Introduction: Two Kinds Of Fear
I felt fear when I thought of going home. Because of my carelessness, our TV had fallen out of the trunk of my car and was badly marred. No, I wasn’t afraid that my wife would yell at me or hit me. What I feared was the look of disappointment I would see in her face. Yet home was the place I wanted to be.
My fear was the kind of fear we should feel in relation to God. This is the mature fear advocated in Psalm 34:9 and many other Scripture passages. It is the fear of disappointing the Lord because we love Him so much, and because we so much appreciate His love for us.
The fear of punishment is an immature fear. This is the fear that is cast out by the “perfect love” mentioned in 1 John 4:18. This kind of fear isn’t entirely bad, though. It’s often a factor in causing a person to believe in Christ, and it may also keep a Christian from serious sin. But as we grow in our faith, we will obey God because we love Him so much that we don’t want to disappoint Him. Pleasing Him will be our supreme desire.
Lord, deliver us from an immature fear of punishment by developing in us a deep awareness of Your love and a profound desire to please You.
The highest motive for obeying God is the desire to please Him.
Source: Herbert Vander Lugt, Our Daily Bread, January 27, 1994
I. Love Made Perfect 17
17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
A. One Way For Love To Be Made Perfect
1. There is a difference between us being perfect and loved being perfected in us.
a. The moment we are saved, perfect love is installed in an imperfect body.
b. The whole idea of love being made perfect in us is spiritual maturity.
2. As with many other things spiritual maturity takes time.
a. Use the life of Moses to demonstrate spiritual maturity.
i. Birth – 40
a. God purposefully saved the life of Moses so that he could led the nation of Israel.
b. I believe Moses knew it.
c. But after he murdered the Egyptian and covered up the evidence and was subsequently exposed – he thought he blew it.
d. Do you think Moses was spiritually mature at 40?
ii. 40-80
a. After fleeing Pharaoh, Moses spent 40 years tending sheep on the backside of the desert.
b. God NEVER lost sight of Moses.
c. He spoke to him from the Burning Bush gave him his life work.
d. Do you think Moses was spiritually mature at 80?
iii. 80-120
a. Moses delivered!
b. He led the children of Israel to the Promised Land only to see them rebel!
c. He then got to led them in a circle in the wilderness for 40 years
b. I want to point out two incidents in Moses life in the wilderness (understanding it was not his fault he was there).
i. He came of the mountain of God with the Ten Commandments in his hand only to find his brother had made a Holy Cow and declared it to be the God of Israel.
a. Moses lost it!
b. He broke all Ten Commandments at once.
c. God was not pleased with this and issued the commandments again.
ii. The children of Israel ran out of water.
a. God commanded Moses to speak to the rock and water would come forth.
b. Moses lost it and whacked the rock instead in direct disobedience to God and the water still came out.
c. But that act of disobedience cost him his ticket to the Promised Land.
d. Do you think Moses was spiritually mature at 120?
e. Yes! I think Moses was spiritually mature at 120, but his anger cost him greatly!
3. So for love to be made perfect in us…
a. We must be saved!
b. We must live out our relationship with Christ in such a way that we are growing closer to Him each and every day!
B. One Day For Us To Be Made Bold 17b
that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
1. How can we approach the Judgement Seat of Christ with boldness?
a. The answer to this is the same answer as How is love perfected among us?
b. We must be saved!
c. We must live out our relationship with Christ in such a way that we are growing closer to Him each and every day!
2. I think there are two more aspects to consider:
a. Aspect #1 - This life is a test and we should be studying!
i. I loved going to school!
ii. I had a love/hate relationship with tests!
a. I loved taking test!
b. But I hated studying for them!
c. But nothing felt better than walking into class for the text
1. Having studied and being prepared
2. Seeing with satisfaction the things you were prepared for
3. Acing the test
iii. John is telling us the day is coming when we will stand before the Lord and either pass or fail this test.
b. Aspect #2 – we are not taking this test alone!
i. The Holy Spirit takes every step we take walking along side us as Jesus promised He would!
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us
Hebrews 12:1
ii. That cloud of witnesses is also known as the church!
C. Application To The Church
1. Let me be crystal clear.
2. I don’t believe any of us are going to saunter up to the Judgement Seat of Christ, hold out hands and say, “Okay, Lord, hit me with my rewards”.
3. Rather, in true meekness, I believe we will fall prostrate before the Lord and say, “You, oh, Lord are worthy!”
Illustration
II. Fear Cast Out 18
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
A. There Is No Fear In Love 18a
1. Do you love me?
a. Peter was asked this question by the Lord three times.
b. Each time Peter answered with a variant of, “You know I love You!”
c. Why was Jesus asking that question?
i. He knew Peter loved Him!
ii. He also knew Peter was having some doubts about himself, his ministry and his apostleship.
iii. Jesus asked that question to firmly settle the answer for Peter!
d. As we know Peter lived the rest of his life serving Jesus Christ.
2. Do you think Peter was afraid the night Jesus was arrested?
a. We know that he went to war for Jesus – and was rebuked for it!
b. We know he denied Jesus three times that night.
c. We know that, like the other Apostles, Peter deserted Jesus.
d. It is what it is, but I’ve often wondered what would have happened if Peter and the other apostles had allowed the love of Jesus to rule the night!
3. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear!
B. There Is No Love In Fear 18b
1. This brings us to the 2nd part of verse 18.
2. There is no love in a relationship ruled by fear.
3. The relationship that immediately comes to mind is a physical relationship – a husband and wife.
4. This relationship is abusive – dominated by fear.
5. You cannot punch out your partner and then say, “I’m a born again Christian.”
6. How many times have we heard the story;
a. Wife gets abused by husband or vice versa.
b. Even while the wounds are black and blue and maybe still bleed, husband comes to wife and apologized and tells her he love her.
c. No real man will raise his hand to his beloved wife in anger.
d. No wife should stay in an abusive relationship.
e. The longer a person stays in an abusive relationship the more danger they are in.
f. This has all the ear marks of a demonic environment.
C. Application To The Church
1. Bottom line: if fear is the focal point of your relationship there is no love there.
2. If love is the focal point of your relationship, there is no fear there.
Illustration
III. God and Love Others 19-21
19 We love Him because He first loved us.
A. He Loved Us First 19
1. I love bragging on my kids.
a. When something good happens to them, I love to tell the world!
b. When something bad happens to them, I want someone to pray with me.
2. Since I am made in the image of God…
a. Don’t you think God loves us and wants to brag on us as well.
b. He loved us before we were ever born!
B. Love For The Invisible God 20
20 If someone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
1. Verse 20 exposes a problem in the church and in Christianity.
2. If we say we love God but are able to hate ANYONE especially our Christian brothers and sisters, John calls us out!
3. Liar! Liar! Pants on fire!
4. How can we love a God we have never seen and hate a brother who we have seen?
C. Love For The Visible Brother 21
21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
1. Now comes the commandment!
a. This commandment is from God and not John!
b. You must love your brother and you must love God!
2. If you fail either one:
a. You have broken this commandment
b. You have broken fellowship with God.
D. Application To The Church
Illustration
IV. Conclusion
