His child and forever I am. Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed
by the blood of the Lamb. Redeemed, redeemed, His child
and forever I am. Redeemed and so happy in Jesus,
no language my rapture can tell. I know that the light of His
presence with me doth continually dwell. Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed
by the blood of the Lamb. Redeemed, redeemed His child
and forever I am I think of my blessed Redeemer, I think of
Him all the day long. I sing for I cannot be silent,
His love is the theme of my song. Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed. Redeemed, redeemed, his child
and forever I am. I know I shall see in his beauty
the king in whose law I delight. who lovingly guardeth my footsteps
and giveth me salt in the night. Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed
by the blood of the Lamb. Redeemed, redeemed, His child and forever I am. After scripture reading and prayer,
we'll sing hymn number 442. Praise Him. Praise Him, Jesus,
our blessed Redeemer. If you have your Bibles, turn
please to 1 John chapter 4. And we'll read the first 21 verses.
We'll read the chapter actually. Tyler, my message this morning
is truth and error. truth and error. First John chapter 4. Beloved, believe not every spirit,
but try the spirits, whether they are of God, because many
false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the
Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit
that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is
not of God, and this is that spirit of Antichrist, whereof
ye have heard that it should come, and even now already is
it in the world. Ye are of God, little children,
and have overcome them, because greater is he that is in you
than he that is in the world. They are of the world, therefore
they speak of the world, and the world heareth them. We are
of God, he that knoweth God heareth us, He that is not of God, heareth
not us. Hereby know we the spirit of
truth and the spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another. For love is of God, and every
one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth
not knoweth not God, for God is love. And this was manifest,
the love of God toward us, because God sent His only begotten Son
into the world that we might live through Him. here in His
love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent
His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, God so
loved us, we also love one another. No man has seen God at any time.
If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected
in us. Hereby know that we dwell in
Him, and He in us, because He's given us His Spirit. And we have
seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the
Savior of the world. Whosoever shall confess that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he is
in God. We have known and believed that
the love of God hath to us. God is love, and he that dwelleth
in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love
made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment,
because as he is, so are we in the world. There is no fear in
love. The perfect love casteth out
fear, because feareth torment. He that feareth is not made perfect
in love. We love him because he first
loved us. If a man say, I love God, and
hateth his brother, 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 is the commandment that
we have from him, that he who loveth God, loveth his brother
also. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank You for Your Word. Glorious, wondrous Word of God
that leads us and guides us and teaches us. We're thankful, Father,
that You did not leave Yourself without a witness, but gave us
this book to tell us of what You have done for Your people
in what we know to be human history, and what is revealed to be an
eternity, both past and present and future. We ask, Lord, that
you might be pleased this hour to cause us to worship you in
spirit and in truth. For those who can't be here for
various reasons, we ask you to watch over them, comfort them
in Jesus Christ. For those who've lost loved ones,
we ask your help and comfort for them. For those who are sick
and troubled, we ask your help for them. Help us, Lord, as we
gather here this hour, that you might be pleased to open up your
word to us. Open our hearts to receive it and our minds to understand
and believe. We pray these things in Jesus'
precious name and for his glory. Amen. Praise him, praise him,
Jesus, our blessed Redeemer. Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus
our blessed Redeemer. Sing o'er His wonderful love
proclaim. Hail Him, hail Him, highest archangels
in glory. Strength and honor give to His
holy name. Like a shepherd, Jesus will guard
His children in His arms. He carries them all day long. Praise Him, praise Him, tell
of His excellent greatness. Praise Him, praise Him, ever
in joyful song. Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus
our blessed Redeemer. Our sins He suffered and bled,
and that He our Rock, our hope of eternal salvation. Hail Him, hail Him, Jesus the
crucified. Sound His praises, Jesus, who
bore our sorrows. Love unbounded, wonderful, deep,
and strong. Praise Him, praise Him, tell
of His excellent greatness. Praise Him, praise Him, ever
in joyful song. Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus
our blessed Redeemer. Help me, portals, loud with those
sirens ring. Jesus, Savior, reigneth forever
and ever. Crown Him, crown Him, prophet
and priest and king. Christ is coming over the world
victorious. Power and glory unto the Lord
belong. Praise Him, praise Him, tell
of His excellent greatness. Praise Him, praise Him, ever
in joyful song. Thank you, Jim. You're just getting better all
the time. I just had to do an instrumental
for the offertory or something. I'm going to do that. That way
I won't have to sing here now. This passage of scripture begins
with a command from God to His people, the Beloved that He calls
them. It's not a command that falls
under the realm of the Law of Moses, but rather in the realm
of the Law of Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. It's a command
of love. This command for those who are
Beloved, those who know the love of God, those who hear God, as
is said in this passage, The command is to try or to test
the spirits that are going out into the world. Now these spirits
are not spooks or apparitions or disembodied specters, but
they are false prophets, as it says in verse two. They are teachers
of error. Now the area in which their error
is manifested is the fact that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. I know there's probably some
reference to the Gnostics who at the time denied that Christ
came in the flesh because they had a belief that anything that
was made of physical matter was evil. They had this idea of a
duality of the world, all physical matter, therefore people and
things were evil and the mind and the spirit were good. We know that the spirit of man
naturally is evil. But things are not in and of
themselves evil. Matter is not evil. Evil people
make use of matter wrongly. Make use of things wrongly and
make them evil things. But nothing is in and of itself
in this world evil save for us and Satan. But mainly us. Mainly us. But the Gnostics said
Christ didn't come in the flesh, and John may have been dealing
with them to some degree. Without his taking on human flesh,
however, in a body, Christ could not have suffered and died. It
was an impossibility if he was not human flesh. And the concept
of substitution, salvation by substitution, could not exist. Nor is his bodily resurrection
possible if he did not have a physical body. It's an impossibility,
if He did not come in the flesh. In the first two verses of this
chapter, the Trinity is declared in no uncertain terms. Beloved,
believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they
be of God. Because many false prophets are going on in the
world. Know ye that the Spirit of God, every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ has come into the world, has not come into
the flesh, is evil or in error. What he's saying is you have
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit involved in this
thing. This is the Trinity involved. They are involved in the salvation
of Jesus Christ. They are involved in Christ coming
to the flesh. So to deny that He's coming to
the flesh is basically denial of God altogether. You deny God. To deny that He came to the flesh
is to do that. To deny that Christ is coming
to the flesh is to deny that or is not come in the flesh,
is to deny the love of God. For this whole chapter deals
about the love of God for His people. Because that love is
manifest in sending His Son into the flesh to satisfy the laws
of man. And verse 10 it says, Herein
is love. This is how we understand love. Not some romantic idea
of sending flowers and sending home cards. Herein we understand
love, herein perceive love, herein is love. Not that we loved God,
but that He loved us and sent His Son, the propitiation or
the satisfaction of His law, the propitiation for sin, for
our sin. Deny His coming to flesh is to
deny the efficacy of His death. His death actually accomplished
salvation. to declare that He came as an example for men to
follow, or that He came to make salvation possible. But His death
is only effectual by the affirmative vote of man's will, is to deny
His coming in the flesh." This one who came is God. God manifests
in the flesh. Great is the mystery of godliness.
To deny God, to deny His coming in the flesh is to discount faith.
For our faith is based, according to Scripture, on the Gospel.
Paul said how he preached the Gospel unto us, how Christ died
according to the Scriptures, was buried according to the Scriptures,
and was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures,
and we can't even believe those things, and our faith has no
place to stand if Christ is not risen from the dead. This is
what he said in 1 Corinthians 15. And this knowledge of Christ
coming to flesh is confessed faith and is accomplished in
three ways in Scripture. And scripture is confessed audibly
in the preaching of the gospel, which he says in verse 14, we
have seen and do testify that the father sent the son to be
the savior of the world. We've seen it and we do testify.
This is our testimony that Jesus Christ came into the world to
save sinners in whom we are chief. Also, typically we have believers
baptism, which is a picture of us identifying with Christ in
his death, burial, and resurrection. Also, we have the Lord's Table,
which is a celebration and a memorial of the fact that He died. And
when He died, He actually saved us from our sins by His body
and His blood. And all these declare the efficacy
and the unadulterated success of the work of Christ in the
flesh. In the flesh. To not confess that He finished
salvation is to confess that Christ didn't come in the flesh.
Because if He came in the flesh, it's God who came. He came to
do a deal. And it didn't get done, and he
ceases to be God, for He always does whatever He pleases. This
is the spirit of Antichrist, he said. Those who deny this,
they have the spirit of Antichrist. And I know people talk about
Antichrist. They're probably talking about it a lot more today. Because
of the fix the world is in, it probably is. The preachers are
really getting a hold of the doctrine of the last days and
trying to make it fit into their scriptures. But this is the Antichrist,
those who deny that Jesus Christ came into the flesh and accomplished
the work he came to do. This is the spirit of Antichrist.
It's what he says, ye are of God, in verse four. Little children,
you've overcome them, who the false teachers, because greater
is he that is in you than he that is in the world. They are
of the world, therefore they speak of the world. They speak
the things of the world, and the world hears them. We are
of God. He that knoweth God heareth us,
and as he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby we know
the Spirit of Antichrist. Hereby we know the Spirit of
Truth and the Spirit of Error. Antichrist is a system of theology. Whether it'll be a literal person
that ends up leading the world into one world government and
one world religion like in Babylon, we don't know. But we know there's
a religion that does. Babylon. It's the false religion. She's religion. She's religion. It's very important to consider
the fact that God has commanded us to try these spirits. Try
these spirits. To test them. To prove them.
How? Based on the Word of God. That's how it's done. He's given
us the rules by which the true and false is discovered and judged.
He said, try their spirits, whether they be of God. For every spirit
that confesses not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh
is not of God. That's the rule that He set forth. Now I know
we live in an age of tolerance and acceptance of every false
and evil thing and intolerance of the truth. We also live in
a time that the truth will be tolerated as long as a confessor
of truth, in turn, tolerates every other false thing along
the way. Sort of joining in with an amalgamation. As long as a
person speaks so as not to make what he says a standard of truth,
but is rather grouped into a general acceptance of everything else
so that no dingy will be rocked and no one will be named as false,
he'll be okay in this world. But I'm telling you now that
the child of God should test them, try them, prove them whether
or not they are of God. Our Lord said to try them, to
name them, to define them, to define the false teacher by the
declaration of the truth. I know we live in a nice society
and folks don't want to do things like that. Our Lord confronted
the most profound Profoundly religious and upright and self-righteous
men that walked upon the face of the earth and did religion
all Had all their ducks in a row He confronted them called them
a bunch of snakes a bunch of vipers He said you're just a
bunch of open graves with rotting carcasses inside He says you
spend your whole life cleaning this outside making it look good,
but inside you're full of dead men's bones full of corruption
He says you're the ones that kill the prophets He wasn't nice
to them. He tried the spirits. And that's
what we are to do. There must needs be heresies
among you, for that which is true might be manifest. It says
in 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 19. In chapter 2 and verse 18,
it says this in 1 John. Little children, it is the last
time. It is the last time. And as ye
have heard that antichrist shall come, even now there are many
antichrists, whereby we know that it's the last time. that
we know this is the last time. He did not say this of 2020. This is A.D. 70 to 100. We know that the Antichrist
has come and now is. And listen, He would not command
us to try them if they did not exist. He would not command us
to test them. But do not presume that you will
escape being counted as narrow-minded and judgmental and maybe even
crazy, and certainly unkind, you can bet that you will. Scripture verse 6 says, We are
of God. He that knoweth God, heareth us. He that is not of
God, heareth not us. Our Lord said that. As He walked
the earth with His disciples, He said, You go into places,
He said, and those that will receive you, will receive Me.
Those that don't receive you, won't receive Me. He made that
very simple. See, this confession that Christ
has come into the world is a confession of the love of God. This is what
it's all about. God loved us in sending His Son into this
world. God loved us and gave His Son for us. This is the language
that He uses. Verse 10, Herein is love, not
that we love God, but that He loved us, and He sent His Son
to be a propitiation for our sin. No man has seen God at any
time, it says in verse 12. If we love one another, God dwelleth
in us, and His love is perfected in us. And then in verse 19,
We love Him because He first loved us. This command is about
loving God. You understand this in your own
world, in your own life, in the life you live with your children,
those that love you, you love. Won't you defend them? Somebody
says something about Stephen, they're going to have to deal
with you, right? I mean, it ain't going to be pretty, is it? No,
it's not. Someone says something about your youngins, they're
going to have to deal with you. Why? Because you love them. Because
you love them. So our Lord is saying this. You're
saying something about my son? And I'm not going to do something
about it? And we who love Jesus Christ, our elder brother, our
savior, our friend, our closest friend, if somebody says something
wrong about him, we just say, well, you know, it's just a matter
of opinion. No, it's not. Try the spirits. Test them, whether
they be of God. This confession of Christ's coming
to the world is a confession of the love of God. Love here
is defined in its true character and manner. It is not set forth
as what we feel. You know, that's what most people
think about love, is what we feel. It's not described that
way. And love is not described that
way throughout Scripture. What we feel, or what God feels. God is painted, and His love
is painted as some kind of anemic, unrequited, teenage-like affection. It doesn't quite get the job
done, but He really loves you, and He wants the best for you,
and He wants this for you, and He wants that for you. That's
not the love of Scripture. And if you know anything about
love, it ain't your love either. Not the way you love. Because
you know, if your love had the same power of God, nothing would
ever happen to anybody you love. Would it? Now think about it.
If you could stop bad things from happening, Of course, God
sends bad things, or what we call bad things, that we don't
understand, but it's all about His love. But we understand that
love is more than just feelings. We enjoy the glory and the wonder
of romance. I still get kind of goofy when
I see Debbie, and it's all right. I see her every night. The first
thing I say is, Hey, gorgeous, how are you doing? I'm still
in love with my wife and there's a romance still there after 49
years. But that's not the love we have for each other. The love
we have for each other, for our children, is what's going on
right now. I'm here in Cherokee. She's in LA taking care of our
child. Our baby. Why? Because that's
what love does. She didn't stay back here in
Cherokee and say, Sir, I really feel wonderful about you. I'm
going to send you a Hallmark card. Did she? She got on a plane
and went out there. That's what love does, you see.
And this is how love is defined in Scripture. Always it's defined
that way in Scripture. It's not about romance. It's
not about affection. Not about physical attraction.
It's not about emotion. It's not about sentimentality.
It is declared as love can only be truly defined by its actions
and its effect. That's how love is defined. God's
love is defined and understood only in its manifestation and
its result. Jeremiah 31.3, I have loved thee,
he said. So I stood back and waited for
you to do so. Is that what he said? I have loved thee with
an everlasting love, therefore I have drawn thee. Jeremiah 31.3. Ephesians 2 and verse 4 through
7. Here is the great love wherewith
He loved us. It says in verse 4, But God,
who is rich in mercy, for the great love wherewith He loved
us. This is the love wherewith He
loved us. Even when we were dead in sins,
unable, incapable, insensible, insensitive, hating God by nature. When we were dead in sins, even
then, God quickened us together with Jesus Christ. God raised
us from the dead, even then. That's love. He didn't say, if
you'll take the first step, dead man, I'll do something. He didn't
say a dead man can't walk. He didn't say, if you'll make
a decision, I'll do something. He didn't say, you build a bridge
halfway and I'll finish it up. He didn't say that. He didn't
say anything except, When I saw thee polluted in thy blood, I
said unto thee, Live! And you lived! Because that's
what love does. That's God's love. Quickened
us together in Christ by grace through His Saviour. And not
only that, He raised us up to sit together and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Jesus Christ. John 3.16, for God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son. You mean love gave? Oh! He did not offer. He gave His
only Son that whosoever believeth should have everlasting life
and should not perish but have everlasting life. Romans chapter
5, God commendeth His love toward us. He is shed abroad in our
heart by the Holy Ghost. God commendeth His love toward
us. While we were yet sinners, Christ died propitiated God for
us. He died for us while we were
yet sinners. Paul said in Galatians 2, He
loved me and gave Himself for me. John said on the Isle of
Patmos, He loved us and washed us in His blood. You see, love
always has an action attached to it. Love is always going this
way, never this way. You see, when our Lord says love
each other, we love ourselves, He's not saying we ought to love
ourselves. He's saying we do. Way too much to start with. But love goes out that way. It goes to people. To the object
of love. Always. Never this way. My love for Debbie has never
kept her true to me. her love for me has. And her love for me has not kept
me true to her. My love for her has. See what I'm saying? Love,
it goes this way. Love goes this way. When our
Lord talks about love, He's not talking about some weak, sentimental
emotion. He's talking about ACTION. Talking
about action. John equates the manifestation
of this love that God has for us with the God indwelling in
us. And therefore His love dwelling in us, and that causes us to
then love our brethren. And our love for our brethren
is the effect of God dwelling in us by His Spirit. So our love
for the brethren can only be a result of God loving us, and
is manifest in the same way that God loves. How does God love? Well, He explains that here in
this very book of 1 John. In 1 John chapter 3, He says
this, Who so hateth his brethren, verse 15, is a murderer. is a
murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding
in him. God's love dwells in us. Hereby perceive we the love
of God because he laid down his life for us. You see love acted. This is how we understand love.
We see that. We understand that when a soldier
goes to the battlefield and dies for his country. We understand
there is a love for the country there. There is a love for the
country. When a fireman goes into a house
a flame to save people and bring them out. He said that person
loves that thing. We don't doubt that love. When
a mother or father runs into a burning house and saves their
own children, we don't doubt that love. We say that's love
right there, buddy, that's love. They didn't send them a card
while the house was burning down, did they? They didn't send them
flowers. They went and got them. Hereby
perceive we the love of God. This is how it works. God loved
us and laid down His life for us. He died in our room instead. He says this to go on in verse
17, but whoso hath this world's good, now He goes from God's
loving us and giving Himself for us to our expression or manifestation
of the love of God. For whoso hath this world s good,
and seeth his brother in need, and shut up his bowels of compassion
from him, how is the love of God dwelling in him? Now see,
if God died for us, and God gave everything for us, and we say
we love our brother, and he has a need, and we don't do our best
to help him out, how do we love him? It ain't God's love, because
God's love works the other way, doesn't it? God's love says,
I'm going to save you. I'm going to rescue you. I'm
going to send my son to die in your room instead. I'm going
to satisfy my law for you. I'm going to do that. This is
the love of God. My little children, let us not love in word. That
doesn't mean we don't tell each other we don't love each other.
We do. But He said not only in word, neither in tongue, but
in deed and in truth. This is how love is manifest. This is the love of God. This is the love of God. He goes
on to say, Look at chapter 5 and verse 1 of the same book, Whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And every one
that loveth him that begat, begat, loveth him also that is
begotten of him. In fact, when God's love is talked
about in Scripture, it's almost, when He talks about God's love
being manifest through us, it's almost always in reference to
the brethren, to the household of faith. This is the effect
of knowing Christ in the flesh. The love of God is in Jesus Christ. We know that according to Romans
8 and verse 39. If Christ is in you, which is the result of
His coming in the flesh, then the love of God is in you, which
in turn causes you to love the brethren. This is how it works.
This is how it works. Another effect of Christ coming
in the flesh and dwelling His people in love is that love removes
the fear of judgment. Verse 17 and 18, Herein is our
love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment,
because as He is, so are we in the world. There is no fear of
love. There is no fear in love, but
perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment, and
he that feareth is not made perfect in love." This is an astounding
statement when you think about it. Perfect love not only removes
fear and judgment, it rather creates a boldness concerning
the fact that one day we are going to stand with that stem
before God and we are not afraid. Now we have a fear of God that
is a reverence for God and a love for Him. We hold Him in high
esteem. But here it says, we're not afraid
of the judgment. What does religion talk about all the time? Oh,
there's a coming of judgment day. And God's going to get you. That's the whole thing. They
tell you keep people in fear. Here it says that doesn't exist.
Think about that. If God's love is in us, we don't
worry about the judgment. This is clearly not the attitude
of many who confess to know Christ. Many fear the judgment, and rightly
so. They have no hope in Christ. I'm convinced that it is not
death that men and women fear at all. It is what they know
that there's going to be a reckoning and a counting afterward. There's
something in the natural psyche of man that knows that. The language
of dying men and women have often revealed this to me, because
I've sat by the bed of many who said, I wish I'd have done it
different. We should have been a better mom, a better daddy,
a better husband, a better wife. I had people who said that. Why
do they say that? Because they know that they're about to die
and on the other side of this is going to be an accounting.
That's why people fear it. God's people don't. They don't
fear it. Many who profess to know Christ
fear the judgment because they've applied to the law as a rule
of life, to the law of Moses. But the law can never give peace.
to those who hold it as the rule of life, and even less as they
consider the judgment. The reason is, that at the judgment
will only be inflexible law and justice. There will be no grace, there
will be no mercy at the judgment. If you stand before the judgment
as a child of God, you don't want to stand there in mercy
and grace. If you were to stand before the judgment, you would
stand before the law. You know what the law would say about
you if you were a child of God? I don't find any fault in this, so let
him go free. That's what the law would have to say because
your sins have been put away by the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. There will be no grace and mercy at the judgment. Any
want of perfect obedience and perfect righteousness will not
stand at the judgment. Many fear the judgment because
religion has taught them to do so. The judgment is held over many
as the sword of Damocles, as a sharp goad to inflict pain,
thereby affecting moral behavior. Preachers are able to control
men's lives by keeping them in a constant state of guilt and
fear, or promise of reward. And many who know Jesus Christ
fear judgment because they have not come to fully grasp that
where grace is bestowed, listen very carefully, it is bestowed
only on the condition of satisfied justice. Grace only comes to
you if justice for you has been satisfied. That's the only condition. Mercy flags are the wings of
satisfied justice. Grace is bestowed where judgment
is accomplished. God cannot justify where He is
not just to justify, where He is not just to do so. And this
is understanding and confessing that Christ has come into the
world and why He came. Look over Romans chapter 3 just for a moment,
a very familiar portion of Scripture. This is what I m talking about.
Romans chapter 3 and verse 24 says, Being justified freely,
that is, without cause in you, by the grace through the redemption,
that is, the buying back of you, that is, in Jesus Christ, whom
God set forth a propitiation, a satisfaction of justice through
faith in His blood. to declare His righteousness
for the remission of sins that are passed from the Old Testament
through the forbearance of God, to declare at this time His righteousness
that He might be just and justifier of him that believeth on Jesus
Christ. How can He be just and justifier if He has declared
His righteousness in the propitious toward death of Jesus Christ
and justice is satisfied? Justice is satisfied. Then there�s
this group here in our text who are mentioned who face judgment
without fear, but rather with great confidence and assurance.
Now those who are in religion will say that�s cockiness, that�s
audacity. Maybe it is kind of a holy audacity,
I don�t know, but it�s a sacred audacity. If it is, it�s confidence.
Assurance that's what it says very clearly in verse 17 here
and our love is made perfect that we may have boldness in
the day of judgment Because as Jesus Christ is so we in the
world There's no fear in love perfect love casts us out fear
because fear hath torment he that feareth is not made perfect
in love Their love has been made perfect because of And because
of that they will have boldness in the day of judgment. This
is an amazing statement. I mean, you know, I was raised
in religion and I and boy I tell you the white throne they hung
it over my head a great white throne all my life. The love
referred to here is called our love, but it's better we've entered
love with us or God's love with us as it says in the margin.
This refers to knowledge of the perfect love of God. God's perfect
love to us. Love perfected as it were. Love
divine, all love excelling. The love we have is derived,
you see. It's derived from above and is
created by being the object of God's love. The reason you love
is because God loves. His love for us is the cause
of our love. It is in this sense that it is
referred to as our love. Our love is perfect and complete
as we believe and confess that Jesus Christ has come in the
flesh. This is what it says. Imperfect understanding of the
love of God is defined conversely as we look at the nature of perfect
understanding of love. As there is no fear in perfect
love, imperfect love is defined as fear, being afraid, slavish,
depressing, dread. As perfect love is without fear
and therefore without torment, imperfect love, only expressed,
not manifested effectually, is a life fraught with fear and
torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. This is
what this says. The true gospel declares to men
the perfect love of God. The perfect love. And if it is
perfect love, it is perfect in its accomplishment of what it
intends. Religion seeks to have men look
at themselves. In verse 17, there are three
specific things declared. It says this, Hearing is our
love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment,
Because as He is, so are we in the world. First, there is such
a thing as understanding the perfect love of God. So it seems
awful big. Well, it is. It's huge. A poet
wrote, if every man had a quill and the sky were of parchment
made and every man had a quill, we could not write the love of
God. And the oceans were ink. We could not write the love of
God. It's a big deal. But it's big for this reason.
His love, saved us. His love sent His Son to die
in our room and stay. We understand that. It's a wonder.
There's no doubt about that. But it says in chapter 2 and
verse 20, we have an unction from the Holy One. We know all
things. We know all things. Secondly,
the consequence of this understanding is that those who possess it
face the judgment without fear and torment and rather have boldness
and confidence. Thirdly, the understanding of
this perfect love of God, our love being made perfect, is based
on the knowledge that our Lord is now. As He is now, so are
we in the world. As He is now, so are we now. Now, He is now out yonder, sitting
at the right hand of God. in the world. We just read in
Ephesians chapter 2 that God has set us in heavenly places
in Jesus Christ. So we're there too. Two places
at one time. But the understanding of this
perfect love of God is that as Christ is, so are we in the world. This is the declaration. You
say, well, I know people say, I want people to see Christ in
me. They didn't see Him in Christ. So it's not, they didn't see
Christ in Christ. They're not going to see Him
in you. Forget the principle. What this is saying is that we
are in Christ. And only by faith can we believe
this. As Christ is, so are we. Only by faith can we believe
this. We know this is true because God has said it, not because
we feel it, or we can sense it, or we can produce proof of it,
or evidence of it, but because God has said it. God has declared
it, therefore it's true. How does this knowledge remove
fear and judgment? Because we know concerning salvation
it is already a done deal. Christ is seated at the right
hand of the Father. How come He is there? Being obedient
even to the death at the cross, wherefore God is highly exalted
in Him, giving Him a name above every name. He is even at the
right hand of the Majesty on high. He has purged our sins.
He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. There
is a man in glory. His name is Jesus Christ. He's
the forerunner for all who follow Him. We are in Him. Seated with Him. And He is there. Why? Because He became flesh. He's there as the God-man. The man who is God. The God who
is man. So it's a done deal. How do I
know? Where's my confidence? It's right
here in the Father. Where's my hope? Right here in the Father.
Where's my assurance? At the right hand of the Father.
That's where it's at. Also, He is there because He's
been judged by our sin and having withstood the judgment was victorious
in Him. So are we. As He is, so are we. You mean
we've been judged? Yes, we were in Him. That's why
Paul could say with boldness, after making such a statement,
that religion just can't even understand or begin to grasp.
He said, with my mind I serve the law of God, with my flesh
I serve the law of sin and death. This is your life and my life.
He said these things are true in all our lives. I want to serve
God. I desire to serve God. I plan
to serve God. I intend to serve God with my
mind, my heart, my inward man. That's what I want to do. But
with my flesh I always serve sin and death. What do you say
about a fellow like that? Well, I ain't going to hire nobody
like that. He's split. He's a schizophrenic. There's
something wrong with him. He's got multiple personalities.
There's something wrong with him. He can't be around people
like that. What does Paul say about somebody like that? There is
therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus
who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. For the
law the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made us FREE from the
law of sin and death. For what the law could not do,
in that it was weak through our flesh, God sending His own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in
the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. As He is, so are we in the world. When He was judged, we were judged. Our Lord said, when my people
err and don't obey me, He said, I'll visit their iniquity with
stripes. He didn't say, I'll visit them.
And He didn't visit me with judgment. He visited my sin with judgment. When my sin was laid on the Lord
Jesus Christ, my iniquity was laid on you, and Jesus Christ
was punished for my sin. in my iniquity the stripes of
God were laid upon it as sure as I'm standing here so we can
say we can't be judged we've already been judged it's already
done deal we were judged in him no doubt about it also he is there because though
he was once made sin he is now without sin without sin 1st John
chapter 3 and verse 5 says that It says, we know that He was
manifested to take away our sins, and in Him is no sin. In Him
is no sin. So what does that say? As He
is, so are you in the world. Can it be that you are without
sin? You say, well, I'm a sinner. Oh, but before God is what we're
talking about. Before God is a whole different
ballgame. So much so that Paul challenges Heaven and Earth HEAVEN
AND EARTH AND HELL TO BRING UP ANY CHARGE! Go ahead, bring up
a charge. He says this in Romans Chapter
8 and verse 34, 33, Who shall lay anything to the charge of
God�s elect? It�s God that justified it. It�s
God who has declared them without sin. You can�t charge somebody
whom God says is not a sinner. Who is He that condemneth it?
It is Christ that died, yea, rather is risen again, who is
even at the right hand of God, who also will make intercession
for us, as He is without sin. Why don't we fear the judgment?
Because we're without sin too. He's put our sin away. Put our
sin away. And we're standing before God.
We're saying before God. In honor of that, He's glorified. So are we. Whom He did it for. No, He also did it to predestinate,
to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be
the firstborn among many a brethren. Moreover, whom He did it to predestinate,
them He also called, whom He called, them He also justified,
whom He justified them, He also glorified." He glorified them! You are glorified! You will realize that one day
when your old body goes into the grave and your spirit goes
to be with God and in that one day you are glorified. You are
in the presence of Christ. You are like Him. You will understand
who He is and who He is because you will be like Him is what
it says in 1 John chapter 3. He is without sin. So are we
before God. In Hebrews chapter 10, it speaks
of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 12 it says,
But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever,
sat down on the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting,
or waiting, till his enemies be made his footstool. For by
one offering, this is what happened on Calvary's tree, for one offering
he hath perfected, past tense, forever them that are sanctified,
past tense, sanctified. Wherefore the Holy Ghost also
is witness to us that after that he said before, this is the covenant,
Jeremiah 31, this is the covenant I will make with them after those
days. I will put my laws or my word in their hearts and their
minds and I will write them in their minds and their hearts.
What does that mean? That the child of God knows this book.
Now, he might not know it from stem to stern, and every time
he reads it, something new pops into his head. We know that.
But here's what happens when you're a child of God. When you're
one of God's children, he's awakened to the truth. When the truth
is preached, you know it's the truth. Yep, that's it. What he said was right, because
he said this is backed up by the Word of God. It's in your
heart and in your mind. We're without sin. That's what
it says. verse 17, "...and their sins
and their iniquities will I remember no more." In divine forgetfulness,
if someone were to say, I know Harley, what kind of guy he is.
God said, Behold my servant, mine elect. There is no guile
in him. Behold a Hebrew in their whom
there is no God. This is what He says about you,
you are without sin. He put away our sin. Our love
is made perfect with the understanding of what we are in Jesus Christ
by what He has done for us. And this knowledge casts out
fear and gives us boldness in the day of judgment. This is
the effect of the love of God in us that causes us to confess
that Jesus Christ is coming to the world. In the beginning was
the Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. And the Word was made flesh. And we beheld His glory. He is
the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And
this is how we know what is truth and what is error. This is how
we know. Father, bless us to understand
and bring Christ's name.