The following is a message given at Sovereign Grace Bible Church in Worland, Wyoming. Father, thank you for this day and thank you that we can meet once again with your people to be instructed from your word. Father, we pray that you will meet with us in the preaching of the word this morning, instructing our hearts, instructing our minds, teaching us how to live godly in this present age. And Father, we pray that the love of Christ would be known amongst us today, the love that we have received. Lord, we also pray that the love we received would flow through us to your people so that we would love the people of God more and better. And we pray this in Jesus's name. Amen. During the late 1800s, there was a preacher in Kansas named Charles Sheldon, and Sheldon wrote a book entitled, In His Steps. And the subtitle of that book was, What Would Jesus Do? And then in 1989, a lady named Janie Tinklingberg got a hold of that book and she started teaching it to her youth group. And part of how she was teaching it to her youth group is she made some bracelets for them that had the acronym WWJD on the bracelets. Well, those bracelets exploded and became very popular and T-shirts were printed, bracelets were made, bumper stickers were made. There was even a board game called WWJD. More than teaching people to ask the question, what would Jesus do? WWJD became a symbol that people would use to publicly identify themselves as Christians. And so you would walk past someone in the late 80s and early 90s, and they'd have a WWJD t-shirt on, and you would initially think, there's a Christian. It became a symbol of identifying with the people of God. WWJD bracelets and t-shirts aren't the only way that people have tried to identify themselves as Christians. And so throughout the ages, people have done things like put fish bumper stickers on their cars or put Bible verses on the bottom of their checks. This has gone on even longer than checks have been around. Between 150 and 400 AD, there were hundreds of early Christians who were buried in the catacombs in Rome. And if you go and you look at the grave markings carved into the stone, you'll see fish. You'll see anchors, both early Christian symbols identifying Christians. You'll even see some where they have chi and rho, the first two letters of the Greek alphabet that would be used to spell the name Christ carved into these stones. Throughout all of history, followers of Christ have wanted in some way to publicly identify themselves as Christians so that people would look at them and know that's a Christian. They've done it through key chains, they've done it through t-shirts, they've done it through tombstones, and they've done it with bumper stickers. This morning in 1 John 4-5, we're gonna see that one of the surest ways to publicly identify a Christian is by their love for the people of God. If you've been with us for the last three or four weeks, you know we're in the middle of a series answering the question, how do I know if I'm a Christian? We started by asking the question, do you know you're a sinner? God's people identify themselves as sinners. They recognize, I have sinned against my God, I violated his law, and because of that I am justly deserving of his wrath. But God's people are also people who have heard the gospel. We saw the second week. They're also people who have heard the gospel, the good news about how Jesus came into the world, took on flesh, died in the place of sinners, was buried and rose from the dead three days later. And there are people that have embraced that message by faith. We also saw last week that God's people are characterized, they're marked by a life of holiness. holiness, the writer of Hebrews says, without which no one will see the Lord. This morning in 1 John 4-5, we're going to see that God's people are also identified by Christian love. So, if you have a Bible, turn over to 1 John 4. 1 John 4, and I'm going to start reading in verse 7, and I'm going to read all the way down to chapter 5, verse 5. 1 John 4, starting in verse 7. that God sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through him. And this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation of our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us and his love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in Him and He is in God. And we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love. And he who abides in love abides in God and God in him. Love has been perfected among us in this, that we might have boldness in the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in this world. There's no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love him because he first loved us. If someone says, I love God and hates his brother, he's a liar. For he who does not love his brother who he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from him. that he who loves God must love his brothers also. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God and everyone who loves him, who begot also loves him who is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God that we might keep his commandments and his commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that's overcome the world, even our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God? More than likely, the book of 1 John was written to a group of Christians who were meeting in a house church in Ephesus. And in that church, there was a group of false teachers that arrived, probably from actually inside the church. Even though this group of false teachers had left the church, they had done damage before they left. They continued to stir up hostility amongst the people of God. And even though they were physically gone, their teaching, the influence of their teaching was still present in this church. And at the heart of their false teaching was that Christ was not really the Messiah. neither was he the son of God. And because this group of false teachers came from inside the church, their influence was great. And so they're teaching Jesus is not the Messiah, he's not the son of God, and there's these people in this church who are left in the church, even though the false teachers have gone away, and they're starting to wonder if maybe these false teachers are right. they're having doubts about whether Christ really is the Messiah. Is my faith in Christ justified? Maybe I too should defect from the faith and go off and do my own thing somewhere else. And so the book of 1 John is written to these Christians in Ephesus to encourage them to stay the course. to encourage them that their faith in Christ is justified. It should be in Christ, because that's the only place there is. And so John writes this book to help the people of God look for certain identifying marks in their own life to say, it's obvious my faith is justified, because look at what Christ is doing in my life. And so, in our context, we would say the book of 1 John is written to help us have assurance. It's written to show us identifying marks of how do I know if I'm a Christian? So the book of 1 John actually follows this outline that's summarized in chapter 5, 1 through 5. Notice, if you're still in chapter 5, what he says in verse 1. In chapter 5, verse 1, he gives us a test of faith, and he says, do we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God? If you believe in Christ, you are one of his people. Then in verse three, he gives us the test of our obedience. And he's saying if our faith is working itself out in obedience in our lives, then it's genuine real faith because that's something God is doing. But in verses one and two, he gives us another test. Another test of our faith and whether it is rightly in Christ is that if we love the people of God. And he tells us anyone who's been born of God is known by the fact that they love the people of God. They love God's people. And so the first five verses of chapter five are a summary of three tests that John has been giving to help us identify real saving faith. We're going to look at the first one of those that he gives us in chapter 5, verse 1, which is a summary of chapter 4. We're going to look at most of chapter 4 this morning under three main points. I don't think we got a slide this morning, so you're just going to have to use your bulletins. First we're going to see the reason for love, then we'll see the test of love, and then finally we'll see the demonstration for love. Let's begin looking at the reason for love. The Apostle John doesn't just tell us that we should love each other, and if we love each other, that's evidence that we're God's people. Before he uses love as a test of our faith, what he first does is he goes back and he reminds us a number of gospel motivators that should actually be the grounds of our love. And notice the first reason he gives us in chapter four, verse seven. He says, beloved, let us love one another for, the word for there is intended to show us, now he's gonna give us the reason for loving one another. For love is of God and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. So the first reason John gives us for loving the people of God is that love is of God or love is from God, depending on what translation you have. In other words, John is telling us that love is absolutely essential to the very nature and character of God, so much so that if there is love in the world, it finds its source where? It finds its source in God. All true brotherly love finds its source in God himself because God is love and all love comes from him. John says basically the same thing down in verse 16, where he says, we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. Second Corinthians 13 verse 11 says the same thing. It says finally brothers rejoice aim for restoration comfort one another agree with one another live in peace and the God of Love and peace will be with you. Who is God? He's the God of love. He's the source of love. Love is one of his chief attributes. And really all love in the world, all true biblical Christian love flows from God because God is love. I wonder when you think about God, what's the first thing that comes to mind? I think for many of us, we would say holiness comes to mind. Maybe sovereignty comes to mind. Maybe invisible comes to mind. Maybe just and wrath comes to mind. But as John writes, 1 John 4, he wants the first thing that comes to our minds to be that God is love. That he's the source of all love and that if there's love in the people of God, it's because it finds its source in him. That's not to say God is not all of his other attributes. God is everything that God is all the time, and His attributes do not conflict with one another. He is sovereign, He is holy, He is invisible, He is everything else that He is, but here what John wants us to focus on is the love of God. Now you might say, why is that a motivator for my love? Why is recognizing that God is the source of all love going to actually motivate love in my heart? And John answers that question in verses seven, nine, and 10 by telling us a number of ways in which God has demonstrated his love for us. First he tells us in verse seven, everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Notice what he says in verse seven. Everyone who loves has been born of God. What does it mean to be born of God? John's talking about the new birth. He's talking about the doctrine of regeneration. And the idea of being born of God is the idea of being brought into spiritual life, where God not only makes us spiritually alive, but He also, by His Spirit, begins a restoration project in our lives to bring us back into conformity to the image of God. And so God originally creates mankind in His image, But because of sin and rebellion, the image of God in our lives is marred. It's messed up. And so when God saves a person, he not only gives them spiritual life, he also begins to restore them, to take them out of the image of Adam and to bring them back to where they actually mirror the image of God himself. Jesus talks about the new birth in John 3, 3, where he tells Nicodemus, assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Octavius Winslow, talking about this new birth, being born of God, says this, the new birth likewise consists in the restoration of the divine image to the soul. The moral image of God was effaced in the fall of the first Adam. Sin obliterated the divine holiness, and we became more holy and less divine. The righteousness and holiness in which God originally created us gave place to the empire and reign of sin, and the image and subscription of a usurped sovereign became enstamped on the coin of the soul. But the new birth is a restoration of the lost image of God to man. By Christ, the second man, it effectually and indelibly is recovered. In regeneration, the soul is formed into the likeness of Christ. The new birth, then, is a restoration of the image of God to the soul of man. And so in large part, the new birth or being born again is a work of God in restoring the image of God into the lives and hearts of God's people. Now remember, Why is John telling us this? Why is he talking about this? He's telling us this. He's telling us what God has done so that we will be motivated to love God's people. And he's just told us God is the source of all love. And now he's telling us God, the source of all love, is also working a restoration project in the hearts of his people to bring them back into the image of God. And he's doing this through this thing he calls the new birth, being born of God. And so you put all of that together, and what John is telling us is that because God is love, he's a God of love, then it's of necessity that if we are his children who have been born again to have the image of God restored in us, that we will also bear the family likeness of loving the people of God. Let me illustrate what John's saying from the natural world, because that's kind of probably hard for some of us to grasp. My sister-in-law, Judy, she's like six foot one. Her husband is six foot seven. That means both of them are above average height for their gender. Now, they have a daughter. She's two years old. And you would expect their daughter, Sloane, to grow up and be a midget, right? She's going to be like two foot tall. No, you would expect she'll bear the family image, which is like freakishly tall. and she will grow up to be like nine foot tall. She's two years old and she's already wearing clothes well beyond what she should be wearing at her age. You usually look like your parents. You can look at a child and conclude things about their parents because of how they look. And what John is saying is that if we've been born into the family of God, God is also restoring the image of that family into the lives and hearts of his people, and we will look like our father. We, like him, will be loving people. But in verses nine and 10, he gives us another expression, and really the greatest expression of God's love towards us. Notice what he says in verses nine and 10. In this, the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent his only begotten son into the world so that we might live through him. And this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. So in verses nine and 10, John's reminding us of the pinnacle of God's love for us. And it's the sending of his son into the world to be the propitiation for our sins. Did anyone use the word propitiation this week? Not a word we use very often, but it's a really cool word. It really carries two ideas. On one level, it carries the idea of satisfaction or appeasement. It means to satisfy or appease demands that are against someone. But it also carries the idea of reconciliation or bringing two opposing parties together into a harmonious relationship. And so the big idea in verses nine and 10 is that God loves his people enough that he sent his son into the world so that through his son giving his life on the cross, propitiation would happen. The wrath of God, the just demands that God has against us and our sin are appeased. But also reconciliation takes place. People who were alienated and hostile to God are now brought into a harmonious relationship. Let me challenge you, as you think about love, find a greater love than that. That God would give his own son, allow his own son to go and give his life to endure and to absorb all the wrath of God that's against you and me and our sins. That makes Romeo and Juliet look like a really bad story. That's love. And as you think about love, good luck finding greater love than that. That God would come and he would save rebels like you and like me by sending his son to satisfy the demands of justice and wrath that were against us so that we could be reconciled. It's no wonder John 15 verse 13 says, greater love has no one than this, than someone lay down their life for their friends. Let's stop for a minute. Isn't all of this what we're talking about when we say that we're Christians? When I say I'm a Christian, what I mean is that the God of love has sent His Son into the world to absorb the wrath of God that was against me, and now I have been reconciled back to God. Aren't we saying I've been born from God? I have the Spirit of God restoring the image of God in me. Everything John has already told us is really at the heart of what we mean when we say that we're the people of God. But you have to understand, there's a lot of people who would say all of that is true, and yet you would look at their life and you'd say, how in the world do I know that's true? There's a lot of people who would say, I've been born of God. There's even more people who would say, Christ has died for my sins and the wrath of God has been removed, and now I'm part of the true people of God, and yet, There would be no evidence of that. And so what John does is he moves from that to then giving us love for the people of God is a test to substantiate our claim that we are truly God's people. And that brings us to our second point, the test of love. What John does in the rest of chapter four is he goes on to tell us that if we love God's people, that's an evidence that we have received this love from God. Look at verse eight. Verse 8 says, He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. Now remember, look back at verse 7. In verse 7, John told us that love is of God. Love finds its source in God. Love flows from the nature and the heart of God. And now in verse 8, he's telling us that if we do not love, we do not know God. Essentially what John's logic is that a true knowledge of God, a true fellowship with God, will always result in us looking like God. If you know God, you will become like God, and you'll become like him, in verses seven and eight, by becoming loving. John also does this in verse 12. He says, no one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us and his love has been perfected in us. The first thing he does in verse 12 is he tells us no one has seen God at any time. And that's important to his flow of thought because it'd be really easy to conclude that because no one has seen God, it's impossible for us to know if we really have a relationship with him. I mean, how do you know you have a relationship with someone you've never seen? But John tells us the invisibility of God is owing to the fact that he's spirit. And because he's spirit, what does John tell us he does? He abides, he dwells, he actually takes up residence in the hearts of his people. John already talked about the indwelling of the spirit back in chapter three, verse 24. He said, now he who keeps his commandments abides in him and he in him. And by this we know that he abides in us by the spirit who he has given to us. Notice what John's telling us in 3.24. He's telling us that if we are Christians, not only are we so united to Christ in a spiritual sense that we are in him, but he is also coming in and dwelling us. And so if you're a Christian, you are in Christ and Christ is in you by the spirit. Again, remember what John told us in verse seven. In verse seven, he told us that God's true people are born of God. We saw part of being born of God is that God is working this spiritual restoration project in our lives. He's restoring us back to the image of God. And now in verse 12, we learn the way he does that. How does God do this restoration project in us? He does so by actually making our heart his home. He comes and he lives, he indwells in his people. And so John's telling us, you can't have God living in you, restoring you back into the image of God, and continue to make a practice of not loving the very people that he loves. If God is in you, he is also creating love in you, a supernatural brotherly love for your fellow Christians. Isn't that the first fruit of the Spirit that's mentioned in Galatians 5? Galatians 5.22, the fruit of the Spirit. What's the evidence? What's the work of the Spirit? The fruit of the Spirit is love. And so how do you know if you're a Christian? You know if you're a Christian if the invisible God has taken up residence in your heart by His Spirit and is working a spiritual restoration project in your life by causing you to become godlike in that you love the people of God. And if all of that's not clear, John makes it extra clear in verses 20 and 21. Verses 20 and 21 it says, If someone says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother who he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from him, that he who loves God must also love his brother also. In verses 20 and 21, John leaves no room for confusion. He says, one of the surest marks of a true child of God is that all true Christians will love other Christians. And if you cannot find it in your heart to love the people of God, then you have absolutely no business saying with your mouth you're a Christian, because John is saying you're a liar to say that. What's interesting is that as John thinks about ways he can tell us to examine ourselves if we're Christians, he could have given us anything. He could have given us a doctrine test, a theology test. He could have asked us, okay, how much did you give to the church this month? How much theology do you know? How much are you willing to suffer? He could have asked us any of that, but in verses 8, 12, 20, and 21, he's telling us one of the surest marks of a true child of God is that they love the people of God. when the first semester of Greek I took, I took at a secular college and the professor that I had was probably the smartest man I've ever met in real life. He was fluent in at least eight languages to the level he could teach them at a college level. So he was fluent in Hebrew, Greek, Yiddish, French, German, Spanish, English, and I think one other. Just incredibly gifted mind. He was also well-versed in biblical archaeology. So every summer he would take tours to the Holy Land and he'd lead these biblical archaeology tours. And if that's all you knew about him is that he teaches biblical Greek and he leads archaeology tours in the Holy Land, leading people through the Bible in the place where it actually worked itself out, you'd say, that guy's a Christian, right? That sounds like something a Christian would do. Well, what actually happened was when he was younger, he was in seminary studying to be a pastor or a seminary professor. And while he was in seminary, he had a crisis of faith and went apostate and denied the faith. But even though he denied the faith, he continued to study biblical theology, biblical archeology, biblical languages, and he continued to have an academic religion where he viewed scripture through the lens of academia instead of through the lens of faith. And if all you knew is who he was academically, you'd say, yeah, he's probably this like great holy guy. But if you got him talking about the church, you would find out who he really was. He hated the people of God. And he wasn't afraid to admit it. And although he has all of this doctrinal, theological, biblical language education, when it comes right down to it, he fails the test of 1 John. How are God's people identified? They're identified not by the bracelets they wear, not by the t-shirts they wear, not by the bumper stickers they plaster all over the back of their car. John is telling us the people of God are identified by their love for other Christians. This was in the early church one of the ways that the Christians were identified. One ancient historian referring to the first century Christians said this, they love each other even before they know each other. as the second century began in the Roman Empire, as the Roman Empire was beginning to spread rapidly, the church was under attack from the Romans. And what was going on is the Roman government was seeing there's something going on with these Christians, and it made them really uneasy. And so this guy, Tertullian, wrote a defense of the Christian faith to demonstrate to the Roman government why they should not be afraid of Christians. And listen to what he said. It's mainly the deeds of a love so noble that lead many to put a brand upon us. See how they love one another, they say, for they themselves are animated by a mutual hatred, how they are ready even to die for one another, they say, for they themselves would sooner put someone else to death. See what Tertullian's saying? He's saying, here's what you guys have against us. We love each other. You guys hate, you guys want to kill, but when you look at God's people, we're willing to die for each other. Now the question is, what kind of love are we talking about? Up until this point, I've just assumed we're tracking and we're all talking about love the same way. I want to ask the question, what kind of love are we talking about? And that brings us to our third and final point, the demonstration of love. Look at verses 10 and 11. It says, and this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation of our sins. And then notice the next verse. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. So in verse 10, what John does is he reminds us the love that came down from heaven and we received. This is how God has loved us. He loved us in that he sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. And then he draws a conclusion from that. He says, if God so loved us in verse 11, then we ought also to love one another. You see what he's doing? He's saying, this is how God has loved you. And that love is not only something you've received, it's also a pattern for you to follow. If God loves you this way, you ought also to love each other the same way. And so while we cannot make a propitiation for each other's sins, God is still calling us to demonstrate a Christ-like self-sacrificing love for the people of God. John's already expounded this thought a little already in chapter three, verses 13 through 18. Turn back just a page or two in your Bibles and follow along as we read John 3, 13 through 18. And notice what he says this love looks like. He says, by this we know love because he laid down his life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world's good and sees his brother in need and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth." Notice what John tells us this Christ-like self-sacrificing love looks like. It looks like seeing someone else and not just saying, I love you, have a good week. He says, don't just love with word. Love with your deeds. He's telling us it looks like dying to yourself. It looks like seeing the needs of other people and ministering to them, meeting those needs. It looks like seeing God's people going through a rough financial time and being like, I can help. I can alleviate some of this suffering because God has given me more than I need. And I love you enough to help you. It looks like seeing a single mother struggling to get it together on Sunday mornings. and denying yourself of donuts and fellowship and going and serving her. It looks like seeing a Christian who's lonely and dying to yourself and rearranging your schedule so that you can love them and welcome them. It even looks like risking friendships to lovingly confront a sister or brother when they're in sin. It looks like loving someone enough to just overlook transgressions and sins against you. It looks like being quick to forgive. It looks like rejoicing in their victories and weeping in their struggles. It looks like seeing whatever God's people need and in a self-sacrificial Christ-like way, dying to yourself and coming to serve them. And John wants us to know that since God has so loved us, since he's loved us that way, we should love each other the same way. but more than we ought to, of course we ought to, John wants us to know that if we love the people of God, it's the evidence that God has so loved us. The absence of that kind of love is also the evidence that we have not received the love of God in this saving way. Look at 1 John 4, 20 and 21 one more time. Notice what it says. It says, if someone says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother who he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from him, that he who loves God must love his brother also. John said the same thing back in chapter 2 verse 9. Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother, he is still in the darkness. Here's what all of this means. It means that because Love is from God and God's Spirit indwells each and every one of His true people. It means that because God has loved His own people enough that He sent His Son into the world to be the propitiation for their sins, it would be an utter contradiction to say, God is my God, the God of love is my God. The Spirit of God is working in my heart a spiritual restoration project, and I have been loved by Christ who died for my sins. It'd be an utter contradiction of all of that to then say, in spite of that, I don't love the people of God. And so if God is in you, then love is in you, because God is love. and the presence of God in you will always work itself out in self-sacrificing love for other Christians. And so last week we saw holiness as one of the marks of a true Christian. This week we see there's another mark of true Christians. This week we see that one of the marks of true Christians is that they love the rest of the people of God. And so examine your heart in this area too. If you claim to be a follower of Christ, if you claim that your sins have been propitiated, if you claim that the Spirit of God dwells in you, if you claim that the God of love is your God, if you claim that you've been born of God, then if those things are true, you will examine yourself and you will see, here's what that looks like. I love God's people. I love you and I love you and I love you. And I don't just love you with my words, I love you with my actions. I love you enough to die to myself, to serve you, to minister to you, to forgive you, to overlook your transgressions. And this is one of the things that's so encouraging to me when I corporately look at Sovereign Grace Bible Church, because when I look at this church in most of you, I see this. And it gives me great hope that many and most of you are truly God's people. Because as I watch many of you, it's evident that you love the people of God and that you love them because God has loved you. There's another point of application I want to make here for believers. It's not only examine yourself and see if you're truly a believer. It's also this, if you're truly a Christian, you have the spirit of God living in you. And one of the things he's doing in you is he's restoring the image of God in you. And he's doing that by producing the fruit of the spirit, namely love, which means if you are a Christian, You should find it in your heart not only to say, I do love the people of God, but also I can grow in my love for the people of God. I can look for new and fresh ways to love the people of God. I can love them in new, fresh ways that I didn't yesterday because God is actually, by His Spirit, enabling me to do so. So if you're one of God's people with the Spirit of God living in you, find someone in the church to love this week. Find a need that needs to be met. Find someone to serve. Find someone to forgive. Find someone to meet. Find someone to befriend and love the people of God more. Maybe though, as you do all this self-examination and say, okay, do I love the people of God? You'd say, you know, I wouldn't say I hate them, but I have no love for them. Like they don't do anything in my heart. I want my sins to be atoned. I want my sins to be propitiated. I want the wrath of God to be removed. I'd like to have this peaceful, harmonious relationship with God. I want all of that to be true, but when I look at my life, there's no evidence that that has happened yet because I don't love the people of God. And what you need to know is that the kind of love we're talking about between God's people is first and foremost a response to the love that we receive from God. We love because God loves us. In other words, you cannot leave here purposing to love the people of God without first receiving and experiencing the love that God has for sinners in the propitiating work of Christ. Here's what that means. That means you cannot leave here purposing to love God's people and think that by doing so your sins can be atoned for and think that you can earn God's love. The only way you can ever love the people of God and the only way your sins can be atoned for is by God loving you. and by God loving you by sending his son into the world to go to the cross and to endure the wrath of God that's against your sin in himself to actually accomplish propitiation, to accomplish the appeasing of the wrath of God. Think of that like, let's say you had this burning hot fire and then you take a thousand gallons of water and you dump it on it You get steam for a minute, and then it's cool and it's done. That's what Christ has done for the wrath of God against His people. The wrath of God was burning hot. And Christ came and He appeased it. He endured it. He took it. And He promises each and every one of us that if we will repent of our sins, and if we will simply embrace Him by faith, trust in who He is, trust in what He has done, then our sins have been paid for. then reconciliation has taken place. And so if you're not yet a Christian, and if this area of loving the people of God exposes that, don't leave here this morning without receiving the love that God has for sinners by trusting in Christ. Don't leave here looking and say, what a loving God. He's way better than Romeo and Juliet. He's good for you. Leave here today trusting in Him that He's good for you as well. Embrace him by faith and leave here with the wrath of God removed from you and with his spirit actually indwelling you so that you can bear the fruits of the spirit. Father, we pray that you will help all of this to happen. In our hearts, we are not loving people naturally. In our hearts, we are hateful. In our hearts, we are selfish. But as recipients of your love, we can love, we can sacrificially lay down our lives for the people of God. So Father, we pray that your spirit would continue the restoration project of the new birth. We pray that we will love each other more and greater this week because of Christ. And Lord, if anyone in this room has yet to experience the love of God, by trusting in Christ for the propitiation of their sins, I pray that you will give them faith this morning. Open their eyes to the love of God. They can't see it without your spirit, Lord. And so we pray that your spirit will come and open up eyes and cause the new birth to happen this morning. We pray it in Jesus's name, amen. We hope you've been edified by the message you heard from Sovereign Grace Bible Church in Worland, Wyoming. For more information about Sovereign Grace Bible Church, or to support the ministry, contact them at sgbcwy.org, sgbcwy.org.