Witnesses of God’s Redemptive Love | 1 John 4:13-14

All right, good morning beloved Turn with me again to 1st John chapter 4 1st

John chapter 4 we'll start in verse 13 today 1st

John chapter 4 verse 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he and us because he has given us of his spirit

We have beheld and bear witness that the Father has sent the

Son to be the Savior of the world Whoever confesses that Jesus is the

Son of God God abides in him and he and God This is God's Word.

Amen so so beloved this we're starting to come full circle here in John's letter and And The primary focus for today's message is on verse 14.

Okay, we're gonna zero in on verse 14 and Needless to say this verse is all about gospel gospel gospel promises and blessings that The triune

God has done for us on our behalf Whereas in the previous

Lord's Day I focused on the person and work of the Holy Spirit in verse 13 by this we know that we abide in him and he and us because he has given us a share or a portion of his spirit and We know that the

Holy Spirit applies Christ's work of redemption which is described in verse 14 to us he regenerates us convicts us sanctifies us assures us on and on and And Relying on the

Holy Spirit primarily means it's not some mystical thing some pietistic thing It primarily means to rely on his supernatural means of grace the word the sacraments prayer and The fellowship of the local church of God's saints

God's people Today, however will focus as I said more on the objective

Finished work of Christ and the gracious outpouring of God's redemptive love in our salvation in our salvation and We're seeing how the beloved apostle is

Reinforcing recurring truths that he has previously laid out and shown us in this same letter

Right. So some of this is going to start feeling like we're coming full circle again Back to the beginning so to speak and we'll see we'll see that more as as I progress on so There's there's a lot of important things to jump into in verse 14.

I want to jump in some key terms There's some key terms that I want us to lay out to unpack We have beheld and bear witness

We beheld bear witness What do those terms mean what are we talking about here?

What is the what is the letter referring to? The we in the

Greek is emphatic it's emphatic here and we need to note that it does not so much referred to believers in general as Is often the case with first John a lot of times when he says we he's talking about all believers all of us

But in this case it rather emphasizes the role of the

Apostles of the Apostles and their bearing witness quote unquote to the mission the life the ministry the work of Christ the

Messiah who was sent by the Father Amen so I Gordon Clark brings us out in his translation of verse 14.

He renders it this way and we have beheld and we testify that the father sent his son as Savior of the world

There's an emphatic emphasis on we so and And to further make the point here

Do you all remember? Who it was that? heard and saw and beheld and touched with their hands

That which was from the beginning That which was from the beginning Turn back with me to the very first verse in 1st

John in the first chapter We'll see what? This is referring to as we connect the dots here with the analogy of Scripture in 1st

John chapter 1 Verse 1. This is an amazing passage

Very very fascinating passage here and It ties in directly to 1st 14

So verse 1 chapter 1 of 1st John lots of lots of ones there.

So he's God's Word says What was from the beginning or that which was from the beginning

What we have heard what we have seen with our eyes what we have beheld and touched with our hands concerning what the word of life the logos of life and the life was manifested and We have seen and bear witness same phrase there and Proclaim to you the eternal life the eternal life

Proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us

What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also

So that you may also Have fellowship with us you

Have fellowship with us and indeed our fellowship is with the

Father and with his son Jesus Christ Amen there's a lot of Tying in here coming full circle in the letter recall as well that John the

Apostle I touched on this when I when I first preached on this letter that The Apostle frequently uses sense perception seeing touching hearing

To point to something deeper. That's not merely sensory not merely physical but to the understanding and receiving of God's truth of God's Word by Faith by faith and this is very common all throughout the

Old and New Testaments And you can go back to and listen to those messages to to dig more into that and In this case in the beginning of first John it's referring to the eternal word of life

The logos of life the same logo sets in John chapter 1 the gospel of John the logos the word

Was with God and was God and became flesh and tabernacled Tented among us

So what is this referring to it's referring to Christ Christ and all his fullness

Christ as man Christ as God and the perfect vicarious

Substitutionary life and death life and death of Christ the

God -man He is both and the God -man Sumerian in the gospel

Which is precisely what is laid out for us in 1st John chapter 4 verse 14

That is what the Apostle is summarizing. I love that language from the from the the catechisms the

Reformed catechisms Sumerian in the gospel is

Christ his life his work his ministry and it is That the

Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world Amen so That's that's the

That is the emphasis here very clearly now turn with me to the gospel of John in chapter 15 as We begin to impact us a little bit more

John 1st John chapter 15 verse 26 The gospel of John, excuse me the gospel of John the gospel of John chapter 15 in verse 26

Jesus here is is Explaining to the

Apostles what's going to happen? What's going to happen in? the near future at that time, so In verse 26 we see

Christ explaining when the Advocate who is the advocate the

Pericle the Holy Spirit when the advocate comes? Whom I will send to you from the

Father From the Father I will send to you from the Father The Spirit of truth who proceeds from the

Father He will bear witness about Me he notice the word he will bear witness about me and You also will bear witness

Why because you have been with me from the beginning from the beginning?

At the beginning of Christ life and ministry on earth, so we see a lot of beginnings here being tied together and We need to take careful note of that That Fascinating how the

Lord is tying this to all together for us and again you see the mention of the Holy Spirit Just as we saw it in verse 13

That we know that we abide in him and he and us because of the Spirit Whom God the

Father gave to us by faith apart from works of the law now the

Apostle If we let's turn back over to 1st John in chapter 4 because in verse 12 we see that the

Apostle uses the same word for beheld the same word the same

Greek word for beheld in verse 12 Now verse 12 reads

No one has beheld God at any time if we love one another

God abides in us and his love is Perfected in us by God's Spirit and means of grace

So that word beheld again in in this verse 12 it's the theat

I the theat I and It Means specifically here.

It means to have an intent look at something with one's own eyes. So it's a

Very strong impression made with our physical eyes. It's a literal sense seeing something literally

That's what it's referring to. No one has beheld God literally at any time with their eyes but But now in 14

The same word beheld is used in a different sense It's more or beyond mere physical sensation physical eyesight

Okay So in verse 14 now we read we have beheld

Same word beheld and bear witness that the father has sent the son to be the

Savior of the world Okay, so let's unpack that Word same word beheld death a ametha death a ametha so The but specifically here it refers to something

Deeper it's to perceive something above and beyond What is merely seen with the eye?

Okay beyond what is merely seen with the eye behold to perceive But not just physically

It's an impression of something that's beyond the physical or transcendent

And There's there's other similar passages like in the gospel of John verse 14 where we saw the person and work of Christ and perceive them in Divine the divine glory

We beheld that glory as it says Of Christ and so This this is more of what it's so the same word, but it's used in two different senses just two verses apart

That's interesting interesting to note now But we have to note this as well our physical eyes

Okay, our physical eyes Do not grant us or impart to us

Spiritual understanding of and faith in the truth Seeing something doesn't teach us anything right

And there's a lot of this different philosophies and schools of thought and how we learn. How do we learn?

Do we learn by perceiving things? Is that how we learn by sensory observation? That's a very common view these days, especially because of science and the scientific method and things like that Is that how we learn is that what the

Word of God says What does the word say does the word say that we walk by sight or by Faith, right?

Do we walk by? Sight or by faith. There's a contrast there in the Bible. So we need to pay attention to those things

We need to pay attention to those things How is it that we learn? How is it that we see

Beyond what is merely there? How is it that we learn the truth of God's Word?

And I really appreciate The Reformed philosopher and theologian good friend

Gordon Clark as his insights here in this in his commentary. He says the verb death

Death death ametha Death ametha that that's beheld.

Remember that means beheld can refer to visual sensation But usually it emphasizes a different idea.

It means to behold something extraordinary striking an astounding or fearful spectacle, right the idea of something of wonder steady

Contemplation ah and sometimes fear is prominent the visual sensation or Perception of the disciples was that of a man?

Christ dressed in the usual clothing walking around and doing this and that Some of this and that was miraculous

They wondered they pondered and they concluded that this man was the

Son of God Whose father had sent him to be the Savior of the world

This notice carefully this conclusion is Nothing that can be deduced from sensory experience

That's very important to note It why because it was a revelation from the father himself by his spirit

It is to this that John and the other disciples testify or bear witness to Or bear witness to so yes, the disciples walked with Christ they saw him they they they interacted with him physically

But there's something more than that. And what is that something more? It's exactly what?

Clark explains Now we can see this in the words of Christ himself in The gospel of Matthew chapter 16 if you turn with me there

We'll take a careful look at that passage and see what's what's the gist of this in?

the gospel of Matthew chapter 16 verse 15 this is a

Powerful word words from the mouth of our Lord and Savior the gospel of Matthew chapter 16 verse 15

Let's see what our Lord tells us here He said to them to the to the the disciples but who do you say that I am and Simon Peter answered and said you are the

Christ thou art the Christ the son of the living God the son of the living

God God the Father. Okay, take note of that and Jesus answered and said to him blessed are you

Simon Barjona? Why because why because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you

But my father who is in heaven Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my father who is in heaven, right?

Because everybody saw Christ at that time Unbelievers the Pharisees who wanted to kill him but seeing seeing is not necessarily believing

Right, and that's the point that Christ repeatedly makes He says, you know

The the in the Old Testament the Israelites saw Moses part the Red Sea by the power of God and they still rebelled

After the fact and they were still judged Seeing is not believing the parable of the rich man and Lazarus Lord Surely they'll believe that they if you send somebody from the dead to warn them and what it what it uh, what did

God say? No, they have the law and the prophets. They have the Word of God That is sufficient

That is sufficient and if they do not believe that they won't believe anything else it won't matter what you show them

They'll always have an excuse for it right, so Flesh and blood.

It's not our eyes our physical eyes that reveal these things to us But this my father who is in heaven, it's my father who reveals this to you by the

Spirit whom he gave us Right exactly what first John is continuing to unpack in the letter the same thing that Jesus Christ taught us here and in many other places

Again, it's not so much that so so that that is why the

Apostles beheld and bore witness That the father sent the son to be the

Savior of the world Not so much they because they physically saw and interacted with Christ on earth

Again, remember who else interacted with Christ the son of perdition Judas Iscariot, right?

he so intimately Met with Christ that he kissed him on the cheek

But with that kiss he ended up betraying his master, right? And that's the problem with this.

We can't lose sight Pun intended of what's really going on, right?

We cannot lose sight of that We walk by faith and not by sight It is not because of what they saw only it was because of God Chose them and gave them the gift of faith

Remember what Christ told them you did not choose me because of what you saw I chose you

To send you out and to do my work and and here's the beauty of this and we ourselves

Have received that same gift of faith of that same faith that the

Apostles had from the same God and the same spirit

The same Lord the same word the same gospel. Amen.

It's all the same Nothing has changed in that respect even though we did not

Physically interact with Christ at that moment. It's all the same. God works the same way in his redemptive love for us

Let's see what more let's unpack this more now about this unity that God has

Of his love for us in Ephesians chapter 4 the beginning of Ephesians chapter 4.

This is a beautiful passage of the sameness the oneness of God's fellowship with us and ours with him and his people

Ephesians chapter 4 Here here beloved.

We will see the Apostle Paul Explaining a very profound truth to many profound truths to us tying all of this together again with the analogy of Scripture and of faith

Therefore I the Apostle Paul the prisoner of the Lord the Lord Jesus Exhort you to walk worthy of the calling with which you have been called chosen called by God with all humility and gentleness with patience bearing with one another in love being diligent to keep the unity of The spirit in the bond the glue the bond of peace

Listen here verse 4 there is one body and one

Spirit just as also you were called in the hope of your calling you were called you were chosen and us too one

Lord one faith one Baptism one

God and father of all who is over all and through all and in all

But to each one of us grace was given given not earned given according to the measure of Christ's Gift his gift of love of redemptive love for us to be the

Savior of the world Amen, what a beautiful passage that is What an amazing beautiful passage and this is that that love love that we are all called to have for each other

It is that same love that same truth that same gospel and word

That the Apostles had and that they bore witness to and beheld That's it

So then beloved this brings us to the next part of verse 14 in 1st John chapter 4 We have beheld and bear witness

That the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world

To be the Savior of the world again. The work of redemption is a work of the Triune God The work of the

Triune God God the Father sent his son To purchase his bride the love offering that the

Father chose for Christ up to To Present to him a bride that he would have to clean up himself debts that she could never repay of sin and wrath and judgment

But Christ was sent Willingly by the Father because they all have the same will in the power of the

Spirit of God to fulfill that covenant of redemption that thorn crown covenant of Redemption that Christ accomplished for us.

It is his gift to us by faith that we receive To be the

Savior of the world. This is such a beautiful phrase to be the Savior of the world

I keep running out of superlatives here to describe God's awesome word here, but Bear with me here to be the

Savior of the world. This is such a specific Phrase that is inescapable as to what it means

And I've mentioned many times before that the word world in Scripture can have several different meanings

Several right and sometimes even opposite meanings because the

Bible says He who has friends with the world is enmity with God is enemies of God, right?

But in here it says God the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world the

Savior of the world and The Apostle John is one of the primary authors That uses many of the different senses of the word world

Here, it's to Cosmo to Cosmo Cosmos Cosmos What does it mean here then let's think about this carefully what is what does the word world mean here let's ask ourselves a few a few

Questions About this is the Son the

Savior of unbelievers Is the Son the Savior of unbelievers? Is he the

Savior of? reprobates is He of the Son of rep the Savior of reprobates of those who are condemned

By God of those who are under the anathema and curse of God is the

Son the Savior of Esau Oh Is he the

Savior of Pharaoh Right. Is he the Savior of Pharaoh? The obvious answer is no, he's not

He's not the Savior of those who do not believe of those who are reprobate Who then is the

Son the Savior of who then is the Son specifically the

Savior of This word means something and we need to know what it means, right? Christ the

Son is the Savior of the world of believers and Only believers he did not come to save anybody else

Except for those whom the Father gave the Son to die for I gave my life for the sheep

Not for the wolves and not for the goats, but for the sheep right That's who the

Son gave his life for and is the Savior of The world of believers of Those whom he the

Father has chosen in him in Christ the Son This verse is a powerful expression of God's redemptive love for us his people his chosen people and God's Redemptive love is not it's not a a promiscuous love

That love is not for everybody that love is specifically. It's a particular love note that word particular

It's a particular love for a specific group of people That he has chosen and them alone whom he has predestined

Before the foundation of the world before any of us had done good or bad

Not because of works, but because of him who calls Because of him who chooses because of him who calls as Romans 9 11 says amen

Romans 8 Ephesians 2 Ephesians 1 on And on and on all over the the

Bible is full of this the sovereignty of God and his choice in election in electing

Choosing who to save and who to damn now this is the doctrine of particular redemption

That Christ died only for the elect and only to save the elect

Now you'll hear many people say there's a lot of debate about well, who did

Christ die for? He died, you know and you'll hear Arminian say well

Christ died for everybody he died for everybody but it's up to you to make that death if Work on your behalf.

It's ultimately up to you to choose to have Christ work work

Save you so we can debate about the death of Christ Because the death of Christ is is

His salvation that is his salvation work. What did he do give his life as a ransom?

Just pay the wrath of God to save us that's what the work of redemption is it is to die

So those are in extra inextricably linked. So then if God is the Savior of the world of believers then

It only means that he died for believers That's the only thing it can mean and there's several other passages that teach this but That is the plain teaching of Scripture now now we see here that Many many will falsely claim that this doctrine of particular redemption also called limited atonement but but Limited atonement is not a good term for it because the other side the

Arminians who believe in free will and Synergism that God we have to cooperate with God's grace in order to receive his salvation

They their their their atonement is limited in its power

Because their atonement does not actually save anybody It does not actually save anybody unless you choose

To be saved other otherwise, it's useless. It's useless our atonement is

Powerful to save because that is what saves us. It's the atonement the death of Christ that saves us

However, it is limited in its scope Because Christ only died for his people.

He only saved his people right Everybody else faces the wrath of God in judgment an eternal wrath of God in the lake of fire and brimstone right, so That's the difference now.

Many will say that this doctrine of particular redemption is A more recent development.

It's a later historical development and if you can't really find it in the early church, so Is that really true is that really the case because if that is the case then that could be cause for concern

Right because God's Word the the church the church has

Is the pillar and buttress of the truth? so the church preserves at like salt the truth of God's Word all throughout time throughout the history of the church and so That that is a cause for concern if there's something new that the church has never taught to millennia before right that is that it

Could be a legitimate cause for concern, but is that really the case? Well beloved I have some exciting news to share with you because this blew me away the short of it is that this doctrine is by no means a later development that came out of the

Reformation Though most of the the Reformers Embraced and taught this doctrine.

Okay, most of them did Luther did not but most did You will find in a historical letter called the martyrdom of polycarp

Martyrdom of polycarp highly recommended to you all. This is a letter from the church at Philomelium to the church at Smyrna and And tells the story of the death of polycarp he was he was a martyr he was he was executed

For his faith. He was the bishop of Smyrna and the overseer the pastor of Smyrna and it

This guess when this letter was written This letter was written in 155

AD from 155 to 160 AD This is the 100s.

Okay, and Look at what this precious letter has to say about this subject matter

It reads we we being we Christians will never be able to abandon the

Christ Who suffered for the salvation of the whole world of those who are saved?

the blameless For the sinful the blameless for the sinful or to worship anyone else

For we worship this one who is the Son of God Amen to that isn't that awesome to see the same faith the same faith and Of course, it's not the same in every respect.

Yes, there has been doctrinal development because God's work Continues to unravel and and the church continues to face controversies and to develop and draw out the implications of our faith

But here we see the same core truth the same core doctrine

Beautifully expressed just as 1st John and the New Testament describes

Who Suffered Christ who suffered for the salvation of the whole world of those who are saved

The blameless for the sinful that beloved is the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement another doctrine that is being just completely undermined and attacked by Roman Catholics by liberals by Eastern Orthodox and many others who do not

Like the idea of a wrathful God Who needs to be pacified by a sacrifice?

To bear his wrath on The which is what propitiation means beloved and that is exactly what is being described in this letter written in the 150s in the 150s

Amazing stuff. This is amazing stuff. This blew me away That is amazing so and it's just like what first John chapter 2 says that We have an advocate with the

Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is this he is he is the propitiation

Not just for our sins, but also for the sins of the whole world What does that mean?

It is what exactly what is described here in the polycarp in the death of the martyrdom of polycarp it is the salvation of the whole world of Those who are saved and those alone beloved

Amen That is an amazing gospel promise

Awesome stuff That's what it means that is exactly what it means that the

Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world the world of believers of his chosen ones

Amen now Turn with me beloved to Romans chapter 9

Romans chapter 9 such an important chapter here verse 16

We will find here and it's no surprise that we find ourselves in the book of Romans once again

Because this is the big picture of God's work of redemption and how he has brought it about and why?

Romans chapter 9 verse 16 here we see beloved

God's word saying to us explaining to us through the God -breathed Apostle Paul So then it does not depend on the one who wills or the one who runs or The one who sees or the one who feels for that matter

But on who but on God Who has mercy on God who has mercy verse 18?

so then he has mercy on whom he desires and He hardens whom he desires

Amen It is ultimately God's choice it is ultimately

God's choice and He has chosen to be the Savior of the world of believers the blameless for the sinful and that beautiful in that great exchange as It's been called in the history of the church the greatest exchange

Our sins nailed to the cross expiated removed from from us from from our legal account it's it's a legal forensic work and Christ perfect righteousness has been reckoned to us as Our perfect righteousness as if we did it ourselves

That is the great exchange of the gospel penal substitutionary atonement

Penal mean meaning that there was a penalty that Christ paid and suffering the wrath of God and he suffered it fully because he is the

Savior of the world of believers, amen so And Jump with me now to a very similar complimentary letter in Galatians.

It's very similar Doctrinal discussions to the book book of Romans Galatians chapter 4 verse 4.

I Love this verse this beautiful Christmas verse as well an echo of 1st.

John as well As we see the analogy of Scripture coming full circle in Galatians chapter 4

I scarce can take it in like that precious. Him says I scarce can take it in verse 4 but when the fullness of time of the time came

God God the Father sent forth his son sent forth his son

Born of a woman born under the law under the curse of the law

So that he might redeem He might save Those who were under the law that we might receive the adoption as sons beloved and Because you are sons

God sent forth the spirit of his son into our hearts crying

Abba Father Abba Father Now God adopts us into his household and we call him our

Father who art in heaven. Amen That is the beautiful Gospel truth that is the good news of God's redemptive love that that that the

Apostles beheld and bore witness to The reality that the

Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the cosmos of believers of the world of his chosen people

Us who were sinful under the curse of the law and under the legal curse of sin and the weight of God's wrath

Completely taken swept out from under it because of that Because of the cross because Christ the

Son When he said it is finished Satisfied that penalty fully on our behalf and That is

Summarily a summarily comprehended truth and doctrine of the good news of God's redemptive love that is the gospel and Now that being said

How do we know? How do we know that we are? Are the world of Believers that God has saved that God the

Son saved that God the Son is the Savior of how do we know that?

How can we know that? We belong to God and we can't call God our father father and that Christ is our

Savior our Lord and Savior Because it is because whoever confesses that Jesus is the

Son of God God abides in him and he in God and he in God just as verse 15 of the first John chapter 4 says

Which is the same truth? That he repeats from John from verse 13 in verse

Where in verse 13 he says by this we know that we abide in him and he and us because he has given us of His spirit because God sent us his spirit in the blessing and completed work of his

Son in the blessing and Completed work of his precious

Son who is this who is our Savior? Who is our our?

Savior and That is why by this we know because he has given us of his spirit and That is the question beloved.

Do you believe do you confess? What Christ has done for his people?

Do you believe this gospel message is? This your blessed.

Hope is this your blessed. Hope are you? Looking for that blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great

God and what and Savior Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all lawlessness and Purify for himself a people for his own what his own possession his own possession his own bride zealous for good works

And I didn't make up that that precious truth beloved that straight from the mouths of the mouth of God in Titus chapter 2 verse 13 through 14

The same exact truth Summarized once again that Christ gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all lawlessness

To purify people the world of believers for his own possession zealous for Good works

Amen and when I think That God his son not sparing sent him sent him to die.

I scarce can take it in that on a cross my burden gladly bearing

He bled and died to take away my sin Then sings my soul my

Savior God my Savior God to thee how great thou art

How great thou art and God's beloved world of chosen believers said amen

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