Let me get you to turn to John
chapter three. John chapter three. It's good
to have Lauren Culver with us this morning. Lauren is, she
sat on the gospel of Brother Henry, and she sat on the gospel
of Brother Todd Nybert, and she's now living in Brooklyn. That's
a strange place for a Kentucky girl to be. Well, we're glad to have you.
Now, last time in John chapter 3, and you'll find this in your
bulletin, we looked at John chapter 3, verse 16. And we noticed that
this works so, for God so loved the world. This word, so, is
a Greek word, translated from a Greek word, which means after
this manner. It's translated after this manner
in several other places in Scripture. But when we consider the Lord's
Word to Nicodemus up to this point, we understand the manner
after which God loves. I want to review this with you,
and then we're going to go to 1 John have a supplement to last
week's Bible study. Verse 3, this is the manner in
which God loves. Jesus answered and said unto
Nicodemus, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. God loves through the
Holy Spirit. Verse 11, The Lord said, Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, we speak that we do know, and testify
that we have seen. The Lord loves through the Gospel. Verse 13, He said, And no man
hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven,
even the Son of Man which is in heaven. God loves through
the Mediator, Christ Jesus, the Son of Man. Verse 14, and as
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up. God loves through the righteousness
of Christ our substitute. He was made to be what His people
are that He might make His people the righteousness of God in Him.
Verse 15, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but
have eternal life. God loves through faith. God
first trusted His Son. And He gives faith to those that
Christ redeemed and makes us willing to trust His Son. And
that's how God loves. God loves, now turn with me to
1 John chapter 4. God loves in a holy manner, in
a righteous manner, everlastingly, particularly, savingly, And His
love is manifested by Him giving His Son in whom all of these
things are accomplished for and in His people. Now, 1 John 4,
verse 11. Beloved, if God so, there's the
same word again, if God after this manner loved us, we ought
also to love one another. Now, I want to take those same
points. I'm going to just cut them down to three points. But
I want to take those three points that we saw last week, and what
I just went over with you, and how God loves, and see that John
is saying the same thing. This is how we ought to love
one another. First of all, through the Spirit, through the Gospel.
Look at verse 1. Beloved, believe not every spirit,
but try the spirits, whether they are of God. Because many
false prophets are going out into the world, Hereby know ye
the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every
spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh
is not of God. And this is that spirit of antichrist,
whereof ye have heard that it should come, and even now already
is it in the world. 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. They are of the world, therefore
speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are
of God. He that knoweth God, heareth
us. He that is not of God, heareth
not us. Hereby know we the spirit of
truth and the spirit of error. Beloved, 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. Now those that are born of the
spirit of truth, through the gospel of truth, are born of
the same Spirit. And we believe the same Word
of Truth. We believe the same Lord. The same God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit manifest in Christ Jesus
the Lord. We love Him. We honor Him. We desire for Him to be honored.
Now love which desires honor from men. and really shouldn't
even call this love, but love that desires honor from men at
the expense of the truth is not love. That's not love at all.
We see it in Christ's dealings with Nicodemus. When Nicodemus
came to the Lord, Nicodemus was a Pharisee. Nicodemus was a ruler
of the Jews. He was a master. He was a highly
esteemed man. the kind of man that by nature
we like to receive honor from. We want that kind of man to like
us by nature. We want all men to like us by
nature. But he came to the Lord and he
said some very honorable things to the Lord. He called him rabbi,
master. He said, we know that thou art
a teacher come from God for no man can do these miracles that
thou doest except God be with him. But Though these words sounded
honorable from a man who was esteemed by much honor from men,
our Lord didn't compromise the truth of the gospel. Because
in fact, what Nicodemus was doing was denying the Son of God. He
was denying that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He was calling
him a master, but that's all he was calling him. He was calling
him a man. That's all He was calling him.
He was calling him a man come from God, just as Isaiah was
and Jeremiah was. He was putting him on equal plane
with every other prophet God had ever seen. And the Lord spoke
to Nicodemus and proved to him through the Gospel, or proved
to us through the Gospel, that he didn't believe Christ. He
wasn't a brother. He didn't believe Christ. Jesus
said, Are you a master in Israel and you don't know these things?
And he said, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that
we do know. John says here in 1 John 2 or
3 there, at the end of 1 John 2 or verse 20, he says, You have
an unction from the Holy One and you know all things. The
believer knows in part, we saw this Thursday night, but the
believer knows Christ is all. We know that he is all in salvation. We know that he has accomplished
the work. He has finished the work God
gave him to do. And we know that nothing can
be added to what he done or taken from what he done. And we believe
him through faith and lay hold of him and he's all our hope
and all our stay. We trust Him. We love Him. We
desire Him. We long for Him. He is our reward. And God the Father is our God. He's our Father. He's our heavenly
Father. And we're the sons of God. And
we know that no lie is of the truth. We know that. We look
thirsty tonight at how the Scripture says free will is a lie. We know
that because Scripture clearly says in Romans 3, Paul said,
there's none good, no not one. How does that exalt my Savior?
How does depravity... Why would a believer love to
hear the Gospel declare to him that there is none good, no not
one? Why would we love to hear that?
Because it exalts Christ our Savior. He is the Holy One. He is the one born of a virgin.
He is the one come from God that's holy. He is the one in whom is
no sin. He is the Holy One. Why do I
love to hear that there's none that seeketh? There's none that
seeketh God. Why is that glorious truth of
our absolute inability and total depravity so glorious to know?
Because Christ said, I came not to do mine own will, but I came
to do the will of Him that sent me. He began His earthly ministry
saying, I must be about my Father's business. Throughout His earthly
ministry, He said, my meat is to do the will of Him that sent
me. And at the end, you know what
He cried out? It is finished. That exalts Christ. I want to
be in the dust and I want to see my Savior high and lifted
up. High and lifted up. And we know, brethren, that the
lie that says that there's some good in us, that there's some
natural willingness in us by our first birth, we know that's
a lie. We know that. But he declared
that, he said, we testify that we've seen. And he said, you
receive not our witness. He told Nicodemus, you don't
receive our witness. It's the nature of man. We really want
all men to like us, but love doesn't compromise the gospel
in preference for the honor of men. But love will declare the
gospel to men lovingly, mercifully, in meekness, even though it will
mean in our persons we'll be despised and rejected. But remember
this, just like the Lord told Samuel, they have not rejected
you, they've rejected me. They've rejected me. Look over
at John 5. I want you to see this. Hold
your place there. John 5. When we seek honor from men,
In other words, men who will compromise this gospel, the reason
men will do it is they seek honor from men rather than the honor
that comes from God. This is what our Lord says. Watch
John 5, 39. Search the scriptures, for in
them you think you have eternal life. You go to these scriptures
searching for something to do that you might live. And he says,
and they are they which testify of me, and you will not come
to me that you might have life. I receive not honor from men,
but I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you. How did he know this? I am come
in my Father's name, and ye receive me not. That's how. If another shall come in his
own name, him you will receive. Him you will receive. How can
ye believe which receive honor one of another, and seek not
to honor that cometh from God only? You see that? You see that? Look at verse 45. Do not think
that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one that accuseth
you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. But look, for had ye believed
Moses, ye would have believed me. There's no difference between
Christ and Moses. There's no difference between
Christ and any of the brethren. In our unity, we're one through
the Spirit. And if you believe Christ, you'll
believe our Gospel. We're not the standard. This
Gospel's the standard. For He wrote to me, but if you
believe not His writings, how shall you believe My words? John
Calvin said this. He said, when we regard our own
advantage, when we regard our own advantage, And we return
good offices to friends. It's self-love and it's not love
to others. Now let me show you how John
said that. In 2 John 1.10 he said, If there
come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him
not into your house, neither bid him God's speed. For he that
biddeth him God's speed is partaker of his evil deeds. What we do
is, When somebody says, well, I believe a man has to make his
own decision, and that's how we come to Christ, by our will.
When we don't say anything, brethren, and we receive that man as a
brother, and bid him Godspeed on his way, we have given that
man justification for that lie. He walks away saying, he believes
what I believe. What better love is there than
to nicely, patiently, and meekness say, you know, if I could show
you in the scriptures that that's not what God's Word says, will
you receive Him? Let me show you here where the
Lord says there's none that seeks Him. He has to give you a willing
heart. He has to create you. Now you
have to be born of Him and given an understanding and be drawn
by God the Father. And then you will willingly come. You have no other choice. You'll
come desiring what God the Father desires. Christ to be exalted. That's love. Now that means we
might not get the honor from that person that we like by nature. But if we desire honor from men
rather than the truth of the gospel to be set forth, that's
not love, brethren. That's not love. We love in spirit
through the truth. I was reminded when Lauren emailed
me, I was reminded of a fond memory. When I first moved to
Nashville, I was there and I was lonesome. And that was that was
like Brooklyn to me, I came from way back in the country. And
I was lonesome. And I remember calling Pastor
Marvin Stoniker. And we were talking on the telephone,
I was going to go out there to worship. And I remember him just
began to talk about Christ to me. And I mean, I've never had
never laid eyes on the man and immediately there was that bond.
There was that tie. A brother. I'm not alone. There's
a brother. And been that bonds grown stronger
and stronger since that day. That's what I'm talking about.
Look here at 1 John 4, look at verse 13. Hereby know we that
we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His
Spirit. And we've seen and do testify
that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
We believe Him, brethren. Whosoever should confess that
Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
Confessing that He's the Son of God is confessing that He
came of the Father for a chosen people. He went to the cross. He redeemed that people from
all iniquity. He's returned to the Father.
He's the King of heaven and earth, reigning and ruling supremely,
and He shall save His people from their sins. To deny Him
is to put the salvation in the hands of men. To declare Him
truly to be the Son of God is to declare He's God. A sovereign
God, able to save to the uttermost. And He shall not fail. He has
not failed, He is not failing, and He shall not fail. He has
saved us, He's saving us, and He shall save us. We saw this
morning. That's declaring the Son of God.
Now, look at the second point. We love as God loved, after this
manner, in Christ our mediator, in our righteous substitute. Look at verse 9 and 10. 1 John
4, 9 and 10. And this was manifested, the
love of God toward us, 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,
the propitiation, the satisfaction for our sins. Because God everlastingly
loved those that He gave to Christ Jesus the Lord, He sent His Son
for them. He sent His Son into this world
to redeem them. Not that we love God. Those that
God loved didn't love Him. We were enemies in our minds
by wicked works and we didn't love Him. Yet God sent His Son
even though we didn't love Him. He sent His Son. And He gave
His Son not only to live, but to give us life through His death. And not just any death, the death
of the cross, brethren. When we look at the cross and
we see what He endured, the suffering He endured, we see but in part,
we try to enter into what it is for this one who did not know
sin to be made sin for His brethren. I can't enter into that. I can't
enter into what it would be like for God to charge me with sin. Because I've always known sin.
I deserve to be charged with sin. It's hard for me to enter
into the fact that God won't charge me with sin. But Christ
who knew no sin and had the iniquity of His people laid on Him and
bore the wrath of God, God the Father turning His back on Christ
Jesus in righteous judgment. This is love. This is love. This is love. And he made satisfaction
to God for everyone for whom he died. He obtained eternal
redemption. He obtained eternal redemption. He didn't make an attempt at
it. He didn't try and give it his best shot. He didn't do it
if you'll just do something and put your stamp of approval on
it. He accomplished the work. He finished the work. And the Lord said, I've everlastingly
loved you, therefore in loving kindness have I drawn you. Now brethren, if God loved us
after this manner, this is the manner we ought to love one another.
God gave His best. He gave His only begotten Son.
He gave His very best. God doesn't want what we have
left over. If all we're going to give God
is our spare time and we can fit Him in, and what we have
left over after we've spent everything we want to spend on ourselves,
God don't even give it. God don't want that. God don't
want that. We give the gospel of His Son
is the best we have to give. And everything that He's provided
for us, we have for the purpose of providing for one another.
Isn't that right? What other... He gives it to
provide for us and everything that He's put in our hands, He's
given us to provide for our brethren. He loved us when we didn't love
Him. He loved us when we didn't love
Him. You know, if He went to the cross and He didn't bear
His own sin, He bore my sin. If I get in this spirit when
I'm offended by one of you, my brethren, I get in this spirit
that I'm in the right. I haven't done anything wrong,
I'm in the right. I get in this spirit, I'm not bending, I haven't
done anything wrong. I need to remember, I'm sure
glad my Savior didn't do that. Because He was in the right.
He had done no wrong. And yet He bore my burden in
His almighty. And that'll make you want to
bear the burden of your brethren. I can bear with his sin. If he's offended at me, if there's
sin, I can bear it. What did Paul tell the Galatians? If a man be overtaken in a fault,
ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness,
considering thyself what we are. Lest you also be tempted. Tempted
to stiffen up that neck and harden that heart and say, I'm not bending.
But listen to what he said. Bear ye one another's burdens
and so fulfill the law of Christ. It's just the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to
be something, I'm in the right. I think myself to be something
when I'm nothing. I'm deceiving myself, aren't
I? You know what Paul told the Corinthians? He said, you're
suing one another, you're going to law with one another, you're
arguing with one another. He said, why don't you rather
just take the fault? Just take the fault. He laid down his life for us. Look at 1 John 3, 16. Hereby perceive we the love of
God, because He laid down His life for us, and we ought to
lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good,
and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of
compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? Do you
have this world's good? I'll tell you, you have the goods
that the Lord has provided you, substance and those things, but
you also have that which is good for this world. in this truth
of the gospel. And we're going to shut up our
bowels of compassion in either regard, whether it's our substance
or this truth of God. My little children, let us not
love in word, not in letter, not going here and seeking something
that says, well, this says I ought to do this, so I'm going to do
it. Neither in tongue, not just saying it. Oh, I love you. But indeed, actually doing it,
doing the work, and in truth, in spirit and in truth, from
a heart that really loves you, brethren. And hereby know we
that we're of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him.
You know, if my brethren need me to assemble with them under
the sound of the gospel for encouragement, you know I need that. I need
that. I need that. I need that. And you need that. So you know
what I'm going to do? Lay down my life. Lay down my
life. If I shut up my bowels of compassion,
how can I say the love of God dwells in me? My brethren need
me to pray for them. So you know what I'm going to
do? Lay down my life for you. My brethren need me to provide
my substance for them. So I lay down my life. My brethren
need me to love them back to Christ and not claim my rights. Isn't that what you need? When
you're in error, you need your brethren to love you back to
Christ. You know what that's going to
entail? Us laying down our life. My brethren need a word of grace,
not a condemning tongue. You know what that's going to
require of us? Laying down our lives. Laying down our lives. For the sake of the glory of
God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, this One who gave His
only begotten Son, this One who came and laid down His life for
us. That's not too much to ask, is
it? for us to lay down our life.
Well, here's the third thing. First, He loves through the Spirit.
We love through the Spirit. He loves through the truth. We
love through the truth. He loves through a mediator.
We love through a mediator. Pray, God, God, make me one with
my brother in You. He can do that. He can tie that
knot so tight and strengthen it so that it can't be broken
in that mediator, just as He's done between you and the Father.
God loves through the righteousness of the substitute. He who has
made sin that made us the righteousness of God in Him. So we remember
that. We deal with one another in mercy. In mercy. Not this
harsh, condemning judgment. Mercy. Mercy. And here's the
fifth thing. God loved us through faith in
His Son. And so we ought to love one another.
God the Father entrusted our salvation into the hands of His
Son. and to the Lord Jesus Christ.
And He accomplished that work. So let us love one another that
same way through faith in His Son. Look over at 1 John 5 verse
5. Who is he that overcometh the
world? But he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. Now look over at verse 14. And
this is the confidence that we have in Him. that if we ask anything
according to His will, He heareth us. And if we know that He heareth
us, if we've asked according to His will and we know He heareth
us, we're going to always get what we ask for. Look at this.
For whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that
we desire of Him. What does that have to do with
loving our brethren? What does that have to do with trusting
Christ Jesus Loving our brethren through faith
in Christ Jesus. What does that have to do with that? Look at
the next verse. If any man see his brother sin
a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask and he shall give
him life for them that sin not unto death. That sin unto death
is turning and going obstinately away from God, proving that you
have a reprobate mind, that you have no love for God, no desire
for Christ, you sin against the Holy Spirit, you completely fall
away in unbelief and leave forever. Reprobate mind. This is what
he says of any sin that one another falls into. He says, you believe
him? You have confidence in Him that
anything you ask according to His will, you'll get it. He'll
give it to you. Well, He says here, if your brother
is in error, he's in sin, you come to him and you ask, Lord,
save my brother. If it be Thou wilt save my brother,
this one who you laid down your life for, save him. You know
what his will is, to save him. to save him. That's what he came
for. And that's what he'll do. And
you'll have what you ask for. God is able. He's able. He's able to save to the uttermost. He says he'll give him life.
He'll give him life. My little children, these things
I write unto you, that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have
an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And
not only will He restore us to the Father, but He's able to
make us stand by edifying us and turning us from whatever
would destroy us back to Him. This is Him. So here it is. Here's
the conclusion. God loved us after this manner. Through the Spirit, through the
Gospel, let us love one another in spirit and in truth. He loved
us through Christ, the mediator, the righteous substitute. Let
us love our brethren in mercy, laying down our lives for one
another as he did for us, and through faith in his Son. That's
how he loved us. So let us have every confidence
that God the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, for the glory and honor
of God the Father, committed to him. and ask him to save our
brethren. And he will. He will. Now back
to 1 John 4, 11. Beloved, if God, after this manner,
loved us, we ought also to love one another. Amen.