Let's go ahead and be turning
to 1st John chapter 4, 1st John chapter 4. 1st John chapter 4 and I want
to read verses 11 through 16 for now. 1 John 4, 11 through 16. 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. Hereby know we that we
dwell in him and he in us, because he hath given us of his spirit. And 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 dwelleth in him, and he in God.
And we have known and believed that the love that God hath to
us, God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in
God, and God in him. We read several times in this
chapter where we are to love the brethren. In verse 11, we
read, we ought to love one another. The word itself seems to indicate
we don't. I'm certainly not speaking against
loving the brethren, because it is clear in God's word that
we should love one another. But I know that I have not always
loved my brethren. I don't even know how to love
my brother. As Paul tells us in Romans 7,
18, he says, for I know that is in me, that is in my flesh
dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me,
but how to perform that which is good I find not. I want to
love my brethren, but how to perform that I find not. I would like to know what love
is. We read in our text, God is love, verse 16. And we have
known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love. So someone might ask the question,
what is love? We cannot look at man or look
at things that we do and define love and then therein we define love.
We need to look at scripture and find out what love is, and
there we will find out what love really is. This says God is love. So if I'm going to know anything
about love, I need to know about who God is, correct? I want to
speak about God's love today, but in doing this, I'm gonna
have to talk about hate as well. Because of who God is, it necessitates
that he hates, if you will. Now, I found nowhere in Scripture
that it says God is hate. But it is evident in Scripture
that God does hate. God hates both mankind himself
and that which mankind does. God hates. But in looking at
this verse, in this chapter, we see in verse 7, read verse
7, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone
that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. It says that if
we love one another, it will be with the love which is of
God. This is talking about brethren.
Those who confess Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. Now we
know this speaks much more of him just coming to be born of
a virgin, which is absolutely true. But this is talking about
him being that one promise, the Messiah. Those who confess this
is born of God, it says. Knowing who God is will let us
know what and yes, who God hates. So let's look at some scripture
that tell us who God is, what and who does he hate, Where does
that leave man and the manifestation of God's love? So first, who
God is. Psalm 99 9 we read, exalt the
Lord our God and worship at his holy hill for the Lord our God
is holy. This word for holy is derived
from a word that means clean. but not just clean, because this
word means sacred, or that is, God is holy. It means he is set
apart for himself and absolutely clean, and he's set apart by
himself, with there being no one or no thing that is set apart
as he is. There is no one or no thing to
compare to him. What does God say in his word
about himself in Isaiah 46, 5? To whom will ye liken me and
make me equal, and compare me that we may be like? Him being
holy means everything about him is totally set apart from anything
or anyone else. So when we read in scripture
in Psalms 117, for the righteous Lord loveth righteousness, his
countenance doth behold the upright. We see the Lord is righteous. That means that he does what
he is. He does all things right. God
has given man his law, and his law is, Romans 7, 12, wherefore
the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just and good. The law which God tells us was
given by Moses, that law was given to man. That law is holy,
and it is right and good. That law of God which was given
us by Moses, this law has been fulfilled by God himself. He is the only one to do so.
He in fact kept every law, every jot and tittle. God is the self-existent
one, meaning there is no one or no thing that caused him to
come into being. That's kind of hard to think
about being a human, being myself, a fallen human son of Adam. But
God has never asked for input or had counsel from anyone for
anything he's ever done. Everything he has ever done has
been absolutely righteous because he is righteous. Since he is
righteous and he is justly righteous, and what I mean by that, there
are no unjust weights and balances used by God to make him right
or say he's right. He just is right because of who
he is. Because of this, he cannot love
anything that is anything other than this. In fact, because God
is love and God is righteous, then his love is part of his
righteousness. He cannot love anything but righteousness
and the righteousness I am talking about and the righteousness that
scripture is talking about. That would be his righteousness
and not what kind of righteousness man or any other being would
try to come up with. It is that righteousness that
is without the law as it puts it in Romans 3 21. He can love
nothing but what he is. which is his holiness. So no
holiness that man may think to be holy is allowed in. No unrighteousness
is allowed in. Because of who God is and all
his attributes, and I've just named a few here, I can't even
name for you all the attributes of God. But this we know, he
is holy, he is righteous, and he is love. that we've heard
so far. So since God is these things,
what and who does he hate? God hates anything or anyone. This is number two. What and
who does God hate? God hates anything or anyone
who is not holy as he is. He certainly hates the works
of the wicked. Proverbs 8, 13 says, the fear
of the Lord is to hate evil. Pride and arrogancy and the evil
way and the froward mouth do I hate. God is too holy to look
upon sin. Sin which is a capital offense
against God because there is no other, but sin must be dealt
with. God is not going to just forget
about it. Sins must be dealt with and they
must be dealt with by death. The wages of sin is death. This
is God's pronouncement and God is righteous and says and does
all things right. Sin is punishable by death. So
God does hate all evil things, but evil doings, that is, sinful,
unholy, ungodly doings are doings or works by those who are unholy
and unrighteous for who they are. Man sins because he is a sinner.
He is not a sinner because he sins. So the sins which are committed
are committed because those ones committing those sins are sin
itself. Their flow, that is their sins, comes from the fountain,
that is sin, which is what they are. God has told us as sons
and daughters of Adam to do this. He told us through Moses to obey
his commandments. We have not done this. We have
transgressed this law, therefore we have sinned against him. 1
John 3, 4 says, whosoever commit a sin transgresseth also the
law, for sin is the transgression of the law. The scripture also
tells us that the soul that sinneth, it shall die. That is our lot
in Adam. So who is it that God hates?
And I have several passages to read here for this. Psalm 5-5,
the foolish shall not stand in thy sight. Thou hatest all workers
of iniquity. Not works of iniquity, but all
workers of iniquity. Psalm 11-5, the Lord trieth the
righteous, but the wicked and him that loveth violence, his
soul hateth. I have hated, Psalm 26, 5, I
have hated the congregation of evildoers and will not sit with
the wicked. Psalm 139, 21, and 22 says, do
not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? And am not I greed
with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect
hatred. I count them mine enemies. I
read all of these things and yet I know that there is that
part of me that drinketh up iniquity like water. I have to ask myself,
do I fear God? One more thing here in scripture
where it tells us what God hates. God tells us in his word in Proverbs
6, 16 through 19. These six things doth the Lord
hate. Yea, seven are an abomination
unto him, a proud look, 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, and he that soweth discord among the brethren. Now listen,
we read passages like this and we like to start pointing the
finger. But here's the thing. Scripture
is clear. that we have all sinned and come
short of the glory of God. So next, number three, where
does that leave man? Romans 1.18 we read, for the
wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. So who is it that is ungodly
and unrighteous? And in being what they are, they
hold the truth in unrighteousness. Romans 3.9, what then? Are we better than they? No and
no wise, for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles that they
are all under sin. There are only Jews and Gentiles. How many mankind born of Adam
are righteous? Not one. How many of mankind
born of Adam are godly? Not one. How many of mankind
born of Adam are holy? Not one. How many of mankind
born of Adam love God? Not one. We can speak all day
about we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God,
but let's bring this down a little closer to home. I am unrighteous
and ungodly as I am born in Adam. I in my heart being given the
truth of God in my unregenerate state and still even today in
this flesh say to God, I will not have this man reign over
me. I devise ways that are right in my own eyes with this flesh.
This is all men by nature. This is what we do. That is what
I do. We read in our passage of our
text a lot about us loving the brethren, 1 John 4, 20. If a
man say, I love God, and hate of 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? Does loving our brother show
us the love of God? Do I always love my brother?
I'm not trying to minimize loving the brethren, but what is it
that manifests the love of God? So number four, the manifestation
of God's love. We read in Ephesians 1. Let's
turn over to Ephesians 1 again. We read that this morning, but
I want to read it again. Ephesians 1. Ephesians 1, and I'm going to
read verses 3 through 7. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. in
whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins, according to the riches of his grace. So in verse four
it says, according as he hath chosen us in him. In him who? In Jesus Christ, verse three
tells us that. How has he chosen us in him? We were chosen in Him as the
Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world. It says that according to God's
will, we have all been made accepted in the blood of, again, Jesus
Christ. What do we have that comes from that? The forgiveness
of sins. But it's not just an overlooking
of sins. God does this forgiving of sins
through His blood. What does that tell us? Jesus
Christ had to die. If He shed blood, and He did,
then He had to die the death that we should have died. If
we are to be accepted of God, that is accepted as holy and
righteous, it will be because of Jesus Christ and what He has
done, His holiness and His righteousness. So where can I find God's love?
In whom can I find God's love? Where is the love of God manifested? Let's go back to our text, 1
John 4 verses 9 and 10. 1 John 4, 9 and 10. 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 love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son
to be the propitiation for our sins. So if there is a difference between
some fallen sons and daughters of Adam, it will not be of themselves. It will be God that has done
what was needed. But choosing us does not take
away our sin, and sin must be dealt with. If we want to see
love in action, if you will, then you will see it in what
Christ has done or you will not see love at all. If you do not
see this, that is, that Christ Jesus came to save sinners, then
your love is perverted. Because the love of God is manifested
there. This is where we see the love
of God. We see it in what He sent the
Son to do in our stead. Those whom He chose in His Son
and by His death is how they are to be holy and without blame
before Him in love. Those for whom He sent His Son
to do this are those whom He is pleased to call out of darkness
for His namesake. Scripture tells us these are
not the children of the flesh. Who are the children of the flesh?
All of us. All those born in Adam. We are
all from the same lump, but God's people are those who have been
promised to Jesus Christ, the Son, whom he has come down to
be the propitiation for their sins. Jesus Christ came down
for those who God the Father promised he would give to the
Son, and he was the atonement, that atoning sacrifice for their
sin. He was the expiator, that is,
he made amends for their sins. We are told that it is not the
children of the flesh, though, but the children of promise in
Scripture. Be turning with me to Romans
9, if you will, Romans 9. Romans 9, and we'll start in
verse 8, Romans 9. They which are the children of
the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children
of the promise are counted for the seed. Because you and I are
born from Adam in no way places us in Christ. It is simply the
love of the father for the son and him promising to give a people
for his name, him doing a work for them and in them. In these
verses in Romans, we again see love and hate, the children of
the flesh and the children of the promise. Romans 9, 11 through
13. For the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand, not of works, but
of him that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved. but Esau have I hated. Those
he hated were totally and are totally opposed to who he is.
We have no right whatsoever to question God their creator. All
of us came from the same lump, but this merciful God was pleased
for that some he would afford prepare them to glory, making
them a vessel unto honor. Others he left to themselves,
they who are fitted to destruction. They are the perfect vessels
for being destroyed. They are ungodly, they are unrighteous,
and they will not and cannot submit themselves to the righteousness
of God. Verse 20 and 21 of Romans 9.
Nay, but O man, who art thou that replies against God, shall
the thing form say to him that formed it, why hast thou made
me thus? hath not the potter power over
the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and
another unto dishonor." Now listen, we know that man
does not have a free will. Free will is a live man because
he will not have this man reign over him. But even if Even if
man could will, or even if man could do what God requires, what
are we told in verse 16 of Romans 9? So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. It is of God that showeth mercy. So all man's attempts to get
to God, he laughs at. I know about this kind of attitude. The attitude of wanting to get
to God my way. I'm not preaching this to say
how bad you are or how bad they are. I cannot put this sin off
on others as I know I've done the same things before. Until
it was his will and his doing which changed my mind of the
thought of not wanting this man to reign over me into thinking
I have to have this man reign over me. Him doing this all based
on what Jesus Christ the Son did on that tree for His people.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son
that whosoever should believe within Him should not perish
but have everlasting life. This is that simplicity that
is in Christ. By that I mean singleness. There
is only one thing involved in the salvation of sinners, and
that is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It is God who, because
of what He has done and what He does, that we are ever to
love God, and in turn, love the brethren. 1 Corinthians 1-9,
we read, God is faithful by whom you were called unto the fellowship
of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. But it tells us in 1 John
4, 9, 9 and 10, we read it. 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
to be the propitiation for our sins. Think on these things as
we talk about the manifestation of his love. He was made a curse,
made sin, and went to hell in my place. I want to look at these
things a little further. So he was made a curse. Galatians
3.13, you all know it very well. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written,
cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. So it says redeemed
us from the curse of the law. What is the curse of the law?
The soul that sinneth, it shall die. We've already read that. Sin is the transgression of the
law and we know from scripture that all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. The curse of the law is the transgression
of the law and the culmination of that is death. This word curse
means exposed to the vengeance of God. This Christ was made
in my stead. Do you see the love there? I
was me, that is, I was fit and justly fit to bear this, that
is, bear the vengeance of God on my soul. But Jesus Christ
became this in my stead. Can you see the love of God there?
But next, he was made sin, and you know the verse, 2 Corinthians
5, 21. For he hath made him sin for
us, who knew no sin. that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. He had to be made this because
he knew no sin. The only way for this to happen
is for him to be made this, as it is not who he is intrinsically.
He was made the very thing I am in offense to God. What do we
read in Psalm 69? 69, five through nine. O God, thou knowest my foolishness,
and my sins are not hid from thee. Let not them that wait
on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake. Let not
those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel. Because for thy sake I have borne
reproach, shame hath covered my face. I am become a stranger
unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children. For
the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up, and the reproaches
of them that reproach thee are fallen upon me. He felt what
it is to be one of his people. He took it upon himself, and
for that he suffered the wrath of God. He felt what I will never
feel or experience, because he did this in my state. Walter
preached a message from Habakkuk 3, and this has just stuck with
me. And look it up sometime, Habakkuk 3, 2, I'll read it to
you here. Oh, Lord, I have heard thy speech and was afraid. Oh,
Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years. In the midst
of the years, make none. In wrath, remember mercy. It is in Jesus Christ suffering
the wrath of God in our stead that we know the love of God,
the mercy of God. In that moment when he cried,
my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Do you know none
of the people of God will ever know that? Because he's experienced this
in our stead. Can you see the love of God there?
I deserve to be forsaken of God, yet I will never be forsaken.
He promised that, but we for sure can see the love of God
there. But now the last one, he went to hell. And I have to
tell you, it makes me pause a little when I say that. But this is
in Scripture, it's what it tells us. And I can't say much more
about it, but listen to Acts 2, and I'm only going to read
this one verse, you can look it up later, Acts 2 verses 31.
He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that
his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. I will never know what it is
like being a child of God. I will never know what it is
like to be in hell. Can you see the love of God there?
He was in hell because of me. But I don't want to just leave
it there because it did not end there. He was raised again for
our justification. He is seated at the right hand
of the Father, making intercession for us. Those times where we
cry out to Him when we have not loved our brother as we should,
He hears and answers us before we even finish speaking. He knows
us, and I thank God for that. He comforts us, and I thank God
for that. He knows our needs before and
sometimes even if we don't know them. I thank God for that. He is faithful. Can you see the
love of God there? God is holy and righteous in
anything and anyone that does not measure up to his holiness
and righteousness, God hates. Man as he is born is full of
unholiness and unrighteousness. So there's nothing about this
flesh that God loves. There is nothing that man can
do about this in and of himself. His love, that is God's love,
is centered on and focused on God the Son, Jesus Christ. For it is he that is faithful
to do the will of the Father. His love is manifested in Jesus
Christ working out salvation for a people. If he had not done
this, then all mankind would have been condemned long ago.
But it was not the pleasure of God to do so. This is how he
can be just and justify them that believe on him. This sinner,
that time when I outright rejected the God of Scripture and said,
I will not have this man reign over me, Jesus Christ died for
that sin back then. He will die for every sin that
I commit until I die. He was punished, that is, forsaken
of God the Father, who turned his back on his son. This he
done in my stead. He done for all those he chose
in his son. He was pleased to make some vessels
into honor and some into dishonor. And that's just the way it is.
Had God not loved us, we would never have loved him if we loved
him. The only reason we love God is
because he first loved us. Had he not, we would have went
on in our darkness, hating God and not looking for Him and not
knowing Him. Now as I've said, this book of
John talks quite a bit about loving the brethren. Do we see the love of God by
loving the brethren? 1 John 4, 20 again. 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? The deeds that I do towards my
brother in Christ, have they always been in love? If we are
honest, we have to say no. Are we going to say we love God
when we don't even want to be with our brethren on this earth
who follow and worship the God of heaven and earth, the same
God we say we love? This brings things close to home
because I don't always love my brethren. I have committed sin in hating
my brother while with my lips I try to convince myself and
others that I am loving God. God helped me to love the brethren
as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. I have to
pray, you need to work this in me if that's
going to happen. I have no strength but his strength.
The scripture is clear that there is not one human being that is
born of Adam that has ever loved God on their own. Man is complete
darkness and he does not come in the light because his deeds
will be reproved. So we need help from somewhere
and without ourselves before we can ever love God. If we love
the brethren, then it is not by loving the brethren that we
know and love God. It is by knowing love, who is
God, and the manifestation of that love that we can truly love
one another. If we don't love the brethren,
then we are liars if we say we love God. Because true love is
of God. How do I know I love the brethren
or if the brethren love me? What are we told in our text,
verses 13 and 14? Hereby know we that we dwell
in him and he in us because he hath given us of his spirit and
we have seen and do testify that the father sent the son to be
the savior of the world. Our brothers and therefore those
who love us and those who we love are those who confess that
Jesus Christ is God. And they confess that he accomplished
what he came to do and saved those for he came to do this
for. And we have seen and do testify that the father sent
the son to be the savior of the world. If we love God and love
his gospel and therefore the brethren, it is only because
he first loved us. Here's what it all boils down
to, 1 John 4, 19. We love him because he first
loved us. Amen. Dear old God, thank you for allowing
us to be here, dear Lord, safely conducting us down here, dear
Lord. Thank you for the kindness that's been shown to me and Paula
as we've been down here, dear Lord. Be with Donny as he travels
back. Dear Lord, apply these words
to our hearts, dear Lord. Help us to be thankful that you
give us places that we can go to hear your gospel, dear Lord.
May you stay our eyes, fix our hearts on Christ always. All
these things we ask in Christ's name. Amen. Thank you all for
having us. You've been very kind, very generous.
I appreciate it. It's been wonderful. Let's stand together and we'll
sing the love of God. It's on page 34 in our course
books.