Love Lifted Me
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Introduction
Introduction
12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. 13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. 15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
Tonight, we continue our studies in 1 John. We’ve made it to the middle of chapter 4 tonight…Two Sundays ago, we looked at verses 7-11 on the subject of “Love, the Divine Hallmark” - How, we as Christians are called to love, then we are given an explanation of love, and then we looked at how God has demonstrated His love...
Tonight, we are going to keep talking about love, and I’d like to preach tonight on the thought of “Love Lifted Me”...
I began this series by preaching a four-part series on the purpose of 1 John, sort of an overview to the entire book, but I preached on the four verses that give us the purpose of the book. Let me give them to you again:
1-That our joy might be full - 1:4
2-That we might not sin - 2:1
3-That we be not deceived - 2:26
4-That we might know that we have eternal life - 5:13
But there is a fifth reason that is unspoken, and that is to share the great love of Almighty God.
1 John is the great epistle of love, and we are seeing that as we move through these verses right now.
There can be no doubt that Jesus loved us. His great love was proven as He bore our sin and endured the judgment we deserved as He hung on the cross. He commands us in these verses to love one another as He has loved us. Our love for one another defines us as followers of Christ.
I-The Evidence of His Love
I-The Evidence of His Love
12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
Has any one ever seen God at any time?
In Exodus 33 Moses saw the back side of God as He passed by.
In Isaiah 6 in the year King Uzziah died Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up in His temple.
Jesus told the disciple that asked to show them the Father that when they’ve seen Him they’ve seen the Father.
Many have seen God the Son, but no one has seen God the Father. God the Son has shown us God the Father.
We talked about the explanation of love in the previous verses...
Here’s the evidence of that love...If we love one another then God abides in us. The opposite of that is that if we do not love one another then God does not abide in us. We love because God abides in us.
Is God abiding in you today?
When we love others with the love of the Lord Jesus we have the evidence that God abides in us. When we have God’s abiding love in us then God’s abiding love is perfected in us.
That word perfected means “to bring to completion, to accomplish, to finish” - The verb is in the perfect tense which speaks of a past completed act having present results. At the time of our salvation God deposited His love in us and His ultimate purpose for all that He’s done was accomplished when we received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Ultimately God’s love and will is accomplished when sinners repent and receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
We are talking about the evidence of love...
II-The Experience of His Love
II-The Experience of His Love
13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
The word know means, “to have experiential knowledge.” - We know that we dwell in Him and He dwells in us.
The word dwell is a word used of one person dwelling in the home of another.
I know that I dwell in the Lord and that the Lord dwells in me.
I am assured of that because of the Holy Spirit according to this verse.
The Holy Spirit brought life to my soul, gives me peace of mind and peace in my heart.
He gives me joy and reminds me of the love of Jesus and gives me love for the Lord and for others.
The Holy Spirit gives me direction and protection as I do the Lord’s will.
The Holy Spirit gives me conviction when I sin and restoration when I repent.
I have fellowship with Jesus because His Spirit lives in me. I know that I’m saved because of His living Presence!
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
III-The Expression of His Love
III-The Expression of His Love
14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. 15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
John reveals the redeemed of the Lord will say so. Those who have experienced the love of God, and are filled with the Spirit, have understood and testify of Christ being sent of the Father as Savior of the world.
John had seen, believed, and proclaimed that the Father sent Jesus as Savior of the world. John commands the church to be bold in their witness and unashamedly testify who Jesus is and why Jesus came. John had been persecuted, arrested, mocked, slandered, and threatened because of His testimony of the Lord Jesus, but that didn’t stop Him because he still testified of the Lord Jesus.
Many people have joined churches that have never confessed Jesus and never gave a testimony of how the Lord saved them and changed them. If we do not have love enough for Jesus to confess Him before the church we sure will not have enough love and boldness to confess Him in the world.
32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
Dr. G. Campbell Morgan, famous British preacher, had five sons, all of whom became ministers of the Gospel. One day a visitor in their home dared to ask a personal question: “Which of you six is the best preacher?”
Their united answer was, “Mother!”
Of course, Mrs. Campbell Morgan had never preached a formal sermon in a church; but her life was a constant sermon on the love of God. The life of a Christian who abides in God’s love is a potent witness for God in the world. Men cannot see God, but they can see His love moving us to deeds of helpfulness and kindness.
16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
We have known the love of God because we have heard the word of God.
We have believed the love that God has for us because we have experienced the love that God has for us.
We cannot truly know the love that God has for us without believing the love that God has for us. Some of us can make hollow and shallow confessions, but when we have truly been born again we have truly known the love of God. Believers have experienced the love of God. Because we have experienced the love of God we need to help others experience the love that God has for them. How did we experience God’s love?
It is because some person that we can see, hear, touch, and relate to shared the love of Jesus with us. God used someone in my life and in your life so that we can know the love that God has for us. We are to be loving others so that they can know the love that God has for them.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Are we abiding in the love of God?
Does God abide in us?
Is His Holy Spirit at home in your heart?
Three different witnesses are suggested in these verses:
1. The witness of the believer that Jesus Christ is God’s Son (1 John 4:15);
2. the witness in the believer by the Spirit (1 John 4:13); and
3. the witness through the believer that God is love and that He sent His Son to die for the world (1 John 4:14).
These witnesses cannot be separated. The world will not believe that God loves sinners until they see His love at work in His children’s lives.
That loves fills us and ought to motivate us to serve the Lord and others. Our love isn’t all it should be, but the Lord continues to perfect it in us! What a Savior we serve. He loved us when we were unlovable and He continues to love us as we journey through life.
I pray you have experienced this great love of God. His love is offered freely, but it must be received. Do you know Christ as your Savior? Have you experienced the love of God in salvation? If not, I urge you to respond to the leadership of the Holy Spirit.