Latest / Providence Baptist Church - Sermons / Advent 2025: Love – 1 John 4:7-11

Transcript

Advent 2025: Love – 1 John 4:7-11 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

0:00
Good morning and Merry Christmas.
0:04
I hope that you all have been enjoying this Advent season.
0:08
!
0:09
Considering our Savior's Advent, it's an honor to be filling the pulpit here this morning.
0:16
! I got to preach on the Advent theme of love last year.
0:19
I'm really excited to be at it again.
0:22
Today, as we consider the love of God in light of Jesus' Advent,
0:27
we're going to be looking at 1 John 4, 1 John chapter 4.
0:33
This text is probably the text that most densely uses the words God and love.
0:40
This chapter uses love or beloved about 27 times.
0:45
And the text we're going to be looking at, verses 7 through 11,
0:48
uses love or beloved 13 times and God 9 times.
0:53
So about 20% of the words here, the actual words in our text, are God or love.
0:57
John, after all, is the disciple whom Jesus loved.
1:01
And so it's only fitting he would reiterate his self-given title so many times.
1:06
So I think this is a good place to observe and to contemplate the love of God.
1:11
There's a lot to be said on this topic.
1:13
But from our text this morning, we are going to be considering
1:16
the contrast between the world's view of love and God's true agape love.
1:23
And with that, let's read our text.
1:26
1 John chapter 4, verses 7 through 11.
1:33
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God.
1:38
And whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
1:42
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1:49
In this, the love of God was made manifest among us,
1:53
that God sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him.
2:00
In this is love.
2:01
Not that we have loved God, but that he loved us
2:04
and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.
2:08
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
2:14
Let's pray.
2:17
God, we thank you for your word this morning.
2:20
We pray by the power of your spirit that you would enlighten us,
2:24
reveal yourself to us, show us the weight and the glory of your love.
2:30
And we pray these things in Christ's name.
2:33
Amen.
2:33
All right, so for context here, briefly,
2:37
these verses are in the midst of God giving the audience a test to see
2:44
if an individual is in Christ or not.
2:48
And in fact, throughout the whole book,
2:50
he is contrasting those who are in Christ from the world.
2:54
In our text, he is doing that in the context of love.
2:57
What does the believer look like in regard to love?
3:01
And why is it not so for the world?
3:05
Verses 7 and 8 come with presumptions that the audience is already aware of.
3:10
The previous three chapters provide descriptions of who knows God
3:14
and who is born again in contrast to those who do not truly know God,
3:20
who have not been born again, and who does not love.
3:24
So we're going to paint that picture really quickly from the previous chapters.
3:28
In chapter 2, it says that those who know him keep his commandments.
3:33
Those who say they know him but don't keep his commandments are liars.
3:37
Those who confess Jesus is the Christ has the Father also.
3:41
Those who deny Jesus is the Antichrist.
3:44
In chapter 3, those who have the love of God are children of God.
3:49
Those who do not know God are not children.
3:53
Those who abide in him do not keep on sinning.
3:56
Those who keep on sinning do not know him.
4:00
No one born of God makes a practice of sinning.
4:04
Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God.
4:08
Those who love have passed from death to life.
4:11
The one that hates his brother is a murderer, and murders do not have eternal life.
4:17
Those who confess Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.
4:21
Those who do not are the spirit of the Antichrist.
4:25
So there's some context for those who know and those who are born again.
4:28
And the contrast is it's a stark dividing line.
4:32
And when we come to this text, we're not here to determine how mature a believer is or how sanctified they are.
4:38
It is to distinguish those who are from those who aren't.
4:44
And so we come to our text in 1 John 4 where we distinguish those who love and those who don't.
4:49
And back in chapter 2, John tells us that the world does indeed love, but is not the same kind of love addressed in chapter 4.
4:58
In chapter 2, it says that if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
5:06
There's something different about the world's love and the believer's love.
5:10
And a common thread throughout Scripture as we notice God's agape love is that it's wildly different than the world's understanding of love.
5:18
And the premier indicator of this difference is that the world's love is a selfish love.
5:24
Always looking to satisfy oneself and not to outwardly serve and care for another.
5:33
And one of the most iconic influences regarding love that we have in our common day is Romeo and Juliet.
5:40
O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?
5:44
Whether or not Shakespeare was a believer or if his work properly reflects some good gospel themes elsewhere is a discussion for another time.
5:52
But in Romeo and Juliet, these two young lovers are so emphatically smitten with one another that if they can't have one another, what's the point in life itself?
6:05
They discovered their love for one another only after one night of meeting each other.
6:10
And then go on to commit suicide within the span of a week from then.
6:15
Love at first sight.
6:17
Is that what true love is?
6:19
Are we so consumed with something or someone that if we don't have this self-satisfying relationship, we might as well kill ourselves?
6:28
That's more a crazed idolatry of seeking the pleasures and benefits that someone can offer than it is a self-sacrificial pursuit of serving someone else.
6:39
They were sacrificing themselves for the benefit of themselves, not each other.
6:44
They wanted to save themselves from the pain of not having their heart's desire.
6:51
They didn't even truly know each other yet.
6:54
Not enough, at least, to consider the weight of marriage.
6:57
And so, what is the world preaching about love?
7:00
It's sentimentalism.
7:01
I'm sure you've heard the statement, live and let love.
7:06
They say love is love.
7:07
Whatever you find desirable and infatuated with, that is good and that is love because it pleases you.
7:15
Love is based off how something makes you feel.
7:18
If you enjoy it, that's love.
7:20
If you don't, avoid it.
7:22
1 John 2 says this,
7:24
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life is not from the Father but is from the world.
7:34
The world is passing away and also its lusts.
7:39
Another word for the way the world views love may be lust.
7:45
They have an ungodly love, a love for the world and self, self-seeking satisfaction.
7:50
Love and let love.
7:53
And if someone tries to disrupt relentless lust, they say you're hating people because you aren't letting them express their true selves.
8:02
That is a contradiction, by the way.
8:04
The world commands the Christian to stop expressing ourselves because true love allows the expression of oneself.
8:12
It's a little fallacious.
8:14
So why don't we get that same offer of love?
8:17
Sometimes the world, they are not actively hating someone and wishing ill upon another, but they also aren't purely seeking their good.
8:26
There's a common grace where we may see the world sacrificing themselves for another.
8:30
I think deep down there's still some sort of selfish motivation.
8:34
As the text says, all that is in the world is not from the Father.
8:40
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
8:43
They may be in it for their own glory of their sacrifice.
8:46
It may be for some future benefit they seek in response from their sacrifice.
8:51
But I don't believe it can be the same unique agape love that the Bible speaks of later in our text because chapter 4, verse 7 says,
9:00
Love is from God, not the unregenerate world where Satan and sin abound.
9:07
So because love emanates from God, God himself has to be the source of love.
9:14
Verse 8 says it clearly, God is love.
9:19
God is not just loving, but he indeed is love.
9:23
And that is not all that he is, but it certainly is not less.
9:27
That is why those who don't know God also don't love.
9:31
Any love that we might impart to someone else isn't truly from us, at least not our natural selves.
9:38
It flows from the Spirit of God at work in us.
9:42
So God is the fountainhead of true agape love, and his love never ceases.
9:47
This is not a temporary condition of his character.
9:52
Instead, it is an incessant condition of who he is.
9:56
He is not just the light that shines from the sun.
9:59
He is the sun.
10:02
He embodies love all the time in every action.
10:07
And some might say, what about God's justice or his discipline?
10:12
Are they always loving?
10:14
If he is sovereign, is it loving that he allows bad things to happen?
10:20
Yes, to all of it.
10:22
He disciplines his children to reveal himself to us.
10:26
Knowing God is the sweetest gift we could ever fathom.
10:30
It comes with trials, but it draws us deeper into the pleasures of God.
10:36
Isn't it good that sin hurts and that rest in Christ is sweet?
10:42
Godly discipline is loving.
10:45
What about his justice?
10:46
Psalm 11.5 says,
10:49
The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
10:56
He's a just God.
10:58
And we don't want an unjust God, do we?
11:01
Sin is lawlessness.
11:05
There would only be immediate, unruly disaster without a just God who has revealed his law to his creation.
11:13
Many people are hypocrites when it comes to condemning God of being just.
11:18
And by the way, this is another worldly contradiction.
11:24
We all, at times, advocate for justice.
11:29
And the world will sometimes condemn God's justice.
11:33
We all watch the movie of the bad guy, and we can't wait to see justice paid.
11:38
We watch the court trials of various criminals and eagerly await to hear how bad the sentencing is.
11:43
We all, at times, even unleash our own wrath against our neighbor when we've been offended.
11:51
But God sends the rain and sun on both the just and the unjust.
11:54
While he hates wickedness, he still shows love to all that he has made.
11:58
The wicked curse God, and yet God is benevolent.
12:01
He prays for his persecutors.
12:03
He is patient with them, but will ultimately serve them their due justice.
12:09
God's love is actually magnified by the reality that he is just.
12:13
Because we rightly deserve condemnation, and it has to be paid.
12:18
And Christ paid it on the believer's behalf.
12:22
Well, what about the bad things that happen in the world?
12:26
These are a consequence of sin in the world.
12:29
People are depraved.
12:32
And we may intend to do things for evil,
12:34
but God is so loving that he can use even the vilest things the world has to offer
12:39
for his glory and the good of his people.
12:42
The ground is cursed and natural disasters happen.
12:46
And if it feels unfair that God would allow this to happen to us,
12:51
remember that mankind sent Christ to the tree.
12:55
Who are we to think that we deserve him to preserve us from any of the bad consequences of sin?
13:02
And do we praise him by his grace when he does preserve us?
13:06
So yes, God is love, and that never ceases.
13:09
Even if we don't fully understand all that he is doing through discipline and serving justice,
13:13
we're allowing bad things to conspire.
13:16
God is love.
13:18
So we've talked a lot about love so far, but what is agape love?
13:24
In verses 7 through 8, we see who actually has love, where it comes from,
13:29
but it doesn't quite tell us what love is.
13:32
The modern world seems to think that love equals lust,
13:36
so we're not going to find out what agape love is from the world or even ourselves.
13:40
In order to understand love, we first need to understand more about God himself and the world he has created.
13:50
As verse 7 says, whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
13:54
We need to know God to know love.
13:57
And this text gives us the implicit details to answer these questions,
14:01
and it is more explicit the more we read our Bibles.
14:04
So here are two big distinctives about God's love that we see in our text.
14:10
Number one, it is both inward and outward.
14:14
It's both inward and outward.
14:16
And number two, it is vast beyond measure.
14:21
So to start, I think there are two main elements of true, godly, agape love.
14:28
There is the inward and outward reality to it.
14:31
So first with the inward, we could call it affection or compassion.
14:38
It's a benevolent sentiment or empathy that God has for people.
14:43
At the beginning of verse 10 here, we have a definition being posed.
14:48
In this is love.
14:50
Well, what is it?
14:51
Not that we have loved God, but that he loved us.
14:56
Love's affections are a one-way ticket in heart.
14:58
You don't have love for someone with anticipation or on the agreement that they will return some benefit to you.
15:07
It is an inward compassion and affection for another just because.
15:12
We obviously had nothing to give in return to him if he came to propitiate for our sins.
15:18
So God has this love harbored inside of himself, not on the basis of what we can do for him.
15:23
It's because he loves and he himself is love.
15:26
I'm going to take us through a couple of passages throughout scripture.
15:29
You can stay in 1 John to kind of capture God embodying this inward compassion.
15:36
In Matthew 9, 36, when Jesus was going about healing people and proclaiming the gospel,
15:42
it says,
15:43
Then what?
16:01
Then Jesus wept.
16:03
And so the Jews were saying,
16:05
See how he loved him.
16:07
They recognized Jesus' love through his compassion.
16:11
To God's covenant people in Isaiah 43,
16:13
God declares,
16:14
Because you are precious in my eyes,
16:17
and honor rules in exchange for your life.
16:20
Psalm 145,
16:21
The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
16:23
slow to anger and rich in love.
16:25
The Lord is good to all.
16:26
He is compassion on all that he has made.
16:28
In Deuteronomy 7,
16:31
and again in 1 Peter 2, 9,
16:33
God says that his covenant people are a treasured possession.
16:37
And then further in Deuteronomy 7,
16:39
it says,
16:39
For you are a people holy to the Lord your God.
16:42
The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession.
16:47
Out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth,
16:50
it was not because you were more in number than any other person
16:53
that the Lord set his love on you and chose you.
16:56
For you were the fewest of all peoples.
16:59
But it is because the Lord loves you.
17:04
Even when being put to death,
17:06
Jesus prayed for his persecutors that they may be forgiven,
17:09
for they know not what they do.
17:12
Psalm 103,
17:13
As a father shows compassion to his children,
17:15
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
17:18
For he knows our frame.
17:20
He remembers that we are of dust.
17:21
And these are just a few places that we see the Lord having the inward sentiment
17:27
that is benevolent towards someone outward.
17:31
But it's all throughout Scripture.
17:33
And then there's this second component.
17:35
It's this outward manifestation.
17:38
An outward display of the love inside.
17:42
Beginning of our text, verse 9, it says,
17:44
In this, the love of God, the inward love of God,
17:49
was made manifest outward,
17:51
was made manifest among us,
17:53
that God sent his only Son into the world.
17:57
God's love is never passive.
17:59
It never stands by the wayside.
18:02
And if we don't necessarily perceive God acting,
18:05
he is actively withholding an outward sign in love.
18:09
We are to blame if we read the Bible
18:11
and fail to see this outward love.
18:14
For starters, he created mankind.
18:16
He gives mankind an opportunity to know his majestic glory.
18:21
And when mankind turned its back on God
18:23
and everyone was doing only evil continually,
18:26
God preserved Noah and his family
18:28
and thereby preserving all of us,
18:30
everyone beyond Noah's day,
18:31
that we could have an opportunity to know the majestic glory of God.
18:35
When the Israelites were enslaved,
18:36
he miraculously fed them
18:38
and freed them from bondage in Egypt.
18:40
And he kept them alive
18:42
until they reached a land flowing with milk and honey.
18:45
And then when they got to that land,
18:47
God offered them rest on all of their borders from their enemies.
18:50
When David was being hunted down,
18:52
God preserved his life.
18:54
God acquired a big fish
18:56
to bring a reluctant preacher to the Ninevites.
18:59
And in Jesus' ministry,
19:01
Christ heals the sick,
19:02
he raises the dead,
19:04
he feeds the hungry,
19:05
he casts out the demons.
19:06
And in 1 John 4,
19:07
his love was made manifest
19:08
by sending his son into the world
19:11
to be the propitiation for our sins.
19:13
God shows his love for us
19:16
that while we were still sinners,
19:19
Christ died for us.
19:21
He shows it.
19:22
God's love is never passive.
19:24
He does not just say he loves,
19:26
he shows it.
19:27
Agape love is always active.
19:28
So in the world,
19:29
you may only see one of these two components at work.
19:33
It could be that inward compassion
19:36
or it could be an outward action.
19:40
You can have a warm affection on the inside for someone
19:42
but not have agape love
19:45
if it is never actually manifested.
19:48
Conversely,
19:48
you can do a lot of things to serve other people
19:51
and not be in it
19:52
to sincerely serve those people.
19:55
In the first case,
19:57
in the first case,
19:58
affection without manifestation,
20:00
you have that person
20:01
who wants to admire someone
20:04
and delight themselves
20:05
in the beauty of another person.
20:09
You might think they're really talented
20:10
or beautiful
20:11
or they just have a way with words
20:13
that stirs you.
20:14
You consume all that they are
20:16
to feed your own interested,
20:18
fleshly appetite
20:19
and never actually commit
20:22
to outwardly serving that person
20:23
with intentional loving actions.
20:25
That's a selfish consumption
20:29
of someone else's character.
20:30
I might say,
20:31
I love my co-worker.
20:33
He's a hard worker,
20:34
doesn't complain,
20:34
makes the stress of work less daunting
20:36
but am I willing to wake up early
20:38
on a Saturday morning
20:39
to help him move into his new house?
20:42
Do I have affection
20:43
but not manifestation?
20:47
JR, you're welcome.
20:49
I work with JR
20:50
and I just committed to helping him move.
20:53
In the second case,
20:54
manifestation without affection
20:56
might look like legalistic,
20:59
mechanical box checking.
21:01
The Boy Scout helps the elderly
21:02
cross the street to get a badge.
21:04
You know,
21:05
give me the checklist of stuff to do
21:06
so I can just knock it out
21:07
and show you I love you.
21:09
Acts of service can be heartless
21:11
and just simply like systematic
21:13
out of requirement or obligation,
21:16
personal gain or even fear.
21:19
So true love not only serves
21:21
but it's paired with a true desire
21:24
to care for the one you are serving,
21:26
not just to get your brownie points.
21:28
If the Boy Scout truly had loved
21:31
that elderly lady,
21:32
he would have done it
21:33
without the incentive of personal gain.
21:36
As 1 Corinthians says,
21:38
and we even read that this morning,
21:39
if I give all my possessions,
21:41
if I do all this stuff,
21:42
if I give all my possessions
21:43
to feed the poor
21:44
and I surrender my body
21:46
to be burned,
21:48
if I do all this outward stuff
21:49
and do not have love,
21:52
it profits me nothing.
21:55
So furthermore,
21:56
manifested agape love
21:58
also seeks to fill
22:00
tangible, practical needs
22:03
someone has.
22:05
You can turn with me really quickly
22:06
to 1 John 3.
22:07
It's just one chapter back.
22:08
1 John 3, 16-18.
22:13
By this we know love
22:15
that he laid down his life for us
22:18
and we ought to lay down our lives
22:20
for the brothers.
22:22
But if anyone has the world's goods
22:24
and sees his brother in need
22:25
yet closes his heart against him,
22:28
how does God's love abide in him?
22:30
Little children,
22:31
let us not love in word or talk
22:34
but in deed and in truth.
22:37
So, love manifested
22:40
fills real, practical needs.
22:43
And this brings us
22:43
to our second distinctive
22:44
about God's love
22:45
is that it is vast beyond measure.
22:50
He doesn't just provide food
22:52
when we are hungry.
22:54
He also fills
22:55
an eternally greater need than that.
22:58
And what is our greatest need?
22:59
We need to be reconciled to God.
23:02
And the barrier here
23:03
is that in order to be reconciled,
23:05
we need to have our transgressions pardoned.
23:09
There needs to be a propitiation
23:11
for our sins.
23:13
And that's exact,
23:14
but that he loved us
23:15
and sent his son
23:16
to be the propitiation
23:17
for our sins.
23:21
It's a big word.
23:22
A propitiation
23:22
is like a sacrificial offering
23:26
to pardon iniquity,
23:29
to pardon sin and transgression,
23:32
to make things right
23:33
and reconciled.
23:35
For example,
23:36
once upon a time
23:38
in a town
23:40
named Whoville,
23:42
there was a Who
23:44
that committed a serious crime.
23:47
The Grinch,
23:48
after recognizing his wrongdoing,
23:49
wanted to make things right.
23:51
He wanted to propitiate
23:52
for his transgressions.
23:54
There's only one problem.
23:55
He could only offer
23:56
what he had stolen.
23:59
And like the Grinch,
23:59
we don't have anything
24:00
that we can offer to God
24:02
to propitiate for ourselves.
24:04
And we certainly can't provide
24:05
the kind of propitiation required
24:07
that would exonerate us
24:09
from transgressing
24:11
the all-powerful creator
24:13
of the universe.
24:15
What do we have
24:16
that he doesn't?
24:17
How can we,
24:18
the creature,
24:19
appease the creator
24:21
who gave us all things,
24:23
who has given a gift to God
24:24
that he might be repaid?
24:26
He is a holy God,
24:28
and transgressing him
24:29
comes with a holy consequence.
24:31
We did not love God,
24:32
but he loved us
24:32
by providing for us
24:34
this propitiation.
24:36
He sent his only son to die
24:37
and suffer the wrath of God
24:39
so that we might live
24:41
and be reconciled to him,
24:44
adopted into his holy family.
24:47
That gift of grace is profound.
24:49
So let's consider
24:50
a little more deeply
24:51
just how sacrificial that is.
24:53
A little rule about agape love
24:57
is that it is magnified
25:00
by the greatness of the sacrifice
25:03
in proportion to the obligation
25:07
to make that sacrifice.
25:10
It's magnified by the greatness
25:12
of the sacrifice
25:13
in proportion to the obligation
25:15
to make that sacrifice.
25:16
It would be shallow
25:17
or less loving
25:19
to give a cheap,
25:20
last-minute Amazon delivery
25:22
as a Christmas gift.
25:24
For most, that is,
25:26
it's not much of a sacrifice.
25:28
In addition,
25:28
it's easy to give a Christmas gift
25:30
to a loved one.
25:31
Even the tax collectors do this.
25:34
Well, how much more is the love
25:35
that would give an excellent,
25:37
practical, needed gift
25:38
that you had to spend
25:40
a lot of time
25:40
and resources
25:42
and energy on
25:43
to someone who hated you?
25:45
You don't do that
25:47
because you're selfish.
25:48
You would only do that
25:49
because you have been shown
25:51
an immense amount of love
25:52
and it is that love
25:53
that abides in you.
25:55
And God sent
25:56
his only son
25:57
to die
25:59
for you and me
26:00
when all we brought to him
26:02
was rebellion.
26:03
We hated God
26:04
and we loved ourselves.
26:06
We were his enemies,
26:07
yet he sent his son
26:09
into the world
26:09
that we might live through him.
26:12
How great was that sacrifice?
26:14
It's incomprehensible.
26:16
When we see children
26:19
dying at moments in Scripture,
26:21
how does a parent respond?
26:24
We've got three examples
26:25
of this throughout.
26:28
I'm going to go through
26:29
in the New Testament.
26:31
Feel free to say
26:33
in 1 John.
26:33
I'll read these.
26:35
In John 4, 46-49,
26:39
it says,
26:39
So he,
26:40
this is Jesus,
26:41
came again to Cana
26:43
in Galilee
26:44
where he had
26:44
made the water wine
26:46
and at Capernaum
26:47
there was an official
26:48
whose son was ill.
26:50
When this man heard
26:51
that Jesus had come
26:52
from Judea
26:53
to Galilee,
26:54
he went to him.
26:57
So this official
26:58
from Capernaum
26:59
went to Galilee
27:00
which was
27:01
somewhere between
27:02
12 and like
27:03
24 miles.
27:05
It depends on the geography
27:06
and where it was all going on.
27:07
It was a long ways.
27:08
It was a lot to commit to
27:09
especially without a car.
27:12
And so he asked him,
27:14
the man,
27:14
the official,
27:15
asked Jesus
27:15
to come down
27:16
and heal his son
27:18
for he was
27:19
at the point of death.
27:21
So he traveled
27:21
this very long way
27:22
to ask Jesus for help.
27:24
And so Jesus said to him,
27:25
Unless you see signs
27:26
and wonders,
27:26
you will not believe.
27:28
The official said to him,
27:30
Sir,
27:31
come down
27:32
before my child dies.
27:36
In Mark 5,
27:37
we have another.
27:39
It says,
27:39
Then came one of the rulers
27:40
of the synagogue,
27:41
Jairus by name,
27:42
and seeing him,
27:44
he fell at his feet
27:45
and implored him
27:47
earnestly,
27:48
saying,
27:48
My little daughter
27:49
is at the point of death.
27:51
Come and lay your hands
27:52
on her
27:53
so that she might be
27:54
made well
27:55
and live.
27:59
Luke 9,
28:00
On the next day,
28:02
when they had come down
28:02
from the mountain,
28:03
a great crowd met him.
28:05
And behold,
28:06
a man from the crowd
28:07
cried out,
28:08
Teacher,
28:09
I beg you
28:10
to look at my son,
28:12
for he is my only child.
28:16
I beg you.
28:17
And behold,
28:18
a spirit seizes him
28:19
and he suddenly cries out.
28:21
It convulses him
28:22
so that he foams at the mouth
28:23
and shatters him
28:25
and will hardly leave him.
28:27
And I begged your disciples
28:29
to cast it out.
28:29
But they could not.
28:34
Which one of us
28:35
wouldn't have
28:35
that same urgency
28:37
for our children?
28:40
I've been in that situation
28:41
a couple of times.
28:42
One with my own daughter,
28:44
Charlotte,
28:44
who did die.
28:46
And second with Waylon,
28:48
a little man running around
28:50
giving out free high fives
28:51
nowadays.
28:52
He had a stroke
28:53
when he was two weeks old
28:54
and he nearly died.
28:57
It is tragic.
28:58
You would do anything
29:01
to see your child
29:02
live the next day.
29:04
And I want to encourage
29:05
you guys now
29:06
as we're together
29:07
to be particularly considerate
29:10
of how you might be
29:11
serving and mourning
29:12
and praying
29:12
with the Truets
29:13
as they're going through this.
29:17
It's insufferable.
29:19
And our sympathetic God
29:21
knows the pain
29:23
of child loss.
29:25
Here's the profound reality
29:27
of God's only begotten son.
29:29
Being rich in mercy
29:30
with which he loved us,
29:32
he willingly
29:33
sent his only son
29:35
to suffer
29:36
and die
29:37
for a people
29:38
that did not deserve it.
29:40
That actually deserved it
29:42
at least.
29:43
He knew that,
29:44
he knew
29:45
all that was
29:46
ahead of him.
29:48
He took it on.
29:50
He was born into
29:50
a poor family
29:51
in a manger,
29:53
immediately hunted
29:53
by Herod,
29:55
living a life
29:56
of persecution
29:56
and dying
29:58
a humiliating death.
29:59
And more than that,
30:01
consuming God's
30:02
spiritual wrath
30:03
on himself.
30:09
He must have done that
30:10
for someone
30:10
who was really worthy
30:11
and highly exalted.
30:12
That's a big sacrifice.
30:15
No.
30:16
He did it for people
30:16
who wished themselves
30:17
to be God.
30:19
He is the creator
30:20
and keeper
30:21
of all history.
30:22
He knew
30:23
your unloveliness,
30:24
my unloveliness,
30:25
and he knew
30:26
the pain
30:27
of suffering child loss
30:28
and suffering death itself,
30:30
but he did it anyways
30:31
to save you
30:33
so that you might
30:33
live through him.
30:35
And that
30:35
is the epitome
30:37
of selfless,
30:38
compassionate,
30:39
outward,
30:40
manifested love
30:41
that the world
30:42
could never imagine.
30:45
Remy and Juliet,
30:46
they didn't have
30:47
a tested love
30:48
for one another
30:48
because they didn't
30:49
really truly know
30:50
each other's shortcomings.
30:52
God, however,
30:53
knows every lie,
30:54
every bout of anger,
30:55
every discreet sin
30:56
in your heart,
30:57
every motive you've had,
30:59
and yet he loved us
31:01
and chose to be
31:02
our propitiation.
31:04
He didn't have
31:05
rose-colored glasses.
31:07
He knows all of you,
31:09
and yet he paid
31:10
to have you.
31:12
And that is how vast
31:14
beyond measure
31:14
it is that Christ
31:15
came to earth
31:16
as a man,
31:17
the creator
31:18
and humility,
31:20
becoming a creature
31:20
and becoming obedient
31:22
to death,
31:22
even death on a cross,
31:23
not for his own good,
31:24
but for others.
31:26
Sacrificing his son
31:28
so that we could
31:29
become sons
31:30
and daughters.
31:32
See what kind of love
31:33
the Father has given us
31:34
that we should be called
31:36
children of God,
31:37
and so we are.
31:38
Christian,
31:42
bathe yourselves
31:43
in this glorious,
31:46
mysterious truth
31:47
that Christ
31:49
saved a sinner
31:50
like you
31:51
and like me.
31:53
He loved
31:54
and showed his love
31:55
to a stubborn
31:56
and rebellious people,
31:58
and praise God,
31:59
he did.
32:01
Rest
32:01
in Christ's embrace.
32:03
He loves you.
32:05
Rejoice
32:06
in God's manifested love.
32:09
Non-Christian,
32:11
repent
32:11
and believe
32:12
and receive
32:13
the free gift
32:14
of grace
32:15
in Christ Jesus
32:16
our Lord.
32:17
It is the most
32:18
critical thing
32:19
you need
32:19
to be kept
32:20
from the torments
32:21
of hell,
32:22
but also to be
32:23
fully satisfied
32:24
in the love of God.
32:27
This world
32:27
is passing away
32:28
along with its lusts.
32:30
Drugs wear off,
32:31
money can be lost.
32:33
You won't
32:33
always be
32:34
young
32:34
and agile
32:35
and productive.
32:37
These things
32:37
will let you down,
32:39
but Christ
32:40
is eternal.
32:41
He is never changing.
32:43
He is an anchor
32:43
for the soul.
32:46
He offers
32:46
a life
32:47
of eternal
32:48
joy.
32:49
All the blessings
32:50
of a child,
32:52
an heir,
32:53
and none
32:54
of the punishments
32:55
of a criminal
32:56
in God's holy courts.
32:59
And non-Christian,
33:00
all of us here
33:01
were where you are
33:02
at one time.
33:03
We were dead
33:03
in our trespasses,
33:05
and we were overwhelmed
33:06
by the love of God.
33:08
And none of us
33:09
who know God
33:09
and have been born
33:10
of Him
33:10
would trade that in
33:11
even if we could.
33:12
So come.
33:13
Come and let us
33:14
adore Him.
33:16
Our text tells us,
33:18
and really the rest
33:19
of 1 John,
33:19
that this kind of love,
33:21
this kind of sacrificial
33:21
agape love,
33:22
is particularly
33:23
commanded
33:24
for those within
33:25
the body of Christ.
33:27
And verse 11 reads,
33:28
Beloved,
33:29
if God so loved us,
33:30
we also ought
33:32
to love one another.
33:34
In chapter 3,
33:35
John tells us that
33:36
we should not
33:37
be like Cain.
33:39
He, Cain,
33:40
in selfish hatred,
33:42
laid down
33:43
his brother's life
33:45
for himself.
33:47
Conversely,
33:48
Christ laid down
33:48
his own life
33:50
for his brother's.
33:52
Beloved,
33:53
let us love
33:53
one another
33:54
like Christ.
33:54
Do you love
33:57
being a part
33:58
of Providence Baptist,
34:01
but you never
34:02
actually play
34:03
your part in it?
34:06
Are you exercising
34:07
the gifts God
34:08
has given you
34:09
to bless the church,
34:10
or are you keeping
34:10
them to yourself?
34:12
Do you appreciate
34:14
the kind of people
34:14
that are here,
34:16
but never put in
34:17
the spiritual sweat
34:18
to love
34:19
and serve
34:19
these people outwardly?
34:21
Are you the one
34:22
on Slack
34:22
always replying
34:23
on the prayer channel,
34:25
but never on
34:26
the help channel?
34:28
Maybe it's the opposite.
34:29
Are you praying
34:30
regularly for one another?
34:33
Do you have
34:34
a compassion for them
34:35
that you rejoice
34:36
with those who rejoice
34:37
and weep
34:37
with those who weep?
34:39
Do you bear
34:40
with the weaker brother?
34:42
Are you patient
34:43
with them?
34:44
Christ was with you.
34:45
Do you give
34:46
each other
34:47
the benefit
34:47
of the doubt?
34:49
And do you
34:50
yourself receive
34:51
admonishment
34:52
and humility?
34:53
Do you gather
34:55
regularly?
34:57
If you're a member,
34:58
Hebrews 10 says
34:59
that we can stir
35:00
one another up
35:01
to love
35:01
by not neglecting
35:03
to meet together.
35:04
So do you come?
35:05
Do you come
35:06
to take the Lord's Supper
35:07
and remember
35:08
with your siblings
35:09
what Christ
35:09
has accomplished?
35:11
Do you gather
35:11
on the Lord's Day
35:13
in the mornings
35:14
to sing to
35:15
and with
35:16
one another
35:17
and then sit underneath
35:18
the preaching
35:19
of God's Word together?
35:20
Do you gather
35:21
outside of Sundays?
35:22
Do you
35:24
lay down your life
35:25
for these people?
35:28
Because our God
35:29
loved us
35:29
and we
35:31
have been born
35:32
of Him
35:32
then we will do
35:33
this for
35:34
the brothers.
35:36
And hear me,
35:36
I face these
35:37
questions too
35:38
and I myself
35:39
need to grill
35:39
in holiness
35:41
to love
35:42
you well.
35:43
And I want to
35:44
personally tell you all
35:45
that I
35:46
so often see
35:47
this love
35:47
amidst our body
35:48
and I'm thankful
35:49
to God for it.
35:50
the ways that you
35:51
have loved me
35:51
and my family
35:52
but also the ways
35:53
you have loved
35:53
one another.
35:54
It's very,
35:55
it stirs me.
35:57
And I want to
35:58
encourage you all
35:59
to press into
36:00
this love
36:01
for God's glory
36:02
for the good
36:03
of others
36:04
and more
36:05
and more
36:05
until the day
36:06
draws near.
36:08
This is the
36:09
inevitable result
36:09
of being born
36:10
of God
36:11
and personally
36:12
experiencing
36:12
His love.
36:14
My own children
36:14
have blue eyes
36:15
and blonde hair
36:16
because they are
36:17
my children.
36:18
They look like me.
36:20
All the whos
36:21
in Whoville
36:22
are the same way.
36:25
The siblings
36:26
are nearly identical
36:27
to each other
36:27
and their parents
36:28
they've all got
36:28
the weird nose
36:29
and the crazy hair.
36:33
They're filled
36:34
with joy
36:35
and merriment
36:35
but did you notice
36:36
which one
36:37
did not look like them
36:38
and was affiliated
36:40
with anger
36:40
and selfishness
36:42
who needed
36:42
a new heart?
36:43
The test of love
36:46
will be true
36:47
for the children
36:47
of God.
36:48
We will look
36:48
like God
36:49
by our love
36:50
for one another
36:51
because love
36:52
is from God.
36:54
Indeed
36:54
God is love.
36:57
Compassionate
36:57
and active
36:59
sacrificial
36:59
and effective
37:01
in His outward love.
37:04
Now love
37:05
is not to be confined
37:06
to those
37:06
within the body
37:07
of Christ.
37:09
Remember our text
37:10
we have not
37:11
loved God
37:11
but God
37:12
loved us.
37:14
When we were dead
37:15
in our trespasses
37:16
outside the family
37:17
of God
37:18
He brought us
37:19
in
37:20
and adopted us
37:21
and made us
37:22
children.
37:23
Our love
37:24
also ought to extend
37:24
to those
37:25
outside the church
37:26
in hopes
37:27
to bring them in
37:28
as brothers
37:29
and sisters
37:29
and perhaps
37:32
by extending
37:33
this love
37:34
their heart
37:34
may grow
37:34
three sizes.
37:37
To summarize
37:38
those who have
37:39
been regenerated
37:40
by the love
37:41
of God
37:41
will overflow
37:43
with the new love
37:45
that God
37:45
puts inside them.
37:47
Those who have
37:48
not confessed
37:48
Christ as Lord
37:49
and have not
37:50
took hold
37:51
of the love
37:52
of God
37:52
are still
37:53
in their natural
37:54
state
37:54
of loving
37:55
the things
37:55
of the world
37:56
and namely
37:57
themselves.
37:59
God's love
38:00
is unique
38:01
in its duality
38:02
of inward
38:02
and outward
38:03
compassion.
38:05
His love
38:06
is proved,
38:07
shown,
38:07
and exemplified
38:08
by Christ's
38:10
atoning
38:10
work for our
38:12
sins
38:12
and appeasing
38:13
a just
38:14
God
38:15
so that we
38:15
might truly
38:16
live.
38:18
The record
38:18
of sin
38:19
is washed
38:20
away
38:20
and the love
38:21
of God
38:22
now present
38:23
all because
38:24
Christ came
38:25
to this earth
38:26
as a baby
38:26
endured temptation
38:28
yet without sin
38:30
he suffered
38:31
the death
38:31
that he did
38:32
not deserve
38:33
to die
38:33
and he overcame
38:35
the grave
38:35
by the power
38:36
of the spirit
38:37
and has secured
38:38
his children
38:39
a seat
38:40
in eternal
38:41
glory.
38:42
This is the
38:43
significance
38:43
of Christ's
38:45
love
38:45
in his first
38:46
advent.
38:47
Let's praise
38:48
him
38:48
continually
38:49
until his
38:50
second.
38:52
I'm going
38:52
to close
38:53
with the
38:53
reading of
38:54
this hymn
38:55
that perhaps
38:55
we'll sing
38:56
in a couple
38:57
days.
38:59
Oh
39:00
holy night
39:01
the stars
39:03
are brightly
39:03
shining
39:04
it is the
39:05
night
39:05
of the
39:05
dear
39:06
Savior's
39:07
birth
39:07
long
39:08
lay
39:08
the
39:08
world
39:09
in
39:09
sin
39:10
and
39:10
error
39:11
pining
39:12
till he
39:13
appeared
39:14
and the
39:15
soul felt
39:15
its worth
39:16
a thrill
39:17
of hope
39:18
the weary
39:19
world
39:19
rejoices
39:20
for yonder
39:21
breaks a new
39:22
and glorious
39:23
morn
39:23
fall on your
39:25
knees
39:25
oh hear
39:26
the angel
39:27
voices
39:27
oh night
39:28
divine
39:28
oh night
39:30
when Christ
39:30
was born
39:31
oh night
39:32
divine
39:33
oh night
39:33
oh night
39:34
divine
39:34
led by the
39:36
light of
39:36
faith
39:37
serenely
39:37
beaming
39:38
with glowing
39:39
hearts
39:39
by his
39:39
cradle
39:40
we stand
39:40
so led
39:41
by light
39:42
of a star
39:42
sweetly gleaming
39:43
there came
39:44
the wise
39:45
men from
39:45
orient land
39:46
the king
39:47
of kings
39:48
lie thus
39:49
in a lowly
39:50
manger
39:50
in all
39:52
our trials
39:52
born to
39:54
be our
39:54
friend
39:55
he knows
39:56
our need
39:56
to our
39:58
weakness
39:58
he is no
39:59
stranger
39:59
behold your
40:00
king
40:00
before him
40:01
lowly
40:02
bend
40:02
behold your
40:04
king
40:04
before him
40:05
lowly
40:06
bend
40:06
truly
40:07
he taught
40:08
us
40:08
to love
40:09
one another
40:10
his law
40:11
is love
40:12
and his
40:12
gospel
40:12
is peace
40:13
chains
40:15
shall he
40:16
break
40:16
for the
40:17
slave
40:17
is our
40:17
brother
40:18
and in
40:18
his name
40:19
all oppression
40:20
shall cease
40:21
sweet hymns
40:22
of joy
40:23
and grateful
40:24
chorus
40:24
raise we
40:25
let all
40:26
within us
40:26
praise his
40:27
holy name
40:28
christ is
40:29
the lord
40:30
oh praise
40:31
his name
40:32
forever
40:32
his power
40:33
and glory
40:34
evermore
40:35
proclaim
40:36
his power
40:37
and glory
40:37
evermore
40:38
proclaim
40:39
let's pray
40:40
as