Introduction:
Larry Johnson was an oil field hand. Big, loud, cursing, drinking, woman chasing and completely anti-God. He worked on one of the dirtiest jobs in the old field – he ran a workover crew. Those guys NEVER came home clean. They were covered in grime, sludge and oil from head to toe every day. How do I know? One of my best friends worked on Larry’s crew. His name was Armando Zuniga.
One day shortly after Armando got saved, he called me and invited me to his house. There sat his boss, Larry Johnson, weeping like a baby. Since Larry couldn’t speak, I asked Armando, what was wrong. “Wrong? Nothing’s wrong! Larry just got saved! I wanted to make sure I did it right when I witnessed to him!”
The next Sunday, Larry Johnson (all 6’5’’ and 350lbs of him) showed up for church. As soon as the invitation was given, Larry made a dash for the altar. He assured me he was saved and wanted to be baptized ASAP.
Larry was baptized, won his brother to the Lord and he was baptized. Larry learned to play the guitar in about six weeks and regularly sang specials at our church. He stopped smoking, drinking, cussing and chasing women. Larry was the epitome of what we are going to talk about tonight.
Source: Dr. David W. Hallum
I. God's Love Described 7-8
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
A. Let Us Love Because We Are Loved.
1. Last week, we noted that John had used one of his favorite words to describe his readers – little children.
2. It seemed to me that beloved was another of John’s favorites.
a. But beloved only occurs in two chapters 3-4 and then only five times.
b. Love is a completely different proposition.
i. Love occurs 26 times in 1John alone.
ii. If you add beloved, we are looking at 31 occurrences in this small book.
3. The command – Let us love one another.
a. John has already expressed his love toward his readers.
b. Now he exhorts them to express their love to one another.
c. I feel confident that John’s readers loved the aged Apostle.
i. He had given them his Gospel, his letters and his hope for the future in the form of the Book of Revelation.
ii. He is not asking them to love him.
iii. He is urging them to love one another.
4. What John is saying here:
a. Because God loved me, I love you.
b. Because I love you, love one another.
c. Because you love one another, expand your love into the world.
B. Let Us Love Because Love Is Of God.
1. All love was in the mind of God before creation.
a. Brotherly Love
i. philia – verb form
ii. philadelphia – noun form
b. Family Love
c. Conjugal
d. Maternal
e. Paternal
f. Love of Christ for Men
2. Let us love because love is OF God.
C. Let Us Love Because We Are Born Of God.
1. Only John uses this term.
2. It only appears in 1John and only in 3-4-5.
3. It always appears in conjunction with something else:
a. Our spiritual birth
Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.
—1John 5:1
b. Our spiritual character we do not abide in sin
Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.
—1John 3:9
c. Our spiritual law – love one another
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
—1John 4:7
d. Our spiritual destiny overcome the world
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith.
—1John 5:4
D. Let Us Love Because We Know God.
1. God knows my name.
Then the LORD said to Satan, Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?
—Job 1:8
2. Do we share the Love of God because we are known by Him?
E. Let Us Love Because God Is Love.
1. We’ve been palavering a lot about love so far.
2. Let us be careful with the next thing – God is love.+
3.
a. God is love, but not your lucky charm.
b. God is love, but not your Genie in a Lamp.
c. God is love, but not your rich uncle.
d. We could go on, but we have other fish to fry.
F. Application To The Church
Illustration
II. God’s Love Demonstrated 9-11
A. This Is Love #1 – Got Sent His Only Son 9
9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
1. God demonstrated His love!
2. God sent His only begotten Son!
3. That we might live through Him!
a. Live through God? Yes!
b. Live through Christ? Yes!
c. Live through the Holy Spirit? Yes!
4. How?
a. Living lives that are pleasing to God!
b. Rejecting lives that are in line with the world!
B. This Is Love #2 (second time John tells us Jesus is the propitiation for our sins)
10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
1. Notice the remarkable difference between 9 and 10.
a. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son
b. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son
i. God is love and sent His Son.
ii. Not because we loved Him, but because He loved us!
2. He sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sin - reconciliation.
a. Jesus Christ not only came a sin-offering for us, but became sin for us.
b. By his vicarious life and death, He…
i. Reconciles every believer to God.
ii. Gives every unbeliever the opportunity to be reconciled to God.
3. But we know a couple of things about ourselves and about our world.
a. Though Jesus Christ the righteous reconciled us to God, we are still likely to sin.
b. Our world is filled with sinners:
i. Some who are saved…
ii. Some who are lost…
c. Our job is to reach out to the lost.
i. If we witness and are snubbed, we have done our job.
ii. If we witness and people are saved
a. We have done our job
b. And people are added to the kingdom!
C. Love one another
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
D. Application To The Church
Illustration
III. God’s Love Is Perfected 12-13
A. Conditional Maturity 12
12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.
1. Why does John say, No one has seen God?
a. To have met God in the flesh would have meant having the ability to come to know God without Jesus.
b. So that everyone has a similar experience, NO ONE SEES GOD in the flesh.
c. Rather we hear the call of God through the Spirit of God and are saved by the Son of God.
2. Once saved:
a. God abides in us…
b. We begin to demonstrate the love of God to others.
B. Proof Positive 13
13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
1. As we have seen, John is keen on abiding in God and God abiding in us.
2. Proof positive is salvation and a change of lifestyle.
C. Application To The Church
Illustration
IV. Conclusion
