In the sermon 'This Is Love,' David Green explores the concept of love as presented in 1 John 4:7-12. Green emphasizes that love is a defining characteristic of God and is central to the Christian faith. He contrasts this biblical love with the often-flawed romanticized love depicted in popular culture, asserting that true love is exemplified by God's sending of Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for humanity's sins. Green encourages self-examination among believers, suggesting that genuine love for others is evidence of one's relationship with God. He underscores the importance of rejoicing in God's love and challenges believers to reflect this love in their interactions with others, particularly as they gather for the Lord's Supper. The sermon concludes with an appeal for unity and love within the church community, grounded in the understanding of God's perfect and unwavering love.

1st John chapter 4 and we will take for our text verses 7 through 12 if you have your Bible so let's go to 1st John chapter 4. Chapter 4. We'll begin reading verse 7 on down to verse 12. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love.

And this was manifested, the love of God toward us, because the God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man has seen God in any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. My message this morning is on the subject of this is Love.

This is love. As we have before us the Lord's Supper, and on our minds is the death of Christ on the cross. I chose this text to preach this morning, Not only for those reasons, but also with our Bible conference only being a couple of months away, it fits very nicely with our theme. In fact, as I was working through different texts and different topics, thinking about sermons that would fit well with the theme, this is one of them, but it's not on the program because there's more in the Bible than what we could possibly fit into one weekend of a conference when it comes to love. In fact, we can never wear it out even if we were to have a whole lifetime of sermons.

Books and sermons and there have been generations of men that have tackled this subject, but it's not been exhausted. And Indeed, if our race were to continue on for another 2, 000 years of church history, we still would not exhaust this great subject. I imagine that as we sit in heaven, and as we go on into the new heavens and the new earth, we gather ourselves around the throne of God and we sit at the feet of Jesus and we learn from him. As time marches forward, Thousands of thousands of years, 10, 000 years upon 10, 000 years we still could not exhaust this great subject. I chose the title, This is Love, or as the King James translators put it there in verse 10, Herein is Love, because that's what the text brings out.

Christian love is central to the life of the believer. But why? Why is that? Is it some romanticized view of it? We sit down and we read the romance novels that women like to soak up and some men, I mean if you like that sort of thing, I guess that's okay.

Or maybe the Hallmark movies on TV. Is it that kind of a love? Well, better not be. Better not be, because if that's the case, we're all in trouble. Our friendships will fall apart, our marriages will fall apart, the church itself will fall apart.

Yay, beloved, if the love of the Bible is the kind of romanticized love of the of the fluffy hallmarked movies and the and the in the sappy love stories then the gospel itself has nothing to stand on. Because that kind of love isn't sure. I mean, if you've ever seen 15 minutes of one of those movies, you know what I'm talking about. It's like, oh, this girl over here is in love with this guy, and then all of a sudden, fast forward a little bit, and now she's with this guy. And he's with this girl, and now he's with this woman, and on and on the story goes.

But the love of the Bible is not like that. The love of Jesus Christ is not like that. The love of God is not like that. Let's pick it up right there in verses 7 and 8. It says, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God, he that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love.

Now we could start this whole thing off and say we all need to love each other, and that's true. But before we can love each other and learn to love each other, we've got to know something about God. And what do we find about God? Well, in verse 7, love is of God. In verse 8, God is love.

You get these wrong and you'll never get it right here on earth. You see. God is love. Some men use this as a text and they go on preaching and they have basically just used this as a springboard and you've probably heard some of the same sermons that I have. They've muddled the whole meaning of the passage.

Armenians do it, hardshells do it, and They mess the whole passage up. Some men who want to know better, Even in some of our ranks, they do the same thing. They're fearful of falling into one camp or another. So in other words, depending on who they're with, they're afraid of being called Armenian, or They're being afraid of being called hard shell, and rather than just preaching the text, the biblical truth is God is love. If we just take the word for what it is, God is love.

Why can't we just rejoice in that for a while? I mean, yeah, we can run over to Romans chapter 9 later and run over to Jacob and Esau and talk about Esau and all of those things, but right now why can't we just rejoice in the fact that God is love? John did, didn't he? John didn't feel the need of talking about how much God hates the reprobates. He didn't get have to, he didn't worry about that.

Why can't we rejoice in those things? Why can't we just take a text and just preach it and rejoice in it? We need to be reminded of these things. God is love. The Bible declares it.

Who cares how the Armenians have misused it? I believe the world not to hear it more often. Jesus had compassion on the people. As a man, he loved his enemies. I think people need to hear that and understand that.

He was born under the law. He obeyed the law. It convicted me as I thought about those things, reading through the Gospels and thinking them through. We need to hear it. We need to rejoice in it.

Love is something that we need to hear about. Love is of God, and God is love. This ought to make us rejoice as we preach today and as we think about this as we look at this text and in John as he writes to these people you know he began by telling them I mean this section here and remember remember that it wasn't originally divided up into chapters, But he's reminding them, hey, there's some false prophets that have come out into the world. But what joy it is to know God is love. Love is of God, says verse 7.

And God is love, says verse 8. No matter which way you look at this, you cannot separate the truth of this. And so it's my prayer today as we think about this and as we consider that this will cause God's people who are here today to rejoice in this fact, but also that it will break the heart of the sinner as we consider the love of God. Not just words on the paper, but as we consider the love of God expressed on the cross. Because as we think about, you want to know what true love is?

It's not, you're not going to find it in this world. If you look for true love in this world you'll be highly disappointed. But if you want to know true love you'll find true love in God. Because it's not in God. Because it's not that God is sometimes love.

No, no, no. God is love, you see. Think about some famous names through history. How you associate something with them. The Wright Brothers, aviation, right?

Bill Gates, Microsoft, George Washington, America, Robert E. Lee, the Confederacy, Elon Musk, Tesla, right? Colonel Sanders, Kentucky Fried Chicken, right? J.R. Graves, Landmarkism.

And on and on we could go and there's other names and you're right away you think of something that goes with them We could play the game all day long. But when we think of God, we think of love. Right away these two should be connected. What is should be connected. What is said of God in love cannot be said of any creature of his.

Even our best of relationships, We know it's not perfect. And husband and wife, we know that there are there are days when our love is not what it should be. We know that. Furthermore, we know that as we go back through time, that there was a time when we didn't love that person, we didn't know that person. Guess what?

God always knew you. He always loved you. It's amazing, isn't it? That God loves you on your worst days the same as what he loves you on your best days. His love is perfect.

Over in John chapter 3, the Gospel of John, chapter 3 and verse 35, in verse 35. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hand. Within the Godhead there is perfect love.

Jesus said, I and my father are one. John Owen said this, he said, Herein originally is God's love, for God is love. This is the fountain and prototype of all love as being eternal and necessary. All other acts of love are in God, but as he doeth good because he is good, so he loveth because he is love. He is love eternally and necessarily in this love of the sun and all other workings of love are but acts of his will whereby somewhat of it is outwardly expressed.

Love in the creation was introduced from this fountain to give a shadow and resemblance of it. God loves the Son perfectly. We've been adopted into his family. So you understand this, that he loves us the same way. What a joy it is to think about that even as there's perfect love within the Godhead, we are in the same family as God.

In the book of, back into our text in 1 John, chapter 4, As being part of the family of God, we find this text is not a command to love. It's not a thou shalt love your brother type of a text. He says, let us love one another for love is of God and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love." In this was manifested the love of God toward us because the God sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through him. What this is in this text is rather than being a command per se, this is a text of self-examination.

He that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God, he that loveth not, knoweth not God, For God is love. You see how this is? This is a text for self-examination. August Nehender in his commentary, he said, he would produce in them the conviction that just so certainly as they are the children of God, as life from God exists in them, so certainly must this reveal itself in mutual love. Hey, you know what?

I've been born from above. I've been given new life from God. How is this exhibited? Well, one way is I'm gonna love the people of God. And this is shown here in this text.

The want of this love or the lack of this love would show that they were not the children of God. That life from God is not in them. That's what this text is showing. Jesus said it this way in John chapter 13 and verse 35. In John 13 and verse 35, he says this, He says this, by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if you have love one to another.

By this. By what? By what, Lord? The identifying mark of the Jews is they're circumcised. What's our mark, Lord?

What is our mark? Is it baptism? Is baptism the mark of being a true disciple of Christ? Is it a secret handshake? A certain dress code?

What is it? Is it the length of our hair? Is it speaking in tongues? Is it a diet? Is it some gift?

What will it? No, no, no. By this, shaman know that you're my disciples if you have love one to another. That is radically different than the world. You see.

What was his example on 1st John chapter 4 verses 9 and 10? He says, 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. Here in his love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. God revealed his love to humanity by sending his son to die on the cross. We know the text, John 3.16.

Many of us memorized it from the time that we were little. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. I'm not going to take a lot of time to get into who Christ died for. We looked at that last time, last week, and I've preached on this before, but the reality is the people for whom Christ died were no better off than anyone else. You and I who are saved, we were no better than the Reprobates.

We did not deserve even the least of God's favors, and today, if you were the only sinner on earth, whose name was in the book of life, Christ would have had to suffer on the cross the exact same terrible price there because your wretched life, my wretched life, was enough to put Him on the cross. You see. That's love. Can I say it this morning? That Christ died for a world of lost sinners?

That's love. Lost sinners. That's love. That's love. Then he came to a world of sin to die for those who deserve nothing.

That's love. Forgive for a moment all of the arguments about who he died for and just get down to the root of it and understand that he didn't need to die for anybody. He could have just left us in our sins to go on to hell. Then none of us deserved it. But he loved us.

I heard a preacher say the other day, something to this effect, he said if there was a sign over top of hell, See if I can get this right. I know I should have written it down. He said if there was a sign over top of hell, it would say, you earned this. You earned this. But if there was a sign over top of heaven, it would say, book God, book God.

Because it's all of grace, it's all of His love. This is love. That His creation, after being made in image and likeness of Him, fell and were unworthy of his love and yet he gave the greatest gift, the gift of his son who paid the price by being the price of redemption on the cross. That's the only payment that could be made in order to satisfy the dead that was owed. God's own love moved him to the highest proof of love to send his son to the cross for those who were separated from them.

That Jesus went willingly to the cross to die, not for his own sins, but for the sins of those who were dead in their trespasses. Men and women, boys and girls, who were otherwise at war with God, and to draw them to an eternal home, to be with Him, rather than a state of death and ruin. Over in the book of John, John's Gospel chapter 15 verses 12 through 17. Verses 12 through 17. John 15 verses 12 through 17.

He says, this is my commandment. This is Jesus speaking now. He says, this is my commandment. They love one another as I have loved you. Well how does Jesus love, How has he loved?

What's he talking about? Well, verse 13, greater love hath no man than this, than a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if you do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what is more doeth, but I have called you friends for all things that I have heard of my Father, I have made known unto you. You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name he may give it you.

These things I command you. Love one another. John recorded Jesus's words here. What's he saying? What's he saying?

Well, he's telling them there that, well, He's talking about being the vine, you know, and there's so much to preach from this text. Remember when Brother Ken was here and he preached that week for us and he brought all those messages from this text about a year or so ago, and it was great. But I just want to point out from this that When John penned his letter in 1 John, I would imagine his mind was going back to these words of Jesus as he was writing under the inspiration of spirit. Jesus said, this is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. His example was an out of this world kind of a love.

And even there where he says, you're my friends if you do whatsoever I command you, that goes back to verse 10, if you keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandment and abide in His love. You see how this is all connected. There's no better love, there's no greater love, No better example, no greater example than the love of God. Jesus, the day He died on the cross, He showed His love in a way that had never been shown before. The Father, the Son, the Spirit, The love of God was exhibited that day here on this earth in a way that had never been exhibited before.

This text, this passage of John chapter 15 and verse 13, it's often used at funerals for fallen soldiers. Yes, it's a wonderful thing when a soldier dies for his country. That's not what this text is talking about. This is about Jesus. He died for his friends.

What great love it is that he died for us, the fact that he even calls us friends. What love, what love we find there. In 1st John chapter 4, we bring this to a close. Let's look at the last two verses in our text. Verses 11 and 12.

And twelve. 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 dwelleth in us and his love is perfected in us. Having thus spoken of the revelation of God's love.

Hearing his love, this is love, he said. Not that we loved God, but that he loved us. Said his son, you see, our salvation does not hinge on how much we love God, but it hinges, it is based on how much he loves us, what he did on the cross. And having spoken of all of this, reconciliation to man by the death of Christ on the cross, the apostle makes another appeal to his readers. If God so loved us, we ought to love one another.

God dwells in us and we love him. His love is perfected in us. As we then consider this today, we gather for the supper. We gather in remembrance of what our Lord has done on the cross. Yes, we are remembering what he did there on Calvary's Cross, were reminded, reminded of his love.

Were reminded He is the reason why we're able together, why we're brought as one, as a church, in unity and in love. And so we thank the Lord for this. So now at this time.