This means that there will be agreement and confirmation from the body of Christ, though perhaps (or probably) not everyone will agree or confirm. Love is by no means the root. Previous: 1 John 4:7 Next: 1-John 4:9 Choose a Verse from 1 John 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. c. That we may have boldness in the day of judgment: This shows the greatness of Gods work in us. Instead, we know the holiness of God is loving, and the righteousness of God is loving, and the justice of God is loving. The Word of life (1 John 1:1-4) v1 We declare this to you about the Word of life. ii. i. Luke-Acts He who abides in love abides in God, and God in him: The Christian who has this kind of relationship with God will be virtually immersed in Gods love; it becomes his environment, his place of abiding. Do we live through Him? i. John comes back to the familiar idea: if we really walk in Gods love towards us, it will be evident in our love for one another. They face none of the rejection the child of God will face from the world (1 John 3:1), because they are friends with the world. Click on the different category headings to find out more. The law of God is love; and all would have been perfectly happy, had all obeyed it. (1 John 4:17-18) The perfecting of love, both now and in eternity. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. i. One may be a spiritual dwarf because one lacks love. iii. 1. d. He who loves God must love his brother also: We can also learn how to love God by loving people. Here again, we find the call to love one another, woven together with that love's foundation in God's prior action for us in the Son. d. Boldness in the day of judgment: How can anyone have such boldness? Are you embarrassed to say it? Passwords should have at least 6 characters. In the day of judgment: This is when the completeness of loves work in us will be demonstrated. In my text he explains and enlarges that statement. Here, John suggests that there are forces of spiritual darkness that guide and influence the world. i. Scripture: 1 John 4:20-5:5. Verses 1-42 in Chapter 4 of John seems to point out a simple outline of evangelism through the example of Jesus. A number of scholars think of this as a sermon in written form. John 3:16, Jesus faith love), The Whole Bible The Old Testament Some respond with wickedness (God loves me, so I can do what I want). I cannot imagine a true man saying, I love Christ, but I do not want others to know that I love him, lest they should laugh at me. That is a reason to be laughed at, or rather, to be wept over. Links 1 John 4:20 Interlinear 1 John 4:20 Parallel Texts Since this is Gods kind of love, it comes into our life through our relationship with Him. We know that we abide in Him: By beginning with the words by this, John connected the thought of this verse directly to the previous verse. The world hears them: The Christian always wants to speak to the world, and to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. This land in our Saviour's time was divided into three parts: Judea in the south, Galilee in the north, and Samaria lying between them. Jesus and the Samaritan woman - John 4:1-4. Prophets Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary CHAPTER 4 1Jo 4:1-21. Blue Letter Bible study tools make reading, searching and studying the Bible easy and rewarding. This, with what follows, is said for the comfort of the saints, and to deliver them from the fears of being drawn aside by the delusions of the false prophets, and antichrists; since they belonged to God, were his elect, and therefore could not be finally and totally seduced; they were the children of God by adopting grace, and could not become Yet in it all, that one may be like Cain, offering to God the fruit of his hands and not the fruit of the Spirit. Tests of False Prophets. (A.D. iv. Click to enable/disable Google Analytics tracking. John has been speaking of boldness, and that naturally suggests its opposite--fear. Usernames should only contain letters, numbers, dots, dashes, or underscores. He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends his rain on the just and the unjust. d. Is now already in the world: Though it will have its ultimate consummation in an end-times political and economic ruler, the essence of this antichrist spirit is present with us today. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. Today, we are passionate about saying, Jesus is God, and we should be. ii. i. It is a true gift from God. Pentateuch The provision of the gospel, for the forgiveness . b. Love believed is the mother of love returned. (Spurgeon), ii. i. Yet in it all, that one may be like Cain, offering to God the fruit of his hands and not the fruit of the Spirit. Verses 1-26: The story of the Samaritan woman reinforces John's main theme that Jesus is the Messiah and son of God. Because of this, the excuse I just cant love that person (or other such excuses) is invalid. 4. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. in the resource materials are not necessarily affirmed, in total, by this ministry. One might say, I want to love God more; I want to grow in my love for Him. First of all, by asking for water, he engages in a conversation based on the context and circumstances of the moment. Look through all the pages of history, and put to the noblest men and women, who seem to still live, this question, Who loves Christ? and, at once, up from dark dungeons and cruel racks there rises the confessors cry, We love him; and from the fiery stake, where they clapped their hands as they were being burned to death, the same answer comes, We love him. If you could walk through the miles of catacombs at Rome, and if the holy dead, whose dust lies there, could suddenly wake up, they would all shout, We love him. The best and the bravest of men, the noblest and purest of women, have all been in this glorious company; so, surely, you are not ashamed to come forward and say, Put my name down among them. (Spurgeon), v. Be out-and-out for him; unfurl your colours, never hide them, but nail them to the mast, and say to all who ridicule the saints, If you have any ill words for the followers of Christ, pour them out upon me but know this ye shall hear it whether you like it or not, I love Christ. (Spurgeon). Where God is present and working, there will be love. I know that some of you are greatly distressed because you cannot love Christ as much as you would like to do, and you keep on fretting because it is so. (1 John 4:1) The fact of false prophets and the need to test the spirits. He loved you when you could not have been worse or further from him than you were. Though love springs forth from our abiding relationship with God and comes from our being born of Him, there is also an essential aspect of our will involved. All prophecy is to be judged by Scriptural standards. God determined that all who believe on Him would become His children and be covered in Christ's righteousness. How is Jesus now? Did Valence Betray John? General Epistles GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select an Ending Point A worldly attitude listens to unbelievers and ungodly spirits, and ignores God. We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. God the Father is not completely knowable by us; we cant completely figure out God, or know all His secrets. This job is to be done using the gifts of discernment God has given to Christians in general, especially the leadership of a congregation. John 3:23b & 26 ). There is no exception to this rule; if a man loves not God, neither is he born of God. 2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3 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, whereof ye . He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. Now remember, we never make ourselves love Christ more by flogging ourselves for not loving him more. But John rightly insists that our claim of loving God is false if we do not also love our brother, and that this love must be seen. i. Do not believe every spirit: John warned against believing every spirit; that is, we are never to assume every spiritual experience or every demonstration of spiritual power is from God. But God did all this for rebels, for sinners, for those who had turned their backs on Him. But on the cross, Jesus took the punishment our sin deserved His sacrifice turned away the judgment we would have received. 3. John does not think it is enough if a person has some kind of love in his life if he does not confess that Jesus is the Son of God. Concerning Antichrist. Structure. Error: Passwords should have at least 6 characters, Error: Usernames should only contain letters, numbers, dots, dashes, or underscores. A verification email has been sent to the address you provided. f. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God: It isnt enough to know the facts about who Jesus is; we must confess the truth. Certainly, this glory is in us now just in seed form; it has not yet fully developed into what it will be. Click to enable/disable _gid - Google Analytics Cookie. 1. Our love for God doesnt really say anything great about us. Pauline Epistles There is a difference between the love of man, and divine love. We can know by experience that we live in God, if His love has been perfected in us. We never have to draw God to us; instead, He draws us to Himself. Having boldness as we anticipate the judgment seat of Christ is the subject of the body of this epistle (1 John 2:28to 1 John 4:19). These verses are the equivalent of saying that a person cannot practice agape-love unless he can first practice philia-love. (Boice). a. Beloved, let us love: The ancient Greek sentence begins in a striking way agapetoi agapomen, those who are loved, let us love. We are not commanded to love one another to earn or become worthy of Gods love. This day is coming! (1-4) Jesus travels from Judea to Galilee, passing though Samaria. We can receive the healing power in our Fathers love. Wisdom Literature Today, there is a lot of curiosity about the true Jesus. Many modern academics say they want to discover the true Jesus and when they say this they often mean, The true Jesus is not the Jesus of the Bible. Individual instructors or editors may still require the use of URLs. a. i. Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. Just as true as it is that we should abide in Him, it is true that He does abide in us. But it is no less important to say, Jesus is a man, because both the deity and humanity of Jesus are essential to our salvation. c. That we might live through Him: The love of the Father was not only in the sending of the Son, but also in what that sending accomplishes for us. Bibliographical Information a. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. 1. Many Gnostic-influenced teachers said that Jesus, being God, could not have actually become a flesh and blood human being, because God could have no partnership with impure material stuff. ii. Marvellous, O Christ, is thy strange love! (Spurgeon). They are of the world: Those who are of the world are evident because they speak as of the world; the influence of the world is evident in their speech. Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. i. This is unfortunate, since his works contain priceless gems of information that are found nowhere except in the ancient writings of the Jews. God rightly regarded us, apart from Him, as worthy targets of His judgment. When we say God is love, we are not saying everything about God. He first loved us: This verse not only declares our love for Jesus, it also tells us when He loved us. Again, the true measure of maturity is not the image of power, or popularity, or passionate feelings but the abiding presence of Gods love in our lives, given out to others. 2. Poetical Books If this were a mere individual talking, the claim would be presumptuous. Here, he shows why it is so important. Otherwise you will be prompted again when opening a new browser window or new a tab. c. Test the spirits, whether they are of God: This is the responsibility of every Christian, but especially of congregational leadership. It transforms our life to know the love of God in this way. v2 The person who gives life came. b. Just because the world is hearing the message doesnt prove that the message is Gods message. iii. Today a person might confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh yet deny that He is God as the Bible teaches He is God. Major Prophets But who among us would think of giving up his son to die for his enemy, for one who never did him a service, but treated him ungratefully, repulsed a thousand overtures of tenderness, and went on perversely hardening his neck? i. i. i. He loved some of you when you were in the dancing saloon, when you were in the playhouse, ay, even when you were in the brothel. John can boldly say, He who does not love does not know God. It is something that every Christian should be unafraid to proclaim: I love Him; I love Jesus. Can you say that? i. (1) The fact of false prophets and the need to test the spirits. (1 John 4:9-11) The meaning of love and its application. Jun 2, 1985. It was a sacrifice for the Father to send the Second Person of the Trinity, and a sacrifice to pour out the judgment we deserved upon God the Son. Instead, Jesus said: If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one anothers feet (John 13:14). We love one another because we are loved by God, and have received that love, and live in light of it. Sally is obviously traumatized from killing a man, and she attempts to rehabilitate herself by going home, but the instant she gets to Joplin, she learns that Barry has been arrested for the murder of Janice Moss. If anyone is afraid of judgment they only need to ask themselves if they love God . Recognizing the value of consistent reflection upon the Word of God in order to refocus one's mind and heart upon Christ and His Gospel of peace, we provide several reading plans designed to cover the entire Bible in a year. For those walking in this truth, victory is assured they have overcome them. We can know, and we can know now, on this side of eternity. This is about the Word of life. One may be a spiritual dwarf because one lacks love. How can a decree of absolute, unconditional reprobation, of the greater part or any part of the human race, stand in the presence of such a text as this? (Clarke), iii. Yet, if we abide in Him, and He in us (1 John 4:13), then our identity is bound up in Jesus: as He is, so are we in the world. The day of judgment is as fixed in Gods eternal timetable as any other day in world history. (Boice). We were rebels and enemies of Him, even if we didnt know it. It is the fear that is the opposite of boldness in the day of judgment. 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