Scripture reading First John chapter four. Please keep Judy Connor in prayer. Paul will be with us in two weeks. The P.A.R.B.C. Spring Conference was this past week in Catanning Pennsylvania and Paul was there and they had one of their a lady from their church stay with Judy while Paul was away and Judy has a defibrillator I think it is. And something happened, an incident during the conference where it shocked her heart and literally threw her out of the chair. And Paul had to go home from the conference. And I have never met anyone that has been through as much as Judy Connor has. And everything she goes through, both Paul and Judy through this whole thing have just demonstrated a very precious perspective. They've never complained. They've always just rejoiced in the Lord. It is amazing. So I'm really excited about Paul coming. He is a special brother in the Lord, and I appreciate his leadership in an association, a fellowship of churches in Pennsylvania. He has provided help to so many churches and more and more churches are in crisis. We're at a record number of churches that are without pastors now. I think it's 16. And so you need to be praying for churches across America and across Pennsylvania especially. There are less and less, one of the things we're learning is a lot of people that are graduating from Bible college do not want smaller churches. They want a larger church with a certain salary and certain benefits. They certainly are not interested in a tent-making ministry. In other words, working a side job while trying to build a church up. And so it is getting harder and harder to find young men from Bible schools to pastor churches. And Paul has less and less resumes to offer these churches. So please pray. We passed two resolutions this past week. One is on gambling. I don't know about you, but we have been bombarded. with you know once Pennsylvania made gambling legal this whole sports betting it is being thrown in our face and as a pastor I know that it's just going to be a matter of years before we have to pick up the pieces of lives that are destroyed because of financial the financial unwiseness but that's not the word uh... but you know the people of that again they get caught up in this sports betting and gambling and it's just horrible share with you or not might put on the back the uh... resolution we pass and then there's another resolution we passed on transparency in education uh... the pennsylvania legislature passed a a bill recently that would that would make educational institutions have to have transparency in the curriculum that they are disseminating to our children, and Governor Wolf vetoed that. It was great legislation, and we are greatly concerned about the influence of critical race theory, theory transgenderism, you know, all these things are being shoved down children's throats. And prior to the COVID quarantine, this was going on, but a lot of parents were not aware of it. Now we're made aware of it, and we need to pray. We need to pray for our commonwealth. All right, 1 John chapter four. Let's all stand for the reading of God's word. Tonight we are going to look at chapter four, verse 17 and 18. 1 John chapter four, verses 17 and 18. John says, herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love. But perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. May God bless his word, and please bow with me in prayer. Father, we're so grateful again for the privilege of gathering together. Thank you so much, Father, for those that made a point to be here tonight, to worship, to fellowship, to not forsake the assembling of their selves. Lord is an encouragement to me to have people to preach to. I'm very grateful for the people that are online. Lord, I pray that you'd bless your word. I pray that that you would bless Bible Baptist Church and the ministry of the scriptures. Help us to be true to your word. Help us to disseminate your word. I pray that more and more souls would hear the gospel and be saved. I pray, Father, that you would grant us a harvest of souls. and father that we would be diligent in spreading the gospel we ask your blessing on the scriptures tonight in jesus precious name amen you may be seated tonight as we continue to go through the epistle of first john again we come to chapter four verses seventeen and eighteen where we learn about love of course the theme has been love i remind you That if there is a book in the Bible that is a love book, it would be 1 John. We're all familiar with the love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13. The word agape, translated charity, is used nine times in 1 Corinthians 13. It's the most popular, the most often quoted Scripture when it comes to love the first John 4 is really the love chapter because it uses the word agape translated love 26 times but the whole book of 1st John is the love book of In 1 John chapter 4, or I just said that, 1 John chapter 4, it's used 26 times. In chapter 5, it is used 5, or excuse me, in chapter 2, it's used 5 times, the word love. In chapter 3, the word love, agape, is used 14 times. And in chapter 5, it's used 5 times. So all that together The entire book of 1st John uses the word love 50 times, in only five chapters, 50 times. So it is the love book. And so we are going to learn about love, but tonight we learn, we get a little insight into something about love that we don't learn in 1st Corinthians chapter 13, and it is only mentioned in one verse, verse 18. And that is the relationship of love to fear, or the relationship of fear to love. In fact, when you study 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter, There's no reference to fear. And in all of this epistle, 1 John 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, no reference to fear except in verse 18. And it's used several times. So let's look at verse 17 and 18 as we talk about fearless love. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. And this is such a great verse, verse 18. There is no fear in love. Notice it doesn't say there is little fear. It says there is no fear in love. But perfect love casteth out fear because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. Here's the outline. We'll see how far we get tonight. For number one, perfect love produces humble confidence. Verse 17. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment. Number two, perfect love eliminates fear. There is no fear in love. Perfect love casts out fear. And then three, and this is the flip side of that second point, that love eliminates fear. Perfect love is absent with fear. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. So we're going to talk about fear, fearless love. And it's important for me to point out tonight that this text and this identification of fear, there's a good kind of fear and there's a bad kind of fear. It's so clear in scripture. There's many instances in the Bible that talk about a healthy fear. In the fear of the Lord, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom. Proverbs says, in the fear of the Lord is strong confidence, and his children shall have a place of refuge. So fear can be good, and then fear can be very bad. In fact, this text, it's using fear in the negative way. I love going to, in Exodus chapter 20, we see the two fears in one verse. In one text, in Exodus chapter 20, Moses is on the mount getting the Ten Commandments, and come to verse 18, it says, the people saw the thundering and the lightning, and they moved away from the mountain. And then as Moses came down, they said to Moses, you speak with us and we'll hear you, but don't let God speak to us or we will die. They were petrified. They were fearful. Because of this awesome demonstration of God's power and then in verse 20 Exodus 20 verse 20 Moses made a very amazing statement He said fear not For God is come to prove you and that his fear may be before your faces Wait a minute He's on one hand. He's saying don't fear God just wants you to fear him what? Fear not. God has come to prove you that his fear may be before your faces. We see that's the, those two instances of fear, both the same original word, there's two kinds of fear. There's the bad fear, and by the way, a lot of that has to do with the object of your fear. Remember Jesus said in, I think Matthew 10, 28, fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. So the fear of the Lord is a good thing. The fear of man is a bad thing. But in this text we learn in verse 18 that perfect love casts out fear. Because fear has torment. So let's look, beginning in verse 17. Perfect love produces humble confidence. Herein is our love made perfect. This is a phrase that's used throughout these two verses. A perfect love, a love is being perfected. Herein is our love made perfect. That we may have boldness in the day of judgment. Because as he is, so are we in the world. Boldness in the day of judgment. That is an amazing thing. How can we have boldness in the day of judgment when God is a holy God and you and I are sinners and we have all fallen short of the glory of God. The key is in the second part of verse 17 here it is our love made perfect that we may have boldness in the day of judgment because as he is so are we in this world. You see, to the believer, our identity is so connected with Jesus Christ that the confidence that we have, and this is how the love of God is perfected in us, is that when we think about Judgment Day, we can have boldness. How does that happen? It doesn't happen apart from our identity in Jesus Christ. As He is, so are we in this world. So tonight, if you are a born-again, blood-washed believer, you stand complete in Him. And you have every reason to be confident when you think about Judgment Day. A couple verses. Romans 8 and verse 1. Remember this one? There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are, what? In Christ Jesus. Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. So it doesn't just say there's no condemnation to anybody, it says there's no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Again, our identity in Christ is what brings that perfect love so that when we think of Judgment Day, we can have boldness. In Philippians chapter three in verse nine, or in Philippians chapter three in the early part of that chapter, Paul lists the things that he formally trusted in as a religious pharisee. He was a pharisee of the Pharisees, circumcised the eighth day, he lists off all his accolades, the things that as a Jewish rabbi or pharisee, he prided himself in these things. And then he says, these were things that were gained to me, but now he counts them lost, or lost for Christ. In fact, counting them as dung that he may win Christ and then in verse 8 of Philippians chapter 3 or verse 9 he says and be found in him not having mine own righteousness which is of the law but that which is true for the faith of Christ the righteousness which is of God by faith So Paul no longer, all those things that he prided in, that he was counting on on Judgment Day. Remember Paul would write this to the Ephesians. For by grace are you saved through faith, and not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of works, lest what? Any man should boast. And that's what Paul used to do. That's what a lot of us used to do. If you were religious, you may very well have hung out your religious deeds to be proud of. And if anybody asked you if you were gonna go to heaven, you're like, of course, I go to church every Sunday, I do this. And you start ticking off all the things. And that's what Paul did. They were gained to him previously. But his identity is no longer in that. His identity is in who He is in Christ. And that's what produces the confidence, the boldness in the Lord's coming. Earlier on, John said this in chapter 3, 1 John 3, 2. He said, Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And what did verse 17 say of our text tonight? Because as he is, so are we in the world. It's important that you and I understand that this context of being bold in the day of judgment is not arrogance. And it could be if you and I were trusting in our own works. It's kind of like Hebrews chapter four, you may remember that. In Hebrews chapter four, it's talking about the high priest ministry of Jesus. It says, we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. That is an invitation for us to boldly enter into God's throne room. Now again, that is not an arrogance. There are some people that approach the throne room very arrogantly. Or just talking about it. I can't wait to see, I can't wait till I see the man upstairs. I got some questions to ask him. You ever hear someone say something like that? You know. I got news for you. Job thought, Job had a lot of questions for God. And you just read through the book of Job and there's question after question. He just wants to, he wants an audience with God so he can have his questions answered like so many. And he got his audience with God. You know how many questions God answered? Zero. You know how many questions God asked? That's the point. You see, God is the judge. And God is the one that asks the questions. But you and I who have put him in his rightful place, you and I have understood that we don't deserve to enter into God's throne. Only because of Jesus can we enter boldly. And the same here. Our confidence in judgment day. Again, herein is our love made perfect that we may have boldness in the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in this world. It is not because of what we have done. Understand that. Your confidence, my confidence, does not come in our performance purely on Christ. I've shared with you, in fact some of you may have met Mary's dear Aunt Nancy. She came to this church many times over the years. This would be Ed Tomkwitz's sister who has passed away. And I had mentioned before, when I talk about three, the three men in my life that have impacted me the most are men that, if you wanted to use an excuse of their bad upbringing, none of these men should have been a positive influence. because none of had good father figures are good living situations my father's dad my grandfather died when my father was three or four years old never had a bad and and a lot of people don't have dads will use that as an excuse so why they're lousy fathers my dad was a is an awesome father my father-in-law or my pastor i mention him uh... his dad was an alcoholic and uh... he learned early on as a christian and cherish that verse that says that God will be a father to the fatherless. And then my father-in-law, his parents, it was not the ideal home, and I'm not here to trash my wife's grandparents, because she loved them dearly. In fact, she was named after her grandmother. But it was not a loving home. And that's why I marvel at my father-in-law, because he is such a great role model. But his sister, Aunt Nancy, what a precious gem. This dear lady did not have love or acceptance in the home. She didn't. And so, as many do, she went and found love, and she got married to a man that she did not find love or acceptance in that relationship. And that ended up ending in divorce. And then she married another man, and she seemed to find love and acceptance for a little while, and then that went south. And this poor lady just did not ever get that kind of love or acceptance. She was once asked by a good friend of hers, when they were both single, after she had broken up from her second marriage, And this friend said, don't you feel alone? And our dear Nancy emphatically, emphatically said, I'm not alone, I've got Jesus. And she meant it 100%. After Nancy's death, the night of her funeral service, her friend went home and remembered Nancy's words. And she shared with the family that It was then, the first time ever, that she also no longer felt alone. I love that Nancy what a gem. Now you know I'm reminded of Ephesians chapter one in verse three says blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who have blessed us with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places according as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love or six to the praise of the glory of his grace where in he hath made us accepted in the beloved. Nancy understood love and acceptance, not in a parental relationship, which would have been nice, not in a marital relationship, which would have been nice. She found it in her relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And by the way, it's been a few years now. She is rejoicing in the presence and the security of a savior. Verse 18, I love this verse. Perfect love eliminates fear. 1 John 4, 18, there is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment. What a great verse. There is no fear in love. Perfect love casteth out fear because fear hath torment. You and I can relate to that, that kind of a torment, that disturbing spirit that robs us of peace. Think about what verse 18 is saying. It is saying there is no fear in love. When you and I wrestle with fear, You and I, that's like the warning flag, because in fact this goes both ways. It says, there's no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear. Fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. It's like the flip side. So when you and I struggle with fear, the challenge is, it's telling us that we've got some more room to grow in love. The less secure you and I are, the further away we are from the love of God. I read the testimony of a gal, actually read her husband's works more than her. Her name is Joy Vignot. I'm not sure how to pronounce that last name, but I want to read to you her testimony. Because she wrote an article about her experience, and it's called Sacrificial Love. She says, I was raised in a Christian home, but in my teens and early twenties I became very skeptical of Christian claims. The Bible, and especially of God himself. Looking back, I cannot say I really doubted the existence of God, although I think I made that claim. No, as I reflect on it, I did believe that he was there. But I did not like him very much, or at least not the God I thought he was at the time. I want you to pay attention to this. She said, I can honestly say I did not know who I was rejecting, because I really did not know him as I know him now. I did not see him as a father, but as a judge, not as a friend, but as a powerful bully. I truly enjoyed doubting God, finding supposed problems in scripture, discussing with my friends the deep and good reasons why we should not have to believe in God, or if He did exist, reasons to doubt He was good. It is strange to recall that all the while I doubted God, nevertheless I thought my doubts were hurting His feelings. Yet, if I was truly convinced that God was not good, why would I suppose I could hurt his feelings? Illogical. Yes, perhaps, but it fits what we know about human nature. We are far more likely to test the forbearance of those whose goodness we are fairly sure of. She said this, and I feel bad for her mother. She said, in my case, I vexed my mother with doubts and love to throw up unanswerable, I thought, problems in her face. One Bible passage in particular I love to hate was in Genesis 22. where Abraham was asked by God to sacrifice his son Isaac on an altar. What, I can hear myself say, this supposedly good God is asking this man, whom he supposedly loves so much, to kill his only son with a knife? And then offer him up as a burnt offering on an altar? You've got to be kidding me! That is sadistic, sick, what kind of a monster God, that's what everybody that is skeptical uses that phrase, would even ask such a thing? What if he asked you to kill me? She says to her mother. Would you do it? And so forth. She says, deliciously enough, my mom didn't seem to know how to answer that one at all. So I thought I had her. What a brat. That's her comment now that she's an adult. Okay, so I had to endure my mother's curse of, quote unquote, hope you have one just like you. but I merely laughed in the face of danger and continued my daring taunts. These curses cannot truly inspire fear until one is in a position to fully understand the implications of such things. When one has teenagers of one's own, and then of course it is forever too late. But anyway, it's funny to me now, she says, this passage of scripture, once proof enough for me of God's basic barbarity, is now to me an awesome and wonderful picture of God's love for us. Isn't that interesting? She used to look at the challenge of Abraham to offer up his son, and that, in her mind, communicated a barbaric God. Now that she's saved, it is just the opposite. Remember that, a savor of life unto life, and a savor of death unto death? That's what it is. She said, while we were helpless, ungodly, and sinners when Christ chose to give his life on our behalf, not mere strangers, we were enemies of God. such a strong term enemies take a look around you ask yourself why so many of those who say they disbelieve in the God of the Bible are not neutral towards him at all but actively detest him just like I did myself once upon a time did you ever wonder why it is that according to the Bible though even if one has no emotion or animus toward God we are all born enemies of God and she goes on She said, there is something though, that I believe would get me willingly up on that cross. And if you're a parent, maybe you can identify. A simple choice might do it. Mom or dad, either you or your daughter are going up on the cross, you or your son. We either are going to strip, beat and torture your daughter and drive those nails into her flesh, or you can go in her place. What will it be? Parental love is so strong that even from here I can hear you say, take me, I'll go. Do what you must to me, but leave my daughter alone. Don't touch my son. If you have children, you understand that. She said, I'm strongly reminded of the truth of this even today. An article in the Chicago Tribune starts out with these words. A 14-year-old high school student convicted of plotting to kill his mother was released Monday into the custody of his mother, who said, I love my son. I have nothing to fear. He told me he was sorry. That really says it, doesn't it? Her trust in her son may be foolish, but it gives powerful testimony to the unshakeable and sacrificial love of a parent. What an amazing thing that our God gave his only begotten son, not because of us being worthy, but purely because, in fact, what's the Bible say, the very next verse? We're gonna look at it next week, maybe? We love him, why? because He first loved us. I want to take a couple minutes and just close with a story that was a blessing to me. As you know, there's the Vietnam Memorial Wall, and there was a name that was put on it in the last few years of a man that fought in Vietnam. And his story, it's actually the story of his wife, is very amazing. And I want to share with you this powerful testimony And this article that I'm reading from came out in 2007, November 10th, 2007, came out over the Associated Press. Starts out like this, the telegram that arrived on November 15th, 1969 was not pessimistic. Here was the telegram. Private First Class Johnny O. Brooks was slightly wounded in action. It gave 20-year-old Flora Brooks, recently married, no hint of how much her life was about to change. It goes on, the telegram, since he is not, repeat, not seriously injured, no further reports will be furnished. So she got married, in fact, three weeks after their wedding, he went off to war. Today they are growing old together, but not in the way either had envisioned. There were no children, no exotic vacations, not even any more of the simple fishing trips they had enjoyed before Johnny Brooks was drafted into the army three weeks after their wedding and sent to Vietnam. Despite the tone of the 1969 telegram, Johnny Brooks was wounded so severely by a mortar explosion that he lost most of his blood. While being prepared for skin graft surgery on a shredded back, he went into cardiac arrest and suffered serious brain damage. He was not expected to survive. He returned home without a leg and soon lost the other, along with his ability to speak and the use of his arms. And that's the end of my story. I didn't print up the fourth page, but I remember, because he'd since died, I think it was 2017. So this lady, after he got out of the hospital, she took care of him for the next 31 years of her life. Her life basically revolved around this man. She had a bed, a medical bed in their living room, and she had a small bed in the same room, and she just, she tended to this man 24-7. never going out on her own, maybe once or twice, but she just served him, and he could not respond. She would read scriptures to him, and his only communication was eye contact. And here's what she said. She said, I am so thankful to have married my husband. She said that she was happy to be married to this man for so long, that she has no regrets, What an amazing testimony, because what did she get out of it? I'm sure she had expectations when she got married, that I'm gonna get some needs met, and it ended up being that for decades, he could do nothing to earn her love. What a demonstration of love. And she had no regrets, she loved him intensely. Now, you know, I'm reminded of Christ's love for us. Folks he loved us with that kind of a love that is not based on. It's not that we give him such fulfillment or we're such great people to love. He loves us. The only reason we love him why is because he first loved us. Now, let's rejoice tonight that there is no fear in love. Folks, when it comes to our relationship with God, when it comes to the day of judgment, we have confidence, not in our works, but in His love. Let's rest in that love. Father, thank You for Your Word. Help us to rejoice tonight. in not our worthiness to be loved, Father, but your ability to love, your great love for us. And I pray, Father, that you'd help us to realize during those times when our love is not perfected, that We would understand that perfect love casts out fear. Help us to memorize this verse and hide it in our heart so that it might be our practical experience, that we might draw upon it during those times when our love is being tested. And we ask your blessing tonight. In Jesus' precious name, amen. Let's take our hymn books, let's stand, and we will close in song.