and declaring to you that God
is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have
fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not
the truth. But if we walk in the light as
he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood
of Jesus Christ, the blood, the blood of Jesus Christ's son cleanses
us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But if we say that we have not
sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. Let's go to the Lord in prayer.
Our Heavenly Father, we're so thankful this morning, Lord,
for that You have given to us this place of worship, this true
place of worship, a place in which we can come and hear, truly
hear the gospel preached to us. And we thank you this morning,
Lord, for sending our brother to us, our brother Paul, to preach
and to teach us this gospel. Teach and preach us to in a way
in which your love is manifested to us by this gospel. That's
the blessing in which we pray this morning, Lord, the true
blessings of your grace in Christ. And only those, we know, Lord,
that only those to whom are in Christ can and will hear the
blessings of Christ. And that's what we should pray.
Pray this morning, Lord, that you give us this spiritual discernment
that we have to have. Send that unction from the Holy
One that we hear these words in an effectual way, in a way
in which only you can send forth, and that's in power and in spirit.
We pray also Lord for our pastor. He's in he's far away now preaching
the gospel again. We pray Lord that. You give him
those same words to preach and teach your word to those here
is there today this morning. We pray these things Lord for
not only for ourselves, but we pray these things Lord for those
in whom are with us today that may not. You have may not yet
called to this gospel and we pray Lord for those in whom are
going through the very difficult times in this life in this world.
We pray, Lord, that they know and understand that you are the
true physician that can and will heal these afflictions, these
infirmities, and the trials and tribulations of this world in
which they face. All these things we pray and
ask in Christ's name, for his sake, amen. All right, at this
time, we have Brother Paul Pendleton with us from the Grace Chapel
Church in West Virginia. So Paul, if you would come and
preach us the gospel. So if you have your Bibles open
to 1 John, just stay there. 1 John. But go to chapter 4. 1 John 4. 1 John 4, and I'm gonna read verses
seven and eight. Beloved, let us love one another,
for love is of God. And everyone that loveth is born
of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not
God, for God is love. Verse eight there, he that loveth
not knoweth not God, for God is love. So I just wanna ask
the question, what is love? It's God. And I wanna 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,
if you will, that God hates. Now I find nowhere in scripture
where 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 love is God because
God is love. We are told God is in several
places in scripture. And I'm not telling you something
that you haven't heard before. It's just as Paul told the Philippians. He said, finally, my brethren,
rejoice in the Lord, to write the same things to you, to me
indeed, is not grievous, that is irksome or slothful, but for
you it is safe, or that is secure or certain. So for us to say
things we have said before, it's a safe thing. And it's not grievous
or irksome. But rather, it's comforting to
hear these things over and over again. Especially when talking
about God's love, where that characteristic of God is love. Because I'm not lovable. But
in looking at this verse in this chapter, we see in verse seven
that if we love one another, it will be with the love which
is of God. Talking about brethren, those
who confess Jesus Christ is coming in the flesh in verse two. Now
we know this speaks much more of him just coming and being
born of a virgin, which is absolutely true. But this is talking about
him being that one promised seed, the Messiah. Those who confess
this, they are 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 God hate,
where does that leave man, and the manifestation of God's love. So who is God? 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 absolutely clean
But not just clean because this word means sacred or that is
God is holy means he has set apart by himself And he's absolutely
clean with there being no one or no thing set apart like he
is. There's no one or no thing that
you can compare to God. Him being holy means everything
about him is totally set apart from anyone else. So when we
read in scripture, Psalm 117, for the righteous Lord loveth
righteousness, his countenance doth behold the upright. The
Lord is righteous and that means He does what He is. He does all
things right and that is what He loves. God is the self-existent
one. Meaning there's no one or no
thing that caused Him to come into being. That's kind of hard
to think about being human, ain't it? He always is. But God has
never asked for input or had counsel from anyone for anything
that he has ever done. Everything that 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 is he has no unequal weights or balances. He doesn't do things
to make things right that's unequal. He is right because of who he
is, and he does not go against his word. Because of this, he
cannot love anything that is anything other than this. In
fact, God is love, and God is righteous. So that means his
love is part of his righteousness, and he cannot love anything but
righteousness. And that's the righteousness
I'm talking about. But more importantly, that's
what righteousness of the scripture is talking about, which would
be his righteousness, not any kind of righteousness that man
would come up with. He can love nothing but what
he is, which is holiness. So no holiness that man may think
to be holiness is allowed in. No unrighteousness is allowed
in. Because of who God is and all
his attributes, and I've just named a couple here. There's
a whole lot more, I don't even know if I can name them all.
But this we know, he is holy, and he is righteous, and he is
love, and that's what we've heard so far. So since God is these
things, what and who does he 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's not gonna just forget about
it. He will not just pass by in this sense. Oh, that's okay,
you rebelled against me. Don't worry about it this time.
Sin must be dealt with, and it must be dealt with by death,
or God is not just. The wages of sin is death, and
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, and that is
sinful, unholy, ungodly doings, are done by those who are themselves
unrighteous. So who is it that God hates?
And I have several passages I want to read. You don't have to turn
to them, just listen. Psalm 5-5, we read, the foolish shall not
stand in thy sight. Thou hatest all workers of iniquity,
not works of iniquity. That's certainly true, but workers
of iniquity. Psalm 11-5, the Lord trieth the
righteous, but the wicked and him that loveth violence, his
soul hateth. Psalm 26-5, I have hated the
congregation of evildoers. and will not sit with the wicked. Psalm 103, I will set no wicked
thing before mine eyes. I hate the work of them that
turn aside. It shall not cleave to me. Psalm
139, 21, and 22, do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee,
and am not I agreed with those that rise up against thee? I
hate them with perfect hatred. I count them my enemies. I read all these things and yet
I know that there's that part of me that drinks up iniquity
like water. I have to ask myself, do I fear
God? Remember what the thief on the
cross said to the other thief? In Luke 23, 39 we read, And one
of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying,
if thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering
rebuked him, saying, dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art
in the same condemnation? If we reject who Christ is and
what he has done, we do not fear God. We do not believe God and
we are in condemnation. Isn't that what Christ told Nicodemus?
If you believe not, you're condemned already. One more thing here
in scripture that 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 brave. We know what we are by nature
in our unregenerate state. We know what we are. The scripture
tells us, doesn't it? So where does that leave man?
Romans 118, 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? In no
wise. For we have before proved, both
Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin. How many of
mankind born of Adam are righteous? Not one. How many mankind born
of Adam are godly? Not one. How many mankind born
of Adam are holy? Not one. How many mankind born
of Adam love God? Not one. But 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 to this
day in this flesh, I still say, I do not want this man to reign
over. me. I devise ways that are right
in my own eyes with this flesh. And this is all men by nature.
That is what we do by nature. We read in our passage of our
text a lot about us loving the brethren. Verse 20 of chapter
4. If a man say I love God and hateth
his brother He is a liar for he that loveth not his brother
whom he has seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen? But this is true, but let me
ask you Does loving our brother show us the love of God? Do I
always love my brother I I'm not trying to minimize loving
the brethren. We should and do by his grace. But what is it
that manifest the love of God? Turn with me to Ephesians one,
Ephesians one. Ephesians 1 and verses 3 through
7 is what I'm going to read. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings and 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 to 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, that we've
read here in Ephesians, it says, according as he has chosen us
in him. In him who? In Christ Jesus,
verse three tells us. 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 been made accepted in the beloved, again,
Jesus Christ. And what do we have because of
that? the forgiveness of sins. But it's not just an overlooking
sin that God is doing, it is 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 according to the scripture. If we are to
be accepted of God, that is accepted as holy, righteous, it will be
because of Jesus Christ and what he has done. 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 in
verse nine and 10. First John four, verse nine.
In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that
God sent his only begotten son into the world, that we might
live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved
God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation
for our sins. 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
this for them and done what was needed. But choosing us does
not take away our sin and sin must be dealt with. If you want
to see love in action, if you will, then you'll see it in what
Christ has done or you will not see love at all. If you do not
see this, that is if that Christ has propitiated us, he's appeased
God for us. But if you don't see this, then
your love is perverted. Because the love of God is manifested
there. This is where we see the love
of God. It's what he sent the Son to
do in our stead. Those whom he chose in his holy
son by the son's 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. 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 that he would give to the Son, and
he is the atonement, the atoning sacrifice for their sin. He was
the expiator. That is, he made amends to God
for their sin. Romans 9, 8 we read, that is,
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. You hear that? Because you are
born from Adam, in no way places you in Christ. It is simply the
love of the Father for the Son and Him promising to give a people
for His name and that of His choosing. So are you a child
of promise is the question. In these verses, five in Romans
nine, we see again, love and hate. The children of the flesh
and the children of promise. Romans nine, 11 through 13, we
read, for the children being not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil, 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 the creator. All of us come from the same
lump, but this merciful God was pleased that for some he would
afford prepare them to glory, making them a vessel of honor.
Others he left to themselves, they who are fitted to destruction. They are the perfect vessel for
being destroyed in other words. They are ungodly, they are unrighteous,
and they will not and cannot submit themselves to the righteousness
of God. Ask them, do you believe this
God? And they will tell you just as
I did. They will say, if that is who
God is, I don't want a God like that. Paul, by the Spirit of
God, expects this answer from man, the answer that sounds like
this. That isn't fair. Romans 9, 20
and 21. Nay, but, O man, who art thou
that replyest against God? Shall the thing formed 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? There is but one answer to this
question. It is rhetorical, as they say.
The answer is yes. He does have the power, and that
is the right and the might to do it. We know that man does
not have a free will. Free will is a lie of man, because
he will not have this man reign over him. But even if man could
will, or even if man could do what God requires, It's not of
him. That's what the scripture says,
Romans 9, 16. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that shall mercy. So all of man's attempts to get
to God, he laughs at. I know about this kind of attitude.
I'm not preaching about you out there or them out there. I cannot put my 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 to where I did want this
man to reign over me. I was blind, but now I see. Him doing this all based on what
Jesus Christ the son did for his people. For God so loved
the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever should
believe with him should not perish but have everlasting life. This
is that simplicity that is in Christ, that singleness. There's
only one thing involved in the salvation of a sinner, and that
is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It is God who, because of what
He has done and what He does, that we ever are to love God
and in turn love the brethren. 1 Corinthians 1, 9 we read, God
is faithful by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son,
Jesus Christ the Lord. So what is the conclusion to
all of this? God is holy and righteous and
anything and anyone that does not measure up to this holiness
and this 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's nothing that man can
do about it in and of himself. His love, that is God's love,
is centered on or focused on God the Son, Jesus Christ. For it is he that is faithful
to 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 of mankind would have been destroyed 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, the 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 before I was ever even born. He died for every sin I
will commit until I lay this body down. He was punished, that
is, forsaken of God the Father who turned his back on the Son.
This he done in my stead. He done for all those chosen
his son. He was pleased to make some vessels
in the honor and some unto dishonor, and that's just the way it is. Had God not loved us, we would
have never loved him if we love him at all. The only reason we
love God is because he first loved us. Had he not, we would
have went on in darkness, hating God and not looking for him and
not knowing him. Now, as I've said before, and
this book talks quite a bit about loving the brethren. Do we see
the love of God by loving the brethren? First John 420, 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 has seen, how can he
love God whom he hath not seen? And let me tell you, if you see
your brother in need, And you can help him, and you just let
him go, and you say, I hope everything goes good for you on down the
road. You do not love your brother. But think about this. The deeds
I do towards my brother in Christ, have they always been in love?
If we are honest, we have to say no. Are you going to say
we love God when we don't even want to be around our brethren
who are 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 do not 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.
The scripture is clear that there's not one human being born of Adam
that has ever loved God on their own. Man is complete darkness
and he does not come to the light because his deeds will be reproved. So we need help somewhere from
without ourselves before we can ever love God. If we love the
brethren, then it is not by loving the brethren that we know the
love of 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, we're liars. If
we say we love God, because true love is of God. Loving the brethren
is in the gospel. If we can fellowship in this
gospel, that is love toward one another. Because that's where
we see love manifested. But we also love the brethren
when we help one another in time of need if we can't help. If
we don't, it will manifest that we have no love for the brethren.
But we can only do this when God reveals to us his love for
us. It is manifested in what Christ
did for us. If we love God and therefore
the brethren, it is only because he first loved us. And I want
you with this, 1 John 4, 19. We love him because he first
loved us. Amen.