Love, Honor, and Obey I John 4:17- 5:5

Emphasis on Christian Love; now believer’s love for the Father –We cannot love our neighbor unless we love our heavenly Father –Perfect: maturity & completeness –Grow in love for the Father in response for Father’s love for you –Mature Christian love is the great universal need among God’s people Confidence (4:17-19) –Fear & torment Reason: not growing in God’s love

–Boldness: confidence ofr freedom of speech –Reverential fear, not tormenting fear Fear: phobia; krisisphobia: fear of judgment Tormenting fear due to past, present, & future No fear due to God’s love Secret of boldness: “As he is, so are we in this world (4:17) dealing with the future –Father deals with us as He deals with His Son Past: We need not to be afraid, because “He first loved us” (4:10) Present: We need not to be afraid because “perfect love casteth out fear” (4:18) Proper fear doesn’t torment

–“For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons which we cry out, “Abba, Father” (Rom 8:15 NASB) –For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of sound mind” (II Tim 1:7) Fear is the beginning of torment Live in an atmosphere of love & confidence, not fear and torment (Rom 8:35, 37-39) –God’s perfect love in stages When we were lost, we lived in fear After trusting Christ mixture of fear & love Growing in fellowship with God fear vanished gradually & His love controlled our hearts Immature Christian is tossed between fear & love

Mature Christian rests in God’s love –Evidence of mature love for God: growing confidence in God’s presence Honesty (4:20-21) –Warning against pretending Fear & pretending go together Example of Adam & Eve (Gen 3:10 - “ I heard thy voice, and I was afraid”) –Confidence toward God: no need of pretense No confidence toward God leads to no confidence with God’s people Worry: fear that torments –Immature Christian try to impress others with spirituality (not growing in God’s love)

–Example of Ananias & Saphira (Acts 5) –Our life should be marked by honesty, not pretending –Spiritual honesty leads to peace & power –Love & truth go together Joyful Obedience (5:1-3) –“His commandments are not burdensome” (5:3 NASB) –Anything in creation obeys God’s will except man “Fire, and hail; snow, and vapor; strong wind fulfilling his word” (Ps 148:8) –Jesus walking on the water & sleeping in a boat –Jonah: storm, whale, and plant

–Disobedience to God’s will & hesitant, grudging obedience –Secret of joyful obedience: obedience is a family matter We have been born of God, love God, and God’s children We show God’s love by willing wor, not empty words We are children obeying the Father, not slaves obeying a master –Test of maturing love is our personal attitude toward the Bible Unsaved person considers the Bible impossibility for he doesn’t understand the spiritual message (I Cor 2:14)

Immature Christian look at the demands of the Bible to be burdensome. Mature Christians who experiences God’s love enjoys and love God’s Word and looks at it as God’s love letter rather than textbook. –Psalm 119 –Stages of maturing love As our love for God grows, we have confidence toward God & are not afraid of his will. We are honest toward God & others & lose fear of being rejected We have new attitude toward God’s Word and enjoying obeying it as an expression of God’s love

–Stages of sin When we disobey God, we lose our confidence toward God Disobedience leads to dishonesty (pretending & covering up) It turns us from God’s Word; we either read routinely or ignore it The burden of religion is grievous –Love lightens burden (Matt 11:28-30) Victory (5:4-5) –“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world” (4) –Victory is the result of faith; we grow in faith as we grow in love

Faith & love go together –Overcome: 7 times in Revelation –Faith in Jesus Christ (5) “In the world ye shall have tribulation but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33) Identification with Christ –“as he is” »“As he is so are we in this world (4:7) »“a he is the light” (1:7) –I have been crucified with Christ (Gal 2:20) –“walk in the newness of life” (Rom 6:4) –“Seated with Him in heavenly places” (Eph 2:6) –Be revealed with Him in glory (Col 3:4) Spiritual position in Christ –Child of God is privileged

–His authority is determined by position Faith is God's key to victory –Victorious faith is the result of maturing love Faith is not much believing in spite of evidence, but obeying in spite of consequence Maturing love be a regular & practical thing in our daily life –Stages of relationship to Jesus Christ We must cultivate friendship with Christ (James 2:23) Friendship will be begin to influence our life; gradual process Our friendship with Christ & becoming like Him will lead to a deeper love for Christ

–Christian love is not a passing emotion, but a permanent devotion More we know Him the better we love Him, and the better we love Him the more we become like Him –“Conformed to the image of His Son” (Rom 8:29) The place to begin is in the quiet, personal place of prayer