WEBVTT 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:05.780 Well, good morning. It's good to see you all. Thank you for your prayers as we were on vacation. 00:00:06.540 --> 00:00:15.679 It is good to be back with you all, and it's a joy to be back in fellowship. 00:00:16.019 --> 00:00:22.280 I do just want to echo Tyler's. Our partnership with I Heart New Haven has two things going on right now. 00:00:22.280 --> 00:00:31.500 Particularly, I Heart New Haven is coming up in two weeks, and it is a wonderful place for us to live out the call to love one another, 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:36.700 to love our city, and to love the brothers and sisters who fellowship in other churches. 00:00:37.420 --> 00:00:41.740 It's a time of gathering and then service in the city, and so we'd love to. 00:00:42.140 --> 00:00:45.100 If you haven't signed up for that, you can sign up. 00:00:45.460 --> 00:00:50.859 If you get our weekly email through that, or if you can go to the Bridges of Hope New Haven website. 00:00:50.859 --> 00:00:58.700 And also, I see this bucket over there. Backpacks. We're still collecting stuff. Spondin, are we still collecting stuff? 00:00:59.079 --> 00:01:04.260 So, still collecting stuff to give to kids, so they'll have supplies to go back to school. 00:01:04.379 --> 00:01:08.200 So, if you'd like to be a part of that, Dan can help you with that. 00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:14.680 So, I think that is all that I needed to say. 00:01:14.680 --> 00:01:21.980 And so, the Beatles sang a song a long time ago. 00:01:22.880 --> 00:01:27.500 All you need is love. All you need is love. All you need is love. 00:01:27.980 --> 00:01:29.780 Love is all you need. Right? 00:01:29.780 --> 00:01:38.700 Love is one of the most central, fundamental human dynamics of history. Right? 00:01:38.900 --> 00:01:42.340 It is an impulse, a desire, a need. 00:01:42.579 --> 00:01:46.000 It is something that affects absolutely every one of us. 00:01:46.099 --> 00:01:49.060 Great literature is filled with love stories. 00:01:49.480 --> 00:01:52.640 Love for country, love for others, love for family. 00:01:53.120 --> 00:01:55.120 Love in many, many different ways. 00:01:55.120 --> 00:02:01.280 It is one of the most characteristic things about being a human being. 00:02:02.700 --> 00:02:09.319 And it is one of the most characteristic things of what Christianity has always been about. 00:02:10.099 --> 00:02:15.200 When I first came to faith in Christ in high school, I was introduced to a short worship song. 00:02:15.740 --> 00:02:19.900 They will know we are Christians by our love, by our love. 00:02:19.900 --> 00:02:26.659 They will know we are Christians by our love, based on the words that Jesus said to his disciples in John 13. 00:02:27.099 --> 00:02:32.000 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another just as I have loved you. 00:02:32.280 --> 00:02:34.439 You also are to love one another. 00:02:34.719 --> 00:02:42.960 By this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. 00:02:42.960 --> 00:02:50.340 We think as well of Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount in chapter 5 where he says, 00:02:50.439 --> 00:02:55.159 You have heard it said, you have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 00:02:55.920 --> 00:03:01.900 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 00:03:02.420 --> 00:03:07.040 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. 00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:14.159 So love is fundamental to the Christian faith. 00:03:14.719 --> 00:03:15.479 It is central. 00:03:16.399 --> 00:03:19.919 But maybe you have tried to love someone. 00:03:20.919 --> 00:03:27.780 Your brother or sister, your sibling, your family, a difficult parent, your spouse. 00:03:28.019 --> 00:03:31.319 The people who are closest to you are often the hardest people to love. 00:03:31.319 --> 00:03:37.159 But then we also find all the really annoying people in the world who don't conform to our desires, 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:38.919 who don't serve our needs. 00:03:39.859 --> 00:03:46.759 And we realize if we're self-aware how difficult it is to love, 00:03:48.019 --> 00:03:50.039 I would challenge you. 00:03:51.299 --> 00:03:56.159 Try to be loving to everybody perfectly for the next week. 00:03:56.459 --> 00:03:57.719 Then come back and report. 00:03:58.139 --> 00:03:59.280 We'll have a little talk. 00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:02.719 Maybe my sermon will be more useful after that than before. 00:04:02.919 --> 00:04:03.560 But here we go. 00:04:04.439 --> 00:04:05.819 It's really hard. 00:04:07.420 --> 00:04:13.240 Sometimes we have moments where we can show great love, even heroic, sacrificial love. 00:04:13.580 --> 00:04:19.139 But to continue in love, to press on in love, to love in the big and small. 00:04:20.819 --> 00:04:22.360 How hard it is. 00:04:24.420 --> 00:04:27.100 1 John speaks to this this morning. 00:04:27.100 --> 00:04:38.760 Helping us understand how the gospel shows us dynamics of love that empower us to be those who love one another. 00:04:40.439 --> 00:04:45.860 We're going to look at the passage in 1 John chapter 4, starting in verse 7. 00:04:46.260 --> 00:04:47.920 I forgot to look up the page number. 00:04:48.080 --> 00:04:49.160 Someone have it in the Pew Bible? 00:04:49.820 --> 00:04:50.040 What? 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:50.939 9.61? 00:04:51.379 --> 00:04:51.740 Great. 00:04:51.740 --> 00:04:53.519 9.61 in the Pew Bible. 00:04:53.900 --> 00:04:55.240 1 John chapter 4. 00:04:55.540 --> 00:04:59.920 And as we look at this, I do want to give you a sort of warning up front. 00:05:00.379 --> 00:05:04.139 We are not going to learn how to love as in what does it look like. 00:05:04.439 --> 00:05:05.500 This is the shape of it. 00:05:05.540 --> 00:05:08.199 If you want some of that, Pastor Nick preached on this two weeks ago. 00:05:08.199 --> 00:05:09.620 So go back to our sermon. 00:05:09.899 --> 00:05:10.740 Go back to our website. 00:05:10.860 --> 00:05:11.959 You can listen to that sermon. 00:05:12.259 --> 00:05:15.319 It will give you a bit more of what does it look like to love. 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:25.079 This is going to be more about how is it that the gospel can fuel our love and enable us to actually be loving in the way that God calls us to. 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:29.000 So, with that, let's read our passage together. 00:05:29.139 --> 00:05:32.779 1 John chapter 4, starting in verse 7. 00:05:32.939 --> 00:05:34.480 We'll read to the end of the chapter. 00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:40.140 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God. 00:05:40.500 --> 00:05:44.460 And whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 00:05:45.200 --> 00:05:51.080 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 00:05:52.000 --> 00:06:00.660 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. 00:06:00.660 --> 00:06:10.720 In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 00:06:11.580 --> 00:06:15.980 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 00:06:16.820 --> 00:06:18.160 No one has ever seen God. 00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:23.420 If we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us. 00:06:23.420 --> 00:06:31.020 By this, we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:38.920 And we have seen and testified that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. 00:06:39.540 --> 00:06:44.160 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God. 00:06:44.160 --> 00:06:50.120 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. 00:06:50.980 --> 00:06:51.960 God is love. 00:06:52.700 --> 00:06:56.120 Whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 00:06:57.200 --> 00:07:06.260 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment. 00:07:07.160 --> 00:07:11.860 Because as he is, so also are we in the world. 00:07:11.860 --> 00:07:16.360 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. 00:07:17.139 --> 00:07:22.580 For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 00:07:23.379 --> 00:07:26.780 We love because he first loved us. 00:07:27.520 --> 00:07:31.220 If anyone says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. 00:07:31.780 --> 00:07:37.639 For he who does not love his brother, whom he cannot, who he has seen. 00:07:38.439 --> 00:07:39.560 Let me read that again. 00:07:39.660 --> 00:07:40.460 Let's get this right. 00:07:40.459 --> 00:07:44.659 If anyone says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. 00:07:45.419 --> 00:07:53.279 For he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 00:07:54.039 --> 00:08:01.279 And this commandment we have from him, whoever loves God must also love his brother. 00:08:02.079 --> 00:08:05.779 Let's pray and ask for God's help as we read this word together. 00:08:05.779 --> 00:08:12.679 Oh, Lord Jesus, we thank you this morning for the privilege and the joy it is to gather. 00:08:13.459 --> 00:08:15.119 Lord, we thank you for your word. 00:08:15.939 --> 00:08:19.199 Lord, that in it you have revealed yourself to us. 00:08:19.399 --> 00:08:29.539 And Lord, you have shown us not only your nature and your character, but Lord, also you have instructed us on what it means to be your children. 00:08:29.540 --> 00:08:35.779 And Lord, what it is to come to faith and a restored relationship with you. 00:08:36.420 --> 00:08:38.560 God, I pray this morning for your help. 00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:44.379 Lord, I ask that you would help me, that my words would be clear, that I would speak what I ought. 00:08:44.940 --> 00:08:48.360 And Lord, that I would be faithful to your word. 00:08:48.360 --> 00:08:52.180 Lord, I pray for all of us that we would sit under your word. 00:08:52.440 --> 00:08:56.139 And Lord, that we would receive it today from you. 00:08:57.600 --> 00:09:01.480 Oh, Lord, be with us now, we pray in Jesus' name. 00:09:02.419 --> 00:09:02.639 Amen. 00:09:08.779 --> 00:09:13.740 Friends, the message of our passage this morning is not rocket science. 00:09:14.300 --> 00:09:16.220 It is not difficult. 00:09:16.220 --> 00:09:18.340 It is simply this. 00:09:18.500 --> 00:09:22.379 God's people love because we know his love for us in Christ. 00:09:23.420 --> 00:09:26.540 Now, we're going to unpack that, hopefully, and make that more meaningful. 00:09:27.100 --> 00:09:29.340 But it's, there it is, right there. 00:09:29.860 --> 00:09:32.519 The command is very clear, right? 00:09:32.600 --> 00:09:33.320 It's framed. 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:36.360 The passage is framed in verse 7 and in verse 21. 00:09:37.540 --> 00:09:40.019 Love one another, right? 00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:41.940 We are to love one another. 00:09:42.040 --> 00:09:43.420 We must love one another. 00:09:43.419 --> 00:09:46.579 Verse 11 says, we ought to love one another. 00:09:46.860 --> 00:09:55.000 Verse 20 even ratchets it up a little bit to say, if we say that we love God, but we don't love our brother, 00:09:55.620 --> 00:10:01.740 we don't love our brother who we can see, who is in the flesh, who we can actually interact with, 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:04.479 then we cannot say that we love God. 00:10:04.480 --> 00:10:11.759 It is incongruous for someone to say, I am a follower of Jesus and I love God, but I hate people. 00:10:14.340 --> 00:10:17.539 God commands us to love one another. 00:10:17.800 --> 00:10:24.100 And what John does here is give us an understanding of the dynamics, the gospel dynamics of love, 00:10:24.100 --> 00:10:30.639 so that we can understand and appropriate these things and live out the command that he's given us. 00:10:31.820 --> 00:10:33.759 If you're taking notes, here's your outline. 00:10:33.860 --> 00:10:34.720 There are three sections. 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:38.500 Verse 8 through 10, we're going to talk about God being love. 00:10:40.399 --> 00:10:45.300 Verses 11 through 16, we're going to talk about abiding in God's love. 00:10:45.299 --> 00:10:52.620 And then in verse 17 through 19, we're going to talk about the power of God's love for us. 00:10:53.399 --> 00:10:55.240 So let's look at these in order. 00:10:56.219 --> 00:10:59.539 Verses 8 through 10, God is love. 00:10:59.599 --> 00:11:01.199 This is what we see in verse 8. 00:11:01.899 --> 00:11:04.859 As we look again, anyone who does not love does not know God. 00:11:04.959 --> 00:11:05.240 Why? 00:11:05.719 --> 00:11:07.959 Because God is love. 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:13.599 One of the most profound statements in the whole scripture, right? 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:19.600 It's not merely referring to his actions, but it's referring to his character and to his nature. 00:11:19.940 --> 00:11:23.659 It is not just that he loves in action, though he does do that. 00:11:23.720 --> 00:11:29.220 It's not just that he values love, that he thinks it's important, but that he is love. 00:11:29.300 --> 00:11:32.580 It is fundamental to his nature and his person. 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:41.000 And as the creator, he is the fount from which all love originates and all love flows. 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:46.320 This is why humanity throughout all the ages has always talked about love. 00:11:46.379 --> 00:11:49.559 Because God created humans in his image. 00:11:50.179 --> 00:11:54.519 And because he is love, one of the most fundamental descriptors of who he is, 00:11:54.759 --> 00:11:58.320 then we as human beings know that there is love in the world. 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:02.820 And though we always mess it up, we know that it's meant to be there and good. 00:12:02.820 --> 00:12:10.379 Because as his creation made in his image, we know this creator who is love. 00:12:10.540 --> 00:12:12.620 And he is the origin of it. 00:12:14.740 --> 00:12:19.920 But we need to think a little bit more carefully about what it means for God to be love. 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:25.060 Because in our culture today, there might be all sorts of things that we think of when you say God is love. 00:12:25.059 --> 00:12:29.419 You might think God is tolerant or just God is nice. 00:12:30.339 --> 00:12:38.079 Weirdly, you might think God is an erotic or a sexual being, which some people have taken over history. 00:12:38.719 --> 00:12:38.799 Right? 00:12:38.899 --> 00:12:46.579 So there are lots of different ways that our culture might use the word love that the Bible doesn't. 00:12:46.580 --> 00:12:56.639 And on top of that, we see that when it talks about God being a loving God in the scriptures, 00:12:57.560 --> 00:13:01.460 there are different aspects or different ways in which he shows his love 00:13:01.460 --> 00:13:05.860 that sometimes can be confusing if we don't think carefully about it. 00:13:05.940 --> 00:13:06.900 This is so helpful. 00:13:07.139 --> 00:13:08.100 All right, little books. 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:12.540 So two books by one of my seminary professors, a guy named Don Carson, 00:13:12.540 --> 00:13:16.300 The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God and Love in Hard Places. 00:13:16.580 --> 00:13:19.780 This is three lectures about the nature of God. 00:13:20.200 --> 00:13:24.420 This is five lectures about how we live it out in hard circumstances. 00:13:25.080 --> 00:13:29.160 They're free to the first people come to me after service because I'm giving away. 00:13:29.480 --> 00:13:29.800 They're great. 00:13:30.100 --> 00:13:34.120 Part of what he argues in this is that when you look carefully into the scriptures, 00:13:34.639 --> 00:13:38.560 God's love is not a simple thing, but it is a complex thing. 00:13:38.560 --> 00:13:43.020 And so God has a love, for instance, among himself in the Trinity. 00:13:43.019 --> 00:13:47.059 The Father loves the Son just as the Son loves the Father. 00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:49.899 That's what he says in John 5.20. 00:13:50.539 --> 00:13:57.139 There's another sense in which God loves, he has a providential love for the entire universe. 00:13:57.399 --> 00:14:00.679 As the creator, he loves everything that he has created. 00:14:01.159 --> 00:14:04.639 So he sends rain on the wicked as well as on the righteous. 00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:07.019 He lovingly upholds the world. 00:14:07.019 --> 00:14:12.379 We see this in places like Matthew 4 or in Acts 17, right? 00:14:12.579 --> 00:14:20.439 It's also true that God has a particular inviting, seeking, saving love for his fallen world. 00:14:20.899 --> 00:14:23.500 And so one of the most famous verses in the Bible, 00:14:23.980 --> 00:14:27.960 God so loved the world that he sent his only Son, 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:32.939 that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 00:14:32.940 --> 00:14:42.120 But then there are other ways where God talks about a special choosing love that he has for his own people. 00:14:42.120 --> 00:14:46.320 So in Deuteronomy 7, God said to them, 00:14:46.420 --> 00:14:52.300 it is not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, 00:14:52.380 --> 00:14:54.040 for you were the fewest of all people. 00:14:54.340 --> 00:14:57.380 But it is because the Lord loves you. 00:14:57.379 --> 00:15:01.379 And in independence and out of his own initiative, 00:15:01.820 --> 00:15:05.240 he loves his people in a unique and saving way. 00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:11.779 And then, even within that, with his love for his saving people, 00:15:11.939 --> 00:15:17.220 there is a sense in which God's love is conditional based on his obedience. 00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:22.039 God loves his obedient children in a special way 00:15:22.039 --> 00:15:26.879 that is not shared with all of his children in the same way. 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:30.059 So in 1 John chapter 3, it says, 00:15:30.559 --> 00:15:33.799 If anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, 00:15:33.860 --> 00:15:35.759 yet closes his heart against him, 00:15:36.120 --> 00:15:38.740 how does God's love abide in him? 00:15:40.600 --> 00:15:42.820 So we need to think carefully, 00:15:42.820 --> 00:15:45.220 because if we confuse these things, 00:15:45.559 --> 00:15:47.439 we see that there are some places where, 00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:50.860 in some ways, God's love is for all people. 00:15:51.039 --> 00:15:55.600 In some ways, God's love is particularly for his special people. 00:15:55.600 --> 00:16:00.120 There is a way in which God's love is unconditional for all of creation. 00:16:01.180 --> 00:16:04.040 There is a way in which God's, or for the elect, 00:16:04.180 --> 00:16:08.720 but there's a way in which God's love is particular for obedient children, 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:09.960 and so on and so forth. 00:16:09.980 --> 00:16:11.420 If we collapse these together, 00:16:11.560 --> 00:16:13.080 we get really confused, 00:16:13.080 --> 00:16:15.040 and then we become disappointed, 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:16.700 because we thought God was loving, 00:16:16.940 --> 00:16:19.879 and then he's not loving in all the ways we think he ought to be. 00:16:19.879 --> 00:16:25.960 God is not confused in his love, 00:16:26.059 --> 00:16:27.700 but he is complex, 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:30.419 and it depends on his context, 00:16:30.779 --> 00:16:32.799 how he expresses his love. 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:38.100 That was a freebie. 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:41.000 It's not what John is talking about this morning. 00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:44.779 What John does, right after he says, 00:16:45.299 --> 00:16:46.159 God is love, 00:16:46.539 --> 00:16:47.799 he then goes on to say, 00:16:48.159 --> 00:16:49.480 how do we know God's love? 00:16:49.879 --> 00:16:51.840 Look with me again in verses 9 and 10. 00:16:52.460 --> 00:16:54.080 How do we know God's love? 00:16:54.559 --> 00:16:55.440 This way. 00:16:56.379 --> 00:16:58.039 And the reason why this is so important 00:16:58.039 --> 00:17:01.820 is because we always, as humans, struggle. 00:17:02.600 --> 00:17:03.580 Because we ask, 00:17:04.039 --> 00:17:06.140 how can God be a loving God if, 00:17:06.440 --> 00:17:08.440 and we look at a circumstance in our life. 00:17:08.440 --> 00:17:10.960 We look at something going on in the world, 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:12.940 or we look at something in our own lives, 00:17:13.059 --> 00:17:14.320 whether we're suffering, 00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:16.860 whether we have unmet hopes or desires, 00:17:17.380 --> 00:17:20.100 whether we've suffered loss or trauma. 00:17:21.460 --> 00:17:24.400 These things make it hard to see God's love. 00:17:24.980 --> 00:17:26.180 And that makes sense. 00:17:26.580 --> 00:17:28.240 Don't want to, like, belittle those. 00:17:28.299 --> 00:17:30.500 Those are not unimportant questions 00:17:30.500 --> 00:17:33.200 or important processes to work through. 00:17:33.740 --> 00:17:35.539 But what John does is says, 00:17:35.539 --> 00:17:38.539 if you want to know where to look, 00:17:38.680 --> 00:17:41.500 to know with absolute confidence 00:17:41.500 --> 00:17:43.039 that God is love, 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:44.879 here is where you can look. 00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:46.039 Verse 9. 00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:49.220 This is how God's love was made manifest, 00:17:49.399 --> 00:17:50.920 that is revealed, made known, 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:52.619 so that everyone can see it. 00:17:53.420 --> 00:17:56.519 God sent his son into the world 00:17:56.519 --> 00:17:58.619 so that we might live through him. 00:17:59.039 --> 00:18:00.980 God's disposition for us 00:18:00.980 --> 00:18:04.139 is that we would not die in our sin and fallenness, 00:18:04.140 --> 00:18:06.340 but that we would live through his son. 00:18:06.920 --> 00:18:09.759 And so his son came to bring us blessing 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:15.100 and life in a renewed spiritual relationship with him. 00:18:16.060 --> 00:18:16.700 Verse 10. 00:18:17.160 --> 00:18:18.180 This is love. 00:18:19.040 --> 00:18:20.480 Not that we loved God, 00:18:21.340 --> 00:18:23.140 but that he loved us. 00:18:23.460 --> 00:18:25.340 And in a particular way, he did it. 00:18:25.380 --> 00:18:29.020 He sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. 00:18:29.660 --> 00:18:31.160 Now, if you were here earlier this summer, 00:18:31.280 --> 00:18:32.140 I already did this, 00:18:32.200 --> 00:18:32.880 but I'm going to do it again. 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:33.860 Again, propitiation, 00:18:34.020 --> 00:18:36.140 this is your 25-cent theological word. 00:18:36.220 --> 00:18:36.980 What does it mean? 00:18:37.320 --> 00:18:39.900 It means to satisfy the justice 00:18:39.900 --> 00:18:42.640 and the wrath of someone against evil. 00:18:45.040 --> 00:18:47.040 The wages of sin is death, 00:18:47.180 --> 00:18:48.320 according to the Bible. 00:18:48.780 --> 00:18:51.160 God hates sin because all sin is evil. 00:18:51.580 --> 00:18:52.980 We think that's a good thing 00:18:52.980 --> 00:18:54.240 until we have to say, 00:18:54.360 --> 00:18:55.560 I'm a sinner too, 00:18:55.620 --> 00:18:57.340 and then we think it's a terrible idea. 00:18:57.540 --> 00:18:58.460 And we think, no, no, no, 00:18:58.460 --> 00:18:59.480 I'm not really that bad. 00:18:59.480 --> 00:19:00.980 But all sin is evil, 00:19:00.980 --> 00:19:02.460 and we need it to be judged, 00:19:02.539 --> 00:19:03.700 and we want it to be judged. 00:19:03.960 --> 00:19:05.160 So God comes, 00:19:05.480 --> 00:19:06.160 and he says, 00:19:06.519 --> 00:19:07.579 I love you, 00:19:07.620 --> 00:19:10.019 and I want to rescue you from your predicament. 00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:13.019 And so I'm going to send my very son, 00:19:13.339 --> 00:19:17.079 and he's going to be the substitute in your place 00:19:17.079 --> 00:19:18.700 to take my wrath, 00:19:19.000 --> 00:19:22.559 to die in your place, 00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:25.200 taking my judgment upon your sin. 00:19:27.059 --> 00:19:29.099 This is how we know 00:19:29.099 --> 00:19:32.179 that God loves us. 00:19:33.240 --> 00:19:36.460 The Father gave his Son for us. 00:19:36.839 --> 00:19:39.379 The Son willingly obeyed 00:19:39.379 --> 00:19:43.220 and came and laid down his life for us. 00:19:43.220 --> 00:19:49.140 His love is a disposition towards us 00:19:49.140 --> 00:19:53.279 that is shown in this unchangeable action 00:19:53.279 --> 00:19:56.900 that is costly and sacrificial to him. 00:19:58.420 --> 00:19:59.839 God is love. 00:20:01.960 --> 00:20:04.740 So how does this help us with the hardships of life, 00:20:04.839 --> 00:20:06.279 the question I raised earlier? 00:20:06.279 --> 00:20:14.660 Well, I'll share personally about this. 00:20:15.019 --> 00:20:16.420 When my father died 00:20:16.420 --> 00:20:19.079 without professing faith in Christ, 00:20:20.079 --> 00:20:22.519 I wondered, 00:20:23.059 --> 00:20:25.680 God, where is your love in this? 00:20:27.139 --> 00:20:28.639 And when I looked at the circumstances, 00:20:28.819 --> 00:20:29.700 I thought, I don't know. 00:20:30.660 --> 00:20:32.480 But I could look at the cross, 00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:36.640 and I knew that if God loved me 00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:38.620 and God loved the world so much 00:20:38.620 --> 00:20:39.720 that he sent his Son, 00:20:41.700 --> 00:20:45.519 that my God would not be unjust to my dad. 00:20:46.319 --> 00:20:47.539 And I could trust him 00:20:47.539 --> 00:20:49.819 that his loving care, 00:20:50.620 --> 00:20:52.839 I don't know if my dad is saved. 00:20:53.099 --> 00:20:55.920 I don't have any reason to believe that he would be. 00:20:57.440 --> 00:20:59.180 But I've come to have peace 00:20:59.180 --> 00:21:03.039 that God showed love even to my dad. 00:21:06.180 --> 00:21:07.940 It's the same place that I went 00:21:07.940 --> 00:21:10.180 when my first wife was diagnosed with cancer. 00:21:11.299 --> 00:21:13.320 It's where we went to look. 00:21:16.140 --> 00:21:18.820 When everything else went gray and flat, 00:21:19.080 --> 00:21:21.740 and it felt like there's so much 00:21:21.740 --> 00:21:24.779 in our circumstances 00:21:24.779 --> 00:21:27.220 where it would be so easy to say, 00:21:27.220 --> 00:21:28.559 God, how can you love us 00:21:28.559 --> 00:21:30.579 if this is what we have to walk through? 00:21:33.940 --> 00:21:34.799 But we looked, 00:21:35.500 --> 00:21:36.759 and there was the cross. 00:21:37.259 --> 00:21:38.539 And we're standing there. 00:21:38.900 --> 00:21:42.400 And Jesus went there for us. 00:21:42.860 --> 00:21:44.700 And I know from that 00:21:44.700 --> 00:21:46.180 that he loved me, 00:21:46.299 --> 00:21:47.799 and he loved us. 00:21:49.079 --> 00:21:51.120 And he came that we might have life. 00:21:51.119 --> 00:21:55.759 And it was this that carried us through 00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:57.039 my wife's illness. 00:21:57.679 --> 00:22:00.319 And even in the last days of facing death, 00:22:00.759 --> 00:22:02.859 it was his love 00:22:02.859 --> 00:22:04.859 shown in Jesus 00:22:04.859 --> 00:22:06.239 that gave us hope. 00:22:10.619 --> 00:22:12.759 So we don't look at our circumstances. 00:22:12.759 --> 00:22:14.239 We look at the cross, 00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:16.039 and that's where we know 00:22:16.039 --> 00:22:18.219 that God is love. 00:22:18.220 --> 00:22:23.519 Having said this then, 00:22:24.299 --> 00:22:25.259 in verse 11, 00:22:25.779 --> 00:22:27.019 John reminds us, 00:22:27.740 --> 00:22:29.920 if we know this God who has loved us, 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:32.000 we ought to then love one another. 00:22:32.140 --> 00:22:34.220 We ought to abide in his love. 00:22:34.539 --> 00:22:35.680 And this is the next section 00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:37.220 in verses 12 through 16. 00:22:37.660 --> 00:22:39.180 Abiding in the love 00:22:39.180 --> 00:22:41.059 that God has for us. 00:22:41.100 --> 00:22:41.720 And abiding, 00:22:42.059 --> 00:22:43.600 this is living a life, 00:22:44.059 --> 00:22:45.339 the life of love 00:22:45.339 --> 00:22:48.059 is a life of vital relationship with God. 00:22:48.500 --> 00:22:49.379 Abiding is a word 00:22:49.379 --> 00:22:50.500 you've probably heard. 00:22:50.779 --> 00:22:52.319 It's translated in various places. 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:53.000 Remain, 00:22:53.099 --> 00:22:53.799 to continue, 00:22:54.099 --> 00:22:55.059 to stand firm, 00:22:55.359 --> 00:22:57.319 to continue to live in. 00:22:57.960 --> 00:22:58.480 You remember, 00:22:58.639 --> 00:23:00.019 Jesus uses the image 00:23:00.019 --> 00:23:01.859 of a vine and a branch. 00:23:02.279 --> 00:23:02.460 Right? 00:23:02.559 --> 00:23:03.980 So a tree branch 00:23:03.980 --> 00:23:05.720 abides in the tree 00:23:05.720 --> 00:23:08.099 by staying vitally connected to it. 00:23:08.220 --> 00:23:09.599 If it is broken off, 00:23:09.659 --> 00:23:11.159 if it is disconnected, 00:23:11.539 --> 00:23:13.379 then the branch dies. 00:23:14.179 --> 00:23:14.460 Right? 00:23:14.460 --> 00:23:15.920 And this is what 00:23:15.920 --> 00:23:19.380 Jesus uses as a picture 00:23:19.380 --> 00:23:21.740 for us abiding in God 00:23:21.740 --> 00:23:23.519 and abiding in his love. 00:23:24.120 --> 00:23:25.440 But what John does here 00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:26.680 is take it one step further 00:23:26.680 --> 00:23:27.240 and he says, 00:23:27.720 --> 00:23:30.900 our vertical relationship with God 00:23:30.900 --> 00:23:32.160 is also then, 00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:32.740 therefore, 00:23:33.120 --> 00:23:35.319 affected by our horizontal relationships 00:23:35.319 --> 00:23:36.500 with one another. 00:23:36.640 --> 00:23:37.440 So verse 12, 00:23:37.539 --> 00:23:38.420 look with me at it. 00:23:38.420 --> 00:23:40.720 No one has ever seen God. 00:23:40.820 --> 00:23:42.500 If we love one another, 00:23:43.340 --> 00:23:44.560 not love God, 00:23:44.660 --> 00:23:46.500 but if we love one another, 00:23:47.460 --> 00:23:49.700 God's love abides in us 00:23:49.700 --> 00:23:52.480 and his love is perfected in us. 00:23:52.860 --> 00:23:53.700 And that perfection, 00:23:54.100 --> 00:23:55.000 just so we're clear, 00:23:55.140 --> 00:23:55.620 is not, 00:23:56.680 --> 00:23:58.480 it means that we love perfectly. 00:23:59.240 --> 00:24:00.680 The perfection here is that 00:24:00.680 --> 00:24:02.000 it means that God's love 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:03.580 is having its final 00:24:03.580 --> 00:24:06.220 or intended effect upon us. 00:24:06.220 --> 00:24:07.039 Right? 00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:08.539 When God's love 00:24:08.539 --> 00:24:09.720 is perfected in us, 00:24:09.839 --> 00:24:10.539 it is shown 00:24:10.539 --> 00:24:11.940 because we love one another. 00:24:12.160 --> 00:24:13.680 And that's one of the purposes 00:24:13.680 --> 00:24:15.079 that God has loved us for, 00:24:15.180 --> 00:24:16.720 so that we might then turn 00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:18.339 and love one another. 00:24:19.600 --> 00:24:21.259 And John is painting the picture 00:24:21.259 --> 00:24:23.559 of this as an abiding way 00:24:23.559 --> 00:24:27.920 of an ongoing living relationship 00:24:27.920 --> 00:24:28.779 with God 00:24:28.779 --> 00:24:31.120 where we stay in touch, 00:24:31.120 --> 00:24:33.240 where we stay connected 00:24:33.240 --> 00:24:34.360 to one another. 00:24:35.500 --> 00:24:35.600 Right? 00:24:35.599 --> 00:24:36.259 Now, 00:24:37.219 --> 00:24:38.099 I'm not going to get into 00:24:38.099 --> 00:24:38.839 all the logic. 00:24:39.199 --> 00:24:40.619 Verses 13 through 15 00:24:40.619 --> 00:24:42.980 is John pulls some threads 00:24:42.980 --> 00:24:44.319 from the rest of his book 00:24:44.319 --> 00:24:45.480 to just say, 00:24:45.579 --> 00:24:46.359 oh, by the way, 00:24:46.439 --> 00:24:48.099 this vital relationship with God, 00:24:48.159 --> 00:24:49.419 it's not just love. 00:24:50.019 --> 00:24:52.459 We might have a danger of thinking, 00:24:52.579 --> 00:24:52.859 well, then, 00:24:53.199 --> 00:24:55.219 anybody who has any loving act, 00:24:55.719 --> 00:24:56.859 that means they're a Christian? 00:24:57.099 --> 00:24:57.500 No, 00:24:57.779 --> 00:24:59.439 because they also have to 00:24:59.439 --> 00:25:01.240 have the Spirit of God in them. 00:25:01.339 --> 00:25:02.939 Tyler preached on that last week, 00:25:02.980 --> 00:25:03.919 having discernment 00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:05.019 about spiritual things. 00:25:05.019 --> 00:25:06.840 It also means confessing 00:25:06.840 --> 00:25:08.480 that Jesus is the Son of God. 00:25:08.800 --> 00:25:10.100 And this is what we see 00:25:10.100 --> 00:25:11.620 in verses 13 through 15. 00:25:12.100 --> 00:25:13.279 So these things together 00:25:13.279 --> 00:25:14.400 make a weave 00:25:14.400 --> 00:25:15.740 of what it looks like 00:25:15.740 --> 00:25:16.500 for us to have 00:25:16.500 --> 00:25:17.920 a real vital relationship 00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:18.519 with God. 00:25:18.779 --> 00:25:19.580 And remember, 00:25:19.759 --> 00:25:21.100 if you haven't been here before, 00:25:21.560 --> 00:25:23.200 John is writing this book 00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:23.920 to a church 00:25:23.920 --> 00:25:24.820 that is threatened 00:25:24.820 --> 00:25:26.380 by those who had been 00:25:26.380 --> 00:25:27.400 a part of their fellowship, 00:25:27.779 --> 00:25:29.180 but then had departed. 00:25:29.180 --> 00:25:31.240 And in departing, 00:25:31.299 --> 00:25:31.940 they had started 00:25:31.940 --> 00:25:33.480 teaching other things. 00:25:33.820 --> 00:25:34.660 They'd been teaching, 00:25:35.140 --> 00:25:37.060 Jesus is not God's Son. 00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:38.600 They had been teaching 00:25:38.600 --> 00:25:41.519 that they had the Spirit 00:25:41.519 --> 00:25:42.759 in a particular way, 00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:45.080 and they were looking down 00:25:45.080 --> 00:25:45.440 on others. 00:25:45.720 --> 00:25:46.779 And it seems 00:25:46.779 --> 00:25:47.860 that they were saying, 00:25:48.380 --> 00:25:49.740 I can love God 00:25:49.740 --> 00:25:51.220 and not love other people. 00:25:51.940 --> 00:25:53.440 It sure feels like 00:25:53.440 --> 00:25:54.460 when you read this letter 00:25:54.460 --> 00:25:55.480 that that was something 00:25:55.480 --> 00:25:56.220 that these people 00:25:56.220 --> 00:25:56.820 were teaching. 00:25:56.819 --> 00:25:59.019 And so John is writing this 00:25:59.019 --> 00:26:00.759 not to condemn our hearts, 00:26:01.200 --> 00:26:03.000 but to encourage us. 00:26:05.500 --> 00:26:07.139 Because when we hear this word, 00:26:07.399 --> 00:26:09.460 if God has loved us, 00:26:09.519 --> 00:26:10.759 we ought to love one another. 00:26:10.939 --> 00:26:12.159 When we love one another, 00:26:12.259 --> 00:26:13.439 then God abides in us, 00:26:13.819 --> 00:26:15.139 and His love is perfected in us. 00:26:15.399 --> 00:26:16.619 Some of you are thinking, 00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:17.579 oh no, 00:26:19.000 --> 00:26:21.559 because I know my cold heart. 00:26:21.899 --> 00:26:24.960 I know what a terrible lover I am. 00:26:24.960 --> 00:26:25.740 And I don't mean that 00:26:25.740 --> 00:26:26.659 in a romantic sense. 00:26:26.660 --> 00:26:27.060 I mean, 00:26:27.180 --> 00:26:28.820 I'm bad at loving people. 00:26:29.320 --> 00:26:30.860 I recognize how selfish, 00:26:31.500 --> 00:26:32.580 how cruel, 00:26:33.140 --> 00:26:35.060 how inconsiderate, 00:26:35.620 --> 00:26:38.940 how self-protective I can be. 00:26:39.940 --> 00:26:41.640 How can I stand on this? 00:26:42.080 --> 00:26:42.660 But John, 00:26:43.580 --> 00:26:43.880 look, 00:26:44.080 --> 00:26:45.279 if the Holy Spirit 00:26:45.279 --> 00:26:46.200 is doing that in you, 00:26:47.300 --> 00:26:47.900 praise the Lord 00:26:47.900 --> 00:26:48.759 that He's showing you 00:26:48.759 --> 00:26:50.060 some places for you to grow. 00:26:50.340 --> 00:26:51.519 That's not a bad thing. 00:26:51.519 --> 00:26:53.500 But what John is writing, 00:26:53.779 --> 00:26:54.180 saying, 00:26:55.019 --> 00:26:57.599 when you deny that you should be loving, 00:26:57.740 --> 00:26:59.500 when you deny that you have any, 00:26:59.639 --> 00:27:02.920 when you throw off any responsibility 00:27:02.920 --> 00:27:04.500 to love people and say, 00:27:04.579 --> 00:27:05.480 that's not my job, 00:27:05.480 --> 00:27:07.279 I just love God and do whatever I want. 00:27:07.279 --> 00:27:10.619 you can't say that 00:27:10.619 --> 00:27:12.139 and be a real Christian. 00:27:12.680 --> 00:27:14.960 You can't confess that. 00:27:15.559 --> 00:27:16.460 And so if you're saying, 00:27:16.619 --> 00:27:18.339 I'm a struggling lover, 00:27:18.480 --> 00:27:19.740 that I'm not very good at it, 00:27:20.099 --> 00:27:22.839 praise God that the spark of God's love is in you 00:27:22.839 --> 00:27:24.099 and press into it 00:27:24.099 --> 00:27:26.799 and let it take more and more effect in your life. 00:27:27.220 --> 00:27:30.200 That's how John would want us to hear this. 00:27:31.419 --> 00:27:32.859 Where there's signs of love, 00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:33.740 cling to them, 00:27:34.379 --> 00:27:35.319 cling to Jesus 00:27:35.319 --> 00:27:37.579 and be assured in these things. 00:27:39.680 --> 00:27:41.960 This then leads us into the final aspect, 00:27:42.759 --> 00:27:44.720 which is there is a power 00:27:44.720 --> 00:27:46.740 that God's love brings 00:27:46.740 --> 00:27:49.159 to enable us to love one another. 00:27:49.299 --> 00:27:52.480 I believe this is what verses 17 through 19 00:27:52.480 --> 00:27:53.759 is talking about. 00:27:54.039 --> 00:27:55.240 Let's look at this together. 00:27:57.359 --> 00:27:58.680 I'm going to reread this 00:27:58.680 --> 00:28:00.019 because it's important for us 00:28:00.019 --> 00:28:01.519 to hear the words again. 00:28:02.039 --> 00:28:04.519 By this is love perfected with us 00:28:04.519 --> 00:28:06.359 so that we may have confidence 00:28:06.359 --> 00:28:07.960 for the day of judgment. 00:28:08.559 --> 00:28:09.879 Because as he is, 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:11.940 so also are we in the world. 00:28:13.180 --> 00:28:14.659 There is no fear in love, 00:28:15.180 --> 00:28:17.240 but perfect love casts out fear. 00:28:17.899 --> 00:28:19.899 For fear has to do with punishment 00:28:19.899 --> 00:28:21.480 and whoever fears 00:28:21.480 --> 00:28:23.799 has not been perfected in love. 00:28:23.799 --> 00:28:28.419 We love because he first loved us. 00:28:29.839 --> 00:28:31.720 John's saying we have a confidence 00:28:31.720 --> 00:28:33.839 when we see love, 00:28:33.960 --> 00:28:35.419 but then he takes it 00:28:35.419 --> 00:28:37.339 in this slightly odd direction 00:28:37.339 --> 00:28:38.379 because he'd been talking about 00:28:38.379 --> 00:28:39.180 loving one another 00:28:39.180 --> 00:28:40.460 and then suddenly he's like, 00:28:41.019 --> 00:28:43.460 the thing about this is that 00:28:43.460 --> 00:28:46.240 there's a judgment behind it, right? 00:28:46.639 --> 00:28:47.379 He says, 00:28:47.380 --> 00:28:50.220 I don't have confidence in God's love 00:28:50.220 --> 00:28:51.620 just because I see him 00:28:51.620 --> 00:28:52.500 providing for me today. 00:28:52.580 --> 00:28:54.200 I have confidence in God's love 00:28:54.200 --> 00:28:56.340 because at the last day 00:28:56.340 --> 00:28:57.980 I will be able to stand 00:28:57.980 --> 00:28:59.340 before him confident. 00:29:00.400 --> 00:29:01.500 Because as he is, 00:29:01.560 --> 00:29:03.400 that is as Jesus stands, 00:29:03.960 --> 00:29:05.780 obedient and righteous in the world, 00:29:05.940 --> 00:29:07.660 so also we stand 00:29:07.660 --> 00:29:10.040 in this place of safety 00:29:10.040 --> 00:29:12.880 because Jesus' death and resurrection 00:29:12.880 --> 00:29:15.080 has taken away our sin 00:29:15.080 --> 00:29:17.460 and therefore the fear of judgment. 00:29:20.200 --> 00:29:23.540 This is what God's love shows for us. 00:29:25.540 --> 00:29:26.980 Brings us into a place 00:29:26.980 --> 00:29:29.640 where we don't have any more fear of God, 00:29:29.780 --> 00:29:31.160 but instead we have confidence 00:29:31.160 --> 00:29:32.940 to go to God 00:29:32.940 --> 00:29:35.640 because of his loving nature 00:29:35.640 --> 00:29:37.100 and his loving work 00:29:37.100 --> 00:29:39.520 so that he can accept sinners like us. 00:29:39.519 --> 00:29:44.660 But here's how it empowers our love 00:29:44.660 --> 00:29:45.339 for one another. 00:29:45.519 --> 00:29:46.559 This is the amazing thing. 00:29:46.660 --> 00:29:47.099 He says, 00:29:48.519 --> 00:29:50.700 perfect love casts out fear 00:29:50.700 --> 00:29:53.259 because when we have God's love in us, 00:29:53.339 --> 00:29:54.839 we sit in Jesus 00:29:54.839 --> 00:29:57.879 and that protects us from God's judgment. 00:29:59.279 --> 00:30:03.119 But I think that there's more to it than that. 00:30:03.240 --> 00:30:04.420 He's also saying 00:30:04.420 --> 00:30:06.859 that perfect love casts out the fear 00:30:06.859 --> 00:30:09.019 that you have in your relationships 00:30:09.019 --> 00:30:09.940 with one another. 00:30:13.379 --> 00:30:15.180 I think many of us live 00:30:15.180 --> 00:30:16.460 in a fear of judgment 00:30:16.460 --> 00:30:19.099 and it's ultimately rooted 00:30:19.099 --> 00:30:20.079 in having a fear 00:30:20.079 --> 00:30:21.980 of God's judgment for us, 00:30:22.039 --> 00:30:24.480 but it creeps into our hearts 00:30:24.480 --> 00:30:26.299 and into our relationships with others 00:30:26.299 --> 00:30:29.400 so that we fear their judgment as well. 00:30:29.940 --> 00:30:32.619 We have a fear of what you think of me 00:30:32.619 --> 00:30:34.259 and what you think of me. 00:30:35.059 --> 00:30:37.900 And when we live in that fear, 00:30:37.900 --> 00:30:40.660 it begins to control us. 00:30:41.019 --> 00:30:43.340 And when I'm afraid of what you think of me, 00:30:43.860 --> 00:30:45.019 then what do I do? 00:30:45.519 --> 00:30:47.440 Well, I do image management. 00:30:47.660 --> 00:30:49.019 I do self-protection. 00:30:49.019 --> 00:30:51.300 I seek to use you. 00:30:51.900 --> 00:30:55.320 When I'm insecure in God's love for me, 00:30:55.500 --> 00:30:57.180 I will then look out and say, 00:30:57.580 --> 00:30:58.580 you must love me 00:30:58.580 --> 00:31:00.240 so that I can feel secure. 00:31:00.240 --> 00:31:01.359 That's not love. 00:31:01.359 --> 00:31:02.359 That's not love. 00:31:02.359 --> 00:31:03.359 That's not love. 00:31:03.359 --> 00:31:04.859 That's using people. 00:31:11.859 --> 00:31:15.000 But when God's love comes to us, 00:31:15.400 --> 00:31:19.039 when we are secure in His love for us, 00:31:19.779 --> 00:31:22.960 when we know He loves us, 00:31:22.960 --> 00:31:26.940 we don't have to spend all our time 00:31:26.940 --> 00:31:28.180 thinking about ourselves. 00:31:28.880 --> 00:31:32.759 That security that we know from God 00:31:32.759 --> 00:31:36.700 allows us to then love one another. 00:31:37.539 --> 00:31:38.840 And this is the picture 00:31:38.840 --> 00:31:42.160 that I think verse 19 helps us see. 00:31:42.579 --> 00:31:44.840 We love because He first loved us. 00:31:44.839 --> 00:31:47.199 He comes to us 00:31:47.199 --> 00:31:51.000 and fills us with His love 00:31:51.000 --> 00:31:54.500 and establishes us in His love 00:31:54.500 --> 00:31:56.480 so there's no fear of judgment, 00:31:57.019 --> 00:31:58.359 no fear of rejection, 00:31:59.000 --> 00:32:00.379 no fear of death. 00:32:01.679 --> 00:32:03.879 And when we don't have those things 00:32:03.879 --> 00:32:05.419 controlling our hearts 00:32:05.419 --> 00:32:06.899 and our relationships, 00:32:07.259 --> 00:32:08.599 we then are able, 00:32:09.000 --> 00:32:11.039 for the first time, 00:32:11.319 --> 00:32:12.379 to love others 00:32:12.380 --> 00:32:13.920 without selfish motives, 00:32:14.120 --> 00:32:18.100 without ulterior goals. 00:32:18.800 --> 00:32:21.640 We are actually able to love others 00:32:21.640 --> 00:32:24.020 the way God has loved us. 00:32:25.400 --> 00:32:27.100 And this is the power 00:32:27.100 --> 00:32:29.460 of God's love for us. 00:32:30.820 --> 00:32:33.680 It frees us from the fear of judgment 00:32:33.680 --> 00:32:35.920 so that we can, 00:32:36.400 --> 00:32:38.940 in the security that we sit with God, 00:32:40.320 --> 00:32:41.380 reach out to others 00:32:41.380 --> 00:32:42.740 and love them 00:32:42.740 --> 00:32:45.520 with God's love. 00:32:48.940 --> 00:32:50.660 It's a pretty amazing thing. 00:32:51.960 --> 00:32:54.800 He fills up the well of our hearts 00:32:54.800 --> 00:32:56.400 with His love 00:32:56.400 --> 00:32:58.080 so that it overflows 00:32:58.080 --> 00:33:00.600 to those around us 00:33:00.600 --> 00:33:01.660 and cascades. 00:33:02.940 --> 00:33:04.220 And this is what you see. 00:33:04.680 --> 00:33:05.860 This is what you see 00:33:05.860 --> 00:33:07.640 in healthy Christian community 00:33:07.640 --> 00:33:09.540 when there is a love 00:33:09.539 --> 00:33:11.180 that comes to one another. 00:33:11.319 --> 00:33:12.279 This is partly why 00:33:12.279 --> 00:33:13.399 I became a believer 00:33:13.399 --> 00:33:15.259 because I saw the love 00:33:15.259 --> 00:33:16.899 that some of my Christian friends 00:33:16.899 --> 00:33:18.319 had for one another 00:33:18.319 --> 00:33:18.759 and I said, 00:33:18.879 --> 00:33:19.960 I don't know what it is 00:33:19.960 --> 00:33:20.460 that you have, 00:33:20.539 --> 00:33:21.299 but I want it. 00:33:21.839 --> 00:33:22.639 And it's because 00:33:22.639 --> 00:33:23.619 they were secure 00:33:23.619 --> 00:33:24.480 in God's love 00:33:24.480 --> 00:33:25.259 and so they were able 00:33:25.259 --> 00:33:26.099 to love me 00:33:26.099 --> 00:33:26.960 and others 00:33:26.960 --> 00:33:27.440 in a way 00:33:27.440 --> 00:33:28.899 that I'd never seen before. 00:33:31.720 --> 00:33:32.940 I came to know 00:33:32.940 --> 00:33:33.879 that they were Christians 00:33:33.879 --> 00:33:34.899 because of the love 00:33:34.899 --> 00:33:36.059 that they had 00:33:36.059 --> 00:33:37.179 for one another. 00:33:40.480 --> 00:33:41.759 And so, friends, 00:33:42.359 --> 00:33:43.819 John gives us this command. 00:33:44.460 --> 00:33:45.720 We are to love 00:33:45.720 --> 00:33:46.759 one another. 00:33:47.460 --> 00:33:48.539 And it's rooted 00:33:48.539 --> 00:33:50.179 in the nature of God 00:33:50.179 --> 00:33:51.759 and in our relationship 00:33:51.759 --> 00:33:52.399 with Him 00:33:52.399 --> 00:33:54.200 where as we appropriate 00:33:54.200 --> 00:33:55.379 and take in 00:33:55.379 --> 00:33:57.039 His love for us, 00:33:57.079 --> 00:33:58.159 it then allows us 00:33:58.159 --> 00:33:59.539 to love others 00:33:59.539 --> 00:34:00.220 in the way 00:34:00.220 --> 00:34:01.919 that He calls us to 00:34:01.919 --> 00:34:02.679 and in the way 00:34:02.679 --> 00:34:04.980 that He Himself loves. 00:34:04.980 --> 00:34:10.099 what is the application 00:34:10.099 --> 00:34:10.840 of this? 00:34:11.119 --> 00:34:11.460 Friends, 00:34:12.519 --> 00:34:13.500 we need to meditate 00:34:13.500 --> 00:34:14.639 on God's love. 00:34:15.360 --> 00:34:17.159 Not in the modern 00:34:17.159 --> 00:34:18.179 self-help 00:34:18.179 --> 00:34:20.579 way of 00:34:20.579 --> 00:34:21.559 we need to meditate 00:34:21.559 --> 00:34:22.460 on God's love 00:34:22.460 --> 00:34:23.039 to think 00:34:23.039 --> 00:34:24.199 I'm cute, 00:34:24.380 --> 00:34:25.280 I'm smart, 00:34:25.400 --> 00:34:25.880 and dang it, 00:34:25.920 --> 00:34:26.800 people like me 00:34:26.800 --> 00:34:28.139 kind of way. 00:34:28.420 --> 00:34:29.079 It's not that 00:34:29.079 --> 00:34:30.099 that's what God 00:34:30.099 --> 00:34:30.900 is saying to us. 00:34:31.059 --> 00:34:32.240 It is simply saying 00:34:32.240 --> 00:34:34.000 God loves us 00:34:34.000 --> 00:34:35.219 and as we see 00:34:35.219 --> 00:34:36.599 His love for us, 00:34:36.920 --> 00:34:38.320 as we take this in, 00:34:38.400 --> 00:34:38.699 as we, 00:34:39.360 --> 00:34:40.019 because you know 00:34:40.019 --> 00:34:40.440 what it's like 00:34:40.440 --> 00:34:41.039 when you forget 00:34:41.039 --> 00:34:41.699 about it, right? 00:34:41.780 --> 00:34:42.480 When you forget 00:34:42.480 --> 00:34:43.320 God loves you, 00:34:43.780 --> 00:34:45.119 you suddenly become afraid, 00:34:45.260 --> 00:34:46.059 you become insecure, 00:34:46.380 --> 00:34:46.840 you become, 00:34:47.980 --> 00:34:48.980 whatever it is, 00:34:49.059 --> 00:34:50.159 whatever your choice 00:34:50.159 --> 00:34:51.940 of control is, 00:34:52.019 --> 00:34:53.260 you'll do that. 00:34:54.960 --> 00:34:56.599 But when God loves us, 00:34:56.840 --> 00:34:57.900 so we need to meditate 00:34:57.900 --> 00:34:58.420 on this, 00:34:58.480 --> 00:34:59.360 we need to think 00:34:59.360 --> 00:34:59.900 of this, 00:35:00.340 --> 00:35:02.699 we need to say it 00:35:02.699 --> 00:35:03.439 over and over again. 00:35:03.519 --> 00:35:04.419 It's why when you 00:35:04.419 --> 00:35:05.239 come here, 00:35:06.119 --> 00:35:07.179 we constantly are 00:35:07.179 --> 00:35:07.819 talking about 00:35:07.819 --> 00:35:09.000 God's love for us 00:35:09.000 --> 00:35:09.619 in the gospel, 00:35:10.219 --> 00:35:11.359 because this is how 00:35:11.359 --> 00:35:11.879 we know 00:35:11.879 --> 00:35:13.439 that God loves us. 00:35:15.819 --> 00:35:16.980 We're about to sing 00:35:16.980 --> 00:35:17.719 these songs, 00:35:18.359 --> 00:35:19.679 a closing song 00:35:19.679 --> 00:35:21.119 with this as its chorus. 00:35:21.619 --> 00:35:23.079 Oh, the everlasting 00:35:23.079 --> 00:35:24.139 love of God, 00:35:24.679 --> 00:35:25.939 it shall ever be 00:35:25.939 --> 00:35:26.639 my song, 00:35:27.319 --> 00:35:28.719 so immense and free, 00:35:28.980 --> 00:35:30.559 more than life to me, 00:35:30.559 --> 00:35:32.539 the everlasting love 00:35:32.539 --> 00:35:33.159 of God. 00:35:34.059 --> 00:35:35.079 This is the love 00:35:35.079 --> 00:35:35.699 we know, 00:35:36.199 --> 00:35:37.299 this is the love 00:35:37.299 --> 00:35:38.299 we sing of. 00:35:39.279 --> 00:35:40.019 So friends, 00:35:40.079 --> 00:35:41.320 as we go from here, 00:35:42.059 --> 00:35:43.119 I pray that you may 00:35:43.119 --> 00:35:44.799 know the love of God. 00:35:45.059 --> 00:35:46.480 If you're here this morning 00:35:46.480 --> 00:35:47.900 and you've never placed 00:35:47.900 --> 00:35:49.000 your faith in Christ, 00:35:49.519 --> 00:35:50.940 know that He loves you 00:35:50.940 --> 00:35:51.920 and He calls you 00:35:51.920 --> 00:35:53.639 to submit to Him 00:35:53.639 --> 00:35:54.699 and put your faith 00:35:54.699 --> 00:35:55.179 in Him 00:35:55.179 --> 00:35:57.299 and receive His love, 00:35:57.619 --> 00:35:58.619 the love that sent 00:35:58.619 --> 00:35:59.579 Jesus on the cross 00:35:59.579 --> 00:36:00.599 to die for you. 00:36:00.920 --> 00:36:01.480 If you've been 00:36:01.480 --> 00:36:02.559 a Christian forever, 00:36:03.859 --> 00:36:04.859 remind yourself 00:36:04.859 --> 00:36:05.759 of this truth. 00:36:06.460 --> 00:36:07.779 God is love. 00:36:09.920 --> 00:36:10.739 And from this, 00:36:10.880 --> 00:36:11.099 friends, 00:36:11.219 --> 00:36:11.980 may we be 00:36:11.980 --> 00:36:12.920 the kind of loving 00:36:12.920 --> 00:36:13.980 community that God 00:36:13.980 --> 00:36:14.719 calls us to be. 00:36:14.799 --> 00:36:15.319 Let's pray. 00:36:19.659 --> 00:36:20.739 Lord, we have touched 00:36:20.739 --> 00:36:21.539 on things that are 00:36:21.539 --> 00:36:22.619 too great for us 00:36:22.619 --> 00:36:23.199 this morning. 00:36:23.199 --> 00:36:25.319 Lord, 00:36:25.439 --> 00:36:26.039 your love 00:36:26.039 --> 00:36:27.899 has got a height 00:36:27.899 --> 00:36:28.659 and a depth 00:36:28.659 --> 00:36:29.460 and a width 00:36:29.460 --> 00:36:30.219 and a breadth 00:36:30.219 --> 00:36:31.599 that we can never 00:36:31.599 --> 00:36:32.960 fathom to the depths 00:36:32.960 --> 00:36:33.359 of it. 00:36:34.759 --> 00:36:35.239 Lord, 00:36:35.339 --> 00:36:35.939 it is greater 00:36:35.939 --> 00:36:36.719 than the ocean. 00:36:38.619 --> 00:36:38.919 Lord, 00:36:39.000 --> 00:36:39.819 we praise you. 00:36:41.039 --> 00:36:41.980 We praise you 00:36:41.980 --> 00:36:42.619 for that. 00:36:43.519 --> 00:36:44.339 And we praise you 00:36:44.339 --> 00:36:44.939 for the greatness 00:36:44.939 --> 00:36:45.739 of your love. 00:36:47.239 --> 00:36:47.559 Lord, 00:36:47.659 --> 00:36:48.259 help us. 00:36:48.460 --> 00:36:49.379 Help us to know 00:36:49.379 --> 00:36:50.019 your love. 00:36:50.960 --> 00:36:51.639 And in knowing 00:36:51.639 --> 00:36:52.219 your love, 00:36:52.339 --> 00:36:53.099 help us to be 00:36:53.099 --> 00:36:54.059 those who love 00:36:54.059 --> 00:36:56.139 as you have loved us. 00:36:57.339 --> 00:36:58.199 We pray this 00:36:58.199 --> 00:36:58.980 in Jesus' name. 00:36:59.759 --> 00:37:00.059 Amen.