As we turn to the word of God, we’re going to look at a powerful passage of Scripture from the book of 1 John. I want to talk to you about loving no matter what, no excuses, no distractions, no shifting the blame, but just loving no matter what. This letter that we are going to read is written by the apostle John.

I know that many of you are familiar with the apostle Paul, because he wrote most of the New Testament, but maybe you are not so familiar with the apostle John. And so, let me introduce you to the apostle John. He was a disciple of Jesus and the youngest of the twelve. John’s first encounter with Jesus was when John the Baptist pointed him out to both him and Andrew saying,

“Look, the Lamb of God!”

When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus to Galilee and Jerusalem before returning to their homes and work as fishermen (John 1:36-37).

About six weeks later, as Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he came across Andrew again. This time he was with fishing with his brother Simon who was called Peter.

"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19).

Immediately, they left their nets and followed him.

“Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him” (Matthew 4:21-22).

And so, John was younger than his brother James, but his age did not keep him from a position of leadership. In fact, Peter, James, and John formed Jesus innermost circle, but it was John who had a special connection to Jesus. He loved him, not in a gentle, feminine, or passive way, but with an intensity and zeal that led Jesus to call him a “Son of thunder.”

It was John earlier on the evening of Jesus arrest who was identified as, “The disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23).

And it was John alone who declared that he was willing to drink the bitter cup the Lord was about to drink in his suffering.

Of course, we know that Peter would betray Jesus, hiding in the shadows, denying knowing him; but John followed him boldly into the high priest’s house. And it was John alone who accompanied Jesus to Calvary, and it was there on the cross that Jesus commissioned him with the care of his mother.

And so, John spent lots of time with Jesus, watching, learning, and listening. He was an eyewitness to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And after the ascension of Jesus, John continued in a prominent place of leadership along with Peter. Last week we saw that John was there when Peter healed the lame man in the temple. Together they testified of their faith in Jesus Christ before the Sanhedrin who locked them in jail for the night.

But it didn’t end there, John was highly esteemed among the growing number of disciples, because he continued to interact with Jesus even after his resurrection. The Bible says, Jesus breathed on them and said,

“Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22).

And so, on the evening of the resurrection John received the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, the presence of the living God in his heart and in his mind.

This was important because the ministry of Jesus didn’t end at the cross, his followers would do even greater things, because they would receive the gift of his Spirit. Jesus told his disciples,

“I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high" (Luke 24:49).

And he did, Jesus sent his Spirit to live and dwell within us.

If you have believed and put your trust in Jesus Christ, receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Bible says,

“Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God” (1 Corinthians 6:19).

That means you don’t have to go to a special place in order to enter into God’s presence, because God has already put his presence within you. You see, because of the indwelling Spirit of God, he is always with you, you are never alone, and anywhere you go, God goes.

That is one of the differences between the promises of the old covenant and the promises of the new covenant. Under the old covenant God dwelled in places, tents, and buildings, but in the new covenant God dwells in our hearts.

Therefore, we have nothing to lose and nothing to fear, because God is always with us, always loving us. And he has said,

"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" (Hebrews 13:5-6).

But as might be expected of one of Jesus closest disciples, John would in fact become subject to persecution.

“In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12).

Now, we know that John remained in Jerusalem until the death of Jesus’ mother, but we can only speculate when that happened. However, historians tell us that once John was freed from that debt, that commission to care for Jesus’ mother, it wasn’t long before he ended up in Rome preaching the gospel. It was there in Rome where he was literally baptized, thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil.

Miraculously he lived to tell about it, but he was banished to the island of Patmos, and only much later returned to Ephesus where he wrote the book of Revelation. From the example of John’s life and the many things that he wrote about we learn that we need not fear death, or sickness, or loss. We may experience war, hunger, or poverty, but because of Jesus’ presence within us, we will endure and overcome everything life throws at us. And so, in that sense we have nothing to fear and nothing to prove.

With that introduction, let’s go to the letter of first John, where the apostle who was the youngest is now an old man. And so, he’s writing this as a father, an elder, and as a friend, and I want you to listen carefully and let these words from the Spirit of God speak to your heart.

“Dear friends,” he says, “let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:7-8).

“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10).

“Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us” (1 John 4:11-12).

“We know that we live 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 his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us” (1 John 4:13-16).

“God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him” (1 John 4:16-17).

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18).

“We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother” (1 John 4:19-21).

In these fifteen verses John says the word “love” twenty-seven times because love was the focus. Love is the main theme of this passage, because love is the most important thing. John drives this point home telling us two times that “God is love.” He tells us this from two different perspectives, first he says,

“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:8).

In other words, there is no comma after “God is love.” There is no “but” after “God is love.” But he says, “God is love.” Period.

And then he says, “We know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them” (1 John 4:16).

And so, we have nothing to prove, because we know God loves us deeply and unconditionally. He accepts us right where we are, no matter what. And the strength of his love, or the power of his love, releases us from the need to constantly prove ourselves and seek the approval of others.

John knew that God’s love was not just a part of who he is, but the very core of who he is. In other words, every characteristic of God is an expression of his love, because everything God does is motivated and initiated out of love. God is the very essence of love and that’s why John tells us in verse seven,

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God…” (1 John 4:7-8).

“Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11).

And so, the Spirit of God communicates to us through the apostle John that there is an expectation that we would love as God loves. Since, God’s nature is love, he expects us to love one another the way he loves us, because he dwells within us.

Honestly, that’s where things start to get challenging, it may seem to be impossible, but the truth is no matter how people treat you, love is always the right response. In other words, love is always possible, because love, agape love is a choice, and love comes from God. Now, many of you are probably thinking about a time when you reacted instead of responding in love. And reactions are natural, they are part of our nature, but we’ve been born again, we’ve been transformed, we are new creations in Christ Jesus. And so, we have received this heavenly download, but we need to run the installation file, upgrading our hearts and minds through the love of the Spirit of God so that we respond instead of reacting.

In other words, your first feeling or thought in a given situation is most frequently a default reaction, a knee-jerk reaction, but you can choose a second thought and how you respond. That’s why the Bible says,

“We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

And so, initially you may not react with love, but you can capture that feeling or thought, take it captive, and turn it around so that you always respond with love. Because love is a choice, God is love, and love is always the right response. And so, we want to love no matter what because verse twelve says,

“No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us” (1 John 4:12).

In other words, while no one here has actually seen God, if we love one another here in this church, we are demonstrating that God is here because his love is made complete in us. Wouldn’t that be wonderful if our church was known as the place where people could go and encounter God because they experienced him through our love?

I want to encourage you, because we can do it, it’s possible, because Jesus never tells us to do anything that he doesn’t also give us the power to do. In Matthew chapter 22 he said,

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39).

And the good news is that you have an unending source of sacrificial love within you, the Spirit of God himself, because the fruit of the Spirit is “love.” And so, John tells us, that Jesus has given us this command,

“Whoever loves God must also love his brother” (1 John 4:21).

Because you have his power within you, you can access his love by pouring yourself out in love to those around you. And God is your source, he himself is your never-ending source of love, and you will never exhaust his love. And so, let's love no matter what.

Graphics, notes, and commentary from LifeChurch, Ministry Pass, PC Study Bible, Preaching Library, and Sermon Central. Scripture from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.