[0:00] Thank you.
[0:30] Thank you.
[1:00] Thank you. Thank you.
[2:00] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. A short service that's very much family orientated and that will be a nice, simple, clear gospel message.
[2:43] So this Saturday, the Congregational Outing, Funday, and then Sunday 25th, we are family service with the prize giving as part of it.
[2:54] So please do invite families along to that and keep this Saturday in prayer. And again, please do come along. I think also you have traditional, the Soka minister is part of the Funday.
[3:08] So if you want to see your minister soaked, then surely that's incentive enough for you to come along. We're here to worship God. Let's sing to God's praise. From Sing Psalms, first of all, Psalm 96A.
[3:21] Sing Psalms, Psalm 96A. That's on page 126. Psalm 96A on page 126.
[3:32] We can sing verses 1 down to verse 9 of the Psalm. We'll sing a new song to the Lord. Sing praises to his name and his salvation.
[3:45] Day by day, let all the earth proclaim. Psalm 96A, verses 1 to 9. Take Hert Sun,得 high, in theovity. Amen. It's in the close.ова że nie przy Embropie Sce, who it is zaś, na owe nią , które i push, nie tę ex, na Cowboy, by fa窟ussla, jak na Geg goddess skońc her, na T admissionsひęę, i tak halt, niecla aż nią do go go, alem co למ�sh 어�s see.
[4:02] God blessurmusz to ngade. God bless the heavens. So że nie medo, o sogenthmuszossa tu TA i te rw, of dzim yield i sang to the deemed agile diari pou bay. The wearyन-ish varietyrim Platinum IV Historia is my peace to every happy day.
[4:43] How clean and awesome is the Lord, within the Lord comes from here.
[4:59] For earth and all the Lord are good and strong, the Lord may perish.
[5:14] O power and majesty are his, he dwells in glorious light.
[5:32] All nations through the Lord must find the glory that is true.
[5:48] Glory and strength has died to God, and praise his name I knew.
[6:05] And death is forth with joy and fear, and all the things with you.
[6:22] Worship the Lord in holy year, on earth before in love.
[6:43] Let's bow our heads now. A word of prayer. Amen. Lord, we come and we bring ourselves before you this day, acknowledging that we come before you, a God that is none ever like you.
[6:58] That you alone are the true and only living God. That you alone reign for all time and to all time. Help us understand that we come before you today, we come before a living God.
[7:11] One who sees all and who knows all. One who sustains all. That there is nothing outwith your control. That there is nothing outwith your knowledge. As we come together today, we acknowledge that great reality.
[7:25] That you are a sovereign God. That there is none other like you. Help us to have our hearts and our minds focused on that truth. That you are God.
[7:37] That we are creatures created by you. Made from the dust itself. As we come before you just now, we come acknowledging that in our hearts, in our bodies, in all that we are and all that we do.
[7:50] We so often do not display anything close to the holiness. Close to the goodness that we should. We come today understanding that we are those who deserve nothing from you.
[8:03] But out of your love towards us, out of your goodness towards us, you give us so many blessings. For it is to these blessings we give you praise this day. And for these blessings we come and we lift up our voices in praise.
[8:16] Even the blessing this day of life. You brought us all here together today. Give us this new day of praising you. And giving us breath in our lungs this day.
[8:26] To come together to worship you. To come to this place to worship the risen saviour. To worship his glorious name. To think about who he is and what he has done for his people.
[8:38] To remember his promises to us. To promise us to be our saviour to all that cry out to him. Lord, we thank you for our gathering today. We thank you for bringing us together once more this day.
[8:50] I pray our church now for those here today who are yours. Who love you and who know you. Those of us here today who can call Jesus our friend, our saviour, our king, our lord.
[9:04] Lord, help us to be encouraged by your word today. As we come around your word once more. Help us to not just grow in our understanding. But in doing so to also grow in our love for our saviour.
[9:17] In our praise towards him. In our wonder at who he is and what he has done. I pray just now also for those who are yours. Who are not here today.
[9:29] Those who wish to be here. Those who long to be here. Lord, but through age. Or for illness. Or for other. Lord, varied reasons. Cannot gather perhaps as often as they wish.
[9:40] We ask you would be with them today. And that we remember them. They would know our love and our care for them. Help us, Lord, to serve them practically if we can. We pray for those here today who as of yet do not know Jesus.
[9:53] We thank you for their presence here. And we ask that even this day for your word. They would come to know. Come to love. Come to have and come to hold Jesus as their Lord and saviour over their lives too.
[10:07] We give you praise that every one of your people. That we are here today as living examples. That you save people still. We are here as living witnesses to your gospel glorious power.
[10:20] That power which transforms hearts of stone and gives us instead hearts of flesh. We pray, Lord, that same thing for our wider community. We pray just now for those who are heavy in our minds.
[10:34] Our loved ones. Our family members. Our friends who do not. Who will not pray for themselves. Who have no care for their souls, Lord. We ask for them just now especially.
[10:46] We ask you to draw close to them. Lord, if it's a will, you would use us perhaps as the means that they would hear the gospel. We ask we would see this place filling up week by week.
[10:59] But not for our glory. But we see these seats filling up for your namesake. For your glory. So that folks would hear the life-giving gospel. The life-giving good news.
[11:11] We pray once more for those who we pray for often in tears. Those who we love just now. Those who are closest to us. But who as of yet have no gospel interest.
[11:22] Who as of yet show no gospel understanding. We ask you to transform them. You bring them to yourself. Lord, we pray for any here today.
[11:33] Who are here for reasons, Lord, not of praising you. But are here just to, for sake of tradition. Who are here just to perhaps keep a loved one happy. Lord, we thank you that they are here.
[11:45] But we ask that even this day, your word would speak to them. As we pray for ourselves, we remember as always our brothers and sisters next door. We pray for them once more in their time of vacancy.
[11:58] We pray for them in the meantime, Lord. To keep them united. And keep them seeking to serve you as they should. We pray for ourselves as two denominations, yes.
[12:08] But as one people. Those of us who know and who love our Saviour. Who long to see the Christian good as aware of this community. Who long to see this community saved.
[12:21] Who long to see our neighbours and our friends here come to know you. Lord, we ask you to help us in these perhaps dark days. In these strange days. In these days of small things.
[12:32] Not to lose hope. But to serve you, Lord. As you give us this time to serve. To serve you well. We pray just now especially for the upcoming activities this week.
[12:42] We remember, Lord. The Sunday school congregational outing. Lord, this week. We know that for us it's a time of relaxation. A time of fun.
[12:52] But we also acknowledge that it's also a time where we can be a witness for you. A time where we are together as brothers and sisters. And as members of this congregation. And wider community members.
[13:04] That can come together and spend some time together. Seeing you're a God who gave us joy. Who gave us laughter. Who gave us fun as well. As giving us your many, Lord, commands.
[13:17] And your many promises. We pray just now for the boys and the girls. We thank you for them. We ask you bless them in Sunday school. We ask you bless them in their own homes. In their own lives.
[13:28] We ask, Lord, you bless them mums and dads. And grandas. And grandas. And great grandas. And great grandas. Bless everyone who looks after. And who loves the boys and the girls. Lord, we include in that the Sunday school teachers.
[13:40] We thank you for them once more. Lord, who work so hard to share the good news week after week. We ask you bless them. Give them that understanding. That they are serving you well in this community.
[13:53] They are serving you well by their service. We also pray looking forward to the family service. We ask you would move in hearts and minds. And bring perhaps even some new faces out to hear the gospel.
[14:06] To hear the simple gospel. Even for the first time. We know, Lord, there are many here who have so many questions. There are many families here who are trying their best.
[14:17] But who don't know why they even are here. Who don't know what the meaning of life is. Who are looking for that meaning. And who are searching desperately. And we ask you would bring them to hear the true gospel meaning.
[14:30] Lord, that Sunday. They would come to know and hear for themselves. What it is to love and be loved by a glorious saviour. Or help all these things. All our endeavours.
[14:41] All our plans. And all our hopes in this community. Know that without you behind them. They mean nothing. If you are not, Lord, building up your kingdom here by your power.
[14:51] Then our power will fail. Our plans will crumble. And we'll come to nothing. We ask for all that we do in the weeks to come. In the months to come. All we plan to do. If you give us the time in the years to come.
[15:04] We would do so relying on you. And trusting in you as our only hope. And our only strength. Ask all these things in and through. And for Jesus' name.
[15:15] Coming to this day. Asking that you forgive us for our sins. Lord, we know we come this day to this place. Heavy laden with sin, perhaps. Perhaps this week we have rebelled against you. Perhaps this week we have sinned.
[15:28] Against your holy name. This day, perhaps. This hour, perhaps. We can know for certain that we have sinned. Sins we can put our fingers on. And sins we don't even realise we're committing.
[15:40] Help us, Lord, to take all these things. And to come to the throne. That throne of grace we find. Mercy. Mercy. Unending mercy. From a God of all mercy.
[15:53] It's in that mercy we hope. And put our hope this day. In that mercy we put our trust. In that mercy we put all. Lord, all the pain and all the worry we have.
[16:04] Of sin. Of his effect in our lives. Of the disaster it causes. We come to that throne. And we cry out. That although we are unclean at times. That you are clean.
[16:15] That you are perfect in all your ways. Lord, cleanse us, we ask. Keep us following you closely. All in his name. And all for his sake alone. Amen. I ask the boys and the girls to come down.
[16:39] Good morning. You all swap seats. You guys are so far away. How are we all today? Away? Just a time. You won't wait until you get here last week. So that's good. So we are reached Gowage.
[17:04] Emma and I went from walking Gowage. For the last week now. A lot colder than it is today. And the sea with higher ground.
[17:15] So what did we see when it had ground? What really cool things did you find Gowage? Shells. Where were Shells? We walked through somewhere. We saw lots and lots of shells. A cave.
[17:26] A cave. So cool. So cool. Emma is more brave than I am. She went to see lots more exploding. And the old wee caves. And all that washed hair. So I can pan back a wee bit.
[17:37] But we went to one of the big caves. There is one big cave you can walk right into. And what did we see? We saw shells. We saw a certain kind of shell. You know, sticks to the rock. Loads of them.
[17:49] And it goes to one of the big caves. Yes. Olympus. Olympus. I think so. I think so. Olympus are really cool. There is multiple.
[18:00] There is a hundred of them. I don't know. It goes up in the beach. I don't know. And also Sam has actually got crushed up. It's a little bit. Olympus are really cool. So have you ever tried to take a little bit off a rock?
[18:12] Have you ever tried it? My sister's like a rock. That's scary. Because how hard is it to do? How hard is it to do? I give you a little bit.
[18:22] You must be really strong. Because I give you a little bit of this back. Right? It's a hundred kilograms of horse. That's like lifting me up. That's like lifting me up.
[18:33] To take a limp. There must be a very, very high. I'm going to have to take a limp. It's a limp off a rock. A hundred kilograms. Now, the limpets who live in caves and stuff on rocks. They live much, much longer than the ones who don't plan or not live on.
[18:49] So the ones who live in the sea, they live at five, six years. Guess how long the ones who live in the rocks live on. A hundred years? A hundred years.
[19:00] And how can it be? We less than that. More than five. Less than a hundred. Fifteen. Less than that. Fifteen years.
[19:12] Three times longer. A lot longer, really. If they find themselves not. And if some limpets, they think, I should have lived more than a hundred years. They do.
[19:23] Why? Why do they just live longer? Because they live a lot to a realistic country. And they stay in the sea of rocks sometimes.
[19:34] For all their lives. There will be some limpets in the Gatty Beach. They have lots of limpets. And their whole lives have been stuck on that same rock. Within the sea to go in.
[19:45] And the sea to go in. And get their food. In and out. All the day. All the time. And they're safe. Right now. Now, Jesus. Again, the boys and girls.
[19:55] You guys know this. I say it every week. You guys know this. The boys and girls talk. Who's it for? You guys listen to me. Who doesn't listen sometimes? As well. The mums and dads. The nice and dandards.
[20:06] Boys and girls. And the mums and dads. The nice and dandards. Everyone else together. Jesus calls himself. Who's called. A rock. Isn't he sometimes?
[20:18] Why is Jesus called a rock? What does it give us? What does it tell our that he is a rock? We are almost like limpets.
[20:29] Exactly. And why is that good to remember that Jesus is a rock? Because when a wave is coming and when the sea comes in and out, what happens to us if we are on Jesus?
[20:39] What does it tell us? What does it tell us? What does it tell us? You might get washed out. What do you think? What do you think? What do you think? If we aren't on Jesus? If we are just in the sand, the waves come and the waves go, we get washed out to sea.
[20:52] If we are stuck on to Jesus. And really, unlike limpets, Jesus actually holds on to us. The Bible tells us that we think we hold on to Jesus. We love Jesus. And we talk to Jesus.
[21:03] We pray to Jesus. And we worship Jesus. But really, Jesus holds on to us. And because Jesus is God, do you think Jesus will ever let his people go? Why not?
[21:15] Because he loves his people. And a wee bit like limpets. A wee bit like limpets of the rock. Because he loves his people, he promises he will never ever let his people.
[21:30] Even when storms come and big rains come and big huge rains come. Even when the minister comes and tries to tie that for a limpets off the rock, it doesn't move. Because Jesus tells us, a wee bit like that, he holds on to us.
[21:46] He keeps us safe. What is it that I was a mums and dads, a grand and grand and dads and everyone else here today? Sometimes there are big waves, but it doesn't matter how big things happen, scary things happen. The Bible tells us that if we have Jesus, we burn ourselves stuck in Jesus.
[22:02] If we believe and love Jesus, he actually holds on to us. And we might feel the waves, we might hear the loud noises of the wind and the rain. And we might feel scary, and the light of my disciples gave us a moment.
[22:15] He promises, you know what scary times? He will keep us nice and safe. Because he holds on to us. And he is a rock and he never changes. He always keeps us.
[22:27] What time is the fun barbecue, basic asset playing on Saturday? 12 o'clock. Mum's dad's bail off for a day. You guys will get 12 o'clock.
[22:39] There are Quincy Castles, there might be a barbecue, hopefully. There will be other games and fun. And fun time, as I said, apparently you guys like to soak your ministers, so that will be fun. Because you want to try to grab my feet.
[22:50] I might not, I think. Should I be a party today? Yeah. Yeah? Probably not, sorry. 12 o'clock, Saturday. Ben reminded us. You guys listen so well. Go to your Sunday school.
[23:01] I'll see you all. When? That's not good. Perfect. As the boys and girls go to Sunday school, let's turn to read in God's Word.
[23:19] We have two readings today. Our first reading is in the letter of 1 John.
[23:33] 1 John. 1 John chapter 4. 1 John chapter 4.
[23:46] 1 John chapter 4. 1 John chapter 4. 1 John chapter 4.
[24:04] Let's hear the word of God. 1 John chapter 5. 2 John chapter 15.
[24:16] 1 John. that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.
[24:28] Now the spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them.
[24:44] For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world, therefore they speak from the world. And the world listens to them. We are from God.
[24:56] Whoever knows God listens to us. Whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
[25:08] Beloved, let us love one another. For love is from God. And whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God.
[25:21] Because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us. That God sent his only son into the world. So that we might live through him.
[25:35] In this is love. Not that we have loved God. But that he loved us. And sent his son to be propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us.
[25:47] We also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us. And his love is perfected in us.
[25:59] By this we know that we abide in him and he in us. Because he has given us of his spirit. And we have seen and testify that the father has sent his son to be the saviour of the world.
[26:13] Whoever confesses that Jesus is the son of God. God abides in him. And he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.
[26:26] God is love. And whoever abides in love abides in God. And God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us. So that we may have confidence for the day of judgment.
[26:39] Because as he is, so also we are in this world. There is no fear in love. But perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment.
[26:51] And whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, I love God and hates his brother.
[27:03] He is a liar. But he who does not love his brother whom he has seen. Cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him.
[27:15] Whoever loves God must also love his brother. And then we give praise to God for his holy and his perfect word. Let's again sing to God's praise.
[27:31] Once more and sing psalms. This time from Psalm 98. Sing psalms, Psalm 98. Sing psalms, Psalm 98.
[27:45] We can sing verses 1 down to verse 6. Of the psalm on page 129. Page 129. I will sing a new song to the Lord. For wonders he has done.
[27:57] His right hand and his holy arm. The victory have won. Psalm 98 on page 129. Verses 1 to verse 6. Let's pray.
[28:11] Perhaps. God reven. Out of verse 6. Aboutappropriate power. vienen. And I will sing the Lord.
[28:25] His reign and death, His holy heart, the victory has won.
[28:41] The Lord declared His saving word, I gave Him to belong, to all the nations of the world.
[29:05] His righteous hands to show, the steadfast love and faithfulness, He has remembered.
[29:27] The covenant He paid with Him, the house of Israel.
[29:44] And all the nations of the earth, have seen what God has done.
[30:02] But God who brings Him in advance, by His right hand alone.
[30:19] I claim that our holy earth shall love me and rejoice.
[30:35] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Amen. To Him lift up your voice.
[30:54] With heart make music to the Lord. With heart His praise will sing.
[31:10] With heart be done. With heart rejoice before the Lord the King.
[31:31] Let's for a short time turn back to the chapter we read in 1st John chapter 4. 1st John chapter 4. And looking together from verse 16 down to the end of the chapter.
[31:47] Verses 16 down to verse 21. Let's take for a text verse 16 itself. 1st John 4 verse 16. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.
[32:03] God is love. And whoever abides in love abides in God. And God abides in him. As we come to an end point of our short series.
[32:17] Looking at some of the apostles. Some of the disciples. We can end just now looking at the apostle John. Every other week we have taken a very broad look at one of the disciples lives.
[32:31] When it comes to John. We could easily do the same. John is. We could say the easiest. Or one of the easiest disciples to do this with.
[32:41] We could trace his life. He features so much. In the gospels. We could feature and trace his life. Almost step by step. But rather than do that.
[32:54] As we come to a conclusion. Of this short series. We want to just focus not on one element of his life. But really one element of John's teaching.
[33:05] And it's quite clear what that element is going to be from our reading today. Quite often John is called. And even going right back to the early church fathers.
[33:16] He was known as the apostle of love. The apostle of love. And we live of course in a day and an age where.
[33:27] Where love and its concept and love. What love is and what love means. It's so wide. When we come to look at the life of John.
[33:39] At the teaching of John. We see that for him. Love is clear. It's clear to him what love is. Where it comes from.
[33:51] The power of love. And what love means for us as believers. We perhaps. If we're being very honest.
[34:02] Especially those of us who perhaps know and who love the Lord. As a reaction perhaps to what we see in the world. As a reaction to perhaps what we grew up hearing. We think.
[34:14] We talk about God's love. It's something. Kind of out there. Something wishy-washy. Or something like that. But truly. We see that in scripture.
[34:27] God's love features. Not just as an occasional feature. No. The love of God for his people. Is. The. Core. Of scripture.
[34:38] His glory. His love. His love. For his people. That love is seen from the start. As he promises a saviour.
[34:49] Right to the end. As he takes his people home. To the new heavens. And the new earth. And we've covered this. Next door in the hall. Over the last series. As we saw the gardens in scripture.
[35:00] And every one of the gardens. But his love somehow intertwined in it. When we come as we said. To the. The life of John. He is.
[35:11] One whose life. Can be summarized by love. He was. The beloved disciple. He's the one Jesus turned to. And. We can say trusted. He's the one who we see.
[35:21] So often. Right next to Jesus. The one who Jesus reclined beside. The one who Jesus talks to so much. And shares so much to.
[35:31] And so much with. John's whole life. Is marked out. By love. We come to this passage. This afternoon. In the teaching.
[35:43] The letter. John wrote. To this church. Of course. This is the. The letter. We're looking at. In the evening. Sermons. It all ties in. Quite well.
[35:53] Together. But we come to look. At this short section. Today. We see just. Three elements. Of. The love of God. For you.
[36:05] You have to see. First of all. The source. Of love. The source. Of love. Then the comfort. Of love. And finally. The result.
[36:15] Of love. So the source. The comfort. And. The result. As we come to look. At this section. Let me read. First of all. For you. And for us.
[36:26] A few verses. Just. Two verses. From John. Chapter 13. John 13. Where Jesus. Says this. To disciples.
[36:38] John 13. Verse 34. And verse 35. A new commandment. I give to you. That you love. One another. Just as I. Have loved you. You also.
[36:48] Are to love. One another. By this. All people. Will know. That you are. My disciples. If you have love. For. One another.
[37:02] John's teaching. On love. To this. Small church. As he writes. This letter to them. We see it as. Solely based. What he heard. From his saviour. So as John.
[37:13] Repeats. And teaches. What he heard. From his saviour. Let us also. Today. See what we can hear. And learn. From this. For those of us.
[37:23] Here. Who know. And who love. Jesus. Who love our saviour. We nobody loves us. We've heard it for years. You know yourself. Privately.
[37:35] But perhaps. We are. In the busyness of life. We are so prone. To forgetting. To misunderstanding. To misplacing. The fact. That we have a God.
[37:47] Who loves. His people. That is a true love. A real love. And we'll see that. In a second. For those of us. And those here. Perhaps. Who as of yet.
[37:58] You cannot say. That you know Jesus. You cannot yet. Say that he is yours. As you listen. Once more. To God's word. Just hear. The reality.
[38:08] Of the love of God. For his people. The love of God. For his people. And there is nothing. This day. Stopping you. From enjoying.
[38:20] That love. And knowing. That love. For yourself. By your own. Unwillingness. To come. By your own.
[38:31] Self-righteousness. By your own. Whatever excuses. And they might be valid. But the excuses. Nonetheless. Of coming. And tasting. And seeing. For yourself.
[38:42] That God is good. Love. True love. Comes. From knowing God. Truly. The source of love. We have that.
[38:52] Verses 16. And verse 19. Where is this love. Coming from. What is the source of love. Verse 16. So we have come. To know. And to believe.
[39:03] The love. That God. Has. For us. We have come. To know. As John. Encourages. This small.
[39:14] Suffering. Perhaps. Struggling. Gathering. Of Christians. He reminds them. Brothers and sisters. We have come. To know. We know. The love. We know.
[39:25] The love. That God. Has. For. Us. We have come. To know. How. Had. These Christians. Come.
[39:35] To know it. When. In the midst. Of suffering. In the midst. Of living. In a time. Of oppression. Of government. Oppression. Of invading forces.
[39:46] Of the Romans. Taking over. Their whole lives. That time. Of great. Debauchery. Of great sin. Of great wickedness. They had seen. And come to know.
[39:57] The love of God. How. When the person. Of Jesus. In the person. Of Jesus. As we seek.
[40:07] To live. Our lives today. We live in a world. And we know this ourselves. We live in a world. An island. In a village. In a district. Where we are surrounded.
[40:18] By people. Who are looking. For something. Who are looking. For something. And if you dig. Right down. Into what people.
[40:29] Actually want. In life. As to how. They feel. Truly in life. So many of us. If we are being very honest. We just want. To be loved.
[40:41] And the truth is. And I know some here. Will know this. For yourselves. And indeed. I am sure most of us. If not all of us. Will know this. In some aspect. Whatever love.
[40:51] We find. In life. Relationships. Or family. Friends. It is ever. Ended. Sadly.
[41:03] It is. Somehow. Dirtied. Perhaps. Or muddied. By life. And its situations. It is complicated. At times. It is painful. At times.
[41:14] Even the greatest love. We have. On earth. The greatest. Of our loves. For those. Who are so close to us. Are ended. By time. By circumstances.
[41:25] Or by death. There is no. Continuing love. Yes. We feel the love. But the object. Of our love. It does not continue. Forever. But we come. To the source.
[41:36] Of the love. That John talks about. We come. To see. Real love. Eternal. Love. Love. Love is known. Only through. Seeing.
[41:46] Jesus. Through knowing. Jesus. So we have. Come to know. And to believe. The love. That God. Has. For us. As we said this.
[42:02] On Thursday evening. But we will say it again. To a wider audience. And we have to say it. Because it's clear to us. From here. Dear friends. Dear brothers and sisters. Why does God love his people?
[42:13] God does not love his people. Because of Jesus. Jesus did not come. To make us. Lovable. To make his people. Lovable.
[42:23] You perhaps might think that. But it's not scriptural. No. Jesus was sent. And he came out of. Obedience to the father. Out of love for his people. To redeem.
[42:35] A people. He was sent. Out of love. The father. Saw. The sin. Filled. Dying. And dead. People in this world. He saw the destruction.
[42:47] And misery of sin. And eternity past. Father. Son. And spirit. The father. The father would send the son. The son would come. Not to make. A people lovable.
[43:00] But to save. A people. God. Has set his love on. We covered that. Again on Thursday. Even in detail. But just to remind us. God was not forced. To send Jesus.
[43:12] No one forced his hand. He sent. The son. Because in his perfect plan. He would send a son. The only son. The only son. The only perfect one.
[43:23] Who would live. A perfect life. And die that death. And take on himself. The full wrath. Of a father. So the father could have. And look on us.
[43:34] And call us. His beloved children. God. Does not love us. Because. Of the son.
[43:46] The son came. Because of the love. For the father. For his people. God. Is. Love. We have that famous.
[43:58] Well known statement. Don't we? God. Is. Love. God is love. Let me start. I'm halfway through. Verse 16.
[44:10] God is love. And whoever abides in him. Abides in love. Abides in God. God is love. Three simple words. We find repeated. In this chapter.
[44:21] Three simple words. Which. Which have. Of course. An eternally deep. Significance. An eternally deep. Meaning. God. Is more than love.
[44:34] But he is not less. Than love. God. In his person. Is love. God. In his person. Is justice.
[44:46] Mercy. Grace. Righteousness. and all the attributes of God we could go through and there's tens of hundreds of sermons for each of these attributes. But God is also, at the same time, perfectly, he is love.
[45:04] He is never less than fully love. And the term John uses here for love, we know there's several Greek terms, but the term John uses here for God is love it is a precise term he uses.
[45:22] It's not a generic sense, no. What word does John, the Holy Spirit through John, choose to use to describe the love of God? Literally here, God is agape love.
[45:40] God is agape love. This is the term of deep affection. This is the love of parent to child.
[45:53] This is the deep paternal love. This is the love of family member to family member. When we read here, God is love. God is paternal love.
[46:06] God is love. As father loves a child, God is love. Not some airy, fairy, distant thing. Not some floaty sense. No, in a real sense, God loves his people as a father loves his child.
[46:21] But more than that, because God is God, he is perfect. God loves his people perfectly as a father who is perfect loves his child.
[46:31] For all the parents here who have children and for all those here who have close family ones who you love, younger perhaps family members, think of the love you have for them.
[46:46] Think of how far you would go to show that love to them and think that when we come to God, we have a perfect love. A perfect love. God is love.
[46:56] God is agape love towards his precious people. That's the source of love. In verse 19, we then see the reality of how that source then spreads out.
[47:12] Verse 19, We love because he first loved us. We as Christians love because God first loved us.
[47:26] Darkness, as it were, cannot see light. If we know God, we have indeed seen perfect light as we covered a few evenings ago.
[47:43] If we love God, if we this day love God, it's because he first showed his love to us.
[47:54] We are in darkness. And if God does not and did not intervene in that darkness, we would never see anything but darkness. But God sees us in our darkness.
[48:06] And his love and his mercy, he pours out the light of his love upon his people. Because we see him, because we love him, we can know for certain that we only love him because he first loved us.
[48:22] It probably actually ties in what we covered last Thursday evening next door in the hall. Again, we won't go over it, but Ephesians chapter 1, the reminder, we love God because he first loved us.
[48:34] Before time itself and reality and creation, God loved his people. God set his love on his precious people.
[48:45] God loved and loves his people in eternity past. He loves us and he loved us in sending the sun. And he loves us and shows his ongoing love to us in keeping us, in saving us, in keeping his precious people.
[49:04] The source of love, it all comes from God. And the love from God then gives us comfort, doesn't it? Verses 17 and verse 18. Just two of the elements of comfort we find in knowing God and knowing the love of God.
[49:21] Verse 17. By this is love perfected with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment. Because as he is, so also are we in this world.
[49:34] There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment. And whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
[49:47] Just briefly two elements of the comfort we find in love. Love gives us hope for the end. Hope for the end.
[49:59] As we think of what is ahead of us, we know our own end is coming at some point.
[50:11] That's a grim thought, but it's a true thought. We know our own end is approaching. Perhaps some here feel it's close on ours, but the reality is we don't know. We don't know. But further on than that, there's our own end.
[50:24] We're also, we see here mentioned, do we not, the day of judgment. The day of judgment. By this love is perfected, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment.
[50:39] It sounds almost arrogant when Christians say it, but we say it because Scripture tells us and we believe the word of God to be true. The Christians here, the brothers and sisters, brothers and sisters, we can say with confidence, and we must say it with confidence because we have to believe and take God at his word.
[51:02] When God says if we love him, then we need not fear as we were of a day of judgment, then we must take him at his word. Dear brother, dear sister, if you know and love the Lord, there is no fear for you in the day of judgment.
[51:17] And we know there are many Christians who fear the final day, who fear somehow it'll all go wrong at the end. I understand that. You can appreciate that fear, but it's not a biblical thing to think or to say.
[51:30] In fact, it demeans, it decreases what God says in his word. God tells us here quite clearly as Christians, if we love our Savior, if we know the love of God in our own lives, we have confidence for the day of judgment.
[51:49] Why? All will be judged, yes, all will be judged. All, none will escape as we were of a judgment on that final day of judgment. We know that.
[52:01] What's the difference as we stand as we were before the throne on that final day of judgment? As our whole lives are about to be laid bare before us.
[52:16] What is the difference for us? What we who know Jesus, this side of eternity, we who know him, this side of eternity, this side of the grave, if you could say, when that final day of judgment comes, we'll still be called his on the other side.
[52:43] It is a fear that is genuine, perhaps, but it comes from a place of genuine worry. What if, what if, what if? But, brother and sister, if you know the Lord, if you love the Lord, as God's word here reminds us, there is no place for us to fear.
[53:02] No place for us to fear. God will judge all, yes, he will judge all in righteousness, but he will judge his people also in righteousness.
[53:14] what's the difference in that judgment? Well, the judgment of those who are not his will be done rightfully, full justice, but they'll be judged on their own lives, on their own actions.
[53:31] Those who die without Jesus are judged on who they are and what they have done or not done. Judged on their own failings.
[53:44] Those of us who know and who love the Lord are their lives who laid bare before the throne, we could say, who are we judged on? Our lives, our failings, our faults, our sins.
[54:04] We are judged in love. So we know for certain that we have what? As we heard last Thursday and last Sunday evening, we have an advocate with the Father who has made propitiation for the sins of his people, who says that I have taken on myself the full wrath that Donald deserves and because that is true, therefore, despite his own sin, despite his own waywardness, it's been paid.
[54:38] It's been paid. If we know the love of God just now, we have no fear for the day of judgment. that only applies to the brothers and sisters here.
[54:53] It only applies to the Christians here. Perfect love dispels fear. Verse 18, there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
[55:16] There's no fear. anymore. It's funny, isn't it? We know where to fear God and we believe that and we hold to that, but the Christian hears that different to the non-Christian.
[55:31] Those of us who know Jesus hear that different to those of us who as of yet don't know Jesus. When those of us who perhaps don't know Jesus yet, when you hear where to fear God, you say, I do fear God.
[55:42] I do fear God. He stands over me as judge. I know he sees everything. I know he knows everything. I know that if I go just now, I've got not much hope at all before him.
[55:54] I know that. I do fear him. He knows me. He sees me. He's made me. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.
[56:09] Christians, as we fear God, we fear him not in that sense, but we fear him in a sense that he is glorious. We are in awe of him, in awe of his majesty, of his love, of his care towards us.
[56:26] A good father does not rule his children by fear, but a good father by his goodness, by his love, by his kindness, by his mercy, by his long-suffering causes perhaps his children to be in awe of him.
[56:41] We are in awe of our good father, but it's not fear that debilitates us because we know he loves and sets his love on us.
[56:54] And finally, what is the result then? If we say we're Christians, if we say we love God, then how should that love show itself in our lives? We read, didn't we, in John 13, as Christ himself says, that if we love him, then that love should be shown by loving one another.
[57:12] We see here John repeating the same sentiment, verses 20 and verse 21. If anyone says, I love God and hates his brother, he's a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
[57:29] There is no place for hypocrisy in the church. Dear Christian, there is no place for hypocrisy. There is no place to say we love God in our hearts hate that I brother or sister.
[57:40] Well, that doesn't happen here, surely. I haven't heard it. I don't know of the happening. But chances are it's happened or it's happening or will happen.
[57:52] Why? Is it because the folks from our tall star are somehow more hateful and the rest know because they are brother and sister and we might be but we are still saved sinners. And we will find in our hearts reasons to despise and at times to our shame hate perhaps a brother and sister in the faith.
[58:11] No matter how justifiable we think our reasons are, we have no space. We have no justification in scripture from our father to hate a brother or a sister.
[58:26] We are truly brothers and sisters. Truly brothers and sisters. If we say I love God but we hate a brother or sister God is clear we are making ourselves out to be liars.
[58:39] We are family and we know that in family circles now I'm an only child but I'm even even I am aware of it. In family circles of brothers and sisters there are times when brothers and sisters don't like each other particularly all that much.
[58:53] There are times when brothers and sisters will fall out over important things and less than important things. There are times when brothers and sisters can't stand being in the same room as each other perhaps.
[59:07] But there is no space for hate in the church of God. If you find and if I find myself or ourselves having hatred towards a brother or a sister if they have wronged us perhaps they have but if there is hatred in our hearts towards them then we must take ourselves back to this verse and before God we must repent of that hatred.
[59:35] If anyone says I love God and hates his brother not dislikes or disagrees with there's space for that there must be but hates hates his brother he's a liar.
[59:50] And the final verse here again it's quoting really from Jesus and this commandment we have from him from Jesus whoever loves God must also love his brother.
[60:05] It's not a suggestion. It's not a suggestion. It doesn't say if your brother or sister is lovable. If your brother and sister and sister and Christ is acting in a lovable way you must love them.
[60:18] No. We must love them. Now to love them does not mean we capitulate to them. To love them does not mean we are a doormat for them. To love them does not mean that we don't confront sin that they are doing towards us.
[60:32] We can love them and still be clear as to how they have wronged us. But even as we address perhaps the wrongs and the genuine wrongs they have done towards us we must not hate them.
[60:48] How does the world know we belong to Jesus? Why is all this so important to us? It's a red isn't it? John 13 as Jesus gives his word to disciples as the end draws closer and closer Jesus in verse 45 of John 13 speaking of the love we have for each other.
[61:14] By this all people let's put Tulsa in that by this Tulsa by this North Tulsa by this our friends and our family by this North Tulsa will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.
[61:32] If you have love for one another. Dear brothers dear sisters we are here to love one another to support one another to try and carry one another in these strange days in these dark days.
[61:46] As we meditate and spend time this day thinking of the love God has shown us we must then take that love we have received and show that same love at times that same forbearance and long sufferingness to those who are brothers and sisters who also have been shown the same love from God.
[62:11] The love God has for us is the same love for our brothers and our sisters. We are here to love one another to support one another. I'll finish with this.
[62:23] Dear friends dear as of and yet saved friends you are loved we love you but our desire is and our love for you our desire is that you would come to know for yourselves the love of God the love of family and friends and our love for you and my love for you it is real but the love of God is eternally real it will never fail you he will never let you down he will never let you go I said to the boys and the girls it's a silly example but it makes sense for all the winds and storms and waves of life as you find yourself we pray founded and stuck on to the rock that is Jesus as the winds come and the waves come and as the storms come and go you will feel it it will at times be miserable but you are kept he keeps the ones he loves and he loves the ones he keeps that is the hope we have in our saviour this day our prayer is indeed our desire is that you come to know that love for yourselves there is no one and nothing stopping you you must come you have heard it a million times a thousand times from various ministers various friends and family members you must come the love of our father is there for all those children only you would receive it for yourselves that's our heads now a word of prayer lord we thank you lord for the gift of your word once more help us we ask as we come to a conclusion of our service we would leave this place having heard perhaps once more and been reminded once more of the love that god has for his people the love you have for your beloved people the love you have shown to us in giving us your son help us to understand that perfect love casts out all fear to come just now we come as those who know and who love you and we know that you hold on to us as we try and cling on to you but you promised never let us go pray once more for our friends here who as of yet don't know
[64:36] Jesus we ask that one day soon even this day we'd come to know him and come to love him and come to know that unending eternal love for themselves in their own lives ask all these things praying once more for the one who leads worship we thank you lord for the gifts of those who lead worship week to week they would know that they have an important and essential part in your public worship it's got all these things in and through and for Christ's precious name's sake amen let's bring our time of worship to a conclusion by singing to his praise in the Scottish Psalter in the Psalter in Psalm 93 the Scottish Psalter on Psalm 93 it's on page 354 page 354 Psalm 93 the Lord the Lord doth reign and clothed as he with majesty most bright his works to show him clothed to be and girt about with might the world is also established but it cannot depart thy throne is fixed of old and thou from everlasting art
[65:51] Psalm 93 the whole Psalm to God's praise the Lord did reign and clothed in sea with majesty most bright his works to show him clothed to me and give that with might the world is also salvaged that it cannot depart thy throne is peace of old you the flood oh lord have lived yep they lived till the horizon de flushing may
[67:17] Now lifteth up their ways, and may thy mighty voice.
[67:30] Forgive the Lord that is on high, his sword of my fire.
[67:45] Now lifteth up their ways, and may thy mighty voice.
[68:15] Now lifteth up their ways, and may thy mighty voice. Now lifteth up their ways, and may thy mighty voice. Now lifteth up their ways, and may thy mighty voice.
[68:33] Now lifteth up their ways, and may thy mighty voice. In the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, both of you now and forevermore.
[68:45] Amen. Amen. Thank you. Amen. Amen. About restoring come and care.