Amen. So I am fighting a cold tonight, so I'm not sure how this is going to go, but I'm going to do the best that I can to preach the sermon on 1 John chapter 4 here.
The Bible reads in verse number 1,
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
And at the end of chapter 3, we had this statement about the spirit which God had given to us,
and of course, all of us who are believers in Christ are all indwelled by the Holy Spirit of God.
But the Bible tells us that every spirit isn't of God, right?
The Bible warns us about another gospel, another Jesus, or another spirit than the spirit that you've received.
And he says, try the spirits, whether they're of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
Now notice that the false prophet is associated with an evil spirit, okay?
Because it is the devil that is behind false doctrine, false teaching, another gospel.
These things come from the devil.
The Bible says that the devil himself is transformed into an angel of light, and his ministers are transformed into the ministers of light.
So when we have pastors getting up and preaching lies, preaching heresy, they are being prompted, they're being controlled,
they are in league with literally the devil, evil spirits, right?
Because the Bible says these spirits that are not of God, the false prophets are the purveyors of that wrong spirit.
And it says in verse number 2, hereby know ye the spirit of God.
Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God,
and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God.
And this is that spirit of antichrist, wherever ye have heard that it should come, and even now already, is it in the world.
Now let me explain this for a moment, because some people can misunderstand this verse,
because at first blush it could seem like that's the only thing you have to have right to be of God or something like that.
But obviously we know that there are lots of other heresies and other false doctrines that false prophets are going to teach and preach.
And what I believe is going on here in verse 2 is that this is an example,
because this is the particular heresy that John has been dealing with throughout the epistle of 1 John.
So he's using this kind of binary test here as an example of trying the spirits whether they're of God,
because you could use this same type of binary test about any other essential doctrine about Christ.
I mean, what if we put it this way? What if a spirit came confessing that Jesus Christ did not bodily raise from the dead?
I mean, that right there, you'd say that's not of God, and the guy who confesses that Jesus Christ bodily did raise from the dead,
okay, that's of God. And so if you go down, we'll come back to that part in a moment,
but if you jump down to verse number 6, the Bible says,
We are of God. He that knoweth God heareth us. He that is not of God heareth not us.
Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
You know, the way that we can discern between the spirit of truth and the spirit of error is who listens to us, John is saying.
He that is of God heareth us. He that knoweth not God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
Now, who's the us? Well, John is an apostle of Jesus Christ, and so the apostles represent the word of God in the New Testament.
The Bible talks about our faith being built upon the foundation of the prophets and of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The prophets representing the Old Testament, the apostles representing the New Testament.
And so when they don't listen to what John is saying, what Paul is saying, what Peter is saying,
the true apostles of Jesus Christ in the New Testament, well, even all the way back in Isaiah, chapter 8, verse 20, it says,
To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
And so we are to use the word of God, the revelation of God that we know to be true,
to test any other spirits or any other preaching or any other doctrine that's out there.
OK, this Bible that's in my head, I know this is true. So I am to test everything else by this.
So if somebody comes along and says that Jesus Christ is not come in the flesh or that Jesus is not the Messiah
or that Jesus didn't bodily raise from the dead, I know that they're lying.
Why? Because I know because the Bible says that they're wrong.
The Bible says they're like the Bible is the arbiter of absolute truth.
And that's why John says if they don't hear us, that's the spirit of error.
If they hear us, that's the spirit of truth.
Have you ever talked to somebody and you're showing them Bible verses, you're expounding the word of God to them.
And it's all so clear and it's all just going right over their head.
And they don't grasp anything that you're saying. They don't receive anything you're saying,
even though it's right there in the word of God and you're preaching it to them by the spirit of God.
You know why? Because the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God for their foolishness unto him.
Neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.
And so the unregenerate man can't understand the word of God.
He doesn't hear the word of God. Jesus said in the Gospel of John,
he that is of God heareth God's words. Ye therefore hear them not because you're not of God.
And so this is the test for who is of God and who isn't,
who has the spirit of God and who has another spirit as a false prophet or whatever,
who has the spirit of truth and who has the spirit of error.
And so it says in verse number three,
every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God.
And this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come.
And even now already is it in the world.
Now, keep your finger there. Go back just a couple of pages to chapter two,
because he's referring back to what he said in verse number 18 of chapter two.
Little children, it is the last time.
And as you have heard that antichrist singular shall come,
even now are there many antichrists, even right now, many antichrists,
whereby we know that is the last time. Jump down to verse 22.
Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ?
He's antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son.
Now, another way of saying this that would be saying the exact same thing is to say,
Who is a liar but he that denied that Jesus is the Messiah?
Because we know from the Word of God that the word Christ simply means Messiah.
Christ, Messiah, which being interpreted as the Christ, it says in John chapter one.
It's just a matter of coming from Hebrew or Greek, but Messiah and Christ are the exact same thing.
So the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ is the one who's denying that Jesus is the Messiah.
And this would be Judaism, right? This would be the synagogue of Satan.
And so that's what we're talking about because they are denying that Jesus is the Christ.
And that's a spirit of antichrist.
Anti, not meaning against, not like anti-abortion or something,
but antichrist meaning in the place of Christ instead of Christ, one who replaces Christ,
because they're looking for some other Messiah to fill that role.
And someday when the antichrist comes, what is he?
He's a false Christ. He's an imitation Christ. That's what the antichrist is.
And so the Bible is warning about that spirit of antichrist that's already in the world
that's out there trying to convince you that Jesus is not the Messiah, that Jesus is not the Christ,
or that Jesus Christ doesn't come in the flesh, that maybe it was just a spiritual thing,
or maybe his resurrection wasn't a bodily resurrection, just a spiritual resurrection.
You know, these are all damnable heresies, right?
Because we know that Jesus Christ was physically on this earth,
and John really nailed that down in the first few verses of this epistle about how we handled him,
we saw him, we heard him, we touched him, and of course he ate and drank with the apostles
even during his ministry and after his bodily resurrection.
They actually touched and felt the holes in his hands and in his side, and the Bible is very clear about that.
Anyone who preaches otherwise is a liar and an antichrist.
If someone gets up and says, well, it's not a bodily resurrection, or it doesn't have to be a bodily resurrection,
that's a satanic preaching right there.
And there are presidents of seminaries and church pastors that do say things like that.
As shocking as it sounds, it's out there. It's out there big time.
Many false prophets are gone out into the world.
And by the way, the Bible says many false prophets are gone out into the world.
It's not some rare thing that, oh, somebody's a false teacher.
You know, the Apostle Paul said, be followers of us and mark them which walk,
so as you have us for an example, for many walk, of whom I have told you often,
and now tell you even weeping that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ.
He said, many people, I've warned you many times about many people who are the enemies of the cross of Christ,
and so we need to realize that many false prophets have gone out into the world.
It says in verse 4, ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them,
because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.
Now, how is it that we overcome this spirit of antichrist that denies that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh?
Well, if you would, flip over to chapter 5, verse 4.
It's probably on the same page in your Bible.
Look at 1 John, chapter 5, verse 4.
It says, for whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world,
and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
And then here's the key verse right here, verse 5.
Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
So the definition of the one who overcometh them, who overcometh the world,
is the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
That's what the Bible says.
Who else is it?
The implied answer is it's nobody else.
That's exactly who it is.
The one who overcomes is the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
This tells me that it's the agenda of this world to try to get you not to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God,
to try to get you not to believe that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh,
because in order to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, you overcome the world.
You overcome that obstacle of the world telling you the opposite,
and it's your faith in Christ that overcomes the world, right?
The Bible says this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
So in order to have faith in Christ, you're going against this world.
You're going against the world's agenda, the world's teaching what they will tell you, right?
We go out and preach the gospel to every creature for the very reason that this world has a different agenda.
It's not like they're just going to turn on the TV and everything on TV is pointing them to Jesus
and pointing them to salvation by faith.
And they go to the public school and just everything's pointing them toward faith in Christ, right?
They pick up magazines and they listen to the radio, and everything's just pointing them toward salvation in Christ.
Actually, those media are often going to be planting seeds of doubt in their mind or planting seeds of lies in their mind.
And you know what's interesting about this?
Because when you think about what the Bible calls the synagogue of Satan,
and you think about these people who deny that Jesus is the Messiah,
and there's so much talk about that in the Bible.
But when you actually think about the religion of Judaism,
it's actually a tiny religion in the scheme of things when it comes to this world.
Because stop and think about it. Just do the math, my friend.
Because you'll always hear people talk about these three great world religions,
these three great Abrahamic faiths, right?
You got Christianity, which people who call themselves a Christian,
obviously I'm not saying that they're all saved, of course,
but people who claim the name of Christ, 2.3 billion people,
b-b-b-billion people in this world say that they're a Christian.
2.3 billion worldwide.
Okay, how many people are Muslim?
1.6 billion.
So basically half of the world's population is either Christian or Muslim.
Okay, don't even get me started on stinking Islam.
But anyway, wrong sermon.
But, you know, you got 2.3 billion people naming the name of Christ.
You got 1.6 billion Muslims.
Then you have Judaism.
You know how many people there are that are classified as Jews?
It's about 16 million.
Okay, and the vast majority of them don't believe in the religion, don't follow the religion.
So, I mean, there are more people practicing Mormonism today than practicing Judaism.
Okay.
I mean, there are more people today practicing all kinds of Chinese folk religions and Shinto and, you know,
name all of the other religions of this world.
I mean, Christianity and Islam are in the billions.
But Judaism, altogether Jews are like 14 million, 16 million, you know, depending on what number you look at, 17 million.
But as far as actually practicing, it's a couple million people out of 8 billion.
It's actually an insignificant religion in the scheme of things when you think about world religions.
But yet it's always pushed and promoted in Hollywood as if it's a big thing.
You know, where it's just constant Jews and movies and constant Jews and TV shows and it's constantly being put in front of us.
And see, the reason why this is significant and the reason why the Bible has so much to say about Judaism
and there are so many prophecies about Judaism and so many things in the New Testament warning us about these things
is that although this is a small group of people, they have an outsized influence in this world.
So in many cases they are the rulers of the darkness of this world.
So it's just kind of a fact that the Jews run Hollywood so therefore they influence billions of people through Hollywood, right?
They have great influence in the music business, great influence in Hollywood, great influence in the banking industry.
And we could go on and on about their political influence and all these different things and they are not of God.
They say, well, they're sort of like half Christian. No, there's no such thing as a half Christian.
If you don't have the son, you don't have the father. So there's no half.
If you have the son, you're at a hundred percent. And if you don't have the son of God, you're at zero percent.
It's that simple. It's not like, well, they believe half of it. They believe Moses, they believe Christ.
And so because they wield this outsized influence, they end up purveying that spirit of Antichrist pretty effectively through TV, movies, music, school system, political agenda.
And that's why there's so much stuff out there that's against Christianity in the media and in the political arena and in the education system.
Christ is so slanted against Christ being the only way to heaven, being the very son of God, being the bodily resurrected savior of the world.
And so you overcome the world by believing in Christ.
That's what the Bible says, because many false prophets are gone into the world and there's that spirit of Antichrist at work.
And one day, of course, that spirit of Antichrist is going to be embodied in one person, the Antichrist singular, who's going to be a ruler of this world.
And there's going to be a one world religion, a one world government, one world financial system.
And we read about that in the Book of Revelation.
So let's get back to the passage here in First John, Chapter four.
Year of God, verse four, little children have overcome them because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.
They are of the world, therefore speak they of the world and the world heareth them.
Look, when you have a preacher that worldly people love and that the world lifts up, it's a false prophet 100 percent of the time.
Take it to the bank.
Any preacher that's being put on mainstream television shows and unsaved people are lauding him and praising him.
It's because he's a false prophet.
That's why he's so popular.
You look at the Joel Osteen's and the Rick Warren's and these guys that are so loved of this world.
It's because they are not saved.
It is because they are not preaching the gospel.
It is because they are preaching false doctrine and lies.
They're of the world, therefore speak they of the world and the world heareth them.
The world eats it up.
The world loves what they have to say because they're not of God.
We are of God, John is saying.
He that knoweth God heareth us.
He that is not of God heareth not us.
Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
So that's the first six verses.
Then he kind of changes gears here in verse number seven.
He says, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God.
Now, if we look at verse seven here, we can see that true love, real love, emanates from God himself.
God is love and he's the source of love.
And this means that saved Christians are able to love in a way that this world cannot.
This world doesn't have the kind of love that comes from the Holy Spirit and dwelled Christian.
Because the Bible says that everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God.
So in order to be one who truly loves, you have to be born of God, meaning that you're saved.
And you have to know God, meaning that you walk with God, you have fellowship with God and so forth.
There are even some saved Christians who are unloving because they're not walking in the spirit.
They're walking in the flesh.
They're living in the old man and they know they're not walking in fellowship with God.
But everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God.
He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love.
And 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.
So again, I'm going to emphasize again, though, that when the Bible says in verse eight,
he that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love, this isn't necessarily saying that he isn't saved
because the Bible talks about people that are saved needing to keep seeking to know God
and knowing God is something that takes a lifetime to achieve.
You know, for example, if I believe I'm the Lord Jesus Christ, I'm saved, I'm born again, I'm a child of God, right?
And the Bible says that, you know, nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
But then the Bible talks about how there are going to be some people that are told on judgment day,
depart from me, I never knew you.
So notice God is saying that he doesn't know them.
He didn't say you never knew me, he's saying I never knew you.
Okay, so when it comes to being saved, it's God knowing you.
You're on his list, right?
You're in the Lamb's Book of Life, he knows you, you're his child, you're saved.
He is sealed you but with the Holy Ghost on the day of redemption, okay.
Whereas, when we get saved, there's a lot that we don't necessarily know about God or the Bible
and we're going to have to get to know him.
I mean, even with physical children, I mean, if a baby is born into my family,
I would say that I probably know a lot more about that baby than that baby knows about me.
And there's kind of more to know about me than there is to know about that baby
because that baby doesn't really have any history yet, hasn't really done much,
doesn't have like a list of achievements or a resume of all of its life activities and so forth.
So, you know, I know that baby but that baby has to grow up and learn who I am
and learn who my wife is and so forth and learn about mom and dad.
And that's not necessarily a perfect illustration but no illustration ever is perfect.
The point is that when we get saved, we may have read very little of the Bible
and maybe we've never even read a single book of the Bible, right?
But then we spend years after that reading our Bibles, going to church and what are we doing?
We're learning about God, we're getting to know God.
I mean, would you say that somebody who hasn't read the Bible really knows God?
You know, I mean, they don't really know necessarily what he's like
because they haven't read about his attributes in the Word of God.
Well, by the same token, a person who does not love their neighbor,
who does not love their brother in Christ especially,
the person who doesn't have love, even if they've read their Bible a lot,
apparently they're missing the point or a lot of it is going over their head.
They don't get it because if they actually knew God,
if they actually were following Christ and reading their Bible like they should
and understanding it and practicing it and being a doer of the Word and not just here,
you know, then they would have that love of God.
Why? Because the fruit of the Spirit is love.
So if they got the Holy Spirit inside them and they're walking in the Spirit,
they're going to be walking in love.
And again, this goes back to one of the overarching themes of 1 John,
this idea that it's one thing to say that you love God,
but that should translate into action.
And the love of God should translate into love of people.
The love of God should translate into keeping commandments that God has given us and so forth.
Those are things that are brought up over and over again in the book of 1 John.
He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love. Verse 8, verse 9.
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.
So this is the ultimate show of God's love, right,
is that he sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him.
Here in his love, not that we loved God,
but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
You know, this should seem obvious, but it's God who loved us,
and it's God who gave his life for us,
but today I'm constantly hearing a gospel that says,
oh, well, in order to be saved, you give your life to Christ.
Give your life to Christ in order to be saved.
Well, hold on a second. He gave his life for me.
I don't really have anything to offer him that he needs.
I got nothing he needs, but he's got what I need.
Okay, and so this thing of, oh, give your life to Christ,
I don't like that terminology, and I'll tell you why.
Number one, it's not in the Bible. How about that? Let's start there.
But number two, here's what I don't like about it,
is that giving my life to Christ implies some kind of a commitment that I'm going to do works,
and we know that salvation is not of works, lest any man should boast,
but that we're saved by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves, it's the gift of God,
not of works, lest any man should boast.
And so Jesus Christ is the one giving the gift here,
and I need to receive that gift in order to be saved, right?
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.
The gift of God is eternal life.
It's not, well, I'm God's, you know, I'm giving this gift to God of my life.
Here you go, God, you can have moi.
That's not what it's about, my friend.
It's about trusting in Christ and getting something from him.
He gave his life for us, but isn't it funny how we get things backwards?
Now you've got to give your life over to Christ.
You know what that sounds like? Give your life over to Christ,
this kind of Jesus take the wheel kind of a gospel,
makes it sound like, well, now I have to let him make all the decisions in my life.
That's a commitment to do works.
That is a thinly veiled workspace salvation.
Now I'm not saying that everybody who uses this terminology,
that that's what they mean.
A lot of people might just say the term give your life to Christ
because just something they've heard and they're repeating it
and they don't mean it that way.
But if you actually listen to what they're literally saying,
that's sure what it sounds like, isn't it?
Give my life to Christ.
You know, it sounds like I'm giving him the keys to my life,
which sounds like I'm going to be going to church now
and I'm going to be refraining from sin now
and I'm going to be reading my Bible and singing a bunch of hymns
and I'm going to be out evangelizing.
Hey, those are all great things that I hope we're all doing.
But is that the path to salvation?
No, because salvation is not of works.
Salvation is by faith.
It's by believing in Christ.
So you say, well, you're splitting hairs about, you know,
whether God gave his life for us or, you know, we gave our life to Christ.
Well, I guess John's splitting hairs when he says,
well, here is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us.
You know, and think about what he's saying.
Not that we love God, but that he loved us
and that he sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.
It sounds like the emphasis needs to be placed on what God did.
Not like, oh, you know, I have loved God and I have given my life to God
and I am just so generous with me
and therefore, you know, isn't God lucky to have me or something?
When in reality, it's God who gave his son to be our savior
and so it's us that's on the receiving end of this transaction.
Beloved, if God so loved us, verse 11, we ought also to love one another, right?
I mean, if God showed us that kind of love while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us, then we should be able to love people
in spite of their faults and flaws as well, if God has that love for us.
As Christ received us, so we should receive one another.
The Bible says in verse 12, no man hath seen God at any time.
This is, of course, referring to God the Father because the Bible says in John chapter 1,
no man hath seen God at any time, exact same statement,
but then it follows it up with the only begotten son,
which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten son,
which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
When the Bible uses the term God, sometimes it is specifically referring to God the Father.
Sometimes it will even specifically say, you know, God, comma, even the Father.
And the reason why it has to say even the Father is because sometimes God is just referring to God in general,
Father, Son, Holy Ghost.
Sometimes the word God could be referring specifically to Jesus Christ,
like when it says, you know, that basically unto the Son he saith,
thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.
That's talking to the Son of God, calling him God.
Or when Thomas fell down at Jesus' feet and said, my Lord and my God.
God could refer to the Holy Spirit or Jesus or God the Father or to just God in general.
But in this case, when we say no man hath seen God at any time,
we're talking specifically about the Son of God.
John 1.18 makes that clear because it says,
the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
Because, of course, we have seen Jesus.
Of course, we have seen the Son of God, not us personally, of course, but, I mean, human beings.
Because Jesus lived among men for about 33 years of life, and so people saw him.
And he dwelt among us.
But the Bible says, no man has seen God at any time.
If we love one another, God dwelleth in us and his love is perfected in us.
Hereby know we that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his Spirit.
This is pretty similar to what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 8.16.
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we're the children of God.
So part of our assurance of salvation comes from being indwelled by the Holy Spirit.
God has given us of his Spirit.
You know, I remember when my wife first got saved,
and she had tried reading the Bible in the past and had a hard time understanding it.
She had tried reading the Gospel of John, and it went over her head.
And then after she got saved, I got her started reading the Bible again,
and I started off in the book of John, and she read John chapter 1,
and it was like, wow, I understand this.
Wow, this is powerful. I get it.
You know, that provides assurance of salvation right there
because of the fact that she sees now, okay, I've got the Spirit of God now.
God is guiding me into all truth, right?
The Bible is spiritually discerned, and my understanding has been opened.
And so having the Holy Spirit of God within us is going to create a change in us on the inside.
Now, in order for that change to manifest on the outside,
we're going to have to walk in the Spirit.
We're going to have to put on the new man.
We're going to have to put off the old man with his deeds.
We're going to have to mortify the flesh of our uncleanness.
But whether we do that or not, when we get saved, there's a change on the inside.
The Bible calls it being enlightened.
Sorry, Buddha, but you know, we're going to use that term for the true enlightenment.
The Bible calls it that in the book of Hebrews, being enlightened, right?
Our eyes are open.
A light bulb comes on above our head when we get saved.
We get it now.
We understand the Word of God.
We also now have a love for God in our hearts and a love for our brothers and sisters in Christ.
And again, these things aren't necessarily going to manifest outwardly unless we walk in the Spirit and put on the new man.
But there's definitely a tremendous change on the inside when we get saved.
And so, it says,
You know, there are people who doubt their salvation, right?
And they say, like, man, I don't know if I'm saved.
And I always ask these people, you know, well, do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God?
Do you believe that Jesus died and rose again?
Do you believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven?
Are you fully trusting what Jesus did to get you to heaven?
Or are you trusting in your own deeds or your own works or your own righteousness?
And these people will say, oh, no, no, no, I'm 100% trusting what Jesus did.
I believe Jesus is the Son of God.
I believe he died for me and was buried and rose again.
That's the evidence that you're saved, my friend.
If a person says all those things, now, if they're lying, well, then they're not saved.
Obviously, people lie and claim to believe in Christ and claim to believe those things.
But if somebody truthfully says out of their mouth, hey, I believe Jesus is the only way to heaven.
You know, I believe that God gave us eternal life.
I believe that it's just by trusting in Jesus as our Savior.
It's by faith.
It's not of works.
And he's a son.
But then I'll talk to people that say, well, I'm still doubting my salvation.
But, my friend, it doesn't make any sense to doubt your salvation if you have put your faith and trust in Christ because God cannot lie.
And God has promised us eternal life.
And God said that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God had raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
It's true.
You can trust God that that is what it means to be saved.
Now, some people will, you know, maybe they're not sure when they got saved, right?
They're not 100 percent sure if they got saved years ago or if they just recently got saved.
They're not really sure because maybe they prayed a prayer many years ago, but they, you know, maybe they didn't quite understand the gospel at that time.
Maybe they learned more later.
And they're not really sure whether they got saved back then or whether they got saved more recently.
Here's the thing.
It doesn't really matter at the end of the day.
What matters is that you're saved now.
And the evidence that you're saved is that you believe on Christ.
Now, I've talked to some people that were worried that they were some kind of a reprobate.
You know, maybe they had said something earlier in life and they said, I'm afraid I blasphemed the Holy Ghost.
I lost my opportunity to ever be saved.
Or, you know, I think I'm a reprobate or something like that.
But here's the thing about that.
I always ask that person, so do you hate God and not even want to retain God in your knowledge?
Because that's what the reprobate, according to Romans 1, he doesn't want to retain God in his knowledge.
He hates God.
OK, so here's the thing.
If you believe in Jesus and you love God, you're not a reprobate.
If you believe that Christ died and was buried and rose again, you're saved.
OK, and you say, well, I don't know when I got saved.
I don't know if I prayed the prayer the right way or so.
But here's the evidence.
You know, you've got the Spirit of God and you confess that Jesus is the Son of God.
You confess faith in Christ.
And as long as you actually mean that and you're not lying or pretending or trusting in your works or something
or trusting in some other Jesus that's not divine or that's not the God of the Bible or that's not the Son of God or something,
you know, well, then obviously the Muslims are all going straight to hell, my friend, every single one of them.
Every single Muslim is going straight to hell.
Why? Because they don't believe Jesus is the Son of God, do they?
Because one of the key tenets of Islam is that Jesus is not the Son of God.
And that is why it is a false religion.
The Bible says in verse 15, whosoever shall.
So verse 14, those of us that are saved, you know, we've seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the savior of the world.
John saw that physically.
We see that through the eyes of faith by reading about in the word of God.
Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God.
God dwelleth in him and he and God.
And we have known and believed the love that God have to us.
God is love.
And he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him.
Again, people that are afraid that they're not saved, afraid that they blaspheme the Holy Ghost or something, afraid that they're a reprobate.
Well, you know what?
If you love the word of God, if you love God, that's the evidence that you're not because the reprobate is a hater of God.
The Bible says in verse 17, herein is our love made perfect.
Now, when you first get saved, obviously the Holy Spirit moves in and now you have the love of God dwelling inside of you.
But that doesn't mean that that love is fully developed.
That doesn't mean that that love is manifesting itself outwardly, as we said earlier.
Deep down, it's in there.
It's a seed that's in there.
And you have that germ of the love of God in your heart, but that love needs to get perfected.
It needs to grow.
We need to grow in love, right?
And increase our love.
It says, we've known and believed the love that God have to us.
God is love.
And he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him.
Here it is, our love made perfect, verse 17.
Our love is made perfect.
Perfect means mature or complete, okay?
Not perfect as in spotless, sinless, but mature or complete.
That's a process.
Salvation happens in a moment in a twinkling of an eye.
Whereas, the perfecting of our love takes a lifetime, right?
It's a process.
We should be more loving than we were five years ago, right?
We should love God more.
We should love the brotherhood more.
We should love people more.
We should love the lost more.
As our love is made mature, it's made complete, it's made perfect.
Here it is, our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment,
because as he is, so are we in this world.
As he is, so are we in this world.
What does that mean?
You know, we're supposed to be representatives of Christ.
As he is, that's what we are in this world, right?
We're supposed to be the light of the world.
God is light and we're supposed to be the light of the world.
We're supposed to be in this world ambassadors of Jesus.
And the Bible says here, there is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear.
Now, does any of us really have perfect love?
You know, I'll just tell you right now, I don't.
I'm working on it.
I'm in that process.
I have the love of God.
I love God.
I love my brothers and sisters in Christ, but is my love perfect?
Is my love made perfect?
Well, I probably need to grow just like you in that area.
Okay.
And so there is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment.
He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
We love him because he first loved us.
Now, what does this mean?
There is no fear in love.
Perfect love casteth out fear.
He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
Well, think of it as a continuum from fear to love, right?
Fear on this side, love on this side, right?
When we first get saved, probably in most cases, fear plays a big role in that.
That's why the Bible talks about how when we evangelize, it says some save with fear, pulling them out of the fire.
Now, look, when I got saved, I got saved because I just love God and wanted to spend eternity with him.
No, I got saved because I didn't want to go to hell when I died.
You know, I mean, the word saved implies that you're in danger.
Okay, so I got saved because I didn't want to go to hell.
What does the Bible say?
The fear of the Lord is the beginning.
It's not the end.
Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
The fear of the Lord is above to the wise that they might depart from hell beneath.
Fear is the beginning.
Love is the end.
So it starts with fear.
Think about children that grow up in our homes.
Why do they obey us when they're two years old or three years old or four years old?
Is it just why I just love my mom so much?
As a three-year-old, I'm going to do whatever she says.
Whatever she tells me to eat, I'm going to eat it.
And I'm never going to complain about my food.
I love mom too much.
I'm never going to complain about having to stop playing and go to bed or take a nap.
Of course, I love my mom and dad.
My love motivates me to do right by my parents.
That's not a two-year-old.
That's not any three-year-old or four-year-old.
But here's what it is.
If you don't eat your food, you're getting a spanking, right?
If you don't take a nap, you're getting a spanking.
Okay, is that fear or love?
That's fear.
Now the Bible commands us to discipline our children, okay?
And so we've got to discipline them.
So don't get this attitude.
Some people will quote this verse and they'll just act like fear is bad.
But here's the problem.
You have churches filled with babes in Christ who are being told,
Oh, we're not going to talk about the fear of God.
No fear.
There's no fear in love.
It's all love, love, love.
That would be like me going to a two-year-old and just appealing to love
to get them to eat their vegetables, brush their teeth, do whatever.
And it's just love when they're three.
And it's love when they're five.
And teenagers always do what they're supposed to do just out of love.
If there's a certain curfew, of course they're going to be home on time.
They're filled with love.
Or is it fear of getting home late and getting busted with mom and dad?
Folks, you can't sit there and just say, Oh, here I am, a babe in Christ.
I don't know the Bible.
I'm not living a godly Christian life.
But I'm just going to just jump over the whole fear stage
and just go straight to the love stage.
You're skipping a step, my friend.
Because if you are far from God's standard of living,
then fear should probably play a role in your life.
Why?
Because whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
And so just as I discipline my children and you discipline your children,
God's going to discipline his children.
And we should have a healthy fear and respect of that discipline.
Now here's the thing.
If our love is made perfect, we're not going through life constantly thinking about,
Oh man, I'm going to get chastised by God.
Because we're doing the right things because we want to.
Ideally, we don't want our kids obeying us when they're, as they get older, just all out of fear.
I hope when they're 10, 11, 12, it's not just all fear.
13, 14, 15, it's just all fear.
No, hopefully there's a transition to love.
And again, it's a continuum, right?
When they first start out, maybe it's 90% fear, 10% love, and then it gets to 50-50 at some point.
They get a tipping point.
And then maybe as they're older, maybe it's 90% love.
But you know what?
There's a 10% fear that just needs to be there.
You know what I'm saying?
It needs to play a role.
And you know what?
In my own Christian life, yeah, obviously I'm not just fearing and trembling before God all the time.
Because obviously I'm not a babe in Christ.
But at the same time, I will tell you right now, fear definitely plays a role in my life.
Fear of God.
The Bible says, serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.
You say, well, you just admitted that you're not perfect in love.
You got it right.
But that's where I'm heading.
That's the process.
That's the goal, is to get to the point where we're not even thinking about, well,
I better not go out and get drunk because God's going to punish me.
I better not go out and fornicate because God's going to punish me.
I better not go out and commit adultery because God's going to punish me.
I better not hit the casino because God's going to punish me.
How about just, well, I don't want to offend God by doing those things.
I love God.
I love the lost.
I want to spend my life serving God and not serving the flesh and serving myself because I love God.
I love the work of God.
I love the Gospel.
I love being an ambassador of Christ.
Not just, well, I'm just scared of punishment.
Otherwise, you know, what I'd really rather be doing right now is over here partying and doing all this.
No, I want to be in church right now.
I'm exactly where I want to be right now.
You know, it's not that every time I'm reading my Bible, it's like, well,
I'd rather be just watching TV just because I'm too scared, so I'm reading my Bible.
I want to read the Bible.
Reading the Bible eventually becomes a pleasure.
It eventually becomes a joy.
But are there times when it's a chore to read the Bible?
Yeah.
And, you know, that's where fear comes into play.
You know, I think to myself, if I'm tempted to, you know, do something else and not get right into the Word of God,
I think to myself, you know, I want God to bless me.
I want God to honor my works here.
I better read my Bible.
I better seek first the kingdom of God.
I better pull out the Bible and read it before anything else just to make sure that God is pleased with me.
Right?
So it's good to have both of these things as tools when they're needed.
Fear and love both play a role, but we should be moving away from fear toward love in general
as we grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ because it is a continuum.
And then the Bible says in verse 19, we love him because he first loved us.
The man said, I love God and he hated this brother.
He's a liar.
For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
Right?
So it's easy to just have this kind of theoretical love for God,
someone that you don't actually have to deal with in a physical way on this earth.
But then you don't love the children of God.
You don't love your brothers and sisters in Christ.
Well, you know, it's this attitude that says, well, you know, if Christ were here,
I would treat him real well and I would do all these things for him.
But Jesus said, as much as you've done it for one of the least of these, my brother, you've done it unto me.
So it's easy to talk about how you would minister for Christ in so many different ways
if he physically showed up and you would treat him so well if he were here.
Well, you know what?
Why don't you treat your brothers and sisters in Christ well?
And then you're showing how you would treat Christ because Jesus said in as much as you've done it
unto one of the least of these, my brother.
And notice, not the coolest, not the greatest, not the best under one of the least of these, my brother.
And if you do it unto them, you've done it unto me.
And so therefore, it's easy in the abstract to claim all this love for God.
It's sort of like people who just, man, I would I would be willing to give my life for Christ.
I'm willing to die for Christ.
Right. But then it's like you can't even get them to show up for church or the slightest bit of persecution shows up.
And they're like, whoop, I'm gone. I'm out.
Oh, there's three protesters in the parking lot. That's it. I'm out.
But man, when the tribulation comes, I'm ready to die for Jesus. Right.
But they came and deal with a little bit of persecution over here, a little bit of mockery over here.
They came and deal with Facebook jail, let alone real jail.
And but they're going to die for Christ. Right.
Oh, they love God so much. But then look at the way they treat their spouse.
Look at the way they treat their children. Look at the way they treat their parents.
Look at the way they treat their brothers and sisters in Christ. Oh, but they love God so much.
Do they, though? Because the Bible says if you love God, you'll end up loving your brother also.
And somebody can talk a big talk about loving God, but they're lying if they don't love the children of God.
And this commandment have we from him, verse 21, that that he who loveth God love his brother also.
And then he continues the same thought in the next verse. And I'll close with this.
Whosoever. Chapter five, verse one. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.
And everyone that loveth him that begat loveth him also that has begotten of him. Right.
So again, loving God and loving the children of God are connected. Right.
So saying that you love God, but but then you hate your brother in Christ.
You know, that's not loving God. So people like, Why don't you love this false prophet TV preacher?
Because he's not my brother in Christ. Because he's a minister of Satan. Right.
Because he's preaching heresy. That's not my brother. People will translate this as like,
Well, if you hate anyone for any reason. Is that what the Bible said?
No. It said if you hate your brother, if you say that you love God and hate your brother, you're a liar.
Okay. And so this commandment have we from him that he will love with God, love his brother also.
Everyone loveth him that begat loveth him also that has begotten of him. Those of us that are saved that are begotten of him.
Those are the objects of love as well that we should all have as believers, as far as that word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord. Thank you for this chapter.
Help us all to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Lord.
There are many false prophets out in this world, Lord. Help us to try the spirits, whether they're of God.
Help us use the word as the final authority. Help us to walk in love. Put on that new man.
And, Lord, let that germ of love and that Holy Spirit within us blossom and grow and actually shine forth in our lives.
So that as you are, so we can be in this world. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.