I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of 1 John, chapter
3. 1 John, chapter 3. Going through this precious book written by one of the Lord's
disciples, an eyewitness. to His glory. I'd like to look at the first
verse. 1 John chapter 3. Here the apostle John exhorts
God's people to do something that is truly a joy to their
heart. John says, Behold, pay attention. Observe. Behold what manner of
love. I want you to look, he said intently,
with the eye of faith. I want you to behold and pay
attention to what quality, what sort, what kind of love The Father
hath bestowed upon us the objects of His mercy that we should be
called, that is, permitted to be accounted and to bear the
name. Now listen. Listen to what the
Spirit of God is saying to God's people. He said, and behold what kind of love,
what kind of love, what manner, that's what it means. Look at
what kind of love the Father, through the Son, hath bestowed
upon us that we should be called the sons of God. The sons of God? Therefore, because of that kind
of love that's been bestowed, that's been given, the world,
knoweth us not, doesn't recognize us. The world doesn't perceive
us. Can't figure out a believer is
a different sort than the world. born into this world, living
in this world, still has that old man in them of the world,
but there's a new man there. And the world can't perceive
it. They just, they see it. The world knoweth us not, doesn't
acknowledge us, can't recognize us. Why? Because they knew him
not. They don't recognize Him. They
don't act like Him. They don't perceive Him. Now
to speak of what manner of love, what kind of love, what quality
of love that God has bestowed upon His people is a subject
that I'm going to go ahead and just tell you right now. I'm
just totally inadequate. But let me express something. to all of us that we all need
to hear. Here is an amazing thing. It is the voice of Almighty God
when the Spirit of God blesses the Word of God through the voice
of a God called preacher. It's not the preacher speaking. It's God speaking. He said, my
sheep hear my voice. Now that's a very arresting thing
to me. And it's a very humbling thing
to me. A very convicting thing to me. To think that the words
that come out of my mouth that are in accordance with this Bible,
Mitch, are not my words. I know what I'm saying so. Because
Paul said, we beseech you in Christ's stead. We beseech you
in Christ's stead. We're ambassadors for Christ
and beseech you in Christ's stead. Not only do I strive and desire
to preach what I know is so, but I need to recognize that
I am responsible to hear what I'm saying because they're not
my words. I think about how God is pleased
to raise up a preacher and teach him the gospel. And he preaches
the gospel. And then, in time, as the effects
of sin begin to take over and he begins to lose his ability
to think like he once did, remember as he once did, and the Lord's
pleased to finally, Fred, take him home. You look back and you
think, there was a time that God spoke and we heard. John said, behold, just Lord
help us this morning to look. Help me to put aside, take away
these thoughts, these distracting thoughts. Let me look by the
eye of faith. And behold, what kind? Lord,
by your Spirit, teach me something this morning. Behold, what kind
of love has the Father bestowed upon His people? Well, I can
tell you this. I know, first of all, it is a
love that is totally undeserved. There's nobody in this congregation
this morning that deserves the love of God. When Adam fell in
the garden, all mankind, and that is including all of God's
elect, fell in Adam. All of us, the whole kit and
caboodle, everybody fell in Adam. But within the mass of humanity,
there was a people in that mass out of every kindred, nation,
tribe, and tongue that Almighty God purposed to save. They're His. He knows them. But as they fell in Adam, all
of us, all of us did. And we all were born with the
same carnal mind, the mind of flesh that is enmity. What does that mean? It's hostile.
The carnal mind is hostile against God, against the only hope for
a sinner. The only hope for a sinner. And all of us were born hating
God. We hated Him. Hated Him. hostile toward him. I'll not
have that man rule over me. That mind's not subject. It's
not in submission is what it means. To the law of God, neither
can be. It can't be. Why? Because it's dead. It's dead. The Lord looked down
from heaven upon The children of men, all of us. Now listen,
this is all of us now. Here's where we are. All of us. He looked down upon all of us. And let me tell you how we all
are. We're all gone aside. We're all together filthy. What does that mean? We all stink.
We've all got a proud, arrogant attitude about us. We think all
of us by nature. All of us stink. All of us are
rebellious. How many understood? None. How many did good? None. How
many deserve the love of God? None. Nobody. Nobody. It's not until the Lord gives
a sinner, all of us, all of sin. It's not until the Lord, in regenerating
grace, gives a new heart, a heart of understanding, and I'm telling
you the first thing that that sinner, that regenerated sinner,
knows is, I'm the rebel. I need for Almighty God to do
something for me. Like that prodigal. Got his money. Went into a foreign country.
Wasted all of his living. All he had. Wasted it. On righteous
living. We've all done that. We gave
it all up. Threw it all away. All of us.
But one day the scripture says, he came to himself. What happened? That parable right
there? The Lord is teaching us God regenerated
him. God gave him a new heart. He
came to himself. He knew of his need. What did
he say? What was the first thing he thought? I'm going back to my father.
I'm going back and I'm going to tell him this. I have sinned
against heaven. And before thee, and listen to
this, I am no more worthy to be called thy son. I don't deserve anything. I have no merit at all. That's the admittance. of a sinner. That God has taught something
of the manner of love. What kind is it? It's undeserved
love. Undeserved. Thanks be unto God
He's not dealt with us after our sins. Not rewarded us according
to our iniquities. Because I'm telling you this,
not one of us would have any hope. We don't have any right. We don't have any right. We're
all the problem. Well, secondly, what manner,
what kind of love is it? I'll tell you what it's got to
be. For God Almighty to have mercy on a sinner, it's got to
be just love. A love that is just. Almighty God is going to show
mercy to whom He will show mercy. Let's never forget this. He never
bypasses His justice. Never. Never. In no wise, the
scripture says, He cleared the guilty. What must He do? According to His love, His holiness,
righteousness, what must He do? He must be just. God Almighty is fair. He will absolutely deal with
us in mercy and in justice. How? How? In indescribable love, Almighty
God chose to deal with us in one that could bear our guilt
in Himself. He who knew no sin, God who was
not going to show mercy at the expense of His justice, chose
eternally His elect Son. And His elect Son, in whom we
were chosen, all of God's elect, chosen in Him, stood in absolute
agreement to everlasting covenant of grace and said, I will answer
to your justice. When he went to the cross, he
went as the representative, as the substitute, divine substitute,
made what we are. Almighty God is going to be just. indescribable justice and wrath. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Why? Read this. Because you're
holy. Because you're holy. Almighty God declares that Christ
hath redeemed us. He bought us by, bought us, paid
the debt. What was the debt? What was owed
to the law of God? What was owed to it? What was
owed? Death. Death. That's what's owed. What's the
penalty? What's the wages? What's the
payoff for rebellion? And we're all guilty. All of
us. Oh, may the Lord help us get
off our high horses. Here we're just a bunch of sinners. And if God had been pleased to
save some of us, He's merciful. Christ has redeemed us what? From what? From the curse of
the law. How? Being made a curse for us. For it's written, cursed is everyone
that hangeth on a tree. also has suffered for sins. How many times? One time. Once. The just for the unjust. Why? That he might bring us to God. Being put to death in the flesh,
quickened by the Spirit. The love of God, behold what
manner, what kind of love is this? It's undeserved love. And it's just love, it's just. I'm going to tell you one more
time now, I mean it. I mean it. To offend in one point,
to offend all, all the law, by one man's disobedience. Many
made sinners. And God Almighty is going to
deal with it. What kind of love is it? Thirdly, I'll tell you
what kind it is. It's sovereign, eternal, and particular love. Particular love. While this world
and its false religion teaches that God loves everybody. Now listen to me. Almighty God has set forth in
His scriptures People said God loves everybody. That is not
according to the Scriptures. I know He didn't love Esau, and
I know He's angry. He's angry with who? The wicked. Who is that? Who are the wicked? Everybody that is not found in
His Son. How often is He angry with them?
Every day. Every day. Almighty God is sovereign,
love is eternal, and it's particular. Now you listen to the words of
our Lord. Listen to this, John 15, 16. When the Lord was speaking
to His disciples, I know what false man What originating religion says? I know what it says. Listen to
what God says. John 15, 16. Ye have not chosen
me. Somebody said, I chose the Lord.
The Lord said, no you didn't. No you didn't. Shouldn't that
be so simple to understand? But you know what it takes to
understand that? A new heart. You have not chosen me. I've
chosen you. I chose you. John 15, 16. You haven't chosen me. I chose
you. And I ordained you. I determined that you would go
forth and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain.
Whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, He may give
it you. God's love for His people. What
kind is that? I tell you, it's sovereign love,
particular love, particular. Listen to Malachi, last book
of the Bible. Malachi chapter 1. Listen to
the Lord's word. Malachi 1, 1-3. Now listen to
this. The burden of the word of the
Lord to Israel by Malachi. And any time, let me remind us
of all this. He's talking about God's love. Natural Israel was always a picture
of type of God's elect. Spiritual Israel. In natural
Israel there was always a remnant according to the election of
grace. Now listen to what he's saying. I have loved you, saith
the Lord, yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? You know what? We're always ready
to argue with God. Wherein hast thou loved us? Was
not, here's the Lord's answer, was not Esau Jacob's brother
the one deserving, naturally speaking, of the inheritance?
Wasn't Esau Jacob's brother? Wasn't he the firstborn? who
naturally deserved it, who naturally deserved it, Esau. Was not Esau
Jacob's brother, saith the Lord? Yet, I've loved Jacob, and I
hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the
dragons of the wilderness. Man would say, you can't do that. Who are we, old men, old women,
that reply against God? God's love is sovereign. God's love is particular. Look at Deuteronomy 7. Deuteronomy
7. Again, a glorious picture of
God's elect Israel. Deuteronomy 7. Verse 6 to 9, For thou art an holy people unto
the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen
thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that
are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love
upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than
any people. For you were the fewest of all people, but because
the Lord loved you. And because he would keep the
oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought
you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house
of bondmen from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Know therefore
that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which
keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him, keep his
commandments to a thousand generations. What kind of love has God him? Behold what manner undeserved. just, particular, and fourthly,
and I'm so thankful for this, it don't change. It don't change. It's immutable. Here's the hope
of God's people because they know, we know what we are. There's been enough thoughts
of rebellion, evil, disrespectful thoughts that has happened in
this congregation this morning already to send us all to hell. Every one of us. If you'd say,
well, I'll tell you what, I don't know about me, but I know I'm
sure those other people have. No, there's not one in this congregation
this morning that's guiltless. Every one of us. If God would
have dealt with us after our sin, after our iniquity, we'd
all be in hell right now. But here's the hope. What kind of love? It's immutable
love. It does not... I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. If He's ever loved us, He ever
loves us. He don't change. He don't change. But what about the sins that
I've just committed? What about the ones that you're
getting ready to commit after a while? If the Lord has ever loved you,
He's already dealt with that guilt that you will commit, that
you just committed, that I just committed. And it's all under
the blood. The blood's already paid for
it. It's already paid for. You mean before I commit it? That blood was shed over 2,000
years ago. What do you mean before you commit
it? It was shed then before we were ever born. When I see the
blood, I'll pass over you. Oh, what manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us. What kind is that? I tell you
this. It's communicating love. I cried
unto the Lord with my voice and He heard me out of His holy hill. He heard me out of heaven. I
cried unto the Lord. What kind of love? It's fellowship
in love. Communing love. That verse I
just quoted a while ago, where two or three are gathered together
in my name, I'm in the midst of them. Can you imagine the
love of God that He would come? in every congregation where God's
people are meeting together. Where they're together. He's
with them. That's who He's with. He's with
them. I'm in the midst of you. Keeping love. That's what kind
of love it is. I'll never forsake you. I'll
never leave you. Providing love. My God shall
supply all your need according to His riches and glory by Christ
Jesus. What's He going to provide? All
of our need. What do I need? He'll provide
it. What is it? He'll provide it. Why? Because He said, I love you.
I love you. I love you. Behold what manner
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called
the sons of God. And because of that love, the
love of God shed abroad in our hearts, it gives us the heart
to say, Lord, not unto me, not unto me, but unto your holy name,
all honor and all glory and all praise be given. May the Lord bless the word to
our heart for Christ's sake. Amen.