1 João 4
Ray Stedman · Citado em PreceptAustin
1 João 4:1
Stedman - It is important to note that there is here a very clear recognition of what the Bible teaches all the way through -- that behind the false prophet or false teacher is an evil spirit. Men simply do not speak out of their own intellectual attainments. Quite unconscious to themselves they are being guided -- and misguided -- by an evil spirit, a "spirit of error" John calls it, an anti-Christian spirit which is behind these false prophets and teachers. There is a true Spirit, the Holy Spirit of truth, the Spirit of love, and just as He speaks through men, so evil spirits, false spirits, the spirits of error, also speak through men. When you hear men and women talking about religious things or values, do not gullibly swallow everything they say, especially if they appear to be attractively setting forth something about love and sweetness and light and concern for others. Especially test that line, for it is the usual approach of error. Recognize that behind the individual may be a spirit of error. We moderns are in much greater danger than the ancients, for in the world of John and Paul's day, the 1st century, there was a widespread recognition of the existence of invisible spirits, the invisible realities behind the scenes of life. Everywhere the ancient world recognized these as gods and goddesses, and bowed down to them… In the 20th century, we pride ourselves upon the fact that we have grown beyond this, we have come of age. Man is intellectually unable to accept this kind of thing today. As a result we expose ourselves without any defense at all to the control of these evil spirits… We must recognize that the pronouncements of men in this field of religion and spiritual teaching, no matter whether they be professors in seminaries or colleges, or whether they be pastors behind pulpits, or whatever they may be, are not a result of their keen logic or their academic training or their perceptive thinking, alone. These men are oftentimes unaware of the twist that is given to their thinking by the activity of evil spirits, spirits of error. The premises they adopt, which they never seem to examine, are often totally wrong, and in their blindness they base logical deductions upon illogical premises. But we so often seem to be unaware of this. You must remember that you can never recognize this kind of error by listening and reading the arguments. I am not saying it is wrong to read the arguments, but you will not see the error in them that way. For if you read these books, and listen to the messages, they always sound clear, convincing and logical, taken by themselves. That is the way error makes its approach to us. The only way to discover it is to do as John says -- test it. Test these spirits, try them. Lay them alongside a measuring stick, and if they do not match, throw them out. (When Unbelief is Right) Moses gave Israel clear objective criteria for testing the spirits of the prophets in the Old Testament just as John does here in the NT… “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ 3you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4“You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him. 5“But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the LORD your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you. (Dt 13:1-5+) In Deuteronomy false prophets stand were contrasted with the True Prophet the Messiah, Moses promised would one day come to Israel… The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to Him. 16 “This is according to all that you asked of the LORD your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, let me not see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’ 17 “And the LORD said to me, ‘They have spoken well. 18 ‘I will raise up a Prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him (referring to the Messiah). 19 ‘And it shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which He shall speak in My name, I Myself will require [it] of him. 20 (FALSE PROPHETS) ‘But the prophet who shall speak a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he shall speak in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ 21 “And you may say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’ 22 “When a prophet speaks in the Name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him. (Dt 18:15-22+) So from Dt 13:1-5 and Dt 18:15-22 the tests of a false prophet were (1) whether they encouraged idolatry and (2) whether their predictions came true or not. See also Dt 13:1–5; Jer 23:9–22; 28:9. Notice that performance of "a sign or a wonder" even if it came to pass, was not to be taken as a marker of an authentic prophet of God. As John goes on to explain in 1Jn 4:2-3+, these spirits were to be tested by the objective criterion of whether or not they confess (see what "confession" entails in 1Jn 4:2) that Jesus has come in the flesh (see discussion of this in comments on 1Jn 4:2). Paul gave a similar test of authenticity in First Corinthians "Therefore I make known to you, that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit." (1Cor 12:3) We must test spiritual experiences and spiritual phenomenon to see if they are in fact from God. David Guzik makes a great point about believing without testing - John warned against believing every spirit; that is, we are never to assume every spiritual experience or every demonstration of spiritual power is from God. We must test spiritual experiences and spiritual phenomenon to see if they are in fact from God. Many, when first encountering the reality of the spiritual world, are too impressed and amazed to ask whether they are of God. This leads to easy deception. Unbelief (do not believe every spirit) can be as much a mark of spiritual maturity as belief. We should avoid both extremes, the superstition which believes everything and suspicion which believes nothing. -- John Stott F F Bruce: "In Deuteronomy two tests are laid down to determine whether a prophet is truly a spokesman of God or not: (I) 'if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you need not be afraid of him' (Dt. 18.22); (ii) even if the word which the prophet speaks comes true, yet if he tries to lead his hearers astray to serve other gods, he is a false prophet (Dt. 13.1-5). The presence of true prophets in the church of New Testament days stimulated the activity of others who claimed to be prophets but whose claims were unfounded -- or, if they did speak by inspiration, showed by the content of their utterances that the spirit that spoke through them was not the Spirit of God. In either case they were false prophets: men who falsely claimed to speak by inspiration or men who were inspired by a spirit of falsehood. To test the prophets then was in effect to test the spirits by whose impulsion they spoke. John indeed envisages but two spirits -- the Spirit of God and the spirit of Antichrist. (BORROW The Gospel and epistles of John) Jesus had warned (actually commanded) the hearers of the Sermon on the Mount to continually "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves." (Mt 7:15-note) A T Robertson on false prophets - Jesus had warned people against them (Mt 7:15), even when they as false Christs work portents (Mt 24:11, Mt 24:24; Mk 13:22). It is an old story (Luke 6:26) and recurs again and again (Acts 13:6; Rev 16:13; Rev 19:20; Rev 20:10) along with false teachers (2Pe 2:1).
1 João 4:1
Stedman points out (When Unbelief is Right - 1 John 4:1-3), “It is significant that this warning comes in the midst of John’s discourse about love, because false spirits tend to make a great deal of the subject of love. Every cult, every deviant group, every false movement makes its appeal in the name of love.” Like John, Paul emphasized the demonic aspect of false teachers (1Ti 4:1), “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.” Of course, the deceitful spirits and their demonic doctrines teach through people who advocate the false teaching. So we must pay close attention to John’s words. (Spiritual Discernment 1 John 4:1-6) Word in Life Study Bible (borrow) - Christianity has rightly been characterized as a religion of love, but it’s important not to take that emphasis to an unhealthy extreme. If, in the name of love, we uncritically accept every idea or value of others, we open ourselves up to error. God never asks us to put our brains in neutral when it comes to matters of faith. John repeatedly appeals for love (1 John 2:10; 3:3, 10–24; 4:7–12, 16–21), but he also places a premium on truth—not the wishy-washy opinions that pass for “truth” in our society, but the absolute, eternal truths of God’s Word. For example, John challenges us to “test the spirits” (1Jn 4:1) and learn to discern between truth and error (1Jn 4:6). He calls for us to avoid sin, which requires that we discern what is sinful (1Jn 2:1; 3:4–10). He tells us to distinguish between the things of the world and the will of God (2:15–17), and he appeals for us to identify deceivers and avoid them (2:18–29; 3:7). Paul echoes this appeal to be tough-minded when it comes to our faith. To be spiritual, he writes, means to be able to “judge” (discern or test) all things (1 Cor. 2:15). Likewise, we are to have the mind of Christ: tough in discernment, loving toward all, and fearless in the face of judgment (Phil. 2:5–11, 17–18). Are you discerning on issues of faith and spirituality? If not, consider starting your own study of the Scriptures to understand what they say and mean, or perhaps enroll in a Bible class where you can learn more about God’s truth in a systematic way. Beloved (27)(agapetos from agapao = to love, agape = unconditional love borne by Spirit) is God's description of His Son (Mt 3:17) and John's term of endearment which expresses his Spirit energized love for the believers to whom he is writing. They are dear to him and very much beloved. Agapetos speaks of the special relationship and preciousness of the recipients. Agapetos is used only of believers and is found 5 times in this epistle (1Jn 3:2, 3:21, 4:1, 4:7, 4:11). It is interesting that in secular Greek agapetos was used most often of children, and especially of an only child upon whom all the love of the parents was bestowed. Westcott - The existence of a subtle spiritual danger calls out the tenderness of love.
1 João 4:2
Stedman adds that confession means that "There must be a commitment of the life to this truth. This is what the word confess means here. It is more than a mere acknowledgment or a profession that this is true; it is a commitment. It means to actually trust this great declared fact and this great historic person. Anyone who does not actually trust it, and live by it, do not listen to them either. They may acknowledge it, but they must also confess it, that is the important thing. Remember that back in the Gospel accounts there were demons that acknowledged the deity of the Lord Jesus? When he appeared before them they said, "We know who you are, the Holy One of God," Mark 1:24+, Luke 4:34+). They acknowledged what the Jews were too blind to see, the full deity of Jesus Christ, as well as his humanity. But, though demons acknowledged this, they never confessed it. They never trusted him. They did not commit themselves to him, they did not live by this truth. Through the course of history there have been many religious leaders, popes, priests, and many others, Protestant and Catholic alike, who have acknowledged the deity of the Lord Jesus and his humanity, but they have never trusted it, they have never committed themselves to it, they have never confessed it. Therefore, even though acknowledgment is there, there is failure, and it is the spirit of error that prevails… That question ought to be asked of every religious teacher, everywhere. Then: Do you follow him? Do you live by this? Are you committed to him -- is he your Lord, your strength, and everything you need? How many would fail if we gave that test? How many fail, even at the first question? (When Unbelief is Right - 1 John 4:1-3) The sign of the Spirit's reality is not merely the truth of the words coming out of the mouth of a prophet, but also the disposition corresponding to that truth. John
1 João 4:2
Stedman - Jesus is his human name. He never was called Jesus when he was the eternal Son of God, before the incarnation. It was only when he was born as a babe in Bethlehem and grew up in Nazareth that he bore the human name of Jesus; Jesus of Nazareth. But the whole teaching of Scripture is that this Jesus of Nazareth, this historical Jesus, this man who grew up and lived and ate and slept and walked with men, who prayed and talked and taught them, is the Messiah of the Old Testament, the predicted One, the Son of God who was to come, the eternal One, God himself, who would come into human history -- they are one and the same. This is the Spirit of truth. Jesus is the Christ, come in the flesh. Jesus of Nazareth is identical with and indivisible from that promised Messiah of the Old Testament. Have you noticed that Jesus makes this claim about himself? In John 10, he says of certain who have gone before him,"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber [i.e., if someone comes to you by another process than the predicted way, the way that has been announced, he is a thief and a robber; he is a false prophet, he is a false Christ, he is an antichrist]; but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out," (John 10:1-3 RSV). Then he says, "I am that good shepherd. I came in the predicted way, the way the prophets announced. I was born in the right place, at the right time, in the right way. I came exactly as it was announced. I am the door; I am the shepherd of the sheep," John 10:14 ff). Now any teacher of spiritual matters who confesses this, John says, is of the truth, is of God. But any teacher who stands up and professes to teach men about God but who does not confess this, is not of God. Do not listen to him, pay no attention to him. Regardless of how beautifully he talks, he is not of God. He is of the spirit of error, the spirit of antichrist, that has already gone out into the world. Plain language, is it not? It is amazing how we have forgotten and neglected it. This is the paramount doctrine which can never be compromised, the divine-human person of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the one thing that is basic and fundamental to all Christian faith. He appeared in the flesh, he came as a man, humbled himself, and became obedient unto the death of the cross… Now, measure some of these voices today: Here is the Christian Scientist, who says that Jesus -- as a man upon whom the Spirit of Christ came -- the Spirit of Christ is the eternal One and he came upon Jesus at his baptism and left him again before he died upon the cross. Jesus, therefore, was born as a mere man and died as a mere man, and the only part of his ministry that is worth anything to us is his public ministry of teaching when he was influenced by the Spirit of Christ. That is not what John says. John says that the spirit which confesses that Jesus is the Christ, that the two are identical, one and the same, never to be separated -- that is the Spirit which is of God. Anything else is the spirit of error and of antichrist. Take the gospel of the Mormons. They say that Jesus never was the eternal unchangeable God, but he was a man who became God and came to show us how we, too, might become gods some day. Is that the gospel? Of course not. It is the spirit of error, of antichrist… There are even many who are orthodox in doctrine and who say, "Yes, of course we believe Jesus is the Christ come in the flesh. We have that in our creed, we can show it to you. It is written in our hymn books. We confess it every Sunday morning when we stand up in church, 'We believe in God the Father Almighty, and in Jesus Christ, His Son, our Lord.'" But do they confess Him, do they live by Him? Have they committed themselves to this One in whom they profess to believe? This is the searching question John asks. If they do not confess Him, if they do not live by Him, then do not follow them, their error is as deadly as those who deny that he came in the flesh. Many young people are finding today that dead orthodoxy has no more power to deliver than heresy and apostasy has. It is those who live by him, follow him, obey him, live by his life -- these are the ones to follow. If you do not do that you can never be my teacher. I do not want to listen to any voice that professes to talk about the inner things of man's life and his relationship to an eternal God, which does not confess that Jesus is Christ come in the flesh, or who does not demonstrate in his life that he lives by that principle. Test it. (When Unbelief is Right - 1 John 4:1-3) "What think you of Christ? is the test To try both your state and your scheme. You can never think right of the rest Until you think highly of Him." As Paul wrote "And by common confession great is the mystery (mysterious and even foolish to the unregenerate world and made visible to the eyes of one's heart ONLY be the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit, cp Eph 1:9-note) of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Beheld by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory. (1Ti 3:16) THOUGHT - David Guzik makes a very interesting comment that "The devil doesn’t care at all if you know Jesus or love Jesus or pray to Jesus – as long as it is a false Jesus, a make-believe Jesus, a Jesus who is not there, and who therefore cannot save." (ED: ONE CULT EVEN USES HIS NAME - CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS! MORMONISM USES THE NAME "JESUS" BUT THEIR "JESUS" WILL TAKE YOU STRAIGHT TO HELL FOREVER AND EVER. O MY!" John MacArthur sums up 1Jn 4:1-6 - John sets forth three familiar tests for determining whether a teacher and his message reflect the Spirit of God or the spirit of Satan. These tests are theological (Does the person confess Jesus Christ?), behavioral (Does the person manifest evidence of the fruit of righteousness?), and presuppositional (Is the person committed to the Word of God?). True teachers are thus characterized by a confession of the divine Lord, a possession of the divine life, and a profession of the divine law. Those who fail to exhibit these traits prove that they are not from God. (See 1-3 John Commentary - Page 156) (Bolding added) The Incarnation: Deity and Humanity in the one Person of Christ Dr Wayne Grudem Below is an excerpt from Dr Wayne Grudem's outline on the The Humanity of Christ.) (Listen to Dr Grudem's in depth Mp3) See also Dr Grudem's full discussion in Chapter 26 The Person of Christ - How is Jesus fully God and fully man, yet one person? scroll down to page 456 in Systematic Theology 1. Three inadequate views of the person of Christ a. Apollinarianism (Apollinaris became bishop in Laodicea about A.D. 361) (1) Christ had a human body only (2) mind and spirit of Christ were from divine nature (3) example: meeting “Mickey Mouse” at Disney World (see Fig. 26.1) (4) Problem: our minds and spirits need salvation too! (such a Christ: not really true man to represent us) (5) Christ had human mind, spirit: Lk 2:52; Jn 12:27; 13:31; Heb 4:15; 5:7, etc. (6) Rejected by several church councils b. Nestorianism (Nestorius was a popular preacher at Antioch; after 428: bishop of Constantinople) (1) Christ was 2 distinct persons in one body: (a) the human person; (b) the divine person (2) Example: circus “horse” (see Fig. 26.2) (3) Problem: Gospels show Jesus as “I” not “we”-- never seen as two persons in Gospels (4) Nestorius probably never taught the heretical view that goes by his name c. Monophysitism (Eutychianism) (Greek monos, “one”, and physis, “nature”) (Eutyches - 378-454) was the leader of a monastery at Constantinople) (1) Human nature absorbed into divine nature (2) Something entirely new resulted (greater than human, less than divine) (3) Example: drop of ink in water (see Fig. 26.3) (4) Problem: both humanity and deity are lost! 2. Solution to the controversy: Chalcedonian Creed (see below) (Chalcedon: a city near Constantinople) Affirmed by Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant churches ever since 3. Combining specific texts on Christ’s deity and humanity a. One nature does some things that the other nature does not do (“the property of each nature is preserved” … see below for Chalcedonian Creed) (1) Jesus’ human nature ascended to heaven and is no longer in the world, but His divine nature is everywhere present. (John 16:28; 17:11; Acts 1:9-11; Mt. 28:20; Jn 14:23) (2) Jesus was 30 years old (Luke 3:23), but also eternally existed (John 1:1-2; 8:58) (3) Jesus was weak and tired in his human nature (Mt. 4:2; 8:24; Mk 15:21; Jn 4:6), but his divine nature was omnipotent (Mt. 8:26-27, Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3) (4) While Jesus was a sleep in the boat (Mt. 8:24) he was also “continually carrying along all things by his word of power” (Heb. 1:3). (5) Jesus’ human nature died (Lk 23:46; 1 Cor. 15:3), but his divine nature did not die, but was able to raise himself from the dead (John 2:19; 10:17-18; Heb. 7:16) b. To preserve the reality of Jesus’ human nature, we must say that Jesus had two wills (a human will and a divine will) and two centers of consciousness (human and divine) (1) Jesus’ human consciousness did not know the time of his return (Mark 13:32), but his divine consciousness knew all things (John 16:30) (2) Jesus’ human will was tempted (Heb. 4:15) but his divine will could not be tempted (James 1:13) 4. Anything either nature does, the person of Christ does Jn 8:58 “Before Abraham was, I am” Jn 16:28 “I am leaving the world” Matt 28:20 “I am with you always” 1 Cor. 15:3 “Christ died for our sins” (Excerpt from The Humanity of Christ.) (Listen to Dr Grudem's in depth Mp3) THE CHALCEDONIAN CREED (451 A.D.) "We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach men to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a reasonable soul and body; consubstantial [homoousios-- “same nature”] with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the Manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to the Manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the prophets from the beginning have declared concerning him, and the Lord Jesus Christ himself has taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us. Related Resources: Is Jesus God in the flesh- Why is it important that Jesus is God in the flesh? Why is the humanity of Jesus important? What is the meaning of the Incarnation of Christ? What does incarnate mean? How was Jesus God incarnate? How can the Incarnation be reconciled with God's immutability? What is the hypostatic union? How can Jesus be both God and man at the same time? Cerinthus - Wikipedia Steven
1 João 4:8
Stedman - 1 John 4:7-10 God Is Love Here we come face to face with that tremendous declaration of the Scriptures: “God is love.” It means that at the root all God does is love. No matter how difficult it may appear to us, the fountain from which all God's activity stems is this kind of self-giving love. Even His judgments, His condemnations, arrive from love. Judgment is not something separate from love. If you convince me that a holy, loving God cannot judge a sinful person, then you will also convince me that He cannot love a sinful person. Inherent in the quality of love is an antagonism toward anything that opposes the object of love. Also, inherent in it is the quality of judgment. God is a purifying fire, consuming and burning away the dross in order that He might preserve the gold. That, incidentally, is how the book of Hebrews describes Him. “Our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29). Love is not always easy to live with because of that very quality, yet it is the most wonderful thing in the world because of its warmth and its all-embracing inclusiveness that takes in all kinds and all conditions, without looking for merit on the part of the object loved. That is the love of God. Dr. H. A. Ironside used to tell of a woman who came to him and said, “I don't have any use for the Bible and for all this Christian superstition. It's enough for me to know that God is love.” He said to her, “Well, do you know that?” She said, “Of course I know that, I've known it all my life.” “Well,” he said, “do you think that everyone knows that?” “Oh, yes,” she said, “everyone knows God is love.” “Well,” he said, “do you think that woman over in India, who is persuaded by her religion to take her little child and throw it into the river as an offering to the crocodiles, has any concept or idea that God is love?” She said, “Well, no, but that's mere superstition.” “Do you think that the person in Africa, bowing down to his idols of wood and stone, trembling with fear lest they should strike back at him and destroy his crops and take away his children and even injure his own person, do you think he has any idea that God is love?” he asked. She said, “No, but in every civilized country we know that God is love.” “Well,” he said, “how do we know that? How do we know that God is love? Do the ancients teach this? Do the other religions of earth teach and show that God is love? Do you know that the only reason we know that God is love is because He sent His Son and manifested Himself as love? The book that tells about the Lord Jesus Christ is the only book in the world that contains the idea that the God behind all created matter is a God of love. Creation reveals His power, His greatness, and His might, but there is nothing in nature that says, 'God is love.' The only way we know this is that God manifested His love in the giving of His Son,” Father, You alone are the source of this love, the only kind that meets the claimant hunger of the heart. I pray that I may recognize myself as called to this great task of being a demonstration of this kind of love. Life Application: God showed His love by sending His Son that we might live through Him. Have we learned to recognize the true nature of Love as evidenced in all of God's actions? Ian Paisley - Consuming Fire and Consuming Love When I open this Book I find out that God is a consuming fire. When I read on in this Book I find out that God is love. That seems to be a terrible contradiction, does it not? God—a consuming fire, God absolute unlimited, everlasting love! If you are in Christ you will know the answer, for in Christ God is love. Outside Christ He is a consuming fire. That is the very heart of the Gospel. Oh, let me say to you that our God is love in Jesus Christ. There is nothing more wonderful, more majestic and more glorious than John's Gospel chapter three and verse 16, 'For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.' God is love! The Great, the Terrible, the Majestic God of Heaven loves men, loves women, loves boys and girls, loves the world. That means that He loves you. Getting the Love Message Across Mr. Moody said, 'I want people when they come to my Tabernacle in Chicago to remember that God is love.' So he put a sign above the pulpit, 'God is love.' He lit it up with gaslights. One night an old drunkard came in and he thought there was a fire, and he said, 'There is a fire behind the pulpit.' A man touched him on the shoulder and said, 'If you were not drunk you could read what the fire says.' The man turned round in his stupor and said, 'Well what does the fire say?' It says, 'God is love.' The man staggered out and down the sidewalk but he could not get away from it, 'God is love.' He went back to his bottle but he could not get away from it, 'God is love.' He went back to the den where he slept. He lay down but he could not get away from it, it was burning into his heart, 'God is love.' And Mr. Moody records that God put out His great arms of love and He picked up that poor drunken man, clasped him to his bosom, brought him to the Cross, washed him in His Son's crimson blood, and put the Holy Ghost in his heart. When the man came back to the Church he was stone sober and he was able to read the text for himself. His testimony was this, 'It is true! It is true! It is true! God is love.' WINDS OF LOVE ... God is love. 1 John 4:8 A certain man had a weather vane erected on his barn, on which appeared the text, "God is love." A friend passing by, thinking that it was a rather strange place for such a Scripture, asked about it. The farmer informed him, "This is just to re-mind me that no matter which way the wind blows, God is love." Yes, trusting child of God, it's true — no matter what your circumstance, how difficult the road, or how dark the hour of trial — whichever way the winds of life may be blowing, God is love! When the warm "south wind" with its soothing and balmy breezes brings showers of blessing, "God is love." For "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (James 1:17). When the cold "north wind" of trial and testing sweeps down upon you, "God is love." We know that "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Rom. 8:28). When the "west wind" breathes hard upon you with its punishing intent, "God is love." For "whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth" (Heb. 12:6). When the "east wind" threatens to sweep away all that you have, "God is love." For despite appearances, He "shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:19). He knows when some things should be taken away, and in grace He removes them. Yes, "no matter which way the wind blows," God is love! Perhaps, Christian friend, you are discouraged and down-hearted; if so, remember, God still cares for you. That which you are experiencing has either been sent or allowed by Him for your own good. (See Hebrews 12:11.) God is love; His mercy brightens All the path in which we rove; Bliss He wakens, and woe He lightens, God is wisdom, God is love. — J. Bowring No affliction would trouble the child of God if he knew the Lord's blessed reason for sending it. God is Love! James Smith, 1860 Right views of God are of the greatest importance. Fallen man cannot learn what God is from nature — let him study it ever so closely; nor from providence — let him observe it ever so accurately. Clear, correct, and full views of God's character, can only be learned from the Bible. In the plan of salvation, God has given a full revelation of himself. Here he has displayed his justice equally with his grace — and his holiness equally with his mercy. In Jesus — the mirror that reveals God to believers — he is love — pure, perfect, perpetual love. Therefore twice in one chapter, the Apostle John declares, "God is Love." 1 John 4:8, 16. God is essentially and eternally love — but to sinners he has manifested his love in a righteous and sovereign manner; not more sovereignly, than righteously — nor more righteously, than sovereignly. And each of the Divine persons in Jehovah — Father, Son, and Spirit — is alike, love, and has manifested their love to us. The Father is love to us, and has wondrously revealed and displayed his love. In his love, he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we might be holy and without blame before him in love. Of his love, he gave his only begotten Son for us, to be a sacrifice for our sins; and he gave him to us, to be the perfect Savior of our souls. In his love — he gave us the many, exceeding great, and very precious promises. And, of his love he prepared for us a kingdom, before the foundation of the world. All the arrangements of the eternal council, all the provisions of the everlasting covenant, all the gifts of grace, and all the preparations of glory — are but fruits and effects, of the Father's infinite and eternal love. If, therefore, the Father has thus thought of us, provided for us, and prepared to have us in his presence and glory forever — he must be love, and love to us! The Son of God is love to us, and has manifested his love, by becoming incarnate for us; taking our nature, that he might personally know all our infirmities, temptations, and trials. In our nature he wrought for us, and produced a righteousness to justify us! He suffered for us, and died in our stead — to make an atonement for our sins. He ascended to Heaven to carry on our cause, and ever lives to answer every accuser, and by his intercession to secure for us every blessing. Could he do more, to prove his love? Or could he more clearly manifest, that he is love? The Holy Spirit is love to us, and therefore he quickened us when dead in trespasses and sins. Having convinced us of sin, and of our need of a Savior — he led us to Jesus. He gave us the Holy Scriptures, and daily teaches us by his providence and grace. He helps our infirmities in prayer, and instructs us how, and what to pray for. He dwells in us, works in us, and exerts his power in us. He makes us his temple, and consecrates us to the glory of God. Could he more strikingly or impressively, prove that he is love — or could he possibly show greater love to us? Jehovah God — Father, Son, and Spirit — is love to the believer. Each of the Divine persons distinctly, and the whole God-head, unitedly — is love to the Christian. God is always, everywhere, and under all circumstances — love to his people. His nature being love — and his love being his nature — it cannot change — but is without variableness, or shadow of turning. Everything God does for us — he does out of love. And everything God permits to happen to us — he permits in love. Let us then endeavor always to keep in mind, that God is love. But more especially let us do so, in times of trouble and trial — for every trouble however heavy, and every trial, however severe — flows from his love. So also when we approach to God in prayer, let us bear in mind, that we are not coming to a severe Judge, or an offended Governor — but to a loving Father — to a God who is love, and who loves to hear, answer, and confer blessings upon his children. And when we lie on the bed of sickness, when death stands by our pillow, when the scenes of time are closing upon us, and the solemnities of eternity, are opening before us, when heart and flesh are failing, and Satan makes his last attack upon us — then, then let us remember, that God is love, and that his love is about to be perfected in us! Lost sinner, a God of love, warns you to flee from eternal wrath, invites you to come to Jesus, and offers you everlasting life! Horatius Bonar - THE MANIFESTED LOVE ‘In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.’—1 JOHN 4:9. IT is of love that the apostle writes: first, human love, the love of man to man (ver. 7); and then of the love of God. Love has a heavenly origin; its birthplace is the bosom of God. And every one who knows love knows something that is truly divine: ‘Every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.’ The absence of love from a heart is one of the worst and darkest signs. A heart that has shut out love is a heart that has shut out God. ‘He that loveth not knoweth not God, for GOD IS LOVE.’ O profound and wondrous truth, GOD IS LOVE! Is not this simple statement like light from the heaven of heavens? What more fitted to gladden, to soothe, to cure, and to sustain the heart of humanity, than such a revelation of God? What more fitted to scatter earth’s shadows, and to brighten its whole wide compass into the sunshine of a true and joyous day? I. The love of God.—Of this love the Bible is the great witness. Paganism knew nothing of it. A God of love and a religion of love were strange things to a heathen. ‘God is love’ was a new idea to them,—one too high for them,—almost incomprehensible in its vastness and glory. God LOVES; God loves man the sinner; God loves man with a true and holy love; God loves the unlovable; God loves on and on, through years of resistance and hatred;—nay, God is love. These are truths which contain in them light for the human heart,—a heart hardened and contracted by selfishness and hatred. The dimensions of this love are beyond measure; and it is as free as it is large. It is love for the hateful; love whose patience, tenderness, and gentleness are inexhaustible; love beyond that of father and mother, brother or sister, yet combining in itself all these kinds of love; for the infinite heart out of which it flows is not only the fountainhead of these, but the model according to which they are fashioned. Are we fathers or mothers?—He much more. Have we the deep, tender feelings of father or mother?—He much more. No parent’s heart ever beat like His. No parent’s affection was ever more than a mere drop of the ocean when compared with His. Let us learn the love of God,—pure and spontaneous; not waiting for our love, but gushing out with a fulness of which we can form no conception. The love of God is like Himself, boundless,—stretching out its all-embracing arms and all-beseeching hands to the sons of men. O love of God! O love of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,—how great and true, how precious and peace-giving to the weary soul art thou! There is no joy like thine. There is no strength, no health, no liberty like that which thou infusest when thou art shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. ‘We have known and believed the love which God hath to us;’ this is our rejoicing. We have no good thing to say for ourselves; no boast to make; no goodness; no worth. All we can say is that ‘we have known and believed the love which God hath to us.’ This is the only account which we can give of ourselves or of our wondrous change. II. The manifestation of God’s love.—This love of God has not been silent. It has spoken out. God is not dumb concerning Himself. This love of God has not been hidden under a bushel or set on some inaccessible mountain. It is visible to all, near to all, within the reach of all. It is not wrapt in clouds, nor darkly and dimly made known, nor whispered or muttered; it is announced with a clearness and loudness that make all earth and heaven to ring again. The manifestation of the love was the sending of His only-begotten Son into the world; for God so loved the world, that He gave His Son! It is not, then, of hidden but of manifested love that the Bible speaks; love so fully disclosed, so unambiguously expressed, so solemnly pledged, that disbelief of it seems an impossibility. ‘Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us.’ Greater love could not be. A fuller revelation of it could not be. He gave His unspeakable gift: He spared not His Son, but delivered Him up for us all. This marvellous manifestation meets all our difficulties, and silences all our doubts. Shall any sinner upon earth, the vilest, say, ‘That love does not suit my case; there is not enough of it for me;’ or, ‘What security have for its perpetuity?’ God gave His Son to show His love to us; God laid our sins upon His Son to show His love; God made Him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, to show His love; God delivered Him to die and be buried for us, to show His love. Was not this manifested love? Was not this love which could not be mistaken? It was not love created by the expiation of the cross. The love produced the expiation, not the expiation the love. The cross is the display of divine love in its fulness. It is the cross that preaches pre-eminently to us the grace of God, and proclaims in all its largeness and sufficiency the love of God. God’s answer to every doubt or suspicion of the sinner or the saint is, ‘Have I not given my Son?’ If men will not read love in this gift, they will read it in nothing else. Here, if anywhere, we hear the message, ‘God is love;’ for here we learn that ‘the Father sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.’ III. The purpose of this manifested love.—‘That we might live through Him.’ Without Him death was our portion. Even this great love of God could not reach us without the death of His Son. The love sought life for us, but could only obtain it for us by sacrificing the Son. He has come, and lived, and loved, and died! All that fastened us to death has been unloosed. All that made life impossible has been taken out of the way. There is life to us through Him who died. God’s love has found a way for itself to us; it is now free to bless; it can go forth unhindered to the sons of men; for it is love which magnifies righteousness. It has triumphed over human guilt, and brought pardon to the worst of sinners. He who receives God’s testimony to the cross gets forthwith all the pardon and all the love which the cross reveals. THE GREATEST SENTENCE THAT WAS EVER WRITTEN “God is Love.”—1 John 4:8. R A Torrey (from Revival Addresses) My subject is the greatest sentence that was ever written. Of course, that sentence is in the Bible. All the greatest sentences are in the one Book. The Bible has a way of putting more in a single sentence than other writers can put in a whole book. Yet there are some who would tell us that the Bible is no more God’s Book than other books. Either they have not read the Bible, or they have read it with their eyes closed. This sentence has in it but three words. Each word is a monosyllable. One word has four letters, one three, and one only two; yet these nine letters, forming three monosyllables, contain so much of truth that the world has been pondering it for eighteen centuries, and has not got to the bottom of it yet. Whole volumes are dedicated to the exposition of this wonderful sentence—thousands of volumes. 1 John 4:8, “God is love.” That is the greatest sentence that was ever written. That sentence is the key-note of the mission that begins to-day. Everything that you will hear in song or in word for the next four weeks in this mission revolves round that one central truth, “God is love.” That sums up the whole contents of the Bible. If I were asked for a sentence to print in letters of gold on the outside of our Bible, a sentence that summed up the whole contents of the Book, it would be this one, “God is Love.” That is the subject of the first chapter of Genesis, it is the subject of the last chapter of Revelation, and it is the subject of every chapter that lies in between. The Bible is simply God’s love story, the story of the love of a holy God to a sinful world. That is the most amazing thing in the Bible. People tell us the Bible is full of things that it is impossible to believe. I know of nothing else so impossible to believe as that a holy God should love a sinful world, and should love such individuals as you and me, as the Bible says He does. But impossible as it is to believe, it is true. There is mighty power in that one short sentence, power to break the hardest heart, power to reach individual men and women who are sunk down in sin, and to lift them up until they are fit for a place beside the Lord Jesus Christ upon the Throne. When Mr. Moody organized the church in Chicago, of which I am pastor, he was so anxious that everybody should always hear this one truth, and was so afraid that some preacher might come and forget to tell it, that he had it put on the gas jets right above the pulpit, so that the first thing you would see when you went in there on an evening was that text shining out in letters of fire. One stormy night, before the time of the meeting, the door stood ajar. A man partly intoxicated saw it open, and thought he might go in and get warm. He did not know what sort of a place it was, but when he pushed the door open he saw the text blazing out, “God is love.” He pulled the door to, and walked away muttering to himself. He said, “God is not love. If God is love, He would love me. God does not love a wretch like me.” But it kept on burning down into his soul, “God is love! God is Love! God is Love!” After a while he retraced his steps, and took a seat in a corner. When Mr. Moody walked down after the meeting, he found the man weeping like a child. “What is the trouble?” he asked. “What was it in the sermon that touched you?” “I didn’t hear a word of your sermon.” “Well, what is the trouble?” “That text up there.” Mr. Moody sat down and from his Bible showed him the way of life, and he was saved. I hope it will break some of your hearts. I am not going to tell you what I think of the love of God. I am going to give you the Bible’s plain statements about it. There are people who start out with this text as a foundation, and build a superstructure of speculation that contradicts the plain teaching of the very Book from which they have taken their foundation-stone. Now, nothing can be more illogical than that. One of two things is certainly true. Either the Bible is true, or it is not true. If the Bible is not true, we have no proof that God is love, so that all these universalist schemes, built on the foundation that “God is love,” crumble away. If the Bible is true, these schemes which contradict its plain teaching are false. You can take whichever horn of the dilemma you please. Whichever you take, the shallow universalism of the present day crumbles away. What does the Bible tell us as to how God shows His love? 1. That God shows His love by pardoning Sin.—Isaiah 55:7: “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” God tells us plainly in His Word that He is willing to forgive any sinner that lives, no matter how deep down he has gone, if he will only turn from sin and turn to Him; and He will forgive him the very moment he does so. Of course, God cannot forgive a man while he holds on to his sin, and retain His own moral character. I have a boy. I love that boy, and I would give a great deal to see him now. I believe there is nothing that boy could do but, if he repented and turned from it, I would forgive him. But I could not forgive him if he held on to his evil way. I could continue to love him and seek to save him, but I could not forgive him. And God cannot forgive us, and remain what He is—a holy God—until we are ready to quit our sin. But the moment we are, He will have mercy upon us, and He will abundantly pardon. If the wickedest man or woman in Edinburgh should have come in to-night—and I hope they have—and should here and now turn from sin, the moment they did so, God would blot out every sin they ever committed. I knew a millionaire in New York City who turned his back on all his business and money-making to save the perishing. When he was going down one of the streets one night, a poor woman came out of an underground den of infamy and groaned as he passed. My friend stepped up to her and told her of the love of God. At first she would not believe, but he persuaded her that God loved her. He gave her a shelter. She did not live long—only about two years—but before she died, Nellie Conroy stood up before a great audience in the Cooper Institute, and told them how God had saved her. Tears were streaming down the faces of all. A little while after she lay dying, and, as my friend came into the room, she said: “Uncle Charlie—he was not her uncle, but she called him so for the love she bore—“I will soon see, in a few hours, little Florence, and I will see Jesus.” And Nellie Conroy, the pardoned and blood-washed sinner, went up to behold the King. There is not a man or woman in Edinburgh that God will not save the moment they turn from their sin. 2. God shows His Love by taking account of Sin, and punishing it.—Hebrews 12:6: “For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.” People think God will allow sin to go on unchecked, unrebuked, unpunished. “God is love,” and therefore He takes account of and punishes sin. There are fathers who are so selfish that they will not punish their children when it is necessary for their good. It hurts their feelings, as it does to all true fathers; and they are so selfish that they sacrifice the welfare of the children in order to spare their own feelings. That is not love but consummate selfishness. One of my children disobeyed me. I said to myself, “That child must be punished.” Oh, how I studied to find some way out, but I could not do it. I knew that for the child’s highest welfare, punishment must be administered, and the child was punished. I suffered a great deal more than the child, but I loved the child enough to sacrifice my feelings for the child’s welfare. God suffers when you and I are punished; but He loves us so much, that when we need to suffer He administers the suffering Himself. A gentleman with whom I was staying said to me one day, “Would you like to take a drive?” We went out to a cemetery, and came to a place where there were three graves. One was long; it was an adult one, and in it his wife was buried. In the two short graves were the bodies of his two daughters, all he had except a baby boy. We knelt and prayed by the side of the graves. As we were driving back to town the gentleman said, “I pity the man that God has not chastened.” What did he mean? He meant that he had been a man of the world, an upright man, but not a Christian. One night when he came home his wife said, “Porter, one of the children is sick.” In a few days she was cold and dead; and, as she lay in the casket, he knelt down and promised God to take Christ as his Lord and Master. But he lied to God, and forgot all about his resolution. Some time after he came home again, and his wife said, “Porter, the other child is sick.” In a few days she also lay cold and dead. Once more he knelt down and promised God that he would become a Christian, and kept his word. All the holiest, deepest, purest joys of life had come from his great sorrow. Are you in sorrow? It is because God loves you. Are there some here resisting the entreaties of God’s mercy and grace? I beseech you to repent. I tremble for some men and women, for those who know the way of life, with whom God is striving by His holy Spirit, but who will not come to Him. I tremble for them, because I know that God loves them. You think that is a very strange reason for trembling for a man. No, I know God loves you, and so loves you that, if He cannot bring you in any other way, He will bring you by sorrow and heart-ache. A friend of mine in Chicago, Colonel Clark, spent his fortune in saving the lost. He went down every night to preach the Gospel in a mission. There was one man who had been attending and resisting God’s entreaties of mercy for a long time; and one night as he came along Col. Clark said, “George, if you do not turn from sin pretty quick, I believe God will take away your wife and child from you, and will lock you up.” The man was very angry, and said, “Colonel Clark, you mind your own business; I will mind mine.” One month from that night George woke up on the floor of Rochester Jail. His wife was dead, his child had been taken away from him to be put into better hands than his. Right there he took Christ as his Saviour, and now he is a preacher of the Gospel. Remember, God loves you, and “whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth.” 3. God shows His love for us by sympathizing with us.—Isaiah 63:9: “In all their affliction He was afflicted.” That is one of the wonderful sentences of this book. The prophet is speaking about the children of Israel. Their afflictions were appalling, and the direct consequence of their own sin, a judgment sent by the hand of God, and yet the prophet said God suffered with them in their sorrow. It is true. There is not a man or woman here who is in trouble but God sympathizes with you. It may have come in any way, but if you have any trouble God sympathizes with you in it. Some of you know what it is to have a child sick for a long time. At first friends came and sympathized with you, but their sympathy has grown cold; and, as you have watched day and night by that fading life you have said: “There is no one who sympathizes with me.” Yes, there is. God sympathizes with you. There are men and women who have a sorrow of such a character that they cannot confide it to any human ear; and they say: “Nobody knows it. Nobody sympathizes with me.” Yes, there is One who knows, and He sympathizes with you—God. 4. God shows His Love by His Gifts.—I cannot dwell upon that. I just want to speak of one gift. 1 John 3:1, 2: “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” Oh, that wondrous gift that God bestowed upon you and me, that men and women like us should be called children of God! Oh, what love! Suppose on his coronation day King Edward, after all the ceremonies were over, had taken his carriage of state, and had ridden down to the East End of London, and had seen some ragged, wretched, profane boy, utterly uneducated and morally corrupt. Suppose his great heart of love had gone out to that boy, and, stepping up to that poor wanderer, he had said: “I love you. I am going to take you in my carriage to the palace. I am going to dress you fit to be a king’s son, and you shall be known as the son of King Edward the Seventh.” Would it not have been wonderful? But it would not have been so wonderful as that the infinitely holy God should have looked down upon you and me in our filthiness and rags and depravity, and that He should have so loved us that He should have bestowed upon us to be called the sons of God. 5. God shows His Love by the Sacrifice He has made for us.—Sacrifice; after all that is the great test of love. People tell you that they love you, but you cannot tell whether they really love you till the opportunity comes for them to make a sacrifice for you. I had a friend in the university. We thought a good deal of each other; but I did not know how much he loved me. Years after, one night when I was away preaching, this friend turned up at my house and got to talking with my wife. He asked a good many leading questions, and finally got out of her that I was in a position in which I needed fifteen hundred dollars. He did not say any more at the time, but next day he came to me and said: “You think of doing so and so.” “Yes.” “That costs money.” “I have a scheme to get it.” “What is it?” “I have plans.” “Well, what are they?” I did not think it was his business, but finally I told him. He said: “It will not work at all. See here. Just let me give you that fifteen hundred dollars.” “Well,” I said, “I am not going to let any man give me fifteen hundred dollars.” “Oh, you can pay it back.” “I don’t know about that.” “I will take my chances.” He insisted, and would not take “No” for an answer; he gave me that fifteen hundred dollars, and I have paid it back, but he did not know I would. I knew then that man loved me. God has proved His love. “God so loved the world that He gave”—gave what?—“His only begotten Son”—the best He had, the object of his eternal love—gave Him to suffer and die upon the cruel cross for you and me. God looked down upon this lost world, upon you and me. He saw that there was only one price that could save us; and He did not stop at that sacrifice. He “so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” That is the most amazing thing in the Bible. You and I sometimes dwell upon the love of Christ, to give up Heaven for us. We look at Him in the courtyard of Pilate, fastened to the whipping-post, with His bare back exposed to the lash of the Roman soldier. We look at Him as the lash cuts into His back again and again, and again, till it is all torn and bleeding. Oh, how He loved us! But looking down from yon throne in heaven was God; and every lash that cut the back of Christ cut the heart of God. We see the soldiers with the crown of thorns, pressing it on His brow, and we see the blood flowing down. Oh, how he loved us! But every thorn that pierced His brow pierced also the heart of God. Through the dusk of that awful day we see Him on the cross. We hear the last cry, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” We see how He loved us. But yonder, looking down from the throne of light and glory, was God; and every nail that pierced His hands and feet pierced the heart of God, because He loved you, and you, and you, every one of you. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” Oh, it was wonderful! What are you going to do about this love? I once heard a story which brought me such a glimpse of God’s love as I never had before. I do not know whether it is true or not. A man was set to watch a railway drawbridge over a river. He threw it open and let vessels through. He heard the whistle of a train up the track, and sprang to the lever to bring the bridge back into place, and as he was doing so he accidentally pushed his boy into the river. He heard the cry, “Father, save me; I am drowning.” What should he do? The man stood at the post of duty, brought the bridge back so that the train could pass over in safety. Then he jumped into the river to save his boy, but it was too late. He sacrificed his boy to do his duty. When I heard that story I wondered, if it had been my boy, what I would have done. That man owed it to those on the train to do what he did. God owed you and me nothing. We were guilty rebels against him, but “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” What are you going to do with His love? Accept it, or trample it under foot? Accept Christ, and you accept that love; reject Christ, and you trample that love under foot. I cannot understand how any man or woman in their right senses can harden their hearts against the love of God. I remember one night at the close of our service we had an after-meeting. The choir were still sitting, and the leading soprano was unconverted—a thoroughly worldly girl. Her mother rose in the meeting, and said, “I wish you would pray for my daughter.” I did not look around, but I knew intuitively how that girl looked at that moment. I made it my business to meet her as she was passing out, and said, “Good evening, Cora.” Her eyes flashed and cheeks burned; she was very angry. She said, “My mother ought to have known better. She knows it will only make me worse.” I said, “Sit down”; and I turned to Isaiah 53:5: “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.” I did not say another word. It was not necessary. The anger faded out of those eyes, and burning tears of penitence ran down her cheeks. I went from home next day, and when I came back some one said, “Cora is sick.” I found her very sick, but rejoicing in Jesus. A few days after her brother came and said, “We think Cora is dying.” I went at once, and looked on the whitest face I ever saw. She had not opened her eyes all the morning; but, after I had finished praying, there came from those lips—still without opening her eyes—the most wonderful prayer I ever heard. She thanked God for giving His son to die for her. She told Him how she longed to live to sing to His glory, as she had sung in the past for herself; but “if it be not Thy will that I live and sing for Christ, I shall be glad to depart and to be with Christ.” And depart she did, with a heart conquered, transformed, by the love of God. What are you going to do with the love of God? I have here a story cut from a paper to-day. Mrs. Bottome, of New York City, says that she had a friend in her girlhood of whom she lost sight completely for eighteen years. Going back to New York she was passing along a street, and up in a second story window she saw her friend’s face, surrounded by prematurely grey hair. She ran up to the door of the house, and said to the maid, “Take that card to your mistress.” “She is not at home,” was the answer. “Oh yes, she is: I saw her at the window”; and Mrs. Bottome rushed past the maid up into the room, and they fell into one another’s arms. “What has become of you for all these years?” asked Mrs. Bottome. The answer was, “Come into the other room, and I will show you.” In a room magnificently fitted up there sat an idiot boy of seventeen years of age, scarcely able to talk—a driveling idiot. His mother said, “My duty lies here, with my darling boy.” Mrs. Bottome says that in a moment of thoughtlessness she asked, “How can you endure it? I do not wonder you are prematurely grey.” I knew you would not understand my love for my sweet boy,” said her indignant friend. “It is no burden, no care, to live and serve my boy; and if, some day, he will only give one sign that he recognizes me as his mother, I will feel repaid for all the years of love I have lavished on him.” That was but a faint image of the love of God. What are you going to do with this love of God? That boy did not repay his mother’s love; for, as Mrs. Bottome says, he was an idiot and did not know any better. You are not idiots. You know God’s love: how are you going to repay it?
1 João 4:10
Stedman - God Is Love READ THE SCRIPTURE: 1 JOHN 4:7-10 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:8 Here we come face to face with that tremendous declaration of the Scriptures: God is love. It means that at the root all God does is love. No matter how difficult it may appear to us, the fountain from which all God's activity stems is this kind of self-giving love. Even His judgments, His condemnations, arrive from love. Judgment is not something separate from love. If you convince me that a holy, loving God cannot judge a sinful person, then you will also convince me that He cannot love a sinful person. Inherent in the quality of love is an antagonism toward anything that opposes the object of love. Also, inherent in it is the quality of judgment. God is a purifying fire, consuming and burning away the dross in order that He might preserve the gold. That, incidentally, is how the book of Hebrews describes Him. Our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). Love is not always easy to live with because of that very quality, yet it is the most wonderful thing in the world because of its warmth and its all-embracing inclusiveness that takes in all kinds and all conditions, without looking for merit on the part of the object loved. That is the love of God. Dr. H. A. Ironside used to tell of a woman who came to him and said, I don't have any use for the Bible and for all this Christian superstition. It's enough for me to know that God is love. He said to her, Well, do you know that? She said, Of course I know that, I've known it all my life. Well, he said, do you think that everyone knows that? Oh, yes, she said, everyone knows God is love. Well, he said, do you think that woman over in India, who is persuaded by her religion to take her little child and throw it into the river as an offering to the crocodiles, has any concept or idea that God is love? She said, Well, no, but that's mere superstition. Do you think that the person in Africa, bowing down to his idols of wood and stone, trembling with fear lest they should strike back at him and destroy his crops and take away his children and even injure his own person, do you think he has any idea that God is love? he asked. She said, No, but in every civilized country we know that God is love. Well, he said, how do we know that? How do we know that God is love? Do the ancients teach this? Do the other religions of earth teach and show that God is love? Do you know that the only reason we know that God is love is because He sent His Son and manifested Himself as love? The book that tells about the Lord Jesus Christ is the only book in the world that contains the idea that the God behind all created matter is a God of love. Creation reveals His power, His greatness, and His might, but there is nothing in nature that says, 'God is love.' The only way we know this is that God manifested His love in the giving of His Son. Father, You alone are the source of this love, the only kind that meets the claimant hunger of the heart. I pray that I may recognize myself as called to this great task of being a demonstration of this kind of love. Life Application God showed His love by sending His Son that we might live through Him. Have we learned to recognize the true nature of Love as evidenced in all of God's actions? 1 JOHN 4:10 READ: Romans 5:1-8 LOVE'S highest expression is found in giving. This was most perfectly displayed when God gave His Son to save the world (John 3:16). Even as love prompted the Father to give His Son for us, our love for Him should motivate us to prove the reality of our love through giving (2 Corinthians 8:8-9). We do this by first presenting our bodies "a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God," which is our "reasonable service" (Romans 12:1). In his book Man Alive, John Whittle told about a widow whose only son said he was obeying the call of God to go to the mission field. Although the woman had been a Christian for many years, her son's decision was upsetting to her because she had assumed that as she grew older he would be there when she needed him. Fear and anxiety clouded her thinking. Then one day something happened that changed her outlook. Reading John 3, she saw the familiar words of verse 16 in a new way. The thought came to her that "God was giving her the privilege of doing in her small way what He had done" for her. Her entire perspective was changed. She was willing to give up her son to go to the mission field because of God's love for her. Together they were able to see themselves as partners in the Lord's service. TODAY IN THE WORD This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. - 1 John 4:10 In The Heart of the Cross, Philip Graham Ryken reflects on the meaning of the Crucifixion: “When Jesus said, 'It is finished,’ He was announcing that He had done His job, that He had completed His task and finished His project. What He had finished was suffering for sin. The suffering of Jesus Christ was not tragic suffering. It was saving suffering. Before Jesus died on the cross, humanity was in bondage to sin. We were sold as slaves to sin, and we deserved to die in captivity. A price needed to be paid to redeem us, to buy us back from sin and death. But the price of redemption was a perfect sacrifice, a price we could not pay... Christ died for us, offering Himself as a sinless sacrifice, buying back our freedom by paying sin’s price.” Jesus Christ was God’s perfect sacrifice of atonement. As you read the Crucifixion account again on this Good Friday, we hope, in light of this month’s focus on sacrifice, that it speaks to you with renewed power and depth. We see in Matthew’s narrative exactly the same scene as was prophesied in yesterday’s reading from Isaiah. A Lamb is led to the slaughter. He’s an innocent victim, misunderstood by those witnessing the event. Yet He goes willingly, knowing that His punishment brings peace between God and man. Jesus’ public execution was humiliating and painful in the extreme. The insults heaped on Him struck even at His relationship with His Father (Mt. 27:43). Thieves dying with Him felt themselves superior. Although all this suffering was intense, the most painful moment Jesus experienced was surely His separation from His Father (v. 46). Yet in the end, He gave up His spirit willingly (v. 50; cf. Jn. 10:17-18). TODAY ALONG THE WAY Is there a Good Friday service at your church ? We know that Friday is the end of a busy week of work or study for you, and that “going to church” may not be high on your list of relaxing activities. But don’t think of this as a duty--think of it as love. Your Savior, out of love for you, suffered and died. Your whole life, everything you are and do, is based on that. This time of worship can increase your love for your Savior. GOD Is LOVE - Paul Enns (BORROW Approaching God) 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. (1 John 4:10) A seminary student in Chicago drove a transit route on which a group of thugs boarded the bus, refused to pay their fares, and intimidated the passengers. The seminarian called a policeman aboard, who made the thugs pay their fares. When the policeman and the rest of the passengers had disembarked, the thugs beat up the seminary student, leaving him unconscious. The seminarian pursued them, finally found them, and brought them to trial. When the judge sentenced the thugs to prison, the student stood up, told them about the love of Christ, and said he wanted to serve their sentence. His demonstration of God's love resulted in the conversion of at least one of the thugs. That remarkable story beautifully illustrates the love of God. God's love is not a Hollywood-type emotion; it is a rational love that loves man-kind though mankind is entirely unlovely. Love is basic to God's nature since "God is love" (1 John 4:8). Agape, a Greek word for love, does not emphasize a love based on emotion but rather a reasoned love that loves the object regardless of the worth of the object or whether the love is re-turned. That love is a primary attribute of God. Love demands communication. Love does not reveal itself in isolation, does not live in a vacuum; hence, God demonstrated His love in sending "His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life" (John 3:16). God also loves the Son (Matthew 3:17), Israel (Deuteronomy 7:8), and believers (John 14:33). Further, God's love is not simply sentimental but based in His truth and holiness. God has expressed His love because He seeks to redeem man from his sinful estate. God has especially exhibited His love for believers, loving them while they were sinners (Romans 5:8) and lavishing His love on them to name them His children (1 John 3:1). But love is unfulfilled if it does not receive response. Have you responded to God's love? LESSON: God is love and portrays that love by communicating to man through sending His Son, Jesus Christ. John Henry Jowett - THE LOVE OF GOD 1 John 4:7-14 LET me more assiduously think of God’s love. Let me sit down to it. In the National Gallery can be seen two sorts of people. There are the mere vagrants, who are always “on the move,” passing from picture to picture, without seeing any. And there are the students, who sit down, and contemplate, and meditate, and appropriate, and saturate. And there are vagrants in respect to the love of the Lord. They have a passing glimpse, but the impression is not vital and vitalizing, and there are the students, who are always gazing, and who are continually crying, “O the depth of the riches of the love of God in Christ!” “His riches are unsearchable!” And God’s love is the creator of my love. “While I muse the fire burns.” I am kindled into the same holy passion. That is to say, contemplation determines character. We acquire the hues of the things to which we cling. To hold fellowship with love is to become loveful and lovely. “We love because He first loved us.” And then, in the third place, it is through my love that I know my Lord. “Everyone that loveth knoweth God.” Love is the lens through which I discern the secret things of God. THE CLEAN FLAME OF LOVE 1 John 4:1-14. THIS aged apostle cannot get away from the counsels of love. All his mental movements circle about this “greatest thing in the world.” Once he would “call down fire upon men”; now the only fire he knows is the pure and genial flame of love. Beautiful is it when our fires become cleaner as we get older, when temper changes to compassion, when malice becomes goodwill, when an ill-controlled conflagration becomes a homely fireside. And all the love we acquire we must get from the altars of God. “We love because He first loved us.” We can find it nowhere else. “Love is of God.” Why, then, not seek it in the right place? Why seek for palms in arctic regions, or for icebergs in the tropics? God is the country of love, and in His deep mines there are riches “unsearchable.” And the gracious law of life is this, that every acquisition of love increases our powers of discernment. “He that loveth knoweth...!” It is as though every jewel we find gives us an extra lens for the discovery of finer jewels still. And thus the love-life is a continual surprise, and the surprise will be eternal, for the object of the wonder is the infinite love of God. Please note: Salvation is God-given, God-driven, God empowered, and God-originated. The gift is not from man to God. It is from God to man.… Grace is created by God and given to man. Charles Stanley - TOTALLY ACCEPTED SCRIPTURE READING: 1 JOHN 4:1–10 KEY VERSE: 1 JOHN 4:10 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. While we would like to think that we can avoid rejection from the world, we cannot. However, it is not the world that will save us from ourselves—it is our heavenly Father. And His acceptance is eternal. Perhaps we feel rejected because someone strongly dislikes what we thought was a good idea. Or maybe rejection comes from our kids or our parents. We struggle to understand why they refuse to accept us. Whenever those feelings persist, we must recognize and refute them. Jesus understands our feelings of rejection. However, it was His death and resurrection that led to our eternal acceptance. Once we refute those feelings of rejection, it is important to affirm what God speaks over us. In His unfailing love for us, God says this: We are unconditionally loved. He never leaves or forsakes His children. He will forever stand by us. We are completely forgiven. God does not hold our sins over our heads. “This is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10 NASB). We are totally accepted. Gaining God’s acceptance is simple: accept His love and forgiveness for our lives. We are complete in Christ. Our searching ends once we enter into relationship with the Lord. Nothing else will ever satisfy us like He does. Lord, I sometimes feel rejected by people in my life. But I know that in You I have received unconditional love and acceptance. (See Pathways to His Presence: A Daily Devotional - Page 7) Charles Stanley - The Initiator of Love SCRIPTURE READING: Psalm 18:1–6 KEY VERSE: 1 John 4:10 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. From the beginning of time, God has been the Initiator of love (1 John 4:10). In his book Lectures in Systematic Theology, Henry Thiessen writes, “He is unlike the gods of the heathen, who hate and are angry, and the god of the philosopher, who is cold and indifferent.” God loves us with a personal and intimate love. Those who have yet to discover the intimacy of God often view Him as being cool and demanding toward His creation. But nothing is farther from the truth. Even in the Old Testament, we find God constantly moving toward mankind in an effort to reveal more of Himself on an intimate basis. Love motivates Him to do this. In fact, love is the motivating factor of every true relationship. It motivated the heart of God not to destroy man in the Garden of Eden. And it was the one thing that motivated Him to deliver Israel from the Egyptians. Love brought down the walls of Jericho, and love was the motivation behind the coming of Christ. Love took our place on Calvary’s cross and later rose from the grave. And love reaches out to us each day with freshness and hope. You were created by love to live within its embrace. Many wonder how God could love them so deeply. But He does. He is love, and He loves you and me. Heavenly Father, I thank You that You are not a cold, indifferent God. Thank You for reaching out to me in love. (See A Gift of Love: Reflections for the Tender Heart) Charles Stanley - The Sovereignty of God SCRIPTURE READING: 1 John 4:4–10 KEY VERSE: 1 John 4:10 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. If you have felt that God has abandoned you when things go wrong, you are not the first believer to wrestle with such thoughts. Don’t be afraid to ask God the hardest questions. He longs to answer you with His power and grace. In her book, Lord, where are you when bad things happen? (borrow), Kay Arthur shares her emotions as she discovered the truth of God’s sovereignty: After I came to know Jesus Christ, God sent a godly man to tutor me in the faith. I was like a dry sponge being softened by the Word, absorbing all that I could get. One night as Dave and I sat in my living room, he took off his signet ring and put it into his hand, clinching his fingers around it until his knuckles were white. Then he said, “Kay, now that you belong to Jesus Christ, you are just like this ring, and my hand is just like the hand of God. God has you in His hand. No one can touch you, look at you, or speak to you without God’s permission.” I didn’t recognize it then, but Dave was teaching me the sovereignty of God. Later, as I came to understand that God is sovereign and in control of everything so that nothing can happen without his knowledge and permission, I understood more fully what Dave was saying. I also understood that the God who held me in His sovereign hand is a God of love (1 John 4:10). Everything that came into my life would have to be filtered through His fingers of love. God, I am thankful that everything in my life is filtered through Your fingers of love. You hold me in Your sovereign hand. (See Seeking His Face - Page 24) Kay Arthur - 1 John 4:10 - Have you begun to grasp the breadth, length, height, and depth of God’s love for you? (Eph 3:18+) When you were a sinner, ungodly, and without hope, God loved you, pursued you, and wooed you. And He did not let go until you gave in to His desire to be your Father, your Lord, your Redeemer. That is what you are worth to Him. Love - David Jeremiah Those of you who remember the turbulent 1960s will recall seeing the word love spelled L-U-V. That spelling stood for the “groovy kind of love” that was supposed to reshape the world. Fortunately, luv is now relegated to texters. Another spelling of love has stood the test of time: G-I-V-E. The Bible says that God so loved the world that He gave. . . . Love, in its purest form, is an action. When we give to others what is most valuable to ourselves, we prove our love. Looking for a great love story? Read the Gospel of John in the New Testament and discover God’s love language. 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. 1 JOHN 4:10 (One Minute a Day: Instant Devotions for the Busy Life) C H
1 João 4:11
Stedman wrote, “As God’s love shines into our hearts, we become more open to others, allowing the fragrance of love to drift out and attract those around us.” The youth group did that for Katie. Lord, I’m so thankful that because You first loved me, I am able to love others. Please spread the sweet fragrance of Your love through me to everyone I interact with today. Amen. A godly life is a fragrance that draws others to Christ. (2Cor 2:14-16) A Good Neighbor Read: Luke 10:29-37 In June 2011, when disastrous flood-waters chased residents of Minot, North Dakota, from their homes, the people of that community did what seemed to come naturally to them—they helped others who were in need. People from more than an hour away, without being asked, showed up to help. Some loaned their campers to those who lost their homes and others allowed their garages to be used for temporary storage. The people of North Dakota were showing what it means to be good neighbors. As followers of Christ, being good neighbors—showing love to others—should come naturally to us as well (Matt. 22:39; John 13:35; 1John 4:7-11). Even though we may not have the opportunity to respond in a dramatic way to a natural disaster, we can all look for ways to love those around us. To be good neighbors, we can show others mercy (Luke 10:29-37), treat others fairly (Lev. 19:13-18; James 2:1-8), speak to others truthfully (Eph. 4:25+), and forgive others completely (Eph. 4:32+; Col. 3:13+). Oh, to be like Him, tender and kind, Gentle in spirit, lowly in mind; More like to Jesus, day after day, Filled with His Spirit now and alway. —Ellsworth Our love for Christ is only as real as our love for our neighbor. Cherished Connections - We, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. —Romans 12:5+ - When I heard that David was in the office for a board meeting, I was excited. He and I had a mutual friend, Sharon, who had died several years earlier. We had a few minutes to reminisce about her and her love for life and God. What a delight to connect with someone who has loved someone you have loved! There’s a special bond because you love to talk about that cherished person. Those who know Jesus Christ as their Savior have even stronger ties. We are forever connected to Him and to one another. “We, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another,” Paul says in Romans 12:5. We’ve been “born of God,” and we love those who are “begotten of Him” (1John 5:1+). When we get together with fellow believers, we have the opportunity to talk about the one we love—Christ—and of the love, forgiveness, and grace we have experienced in Him because of His death and resurrection (1Jn 4:9-10-note). At such times, we can encourage each other to continue to trust Him and spur one another on to be faithful in our walk with Him. We Christians have a kinship with All others who believe, And from that bond of faith and love A mutual strength receive. —Hess The more you love Jesus, the more you’ll talk about Him. Loving God - Early in our marriage, I thought I knew the ultimate shortcut to my wife’s heart. I arrived home one night with a bouquet of a dozen red roses behind my back. When I presented the flowers to Martie, she thanked me graciously, sniffed the flowers, and then took them into the kitchen. Not quite the response I had expected. It was an introductory lesson in the reality that flowers are not my wife’s primary language of love. While she appreciated the gesture, she was mentally calculating the cost of an expensive bouquet of flowers—a budget breaker for a young couple in seminary! And as I’ve discovered through the years, she is far more interested in my time and attention. When I devote myself to her in an uninterrupted and attentive way, that’s when she really feels loved. Did you ever wonder how God wants us to show that we love Him? We get a clue when we read, “He who loves God must love his brother also” (1John 4:21-note). It’s that simple. One of the primary ways we show our love for God is by loving our brothers and sisters in Christ. When we genuinely love each other, it brings pleasure to our heavenly Father. All those who say they love the Lord But don’t love one another, Should question the relationship They have with God the Father. —Sper To show your love for God, share your love with others. Love One Another - Brandon Moody was attending his uncle D. L. Moody’s church on Easter morning. The final scene in the impressive pageant was a depiction of Jesus’ ascension into heaven. The actor who was playing Jesus was being hoisted by stagehands through an opening in the ceiling. But when he was halfway up, they lost their grip and down came the actor—thankfully uninjured. With amazing presence of mind, the actor said to the shocked congregation, “And one more thing. Love one another.” Lord, when I learn that someone is hurting, Help me know what to do and to say; Speak to my heart and give me compassion, Let Your great love flow through me today. —K. De Haan A little love can make a big difference. 1 John 4:10 Commentary <> 1 John 4:12 Commentary
1 João 4:17
Stedman adds that "Love, even God's love, can never find its end, its perfection, until it is expressed in a deed or word or compassionate act. Therefore, note what John is saying: If you want to have boldness, confidence, in the day of judgment, then let love express itself, let it be perfected because it is when love is perfected with us that we have confidence for the day of judgment." Love will have achieved its full expression—will have come to “full maturity” —in the person by that person loving others. -- Gary Derickson Steven Cole expands this idea noting that "John’s flow of thought here takes some effort to follow. “By this” (1Jn 4:17) refers back to the last half of 1Jn 4:16, “God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” By abiding in God and His love, “love is perfected with us.” The result of this perfected love is that we will have confidence in the day of judgment. The basis for this confidence is our conformity to the character of Jesus Christ (ED: COLE SEES "AS HE IS" AS REFERRING TO CHRIST). Then, in 1Jn 4:18+, John gives the negative side of things: If we fear the day of judgment, it is evidence that we have not loved others as God intends. His love is not perfected in us." Lest we become proud in thinking that we can love others on our own, John goes on to show (1Jn 4:19+) that God is the source of all love. Lest we fall into the hypocrisy of saying that we love God, when in fact we do not practice love for one another, John shows (1Jn 4:20+) that the test of whether we truly love God is our love for one another. He concludes (1Jn 4:21+) by showing that such love, the love that gives us confidence on the day of judgment, is not just a nice suggestion. Rather, it is God’s commandment." (1 John 4:17-21 Facing the Judgment with Confidence) Perfected love refers to God's love in us coming to completion or coming into action as we love each other. Gary Burge - “God’s love is perfected not through our perception of it or our experience of it, but through our expression of it. God’s love reaches completion by the degree to which it is shared among us” John Piper on In this is love perfected with us - What does "this" refer to? The words just before it say, "God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. In this is love perfected with us." So I would take the "this" to refer to our abiding in love or abiding in God and God's abiding in us—when you abide in love, love is perfected in you. God's Abiding in Us and Our Abiding in Love means you can see from the connection in 1 Jn 4:12 ("God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us."). The same two ideas are both here: God's abiding in us and love being perfected in us. "No man has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us." In other words perfected love refers to God's love in us coming to completion or coming into action as we love each other. "If we love one another … his love is perfected in us." So "perfected love" is the love of God expressing itself in our love to each other. Not Flawless Perfection - It is very important that we understand this, because it is different from what most people think of when they hear the word "perfected." Most people, when they say something has been perfected, mean that it was changed from a state of flawed imperfection into a state of flawless perfection. But the Greek word that John uses (teleioo) does not usually mean that in the New Testament. In the New Testament the word generally means finished, or completed, or accomplished. When something, like a trip or an assignment, attains its goal, it is said to be "perfected." (1 John 4:17-19: Perfect Love Casts Out Fear) Steven Cole gives an illustration of love that is perfected - A helpful reference is James 2:22+: “You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected.” James means that works complete faith or bring faith to its intended goal. So when John talks about God’s love being perfected in us, he means that His love has reached its intended goal in us. “Perfect” love is not just nice thoughts or words, but action (1Jn 3:17-18+). John Piper (Perfect Love Casts Out Fear) paraphrases the first clause of 1Jn 4:17, “In this, that is, in your love for each other, God’s love is put into action and so reaches its appointed goal. It does not remain at the imperfect stage of mere talk, but reaches the stage of action.” So John is saying that when we see God’s love flowing through us to others in practical good deeds, it is one basis for confidence in the day of judgment. In this regard, he is saying essentially the same thing as he said in 1Jn 3:14 (+), “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren.” The presence of God’s love in your life, not just in words, but in deeds, is evidence that His life is in you and that you are in Him. This is also what John meant in 1Jn 4:12+, “if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected [has reached its goal] in us.” This does not mean that you always love everyone perfectly, without any shortcomings. No one does that! Rather, it means that the direction of your life is growth in love, and not just humanly explainable love, but rather, God’s love, which may be defined as, “a self-sacrificing, caring commitment that shows itself in seeking the highest good of the one loved.” This implies that you are involved in close relationships with other believers, where you are committed to work through misunderstandings and hurt feelings. I often talk with people who are struggling in their Christian walk. I discover that they do not know any other believers well enough to meet regularly to help them work through their problems. To love one another, we must get to know one another and also be committed to work through difficulties in our relationships. When you see that kind of love in-creasing in your life, it gives you confidence in the day of judgment. (1 John 4:17-21 Facing the Judgment with Confidence) (Bolding and links added) So that (hina) we (present tense - continually) may have confidence (parrhesia) in the day of judgment (krisis); because (hoti) as He is, so also (present tense - continually) are we in this world (kosmos) - Love perfected in us has the wonderful result of producing boldness or confidence regarding future judgment. If love is perfected in us, we have nothing to fear. We have assurance that we are eternally safe and sound, and have no need to fear dying and ending up in hell forever. This assurance is far more significant than any other aspect of our lives, for none of us know whether we will leave this earth tomorrow (Jas 4:14+). How few people even ponder this most important of all "retirement plans!" Judgment day is something every person should consider with healthy seriousness. It is real, and it is coming.... John says we can not only be ready, but we can be confident. -- Danny Akin Steven Cole agrees noting that "Of all of the important matters in life, none is more vital than the one that John mentions in 1Jn 4:17—having confidence in the day of judgment. But we need to make sure that our confidence is based on biblical reasons, not on false hope. Polls show that at least 60 percent of Americans believe in hell, but only four percent think there’s a good chance that they will go there. Since we’re talking about eternity in the lake of fire, you need to be sure of where you stand! Since John tells us how to have confidence on that coming day, we all should pay close attention… John knows that in the matter of loving others, it’s easy to be hypocrites. It’s easy to sing, “Oh, how I love Jesus,” while at the same time our homes are a battle zone. We put on our spiritual masks at church, but in our hearts we harbor bitterness toward a fellow Christian who has wronged us. So John once more hits this vital matter of practical love for one another. John is saying, Love that comes from God gives us confidence in the Day of Judgment and must be expressed in love for others in obedience to God’s commandment. By linking love to confidence in the Day of Judgment, John shows how important it is that we learn practically to love one another (ED: WHILE I AGREE WITH COLE'S STATEMENT, BE CAREFUL NOT TO SEE LOVING ONE ANOTHER AS A LEGALISTIC CONSTRAINT, SOMETHING WE MUST DO IN OUR OWN STRENGTH TO MERIT CONFIDENCE. THIS LOVE TO ONE ANOTHER, TO THE CONTRARY, IS A SUPERNATURAL, SPIRIT ENERGIZED OUTFLOW FROM OUR NEW HEART [cf Ro 5:5+] AND WHILE IT WILL NEVER BE PERFECT IN THIS LIFE, IT SHOULD BE AN "OUTFLOW" WE EXPERIENCE INCREASINGLY AS WE GROW IN THE GRACE AND KNOWLEDGE OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST - 2Pe 3:18+). (1 John 4:17-21 Facing the Judgment with Confidence) The hallmark of the saints is their great, increasing concern about the element of love in their lives. Martyn Lloyd-Jones - Let me sum it up in this way: Not to be concerned about loving the brethren, not to be concerned as to whether I am dwelling in love or not, is to misunderstand the whole purpose of my salvation, and therefore it is to flout God’s love. If this (LOVE) is not the greatest concern of my life, then I am a mere beginner in the Christian life. At the beginning, of course, we have a very great concern about forgiveness; we are very concerned about certain particular sins which may have been evident in our lives before our conversion. But we must not stop at that. The hallmark of the saints is their great, increasing concern about the element of love in their lives. They no longer think in terms of action, but in terms of their likeness to God. That is their first ambition—‘as He is, so must I be in this world of time’; ‘herein is love made perfect with us.’ (Borrow Life in Christ : studies in 1 John volume 2) .” This does not mean that you always love everyone perfectly, without any shortcomings.No one does that! Rather, it means that the direction of your life is growth in love, C H