Blessed Assurance 1 John 4:1-17

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Psalm 138 NIV

Of David. 1 I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; before the “gods” I will sing your praise. 2 I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your unfailing love and your faithfulness, for you have so exalted your solemn decree that it surpasses your fame. 3 When I called, you answered me; you greatly emboldened me. 4 May all the kings of the earth praise you, Lord, when they hear what you have decreed. 5 May they sing of the ways of the Lord, for the glory of the Lord is great. 6 Though the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly; though lofty, he sees them from afar. 7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life. You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes; with your right hand you save me. 8 The Lord will vindicate me; your love, Lord, endures forever— do not abandon the works of your hands.

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Blessed Assurance

10,000 Sermon Illustrations Constant Hope and Strength

When a godly Christian became seriously ill, several friends gathered around his bedside to ask God to restore him. The last one to pray spoke of the faithful service of this man, and concluded his petition by saying, “Lord, You know how he loves You.” After a moment of silence, the sick believer said to him, “I know you meant well, but please don’t plead for my recovery on that basis. When Lazarus was ill, Mary and Martha sent for Jesus, but their request was not based on his affection for Christ. They said, ‘Lord, he whom You love is sick.’ It’s not my weak and faltering allegiance to Him that calls forth His attention, but His perfect love for me that is my constant strength and hope.”

The same thought was forcefully impressed on hymn writer Philip Bliss one day after he finished singing, “Oh, How I Love Jesus.” “These words are true,” he said. “Yet I feel guilty for having sung so much about my poor love for Christ and so little about His endless love for me.” As a result, he wrote a song that is well known today. It reads,

I am so glad that our Father in heaven

Tells of His love in the Book He has given;

Wonderful things in the Bible I see—

This is the dearest, that Jesus loves me.”

Yes, our greatest comfort in life or in death is not that we love Him, but that “He loved us” (1 John 4:10). - H.G.B.

Our Daily Bread, August 5

In John’s letter, he continually reminds us of God’s love for us. It is this love that gives us confidence and peace regarding our final dwelling. Throughout this letter, John refers to each member of the holy Trinity which make up one God.

The Bible does not use the word “Trinity.” However, we find in many places that the words spoken reveal the character and works of all three. John’s letter is filled with references to all three members. This is our subject for today and next week. This will be a two-part sermon. So, buckle your seat belts and lets get started.

1 John 4:1–17 NIV

1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. 4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood. 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. 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. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 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 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: 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 them and they 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 them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.

The Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God!

I. The Holy Trinity 1 John 4:1-17

We do not study scripture just to know what God teaches us, but we study to get to know God better as well. In a marriage, the longer two partners are together and getting to know each other, the better they understand each other. The more they understand each other, the better they are able to please each other.

In the television series NCIS, the main character Jethro Gibbs has many rules he lives by. He is always teaching them to his team. As time goes on, various things about Jethro’s life come up and people begin to understand what is behind his rules.

Most, if not all of us, have certain rules we live by. We may not verbalize them like Jethro does, however, we function based on them whether we realize it or not. These rules are our response to the things that have happened to us in life, both good and bad. They effect the kind of people we are willing to date or not date in our youth. They effect the kinds of foods we are willing to eat or not eat. They effect the kinds of jobs we are willing to take or not take. We may think someone’s rule is strange, but if we were to hear the explanation behind that rule, we have a better understanding of that person in general.

Many people think of the Bible as a book of rules, but the Bible is much more than that. It is a book about God. Those rules are in place because of who God is and when we look closer to know God, we can better understand those rules and why they benefit us. They are not there to destroy us but to protect us.

Today, we are going to look behind the layers of John’s letter and take a peak at what it reveals about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. There is only one God, but God is made up of three parts; The Heavenly Father, the One and Only Son, and the Spirit of that Son. There is probably nothing more confusing in scripture than this revelation, yet we find clues about each of them throughout scripture though the Bible still declares God is “one.”

This is what we call, “The Trinity.” The doctrine of the Trinity came very early in the New Testament Christian faith. It was a key point written in the very earliest creeds. Even though the scriptures do not use the term “Trinity,” the idea of it is still observed in scripture. We have three personalities and we see each doing various separate works, yet we are told they are each God and that “God is one.”

Deuteronomy 6:4 NIV

4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Even though God is declared as being one, the term Lord is applied to both the Father and the Son, and when scripture talks about “God” it is sometimes referring to the Father and other times seems inclusive of all three.

Even though they perform different tasks, they are always in unison with each other and working for the same goals. Perhaps that is the greatest clue to just what this means. They function as one.

We often use illustrations to convey this concept. For one, we think of the egg. One egg is made up of a shell, egg white and yoke. Another illustration is water. Water has three forms; ice, liquid, or steam. However, these are inanimate objects and therefore imperfect in understanding the Holy Trinity which is a living, thinking, being.

To begin, let us look at...

A. God the Father 1 John 1:5; 4:7-16

John is still addressing the subject of our love for each other and as he does so, he provides three foundational facts about God. These facts are important as we find our love is rooted in God’s love.

The first thing that John reveals is...

1. What God is...

This is not the first time John has written revealing aspects of God’s nature. To begin, we need to jump back to chapter one for a moment. In 1 John 1:5 we discover that...

a. God is Light 1 John 1:5

1 John 1:5 NIV

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

We spent some time on this a few weeks ago, so I am not going to go too deeply into this. However, I just want us to remember that light illuminates truth. When light is associated with fire, it burns and purifies items. We are told the glory of God is so bright, that people cannot look directly at God.

Scripture tells us that there is no need for a light source in heaven as it is lighted by God’s presence. I heard somewhere that when fire burns at its purest, it is a white hot flame. This pure white flame is a great illustration of God, who is devoid of any sin or evil.

John gives us another description of God in the gospel he wrote. There he says...

b. God is Spirit John 4:24

John 4:24 NIV

24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

This makes sense when you think about it. Since God is so often described as light, this is easier to comprehend if God is a Spirit. This is God’s essence and as such, He is not limited by time or space.

Yet God is not Spirit alone. There is so much more to God and it is difficult for us to fathom.

But now we come to today’s text and John says...

c. God is love 1 John 4:8

1 John 4:8 NIV

8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

It is important to understand that love does not define God but God defines love. Just like the light, His love is of the purest form. True holy love is so far from anything we understand or can express, yet it is lavished on us by God. Ephesians describes this love.

Ephesians 3:16–19 NIV

16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

I hoped you noticed the intermingled names there of Christ and God. Both Father and Son are implied in John’s description. John tells us more of this love in 1 John 4:9-11

1 John 4:9–11 NIV

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. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

I read that verse 10 is better translated, “In this way is seen the true love.” Our expressions of love often come from our desires which are not always the right things or based on the right things. More often our love is based on selfish desire. However, God’s love is pure and is sacrificial in nature. We love those who love us back. God loves even when not loved back. We have done nothing to deserve His love. In fact, we deserve His wrath, yet He continues to pursue us giving us every opportunity to experience His love and His gifts.

God knows us and He desires us to know Him. John says...

1 John 4:7 NIV

7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

The word “know” here means far more than just a simple intellectual acquaintance with God. It is a deep, intimate knowledge of God. It goes beyond knowledge of facts to perceiving the deepest truths of someone.

This often intimidates us because we all know that we have thoughts at times that are unworthy of God. Yet, God loves us still and has provided for our weakness so we can be cleansed and purified in order to commune with Him. We will talk more on this next.

2. What God did… 1 John 4:9-11

1 John 4:9–11 NIV

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. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

a. “God sent His one and only Son”

We have done nothing to deserve God’s love, yet His love was such that He took action on our behalf. He sent His Son to save us. Even though we didn’t deserve it. Even though His Son would be rejected, persecuted, and put to death, God’s love still took action on our behalf. It is important to understand that this was an agreed upon action of all parties of the Trinity. This is not something God imposed on Jesus, but they were of one mind regarding what must be done. And now we ask, “Why did He do this?” John reveals that next as we look at...

3. What God is doing… 1 John 4:12-16

The answer comes back to what God desires. He desires a relationship with us. As I shared above, God desires us to know Him. He already knows us, but He wants us to have a deep kind of relationship with Him. Therefore, what God is doing...

a. “God is abiding in us.”

1 John 4:12–16 NIV

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 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: 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 them and they 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 them.

Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we no longer are separated from God. God could have made us wait until we died to be united with Him, but He didn’t. He has provided the means for us to abide together now. We are not in a long distance relationship waiting to be joined at a later date. Sure, we are waiting for a time of union, but that does not mean we are apart from God now. God is within us here and now. One way of knowing someone is abiding in a healthy relationship with God is that they are confident of that relationship. Why? Because they feel God’s presence with them. This is what the world does not understand. We have confidence because we are seeing and experiencing something they are not. It is internal and deeply personal. It is experiential so it is not easily described. It is something each person must experience for themselves. And the way they experience it is by choosing in faith to believe in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on our behalf. Each individual can only be saved if they choose to accept this loving sacrifice, with a desire to know this God who loves us so perfectly.

Conclusion

As we abide with God and He with us, many will reject us. However, my experience is that they more often envy us. They do not want to admit they need God, yet when they view a life that is lived in accordance with God’s plan, they see an order to our lives they wish they had. There is peace and functionality in our life. Some will still turn away. However, there are those who watch us even when we are not aware. And when the time comes, they will ask us about it. At that time, we have the perfect opportunity to share God’s love with them.

I want to take a silent moment this morning. Take just a few minutes to speak with God. Maybe you are here and you have not put your trust in God. Perhaps you have been fearful about God or had doubts about Him. This morning as you have learned about God’s love, maybe you feel you want to have that experience. I want you to have time to pray and ask God to come and live with you. Thank Him for His love and sending His Son to cover your sins so you can have that special relationship with Him. He will respond. He is there with you now, just waiting for your request. That is the depth of His love.

If you have been too busy with other things and neglected your relationship with Him. Take time to draw near to God this morning. He is waiting for you as well. Thank Him for His patience. Repent your neglect of Him and make things right.

Maybe you just feel like thanking Him and praising Him. Things are going well and you feel very near to Him. Take a moment to just enjoy His presence. I will not wait too long, but I will give us a few minutes to each connect with our heavenly Father, then I will close us in prayer.

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