Welcome to Reign of Grace. This program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And now for today's program. Welcome to our program today. I'm glad you could join us. If you'd like to follow along in your Bibles, I'm going to be preaching from 1 John, the book of 1 John in the New Testament. John wrote three letters, three epistles, 1, 2, and 3 John, the Apostle John. and chapter four, and my text is verse 10. And this is the third and the last final message on a series that I've been preaching called Propitiation. That's the title of the message. This is part three, and this is the final message. And what I've done, in the Bible, that word propitiation in our English Bible, the actual word in the English Bible is found three times. Romans 3, verse 25, 1 John 2, verses 1 and 2, which I've already covered both of those scriptures. And now here in the third time, 1 John 4, verse 10, where John writes, herein is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Now that word propitiation, I've described it and defined it all through. And as I said, it's only found three times in our English Bible translated that way. But the concept and the idea is found all throughout the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. And we see other forms of the word written in the Bible. For example, one of the times that I showed you was in Luke chapter 18, where you see the parable of the Pharisee and the publican. And the Pharisee, who represented man seeking salvation by his works, his law-keeping, taste not, touch not, handle not, and the publican who saw his sinfulness and begged for mercy. And the publican said this, he said, God be merciful to me, a sinner. and that term that that word combined word be merciful is the same word that's translated here in first john 4 10 and in the other two places propitiation or a form of it uh the the publican would actually said it this way lord be propitious towards me now remember what a propitiation is Propitiation is a sin-bearing sacrifice that brings satisfaction to God's law and justice that secures and ensures the salvation of all for whom that propitiation is made. Now, that's important for you to understand. If I had to give you one word to define propitiation, it would be the word satisfaction. But we have to capitalize on that to understand it. So let me repeat it. It's a sin-bearing sacrifice, substitute, that brings satisfaction to God's law and justice that ensures and secures the salvation of all for whom the propitiation is made." Now, of course, you see right away that the sin-bearing sacrifice substitute is Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ, His obedience unto death, His sacrifice of Himself, on the cross to die for the sins of his people, the sins of God's chosen people, had been imputed to Christ, charged to Christ. That's what it means when we say he's our sin bearer. He bore our sins in his own body on the tree, Peter wrote. He was bruised for our transgressions, our iniquities. By his stripes were healed. All of that represents Christ. And think about it this way. Before the foundation of the world, God chose a people and gave them to Christ. Meaning this, they became his people and he became responsible for their eternal salvation and glory and wellbeing. All of the conditions, all of the stipulations of salvation were put for them, their salvation was put upon Christ. And Christ bore that responsibility. And in order to have a proper propitiation, You had to have a God-appointed substitute, and that Christ is the only one that God appointed. There's one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, that refers to his person, his humanity, sinless humanity. He's God and man in one person. And then you had to have one not only appointed by God, but the one God appointed had to be able to do the work, to meet the conditions. And as God manifest in the flesh, having the sins of His people charged, accounted, imputed, reckoned to Him, that sin debt, Christ, as God manifest in the flesh, He was able to save to the uttermost. them that come unto God by him. Paul wrote, I know whom I have believed and I'm persuaded that he is able to save, he is able to save, to complete it, to finish it, all right? And he's able to keep that which I've committed unto him. And what have I committed unto him? My whole salvation. And then thirdly, not only you had to have a God-appointed substitute, that's Christ, the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity. He had to be able to do so, and as God manifest in the flesh, every bit God and every bit man without sin, he was able to save to the uttermost them that come unto the Father by him. And then thirdly, he had to be willing to do so. And Christ was very willing. You remember in the book of John, I believe it's chapter 10, he talked about it. He said, no man takes my life from me. He said, I lay it down of my own. Now that's a proper propitiation. In the Old Testament, the tabernacle, remember the tabernacle of the Lord, and the Holy of Holies, the very inner chamber wherein lies the mercy, wherein lay the mercy seat. Then you had that box, you had a box that was made of Shittim wood covered with gold, and over that, and the broken law was placed in that box, and over that box was a golden lid, and that was called the mercy seat. That's what propitiation means. And the high priest, once a year, would enter into that holiest place with the blood of the lamb, and he would sprinkle that blood over the mercy seat. And back over in Exodus chapter 25, God said to Moses, he said, you tell the people, that's where I will meet with them in mercy, commune with them in mercy, above the mercy seat. That's what propitiation is. Christ is the propitiation for His people. In order to have an atonement, as they called it back then, we call it reconciliation today. In the New Testament, you had to have a high priest appointed of God, You had to have an altar to set the sacrifice apart, and then you had to have a perfect sacrifice to die for the sins of the people. Now, all of that together is propitiation. Now, what John here in 1 John 4 is talking about, he's talking about love. Back up in verse 7 of 1 John 4. He says, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. Now, you know, if you've studied any of the scriptures or studied any of the Greek language or read a concordance, the Greeks had many words for love, representing different kinds of love. There was brotherly love, love of mankind. That's the kind of love that's commanded of all people when he says, love your neighbor as yourself, that kind of love. There was the erotic romantic love between a man and a woman, like in a marriage, the marriage union, and that kind of love. There was a love of country. There's different kinds. But the love that John is talking about here is, you may have heard the Greek word agape, and it's a divine love, and listen to me now, it's a divine love that only true believers have within their hearts. It starts with God's love for His people. And we'll say it this way, it's God's unconditional love, sacrificial love towards His people. If you look at verse 10 again of 1 John 4, herein is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us. Now he's talking about a particular people there. He's not talking about everyone without exception. And I'll show you how I know that in just a moment. But what John is saying there is that the source of God's love is not our love for him. Because by nature, none of us love the true and living God. By nature, we're sinners. We fell in Adam. We alienated ourselves from God. In fact, Colossians chapter one, I believe it is, says that when we're in an unconverted, unregenerate state, we, in our minds, we're enemies of God. And so we don't have any love for God, not the true God. Now we might love a God, a God of our own imaginations, and usually that's a God who's like ourselves, because we love ourselves. Somebody said, well, it's a sin to love ourselves. Not really, but if love of self takes precedence over love of God, that's a sin. The Bible says, love your neighbor as you love yourself. None of us do that because we're sinners and we should fall short of the perfection of love that only God in Christ brings toward his people. But this love, go back to verse seven, beloved, let us love one another for love is of God. God is the source of this love. We're not the source of it. God's love to his people is not a response to anything they do. You know, a lot of people, they talk about election, that they don't like the doctrine of election. Well, I'm sorry, the Bible teaches election. The Bible says that God set his electing love on a people before the foundation of the world. and his wrath or hatred, which is God's justice, abides on everyone else. You say, well, that doesn't seem fair. Well, I will direct you to the book of Romans chapter nine to answer your objection. And it will answer it. And you may not like the answer, but there it is. This is the word of God. God does not love everybody without exception. You can't prove that he does from the Bible. I know it says God so loved the world, but that word world there is not talking about every person without exception. Whoever has lived and living today or will live. The word world there, the cosmos, the created world, refers to God's chosen people all over the world, and it says that in John 3, 16, that whosoever believeth might have everlasting life. It's to believers. Do I want to experience the love of God? Yes. Do you? Do you believe in Christ? You see, there is no love of sinners from God outside of Christ. There's only wrath, judgment, and hatred. God hates all workers of iniquity. Read it in Psalm 5. He said to the false preachers of Matthew 7, depart from me you that work iniquity. I never knew you. That word no refers to that intimacy that Christ has with his people in agape divine love. Now, when God sets his love on a sinner, He intends to save that sinner. And that's what it says here in verse 10, here in his love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and did what? Sent his son to be what? The propitiation for our sins. The sin bearing sacrifice, substitute, who brought satisfaction to the law and justice of God that ensured their salvation. God will save all the objects of His love. But His love is unconditional towards us. In other words, there's nothing we can do to earn God's love and God's favor. There's nothing we can do to deserve God's love or God's favor. Here in His love, not that we love God. God loves the unlovely. He justifies the ungodly. Salvation is for sinners. And before the Holy Spirit brings us the realization of God's love towards us, we're enemies of God in our minds. In our minds, we hate the true and living God. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. Look at Romans chapter five with me. He speaks of patience, that means endurance, and experience, and experience and hope in verse four of Romans five. Look at verse five. He says, and hope maketh not ashamed. Now, what is hope? Hope is the certain expectation and assurance of salvation and eternal life based upon a proper God-honoring ground. And that's the blood of Christ. And he says, he says, and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. It's the Holy Spirit who sheds abroad within our hearts, the mind, the affection, the will, the conscience of sinners through the preaching of the gospel. which is the proclamation of God's love to all whom He set His love upon in election, all for whom Christ died on the cross as a propitiation. And look at Romans 5 and verse 6. For when we were yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly, Verse seven, for scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare die. But look at verse eight, but God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, much more than being justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. Now look at verse 10 of Romans 5. For if when we were enemies, now you understand that? When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son. When I was an enemy of God, in my unconverted, unregenerate, unbelieving state. In my mind, as Colossians says, enemies of God. God was already reconciled to me through the death of his son. And it says in time, the Bible teaches in time when the Holy Spirit comes in the preaching of the gospel and gives me a new heart, new life, regeneration, conversion, the new birth. He sheds that love abroad in my heart, in my mind, my affections, my will, and brings me to stop being God's enemy and to be God's friend and God's servant, to love God. And even while I'm in this life, even as a sinner saved by grace, I don't love God perfectly. It's a struggle. I have the flesh, self-love to deal with. So it says in verse 10, if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Now go back to 1 John 4. You see, this propitiation is an insurance of the salvation of all for whom Christ died. And that's what the love of God is all about, this agape love. It's a love that no unregenerate person has. We don't have it until we're born again by the Spirit, and we look to God in Christ, and then we can say we love God. Again, not perfectly. There's a sign in our town. There's a sign, a billboard, where a church boasts, they say, we love Albany. Well now, my friend, think about that. I can say without embarrassment that I love God, I love Christ, I love his people, I love my neighbor. But my love for God, for Christ, for His people, for my neighbor, falls way short of what it ought to be. You see, I'm not yet perfect in myself. I am perfect in Christ, legally, because of that propitiation. And I'm to strive to love God more. I'm to fight the flesh, fight self-love. I'm to strive to love Christ more, strive to love His people more, strive to love my neighbor more. But I will not love perfectly until I leave this life and go to be with Christ. Now my point is, is look, I'm not going to set up, put my, the fact that I love anybody on a billboard. I'm not going to boast about my love in other words. but I am going to boast about His love for me." Now, go back to 1 John 4. He says in verse 7, "'Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born of God.'" You see that? If you truly love the God of this book, as He reveals Himself, you know, I probably have told you about this, but I was up north in a particular town and there was a church building that had a sign out front that said, the God who hates, we don't love him. Well, my friend, they don't love the God of the Bible then. I love the God who hates, I love the God who loves. I love the God who saves, I love the God who condemns. That's the God of this book. And that's what this is saying. Everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. I know who he is because what this book says. If this book from Genesis to Revelation, which is the word of God, if it says something that identifies and distinguishes the true and living God, I believe it and I love it. I may not understand it all. It may not all jibe within my puny mind, but I love it. I love God. And verse eight, he that loveth not knoweth not God. God is love. And look at verse nine, in this was manifested, made known, revealed the love of God toward us because that God sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through him. Herein is love. Verse 10, not that we love God, but that he loved us. And how do you know that? He sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Now, let me tell you something. I've made this clear in all these messages. If Christ is the propitiation for my sins, then there's absolutely no way that I can be condemned and die the second death in hell. You see what I'm saying? There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Romans 8, 1. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? If Christ is my propitiation, then I cannot be charged with my sins. They cannot be imputed to me. I have Christ's righteousness imputed to me. And that ensures that I'll be born again, that I'll be preserved, and that I'll be brought to glory by Christ. And so he goes on and he says, beloved, if God so loved us, verse 11, we ought also to love one another. And what he's telling us there is a realization by the power of the Holy Spirit of God's love for me in Christ is the grand motivation of my seeking to love others, especially my brethren in Christ. Look at verse 12 of 1 John 4. No man hath seen God at any time, If we love one another, God dwelleth in us and His love is perfected in us. Now what does that mean? That word perfected there does not mean that my love for God, my love for Christ, my love for His people is a perfect love without any mixture of self-love and sin. No, if that's true, none of us are saved. Now you may think you love perfectly, but you're just fooling yourself. But what does it mean that if God dwells in us, his love is perfected in us? The word perfected there means to reach a goal. And what he's saying is if the Holy Spirit, if the Holy Spirit has revealed unto us in the gospel, in the new birth, the love of God for us in Christ, to the point that we love one another, even though not perfectly, that love of God in us has reached its goal. I believe in Christ. I trust Him. I rest in Him. I plead His blood, His righteousness alone for my whole salvation. And I love all who enter into that confession with me with a special love. Now, there's no doubt that I'm told to love even my enemies. And listen, that right there ought to show you that the love that we express is not perfect. Because we have to fight within ourselves to love our enemies. But I know that I should, and I should strive to do it. But let me tell you something, when God's love is shown abroad in my heart, And I look to Christ and rest in Him and love His people. And those are the commandments that God gives. Then it's reached its goal. And we know, verse 13, Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit. Now that's what that propitiation does for God's people. Oh, that sin-bearing sacrifice, Christ our surety, our substitute, our redeemer, our life-giver, our preserver, our glorifier, all of that is that propitiation that brings forth the love of God. I hope you'll join us next week for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us at 1-1-0-2 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia. Contact us by phone at 229-432-6969 or email us through our website at www.TheLetterRofGrace.com. Thank you again for listening today and may the Lord be with you.