Loving One Another

Have your Bibles with you turn with me if you would to first John chapter 4. Looking at verses seven through 16. Denied.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love in this the love of God was made manifest among us that God sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him. And this is love, not that we have loved God but that he has loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No one is ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us because he is given us of his spirit and we have seen and testify that the father sent his son to be the Savior of the world.

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the son of God, God abides in him and he and God so we have come to know when to believe the love that God has for us. God is love and whoever abides in love abides in God. God abides in him is pray my father what a glorious passage. It tells us about the God who is not just a sovereign God praised God. He is a sovereign God, the God who is love.

We thank you Lord for the love the agape love that saved our souls and gave us eternal life. We pray heavenly father. Tonight is week. Take a look at this passage that you might help us, that we might be a people of love that we might be a people who understands what you have commanded us to be and that we might understand what, love.

This is not a silly fleshly type of love that a divine agape love is sacrificial and has a great desire to help others and glorify God. Heavenly father, we would ask that you got us and direct us to this passage ignited Christ might be exalted that this congregation might be edified give you praise and honor and glory for what you do for us in Jesus holy and wonderful and precious name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. This is the third time and this letter first John that John has pointed us back to the subject of love. Why does he keep coming back to this particular subject. Will John understands the importance of it. He in first Corinthians chapter 13 which is the greatest chapter in the Bible on the subject of love. It was the apostle Paul. He said the very last chat last verse of that chapter and now about his faith, hope, love, these three but the greatest of these is love. I think John is hidden on that same thing. There is more to Christianity then love but without love. There is no Christianity. John is forcing us to delve deeply into one of the greatest attributes of the true child of God and that attribute is agape love. If you read the Greek New Testament tonight, you would see that God is not taking us just about any kind of love, but it is a particular type of love and that is described by the Greek word agape. That means a sacrificial love image look kind of love that was expressed by Jesus himself as he died for us on the cross there other Greek words for love, record, file layout means a a friendship love the record store Day means a family love.

The Greek word eros means a romantic, sensual type of love but this one is much higher than than all of those it is agape love a sacrificial type of love that was expressed by Jesus on the cross. Once again John is writing this letter to give us a test to help us determine whether we are a true child of God, or whether we are not.

Last week we looked at the truth task today we're looking at the love test I could see were many people could get utterly confused if I don't understand what, love is being a defined here in this chapter because we're living in a society where the world's love is thrown around with almost no meaning at all.

I grew up in hippie generation and people were walking around in flowered shirts and they were taking drugs and they were carrying signs make love not war what it will orders that main aisle. It was a generation is always talking about free love what they mean by free love.

They met cheap sex is what they meant sex without responsibility or the bottom line is this. It's all about me. That's what they saw his love her a lot about love in those days but when I saw all his lot more about selfishness.

Keep that in mind as we work our way through these 10 verses tonight want to share with you four points in these 10 verses number one loving one another proves that we are born again verse seven through eight. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. If you were to go out on the street anywhere in downtown USA Today and ask people just going from one to the other. Do you love are you a loving person. I think probably most everybody was.

Oh yeah, I'm a loving person.

I want to.

They think that they think that because they believe that love is just about feeling and there times when we all feel sentimental. We all feel mushy or are we all hurt for some watt body is going through a tough time we cry when we see a dog movie he hears where great confusion messes these verses up for John says everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. In the United States today.

Gay couples can go to a court get a marriage license and I go to a marriage, they say, thereby also if you asked them. Are you in love with this person they would hey oh yes, this is love and they would probably think that this is agape love.

But is this the type of love that that Jesus. John is talking about here. And the answer that is not the cause.

If it was in first Corinthians chapter 6, would it would be a great contradiction for prescriptive chapter 6, the Scripture says that nope practicing homosexual will enter into the kingdom of God. Let me stop here and say this is a practicing homosexual that is here tonight and not want you to leave this place feeling that there is no hope for you, for there is for the same blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that washed away my filthy sands and gave me eternal life can do the exact same thing for you and give you the kind of love that God is referring to here. The first part of verse seven says this beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and every one that loveth is of God love agape is of God hears what John is saying when God saves a person makes out of that person a new creation and God gives them an ability and a capacity to express agape love that they did not have before their regeneration before their conversion that agape love may express itself in many different ways to a hungry man who was out on the street in a Christian comes up to him and says, look, let me help you out a minute left over this restaurant takes into the restaurant and he buys him a a fine meal and pays for it and that that man watching that looks at that and he feels the agape love.

This is a sacrificial love.

This is something that this man did because he cared for this person on the other hand, apparently become a Christian and that parent realizes that his permissive parenting is bringing destruction into this child's life becomes a Christian, he starts reading the Bible finds out that Proverbs 1324 says that he that spares the rod hates his son, now that child who is is used to getting away with murder, with no consequences whatsoever will not leave his father spanking as an act of love. In fact, he might consider it to be mean and and and hurtful with the word of God says that spanking is an act of love.

And if you don't spank your child in order to discipline them then you don't really loving you hating ladies doesn't matter what I perceive is and it doesn't matter with the magazine American baby says to refuse the rod is an act of hatred toward that child. What hurts us to spike our children makes him cry. We all like to see in product that's what's called love is called love because it's not for your relief is for that child's good and benefit is while these verses calls confusion.

The world's definition of love and God's definition of love are two different things, and in many cases they are diametrically opposed had the privilege 17 years ago of officiating the wedding of Tim Wilson and Emily Muller. Some of you would remember Emily here were two young people who were deeply in love with each other, but they loved Jesus more than they love their prospective spouses, spouse through there and engagement time they were attacked and they were attacked because the world was screaming at them through movies to TV shows the novels through all these different different venues and music. If you love each other, then you will give each other to yourself physically before you commit to marriage, they had each made a commitment to themselves and to God that they were not to let that happen that they were to be sexually pure and they were that was God's ideal. Also notice a difference in their friends. Yet the vast majority of young people to get married today after the rehearsal. The young men will go out and party and they may go to a lewd club and they may get drunk and I go through all this stuff. I noticed that this is the friends of Tim didn't do that. Instead what if they do they they took him back to his motel room and I spent several hours in prayer for his marriage, no alcohol, no drugs, no lewd women no pornography in the next day on their wedding. No hangover and no guilt. The wedding service was simple, it was very Christ exalting the songs that they signed were, how great thou art, and, and it is well with my soul.

His Tim sister saying a song that his grandmother put together and formulated it was the vials that Tim and Emily were to say to each other.

She put them together into a song at an Tim sister, saying it when you walked into that service. You could just just feel the presence of Christ. They are the parents and the grandparents gave exhortations to Tim and Emily if I've ever seen the benefits of being raised as a God-fearing covenant child. It was in that wedding is that agape love. I think that's the beginning of it.

Did they get cheated by not involving themselves in premarital sex. I didn't look cheated. In fact, I've never seen a couple. It was so anxious to get to their honeymoon and I may be wrong but I believe with all my heart that if God grants them along life. They'll spend it together and they will be able to tell us much more what agape love is like the Scripture says here that everyone who loves agape love is born of God the house so when a person is born again, that person becomes a partaker of the divine nature. In other words, we inherit the communicable communicable attributes of God and how many of you in here tonight Johanna sickly play or if you did not know that Hannah's mother was page and if you were to go through this congregation try to pick her out. You think you could pick out which one was Hannah's mom. I don't think I'd be any problem at all.

Why because Hannah has inherited so many of the physical attributes of her mom, her hair, her eyes facial thick facial structure is just absolutely amazing. They look so much alike. I looked in at verse eight. What is it say that God is says that God is love. So is God's love and you have been born of God and people were born of God are partakers of the divine nature, then you as a Christian is one of God's children will have agape love. It may not be perfect but it's real and it sacrificial and it's very unselfish and it looks like God .2 loving one another proves God's love for us verses nine through 11 in this love of God was made manifest among us that God sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Beloved of God so loved us, we all also love one another are sharing the gospel with a man a few years ago and he said preacher tell me why Jesus had to go through such horrible, terrible torture and suffering in order to that that we might be saved. Why couldn't God that have done it in some easier way and I said to him, because God is not only love but he is also holiness and because God is perfect holiness. He he has to be separated from sin because we are sinners.

The only thing that could happen to to assure that justice is absolutely happening is 444 that person to die and go to hail in be separated for all eternity from God because God is perfect without sin and we are not we are sinful and and not wholly or one other way if there might be one who is absolutely perfect. Who could die for us vicariously take our place and suffer are hail for us to but that's not all.

Look what is says in first John chapter 4 verse nine. In this the love of God was manifested toward us that God is sent his only begotten son into the world he sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. What was God's greatest act of love was it his creation of us that he gave us life that he let us live on this planet that's that's a great act of love in it that God did that for us that he created us and gave us life, but that's not the greatest manifestation of God's love. What about the propitiation of Christ.

What is propitiation propitiation means appeasing the wrath of God. Nothing is ever happen on this earth that can begin to compare with the love that was manifested for us. When Jesus died for us on the cross, the perfect sinless, spotless Lamb of God took all of our sins and wash them away forever on the crew rugged cross, that we could live with him forever in glory. There's never been love that came anywhere near that that can even compare with that there is no love that can compare with it. I have known mothers who were told as they were getting ready to deliver a baby that there were complications and that either the baby would die with the mother would die and the mother said save the baby. That's love of non-soldiers who have given their lives for their country. That's love with the love of God the father through the death of God the son cannot begin to compare to anything for Jesus voluntarily died not for good, loving, wonderful people for people who were desiring him wanting to serve him and wanting to love him and wanting to be safe. No, no, it was for rebels, hardhearted, hardheaded, sin loving God rejecting rebels. This is the greatest manifestation of love that the world has ever seen or will ever see in first Peter chapter 1. The Scripture tells us that the angels desire to look into it that they are absolutely bewildered at the angels do not know the love of God but do not know what what should that dude us.

Verse 11 beloved of God so loved us, we all also the love one another wanted at an iron judge and leave is safe, secure home life in America and go to Burma where he would lose three wives, they would all die. We would have number of children that would die on the shores of Burma. Why would he go there to a place where he would be tortured and beaten, and finally die himself because if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Will Ferris goes twice a year to that same place.

To Burma medium are nail and he gives the same place that had an iron judge did what is will go for the same reason that I have not juts in the because of love because he wants to get the gospel into the heart of those people, just as at an arm juts in the only what Regent John Piper said about these verses the father's delight in the glory of the sun was an infinite delight. Yet he was willing to send the son to be rejected and mocked and tortured and killed in order to bring life to the world. Can we say then that we delight in the sun with the very delight of the father. If we live at odds with the mission of the sun.

That is, if we don't pour out our lives to bring life to the world. If the son died to bring life to his enemies. Can we say with any integrity that we love him with the very love of his father while we refused to join him in his mission. It can't be. I conclude with this exhortation, I think we will love each other, and those outside with a distinct supernatural love. We taste the Fellowship of the Trinity. That is when we love the suffering son of God with a very love is of his father. When that happens we will be so stunned by the glory of his suffering that will be our crown and treasure to suffer with him to bring life to the world .3 loving one another proves that God's spirit is in us. Verse 12 and 13. No one is ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us because he has given us of his spirit. I love to listen to testimonies of how people came to know Christ.

On occasion I've heard about people we were just just picked up the Bible and started reading and got under conviction and repented and came to Christ that way. I have heard of people turn on the radio here in the gospel message on the radio come under conviction repented of their sins. Trust in Christ and saved, I got a friend of mine that was in the middle of an adulterous affair and he was in a motel running. He opened up the that the drawer in the table in and pulled it out and it was a Gideon Bible, he just started carelessly looking through it and all of a sudden his eyes came on some verses that brought deep conviction into his heart and EEE Saul, that turned from his sin trusted Christ as his Lord and Savior and those type of conversions happened. This seems to be that most of the testimonies that I've heard are centered around relationships or loss person sees the reality of God in that change life of a believer. I shared my testimony with the a million times chip fund share the gospel with me. It was one evening and I were having a Bible study I got under conviction. I went home I got my Bible at what do those Bible verses again got on my knees before God repented.

My sense trusted Christ as my Lord and Savior. But I want you to know that didn't happen in a vacuum, two years before that chip would come to Christ and I watched him and I watch the change that took place in his life. I me there was a a love that he had about him that he just did not have before that there was just a complete difference in his life a joy that that he had and I can remember trying to aggravate them and making my head and that never worked.

He just Wouldn't give up on me. I hungered for what he had. It was not just his words that drew me to Christ. It was not just the word of God that drew me to Christ, but it was the Jesus that I saw in him that made me hungry for what he had. Now I've been subjected to modern-day Pharisaism by others.

I've been around professing Christians who were mean-spirited and very judgmental and and thought they were perfect they had this air of arrogance Ian and superiority that did not draw me to Christ.

In fact, it just drove me away but I knew that what you pad was real. I was jealous for what he had. The Scripture tells us that we are to be the salt of the earth because salt makes others thirsty chip was salt and he made me thirsty for Christ.

Verse 12 says that no one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is been perfected in us. I've never seen God, physically, but I saw the reality of God in chip and it made me acknowledge that God was abiding in him. Verse 13 says.

By this we know that we abide in him and he in us because he's given us of his spirit. I worry about church churches that major on minor things is reading the love reading the the works of a deadly paint right theologian tremendous intellect but pink over the years became so rigid and inflexible that he felt like he couldn't worship with anyone who didn't believe exactly to the letter as he did he spent the last years of his life in a church with nobody but him and his wife and that was it. He had raise the bar so high that he felt like nobody else could could measure up. I will be honest with you I just don't see the Lord in that on the essentials. We must be in agreement, but they are nonessentials that we can give and take on. Sometimes it's more important to be loving than it is to be right when we built fences that are man-made and not God made those fences can do irreparable damage not only to the people but also to God's glory is what Paul said in first Corinthians 13 435 love suffers long and is kind love does not envy. Love does not parade itself, is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked. Love suffers long. That means that people who have the Holy Spirit living in them put up with stuff not sinful stuff but putting their own preferences to the side and doing that order. They might meet the needs of somebody else .4 loving one another proves that our testimony in our confession are true. Verse 14 through 16 and we have seen and testify that the father has sent his son to be the Savior of the world.

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the son of God, God abides in him and he and God 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. God abides in him. Verse 15 maybe one of the most abuse verses in the Bible it says whoever confesses that Jesus is the son of God. God abides in him and he and God teaches our teachers all over America today that are claiming that that verse teaches decisional regeneration that all you have to do to be saved is confess with your mouth that Jesus is the son of God, etc., is that all there is to salvation. You have Mafia men that go to Catholic Church have their children baptized and in that confession that they make, they proclaim that Jesus is the son of God is at what John was talking about here. Absolutely not. In Matthew 829 Jesus had cast out demons from the from the you Domani I can get Dara and what did they say to Jesus.

They said this what it would you do with you, Jesus, son of God, even the demons confess that Jesus is the son of God, so this verse does not mean if you just say a little prayer, and acknowledge that Jesus is the son of God.

They are assured of salvation's notice saying John is talking about a true confession that the Holy Spirit makes real in your heart. This is what Paul was talking about in Romans chapter 12 when he said no one can say that Jesus Christ is Lord except through the Holy Spirit.

Anyone can mail the words, but to say it from the heart can only be done by the Holy Spirit of God, one close with the a letter that Robert McQuillan can write Robert Wilkins friend of mine. He was the president of Columbia Bible College for number of years and his wife contracted Alzheimer's disease and he resigned as a result of his wife contracting that disease and the love that he had for his wife is a picture of agape love and in a beautiful glorious way and this is what he said my dear wife Muriel has been in failing mental health for about eight years so far been able to carry both her ever-growing needs and my leadership responsibilities at Columbia Bible College, but recently it has become apparent that Muriel is contented most of the time she's with me and almost none of the time I'm away from her is not just discontent. She is filled with fear, even terror that she has lost me always goes in search of May when I leave home, then she may be full of anger when she cannot get to me. So it is clear to me that she needs may nail full-time pretzel to help you understand if I shared with you what I shared at the time of the announcement of my resignation in chapel. The decision was made in a way 42 years ago when I promise to care for Muriel in sickness and in health, till death do us part. So I told the students and faculty as a man of my word integrity has something to do with it but so does fairness.

She is cared for me fully, and sacrificially all these years if I cared for her for the next 40 years.

I would not be out of debt. Judy however can be grim and stoic, but there is more I love Muriel. She is a delight to me. Her childlike dependence and confidence in me. Her warm love occasional flashes of that we used to relish the her happy spirit and tough resilience in the face of her continual distressing frustration. I do not have to care for her. I get to it is a high honor to care for so wonderful a person he shared that 1990.

His wife lived for almost 10 more years right after he shared that she was in a state of mind which she didn't even know he was and he stayed with her day by day, moment by moment until she finally died that is agape love was probably heavenly father, we have been challenged by your word today to be a loving people we can't do that without the power of your spirit. Neither do we have the option to refuse to be loving father forgive us for pettiness. Forgive us for not been long-suffering and kind.

Forgive us for not putting others above our sales.

Forgive us repeating love against truth and truth against love. Help us to realize that we cannot compromise either father make a slight Jesus encourage your hearts, help us not to get frustrated with our sales with our brothers and sisters in Christ make us like Jesus puts in the precious name of Jesus we pray. Amen