Turn in your Bibles, if you will,
to 1 John 4. Our pastor taught a lesson from
this Scripture in Sunday school just a few weeks ago. So it is
with some reluctance that I would try to follow that up and teach
anything in addition to what he taught. But he's also quoted
a phrase from this verse in 1 John 4, I don't know how many times
over the last few weeks. And it just would not leave me
alone. And when Todd called and asked
me to speak tonight, I thought this must be the scripture. So
I'm not looking to improve on anything he said. It's just that
perhaps the Lord has given me some light on a particular aspect
of it. And I pray the Lord will bless
it. Let me introduce this message by telling you how foolish I
am and have been since I was just as young as you children. I was just about your age when
two of my older brother's buddies and he convinced me to make something. Now, I was a Cub Scout and a
Boy Scout, and I've made a lot of things. But everything I ever
made either wore out, broke, or went haywire from the minute
I started it. I've never made anything perfect.
And the proof of that is this ridiculous story where these
three boys, they only allowed me in the deal because I was
the only one little enough that they could shimmy up this big
sycamore tree. in which we had decided to build a treehouse
of bricks. And they got me up the tree,
threw a rope up, and I'd let it down, and we'd pull up a couple
of boards, and I got them across the branches, and then the bricks
started coming up. And I set them around and Everything
went fine until, of course, I hit a branch and bricks started raining
out of that tree and one of them caught my brother on the side
of the head and knocked him plum cold on the ground. And, of course,
those other two boys ran for the hedges and I'm up the tree
with my brother out cold. Have you ever done anything that
foolish? Well, if you haven't, the only reason you haven't is
because God was gracious in not letting you do something that
silly. And the only reason I've not done the most foolish thing
that you've done is that the Lord restrained me from it. But
the truth is, I've never made anything perfect. And won't in
this lifetime. But in this verse of Scripture,
it says that something has been made perfect. And if something's
been made perfect in soul, soul, and God's Word, then it's perfect.
Look what it is. And 1 John 4, verse 17 says,
Herein is our love made perfect. Our love for the Lord Jesus Christ
and God's love for us. If you look at the center reference,
the better translation of this is not our love, but love with
us. Now, love with something has
two directions. It's not only our love of God,
but of course, that had to be preceded by God's love for us,
because we only love Him because He first loved us. But it says
here, that love is made perfect. It's not going to break. It's
not going to come apart. It's eternally then made. It's already done. Made perfect. Absolutely perfect. How? Don't you want to know how
it was made perfect? Well, in the last part of this
verse, it tells us how love with us, between God and His children,
has been made perfect. And there's just three points
to this message, and you can all follow along with it. You
see the last part, I'll read the whole verse, and you'll see
the three points at the end of the verse. It says, Herein is
our love made perfect. that we may have boldness in
the day of judgment. We don't have to be afraid. When
we depart this earth or when Christ returns and the books
are open and judgment is made, God's people don't have to be
afraid. They can be bold. And here's why. Because their
love's been made perfect because, here it is, here's the three
points, as He is, so are we in this world. Now let's take them
one at a time. The first point is, as He is. And the most important word in
this whole verse is the word He. Because He, that's a pronoun. But that means it's somebody. And the somebody here, He is
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's who it's talking about.
So we can read this as He is. We can read this as Christ is. As the Lord Jesus Christ Now,
that may not sound like many words to make a point in a Bible
message, but stay with me and listen well. Here is one of,
if not perhaps the most vital of all Bible principles. Brother
Clare prayed the doctrine of Christ. A doctrine is nothing
but a truth. It's a principle that never changes.
And this may be just certainly is one of, if not the most important
principle in all the Bible. Call it what you will, but it's
so profound and so astounding that no natural man can possibly
believe it. Yet it is so simple that once
you see it, you ever see one of those pictures and it's you
look at it and it just looks like stuff. Lines and everything. And then all of a sudden, you
see it. There's something hidden in there
and you see it. Well, the way we're born in this world as children
and grow up, we're blind to Bible doctrine, to the doctrine of
Christ. We're blind to truth and we've
got to be shown by God's Spirit. But boy, once you see it, I mean,
there's so many lines in this one, you just can't see it by
nature. But once God reveals it to us, we see the truth as
He is. It's not confusing or complex
anymore. It's the simplest yet most comprehensive
thing you can ever see. It's the name of God. The name of God. Let me see if I can illustrate
it this way. As he is. Now, this is Paul Walmsley down
here. And do you know what he could
say tonight? He could stand up and say, I am a doctor. Now, anybody in here who knows
him is going to say, he is a doctor. Aren't we? Not going to disagree
with that. He'd be foolish. Only people
who don't know him are going to say, he is not a doctor. You kids ever play, is so, is
not, is so, is not? Ever do that? You say, my dad
can play the trumpet. And somebody says, he cannot.
You say, he is. He is not. Ever play that? Well,
see, by nature, we play the is not game. But the point is this. Everybody
should say. He is a doctor and they will
if they know him. This scripture says turn over
to Exodus 3 and let me see if I can show you what I mean here.
Exodus Chapter 3. And there's not much consequences
if somebody in here wants to say he is not a doctor. Well,
they say that can't be Paul. So what? There's no consequence
to them. They're not going to come arrest
them or do anything to them, are they? No. But listen, when God
says that he is, well, there's consequences of not believing
that. You see, God tells us plainly in the Bible who he is. When Moses was instructed, go
down and tell Pharaoh and tell my people to let him go, set
him free. What Moses asked God, he said,
give me some credentials. Give me, you know, if somebody
questions whether Paul's a doctor, all they've got to do is look
on your office wall, isn't it? You've got credentials everywhere.
University graduate, doctor, got all that up there. It's your
credentials. Moses said, they're not going
to believe me when I go down there and tell them who you are.
Well, look what the Lord told him. In Exodus 3, verse 13, Moses
said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel,
and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers has sent
me to you, and they are going to say to me, What's his name?
What should I tell them? And God said unto Moses, You
tell them, I am that I am. And he said, Thus shalt thou
say unto the children of Israel, and notice this, it never mentions
Pharaoh in these two verses. But twice he says, you tell my
children who I am. That's what he had their credentials
to do. Brother Todd stands up here with credentials from God
to tell us who he is. It's pretty serious, isn't it? You bet I'm nervous tonight.
I'm supposed to tell you who God is. And he said here, you tell them
I am. Now, I'm going to admit something
to you children. From the first time 30 years
ago, I heard the gospel and somebody read this Scripture, I thought,
that's kind of a funny name. I am? Because names mean something,
don't they? In the Bible, the name, what's
Caleb mean? Faithful dog. What's Hannah mean? Grace. Names mean something in
the Scriptures. The name Jacob meant trickster,
conniver, somebody who was always telling not the truth. So names
mean something. And God's telling Moses here,
My name is I Am. And you go down and tell them
that. This really isn't very complicated
if we understand the biblical principle. You see, Turn to John chapter 6 with me. The Lord Jesus Christ spoke out
of that bush to Moses and said, You go down there and tell them,
I am. Now, there's only two responses
to the I am. When somebody says, I am, now
you're either going to say He is or you're going to say He
is not. Paul wants he's a doctor. Well, he either is or you can
say he is not. Let me tell you, the whole rest
of this book, from Exodus 3 on after God says, I am. You know
what the rest of this book is? Him telling the rest of the sentence.
He says, I am God. Now, you can only give two answers
to that. You can say he is. You can say, He is not. You know
what God's people say? They say, He is. When He says,
I am the water of life, you know what you better say? He is the
water of life. When He says, I am the bread
from heaven, you know what you better say? You see that? I am.
You better say, He is the bread from heaven. When He says, I
am the way, you know what God's people say? He is the way, the
truth, and the life. When he says, ìI am thy salvation,î
better say, ìHe is my salvation.î And thereís kind of two parts
to this. Listen to this. You know the Scripture where
he says, ìI am the vine?î You better say, ìHe is the vine.î
But you know what the rest of that is? He says, ìYou are the
branches.î Now, you know what the answer to that better be?
I am the branch. Don't try to be the vine. Don't
claim to be the vine. I am the vine. This principle
goes on. He says, I am the lamb. You know what you'd better say?
I'm the lamb slain. You know what you'd better say?
He is the lamb slain. And when he says, you're a lost
sheep, you'd better say, I am a lost sheep. You see how all
this language works together? It's not hard to understand.
It's just a principle that goes all the way through the Bible. He says, I am love. He is love. I am righteous. He is righteous. I am holy. He is holy. I am thy God. He is my God. Now, in John 6, I'll show you
what natural man reacts every time God says, I am. He was here
in John 6. Have you got verse 35? Jesus said to a group of religious
folks, Pharisees, He said, I am. He was actually preaching to
his disciples and the Pharisees were overhearing. Just like Moses
went down and told the people of Israel and he let Pharaoh
overhear. He let him in on it, listen to it. And our Lord said
to them, I am. You see it right there? It's
the same principle. It says, I am the bread of life.
He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth..."
And notice, this word believe is going to come along because
by nature we don't believe He is. It's only by the gift of
faith, the gift of God that we believe that He is who He says
He is. He says, "...he that believeth
on me shall never thirst." Well, look at the reaction of the folks
down in verse 41. "...The Jews then murmured at
him, because he said, I am." They got mad because Christ said,
I am the bread that came down from heaven. And look what they
said, He is not. You see it right there. They
said, He is not. He said, I'm the bread of life. And they said, He is not. He
is not. He said, Is not this Jesus, the
son of Joseph, whose father and mother we are? Now, they were
perfectly willing for him to be a man born of this couple. But God, the bread from heaven? That was another thing. They
said, He is not that. How is it then that He saith,
I come down from heaven? And look down at verse 48. He
says it again. I am the bread of life. And then in verse 51, I am. the living bread, which came
down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread,
if any man believe, he shall live forever, and the bread that
I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the
world, the life of my people. I'll give." Turn to Hebrews chapter
6. How important is this truth? How important is it when the
Lord Jesus Christ says, I am, that we say He is? How important is that? In one
verse, I'll show you, it means life or death. It's everything. In Hebrews 11, verse 6, But without
faith, Hebrews 11, verse 6, But without
faith, It is impossible to please God. For he that cometh to God
must. You see that word must? Believe
what? That he is. Must believe that he is. What's
that mean? Well, it means when he says I
am, you say he is. It's just that simple. But we
must believe it. There's no alternative. You can't
pick and choose. You can't say, well, I believe
he's the bread of life, but I don't buy this thing about him being
all my salvation. No, there's no options. We must believe that he is whatever
he says I am. We must. The result of believing
is eternal life. The consequences of unbelief
is eternal death. Christ is the judge of all who
do not believe that He is. Christ is the rewarder. You see
the rest of Hebrews 11, verse 6. Look what the last phrase
says. And He is. There it is again. He is the
rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. Christ is the rewarder
of all who seek Him. Now, what's their reward? Don't
be a reward giving you one in on that. You guys ever see a
sign on the phone pole saying, lost poodle, reward. You want
that, right? You got the poodle, you want
your reward, right? You know what our reward is?
Now listen, our scripture, our text says, as He is, you know
what the reward is? So are we. Wow! Can that be so? I just told you
who He is. All those things He is, so are
we. But you must believe that He
is, or there's no reward. You see, Christ is the reward. As He is, so are we. Now, let
me just give you a few things here. He is gracious. So are we. He is kind. So are we. He is merciful. So are we. He is altogether lovely. So are we. He is love. So are we. Listen to this. He is holy. Can this be so? God's Word just
promises, so are we. He is love, so are we. Turn just a page or two back
from our text of 1 John 3. This next thing is almost too
wonderful for believers to believe. It's so amazing. Look at 1 John 3, verse 1. Behold what manner of love, you
know that love with us has been made perfect, right? Isn't that
what our text says? Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called, what?
The sons of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Son of God. You know what that just said?
So are we. So are we. Therefore, the world
knows us not, because it knew Him not. It didn't know Him as
the Son of God, and it's not going to recognize you as one.
Beloved, now, it says right now, doesn't it? Now are we the sons
of God, and it does not yet appear. We don't look much like Him,
do we? We don't really behave like Him like we should. But
it says right here, we are the sons of God, and it doth not
yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall
appear, either us into His presence, He'll appear before us, or when
He comes back, He'll appear before us, then we shall be like Him. For we shall see Him, how? Oh,
as He is. You see, there's that phrase
again, as He is. He is the Son of God, and so
are we. We must believe that He is. That's
all our hope. Can anything this wonderful actually
be true? Well, we must believe that He
is, and so are we. How could anything this amazing
have happened? Do you know how it happened?
His Father planned it all. Any of you dads sort of got the
future of your boy planned out? Well, I warn you, it might not
quite go the way you thought it was going to go. But this
plan for every son of God is going to happen just exactly
like God planned it to happen. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ, He is a man, and so are we. He lived as a man. and so must
we. He was charged as a man and so
are we. He was tried as a man and so
are we. He was convicted and so are we. He was found guilty and so are
we. He was crucified and so were
we. He died and so did we. He is risen again And so are
we. He was buried, and so are we.
And he's risen again, and so are we. And when we talk about who and
what I am or who you are, well, here's the other side of this.
I am evil, and so became he. I am all unrighteousness, and
so was he. I am vile, and so became he. I am a sinner, and so was he."
On that cross. Why? So that in God's sight,
this all happened. God planned it from the beginning,
just like this. And the reason He did is that
so when it was all over, as He is, so are we. Even in this world. Right now. Right now. Right now. Now, I know it does not yet appear
what we will be. But whether we look at each other
and see the children of God or not, we are. Even in this world,
we are. So that when He paid the price
for the sins of a believer, And so did we. It's done. They're gone. They're over. Done
with. You see, everything He is, so are we. And whatever is
required of us to go before God the Father, we already have it. He arose from the grave and so
will we. He sits at God's right hand. And so do we. He is the Son in whom God the
Father is well pleased. And so are we. How amazing! How wonderful! How glorious is
that! But now listen. You see, as we
were, so became Christ. So there's now no more condemnation
to them who are in Him. And as He is, so are we. So we are now actually the sons
of God. Do we deserve any credit, any
glory, any praise? Well, what have we done? Belief. And why did we believe? It was
by faith. And where did that come from?
God gave it to us. Do we deserve any credit? No. But what does
He deserve? All glory, all praise, all honor. I'll tell you what, if you can't
praise God for this, there's something wrong in there. Oh,
my. You see, it's not who we are,
it's who He is. It's not what we do or did, it's
what He did. And He did it because of who
He is. Now, if you're like me, Let me say this first. I hope
I can do this. I don't have it written down. You know, Paul could say, I am
a doctor. Now, your options are to say
he is or he is not. What if he says, I am an anesthesiologist? Now, he is, but you If you're
like me, you don't necessarily know what all that means. But
do you have to be one? Or do you have to know what all
it means to believe He is? No. And you young people, listen,
you don't have to know. I mean, you don't have to know
what propitiation means when He says, I am your propitiation. You may. And in time, God may
let you see that. May open it up to you. You may
understand it some other way. You see, you might know Paul
as Big Ben's daddy. That's maybe all you know about
him. Or he is the song leader. Or you may know that he is Lynn's
husband. Or he is Todd's brother-in-law.
Or just maybe he is that really nice guy with that great accent. I don't know how you know him.
But if you know him, you know him. And you know he is. And you don't argue when He says,
I am an anesthesiologist. You say, He is. You know Him. You trust Him. You believe. And
that's how it is with Christ. This Word, we ought to just go,
He is, He is, He is, He is. But listen, it's just not quite
like that, is it? And that's why we meet again
and again and again. Why Brother Todd gets up here
and says, He is. Next week he'll say, He is something else. He'll
say who He is some other way. And I tell you what God's people
do. He's made our hearts so all we do is go, He is. He is. He is. Isn't He wonderful? Isn't
He marvelous? Isn't He glorious? Isn't He great?
Oh, our Lord, He's everything! He is. He is. But don't worry what you don't
understand. Believe what you do understand.
And He'll give you more understanding. That's why there's babes in Christ,
young men and women. Joseph, what are you talking
about? Mature in Christ. There's old geezers in Christ.
Yeah, and that's a good thing. Oh, I am one, so I can say it,
right? I'm getting old enough to be
one. That's a good thing. You see, the older and more mature
you get, the more you recognize the truth about who He is. And
that's when these fellows say, Amen. Amen. When the pastor says,
He is the bread of life. Amen. You may not know him that
way yet, but you will if you want to hear. If you're a son,
sing to back your daddy you don't know yet, but you will one day
if you live long enough. So if you're like me, I know
that I certainly do not behave much like a child of God. I'm
ashamed even of my so-called best deeds. What's the problem? We're still in this world, aren't
we? Still in this world. the sinful, awful, dead, evil
world. And as long as we are, don't
expect any complete and total changes in us, because the old
man's not going to die until we leave this world. God's children,
however, grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ. But
considering how low we start and from how high is the true
standard of righteousness, it seems like we just don't show
much progress, do we? Not even in a lifetime. That's
all the more reason to rejoice in this simple truth. Our salvation
is not dependent upon who we are, but upon who He is. Our redemption is not dependent
upon what we do or how much good we do. It's totally dependent
on what Christ did because of who He is. And if we believe
that and rely on Him, if we know Him, if we believe on Him, our
fear is gone in this world. We don't live in fear of losing
our salvation. Listen to this. If I don't behave
and I won't, you forgive me when I don't. Forgive me. But if I
don't behave and I won't perfectly, do you know God won't love me
any less? Now, I hate to embarrass those
three boys, Clare, I bet you three have done a few things
that didn't please your dad, haven't you? And now he hates
you, right? Oh, he still loves you, doesn't
he? Yeah. God the Father loves His children
despite what we do. It's no excuse to do the wrong
thing, guys, OK? God's children won't take advantage
of that love. But listen to the other side
of this. God doesn't love us. Even when I'm motivated to do
a really good deed, quote, unquote, God won't love me anymore because
He couldn't. You see the two sides of that?
He won't love us any less because that old man does things we shouldn't.
But He couldn't love you anymore even if you were perfect because
you are. As He is, so are we even in this world. In this world. God doesn't love us because of
what we do or what we don't. God the Father loves God the
Son because of who He is and what He's done. He therefore
loves us. Why? Because we're in Christ. Turn back to our text, 1 John
4, and I'm nearly done. Actually, look at 1 John 2 real
quick, verse 1. My little children. Who's that
written to? God's people. You see, as He
is, so are we in this world. If He's the Son of God, then
so are we. He's writing to us here. He's addressing this very
issue. He says, My little children,
these things write unto you. That you sin not. He said, I'm
writing these things to you because I know you're going to sin. I
know you will. The Apostle Paul said, boy, that which I wouldn't
do, that's exactly what I do. And, you know, I do that which
I wouldn't do. It's always that way with us,
isn't it? We just can't. That old man is tough. And the
Father's writing here, my little children, these things right
unto you that when you sin, if any man sin or when a man sins,
Oh, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous. You see, as he is at the right
hand of God, so are we in this world, even right now. Now, turn
back to 1 John 4, and let me show you something here. Verse
17 says, Herein is love with us made perfect, and read this
phrase in here. That we may have boldness in
the day of judgment. As you're going to see down through
here, you don't have to be afraid of the day that Christ comes
back or that you die and go to be with him. You don't have to
be afraid because as he is, so are we in this world. Now, listen,
there is no fear in love. But perfect love, which is what
we have, right? Cast out fear because fear hath
torment. He that feareth is not made perfect
in love. We love him because he first
loved us. Now, if a man say, listen to this, if a man say. Boy, John, there's a world of
difference between what people say and what they do, isn't it? Sometimes.
Big difference at times. If a man say, I love God and
hates his brother, well, 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? And this commandment have we from him, that he who
loveth God loveth his brother also. If we are looking for some
indication in ourselves, do I believe he is? Don't you want to know
if we really believe that? I do. I don't want to arrive
at this day that is talked about here and find out I really didn't
know him. Do I believe that he is? Well,
here's the indication. Do you love the brethren? If there is malice and envy and
hatred of the brethren, that's bad evidence. Our Lord summarized
the law of God and love God with all your heart and love your
neighbor as yourself. In this world, we can't always
tell who loves God. But those who love the brethren,
well, it sort of leaks out on them, doesn't it? And those who
don't love the brethren, it leaks out on them as well. Look at
chapter 5, verse 1. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God, and everyone that loveth him
that begot loveth him also that is begotten of him. Let me give you an illustration
to conclude this. This last Christmas season, Rebecca
and I's little four-year-old granddaughter, Lucy, all she
wanted was a toy kitchen. You know, one of those things
that's got a pretend burner and a microwave-looking thing and
all the ovens and stuff. And so naturally, Nan, I went
and found one. Actually, Peggy Moore had a used
one, and we got that one. And everybody got her stuff to
go with the toy kitchen. I mean, there was plastic pork
chops and apples and everything you can imagine. Every kind of
plastic food you've ever seen in your life came with the kitchen.
So the very first time that Nana and I went over there to babysit
for them for an evening, we had to have dinner. And Carrie set
up her, I mean, Lucy set up her little table, had four chairs,
and I sat down with Lucy here and Sam here, the two-year-old,
and Nana across from me. And I mean, we had plates full
of all kind of plastic stuff. I had pork chops with strawberries
and carrots and all kind of things there. And we got all set. And Lucy brought her little serving
napkin and sat down. She reached over and took my
hand and said, now Pop, she said, we got all this pretend food. She said, but we don't want to
have pretend prayer. Would you pray for us? I doubt I ever prayed a more
sincere, heartfelt prayer in my life. But most religion in our day,
you know what it is? Pretend religion. That's all
it is. And the funny thing about those
who pretend, they usually get tired of it. They get tired of
it and they walk away from those to whom they have to pretend.
We, all of us, can be fooled by a pretender. And the worst
thing is, we can fool ourselves by pretending that we believe
who he is. If that's the case, oh my, oh
my, oh my. But God's children, they don't
have to pretend. They don't have to pretend. If I'm a pretender, may God reveal
that to me now and give me a heart to believe who He is and who
I am, that I might know Him and rest in this simple joy and truth. As He is, so am I in this world. That's what I want, isn't it?
For myself, for you, for our children. Isn't that what we
want? May the Lord bless His Word and bring that to pass.