Message for THE LORD S DAY MORNING, September 25, 2011 Message 11 in Authentic Christianity Sermon Series ( A Study of I John ) Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister The Relationships of An Authentic Christian (PART III ) Message 11 in Authentic Christianity Series Scripture Text: I John 4:7-21 As we continue with our Authentic Christianity sermon series, please turn with me in your Bibles once again to the Book of I John, chapter 4. We will be reading our scripture text in a few minutes. ILLUSTRATION The renowned artist Paul Gustave Dore lost his passport while traveling in Europe. When he came to the border crossing, he explained his predicament to the border patrol. When Dore gave his name, he was hoping the guard would recognize his famous face and allow him to pass. But the guard informed him that many people attempt to cross the border by claiming to be somebody they are not. Dore insisted he was who he claimed to be. All right said the border guard, We ll give you a test to prove you are who you claim to be. If you pass, we ll let you cross. The guard handed Dore a pencil and a piece of paper and told him to sketch a picture of several travelers standing nearby. Dore quickly and skillfully drew a picture of the travelers, convincing the border guard he truly was who he claimed to be. His work confirmed his word. Many people claim to be Christians, hoping one day they will be allowed to cross the border into Heaven. How can we prove we truly are who we claim to be? That is what we are about to discover in today s scripture text. For the third time John comes back to this important matter of love. Had John run out of ideas to write about? Had he gone senile in his old age and forgot he had already written about LOVE twice before? NO!
Remember, every single word John wrote in this letter was inspired by the Holy Spirit. And so for the third time, the Spirit has inspired John to write about this matter of LOVE. The passage we are studying today is the LONGEST and DEEPEST of John s three discourses on love in this letter. As we go now to our text we are going to see LOVING ONE ANOTHER proves SEVEN things about our Authenticity as a Christian: I. Loving Others Proves I Have Truly Been Born of God (vs. 7, 8) 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1. John begins this discourse with that now familiar command: v.7a Dear friends, let us love one another. 2. John is making absolutely certain that everyone in the Christian community in his day as well as through all generations understands that mutual love toward one another is PRIORITY #1. 3. John tells us GOD is LOVE! God s very nature is LOVE and if you and I are a true, authentic child of God, we take on the same loving NATURE as God. 4. When we truly love God, others see two things in us: (A) First, they see that we are truly BORN of GOD. (v.7b) When others see us showing love toward all people regardless of whether they are rich or poor, educated or uneducated, attractive or unattractive, young or old, deserving of love or undeserving, they can see we have truly been born of GOD! We bear God s nature! (B) But not only can they see we have been BORN of God, they can see we truly KNOW God. (v.7b) When others see the love of God in us they can tell we have spent we have fellowshipped with God and communed with God so much we have become more and more like Him.
5. Loving others is like a spiritual paternity test. If I have truly been born of God and truly know God it will be seen in my love for others. 6. But equally as important is that 8 TH verse. v.8 Whoever does NOT love, does not know God, because God is love. If I hate people if I hurt people if I am unforgiving toward people if I am mean-spirited toward people. if I use people..if I am always judging people and criticizing people.if I proudly and arrogantly elevate myself above people..does THAT SOUND LIKE I HAVE BEEN BORN OF GOD AND KNOW GOD? Absolutely not! 7. LOVING OTHERS PROVES I HAVE TRULY BEEN BORN OF GOD! II. Loving Others Proves I Understand God Loves For Me (vs. 9-11) 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 1. When you and I love one another it demonstrates we truly UNDERSTAND how much God loves you and me. It means I understand GOD loved me when I didn t DESERVE to be loved by sending His one and only SON to this world so I might live. It means I understand GOD loves me so much He was willing for His own Son to pay my PENALTY for sin, so I wouldn t have to pay my own penalty in eternal PUNISHMENT. 2. Remember the kind of love John is talking about here and throughout this letter is not a sentimental, natural love, but rather a supernatural agape love that reaches out to all people, even those who don t deserve it, so they too might have ETERNAL life through Jesus Christ.
3. Virtually all human beings have the capacity to demonstrate human love to one degree or another. But only a true child of God can demonstrate the unlimited, unconditional, undeserved LOVE of GOD toward others. III. Loving Others Proves God s Holy Spirit Truly Lives Within Me (vs. 12, 13) 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us. 13 We know that we live in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 1. God is not known by SIGHT. No person has ever seen God FACE to FACE. Many have made claims and written books about their personal experiences of going to heaven and seeing God and coming back to earth to tell it about it. This twelfth verse specifically says, No one..no ONE.. has ever seen God. 2. God is only known by His Holy Spirit who indwells every true believer. Well how can we prove that the Holy Spirit truly lives within us? His presence is proved by our LOVE for OTHERS. 3. In Galatians 5:22, Paul list the fruit of the Spirit that will be evident in the lives of every true believer. Right at the very top of that list is the fruit of LOVE. Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 4. THE LOVE OF GOD is real, genuine and authentic. It can t be faked or duplicated. The only way THE LOVE OF GOD can truly be in us is if the HOLY SPIRIT is truly within us. It is the HOLY SPIRIT who produces the LOVE OF GOD within us.
IV. Loving Others Proves I Truly Am Who I Claim to Be (vs. 14-16) 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. ILLUSTRATION Years ago I met a man who claimed to be a Christian. In fact, the man was even a deacon in the Church I was serving at the time. He was one of the most hateful, sharp-tongued, people I have ever met. His mean, hateful spirit totally contradicted his claim to be a Christian. 1. What John is telling us in verses 14-16 is if I want to PROVE beyond all doubt that I truly am an authentic Christian, I must LOVE others with the LOVE of GOD. 2. Going to Church every Sunday is good, but it doesn t prove I am an authentic Christian. Praying and reading the Bible every day is good, but it doesn t prove I am a Christian. Teaching a Sunday School class serving as a Church leader or preaching from behind a pulpit are all good things, but they don t prove we are an authentic Christian. 3. The only way I can prove beyond all reasonable doubt that I am truly a Christian is by LOVING OTHERS WITH THE LOVE OF GOD! V. Loving Others Proves I Can Truly Have Confidence I Am Saved (v. 17) 17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like Him. 1. Every person who claims to be a Christian hopes to go to HEAVEN and have ETERNAL life, and to be delivered from God s righteous JUDGMENT. 2. How can we be sure our hope is real? It all comes down to this matter of LOVE.
v. 17 In this way, LOVE IS MADE COMPLETE AMONG US so that we can have what? So we can have CONFIDENCE on the day of judgment 3. What does John mean when he says, Love is made complete among us? He means when we Love the LORD our GOD with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind; and we Love our neighbor as ourselves our love is complete! You see, if I claim to LOVE GOD, but I don t LOVE GOD S PEOPLE, my love isn t complete. 4. It is only when my love is complete I can have full confidence I am saved. VI. Loving Others Proves I Truly Have Nothing To Fear (v.18) 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1. Christians ought to be the most confident people on earth. We have a GOD who loves us we have His Son who saved us.and we have His Holy Spirit living within us. 2. And yet so many Christians live in FEAR.. -They may fear something from their PAST, perhaps there were terrible sins in their past they don t believe God has truly forgiven. -They may fear something in the PRESENT, perhaps they have a financial crisis or an unstable job situation or a serious health issue, of which the outcome is uncertain. -They may fear something in the FUTURE, perhaps what
will happen to them when they get old or what will happen to them when their mate dies. 3. John says, Perfect love drives out fear. What does that mean? That means if I am always fearful and anxious, either I haven t fully grasped just how much God loves me and cares for me, or I am too self-absorbed..self-focused..and self-centered and not showing enough LOVE and ATTENTION to others. When I focus on LOVING GOD and LOVING PEOPLE it brings a peace to my soul. 4. Perfect love drive out fear! There s no need to fear my past..my present..or my future. There s no need to fear people. There s no need to fear my circumstances. There s no need to fear for my salvation or fear the judgment of God. PERFECT LOVE DRIVES OUT FEAR! VII. Loving Others Proves I Truly Love God (vs. 19-21) 19 We love because He first loved us. 20 If anyone says, I love God, yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, Whom he has not seen. 21 And He has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother. 1. There is an inseparable link between LOVING GOD and LOVING OTHERS! Earlier in I John 3:14 John told us, LOVING OTHERS proves we have passed from death to life. In I John 3:19 John told us, LOVING OTHERS proves we belong to the TRUTH. 2. Now in VERSES 19-21, John tells us, LOVING OTHERS proves we truly LOVE GOD! In fact John says, If anyone says, I LOVE GOD, yet hates his brother, he is a LIAR! Strong words, but TRUE!
You and I can t see God, but we can see our brother. If we can t even LOVE our brothers and sisters who we can see, how can we possibly love God Whom we can t see? 3. If all the fussing and fighting and bickering going on in so many Churches today is any indication, one has to wonder how many people who claim to be Christians TRULY LOVE GOD. C O N C L U S I O N What does it truly mean to love others? I want you to listen to some of the writings of our early Church forefathers describing the love of Christians in their day. Clement wrote A Christian impoverishes himself out of love, so that he is certain he may never overlook a brother in need, especially if he knows he can bear poverty better than his brother. He likewise considers the pain of another as his own pain. And if he suffers any hardship because of having given out of his own poverty, he does not complain. Justin Martyr wrote We who used to value the acquisition of wealth and possessions more than anything else now bring what we have into a common fund and share it with anyone who needs it. We used to hate and destroy one another and refused to associate with people of another race or country. Now, because of Christ, we live together with such people and pray for our enemies. History records that when a devastating plague swept across the ancient world in the third century, Christians were the only ones who cared for the sick, which they did at the very risk of contracting the plague themselves. Meanwhile, pagans were throwing infected members of their own families into the streets even before they died, in order to protect themselves from the disease.
After investigating Christians for the Roman government, Tertullian summarized his report with these six simple words: See how they love one another. Brothers and sisters, the greatest proof of authentic Christianity is seen in our LOVE FOR OTHERS! Dear friends, since GOD so loved us, we also ought to love one another.