Born of Gods love 1 John 3:1

Q: What does the Bible say about God's love?

The Bible declares God's love as eternal, immutable, and the basis for our identity as His children. The Bible describes God's love as 'Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God' (1 John 3:1). This love is characterized by its eternality; it has no beginning or end, existing as long as God Himself. Furthermore, it is immutable, meaning it does not change based on our actions or feelings. Regardless of our circumstances, His love remains constant, assuring us that our identity as His children is secure, rooted in His eternal purpose and grace.

Q: How do we know the new birth is essential?

The new birth is essential because it enables us to become righteous and accepted before God. According to Scripture, the new birth is crucial for entering the kingdom of God, as indicated in John 3 when Jesus tells Nicodemus, 'You must be born again.' This rebirth is what distinguishes the children of God from those who are lost. Without it, we have no evidence of being loved by God. Those who experience the new birth receive a new nature that is righteous, capable of good works, and reliant on Christ's righteousness for acceptance before God. The new birth is not a result of our will or efforts but is the work of God's sovereign grace.

Q: Why is being born again important for Christians?

Being born again is important because it signifies our transformation and acceptance as children of God. For Christians, the importance of being born again cannot be overstated; it is through this new birth that we move from spiritual death to spiritual life. Jesus emphasizes its necessity in John 3, showing that without being born again, one cannot see or enter the kingdom of God. This rebirth not only grants us a new identity as God's children, but it also ensures that we possess a new nature that desires righteousness and loves God. The new birth is the initial work of the Holy Spirit, facilitating our relationship with God and enabling us to live in accordance with His will.

If we could see beyond today, what God can see. If all the clouds should roll away, the shadows flee. For present griefs we would not fret. Each trial we would soon forget. For many joys await us yet. for you and me. If we could see beyond today what God does know, How earthly joys must pass away And tears must flow And how the darkness turns to light Each trial now will soon turn bright. Someday life's wrongs will be made right.

Faith tells us so. If we could see, if we could know, we often say. But God in love availed us throw a cross We cannot see what lies before and so we cling to him but more. He leads us to This life is our trust and obey. If we could see, if we could know, we often say, But God in love availed us through across the way.

Amen. We'll begin the message. We'll go to God in prayer again. I want to remind everyone of our upcoming conference. Keep this in your mind and prayers. The 24th, 25th, and 26th of July. It's a ways away, but I'll have more information about the hotels this next week, and I'll send out all the information most likely by the I want to send it out early because if you have no people that want to come to this conference, you need to tell them to get the room early. I'm trying to get a special rate for one of the hotels near here. And when I get that next week, I'll send it out. But you want to get them early because there's something going on at the same time during that weekend.

And the hotels are filling already for that weekend. And that's a long ways off. Pray about that, ask the Lord to be gracious in that. I'm looking forward to seeing Brother Gabe and Marvin Stoniker. They'll be preaching here during that conference, so be in prayer about that. I do ask your prayers this morning for me. I desire to preach the gospel.

I was talking to a man yesterday, and I don't know, I spent, He asked me how it is I'm spending my life not looking so far ahead. I look to Sunday and then when I'm done with Sunday, I look to Wednesday. And that's how I that's how I live. So this this idea of looking all the way to July is kind of difficult for me.

But I need to announce it. I need to try to prepare for it if the Lord's willing. So pray for me this morning. I long to preach this message and I long for it to have the effect it had on john preaching first john three the love of god it's a subject so deep so wide so vast it's hard for us to grasp so i want to take hold of things that we know concerning the love of god it's affecting i know this without the spirit of god this will have no effect We cannot make ourselves enter into these things. Can't really force it in. The spirit has to do it. We need him, so pray that he comes this morning and applies this to our hearts.

Pray for those churches without pastors still. May God give them men. I know some of them have been without pastors a long time. We've been praying for a long time, but we got to understand God's timing is not ours. God's way is not ours. We I keep thinking of that text that I preached the last time his footsteps are in the sea. You can't see footprints in the sea. You can't see where he's going. You can't tell what he's going to do.

What does that does? What does it matter what he does? As long as we're in Christ, it should not matter what he does. If we have Christ, what else do we need? We really don't need anything else. And I pray that God would put this in our hearts and instill this in us. Pray for those who are sick. I know that Chuck and Patty are traveling, so pray for them. not here this morning, so pray for them and others that for whatever reason are not able to be here, pray for them. Let's go to Him in prayer.

Our gracious Father, again we bow ourselves before You. We come boldly into Thy presence only by the blood and righteousness of Thy Son. We dare not trust in anything except Christ as our acceptance. We come offering praise and adoration and thanksgiving unto you for the offering in the blood and the righteousness of thy son, the giving of your spirit, the quickening power and the faith to believe all of this is because of thy great love and mercy. Give us hearts of praise and thanksgiving, Father, and not hearts of murmuring and complaining. Pray that you'd cast out the cares of this life and set our eyes upon you, upon the attributes of your love and mercy that is in Christ.

Most churches without pastors, be with them, strengthen them, encourage them. Father, if it be your will, send them a man after your own heart. Father, we confess this morning we need you. Without you, we can't do any of this. heal those that are sick, be with those that are not with us, bring them again, we ask you. And all of this in the name of Jesus, our Savior. For his sake, amen. All right, take your Bibles, turn with me to 1 John, chapter three. 1 John, chapter three. The text is gonna be found in verses one and two, Scripture says, Behold, behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. We know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, but we shall see him as he is.

I've entitled this message, Born of God's Love. Born of God's Love. Now, in this text, we see that the apostle is caught up He is caught up with this matter of God's love. He said, Behold, what type of love is this? What sort of love is this? That God would bestow upon us to be his sons. He's caught up in this. But I want you to see what stirred his heart to behold the love of God. And it was this. It was the new birth. It was the work of God in the new birth. Look at this in the preceding chapter.

Exhorting these believers to abide in Christ. You know what it is to abide in Christ? It's to continually believe in Christ. Our Lord told us that He exhorted us to abide in Me and I in you. How do we abide in Him? We do this by faith. That's what He's talking about. He's encouraging these believers. They were being tempted. They were being seduced, He says in this text, by Antichrist, those against Christ and against the gospel. They were being seduced by these false teachings. And he said, no, abide in Him. That message that you have heard from me, lay hold of it. Don't let go of it. What is this message? He says, now, little children, in verse 28, abide in Him, that when He shall appear, We may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.

If we know that He is righteous, you know that everyone that doeth righteousness is born of Him. It is the thought of this righteousness of Christ that is imputed and imparted to every believer through the new birth. This is what stirs his heart. So John, by this new birth, by this, he is drawing a line of distinction between those that are lost and those that belong to Christ, those who are loved of God, is what? The new birth. Without this, you have no evidence, no hope of being loved of God. It is the new birth that is the evidence of the love of God.

You know what? The greatest need of this lost generation is the new birth. Isn't that the greatest need of man? You go out to the churches and you ask, what's the greatest need of man? And they're going to talk about marriage. They're going to talk about money situation. They're going to talk about family. That's not the greatest need of man. The greatest need of man is to be born again of God, a new birth. Jesus said, without the new birth, no man could enter into the kingdom of heaven. That's what he told Nicodemus in John three. Nicodemus want to talk about miracles. He won't talk about. He said, We know your teacher come from God and you can't do these miracles. Let's talk about that. You said, No, it's not important. It's important.

You must be born again. You know all that stuff. But listen, if you know all of that and you don't have this, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. This is the most important need of man, is to be born again. And those that have been born again, why is it so important?

Because man must be righteous to be accepted of God. He must be righteous. And those born again understand their need of righteousness and they find that need only in Jesus Christ. We find that need fulfilled, satisfied. I need righteousness. Well, my righteousness is fulfilled. It's fulfilled in Him, in Christ. And so everyone that is born again is made righteous, what John's telling us. If you know he is righteous, you know this, everyone that is righteous doeth righteousness.

Isn't that sound simple? Isn't that right? If you're righteous, what are you going to do? What else can you do? If you're righteous, can you do anything else but righteousness? Now, as believers, we're born again of the spirit of God. You watch me for about 30 seconds, you'll find I'm not going to always do righteous. You follow me, you're going to see sin. Well, John deals with that in chapter 1, didn't he? He said, if any man say he had no sin, truth's not in him. There's a lot of people that believe that, that if they're born again of God, that somehow they don't sin anymore.

That's silly, I know. But that's what they believe. We know that's not true. That's not the experience of anyone born of God. But we know this, that God has given us in the new birth a new nature that is righteous and all it can do is righteousness. We know that, John said. That's what we know. Later on, he says, Let's see, it's a. Look at verse nine of Chapter three, whosoever is born of God does not commit sin.

What is he talking about? He's talking about the new nature that is given to everyone that is born of God. Everyone is born of God is given a righteous nature and therefore before God, we are what? Righteous everything we do is what righteous because the new man cannot see it And so as the Lord tells Nicodemus you must be born again He announces the greatest need of man is to be born again now born again. How's the man born again? If that's the greatest need, and that's how a man becomes righteous, how then may a man be born again?

There's many opinions to this. Just ask the religious crowd. Some say that to be born again, man must perform some outward ritual. If you want to be born again, you have to be baptized. You go down the water, you come up, and then you are what? Born again. Others say it's the Lord's Supper, it's joining the church, And by these obedience to the law, if you just keep the law, then you'll be born again. Others, most everyone else, is free will. The cause of the new birth is the act of the will. If a man would make a decision and accept Jesus, which is nowhere found in scripture, accept Jesus as his savior, then he would be born again.

What does God say about it? I'm really not interested in what men say about it. That's what men say. That's what religious creeds, and they've got hundreds and thousands of years of books, of traditions, and all this stuff. I don't care what that says.

What does God say about the new birth? Look over to John chapter 1. John chapter 1. What does God say? How is one born again? If that's the greatest need, if that's how righteousness comes, then how is one born again? Look at this in John chapter 12. As many as received him. John chapter 1 and verse 12. But as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.

You see, receiving and believing are synonymous in this verse. Notice it doesn't say accept. It says receive vitally in two different words, except is one of equals. You and I, if I give you something, you have every right to accept it or reject it. We are equals. This is not a matter of equal.

This is a matter of necessity. It is as though one is dying of thirst and you give him water. What else can he do? He must have it. It is a need. This is what would happen when we come to Christ, when we believed on Christ. It was not a matter of, hmm, let me see. It was a matter of life and death. I must have Him or I die. And what do we do? We received Him.

It's as simple, the word is simple as I received the water. That's it. I was thirsty. I received the water. It was a need. And that's how much it is with this. We receive Him and we become the sons of God which is to believe on Him. But what is the cause of that? That's the root of it, isn't it? The cause of our receiving.

Look at this. Which were born. There it is. The birth. The new birth. Is the cause. But what's the cause of the new birth? Look, not of blood. This is what the Jews believed because they were blood kin to Abraham, they were Born of God, they were sons of God, based on their bloodline. And this goes on in modern Christendom. Why do you think infant baptism is a thing? It's not a scripture. Nowhere in scripture is there an infant baptized, ever. Nowhere. It's made up. That is totally made up.

Now, why do they make it up? Because they believe that you have two Christian parents and you have a child that somehow that child has some some grace to him, that he has some inside road to salvation. So it's bringing some water on him, telling part of the church. All made up, no proof in Scripture whatsoever. Yet they do it. So not of blood, that's not how it comes. Look at this, nor of the will, I'm gonna go to the last one, nor of the will of man.

This does away with all Catholicism. Catholicism believes that they have priests and by the will of the priest, your sins are absolved. By the will of the priest, you are somehow made into a son of God. God says no, that's not how man's born again, not born by the will of some other man. And the other one is, he is not born by the will of the flesh. This does away with every free will work. It's like you open a trash can and that birth just kind of throws them in there. It's all gone. It's useless.

The new birth does not come by the will of man. Well, how does it come? By the will of God. You see where the new birth comes from? It is by the will of God. It only comes by the holy Spirit. Jesus said in that text with Nicodemus, John chapter 3, he said, that which is born of flesh is flesh. In other words, everything that the flesh does can only produce flesh. It can't affect spiritual things. You can have a fleshly desire, but it cannot produce a spiritual result.

And this is what he said. He said, it's like this. as the wind blows where it lifts it. You can hear the sound thereof, but you can't tell where it's coming and where it's going. Listen, just like that. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit. The Spirit of God blows where He wills, and He saves whom He wills. So where does this new birth come from? It comes by the sovereign will of God. It comes by the sovereign grace of God.

And then they ask, well, doesn't a man need to be willing? Doesn't a man need to have faith? Well, of course, without faith it's impossible to please God. And who believes that's not willing? You that believe. Testify to this. Are you willing? Somebody drag you in here and make you feel like a slave. No, the heart of everyone born of God desires more faith, not less. Every one of us long for more. We have faith, and yet we always are craving more.

Willingly. Willingly. Who's not willingly? who never believed in Christ willingly. We who come to Christ, we come as sinners. We come as sinners understanding our lack of merit, and we find in Christ all the merit we need. Yes, we willingly come. We come over joy.

Weren't you overjoyed when you found out there was hope for you? Weren't you overjoyed when you found out Christ's blood was sufficient to cover all your sins? You ran to him as there was nothing else. You loved and you cling to him and you believed on him with all your heart.

But we know this, that our willingness did not cause the new birth. Our willingness was an effect of the new birth. If you switch them, you rob God of His glory. It's vitally important that this is not a small matter, friends, because to do so is to say that my will gave me the power of the new birth. My my new birth came by the power of my will and not the power of God. If you switch them. We know this, that we are willing because we were made willing. How we know that? That's what God said. Look at Psalm 110. Psalm 110. Look at verse 3. This text is talking about the Lord Jesus Christ being exalted, being a successful Savior. And this is what He says. Look at verse 2.

He said, The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion. Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. When you were His enemy, who was ruling? was ruling over you when you were his enemy he was and look what happened in the day of his grace he said thy people shall be willing when in the day of power The new birth doesn't come by will, it doesn't come by blood, it doesn't come by the will of some other man, it comes by the power of God himself.

He gives us this new birth. Jesus said, no man can come to me except it were given him of my father. When Peter testified, he said, We believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And he said, blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed this to thee, but my Father, which is in heaven. You see where the power of the new birth comes from?

It comes from the Father. It comes by the work of God. It's by the sovereign spirit and power of God that we are born again to spiritual life. And it's then we can come. You know, before, I couldn't come. And now I can. What made the difference? It was the Spirit of God that made the difference. It was the power of God. And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. For by grace you are saved through faith, and that faith not of yourself. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.

And what does this faith see? When you're born again, what do you see? What do you see about yourself? I tell you, when the Lord saved us, we had a totally different view of ourselves. One minute I thought I could earn God's acceptance, and the very next minute I knew I couldn't. There was nothing I could do. I was lost, undone. without any hope, no righteousness in myself, but in a great act of grace, we saw Christ. Man, is there any greater sight?

We see Him by faith as He was the Savior lifted up on Calvary's tree. We behold the Savior, Christ the Lord. We see His blood is sufficient to satisfy God for all my sins. We see Him high and lifted up on the throne of God as the victorious Savior who has redeemed us. paid the debt of sin, by his one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. And now behold the gift, the gift of his grace he has given me a righteous nature. That's what John's talking about. Abide in this gospel. Hold fast to this gospel. Don't be seduced by anything else. Hold fast to this. Abide in him by faith for he has given you new life and by this made you righteous before God.

So now, we who have been born of God, and made the righteousness of God in him, this is then what excites John to behold the root cause. The root cause, love. What moved God to give you life? If you look inside, you will not find one reason why God would give me life, not one. But John nails it down to this. Behold, what manner of love. Love.

So we see the cause of his excitement, the new birth. the righteousness of God given to us in the new man by Jesus Christ. Now, then let's look at this love. I want to see three things about this. First of all, I want to see the manner of love. John said, behold, what manner of love? Then we're going to look at the objects of God's love. Who is this object towards? And fourthly, I want to see the result of this love. First of all, the nature. Behold, what manner, what nature of love is this? What kind of love is this? We don't know of any love like this.

I know that even the scriptures use earthly types of love to try to picture the love of God, but they all break down, don't they? They don't all fully manifest themselves, the love of a husband and a wife. Does that really nail it down? It has some of the characteristics, but it just doesn't totally fit.

This love is far greater than any love we've ever experienced. It's higher, it's deeper, and it's broader than anything you can imagine. But I want to give it some shape according to what God says about His love. I want us to see it as God describes it to us. First of all, I want you to see that the manner in which His love is eternal. The love of God is as eternal as God.

Now this is true of every attribute of God, isn't it? When I say God is holy, we know this. God is eternally holy. When God is just, He is eternally just. When God is righteous or good or kind, God is eternally patient. Eternity. describes every attribute, the nature of every attribute. That's including this one of love. John says he that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. Just as much as God is just, he's love as much as God is holy, he is love. And his love is eternal.

I want you to see it never had any beginning. Whoever God has loved, He has loved from eternity. It never had a beginning. Consider that. God never hated somebody and then loved them. You and I do that. God never hated somebody and then loved them. And listen, He never loved somebody and then hated them. Whoever God has loved, he has loved from eternity to eternity. Secondly, his love is immutable.

It means it doesn't change. So imagine if your love could be eternal, right? From one end to the spectrum of the other, yet our love would do this. throughout eternity. Our love would go up and down. Our love is a love of passion. It's a love of passion, isn't it? It's hot, it's warm, and it's cold. It has all these things.

But God's love, however high God's love is, it never diminishes. It is constantly the same throughout eternity. That's what it means by immutability. Jesus Christ, listen, the same yesterday, today, and forever. God says, behold, I am the Lord, I change not. You see, His love is perfect. It's absolute. It's eternal. And it doesn't change. It's immutable to all the objects of His love. And they shall never fail of it, nor does it vary." His love never fluctuates. We feel like it does. How do you feel like it does?

I'll tell you, when Newton wrote that hymn, "'Tis a Point Long to Know," that one little phrase often gets me. He said, "'Will thou pursue thy worm to death?' We often think of God's love like that. That somehow He's now angry. And he don't love me anymore. If you want to know the root of that, it's just our love. You're looking at your love. And you're basing his love on your love. So when your love is hot, you think, well, my man, God loves me. And when your love is cold, you believe God's love is cold. No. His love is immutable just as His character.

Listen to what He said in Jeremiah. The Lord has said unto me, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Whoever God loves, it is with an everlasting love. A never ceasing, never ending, never diminishing love. Behold the great manner of His love. His love is not like ours. eternal and unchangeable. And all those he has loved, he is now loving. He is now loving. And he shall forever love because it is an everlasting, unchangeable love, and none of those loved of God shall ever be removed from it. This is what Paul says. Look at Romans chapter 9, what Paul says about the love of God. Romans chapter 8, sorry. Look at Romans chapter 8.

He asked that question, didn't he? He said, in verse 35, who shall separate us from the love of God, sin, Christ, Jesus? He's challenging things. He's challenging everyone. Who shall separate us from the love of God, love of Christ? Is it tribulation or distress or persecution or famine? or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Anything outside? Anything happen to this body that's gonna separate me from the love of God?"

He said, no, that was just ordained. He said, no, for thy sake we are killed all the day long, counted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. I am persuaded that neither life, nor death, 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.

Why? Because of the nature of God's love. Behold the manner of God's love. It's inseparable. So now we see the nature of God's love. Now, who are the objects? That's got to be important, isn't it? I mean, you can see the nature of God's love, but if you're not an object, boy, you're in trouble. Who are the objects of his love?

In that text in Jeremiah 31 verse 3, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Here's the proof. Therefore, with loving kindness have I drawn thee. Again, we're going back to the new birth. You see the evidence of God's love? What excited John to write about the love of God was the new birth. Why? Because the new birth is the evidence of God's love. The evidence of God's love is the new birth. All who are called to faith in Christ by the Holy Spirit. You may know the greatness of God's love to you.

Listen, God has loved you from eternity in this. He has chosen you to salvation. He chose you to salvation. He purposed that you should be saved. That's what it said in Ephesians, didn't it? According as God had chosen us, the Father had chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy without blame before him.

Listen to these words. In love. Having predestinated us on the adoption of children. And he didn't leave it to chance. He said, by Jesus Christ. The way you were going to be his son was always the same. By Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ, when he came, he paid that adoption price. He paid your sin debt. He made you righteous. I like the way Paul puts it in Timothy, 2 Timothy 1, 9. He saved us and then called us, which was first. What did he do first? In love, he saved us. And then in love, he called us.

Who are the objects of His love? Everyone that He has called. Behold what manner of love the Father has shed upon us that we, is there, I think there's an emphasis here, we should be called the sons of God. Sinners, rebels, haters of God. What kind of love is this? That God would choose the rebels to be his sons. And that's exactly what he did.

Had God not in love come to us, we'd have been left to ourselves. I think a good picture is of Adam. Remember when Adam sinned and he went and covered himself in those big leaves? What if God left Adam to figure it out on his own? I'll tell you this. Adam would have died in those fig leaves. And so would we. We would have died in the fig leaves of our false religion and went to hell had God not come to us.

What kind of love is that? What kind of love is this? Scripture says in while you were yet sinners, Christ died. You that believe I know this, you're troubled on every side and you we fear and we're we doubt that we're going to make it. And we we doubt we're going to make it to the next day. You know what that is? That's unbelief. That's all it is. It's unbelief.

But you know this, that because your salvation is based in the love of God that is eternal and immutable and cannot change, you cannot die. You cannot be unrighteous. You cannot be not saved. It was His love that saved you. His love that chose you. It was His love that redeemed you. It was His love that called you. And you can put this in the bank. It will be by His love you are kept. Kept by the power of God under salvation, ready to be revealed at the last time.

Who are the objects of His love? Everyone He chose. That's the object of His love. They're his adopted sons. Everyone Christ died for. Those are his sons. And everyone the Spirit calls, they are his sons. And every one of his sons he calls, he keeps. Why? Because he loves them.

Yeah, but I did this. You don't understand what I did. His love wasn't based on what you did. If it was, you might have cause to fear. But his love wasn't based on anything you've done. His power to keep you is not based on anything you'll ever do. Now, does that make you want to go out and sin? That's what the religious world says. Well, you've got to get them back under the law now. No. No. I wasn't saved by law. I was saved by love. Love that chose me, love that redeemed me, and love that keeps me. What's the result of this? Look at your text. Look at verse 2. It gives you the result.

Everyone born of God, listen to this, beloved, now Are we the sons of God? You got that? Now, are we the sons of God? Now, are we the sons of God? Ten minutes from now, you will be the sons of God. Two days from now, you will still be the sons of God. A hundred years from now, you will still be the sons of God. We are the sons of God. Why? Because of His love, you are the sons of God. Because of His death, you are the sons of God. Because of His power, you are the sons of God.

Notice, you didn't have anything to do with any of those things. And your sonship will never be based on anything you do to keep it. I've got a son. There's nothing he can do to not make him my son. He's my son. He's my son. How much more is it with us who are the sons of God? Now are we the sons of God? Isn't that encouraging? That should be encouraging. I'm struggling. What does it have to do with this? How does that affect this? Now, are we the sons of God? Now notice this.

He's going to tell you something. He said. It doth not yet appear what we shall be. Now, man, you're not going to look at me and you're not going to watch me walk down the street and say, man, there goes a son of God. Ask my mother. She's living with me now, so now she's fully aware of my walk.

Man, I look in the mirror, and it does not appear. It does not appear that God loves me. Has any love, could have any love for me at all. If I look within myself, there's no reason, none whatsoever, that God would love me. God says I'm righteous. Man, I can't see it. Why? It does not yet appear. Oh, we shall see.

Does that have anything to do with you being a son? You are a son. even though it does not appear what you shall be. But here's the end result, when he shall be. Because of his love, he will never be separated from his children. He said this, I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place, I will come again and receive you unto myself.

To us, when believers die, it is a sad time of their departing, but it's not sad for him. You understand it's not sad for Christ? You understand it's not? The scripture says that when one is saved, the angels rejoice. How much more now when it's brought home? When a believer's now in the presence of God, experiencing the full righteousness that God intended for him. Is that not, is that sad? That's not sad, is it?

How much greater is the day when he shall appear and we all shall be like him? It's body. It's gonna be like He is. It's gonna be perfect in every way. Mirroring the image of my Savior. I don't know what that looks like. Do you? I don't have a clue what that looks like.

Man, it should cause us to hope. It should cause us to rejoice. It should cause us to be thankful. And I tell you, the last effect that this new birth and this love has on a believer is this. While we live in this world, we will love one another. John later makes a distinction, he says, you say you love God and you don't love your brother, you're a liar. I like John, he's bold. It's just right out there, very quick. Why? Because if we understand how we are loved, is it not a small thing To love one another.

How much have you been forgiven? Count your sins. And know this, he had to pay a price you'll never have to pay. How then can we hold the sins of someone else against him? Tell me. Our Lord makes it plain. How are we to love even as we are loved? Freely. You should never ask me to love you. I should love you regardless of what you do to me.

Because I know what I did to him. I know how much he forgives me. I know how much he loves me. When that effect comes on the believer's heart, loving someone else is just easy. The only way it's hard is if you look on yourself as righteous over someone else. I'm sorry son of a gun, you know what he did to me. Me. You know how he hurt me. Your view is wrong.

Behold what manner of love the Father has for us that we should be called to serve. That he gave us life, that he gave us faith, that he keeps us. Is there any greater love than that? Immutable, eternal love that will not change? May God help us to love as we're loved. I know that's a struggle, isn't it? With that old man still there. But if we have a right view of love, then love will be easy. Pray God bless us. Let's stand and be dismissed in prayer. May I dismiss him, prayerfully?

Most gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word that you have given us. We thank you that we leave it not to ourselves to understand your word, but you put it in our minds and into our hearts. We thank you that you've sent us a faithful pastor who proclaims your word, glorifies you. We pray, Father, that you would allow us to go out to this world, proclaim the gospel, the true gospel. Jesus Christ died on the cross for his chosen people. We pray that you would Allow us to sing praises to your name, glorify you in all that we do. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Born of Gods love 1 John 3:1

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about God's love?

How do we know the new birth is essential?

Why is being born again important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Fred Evans

Comments

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

Born of Gods love 1 John 3:1

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about God's love?

How do we know the new birth is essential?

Why is being born again important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Fred Evans

Comments

More from Fred Evans

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Suggested for You

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book