0:06 I'm reading the word of God from 1 John
0:08 4 beginning at verse
0:18 21 beloved let us love one another for
0:19 love is of
0:23 God and everyone that loveth is born of
0:25 God and knowth
0:28 God he that loveth not knoweth not God
0:31 for God is
0:34 love in this was manifested the love of
0:38 God toward us that God sent his only
0:40 begotten son into the world that we
0:42 might live through
0:46 him here in is love not that we love God
0:50 but that he loved us and sent his son to
0:54 be the propitiation for our
0:59 sins beloved if God so loved us we ought
1:00 also to love one one
1:05 another no man hath seen God at any time
1:07 if we love one another God dwelleth in
1:11 us and his love is perfected in
1:14 Us by this we know that we dwell in him
1:17 and he in us because he hath given us of his
1:18 his
1:21 spirit and we have seen and do testify
1:24 that the father sent the son to be the
1:26 savior of the
1:30 world whosoever shall confess that Jesus
1:33 is the Son of God God dwelleth in him
1:34 and he in
1:38 God and we have known and believed the
1:42 love that God hath to us God is love and
1:45 he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God
1:46 and God in
1:50 him herein is our love made perfect that
1:52 we may have boldness in the day of
1:56 judgment because as he is so are we in this
1:56 this
2:00 world there is no fear in love
2:04 but perfect love casteth out fear
2:06 because fear hath
2:08 punishment he that feareth is not made
2:10 perfect in
2:13 love we love him because he first loved
2:18 us if a man says I love God and hateth
2:22 his brother he is a liar for he that
2:26 loveth not his brother whom he hath seen
2:28 how can he love God whom he hath not
2:32 seen and this commandment have we from
2:36 him that he who loveth God love his brother
2:42 also may God help us to appropriate this
2:52 love if you read again very
2:55 carefully the gospel records of the
2:56 birth of
3:01 Christ you will discover an amazing fact
3:03 nowhere in those
3:07 chapters do you find the word
3:10 love in fact if you'll take the hym book
3:12 don't do it
3:15 now and Page through the Section given
3:18 to the Advent
3:21 hymns you'll find that uh most of them
3:24 don't mention the word love Silent Night
3:27 talks about Love's pure
3:33 light we find joy and peace grace
3:36 mercy but you don't find the word
3:38 love now this doesn't mean that love is not
3:40 not
3:45 there Mercy is God's love in not giving
3:48 us what we do deserve and Grace is God's
3:50 love in giving us what we don't
3:53 deserve and there can't be peace without
3:55 love there can't be Joy without
3:59 love so love is the motive behind it and
4:04 love is the atmosphere that pervades
4:07 it but interestingly enough in these
4:10 records the word love is not
4:13 found the Apostle John is conceited to
4:15 be the Apostle of
4:18 Love there was a time when John was not
4:20 that kind of a person Jesus gave him a
4:23 nickname sons of thunder James and
4:26 John one day they wanted to call fire
4:29 down from heaven to burn up some people
4:32 a Marvel way to show love but something
4:34 happened to John and John has become the
4:38 Apostle of love and in 1 John 4
4:40 beginning at verse 7 he talks to us about
4:41 about
4:45 love in the coming of our Lord Jesus he
4:48 hits the keynote of the Advent when he
4:52 says in verse 9 in this was manifested
4:54 the love of God toward
4:58 us that God sent his only begotten son
5:00 into the world that we might live
5:04 through him this is um another reference to
5:06 to
5:09 manifested back in chapter 1 of 1 John
5:12 verse two the life was
5:14 manifested in the coming of our Lord
5:17 Jesus Christ he brought
5:21 life in chapter 3 and verse
5:24 5 he was manifested to take away our
5:28 sins chapter 3 and verse 8 he was
5:30 manifested that he might destroy the
5:31 works of the
5:34 devil and now here in chapter 4 and: 9
5:37 our Lord Jesus Christ was
5:39 manifested that he might prove to us the
5:42 love of God the Apostle John makes it
5:45 very clear that love is the theme of The
5:47 Coming of Our Lord in
5:51 fact from verse 7 to the end of this
5:54 chapter verse 21 the word love is used 29
5:57 29
6:00 times and this is the whole thrust and
6:03 the whole heartbeat of the coming of Our
6:07 Lord the expression of the go of God's
6:10 love now I think it would be good for
6:14 us to grow in our experience of the love of
6:15 of
6:18 God life is a
6:20 school and among the many lessons that
6:22 we have to learn in this school of life
6:28 as Christians is growing in our love our
6:30 experience of God's love
6:32 I think every mother and dad longs to
6:35 see the children grow up in
6:38 love whatever else they may not
6:41 get parents are anxious that their
6:43 children grow up in love to love the
6:46 right things and to love in the right
6:49 way and to experience and grow in This
6:51 Thing Called Love of course when the
6:53 Bible talks about love it's not talking
6:56 about shallow romance this is a love
6:58 that comes from Heaven not from
7:00 Hollywood he's talking about this deep
7:04 Godlike love it's not erotic love it's
7:07 not even brotherly love it is agape love
7:10 it is love that is deep and sacrificing
7:12 love that is
7:15 spontaneous love that is
7:18 God and I think that John is teaching us
7:21 here four basic lessons about love and
7:24 if you and I will learn these lessons Oh
7:26 What A Difference it'll make in our
7:28 lives how many people there are going
7:30 around in fear when they could be living in
7:31 in
7:34 love how many people there are living in
7:36 hatred when they could be living in
7:43 love and 1 John 4: 7- 21 give to us four
7:47 basic lessons on love that can be
7:50 ours if we'll just yield to the Lord
7:52 Jesus Christ verses seven and 8 he
7:56 teaches us what God is God is
7:59 love then in verses 9 and 10 he teaches
8:03 us what God did he sent his
8:05 son in verses
8:08 11-18 he teaches us what God is now
8:12 doing perfecting our love and then in
8:16 verses 19- 21 he teaches us what God
8:19 wants us to do love one another four
8:22 very simple very basic lessons that
8:25 explain to us why Jesus came lesson
8:28 number one he teaches us in verses 7 and
8:33 8 what God is God is love now he repeats
8:38 this down in verse 16 God is loved there
8:40 are four statements in the Bible that
8:44 define God for us Jesus says in John 4
8:48 and verse 24 God is
8:50 spirit that means that God is not
8:53 limited by a human body that God is
8:56 uncreated you and I are created we have
8:58 a beginning God has no beginning God is Spirit
9:00 Spirit
9:02 Jesus said God is spirit and they that
9:05 worship Him must worship Him in spirit
9:09 and in truth God is spirit and then 1
9:14 John 1:5 tells us that God is light this
9:16 is the message which we have heard of
9:17 him and declare unto you that God is
9:20 light this means God's holy God is
9:23 spirit and God is light God is holy God
9:24 is not
9:26 contaminated God is Not polluted God
9:29 does not sin there's no Shadows with
9:33 God's light God hates
9:38 sin over in Hebrews chap 12 and verse 29
9:39 you have a rather awesome statement
9:43 about God it says our God
9:46 is a consuming
9:51 fire god judges God is Spirit God is
9:55 light he hates sin God is a consuming
9:59 fire he has to judge sin which leaves us
10:03 without any defense except for 1 John
10:07 4:8 God is love and the amazing thing is
10:12 that God in his wisdom and in his love
10:17 found a way to remain holy and still forgive
10:19 forgive
10:27 propitiation now God is love John is
10:29 teaching us what God is we we have to
10:32 know what God is if we're going to
10:33 relate to
10:36 him if our lives are filled with hatred
10:38 and God is love then we can't have any
10:41 relationship with God if you and I are
10:45 murderers at heart and God is love then
10:47 we can't have any relationship with God
10:50 something has to happen to
10:53 us for us to be able to experience this
10:56 love of God now God loves even if we
10:57 don't love him
11:00 back here in his love not that we loved
11:03 God but that he loved us there was a
11:06 time in our lives when we were unsaved
11:07 when we were
11:10 hateful we didn't think about God our
11:13 thought was not to glorify God to love
11:16 God to put God first in our lives we
11:19 thought only of number one
11:21 ourselves and we weren't too concerned
11:23 about other people now we did love our
11:26 families and we did love our friends
11:30 there is a human love even among
11:32 thieves Jesus said to his disciples if
11:35 you were of the world the world would
11:38 love his own the world has love unsaved
11:42 people have love but not this deep
11:47 spiritual Agape sacrificing spontaneous
11:51 self-giving kind of love that is
11:54 God and so John's first lesson leaves me
11:57 with my mouth open and my head bowed
12:03 saying I just can't make it if God is
12:05 love how am I ever going to get through to
12:06 to
12:09 him which leads us to the second lesson
12:13 that John teaches us in verses 9 and 10
12:14 it's not that we got through to God God
12:17 got through to us lesson number one what
12:21 God is God is
12:25 love God by his very nature is love all
12:27 that God says he says in love all that
12:30 God does he does in love even when he
12:33 judges he judges in
12:37 love lesson number two John teaches us
12:40 what God did he sent his
12:44 son in this was manifested the love of
12:47 God toward us that God sent his only
12:51 begotten son into the world that we
12:54 might live through him here in his love
12:57 not that we loved God but that he loved
12:59 us and sent his son to be the
13:03 propitiation for our sins let's go back
13:05 to John's day let's go back to the days
13:09 of the early church let's go back to
13:11 Palestine let's walk the streets that
13:14 Jesus walked let's stop a Greek here
13:16 comes a Greek F going down the street
13:19 perhaps a merchant or a philosopher we
13:23 say Excuse me sir um are you Greek
13:26 yes do you worship gods and goddesses
13:28 yes we do how do you know when your Gods
13:30 love you
13:32 you how can you tell whether or not the
13:36 gods that you worship love
13:38 you well would our Greek friend would
13:41 say there's not a great deal in our holy
13:45 books about the gods loving us judging us
13:47 us
13:51 yes giving us wisdom sometimes yes
13:54 occasionally fighting our battles but um
13:57 there's not much in our religion about
13:59 the love of God thank you
14:01 and so you stop a Roman here comes a
14:04 Roman Centurion the very highest of the
14:07 Roman soldiers would say Excuse me sir
14:10 you're a Roman yes you worship the gods
14:13 well we have our religious Traditions
14:15 how do you know when your God loves you
14:17 oh when we win our
14:20 battles when when the Roman Legions go
14:22 forth and we win our battles then we
14:26 know that our Gods love us thank
14:28 you here comes a Jewish Merchant let's
14:31 stop and ask Kim excuse me sir how do
14:34 you know uh when your Jehovah God loves
14:38 you you believe in Jehovah God oh yes
14:40 yes three times a year I come to
14:43 Jerusalem to worship and celebrate the
14:45 Feast how do you know when your God
14:48 loves you sir oh it's easy it tells us
14:52 in the law when our crops are increasing
14:54 when our flocks and our herds are
14:57 increasing when the land is wealthy when
15:00 when our wives bear many sons and
15:02 daughters then we know that our God loves
15:04 loves
15:07 us suppose you went down to State and
15:09 Madison and you stopped someone and said
15:12 do you believe in God yes how do you
15:17 you you
15:20 see if winning the
15:23 battles is an Evidence of God's love
15:24 then there are a lot of people that God doesn't
15:25 doesn't
15:28 love cuz in every war somebody wins and somebody
15:30 somebody
15:33 loses and if being wealthy and having
15:36 your goods increase is an Evidence of
15:38 love then there are a lot of people God
15:44 poor you and I may look at the
15:46 possessions that we have and think well
15:48 we're average people with average
15:51 possessions I tell you most of the
15:54 people in the world today if they saw
15:56 what you have and what I have they would
16:02 there are millions of people who go to
16:09 hungry how do we know God loves
16:12 us oh if God loves you you'll never be
16:14 sick then when you get sick God has
16:16 ceased to love
16:19 you if God loves you you'll never go
16:21 through difficulty but then when we go
16:23 through difficulty God doesn't love us
16:25 my Bible teaches me that God loves me in
16:27 a very special way when I'm going
16:29 through difficulty what's the problem
16:31 here the problem is this people are
16:33 judging the love of God on human
16:37 levels how many little children will say
16:39 if you really loved me you'd give this to
16:40 to
16:43 me and mother and dad say but we're not
16:44 going to give it to you because we do
16:47 love you if you really love me you do
16:51 this or you do that oh no you see the
16:54 childish level of Love is oh you love me
16:57 when you give to me the adult level of
17:00 Love Is You Love me when you won't give to
17:01 to
17:05 me how do we know God loves us because
17:09 he sent his son to this earth to die for
17:12 our sins and the next time you're going
17:14 through sorrow and you can't see
17:17 anything or anybody you can't even read
17:19 your Bible because the tears are so
17:22 heavy in your heart and in your eyes you
17:25 remember God loves you the next time
17:27 that phone rings and you get news that
17:29 just goes through your heart like a
17:32 sword and something near and dear or
17:34 someone near and dear is just snatched
17:37 away from you and Satan says Oh I
17:39 thought your God loved you you look
17:41 Satan right straight in the face and say
17:43 he does love me how do you know he loves
17:46 you he sent his son to die for me this
17:50 is Romans 5'8 but God
17:54 proved God proved his love toward
17:57 us not by making us rich but by making
18:04 not by giving us victory in battle but
18:13 criminal God proved his love toward us
18:15 in that while we were yet sinners Christ
18:17 died for us he didn't wait until we
18:21 improved to die for us he didn't say if
18:23 you will do better I will do this he
18:26 said you'll never do better until I do
18:29 this and he died for us what God did he
18:33 sent his son the cross is the proof of
18:37 God's love greater love hath no man than
18:38 this that a man laid down his life for
18:41 his friends and my savior laid down his
18:48 enemies John uses a word that the
18:49 theologians like to play with
18:52 propitiation he used it back in chapter
18:57 2 verse two and he is the
19:01 propitiation for our sins what is
19:03 propitiation John makes two marvelous
19:06 statements about the Lord he says God is
19:08 love and God is
19:11 light now most people see one of these
19:13 two but not the other there are those
19:16 who say God is light he hates sin and
19:19 therefore he must judge sin there's no
19:22 hope there are those who say God is love
19:24 and he puts up with anything therefore
19:27 live any way you please John doesn't
19:30 make that mistake John does not make our
19:34 God up in heaven a doting scile
19:37 grandfather who says to the children and
19:39 grandchildren just live any way you
19:42 please I'll close my eyes to it nor does
19:46 John make God a Heavenly dictator a
19:50 Stern judge who frowns upon us and looks
19:53 for ways to make us
19:56 miserable John builds a bridge between
19:59 God is love and God is life and that
20:01 bridge is
20:04 propitiation the word propitiation has
20:09 to do with meeting the just demands of
20:11 God's law now God is
20:14 light and God does have a law and that
20:16 law is
20:18 unchanging God is not going to bend his
20:21 law for us God is not going to turn his
20:24 back on his own law God has a law and
20:27 that law says the soul that sinth it
20:34 so what does God do God looks at lost
20:36 Sinners Like Us and says I love you and
20:38 I want to save you God looks at his law
20:41 and says I cannot break my own law so
20:43 God sends his
20:47 son who pays the price for our sin who
20:51 takes upon his body the punishment that
20:56 we deserve and this frees God to be true
21:01 to his law and true to his love he can
21:04 reach out and save lost Sinners and not
21:08 violate his own Holiness that's
21:11 propitiation now if you stopped a Greek
21:14 back in John's day and said Do you ever
21:18 propitiate your Gods oh yeah oh yeah we
21:21 bring sacrifices and we we try to Plate
21:23 the anger of our God that's not what
21:26 John's talking about never get the idea
21:28 that God the father is angry at you but
21:30 God the son loves you and he keeps
21:32 saying oh Father don't do anything
21:34 please that's not the picture of
21:38 Salvation at all our Salvation is the
21:41 result of God the father and God the son
21:43 and God the Holy Spirit
21:46 lovingly working together
21:47 together
21:50 propitiation is the work of the Lord
21:55 Jesus Christ whereby he met the just and
21:59 holy demands of God's law
22:03 and as it were freed the hands of God he
22:07 now could be holy and loving he could be
22:09 judge and
22:13 savior he could be just and the
22:16 justifier of those who believe in Christ
22:21 what did God do he sent his son now
22:24 because of his death in verse
22:28 9 and verse 10 we have a birth in verse 7
22:30 7
22:32 because Jesus died I can be born
22:37 again because he tasted the holy wrath
22:40 of God I can experience the Holy Love of
22:44 God by being born into God's family and
22:46 John goes right down the line in verse 7
22:49 he that loveth is born of God and
22:52 knoweth God what is salvation Jesus
22:56 tells us and this is life eternal that
23:00 they might Know Thee the only true God
23:02 and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent
23:05 getting to know God personally being
23:07 born into God's
23:10 family what God is God is
23:13 love you say well I know that let's move
23:16 to lesson number two what God did he
23:18 sent his son you say I know that what
23:19 have you done about
23:22 it have you come to Jesus Christ by
23:26 faith and said oh Lamb of God I come
23:29 save me
23:31 you say well I've done that well then
23:34 you should move to lesson number three
23:35 in verses
23:40 11-18 he tells us what God is now doing
23:45 and the key word in 11-8 is the word
23:49 dwell five times he uses it verse 12 if
23:52 we love one another God dwelleth in us
23:55 verse 13 by this we know that we dwell
23:58 in him verse 15 God dwelleth in in him
24:01 and he in God verse 16 he that dwelleth
24:04 in love dwelleth in God and then he
24:07 mentions the word perfected verse 12 his
24:10 love is perfected in US verse 17 our
24:12 love is made perfect what's he talking
24:15 about he's talking about what God is now
24:17 doing in the lives of
24:20 Believers before you were saved the
24:22 heart was filled with
24:27 selfishness greed hatred Paul wrote to
24:29 Titus and said we were hat ful hating
24:32 one another fighting one
24:35 another and then when the love of God
24:38 came the kindness of God came to us
24:39 something happened down inside what is that
24:40 that
24:43 something God gave us his holy spirit
24:47 verse 13 by this know we that we dwell
24:50 in him and he in us because he hath
24:54 given us of his Spirit Romans chapter 5
24:56 puts it this way the love of
25:00 God is shed abroad in our hearts it
25:03 comes like a fountain a beautiful
25:05 swelling up and welling up of the love
25:07 of God the love of God is shed abroad in
25:10 our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is
25:13 given unto us my spirit is selfish the
25:15 holy spirit is loving my spirit is
25:19 greedy and hateful the holy spirit is
25:21 loving and so when God Saves you he
25:23 gives you the Holy Spirit he gives you a
25:26 new nature down inside and that new
25:28 nature is like God's nature and God is
25:32 love and therefore we experience love oh
25:36 do do understand that the love of God is
25:39 not a Doctrine in a Systematic Theology
25:41 book the love of God is an experience
25:44 down in your own
25:47 heart when the fullness of the time was
25:51 come wrote Paul God sent forth his
25:54 son then a couple of verses later at
25:57 Galatians 4 Paul says and God hath sent
25:59 forth the spirit of his son into your
26:02 hearts crying Abba Father the Christmas
26:06 event God sent his son the Christmas
26:09 experience God has sent forth the spirit
26:11 of his son into our
26:14 hearts now what is God doing God is
26:17 perfecting his love in
26:20 us I hear Christians say oh pray that
26:22 I'll have greater
26:24 Faith oh pray that I'll have greater
26:27 wisdom oh pray that I'll have greater
26:28 strength when was the last time you
26:30 heard any saint get up and say please
26:34 pray that I'll have perfect
26:37 love we need this we're talking here
26:39 about a maturing of our love now there
26:42 is a baby kind of love when you're first
26:45 born again there's a baby kind of love
26:47 that can be selfish there's an
26:49 adolescent kind of love that can be
26:53 selfish God wants to mature us into an
26:56 adult kind of love his kind of love
27:00 whereby his love is perfected in us and
27:03 our love toward him is perfected that he
27:06 is giving to us a greater measure of his
27:08 love within and we're giving to him a
27:17 Without Love is perfected by abiding
27:20 that's why he uses this word dwell five
27:23 times the word dwell in verse 12 and 13
27:27 and 15 and 16 is the word abide our Lord
27:30 likes this word abide over and over
27:32 again in John 15 if you abide in me and
27:35 my words abide in you if you abide if
27:38 you abide what is abiding it is
27:40 fellowship where there's love there has
27:42 to be contact where there's love there
27:44 has to be communion where there's love
27:47 there has to be communication and love
27:49 means Abiding and when we're walking
27:52 with the Lord and talking with the Lord
27:55 and dwelling with the Lord there is that
27:58 experience of his perfecting love in US
28:07 5 whosoever keepeth his
28:11 word in him verily is the love of God
28:15 perfected did you see that how do we
28:18 have God's love perfected matured in us
28:21 through the word it constantly amazes me
28:23 how many Christians just ignore their
28:25 Bibles they have time for television
28:27 time for everything under the sun no
28:29 time for the word of God and yet when
28:31 you open your Bible God opens his mouth
28:33 he talks to
28:35 you how can we abide in him if he
28:39 doesn't talk to us how do we abide in
28:42 him through his word how do we abide in
28:44 him through his Spirit chapter 4 verse
28:48 13 by this know we that we dwell in him
28:50 and he in us because he hath given us of
28:53 his Spirit if we walk in the spirit will
28:57 not fulfill the desires of the flesh if
29:00 we walk in the spirit let's also live in
29:02 the spirit let's be filled with the
29:04 spirit he's saying that the spirit of
29:08 God takes the word of God and perfects
29:11 the love of God in
29:15 us and it's a marvelous experience the
29:17 greatest need in the Christian Life is
29:19 for mature Christian
29:23 love love between us and God now God
29:26 wants to perfect his love in us and he
29:32 us you know there's some very wonderful
29:34 consequences to all of this you say how
29:37 can I tell if God is perfecting his love
29:39 in me how can I tell if I have a
29:43 maturing kind of a love well he tells us
29:47 here verse 12 no man hath seen God at any
29:48 any
29:51 time now Jesus said if you've seen me
29:52 you've seen the father but he's not here
29:56 on Earth anymore no man ha seen God at
29:59 any time if we love one another
30:02 God dwelleth in us and his love is
30:06 perfected in us and people can see God
30:08 here's one of the Glorious results of
30:11 perfecting love as we walk with the Lord
30:16 in his word God is seeing in US John is
30:18 saying our Lord is not here anymore he's
30:20 not walking around we can't see him but
30:24 we are here and people can see God in us
30:28 if God is love and we are living in love
30:30 then they're going to see God for God is
30:33 love that's an awesome thing we could
30:35 spend the rest of this time just
30:37 thinking of the awesomeness of that
30:41 statement if we are abiding in him and
30:44 growing in our love people will see God in
30:52 us he also tells us in verse
30:55 13 that we're going to have Assurance by
30:59 this we know that we dwell in him and he
31:02 in us because he's given us of his
31:05 Spirit when we are growing in our love
31:08 then the holy spirit of God is able to
31:11 teach us and guide us and we know what
31:19 do in verses 12 and 16 he talks about
31:21 the love between the
31:23 Saints there are some Christians who
31:26 think that the more spiritual you become
31:28 the smaller your circle of close
31:30 acquaintances becomes because you're so
31:33 spiritual nobody can fellowship with you
31:34 it's just the
31:36 opposite the more that the love of God
31:39 is perfected in us the more we reach out
31:40 to other people would you please
31:43 remember that Christian love does not
31:46 mean we have to agree with everybody
31:47 Christian love does not even mean we
31:49 have to like everybody Christian love
31:51 means we treat other people the way God treats
31:53 treats
31:56 us God forgives us we forgive them God's
31:58 patient with us we're patient with them
32:01 God speaks kindly to us we speak kindly to
32:02 to
32:05 them God's not saying that we have to
32:07 like everybody so that we'd be willing
32:09 to go on a vacation with them or have
32:11 them move in with us what he's saying is
32:14 there is an experience of mature love
32:16 that means we treat other people the way
32:23 us what God is God is love what God did
32:26 God sent his son what God is doing he's
32:28 perfecting our love have you come to
32:31 that lesson yet my friend can we look at
32:34 this past year and say during this last
32:38 year God taught me how to love God
32:40 perfected my love my love was very
32:43 immature my love was babyish I was in
32:47 the Cradle but God has perfected my
32:49 love the final lesson that John teaches
32:59 21 what God wants us to do share his
33:02 love you see in verse 18 he's talking
33:06 about fear in verses 19- 21 he's talking
33:08 about loving others there are multitudes
33:11 of people who are living in fear now
33:13 there is a proper fear of God there is a
33:16 proper reverence for the Lord but what
33:19 he's talking about here is punishment
33:22 servile fear fear that cringes not fear that
33:24 that
33:26 respects and John is telling us as we
33:29 mature in our love we don't live in fear
33:31 we aren't afraid of tomorrow God loves
33:34 us he'll take care of tomorrow we aren't
33:36 afraid of the day of judgment as he is
33:39 so are we in this world we'll stand
33:41 before him in Jesus Christ's
33:42 righteousness we aren't afraid of the
33:45 day of judgment he loves us and we love
33:47 him when two people love each other they
33:49 aren't afraid of each
33:51 other I'm sure I'm speaking to some
33:55 people right now who um are afraid of
33:58 the past it might catch up with you
34:00 and you're afraid of the present because
34:03 uh you can't handle it and you're afraid
34:04 of the future because you don't know
34:06 what it scares you you don't what's
34:08 coming and so you live in fear you wake
34:10 up in fear and you live in fear and you
34:12 go to sleep in fear and you dream in
34:14 fear and God is saying to us you don't
34:17 have to live that
34:20 way don't have to be afraid of life and
34:22 afraid of death and afraid of judgment
34:25 and Afraid of the past afraid of the
34:28 future because you walk in love if you
34:30 know Jesus Christ as your savior if
34:32 you've experienced the love of God this
34:35 love is perfected in our hearts and
34:38 there's no fear when you get rid of that
34:40 fear my friend then you can reach out to
34:43 other people most of the people in the
34:46 city of Chicago who tell me they are
34:48 lonely most of the people in the city of
34:50 Chicago who tell me they are rejected
34:53 and unwanted are people who are living
34:55 in some kind of fear and they have so
34:58 locked themselves up nobody can get to
35:00 them and my friend when you're locked up
35:03 in the chains of fear you can't reach
35:07 out and love somebody else and so after
35:09 dealing with this matter of growing in
35:12 our love John says there's a fourth
35:13 lesson I want you to
35:17 learn what God wants you to do love one
35:19 another several times in first John he's
35:21 talked about this if you go back and
35:24 read the entire five chapters of First
35:25 John you'll find it every once in a
35:27 while John says now let's love one
35:29 another another I want to command you to
35:30 love one another this is one of the
35:32 evidences that you're saved that you
35:34 love one another by this we know that
35:35 we've passed from death into life
35:38 because we love the Brethren all the way
35:40 through first John he weaves together
35:45 three beautiful strands truth love
35:49 Holiness truth love Holiness and he'll
35:52 talk about God is light then he'll talk
35:54 about love then he'll talk about truth
35:58 and he weaves it all together
36:00 and what he's saying is simply this that
36:02 if we're experiencing this perfecting
36:05 love that God has in us we're going to
36:07 reach out and love other
36:10 people we Christians like to talk about
36:12 love in the abstract if you've read the
36:14 screw tape Letters by CS Lewis you'll
36:17 recall that statement he makes when he
36:21 says um don't let him love anybody in
36:23 particular try to keep him from loving
36:25 the person next door or the person down
36:27 the street just let him love people in
36:30 the ABS ract in the Peanuts comic strip
36:32 lonus says something like that he says I
36:36 love mankind it's people I can't
36:38 stand this is the way we are we sing
36:41 about love and we hear about love when
36:43 it comes to just getting right down and
36:46 carrying a burden or drying a tear or
36:47 getting an arm underneath somebody
36:49 else's arm and holding them up we don't
36:54 that the Christian love he's talking
36:57 about here is not sticky sentimental
36:58 kind of
37:00 feeling the Christian love he's talking
37:03 about here is God's kind of love active
37:05 love love that does something love that
37:08 sacrifices love that pays a price love
37:11 that doesn't do it by remote control
37:13 love that doesn't pay a substitute to do
37:15 it love that comes right where we are
37:17 and gets into the Nitty Gritty of life
37:19 oh how easy it is for us to sit in our
37:23 Ivory Towers and pray for people how
37:25 hard it is to get down into the dirty
37:28 streets and show love to people
37:31 people most of us as saints of God are
37:34 isolated and
37:36 insulated and not much can get through
37:43 anymore too many of us substitute words
37:48 for Deeds if a man says I love God you
37:49 find this all the way through the go the
37:52 first John verse 6 of chapter 1 if we
37:55 say we have fellowship with him verse 8
37:58 if we say we have no sin verse 10 if we
38:01 say that we have not sinned chapter 2:4
38:05 he that saith I know him chapter 2: 6 he
38:07 that say he abideth in him all the way
38:10 through here John is contrasting words and
38:15 deeds I don't have to preach this let
38:17 John preach it let me read to you from 1
38:22 John 3 verse 16 we all know John 3:16
38:25 for God so loved the world how about 1
38:29 John 3:16 by this perceive we the love
38:32 of God because he laid down his life for
38:34 us and we ought to lay down our lives
38:36 for the Brethren but whosoever hath this
38:39 world's good and seeth his brother have
38:42 need and shutteth up his compassions
38:45 from him how dwelleth the love of God in
38:47 him my little children let us not love
38:51 in word neither in tongue but in deed
38:58 trueu so life is a school my my
39:00 friend and the greatest lesson we can
39:04 learn in this school of life is how to
39:07 love not to love on the human level
39:09 anybody can do that to love on the Divine
39:10 Divine
39:13 level human beings return good for good
39:16 and evil for evil they return Love For
39:19 Love and hatred for hatred saints of God
39:22 return love even for evil and hatred
39:24 Jesus said love your
39:26 enemies life is a school and we better
39:28 learn these lessons we better learn what
39:30 God is he's
39:34 love and what God did he sent his son to
39:36 die for us and if we've trusted him as
39:39 our savior the third lesson what God is
39:41 doing perfecting our love Building
39:44 Bridges not
39:48 walls sowing seeds of blessing not
39:52 hatred peacemakers not
39:54 troublemakers and the lesson of what God
40:02 that's what the advent's all
40:06 about in this was manifested the love of
40:09 God toward
40:12 us that God sent his only begotten son
40:14 into the world that we might live
40:18 through him before he came we were dead
40:21 he's come we've trusted him we're alive
40:23 before he came we didn't know God now we
40:25 know God before he came our hearts were
40:27 filled with poison now they can be
40:29 filled with love before he came we
40:31 didn't know the lessons of love but now
40:34 that he's come we know
40:38 them what shall we do with them because
40:39 one of these days there's going to be
40:41 that final examination when God's going
40:43 to call us up and say all right you were
40:45 in the school of life you were learning
40:47 the lessons of love what level were you
40:50 at when you got
40:57 at only through the Lord Jesus Christ by
40:59 his holy spirit can we ever experience
41:01 this kind of
41:04 love constantly amazes me how the Saints
41:06 can hold grudges against one another how
41:10 the Saints can take picky unish minor
41:13 insignificant little things and
41:15 make big issues out of them it
41:17 constantly amazes me how people can sing
41:20 about love and talk about love and yet promote
41:22 promote
41:27 clicks promote disagreements spread lies
41:29 my brothers and sisters such things
41:32 ought not so to be may God help us today
41:35 not just today but every day to walk in
41:37 that kind of love that he showed toward
41:40 us that that love might be perfected in
41:43 us that we might walk in openness and
41:46 honesty and not in
41:48 fear that people might be able to look
41:49 at us and say you
41:55 know that reminds me of God for God is
41:58 love gracious father father we have
42:01 failed so often we have worked for you
42:04 but our work has not been a work of
42:07 love so often dear father we've gone out
42:08 and fought battles but it's not been a
42:11 labor of
42:13 love and though our message might be
42:16 right and though our mechanics might be
42:17 right sometimes our motive has been
42:20 wrong and father we confess this
42:24 sin cleanse our hearts of all suspicion
42:27 and criticism and hatred fill our hearts
42:29 with the kind of perfecting love that
42:31 makes us more like
42:33 Christ I pray for those who have never
42:35 been born again who have never trusted
42:38 the Savior oh God help them to trust
42:40 today and be born into the family of
42:42 love I pray Heavenly Father for those of
42:44 us who have been saved long enough to
42:46 know what this is all about forgive us
42:48 for not being farther along in our
42:52 lessons forgive us for selfishness for
42:54 defensiveness forgive us oh God when we
42:56 have been a part of the problem instead
42:57 of the answer
42:59 and help us today so to be filled with
43:02 love that we're not
43:04 afraid because you are
