 So let's begin here in 1st John chapter 4. I'll read verse 7 and then I'm going to get into our study. 1st John chapter 4, reading and beginning with verse 7. John writes, Beloved, let us love one another. For love is of God and everyone who loves is born of God, knows God. Now as we entered into chapter 4 in the first verse of chapter 4, John had commanded his readers to test the spirits. I mentioned to you that teachers would come to church services and wanted to give messages and because many false teachers who were antichrists were present, they needed testing. Now many of the infiltrators were what you called Gnostics. Let me review that for just a moment with you, because that's what John is dealing with in the context of 1st John. They were called Gnostics and they denied that God came in the flesh. Now in general the Gnostics taught material substance was evil, but they said spirit is good. So that meant that that man is fallen because he's imprisoned in material, in a material body. So their hope of salvation was based on their attainment of self-knowledge. That's where they're called Gnostics. Gnostic is a derivative of the Greek word Gnosis. Gnosis is the word knowledge and that's where they were called Gnostics. So salvation was based on their attainment of self-knowledge. They needed to know certain things, in other words. They needed to know their origin. Their origin they would teach was that they were a divine spark that had come from God. They needed to know that they were ignorant because they were imprisoned in evil matter. And they needed to know that through knowledge they could return to their original spiritual state. This is what they taught. And so some Gnostics taught that the flesh could not affect the spirit. That meant they could indulge and satisfy any fleshly desire without penalty. They could do it because it didn't affect their real self, because they said your real self is your spirit. Now Peter and Jude spoke of the effects of these false teachers. In 2 Peter 2 18 and 19 Peter says, with lofty but empty words they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error. They promise them freedom while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. Jude in verse 4 said this, Jude said, I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches saying that God's marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago for they have denied, they have, the word denied there means to contradict or to reject. They have denied our only master and Lord Jesus Christ. So they taught that matter was evil. Because they did, they couldn't believe in the incarnation. That's why John, when he began his gospel, that's why he said in John 1 verse 1, in the beginning was the word, the word was with God, the word was God. And it went on in verse 14 to say, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us, we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth. That's why his introduction was different because he was writing an apologetic against the Gnostics who were infiltrating the church saying that God could not take upon himself human flesh. That's why John's gospel started that way. Now Gnostics believed that salvation resulted from knowledge. So John addressed that. You see in the search of self knowledge, care for other people was not necessary. The care for others would not be as important as caring for yourself. Does that sound familiar? People today will say, well you can't love God and you can't love others until you love yourself. That's not something new. That's been around for a long time. Well that's one of the things that makes the incarnation so important. By laying down his life, Jesus showed us that love for others is paramount. John 15, 13, greater love has no one than this than to lay down one's life for his friends. And that's what John is emphasizing in this passage. And so in verse seven again he said it like this, beloved let us love one another. Why? For love is of God and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. We love one another because we are a community of believers. We are loved by God but we also are to love one another. Now the love of God in the life of a believer is the most obvious mark of a Christian. Somebody said this, a man may be a good doctor without loving his patients, a good lawyer without loving his clients, a good athlete without loving his teammates, a good employer without loving his employees, but he cannot be a good Christian without loving others. Love for others is not required to be a soldier or a firefighter. Love for others is not required to be a police officer. When you apply for those kinds of jobs, they don't ask you if you're going to love those that you're working with. But that's not true for the Christian because love for others is the airmark of a believer. You see the fact is we are saved and immediately brought into the body of Christ. Christianity is pictured as a body of believers. In 1 Corinthians 12-13 it says by one spirit we're all baptized into one body, whether we are Jews or Gentiles, whether we are bond or free and have been all made to drink into one spirit. Ephesians 4-4-6 says there's one body, one spirit, even as you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all, through all, and this shows that he was from southern Tarsus because he says, and in y'all. Now, yeah I know, that's stupid but I said it anyway. So that's the Holy Spirit who makes us one and it's by the Holy Spirit that we're brought into the body of Christ and it's God's love that provides the cement that keeps us together. In Philippians 2-1 and 2 it says if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being united in spirit and purpose. So that's what really reveals we belong to him. That's something we are to seek in 1 Peter 4-8, above all keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sin. Romans 13-8, oh no one anything except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. John 15-12, this is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. So love isn't emotion, love is action. You know you don't have to like somebody but you are to love them. You don't, well I could get into this, I have to be careful. I think we make a big mistake when we think that we're supposed to like everybody. Paul, and we'll look at this when we go through the book of Romans, but Paul said as much as lies within you live at peace with all men. As much as lies within you, that means that there are some people that is very difficult to live at peace with. But as much as lies within you, make every effort to be united in one. Make every effort to do that. I may not be able to like everybody because let's face it, you know there are some things that are just so different between that person and me that will never really be buddies or good friends, but that doesn't mean I can't love them. That doesn't mean that I shouldn't love them. And in many ways when you show affection and care for somebody that you don't personally like, that's even a greater demonstration of love. Because it's easy to love those who love you. It's easy to care about those who care about you, but when somebody doesn't really care that much about you or somebody really gets on your nerves and you still express the love of God towards them, that's really the mark of a believer. And love is, he says in verse seven, love is of God. And everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. When he says love is of God, he's saying love originates in God. It doesn't originate with man. It doesn't come from any other source. This is the practical reality. If one is born of God, then one is going to love. Why? Because God loves and God loves the fellowship with us. So in verse seven, everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Now this isn't saying that everyone who loves friends, family, or others is automatically saved. That's not true either. In Matthew five, 46 and 47, Jesus said it like this. He said, if you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even Gentiles do the same. It's not just loving those who love us. It's deeper. You see, a person can have immense natural affection, but that doesn't save him. He can be generous. He can be caring. That doesn't save him. In first Corinthians, Paul said it like this in chapter 13, verses one through three. Paul said, though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I become a sounding brass, a clanging symbol. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but don't have love, I'm nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor, give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but don't have love, I gain nothing. You see, he knows God. He knows God's love is what he's saying. And he loves others who have been saved. So the lifestyle earmarked by the love of God is, is what is called the birthmark of the believer. It's this kind of love that Jesus revealed when he gave up his life for us. There was a writer that influenced me many years ago, and he spoke concerning love as the birthmark and that relate, I related to that. And as I've told you many times, I won't go into the full story of it other than the fact that at one time I thought I was adopted because my mother and my dad, my dad is, was a, you know, olive complexion man. He had black hair. My mama had a light olive complexion. She had black hair. My older ugly brother had, had dark hair, black hair, and a dark complexion. And when I was small, I had red hair, red hair, an auburn red hair. I have blue, green eyes and very light skin. And so when my mom would take me places as a little boy, people would say, oh, to her concerning my older brother, oh, what a sweet little boy. Are you babysitting that one? And so, because they would point to me as this little light skinned kid. And it used to bother me. And I got to the point where I honestly thought, well, perhaps you adopted me and I don't belong to you. And it really got to me when I was about 45. No, it really, it really got to me when I was about four years old. And my mama would sit next to me on the couch and I would say, I'm just some child you found on the street and adopted because you, because you, because you felt sorry for me. And my mother would say, no, that's not true. You're my baby. And that's when she would lift up a portion of her, her blouse. And on her right rib cage right here was a, a birthmark my mom had. And then she'd lift my shirt up and I have a birthmark right here. So my mom would say, you have the mark of the beast. And that's what made me, gave me comfort to know that. And the funny thing about it is when my daughter, Corinne was born, one of the very first things I did our first born is I unwrapped her and lo and behold on her rib cage, she has my mark. And then when she gave birth to my firstborn grandson, Josiah, I unwrapped him and lo and behold, he has a birthmark. And so a birthmark matters. It signifies ownership and all. And you have a birthmark too. It's the love of God. And that's why Francis Schaefer said that the birthmark of the believer is love. That is the earmark that you belong to God. And so he says in verse eight, he says, so he who does not love doesn't know God, for God is love. Now I want to point something out. It's called a definitive statement. This is what is called John's third definitive statement concerning God by saying God is something. In John, in the gospel, chapter four, verse 24, he wrote God is spirit. In first John, chapter one, verse five, he said, God is light. Here he says, God is love. Since God is love, love indwells the believer. This means love would be a valid test of whether a person is a child of God or not. He says in notice chapter five, verse one, where he says here in first John, whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And everyone who loves him who begot also loves him who has begotten of him. Love is the earmark of the believer. It's a test of whether somebody knows the Lord. And so he's pointing that out. The one who doesn't love doesn't know God. Why? God is love. Verse nine, 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. Expressions of love are learned. So God shows us how to love. He sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through him and he sent his son into the world that we might learn to love through him. My wife, Marie, and I were on our way here just tonight and we were speaking about how beautiful we had a wonderful time with our family for Christmas and everything. It's always nice to get together and to be with the grandbabies and stuff. And we were just talking about this. I hope this makes sense to you. And I said to Marie just on the way, I said, you know, one thing, I know that that as parents, one thing we have succeeded in doing, one thing I know we have succeeded in doing, it is in teaching our children to love. And we have seen that in our grandchildren because we have 10, 12 grandchildren. And when they see each other, the first thing they do, and it's so sweet to see a four-year-old, the three-year-old, a two-year-old and up, the first thing they do is they will walk up to one another once they, even if they saw them the day before. And they walk up and you see a little, just this little one of ours, and they walk up and they'll hold each other and they kiss each other and they love each other. And that is such a blessing to me to see. Love is a definitive mark of somebody who knows God, but it is such a beautiful quality to have and expressions of love are learned because they learned how to love like that through us. My wife and me who loved their parents and who have loved them because love and expressions of love are learned. And so we see the example of Christ who loved and gave and we learn through him in John 10, 14 and 15. He said, I'm the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me just as the Father knows me and I know the Father and I lay down my life for the sheep. So as a family of God, we actually love each other and we watch over one another, we care for one another. In Galatians 6 verse 2 Paul said, bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. You see, that's what Cain had refused to do for his own brother, Abel. Now in verse 9, he said in this, the love of God was manifested, that God has sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. So God's love was shown through the willing sacrifice of his son. And that's the unique feature of the Christian faith, by the way, that God sent his son to die on our behalf. God revealed love. He did so by sending his only begotten Son into the world. Now, when it says the only begotten, I don't want to, I don't know, use too much Greek and stuff like that. It's not like I'm some expert. But the word only begotten is a word monogenous. That's a word monogenous. It speaks of the only one of its kind. It speaks of being unique in its own class. God revealed his love by sending his only begotten, the unique one of its kind Son of God. So that emphasizes that Jesus is uniquely the Son of God. That emphasizes, this is important, that emphasizes that Jesus shares the nature of the Father. Once again, that exposes the error of the Gnostics. This emphasizes that Jesus is God's only begotten Son. It's saying, Jesus is by nature, the Son of God. It says that God sent. When it says God sent, it speaks of ordering. It speaks of ordering someone to go to a place that has been appointed. He's saying God sent his Son, his only begotten Son, meaning his Son had a mission. He came. He sent that we might live through him. Sin brought death to mankind. Jesus' death brought us life. In Hebrews 2, 14 and 15, in as much then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same that through death, he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. He says in verse 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. It isn't that we loved him first, it's that he loved us first. I was sharing recently every parent can understand this. When we had our firstborn, and it's been true with obviously the rest of our babies, we loved her when we discovered that Marie was pregnant. Love already began. For someone I didn't know, someone I had never seen, someone who to my eye was still invisible, though Marie had had obvious sense that there was life within her. I didn't have the same exposure and experience, but I certainly had the same emotion, and you loved her. When we got married, I don't know how to say this, I want to say it quickly, but when we got married in Holland, when we went to discover whether Marie was pregnant because she felt that she was and all of that, we didn't have any money. You know, like many of you, we just didn't have any money. We didn't have, there's this old saying, we didn't have two nickels to rub together, we didn't have any money. So the idea of going to a doctor, we didn't have the money to be able to pay for examinations. So we found something that was called, and this is way back, a free clinic. So we didn't know anything about it. We were kind of innocent, and so while it's free, they'll do a test for us, and I don't have to pay because I don't have the money to. So we went to this clinic in Pomona. We walked in and they gave Marie the test and here comes the nurse when the results came. I still remember sitting in this little waiting room and they walked up and they said, you're pregnant. That was what they said. And the second thing this woman said, I'll never forget. Do you want to keep the child? We were at a planned parenthood kind of clinic. We didn't know anything about that. It was just free. But I remember when the woman said, do you want to keep the baby? I remember, you remember, honey, Marie and I looked at her like, are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? What kind of question is that? Well, later on, Corinne was born and I wondered if I made the right decision. No. She was born. Obviously, we fell in love with our baby. But as a lot of children do, as a young girl, one day said to me, you don't love me. You never loved me. And I said, you know, we had a choice. We had a choice and we chose you. We chose life. And we loved her long before she ever loved us. And she learned what love is through our love for her. That's how she learns. I learned what love is, not because it started in me. You learned what love is as a believer, not because you started it, but because he started it. He loved you first. And in response, you love him. And the more you understand of what he's done for you, the deeper your love is for what he's done for you. He loves you and he loved you first. Now he loved us and he sent his son to be what is called the propitiation for a sin. That word propitiation simply means to appease anger. He loved us, satisfying his own wrath for sin by paying the debt we owed. You see, as a righteous God, he's revealed to have anger over sin. Psalm 7 verse 11, God judges the righteous. God is angry with the wicked every day. So by the sacrifice of his son, God satisfied his righteous anger over our sins. Now he says in verse 11, Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. We ought, that word ought. If God so loved us, if God loved us with that intensity, we ought, that word ought means we have a moral duty, we have a moral obligation to love one another. Jesus showed us love perfectly. He showed us how much he loved us. And he also showed us what love does. So if he loved us in this manner, we're to learn to love one another like that too. So we encourage the well-being of others. And that should be the practice of our life. He says in verse 12, no one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, that God abides in us. His love has been perfected in us. No one has seen God at any time. It's another way of saying no one has seen God in his full manifested glory. In 1 Timothy 6, 15 and 16, it says, God, the blessed and only ruler, the king of kings, Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. No one has seen him in his full manifested glory. You see, God in his essence can't be seen by human eyes. Why? Well, I mentioned this, John 4.24, God is spirit. That means physical eyes cannot see him. That gives meaning to the incarnation because Jesus became flesh to reveal God to us. In John 1.18, it says no one has ever seen God, but God, the one and only who is at the Father's side, has made him known. So it's impossible to see God in his glory, but there is another way that we might see. People can see God in God's life when it is manifested through his children. You see, love is something that can be seen and love is something that must be seen. And when believers love one another, the world sees evidences of God. Chuck Swindall once said this. He said, one of the most profound comments made regarding the early church came from the lips of a man named Ericides, sent by the emperor Hadrian to spy out those strange creatures known as Christians. Having seen them in action, Ericides returned with a mixed report, but his immortal words to the emperor have echoed down through history. And Ericides said concerning believers, this is what he said, behold, how they love one another. Christians were strange to the world. There weren't people like us because in a world that is built on the strong surviving and the weak being dominated, it was an upside down where the leaders were bullies and they lorded it over their servants. Jesus said, that's the way of the world, but it shall not be so among you, for the greatest among you shall be the servant of all. And Jesus demonstrated that when he washed the feet of his own men, he said, you call me lord and master, you say right for so I am. If I then be your lord and master, I wash your feet, you wash the feet of one another. He said, I did this as an example into you. And so what he did is he showed us what full power does, full power serves. And that's what Jesus did when he took upon himself human flesh, dwelt amongst us. His glory was beheld by those who followed him and he laid his life down for us. And he selected people to himself to train them called apostles. He said, take this word out and this is what you're to do. You're to preach a message that creates a whole class of people who love one another. And by this shall all men that they know this, this is how all men shall know that they are my disciples if they have loved one for another. That will make you different in a world that's filled with hate. That makes you different in a world that is filled with with somebody, you know, dog eat dog, somebody getting over on somebody else, somebody taking advantage of somebody else, somebody using somebody else. That makes you different when you die to yourself and you serve other people. And that comes because God showed you what love is when Jesus died on the cross for you. I didn't deserve that sacrifice, but out of his love for me, he made it. And that ought to cause my life to be changed when I understand that as valueless as the world sees me, God said, I want you to be with me. This is how you can be with me. I will die on your behalf. I will pay the penalty you owe so that you can be set free, serve me and serve other people. That's how people know you're a believer, not your political persuasion, not your anger over evil, but your love for others and the righteous life that you live. That's the key. And that's what we need so desperately. You see, God gives us a blessed assurance. I'll close with this. Our love for God and a love for his children gives us a sense of confidence in him. In Romans 8, 15 and 16, Paul said it like this. You didn't receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear. You received the spirit of sonship and by him we cry, Abba, father. The spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. God's spirit dwells in us and he bears witness. I was asked to have I ever doubted my salvation and there have been times in my early days when I wondered whether or not I truly was safe, but his spirit bore witness with mine and I belonged to him. It wasn't some kind of emotion either. It was a sense, it was a sense that his spirit was within me crying out, Abba, daddy to my Heavenly Father. And you have the same thing too. Why? Because the Holy Spirit dwells in you if you're saved and gives you a blessed assurance that you're right with God. We're going to have to stop here. We'll pick up next time.