932 1 Jn. 4:13-21 Confidence in Facing the Day of Judgement
1st John • Sermon • Submitted
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When I was a young boy of about 5 yrs old, I had done something wrong - I had turned the hose on my little sister & my mother called out the window with the threat to punish me
I remember hiding under the house - a space of only about 3 ft high. It was under the floor boards, the ground was bare earth & it was very dark
My mum never really punished me but, this day, I was afraid of the consequences, so I hid
I was under that house for a very long time. My mum, whom you know is Norelle, had many neighbours & even relatives out looking for me as she thought I’d run away
After a number of hours, she was in the garage - the lower portion of the split level house & just next to the open entry to that dark place under the floor boards
After exhausting all avenues & in despair, I remember hearing her in an teary voice saying, “David, if you are under there, please come out”
I came out very slowly and cautiously & saw this enormous relief come over my mother’s face
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The anticipation of possible punishment is what brings about fear
In today’s passage, the apostle John encourages us to realise that when we love one another, we are going to be able to face the day of judgement with confidence & not fear
Fear is the antithesis of confidence & when we fear judgement day, we reveal that, perhaps, we are not reflecting our God in our life - for as he says, God is love
1. Confession of Jesus as Son of God
1. Confession of Jesus as Son of God
We start with this statement John gives about the Holy Spirit
13 By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
Q. How can you know that you have the Spirit and that you have God abiding in your life?
While many people would like to talk about their spiritual experiences as the evidence of having God’s Spirit, the apostle John does not go down that track
In John’s Epistle’s, there are 4 ways to know that we have the Spirit abiding in us
We have touched on some of these before - Here they are...
1. By Keeping God’s commandments
2. By loving one another
3. By holding to the Apostle’s teaching
4. By the confession of Jesus as the Son of God
The Spirit would never motivate a person to disregard God’s word
Unlike the cults that have formed & are disregarding God’s word/His commandments, John affirms that by abiding in God’s commands, we are demonstrating that the Spirit is remaining in us
24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
Secondly, by loving one another, we are emulating God who is love
As we love one another we are reflecting the Spirit’s work in us
In fact, the first two here are very similar in that Jesus gave His disciples a commandment - that you, “Love one another”
To love one another is also a keeping of one of the commandments of God
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The Spirit of God is the One who produced the apostolic Scriptures - the NT
Q. How could the Spirit of God be involved in teaching, that mirrors the world’s opinions?
We have so much instruction in these Epistles, teaching us to hold fast & to be grounded in, that which was “from the beginning”
24 As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.
John also reinforces the distinction between truth & error by comparing himself & the apostles, with the leaders of the cults that have started
6 We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
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Lastly, here, the Spirit of God is associated with the true confession of Jesus Christ
We have looked at that passage where we are told to test the spirits to see if they are from God
To do that, the church has to test the utterances of any prophet that claims to speak for God
24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. 1 Beloved, 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.
If he or she proclaims that Jesus & the Christ were two separate beings - in other words - that Jesus was not the son of God, but merely the son of Joseph - that Jesus had not come in the flesh from God, that prophetic utterance was not of the Holy Spirit, but was false & the spirit of antichrist
The Spirit of God cannot abide with a false view of THE Son of God, Jesus Christ
23 This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. 24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
Notice - to believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ - not the son of Joseph, but the Son of God - this is specific here & is meant to be a contrast with the cults who while believing in Jesus, do not believe that He & the Christ are the same
For them, Jesus is just an ordinary man who God used but was not, Himself, from God
1 John 4:3 (NASB95)
3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus (as coming in the flesh) is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.
The Spirit only abides in those with a true confession of Jesus, the Son of God
As we confess the things of the Spirit: obeying God’s commandments, loving one another as God has loved us, speaking truth about the Person of Jesus Christ, we can be confident of the Spirit of God abiding in us
2. Perfect Love Casts Out Fear
2. Perfect Love Casts Out Fear
A gentleman was preaching about the here-after & from the verse which says “perfect love casts out fear’. However, he confused verse in 1 Jn 4:18 with Jn 4:18 & instead of it saying “perfect love casts out fear”, he read...
18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.”
Perhaps, there is something to fear there!
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These cults were targeting the church with thoughts that God was not with them
They were saying that what we have is not enough - that we must have this special, esoteric type knowledge of God
If we have this knowledge, we would realise our sinlessness; we would realise that only spiritual things are important; we would realise that we alone - our group - have the Spirit of God
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The apostle John, says quite the opposite, doesn’t he!
His contention in this second point here is that they have totally missed the nature of God
In their desire to have the love of the world, they have completely missed the love of God
16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
These cults cared only for the spiritual side of life & disregarded the real life situation of many struggling Christians
These Christians included slaves, women who lost their husbands through war & Christians who were subjected to persecution like the confiscation of their property by state leaders
14 What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
But the love of God was exhibited in the real world where Jesus came (from God) & died for sinners in order for us to be reconciled with God - He fulfilled our greatest need
He died as a propitiation for our sins - bearing in His own body the cost of our sin
Propitiation meaning “appeasing anger & gaining the good will of an offended person"
Ergo the statement of fact that: “God is love”
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So then, if God is love & we love (or are attempting to love - like God), then God abides in us & we in Him
Obviously, no one is perfect - the point is not about being perfect, but that we make love our goal - to be perfect or better, “to be complete” in love - can you do that?
I know, it is not easy, but everyone can make this their goal - but if it is not our goal, then we do need to question whether we are truly abiding in God - for God is love
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I recognise too, that not all of us come at this with a blank slate
Many of us have been hurt - very hurt, in fact
Q. How do we overcome such hurts to freely love like God?
Talking about hurts really means we are talking about bitterness as bitterness is the result from being hurt
This is a difficult subject & I’m not suggesting that such things can be dealt with overnight
Bitterness is often a result of festering hurt & any festering sore is not healed overnight
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What I would like to suggest, however, is that we at least, if this be the case, confess that we have bitterness
We will never go forward & overcome anything if we cannot confess the situation for what it really is
Holding on to bitterness will never allow a person to love freely as God loves & just because I haven’t talked much publicly, about some bitterness I’ve had to deal with, it doesn’t mean I’ve never experienced it
For you own sake; for the sake of the church; for the sake of beautiful innocent children, we need to deal with any lingering bitterness & close it off
31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
“You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it finds rest in you.”
— Augustine’s prayer,
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Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Judgment, God’s
In the choir of life, it’s easy to fake the words—but someday each of us will have to sing solo before God.
We will all come before God one day & I’m sure all of us will want to face that day with confidence rather than with fear - all fear does, is invite failure!
We can do that as John says here, by making it our mission/goal to love one another
In the days of the pioneers of the US, when men saw that a prairie fire was coming, what would they do? Since not even the fastest of horses could outrun it, the pioneers took a match and burned the grass in a designated area around them.
Then they would take their stand in the burned area and be safe from the threatening prairie fire. As the roar of the flames approached, they would not be afraid. Even as the rage of fire surged around them there was no fear, because fire had already passed over the place where they were standing
(Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Judgment, God’s)
Loving like God is like burning off that prairie grass from around you, so that the flames of fire will be extinguished as there is nothing left to burn up
3. Loving God By Loving Your Brother
3. Loving God By Loving Your Brother
Most of you would probably agree that waiting for a holiday is almost as exciting as the holiday itself
But once you go on holiday, however, sadly it’s over quicker than you know
We seem to be more interested in what we cannot see, than what we can see
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So too, we reminisce about the good old days that are long gone & out of sight
We think of these now, unseen days, as better than the present completely forgetting about all the troubles we had back then in the “good old days”
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So too, we can maintain a love for God who we do not see, but be less interested in a fellow believer whom we can see
Q. How can we know that God is living in a fellow believer?
Q. How can we experience it, perceive it, know it?
This is revealed in this portion of the message with the title, “Loving God By Loving Your Brother”
Loving your brother or sister in Christ becomes the way you love God
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Q. Did you think loving God was about how much you prayed; how much you read His word; how much evangelism you do?
Don’t get me wrong, those are all vitally important
Yet, here, John is focusing on what is really important for Christians to grasp - & that is the communal aspect of fellowship & love for one another
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To illustrate this section, I’d like to speak about the general understanding of what it means to be in Christ
The church is the bride of Christ & Paul says we are one flesh with Christ - He calls it a mystery which has now been revealed
That there is a unique relationship between Christ & His church
29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are members of His body.
Paul gives two important passages sharing the uniqueness of the union of the believer with Christ
Both of these are baptismal references because baptism marks the believers new life in Christ
Here, in particular, we see this one flesh relationship with Christ come out
4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.
26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
There is this unique oneness we share with Christ
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We can take this further
25 Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Matt 25 is a further telling of what it will be like when the Son of Man comes
He will reward those who are His - those on His right, whom He termed Sheep & condemn those on His left, termed Goats
Q. What, of all the things that could be accounted for whether you were a sheep or a goat, could be the reason for either acquittal or condemnation
31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
40 “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
But to those who were put on His left, He says the same things but negatively
45 “Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Here, Jesus clearly shows the emphasis placed on the physical care & well-being of a fellow believer in Christ
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We have to contend, however, with a time where society has become very individualistic
We are swamped by a self-centred culture that promotes self-centredness in most of its propaganda, advertising & activities
Lawlessness abounds - meaning moral lawlessness - western culture’s morals are in the gutter, in tatters
People who have been propagating lies about right & wrong, good & evil have led us down an immoral path
11 “Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. 12 “Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.
False prophets are interested only in what “profits” them & to profit off people you have to sell them what is popular - & God’s morals or standards are, usually, never popular
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The point of this is to demonstrate that loving God is carried out, most notably, in loving your brother or sister in Christ
So let’s challenge ourselves to love (as we love ourselves); to try & put ourselves in the shoes of our brother or sister in Christ & then to love them as we would want to be loved
This is the way, you demonstrate your love for Christ
12 No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
To recap… the Spirit is the ground of our confidence in the Christian walk &, in John’s Epistle, the Spirit is revealed in us in 4 ways:
A genuine work of the Spirit of God will prompt a person in this direction...
1. By Keeping God’s commandments
2. By loving one another
3. By holding to the Apostle’s teaching
4. By the confession of Jesus as the Son of God
These 4 ways become rock solid confidence that the Spirit of God is abiding in us AND will allow us to face the day of the Lord with confidence
