1 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:12,520 You have your Bible. Go and make your way to 1st John 2 00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:19,760 chapter 4, verses 13 through 21. First John 413 through 21. 3 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:23,320 I just want to say thank you again to Danny for leading us 4 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:28,240 this morning in John's absence. By the way, tomorrow is Danny 5 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:31,480 Barker's birthday, so if you see him, give him a high 5 or a hug. 6 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:35,200 Tell him happy early birthday. Praise God for him and stepping 7 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:38,800 in to serve so well this morning, leading us as we sing 8 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:43,000 in worship. If you've ever taken a family 9 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:46,720 vacation or road trip, especially one with young 10 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:52,680 children, what question gets asked about 10,000 times within 11 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:56,640 the 1st 10 minutes? Are we there yet? 12 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:00,800 I finally had AI had a friend older than me. 13 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:02,680 Very godly guy. Just in case you're wondering. 14 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:04,040 After I tell you what I'm about to tell you. 15 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:07,440 Said finally. He just got so fed up every time 16 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:10,640 his kids would ask the question he just answered yes, yes we're 17 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:11,600 there. Open the door. 18 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:18,840 They'd look at him all 45° like this. 19 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:19,600 Damn what? What? 20 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:22,720 And they're like, Daddy, what do you mean? 21 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:23,960 Open the door, We're still moving. 22 00:01:23,960 --> 00:01:25,880 He's like, exactly. That's why we're not there yet, 23 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:28,360 right? When the when the car stops, 24 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:31,160 we'll be there, right? Yeah. 25 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:35,520 So John doesn't exactly have us on a road trip in first John, 26 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:38,920 but you can think of it like 1 John has had us on a journey 27 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:41,880 towards a destination he's wanting us to arrive at. 28 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:45,160 And that destination is not a physical position. 29 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:49,120 It's a spiritual position of absolute assurance of our 30 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:51,880 salvation. The question wants us to arrive 31 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:57,360 at is a solid 100% knowledge of knowing we've been saved that 32 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:00,520 we've been rescued from our sin and that we belong to Jesus 33 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:02,680 Christ. In fact, he points to this 34 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:07,120 ultimate destination in first John chapter 5 verse 13 when he 35 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:10,759 says I write these things to you who believe in the name of the 36 00:02:10,759 --> 00:02:13,160 son of God. Here it is final destination. 37 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:17,080 You ready that you may know that you may know if you read the 38 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:18,760 word know over and over and over. 39 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:21,360 If you've been reading first John that you may know that you 40 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:26,320 have eternal life. John wants us to arrive at the 41 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:29,360 destination of absolute assurance of our salvation. 42 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:32,560 So this text this morning is answering the question, how do 43 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:34,760 you know that you've been truly saved? 44 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:40,280 Now, all along the way, John has been posting mile markers, if 45 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:43,280 you will, to this ultimate how do you know question, right? 46 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:45,680 He's asked and answered the how do you know questions of how do 47 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:48,600 you know Christianity is true? And how do you know that you're 48 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:50,880 a true Christian? And if you're a true Christian, 49 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:54,000 how do you know what's dangerous to you as a Christian? 50 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:57,480 And then how do you live ready as a true Christian for Jesus's 51 00:02:57,480 --> 00:02:59,880 return? How do you live in the last 52 00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:02,240 days? How do we live towards one 53 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:04,840 another? And then now and of course, even 54 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:08,000 last week or week before he we, we asked and answered, how do 55 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:11,040 you tell what teaching is true or not? 56 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:15,280 And now how do you know that you've been truly saved? 57 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:18,640 All right, John wants you to have absolute assurance of your 58 00:03:18,640 --> 00:03:20,600 salvation. The question this morning is, 59 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:24,640 are you there yet? Are you there yet? 60 00:03:25,640 --> 00:03:29,440 Listen to the Word of God first. John 4, beginning in verse 13. 61 00:03:30,640 --> 00:03:37,560 By this we know that we abide in Him and He and us, because He 62 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:42,360 has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testified 63 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:47,480 that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 64 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:53,880 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in 65 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:58,080 him and He in God. So we have come to know and to 66 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:01,720 believe the love that God has for us. 67 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:08,160 God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God 68 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:13,000 abides in Him. By this is love perfected with 69 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:17,000 us, so that we may have confidence for the day of 70 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:21,959 judgement, because as He is, so also are we in this world. 71 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:27,360 There is No Fear in love, but perfect love cast out fear, for 72 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:31,240 fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been 73 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:37,080 perfected in love. We love because He first loved 74 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:41,280 us. If anyone says I love God and 75 00:04:41,280 --> 00:04:46,080 hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his 76 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:53,160 brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not 77 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:55,840 seen. And this commandment we have 78 00:04:55,840 --> 00:05:01,680 from him, whoever loves God must also love his brother. 79 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:07,840 Here's the message this morning. Absolute assurance of salvation 80 00:05:07,840 --> 00:05:12,760 comes from undeniable evidence of salvation. 81 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:19,320 Absolute assurance of salvation. This destination John wants you 82 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:25,280 and me to arrive at, he says, comes from undeniable evidence 83 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:27,800 of salvation. Then you're perhaps like, well, 84 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:29,840 Kyle, what's that undeniable evidence? 85 00:05:29,840 --> 00:05:32,400 What John tells us, we're going to walk through it together. 86 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:36,920 First is this absolute assurance of salvation comes from the 87 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:41,360 undeniable evidence of possessing the Holy Spirit. 88 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:43,000 Did you notice what verse 13 says? 89 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:47,360 Look at it again. He says by this we know that we 90 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:50,520 abide in Him and He and us. So just stop right there. 91 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:52,800 That's John's language of salvation. 92 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:56,960 God abiding in you, His Holy Spirit residing in you and your 93 00:05:56,960 --> 00:05:59,400 life being in Him, being made alive by Him. 94 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:04,560 This is how we know that's the case because He's given us of 95 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:08,840 His Spirit undeniable evidence number one that you've been 96 00:06:08,840 --> 00:06:14,200 saved is your possession, your indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 97 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:17,960 You see receiving the Holy Spirit of God living within you 98 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:22,160 is exactly what Jesus said what happened the moment he ascended 99 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:25,240 to the right hand of the Father and sent the helper the spirit. 100 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:28,600 Listen John 15 chapter 15 verse 26. 101 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:33,520 Jesus says, But when the helper capital H, the Holy Spirit 102 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:37,680 comes, who I will send you from the Father, that's the Spirit of 103 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:40,440 truth who proceeds from the Father. 104 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:43,440 That was the promise. Acts 18 Again, Jesus tells his 105 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:47,960 disciples you're going to receive power when the Holy 106 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:51,880 Spirit has come upon you and then Paul writing to the 107 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:55,800 Ephesian believers in verse 13 and 14 of chapter 1 says you 108 00:06:55,800 --> 00:07:01,240 also when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your 109 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:04,320 salvation and believed in him that's believed in Jesus. 110 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:09,600 We're sealed with the promised Jesus promised the Holy Spirit 111 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:13,800 who is what's this the guarantee of our inheritance until we 112 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:16,760 acquire possession of it. Don't miss that word guarantee 113 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:18,520 there. That's like a down payment. 114 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:22,280 See, your salvation, if you've been saved is a reality right 115 00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:24,800 now. It's just not a full complete 116 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:27,720 reality yet. It's full completion won't 117 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:31,320 happen until you're locking eyes with Jesus face to face the 118 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:33,880 moment you see him and righteousness in your life is 119 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:37,360 perfected and Christ's likeness in your life is perfected and 120 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:40,280 you're in his presence perfectly in paradise forever. 121 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:43,520 Your your salvation if you've been saved, it's a reality now. 122 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:47,440 But there's more to come. And so in the meantime, you've 123 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:52,200 been given a down payment. The very presence of the person 124 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:56,800 of the Holy Spirit of God living within you. 125 00:07:56,960 --> 00:08:01,560 This is undeniable evidence, number one, that you have truly 126 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:05,080 been saved. You say, Kyle, how do I know if 127 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:08,360 I've received the Holy Spirit? The way John states it here, he 128 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:10,280 just like states it. And if you're going to notice in 129 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:12,120 a second, it's like he just moves on. 130 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:15,240 I can't, can't help but think that John is thinking. 131 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:18,080 If you've received the Holy Holy Spirit, there's no doubting it. 132 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:20,600 You simply know. I'll never forget the first time 133 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:22,280 I say I'll never forget. Like it was this big moment in 134 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:25,560 my life. I just remember when I passed a 135 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:33,520 billboard and I saw the acronym for the first time, IYKYKIYK. 136 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:35,240 Somebody looking at me like I got to think real hard about 137 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:38,240 this. IYKYKI had no clue what that 138 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:40,200 meant. It was an advertisement. 139 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:41,679 I had to Google it. Y'all know what that means? 140 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:46,080 If you know, you know, no pun intended. 141 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:50,680 Literally the acronym is if you know you, you know, I kind of 142 00:08:50,680 --> 00:08:53,600 think that's the way John is almost processing it right here, 143 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:55,440 right? I mean, it's almost like he, you 144 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:58,000 know, if you've received, if you've possessed, if you've been 145 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:00,560 given off the, if you've been given the Holy Spirit, He 146 00:09:00,560 --> 00:09:04,960 doesn't explain much more. But I think I would expand upon 147 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:07,880 it like this if I were, if I were trying to explain if you've 148 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:13,640 been saved, you've responded to the presence and the power and 149 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:16,640 the person and the conviction of the Holy Spirit of God. 150 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:21,800 It's because there was a day and time in your life when you were 151 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:25,240 under the conviction of sin, when your eyes were open to 152 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:27,320 Jesus and your need for a Savior. 153 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:31,760 Do you remember that day when you encountered the work of the 154 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:36,560 Holy Spirit in your heart, and then if you responded to that in 155 00:09:36,560 --> 00:09:38,760 faith and confess Jesus as your Lord? 156 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:42,360 Let me ask you now, are you continually, even to this day, 157 00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:45,760 experiencing the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit in 158 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:47,280 your life? Do you sense the Holy Spirit 159 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:54,520 guiding you, impressing upon you decisions and direction and the 160 00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:57,640 things that you've since God would have you do and say and 161 00:09:57,640 --> 00:10:00,880 where you would have you go? Would you say you, you 162 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:03,480 experienced the continued conviction of sin in your life 163 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:06,760 and the leadership of the Spirit in your life and the comfort and 164 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:09,400 the help and the strength of the Holy Spirit in your life? 165 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:14,440 I think you could if, if that's the case, if you know you, you 166 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:19,040 know now if you've never responded to the conviction of 167 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:23,400 sin and the need for a Savior in your life, then what you don't 168 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:29,040 know that you need to know is that God so loved you, He sent 169 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:36,040 his Son to die on the cross for your sin and your place so that 170 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:41,640 whosoever will believe in him should not perish but have 171 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:44,520 everlasting life. Jesus says I'm the way, the 172 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:45,960 truth and the life. There's no other way of 173 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:48,720 salvation. Every religion, every quote 174 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:52,160 effort, religious effort, spiritual effort to get to God 175 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:54,520 is an effort to receive righteousness and eternal life, 176 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:56,080 to please God, to be good enough. 177 00:10:56,360 --> 00:10:58,560 There's no good enough. Jesus is the only one good 178 00:10:58,560 --> 00:11:00,760 enough. But he was good enough in your 179 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:04,840 place. He was perfect in your place and 180 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:06,920 the Holy Spirit. When you hear the word of the 181 00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:09,560 gospel, that good news of what Jesus has done for you, living 182 00:11:09,560 --> 00:11:12,400 and dying and rising from the dead for you, When you hear that 183 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:15,360 news, the Holy Spirit of God works in your heart to convict 184 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:17,360 you of your sin and unrighteousness and need for the 185 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:20,800 righteousness of Jesus and the fact that you are separated from 186 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:24,000 Him and the conviction of your sin that leads you to a 187 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:26,400 realization of Jesus. Has that happened in your life? 188 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:29,640 If not, that's what first of all needs to happen. 189 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:34,840 Have you, have you arrived at the undeniable evidence of 190 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:36,760 possessing the Holy Spirit? Are you there yet? 191 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:42,320 Are you there yet #2 Absolute assurance of salvation comes 192 00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:47,360 from the undeniable evidence of confessing Jesus as Lord. 193 00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:51,600 Look at verse 14 and 15. And we've seen and testify that 194 00:11:51,640 --> 00:11:56,840 the Father, that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of 195 00:11:56,840 --> 00:11:59,640 the world. Now, John is not dealing with 196 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:03,040 these things in a strict chronological order because if 197 00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:05,560 he was doing that, he would have started with this one because 198 00:12:05,560 --> 00:12:08,080 this is what happens first before you receive the Holy 199 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:10,480 Spirit. But John is talking to us now as 200 00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:13,520 those who if you have received the Holy Spirit, it's because 201 00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:17,320 you've confessed Jesus as your Lord. 202 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:20,960 Of course, when John says here we've seen, he's literally 203 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:23,120 referring to the fact that he and the other apostles 204 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:26,600 physically witnessed the incarnation Jesus in the flesh, 205 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:29,520 living and walking among them. Of course, we don't have that 206 00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:32,760 physical testimony, but we have that physical testimony recorded 207 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:36,400 for us as the Holy Spirit inspired those eyewitnesses to 208 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:40,320 write of what they witnessed so that we could be receivers of 209 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:42,480 that testimony. And not only we have that, but 210 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:45,360 we didn't have the internal witness of the Holy Spirit that 211 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:48,720 testifies to us as they testified and wrote it down for 212 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:50,960 us. So God the Father, John says, 213 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:54,000 has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. 214 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:59,080 That is the heart of our faith right there, that God the Father 215 00:12:59,560 --> 00:13:03,520 sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 216 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:09,000 The world includes you. God the Father sent his Son, 217 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:12,080 Jesus to be your Savior, to be my Savior. 218 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:16,000 Is Jesus your Savior because you've confessed him as Lord and 219 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:18,640 believed on him for forgiveness of sin? 220 00:13:19,680 --> 00:13:23,840 Salvation happens. That rescue happens the moment 221 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:29,000 when someone believes and confesses Jesus as Lord, the Son 222 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:31,440 of God the Savior. Y'all That happened in the first 223 00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:34,840 service as a young lady walked the aisle during the invitation 224 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:38,720 and knelt right there and prayed to confess Jesus as her Lord and 225 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:41,560 as her Savior, and she was saved right there when she did it. 226 00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:46,280 Praise God, that's when it happens when you realize your 227 00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:50,160 need of a Savior, you realize your sin and you say I'm 228 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:52,760 confessing Jesus because I realized the Father has sent the 229 00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:56,160 Son to be my savior, the savior of the world. 230 00:13:56,160 --> 00:13:58,240 Has this happened? This confession happened in your 231 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:00,360 life. Verse 15 since whoever confesses 232 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:04,040 that Jesus is the son of God, God abides in him and he and God 233 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:06,040 there it is again. God abides in him by the Spirit 234 00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:08,840 now possessing the whole that that believer possessing the 235 00:14:08,840 --> 00:14:12,120 Holy Spirit on the inside as he resides in us as those who 236 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:16,560 confessed Christ as Lord. Have you undeniably confessed 237 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:20,160 Jesus as Lord and have you undeniably received the Holy 238 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:25,080 Spirit dwelling in you? Absolute assurance of salvation 239 00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:31,840 comes from undeniable evidence. Are you there yet #3 absolute 240 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:35,760 assurance of salvation comes from the undeniable evidence of 241 00:14:35,760 --> 00:14:40,640 love for God, love for God. Listen to verse 16 and 17 again. 242 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:45,440 So we have come to know John says, and to believe the love 243 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:50,320 that God has for us before we get to our love for God. 244 00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:54,040 John starts where it all starts with God's love for us. 245 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:58,920 Y'all if salvation. We're a diamond of massive 246 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:02,280 proportion that we could hang from the ceiling and let the 247 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:06,880 light shine and reflect off every individual facet of it. 248 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:10,800 We could sit here and describe all the unique dimensions and 249 00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:14,440 facets of our salvation because it's so much to describe. 250 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:18,800 It is being born again. It's being made alive. 251 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:22,480 It's being made a new creation, the old being gone and the new 252 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:24,880 coming. It's being forgiven of your sin. 253 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:30,520 It's being rescued from death. It's being rescued from hell. 254 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:34,440 It is being freed from shame and guilt and bondage to sin. 255 00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:36,600 It is redemption. It is purification. 256 00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:39,720 It is justification. It is the reception of Christ's 257 00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:42,400 righteousness. It's adoption into God's family. 258 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:44,480 It's eternal life. And I'll run out of breath 259 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:48,080 telling you all it is. We could keep going. 260 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:50,840 Salvation is all of these things and more. 261 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:55,200 But the facet of salvation that John is wanting to point out to 262 00:15:55,200 --> 00:16:01,600 us this morning is a bone marrow deep awareness of God's love for 263 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:06,640 you and me. Salvation is ultimately a bone 264 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:08,520 deep awareness that God loves you. 265 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:11,520 And it's your response to that realization that God loves you. 266 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:18,280 We've come to note which John says and still know and we have 267 00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:22,080 come to believe and still believe the love that God has 268 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:24,720 for us. Y'all, to attempt to describe 269 00:16:24,720 --> 00:16:27,960 the love of God for you and for me is to try something that will 270 00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:33,600 take us to a loss of words. I feel the most feeble as a 271 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:36,160 preacher when I'm trying to tell you how much God loves you. 272 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:40,760 Paul describes it sort of like this. 273 00:16:40,760 --> 00:16:46,360 It's, it's greater than life and death, it's greater than angels 274 00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:49,160 or rulers. It's greater than things 275 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:52,240 present, past or things to come. It's greater than height or 276 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:55,320 depth and anything in creation. And the love of God is, is 277 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:58,480 greater than we can put into words and nothing can separate 278 00:16:58,480 --> 00:16:59,800 us from it. Why? 279 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:03,160 Because God is love. We looked at this last week, how 280 00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:06,000 God and his character and nature is this word in the Greek New 281 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:10,000 Testament that means agape, that means God has chosen to, to, to 282 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:11,319 love you. Why? 283 00:17:11,319 --> 00:17:14,079 Because in his character and in his nature, he is love. 284 00:17:14,079 --> 00:17:17,160 Love that is not one activity God picks out on Monday morning. 285 00:17:17,319 --> 00:17:20,960 Love is what informs and drives and motivates everything God 286 00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:25,119 does and all that He is. God is love. 287 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:29,240 Some people struggle with the idea that God could love them. 288 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:32,400 We talked about this last week. If you missed it, I want to 289 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:34,680 repeat it, even if you didn't miss it, because this is worth 290 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:38,160 taking home. Some people struggle with the 291 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:41,480 fact that God could love them, and to be honest, they're 292 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:43,760 thinking about how unlovely they are. 293 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:48,960 And when it comes to our sin and our natural tries at 294 00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:50,640 righteousness, you would be right. 295 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:54,880 We're unlovely compared to God's righteousness. 296 00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:58,560 We can never earn his favor or earn his love. 297 00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:01,640 But maybe you've made some really big mistakes and you're 298 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:04,800 thinking, well, even if I want to believe that God is love or I 299 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:06,880 want to receive Jesus, God could never forgive me. 300 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:11,360 God could never love me. And if God's love operated by 301 00:18:11,360 --> 00:18:13,320 your human logic, you would be right. 302 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:16,880 You would be right because we can never earn God's love. 303 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:19,560 We can never be lovely enough for God to love us. 304 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:22,680 But praise God, God's love doesn't work by human logic. 305 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:25,800 God's love doesn't work on the fact that our love is always a 306 00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:28,800 response to a condition of something being lovely. 307 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:31,680 But God doesn't say he loves you based on the condition of you 308 00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:33,840 being lovely. God's word says he loves you on 309 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:37,080 the unconditional condition of he being loved. 310 00:18:37,360 --> 00:18:39,240 God doesn't love you because you're you. 311 00:18:39,360 --> 00:18:46,640 God loves you because he's God. And God is love in some ways. 312 00:18:46,640 --> 00:18:48,840 If you feel like God couldn't love you, this is the, this is 313 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:51,160 the hard truth, the blunt truth. I'll say it to you in love, you 314 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:52,840 got to get over yourself. God loves you. 315 00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:57,480 God loves you. It's just a matter of whether 316 00:18:57,480 --> 00:19:00,520 you believe it or not because it has nothing to do with you being 317 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:03,200 lovely or unlovely. It has everything to do with God 318 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:08,080 being God. Do you know in your bones that 319 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:12,200 God loves you? Or do you have days when you 320 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:17,360 feel like he might not? You're still thinking about you 321 00:19:17,360 --> 00:19:21,440 instead of thinking about God. Absolute assurance of salvation 322 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:26,080 comes when you realize the depth of the love of God for you. 323 00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:28,560 Listen to what famous preacher by the name of Charles Spurgeon 324 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:30,600 said about grasping God's love for us. 325 00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:33,040 Listen to this. Get the thought in your head for 326 00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:35,960 a minute. God loves me, not merely bears 327 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:38,160 with me, thinks of me, feeds me, but loves me. 328 00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:41,640 Oh, this is a very sweet thing to feel that we have the love of 329 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:45,640 a dear wife or a kind husband, and there is much sweetness in 330 00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:48,040 the love of a fond child or a tender mother. 331 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:52,000 But to think that God loves me, this is infinitely better. 332 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:54,560 Who is it that loves you? God, the Maker of heaven and 333 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:58,080 earth, the Almighty All in all, does He love me, even He? 334 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:01,200 If all men and all angels, and all the living creatures there 335 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:04,680 that are before the Throne loved me, it were nothing to this the 336 00:20:04,680 --> 00:20:07,760 Infinite. One loves me and who is it that 337 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:10,480 he loves me? The text saith us. 338 00:20:10,560 --> 00:20:13,960 We love him because he first loved us by this. 339 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:16,440 But this is the personal point. He loves me. 340 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:20,440 An insignificant nobody full of sin, who deserves to be in hell, 341 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:22,360 who loves him so little in return. 342 00:20:22,360 --> 00:20:27,560 God loves me. Have you realized God loves you 343 00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:33,160 and that can ever change? Are you there yet? 344 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:37,040 John then says next verse 16 end of it. 345 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:41,520 God is love and whoever abides in love abides in God and God 346 00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:44,360 abides in him. Is He? 347 00:20:44,360 --> 00:20:48,920 To truly know the love of God, y'all produces from the depths 348 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:50,880 within you a love for God in return. 349 00:20:52,120 --> 00:20:55,320 We love not because we first loved him, but because He first 350 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:59,520 loved us. This is where love of God comes 351 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:02,040 from. Love of God doesn't come from 352 00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:04,920 because somebody's better than somebody else, so they love God 353 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:07,520 and somebody else doesn't. That's how we think. 354 00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:13,640 Love of God comes when you realize God loves you 355 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:17,480 unconditionally. And when you receive that love, 356 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:23,000 you can't help but love back. You can't help but reciprocate 357 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:28,560 it back verse 17 by this is love perfected with us. 358 00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:31,040 Now John's not talking about being perfect in terms of 359 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:33,640 righteous practical behavior. That's not what he's talking 360 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:35,160 about. He's using that word perfected 361 00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:39,080 in a different way by this love is perfected with us so that we 362 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:42,240 we may have confidence for the day of judgement because as he 363 00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:46,600 is so also are we in this world. All right, so by this, and the 364 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:49,800 reality is the reality of God abiding in US and us and him, 365 00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:51,440 that's John's way of saying salvation. 366 00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:56,040 All right, so by perfected, John means that as we abide in God 367 00:21:56,040 --> 00:22:02,360 and God in us, the love of God reaches its intended goal, its 368 00:22:02,360 --> 00:22:06,160 intended point. It achieves its purpose in the 369 00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:10,360 sense that when we realize God's love for us and it produces in 370 00:22:10,360 --> 00:22:14,160 US a love back toward God and a love towards one another, that's 371 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:17,720 when God's love is perfected than us, when it actually 372 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:22,080 achieves its design, when we receive it and then we show it. 373 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:26,760 John says when salvation is genuine, when we've received 374 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:29,640 really the love of God and the love of God is shown back out, 375 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:32,520 that's when God's love is perfected in US. 376 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:37,920 That's when it achieves its point, love towards God and man 377 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:45,120 as we abide in God and he and us producing love and confidence 378 00:22:45,120 --> 00:22:46,840 before God. Listen to what John says here. 379 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:51,840 It literally produces a confidence in us for the day of 380 00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:56,160 judgement. Now this is what verse 17 says. 381 00:22:56,160 --> 00:23:00,440 Listen to it by this is love perfected with us so that we may 382 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:03,960 have confidence for the day of judgement. 383 00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:08,560 If there is one day that you want to have confidence for of 384 00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:13,600 all days, it is this day. It's not the day of your big 385 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:15,800 interview. It's not the day of the big 386 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:18,360 presentation. It's not the day of the sale. 387 00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:20,680 It's not the day of your wedding or proposal. 388 00:23:20,880 --> 00:23:24,720 The day you want to have confidence for men and women, 389 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:27,520 ladies and gentlemen, friends, boys and girls, is the day you 390 00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:32,480 stand before your maker. This is the day you want to have 391 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:35,800 confidence for. How do you have confidence for 392 00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:38,040 that day? Literally the word confidence. 393 00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:41,280 There is a word that means freedom of speech, like an 394 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:46,120 ability to feel good about stating your status. 395 00:23:47,120 --> 00:23:50,120 OK, so think about it like this. Let's say you're on the way home 396 00:23:50,120 --> 00:23:54,920 today and blue lights are all the sudden behind you and sure 397 00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:56,920 enough, you pull over. But you know what? 398 00:23:56,920 --> 00:24:00,200 You know between you and God, you weren't in the wrong. 399 00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:02,840 You weren't speeding. You didn't run a red light. 400 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:06,960 Your tail lights aren't out. You don't know why he's pulling 401 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:09,560 you over. But there was a car about 10 402 00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:12,680 seconds earlier that flew by you at about 100 miles an hour that 403 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:18,040 look just like your car. And you know, you weren't in the 404 00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:19,240 wrong. You know you saw somebody in the 405 00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:21,880 wrong. And you it's pretty clear he got 406 00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:24,840 the wrong guy. But now he's walking up to your 407 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:28,800 window for judgement. And if you're not, if you know, 408 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:32,160 if you're confident of your status when he goes to say, hey, 409 00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:35,040 I mean, what's going on? What are you going to say? 410 00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:41,120 I was speeding. Forgive me, Sir. 411 00:24:41,120 --> 00:24:45,360 I all my heart before you. I I know nothing that I did to 412 00:24:45,360 --> 00:24:50,080 violate the law. I I I declare I'm I'm innocent. 413 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:54,160 Think what you wanted is that other truck that just drove by 414 00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:55,840 that looked just like mine, right? 415 00:24:55,840 --> 00:24:56,880 You you're what I'm trying to say. 416 00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:00,320 You're given a confidence to speak up when you're aware of 417 00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:04,640 your status is right when when when you're aware your status 418 00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:07,640 with God is right because of Jesus's righteousness in your 419 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:10,200 place. You show up confident on the day 420 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:13,040 of judgment before Almighty God. Now I'm not saying you're going 421 00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:15,440 to start talking on that day. I'm just saying you're going to 422 00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:19,120 feel confident for that day, probably going to bow in silence 423 00:25:19,120 --> 00:25:22,240 to put your face on the floor before the glory of Jesus on 424 00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:24,280 that day. But what is this? 425 00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:28,920 What does this mean right? So he says here, John says 426 00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:33,240 living in the love of God and love for God produces in us this 427 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:34,800 amazing confidence for the day of judgment. 428 00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:36,360 I want to be clear about the day of judgment. 429 00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:40,360 The Day of Judgment is the day we'll stand before our Maker to 430 00:25:40,360 --> 00:25:43,560 give an account of our lives. The Day of Judgment is the day 431 00:25:43,560 --> 00:25:47,200 we're going to face the verdict of heaven or hell, eternal 432 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:51,320 paradise or eternal punishment. It's the day when unrepentant 433 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:55,560 sinners who have refused Jesus are sentenced to an everlasting 434 00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:57,800 hell. And it's a day when sinners who 435 00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:01,840 have repented and trusted Jesus will be invited into everlasting 436 00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:03,680 life. The two verdicts could not be 437 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:05,760 more different. It will all be based on whether 438 00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:08,000 you've received or rejected Jesus. 439 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:11,440 This is what will happen on the day of Judgment and a day that 440 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:14,240 could strike terror in your souls. 441 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:18,200 The Bible says you can have absolute, complete confidence 442 00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:24,040 for that day. Are you there yet? 443 00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:31,320 Are you there yet? Because you've trusted Jesus 444 00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:34,560 Christ as your Lord and Savior, confessed him as Lord, you've 445 00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:38,920 received the Holy Spirit, You've realized in your bones God loves 446 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:41,640 you. You can't help but love Him in 447 00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:43,520 return. And the love of God's being 448 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:46,400 perfected in you because you're loving God back and loving 449 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:51,240 others and you've got confidence for the day of judgment as He 450 00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:54,040 is. John says we as so we are. 451 00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:56,600 So are we also in this or what does that mean? 452 00:26:56,760 --> 00:26:59,960 He's comparing now our status because of those who've been 453 00:26:59,960 --> 00:27:04,240 saved with the connection with Christ as he is right? 454 00:27:04,240 --> 00:27:06,560 Listen to this. As Jesus abides in the Father, 455 00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:09,360 so do we. As Christ is the Son of God, 456 00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:11,880 we've become as those that have been saved, the adopted sons and 457 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:14,720 daughters of God. As Christ is righteous, we have 458 00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:17,320 his righteousness. And as Christ is loved by the 459 00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:19,480 Father, so we too have been loved by the Father. 460 00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:22,000 So our confidence from the day of judgement comes from the 461 00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:23,560 assurance of knowing. Listen to this. 462 00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:27,880 Our confidence to stand before God in the day of judgment comes 463 00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:31,840 from the fact that we know that God will treat us just like He's 464 00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:36,280 treated his one and only Son, because our lives are in him. 465 00:27:36,760 --> 00:27:38,880 Our righteousness is his shared with us. 466 00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:41,560 He by His blood has forgiven us of our sin. 467 00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:43,920 And we're going to be ushered into the presence of Almighty 468 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:48,240 God because of Christ as He is, so also are we. 469 00:27:49,120 --> 00:27:52,400 Are you there yet? Are you there yet? 470 00:27:54,360 --> 00:27:58,960 You can have absolute assurance of salvation because of 471 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:01,240 undeniable evidence. You've confessed Jesus as Lord, 472 00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:06,680 you possess the Holy Spirit, and because of love for God, love 473 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:11,960 for God #4 absolute assurance of salvation comes from the 474 00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:15,600 undeniable evidence of fourthly, No Fear. 475 00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:17,800 No Fear. This is closely connected to 476 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:19,800 what we just processed. But this is verse 18. 477 00:28:20,360 --> 00:28:23,600 John gets even more clear. He says there is No Fear in 478 00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:31,400 love, but perfect love cast out. Fear for fear has to do with 479 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:36,040 punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 480 00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:40,040 You see, living in love of God and living in love with God 481 00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:43,600 eliminates all fear of punishment from God. 482 00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:46,320 There's No Fear in love. Love and fear don't mix. 483 00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:49,560 They don't mingle. Love and fear cannot coexist 484 00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:54,080 towards God in the same heart. So if we're afraid, if you're 485 00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:56,600 someone who's still afraid of what's going to happen when you 486 00:28:56,600 --> 00:29:00,640 stand before God, you're not yet fully living in the love all God 487 00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:06,080 for you, because love for God and fear of God and fear of 488 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:09,960 what's going to happen on that day can't coexist in the same 489 00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:11,680 heart. Not someone who's truly received 490 00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:18,520 fully the love of God. General Stonewall Jackson is 491 00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:20,720 noted to have said the following statement. 492 00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:28,320 He said my religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in 493 00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:33,840 battle as in bed. God has fixed the time of my 494 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:37,360 death. I do not concern myself about 495 00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:42,480 that, but to always be ready no matter when it may overtake me. 496 00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:45,680 That is the way all men should live. 497 00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:55,040 And then all would be equally brave when you know the love of 498 00:29:55,040 --> 00:30:00,800 God for you, because you trusted in Jesus Christ as your Savior, 499 00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:04,880 and you know God ordained the day that you took your first 500 00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:07,200 breath. And in God's Providence and 501 00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:09,800 sovereignty, He knows the day you'll take your last. 502 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:12,520 You can live each day without fear. 503 00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:14,680 Christian, listen to me. You ought not fear death. 504 00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:18,720 I'm going to say it one more time that needs an Amen. 505 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:23,840 You ought not fear death. The day you take your last 506 00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:29,240 breath is a day you get to see your Savior eye to eye, face to 507 00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:31,560 face. It's a day when the life that 508 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:35,520 God is planned and prepared for those He loves are ushered into 509 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:38,640 a reality that no words could describe this side of heaven. 510 00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:41,560 The day you take your last is the day you walk into His 511 00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:44,280 presence forever. Nothing can snatch you out of 512 00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:46,160 His hand. And the day you stand before 513 00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:52,760 judgement, if you're covered by the blood of Jesus and praise 514 00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:56,400 God, praise God. I don't have to give an account 515 00:30:56,400 --> 00:31:01,080 for my sin. I'm going to get to see the one 516 00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:07,280 who died in my place. I'm going to get to walk in to 517 00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:11,160 the presence of my Savior. You don't have to fear. 518 00:31:12,360 --> 00:31:17,640 If you know the love of God what Jesus has done for you, you can 519 00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:23,400 have No Fear. Are you there yet #5 Absolute 520 00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:28,480 assurance of salvation comes from the undeniable evidence of 521 00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:31,520 love for others, Love for others. 522 00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:36,720 This is verse 19 through 21. It says here John writes, we 523 00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:44,240 love because he first loved us. If we live in God and God lives 524 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:47,720 in US and God is love, guess what you're going to do? 525 00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:52,520 I thought it was more obvious than that. 526 00:31:54,480 --> 00:32:00,160 You're going to love like you're not going to have to make 527 00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:03,520 yourself do it. You're going to, you're not 528 00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:05,320 going to have to put it on your To Do List. 529 00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:08,600 You're not going to have to set a reminder on your phone. 530 00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:12,400 You live in God and God lives in you and God is love. 531 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:15,640 You're going to John says this is just going to happen. 532 00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:18,600 If your salvation is genuine, this is going to happen. 533 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:20,440 This is how you can know if you've been truly saved. 534 00:32:20,600 --> 00:32:23,520 And John says if you haven't or you don't love, then listen to 535 00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:25,160 what he says. Verse 2221. 536 00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:30,560 If anyone says I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. 537 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:33,760 I love John. I wish I could have a 538 00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:35,200 conversation with him. He'd said a lot of things 539 00:32:35,200 --> 00:32:37,920 straight in my life. For Hugh does not love his 540 00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:41,280 brother, whom he has see, has seen, cannot love God, whom he 541 00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:43,400 has not seen. And this commandment we have 542 00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:46,640 from him, whoever loves God must also love his brother. 543 00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:49,080 Now, you need to be reminded there that the word hate there 544 00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:52,800 in John's usage does not mean like digging a hole and throwing 545 00:32:52,800 --> 00:32:56,480 somebody in it. All right? 546 00:32:57,520 --> 00:33:02,320 Hate is anything less than love, and love is acting for the good 547 00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:04,600 of someone else at your own expense. 548 00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:07,600 You can do nothing and be hating. 549 00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:13,440 All you got to do is turn your head the other way and ignore 550 00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:16,040 the obvious need in front of you that you could have met. 551 00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:19,440 He who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, the 552 00:33:19,440 --> 00:33:24,880 book of James says, is sin. Sin is hate. 553 00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:29,920 Hate towards God and man to anything less than love in our 554 00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:33,960 lives is hate. So John says, you claim to say I 555 00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:37,040 love God, but don't act sacrificially for the good of 556 00:33:37,040 --> 00:33:40,240 others in your life when you see obvious needs that God could use 557 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:42,240 you to me and you say you love God. 558 00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:44,480 John says point blank to your face, you're a liar. 559 00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:49,080 It's not true. Now what John is not trying to 560 00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:53,680 say is that loving people is easier than loving God. 561 00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:55,840 We all know that's not necessarily the case. 562 00:33:57,240 --> 00:34:01,040 Don't know some hard to love people, come on that make you 563 00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:03,560 uncomfortable. You can say Amen, I know some 564 00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:08,520 hard to love people. But John's point is that listen, 565 00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:13,320 you're given more opportunity on the daily to act sacrificially 566 00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:16,920 for one another, then you're given up, you know, practical 567 00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:19,679 opportunity on a daily basis to show love towards God. 568 00:34:19,920 --> 00:34:22,360 So if you're not doing it towards those in your life, even 569 00:34:22,360 --> 00:34:25,120 those closest to you, your spouse, your kids, your family, 570 00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:27,360 your friends, your neighbors, your coworkers, and even 571 00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:29,920 strangers, if that's not happening in your daily life, 572 00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:31,360 don't act like you love toward you. 573 00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:33,400 You love God. You don't unless it's first 574 00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:35,480 happening with the people in your life. 575 00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:40,000 If God lives in you and you live in God, and God is love, guess 576 00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:45,320 what you're going to do? John says you can have love 577 00:34:45,320 --> 00:34:49,840 towards others. Jesus says this, If you love me, 578 00:34:50,159 --> 00:34:52,719 you will obey my commands. Listen to what 1 preacher said 579 00:34:53,920 --> 00:34:56,679 you said. Brothers and sisters, one of the 580 00:34:56,679 --> 00:35:00,720 main reasons why so many professing Christians have 581 00:35:00,720 --> 00:35:06,560 little confidence with God and little boldness is because their 582 00:35:06,560 --> 00:35:11,560 lives are not devoted to the salvation of the lost and to the 583 00:35:11,560 --> 00:35:16,360 glory of God, but rather instead are devoted to providing earthly 584 00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:19,560 security and comfort for themselves and their families. 585 00:35:22,640 --> 00:35:25,720 What he's saying is we get so caught up in the things of this 586 00:35:25,720 --> 00:35:28,720 world as Christians and pursuing what we think should give us 587 00:35:28,720 --> 00:35:31,320 earthly security. We don't have earthly confidence 588 00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:35,720 toward God because we're living for our Kingdom instead of His 589 00:35:35,720 --> 00:35:39,560 Kingdom, at living for what the world says we should love rather 590 00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:43,240 than what God says we should love, and it messes with our 591 00:35:43,240 --> 00:35:48,280 confidence. Absolute assurance of salvation 592 00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:51,000 comes from undeniable evidence. That final undeniable evidence 593 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:53,960 is love for others. So here's what we've walked 594 00:35:53,960 --> 00:35:54,600 through. You ready? 595 00:35:54,800 --> 00:35:56,000 I'm asking you, are you there yet? 596 00:35:56,960 --> 00:36:00,480 Absolute assurance of salvation comes from undeniable evidence. 597 00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:01,640 What is that undeniable evidence? 598 00:36:01,640 --> 00:36:02,920 Let me put it in a little different order. 599 00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:07,720 Number one is confessing Jesus Christ is Lord, and then two, 600 00:36:07,720 --> 00:36:12,040 the one we started with, it is possessing the Holy Spirit and 601 00:36:12,040 --> 00:36:15,240 #3 it's love for God. You can't help but love Him back 602 00:36:15,240 --> 00:36:16,640 if you know how much He loves you. 603 00:36:16,640 --> 00:36:22,320 And then it's No Fear. No Fear in life, No Fear in 604 00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:24,280 death, No Fear for the day of judgment. 605 00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:26,640 And then finally, it's love towards others. 606 00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:29,040 If you've received it, you can't help but show it. 607 00:36:31,520 --> 00:36:34,320 Are you there yet? Are you there yet? 608 00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:36,680 I'm going to ask you to bow your head and close your eyes. 609 00:36:44,440 --> 00:36:54,560 Jesus knows right where you are. If you're not at the final 610 00:36:54,560 --> 00:36:58,560 destination of absolute assurance of your salvation, 611 00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:02,560 would you be willing to do something about it this morning? 612 00:37:04,720 --> 00:37:06,880 Maybe it's because you need to be saved. 613 00:37:07,640 --> 00:37:11,240 You need to trust Christ. You need to confess Jesus as 614 00:37:11,240 --> 00:37:16,400 Lord, just like that young lady named Allie did in the first 615 00:37:16,400 --> 00:37:18,160 service. She just walked right up to me 616 00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:19,640 where from where she was sitting. 617 00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:23,640 She said, Pastor Carl, I really don't have the words to say, but 618 00:37:23,640 --> 00:37:25,360 I want to trust Jesus as my Savior. 619 00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:28,320 Do you need to do the same thing? 620 00:37:28,840 --> 00:37:31,480 Would you step out and come in a moment when we stand and sing? 621 00:37:33,520 --> 00:37:36,760 Or if you have, are you lacking confidence in any of those 622 00:37:36,760 --> 00:37:41,840 categories? Is there a lack of undeniable 623 00:37:41,840 --> 00:37:43,120 evidence? And if so, do you need to 624 00:37:43,120 --> 00:37:46,400 confess that before Lord? Do you need to ask God to change 625 00:37:46,400 --> 00:37:48,080 something in your life, to let go of something? 626 00:37:48,320 --> 00:37:51,040 Do you need to come and get it on your knees at this altar and 627 00:37:51,040 --> 00:37:52,760 say, God, I'm lacking in this area? 628 00:37:52,920 --> 00:37:55,400 Would you show me why? Or God already know why? 629 00:37:55,520 --> 00:37:58,360 I just need to tell it tell you or you already know, but I just 630 00:37:58,360 --> 00:38:00,880 need to be honest with you God, I need you to redirect me in 631 00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:04,360 this area because it's causing me a crisis of confidence in my 632 00:38:04,360 --> 00:38:07,280 life and living for you now and even on the day of judgement. 633 00:38:09,840 --> 00:38:13,360 God give me absolute assurance. Help me to see this undeniable 634 00:38:13,360 --> 00:38:17,720 evidence in my life. I'm going to ask you to respond 635 00:38:17,720 --> 00:38:20,480 as the Lord leads you as we worship heavenly Father. 636 00:38:21,120 --> 00:38:23,360 I pray in just the next few moments that we would do 637 00:38:23,360 --> 00:38:29,600 business with you unashamed to do it before men, as we'll stand 638 00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:33,120 before you unashamed one day and you unashamed of us. 639 00:38:34,120 --> 00:38:39,120 Lord Jesus, you came and bore the shame for us so that we 640 00:38:39,560 --> 00:38:43,840 could walk free of our sin and shame because of your blood. 641 00:38:44,880 --> 00:38:47,720 Father, I want to thank you for the confidence you've allowed us 642 00:38:47,720 --> 00:38:50,440 to have. I want to pray for every person 643 00:38:50,440 --> 00:38:53,480 in this room and watching online that they wouldn't walk out of 644 00:38:53,480 --> 00:38:57,440 the room today or walk away from the screen until they have 645 00:38:57,440 --> 00:39:00,960 absolute assurance of their salvation. 646 00:39:01,360 --> 00:39:04,360 Let it be, Lord Jesus, we pray in your name, Amen. 647 00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:05,640 Would you stand with me? Cheers family.