We can’t Live in Fear#Confidence

I John 4:16-21

Title: We Can’t Live in Fear

Scripture: 1 John 4:16-18 (NIV)

Introduction: Church, we continue our series on love one another. Last time I was in the pulpit, we spoke about love and hate, good and evil. We see that God does not have any gray areas. We don’t get to please both sides; we must choose and be all in. Either you love me or you don’t. As we billed on this concept, we must believe in ourselves and what His love stands for and how it can transform our lives. So much is happening in this world because we allow the world to continue persuading all generations. It continues to be an influencer in how we operate in the church. Self-esteem is estimated to be a significant portion of what the population struggles with. Several factors can contribute to low self-esteem, including childhood experiences, social pressures, and societal standards of beauty and success. Low self-esteem can lead to negative consequences, such as social isolation, self-sabotage, and difficulties in relationships and achieving goals. The devil uses any opportunity to convince us that we're unworthy, unlikeable, or unloveable. Its what we call fear. But John wants to let us know that love and fear cannot exist together.

So today, our subject is that we cannot live in fear; we must be confident in the work God has entrusted to be sure we see it through.

Chapter 3 closed with one more North star the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God‘s deposit, reminding us that he will keep his promise. John wants us to be careful and to test those spirits that have gone out into the world. The spirit is crucial to our faith. We cannot trust every spirit that says they are speaking from God.

Verse 4 1 John 4:4, 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.

John is saying, false prophets do not win, but God’s children do. How is this possible? because the one in you is greater than the one who is in this world. Now, look at this: John does not say that we are, but the one in you is greater; the Holy Spirit wins this battle. Confidence deliverance and assurance comes from God.

Verse 7 answers Tina’s question: what does Love have to do with the truth? 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 answer is still everything. Love deals with everything. John continues to rotate through the same truth like a hamster wheel in a cage, obeying God, doing right, loving others, and discerning truth. It keeps coming back around like a horse carousel at a carnival. You cannot separate Love from truth and keep either intact. You can’t separate doing right from loving others or discerning the truth .John weaves them so that we don’t separate them. ( Talk about the yarn I used in class a few weeks ago) What He is doing is that truth comes from God, or verse 7 says love comes from God; everyone who has been born of God knows God. John does not say that people who are not of the faith can’t be kind or nice; what he is saying is that Love must be part of our faith and cannot be separated. This type of love here is not brotherly love, but agape love is sacrificial, laying down your life. Live like Jesus loved.

Verse 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. Wow, GOD IS LOVE. Just pause for a minute. John does not say that all love that you may see or experience is God, but all love comes from God, and love is at the very nature of God. It's Eternal stuff; he didn’t just invent love. He is love. Every encounter we have with a true sacrificial, compassionate, merciful, love-your-enemies, loved us at our worst overflowing with grace is the natural encounter with God. We don’t always experience that, and we then try to point all of it to God. Look at verse 12

Verse 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. John repeats a phrase from the opening of his gospel according to John. John recognized one of the greatest challenges of our faith. “We can’t see God” no one can. We are humanly wired to trust what we can see, touch, and understand. We like evidence, certainty and receipt. No one has ever seen God, but the son of God made Him complete. He allowed us to see God, which is love. It’s a God love. Many things in the world plummet my faith from the inside to the outside, and then there’s that little doubt that comes up that no one has ever seen God, but then I remember Jesus made God known, and lately, that’s where I lay my head. No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is made complete. Love is the evidence of God in us. Let me explain the word complete it’s not perfect but finished. The last stroke on the painting of a masterpiece, the final chord of a beautiful song or a poem, because love completes its journey. When we love one another it fulfilled its purpose when I see it my faith is strong again. I still haven’t seen God, but I have witness his love through his children.

“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. Here John once again shows us the hamster wheel as he continues to weave truth and love together. We know means we believe it to be true based on evidence, experience, or reasoning, and we have certain levels of confidence. What we know is a parallel to what John had seen when he opened this book. It’s now what he knows, John is basically saying our faith is anchored in God’s Word. “Trusting in What God Has Revealed” it’s what gives us assurance

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.

This verse says we can have confidence even on the day of judgment—the most serious moment any one of us will ever face! If we can have confidence in that moment, why should we fear anything else in this life? When God completes his journey in and through us we can have confidence for today and for judgment day. The whole goal of John in this book is confidence. Just think about confidence in sports? It makes you play better; confidence at work helps you succeed; confidence in relationships helps you to enjoy and have a beautiful experience. We feel safe when we know what we know. John wants us confident that we know God he has transformed it from the word seen to what he knows

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.” Last time I spoke the opposition to love was hate, this week the opposition to love is fear. ( Pause and talk about something will always oppose love)

Fear is a powerful force that can paralyze us. It can stop us from pursuing God’s purpose, keep us from loving others fully, and make us doubt God’s promises. • Fear will always try to creep in, but we can not allow is for it to shack up. And as followers of Christ, we are not meant to let it take residence. there are 3 parts to this passage. John writes this passage with question and answers all together. It does not want to give any idle time or wondering of fear to manifest its self.

( Use some people in the audience Get 2 volunteers with 3 signs You,Fear and Love Quarterback and his blindside) Blindside means a person has a poor view of seeing danger approaching.

“There is no fear in love”. That’s a beautiful statement and a famous one. I belive someone made some t-shirts, halmark cards and even placed the saying in a frame. Not sure God received in royalties off that, but there is No fear in God's love. Why? Because perfect love drives out fear. We have blind spots in our cars and on a football team Quarterback has a blind spot where they don’t see the defender. if they are right handed quarterback its there left. Perfect here again is complete when God‘s love takes its journey into your heart, through your life. It grabs a hold of fear along the way and drives it out. Why? Because fear has to do with punishment. God teaches us that we don’t have to fear his wrath. We don’t have to worry about our blindside. There is no punishment in store for us who believe who has the spirit and who has fully accepted and embraced God‘s love. • Fear is rooted in punishment, in the uncertainty of what might happen, what someone might say, our finances, death , health, and the future of this country.

Romans 8:38-39 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[k] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” if you still feel God‘s wrath, it doesn’t mean you’re not loved. It just means God‘s love is not done. It’s still working its way through so let it work and let go of fear. God is maybe weaving you together right now through your trials,blessings, relationships, and moments into a purpose you may not fully see yet. and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[i] have been called according to his purpose: Romans 8:28

19 We love because he first loved us.  This verse has an essential order: first, love comes from God to us, and then through us. When we walk in God’s love, we understand that we are secure in Him—not because of what we’ve done, but because of who He is.

20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. Verse 20 says, if God‘s love comes to you but not through you, it’s a failed mission, an incomplete journey. So if I claim to love God, it’s just empty words. God’s love language is your love for others.

Closing

Imagine you’re standing at the edge of a deep canyon. A thick fog has settled in, and you can’t see the other side. You’re told there’s a strong, sturdy bridge that spans across—but you can’t see it. You’ve read about it, others have crossed it, and the engineer who built it is trustworthy and known to be reliable.

You have two options:

1. Stand still and wait until the fog lifts.

2. Step forward in faith, trusting what you know to be true even if you can’t see it.

Faith is like that.

We may not always see what God is doing. The fog of life—pain, uncertainty, fear—might obscure our view. But because of His Word, His character, and His past faithfulness, we know the bridge is there.

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” – 2 Corinthians 5:7

When we say “we know” as believers, we’re not claiming to see everything clearly. We’re claiming to trust the One who built the bridge—Jesus Christ.

• What fears are holding you back today? Are you afraid of failure, rejection, or the unknown? Instead of letting fear control you, choose to rest in the perfect love of God. God said I choose you

• Practical steps to abide in God’s love:

1. Use the Word of God to remind yourself of His promises.

2. Pray and surrender your fears to Him daily.

3. Surround yourself with other believers who encourage faith over fear.

Illustration: Imagine being in a dark room, afraid of what’s around you. But when you turn on the light, the fear disappears. God’s love is that light—it exposes fear as powerless and unnecessary.

Application:

• When fear rises, remind yourself: “God is for me, not against me.” (Romans 8:31)

• Confidence comes from knowing we are deeply loved by God.

3. Living in Love Frees Us from Fear (Verse 16)

• The key to overcoming fear is abiding in God’s love.

• The more we focus on His love, the less room fear has in our hearts.

As Jesus stood before the Roman soldiers, already bruised and bloodied from the savage scourging that tore into His flesh,

the thorn crown drove those long thorns into his scalp. The human head is full of nerves and blood vessels, so the moment those thorns pierced His skin, blood poured down His face.

It wasn’t just physical pain—it was humiliation. The King of Heaven wore a crown of thorns, not gold. He was mocked, not worshiped.

Then came the cross. Heavy, rough, splintered wood laid across His shredded back.

Nails were driven through His hands and feet. Pain radiated through His body with every breath, every movement.

And yet the deepest pain wasn’t just physical. He bore the full weight of our sins. The spotless Son of God became the sacrifice for all. In those hours, as the sky darkened, the wrath of God against sin fell on Him. He cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” — not because He doubted, but because He felt the crushing weight of separation so we’d never have to. But because we loved Him, he has asked us to do something. Love one another, Be of action and talk. Help to relieve this pain of sin of me by taking up your cross, learn of me, do as I have done by being a servant. It takes confidence, love, and dedication to show HIM. This vest represents the hurt, pain, and disappointment this world has and continues to experience. If we are going to raise our ceiling here at Forest Park, we all must partake in easing the weight off Jesus and

I Cor.9:19-23 19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.