In His Service

                                     Being made Complete in the Love of God   1 John 2:7-12,15-17 Sound doctrine series (God’s Love part 1) The doctrine of God’s love is so vast in John’s first epistle, it will take a few lessons to encompass his insight and understanding of the love of God. I would like to begin with the completeness of God’s love to all. Love is probably the most written about word (Love is a many splendored thing), sang about (All the world needs now is Love; Endless Love), in Poetry (How do I love thee, let me count the ways), and one of the oldest written text, God is Love (1 Jn. 4:16). Yet love is also one of the most difficult to understand. It seems that everyone has their own understanding or interpretation of God’s love because of the various words that means love.  The Greeks have 8 words for love. Eros (romantic, passionate love), ...

                                                              It All Comes Down To Love 1 John 4:7-21 Doctrine of God’s love series Right now the passion that is being demonstrated and experienced all throughout the United States over the presidential election can be measured by love. John brings it down to love for self, for one another, love for God, and love of God. Let’s look at the text. “ 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, because God is love. 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. Dear...

                                                                                       God is Love 1 Jn. 3:11-24 Doctrine of God’s love series At a secular university, I was approached by a professor after reading Jonathan Edwards’ great sermon, “Sinners in the hands of an angry God”. The professor stated that God was a bully. He used his authority to punish and defame people. The words I spoke next still surprise me even today, “You cannot judge God by man, but judge man by God.” It was here where the misunderstanding of God's love was expounded, not just by the professor, but literally the world today. “How can a loving God send mankind to Hell?”  In the Garden of Eden, everything was perfect. All creation was good. All ...

                                               The Spirit of lawlessness, antichrist 1 Jn. 2:18-27,3:4-10,4:1-6 Doctrine of Evil Isaiah’s words of prophecy on good and evil ring ever truer today “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” Isa.5:20 John, writing to the church about the goodness of God, also wrote to the church about the presence of evil, ultimately the antichrist. I will not touch on every aspect of evil but to give us an understanding of its presence in the past, today, and in the future.  John’s letter defined light and darkness, good and evil in the time of the church then and in the times of the end. Let's look at the text, 2:18-27 - Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now ...