All right, turn with me if you
would to 1 John chapter 4. 1 John chapter 4. Today is February the 14th, which
is a special day for a couple of reasons. Number one, it's
the birthday of somebody that we love very much. That's the
first reason. Secondary to that is this is
a day devoted to love. This entire day is devoted to
love, and I think it's wonderful to have a day devoted to love. So for that reason, all of our
messages today will be around the subject of love. And we're
gonna use 1 John 4 for a text all day. We'll be here in this
Bible study, the message, and tonight. Now, the Apostle John
is the one who wrote or penned the gospel of John. You know,
you have Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The Apostle John is
the one who penned the gospel of John, first, second, and third
John, not John the Baptist. That's what I thought, you know,
when I was younger, I always thought it was John the Baptist.
It wasn't John the Baptist, it was the Apostle John. And John
was very much in tune with the theme of love. I guess we could
say that he was the writer of love. He wasn't the only one,
but he was very much a writer of love. He is the one who penned,
for God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son. that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting
life. For God so loved." That was the
reason, God so loved. John is the one who would not
refer to himself by name. As you read through the gospel
of John, he always called himself the one who Jesus loved. He wouldn't say his own name.
The one who Jesus loved. Throughout the book of 1 John,
he keeps saying things like, if you look at chapter 2, verse
5, But whoso keepeth his word, in
him verily is the love of God perfected. Right here in chapter
2, verse 15, it says, Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. If any man loved the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. Chapter 3, verse 1 is where
he said, Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed
upon us that we should be called the sons of God. Verse 14, he
said, We know that we have passed from death unto life because
we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother
abideth in death. Chapter four, verse seven, he
said, Beloved, let us love one another
for love is of God and everyone that loveth is born of God and
knoweth God. And then here in chapter four,
he says the word love. If you just skim down through
it, you'll see the word love in verse eight, nine, 10, 11,
12, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21. Chapter five, verse one, he said,
whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God,
and everyone that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that
is begotten of him. And then he continued the theme
in second John, verse one, it says, the elder unto the elect
lady and her children whom I love in the truth, and not I only,
but also all they that have known the truth. Third John 1 says,
the elder unto the well-beloved gay is whom I love in the truth.
So that's his theme, love, love, love. Love is a beautiful thing,
such a beautiful thing. And what I'd like for us to see
in this Bible study is at the end of chapter 4, verse 8, look
with me at 1 John 4, verse 8, the last three words of the verse
say, God is love. And that's the title
of this Bible study. God is love. Now in our text here, let's read
through the first eight verses and look at the context of what
he's saying. And then I want us to spend our
time focusing on what it means to say that God is love. And I, I'm so thankful to the
Lord for giving us an avenue to preach the gospel to the,
to the city, to people outside of this, because I want people
to know this so badly. Nothing here is said without
reason, without cause. Everything that's said right
here has to be said right here. It's all in the context of love. And I want people to know this.
I want people to see this. And I pray the Lord will open
our eyes to this right here. All right. Chapter four, verse
one, he said, beloved, believe not every spirit. That word spirit
translates soul, wind, and it's referring to preachers. Preachers who are instructing
spiritual matters, okay? Here I am a soul. This hot air
is coming out, this wind. Preachers standing up and instructing
spiritual matters. And he said in verse one, Believe
not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of
God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Now, do we know that that's so? I ask questions knowing that
the Lord has blessed us and revealed the answer to us. But do you
realize how blessed we are to know that that's so? You know
how many people don't know that that's so? Many false preachers are in the
world. Many, many, many. One of the
number one things that our Lord warned of while He walked this
earth. If you go through the Gospels and just read what He
said, one of the number one things that He warned of was beware
of false preachers. Beware of false preachers who
are not preaching the truth of this word. If you get time, read
Matthew seven, just read what he said in so many other places.
But honestly, do we realize how many false preachers there are
in the world? Have we ever really stopped to
realize how many? how many false preachers there
are in the world. Do we realize how many false
preachers there are in Kingsport? Do we realize that? How many
false preachers there are in Kingsport? Many of them. Now, I know that's offensive
to say. I know it is, but we need to
be warned of it. Our Lord warned us of this because
we need to be warned of it. You hear this and say, what does
that have to do with God's love? We'll say, we're going to say. Verse one says, beloved, believe
not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of
God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. All right. How can we know the
difference? If we're supposed to beware and
try the spirits, how can we know the difference in a true preacher
and a false preacher? Verse two, hereby know ye the
Spirit of God, the soul, the wind, the message, the teaching
that's of God. He went on to say, every spirit
that confesseth that Jesus is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesseth
not that Jesus is come in the flesh is not of God. And this is that spirit of antichrist
where have you had have heard that it should come and even
now already is it in the world? Is that what he said? Did I read
that correctly? No, I did not. That's not what
he said. This is what he said. Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. Verse two, 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. Where have you have heard that
it should come? And even now already, is it in
the world? The difference in a true declaration
of God and a false declaration of God has everything to do with
that word, Christ. Everything to do with it. What
that word Christ means. Who is it that came? Who is it
that came? This is what the word Christ
means. It means Messiah. Boy, that just rolls off people's
tongues. It means Emmanuel. That just rolls off the tongue.
What does that mean? It means God. It means God. It means God. God, not God's helper, not God's
messenger. It means God. That word Christ
means the sovereign. It means the controller, the
author, the finisher, the Christ. Our Lord asked Peter one time,
he said, who do men say that I am? Peter said, they say all
kinds of things. They have it wrong. Good things,
some of them are calling you Jeremiah, some of them you call,
you know, Elijah, but they have it wrong. He said, Peter, who
do you say I am? Peter said, thou art the Christ. The Christ. Now verse 4 says,
You 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. That means the false religion,
the false preachers of the world. They speak the things of the
world, and I don't recommend you listen to them. But if you
hear them, you will hear them speak the things of the world. True preachers preach Christ,
and they talk about Christ, and they point men to Christ. But
preachers of the world, false preachers, they preach the things
of the world. And these preachers of the world
speak the things of the world and they declare these lies to
the world because that's what the world wants to hear. They
tickle the ears of the world because that's what they want
to hear. They tell things that are contrary to God's word. Just so contrary because it's
what the world wants to hear. And the number one thing that
they lie about, I mean, this is eye opening right here. If
you want to get to the heart of false religion, the number
one thing they lie about is God's love. That's the number one thing
they lie about. Their message revolves around
God's love and it's all a lie. False religion is built on the
lie of who God loves. And we know it's so. We know
the mindset. Who God loves. Where God loves. Why God loves. When God loves,
they say speaking on behalf of God. It scares me so badly to
speak on behalf of God. That's why I only want to repeat
his words because it scares me so badly. I just, I just can't
imagine the thought of getting up here and flippantly saying,
well, now, you know, God says you better make sure. You better
make sure they get up in the name of God, declaring on God's
behalf. They say, God loves everybody. That's not what God said. They say, now, if you will do
this, God will love you for it. That's not what God said. One of the greatest lies on God
in the world is in regard to God's love. Thankfully though, God's people
won't hear it. They just won't hear it and they
won't believe it. And the reason is because he
keeps saying, you're not of the world. They are not of the world. They are of God. Look at verse
six. He said, we are of God. He that knoweth God, heareth
us. And that doesn't mean Gabe Stoniker
and everybody else who stands here. That means the apostles
that God called to write his words. He that knoweth God hears us. The soul that knows God will
hear the truth of God's word. They will read it. They will
hear it. They'll be settled on it. They'll
say, amen. That's right. I know it goes
against everything you hear in the world, but this is not of
the world. This is of God. And he said in
verse six, 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. That's who he's speaking
to. Every soul that God chose to
be loved, beloved. Let us love one another for love
is of God and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He keeps saying God, you'll hear
as I'm reading that you're hearing God, God over and over again. That has everything to do with
Christ. Verse eight, he that loveth not
knoweth not God for God is love. Now, let's consider for just
a minute what it truly means to say God is love. Because this is what the scriptures
have to say about it. And we are gonna dwell on love
today. We just have to say this first. If we're gonna see the
fullness of what he has to say about love, we have to see this
first. We have to start right here.
All right, this is what the scripture has to say about God and love. Turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter
12. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 12. Now the heading at the top of
my page says, idolatry is not to be inquired after. He's warning
against idolatry here, which is false religion. Verse 31,
Deuteronomy 12, 31, thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God
for every abomination to the Lord which he hateth." You see
that word? Have they done unto their gods? For even their sons and their
daughters have they burnt in the fire to their gods. He said,
I hate the abomination of idolatry, false religion. It's not just wrong. If the Lord
has revealed the truth to us, you see error as being wrong.
But it's not just wrong. He said, I hate it. I hate it. He said, I hate their buildings.
We can go through and read. I hate their buildings. I hate
the wood of their idols. I hate everything about it. And
God said that. God said that. Look at Deuteronomy
16. Verse 22, and again my heading at the top
says, idolaters to be slain. Idolaters to be slain. Verse
22, neither shalt thou set thee up any image which the Lord thy
God hateth. He said, I hate the images of
false religion. I hate them. You know, you say,
well, man, that's strong language. I know. But God is the one who
said it. God is saying this. Turn with
me to Psalm 11. Psalm 11 verse five, it says,
the Lord trieth the righteous, but the wicked and him that loveth
violence, his soul hateth. People say, well, he hates the
sin, but he doesn't hate the center. That's not what he said
right here. The Lord trieth the righteous,
but the wicked and him that loveth violence, his soul hateth. Upon
the wicked, he shall reign snares, fire and brimstone, and in horrible
tempest. This shall be the portion of
their cup." Look at Psalm 5. Psalm 5, verse 5. The foolish shall not stand in
thy sight. Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Men are willingly ignorant of
this today. Just willingly ignorant of the
truth concerning God. Turn over to Proverbs 6. Proverbs 6 verse 16, these six things doth the Lord
hate, yea, seven are an abomination unto Him. a lying tongue, and
hands that shed innocent blood, and heart that deviseth wicked
imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false
witness that speaketh lies, lying on God, lying on His love, and
he that soweth discord among the brethren. All through Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Amos, Zechariah, Malachi, God said, I hate, I hate, I hate. These are the things that I hate. Malachi 1.3, he said, you know,
I hated Esau and laid his heritage waste. People say, yeah, but that was
the God of the Old Testament. You know, he's not like that
in the New Testament, he's changed. He said, I change not. The same yesterday, today, forever. One more, go to the last book
of the New Testament, Revelation. All right, this is the very last
one. This is the same God. Revelation chapter two. Verse 6, Revelation 2 verse 6,
but this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans,
which I also hate. In verse 15, he called it the
doctrine. He's talking about their false
religion. Verse 15, so hast thou also them that hold the doctrine
of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent or else I will
come unto thee quickly and will fight against them with the sword
of my mouth. He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. He said, this is
what I hate and I deal with everything and everyone that I hate. All right. How then can we say that God
is love? How can we say that? Have we
now seen what is written? He has written himself in his
own words. After seeing that, how can we
say that God is love? I thought God was love. He is. But it's only in one place. And our brother keeps saying
it. And I like it. It's only in one place. This is what I want Kingsport
to know. Now, here's the truth concerning
God's love. God is love, but only in one
place. It is so specific. One place. I'm telling you, this
is the honest truth. Outside of this one place, I mean only one place, outside
of this one place, God is angry, God is wrath, God is vengeance,
God is judgment. That's what He is. Let the truth
be known. God is love, but only in one
place. Where is that place? In Christ. In Christ. This is why that word
Christ is so important. So important. Turn with me to
Romans 8. Romans 8 verse 38, it says, for
I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. All of the love of God is in
Christ Jesus, our Lord. Here's what that means. God loves
Christ. That's what it means. God loves
Christ. God is holy and perfect. And God can only love what is
holy and perfect. And that's Christ alone. That's
Christ alone. God loves And God loves everyone who is
in Christ, covered in Christ. God is love, but that love that
the Father has for sinners. It really is for sinners. That love is only in the sacrifice. It's only in the broken body
and the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that covers the
sin. The sin has to be covered. Outside
of that sacrificial work, outside of what the scripture calls the
atonement, that means the covering of Christ, there is no love from
God. There is none. Do you think it
would have been true? Do you think it would have been
a true declaration? One that men and women could
have believed and cling to and hung their soul on? Had Noah
put a bumper sticker on the outside of the ark that said, smile,
God loves you. Do you think that would have
been a true declaration on God, one that all those people in
that day could have cast their soul on? Smile. God loves you. You are special to God. That's
what the world says. That's what the world wants everybody
to know. Oh, you're special to God. You smile. God loves you. He has such a
wonderful plan for your life. Do you think that would have
been a true declaration had Noah put that on the outside of the
ark? A true declaration of God's love. Not outside the ark. No, not outside the ark. In that
moment when the flood of God's judgment came down, God was love
in that moment, but only inside the ark. There was one place. Outside of that ark, it was nothing
but anger and wrath and vengeance and justice. But inside that
ark, it was love. It was absolute love. Inside
that ark, it could be said to every soul that was in there,
you smile because God loves you. He loves you inside this ark.
That ark was Christ. To have Christ is to have the
love of God. To be in Christ is to be in the
love of God. If we're in Christ, nothing can
separate us from that love. Now, knowing that, I wanna spend
the other two messages today going deeper into that love.
That had to be said, that had to be established before we can
get into God's love. So in just a minute, we're gonna
hear John say, Herein is love. If you really want to know what
love is, here it is. And I pray the Lord will make
us ready for it, speak to us on it. All right, you're dismissed.