Well, it's been a great joy to have Conrad with us this week, part of a week, and to be able to be in the book of 1 John, dealing with assurance, which has been a delight and very helpful. Pray for Conrad's strength, for the grace of the Lord upon him. for the work that the Lord has in his providence placed him in for the African Christian University. I'm excited about it myself and delighted that what the Lord is doing there and that he will be continuing to raise up men and women for the glory of God to take Christ into every field and raise up more ministers as well. So if you'll come, my brother, Well, brethren, turn with me to 1 John and chapter 4. 1 John and chapter 4. As you turn there, bearing in mind that this is also my last session in Birmingham, I would like to express gratitude to the churches that have come together over the last couple of days in order to make me feel so much at home and also the opportunity for me to preach and Dominion Baptist Church definitely being there as well as I am wrapping up my time in this city. I've enjoyed the hospitality of our brother Todd and sister Lori. It's been wonderful. I hope to call again. in the not too distant future. All right, my mind, as those of you who were here yesterday will recall, has settled largely on the subject of assurance of salvation as it is taught by John in his first epistle. And knowing that I only had three sessions, at least within the context of this church, I didn't think I was going to do a verse-by-verse exposition of the whole book. But what I did was to primarily think in terms of three major themes within the book that John handles in order for him to make the point that those of us who have trusted in Christ possess eternal life. And so on Sunday afternoon, we looked at 1 John and chapter one, and there we spoke about assurance as being based on our understanding of the gospel message. And we dealt with it by beginning with a simple question. And the question is, have you sinned? Are you a sinner? In the light of that, how do you hope God will accept you? And we saw that only a person who has truly understood the gospel will be willing to acknowledge their sin without trying to give any way of explaining it away, and then acknowledge in genuine repentance and faith that Jesus has paid it all. And consequently, on that basis, God would accept me. Yesterday in the evening we jumped from chapter one to chapter three and verse four down to verse 10. And there we're seeing assurance as something again that we come to experience as we notice a morally transformed life. It's not about us trying to be something else other than what we are, but it is us testifying that God has done something in us. And that something has completely changed the moral compass in our lives so that the trajectory now is towards holiness. and godliness, rather than remaining self-centered and sinking further into sin. That's essentially what we saw. And we noted that this is not suggesting an absolutely perfect life, but rather it is the direction of the life, whether it is a direction that is Godward, direction that is towards godliness rather than hypocrisy and sin. Well there were a number of arguments that John himself gave from chapter 3 verse 4 to verse 10. This evening, I want to deal with a third aspect of John's strands of assurance of salvation. And this time, it is loving the brethren. Loving the brethren. In other words, Christian love. And more specifically, love for other believers. Now anyway, John begins to deal with it from chapter 11, rather chapter three, verse 11 downwards. Yesterday as we're ending, you would have noticed that the very last verse we looked at, verse 10, ended with a phrase, no is one who does not love his brother. But instead, I want to concentrate our thinking on chapter four, verse seven to verse 12. chapter four, verse seven to verse 12. It's basically repeating, in a sense, what is there before, but taking it further. And also, the arguments that are there continue after verse 12, especially towards the end of this chapter, and in fact, the beginning of chapter five. So in a way, the passage I'm taking you to is right in the middle of all this, this ongoing argument of John that loving the brethren proof that God has saved us. Let me read verse 7 down to verse 12. Beloved, let us love one another for love is from God and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love. 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. 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. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us. Well, from this passage that we've just read, we learn at least three things. First of all, it is the direct statement that our love or lack of love clearly manifests whether we are children of God or not. Let me say that again. Our love or lack of love clearly manifests whether we are God's children or not. Now the context is in terms of love for fellow believers. We've noticed that already in chapter three and verse 10 where the message is, no is the one who does not love his brother. So it's very clear there that it is talking about the brethren. Or as it says in verse 11 of chapter three, for this is the message that you've heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. So again, there you can see that it is in the family of God, the people of God. Again, we notice it fairly well in verse 16. I mean, we could go on like this, but verse 16 says of chapter three, by this we know love, that he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. And if anyone has the world goods and sees his brother in need, it closes his heart. against him, how does God's love abide in him? But even in the passage that we have read, which is chapter 4, verse 7 to verse 12, look at what it says in verse 11. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. Although the first two verses, verse seven and verse eight, do not speak about who to be specifically loved, the context itself is clearly speaking about the love for the brethren, the love for those who name the name of the Lord. So this is not simply those who are made in the image of God, that's important, and we'll come to it in a moment as we develop on this topic, but it is primarily those that have not only been made in his image, but they have been recreated in his image. They have come to experience something of the salvation of God. They have entered into the community of the people of God and consequently they are sharing in fellowship. They are sharing in the common life of believers. You have a lot to do with one another. What is John telling us here? Well, the message is clear. First of all, it is a plea. Beloved, let us love one another. In other words, yes, this is about the simple fact that if you don't love, consequently, this is your true state before God. But even then, believers are being urged to press on with respect to love for believers. This is an injunction that is something we ought to be doing. The way in which we speak in terms of, let us encourage one another. Let's be patient with one another. So in the same way, let us love one another. That's being very deliberate about it. Why? Well, that's where John now brings in the issue of assurance one way or the other. Love is from God and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. In other words, God wants to love his children and he wants to love his children through his other children. Love is from God and he is seeking in a practical way to meet the physical, spiritual, emotional, social needs of his own people on earth through fellow believers. As we shall go on to see in a moment, it's the very nature of God. to love, and he wants to do so through his people. And therefore, whoever loves knows God, knowing in an experiential way, not simply in the brain here that, yes, this is the philosophy concerning God, but I know him. in the sense of having experienced something of this God. And that's a result of having been born of God. Whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Or the reverse is equally true. Anyone who does not love does not know God. Remember what we said. God seeks his love to filter through his people because love is practical. He wants to minister to his children through other children of his. It's his very nature. Well clearly that person who is in the midst of God's people and is not doing so John says here, he doesn't know God. Such a person has not experienced God. Why? I love the way he puts it here. Because God is love. He's not saying God has love. He's not saying God is loving. He's saying it's of the very essence of God. He is love. You cannot have or think about God without thinking about love. It's the way in which we describe an ocean or a sea, and we may say it has water, or in a sense, That statement is not quite correct because you cannot have an ocean or a sea without water. It is water. That's what it is. It is water. Well, in the same way, God is love. So anyone who thinks he has experienced this regenerating work of God that has transformed him. Anyone who claims to have experienced this knowledge of God and somehow blocks out this reality of love is only cheating himself, is only cheating himself. The Lord Jesus Christ, when he was here on earth, dealt with this matter quite a number of times. In fact, towards the end of his ministry, we had one passage read to us a little earlier on from the Upper Room Discourse. But another situation, he was painting a picture of what would happen in the years to come when history is wrapped up, when the Savior himself comes in Matthew 25, and he imagines the Son of God separating humanity into two clean camps. One camp, he calls them the sheep, and he welcomes them into heaven. It's amazing what he says to them. It almost teaches a salvation by works, almost. Doesn't quite, but almost. Because this is what Jesus says to them. Matthew 25 and verse 34. Then the king will say to those on his right, come, you who are blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Why? Well, here is the answer. Because I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you or naked and close you? When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the king will say, will answer them, truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. In other words, the love of God flowed through you to the saints, the people of God, in all their material, social, spiritual needs. You actively ministered to them. Well, the opposite. Verse 41, then he will say to those on his left, depart from me, you cursed into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not welcome me naked. and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison, and you did not visit me. Then they also will answer saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to you? Then he will answer them saying, truly I say to you, as you did not do it, to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me." So again, love is practical, very practical. When the question is being asked whether you are truly loving, you don't get a stethoscope and put it against your chest. You look into your previous week, your previous month, and how you were responding to the needs that are there among the people of God. It's practical. It's not asking about feelings where you sort of feeling frothy towards believers. No. It's practical. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. And thankfully, that's where the answer comes, that it's not good works. It is those that have experienced the righteousness of God in their lives. Well, that's what John is concerned about here. And brethren, it's a knife that cuts straight. He's not leaving some gray area in between, because it's the very nature of God, as we shall see in a few minutes. And therefore, we ought to seriously ask ourselves, Am I, there's a picture I like using back home which I'll use in a moment, am I a shovel or a hoe? Now I'll explain. When you're using a shovel and you dig into the ground, you push away from yourself. When using a hoe and you dig into the ground, you pull in a direction. So what am I in the context of the church? A shovel or a hoe? Now sadly, too many people who are in the church are hoes, H-O-E-S. They're individuals who are always complaining about lack of love in the church, always complaining. And so it was no, you know, me, I was depressed last week. Nobody came to visit me. Me, there was this, there was no phone call that I received and there was this and so on. Then you ask them, all right, let's look at the church bulletin. There was this person who was in need. What did you do about it? Well, you know, I was very busy that week. You know, life was just hectic. All right. Then there was this need as well. What did you do about it? Oh, I must have missed the announcements, okay. What about this? Clearly, issues that needed attention in the lives of believers, the person did literally nothing, but they're expecting to be showered with love. And the message is always, there's no love in this church, I'm out of here. Now often, it's a sign of the absence of regeneration in the heart. When a person is always thinking about what am I getting out of here? What am I getting out of here? It's a sign the soul has not yet been saved. Because where the Lord saves you, you suddenly become alive to the fact that I belong to a family and in this family I've got something to offer. and you want to know the saints, you want to know the circumstances in their lives, and when there is a need and you have the capacity to meet it, it's such a personal responsibility. You're not even thinking, what about others? What are they doing about it? No, no, no, no, no. You just have this love of God. that's overflowing in you and you want to do them good. It's not even to draw attention to yourself, no. There's a joy in blessing the people of God. It's because the Spirit of God is in your heart and he is the spirit of a God who is love itself. Now John goes on to speak about how this love of God has been manifested in an unmistakable way, in a most glorious way, in a way that none of us will ever reach. Look at the way he puts it in verse 9 and verse 10. Verse 9 and verse 10. He says, in this the love of God was made manifest among us that God sent his son into the world so that we might live through him. 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. John here is clearly drawing our attention to the way God's love has been made knowledgeable to us. He uses the word, the love of God was made manifest among us. In other words, it's there already, but it was hidden behind the curtains. Now, the curtains have been drawn so that we can see for ourselves something of the magnitude of God's love. And it is seen in two major acts, the incarnation and the crucifixion. The incarnation and the crucifixion. In the incarnation, he says that God sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him. The original Greek writing, it says that God sent, in fact, let me just read it as I have it in my notes, that his son, his only one, God sent into the world. His son, his only one, God sent into the world. Now, that makes the point. Because that's love. That's love. If he had sent 100,000 angels, we may be doubting whether that's real love, because those are his creations. He could make another 100,000 at the click of his fingers. But he gives his own son the best of heaven and gives him the assignment to save us from sin and sends him into this sin-sick world on this great mission. He experiences a humiliation in taking on himself human flesh. He comes into a world that is full of iniquity, evil, wickedness. It's like being sent to unblock a sewer with all the stench that is there. He didn't need to do that, not at all. And from the very moment of his birth, he is hunted like a wild animal by his own creation. And God doesn't hold that back because that's the assignment he came for. in order to change our circumstances from that of perishing to that of being saved, from that of death to that of life so that we might live through him. Now here's the point, he didn't need to. God can recreate an entire universe at the click of his finger. It's not a need that was in him. It's his nature to love, to have mercy, to have grace. And he got the best of heaven to do this. But John takes us to the acme, the apex of all this, and it is when the son takes our place, dies our death. He says that 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. In other words, to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Now that always blows my mind when I try to wrap my mind around that. My liability should be put upon the Son of God. The creature's sin should be placed on the Creator. And that God, whose love for his own Son is infinite, has been infinite across eternity, there was no beginning, should now cause his wrath, the wrath that must come upon sin and sinners, and pose it upon his own innocent beloved son. pours it to his very dregs, despite the fact that before this son reaches the cross, he pleads with him, pleads with him to the point where his sweat becomes like great drops of blood to fall into the ground. Father, if it be your will, take this cup away from me. Three times over, And all that the father does is to send an angel to strengthen him. It must be done. And finally Jesus is crushed in the place of sinners until his cry of dereliction pierces through the sky. My God my God. Have you forsaken me? For who? Sinners. Those who've offended him times without number. Those who've been raising clenched fists into his face. Those who, if they had a way, would put a spear into his back and murder God. He does this for sinners so that his own wrath is quenched and sinners can go free. This is love. This is love. The story that I often tell, which is meant to try and approximate on this, And it's of a gentleman who in the later years of his life, God blesses him and his wife with an only child, a son. He's a railroad worker, the one who changes the rails so that trains can go one way or the other. But in this particular case, it is over a troll bridge. So he opens the bridge, ships go through, and a train is coming, he closes it, and the train goes past. Out of joy, he takes his little toddler to work so that the little toddler can see the circumstances in which dad works. Well, he falls asleep until he hears the train coming. And as he wakes up, in order to change gears, he notices his little boy is nowhere near. Looks out for the boy and induces and sees him just under the bridge, the point where if he brings it down, he crushes his own son. He shouts, and as you know, toddlers, little things that look, smiles, but oblivious to the danger. If he tries to run to rescue the child, there won't be enough time for him to come back and close the bridge. If he closes the bridge, he crushes his son, but the hundreds of people that are in the train go through in safety. What would you do? It's your only son. Now the point I make with this story is this, that if you were in that man's shoes and discovered that the people who are in this train are the Al-Qaeda's, the Boko Haram's, the Al Shabaabs, I know what you would do. At least I know what I would do. I would say, I have a good excuse for them to perish. And I would go and rescue my son. And any person, when the news comes out that an entire train went into the river, I would say to them, what were you expecting? My son was in danger. Who among you? would risk his own son's life, quite apart from talking about who was in that train. But you see, that's what God did for us. He knew exactly what we were, but he still brought that gear down, and his son was crushed. The cry, I repeat, pierced the sky. Why have you forsaken me? The answer is for these sinners. These sinners that I have chosen that they might come into my heaven. I have made them objects of my love and my love is infinite. And therefore, it is a love that sacrifices my own son. So the point that John is making here is this, that if we want to know what love is, let's not think about our love for God. It's a scandal, to say the least. Because it's always up, down, up, down, and more down than up. We know that. He says don't look there, in this is love. Not that we have loved God, don't look there, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sin. So clearly, it is first of all the incarnation and then the crucifixion of God's own son. When you peep there, The phrase or the verse, for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, or his only begotten son, stares back at you and you go, wow, this indeed is love. Well, John then goes on to say that this has two implications. and this has two implications in this whole area of assurance. Two implications. He puts it this way in verse 11 and verse 12. Beloved, if God so loved us, number one, we also ought to love one another. That's the first implication. In other words, we've stared at the nature of God's love and God is not sitting over there while we are here. His spirit is in us if we are truly saved. It only makes sense that he who has loved like this and now dwells in us will make us a people who will gladly sacrifice for the brethren. We will not be those whose love is merely in word, as he had said in chapter three. Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and truth. It'll be real. We will be doing something for the brethren, for Tom, for Dick, for Harry, for Mary, for Grace, and so on. The real individuals that are there in front of us who are in need. We also ought to love one another. That's the first implication. And it's a real challenge to us. You claim to be a Christian because you've been going to church, you read your Bible, you pray. Well, here's the question. When you are made aware of a need in a brother's life, in a sister's life, what happens? Do you immediately begin to say, well, I hope Brethren, are doing something about this? Or do you just sense love, divine love, reaching out? And especially if you grew up a very selfish, self-centered individual, you are able to say, this is not me. I know myself too well. This is God waking in me. The way I was previously, I would have looked the other way. I would have said, come on. God will sort him out. I'm a scared one in life. This must be God who has changed me. And then the second implication is taking the matter one step further. He says, no one has ever seen God. But if we love one another, here's the point, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. Now, this might look as though he is saying because we are loving, therefore, God is now coming into our hearts. But what he's really saying is that it is proving that God is with us. If we love one another, God abides. It means he's there. He hasn't come visiting. He actually stays there. He's the one working in us. Because only he can do this. We are born chronically selfish, chronically self-centered. So if there's a life of love, it must be that God is with us, he abides with us. In fact, the second paragraph from verse 13 to the end of this chapter, the first part of it is constantly bringing out this abiding, abiding, abiding, abiding. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us because he's given us of his spirit. There it is, he's with us, he's dwelling with us. He goes on, verse 15, whoever confess that Jesus is the son of God, God abides in him and he in God. Again, it's not saying because you are confessing, then he's coming visiting. No, it's because he's with you. that you have this ongoing confession of who Jesus Christ is. And then he says in verse 16, bring in love, and we'll come back again to that. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. So I hope you are seeing there that it's not because you are loving and then God is coming to reward you. It's the fact that it's the life of God that has enveloped you is manifesting itself in loving others. God abides with us. And then the second part of that implication is that his love is perfected in us. And that's not talking purely in terms of this assurance that we have that God is my God. He has saved me. He loves me with an everlasting love. Therefore, even though trials have come, temptations have come, even though the whole world around me, all hell is breaking loose, even if I am on my deathbed and death is now around the corner, I will not fear. because his love is perfected in me. In other words, I am enveloped with this reality. God really, really, really loves me. Proof of it is the second part of that, this final section. Look at the way he puts it. I begin reading from verse 18. There's no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment. And whoever fears has not been perfected in love. In your case, his love is perfected in you. So fear flies out of the window because that love of God that's flowing through you and being poured onto others just fills you with a sense of assurance. This is something a minute part of God's love for his people through me. And if he's working through me, it's really showing me he is a loving God. He's loved me with an everlasting and so the assurance grows. So let me ask, as we hurry on to close, and thank you for your patience, where are you in this matter? Again, remember, Don't try and pull out a stethoscope somewhere and put it against your chest and start saying, do I feel loving? I mean, that's not what God was doing with you. In fact, I can assure you that that wasn't the sort of positive feeling that was there. It was agape, a love of principle. So I'm asking, When it comes to the needs of the saints, you know them by name, as I said, John, Dick, Harry, Mary, Grace, Jean, you know them. You sit in the same pews regularly. What's happening? What's happening? Do you love to love them? And how is that rolling back on your soul? Is it helping you to understand the love of God who climbed off his throne and came in great sacrifice to change your destination from hell to heaven? Is that helping you? so that you can say with a hymn writer, loved with everlasting love, led by grace that love to know, spirit breathing from above, thou hast taught me it is so. Are you able to say that? That heaven and earth may fade and flee, first born light in gloom decline, but while God and I shall be, I'm his and he is mine. Is it filling you with a solid assurance? The things that once were wild alarms cannot now disturb my rest. Closed in everlasting arms and piloned on that loving breast, oh, to lie forever here. doubt and care and self-resign while he whispers in my ear, I'm his and he is mine. Let's pray. Eternal and gracious God, we thank you. that in bringing us to heaven you give us a number of means that clearly show what you've done for us and in us. And we thank you for the way in which often it's so practical. And love manifested is one of them. And Father help us not to be the kind of individuals that in the church are always thinking about themselves and what they can get out of the people of God but that we might experience that flow of love from our hearts towards the brethren. some of whom often rub us the wrong way, gossip about us, sometimes even slander us, but they are needy. Thank you, Lord, that by your Spirit you enable us to love in practical ways even such brethren. Grant, O Lord, that among the many proofs that you have saved us, we may find this as one of the evidences that would cause us, when we are looking death in the face, to know that you will welcome us into heaven, not because it's an act of good works to make you love us, but a proof that you've loved us, that we've been able to love others. Father, help us all to find this great salvation and rejoice in it. Through Jesus Christ, amen.