Perfect Love casts out fear

INTRO

-Open your Bible to 1 John 4 starting in verse 13 where we will again be discussing almost nothing new. I know that it is not the best way to start a sermon, but remember what kind of letter it is something very important to John, but it should be important to us too, which is love.

-He is writing an amplification letter. He circles around a subject and then keep talking about it because it is important.

-And since we live in a very distracted and impatient culture, when something is repeated a couple times we lose interest. I am praying that is not the case for us today.

-What John is reminding us about today is essential for Christianity. If you are a Christian, please listen. If you are not a christian, even if you have not seen it lived out perfectly, this is what Christianity is about according to the Bible.

-Since it is essential I’ll be asking us, a community since this letter is written to a community of believers, questions that will help us to see if we are still on track.

-Pray for us to hear what God is saying.

BODY

English Standard Version Chapter 4

13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

-Jon talked about this in chapter 1 where he says that “if we say we have fellowship with God but walk in the dark, we lie. Meaning he is confronting those who have caught the language of Christianity but are not living the life of christianity. They can say everything John is saying here, even say amen to it but their lives are not filled with the evidence of it. Which he says the evidence is the Spirit.

-The manifestation of the Spirit in our lives is evidence that we are abiding in Him and that he abides in us. Not just our words. What do I mean by manifestation of the Spirit? Fruit of the Spirit (relationships) and gifts of the Spirit (ministry to others). So you are a living epistle to others not just able to quote the epistles. Life is not about you like the Gnostics are promoting. You are focused on the kingdom of God and His righteousness and not your own kingdom.

Community Review Question 1: In what ways in our lives is the Spirit working?

-Are weLoving others?

-Are we seeing spiritual gifts working here? -Are we spending more time in God’s word or prayer?

-Are we wanting fellowship?

-Are we having our mindset is changing? The Spirit is recieved, keep receiving.

-John also tells us what is essential for Christianity.

English Standard Version Chapter 4

14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

-John saw (seen and testify) Jesus’ baptism, mount of transfiguration, and ascension into heaven. He knows that Jesus was sent from heaven by the father. Jesus is not some kind of ghost/spirit. John knows who the really Jesus is and that when there is a confession of that Jesus, there is a transformation where God fills that person and God receives that person.

-Maybe you remember my illustration of what the gnostics were doing to Jesus with my George Washington example? Review it, that is what Gnostics were doing, stripping away who Jesus was for their own comfort.

Community Review Question 2: Are we seeing Jesus biblically?

-Are we understanding or picture of Jesus biblical? Am I preaching a biblical Jesus to you?

-Is Jesus just a good moral teacher to us? Or is he Lord and fully God, fully man? The savior of the world. Is he the definition of love revealed by the father?

-This is important because of what we talked about last week, we need to see God correctly, or we will not do what John is talking about next, loving others.

-Which is what he moves onto to remind us of, all about love!

English Standard Version Chapter 4

16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.

-In 1 John 2:28 John talked about this reality of Jesus coming back and that we can have confidence at his coming. Here again he brings it up that one day, all of us will stand before God and books will be open and we will be judged for everything. But God is love he won’t judge! Wrong, he is a just judge that will bring righteousness and justice. He showed that on the cross.

-When we abide in God, we put aside our ways and conform to His ways. We are perfected with God’s love when we come to the point of receiving his love and knowing that we stand in Christ’s righteousness, not our own.

Community Review Question 3: Do we know and believe the Love of God?

-He has revealed it in Christ, not circumstances. Are we encouraging others to know and believe the love of God in scripture?

-When his love is perfected in us we will have confidence to stand before him. Are we a church that, when christ returns, will have confidence in His love?

-Because as he is so also are we in this world. (1 John 3:2) Beloved we are children of God now and what we will be has not yet appeared, but when he comes we will see ourselves as we are.

-Believing in the love of God does not just settle in our mind, but it becomes our identity that we see ourselves ourselves through.

English Standard Version Chapter 4

18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

-I want to take you back to the beginning, which is what John likes to do, where fear was first introduced. Gen 3.

-Fear can come when we are outside of communion with God and forget who God truly is. That he is our father that wants to be with us.

-Jesus tells us to not fear or worry in Matthew 6 because our father knows what we need so it frees us up from fear so we can seek first the kingdom and his righteousness.

-Pause for ministry? Fear of of something today, a decision that has to be made, a constant hovering of fear for some reason?

-Remind you of what Romans 8 tells us of what we have in Christ

English Standard Version Chapter 8

14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

-This goes back to TJ’s message of what spirit, what algorithm are you buying into?

-When we receive His love as a father, there is transformation.

English Standard Version Chapter 4

19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

-John just said this. I know it was last week for us, but for them he literally just said this. Why? Because we love spiritual smoke screens.

-Following Jesus is you receiving all that he has for you and then giving it freely away.

Community Review Question #4: Are we loving God and loving others?

-Or are we saying I love God in my devotionals, my worship music, but I have not desire to care for others. I’m not going to get into a life group because people are weird and smelly. I’m not going to go to youth group because I don’t know people there or they are not loving. I’m not going to serve in ministry because people are hard. If you are there and you love God it should be loving! If it is not you are lying!

-I know these are difficult questions to reflect on but we need to remember that this is not about us doing everything perfect.

-It is about abiding, trusting, yielding, and following Jesus. It’s about being dependant upon God who wants to help us, by the Spirit he has given us!

-Pray