If you could turn in your copies of God's Word, if you desire, to 1 John 4, we'll be starting in verse 7. 1 John 4, starting in verse 7. It's in your pew Bibles, if you desire to use those, the ESV version, on page 1023. It's page 1023. Up to this point in John's letter to the churches, he has spoken of the Spirit. And we looked at that last week. The Holy Spirit that is within us, in works, within our midst. And that he has given that to us to discern what is truth and what is error. the falsehood and the teachings of the false teachers that are in the midst of John's period that he's writing against. And he has spoken of this topic of love that we'll be seeing today throughout the letter. But now he's going to be speaking of it and zooming in to the very nature of love and what it is. So here now, the word of the Lord, 1st John, chapter 4, starting in verse 7, we'll be reading the chapter 5, verse 5. 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. By this, we know that we abide in him and he in us because he has given us of his spirit. And we have seen and testify that the father has sent his son to be the savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the son of God, God abides in him. and he in God. 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. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment. Because as he is, so also are we in this world. There is 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. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God. whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him, whoever loves God must also love his brother. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. And everyone who loves the father loves whoever has been born of him. By this, we know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments. His commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world. Our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the son of God? Let us pray. Heavenly Father, You have given us Your words, the very oracles from You. We give You praise and worship today. Teach us from Your Word as You instruct us now. I pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen. The word love is used in our society in many different ways. We use it, we put it on parades, we use it with our children. We say, I love you to spouses and to our children. I said, I love you to my wife and daughter today. And we use the word love in so many different ways as humans. We use the word love also as a blessing, and we use it to send a message, a message that we want to convey to those around us in our society. But John is writing in this letter that divine love is different. Divine love is different. It is a love that comes from God, from His very nature, from His very character. As humans, our love is only an action that we show to one another, and in that way we show our human love, either in a good way or in a sinful way. But God is sinless. His love comes from His very essence, from His very being. John is writing that to us in this letter. He has spoken of love early on in this letter. Love for one another. Love for the community of God. But now he writes almost getting to the pinnacle, to the mountaintop of this topic of love here in his letter. He looks at the very character of God, that God is love. So, brothers and sisters in Christ, friends, you are loved of God. Now, love one another. You are loved of God. Now love one another. John in verses seven through 12 first looks at God, that he is the source of all love. God is the source of all love. Here in verses seven through 12, God in his very essence is love. I remember at my high school graduation, the speaker saying, God does not need you. God does not need you. And it shocked us. Kind of you sit back in your seats. And if I said that to you, that God does not need you. And what he was conveying is that God in and of himself, the triune God is self-existing. He does not need creatures. God didn't need Adam and Eve. He didn't have to walk in the garden with them. He didn't need a people to fill this empty hole in his heart for fellowship and communion. He doesn't need our prayers. God is God and we are not. God does not need anything. He is self-sufficient. And that's what John is driving us to in these in these verses in our text today, that God is self existent. God is love in his very nature. He is complete and totally self existing. The Westminster Confession says there is but one only living and true God. who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts or passions, immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute, working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will, for his own glory, Most loving. God is most loving. But it comes from His essence, from His very nature. John writes in his gospel, the Father hath life in Himself. The Father hath life in Himself. God in His very essence is self-existing. Paul writes that in Acts to the people. He says, as though God needed anything, God does not need anything. He is holy, thrice holy in his very nature. God created us for his glory. Thus, we are born in sin and alien to this love of God, but God loved us. We see in verse 7 that for God, for love is from God. That love comes from God. He is the source of all love. Of all divine love comes from God. And in verse 8, anyone who does not love, does not know God. Because God is love. In the Greek, it says that God, love, I am. It is of His very nature and essence. God is love. We must be careful though that we don't confuse the doctrine of God. That we don't bring in any heresies into our understanding of God and that of love. That there is a, as theologians put it, a divine simplicity. That the attributes of God, His justice, His love, and His mercy aren't of different degrees. That He doesn't have 100% love and 50% justice. That He is 100% love and 100% justice. And all of His attributes, that they aren't of degrees. God is love. He is perfect in all of His essence. And in that way, John is writing of the very character of God, that he is love and he has shown us this mystery and revealed it to us in these verses. But how does God show us this love? How does God show us this love? We see in verse nine that in this is love and this the love of God is shown that is manifested. in the person of Jesus Christ. The person of Jesus Christ is how God shows us his divine love of his very essence. It flows out and is manifested and shown in the person of Jesus Christ. In this, the love of God was manifested among us that God sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him. That it was the work of Christ, the sacrificial work of Christ on the cross that paid for our sins, that showed the love of God to us. Children, your parents love you. And if they say that they love you, they are showing from their actions that they have a deep affection for you. They have a love that they show to you as children. So much more, even greater is the love of God. Amongst humans we sin, but God is sinless and He shows a pure and holy love to His people in the person of Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity. John writes in John 3.16, a well-known verse, For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. God has showed this love to His people all throughout covenant history. His people in the Old Testament, He chose them, not because they were great or because they were of more number, but because God loved them. He chose them out of His character, that He loved them. He wanted to show this love to them. And John is writing of that same love here in his letter. In verses 7 through 12, God showed His very character, His essence, His divine love by sending His Son to you and to me to be the Savior of the world. Like he wrote earlier in his letter, to be the sacrificial lamb, to be the propitiation, the covering of our sins, and to be our advocate. So God is love in his very character, in his very essence. And John writes, see what kind of love the Father has given to us. He has given his very son to us. And this is the ultimate way of God showing His love. The Father sent His Son to be our sacrificial lamb, to be our advocate in heaven. John doesn't write. See what kind of grace the Father has given to us. See what kind of mercy the father's given to us. He has shown us grace and he has shown us mercy. But John uses the word love, this divine agape love that God has shown to us. He wants us to see the very character of God, the very nature of God in the giving of his son, that God is love. Paul writes of this love to the church in Ephesus. He says, But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. It was the great love of God that He sent His Son into the world. Thus, brothers and sisters, You were called by God. You were predestined. You were adopted. You were justified and you were being sanctified and future glorified because God loves you. Out of His very character, He showed His mercy and grace. He showed His love from His very nature. This indescribable love of God that He showed upon you, upon me. By giving His Son that He might die the most gruesome death and then rise again on the third day because He loves us. And only because He loves us. Not of anything that we have done. We are sinful. We were born in sin. But God showed His love for us when we were still sinners. This truth that John wants us to see is at the root of God sending his son. And he says that is why he sent his son is because he loved his people. He kept his covenant because he loves his people. Nothing that they have done, but of his character, he showed this perfect and holy love to you and to me. God does not need us, as the speaker at my graduation said. He doesn't need us to be God. But God, out of His mercy, out of His love, He showed it to us by sending His Son. And John writes of this in these verses, in verses 7 through 12. And John speaks of God's character. His character of love. Therefore, people of God, John writes, love one another. It is that therefore, since God is love of his essence and of his character, never sending his son in love. Therefore, people of God love one another. Beloved, let us love one another, John writes, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. This is how we show that we have the divine love within us, that God has given us the love that comes from His very character. So we show this, we prove this by loving one another. It comes from our heart. was a gift of God, and it flows out of our heart, this love to one another. Love is perfected in us. John writes in verse 12, no one has seen God. God is a spirit. No one has looked upon his face. But John writes, if we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us. God's love is perfected within us. We don't become a perfect being. We don't become perfect here in this life. But God's perfect love is placed within us. And by His work, the work of the Holy Spirit, He sanctifies us. He makes us more and more wholly into the image of Christ. In that way, we are becoming more like God, more like the God that is love. So, how are you doing at the perfection that God is showing in your life? How is the Holy Spirit working with you as you show love to one another? How is He perfecting love in you, in your relationships with others? How are you showing the love of God, this character of God in other people, in your relationships with your spouse, with your fellow workers, within your family? How are you showing God's love to others? Paul writes also to the church in Ephesus, and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us. a fragrant offering and sacrifice of God. God has showed this great love toward us, so we are to show God's love to others in how we live and how we talk to one another, how we act to one another. We are to show God's love, His sovereign good pleasure in our walk, in our Christian life. J. I. Packer gives this definition of the love of God, summarizing these verses in 1 John. He says, God's love is an exercise of His goodness toward individual sinners, whereby having identified Himself with their welfare, He has given His Son to be their Savior, and now brings them to know and enjoy Him in a covenant relationship. God has shown His divine character, His love toward us by sending His Son into the world. And thus John says, because of that great love that God has shown to us in the person of Jesus Christ, therefore we are to love one another. It flows from God's love. It is God's love that we show to one. another. This is important to realize that it is nothing that we have done. None of our works can please God. Only the love of God working within us can we show to one another. And that way, God has given us good works that we can show to the people of God and to this world. So God is the source of all love. Of His character flows the very love of God. And thus, we are to show that same divine love to one another, to our brothers and sisters in Christ. John shows the evidence of divine love. In verses 13-21, the end of this chapter, John writes of the evidence of how we show this divine love to the people of God. The evidence of divine love. These proofs of how we have been shown God's love and then how we are to show that same love for one another. Paul writes to the church in Thessalonica, But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. This is how we show the truth and love of God. of how we do these things, of how we show the love of God. The truth and love of God are not disconnected. They are both connected to one another. Love and truth. We see this throughout John's letters, in his first letter, in his second letter, in his third letter. We see that the love of God, this divine love, is connected with the truth. The spirit of truth that testifies of God's love, testifies of the works of Christ. These are the things that we are to live out in our Christian life. The evidence is that we see in these verses, in verses 13 through 21. We see the proof that we have the love of God. John writes in verse 13, By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives within us, as John has written earlier in this letter, the Holy Spirit abides within us. And that's how we abide in commune with God, the Holy Spirit that he has sent within us. And that is how God shows his love toward us. One way of how he shows his divine love is by sending his spirit. The ministry of the spirit is love. Love flows from the Spirit of God, and that's how God shows His love toward us. Paul writes in Romans 5, he says, And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. God shows us the love of God. He has poured His divine love by giving us His Holy Spirit. And John writes that the Holy Spirit abides within us if we are the people of God. The second proof, John writes in verse 14, And we have seen and testify that the father has sent his son to be the savior of the world, that God showed his love, as we have seen by sending his son. And we confess. that Jesus is the Savior. Our confession and testimony, the Holy Spirit has given us this testimony, that He has worked salvation in our hearts. That's one way and one proof that we are the children of God, and that love is within us, that we confess that Jesus is the Son of God, that He is the Savior of the world. Third, John writes in verses 15 through 16, whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 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. This communion, this union that we have with Christ, This love that we have from God comes from our union with Christ, that God abides in us as believers. And John has spoken of this all throughout the letter, that Christ is in us. He is united to us because of God's love. This perfect love that God has shown to us. And we have that source, that power of love through our union with Christ. That Christ is the one that loved us. He showed that great love by dying for us on the cross. The atoning work of God on behalf of you and me. But fourth, God shows love to us, and we prove that we have this love. In verse 17, John writes, By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment. Because as He is, so also are we in this world. That we can have confidence before God's throne, that we don't stand before Him in the eyes of God with our sinful rags, but we stand in God's holy white robes, that we can have confidence that we are the children of God, before God's throne. Brothers and sisters, when you stand before Christ's throne, whenever you die or He comes again, we can have confidence in the love of God, that He loved us by giving us His Son. And that way, God's love is perfected in us. We can have confidence here right now, assurance that we are the people of God, that we know God and he knows us. We have confidence before God's throne. Fifth is the fifth proof is in verses 18. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment. And whoever fears has been perfected in love. There is a worldly fear that people fear amongst themselves. We might fear the dark, or we might fear enemy attacks, or the collapse of the economy. This worldly fear that we have within ourselves is fear of man. But God says, do not fear, for I am with you. My love I have shown to you, that you may not be punished, but the sins that were due to you were put upon Christ. That we should not have fear, but have love. And we have this confidence that God has shown us the love of God. And six, we are to love one another. In verses 19 through 21, John writes, because of the love that God has shown us, we are to love one another. He summarizes it in verse 19. We love because he first loved us. We didn't love God first and then he showed his love to us. John wants us to get the order right. We love one another because God first loved us. He loved you before the creation of the world. So love one another just as God has loved you. This list that John provides in verses 13-21 is the fruit of God's love working within our hearts. As believers, we are to show the love of God. We are to have the fruits of the Spirit showing in our actions. And we are to show that we have God's love by loving one another. By doing the things that John has written to us. That we shouldn't live in fear. but live in the love and confidence of God. These evidences of the divine love in our hearts show that we are the children of God. And these are the commands of God, John writes in verses 21. And this commandment we have from him, whoever loves God must also love his brother. This is not optional for us to do since God and his divine character and essence has loved us. We are to love one another. John has written about this all throughout his letter that God loved us. Therefore, we are to love one another. This is a command from God himself. We are to love one another first, because God loved us. Third, John wants us to see the victory of God's love. The third point is the victory of God's love. All that he has written about in this chapter of verse of chapter four, he summarizes and he says that the victory of God's love is in the person of Jesus Christ. In chapter 5, verses 1 through 5, we see the victory of God's love in the person of Jesus Christ. He writes, everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of Him. Since we are born of God, God lives within us, and by this is the victory that we have. Christ did the work that we could not do. Christ is the one that overcame the world. He's the one that overcame the devil, and his victory and his work is applied to us. John writes that the victory that we have in overcoming the world is our faith. The faith that God has given to us. The love that He has shown to us is in the person of Jesus Christ. His very work on our behalf. Christ Jesus is our victory. The victory that we can have as believers comes from Jesus. It is a gift of God. Nothing that we have done So how can we overcome the world? Well, the Holy Spirit works within us. Christ works within us by the person of the Holy Spirit to sanctify our hearts. That we can mortify sin within our lives. As John has written, that we shouldn't love the world or the things in the world. That through the work of Christ within us, by sanctifying work, God has the victory in our lives. We are the children of God. We have assurance that we are His children. We are the children of God, and we have union and communion with Christ. How are you living out the victory that Christ has given to you? How is the Holy Spirit working within your life to defeat sin and overcome the world? Christ is the victory. So look to Christ in the times of temptation, the times of suffering, the times of depression and distress. Look to your Savior, Jesus Christ, who is your victory, who is the victory that has overcome the devil, has overcome The evil one that John writes about. That He has overcome the world by giving us this faith. The faith, the belief in Jesus Christ. He is our victory and He's shown us this love toward us. How are you living out God's love toward others and showing Christ's victory in your life by loving one another? These are intertwined and mixed together. Throughout John's letter, he mixes God's divine and holy love toward us with our love toward one another, our actions toward one another. Paul in Romans writes of God's everlasting love toward us. And in a different way that John writes in his letter, Paul in his letter to the Romans writes of the security that we have in God. We have God's everlasting love within us. And he summarizes that with the victory that we have in Christ Jesus. That God has predestined us in His divine love. Nothing that we have done as sinners, but because God loves us and has shown us this love in the person of Jesus Christ. And thus, therefore, we are to love one another. In our actions, in our communication with one another. and our fellowship with one another. We are to demonstrate that we have this divine and holy love in our hearts by loving one another. John writes about this in his letter. He says, not through your power and your ability can you love one another, but because of God's love, He has shown it in your hearts. So show that to others. Let it overflow in your heart to one another, in your actions. God is love. In His very essence, He has shown us this love by sending His Son, by the work of Christ and the victory of Christ that is given to us. Thus, we are to love one another. In all ways, as we live out our Christian life, we are to love one another. Thus, God has loved you. Now love one another. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we come to you. In your character, you are love. You have shown us this love that you are in sending your Son to be our Savior and our Lord. He's the one that paid for our sin upon the cross. And He has all victory. He has all love that He has shown to us. So we can walk in victory. We can walk in the victory of Christ. As John, your servant, has written to us in your Word, we have the love of God. We have your love. Thus we are to show your love to one another. I pray that we would do that. this week and for the rest of our lives, and that we would live in your love that you have shown us in the person of Jesus Christ. We pray in Christ's name. Amen.