As we come near the end of our consideration of God's call to godly living and considering the virtues of godly living, the fruit of the Spirit, I would invite you to turn to 1 John. To 1 John, we'll read a few verses from chapter 3 and chapter 4. I had indicated for your focus, 1 John 3, 16-18, and chapter 4, 7-11. We're going to read a few more verses than those, but especially those verses. And we especially consider those words of John in connection with Colossians 3, verse 14 that I read for you now. And over all these virtues, put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Paul had given the litany of godly virtues. And over all these virtues, put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Turn our attention to God's Word, 1 John 3, beginning at verse 11-18. Hear now God's Word. This is the message you heard from the beginning. We should love one another. Do not be like Cain who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brothers were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. anyone who hates his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him. This is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down His life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions and in truth. Then jumping down to chapter 4, beginning at verse 7, we'll read through 21. Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 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. This is love. Not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us. We know that we live in Him and He in us because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testified that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in Him and He in God. 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. 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. 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. We love because He first loved us. 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. And He has given us this command, whoever loves God must also love. His brother. There ends the reading of God's holy Word. May He add His blessing to it tonight. Well, beloved, in the Lord Jesus Christ, over the past few months, in our study of God's call to godliness, in our consideration of the Christian virtues, the fruit of the Spirit, that we might say make up that godliness or make that godliness visible, we have considered together God-centered virtues. Those virtues that center our focus on God. The virtues of humility and contentment and thankfulness and joy. Those virtues that promote the believer's devotion to God. Devotion that includes a reverential fear of God because of who He is, His greatness. The devotion which includes the love of God which He has poured out upon us. Devotion that includes a desire for God because of all that He has done for His people. And we have also considered God-like virtues. Those virtues that reflect God's character. Those virtues that we might say as well reflect God's attitude toward us, His people. The virtues of holiness and self-control, faithfulness, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, goodness. all of these godly virtues that describe the life of one who is in Christ Jesus by the grace of God. Yet there is one more. The one that is most important. The one apart from which the others would not be true godly virtues. Apart from which the others would not be fruit of the Holy Spirit. And that virtue is love. Christian love is an indispensable part of the believer's life as Jesus called His people in His summary of the law to love God above all and our neighbor as ourself. Christian love is Peter's focus in 1 Peter 4, verse 8 when he says, love each other deeply. It's John's focus in his first epistle as we read a portion of it. It's also Paul's focus, isn't it? We might say that Paul bookends. He bookends his teaching on godliness with this virtue of love. As with love, he begins his description of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5. The fruit of the Spirit, he says, is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and so forth. And he ends his consideration of godly virtues with love in Colossians 3, beginning at verse 12 again, And therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love which binds them all together in perfect unity. Some time ago we said that these godly virtues are like clothing, Paul is teaching us. Clothing that identifies a person. Oftentimes, a person is identified by the kinds of clothing they wear, the types of clothing they wear. God's people are to be identified by the clothing of the fruit of the Spirit, these virtues of godliness. And love is like that outer garment, the overcoat, if you will. And Christian love, Paul teaches, binds believers together. As in Colossians 2, verse 2, he speaks of believers being united in love. It's also translated in many versions as being knit together in love. That metaphor of knitting. One even says being welded together in love. And the idea, therefore, is that of being inseparably attached to and a part of one another. That's what godly love does. So much so, that if one does not love a fellow Christian, God says that one is not my child. In 1 John 3, verse 10, John says, This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are. Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother. In chapter 4, as we read a moment ago, beginning of verse 19, We love because He first loved us. 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. And He has given us this command, whoever loves God must also love his brother. Boys and girls, maybe sometimes you need to take this to heart as much if not more than those of us who are adults. Whoever does not love his brother, is not a child of God. These are sober words. Words that we are called to take to heart. That means that if someone here, for example, if there's someone here in worship, or if there's someone in your family, if there's someone at Hope or someone at work, especially one who professes the same faith as you do, because that's the context here. Paul is talking about love for brothers and sisters in Christ. If there's one like that, and you refuse to love that one, that is in essence to say to God, God, I don't love you enough in order to love that person. And that puts your confession in danger. That's not my judgment. That's God's judgment. And that is not to say, though, beloved, that we never struggle in loving a particular person. We oftentimes, because of the sin that we struggle with, we have hard feelings toward another. It bothers us. And it's then that we are to call upon the Holy Spirit to help us to deal with that. But this is talking about the hard-hearted attitude of not even caring, of not even wanting to love that one. The hard-hearted attitude of being content not to love that one. Not wanting to do anything about it. Knowing it without any sort of conscience. True love, true devotion for God is validated by, it is evidenced by, it is proven genuine by love for others. As John says in chapter 4, verse 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. It is evidence of the love of God in His people. And that love then binds the other virtues together. What I mean is that love then is the necessary ingredient for all the other virtues. It makes them true. It makes them authentic, godly virtues. That love then is the overall grace, the full expression of godliness from which the other virtues grow. I believe Paul is hinting at that in that love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13, when he says, Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud. Therefore, love is also humble. Love is also content. It is not rude. It is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. It is the soil, we might say, out of which those virtues of godliness grow. It is, as someone has said, the lubricant that enables the other virtues to function smoothly. And true Christian love, beloved, then distinguishes the believer from the unbeliever. The unbeliever who is also able to express, to some degree, humility and self-control and patience and kindness. Yet, if that godly love is lacking for the unbeliever, The other virtues are only a moral obligation, moral obligations, done out of some sort of duty without any true desire and only for the sake of oneself, not out of love for God or others. But that love first received from God and expressed in the fruit of godliness, that love is that love which is pleasing to God. And that love, that love is purposeful. It is a self-giving love that desires the good of others and seeks its joy in the good of others. It is completely other-directed. Now, after somewhat of a lengthy introduction, we consider just for a few moments the binding virtue of love. That Christian love that motivates godliness. It is, first of all, a love that gives. And secondly, it is a love that forgives. If you are taking notes, those are the two points. Love that gives and love that forgives. First of all, it is a love that gives. And its pattern, beloved, is God Himself. The One whom John said first loved us. In 1 John 3, the beginning of verse 16, this is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. He gave His life for us. Along with John's familiar words in the Gospel of John 3.16, For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whosoever believes on Him should not perish but have eternal life. The pattern for this love that gives is God Himself because God is love as John says in chapter 4, verse 8. Love is an essential part of His nature, of His being. God is love from eternity. Even before He made anything or anyone to be the objects of His love, He is love. And He is that pattern of love through Jesus Christ, His Son. The Father gave. He sent His Son. The Son willingly came and gave Himself. And He did so at a great cost. The cost was His life. You know that, boys and girls, don't you? He gave His life in response to our desperate condition, in response to our desperate situation, our deadly circumstances. Paul makes that clear in Philippians 2 that Jesus did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, a thing to be held on to in light of our desperate condition. Instead, He gave it up. He left His throne in glory. He left the glory and the splendor of heaven. He came to this earth and He took upon Himself that human nature, and in doing so, covering, veiling His glory for a time. Giving Himself to the curse of our sin all the way to death. The simple point that I want us to make here is that of sacrifice. Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself by taking our place. And this pattern of sacrificial love that gives for the welfare, that gives for the good of others, is to be our practice. That's what John says in the second part of verse 16. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. Now, it's not likely that any of us here have ever had to literally lay down His life for another. We know that by the simple fact that we're all here. Not one of us has literally had to lay down his life to give his life for another. Yet, this is a call to be ready and willing to sacrifice our lives to share with those in need. And there are so many ways in which we are called to do that. And the first way that we might think of, which is right before our eyes, is materially. And we would be in good company because that's what John continues to talk about in verse 17. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions and in truth. And James confirms that as well. He supports that when he says, What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes or daily food. If one of you says to him, Go, I wish you well. Keep warm and be fed. But does nothing about his physical needs. What good is it? Christian love is willing to give up what has value to us, what is important to us, to help out. and to enrich the lives of others, working on improving and blessing those lives, meeting the needs of others, even at a great cost to us. Indeed, we are called to give of our gifts and offerings to the church and for the work of missions. That is priority according to Scripture, yet Scripture teaches of another priority in giving to the poor and needy, doing so in Jesus' name. In Jesus' name. Pointing to Him. That too, I believe, is a part of that mandate and that mission that Reverend Overman beautifully preached about this morning. In Jesus' name. And that is then love that is displayed in the fruit of kindness and goodness. Yet many also have non-material needs. The need of a listening ear. The need of an encouraging word. the need of a pat on the back, the need of a friend to spend time with, the need of helping tans. The opportunities are endless, beloved, if we would just look beyond ourselves. Yet giving for those non-material needs is often more costly and difficult than giving money, isn't it? Because we can give money without thinking. We can give money without any sort of love at all. Giving for those non-material needs is often more costly and difficult. In Philippians 2, verse 20, Paul says that Timothy took genuine interest in the Philippian believers' welfare. And therefore, Paul says to the Philippian believers and us in chapter 2, verse 4, each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Indeed, giving for those non-material needs, beloved, will cost us time. It will cost us thoughtfulness and our emotions and energy and care and concern. It will cost our very being. This love, which we are equipped and enabled to give by the Holy Spirit, really is the result of, as well, it produces humility and joy and patience and kindness that rejoices in what we have received from God and delights to give in Jesus' name. One commentator beautifully phrases 1 Corinthians 13, the words we just quoted a moment ago, love is patient, love is kind, and all those things. He beautifully phrases 1 Corinthians 13 to show in what way Christian love motivates the believer towards others. To put it in kind of motivational statements, he says, it's worth hearing. He puts it this way. I am patient with you because I love you and I want to forgive you. I am kind to you because I love you and I want to help you. I do not envy your possessions or your gifts because I love you and I want you to have the best. I do not boast about my attainments because I love you and I want to hear about yours. I am not proud because I love you and want to esteem you before myself. I am not rude because I love you and care about your feelings. I am not self-seeking because I love you and want to meet your needs. I am not easily angered by you because I love you and want to overlook your offenses. and I do not keep a record of your wrongs because I love you and love covers a multitude of sins. Can you say that that describes you? Can I say that it describes me? Indeed, sacrifice, huh? The binding virtue of love gives sacrificially. It gives completely as Christ Jesus did for us. But then also, this love is a love in the second place that forgives. You see, one of the greatest blessings that we can give to another is that which we ourselves have received, that greatest blessing of forgiveness. And again, beloved, its pattern is God. In 1 John 4, verses 9 and 10, 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. and talking about God giving His Son. Then he goes on, This is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son. Why? As an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Why did God give His Son? He gave in order that He might forgive. Again, 1 John 3.16, Jesus Christ laid down His life. Chapter 4, verse 10, as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. God's justice, God's purity, God's holiness demanded that our sins be paid for every last one, paid for in full, because without that payment, our forgiveness is impossible. Because God would not, His justice would not then be satisfied. And beloved, God's love demonstrates the perfection of that 1 Corinthians 13 love. He is patient. He is kind. He has not treated us as our sins deserved, as David says in Psalm 103. Instead, He has treated His own Son as our sins deserved, down to the very last breath of His wrath against Him. As we think about atonement, we know that atonement includes Christ crushing victory over Satan, sin, and death. But it also includes Him taking the curse and the punishment of our sin and taking God's wrath that was against you and me, taking it on Himself and paying for our sins completely. And the result, beloved, is that our guilt before God is removed completely. The result is that God's wrath that was as it were breathing down our neck is removed from us completely. The result is that we are reconciled with God and all of this completely and fully. We have salvation full and free because Jesus Christ gave His life that God might forgive us. And once again, then, John points to our practice in 1 John 4, verse 11. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. In other words, in this way. In Ephesians 4, verse 32 and Colossians 3, verse 13, Paul says in both places, Therefore, forgive each other as God in Christ forgave you. And we know, of course, that the result of our forgiveness is not the same as God's forgiveness. It's not salvation in that sense, but it does mean reconciliation with others. Yet, as we think about this love that forgives, I suspect that we very quickly see its difficulty. Especially again as boys and girls, young people, when others hurt or harm or offend us in some way, before we will forgive them, we want to make sure that they are really, really sorry. We want to make sure that they really feel the full weight of their guilt. We want to make sure that they are truly remorseful. We want them to grovel on their knees and beg forgiveness from us. We want them to experience justice and pay for what they did before we will forgive them. We treat them as if they depend on our forgiveness. Well, guess what? They don't. We treat them that way all the while forgetting that God sent His Son for us, as Paul says in Romans 5, while we were still sinners. While we were still His enemies. While we were still unrepentant. He did it in order that He might forgive us. We depend on His forgiveness. And we are called to be content, beloved, that God, that His justice has been satisfied. As we think about the application of our practice, we can say then that true, godly, forgiving love forgives another even if there is no remorse on their part. Even if they've never apologized. Even if there is no change in behavior on their part. even if there has been no restitution. True, godly, forgiving love forgives because of our joy and contentment in God and because of our peace with God. And the result is indeed the Holy Spirit's fruit. Indeed, it flows from that and it equips and enables the child of God to be patient with that one, to live at peace with that one. And that forgiving love promotes that peace with that one. It promotes dealing gently with that one and expressing kindness and goodness toward that one. It expresses being self-controlled in the presence of that one and displays humility and contentment with that one all because of what is ours in Christ Jesus. To go off my notes here a second, I've told some of you that as I've been working with you through these fruit of the Spirit, you know, for my life, it kind of amazes me, Lord, why do you have me preach on these godly virtues now? Because each one has stabbed me like a sword right to the heart. And maybe that's been the same for you. You see, none of this, this godliness that we are called to, none of it comes naturally, does it? none of it comes easily. But it is the faithful work of the Holy Spirit by whom the born-again heart fights against sin and Satan's temptations and desires to love others in response to God's love. It begins with God's love towards those who look to Him in faith. And therefore, there's a call here tonight too for you if you have not yet looked to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith, You have not truly forsaken, given up on yourself and turned to Him alone for His saving work. Because it's only in Christ Jesus that one will know the love of God, the complete, the sufficient, the glorious love of God. It's only in Christ alone that one is a child of God. And that child of God then lays hold on God in prayer, asking for the Holy Spirit's continued work to work in us greater love towards others. To develop that character in us. To transform us more and more by the renewing of our minds according to the Word of God. Helping us to more and more put that love into practice. Not to build a name and a reputation for ourselves among others, but to show forth the glory of God and His loving and saving grace in us. His message, His mandate, His mission. This love, beloved, points to God who is love and loves us in Christ Jesus as this love also identifies us as His children, as His disciples. As Jesus says in John 13, A new command I give you, love one another as I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another. And therefore, blessed be the name of the Lord for His perfect love displayed for us and given to us in Jesus Christ. And may He, by His Holy Spirit, equip and enable us to respond by imitating that love to each other and the world so that through us, if it is God's will, that others may receive a taste of and experience the goodness and the love of the Lord. Amen. Let's pray together. Dear Heavenly Father, as we examine our hearts and lives, we cannot help but to confess that we are lacking. We are so very much lacking in godliness, in these Christian virtues, these Christian graces, and especially in love. We must confess that sometimes, even as those who confess the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we can be so cruel to one another. Oh, Father, remove that far from us. Remove those temptations, remove those desires, and instead fill us with a desire to love more and more, even as you have first loved us. A love that is indeed demonstrated in patience and kindness and goodness and contentment and all these virtues that we have been blessed by your grace to consider. Strengthen us, Heavenly Father. Continue to cause us to grow. We take great comfort in the word of the Lord that the Holy Spirit will continue that work that he has begun in us until the day of Christ Jesus. We praise your holy name for your love. Indeed, faith, hope, and love. The greatest of these is love which we will enjoy forever and ever in your presence. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.