A Bold Love
1 John • Sermon • Submitted
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Passage- 1 John 4:17-21
Attention-
The importance of this message to the church....
There is a French proverb that says “A good meal ought to begin with hunger”
Is your heart hungry for the Word of God this morning?
A prominent Christian writer once said this
"On the whole, God's love for us is a much safer subject to think about than our love for Him. "
Introduction-
We delight in the truth that while we were yet enemies Jesus died for us
But when we hear John 14:15 we see a whole different picture
If ye love me, keep my commandments.
And we do keep his commandments
I haven't murdered
I don't swear
I don't commit adultery
And our list goes on in defense of our obedience and our righteousness
But there is a command that John has shared already in this book and has come to the front in this chapter
And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
Main truth-
John is challenging his readers that they will stand before Jesus and give an account for how they have been stewards of the relationships He has brought to them
John in a sense is wanting us to understand that when we stand before Jesus all the “stuff” of this life will be left behind
But you will bring before Him the relationships you had in this life and how you either built or destroyed those relationships
Transition #1-
What is being taught? (Explain the passage and draw out the 1st century truth)
Herein is love made perfect....
This is the fifth and final proof us being children of God
The proof is this....”we will have boldness when we stand before Him on the day of judgment
Without getting too far into eschatological teaching the Bible tells us that we will stand before the Lord in judgment.
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
The first and foremost reason that we do not need to fear the judgment is because Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again victorious over death and sin
To offer to us the free gift of salvation
John is using this truth to finish his teaching on how the we can know that we are children of God
Here is the most challenging truth that John is sharing...”as He is, so are we in this world”
Who God is…that is to be who we are to the world around us.
We do not need to fear the judgment because our relationship with the Father is no longer based on fear but on the love of God
The enmity that was between us and God has been transformed by the blood of Jesus into a loving familial relationship
It is no longer about discipline but about being lovingly guided into Christlikeness
“He that feareth is not made perfect by love”
If you are fearful to stand before Jesus in judgment you have one of two problems
-You never asked Jesus to save you
-Your understanding of the Lord and how he loves you is immature
How do we know if our understanding of God’s love is immature?
It is based on verse 19 “We love Him because He first loved us”
This is FOUNDATIONAL to the believers understanding of EVERY relationship in his/her life
So here is John’s fifth proof that you are a child of God…You can stand before the Lord Jesus with confidence at the judgment because of how you have loved others.
You are before Him as a believer based on His atoning blood sacrifice but you can stand with confidence because of how you displayed His love to others
Read verse 20
If you truly understand the love of God toward you you will understand how you ought to treat one another
John actually goes to on to say that if you habitually chose not to display the love of God to others you should check your salvation
Because how can you know and love God and act counter to who He is and His plan for your life?
John ends this love chapter with a summary verse that we have seen already
Read verse 21
Transition #2-
How do we understand this in our context? (Bridge 1st century truth to today)
There are four timeless truths that I want us to consider as we process these verses.
1- Our love owes it’s origin to God’s love.
We can only love one another properly if we first experience and comprehend the love of God in our lives
If we have experienced the love of God then it will be a natural outflow to love one another
2- Love is replaced by fear when there is doubt that it will be returned
If you base you acceptance by God on your performance then you have to doubt that God will love you
Since God chose you out of His good pleasure and not on your merits you can have confidence that God truly loves you.
3- Love flows from a heart filled with thanksgiving based on God’s initiating love
We love because He first loved us
We know how to love because we have experienced His love.
4- How we love others reveals the character of our heart.
If you say that you love God and attack a sibling in Christ then John has a stern condemnation for you…you are a liar
If it’s easy for you to lash out at someone because they view the world differently than you you better check your heart!
We are living in a time right now that is characterized by fear.
Not just fear of COVID
Not just fear of people not wearing masks
There are those pointing the finger and telling others not to live in fear when they are living in fear
Fear of losing freedoms that they hold on tighter to than they do their Bibles
We are stewards of this great country and ought not just stand by and watch it squandered away
Yet as I look around it looks more like fear of losing our comforts and fear of suffering than it does a stewardship response
There is the fear of the vaccine
The fear of laws being passed
All of these fearful responses are our hearts responding to the deception of the moment
Satan, sin, and our flesh use fear to deceive us into believing that the here and now is what is the most important
It takes our focus from the eternal and moves it to the temporary
And we sacrifice eternal relationships with God and fellow believers over temporary fears
Or....
How many churches have been split over the color of the carpet or something similarly insignificant?
How many relationships have been destroyed over temporary things
How many ministry have lost their testimony over theological debates that we honestly really don’t have concrete answers for
Transition #3-
How do we live this out in our context? (Application of the biblical truth to us personally)
How should this change my thinking. (Mental understanding and/or reasoning?)
Friends, we need to start looking at life and relationships with an eternal perspective
Why, in the garden of Gethsemane, did Jesus submit to the will of the Father?
-He knew the love of the Father
-He had the same eternal view of the Father
When Jesus looks at humanity He is moved by His perfect love
When I look at my fellow image bearers I need to look with the same eternal view
It’s not about me..
It’s about the Lord Jesus
At the book study yesterday morning we discussed this idea
When we come to Scripture we are to come looking for the character of God
As I pray and meditate on His word it is for the purpose of conforming my character to His
I don’t come looking for a list of answers or a 12 Step program
I come looking for a person
Jesus
As I reflect on the character of my heart in comparison tho the view of the heart of God i receive ought to be moved similarly to the Prophet Isaiah…whoa is me for I am undone, I am a man of unclean lips...
What is he saying?
When I get a picture into the character of who God is and then compare myself I fall so far short
So I come to the Scriptures looking for the character of God and allow that to challenge my heart
How should this change my heart? (What do I love?)
I need to allow my heart to be filled with what fills His…love for the brethren
Love for everyone
Did people let Jesus down?
Did they attack them
Did they accuse Him
They even killed him
What was His response?
Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.
How embarrassingly temperamental and unpredictable are we…I mean really?!?!?
The inconsequential things we are willing to destroy relationships over and yet we stand…puff out our chests and declare our righteousness
Instead of standing so proudly in our righteousness we ought to be kneeling humbly for the way we treat each other
How should this change my whole being? (Behavioral change)
I watch social media…I’m not sure what the younger generation uses to define me but I go on and read and observe without saying much...
It is saddening to my heart when I read how families and fellow siblings in Christ treat one another on social media
Like the one Peanuts cartoon Lucy says to Charlie Brown, “I hate everything. I hate everybody. I hate the whole wide world!”
Charlie says, “But I thought you had inner peace.”
Lucy replies, “I do have inner peace. But I still have outer obnoxiousness.”
Those responses ought to break our hearts
I hear a lot of murmurings even around this church of peoples responses to one another and our self focus and as your pastor it grieves me
I am saddened that we fall for the lie that earthly things are more important than eternal relationships
My heart is concerned that the veil of self righteousness is more appealing than the love that rent the veil in two
Conclusion
Review-
As believers it is time for us to “not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” (Romans 12:3)
In twenty years who cares what color the carpet is
When we enter heavens glory I really don’t think there will be much concern for which translation you read and whether you read it in a paper copy or on a device
And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
Wake up!!! Stop fighting about things that have no eternal significance to the detriment of relationships that will last for all of eternity
Can I quote Bob Newheart “Stop it!!!
Our obsession with ourselves and the temporal things of this world has eternal consequences
The unsaved will live for all of eternity in punishment
You will be worshiping Jesus Christ with all eternity with the people you see around you this morning.
Put off fear, put off anger, put off sinful responses
Put on the love of God
Get into His Word and meditate on His character and then look at your own heart
Do you love others the way that God loves them?
When you stand before Jesus how much confidence will you have that you loved others the way that He loved them?
People are turned off to the gospel by how we love them
People leave the church because of how they are treated
Pastors leave the ministry because of the lack of love among the people and the people to the pastor
To boil it down…John in a sense is wanting us to understand that when we stand before Jesus all the “stuff” of this life will be left behind
But you will bring before Him the relationships you had in this life and how you either built or destroyed those relationships
As individual believers and as a church let’s strive to live by this principle
That no one ever said “I left that church because they loved me too much”
Closing song-
319- Just As I Am