As we continue our study of 1st John, let's turn together again to 1st John chapter 4, reading the entire chapter, considering tonight, verses 12 through 16. 12 through 16 of 1st John chapter 4. 1st John 4, beginning our reading at verse 1. Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. Because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God. Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. But every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and even now is already in the world. You dear children are from God and have overcome them because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world and the world listens to them. We are from God and whoever knows God listens to us, but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood. 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 love 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 commandment. Whoever loves God must also love his brother. No one has ever seen God. That's quite a statement for John to make at the beginning of this text, isn't it? In fact, beloved, in the context of John's entire letter, and then particularly in the context of this chapter, I believe that this statement is meant to get the reader's attention, our attention, and to cause us to consider all that he has been saying on an ever more personal level than we have up to this point. Remember, John has been talking about fellowship with God, sonship, and knowing God, knowing Him. And he's been talking about what the characteristics are that demonstrate those things. And especially verses 7 and 8, 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. And then to say, no one has ever seen God. As if his task now is to make us consider how we, ourselves, personally know that we know God. As human beings, our fellowship and knowing each other depends upon spending time with each other. Physically being in each other's presence. Seeing each other and talking with each other face to face. In fact, I don't think we would really say that we really know someone unless we could put a face with their name and their voice. Yet the one with whom we are to desire to have the most intimate fellowship, the one who saves us eternally through His Son, the one whom we need to know more than anyone or anything else, is the one that no one has ever seen. And this is the one whom John says lives or abides, takes up residency in us and we in Him. Of course, this is referring to salvation. If we have never seen God, beloved, how can we know that we abide in Him and He in us? And how can we be assured of our salvation? After all, I must confess that there are times I don't feel close to God. Sometimes I don't feel like I love God. Again, John does a wonderful job of teaching how believers in their own hearts can confirm all of this. He has spoken these truths about fellowship and knowing God and being one with Him. And now he teaches how this can be true for us. He teaches about the proof of abiding with God. It's true, of course, that some say, well, there is no God simply because you can't see Him. And anyway, how can you believe something you cannot see? John makes it clear at the beginning of this text that proof of abiding with God is not based on an external face-to-face relationship with God as we are used to with each other. John says in verse 20, For anyone who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And John says in his Gospel, chapter 1, verse 8, No one has ever seen God. Paul writes of God in 1 Timothy 6, verse 16, Who alone is immortal and who lives an unapproachable life, whom no one has seen or can see. Moses, you recall, was allowed to see God's back, but not His face. We know that God revealed Himself in the Old Testament to some through theophanies, the pillar of fire, the pillar of cloud, the burning bush, and even in the form of man at times. But no one has seen God. But then Jesus says, He who has seen me has seen the Father. How does that fit? Of course, looking at the man Jesus, one did not yet see God in all of His glory because Christ's flesh covered His true glory. Yet Jesus manifested and demonstrated the love of God. That's what one was able to see in Christ Jesus. Yet, because of His humanity, we can still say no one has ever seen God. But even though not even the godliest of men has seen God in this life, the Bible teaches us that God dwells, abides, or lives in the believer. And the first proof that John gives here is love for the brothers. 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. Now, of course, this is not new. We've been talking about this very same thing for a matter of weeks. John has said before that one who does not love his brother is not a child of God. He said before that by loving our brother, we know that we have new lives. And he has said, and he will say again later, that if one loves, that one must be in the love of God. And that's the point that John stresses here once again. Not only can others see a demonstration of God's love through our love for one another. Not only is it visible to those who observe us, but we too, we too must see the presence of God in our own lives when we know that we love others. Why is this true? Because the very fact that I do love my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and that I am capable of loving them is proof to me not only that God exists and that He is love, but that He is in me. Because the truth is apart from God and His love. I could never love. I could only hate. And we must understand as well that this isn't only talking about those who are easy to love, those who are lovable, True, authentic love is shown to those who are difficult to love. And when we find ourselves loving the unlovable and praying for those who have persecuted or treated us badly or helping someone who has done nothing but try to hurt us, then we know that God is love and that He lives in us because we wouldn't do these things without His love in us. But also, when we recognize our love for others in this way, this is not to make us proud and arrogant to think that we deserve a pat on the back, but we are to be humbled because, again, the reason, as Paul says in Galatians 2.20, is Christ living in me. And this love the believer demonstrates for fellow believers is God's love made complete in us, the text says. The idea here is to bring to completion in the sense of reaching a goal or a purpose. God's love is made complete in us as His love moves us to demonstrate the very same love. God's love transforms our hearts, which then respond to His love by loving one another. And in this way, too, God's people are witnesses on earth of God's love. And therefore, may each of us ask ourselves, How am I witnessing to the truth of God's love? Or am I witnessing to the truth of God's love? Is His love for me and His abiding in me visible to others through my love for others? But then how does God abide in His people? And how do we abide in Him? How is it that I am able to love my fellow believers? Verse 13 says, We know that we live in Him and He in us because He has given us of His Spirit. The gift of the Holy Spirit is the second proof of abiding with God. He in us and we in Him. And the Holy Spirit of God transforms our hearts from dead hearts to living hearts. He is the one who removes our hate and infuses us with God's love. Therefore, the Holy Spirit of God makes us able to love one another and moves us to love one another. Paul confirms this in Romans 5, verse 5, which says, God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom He has given us. In other words, beloved, to have this love means to have the Holy Spirit. But no Holy Spirit, no love. Yet we must also understand that new life in the Spirit is not something that we are unaware of. If you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, that's not something that just eludes you somehow. It's not something that you can be ignorant of. The Holy Spirit causes us to know and be aware that we are in a new relationship with God and that we have new life. And that's because life with God and being filled with the Holy Spirit is so much different than life without God and being empty of His Spirit. Indeed, in many respects, this is a mystery to us how all of this happens. Yet it is true, it is real, And we must know it. We must know it. And the Holy Spirit of God who makes His temple, makes us His temple, makes us conscious of God in our life. How do we know? How do we know if the Holy Spirit is in us? Well, first of all, we need to understand that the Christian life is not simply avoiding certain major sins. If I do that, then I'm a Christian. It's not simply abiding by a list of rules by going to church on Sunday. It's not simply conforming to certain conduct or behavior. Indeed, it includes all of those things. But the Christian life is comprehensive including heart, soul, mind, and strength. How do you know if the Holy Spirit is in you? Well, ask yourself, for example, do I desire to have the gift of God's love? Am I concerned about my soul? Do I want to know God? Am I interested in eternity? If you can truly say yes to these things, then that is good evidence that the Holy Spirit is in you because apart from the Holy Spirit, you wouldn't even care about these things. But there are many other things that go along with being filled with the Holy Spirit. For example, knowing sin. Knowing sin. And understanding, like Paul, that there continues to be a struggle and a conflict in me between the flesh and the Spirit. And also the crown of being filled with the Holy Spirit is believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, which we will consider together more in our last point. But suffice it to say right now that Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12, 3, no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. Another proof of the Spirit in you is that you are aware that God is working in you, transforming your thoughts and desires and motives and speech and actions and everything about you after the image of Christ. Can you tell that you are becoming more Christ-like? Can you tell that? And this then is demonstrated by what the Bible describes in Galatians 5 as the fruit of the Spirit. We know what that fruit is, don't we? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We know, especially the boys and girls know as well, especially with all of the fruit trees that surround us, That a good tree bears fruit, a dead tree, a bad tree, doesn't. And if your life has no fruit, then you have no Holy Spirit. Another proof of the Holy Spirit in me is the spirit of adoption. Paul describes this in Romans 8 in one who knows that they have been adopted by God. One who didn't belong but has been brought from outside into the family of God. No longer thinks of God as some sort of far-off authority or power. But that one knows Him intimately. His love, His mercy, His grace. And knows Him as Father. Congregation, there's so much more that we could say. But those who enjoy the gift of the Holy Spirit are no longer ordinary people, but they are changed people. Truly a living people who have received something from above and are different from those who are empty and without the Holy Spirit. And then again, the crown is that they are those who make confession of the Son. That's the third proof of abiding with God that John speaks of, verses 14-18. 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. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. See, beloved, this is what separates true believers from pretenders. If you want to find out if someone is truly a Christian, simply ask, what do you believe about Jesus? What do you believe about Jesus? And the answer will be telling. John talks about what we have seen and testify, and that's a shortened version of what he said to begin his letter. Chapter 1, verse 1, That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at, and our hands have touched, this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. He's talking about what he and the rest of the apostles were first-hand eyewitnesses to. What was that? Well, the person and work of the Savior. First of all, the apostles were witnesses to the man Jesus. They walked with Him. They talked with Him. And the idea of the word see is that they gazed upon Him. They didn't just give a quick glance in His direction as He walked by. But they beheld His glory. They watched Him. They studied Him. And they were amazed at Him. And what was included in His glory which they witnessed? Well, on the one hand, Don't forget, He appeared to be just an ordinary man. As Isaiah says, He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him. Nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him. He was just the son of a carpenter who no doubt had learned about carpentry from His earthly father. Yet His glory, the glory of who He was and is, kept peeking through. Little by little, for His followers to witness. Included in that glory were His teachings. He was uneducated as far as that day was concerned and the schools of that day. Yet He taught as one having authority, the Bible says. He spoke and He taught with such wisdom and love that the multitudes traveled far just to hear Him speak. He spoke beautiful words of comfort and life to so many. The religious leaders of the day, the scribes and the Pharisees were not able to confuse Him with their questions. He was always a step ahead of them. His glory also shone through in His works that the apostles witnessed from calming the terrible storm, demonstrating that even the wind and the waves obey Him, to raising the dead, healing the sick, the blind, the deaf, the mute, to walking on the water, to casting out evil spirits and so many other things. The glory of Christ was revealed also as they saw things happen to this Jesus, most specifically what John and Peter and James witnessed on what is called the Mount of Transfiguration. His body became shining and exceedingly white as the glory of His divinity shone through the veil of His humanity. After He was crucified and buried, He rose again. He was alive. And He appeared to His disciples in surprising ways, for example, as He came into a room with the door shut. They saw Him physically lifted from this earth and disappear into the clouds of heaven. And as well, they experienced His glory in the gift of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. All of this, beloved, was proof to His followers that He was not an ordinary man. But He was who He claimed to be. Jesus said, I and my Father are one. And He said, do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in Me. He spoke freely about His Father and doing His Father's will and about the work that He came to do. And beloved, through what His disciples saw and heard, they were convinced by the illumination of the Holy Spirit of the Person of Jesus Christ that He is the Son of God, one with the Father, very God of very God. That is their testimony. And that is what we are called to confess, that this Jesus Christ is God Himself. And Jesus promised His disciples that the Holy Spirit would guide them into all truth and that was fulfilled and recorded in what we call the New Testament. And their testimony includes that the Father sent His Son, this Jesus, to be the Savior of the world. John, in essence, says not only do we testify to His person, who He is, but we also testify to His work. He is the Savior of the world of those who believe on Him by grace through faith. Beloved, this is the old, old story that we hear again and again, and we must hear it again and again, and we must never tire of hearing it again and again. What does it mean that Jesus, the Son of God, is the Savior? Well, first of all, it doesn't mean that He is just a helper. to help man save himself. He's not just a teacher to teach us what we must do in order to be saved. He's not just a good example for us to follow, and if we follow His example, then all will be fine. He is a helper. He is a teacher. He is the great example. He is a friend. But He is so much more. Man needed more because God's people proved by disobedience of the law of God which God gave to us to direct our lives that we couldn't even begin to live up to God's requirements. Jesus Christ came into this world to do something. To accomplish something which has the most wonderful result. He was sent for a mission, a task which only He could accomplish and that mission was to save us from our sins. How did He do that? Well, first of all, we need to consider His life of perfect obedience to the holy law of God, which we could not keep. God demands and deserves perfect obedience, and Jesus Christ lived an absolutely perfect and sinless life in full and complete obedience to the righteous law of God. That's the first thing. But in addition to that, the judgment of the law, the curse, the punishment of the law that was against us because of our sin and disobedience had to be dealt with. Our debt had to be paid. Someone had to take the punishment that God decreed when He said, the day that you eat of the fruit of that tree, you shall surely die. Someone had to pay the wages of sin, which is death. Not only did Jesus fulfill the righteous requirement of the law, He also paid for man's guilt for breaking God's law by suffering the cruel death on the cross as He suffered the wrath and hellish punishment of God. By His shed blood and His atoning sacrifice, Jesus paid for all of our sins, beloved, so that we are no longer guilty before the face of God. And by His perfect, blameless, and spotless life of obedience, we are given His righteousness freely imputed to us to stand before God and enjoy His favor. You see, in the fall, man lost his perfect righteousness and became guilty. And in Christ, our guilt is removed and righteousness is restored. But there's more. He lives to intercede for us before the throne of God, pleading for us before His Father for the sake of His shed blood. As well, He cleanses with His holiness, He cleanses the prayers that we offer up that they might ascend to the throne of God perfectly clean. He is our Savior, you see, by virtue of what He has done for us, but His saving work also continues even today in what He does in us by His Holy Spirit. He has delivered us from the power of sin as He has destroyed Satan and from the guilt of sin as He has paid our debt. But through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, He also delivers us from the pollution of sin, the stain of sin. And His saving work will continue, beloved, until our very bodies are redeemed and glorified and changed like under Christ's glorified body. As we talk about the person and work of the Savior, in these few minutes we can't even begin to scratch the surface of the beauty of Jesus Christ. Yet those who confess with the apostles that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world and believe the testimony of the apostles concerning this Jesus, Acknowledging that this Jesus, He is the Son of God. Those who believe the truth and believe the truth correctly and confess the truth of the Son of God, all by the power of the Spirit who dwells in them, that is proof that God lives in them and they in God. That's the proof that God has given to us to confirm to our hearts that indeed He is in us. Again, verse 16 says, And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. That is God's love shown in Christ Jesus. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in Him. We don't rely on our own love. We rely only on God's love. Now that verse both sums up what has been said and leads into what John is about to say, but it talks about faith. And faith includes both a knowledge of the truth of the Word of God, the testimony of the apostles about Jesus Christ and His saving work, but also it includes a firm confidence and assurance that not only is all of this true, but it's true for me too. It's true for me. Christ's saving sacrifice is mine. Beloved, the Christian faith is not something that is based on feelings. Feelings, of course, enter in. They are a part of our faith because as we have talked about, there is an internal change. But feelings are not the foundation of the Christian life. Our feelings are subject to the sin that remains in us against our will so that indeed some days we don't feel very much like loving God. But the foundation of the Christian faith is Jesus Christ. And the Christian faith is demonstrated by our confession of Him, the truth of who He is, and by our love for one another, and all of us by the power and the illumination of the Holy Spirit. This is proof of having God's love, of living in God's love, and being one with Him. And only in Jesus Christ is this true. Apart from Him, there is only eternal death and the rejection of God. But anyone, anyone, no matter what you have done, who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. People of God, we must know God's love. And if we are in God's love, we must know it. And we can know it. How? Again, I introduced Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, I believe, last week. And here again, he suggests ten tests which will help us in knowing God's love for us. They may not be all-inclusive, but they're very, very helpful, I believe. Ten tests. I'll simply read them without any explanation. Number one, a loss and absence of the sense that God is against us. Two, a loss of fear of God that is the terrified kind of fear while a sense of awe for Him remains. Three, there is a feeling and a sense that God is for us and that God loves us. Four, a sense of sins forgiven. Five, a sense of gratitude and thanksgiving to God. Six, there is an increasing hatred of sin. Seven, there is a desire to please God and to live a good life because of what He has done for us. Eight, we have a desire to know Him better and to draw closer to Him. Nine, there is a conscious regret that our love to Him is so poor, along with a desire to love Him more. Love is never satisfied with itself. It always feels it is insufficient. And number ten, we have a delight in hearing these things and in hearing about Him. With this last one, the point is we never find the Word of God boring, no matter how boring the preacher is. We always find His Word fresh and new, like His mercies, which are new every morning. And we never tire of hearing His Word. And congregation, our prayer is to be, Lord, let me never, never outlive my love. to Thee. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, we thank You for Your Holy Word, the truth of Your Word, the truth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, that You present to us these truths and You give to us and assure us that these truths are for us by the power of Your Holy Spirit. Father, we pray that You would continue to lead us and guide us in our love for You, that we might demonstrate that love for one another, that we might have the assurance of You living in us and us living in You. And continue to draw us ever closer to Yourself. Strengthen our faith, O Lord. Increase our love for You and one another. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray these things. Amen. Thank you.