Love of the Brethren (Part 2)

[0:00] Take your Bibles that you brought with you. Hopefully you brought a Bible with you. I encourage you to bring a Bible to church on Sunday.

[0:22] Open them, if you would, to the first epistle of John, 1 John chapter 4. 1 John chapter 4. That's where we were last week and we're going to finish up what I believe God wants us to hear this week out of that text.

[0:42] And when you find 1 John chapter 4, find verse 7. We looked at verses 7 and 8 yesterday, or excuse me, last Sunday. I looked at it again yesterday.

[0:55] I've looked at it quite a number of times throughout the week, as a matter of fact. Last Sunday morning, we looked at verses 7 and 8, and we defined what it means to love one another.

[1:13] Loving one another is the clear command of Scripture. Jesus himself gave that command that we love one another, and he attached to that this promise.

[1:30] That if we'll love one another, it'll be by that love for one another that the world knows that we're followers of Christ. And so we defined what that means, to love one another. And I mentioned that love, in our language and in our culture, means a number of things.

[1:51] And, you know, we kind of lump it all together. And so when a person says, I love this or I love that, it's barely, we're barely able to distinguish between loving a person and loving a thing.

[2:06] Or, let me put it this way, to love God and His Son Jesus, or to love our brand new car. You know, and it's difficult in our language to know what a person means, or distinguish between what a person means when they apply it in those two ways.

[2:25] So what does it mean when John says, little children, let us love one another? What does it mean? Well, I attach this definition to it. You might remember it.

[2:38] It is this, to have a consuming passion for the well-being of others.

[2:49] I don't know if you've ever heard love, gape love, defined in that way, but I think it's a good definition. I'm talking about how we, as the body of Christ, as brothers and sisters in Christ, how we relate to one another in this thing called love.

[3:05] How we love one another, how we love one another, and it is this, that we have a consuming passion in our own hearts for the well-being of others within the body.

[3:18] And however that is expressed, and however that may work itself out, we need to define it in that way. John is teaching about love, that kind of love that we're to have for one another.

[3:37] I also said last Sunday morning, if you recall, and I hope you did, if you don't recall, then I failed last Sunday. But I said that this kind of love, this consuming passion for the well-being of others, that this kind of love is not an optional virtue for any of us here today.

[3:58] Any of us, that is, if I might qualify that, any of us who name the name of Christ. This kind of love for one another is not optional for us.

[4:10] It's not something that we can specialize and direct towards certain people and not toward others.

[4:22] Or that we can express to those within our circle of friendship and not to those who may have a different circle of friendship. It is a love that must be expressed to all, and it's not an option for us.

[4:39] It's not an option for your pastor. Though it's real easy to love you. I mean, it really is. And I've grown to love many of you already in a very specialized way because I've had the opportunity to meet you and get to know you.

[4:56] And I look for more opportunities to do that. And so I would say to you as a pastor, it's not optional for me whether or not I love you. Matter of fact, I would go so far as to say that I have no right to expect you to listen to me or to follow me if I don't love you.

[5:16] And I might be one of the greatest preachers in the world. I'm not, by the way. I preach the greatest gospel in the world because there's only one. Many preach it better than I do, but I could be the best preacher in the world.

[5:28] And if I don't love you, then you will not give me a hearing. And I might be as straight as a gun barrel theologically. But if I do not love you and if you do not know I love you, then you will not listen to me.

[5:49] I will have no credibility. I really believe that. I really do. I work hard at preparing a message from God's word. I really do. I think every pastor worth his salt ought to spend a great deal of time preparing to preach.

[6:03] So that that man can stand before you behind this sacred desk and say, thus saith the Lord. And what he says really is what God said. Yet.

[6:17] It's not optional, optional for me to love you. It's not optional for the elders, any of the elders of our church. Not optional for the deacons of our church.

[6:29] We cannot lead you, cannot serve you. If we don't love you. And for you to love us.

[6:42] Not optional for our Sunday school teachers. By the way, I skipped our staff. Not optional for them. And I believe they know that, clearly.

[6:55] Not optional for our Sunday school teachers or other workers or other leaders or nursery workers. It's not optional for any of us in this building. As a matter of fact, we have no right to expect our witness to be received by the unbelieving world if we do not love one another.

[7:12] We have no right to expect them to receive it. And what's worse, to put that in a negative. They will not, will not receive our witness.

[7:26] The witness of the gospel. Witness of the saving name of Jesus Christ. If we do not, if they do not know that we love one another. That's how crucial this is.

[7:37] It will. That's by way of introduction. But we'll end with that as well. Because that's where John is going. This idea of loving one another.

[7:48] And what that expresses to the unsaved world around us. So we have no option there.

[7:59] And I gave you three reasons why. The first one we looked at last week. And it's simply this. If I might restate it. Loving one another is a reality of the greatness of God.

[8:10] Because you see, love is what God is. That's what God is. I mean, even in God's ultimate judgment and condemnation of the wicked.

[8:22] He is expressing his love. First and foremost for his name. But secondly, for his redeemed. I believe that is the implication of Romans chapter 9.

[8:37] Ultimately. God is love. That's what John taught us there in verses 7 and 8. Love is what God is.

[8:48] And love also is what God gives. He gives that. And all those who are truly born of him will express that love. Now that's what we talked about last week.

[9:01] The second reason why loving one another is not optional for us is this. Loving one another is a response to the grace of God.

[9:17] Loving one another is a response to the grace of God. And really, John, in the verses that I'm going to read in just a moment, we're going to read together. John is answering a question for us.

[9:29] And the question is maybe twofold. How do we know God is love? I mean, how do we know that? Now, the Bible says so. Not just here, but in other places.

[9:41] How do we know that to be true? You say, well, I just believe the Bible. Well, amen. I'm glad you believe the Bible. And I just accept that by faith. But listen, we don't have to just simply accept that by some blind faith.

[9:55] John is answering that question. How we can know that God is love. And what's more, we might attach this question to it.

[10:06] How do we know God loves us? That's the question, twofold question, that John is going to answer for us right here in this text.

[10:16] And it's going to be answered in kind of a progression of thoughts. He's going to make some statements and then build upon that. And ultimately, he's going to come not only to a conclusion, but ultimately, he's going to come.

[10:32] His end game is to reveal to us how we ought to respond to that truth. That God is love and that he loves us. That's John's approach here.

[10:48] Now, let's look at the text. It's about time we look at that. Starting with verse 9. We've already looked at verses 7 and 8. Now, let's look at verses 9 through 12.

[11:00] By this, the love of God was manifested in us. That God has sent his only begotten son into the world so that we might live through him.

[11:12] In this is love. Not that we love God. But that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.

[11:24] Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

[11:41] D. Martin Lloyd-Jones once said, he said, there is no greater theological statement in all the Bible than those few verses that I just read to you. It's all right there.

[11:52] Tremendous statement. And by the way, our love for one another is based upon theology. That is, based upon truth, God's word. It's not just something that we're going to drum up within ourselves and discipline into our lives and force ourselves on some emotional level to love one another.

[12:12] Now, we can do that. And if that's all you got, then at least do that. But it won't last very long, see. It's based upon theology. Theology is not a bad word.

[12:22] Doctrine is not some ho-hum, boring thing. The whole idea here is that we love one another because that's what God has said in his word. It's a theological statement.

[12:34] And we understand that God is love and that he loves us. And therefore, we respond by in like kind loving one another based upon these truths in God's word.

[12:47] Let's consider the progression here. When you study scripture, do you notice the biblical writer and how he is approaching his subject?

[13:04] You ought to look very intently at that when you study the Bible. These guys aren't just simply stringing together a bunch of thoughts. They have logic to them and progression to them.

[13:15] And we see a progress here. He begins with what I want to call the manifestation of God's gracious love. You're writing notes.

[13:26] That's what you ought to write down. Or to put it this way, point number one. Point number one under loving one another is a response to the grace of God.

[13:41] Point number one is the manifestation of God's gracious love. See, here's where we begin to discover the answer to the question. How is God love?

[13:52] I mean, how do we know God is love and how do we know he loves us? Because he has manifested that. Really, literally, he took the initiative to do that. We would not have known.

[14:05] I would dare say not have known anything about love, period. If God had not taken the initiative to manifest his love toward us, we would have never known.

[14:17] I tell you, we would have never known God. If God had not taken the initiative. He chose to manifest his love on our behalf.

[14:28] That's exactly what John says. Look again at verse 9 or the beginning of verse 9. By this, the love of God was manifested. And then in the New American Standard, it says, in us.

[14:42] I think there's a little interpretation called for here. Greek prepositions are sometimes hard to understand. Hard to translate.

[14:54] Let's put it that way. And so I might substitute these words. Just considering the preposition and the context and how it is used. By this, the love of God was manifested on our behalf.

[15:11] Tremendous truth. Who manifested this love? God did. God manifested it.

[15:23] Look at verse 10. The opening part of verse 10. In this is love. Not that we love God. But that he loved us.

[15:35] Now I'm putting those two opening phrases in these two verses together. To come up with this thought that you and I need to understand. This tremendous truth rather. Not just a thought.

[15:46] Tremendous truth. That God took the initiative to manifest his love toward us. And I am simply saying that God was being gratuitous in that.

[16:01] Gracious. That is, it didn't start with us. It didn't have anything to do with us. God simply manifested his love toward us.

[16:14] Long before the world was even created, as a matter of fact. God is a gratuitous God.

[16:25] I say in a positive sense. In fact, I would have you consider it in these terms. In the first place, this love that God has manifested toward us is unqualified in Scripture.

[16:40] What do I mean by that? There's no qualification for it. The Bible just simply declares that God loves us. And then he shows us that love.

[16:51] But in the initial stages, God does not qualify his love. It's not qualified. In fact, Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 31 and verse 3.

[17:03] He said, in fact, let me read it to you. He said in verse 3, the Lord appeared to him from afar saying, I have loved you with an everlasting love.

[17:14] Therefore, I have drawn you with loving kindness. That's one of my favorite verses out of the book of Jeremiah. I have loved you with an everlasting love.

[17:25] And based upon that everlasting love that I have directed toward you, it is in that loving kindness that I've drawn you unto myself. See, God did all of that.

[17:35] God took all the initiative. It didn't begin with us. It began with God. His everlasting love. And by the way, if you remember a few Sundays ago, I mentioned this word that's translated loving kindness.

[17:50] It is the Hebrew word chesed. We might translate it mercy. Sometimes it's translated grace. His grace.

[18:01] His grace. Saving grace is based upon his unqualified love for us.

[18:13] It's unqualified. God does not direct his love toward us because we loved him. That we loved him first.

[18:23] In fact, John's pretty specific about that, isn't he? God does not love us because we loved him. The idea or the implication being that he loves us because we first loved him. The idea is clear that he loved us first.

[18:35] And apart from him loving us, we would have never loved him. In fact, if he had not taken the initiative to manifest his love, we would have never known about him.

[18:45] It's unqualified. God does not love us because we love him. God also does not love us because we're lovable. We ought to just put that notion out of our minds.

[19:00] That somehow we deserve God's love because we're worthy. That we're lovable people. Now, from my perspective, you are lovable people.

[19:12] And God honors our lovableness. But God did not direct his love toward us because we're lovable.

[19:24] It was unconditioned, unqualified. It was not based upon anything that we might give to God. So we ought to get that notion out of our heads, too.

[19:35] You're not going to add anything to God. You can't add to him. We're talking about God who has everything. And needs nothing else. He is complete in himself. There isn't anything that your love for him would add to him.

[19:52] He loves us unqualified. I guess I might make one exception. The only qualification for God's love is his own being.

[20:07] Just his own nature. It's within God himself that he chose to love you. That's the only vague qualification we can get from scripture. Is that it was just simply in God himself that he loved you.

[20:21] And not qualified based upon anything that we might have or could do for him. Or that we might one day do for him. Or our lovableness or our excitement to respond to him in love.

[20:36] It's not based upon any of those things. It's unqualified. It is also unquantified. Unqualified. I'm trying to be complicated.

[20:47] I just like neat little words that rhyme. It's unquantified. And what I mean by that is. Apparently from scripture.

[20:59] And there is just simply no limit to it. There's no limit. Not only is it unqualified. Uncaused by anything here.

[21:09] But there is no limit to his love. We get that clear sense in chapter 3. Look at chapter 3. Just go back one chapter to verse 1.

[21:21] Where John writes. See. If you have a King James. I'm sorry. I'm a hopeless lover of the King James. The poetic nature of it.

[21:34] And in the old King's English. If you have a King James. You know. He says. Behold. I just like that. It's much stronger than the word see. Isn't it? And yet the idea is the same.

[21:47] Look here. That's what John says. Look. Look. Behold. How great a love. The Father has bestowed on us. I also think the New American Standard.

[22:01] Translators fell out of bed. With the word bestowed. It really ought to be. Lavish. Writers of one of the choruses. We sang a moment ago. Got that. That's the idea here.

[22:12] That's the meaning of the word. He didn't just give it to us. I bestow. You know. Like attending some. Reading of the will.

[22:23] And you know. And in the writing of the will. I bestow all of my earthly goods. To Don Coleman. I would love to go to. A reading of a will like that. It's not just simply bestowed.

[22:37] It's lavished. And that's where I get this idea. That not only is God's love for us. Unqualified. It is unquantified. He lavished.

[22:48] His love upon us. Look. Look at it again. See. Behold. How great a love the father has bestowed. Lavished on us. That we should be called.

[22:59] The children of God. And then he adds this little phrase. And such. We are. Isn't that exciting? Now listen.

[23:11] John is. Making an argument here. And we might say that. John is beginning with the heights of heaven. Itself. Beginning with God himself.

[23:24] And he's talking about his love. That is. That is uncaused. By anything on this planet. Or anything that could happen on this planet. Anything with you. It's uncaused. Unqualified.

[23:34] And he's saying it's unquantified. There just doesn't seem to be any limit. At least we need to get no. Clear sense in scripture. That there's any limit to it. Huge.

[23:45] It's big. In fact. Isn't that what Paul. Wrote. Over in. Ephesians. Chapter 3.

[23:59] Notice what Paul wrote. Chapter 3. In verse 14. I'm not going to read the entire text there. It is. Really. Paul's prayer.

[24:10] For the Ephesians. He says. I bow my knees before the father. He's praying for them. But if you look on. Down there to verse 17. About halfway through the verse.

[24:22] This is what his prayer is. One of his. Points of prayer. He says. That you. Being rooted. And grounded. In love. God's love. May be able to comprehend.

[24:34] With all the saints. What is the breadth. And length. And height. And depth. And to know the love of Christ.

[24:44] Which surpasses. Knowledge. What a. What a thing to pray for. I hope you pray for me. In that way. I pray for my children.

[24:59] These prayers. Here. Think about. Talking about. The love of God. And it's immeasurable. It's unquantified.

[25:13] The breadth. How wide it is. And how long it is. And the height. And the depth. How high it is. And how deep it goes. And I'm saying to you.

[25:24] That in the. Verse 9. And parts of verse 10. In our text. John. Is giving us. The height. Of love. He begins there. And it. It is in.

[25:36] God. In the person of God. Himself. It's. And he expresses. He manifested. His love. Toward us. And there wasn't. Any. Qualification. For it. No.

[25:47] Quantity. Attached. To it. He lavished. It. Upon us. And from. My point of view. It's. Unjustified. You know.

[25:59] What I mean. By that. I do not. Deserve. In fact. From my perspective. It's unjustified.

[26:14] As a matter of fact. It would be unjust. Of God. To love me. If it had not been. For what Jesus did. At the cross. That makes God.

[26:28] The. Just. Justifier. There. So. The manifestation. Of God's gracious love. Secondly.

[26:41] I might ask. This question. In what. Ways. Did God. Manifest. His love. See. John. Is starting. With the heights. The.

[26:54] Tippy top. Heights. Of the truth. He's beginning. With God. God. And he's making. This. Very bold.

[27:04] Statement. That God. Has manifested. His love. And so. We have to ask. The question. In what ways. Did he do it? And I do say. Ways. Plural.

[27:15] Because. God has manifested. His love. To his creation. In a number of ways. In the first place. His creation. Itself. Is an expression.

[27:26] Of God's love. That he created. All things. Now. I'm the kind of guy. That likes the outdoors. I love the mountains. God has never let me.

[27:36] Live in the mountains. He just won't do it. Isn't that sad? But I love the mountains. Every chance I get. My family and I.

[27:47] We. Load up. And take a little vacation. We always go to the mountains. I love. The creation. I would love to be outside. All the time. God. I tell you. God. Has created all.

[27:58] That. Is contained in this world. And beyond. And the. Stars. And. All of the planets. And. Galaxies. And things. That we can barely see here.

[28:10] And. With Hubble telescope. We can see a lot of other things. And beyond that. We can't see. And God. Created all these things. Because. He is. A God of love. And all these things.

[28:20] Have been created. For us to enjoy. God. He also created man. His creation of mankind.

[28:30] Is an expression of his love. Manifestation of his love. And that he gave us dominion. Over this. His creation. And that.

[28:43] The creation was given. For our enjoyment. And for our good. And that. Too. Is unqualified. Isn't it.

[28:54] And his. Providence. Over his creation. Is an expression. Of his love. I mean. The Bible does tell us. That the sun.

[29:06] Or that it. Reigns. On. The just. And the unjust. The sun. Shines. Upon the good. And the evil. We're talking about.

[29:17] God's providence. It extends. To even. A sparrow. That might fall. From a tree. Don't ever get the idea. That God.

[29:28] Is not providentially. Sovereign. Over his entire creation. He. Does things. And allows things. And he is superintending. His. His. Sovereignty.

[29:38] Over all of creation. It's his providence. And it's an expression. Of his love. In fact. It is so much. An expression. Of his love. That Romans. Paul says. In Romans 1.

[29:49] That to. Reject. God. By rejecting. To see him. In. His creation. His. Love. In his creation. Will actually.

[30:00] Damn. Your soul. To hell. Without excuse. Jesus. And so. He expresses. His love. In these ways.

[30:11] And yet. The supreme. Expression. Of his love. The supreme. Manifestation. Of his love. Is what John. Talks about next.

[30:23] And so. We move. From the. Manifestation. Of God's. Gracious. Love. To now. Number two. The incarnation. Of God's.

[30:34] Precious. Son. That is. The supreme. Manifestation. Of his love. It is. What. Not only. Is the manifestation.

[30:45] Of his love. It is. What. Now. Defines. Love. That he. Sent his. Only. Begotten. Son. Into the world. That's. What. John.

[30:56] Says. Here. In verse. Nine. And he. Repeats. It somewhat. In verse. Ten. He begins. In verse. Nine. Notice. That. By. This.

[31:07] And then. When you get. To verse. Ten. He. Uses. A similar. Phrase. But different. Preposition. In this. By this. In this. We ought to pay. Attention. To that. We look.

[31:18] At the text. By this. The love of God. Was manifested. That. He sent. His. Only. Begotten. Son.

[31:28] Into. The world. So that. We. We might. Live. Through him. This is the incarnation. This is how. How God has manifested.

[31:39] His love. Through the sending. Of his. Only begotten son. And then. When we get to verse 10. The preposition is. In. In this. He says. Look at it.

[31:50] Verse 10. In this. Is love. And so we. He begins. With the manifestation. Of it. Which is the sending. Of his son. That's the manifestation. Of it.

[32:00] And then. In verse 10. We have it. Defined. The very essence. Of love. And so that's why. I make the statement. That though. God has expressed. His love. And manifested.

[32:10] His love. In the creation. And all of these things. Are for us to enjoy. And the air. That we breathe. And life. That we have. And all mankind. Have that.

[32:21] At their disposal. It's the loving. Gift of God. And so we begin there. But. I say that the very. Ultimate. Manifestation. Of God's love.

[32:31] Is that he sent. His son. Into the world. It's the incarnation. It is God. The son. Becoming a man. That's how he came. Into the world. In fact. This verse.

[32:42] Is very close. To what John said. In John 3. 16. Isn't it? Very close. He says. For God. So loved the world. That he gave. His only begotten son. That whosoever believeth. In him.

[32:52] Should not perish. But have everlasting life. The supreme. Manifestation. Of God's love. And the very essence.

[33:05] Of what love is. Is that. God sent his son. What more could I say.

[33:15] About that. See. We're moving from the heights. God himself. God himself. And in. His very nature. And within himself.

[33:26] For his name's sake. He is chosen. To manifest his love. Toward us. Not based upon anything. In us. Or about us. And.

[33:37] He began with his creation. And his providence. And ultimately. In the. In the. Sending. Of his.

[33:47] Only begotten son. His one and only son. Into the. This world. The heights.

[34:00] Now very quickly. He's going to move. To the depths. Thirdly. Answering the question.

[34:11] What did. His. Precious son. Accomplish. That made it. Such a profound. Manifestation. Of God's love. What did he accomplish?

[34:22] Well. Thirdly. The satisfaction. Of God's. Righteous. Wrath. The satisfaction.

[34:35] Of God's. Righteous. Wrath. Or I could. Word it this way. Because this is the word. That John chose. The propitiation. Of God's.

[34:46] Righteous. Wrath. Look at verse 10. In this. Is love. Not that we love God. But that he loved us.

[34:58] And sent his son. To be the propitiation. For our sins. How do we define. Propitiation. That's not a word.

[35:08] That we use every day. Is it? In fact. I don't know. That anybody. Has ever used. The word. Propitiation. In a sentence. In a normal conversation. In my entire life. I've heard preachers.

[35:18] Talk about. Propitiation. Some of my professors. In certain classes. In seminary. Would mention. Propitiation. And some would use. The word. Expiation. Propitiation. But who has.

[35:32] Who uses that word. What does it mean? I would suggest to you. That it is a profound word. Rich.

[35:43] Doctrinal word. Propitiation. What is it? Well. You might have already guessed. Because how I named the point. I said the satisfaction.

[35:55] Of God's righteous wrath. And indeed. I believe that is a pretty good word. To substitute there. Though it doesn't really. Go all the way.

[36:06] It is the satisfaction. I mean. You might have noticed there. And I kind of. Just breezed right over it. Because I intended to come back to it. But in verse 9.

[36:17] When he says that he gave his only. Begotten. His one and only begotten son. Into the world. He sent him into the world. That we.

[36:28] Might live. The implication being. That we needed him to do that. Because we're dead. Dead in what way.

[36:39] And for what reason. We're dead in sin. And for what reason. We're sinners. We're rebels. We're wicked. Apart from Christ. Christ. I mean.

[36:51] We really are. To the very core. And so. If that is. The implication. Then. What we need is. For somebody. To satisfy that for us.

[37:03] Someone to take care of that. To square things. With God. For us. Because we can't do it ourselves. And that's why. He sent his son. That was the. Purpose for him coming.

[37:15] That's what he accomplished. In the incarnation. Was to become. A propitiation. A satisfaction. For our sin. Take your Bibles.

[37:26] And go back. All the way back. Not all the way. Not to Genesis. But to Exodus. Exodus chapter 25. I want to show you something here. About this word.

[37:37] Propitiation. Exodus chapter 25. Now in Exodus 25. And following. We have. God's instructions. To Moses.

[37:48] On the various things. That he's to. That Israel is to. Take a collection for. And build. They're in a church. Building project. Not really. But. About to build the tabernacle.

[38:00] And God is giving all the instructions. And not just simply the instructions. On the construction. Of the tabernacle itself. But all the furnishings. That are to go in it. And all of these things. The writer of Hebrews tells us.

[38:11] Are just simply. Pictures of Christ. And we're not going to get into that. But the particular part. Of verse. Chapter 25. That I want us to see.

[38:22] Is the. Ark of the covenant. Look there at verse 10. Exodus chapter 25. God's instructions. Through Moses. They shall construct.

[38:33] An ark. Of acacia wood. All right. So. They're to build this ark. And. Verse 11 says. Is to be overlaid. To overlay it. With pure gold.

[38:45] Inside and out. This is. One expensive box. Verse 16. I'm just getting the highlights here. Because I'm.

[38:55] Headed to something here. We need to see. Verse 16. You shall put into the ark. The testimony. Which I shall give you. What is that?

[39:06] The Ten Commandments. Or. The tablets. There to be put inside the ark. In verse 17.

[39:16] You shall make. And here's what I want you to see. Make a. Mercy. Seat. Of. Pure. Gold.

[39:28] That's the lid. That goes on top. He goes on to. Describe how the. The. Angelic. Figures. Are to be.

[39:39] On top of this mercy seat. And then in verse 21. Then we'll go back to this mercy seat. You shall.

[39:49] Put the mercy seat. On top of the ark. And in the ark. You shall put the testimony. Which I have. I will give to you. There. Look at this.

[40:00] Verse 22. There. Where? On the mercy seat. There. I. Will meet with you. And from above.

[40:12] The mercy seat. From between. The two cherubim. Which are upon the ark. Of the testimony. I will speak. To you. About all. That I will give you.

[40:22] In commandment. For the sons of Israel. We're talking about here. In essence. Is. This. This. Will be God's throne. Among them. There.

[40:33] On that seat. I will be with you. When we fast forward. We're not going to look at the texts. But we understand.

[40:45] Eventually. That God gives instructions. For the high priest. That the high priest. Is to enter. Into. Where the. Ark of the covenant.

[40:55] Will be placed. In the tabernacle. In that inner chamber. In the holy of holies. And once a year. On Yom Kippur. On the day of atonement. The high priest.

[41:08] In behalf of the people of Israel. Will bring in the blood. Of that spotless lamb. And dip the. Hyssop. In the blood. And sprinkle that blood. Where?

[41:19] There. On that mercy seat. To make an atonement. To make a propitiation.

[41:34] For the sins of the people. Now why put it there? Because the people have broken God's laws. They've sinned. And a copy.

[41:47] The. Copy. The tablets. Are inside that ark. God. Is there. That's his throne. And the high priest.

[42:00] Brings in the blood. And sprinkles it. There. On the mercy seat. Above the laws.

[42:11] That have been broken. It's. The propitiation. And God. Then. His. Wrath. Toward God's people. Because they have sinned against him.

[42:21] His wrath. Is abated. It's turned aside. Because the sins have been covered. His wrath. Has been satisfied. By the blood. Of a spotless lamb. When the writers.

[42:35] Of the Septuagint. That's the Greek. Old Testament. The Old Testament. Written in Greek. The scholars. Who got together. Those Jewish scholars. And.

[42:46] Translated. The Hebrew. Old Testament. Or the only Bible. They knew. Knew at the time. Translated into Greek. Guess what word. They used. For the word.

[42:57] Mercy seat. The same word. That John used. In John. First John four. Which we translate.

[43:08] Propitiation. That is the mercy seat. Is the propitiatory. It's. The propitiation. That's what took place there. And it's so.

[43:19] Attached. To that event. That the. Very word. Propitiation. Was used. In substitute. Or to describe. The mercy seat. You see.

[43:30] And then. When we go. Forward. To. Romans. Chapter five. And verse 23. You don't have to turn to it. I'll just read it for you. The Bible says.

[43:41] For all have sinned. And fall short. Of the glory of God. Being justified. As a gift. By his grace. Through the redemption. Which is in Christ Jesus. Whom God.

[43:52] Displayed. Publicly. Where did he display him? Publicly. By the way. The cross. Displayed. Publicly. As a.

[44:05] Propitiation. As a propitiation. As a satisfaction. As a mercy seat. As a mercy seat. In his blood.

[44:16] Through faith. This was. To demonstrate. His righteousness. Because. In the forbearance. Of God. He passed over. The sins. Previously. Committed.

[44:26] For the demonstration. I say. Of his righteousness. At the present time. So that he would be just. And the justifier. Of the one.

[44:36] Who has faith. In Jesus Christ. I don't know. If you're excited. About that or not. Jesus. Is our mercy seat. And it wasn't.

[44:50] Just the blood. Of some. Spotless lamb. It was. Jesus blood. As a lamb. Swain. Before the foundation.

[45:00] Of the world. And if we had time. This morning. We could look. At. Hebrews. And discover. That. What was a shadow. In the Old Testament.

[45:12] Became real. In the new. That when Jesus. Shed his blood. On the cross. He literally. Entered in. To the holy. Place. To offer.

[45:22] His blood. And God said. I'm satisfied. And no more sacrifice. Is required.

[45:33] For sin. Talking about. God's love. The manifestation. Of his love. Through the incarnation.

[45:46] God. And by the incarnation. Jesus. Shed his blood. As a. Satisfaction.

[45:56] The satisfaction. For the righteous. Wrath. Of a holy God. See. That's why I say. We have moved now. To the depths.

[46:09] That is the depths. Of our own sin. We start. John started. With God. The heights. God is love. And he manifests.

[46:19] His love. Because he just. Chose to. For his own. Name's sake. And.

[46:31] To the depths. My sin. Your sin. Against. A holy God. And the only. Satisfaction. Was the blood.

[46:42] Of Jesus Christ. Octavius Winslow. Probably not a name. You've ever heard. Non-conformist. Minister. Back. In England. Back in the 1800s.

[46:55] In fact. Octavius Winslow. Was a guest speaker. At the opening. Of the. Of Spurgeon's. Metropolitan. Tabernacle. He was much sought. After. In those days. I want you to listen. What he wrote.

[47:06] Here in. Is love. As though. John would say. And nowhere else. But here. That God. Should punish. The innocent. For the guilty.

[47:18] That he should exact. The blood of his son. To cancel. The guilt. Of his rebels. That he should lay. An infinite weight. Of wrath. On his soul. That is. Jesus soul. In order to lay.

[47:29] An infinite weight. Of love. On ours. That he should. Sacrifice his life. His life. Of priceless value. For hours. Worthless. Forfeited.

[47:41] Doomed. That he should. Not only. Give his son. But should. Bruise him. Put him. To grief. Afflict him. Should make his soul.

[47:52] An offering. For sin. Oh. The depth. Of love. Unfathomable. Oh. The height. Of love. Unsearchable. Oh.

[48:03] Length. And breadth. Of love. Unmeasurable. Oh. Love. Of God. Which passes. Knowledge. Amen. That's what we're talking about here.

[48:15] Not us. Well. We are. But John. Is talking about this. As he's answering the question. How do you know God is love? And how do you know he loves you? Let's begin. At the very heights. God manifested it to you.

[48:27] And how did he do that? Through the incarnation of his son. And what did his son do when he got here? He satisfied. The wrath of God toward us.

[48:39] That we deserve. And that God could not avoid because of his holiness. And it was Jesus' sacrifice upon that cross. That enabled God to be just.

[48:51] And the justifier. Because Jesus took our sins. And said. Well. What do we do with all that? One last thing.

[49:04] Because Paul's argument is moving. It's progressing. Now he's about to tell us. How we should respond to that. See the whole subject is that we love one another.

[49:15] That's the theme here. Although. John has gone off into the great. Heights of theology about God. God. But his real idea. His theme. He's getting to it.

[49:26] And this is where he's leading us. His theme is that we love one another. And based upon all that he has said so far. And the truth of that. The reality of that. Then. We have.

[49:37] What ought to be. The demonstration. How is this love. God's love. God's gracious love. God's glorious grace. How is it to be demonstrated here.

[49:49] Right here. Right here at Highland Park Baptist Church. How is it to be demonstrated. Well. Look at verse 11. Beloved.

[50:04] If God so loved us. We also ought to love one another. I tell you. If God can love. A rascal like Don Coleman.

[50:17] Knuckle headed. Rebel. Like Don Coleman. God can love me. Then I can love all the other rascals.

[50:33] Knuckle headed. Not naming any names here this morning. You see. You may think there are some people.

[50:44] In this group right here this morning. That you can't love. You've tried to. But you just can't. They're different than you are. Maybe they don't act as Christian.

[50:57] As you think they ought to. Maybe. They're not. As wealthy as you are. Maybe they're outside.

[51:09] Your little circle of friends. Or maybe they do things. That just grate on you. You know. Sometimes people do that. They just do things. That grate on you. Or maybe you have.

[51:22] Come to the notion. That they're undeserving of it. But they've got to earn that. Got to show themselves worthy. See.

[51:33] John. Very clear. He says. If. God. So. Loved you. So. So.

[51:43] Loved you. If God loved you in this way. What way? The way he's just. Been describing. If God. Loves you.

[51:56] Then. You ought. By the way. The word ought. Is. Much stronger. It. Means. By. Your very nature. You should love others. Because.

[52:07] Whose nature. Do you have in you? God. God. The demonstration. Of God's. Glorious. Grace.

[52:19] So. There are. Four. Reasons. Or. Really. Answers. To the question. How do we know. God is love. And how do we know. He loves us. There is.

[52:34] Our response. To the grace of God. I have one. More point. Not sub point. Now this is back to the main point. Okay. Point number three.

[52:49] See. We're to love one another. Because. Of the reality. Of the greatness of God. Love. Love is what God is. We're to love one another.

[53:01] Because. Of. The. Response. Because loving one another. Is a response. To the grace of God. And then there's one more.

[53:14] Loving one another. Is a reflection. Of the glory. Of God. Love. Let me say that again.

[53:27] Loving one another. In the way that John is described. I mean really loving. Really loving one another. Is a reflection. Of the glory.

[53:39] Of God. Why has God. Commanded us. To love. One another. Here's the answer.

[53:54] Because. No one. Has seen God. At any time. Were you expecting. A different answer. Let that sink in.

[54:07] Think about that. We're commanded. To love one another. Because no one. Has seen God. At any time. No one.

[54:20] Not at any time. Has ever seen God. So. How could that be. The answer. To the question. Why God. Commanded us to love.

[54:36] Would you let that sink in. If no one. Has seen God. At any time. Then what do they see.

[54:48] When they see us. Do you know that. You. Are likely.

[54:59] The only. Reflection. Of the glory of God. That anyone will ever see. I mean a true reflection of him. In the way you live.

[55:13] You know the Highland Park. Is a reflection. Of who. Who God is. No one's going to see God.

[55:23] Unless they see God in you. It's true. That's why. Jesus said.

[55:36] To love one another. By this shall all. Know that you're my disciples. That you have loved one for another. You see everything.

[55:51] In the creation. Shouts. The glory of God. But it's all just a reflection. In fact.

[56:02] The very. Nature of the word glory. Is the idea of a. Reflected light. Not anybody has seen. God. Everything.

[56:15] We do see. Is a reflection. Of him. A reflection. Of his glory. And our loving. One another. Here's. John's argument.

[56:26] Our loving. One another. Is a reflection. Of the glory. Of God. Like we. Sometimes saying. Let others.

[56:36] See Jesus. In me. Because those. Who truly. Love. In this way. Have God.

[56:47] Abiding in them. He says. God's love. Is perfected. In us. You know. I think. We as Baptists.

[56:59] Over the years. Have. Gotten it wrong. I remember. A slogan. Some years ago. At the convention.

[57:10] That we're. To put first things first. Put first things first. And the first thing. Was. Evangelism. Made me to hear me out. Or you might.

[57:20] Start throwing stones at me. First thing. Is not evangelism. First thing. Is love. There were those.

[57:32] Who came. To Jesus. Pharisees. They were questioning him. And trying to trip him up. And. And they. One of them. Was a lawyer. And he. Asked Jesus.

[57:43] This question. What is the. Greatest commandment. And Jesus answered. Love God. And love your neighbor.

[57:53] As yourself. That's the short answer. He said. This is the first. And greatest commandment. Upon these. This commandment. The law.

[58:04] All of the law. The entirety. The law hangs. Love. God. With all your heart. Soul. Mind. And strength. And love your neighbor. As yourself. That's the great.

[58:14] Commandment. And then. Later. In fact. After his resurrection. He gave the great. Commission. The great.

[58:25] Commandment. Came before the great. Commission. And if we'll get. First things. First. If you get. The first thing. Right. Then the second.

[58:36] Thing. We'll get a better deal. And so. I end. Where I began. We have no right. To be believed.

[58:49] Our witness. Our testimony. Of God's grace. And his love. That message. To the world. That we're. To be issuing out.

[59:00] Not only. From the pulpit. Here. But from our lives. And the highways. And byways. The witness of Christ. Crucified. And raised from the dead. We have no right.

[59:11] To be believed. If we do not love one another. For by this. Shall all men know. His desire. That we have love. One.

[59:21] One. One. One. One. One. One. One. One. One. Thank you.