1 John 4, verse 7, Beloved, let us love one another. For love is of God, and everyone
that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. How many times do you see the
word love in verse 7? It's there twice, isn't it? Beloved, you who I love, let us love. In verse 4, John refers to them
as his little children. Here's the lesson here that we're
gonna see about the love of God and as it should have brought
in our hearts how that love is expressed for one another because
of him And I wants to see this first love is a relationship John is not writing to biological
children When he says little children They're not his biological children.
It's natural to love your biological children, but that may not be
so. And there are those who do not. And some children do not
love their father or mother, biologically speaking. But they
may, those same children may refer to someone else, someone
who raised them and cared for them and nurtured them and loved
them as a true mother. or father, they may refer to
them as their mother or father. And they'd be right. You see, a relationship is not
always love. But love is the relationship. Love makes a relationship. These
people to whom John writes were not his children in the purely
strict sense, but it didn't make them any less children If anything
they're more so Our Lord was told one time while he was teaching
a group of believers That his mother and father wanted to speak
with with him. He was interrupted by them Turn
to Matthew 12 and let's look at that Matthew chapter 12 Verse 46 While he yet talked to the people,
behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak
with him. They didn't wait till he was
finished while he yet talked with them. They said, go get
him. Then one said unto him, behold,
thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with
thee. But he answered and said unto
him that told him, who is my mother and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand
toward his disciples, his followers, and said, behold, my mother and
my brethren, for whosoever shall do the will of my father, which
is in heaven, the same as my brother and sister and mother. And this is the first point that
I wanted us to see in our text. I have biological brothers. that don't care whether I live
or die. That's just the truth. I'm not saying that so you'll
feel sorry for me. It's just the truth. So I ask
you this morning, as our Lord asked men, who are my brothers?
That's what I want us to see. There's the lesson right there.
Who are my brothers? Are you my brother? Who are my
sisters? Love is a relationship. What is Christ to us? To all of us, to each of us.
Isaiah said in Isaiah 9 6, his name shall be called the everlasting
father. David said in Psalm 27 10 when
my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me
up. Paul wrote in Hebrews 2.11, for
both he that sanctify and they who are sanctified are all of
one. For which cause he, Christ, is not ashamed to call them brethren. He is the bridegroom who is the
example to every husband that teaches us how to love. Husbands, love your wives even
as Christ also Love the church. And gave himself for it. Love is of God. That's what our text is. Love
is of God. What does that? What does that
say? It's the gift of God. Like faith, like repentance. These are his gifts and the fruit
of his spirit. Is love. And Paul said he had
given us of his spirit. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13,
13, now abideth faith, hope, love, these three. But the greatest
of these is love. We've seen what a great gift
faith is now. By faith, we live. The just shall live by faith.
By faith, Moses chose. By faith, Enoch walked. By faith,
Noah moved with fear, built an ark. By faith. By faith, because
of the gift of faith that God gave to Moses, Moses saw Christ
as more valuable than all the treasures of this world. Faith
is a wonderful gift, but greater than that is love. Greater. He that loveth is born of God. And he that loveth not knoweth
not God. Hereby we know. And remember now, when you're
trying the spirits, whether they are of God, which is what John
exhorts us to do here in this context. Try the spirits, whether
they are of God. These go together. These go together. Whether they are of God. What
did he say first? See what they'll say. They will
speak of Jesus Christ who came in the flesh. And they'll love
you. They go together, don't they?
What did the Lord say to the Apostle Peter? If you love me,
tell them. Feed my sheep. Tell them about
me. And we will if we do. And this
is not just talking about preachers. Anybody who loves you is going
to want you to know Christ. And that's what they're going
to want more than any. Thing. Else. Whether you're successful in
this world or not. That's secondary. If you love me. Tell me of him. Tell me of him. It's not just
preachers. If any brother or sister sees
me hurting or in need, they're going to show the love of Christ
unto me. And I'm going to show his love to those who I love. They're going to tell me of him,
but it's not just that. We're going to do as he would
do. James said in 214, what doth
it profit my brethren though a man say he hath faith and hath
not works? Can faith save him? Can a faith
without works, a faith that does nothing? Can that save him if
a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food?
And what of you saying to them, depart in peace and be ye warm
and filled? I sure hope the Lord will give
you what you need. Notwithstanding you give them
not those things which are needful to the body, what doth it profit? So this is the faith that he
gives, and this is the love that he gives. Maybe you're thinking,
well, wait a minute, that text there in James is talking about
faith. Our text is about love. We've strayed from the subject.
No, we just read about faith that works. How does faith work? Galatians 5, 6, for in Jesus
Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision,
but faith which worketh. And so faith will do What Christ
did? He loved his own and he did something
about it. It wasn't just words And it won't
be in our case either. It will never be just words.
I love the words I love it. When you say I love you. I love
to hear that Like I've said to you before if I find out that
you love me by you telling me then you probably don't When
you tell me that I already know it's true, I know it's true Because
you've already shown me Faith works by love. So if you don't have love You
don't have faith That's what John's teaching here He that
loveth not knoweth not God. That's what faith is. It's knowing
God. Believing God. Those who know
God love Him. And those who love Him love who
He loves. This is not complicated, is it?
But it's very, very important. Hereby we know. You can't hide
love, can you? You just can't hide it. There
are some situations even in which we might want to. You can't hide
it. You just can't hide love. So we've seen so far that love
is a relationship. Love is a precious, priceless
gift from God. The best gift. It's the best
of them. We know that's right, don't we?
The greatest is love. Isn't it? Haven't you experienced
that? The greatest is love. And love is evidence of our relationship
with God. Now we have verse nine. In this
was manifested the love of God toward us. Okay, we're talking
about God's love in us. So let's see what that is. Where
does that come from? What does love, God's love look
like? well it's manifested you know
what that word means manifested? made visible can you see love? love is always manifested always
you manifest your love for your children You do it every day. You do it by teaching them what's
best for them. You do it by providing for them,
by protecting them, by simply doing everything you can to make
sure that they are happy and successful in what they do. As
a parent, if you love your children, you do everything you can. They
don't maybe see that. Sometimes they don't see that,
do they? When they get a little older, they tend to see it better.
I speak from experience, because I was one. I'm still a child
in most ways. But you see that, and you see
things better, don't you? But you manifest that love. The
word, as I said, means to make visible. You can tell me that
you love me, but better yet, make it visible. I've got to
see it. I've got to see it. And if I
don't see it, then it's a lie. Love is always manifested. We
don't have to wonder whether God loves us or not. He made
it visible. Because that God sent his only
begotten son into the world. And it doesn't stop there. He
didn't just send his son into the world to be an example for
us. He didn't send his son into the world to show us how to love. He sent his son that we might
live through him. That we might have everlasting
life. That's why God's son came into the world. And if everybody
that he came into the world to make alive doesn't live, then
he's a failure. He came to make us live. that
we might live through Him. These are written that you might
believe on the name of the Son of God, that Jesus is God's Son,
and that believing you might have life through His name. That's what our text says. He
sent His Son into the world, and all these things were written
about Him. Not everything was written. The
world itself couldn't contain the books that should be written
if all of it was written, but these are written that you might
believe. And that you might live. That's
why he sent his son. That we might live through him.
He made his love for us visible. And what a vision. We don't wonder. All you have
to do is look. Just look. And that's what we
do. That's what we do. We keep coming
back, don't we, to look for another look. There's nothing more beautiful
than the sovereign, electing love of God for His sheep. Nothing. We just look. God's love, you
see, is a person. God doesn't love every sinner.
The scriptures are clear on that. Esau hath a hated. He hates all
workers of iniquity. You know who that is? Everybody
that's not in Christ. If you're in Christ, He sees
no sin in you. If you're not in Christ, you're
a worker of iniquity. If God didn't love any sinner,
we couldn't say a word against Him. None are worthy of His love. That's why we call it unconditional
love. He loves us freely, without a cause in us. He has every reason
not to love us, and yet He loves. Because of who He is, not because
of who I am. None are worthy of His love,
but those whom God does love are the ones that He sent His
Son to redeem, and He redeemed them. Listen to this, in John chapter
10, the ones given to Christ by the Father are those He loves. That's why he gave us to his
son because he loved us And in john chapter 10 Our lord
jesus christ you go to this chapter and you read it again for the
sake of time We ought to turn there this morning, but i'm not
going to In john 10 our lord plainly declares that he loves
his sheep. You remember that that's pretty
clear there. I love my sheep And I give my life for my sheep.
He gives himself for the sheep And then toward the end of the
chapter, he turns to the religious Jews and said, you're not my
sheep. And that's why you don't believe
on me. You remember that? John chapter 10. Does God love me? If God doesn't love everybody,
does he love me? Does he love me? That's a pretty
good question. Let me ask you this, are you
alive? You see the last part of verse 9? That's pretty good
evidence if you're alive, spiritually. Alive under God. Alive from the
dead, spiritually speaking. Do you love Him? If you love Him, I know why you
do. It's because He first loved you. That's in the context of
our verse also in chapter 5. We love him because he first
loved us. Do you love him? That's a pretty good sign. John
says right here in our text, if you love, you're born of God.
If you don't, you don't know God. And that's love for him
and what goes with that, love for his sheep, his brethren,
his family. And our verse tells us that if
he loved you, now you think about this. If he loved you, does he
love me? Do you love him? He first loved you. And if he
did, he sent his only begotten son into this world for you. There's not a whole lot of leeway
in this text now. If God loves you, he sent his
son that you might live. And if he did, you live. So you can know if God loves
you. You can know that. And you can know something of
the power of that love. You can know something of the
magnitude of that love. You can know something by God's
grace and what wonderful knowledge it is of the quality of that
love. He loved so that he gave. By what is visible, you can know
the greatness of his love. that he gave his only begotten
son. That's the very definition of
love. People say love is hard to define. It is if you're trying to do
it without looking into the word of God. First John 4.10 ain't
that hard to find. It's right there in black and
white, isn't it? And he says this is what love
is. This is what love is. herein is love. Not that we love God. Love is not defined by words. Words tell us how love is defined. But love is not defined that way.
It can be expressed in words. to some extent, as limited as
words are. It can be expressed in words,
but not defined. It's not defined by words. There's only one thing
that measures up as the ultimate expression and display, the premier
manifestation of love. And it's a deed. And it's not
our love for God. It's not anything we did for
him or do for him or shall do for him. All believers love God. We just read that in verse seven.
If you don't love him, you don't believe on him. You don't know
him. You're not his. Our love, though, is subject
to our nature. Our love is full of sin. Our
love is on again, off again. Our Lord will have this out of
us. Do you love me? You're going to answer that question
one way or another sooner or later. You're going to answer
that question. Do you love me? But our love is no example. Herein is love. If you want to
know what love is, look at him who is love. God is love. Well, we can't see God. Yes,
we can. No man hath seen God at any time, but the Only Begotten. He hath declared Him. He hath
revealed Him. God is made visible, and so love
is made visible. Well, yeah, but we can't see
Him now with these eyes. But we have better eyes than
these, if we have faith. Faith is the evidence of things
not seen, the substance of things hoped for. And we have a more
sure word of prophecy, better than what these eyes can see.
John said, we saw him transfigured before us. We saw the veil of
his human flesh taken away for a moment. He was transfigured.
We saw his very glory shine forth on the Mount of Transfiguration.
But we have something better than that now. We have his word. A more sure word of prophecy.
And herein is love. Look at him who is love. If you
want to know what love is, it's very nature is love. That's what
it means. God is love. It's his very nature. And if you want to know what
love looks like, see what he does. Look to the one whose very
nature is love and see what he does. And you'll know what love
is. Can you see love? Absolutely. God's love is manifested. It
is made visible. Look to Calvary. Look and live. Look to the cross. This is why
Paul said, God forbid that we should glory, saving the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ, because they're the very best that God
has, the greatest of all that we have from him now. is made
visible right there. How much does God love us? You know, the Lord said, if you're
going to open your mouth and speak for me, you better comfort
my sheep. If this won't do it, I don't
know what will. How much does God love us? He
gave his son What does his love mean to us?
He gave his son to be. The propitiation for our sins. That's what it says here in his
love. Not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his
son to be. Now the words to be here in italics
there. There's no problem. I don't have
a problem with him. But. There's something taught
without them there, and there's something taught with them there
that's very true. I want you to see that. He sent his son
the propitiation for our sins. If you leave those two words
out, which they're not in the original text, they're italics,
and that's what that means, they're not in the original text. His
son is the propitiation for our sins. He doesn't supply that,
he doesn't offer that. It's who he is. He is our sin
offering. And the words to be indicate
this. Not to try. But to be. We have a sin offering. If Christ
died for us, we have a sin offering that God will accept. And that's
all you need. That's all you need. You don't add anything. You don't
take anything away. You just bring the sin offering
and your sins are gone. Love is defined by Him and by
what He did for us, how much He loves us. The word perpetuation
is an appeasing. It's not a chance. It's not an
opportunity. And I say that every time I preach
because it's one of the most important things I've ever said.
It's God's word. He is not an offering from us
for sin. He is an offering to God for
sin. He is not an offer to us for sins to be taken away. He
is not an offer for us to accept or reject. He's an offering unto
God for my sin. That's what our text says, an
appeasing. Not a chance, not an opportunity
for me to do something. He did something and it's done. He appeased God. He satisfied
God for my sin. The result of God's love for
us is not another chance. If you want to call it a chance,
we had a chance in the garden. The Jews had a chance when he
came to this world. If you want to call it that,
he came unto his own. But they received him not. Every
time man has ever been given a chance, he has always rejected
God. We don't need another chance.
We need a propitiation. We need a lamb to pay for what
we've done with all of our chances. And that's what Christ is. He
is that. My favorite description of this,
of what we're talking about, among a book full of favorites,
is in Revelation 1-5. I want you to listen to the language
of this. Unto him that loved us. We're talking about God's love
now. Unto him that loved us and I've told you before now,
if your love doesn't have an end with it, it's not real love. He loved us and washed us from
our sins in his own blood. He washed us from our sins in
his own blood. You see what we're talking about
now? If we're washed from our sins,
we have no sin. He did that with that precious
blood that he shed on Calvary. He did that. He washed us from
our sins. Somebody's sins are washed away
by that blood. And hath made us kings and priests
unto God and his Father. To him be glory. To the one that did that, The
one that loves us that much To him be glory and dominion forever
and ever God forbid that we should glory Save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ All glory is due unto him from every creature
angels men every creature And dominion Don't you want that
one on the throne That's the one I want on the throne, the
one that loves me like that. How about you? Verse 11, and
we're through. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. Now, love is of God. It's His gift. We saw that already. We have the capacity to love
because of Him. Because He gave it to us. It's
of God. The fruit of His Spirit in us
is love. I know that people talk about
love. They write songs about love. They use the word love. The fruit of His Spirit is love. And we know what love looks like.
Because he made it visible. When he sent his son. To wash
us from our sins. At infinite cost. Now. That you and I love one
another. Oh, my little children. You remember
1 John 3 18? My little children, let us not
love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. He so loved, if he so loved us. He loved enough, now you think
about this, because our love It tends to roll along just fine
until you do something I don't like. That tends to put
the freeze on my love. He loved so. He loved enough
to forgive infinite sin. God commended his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners And by his grace, we
know something about what a sinner is It is a God hater Sin is not
eating an apple my friends. It's hating God and murdering
God And yet he loved us While we were yet nailing him
to the cross, he said, Father, forgive him. How many times then am I to forgive
those that offend me? The apostle Peter asked that
question one time. He said, Lord, if my brother
offended me, how many times do I have to forgive him? Seven?
You know, seven's the number of perfection. Surely the eighth
time, I can take it out on him somehow. Jesus sayeth unto him, I say not unto thee until seven
times, but until seventy times seven. And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, Forgiving one
another, even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. But you don't know, Chris, what
He did to me. You don't know what She did to
me. You don't know what they said about me. If the Holy God
loved a sinner like that, then we should have no problem
whatsoever. loving another sinner just like
us. We love it. If God so loved us,
we ought also to love one another. Let's pray.