The Supreme Significance of Love, Part 3

This wonderful dispensational grapes. This wonderful disposition of the church, the spirit of God comes and lives with him forever and ever and ever, never depart today on Insight for living with Chuck Swindoll the great fear is the day of judgment dangling over the fires of hell seeing if we have been worthy of these have an child of God is secure secure constantly eternally secure relationship with God is sealed secured and guaranteed is without condition and nothing we do will invalidate his promise to love us forever today on Insight for living. Chuck Swindoll continues to study in first John chapter 4. This is one of the Bible's defining passages on the permanence of love writer John said God is love and the one who abides in love abides in God and God abides in him. Let's pick up the study now with some helpful highlights from Friday's program titled his message the supreme significance of love.

July love you are why should you love me over seven because love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. That's his nature.

That's the essence of his person.

That's one of its attributes. One of his characteristics and when you are in God and God is in you than the same life and God pours out through you is love flows through you and that love of God is revealed. It's in his nature, and since that's true it's to be lived out through us.

Verse nine. By this, the love of God was manifested in us. God is sent his only begotten son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love. Now that we love God that wasn't first we were born telling God how much we love him we were born as rebels we grew up as rebels. Unless of course somewhere along the line the message of the gospel invades us and impacts us and changes us and suddenly were under the shadow of the cross that changes everything.

Verse 10 in this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his son to be the satisfaction for our sin is a theological reason it shows forth the nature of God. When you love one another.

There's a reciprocal reason it so we would say turnabout is fair play. The cheap way to put it but he loved us so we love others.

Look at verse 11. If God so loved us what we ought also to love one another, never Jesus words in the in the upper room when chapter 13 of John's Gospel, John records and where Jesus puts a towel around his waist and and gets a basin of water and and and he washes the disciples feet. Remember that scene course you do any gets all the way through washing their feet and he says to them using what I've done. Obviously they saw what he had done. He said I do this so that you would wash one another's feet. We would stand in line to wash his feet, but it's reciprocal when we do to others as he is done to us, and that's where the love fits it shows forth the nature of God. When you love one another as he loved me. I am to love others and there's a practical reason. No one is seen God at any time not stay with the thought out of the blue. John introduces this is not interesting. He talked about a theological reason. 17. Talk about a reciprocal reason. Verse 11. Now he says no one is seen God at any time.

What would he say that. Keep reading. Noticing God in any time. If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us brought to completion brought to full circle since no one is seen God at any time. The only evidence of God on this earth that's left is your love and mine think about since we cannot see God. It was a spirit he has chosen to abide in us and to work out his will through us and in the process to change us to be like his son and when he does that we become for those who never met the true living loving God we become for them the message of the living, loving God to tell you I cannot name an individual who was drawn to Christ apart from someone else. Somebody was living the Christian life. Somebody was different somebody was letting on. Somebody cared for. They can't see God, but they can certainly see us and by the way the world is watching. You're being watched, and it isn't the things that you do that are like family see that all the time. They can't change it that they see something different. They see an individual who is loving enough to ask forgiveness when you've done something wrong or loving enough to be patient when someone can't keep up or having a heart of compassion for the disabled or the broken, they need to know that the cross had a reason and it's change your life so that you're no longer in the spotlight is not about you.

You stop looking out for your own self and just graciously and consistently when you drive when you walk when you talk when you're with folks in the office when you're around the house when you're by your neighbor is let the love go sword is love your mayor son love through me me to see beyond the silly stuff superficial stuff. Help me to see them like you saw me when you safely help me to see there so somehow a believer who is sensitive with this kind of love is enabled to understand how what is this divine enablement that were given. Look closely.

By this we know that we abide in him and and he in us because he has given us of his spirit, look at that God has given us his Holy Spirit has given us his person when you trusted in Christ when you came to the cross by faith in his son Jesus. God gave us the third member of the Trinity to live inside.

That's why the Bible is beginning to make sense. The spirit of God is in like illuminating. That's why you're finding there is a place for controlling your life. The spirit of God is controlling.

He has given us his Spirit. We have seen and testify that the father has sent the son to be the Savior of the world know that we could testify of it because we we been given the spirit and whoever confesses that Jesus is the son of God. God abides in him and he and God we have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. He says it again. God is love and the one who abides in love abides in God and God's abides in him over and over. He said it's almost like a tongue twister abides in us and we in him and he in us and his love in us and our love out to him in the spirit is the on and on until we dislike John is saying.

Would you put what we ever get it. This enablement is provided so that my goodness he'll never leave us. You'll never be abandoned. No matter how low your sink is a child of God will never write you off. How I know that because he's given us a spirit he can't take his presence out of us. Now that he's in. So let me give you a couple of Nevers couple Nevers here one you never have to worry about being abandoned or ignored or forgotten or cashed out ever.

You'll never be cast aside ever. Great. He'll never turn his back on you. Look at Isaiah 49 we do that Isaiah 49 Mattias on the scanner really surprise you in a minute right out of the section of Scripture in Isaiah 49 loving versus verse 14 got everybody 4940 but Zion said, the Lord has forsaken me. The Lord is forgotten me. Zion is Jerusalem. Zion is the people of the Jews are going to this horrendous time. They deserve it.

Consequences for their sins. When you go through consequences.

It's harsh, it's hard, but you, you tend to think God's forgotten is he's gone forever. Look at the condition we find ourselves in. Then Isaiah answers for the Lord is can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb. Even these may forget that you have pause before you read on sent and I were talking this morning, or maybe as yesterday about a heartbreaking situation in a whole mother has become a prostitute and is she on the streets not thinking about her kids.

She's thinking about her life selling her body for whatever reason, if you will.

She's forgotten her child, even a nursing mother can walk away.

We've lived through the horrible times of watching mothers kill their own accounts of mothers killing their own children unthinkable, even even these may forget, but look next and I will not forget you don't stop there, behold, pay attention. I have inscribed you on the palms of my hand. Your ways are continually before me. Hold on tight. How do you inscribe something on your skin with a knife not miss your goofy with a tattoo. Are you ready your face is tattooed on God's palm. Don't leave others of you are thinking of that right now. I'm now hearing heresy. You tell me what inscribed on your hands me. I've been wrestling with for three hours this week my best sources say this word inscribe is from the Hebrew word, almost like coughing up phlegm cutting and or engraving in the stone as hewing a tomb and rock and more than one source says, as in the universal practice of tattooing. Now, obviously God doesn't have hands. It's called in theological terms in anthropomorphism and throw pool is a high demand and more. For some, is the idea putting thoughts of man into God, but is no hand. It's not like that, but he's inscribed in his mind, he never sleeps and never slumbers he spends his days and nights and years and centuries thinking of us. Is that good or to be imported beers reported to him. He'll take care of you don't need your help. Every morning thanks Lord for the tattooed or something like that, you know. Thanks Lord that I never out of your sight in an interesting, not even the back with the palm of his hand. When you look at most often. I've inscribed you your ways are continually before me. Hold on. Another source says the word walls is a reference to the mute appeal of desolation in your desolate moments when you come to the end and you don't even have word to send mute appeal of desolation.

Your ways are your walls are continually people I see I see I know you're there.

I understand I love you wonderful the second never never pray more.

Don't take your Holy Spirit from me because he can't. We live in a time from pedicle us all.

And when the spirit of God was given and he's come permanently back in the days of David.

You'll find those words Psalm 5111. You'll even read in Judges 1620 that sense and experience the departure of the spirit from him and he didn't even know it was in the days when the spirit came up 11 came and left no longer in this era in this wonderful dispensation of grapes this wonderful dispensation of the church spirit of God comes and lives with him for ever and ever. You'll never depart so there's a love is perfected. That's the perfection of it all. Verse 17. By this, love is perfected with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because as he is, so also are we in this world. The great fear of the people on the planet is the day of judgment, as if were going to be dangling over the fires of hell seeing if we had been worthy of these have an please child of God is secure secure constantly eternally secure past present future forever from now throughout eternity. You are in you are in the family a marvelous so when the judgment day comes, there's no shrinking, and in confidence and there's there's an absence of fear.

Look at that perfect love casts out fear. Verse 18, because fear is related to punishment in this Filipino punishment and finally this magnificent life is lived out versus 20 and 21 as we love one another. Someone says I love God, and hates his brother is a liar strong John ministry. You know what a child would call you a liar not to insult you, but because it's true because if you really say you love God you love me you love others. This is the commandment we have from him that the one who loves God should love his brother also came to mind as I got to the end of this section, Scripture, and really didn't come until the end. I was really a little boy still had my daddy still had my mom and I remember they took us to church, and a member of the class class setting. When I was just preschool and I realized last Thursday that the two songs I learned when I was a preschooler at church were both from first John, and to this day.

I know the words so you don't wait, Jesus loves me this cool whole stew there okay stuff I know you want to go on some there's another is another one. We learned that we were really really little love love all go to God is good is all to and I realized we need new words. Love your brother love your sister all you grown-up children love your brother love your sister all you grown-up children. God is all saying it with me and love your brother love all to God is when will we ever hurt would take a stroke would take it this place and scream buildings like it would packed with people and this isn't about a crowd, but it would be packed with people because everybody out there longs to know someone loves everyone and they won't know it without her telling him and showing let's start this week.

Thank you father for being so patient with us as we have grown up and become so damnably selfish, forgive us our father for our spirit of entitlement for wanting Arlene on the highway for wanting our seek to be comfortable for wanting our salary higher for wanting our room cooler on a hot day. Our bed to be softer. Our bill is paid. Lord sweep over us with the tender reminder that your love never fades and never failed us and somehow come through in this message. In a way that changes us so that we become again like little children who love you and one another in the Savior's name I pray. Everybody said sing your way home.

Okay love your brother love your sister all you grown-up children.

God is all is love, your brother, love your sister all you grown-up children fitting way to conclude today's addition of Insight for living with the simple reminder that God is love. Today's message from Chuck Swindoll represents the 14th in the 16 port study in first John, it's a series we're calling the living right in a wrong world. To learn more about this ministry. Be sure to visit us online.

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