For example, someone might say, And so someone might say, "I really love God!" But, these are only words. They might be true or they might not be. Just saying something does not make it so!
In fact anyone can say anything he wants to say, but that does not make it true.
In this passage of scripture John reveals HOW we KNOW that WE KNOW THE LORD JESUS AS OUR SAVIOR. Let us look at these verses to see if God dwells in us.
First, let us look at...
I. THE PROOF
Look at verses 7-8. We read, "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and even/ one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."
Huummm!
The reason I respond to these two verses of scriptures this way, is because today we see such a lack of love for the brethren in our churches, by people who profess to know Christ as Savior.
Illus: Some churches could be classified as small "War zones. That is...
• Professing Christians meet in unannounced meetings to plan strategies to destroy a person, or group, in the church that they dislike.
• Once they choose which weapon to use, and launch their attack, they do all they can to destroy that person, or group of people's reputations, or bring as much misery as they possibly can to them.
But, HOW REFRESHING it is to go to some churches where you CAN SEE THE LOVE PEOPLE CAN HAVE FOR EACH OTHER!
• Many practice love for the brethren as much as they can like the early church; referring to each other as brothers and sisters.
• They greet each other with a brotherly, or sisterly, embrace.
• They assist each other when they have needs.
• They help each other.
• They encourage each other.
You can feel the intimacy, the strength, of their love for each other.
If we do not possess this kind of love for the brethren, John makes it CRYSTAL CLEAR that we DO NOT KNOW THE LORD!
Look at the last part of verse 7 and verse 8. We read, "... and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love..”
Illus: Now what this passage reveals to us is that it is clear that with all the hate, jealousy, backbiting, back stabbing in the church, there must be many people who DO NOT KNOW THE LORD JESUS!
HOW MUCH CLEARER CAN IT BE?
Look again at verse 8, "He that LOVETH NOT KNOWETH NOT GOD; for God is love.”
Look at the last four words of verse 8. We read, "...for God is love.”
HOW DOES THAT AFFECT US?
This way; John says if we have God in our hearts then we are going to LOVE each other because GOD IS LOVE!
HOW CAN WE TELL GOD ABIDES IN US? We know BECAUSE HE LOVES THROUGH US.
Look at verse 9. which confirms that truth. We read, "In this was manifested the love of God toward us because that God sent his only begotten _Son into the world, THAT WE MIGHT LIVE THROUGH HIM.”
Illus: Have you ever heard a person say this about another person, “Man, do you have the devil in you?" (I see some wives looking at their husbands. You know exactly what I am talking about, don't you?)
If you have been saved very long you see people who profess to be saved, yet you can tell they are full of the devil because...
• They stay angry most of the time.
• They are jealous all the time.
On the other hand, the opposite can be said of some Christians. People can look at them and say, "They are full of the Lord!"
When the Lord saves us, He wants to take over our bodies and love through us!
To make sure that we understand what kind of love He has, and the kind we are supposed to have, John says, in verses 10-11, "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.”
Many have the kind of love that is reciprocal, that is, IF YOU LOVE THEM THEY WILL LOVE YOU.
Illus: They remind me of the children who write love notes to each other. The notes say, "I love you. Do you love me?" If a young man sent such a note and the letter was answered with a note saying, “Drop dead," he would immediately write back and say, “I take it back. I do not love you either."
WHAT KIND OF LOVE DOES GOD POSSESS?
The Bible says that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Verse 10 of our text says, "...God...loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
The word, "Propitiation," is translated from the Greek, "Hilasmos,” which means, "Atonement."
We all stood guilty of sin and the penalty is eternal separation from God, but God sent His Son, Christ Jesus, to earth. He was God's "Lamb without blemish." He said he would pay the price for our sins! Even though we had...
• Cursed Him.
• Ignored Him.
• Disobeyed Him.
• Disbelieved Him.
• Rejected Him.
• Rebelled against Him.
• Denied Him.
• Opposed Him.
Christ said that He would die on the cross, on Cavalry's hill, to pay the price for our sins.
This is the kind of love we are supposed to possess.
It is difficult for people to understand this because we live in a world that has a "warped" view of true love.
Illus: It is ironic that actors and actresses make movies about love, yet their lives reveal they do not know the first thing about love. Largely because of how we have been educated by them for the last generation, people no longer know the difference between LOVE and LUST!
And, because of this we have people enter marriages built upon lust. The first time some difficulty comes up in a lawyer is hired to get them out of that marriage.
WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? They thought they could build a lasting marriage on lust and found out that is a sorry foundation to build a marriage on. While they were dating, they were sure to show only their good side. Then once married they revealed an ugly side. They knew nothing of God's love.
The Bible says, "GOD IS LOVE." God loved us when we did not love Him.
We have no choice of who might hate us, but we do have a choice when it comes to who we will love. WE CAN LOVE A PERSON EVEN IF THAT PERSON DOES NOT LOVE US!
Look at verse 11. We read, "Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another."
The proof is in the pudding. If we claim God dwells in us, we LOVE AS HE LOVES US!
II. THE PRACTICE
AGAIN, HOW CAN WE SEE IF GOD ABIDES IN US? Look at verse 12. We read, "No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another God dwelleth in us and HIS LOVE IS PERFECTED IN US.”
Illus: If God was here in a physical body of His own today, we could walk up to Him and embrace Him. But, He is not here in His own physical body. But, God is Spirit. When the GOD OF LOVE dwells in us, and we yield to His will, He loves through us.
THE PROOF that the Lord abides in us is that we love the brethren.
Look at verse 13. We read, "Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit."
Notice, "...because he hath given us of his Spirit."
Naturally, the only way He can dwell in us is in Spirit. When a person truly comes to know the Lord Jesus, He gives us that Spirit of love for the brethren.
We have a strange way of showing we are SPIRIT FILLED. Some say one must...
• Shout
• Speak in tongues
• Raise your hands
• Roll in the floor and kick
But, the Bible teaches the way we can know we are Spirit-filled is that WE LOVE THE BRETHREN.
The Bible says, John 13:35, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."
Listen, walking around with a Bible in your hands as large as a family Bible does not mean you are saved.
Our churches should not be filled with people who claim God dwells in them but who are filled with hate, spite and envy.
Illus: These people hurt God's work when they get on the phone and cut people up one side and dawn the other, then walk in church Sunday morning and greet those people with, “Hi, it is so nice to see you." That is down-right hypocrisy, to claim one thing and really be something else.
Remember, John, in these three books, was addressing second and third generation Christians.
He was telling the Christians THE PROOF that we truly know Christ is that WE PRACTICE the SAME KIND OF LOVE CHRIST HAD.
John, who personally knew the Lord, said, (our paraphrase), "Here is the kind of Savior I saw.”
Look at verses 14-16. We read, "And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth In him and he in God And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us God is love: and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him."
Ill. THE PERFECTION
When we grow in grace, we grow in our LOVE FOR GOD, and FOR HIS PEOPLE.
Look at verses 17-18. We read, "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment because as he is so are we in this world There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love."
Some say, "Preacher, I do not have a hard time loving God." But this is not true for everyone.
Let's be honest! Sometimes we get mad at God and pout, and pitch "a hissy" fit.
Why? For various reasons. We get angry when we do not understand...
• That He does not think the way we do
• Why His timing is not our timing
• When He does not do things the way we would like Him to do them.
• Why He will not always give us what we want.
Our love for God will not be perfected until WE LOVE HIM EVEN WHEN THINGS DO NOT GO OUR WAY.
This is why some teens have a problem with their parents. Their parents do not...
• Think the way they think
• Agree with their timing
• Do things the way they would do things
• Always give them the things they want
But, if a child can only love when they have things their way, they do not know a thing about LOVE.
When we grow in grace, we GROW IN LOVE FOR GOD and IN LOVE FOR EACH OTHER.
One of the reasons WE DO NOT HAVE TO FEAR standing before God on judgment day is that our love has been perfected.
That is, we know...
• He loves us
• We know we love Him
• We love each other
John was trying to get his congregation to search their hearts to see if they really knew the Lord Jesus.
Why? Because they would stand before God on judgment day, and the only thing that will count then is if THEY REALLY KNOW THE LORD JESUS!
The PROOF is that they PRACTICE the SAME kind of LOVE THAT JESUS PRACTICED.
Look at verse 17. We read, "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.”
Conclusion: We could walk around all day, every
day, saying, “I love the Lord Jesus,” but those are only words. It might be true, or it might not be true.
But John makes it crystal clear that one can not say, "I love God." and hate his brother or sister in the Lord.
Look at the remaining verses in this passage of scripture, look at 1 John 4:19-21. We read, "We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?, And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.”
I. THE PROOF
II. THE PRACTICE
III. THE PERFECTION
