I John 4:9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
I John is written to born again Christians. It warns of those who claim to be born again, but are not. Those who are truly saved do not need to be deceived by false professors. It is important for saved people to study God’s Word faithfully and be a part of a true local church. God’s Word is true. People can be deceivers. We know that the devil is behind the lost. He does not want people to know the truth. God reminds us that those who are saved have the Holy Spirit indwelling them. He will speak of the Lord Jesus Christ. He will point true saints to the truth. He will confirm the truth to the true child of God as he or she reads and studies the Word. Those who choose to study perversions will be deceived. They choose not to listen to the work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts. That is a choice, but it is a bad choice. There is such a thing as absolute truth. John was directed to remind us that this is true. In John 17:17 Jesus prayed:
John 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
It is important to note that God’s Word does not just contain the truth. It is truth. A person can believe every word that is in God’s Word. We do not need to believe the lie that many promote which states that they believe in the inspiration of the “originals”. We have looked at this before. There are no originals. God promised:
Psalm 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
I know that some of the perversions change these verses to make it seem as though God is talking of preserving people, and not the Word of God. A person can choose to believe that lie, but God shows us here and elsewhere that His Word is preserved for ever. We have been looking at the importance of living within the bounds of the love of God. Those who are saved have been saved as a result of God’s love. They have been given God’s love and they can function under His love. It is important to choose to live by God’s love once a person is saved. We have talked of the corruption in government and in society at large in the past. This month is marked as “pride” month on secular calendars. It is a month that is devoted to the debauchery of sodomy. The governments of this country are in darkness and they are promoting this abomination. To them it is a matter of vote getting. A school board in Ontario decided not to fly the sodomite flag at their schools. One of the board members stated that they would not fly the Nazi flag and they should not fly the sodomite flag either. This is coming from a religious school that is lost. Another board member objected to that comparison by stating that the sodomite flag was a flag that symbolizes love and the Nazi flag symbolizes hate. The Bible tells us that sodomy is an abomination to God.
Romans 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
You can read more on this from verse 18 and on in this chapter. It is also addressed in other passages in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Those who choose this ungodly lifestyle demonstrate a hatred for God and for others. There is no love in sodomy. Like other words, the devil is very good at distorting and changing the definition of words. True love wants the best for others. Sodomy is a selfish lust that does not even satisfy the corrupted desires of the participants. That is why sodomites devolve into other forms of debauchery. It is not loving to stick our heads in the sand and pretend this evil is not happening. We do not need to take placards to march and protest around libraries and other places. Those who are saved need to stay away from places that promote this evil. We also need to be clear in our testimony for the Lord. He will give us opportunities to speak the truth to others. We need to be willing to take those opportunities seriously and help people to see what true love is. Our text verses tell us that God demonstrated His love toward us by sending His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. God did this without man pleading for deliverance. Man was not looking for salvation. However, God knew that man needs salvation. He promised Adam that He would provide the Saviour. The world does not recognize this as love, but this is true love. God’s salvation changes the heart of the recipient. No born again Christian can be a sodomite. No born again Christian can promote sodomy. No born again Christian can live in sin. Man is privileged in the fact that God is love. The government is working overtime to try to make speaking the truth a form of hatred. We know that the Judaizers and the Roman government worked together to try to silence the truth in the first century. Saul, later Paul, sanctioned the death of Stephen and worked to imprison other true believers. His goal was to have them killed. The government did not care about this. They allowed it to take place. Stephen and others were preaching the truth. They were preaching Jesus Christ. The lost hated the truth at that time, and they still do today. The apostles did not become silent due to the threats put upon them. They prayed for boldness and they were able to help others come to know the truth. God still wants people to be saved today. It is as we proclaim the truth that people can come under conviction and be saved. When we try to compromise the truth, we lose the blessing of God. We may be able to twist people’s arms and pull on their emotions, but the fruit will not be there. It is true that those who are born again and walking humbly with the Lord, will face persecution. True Christians could face fines and prison. That did not keep the first century Christians from being true Christians. True saints live within the bounds of the love of God. They are motivated by God’s love to speak the truth and to live the truth. Keep in mind that the love of God is designed to give us life. Pastor Bartel
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