I invite you to turn in your Bibles to 1st John chapter 4. Perfect love casts out fear. How many of you have ever been afraid? Why? Was it because you didn't have perfect love? Not necessarily. I trust this morning, from this text, we'll discover what fear is, how to deal with it, and how to dwell in the love of God. It's been a while since I preached from 1 John. If your memory goes back far enough, I'm I had been making my way through 1 John. The last message from 1 John was chapter 4, the first part of the chapter where we talked about testing the spirits. Remember John, the beloved disciple of Jesus, is writing this letter to the church at large. Not necessarily a specific church, but to the church, to Christians. And John is an old man by now, as he writes. His repeated ideas in the letter reveal that John is passionate about knowing God. He's passionate about loving God. He's passionate about fellowship with God and His people. He is writing obviously under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. I think he's also writing with a worldview that was shaped with a personal encounter with Jesus Himself as a human. His perspectives were undoubtedly also formulated by the political world of that age. The great Roman Empire was in rule when John was on earth here. The Roman Empire ruled with an iron fist of control, of power, of fear, and of force. In sharp contrast to that was the kingdom of love that John witnessed Jesus bringing to earth and to those who dared follow Him. So in this text, I believe John knew from his heart and from his experience the reality of what it meant to be moved from being controlled by fear to being controlled by love. As we read the text this morning, I'm going to start in verse 7 of chapter 4 through verse 21. As we read the text, I want you to look for repeated words or phrases, and there are a number of them. I invite you to stand as we read, and let's read responsibly. I'll read verse 7, and you can read verse 8, and we'll go back and forth through the end of the chapter. First John 4, Verse 7, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 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. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwells in us, and His love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. 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. We love Him because He first loved us. In this commandment have we from him that he who loveth God love his brother also. Let's just pray again. Father, thank you for your Holy Word. Thank you for The letter that John wrote so many years ago. And thank you that has been preserved for us today. And thank you that we can study it and look into it. And again, invite your Holy Spirit to direct our time here. And we learn these truths and discover them and apply them to our lives. We ask it in the name of Jesus. Amen. You may be seated. So what were some of the repeated words and phrases you noticed from this text? Love. Love, love, love. Over and over and over again. Love or some form of the word, if I counted correctly, was found 27 times in these 15 verses. That's enough for twice in each verse. What does this word love mean? What is love? What's this love that he just can't stop writing about? The familiar Greek word, what is it? Agape. That's the love He's talking about. Now, interesting, the word agape, is that a noun or a verb? It's actually a noun, but it has a verb form and it's also found in our text. Look at verse 17, it says, it's not verse 17, verse 7. Beloved, let us love one another. That love is the verb, that's the agapio verb, agapio, because for love, or agapio is of God. In verse 18 we have it again, verse 8. He that loveth not, agapieth, agapio, knoweth not, that's the verb for God is love, agapi, love, the noun love. Here's what Vine says about agapio, in respect of agapio as used by of God, listen carefully, I think it's, it's, this is wonderful, it expresses the deep and constant love and interest of a perfect being towards entirely unworthy objects, producing and fostering a reverential love in them towards the giver, and a practical love towards those who are partakers of the same, and a desire to help others seek the giver. I hope you got that. It's amazing. This love that John is writing about. So what other words and phrases are repeated in the text? God. Yes, God is love. The name God is also just over and over and over again. And let's see, I have that somewhere. I believe it's 39 times. 39 times the word God or the pronoun for God or a name for God is found in this text. And again, it's just amazing how John is just overwhelmed with this thought of bringing God and God's love into the picture here. What other words are often repeated or at least repeated numerous times? Dwelleth. That's exactly right. The word dwelleth. We find that numerous times. That word is meno. You should be able to remember that. It means to abide, to remain, to stay. And again, it's a verb. It's an action word. Dwelleth. You find it in verse 12, 13, 15, and I think twice in verse 16. God dwelling in us, and we dwelling in God. It's a repeated emphasis. What other words do you see that are repeated? Love one another. Yes, we'll love one another. Any other words or phrases that are repeated? Know. Yes, to know. What other words? Again? Perfect. Yes. Perfect or perfected is found numerous times. It's found in verse 12, verse 17 and Twice in verse 18. What does the word perfect mean? Does that word scare you? Cause you to fear? Complete or whole. It doesn't mean in this case to be flawless. We could rightly substitute the word perfect for complete. So we could read, we could read verse 18, there is no fear in love, but complete love casts out fear. He that feareth is not made complete in love. So the word perfect meaning the word complete. There's one more word that is repeated and it's repeated four times in verse 18. It's the word fear or some form of the word. So verse 18 is kind of our focus as we begin the message, but then I want to reach out into the other verses as well, some of them. In verse 18, we have fear and love meeting. Maybe a better word for meeting would be clashing. I believe there are two very powerful emotions coming together, or trying to come together. He's bringing them together. They're presented in verse 18, fear and love. According to verse 18, wouldn't it appear That it's either fear or love. One or the other. If you have love, fear's gotta go. Now, I'm not sure, but wouldn't you agree that both are emotions? Fear and love? Aren't they both emotions? Actually, they include emotions at least. They're not just totally just emotions, but they are emotions. And wouldn't you agree that both are choices? Perhaps at least reflective of our choices. You already know the outline this morning for the message. First of all, defining fear, dealing with fear, and dwelling in the love of God. So, looking at defining fear, what is fear? What do you think about when you think about fear? Maybe we should have began with love, but we'll get to that. What is fear? I think all of you said you experienced it. It's not a trick question. Let me, I'll give you some time to think about it, and then maybe we'll get back to your responses. The Greek word for fear is phobos, where we get our English word phobia from. It actually This Greek word has a variety of meanings. So, when it talks about fear in the New Testament, one meaning of the word is dread or terror. And what we think about is fear, being afraid. But the same word is also used to describe a reverent fear of God. So, the word can be used either way. In 1 John 4, according to Vine's dictionary though, the meaning of this word fear is dread or terror. We're talking about being afraid of something. Now, the word fear, I didn't come up with this count, but I read in a book that The word fear is found 400 times in the Bible. Afraid is found more than 200 times. And the Bible tells us more than 300 times not to fear. Isn't that amazing? It's the most repeated command in Scripture. Fear not. Don't be afraid. Now the dictionary says, fear is a distressing emotion aroused by pending danger, evil, pain, et cetera, whether, and listen carefully, whether the threat is real or imagined. Here's a quote. Someone said, is the tyrant of the imagination. It imposes itself upon us from the shadows, from its hazy mirror of maybe." Someone wrote this confession about his fears In part, he said, the elusive monster of fear lurks in the shadows, waiting to claw my soul to shreds. I see its ugly face often when I'm struggling with the emotional stress of a difficult relationship, when I'm afraid failure is just around the corner, when success seems too hard to handle, and on days when free-floating anxiety is getting the best of me." End quote. What's that free-floating anxiety all about? Wouldn't you agree that most fears are based on future maybes. In other words, a fear of fear. So what do people fear? What do people fear the most? Now, excuse the source for this, but a Google search explain the top 10 things people fear the most. Number one, public speaking. Number two, heights. Number three, going to the dentist. Number four, snakes. Number five, flying. Number six, spiders and insects. Number seven, enclosed spaces. Number eight, mice. Number nine, dogs. Number 10, thunder and lightning. Here are a few things famous people from the past feared. I don't know if you knew George Washington was scared to death of being buried alive. Richard Nixon was terrified of hospitals. And Napoleon, the military and political genius of all things, feared cats. And did you know there is a word for fear of cats? If I can pronounce it, it's eilerophobia. Eilerophobia. Now, when we're talking about fear, I think it's important that we clarify that not all fear is negative or wrong. Okay? A healthy fear of danger, for instance, is necessary for our safety and well-being. That's not the kinds of fear we're talking about this morning. The Google list isn't the kind of fears we're talking about this morning. The kind of fear this morning that is, that is, is the one that is, that we're concerned about is the one that controls or immobilizes us. The fears that steal our joy The fears that rob us of our sleep. The fears that overwhelm us and consume us with our energies and our focus. What are the fears that control people's lives? What is your greatest fear? Do you have any? Fear of God? We ought to have the fear of God for sure. A reverent fear of God. Some people are afraid of him though. They say if you're quiet long enough people will speak. This, I know this can be a maybe a sensitive question. Maybe it's fairly personal. There's something you really fear. How about failure? Anybody ever feared failure? How about rejection? How about loneliness? How about financial loss? How about disease? Sickness? How about death. How about the future? In our context in the text, I think one of the fears that John, I believe, had in mind is fear of judgment. Look at verse 17. Herein is a love made complete, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment. When you think of Judgment Day, Does it strike fear in your heart? Or do you have confidence? Do we have greater confidence? Do we have terror assurance? Now, we've all, I think I can say all of us, most of us, We've grown up hearing that there is going to be a day of judgment. A day when the wrath of God is going to be poured out on the wicked. The same John that wrote this letter also wrote the book of Revelation. And in the book of Revelation, John describes some fearful things that are going to take place at the end of the world. And in chapters about 5, 6, 7, 8, he writes about seven seals that are going to be opened. And there's going to be a terrible display of God's judgment and wrath. In fact, he writes that it's going to be so terrible that when that seven seal was opened, there was silence in the heavens. And I know that I'm not sure how to reckon this, but because there is no time in eternity, right? But it says there was silence for half an hour. I believe it was because of the terribleness of what was in that seal. Now, I don't know when these things are going to take place that John wrote about in Revelation. It's not a matter of if they're going to take place, it's a matter of when. But imagine yourself being alive and here on planet Earth when the sixth seal is open. And John describes what that's going to look like In chapter 6, chapter 6 verses 13 and 17, let me just read it. Stars of heaven are going to fall from onto the earth, even as a fig tree casts her untimely figs, for she is shaken of a mighty wind. The heaven departed as a scroll that is rolled together, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the day of wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand? Can't you almost feel the pure terror in the hearts of men that aren't prepared to meet God. And then Luke also writes about this terror of the end times in his gospel, and he says, men's hearts failing, them for fear and for looking for those things which are coming on the earth for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. People that don't know God personally, crying for the rocks and mountains to cover them so they won't have to face God. Can you think of any greater terror or fear than that? I couldn't. I'm glad I can tell you this morning that if anyone is in that kind of fear, there's still opportunity today to go from fear to confidence. And Lord willing, we're going to give you that opportunity at the end of the message. We could, there's, there would be so much more to talk about fear and what kinds of fear and all that. But let's, let's move on to looking at How do we deal with fear? The fear that controls people's lives. Verse 18 in our text says we're to cast it out. The word for cast is a rather strong word and a verb. It means to throw out more or less violently and with or intensely. Your fear can have such a powerful hold or grip that it takes a power greater than fear to overcome it. And it says then, because fear hath torment, Or that means that fear has pain or punishment. Think of how miserable and how painful it is to have fear control your life. Now, these are just some observations. They're homemade observations, if you please. What happens when you fear rejection? Aren't you going to most likely focus your life on building walls around you to protect you from those who you think won't accept you? If you fear financial loss, Most likely you're going to live in a selfish umbrella of accumulation and hoarding. If you fear losing your health, I don't know, you might become a health nut. Pardon the expression. If you live controlled by a fear of death, I don't think you're going to be very alive in the moment. Because all your focus is there. If you live in constant fear of judgment, well, you need God. How do we How do we deal with these fears? Do we just live with them the best we can and hope for the best? Well, the instructions are fairly simple and clear. It says complete love is going to cast out those controlling fears. But really, do you believe that? Do you really believe that? How does that look like? Let's go to the last part of the message, dwelling in the love of God. So far we focused a lot on fear. Let's turn our attention now to love. God's love is more powerful than fear. Amen? When the love of God dwells in our hearts, fear has to flee. It's like turning on the light in a dark room. The darkness needs to go. But how do we get this love of God to dwell in our hearts? Well, He gives us clear instructions for this as well. Look at verse 15. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, what does it say? God dwelleth in Him, and He in God. You know, this was This was a big deal in John's day. There were many who did not believe that Jesus was the Son of God. But John saw Jesus with his own eyes. He was a first person witness. And he couldn't get over this truth. Well, it's a big deal in our day too, isn't it? It's of utmost importance that we confess that Jesus is the Son of God. Romans 10 9 and 10 says, If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, finish it, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. When we do that, When we confess Jesus, according to verse 15, God dwells in us, and we dwell in God. Now look at verse 16, And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love. He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. When God is in us, God is love, and so when God is in us, His love is in us. His love dwells in us. And when His love dwells in us, what happens to fear? Has to go. Isn't that amazing? It is so simple. It's almost like we're in kindergarten. But it's so powerful. We'll leave it at that. I could go on a little bunny trail, but we'll leave it. Not only does John tell us how we receive the love of God in our hearts, he tells us how we can know that he dwells there. How can we know? John gives us two ways we can know God dwells in us and His love is dwelling in us. The first one is in verse 13, Hereby we know that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His, what is it? Spirit. Capital S? Yes. capital S. That means it's the Holy Spirit. And isn't it truly amazing that the God of such love actually dwells in our hearts by His Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. And just as a side note, if you follow through here, verse 13 mentions the Spirit, verse 14 mentions the Father and the Son, so you have the Trinity right there. So if we confess that Jesus is the Son of God and we repent of our sins, the Holy Spirit dwells in us, and so we can know the love of God is in us by the witness of His Spirit. Secondly, how do we know the Spirit, how do we know God's love dwells in us? Verse 12, If we love one another, God dwelleth in us and His love is perfected or completed in us. When we love God and God is in us, His love is in us, it spreads out to loving our brother. He says, I know you love me when you love your brother. And verse 20 and 21 he picks up this idea again, and here he gives the argument that how can we say we love God, have you ever seen God? How can we say we love God whom we haven't seen when we don't love our brother whom we can see? Now the word, the word hate here is I don't like it. It's a strong word. It means to detest. It means to persecute. Now, it's talking about brothers. It's talking about the person you're sitting next to in the pew. Now, I don't think any of us would say we hate our brother. But I need to tell you that included in this definition for hate is love less. If we love our brother less, we're hating our brother. And the love of God isn't dwelling in us. Well, we've tried to take the text apart a bit and study it more closely. We've tried to define fear. We've looked at how to deal with it. We've tried to explain what it looks like to have God's love dwell in us. Now I'd like to kind of put it back together again and conclude with giving an overall picture of the passage. What is actually, what have we been talking about? Here it is. Whatever fear you're facing, that is controlling or crippling your life, the love of God in your heart is the answer to driving away any dark fears you may have hidden deep inside you. The key to overcoming fear is having God dwell in our hearts, not just in our minds or our intellects. but in our hearts. How many of you believe that God is in control? Do you believe that? Of everything? God controls everything? Do you believe God cares about you and has His best interest in mind for you? Do you believe that? Does that leave any reason or room that we need to fear? I don't think so. Now again, this sounds very simplistic and a bit idealistic. What are some practical ways to dispel fear? And I, I have this acronym on your handout for fear, and we're not going to spend time, a lot of time here. Just the F stands for facing your fears. You're running from them. Doesn't dismiss them, does it? E is for expressing them, being honest about them and identifying them. A is for applying scripture to your fears. Pretty much find a verse for fear that you have with about 400 to choose from. There's plenty there. Let me give you two, Psalm 56.3. What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee. Isaiah 12, 2, I'm just going to read part of the verse. Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. R, and the word fear is to reach out to trusted friend, brother, or sister to help you overcome your fears. In a moment, I'm going to give you an opportunity. Simply invite you to, if you find yourself being controlled by fear, to find help for your fears and overcoming them. Perhaps this morning, perhaps you've never confessed Jesus as Lord of your life. Maybe you're here living in fear of judgment. You don't have to. I can tell you that it is absolutely amazing to have the fear of judgment be replaced with peace and confidence. Now, I'm not suggesting that removal of fear should be our highest motive to confess Jesus. God's love should be our highest motive to serve Him. But Jesus is the answer to removing fear from our lives, especially fear of Judgment Day. Or perhaps you have some other fear in your life that is controlling you and you simply want freedom. And I'm going to invite you to come forward and give your fears to Jesus. And don't fear what others think. We'll have someone pray with you through your fears. Let's stand and we'll pray. And then after the prayer, just remain standing and we'll have Conrad sing Lead us in page number 629, Song Just As I Am. Let's sing verses 1, 3, and 5. Let's stand and pray and we'll open the invitation. Father God, we come to you in reverence and awe. Thank You for Your faithfulness to us. Thank You for the indwelling Holy Spirit in our lives, the filling of Your love in our hearts that removes fear. Lord, as we've looked at this passage this morning, the overwhelming love that You have for us, and You want to deliver us from any fear that is in our hearts. You've provided for all those fears. You've given the very best, Your Son, Jesus, to remove any guilt and fear. Lord, just pray that as You've taught us these truths this morning, we just pray that should there be someone here this morning that is struggling with fear in their hearts and perhaps fear of judgment, Lord, we pray that Even today, they would find freedom and come to peace. And Lord, may you just just work in each heart this morning. Perhaps someone is here and fears other things that are robbing them of their peace and would just like freedom. And this morning we commit each one to you. Strengthen us and keep us and just just guide us, we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask it. Amen.