiary of God’s Love –
Help me to know my privileges as your
child and live them out.
I already know my benefits & privileges –
Help me Lord to complete your “Love Story”
by loving someone into your Kingdom,