Love, the Common Bond

Q: What does the Bible say about love in 1 John?

1 John teaches that love is rooted in God's love for us, not our love for Him. In 1 John 4:10-12, the Apostle John emphasizes that true love begins with God, asserting that it is not we who loved God first, but rather that He loved us. This divine love is perfectly demonstrated in the sending of His Son as a propitiation for our sins. Thus, the foundation of our love for others is built on the understanding of how God has loved us. Only by recognizing this profound truth can we genuinely reflect that love to one another as a common bond among believers.

Q: How do we know God's love is true?

God's love is true and everlasting, rooted in His unchanging nature. According to Scripture, specifically Jeremiah 31:3, God declares, 'I have loved thee with an everlasting love.' This unchanging love is part of God's immutable nature; He cannot love less than perfectly. Romans 8 assures us that nothing can separate us from God's love, indicating that His commitment to loving His people is absolute and secured in Christ. Believers can rest assured in this truth because God's love is infinite and never fluctuates, reflecting His perfect character.

Q: Why is loving one another important for Christians?

Loving one another signifies our true discipleship and reflects God's love. Loving fellow believers is a vital indicator of one's faith and a command that Jesus emphasized in John 13:34-35. Christ stated that our love for one another would identify us as His disciples. This mutual love between Christians not only brings unity but is also a practical demonstration of the love God has shown to us. If we claim to love God, who we cannot see, we must also express love to our brothers and sisters in faith, as failing to do so contradicts our profession of faith, as articulated in 1 John 4:20.

Q: How can I tell if I love Jesus?

You can tell you love Jesus by your desire to know and please Him. A genuine love for Jesus will manifest through several key indicators. First, you will think about Him regularly as He occupies a significant place in your heart and mind. You will also enjoy hearing about Him and find pleasure in His Word, reflecting the sentiment of Psalm 119:105. Moreover, love motivates prayer and a desire for communion with God. Finally, loving Jesus naturally leads to love for His people, as true love extends beyond oneself and towards the community of believers. These markers help affirm your love for Christ and guide your daily walk with Him.

Now, if you'd like to follow
the message in the Bible this morning, open your Bibles to
1 John chapter 4, 1 John chapter 4, verse 10. I'm going to speak
to you on this subject, love, the common bond, love, the common
bond. You know, the Scripture talks
about a common faith that all men have, all believers have,
common trials, a common salvation. Well, there's a common bond experienced
by every true believer, and that is love. Now, here it is in I
John chapter 4. Let's look at verse 10. Herein
is love. Here it is. Here is love. Not that we love God. We didn't.
but that He loved us. God loved us. Love begins not
with us, it begins with God. And He sent His Son into the
world to be the propitiation, to be the mercy seat, the sacrifice,
the covering for our sins. This is love. God loved us, for
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish but have eternal life." Here is love. Not that
we love God. He loved us and sent his Son
into the world to be the perpetuation for our sin. Now, beloved, if
God so loved us in this way, to this extent, we ought also
to love one another. If God can love us, we certainly
can love those that are like us. We're unlike God. God is
light and we're darkness. God is truth and we're error.
God is holiness, we're sin. If God so loved us, we ought
also to love one another. It ought to be a lot easier for
us to love one another, understanding how God loved us. No man has
seen God at any time. The Only Begotten hath declared
Him. No man has seen God at any time, but if we love one another,
this God, whom we've never seen and yet whom we believe, dwells
in us, and His love is perfected in us. If we have experienced
His love and understand His love and show His love, that love
is perfected. Now, in our Lord's great house
and kingdom, there are many sons and daughters. They're not all
of the same nationality. They're not all of the same background,
not at all. They're not of the same, they're
not the same personality. They don't have the same gifts,
talents, or ability. But in the kingdom of God, in
the house of our Lord, by the mercy and grace of God, every
child of God has three things in common. Three things. This is true of every belief.
And the first one's this. Every child of God, every believer,
God loves them. God loves them in Christ. Now, what does it say? Herein
is love. Not that we loved Him. He loved us. We love Him because
He loved us, but He loved us. We didn't merit His love. We
didn't deserve His love. There was nothing in us lovable
or that would cause God to love us. because He's found in Himself. God loves. God is love. That's
why God loves, because He is love. Jeremiah 31, 3 says this,
"'Yea, I have loved thee,' God said, "'with an everlasting love.'"
If God loves you now, He's always loved you. It's immutable. It's unchangeable. It's infinite.
It's everlasting. That's the way God is. God never
changes. He said, I'm the Lord. I change
not. God can't change. God can't be anything less than
perfect. His love is perfect love. He said, I am the Lord,
I change not. Therefore, He said, I have loved
thee with everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness,
I have drawn thee. Because I love thee, I've drawn
thee. And I've drawn thee because I
love thee. God's love is everlasting. It's
from eternity through eternity. It's infinite. It is immutable,
unchanging. And it's always in Christ. Now, that's right. John 3 says
this, The Father loves the Son, and hath given all things into
his hands. And he that hath the Son of God,
he that believeth on the Son of God, hath life. Because life's
in his hands, and love's in his hands. And he that hath not the
Son, or believeth not the Son, the wrath of God abideth on him.
It's the believer that God loves, and He loves him in Christ. A
man who's not a believer, he's not loved. God's angry with the
wicked. The wrath of God abideth on him.
Romans chapter 8 tells us this. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God, not tribulation, distress, famine, persecution,
so on. This love of God is in Christ. And God's gifts and calling are
without change. So this is true of every believer.
God loves them. God loves them. Secondly, this
is true of all believers. They love God. We love Him. We do love Him because He first
loved us. If any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, Paul said, let him be anathema, maranatha. What does that mean? If any man
loves not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema," accursed,
maranatha, when Jesus comes or the Lord is coming. It's foolish
to talk of a person knowing God or believing God who does not
believe, know, and love the Lord Jesus Christ. That's foolishness,
absolute foolishness. No man knows the Father but the
Son, and he whom the Son reveals. If a man does not know Christ,
he doesn't know God. If a man does not love Christ,
he doesn't love God. No man had seen God at any time. The Only Begotten had declared
Him. So here are two things that every believer has in common
with other believers. One, God loves him. He's an object
of God's love. Secondly, he loves God. He loves
God. The love of God is shed abroad
in his heart by the Holy Spirit. And thirdly, all believers love
one another. They love one another. It doesn't
say they ought to love one another. It says they do love one another.
By this, Christ said, shall all men know that you are my disciple. How? The more noise you make,
the more religious you talk, the more faithful to church attendance
you are? By this shall all men know you're
my disciples, if you love one another. He that loveth not knoweth
not God, for God is love." How, he said, how can a man love God,
whom he hath never seen, if he does not love his brother whom
he hath seen? Oh, no. If a man, John said,
if a man says he loves God and hates his brother, He's a liar. That's an impossibility. These
are three things that are common to every believer. God loves
him. He's an object of the love of
God in Christ. Secondly, he loves God. And thirdly,
he loves God's people. You see, my friends, a Christian,
what is a Christian? A Christian, that word has been
misused and abused. A Christian, A believer, a child
of God, is not merely a church member. He's not just a person
who lives in America. We call it a Christian nation.
A Christian is not merely a theologian who can recite his creed. A Christian is not merely a moralist
who has reformed his life. A Christian is a believer in
God, a believer who is a regenerated recreated, born again, new person. A Christian is a son of God. Beloved, now are we sons of God. What manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed
upon us that we should be called sons of God, sons of God, not
just church members, sons of God. Beloved, now are we sons
of God. Not gonna be. We are, if we're
believers. Now are we sons of God. It does
not yet appear what we shall be. But we know when He shall
appear, we shall see Him as He is, and we'll be like Him. But
this work of salvation is a hard work. A hard work. You see, the work of salvation
is a work of God done in the heart, believed in the heart,
known in the heart, experienced in the heart, felt in the heart,
and lived from the heart. It has to do with the heart of
a man, not just his mind, not just his body. Bodily exercise
profiteth little, but godliness profiteth in all things. If thou
shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord, and believe
in thine heart, God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved. For with a mouth confession is made unto salvation, but with
a heart man believeth unto righteousness. Oh, I know all believers experience
conviction of sin, know that they're sinners. All believers
are made aware of the holiness of God. Like Isaiah who saw the
holiness of God and said, woe is me, I'm cut off, I'm a man
of unclean lips. We have heard the gospel. We
believe the gospel. We've received the gospel. We've
confessed Christ. But besides all this, God hath
given to every believer a new nature, a new heart, a heart
to love him, a heart to love his Word, and a heart to love
his people. It's a transformation. It's a
conversion. It's a new creature. It's to
be born anew. That's what a Christian is. Let
me read some Scripture to you which emphasizes what I'm talking
about, this heart love, this God loves His people, His people
love Him, and they love one another. Listen to these Scriptures. 1
Corinthians 16, 22. If any man, doesn't matter who
he is, If any man love not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be
anathema, let him be accursed. If he doesn't love Christ, he
may love the church, the building, the denomination, a lot of things,
but if he doesn't love Christ, Paul offers no hope for him.
He allows no hope for that person who does not love Christ, no
loophole, no excuse, no alibi. A man may lack courage, like
Peter did, who denied the Lord, and yet love Christ. A man may
fall as David and rise again. A man may fall out with others
as Barnabas did. You remember how he and Paul
fell out with one another and one went one way and one went
the other? But not to love Christ is to be accursed. There are
many faults and failures that God's people have and trials
and troubles and tribulations. But one thing is true, they do
love Christ. This is what Peter confessed
to him, Lord, you know, I may have denied you and I may have
boasted when I shouldn't and I've been an impulsive character,
but you know one thing, I do love you. And if any man doesn't
love Christ, let him be accursed when the Lord comes. Look at
Ephesians 6, 24. Paul writing to the church at
Ephesus, he said, Grace be with you all that love our Lord Jesus
Christ in sincerity. Grace be with all who love our
Lord Jesus Christ. You see, Paul is sending his
goodwill and good wishes to these people down in Ephesus, many
of whom he'd never seen, many of whom he had never met. He
didn't know them. He wasn't aware of their position
or their profession or whatever, but how shall he address everybody?
How's he going to write this letter to all true believers?
You know how he identifies them? He says, grace to all of you,
all of you who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. There's no grace to anybody else.
That'll take in every believer, grace to all of you who love
Christ sincerely. All right, listen to this, John
8, 42. Jesus said to them, if God were your father, you'd love
me. For I proceeded forth and came
from God. Who's he talking to? Well, these
religious people, they had denied Christ, they had despised Christ,
they had rejected Christ, his words, his gospel. They had rejected
everything about him. While at the same time, they
claim God as their Father. You get the picture? These religious
people had their ceremonies and works and Sabbath days and tithes
and all these things, you know, they were going about playing
religion and playing church and going to heaven when they die.
And Christ came with the truth of God and the true gospel. They
despised Him and denied Him and rejected Him and didn't believe
Him. And they said, but God's our Father. Oh, no, he said,
no, no. If God were your Father, you
would love me, for I came from God. No man is a child of God
who does not love Christ. Christ is God. To despise God
is to despise the Father. To despise Christ is to despise
God. Listen to John 21, 15. after they had dined, the Lord
Jesus said to Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Do you love me? Our Lord didn't
ask Peter, are you converted? He didn't ask him, are you born
again? That's what we ask people all the time. Are you saved?
He didn't ask him, are you sorry for your sins? Are you sorry
you denied me? Peter, will you be true from now on? Peter, will
you serve me? Will you obey me? Will you do
what I tell you to do?" He didn't ask him any of those questions.
He just looked at him and asked him point blank, Peter, do you
love me? And he asked him that three times,
three times. Peter said, Lord, yea, I love
thee. He said, well, feed my lambs,
feed my sheep. Peter, do you love me? Lord,
I love you. Feed my sheep." Peter, do you
love me? Lord, he was grieved that the
Lord asked him three times if he loved him. He said, Lord,
you know everything. You know I love you. Well, feed
my sheep. I'll tell you this, simple as
it may sound, plain and easy as it is to be understood, this
is a foundation for all that we do in the name of God, all
that we do that God will honor all that we do that God will
own. A lot of things done in the name of God that he doesn't
honor and he doesn't own because they do not glorify him. But
if you love me, he said, you'll feed my sheep. If you love me,
you'll serve me. If you love me, you'll obey me.
If you love me, you'll do my will. That's what he said to
Peter. Do you love me? Peter said, I
do. He said, well, then feed my sheep. Do what comes natural
for one who loves. You see, if you ask me what's
the true secret of a believer's whole life, I'll reply, it's
his love for Christ. That's the secret. Why do I preach?
Why am I doing what I'm doing? I love Christ. Our preaching
is determined by our love for Christ. Our giving is determined
by our love for Christ. Our conduct is a result of our
love for Christ. That's what Paul said, the love
of Christ constraineth me. You go into a hospital room where
there's a little baby boy on the bed and there are two women
in the room. One is sitting beside the bed
and one is moving around the bed dressed in a white uniform. She's the nurse. She's efficient.
She's dedicated. She serves the child, waits on
the child, helps the child, does all that she can do. And then
3 o'clock comes, she goes out and punches the time clock and
goes home. But the other woman's still sitting there. And another
nurse comes on and she serves and labors, does all she can
for that desperately ill child. 11 o'clock, she goes out, punches
the clock and goes home. This woman's still sitting there.
Who is this woman? It's the child's mother, and
the mother loves the child. She's not working for wages.
She's not serving out of a duty because of a duty. She's not
serving out of fear. She's serving for one purpose,
love, and she won't move from that bedside till that fever
breaks. And that's what I'm saying. Children
of God I hear preachers trying to get people to sow seeds so
they can reap a harvest and give something to the church so they
can get a whole lot more in return, or pray so that God will take
them to heaven, or trying to get people to serve God out of
reward, for rewards, or out of fear, or because of duty, or
through covetousness. You're wasting your time, wasting
your time. Our Lord said, Peter, do you
love me? That's all there is to it. Do
you love me? If you love me, you'll feed my
sheep. I'm not worried at all about
you. If I have your heart, I have you. If I don't have your heart,
whatever I have ain't worth it. That's just so. Now, here's a
question I'd like for us to consider in closing. How do I know if
I really love the Lord Jesus Christ? How can a person know
that he loves Christ? Well, I don't think that's too
difficult. I really don't. How do you know if you love anybody? In what manner is love shown?
Is love revealed? How do you know you love your
dear husband or wife? How do you know you love your
child? How do you know you love your grandchildren? How do you
know you love your beloved friend of all these years? How do you
know? Well, number one, if you love a person, you enjoy thinking
about that person. You don't need to be constantly
reminded of that person. You're not going to forget his
name, are you? He dwells in your heart. She dwells in your heart.
You don't forget them. And if you love Christ, He dwells
in your heart. You don't forget the Savior Christ
in you. That's the hope of glory. That
husband or wife, child or mother or father is a part of you, an
extension of your very person. You love them. You think about
them. Secondly, if you love a person, you enjoy hearing about them.
You love to hear people talk about them. You find a great
pleasure just to hear their names. Any report of their activities
is of interest to you. great interest to you. You love
to hear the phone ring, pick it up and it's your daughter
way off over yonder in Oklahoma, and you want to know all about
the family, what so-and-so's doing, what so-and-so's doing,
because you love them, and you just dread to hang up. You get
a letter in the mail, and it's from a beloved friend or a beloved
son or daughter, and you read it 10 or 12 times. What's this? You love If you love God, you love His
Word. You love to hear His gospel. You love to hear His name. The
things of God are of great interest to you. Thirdly, if you love
a person, you like to hear from them. How welcome is a letter
from someone far away. How beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel, the glad tidings of the Lord.
How far one of God's sheep will go to hear His Word preached.
Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path. I'll hide
Your Word in my heart. When you're in great trial or
trouble, you read God's Word. It comforts you. It's a Word
from the Lord. I'll tell you, if you love a
person, you like to please them, don't you? Love to please them. Anything that you can do to make
that person happy, you'll do. And anything that you do that
displeases that person causes you grief. Isn't that right? When you do something that displeases
that one whom you love, it bothers you. You're troubled about it.
And that's the way we are about this matter of sin, about this
matter of displeasing our Lord. We can't be comfortable knowing
that we are grieving the Spirit of God and how happy we are when
we are in His presence and with His people, worshiping. That's the reason David said,
I was glad when they said to me, let's go to the house of
God. when he said, I'd rather be a doorkeeper in God's house
than dwell in the tents of the wicked. Yeah, if you love a person,
you also love those whom they love. My only daughter, my only
daughter brought home a young man I never met. Now, I love
my daughter so very, very much. She brought home a young man
I'd never met. In a few months, she came and said they were going
to be married. Well, I didn't know him very well, but I loved
him. You know why I loved him? She
loved him. I learned to love him for himself, but my first
love for him was because she loved him. And I'll tell you,
if you want a God's own, you love God's people. Yeah, you
love those that love Christ. You love those that Christ loves.
That's right. My son, I'm not crazy about cats, but my youngest
son brought a cat home one time, asked us if we'd keep that cat
for him. And I kept that cat for several months, and I didn't
particularly care for that cat, but I kept him and loved him
for my son's sake. You know what I'm saying? If
you love a person, you love those whom they love. And if you love
a person, you love to talk to them. You don't have to twist
some believer's arm to get him to pray. He loves to pray. He loves to tell... If you love
a person, you want to tell them your thoughts Tell them your
needs and tell them your interest. And there's no trouble having
a conversation with somebody you love. And somebody you don't
care much for, it's a strain and you'll avoid them. In fact,
you'll leave the room when they come in. Maybe that's why a lot
of folks don't pray. But if you love God, you'll talk
to God. You can't do without it. It's
like the breath. It's like breath to a human being,
prayer to a believer. And then if you love a person,
you'll want to be with them. And that's the reason Paul said,
I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far
better. Oh, he said, for me to abide
is expedient and convenient for you. But as far as I'm concerned,
I want to go be with Christ, which is far better. And David
said this, I'll be satisfied, and not until I'll be satisfied
when I awake. with His likeness. Love the common
bond. You want this tape, send two
dollars, we'll mail it to you. Now on the other side is Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh and love the common bond. Here's
the address. Till next week, God bless you.

Love, the Common Bond

What does the Bible say about love in 1 John?

How do we know God's love is true?

Why is loving one another important for Christians?

How can I tell if I love Jesus?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

Joshua

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

Love, the Common Bond

What does the Bible say about love in 1 John?

How do we know God's love is true?

Why is loving one another important for Christians?

How can I tell if I love Jesus?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

More from Henry Mahan

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Henry Mahan

Books by Henry Mahan

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book