Blessed Assurance 1 John 4:1-17 Part 2

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King David always acknowledged God as the true king. God blessed David in many ways, even in the midst of trials and tribulations. And God gifted David with Spiritual sight that often went from praise and adoration, to prophecies of the one yet to come after him. Jesus!

Psalm 21 NIV

For the director of music. A psalm of David. 1 The king rejoices in your strength, Lord. How great is his joy in the victories you give! 2 You have granted him his heart’s desire and have not withheld the request of his lips. 3 You came to greet him with rich blessings and placed a crown of pure gold on his head. 4 He asked you for life, and you gave it to him— length of days, for ever and ever. 5 Through the victories you gave, his glory is great; you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty. 6 Surely you have granted him unending blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence. 7 For the king trusts in the Lord; through the unfailing love of the Most High he will not be shaken. 8 Your hand will lay hold on all your enemies; your right hand will seize your foes. 9 When you appear for battle, you will burn them up as in a blazing furnace. The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath, and his fire will consume them. 10 You will destroy their descendants from the earth, their posterity from mankind. 11 Though they plot evil against you and devise wicked schemes, they cannot succeed. 12 You will make them turn their backs when you aim at them with drawn bow. 13 Be exalted in your strength, Lord; we will sing and praise your might.

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Blessed Assurance

10,000 Sermon Illustrations (His Love for Us)

His Love for Us

A devout Christian was taken seriously ill. In his weakened physical condition, he became vulnerable to Satan’s attacks and began to have many doubts and fears. He was especially troubled about the lack of love he felt in his heart for God, so he asked the advice of a fellow believer who called on him. His friend offered this wise counsel: “When I go home, I expect to take my baby girl on my knee, look into her sweet, trusting eyes, and listen to her delightful chatter. I’ll do this because I thoroughly love that child. She’s just an infant, and she loves me very little. If my heart were breaking, her innocent sleep would not be disturbed. If my body were racked with pain, her play would not be interrupted. Even if I were to die, she’d probably forget me in a few days. But all the money in the world could not buy my little daughter. And why? Does she love me, or do I love her? Do I withhold my love until I know she feels the same toward me? Certainly not! I love her because she’s my child.”

The illustration spoke to the sick man’s heart. Tears began to well up in his eyes. “Now I see!” he exclaimed. “It’s not my love for God but His love for me that I should be thinking of. Oh, I do love Him now as never before!” - H.G.B.

Our Daily Bread, April 5

Last week, I began by speaking of God’s love and proceeded to share some amazing facts about God the Father. However, the Father is not alone. He is one of three, as the creeds of old declare. He is part of a Holy Trinity; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Last week I shared that even though they present themselves in different forms and each carries out different tasks, in mind they are all in unison. They work toward the same goal. They work to accomplish tasks in perfect unison of mind, spirit, and deed.

Today, we will continue this subject as we look at the second person of this Holy Trinity, Jesus the Son.

1 John 4:1–17NIV

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. 6We 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. 8Whoever 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. 13This 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, Part 2

I am stepping away from the core of John’s message for three weeks because as John shares his message, we find some important details about God Himself. John’s letter reveals the workings of all three forms of God; Father, Son, and Spirit.

Last week, we spent the full time on God the Father. We peeked into some of the aspects of what God is, what He did and what He is continuing in doing.

The one thing we did not fully discuss is that God the Father is the leader of the Trinity. His is the first voice of authority, yet the Son and Spirit follow in perfect unison with His lead. The Father, Son and Spirit live in perfect communion and perfect love. This perfect love provides perfect unison. They exist in perfect harmony.

Today, we will look at the second position of authority and it is...

B. God, the Son (Jesus) 1 John 4:9-15

It would be impossible to completely describe any portion of the Trinity in one sermon. I am just breaking out some key revelations that come out of John’s letter. The more we know and understand about God, the more empowered we are to live for God.

I have found 6 revelations or insights, if you will, about Jesus in this portion of John’s letter.

1. Jesus is the bringer of life . 1 John 4:9

1 John 4:9NIV

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.

God needed a messenger that could come and teach us about Himself. This messenger would not only teach us, but also provide the means for us to be restored to the life that God had desired for us when He created us. Sin took that life from us! Only God has the power to restore that life to us.

Jesus willingly came to give His life, that our life could be restored. This was the desire of the Father, but it was also the desire of the Son. He willingly obeyed the Father that we may have life!

2. Jesus provided the means for our relationship with God to be restored . 1 John 4:10

1 John 4:10NIV

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.

Have you ever had two people you love be against each other? In such cases, we often speak with each person in turn to try to restore the relationship. We try to help them to understand the perspective of the other person as we understand that often there is a disconnect in understanding. Once we have tried to help them see each other’s point-of-view, we do any physical means needed to bring about reconciliation. It may be by meeting with them together to help them talk out their differences.

Jesus came in physical form. He literally laid down His divinity and became one of us. Now, He had the full perspective of God and of us. He was able to help us to understand God. He took time teaching us about God. Then He fulfilled the task necessary to fully restore our relationship with God. He took on our sin, so that we could be made sinless once again. Now he stands before the father on our behalf. He covers our shortcomings, so we can be made holy to commune with Holy God.

However, Jesus’ act of salvation was not just for a few individuals. John tells us more.

3. Jesus is the Savior of the world . 1 John 4:14

1 John 4:14NIV

14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

First, this means that Jesus was salvation enough for all peoples. No one need ever worry that Jesus’ sin coverage will run out. It is sufficient for every man, woman and child who ever lived, who currently lives, or will yet be born. His sacrifice was sufficient for all.

Romans 8:1–4NIV

1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

However, Jesus’ salvation is not only sufficient for people, but for all creation as well. One day, God will destroy this dying world and replace it with one that will never die. God’s original creation will be restored for all time. This is only possible by the sacrifice that Jesus made when He died on that cross. He is the Savior of all the world.

Now we come to the truth of Jesus’ identity. John begins this letter by giving testimony to what he has seen and heard. Now, he gives full declaration of what he has learned.

4. Jesus is God’s Son . 1 John 4:15

1 John 4:15NIV

15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.

There is no question of this. It is the truth. God honors the one who accepts Jesus, His Son. We are no different. If someone respects and honors our children, we cannot help but have affection for them. If they deny our children, we deny them.

Jesus is our advocate before the Father. So, if we are to have a relationship with the Father, we must accept Jesus as God’s Son.

Look at these words spoken by Jesus.

Matthew 10:32–33 NIV

32 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.

John 14:9–11NIV

9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.

God and Son are inseparable. To know one is to know the other. They are like the flip side of the same coin. There is no denying Jesus is God’s Son without denying the Father as well.

This leads us to our 5th point derived from that same verse from 1 John 4:15.

5. Jesus is the conduit by which we have a relationship with the Father. 1 John 4:15

Conduit is probably not the best word since we often think more of inanimate objects when we think of that word. But the function is similar. Without Jesus, we have no access to the Father. Look again at this verse.

1 John 4:15NIV

15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.

There can be no doubt that to deny Jesus is God’s Son is to separate yourself from God. This is the mistake of so many in Israel (Both in Jesus’ days and ours). Many of them deny(ied) Jesus, yet they will still acknowledge God as their benefactor. Many have no idea that by denying Christ, they have cut themselves off from God. This will one day be rectified. As we have been learning in the Sunday school class, a large objective of the tribulation is to open Israel’s eyes to this truth.

It is the same for any religion that says they believe in God, yet they refuse to believe in the identity of Jesus as God’s Son. God will not answer them when they pray. If He did, it would be to deny His Son as well. If you deny Jesus, then God will deny you.

Finally, we come to the last point I wish to make about Jesus today and it is repetitive of something I have said many times before.

6. Jesus is our model . 1 John 4:17

1 John 4:17NIV

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.

We are like Jesus because our desire should be to be like Him. We study His life, and we seek to be like Him in all things. However, being like Jesus is not just mimicry. We are like Jesus for another very important reason and that is that His Spirit resides in us. The Holy Spirit is who we will talk about next week. However, it is important to understand that the example of Christ is lived out through us by means of the Holy Spirit within us. This Spirit is Christ’s Spirit. He directs and empowers us in the ways of Christ.

Conclusion

As I close today, there is one final point I need to make. No member of the Trinity is more or less important. They are equal. They bring honor to each other. We need to believe and be thankful for each. However, God has made it clear that our salvation is based solely on the sacrifice of the Son. God honors the work His Son has done. Throughout scripture, and throughout John’s letter, it is made very clear that if we are to have a relationship with God, it can only be through the shed blood of His Son and our belief in His Son.

1 John 5:11–12NIV

11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

We will talk more about these verses in coming weeks. But we cannot miss the critical role of Jesus as our only means of salvation and communion with God. For this reason, I wish to conclude today’s message by receiving Communion and acknowledging the sacrifice Jesus made so we could have a relationship with our God.