Well, may it please Almighty
God once again to be with us and help us as we continue our
meditation in the first epistle of Thessalonians chapter four. And tonight we'll read verses
seven, eight, and nine. The first epistle of Paul to
the Thessalonians chapter four and reading seven, eight, and
nine. For God hath not called us unto
uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore that despiseth,
despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his Holy
Spirit. But as touching brotherly love,
ye need not that I write unto you, for ye yourselves are taught
of God to love one another. It's a great blessing if we have
the evidence that Almighty God has called us. And if he's called
us, he's called us to do those things which are right and in
accordance with his word and in his sight. It is something
which is a wonderful privilege to know that God has indeed called
us. And if he has, he's called us
out of the darkness of nature into the glorious light of the
gospel. That means there's been a wonderful
change in our life. A change from darkness to light,
indeed from death to life. and it is all of God's mercy
and God's favour. To think that God, the Almighty
One, the second person in the Trinity, should condescend to
look upon us as unworthy sinners and call us to himself, call
us to hear his voice, call us to obey his voice, call us to
follow his precepts, And as we have in this statement here,
call us unto uncleanness, not call us unto uncleanness, but
unto holiness. It would be a great blessing
if we have some comprehension of the holiness of God. God is
holy, and God cannot look upon sin. He's righteous, and may
it be our concern to desire that in our lives we may be holy in
our thoughts, holy in what we say, and holy in our actions,
so that it may bring forth glory to God, and that we may have
an answer of a good conscience in these things. Then he says,
he therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who
hath also given unto us His Holy Spirit. Now, it's very easy to
despise the Word of God. It's very easy to despise His
Word, very easy to despise His commands. And that's why we have
such a statement as this. He therefore that despiseth,
despiseth not man, but God. Many people think they can read
the Bible and choose the bits that they want to read and not
choose the bits they don't want to read and count some of it
as the Word of God and some of it is irrelevant. What a blessing
it is when the Holy Spirit, as we read here, also given unto
us His Holy Spirit, to read the Word of God, all the Word of
God, from Genesis to Revelation, believing it is. the very Word
of God Himself. And therefore, let us never despise
it. Never think, well, I needn't
follow that pattern. I needn't obey that. What a mercy it is,
therefore, to have a tender conscience, to realize that we stand in the
sight of the ever-living God. and to therefore be concerned
that we do those things which are honoring to our God and that
we desire to please our God and not to please ourselves. It's a great mercy if God comes
and grants us these blessings. He therefore that despiseth,
remember, despiseth not man, but God. And that's a very solemn
thought, is it not? That you and I as puny men and
women should ever despise the great God, despise his work,
despise his words, who has also given unto us his Holy Spirit. What a mercy it is if God has
called us and given us His Holy Spirit so that we have the evidence
in our hearts that we are born again by His Spirit. We're a new creature. Old things
have passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. Well, my friends, it's a wonderful
blessing to know in our hearts that union, that communion, that
love to God the Father, and to God the Son, and to God the Holy
Spirit. And then the apostle comes to
love. He says, but as touching brotherly
love, ye need not that I write unto you for you yourselves are
taught of God to love one another. Well, that's really why we read
this fourth chapter in the first epistle of John. It's a wonderful
chapter which speaks about God's love. And it tells us in the
earlier verses, in verse six, we are of God. He that knoweth
God, heareth us. He that is not of God, heareth
us not. Hereby know we the spirit of
truth and the spirit of error. And then he goes on to instruct
us. Beloved, let us love one another. What a mercy it is when
love flows from one heart to another in the whole church of
God. to realise that they are. Everyone,
every member of the Church of God is a brother and sister in
Christ. And we each receive that wonderful
evidence of God's love in our heart. Not that we loved God,
but that God loved us. That's a wonderful truth, isn't
it? It's not us turning to God first.
It's God looking upon us and loving us. And that love, of
course, is not something which is temporary. We're told in Jeremiah,
he's loved us with an everlasting love. And to think of that, that
love extends far past time, enters into eternity, forever. So if we know something of the
love of God toward us, insofar that He hasn't dealt with us
as our sins deserve, because His mercy endured forever, sets
before us his wonderful love to such unworthy people, such
unworthy sinners. And what a great blessing it
is if you and I therefore have this evidence in our hearts,
love to God. And it's only because God loved
us in the first place. Well, it's a great benefit and
it's a great blessing. And it's a necessary evidence
of the life of God in our soul. If we do not love God, and if
we haven't the evidence that God has not loved us, then we
do not have the evidence that we are born again by the Spirit
of God. and how essential that is, and
how we need to know and desire to know and to be blessed with
the knowledge that God indeed has loved us. As the apostle
goes on, he said, he that loveth not knoweth not God, for God
is love. It's amazing, isn't it, to think
that God loves unworthy sinners of the earth and has done from
all eternity. In 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. You sometimes
ponder the verse in John 3, 16, for God so loved the world, he
sent his only beloved son into the world, that whosoever believeth
on him should not perish, but have eternal life. Well, what a wonderful thing
it is then to have that wonderful evidence in our own hearts that
we do possess this great love of God. And he goes on, in this
was manifested the love of God to warn us because God sent his
only begotten son into the world that we might live through him
here in his love. Not that we loved God, but he
loved us. and sent his son to be the propitiation
for our sins. That means to be the atonement
for our sins. And in order to do that, This
gracious Saviour gave His life so that you and I might possess
life. It's a great consideration to think that it wasn't the love
of a man that was given and that was shown to us. It was the love
of a man, but it was also the love of God. The love of God
shown so very clearly when it was demonstrated when the Saviour
gave his life, submitted to the will of God his Father. And so we have such a wonderful
example. May you and I therefore also
be able to come and submit ourselves to our God and desire indeed
to be a true follower of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. He says then, Beloved, if God
so loved us, We ought to love one another. The love of the
brethren, love one to another in that spiritual way, is a wonderful
token and evidence that we are one of God's children. Beloved,
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. It's a very humbling consideration
to think that God, the Almighty God, loves us and lives and dwells
within us. Surely it's a very humbling consideration. And yet, as such, if we do possess
the love of God, there will be that desire to honour our God,
And so the apostle writes and says, 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." Well, may we
rejoice indeed if we have love to God. And we will only have
love to God if we have the evidence that God has loved us. What a wonderful blessing that
is. And he says then, 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. Just think upon those
words, boldness in the day of judgment. We won't cower away
because we have evidence that God has loved us and that we
have loved God. And therefore how wonderful it
would be, we may have boldness in the day of judgment. He has
to think that we are standing before the King of Kings, that
one who's given his life, that we might possess life. We love him because he first
loved us. It's a repetition really, just
in slightly different form. But what a mercy it is if it's
true. We love him. We ought to ask
ourselves the question, do we love him? We won't love him unless
he has loved us. So may we find tonight in our
hearts the evidence that God has loved us. If a man say, I
love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth
not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom
he hath not seen? See how the argument goes very
clearly. The evidence that we are those
who love the brotherhood, the brothers and sisters in Christ. And finally, in this commandment,
have we from him that he who loveth God love his brother also. Well, it's a wonderful commentary
in those few verses in this fourth chapter of the Gospel of John
about God's love. And may we each crave it, desire
it, and may it be granted to each one of us. So then in return,
we love God, who's done so much for us. Amen.