Go with me, if you would, back
to first John chapter four. First, John four. Let's look at verse 17. It says here in. 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. 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. One of the men speaking in the
conference quoted this verse and it got stuck in my mind.
And when I got back home and got into my study, I went back
and I read it and I read these verses around it and This has just really, I know
I tell you this all the time, but I mean it when I say this,
this has really just struck all into me. Sometimes you just really get
a hold of things and it really blesses your heart. It's just,
it's amazing. This is absolutely amazing. And we just read this whole chapter. We're not going to do that again.
But I do want to read from verse seven back to this verse, and
we're going to make a few comments along the way. But we're going
to talk about love for just a minute. And then we're going to end this
message, seeing how our love is made perfect. All right, we're
going to talk about love and then we're going to end seeing
the perfection of it. So look at verse seven, it says.
Beloved, Let us love one another for love is of God and everyone
that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. Love is of God. And we're about to get into this,
but I'll go ahead and get ahead of myself. Thank God he loved
us. Thank God he loved us. Love is
of God. True, sincere love. It comes
from God. It originates. He is the originator
of love. And everyone who is born of God
and knows God will love. We'll have love in their hearts.
If God is in our heart, then love will be in our heart because
God is love. Verse 8 says that. He that loveth
not knoweth not God, for God is love. People say, well, I
love. I love. I love my parents. I love my
children. I love my friends. I love my
things. None of that is true love. All
of that is the definition of selfishness. That just defined
selfishness. My, my, my. God commended his love to us. To us. While we were yet sinners. Christ died for the ungodly. The ungodly. That's who God commended
his love to the ungodly. He brought his enemies to his
footstool. When your feet are up on a footstool,
what are you doing? Resting. He brought his enemies
to his footstool. Look with me at Luke chapter
6. The exhortation of John here is, as Christ has loved us, We
ought to, and we do, love each other with true, sincere love. Luke chapter six. This is our Lord speaking, telling
us what true, true love is. Luke six, verse 27. But I say unto you which hear,
love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them
that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.
And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek, offer also
the other. And him that taketh away thy
cloak, forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man
that asketh of thee, And of him that taketh away thy goods, ask
them not again. If somebody steals it from you,
don't even ask for it back. And as you would that men should
do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if you love them
which love you, what thank have you? For sinners also love those
that love them. And if you do good to them which
do good to you, what thank have you? For sinners also do even
the same. And if you lend to them of whom
you hope to receive, what thank have you? For sinners also lend
to sinners to receive as much again. But love your enemies
and do good and lend, hoping for nothing again. And your reward
shall be great and you shall be the children of the highest.
For he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil." Isn't that
amazing? He is kind. to the unthankful
and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful as your
father also is merciful." When a true sinner receives true mercy
from God Almighty, it puts true love in the heart of that sinner.
True love. Look at Luke 7 verse 36. It says, And one of the Pharisees desired
him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's
house and sat down to meet. And behold, a woman in the city,
which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meet in
the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
and stood at his feet behind him, weeping, and began to wash
his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her
head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee, which
had bidden him, saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This
man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner
of woman this is that toucheth him, for she is a sinner. And
Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have some what to say
unto thee. And he sayeth, Master, say on.
There was a certain creditor which had two debtors. The one
owed 500 pence and the other 50. And when they had nothing
to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which
of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose
that he to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, thou hast
rightly judged. And he turned to the woman and
said unto Simon, seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house,
thou gavest me no water for my feet, but she hath washed my
feet with tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou
gavest me no kiss, but this woman, since the time I came in, hath
not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not
anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore
I say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven. For she
loved much, but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth
little." He said she was forgiven much and that caused her to love
much. God's people know what they are. God's people know what they are. They know what they deserve. They know something of the depth
of forgiveness. They don't know it in its fullness,
but they know something of the depth of forgiveness and the
depth of mercy that they have received in the blood of Christ. And that causes them to want
to be merciful and forgiving and loving. For Christ's sake,
as a sinful child of God has been loved by God, that sinful
child of God will love. Now go with me back to 1 John
4. Verse 7 says, 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. 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. Herein is love,
not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son
to be the propitiation for our sins. God manifested his love
to us. He showed his love to us in this
way. He sent his son to us at a time
when we were dead, dead to God, dead to love, dead to everything. Ephesians 2 says, we walked according
to the evil of this world. We were the children of wrath
and disobedience, fulfilling the lust and desires of the flesh
just like everybody else. But God who is rich in mercy
for his great love wherewith he loved us. Even when we were dead in sins,
he quickened us together with Christ. He made us alive. He
brought life back to us through the sacrifice and the death of
Christ, his own son. That's how he commended his love
to us. Verse nine says, 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. Herein is love, not that
we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the
propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us,
we ought also to love one another." Just speaking candidly, the thing
that I desire for this congregation more than anything else is, number
one, that Christ may be preached in this assembly. Number one,
that Jesus Christ and him crucified alone may be the message of this
assembly. And with that message being preached,
I desire that we might love the message, love the Savior, love
the brethren. I want unity. I want love. I want peace. I want oneness. So many times
over the years we've talked about the importance of begging God
for it and begging God to keep it with us. Beloved, if God so
loved us, let's love one another that way. Let's love one another
in that very same way for Christ's sake. That's all the motivation
we need. That's all the motivation we
need for Christ's sake. That's all the motivation we
need to forgive, to forget, Christ's sake. Just look at what he has
forgiven. Look at what God Almighty said
he would remember no more. We ought to love one another.
I pray we will. I pray he'll give us that ability.
Verse 12 says, no man hath seen God at any time. If we love one
another, God dwelleth in us and his love is perfected in us. None of us have physically seen
the God that we love. I love how the apostle Peter
said in first Peter eight. Whom having not seen. You love. And we do, don't we? We haven't physically seen the
God that we love, but based on his word, we know that he lives
and dwells in the hearts of his people. And therefore, the most tangible
physical thing we can do in loving our God is loving his people. He said, in as much as you've
done it unto them, you've done it unto me. Verse 13 says, Hereby
know we that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath
given us of his spirit. What does the Spirit of God produce
in a man or a woman? Here's the answer. Faith and
love. Faith and love. The Spirit of
God brings faith and causes us to fall in love with the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's what he does. Causes us to believe Christ,
causes us to believe on Christ, causes us to cast our all on
the Lord Jesus Christ, seeing him to be all in all. That means everything in everything. Christ is everything in everything. All our hope, all our salvation.
Verse 14 says, And we have seen and do testify that the Father
sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. The Spirit of God
convinces the sinner that he comes to of the fact that if
any soul is going to come to God the Father, it is only going
to be through Jesus Christ the Son. There is one mediator between
God and man, the man Christ Jesus, that's it. Verse 14 says, 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 dwells in him and he in God. Whoever confesses that Jesus
is the Son of God. Do you ever hear that and think,
well, everybody confesses that. They don't mean what that means.
That means whoever confesses that Jesus Christ is God Almighty
manifest in the flesh. The manifestation of God himself. Whoever sees Christ as being
the high and holy king, lord, sovereign, savior, all is of
God, is born of God, God himself. Verse 14, verse 15 rather, whosoever
shall confess that Jesus is the son of God, God dwells in him
and he in God. The soul that God dwells in,
the soul that's in God and God is in, that soul confesses that
Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, Emmanuel, God with us. 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. What he's saying is we
know God's love to us through the faith he's given to us. We
know God's love through the Christ he has revealed to us. We know
God's love to us by looking to Christ. If we want to see God's
love to us, look to the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said in Romans
8, nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord. And John said in verse 17, right
there in Christ, right there in Where God's love to us is found
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, that's where all our
confidence comes from in being accepted by God on the day of
judgment. Accepted, received, welcomed,
our confidence comes from the love that God has shown to us
in Christ. God's love changed us in Christ. God's love to us made us to be
something we were not. In Christ, the love of God made
us to be new creations, and that's where our boldness to approach
him comes from. Had God not in love done something
for us in Christ, we could have no boldness to approach the judgment
throne. But because he did in love, do
something for us. That's where our confidence comes
from. And we approach him believing
we will be accepted in the beloved, welcomed, received in the beloved.
Look at verse 17. It says, herein is our love made
perfect. Here's the maturity of it. That we may have boldness in
the day of judgment. Because as he is, so are we in
the world. Now, here's the point I want
to make. This is what truly blessed me.
The reason why we have confidence to approach the throne of God
is because We have been caused to know and trust, we've been
truly caused to believe that as Christ is, in Him, because the Father placed
us in Him, because we only approach the throne in Him, we don't dare
approach the throne outside of Him, in Him, As he is, so are we in this world. You're going to have to just
give me a minute on that. I'm laughing inside. Just got a hold of it again.
This is what filled me with awe. Okay. in Christ what he is, that's
what we are. Verse 17 says, herein is our
love. And the margin, the center margin
says, love with us. Herein is love with us. Christ, who is love? Christ. God is love. Who is God? Christ. Herein is Christ with
us made perfect. Herein is our love made perfect. The love that has been given
to us in him, with him. Herein is our love made perfect
that we may have boldness in the day of judgment. There is
a day coming. That God calls the day of judgment
and it's going to be a all full day. And on that day, that great throne
of judgment and wrath and on that day, we're going to have
confidence and boldness in us. To walk right up to that throne
and approach that throne. And here is the reason why it
says in verse 17, because herein is our love made perfect that
we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because here's the
reason why. As he is. So are we in this? That's a that right there is
good news. That's what you call good news.
So are we in this world? This is important to understand
right here. OK, this is so important to understand
the last three words right there. Do not say in this flesh. Do we understand that? It doesn't
say as he is, so are we right now in this flesh. It doesn't
say that. It says in this world, meaning
right now. Right now in Christ, we have
this standing before God right now. We're not waiting for this
standing before God. We have it right now. We need faith to believe that.
We need faith to believe that because if we just go on what
our physical eyes can see, we would never believe that to be
so. It cannot be seen in the flesh. It can only be seen in Christ.
We have to look to Christ for it. Now, let's finish out this
message. I'm going to be quick. With a
little hope and comfort and encouragement and amazement. According to God Almighty in
Christ, as he is, so are we. I just want to. Finish this out,
asking this question, how is he? As he is, so are we. Well, how is he? How is Christ
before the throne of God? What is his standing before the
father? When the father looks at Christ,
what does he see as he is? How is he? What is he? There were so many scriptures
I wanted to turn you to. We could be here all night long,
turning to scriptures. I'll give you just a few. Okay. I chose this one because it had
so many in the one verse. Hard, hard selections here. Go
to Hebrews 7. Hebrews 7. Speaking of Christ, verse 25
says, Wherefore he is able also to
save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing
he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest
became us. Who is, all right, this is how
he is. For such an high priest became
us who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made
higher than the heavens. Does that put any awe in you? That puts so much amazement in
me and excitement in me and comfort in me and encouragement in me.
Just in the thought of being made to be that in Christ. As he is. What is he? This is what he is. He is holy. He is harmless. I am so full
of harm. He is harmless. He is undefiled. He is separate from sinners made higher than the heavens. How can we be separate from centers? How can we be separate from centers
when all that we've committed in this flesh is sins? Sin and
sins. It's because Christ perched it
all away. He really did. He put it all
away in His own blood. They're gone. I love that little
chorus that says, Did you hear what the Lord Jesus Christ said
to me? It's the Spirit of Christ that
says this to His people through His Word. Did you hear what the
Lord Jesus Christ said to me? They are all taken away. All
of those sins that are just browbeating you, just beating you and whipping
you and They're all taken away, away. Thy sins are pardoned. You are free. They're all taken
away. Even the sins we haven't committed
yet, they're already gone too. Even the sins we haven't committed
yet. He bore our sins in His body on the tree, and through
His death, He put them away forever. And by His resurrection and His
life, this is what Hebrews 9.23 says. It says, when He comes
back, He's coming back without sin. He bore our sin in His body
on the tree, but through His death, He put them away. And when He comes back, He's
coming back without sin. They're gone. He does not bear
them anymore. We do not bear them anymore.
As he is, so are we. How is he? He's without sin.
So are we. Turn to Ephesians 5. Ephesians 5 verse 1 says, Be
ye therefore followers of God as dear children and walk in
love as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for
us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor. When Christ offered himself to
the Father, he was a sweet savor. That's what he is. He is a sweet
savor to God. In him, that's what we are. Do you ever feel so ashamed and
so guilty you just want to hide under a rock? Lord, please don't
even look at me right now. In him, we are a sweet savor
to God as he is. So are we. Just listen to these. Matthew 3 says Christ is well
pleasing. I'm well pleased. In Him, that's
what we are, well pleasing. Proverbs 8 says Christ is daily
the Father's delight. In Him, that's what we are, daily
the Father's delight. Revelation 4 says, and this one, Revelation 4 says this is what
Christ is. Worthy. Thou art worthy. Thou alone. Would we not add
the word alone? You alone are worthy. Only you,
only you. You are worthy. I say this with
just I want to crawl under a rock before I say this. In sincere
humility, in him, so are we. Worthy. Psalm 24 cries, heaven,
open the gates wide open. He's coming in. He's worthy to
walk right through the gates of glory. In him, so are we. Just amazing, isn't it? John
17 says Christ is one with God. One with the Father, one with
the Spirit, one. He said we are one. This is how
he is. In him, so are we. We could glory in this all night
long. Let me just close the message
here showing you this last thing in two scriptures. Go with me
to Jeremiah 23. Jeremiah 23. Verse five says. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch and
a king shall reign and prosper and shall execute judgment and
justice in the earth. In his days, Judah shall be saved
and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is his name whereby
he shall be called. The Lord our righteousness. That's who he is. That's how
he is. That's what he is. He is righteous. The very righteousness of God
Almighty. That's his name whereby he shall
be called the Lord our righteousness. All right, go to Jeremiah 33. Jeremiah 33 verse 15, it says, In those days and at that time
will I cause the branch of righteousness to grow up unto David, and he
shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall
Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely, And this
is the name wherewith she shall be called. Now, what's his name? Well, his name is the Lord, our
righteousness. All right, well, then what's
her name? What's his bride's name? If that's what he is called,
what is she called? Verse 16. In those days shall Judah be
saved, Jerusalem shall dwell safely, this is the name wherewith
she shall be called, the Lord our righteousness. As he is everything
that he is, in him so are we. That's what will give boldness
and confidence to walk right up to the throne of glory in
that day. And it's all because of the love
of God that was given to us in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ, all because of God, all because God commended his love
to us. That's the perfection of it.
That's what it calls. That was the result of his love
to us. You know what that makes me say?
I need to win Christ and be found in Him. I need to win Christ
and be found in Him. Lord, please put us all in Christ. Don't let us come stand before
you outside of Christ. Please, please let us be in Christ
and accept us in Him.