1 John 4:13-21 - The Light of Love, Part Two

1 As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?

Psalm 42:5 ESV

5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation

When we are most severely tested,

Q. How does the Holy Spirit strengthen us to abide in Christ?

Org: First, a look at verses 13-21 as a whole, and then we’ll focus in on verses 17-18, and close with application.

I. He gives us ammunition for abiding (vv13-21)

EXPLAIN

Ties together themes of abiding in God and He in us; love from God, love for God, love for one another; keeping His commandments by loving one another; the distinction between the Christians and the pretenders who abandon Christ, His Word, and His people.

A deeply Trinitarian passage in vv12-15 - Our testimony that the Father sent the Son to save us and our love for one another is proof that we abide in Him because we have the Holy Spirit.

v16 - completes the theme of “abiding” begun in

1 John 2:6 ESV

6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

Abiding connected to knowing & believing God’s love in Christ, and that’s the way that God brings His love to its completion in us.

vv17-18 - His love the source of our assurance and confidence

Verse 19 ties up the theme of God’s love in Christ as the source of our love

And verses 20-21 wraps up the calling to love one another in fulfillment of the New Commandment from John 13:34-35

Heart of the text in vv16-19: That those who abide in God’s love will be perfected in His love (Matt 24:13 - the one who endures to the end will be saved)

APPLY:

John wrote this letter to encourage & build up Christians in spiritual battle.

When we started our series on 1 John, I said that it would seem repetitive on first reading, but that each time John returned to a theme, he pushed it further. He’s created refrains for us.

ILLUST: Think about how often just part of a song gets stuck in your head. Or your kids’ heads. Usually a short, repetitive section.

But John has spent the whole letter filling up those themes with so much content.

THEMATIC refrains:

1 John 1:7 ESV

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

1 John 2:10 ESV

10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.

1 John 3:1 ESV

1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

1 John 3:23 ESV

23 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.

And the refrain here in verses 13-21 is verse 19:

We love because He first loved us.

What John is doing is giving us ammunition for the moments when fear rears its ugly head. Or when an opportunity to love comes our way, and we’re tempted instead to hate. Or when a temptation to walk away from God’s people rises.

John is acting as God’s resupply drop.

ILLUST: Battle of the Bulge, siege of Bastogne

In December 1944, the German armed forces launched a major counteroffensive against the Allies in the Belgian forests in what came to be known as the Battle of the Bulge.

The Allied press since D-Day had been absolutely devastating to the Germans, but they’d also ended up overextended and undersupplied.

At the start of the battle, the Germans had almost twice the men. They outnumbered the Allies in terms of tanks and artillery.

Heavy snowstorms, fog, and low clouds grounded Allied supply craft and the cold took its own toll.

The Allies stopped the German advance wherever they could, outnumbered though they were, but the fighting was hard.

The Allies knew that the town of Bastogne was an essential target for the German plans, but holding it was going to be a major challenge. The 101st Airborne arrived on Dec 19th after driving all night through the snow, joining the 969th Field Artillery Battalion and around 40 tanks with dwindling fuel reserves.

The Germans surrounded Bastogne on Dec 20th with a force outnumbering the Allies 5 to 1 and demanded surrender on Dec 22nd, to which Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe responded with a single word of refusal: “Nuts!” Which probably didn’t translate well.

Just a couple days before Christmas, the battered Allied forces were reduced to minimal food and minimal ammunition, and running out of medical supplies.

And then, the snowstorms ended, the clouds lifted, and the Allied Air forces were able to deliver a Christmas present that turned the tide: Four days of air-dropped ammunition.

Hundreds of Allied C-47s flew through German flak and AA fire to drop hundreds of tons of ammunition, rations, and medical supplies.

But perhaps the most astonishing portion of the resupply came when doctors, medics, and nurses volunteered to be dropped into Bastogne as passengers in waco gliders, unpowered transport aircraft. They were towed into the air behind C-47s, and upon release, their pilots glided to land in the fields near town. Their only hope to avoid enemy fire was limited visibility and the hand of God.

Throughout our 1 John series, we’ve seen that there are enemies who intend us spiritual harm. Some of them are the antichrists of chapter 2, who have abandoned Jesus, His Word, and His people. Others are the spiritual forces of darkness who wage war against us.

When the enemy surrounds you, the resupply comes in the form of these thematic refrains:

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.

1 John 4:4 ESV

4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

If you feel surrounded today by the enemies who wish you spiritual harm, fill up your kit with these words. Commit them to memory. <<Slugs & Bugs>>

When you hear a voice that tells you to surrender to temptation, remember these words. When you feel beaten and wounded by the spiritual battle, bind yourself up with the promise of God that whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

And just like John sent this letter to churches under siege, equip yourself with these words <<hold up Bible>> to resupply your brothers and sisters under siege.

ILLUST: Biblical Counseling as “resupply” through Scripture

ILLUST: Eric after Mom died

ILLUST: Slugs & Bugs - Gal 4:4-7, Awana YEARS later

II. He gives us confidence in God’s Love (vv17-18)

Now I want to take closer look at verses 17-18, our second point <<STATE>>

<<READ 17-18>>

Back in chapter 2:5, we first came across this idea of love being perfected in us. There as here, it is God’s love, poured into our hearts by Him, and it is God who does the perfecting over a lifetime.

According to verse 16, the confidence we can have is the result of knowing and believing the love that God has for us, and abiding in His love.

Scripture teaches us that a day is coming when God will judge all humanity, living and dead. According to Revelation 20, all those whose names are not found in the Lamb’s Book of Life will be judged according to what they have done. And every one judged on this basis will be condemned to the lake of fire.

The only escape from condemnation is to be found in the book of life, and the only way to be found in the book of life is to belong to the Lamb.

Anyone who begins to understand the holiness of God is rightly terrified of the Day of Judgment if they must stand on their own merits.

But the Christian has come to know and believe that their only hope is that another has paid their debts, and He has. Christ has stood in their place, their Advocate and Atonement.

Abiding in the love of Christ is how He casts out fear of judgment.

This casting out in verse 18 is the same phrase that Jesus uses in the Sermon on the Mount, when he talks about salt that loses its saltiness. He says it’s no longer good for anything except to be cast out and trampled under people’s feet.

Perfect love casts out fear of punishment like a tasteless condiment.

Because on the Day of Judgment, it’s Jesus who will sit on the Throne. If you’re his, and He so loved you, what do you have to fear?

Verse 17 says “Because as He is, so also are we in this world.”

He is the Son of God; by faith you are children of God

Romans 8:15 ESV

15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

He is the Beloved of the Father; see what kind of love the Father has shown us?

He is the Lamb who stands as though slain in the presence of the Father, His Body still bearing the scars that proclaim our salvation; we are His Body in the world, proclaiming His death and resurrection till He returns

Beloved, the goal of His perfect love in you is the perfected love that does not fear His judgment, and if He is on our side, what can man do to us?

John ends verse 18 with “For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”

Earlier in our series, we saw that Christians abide in Him not by their own power, but by His mighty hand. We saw that He teaches us to hold fast to His Word and commandments. And when we fail, we know that we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

But He has not yet completed His work in us, and there are days when the genuine Christian looks at the reality of death and judgment and fear rises up yet again. In that moment, look at the fear and remember: Perfect love casts out fear.

ILLUST: Every once in a while, you have to go through all the condiments in the door of the fridge and find the ones that have gone bad. For some of you, you have to grab a King Soopers bag and toss out a jar of gross mayo, a couple crusty old Dijon mustard containers (because you buy it for one recipe and then it sits there) and maybe a can of black olives you opened at Thanksgiving and forgot that you don’t like black olives.

Christian, you’ve been saved by grace through faith in Jesus, and He has paid for your sins. When Satan tries to hold up your sin to terrify you, or your heart sinks when you fall back into the same patterns of sin that you thought were long-gone, call out to your Advocate. Say “Lord, perfect love casts out fear. Today, I realize that I haven’t been perfected in love. Cast my fear out to the curb like expired mayo, and help me to know and believe the love you have for me.”

Hebrews 4:16 ESV

16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

III. Application: Abiding in God’s Love (vv16-19)

Since verses 16-19 are the heart of 1 John 4:13-21, we’re going to finish up with an application especially of verse 16 and the theme of abiding in God’s love.

A dear, dear friend this week told me that we don’t use the word “abiding” in everyday conversation. He said that we say things like, “Hang out with me,” “Let’s spend time together.”

But the picture of Allied forces at Bastogne might give an even better picture.

Abiding has to do with remaining together, no matter what, for the long haul.

<<READ v16>>

In 1992, author Stephen Ambrose wrote a powerful history of Easy Company, just one small group within the 101st Airborne that held Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. That book, now so famous, was called Band of Brothers.

They didn’t start out that way. The course of the war made them brothers. Abiding together over time. It shaped them, equipped them, changed them.

Jesus says in

John 5:24 ESV

24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

When you put your faith in Jesus, when you repented and bowed to Him as Lord, those words became true. And everyone who has come to know and believe the love that He has for us should have at least enough confidence to say, “I believe I’m forgiven, help my unbelief.”

But how do you grow in confidence before Him?

Verse 16 tells us that His love is perfected with us by abiding.

Abiding in love is like dwelling for years in a house where love reigns.

You look at those lines in the basement where dad marked your height with a pencil and then got out the tape measure to see how much you’d grown.

You sit down on the couch and remember all the movies you watched together under blankets

A house where love reigns is a haven in the storm, where the battles of life are weathered and we come through believing and knowing the love that is ours.

Abiding with God means clinging, holding fast to Him, together with His people, so that we will be shaped by His love, equipped by His love.

You can see evidence of people abiding with Him if you take a walk around the building.

Walk up the hill to the Hospitality House, and go into the basement, and find the painting of the Full Armor of God that some student made years ago.

In the Youth Group, for generations, teenagers have banded together to abide in love, and some of them are now Sunday School teachers, deacons, elders, missionaries.

If you walk down into the Fellowship Hall, you’ll see evidence of abiding. Chairs sitting out from the Koinonia Sunday School class are proof that for some twenty or thirty years, men and women have held fast to Christ together as they’ve weathered the storms of life, the enemy’s warfare, and God has not let them go. He keeps them.

If you want to kick fear to the curb, if you want to grow in Christ-like love, if you want courage in the Day of Judgment or even just courage for a hard conversation tomorrow morning, look at verse 16: <<READ 16>>

The confidence John says we can have is not self-assurance, arrogance, pride, or optimism.

This is confidence that God will remain who He has shown Himself to be in the Cross.

ILLUST:

The Psalmists knew that abiding with Him was the source of joy and confidence:

Psalm 84:1–4 ESV

1 How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! 2 My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. 3 Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. 4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah

Those who have been abiding with Him for many years will tell you that He has proven Himself faithful. He has kept His promises. He has been their shelter, their refuge, their strength.

They will tell you that coming to know and believe His love has made them long for His presence even more. They will be the first to tell you that their prayers sometimes seem to bounce off the ceiling, but they know it’s not the case, because He has shown Himself to be faithful.

They’re the first to tell you that it’s not the strength of their faith or the brilliance of their prayer life that has held them fast, but it’s been His love that has kept them.

But again and again, when saints are preparing for His presence, those who have abided with Him tell me that they are ready to enter His courts, without fear. Like Paul, at the end of his life, they tell me,

2 Timothy 4:7 ESV

7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.