John chapter 4, 1st John chapter
4, the name of the message is No Fear. 1st John chapter 4. 1st John chapter 4. Keep your
finger in 1st John 4 and turn to Matthew chapter 16. And then
we're going right back to 1st John 4. Matthew 16 and 1st John
4. No Fear. No fear. And we'll see as we
read the context of 1 John 4, where I get those words from.
Let's look over here in Matthew 16 first though. Looking at verses
13 to 18. When Jesus came to the coast
of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Whom do
men say that I, the Son of Man, am? Who do other people say I am?
That's what the Lord's asking them. And they said, some say
that thou art John the Baptist, some say Elias, and others Jeremiah
or one of the prophets. He said unto them, but whom say
ye that I am? So he asked them, he asked them,
who do men say that I am? But more importantly, who do
you say I am? So we're going to see a contrast
here. And Simon Peter answered and
said, this is a good answer. Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God. Now, the only way he could say that,
we'll see the answer to that in the next verse. And Jesus
answered and said, and blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for
flesh and blood hath not revealed it. Other men haven't revealed
this to you. But my father, which is in heaven,
and I say also unto thee, thou art Peter, and upon this rock
I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. But look at that, and Jesus answered
and said, blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood
hath not revealed it unto thee, but my father, which is in heaven. For every born-again believer, God the Father has revealed Christ
to them through the power of the Holy Spirit of God and through
the preaching of the gospel. Now let's go back to 1 John chapter
4. I've just so much enjoyed the
study of this wonderful book. It's always been a book that
I've loved to read, but even more so now as we've went through
it, studying it each week. I'm gonna read verses 7 to 19
tonight. We know that John's been speaking
to believers about God's love and how this love is manifested,
and we see that love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born
of God. and knoweth God." Again, this is speaking of the love
of God which is shed abroad in the believer's heart. This is
speaking of even that answer that Simon Peter gave to the
Lord, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, that had
been revealed to him by God the Father through the Holy Spirit.
Let's start in verse 7, we'll read to verse 19. Beloved, so
he's writing to God's born-again believers. Beloved, divinely
loved ones, let us love one another, for love is of God. And everyone
that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not
knoweth not God, for God is love. In this was manifested the love
of God towards us. This is how God's love was manifested
towards his people. How? Because that God sent his
only begotten son into the world that we might live through him.
Herein is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and
sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, again, divinely loved
ones, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
No man has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth
in us and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we
dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his spirit. And we have seen and do testify
that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God
dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed
the love that God hath to us. God is love, and he that dwelleth
in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love
made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment,
because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear
in love. But perfect love casts out fear
because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect
in love. And then, verse 19, we love him
because he first loved us. So we see in verses 15 and 16
that those who confess Jesus Christ, those who are truly born
again by the Holy Spirit of God, They have the Spirit of God dwelling
in them. Also, they are in union with
Christ, Jesus our Lord. He is the head and we're the
body. That's why the Lord said, when Saul was going around persecuting
believers, he said, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Because
of that vital union that the believer has. with Christ Jesus,
our Lord. Now, tonight, we're study versus
16 to 18, where we see the cause of our love for God. We see the
cause of our love for Christ. We see the cause of our love
for the brethren. And then we see some fruit of that love.
Some fruit of that love right in these verses. And again, this
is the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit
of God. This is not a natural love to us. Because we know the
scriptures declare that in our natural state, we were at enmity
with God in our minds and in our hearts. So note the context, the reason
I had us read from verses seven to 19 is for us to get the context
of these verses. Verse 14, we have seen and do
testify the Father sent the Son into the world. How do we do
that? How do we testify that the Father sent the Son into
this world, in verse 14? How do we do that? By the Spirit
of God in us. By the Spirit of God in us. How
do we confess that Jesus is the Son of God, verse 15, and that
He is the Word of God, incarnate, the second person of Trinity?
How do we do that? How do we confess that? By the Holy Spirit of God within
us. It's all by the power of God.
How do we know and believe that God the Father has loved this
people? Verse 16 from eternity. And how do we know that God is
love? How do we know that? Again, by the spirit of God within
us. How do we know that the Lord
Jesus Christ was sent by the Father? Verse 10 to be a propitiation
for our sins. How do we know that for the sins,
not just for our sins, but for for the sins of all God's people?
which the world specifies that. It doesn't mean everybody in
the world, it means the world to the Jews, they were classified
as the world, everyone else was just Gentile dogs. If you really
want to get in depth in that, just look up John Gill on the
internet and look up what he writes on John 3.16, it's outstanding,
where he talks about that. A.W. Pink has a great article
on that as well. So how do we know that the Lord
Jesus Christ was sent by the Father? How do we know that he
was a propitiation, again, for our sins, for the sins of God's
people? Well, by the Holy Spirit of God
within us. How do we know that we have eternal
life in and through Jesus Christ our Lord? How do we know that?
How can a believer say, I know? I know that I have eternal life in Christ.
How do we know that? By the Holy Spirit of God within
us. by the Holy Spirit of God within
us. Now the words before us are to save, born again, redeem sinners. These words are very sweet to
God's people. We know that the gospel is good
news. Glad tidings, isn't it? Glad tidings of good things. Salvation through Christ alone. The forgiveness of all our sins.
justified before a holy and righteous God, all in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ. And let me tell you, this is good news for sinners. The question is, are you a sinner? This is good news for sinners.
Oh my. Good news to those who have had
revealed to them by the Holy Spirit of God their state of
utter hopelessness to save themselves. This is good news. Jesus Christ
did it all. Salvation is complete in him.
And what comfort and confidence the believer in Christ can glean
here. Look at what verse 18 states.
Look at this. There is no fear in love, but
perfect love casts out fear because fear hath torment. He that feareth
is not made perfect in love. Note the words fear hath torment.
Note those words, fear hath torment. Now, works-based religion holds
the threat of judgment over the heads of its adherents and leaves
them in torment as you never know when it's enough that you
do in order to be saved. And we know the truth of the
scripture says that those works will never save anyone. Because
there's none righteous, no not one. There's none that understand,
there's none good. But praise God for a finished, complete
salvation accomplished by the only one who could accomplish
that salvation, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God, the Lord
Jesus Christ, the God-man, God himself incarnated in the flesh.
Praise God for that. Praise God for that. Now remember
that when this book is written, why this book is written? It's
written so that we can know that we have eternal life. written
that we can know that we have eternal life. We looked at that
a couple of weeks ago. We looked at that. And we know
that this life is only in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.
And in each of the verses we look at, we're we're in each
of the verses we look at tonight, always remember the cause of
this love, always remember the cause of the love that's being
spoken of. Well, the cause of this love for God comes from
God. The cause for our love for Christ,
His gospel, His people, has made clear that God, who is the first
cause of all things, is the cause of our love towards Him. Look
at verse 19. It's so clearly brought forth. So clearly. I often tell folks,
in our natural state, we do not love God. And that's true. That's the truth of the Scripture.
That's not Wayne's opinion. That's what the Scripture declares. that we were at enmity with God
before He saved us. And look at this, we didn't love
Him before He loved us, because the scripture declares here very
clearly, we love Him because He first loved us. He first loved us. The only reason
we love Him is because He loved us. Verse 19, so clear. So we've seen then that the believer
in Christ knows that God has loved us, from eternity. We've had that
revealed to us. Look at verse 16. And we have
no one in believe the love that God have to us. Well, then, verse
19 backs up again. We love him because he first
loved us. God is love, it says, and he that dwells in love, dwells
in God and God in him. And we know that this eternal
life was manifested towards us. This eternal love was manifested
towards us when God sent his son. To be a propitiation for
our sins, look at verses nine and 10, look at this, and this
was manifest the love of God toward us, toward believers,
towards his elect, because that God sent his only begotten son
of the world that we might live through him, we were dead. His
brother Chet was praying, we were dead, and he's given us
life. He's given us life, beloved. We were dead in trespasses and
sins. And He sent His Son into the
world that we might live through Him, through Christ, here in
His love. Not that we love God, because
we didn't in our natural state. The scripture says, we love Him
because He first loved us. So it's very clear here, here
in His love, not that we love God, but that He loved us. How
long has He loved us for? Eternity. This love is an eternal
love. I'll be honest with you, when
I sit and I contemplate that, the fact that God has loved me
from eternity, it's amazing. Knowing what I
am, knowing what I was, knowing who I am even, and He's loved
us from eternity. Isn't that amazing? We truly can't fathom it. But
we just sit in awe with the little knowledge we have, and we're
just in awe of this. It's wondrous. It's absolutely
wondrous. Here in His love, not that we
love God, but that He loved us. And He sent His Son, the Word
of God, Jehovah the Son. send his only begotten son of
the world that we might live through him here in his love,
not that we love God, but that he loved us from eternity and
send his son to be the propitiation for our sins, the only accepted
sacrifice. The only one. Then look in verse
16, and we see that this divine love is with every believer.
And we see that in verses 17 and 18, that that love is made
perfect. Look at verse 16, and we have known and believed the
love that God hath to us. God is love, and he that dwelleth
in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Verse 17, herein
is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day
of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There
is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because
fear hath torment, and he that feareth is not made perfect in
love. So we see clearly then that the
cause of this love for God, which we have, this love for Christ,
this love for the brethren, this love for the gospel of Christ,
is from God. He's the cause of it. He's the
cause of this love that we have. See, it just ties in with the
scriptures when it says salvation's of the Lord, doesn't it? Yeah,
and what we read in Matthew when the Lord said this to Peter,
flesh and blood have not revealed this unto you, Peter. We could
say, flesh and blood, every one of us who are believers, flesh
and blood has not revealed this to you. When we read that we see ourselves
don't we flesh and blood have not revealed this to you But
my father which is in heaven God God it pleased God to reveal
Christ to you My oh my oh my oh my So he's
the cause He's the cause of this love that we have for him and
for Christ and for the gospel and for the brethren God's the
cause of it It's He who's caused us to know His great love. He's given us faith to testify
of the truth of His Son being sent into this world, hasn't
He? He's given us the truth to say, as Simon said, thou art
the Christ, the Son of the living God. He's given us the faith
to say that. The same faith Peter had, you
know, is the same faith you and I have. Same faith. Born again of the same Spirit,
have the same Redeemer, have the same Father. Isn't that wondrous? It's absolutely wondrous. Absolutely
wondrous. He sent His Son, Christ, the
Father sent His Son to be the sacrifice for our sins. And He
causes us to know that. Oh my. With this in mind, let's turn
to Ephesians chapter 3. Ephesians chapter 3. He's given
us faith to testify the truth of His Son being sent into the
world. We see that in verses 14 and 15 of our chapter here. And again, it's God who's the
cause of our love to the brethren. Look at this in Ephesians 3,
verses 16 to 21. That He would grant you, being
God the Father, according to the riches of His glory, to be
strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man. This
is why we always pray for God to give grace and strength to
our brothers and sisters in Christ, no matter what they go through.
Be strengthened in the inner man by the Holy Spirit of God,
that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith that's given
to us, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, that's
the same love that's being spoken of over in 1 John 4, may be able
to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length
and depth and height and to know the love of Christ. There was
a time when we didn't know this, and now we know it. To know the
love of Christ, which passes knowledge. God's people are the wisest people
in the world, although people don't think we are, but we've
been made wise by God. It's nothing we can claim at
all. We've been made wise by God.
which passes knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the
fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to do, God is able
to do what? Exceedingly abundantly above
all that we ask or think. Look at that. According to the
power that worketh where? In us. The Holy Spirit. Unto him be glory in the church
by Jesus Christ who are at all ages, world without end. Amen.
Look at that. Now unto him that is able to
do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. God's ways are not our ways.
God's thoughts are not our thoughts. And we praise him that he saved
us, don't we? We praise him that he saved us.
Paul tells the believers that, that was Paul writing to the
believers in Ephesians, and then he tells the believers in In
Philippi, he says these words, for it is God which worketh in
you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Think of that. It's God that works in you, both
to do and to will of his good pleasure. Isn't that wonderful? It was His good pleasure that
we'd be regenerated, born again by the Holy Spirit of God. It
was according to His good pleasure that we'd know Christ, that we'd
hear the voice of the shepherd through the preaching of the
Gospel. It was according to His good pleasure. Isn't that wonderful?
It's wonderful. Turn if you want to Colossians
chapter 1. Look at here Paul, Paul again, he was writing to
the Ephesians there, he wrote to the Philippians, for it is
God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good
pleasure, Philippians 2.13. Now look what he writes to the
Colossian believers, and he's proclaiming that his labors as
a preacher of the gospel, and every gospel preacher will proclaim
this, that his labors are according to the grace and strength which
God gives him. Which God gives him. And we see that, again,
that God is the cause of our love for Him and our labor for
Him. And our labor for Him. He gets
all the glory, beloved. He gets all the preeminence.
Look at this in Colossians 1, verses 25-29. And remember, Paul
has already been establishing the preeminence of Christ against
the Gnostic teachings. Look what he writes here, though,
in verses 25-29. Wherefore I am made a minister, God sends His preachers to where
He will. He makes His preachers. Brother Henry used to say that.
He makes His preachers. According to the dispensation
of God which is given to me for you, to fulfill the Word of God,
even the mystery which has been hid from ages and from generations,
but now is made, what? Manifest to His saints. Christ
is revealed to His saints. to whom God would make known
what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles,
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ in you, the
hope of glory, whom we preach. Paul didn't preach 50 ways to
be a better believer. He didn't toy around with that
kind of nonsense. He just didn't. He didn't have
big old conferences where they have prophecy conferences and
all this stuff. You didn't do that kind of stuff.
What did he do? He preached Christ. Every opportunity he had, he
preached Christ. He preached Christ. Look at this.
Whom we preach. And that's talking about who
he mentions in verse 27 there at the ladder, which is Christ
in you, the hope of glory. Whom we preach. Warning every man
and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every
man perfect in Christ Jesus. Or unto I also labor, look it,
striving according to his working. This is God's work. His working,
which worketh in me mightily. Paul gives all the glory for
his labors as a preacher to God. And every sent preacher of God
will do that. You give God all the glory. Give him all the glory,
all the honor, all the praise. And he is the cause of our love
for him, and he is the cause of our labor for him. Let's go back to 1 John 4, 16.
So we've looked at the cause of the love we have for God,
for Christ and for the gospel, for the word of God and for the
brethren, which is the cause of this love is God the Father.
Now, let us consider some effects as a result of this love which
God gives us. Again, of which he is the cause
of John brings forth before us in these these verses here before
us tonight, verses 16 to 18, some of the effects Let's read these verses again.
We have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love, and he that dwelleth
in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love
made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment,
because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear
in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect
in love. Now note the first effect brought
forth in this passage is the knowledge. The knowledge about
God's love towards us. The knowledge of God's love towards
us. As we looked at last week, there are some things the believer
now knows. We didn't know them before we were saved, but now
we know them. And we see in verse 16 that the
believer in Christ knows and believes that God loves them.
And we know that we dwell in him and he in us. He's the head,
we're the body. And this speaks of the indwelling
of the Holy Spirit of God, the child of God, the indwelling
of the Holy Spirit of God in the child of God. John has been
bringing this forth in this epistle. Look at verses Look at verses
four and 15 of this chapter. Ye are of God, little children,
and have overcome them, because greater is he that is in you
than he that is in the world. And then look at verse 15. Whosoever
shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him,
and he in God. Then turn two chapters over and
look at verse five. 1 John 2, verse five. Look what it says here. 1 John
2, verse five. But whoso keepeth his word, in
him verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby know that we
are in him. So there's that vital union between
the believer and Christ. So marvel at the fact of regeneration
by the Spirit, by the Holy Spirit of God. The gospel, through the
gospel, marvel at the fact of the regeneration by the Holy
Spirit of God through the gospel. The believer in Christ, all by
the power of God, is regenerated, born again, born again. and bought
from spiritual death in ourselves to eternal life in Christ. Something
I've noticed amongst religious people lately, more so than before,
is you get talking to them and they say some similar things
to what we believe, some similar things, but I've noticed that
they never mention about being born again. A lot of them, a
lot of them won't mention about being born again. They'll talk
about a decision they made, they'll talk about walking an aisle,
but they really don't bring being born again. And it's vital because
the Lord said in John 3, you must be born again. You must
be born again. There's no way for us to see
the kingdom of God without being born again. And you've heard
me mention this many times. I think it was Brother Henry
that brought this up, that decisionism, praying a prayer in religion
has now replaced Holy Spirit regeneration. Because what they
do is they say, if you pray this prayer, oh, you're saved. How
are we saved? By being born again, beloved,
not by praying a prayer. By being born again of the Holy
Spirit of God. And when we're born again of
the Holy Spirit of God, then we confess Christ, don't we?
We love Him. We love Him. And we tell other
people, well, when the Lord saved me, we don't say when I got saved,
we say when the Lord saved me. Because it's he who saved me,
I didn't save myself. I didn't get saved. That's like, I got
a cold, yeah, but I didn't get saved. You know, it sounds so
trivial. And I know words, people say, well Wayne, you're being
a little, no, the Lord saved me. He saved my soul. He did it. The Holy Spirit regenerated
me, I'm born again. I'm not the same person. I got
the same flesh. One day I'll shed that, but I'm
not the same person that I used to be. No, born again, taken
from death to life. You see? So listen for that,
too, when you're talking to folks. You'll find that they don't bring
that up. They may talk about a prayer
they prayed, and they may talk about a decision they made, but
they don't hardly ever talk about being born again. And being born
again is vital. You must be born again, our Lord
said. And we even see it in our text that we're looking at. We're
born again a God. That's how we know these truths.
That's an effect. of the Holy Spirit regeneration
is that we know, we know now about this love of God, that
God had for us from eternity. We didn't know about that before.
Had no idea at all. Had no idea at all. So marvel
at this. It's a miracle of grace. It really
is. Just marvel at it. And by God's grace and by God's
grace alone, the only thing a believer knows is that that he believes
Christ, he believes on Christ. And we know that this faith that
we have in Christ come from God. He's given it to us. It's God-given
faith in the existence, the existence of which we cannot offer proof
of, can we? But we just believe, we believe. Oh my, we believe. We believe
the gospel and that's proof enough to us, isn't it? That the spirit
dwells in us. Because there was a time when
we didn't believe the gospel. Oh my. Look at 1 John 3, verses
23 to 24. Look at this. 1 John 3, 23 and
24. And this is his commandment,
that we should believe on the name of the Son of Jesus Christ,
of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave
us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandment dwelleth in him,
and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth
in us by the spirit which he hath given us." And Brother Tim
said, the keeping of the commandments there is just trusting Christ,
just looking to him, beloved, resting in him. Brother Tim James
brought that forth, just resting in him. So the first effect then, The
first effect is that we've known and believed the love of God
that he has to us. The first effect of this love
being given to us by the Father. Now the second effect of the
perfect love of God with us is that we have boldness in the
day of judgment. Look at verse 17, this is marvelous. Look at verse 17, this is just, this is just wondrous. And herein
is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day
of judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world. Marvel
at these words here before us and know that we who are born
sinners, we who are redeemed and still safe sinners, that
the Scriptures declare here that we may have boldness in the day
of judgment. And do you know the word boldness
there in the Greek means confidence and assurance? Let me read, but
it also carries with it the idea of speaking freely with nothing
to hide. With nothing to hide. The Greek
word speaks of unreservedness of speech. It goes on, it gets
even better. A free and fearless confidence
with nothing to hide or be ashamed of. Isn't that amazing? And it goes on, freedom or frankness
in speaking, freedom in speaking all that one thinks or pleases.
That's what boldness means. So the love of God for us is
perfected and so much so that we have nothing to hide in the
day of judgment when we stand before our great father and stand
before the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at it. 1 John 3, verse 21,
look at this. But he that doeth truth cometh
to the light. No, I'm sorry, it's actually
John 3, verse 21, I'll read it. But he that doeth truth cometh
to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they
are wrought in God. The only way the truth of that
verse is we come to the Father in Christ. In truth, who is truth incarnate. And the only reason that we can
come boldly before God on the Day of Judgment, let's read that
again. Herein is our love made perfect that we may have boldness
in the Day of Judgment, unreservedness, freedom to come before the Father,
freedom to speak, because as He is, so are we in this world.
The only reason we can come boldly before God, The only reason on
the Day of Judgment is because of what Christ has done for us. That's the only reason. That's
the only reason. And we know that we're, well,
we know right now, God the Father looks at us and sees us clothed
in the righteousness of Christ. So that he doesn't see our sin,
he sees the Son, he sees Christ and he's satisfied with the sacrifice
of Christ. He sees us clothed in that perfect
consciousness that enables us to stand before God with boldness.
With boldness. My. And because of what Christ has
done for us, we will stand before our great God on the Day of Judgment
with boldness and marvel at the fact That this is the love of
God for us that makes this so. It's the love of God for us that
makes this so. He is the first cause of it.
You see, it's not man's decision or man's doing something. No,
because man won't come to God because the scripture says there's
none that seek it after God. There's none that understand.
No, God is the first cause of this. Isn't that wonderful? It's absolutely wonderful. I'll have mercy on whom? He says,
I'll have mercy on whom I'll have mercy. And I'll have compassion
on whom I'll have compassion. In the scripture, it's not of
him that willeth, it's not of him that runneth, but it's God
that have mercy. Very clear, isn't it? It's the
mercy of God. It's the mercy of God. Now religion, Religion has made many people
careless about their souls. Many people careless about their
souls. With this false notion that God
loves everyone. With this false notion that God
loves everyone. This has put false religion in
a state of sleep. How so, you may ask? How so? Well, those in religion are convinced
of the love of God for all, even those who make no claim of interest
in Christ. So then, with them saying that,
religion's now in a dilemma. They say that God loves everybody,
even those who have no care for Christ at all. Really, if you
listen to what they say. Oh, they're in a dilemma. How
so? Well, on the one hand, they preach the universal love of
God, and on the other hand, they try to keep the goats in line
by threatening them with judgment. And this mixed message ends up
confusing the minds of men and women. Therefore, religion is
a most unhappy place to reside in. It really is. It torments
you. I've been there. It does. It
torments you. But it's not so for the born-again,
blood-washed believer. It's not so for the born-again,
blood-washed believer. As we read in this text tonight,
in this text, this text here, this'll fill your heart with
joy. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness
in the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world. This'll fill the born-again,
blood-washed believer's heart with joy, knowing that if God
before us Amen. Who can be against us?
No one. No one. How can that be? How can how can how can if God
before us who can be be against us? How? Because, well, number
one, he's the almighty sovereign God of the universe. And number
two. We know that God's again, because
it's been revealed to us, we know that God's law and justice
have already been set aside in our case. Because Christ Jesus
our Lord bore it all, bore all that wrath that was justly due
us on Calvary's cross as our substitute. And then we know
that if God be for us, who can be against us? Oh my. So concerning the judgment, the
believer in Christ knows that we will have nothing to hide.
Nothing to hide. The believer in Christ knows
that there's therefore now no condemnation to those in Christ
Jesus. Now, I must preface this in because people right away
say, well, boy, what you're preaching, you sound like an antinomian.
No, I'm not. No, I don't believe God's people will go off and
do whatever they want. Now, do we fall into sin? Yeah, all the
time we do. Yeah, but we come back to the Lord, don't we? We
repent. We've come to the Lord. We continue to come to the Lord.
And even though we know we're forgiven, we still confess our
sin to Him, don't we? Yes, we do. And the love of Christ
constrains us from sin. And we sin more than we want
to. If we could never sin again, it would be marvelous, but we
know one day we will never sin again. But while we're on this
earth, we're sinners, saved by the grace of God in Christ. And
we walk in Him. Walking, knowing, knowing that
there's therefore now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus. And
we don't leave, we don't use our liberty as lusciousness. We don't go off and do whatever
we think we can do. We don't do that because now
again, and I'm gonna keep saying this all the time, the love of
Christ constrains us. Constrains us. We get convicted
of our sin. Don't we? We ask God to help
us. and give us grace and strength.
Oh, my, but but seriously, think of this concerning the judgment,
the believer in Christ knows that he will have nothing to
hide. As far as the east is from the
west, so far as he removed our transgressions from us. So there
is therefore now what? I love this verse. You're gonna
probably till the day I die, you're gonna keep hearing it
over and over and over again. There's therefore now no condemnation,
no judgment to those in Christ Jesus. That's wonderful. I came
out of religion where it was just all judgment and torment.
No condemnation is wonderful. Wonderful. Wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful. So
where is our Lord right now? Well, He's seated in glory, isn't
He? At the right hand of the Father. Interceding for His people. And the believer in Christ does
not fear the judgment. Rather, we have boldness in facing
the judgment. Because as Christ lives, we will
live also. Because again, He's the head
and we're the body. And where He is, we will be shortly. We
will be shortly. Now those who face the judgment
outside of Christ, they will give an account for their sins,
and they will be condemned, and the wrath of God will fall upon
them fully. But the believer in Christ, for
the believer in Christ, our debt is paid forever. Past, present, and future sins. Because when Christ died on the
cross, for every one of us in this room, and for everyone who,
from now until the Lord comes back, all our sins were in the
future. He paid all my sin, praise God.
Did he for you? It's wonderful. Past, present,
and future. Heaven forgiven you all trespasses. All trespasses. The debt is paid Our debt for
our sin before God is paid in full Settled forever by Christ
alone. Just let that ring in your hearts
this week that our debt for the believer in Christ Our debt is
paid in full settled See that's why we will have boldness
in the day of judgment believe not based upon anything in us,
but all because of what Christ is, all because God the Father
manifested his love toward us and sending his son to be the
propitiation for our sins. Remember, he's the sinless, spotless
lamb of God. He had no sin. He's dying on
that cross for the sins of his people. They've been imputed
to him. And then his righteousness is
imputed to us. Hallelujah. What a savior. What a great God. What a great God. And Christ
is risen from the dead. Well, so has the believer. Christ
is glorified by the father. So is the believer. Christ is
fully accepted in the presence of the father. So is the believer
in Christ. All those things in Christ. Marvel
at this truth bought forth in this wonderful scripture. Herein
is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day
of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. Oh. The last effect in our text produced
by this love of God for us, which is the result of. Of God. Giving us this love. in which
he produces in us by the Holy Spirit of God, who is God, is
this love casts out fear. It casts out fear. Look at verse
18. There is no fear in love, but
perfect love casts out fear, because fear hath torment. He
that feareth is not made perfect in love. Now, as the context
indicates, fear hath torment. Fear hath torment. Now this speaks
of a slavish fear, beloved. This speaks of a slavish fear,
a fear of which a slave has for the master, or a criminal before
a judge. They've committed the crime and
they're standing guilty before a judge. And that sentence is
gonna come down. And there's a fear there. And this is genuine, sincere, But believing love does away
with that slavish fear. That's what's being bought forth
here. Now, do we still do we fear the Lord? Yes, but it's
a reverent fear. It's not a slavish fear. It's it's. It's not a. It's not a fear that is based
upon. Upon judgment. because our sins
were already judged at Calvary's Cross. It's a reverent fear of
who God really is. That's what we have now. But
this love, this fear that's spoken of in our text is, again, it's
a slavish fear, which a slave has for his master, a criminal
before the judge. Believing love does away with
this, that kind of fear. Listen to what Paul pens by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit of God in Romans chapter three or eight.
I'll read these verses here in verses 15 to 17 for ye have not
received the spirit of bondage. He's writing to believers, right?
So he says, you've not received the spirit of bondage again to
fear. The Holy Spirit sets us free. We don't become tangled up in
bondage. He sets us free for you have
not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received
the spirit of adoption whereby we cry have a father. Like a
son cries to the father. The spirit of self-birth witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children
and heirs, heirs of God and joined heirs with Christ, if so be that
we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. Now,
when a person fears the curse and condemnation of the law and
the justice of God. They are tormented by the dread
of wrath and judgment. And it's quite certain that a
person in that state is filled with unbelief concerning the
person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He or she does not believe
and trust Christ, because as the scripture brings forth, there
is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. Also, remember
the context of this verse. and marvel at the wondrous truth
that's being set right here before us. Because this is wondrous
truth that's being set before us here. This love that God has
for us, which is shed abroad in our hearts, casts out fear. Casts out the fear of judgment.
Casts out the fear of the wrath of God against us. Casts out the dread of that wrath. There's no fear in love. Now
again this fear, the fear spoken of is a slavish fear, a fear
of censor, a fear of loss, a fear of wrath. The believer doesn't
have that. I'm going to give you an example.
Turn if you would to 2 Samuel chapter 9. An example an example of how a believer
And Christ finds mercy and grace in the eyes of the Lord. And
knowing that God has loved us, it'll give us boldness at the
throne of judgment, all because of what Christ has done. And
it'll cast away the fear of the wrath of God and the judgment
of God falling upon us because it fell upon our substitute,
the Lord Jesus Christ, in our place. Look at this. Look at
this over here. 2 Samuel 9, verses 5 to 8. Then King David sent forth and
fetched him out of the house of Macher, the son of Emiel from
Lodabar. Now when Mephibosheth, the son
of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell
on his face and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth,
and he answered, behold, thy servant. Now again, the setting
of this, Saul is dead, Jonathan is dead. As far as we know, Mephibosheth
is the last remaining person of his family. He's the grandson
of Saul. And when a king would take over,
a new king would arise, they would slaughter anyone left the
royal house. The reason being was they would
be considered a rightful heir. So Mephiboseth is bought before
David. And could you imagine him? He's being bought in. We
know he's lame from a fall. He can't walk. He's probably
being carried in on a, I just picture, on like a stretcher
with two guys in the front and two guys in the back. That's
just my, or one guy in the front, one guy in the back. And they
place him down before David. But as he's going down to see
David, there would, of course, there would be generals and the
captain of the guard and the guard, David's guard there with
him. and he's put before David, the king. He's sat right before,
and David's probably sitting in his chair, right? And Nephiboseth
probably thinks, I'm dead. I'm dead. And he's in fear. He's in fear. Look at verse seven, and David
said unto him, look at these two words, fear not. Oh, my goodness. God says that to us in Christ,
beloved. Fear not. For I will surely show the kindness
for Jonathan, my father's sake, beloved, God has mercy on us
for Christ's sake. and will restore thee all the
land of Saul thy father, and thou shalt eat bread at my table
continually. And think of this, here's Mephiboseth,
he's laying from a fall, and he's sitting at the table of
the king, right? And what can't you see? You can't see his legs. He's sitting, he's laying, but
you can't tell if he's just sitting there. And he's eating at the
king's table, beloved. Oh my. And he's there because
David, who represents the Father, made a covenant with Jonathan,
which represents the everlasting covenant between God the Father
and the Son in eternity. Jonathan and David made a covenant
before Mephibosheth was even born, where David wouldn't slay
his children. Look at this. And David said unto him, fear
not, for I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's
sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father.
And thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. And he bowed
himself and said, this is Mephibosheth, and isn't this the answer of
every believer? What is thy servant that thou shouldest look upon
such a dead dog as I am? I don't deserve this mercy, he's
saying. David says to him, fear not. Mephibosheth hears the wonderful
words from David's lips. Fear not. Fear not. Beloved, we are saved in Christ
because the Father made a covenant long before we were born in eternity
with the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that we would be saved,
redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ, all because His love was set
upon us from eternity. Let's go back to our text. We'll
read verse 18 one more time. Oh, how wondrous then is the
scripture before us. There is no fear in love. No
fear. God, the father says to all of
us who are in Christ. You're not. You're not. Scripture says there is no fear
in love, but perfect love casts out fear because fear hath torment.
He that feareth is not made perfect in love. Now, every born again
believer again has a reverent fear of our great God, our great
sovereign, majestic God. We love and we worship him. But
this does not have to be due with being afraid of what he
would do to us, because we know that he's he's our loving heavenly
father. We cry out Abba Father now. I
have a father. We don't have a slavish fear
for him, because slavish fear brings forth torment. Brings
forth torment. In religion, I remember when
Vicki and I were in religion, and we actually talked to someone
today, and they brought up about, oh, I don't read my Bible enough.
I haven't prayed enough. We used to do the same thing.
Just torment ourselves. Just, I haven't done enough of
that. I haven't witnessed enough people. I haven't talked to enough
people. I haven't done this. I haven't done that. And it was torment,
beloved. I'll tell you it was. When's it ever good enough? Have
I done this or have I not done that? In religion, religion has
torment. But the grace of God by the power
of the Holy Spirit of God produces an effect in the believer in
which there is no fear in love. No fear of judgment. No fear
of condemnation before God. Because perfect love casts out
fear. And that again is the love which
God gives us. And now we say, I don't have to read the Bible,
I get to read the Bible. It's a privilege. I don't have
to pray. I get to pray. I get to go before
the sovereign God of the universe and petition Him all by the grace
of God. Do I want to do that? Yes. You
do too, don't you? Yeah. We didn't want to before,
but now we do. It's incredible. And the one
who is afraid of the judgment lives in a state of torment.
Workspace religion just stirs up a state of torment. When is
it ever enough? And who sets the standard? Some
man. That's usually what happens.
It's usually some man setting the standard. Oh, the one who's afraid of judgment
lives in a state of torment. His conscience is screaming at
him like a banshee in his bosom, accusing him of his own failures.
I remember that. Oh, you just, you go to church
and you come out feeling worse than when you went in. Because you're failing to live
up to this profession. And this is so true of religious
people. They're always punishing themselves. They're always carrying
this burden around. And it's a burden too heavy to
be borne. No matter how hard they try,
they are tormented because they can never do enough. And they're
tormented because they know they're living a lie. Beloved, God's love in us has
no torment. That's what's being brought forth
here. It's Christ. We always remember this. It's
Christ who's made peace with God for us. It's Christ who's
done that. How? By the blood of his cross.
It is Christ who's reconciled us to God. And marvel at this
fact that Christ has propitiated God toward us. And we're not
tormented anymore because perfect love casts out fear. Isn't this
good news? This is wonderful. Wonderful. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
do nothing else but believe on him. Look to him and him alone. And in doing so, you will find
rest for your soul. You will find rest for your soul.
You'll find rest from your labors. Oh, may God make it so. May God
make it so. May he give you the grace to
make it so. Heavenly Father, we thank you again for allowing
us to gather together, allowing us to be here. Oh, the look in
thy holy scriptures, oh. To see that perfect love cast
without fear, oh Lord. The torment of religion and religious
works is gone. And we wholly trust and look
to thee and thee alone, oh Lord. You are our peace with God. You
are the only way we are reconciled with God. You are the only way
that we have forgiveness of sins. All by the shedding of precious
and holy blood. Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ,
for your great sacrifice for sin. For for you coming here. And living that perfect life,
which we could never live. You, the spotless, sinless lamb
of God, dying in the place of sinners. O Lord, may we ever
be thankful, may praise be on our lips that we have boldness,
that we will have boldness at the day of judgment, Lord, all
because of what you've done, not in anything, no confidence
in the flesh at all, Lord, but our confidence, holy, resting
in thee and thee alone. Glory to you, Lord, in Jesus'
name. Amen.