Now, if you would, let's open
our Bibles to the book of 1 John chapter 4. I'm going to deal this morning
with the concluding verses of this chapter, beginning at verse
17. On this subject, love and boldness
in Christ. Love and boldness in Christ. If I were to say these two words
to you, judgment day, what kind of images would pop into your
mind? Judgment day. Now, you've been taught probably
most of your life, if not all your life, that there is coming
a day in the which all will be judged. Every person will have
to give an account. Scripture says that. give an
account, and then not only give an account of their works, but
also give an account of their thoughts and imaginations. And of course, for most people,
that's a very scary thing. If everybody were honest, for
all people, it would be a very scary thing. We think of Judgment
Day as a day that we should dread. And even believers have these
thoughts now. Don't you? You think about it.
You know, what's going to happen? I know when I was a little boy,
I remember getting hold of a pamphlet. I don't remember where I got
it. But that was the title of it, Judgment Day. And you open
it up and there was this fella trying to get this other fella
to go off drinking with him and driving in a car, speeding. And he talked the fella into
doing that, and they got out, and they got to drinking, got
drunk, and then they started speeding, and I think they got
hit by a train at a railroad track, and all of a sudden, there
they are at Judgment Day. And the pamphlet had a cartoon
kind of format, and it had the fella, there was a big screen.
The Lord, the Judge, put a big screen up there and started playing
his life back, that fella's life back like a movie. Even when
he was a baby, you know. and just flashed all kinds of
junk up there that you're going to have to give an account for.
That's what most people think. I'll never forget, we were at
a church camp one time and a bunch of us fellas went to the swimming
pool and we just got to fooling around and acting like we were
baptizing each other. Because we'd seen that happen
in church and we were just playing around. We didn't mean anything
by it, didn't even think about it, just a bunch of boys out
there flashing and stuff. And a camp counselor called us
over, and he looked down over the pool, and he said, boys,
now, he said, you be careful that you don't commit the unpardonable
sin. And my goodness, I mean, that
scared the life out of me. I mean, I just knew that when
I come to Judgment Day that it was going to be flashed up there
on my screen, me baptizing somebody in that swimming pool. I mean,
I really thought I was, I had it, you know. Incidentally, I
preached on that subject about the unpardonable sin, but you
get that too. The issue here at judgment, most
people think of judgment as something to be afraid of, as something
of terror. And I'll be honest with you,
that's the way most people should think of it. But not God's people. And I want to show you why. Now
look at 1 John chapter 4. And look at verse 17, and you
know his grand subject here is love, the divine love of God
to his people, the love of God that is shed abroad in our hearts
by the Holy Spirit that brings out, causes us to love God, to
love Christ, and to love his people. That's what he's speaking
of. And he's been talking about perfect
love, love perfected. Look back at verse 12, no man
has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth
in us and His love is perfected in us. His love has done its
complete work. That's what that means. He's
not saying now that when God saves you, you can now love perfectly. If that's what you believe, you're
dishonest with yourself. Because it's a battle to love. That's one of the hardest battles
we have to fight as believers. One of the main battlefields
of the warfare of the flesh and the spirit Scripture doesn't
recognize any love That is short of perfect love and it says love
God with all your heart soul mind and spirit And love your
neighbor as yourself perfect love that's the requirement,
but we don't love perfectly But we do love Christ and we do love
his people by the power of God's Spirit And what that means, that
word perfected there is not moral purity or sinless perfection. It means completion. It means
wholeness. It means it's reached its goal.
And here's what he's saying now. Listen to me very carefully because
this is the foundation of it all. The love of God to his people
has reached its goal, has been brought to completion when it
brings one whom God loves to believe in and rest in the Lord
Jesus Christ for all of salvation, and to love the brethren." Now,
that's what he's saying. Well, look at verse 17. Now,
herein is our love made perfect. Literally, that would read, herein
is love with us, or love among us, made perfect. That's the
literal translation from the original language. Herein is
love with us, or love among us made perfect, or made complete,
or reached its goal. Now, listen to this, that we
may have boldness in the day of judgment. Boldness in the
day of judgment. Now, he's connecting love, boldness,
and judgment here. You don't normally think of the
day of judgment as a day of love. Certainly not a day of boldness,
do you? Well, that's exactly what he's saying here. Herein
is love with us, or love among us made perfect. It's reached
its goal, its completion, that we may have boldness in the day
of judgment. Now, how is that possible? We'll
read the next line. Because as he is, now who is
the he there? That's Christ. As Christ is. So are we in this world right
now, as we exist, as we sit here, and as I stand here. As Christ
is, so are we. Who is the we here? Believers. That's who he's talking to. That's
who he's writing to. Born-again people. Sinners saved
by the grace of God. We are as he is. Not later, not
at the day of judgment. That's going to be true at the
day of judgment. But what I'm saying is this is not something
that has to wait until then. But right now in this world,
that is a staggering thought. I mean, that is something now.
I mean, that's something you can get a hold of now if you
understand it. Go on, verse 18. He says, Now there is no fear
in love. That is, that love that's been
perfected among us, with us. But perfect love casteth out
fear, because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect
in love. That is, love has not reached
its goal and completion in him. Verse 19, we love him because
he first loved us. Literally, we love totally because
he first loved us. And if a man say, I love God,
now don't fool yourself now. Don't be like the hypocrite. These last two verses will tell
us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he's
a liar. For he that loveth not his brother
whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
The only experience of the manifestation of the Lord you have in your
everyday life is as you deal with your brothers and sisters
in Christ. That's what he's saying. And
he says in verse 21, in this commandment have we from him
that he who loveth God love with his brother also." Some profound
statements there, aren't they? Well, let's divide this into
two parts. Number one, I want to talk to
you about perfect love and confidence at judgment. Now, how is that
possible? Well, look at what he says back
up in verse 17. Herein has love been perfected
among us. That's literally what it's saying.
He's speaking of love. Godly love, not human love now.
Not that which comes natural to the natural man. Not that
which any unbeliever has in any degree. There are all kinds of
love. There are all kinds of expressions
of love. But this is a specific love here that can only come
from God through Christ by His Spirit unto its objects. God loves His people. It is God's
love for his people in Christ. He'd already said that back over
in verse 10. Look at it. Keep it in the context
now. Herein is love. Now, what he's going to say about
love here is the definition of it. This is the standard of it. And what you need to understand
is this. When you get over here to verses
like verse 17, You don't need to forget what he's already said
in verse 10. And that's what a lot of people do. It's almost
like, you know, they read the scripture in snippets, you know,
just a verse here and a verse there. Brother Mahan used to
call it verse-itis, not burst-itis, burst-itis. And that's what a
lot of people have. But herein is love, verse 10.
Not that we love God. If you want to find the perfection
of love, Don't look at your love for God or your love to your
brethren. You're not going to find its perfection. Look at
God's love for you. Now, there's the perfection of
love. And he says, here is love, not
that we love God, but that he loved us. But now, God loving
us is not just something he said. It's not just written in a card
that he decided to send us one day. He proved it by the greatest
act that has ever been performed or accomplished, rather, in the
annals of eternity. What did he do? He sent his Son
to be the propitiation for our sins. He sent his Son to be the
Savior of his people, the objects of his love. He sent His Son
to stand in their place as their substitute, keep the law perfectly,
to die under the justice of God for their sins that were charged
to Him. And He did it. He suffered. He
bled. He died as the propitiation,
as the sin-bearing offering who shed His blood unto death and
satisfied justice, redeemed us from our sins. We're saved by
His blood and His righteousness. Joe read it in Hebrews chapter
10, by one offering. Did you see what that said in
Hebrews 10 and verse 14? For by one offering. Whose offering? Not yours, not
what you bring to God, not what I bring to God. You see, that
was Cain's problem. You remember Cain? He brought
an offering. Well, that's not the offering
that works. It is by one offering. What offering? The offering of himself for our
sins. For by one offering he, Christ,
hath perfected, completed, accomplished, finished forever them that are
sanctified, that God set apart before the foundation of this
world. That's what this is talking about. Now, there's the love
of God that we've got to keep our minds and our hearts focused
on continually. Now, that goes to show you how
God's love is towards us. It's a dynamic of God. And then it becomes a dynamic,
it is a dynamic of Christ because the scripture says in John 13
love, 13 1, he loved his people unto the end, unto the finishing
and completion of the work. And then it's a dynamic of the
Holy Spirit when he sheds that love abroad within the hearts
of his people. He simply takes us and shows
us what we are and what we deserve as sinners. which we deserve
nothing but wrath and damnation, and he shows us the free, unconditional,
unmerited love of God for a sinner like me in Christ, and it sheds
abroad in my heart, in my soul, in my mind, in my affections,
and in my will, and draws out my love to him. You say, well,
we only love the lovable. Well, if that were true in God's
case, then none of us would be loved. None of us would be saved. You see, believer, when you speak
of love in a godly way, it ought not even enter our minds who
is lovable and who is not. I mean, it ought not even enter
our minds. It didn't enter God's mind who's lovable and who's
not. You see what I'm saying? He loved the unlovely. Now, God
perfects His love among us. Love reaches its intended goal
when it engages in active love towards others. It brings us
to faith in Christ, to love Him and to love His people. God's
love finds fulfillment in reproducing itself in the love of His children
towards one another. We don't reach perfection in
our love here on earth. We won't until we leave this
earth. But love can reach God's intended goal for us when we
rest in Christ. and love him and love his people.
Remember, as I said now, perfected does not mean morally pure and
perfect, but complete, reaching its intended goal, its work.
Now, God's love for us in Christ reaches its completion when we
see and believe and rest in his pure, perfect, holy love for
us in Christ. And his love is shed abroad in
our hearts. Now, look what it says in verse
17. Herein is love perfected among us. Now, there's a purpose
here. That there means it's a statement
of purpose. What is the purpose of this?
That we may have boldness in the day of judgment. That word,
boldness, means confidence. Back here in 1 John 2, in verse
28, it's the same word that's translated confidence. When he
says, And now, little children, abide in him. Abide in Christ.
Continue in Christ. Don't take your eyes off of Christ.
That's what that means. Don't take your mind and your
affections and your will off of him. That when he shall appear,
that's his second coming, he's coming again, we may have what? Confidence. We don't have to
be afraid at the knowledge of his second coming. You know,
people used to say, well, if he comes and he finds you doing
this and not doing that, you've had it, you know. That's not
the kind of, that's not scriptural. That's human religion. That's
scare tactics that want just to get somebody down an aisle
or into a church service. You say, I'm going to tell you
something, a believer who abides in, one who abides in Christ
is a believer and he can have this confidence at all times.
Now he can. And he says that we may have
confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming. Now
that's the boldness that he's speaking of here. I want that
boldness, don't you? I mean, I don't want to sit around
and think about my life being flashed up on a movie screen.
Because that's not going to give you any boldness. I mean, you
wouldn't even want your life flashed up on a movie screen
before us, let alone God. Isn't that right? You'd be ashamed,
wouldn't you? You ought to be. You ought to
be ashamed of yourself. That's the way all of us, you
see. Our thoughts? Our motives, all of that, no,
that has nothing to do with his boldness, you know. Some people
say, well, when you come to judgment, God's going to weigh your good
works with your bad. Well, if that's the case, if
he does that now, what you're going to find is no good works,
all bad works. You say, but are you talking
about me? I sure am. You say, but I'm the
best of the best. Well, I'm the worst of the worst.
We're still in the same boat, friend. Now, that's the case,
you see, by, there's none righteous, no, not one. Huh? That's right. That is, in God's
sight, according to his standard, by our works and efforts. There's
none that doeth good, no, not one. That's man without Christ.
And so, we look at this thing of the judgment and boldness.
The believer, now, that word boldness also sometimes means
liberty and freedom. We'll look at a verse like that
in just a moment. The boldness means confidence. The believer,
the sinner saved by the grace of God, washed in the blood of
Christ. You know what that means? That
means cleansed. Sometimes when our children would
go in and take a bath, we had to check behind their ears and
check their feet and all that to make sure they clean themselves,
because they wouldn't always do such a good job. But that's
not the way it is with the blood of Christ. If you're washed in
the blood of Christ on Calvary, if you paid for your sins, died
for your sins, you are washed clean. Clean, clean, clean. I mean, sparkly clean. You can't
get any cleaner. That's perfection in Christ. Not in ourselves now. And the
Bible says that Christ's blood cleanses us from all sin. That's all sin now, not just
some sin. Not just past sins or present
sins or future sins, outward sins, inwards. All sin. Do you
believe that? Do you believe that, you say?
And so what he's saying here, those who are washed in the blood
of Christ, those who are clothed in his righteousness, now his
righteousness is one which has no flaw. That's his obedience
unto death. That's his work. That's what
He did for His people. He was made sin, sin charged
to Him, Christ who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him, that we might have His righteousness charged
to us, or as the Old Testament puts it, put on us, clothed in
His righteousness. And that robe of righteousness
will stand the test of judgment. It has no flaw. Now, you say,
well, I'll stand there in a combination of Christ's righteousness and
my own. Well, that's like trying to take
a new garment and sew an old, raggedy, filthy, dirty piece
of cloth into it to patch it up. And it won't work. You see what I'm saying? It cannot
be Christ plus you. It cannot be His blood plus your
suffering. It cannot be His righteousness
plus your works. Anything you add to Him is a
denial of him. Do you understand that now, Sue?
And so, any sinner who is washed in his blood and clothed in his
righteousness has freedom in the presence of a holy God who
is the judge of all, who judges according to truth, because that
sinner has nothing to hide. Now, if I stood there on my own,
I'd have a lot to hide. I'd want to hide. If I stood
there in my own righteousness, I'd have a lot to be ashamed
of. But if I'm standing before God in Christ, I don't have anything
to hide, and I don't have anything to be ashamed of. He said it.
God said it. He said, this is my beloved Son
in whom I'm well pleased. That's your boldness, you see.
He says here in verse 17 that we may have boldness. conveys
a present possession. You have it right now if you're
in Christ, if you're resting in him. We have boldness now
about the future judgment, and we can have boldness at the judgment
seat of Christ if we trust God's love for us. That's what he's
saying. Don't trust in your love to him,
trust in his love for you. And so the love of God is established
in our hearts as we're convinced that God is faithful, God is
just to forgive us our sins by the blood of Christ. It's established
so that we can have confidence of justification of eternal life. I have a full right and title
to heaven's glory in Christ. Now that's the leading truth
of this passage here, that boldness or confidence in the day of judgment.
It's not just a future aspiration. It's something we have right
now. But let me show you some things about the judgment. Turn
to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Now, many times when people read
passages about the judgment, they misapply them. Sometimes
it applies only to unbelievers, those who die. in unbelief, those
who appear before the judgment seat of God without Christ. You
know what's going to happen to them? They're going to have to
give an account of every thought and every work. That's what it
says. I don't think it's going to be
flashed up on a movie screen or anything like that. That's
crazy. But they're going to have to give an account. They're going
to stand before God without a mediator, without a Savior, without a Redeemer,
without the blood, without His righteousness, on their own.
That's a scary thought, isn't it? That's a terrifying thought.
Look at what Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 9, or verse 10, rather. He says, for we must all appear
before the judgment seat of Christ. that everyone may receive the
things in body." That word, done, and the word, his, is in italics.
It's added by the translators, but you could read it that way.
Things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether
good or bad, or whether it be good or bad. Is it good or is
it bad? Well, look at verse 11. He says,
knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.
But we are made manifest unto God, and I trust also are made
manifest in your conscience, made known." Now what's he saying
here? Well, first of all, in verse
11, what is the terror of the Lord? Well, I'll tell you exactly
what it is. Now listen to me carefully. The
terror of the Lord is this. He will not, He will not justify. He will not pronounce not guilty
any sinner, any sinner who comes before Him without Christ. My friend, you come before God
in any other way but in Christ, the Savior, Christ crucified. Here's the terror of the Lord.
You're going to find a terrible God, one who judges rightly and
justly according to your sins. You have no hope to stand before
God at judgment but in Christ. That's the terror of the Lord.
And then Paul says, we persuade men. Well, what was Paul trying
to persuade men to do? Well, read his writings. Read
the Holy Spirit's work through Paul. Was Paul trying to persuade
sinners to try to work their way into God's favor? Well, no. Paul's the one who said, by grace.
He's the one who wrote in Ephesians 2a, by grace are you saved. Through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. Paul wrote over and over again
the gospel of God's grace. He wasn't trying to persuade
anybody to work their way into God's favor. All who try to work
their way into God's favor and come before God at judgment are
going to experience the terror of the Lord. Isn't it right? What's he saying here? Well,
when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, it is not to find out where we're
going to go, to heaven or to hell. When we stand before the
judgment seat of Christ, it's a declaration. It's a universal
declaration of all who are in Christ and all who are not. whether
it be good or bad. All who are in Christ, good.
All who are not, bad. Now let me prove that to you.
Go back now to the book of Acts, chapter 17. Paul here is talking about the
God of creation, the God of salvation, and the God of judgment. And he spoke about the times
of the Old Covenant when many of the Gentiles were ignorant
of the promises of God. And he's saying here in verse
30 that the times of that ignorance, God winked at, means God looked
over, He forbore it, He suffered long, He didn't destroy the whole
world, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. Look
at verse 31. because he hath appointed a day in the which
he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained,
whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath
raised him from the dead." Now, there's the proof. What is the
standard at judgment? Well, he just shows the righteousness
of Christ. He's going to judge the world
in righteousness. Whose righteousness? By that man whom God hath ordained. It's by a man that God appointed.
That's what that means. Who is that man whom God hath
ordained? In that he hath given assurance unto all men, in that
he hath what? Raised him from the dead. That's
Christ. You see, it doesn't matter how
we compare to each other at judgment. If that's our boldness, we're
going to be sadly mistaken and ashamed. You see, you may look
at me and you say, well, I know I'm going to come out better
than you, preacher. And you know what? You may do it. You just
may make it. But here's the problem. I'm not
the standard. And so if your boldness and confidence
in judgment is that you're going to be better than me, you're
in trouble. You're shooting way too low. Way down the tube. Because God
has already appointed the man who's going to be the standard.
He's the God-man. He's the Lord Jesus Christ. Look
at Romans chapter 2 with me. In Romans chapter 2 and look
at verse 16. He's talking about the judgment
here. He says in verse 16, in the day,
that's the day of judgment, when God shall judge the secrets of
men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel. He's going to judge
by Christ. The only hope that I have of
being declared good at the judgment is going right back here to 1
John 4, 17. Now look at it again. Because as he is, so are we in
this world. What does that mean? That means that based by the
grace of God and based on the finished work of Christ as my
substitute, my mediator, my representative, my high priest, my redeemer,
I am as righteous as He is. That's what that means. As righteous
as Christ is, not in myself and not by my works, but as I stand
in Him. That's why I believe in Him.
That's why I rest in Him. That's why I look to Him for
salvation. He is all my righteousness. We're
going to sing that tonight. We have come into this house
and gathered in His name to worship Him. He is all my righteousness. I stand in Him complete. I don't need any other righteousness
but Christ. His blood has washed me clean
from all my sins. I stand in Him complete as He
is. So am I right now. That's how God sees me. That's
how He sees me. He sees me through Christ. He
sees me in Him. He's my representative. He stands
in my place. He's my advocate. He pleads my
cause. He has me upon his shoulders.
That means he met every condition that God requires of me to be
saved and judged righteous at the judgment. He fulfilled every
responsibility, every requirement, every stipulation. None of it
was laid upon me, conditioned upon me. Somebody says, well,
what about faith? Isn't that a condition? No, because true
faith believes that he met all the conditions. All of it. If you believe in
Him, you believe He's fulfilled all the conditions. He fulfilled
the law for me and every jot and tittle, so that when He took
my sins, God laid them upon Him, gave them to Him, accounted them
to Him, charged them to Him. He cannot charge them unto me.
Now, go back to Hebrews chapter 10 that Brother Joe read. And
let me show you this. Now, apply it right here. Now,
here's the case for every believer. for every child of God, every
sinner saved by grace. Let's go back up to verse 10.
Listen to this. He says, by the which will? Now, what he's talking about
is by the will of God there. Christ came by the will of the
Father. We, that is, sinners saved by grace, resting in Christ,
are sanctified, set apart, how? Through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once. In other words, Christ laid down
His life once, and it says there, for all, that's talking about
all His people, all the we up there. And that was according
to the will of God. It was the love of God, it was
the will of God that sent Christ to lay down His life at Calvary,
and He did it one time. That's all it took. Why? Because
of who He is. He's the God-man. And He said
once, He offered His body. Now, His body is the only offering
that God would accept. That was taught all the way back
in the Old Testament. You can't learn that lesson the
hard way. The only offering that God is going to accept for the
salvation of a sinner is the blood of the Lamb, not the fruit
of your hands. And he says in verse 11, And
every priest standeth daily, ministering, offering oftentimes
the same sacrifices, which can never take away sin. Now, that's
referring to the Old Testament, the Old Covenant priesthood,
who offered the blood of animals. They were types of Christ. There
was no salvation in the blood of animals, for the blood of
bulls and of goats cannot take away sin. They were types, they
were pictures, they were object lessons. The point centers away
from themselves and to Christ, and he says in verse 12, but
this man, the God-man, Christ, after he'd offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God. Now he
sat down. His work was done. He redeemed his people. He made
an end of sin. He finished the transgression.
He brought in everlasting righteousness. He did it all, verse 13, from
henceforth expect him till his enemies be made his footstool.
For by one offering he hath perfected forever, not just up to the judgment
now, but forever them that are sanctified. All it took was his
one offering to establish all the righteousness that I need
to stand before God. and be declared justified, righteous,
holy. But go on. Now, verse 15 says
this. This is the testimony of the
Holy Ghost. In other words, if you've heard
anything from the Holy Spirit, this is what you've heard. Whereof,
the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. For after that, he had
said before, this is the covenant that I will make with them after
those days, saith the Lord. I'll put my laws into their hearts
and in their minds. Will I write them? The word God,
that's the new birth. That's the love of God shed abroad
in our hearts, deceived. How does he put the law of God
in our hearts? He drives us to Christ, our law keeper. Romans
10 and verse 4, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believes. He brings us to faith in Christ.
And we look to him who is our law keeper. And he says here,
look at verse 17, now hold on to this, he says, and their sins
and iniquities will I what? Remember? How? When? How? No more. What does that
mean? He's going to bring them back
up into judgment? Not if love has done its perfect
work, friend. Not if love sent Christ into
the world and He finished the transgression, He drank damnation
dry, He established righteousness, and He made an end of those sins.
They were laid to His account. God says, I will not lay them
to your account. David said, Blessed is the man
to whom the Lord imputeth, not iniquity. How can God be just and not charge
you with the sins, sin of Adam, the sins that you've committed?
He charged them to Christ. God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. And
he says, I'll remember them no more. Now, you think he's going
to flash them up on a screen at the judgment? Well, if he
did, he'd be a liar. Because he says right here, he
says, when those sins were put away by Christ, he said, I will
remember them no more. Now, that's not speaking theologically
here of the nature of God. God doesn't forget anything.
But what he's saying here is this is a way to accommodate
our feeble minds to show us that if you're in Christ, And if Christ
died for your sins and established righteousness for you, God can
never charge you with your sins again. That's what it's all about. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
can condemn us? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather
He's risen again. Love has done its perfect work.
That's what He means. And it's perfected among us and
within us when God the Holy Spirit testifies to our consciences
that Christ by his one offering has put away our sins forever.
Now he says in verse 19, now listen to this, he says, having
therefore brethren boldness, there's that same word, boldness
to enter in the holiest, the very holy presence of God. How?
Look at it. By your works and efforts, God's
going to bring out the scale and put your good works here
and your bad works there? Huh? No. He says, behold this,
by the blood of Jesus. There it is. By a new and living
way. It's a new and living way because
it's life in Christ which He has consecrated. literally, which
Christ newly made for us through the veil, that is to say, His
flesh, speaking of His death on the cross, and having an high
priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true
heart." A true heart is an honest heart, honest about our sins,
who we are, nothing. Honest about the glory of God
in Christ. He's everything. Sincere heart. In full assurance of faith. What
is full assurance of faith? It's the full assurance that
a sinner has in looking to Christ and resting in Him. Having our
hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. You know what an
evil conscience is? It's an accusatory conscience. It's one that accuses
or excuses based on a wrong ground. It's a legal conscience. For
example, the person who's trying to do their best to keep the
law of God in order to be saved. And he thinks he's done enough.
He feels pretty good about it. That's an evil conscience. It
speaks peace to the sinner without Christ. But the heart sprinkled
from an evil conscience is a heart sprinkled by the blood of Christ
that says he did it all. I didn't do anything. Somebody
said, well, have you done enough? No, but he did. See the difference? In fact, he did more than enough,
because the Bible tells me in Romans 5, verse 20, where sin
abounded. God's grace abounded much more. And so he says, and our bodies
washed with pure water, cleansed by the blood of Christ. Now go
back to 1 John 4, verse 17. That's how we are. Well, he says
in verse 18, there is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth
out fear, because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect
in love. This fear here is the opposite
of that boldness that we have in the day of judgment. It's
a legal fear of terror. It's a fear of punishment for
our sins. It's a fear, he says, this perfect
love, love that gets the job done. That's what you might say
that love that completes the work. Christ either completed
it or he didn't complete it. Now, that perfect love casteth
out that legal fear of punishment in hell. Because, you see, Christ
took my punishment. He took my hell. And He either
did it or He didn't. He can't say, I'm taking part
of it and then leaving part for you. So that perfect love, if
I see the perfection of God's love in completing the work,
there is no legal fear of torment. Fear hath torment. That means
punishment. You say, well, I'm afraid I'm going to be punished.
Well, it says, he that feareth is not made perfect in love.
You haven't seen the work of Christ. You haven't seen the
perfect love of God in Christ yet. You're still afraid he didn't
do enough. Think about what I'm saying now.
Somebody says, well, I can't be confident because I'm really
not lovable. Or I haven't done enough to earn
God's favor. Well, you see, your problem is
you don't understand God's love. You see, God's love said this,
while we were yet enemies, Christ died. For who? The ungodly. God doesn't love the lovable.
He doesn't reward the deserving. That's not what grace and mercy
is all about. That's not what His love is all
about. You see, perfect love, God's love that has completed
all the work in Christ, cast out fear, because that's the
kind of love that looks to Him and sees, He did it all. I mean,
it's done. I cannot be punished eternally
in hell because Christ took my hell. Now, I'm either resting
in Him or I'm not. That's the issue here. And he
that feareth, that is with that terror, that torment, is not
made perfect in love. And he goes on to bolster it
this way. He goes back to the foundation.
Now look at this. Divine love evidenced by our
love to our brethren. We love him because he first
loved us. Verse 19. You see, his love for
me was not based on my love for him. His salvation of me was
not conditioned upon my obedience or love for him. If it had been,
I wouldn't be saved. Neither would you. He says, if
a man say, I love God and hated his brother. Now, what should
that do for us? Now, love is not mystic or subjective
as if it were left to each individual to set his own standard and to
choose who he's going to love and who he's not going to love.
It's simply this. If a man say, I love God and
hated his brother, he's a liar. Don't run around here bragging
about your love for God and hating your brother. He says, for he
that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love
God whom he hath not seen? Love indeed and in truth. Well,
this is the commandment, verse 21, that we have from him, that
he who loveth God loveth his brother also. My friend, this
love, this is the kind of love that God's people are to promote
and foster in one another. Not just looking around seeing
who deserves my love, but looking unto God and saying, I didn't
deserve any of His love. Let me tell you something, if
I didn't deserve His love, I don't deserve yours. And vice versa. So it has nothing to do with
that, does it? It has to do with loving each other because He
first loved us. All right. Let's sing that hymn,
Jesus Paid It All. Hymn number 125 for our closing
hymn, Jesus Paid It On.