"Do you fear what comes after death? Do you fear the judgment? ...If so, you do not have this love within you."
[This message is part of a series through the book of 1 John, entitled "Salvific Assurance Through Testimony," preached by Pastor Senter].
In the last post, we discussed how we know we can dwell in Him, the abiding witness for Christ is our life. We talked about our Lord being inside our hearts, and His testimony showing through our activity. We hit on the Holy Spirit and His testimony in us. This led to a discussion concerning a testimony that can be observed, one that is visible. We talked about a testimony of confession, a report, and an announcement of our lives and through our mouth, of Christ Jesus. Finally, we discussed the results of this testimony as a whole. How will this come out through us – what does it look like? We answered these questions, and the result is that a love of God inherent in the believer cannot be denied. Yet, we find many believers still unable to love, still unloving, and still in themselves not able to see the love of God. The question is, can they love God and not man? What we do belies our heart, folks; and John continually drives this home to us.
1 John 4:16 is our text today. The study of the love of God has been a subject of many books. Most have turned out to be some type of emotionally-uplifting experiential thesis that displays nothing of the true love of God. I know that, as your pastor, I tend to get emotional about certain subjects as I minister to you. I can only beg your forbearance and forgiveness for that. At the same time, I am convicted to show these emotions, I am equally convicted that you realize it is not a feel-good religious experience or thing that is the love of God. This love is born from the infusion of your soul with the Holy Spirit because of your faith in the Son of God. Today, we will learn the true meaning of God’s love.
In our world, love means a number of things. We have briefly covered this in previous sermons. Love for the most part, to man, means an emotional feeling. It involves a reciprocal effect. To man, if you give love, you should get it back. We see this in relationships everywhere. Counselors told us one time that we had to earn our children’s appreciation by doing for them, and then they would be “willing” to do their chores at home. This is not the pattern in scripture at all. The love of God is not based on a tit-for-tat relationship. We receive the Love of God regardless of our condition. However, we can only portray or display the love of God after He first infuses our soul with His love.
I do not know how dependable this is; however, I did a search in the Koran for the word love. This is from www.loveallpeople.org – a website that has a searchable copy of the Koran on the Internet. When I searched, I found 83 matches. The first reference of it is a reference to doing evil called “the love of the calf.” There is a call for man to love Allah, love sin, loving fellow man, Allah’s love for those who do good and those who purify themselves. In one book, The Family of Imran 3.14 it states,
“The love of desires, of women and sons and hoarded treasures of gold and silver and well bred horses and cattle and tilth, is made to seem fair to men; this is the provision of the life of this world; and Allah is He with Whom is the good goal (of life).“
This seems to indicate that one should love the desires of the flesh. Another passage teaches that Allah will love you if you will love him (The Family of Imran 3:31). In addition, the very next passage specifically states Allah does not love an unbeliever. In 3.92 of the same book we read:
By no means shall you attain to righteousness until you spend (benevolently) out of what you love; and whatever thing you spend, Allah surely knows it.
Whether or not this refers to the worldly desires in the previous passage or other worldly things is unknown. Either way, Allah requires the Muslim to purchase righteousness. This next quote should interest you from the Koran:
Allah does not love the public utterance of hurtful speech unless (it be) by one to whom injustice has been done; and Allah is Hearing, Knowing.
We can find in our media today many cases of public, hurtful speech being spoken by Muslims who regularly perform injustice, while not suffering it. We find the words “Allah does not love” 19 times in these 83 references. We find “Allah loves” 16 times. He loves those who do things – his love is reciprocal – it requires your action to receive it. We find it related to good 6 times, patience a few times, trust, being careful, purity–but no where does the Koran talk of the Satanic Allah loving people or giving himself out of love. Nowhere do we find a pure selfless expression of love. All love is contingent upon man giving the Satanic Allah some attention, or provision. Where one is encouraged to take upon themselves the love of the flesh (referenced above), one is equally chastised for loving wealth in the Daybreak book (89.20). This book so confuses one concerning love that they must work to gain favor with the writer, yet the Muslim would not know what it is Allah (Satan) desires so that they might earn that love.
Praise the Lord of Hosts, the one true God, the God Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for the love which He gives to us willingly and unreservedly out of His great mercy and grace. Believers know they are unworthy and that God’s love is bestowed upon them daily without merit or cause.
Though the Koran has no concept of true love, and the Satanic Allah equally has no concept of true love; nevertheless, even a distorted view of man does result in the overall concept that is portrayed in these passages. Ultimately, man says, “Love conquers all.” Though initiated as a 70 BC romantic painting by Michelangelo, and distorted in its romanticism throughout history, it is what John communicates here. Only, his concept of conquering is not over worldly powers, not over some evil that lurks in the corner waiting to destroy us, not some overwhelming odds that are against us, not some over-zealous individual who would stop at nothing to achieve that which their evil desires drive them toward. No, this love provides something far more important than simply defeating some person or organization, saving the damsel, and living happily ever after. The love portrayed in this text has a much greater purpose, a much more grand showing, a higher calling, if you will. Instead of this human “I’ll love you if you love me” response, we look at how “God’s perfect love gives confidence to the believer.” Believers struggle with concepts of love because, “your belief in love overcoming all is a worldly concept, but God’s love overcomes even the fear of God’s judgment.”
I. Living Love (verse 16b)
This section begins with a repeat of 1 John 4:8. We can only speculate as to why the Holy Spirit chose to repeat this phrase using the exact same words, “The God love is.” Of all the essence declarations in the New Testament, this one is the only one we find repeated. Hiebert notes that the probable reason for this declaration is intended not as a description of the nature of God, but as an epitome of the meaning of God’s actions toward, through, with, and among humans. It is a basic fact in the everyday life of a believer. Having this love in our hearts, experiencing the love that God bestows upon us every day, and comprehending the greatest display of His love of self-sacrifice to satisfy His own justifiable wrath–the true Christian lives this every day. The true Christian sees Christ’s life given for Him every day he exists to testify of God. The true believer sees Christ’s torture at the hands of man and His sacrifice on the cross as the most pure form of selfless love God can give. The true believer, therefore, abides in this love, and the love of God abides within him. Therefore, as Kruse puts it, “loving one another is the true mark of those who truly know God”. How can someone with the love of God in them hate anyone, if God loves everyone enough to have sent His son for them, regardless of their iniquity, impurity, or impugned and even self-imposed unrighteousness?
The truth is that love is reciprocal; however, God’s love is not bestowed upon us because we have done something to deserve or earn it. It actually begins with God loving us, our accepting His Son, and then His love permeating our lives. This is true love, a love originated from and by God.
As the pushy salesman might say – “But wait… there’s more!” When we first receive this love of God it does not come out of us perfectly. Though God’s love is perfect and it changes us, we must undergo this change in order for the perfection to be evident.
II. Perfecting Love (verse 17)
Another “Herein” or “In this” begins this section. Here John is going to describe how love is perfected– how it is literally “made perfect” in the believer. Not only will John tell us how, but he will also explain that the perfection of the love of God has a purpose. Finally, we have an association that parallels the purpose and clarifies it for us by laying out the cause and effect of this perfection, as it directly relates to us and our situation. This sentence also initiates the discussion and introduces the next idea in verse 18.
We open with our discussion concerning the perfection of love. We have already learned that the only way we can have true selfless (agape) love is that it be given to us by God. Since God is perfect, and God is love, God’s love is perfect. In the scriptures we learn how this is accomplished, this perfect love, through us.
A. Perfection of Love
We have made a number of points concerning love, and the love for and of God in our studies. Mostly, we find that love is simply obedience to God. The perfection discussed here is a perfection of Love in God, such that your dependence continues to grow to a point that faith is practiced with greater and greater ease in your life. Love results in trust. This trust transfers to our faith in the God of heaven. As we lean more heavily upon our faith, we also display our trust in God for His provision. As we trust Him more, we show our love for Him more. Love for God turns to trust, which exercises faith, and exercising faith displays trust, which shows our love of God. This is an ever-undulating experience in the believer’s life. The continual cycle of this pattern produces a comfort in life, as one walks along with Christ at their side. The love of God, therefore, is perfected in you as you practice it, as you love one another regardless of the flaws everyone has. It is perfected in you as you see people with the same eyes with which God sees them, and recognize their needs as He recognizes them. As you seek to fulfill their needs as He leads and guides you to do so, your life takes on a new persona, that of the Love of God.
Are you then practicing this love in your life on a regular basis? Alternatively, are you neglecting this pattern of love, trust, faith– faith, trust, and love? If you do not depend upon Him, you will never experience this love.
Equally, dependence upon Him and exercising His longsuffering love in your life provides confidence in a very vital time.
B. Confidence of Love
Man is appointed to die once, then the judgment (Heb. 9:27). By abiding in God (therefore God abiding in us), we find the purity of God’s love available to us. As we grow and practice this pure love, we exercise trust in Him and faith springs forth through our obedience. Our living or existing in this love is literally a form of communion or fellowship that takes place, therefore, on a continual basis with God. We frequently access His love in order to exist in the present life. In accessing this love, in continually abiding in Christ and seeking His existence in us, we are consequentially bent toward His will in a supernatural way . If we are then exercising His will, or seeking it continually in our lives, what fear would we have at the time of judgment if we were continually seeking obedience in our lives? We do find a parallel with this in 1 John 2:28, where the question is clearly asked – “Where will you stand–confident, or ashamed to go before Jesus Christ at the judgment?” The operative issue at hand is that in our continual perfection of God’s abiding love in our life, we have no concern for our position before Him because we have been exercising the love He gave us through His Son, Christ Jesus. Our continual exercise of love again reinforces the theme of the epistle – we gain further confidence and assurance of our salvation in Christ Jesus. Your exercising of the perfect love of God in your life is a continual testimony of Him in your soul, and this is a continual testimony of your salvation.
Do you see this continuous dependence on a loving God and His indwelling in your life displaying the Love of God in you? Is your life a testimony of our Savior’s love for you? Do you continually witness for Him to others out of a love for them that yearns for the salvation of their souls? Our Savior yearned so for their salvation, He gave His life for it. Do you love everyone in this world with the love of Salvation through Christ Jesus?
We have frequently alluded to this next point, but no one can escape; nor should we ever want to escape a discussion of God’s love without a discussion of the cause.
C. Cause of love
Knowing that we have no ability to love selflessly on our own, and that selfless agape love must be provided to us; we also recognize that God is love, and Jesus is God. Because He is love, so are we in this world. We Christians represent the love of God in this world. Christ, when He was here, represented the love of God in this world. The Holy Spirit, who now indwells each believer, represents the love of God in this world. We have within us the Holy Spirit Who is one with the Savior. Therefore, because He is the representative of love in this world, so are we who are believers. This perfect love– our pure love for God that is within us daily displayed–causes man to see God.
Further, we have to face another fact: a true believer’s heart being recreated, invigorated, and quickened to life gives him life heretofore unknown. This life, the Holy Spirit of God, cannot be associated with sin. If, therefore, we maintain God’s holiness, and God resides in us by His Spirit, and Christ resides in us in this Spirit, then our hearts must be rid of all that which is at enmity with God. Adam Clark put it this way: “By God dwelling in us and we in Him; having cast out all the carnal mind that is enmity against Himself; and filled the whole heart with the spirit of love and purity.” Think carefully about this folks. If the Spirit of God is in us and He cannot be affiliated with sin because of His holiness, He must have a sinless place to be within our spirit, within our heart. David, the great King of Israel, knew this and from him we received the wisdom of Psalm 51:10. The only way God can accomplish this is to actively purge the sin-filled heart of man; thereby replacing it with a new heart. We are thus reborn into a new life with God in us. For this reason, anyone who practices sin is of the world and not of God (1 John 3:6). It becomes plain when we read the truth of the indwelling Spirit that this must be so.
Do you still seek and engage in sin regularly without any heart-felt conviction? Will you have confidence going before the Lord at the day of judgment, or, knowing your propensity to practice certain sins, will you cower in fear before the great Savior? Which will it be?
This love has a result as well. There is a sense of comfort in abiding in His love. There is equally a sense of strength, bravery, endurance, and fearlessness.
III. Fearless Love (verse 18)
Hiebert wrote, “fear and love are opposites in their nature and function”. Fear is self-oriented and self-centered, while true agape love is selfless and self-submissive. This is the teaching within this scripture. Fear, in Greek, is an interesting word. It is pronounced “phobos,” and yes, it is where we get our word “phobia.” The definition in the Greek lexicon is, “a state of severe distress, aroused by intense concern for impending pain, danger, evil, etc., or possibly by the illusion of such circumstances.” The English word is defined as an, “extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something.” We have all heard of the romantic stories of individuals who are afraid of love. Most are afraid because their fear is for themselves. Either they are afraid they will be rejected, or they are afraid of being disappointed, or they are afraid that their feelings may be hurt. Fear ultimately points back to the individual who exhibits the behavior. Fear naturally emanates from a concern for self. Please do not misunderstand; I actually believe there are good fears. I think that, as the soldier once said, even though he has to parachute to complete his mission, jumping out of a perfectly good aircraft is not a natural act. That is an expression of fear, and rightly placed.
We should naturally be afraid of things that can be dangerous. For this reason, I am confused why people are not more afraid of Satan and his influence than they are of God and His salvation. We would not have verses such as Revelation 21:8 where we read, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” The first one on the list is the “fearful” people who are afraid to commit to God or seek His salvation. Here, though, we find a remedy for this calamity. The fact is, man knows that there is judgment, and He knows that not everyone goes to heaven. What man struggles with is how to get to heaven. “No one comes to the father but by me,” Jesus says. If He is wrong, He is a liar and this whole book lies. Christianity is the only religion where God Himself gave Himself for you. Jesus Himself shows His human fear during the prayers we see at Gethsemane, where He prays for the Father to take the cup from Him – three times. He was afraid of that physical torment and pain He would endure; nevertheless the Father’s will would be done. That uniqueness has to be instructive. Perfection atoning for perfection. Every other religion has imperfection attempting to keep pace with supposed perfection. This makes no sense. Only Christianity makes sense in that God, the perfect Being, does all that needs to be done by fulfilling His own requirement for perfection with perfection.
There is no fear in the agape. Another way to translate this could be, “fear is not in the love.” There is literally no fear in the agape love of God. There is nothing to fear in it. This love provides freedom to all who receive and practice it. The context here is talking about two things. First, this conversation is blanketed in the love of God, which is perfect. Second, the apprehension man has for death and ultimately the judgment everyone will incur. Man just does not know what is going to happen to him when he dies, unless he believes. The scripture here is very clear then: those who have the love of God in them are in the process of being purified of fear. The word translated “casteth” is a strong word for throwing or discarding. This represents a sudden and forceful act; the act itself has the tendency toward elimination. If you accepted Christ as your Savior, you received His indwelling Spirit, which has perfect love. This Spirit casts out the fear you have of punishment. You are now free from fear, being perfected in His love.
This sentence is structured such that the first word for “perfect” is a noun that modifies the word for “love” (also a noun). They are in the same gender, number, and case and they share the same article. The sentence reads then, “on the contrary the perfect love casts out the fear.” Quite literally, the love of God within the believer rather forcefully and suddenly casts out fear of punishment. This being the case, the latter part of the verse becomes plainly obvious – no one who fears eternity has this love abiding within them. They do not have the Lord Jesus in their soul. They do not know comfort, they do not know freedom, and they have no confidence. They have no reason to have any of these things because they do not know love.
Do you fear what comes after death? Do you fear the judgment? Do you look at the end of your life with great trepidation? Are you afraid of what you might face. If so, you do not have this love within you.
We have considered our next topic in previous studies; however, the point is repeated for our edification. With these concepts being repeated in our scriptures, we are obligated to consider them again. We will therefore look again at God’s love.
IV. God’s Love (verse 19)
Our strength, our confidence, our faith, our trust, our love all come from His first initiating the relationship with us. Without God the Father showing us His creation, then inviting us into His kingdom to find His Son, we would never know God’s love. Ladies and gentlemen, there is one thing that is imperative for you to comprehend. We love because HE first loved US and sent His Son to die for us. This is where I have a problem with the haughty and uncaring Christian who claims to be comfortable in their Christianity. “But Pastor,” you might ask, “didn’t you just talk about casting out fear?” Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I did; but I never once indicated that you should not revere our great God. Fear of punishment is one thing, respect and reverence properly placed, a proper fear of God’s awesome power and majesty, is wholly different. A fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Prov 9:10). Brothers and sisters in Christ, our first order of business is always the Lord. We must first commit our lives to His hands. In our dependence upon Him, we place Him in a position of great reverence, trust, honor, faith, and love. I implore you, always keep a healthy love of the Father in a position of pure awe, in that He has chosen to reconcile you to Himself.
This brings us to our last point. Those of you who may have never heard this instruction before, may yourselves be fearful, now that you realize you have not exhibited the love of God in your lives. Take heart. You can be rid of this terminal fear. The simple fact is that God loved you enough to enable you to hear this message, to hear of His redemptive efforts through Christ Jesus the Son of God, God incarnate, the Godman. I can confidently say that God, by virtue of your actually being able to hear this message today, loves you. He loves you enough to offer you this gift of salvation. He loves you enough that you can sit at your computer now, comprehend this message, and understand you do not have to suffer eternal torment. You do not have to suffer great paranoia concerning your death. When you die, you can have complete confidence in what will happen and where you will go. You can find the true love of God and have it dwell within your own heart.
If you want this comfort. If you fear death because you fear what you have done wrong in your life; if you are concerned about what might happen when you die, take comfort. Today you can find true salvation, true release from this fear, and true love from the one great God of eternity.
We discussed first a living love abiding within us, and our love being lived out in every day life. We also looked at how God’s love is actually perfected within us. We considered the perfection of His love and the confidence and cause of this living love of God. We looked at the expulsion of fear from our lives, concerning our eternal judgment. Finally, we considered the great God who loved us enough to present the gospel to us. Ladies and gentlemen, I am going to put forth an invitation now. This invitation is open to all who may have concerns about their eternal resting place. Where will you spend eternity? Do you fear death? Are you afraid of that terminal moment? Many refuse to even think about it. This is, in itself, a fear mechanism. Consider, carefully since we know from our life experience that we do not own our next breath; life can be taken at any singular moment. What will happen to you? Will you face the wrath of God? The only way to avoid God’s wrath is by having His Son as your Savior. Won’t you trust Him today?
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