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Love One Another | 1 John 3:11-24 (2-11-2024: Mark Evans)
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John is preaching from the letter of 1 John, specifically focusing on chapter 3, verses 11-24. The main message is that Christians should love one another. John uses the example of Cain and Abel to illustrate the importance of love and warns that the world may hate Christians. He emphasizes that love is a defining characteristic of a genuine Christian and discusses the benefits of love. The sermon encourages Christians to show Christ-like love to one another and not be surprised when the world hates them. Well, if you have your Bibles, do make your way to the letter of 1 John as we continue our sermon series through this wonderful epistle. And today we find ourselves in 1 John chapter 3, and we'll be in verse 11 to the end of the chapter. 1 John 3, verse 11 through 24, and these are the words of the God who is from everlasting to everlasting. So this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We should not be like Cain who was the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Now, little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our hearts before him. For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and He knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God. And whatever we ask, we receive from Him because we keep His commandments and do what pleases Him. And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, in love one another, just as He commanded us. Whoever keeps His commandments abides in God and God in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. And the grass withers and the flower fades, let us pray. O gracious God and heavenly Father, we praise You for Your Word, that it is truth. We pray that we would be sanctified by the truth. Give us eyes to see, give us ears to hear, help us to do what You have called us to do and help us to do it firstly by seeing, by knowing true love, by the One who loved us and gave Himself up for us. In His name we pray, Amen. Amen, you may be seated. Well, for all of our advancements in medical technology, we still hold to some very basic determinations to establish whether or not a person is alive. Even if you're the least medically trained person in the room, you probably intuitively already know these signs of life. Let's say you stumble upon an unconscious person and you've got to discern, is this person dead or alive? Well, my guess is you would probably know a few things to check for. Does this person have a pulse? Maybe you feel their neck or you feel their wrist to check. I'm sure you would probably check, are they breathing? Is their chest rising and falling or is it motionless? Maybe you check their body temperature. Is their skin warm or is it stone cold? Is it ice blue? We all know these are simple ways to detect signs of life. Well, in the same way, 1 John tells us here are some things to check for to see if there is spiritual life in a person. Say now you stumble upon a professing Christian or you're looking in the mirror at your own self and you wonder, is this person spiritually alive? What would you check for? Well, so far John has told us here are some signs of life such as, is this person keeping God's commandments? Is this person walking in the light? Or is there a genuine acknowledgment and confession of sin? Or in terms of doctrine, is there the belief that Christ is the eternal Son of God who took on our flesh in order to take away our sins? Well, this morning John lays before us what is one of the most defining signs of life of the genuine Christian, a trait that makes Christians distinct from the world and it evidences that we have passed from death to life. That thing is simply that we love one another. It is as the Lord Jesus said, the world will know you are my disciples if you have love for one another. So let's just remember where we left off last week. John declared that because we have been born of God, we practice righteousness. Now by contrast, just glance at the last verse from the last week, chapter 3 verse 10, which says that a child of the evil one does not love his brother. If you were to go and check his spiritual pulse, it would not beat with the beat of love. And this morning is just a continuation of that very truth. And so we'll walk through this section in three portions. Firstly, looking at what not to do. What does failing to love look like? Secondly, what to do? What does genuine love look like? And then thirdly, what are the benefits of love? That's all with the main point, which is very simple. And that is that Christians show Christ-like love to one another. It is that simple. We love one another. And John immediately plunges us headfirst into the labor of love in verse 11, saying, this is the message that you've heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. At a time when the modern church is nervously hustling to be innovative, to be so-called relevant, let's appreciate just how unoriginal is this message. John is a marketing department's worst nightmare, because he says up front, I've got the same old message you first heard. I have no new fad. I have no new trend for you. I'm here for us to hold true to the trustworthy words of Christ, simply that we love one another. But to teach us this love, John actually begins by teaching us what not to do. We humans are strange creatures. Sometimes we learn best by way of negation. And so verse 12, John says, we should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. Kids, you can recall what was the first murder in history when Cain killed his brother Abel. And kids, if I asked you, who was Cain's father? Who was Cain's dad? You'd be right to answer Adam. But John says here, you'd be even more correct to answer that his father was the devil, the murder from the beginning. And a mark of a good teacher is to ask good questions, to get students thinking. And John tees up for us one such good question in this verse. He asks, why? Now, why? Why did Cain murder Abel? That's a good question. Now, we have the phrase today of, quote, senseless violence. You flip on the news and you see a tragedy, a massacre, a mass shooting of some kind. And the general public shakes its head and decries it as senseless violence, meaning there's no reasonable explanation. There's no rational cause to motivate this kind of violence. And so the world searches for superficial answers in fields like psychology, sociology, criminology, and so forth. But you see, the Christian worldview does explain the root cause and the reasons behind such hatred. Scripture does give us the right anthropology, the radical root as to why man does what he does. And John does that right there in verse 12. He answers his own question. Cain murdered Abel because his own deeds were evil and his brother's were righteous. A good detective who wants to solve a murder case is always looking for that motive. What was the murder's motive? Well, Detective John has unearthed Cain's murderous motive in these two parts. Part one, his deeds were evil. Part two, his brother's righteous. Recall that Abel offered up his sacrifice by faith, as Hebrews says. He found favor with God while Cain did not. And the traditional inference was that it was out of envy and hatred that Cain killed his brother. This is the only time that John cites the Old Testament. And one wonders, did John pick this example of these two brothers because it essentially occurred right in the middle of a church service? Two brothers worshiping, sacrificing to God. Just imagine that today, as we're passing around the offering plate and singing songs together, all the while, one brother is hating another brother in his heart right in the midst of our worship. It's as old as Genesis and yet, sadly, all too real today. As the Lord Jesus said, out of the heart of man comes forth murder and envy. So long as man has a beating heart, these evil things will flow out of the heart of man. And so you might say, well, Cain killing Abel, that's the stuff of ancient history. That doesn't happen in civilized society like ours today. John says, friend, don't be so naive. Verse 13, do not be surprised. Don't be amazed. Don't be shocked. Don't be marveled that the world hates you. For all his faults, it was Pilate who was discerning enough to realize that the crowds were handing over Jesus to crucifixion out of their envy, just like Cain. Their deeds were evil. And so out of envy and hatred, they killed the King of glory. And our Lord Jesus says, as done to the master, so it will be done to my disciples. And so, church, we are to be armed with this foreknowledge so that you can endure and bear up under persecutions, mockings, insults, that we ought not to be shocked as if we're doing something wrong when the world looks at the church and maligns her and says you are bigoted, small-minded, ignorant, full of hatred. And instead, we persevere, standing ground ready to give reason for the hope that is in us. And should you need strength, John reminds you who you really are in Christ. In verse 14, he says, We know we have passed from death to life because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. There is a sign of life right there. Do you love your brothers and your sisters? Do you love the people of God? How would you say I could take or leave being with the people of God? My private relationship with Jesus is all that really matters. Well, John would challenge you. Have you really then passed from death to life? The Apostle Paul is the poster boy of this truth, himself a persecutor, a literal murderer of Christians, public enemy number one against the faith, and yet he goes from slaying Christians to loving Christians. And while you may not have a dramatic Damascus Road experience yourself, a Christian, it's no less true of you. You have passed from death to life. Titus 3 says it so well that apart from Jesus Christ, we passed our days in malice and envy, hating others and being hated by others. Right? What are you up to today? Well, I'm going to hate today because that is what is in my heart. That's how I spend my time, in hatred. And then Titus says, out of that, God saved us, not because of our works, but by his mercy. And that really is mercy, isn't it? Because it is a damnable, miserable thing to be trapped in envy, malice and bitterness. You know these people, it's written on their faces. As is rightly said, bitterness is like you drinking poison, yet waiting for the other person to die. And so, we must do business with our own murderous hearts. The moment we claim that we have never murdered, all we need to do is remember how the Lord Jesus so clearly taught on that sixth commandment, that if we are sinfully angry, that if we insult our brother, we are liable to judgment. And see, John arrives at the very same conclusion in verse 15. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. Once again, John's least favorite color is the color gray. He's so black and white. We are either of Cain or of Christ. These are the only two families out there. Sons of God or sons of the murderer. And so, we must check our own murderous hearts. Do you ever have sinful anger towards a brother? Do you ever find yourself envious of a fellow sister, saying, I wish I looked like that? Why does she get all the praise, all the attention? Why does his life, his career, his family seem better than mine? And out of this can come our petty, resentful thoughts and comparisons, our gossiping about someone, saying, hey, did you hear about so-and-so? While on the inside, we are relishing trashing a fellow brother or sister. Or there's the more passive route of snubbing someone, purposely excluding someone as a form of revenge, putting on a cold shoulder as a way of putting on rejection. These are the polite ways that we can hate our brothers and our sisters. And so, the better portion is the first moment that such murder arises in our heart. The moment the Spirit indicts us, we are to confess our sins and to put off all malice and all hatred. And so, there's a word on what not to do. We are to mortify our murderous hearts. But in the second section, John now says, hey, here's what to put on, right? Here's what genuine love looks like. You might think, I already know a love. But no, we must immediately humble ourselves that we are unskilled in love, slow to love, needing to learn and relearn love. And the good news is, here is how you can know that love in verse 16. By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us. John says, if you are looking for love, then you must first look up to the cross and behold the love of Christ. Calvary is where you will find boundless love. As our Lord Jesus says, there is no greater love than this, that a man would give up his life for his friends. And all we have to add is that Christ died for us, not when we were friends, but yet His enemies. And here is the irreducible essence of love, that of laying down, of self-giving, of sacrifice, of saying, my life for yours. And we can practically see that all around us, can't we? For example, a godly mom loves her little children by laying down herself in various ways, often laying down her aspirations and her ambitions, sacrificing her time, her body, certainly her sleep, her well-being, laying down endless conveniences all for her children. These are all saying the same thing, my life for yours. And that love is in imitation of Christ's, because in Him you find that love fully embodied, perfectly pure and enacted upon the cross. And so John makes this incredibly tight connection, that as Christ laid down His life, verse 16, therefore, you see the connection, we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. It's a simple math. Look to Christ, then go and do likewise. It's remarkably simple. But simple, of course, most certainly does not mean easy. Firstly, you see the immediate importance of the local church. Do not confuse John's message with the world message, which preaches, go love everyone. Go love all people equally. Spread your love to all mankind by sentimentally affirming whatever makes a person happy. Well, that is easy. It's far easier to love mankind than it is to love man. All I have to do is donate to a charity, work a soup kitchen, do some virtue signaling, and I've loved. But my living, breathing, bothersome brother right next to me, that's harder. To submit to, to forgive and be forgiven, to be reconciled face to face, to give and receive correction, to rejoice with and to weep with, that's much harder. But that is love. As C.S. Lewis rightly said, love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung, possibly broken. But that is love. And that said, John is so practical here because when he says Christ laid down his life, now you go and do likewise, you might think, okay, then I'm called to be a martyr. John must mean I am literally to die upon the cross. And we might confuse imitating Christ to mean be identical to Christ. But look at this incredibly practical test of love in verse 17. He says, if anyone has the world's goods, sees his brother in need, but closes his heart, how does God's love abide in him? It's this very real world everyday situation. You see your brother in need. Secondly, you have the means, you've got the ability to meet that need. And out of the love of Christ, you certainly fulfill that need. And John warns the professing Christian that if you don't do that, this language of closing your heart, then is God's love really in you? As James says, you see your brother shivering in the cold and you respond, hey, be warm. I'm sending you all my warm thoughts. But you don't actually do anything. You don't give him your coat. You see your brother starving. You say, hey, be filled. I'm praying for your next meal. But you don't actually give him any food. James says, this is an empty, useless faith to love in word, but not in action. And so you're right to ask, does my love ever actually leave my heart? Does my love ever roll up its sleeves and get dirty? Or is it just a kind of hypothetical, theoretical kind of love? All we have to do is just try to imagine the Lord Jesus professing love to his disciples with his lips and then saying, you know what, though? I don't actually think I'm going to offer up my body upon the cross. I kind of like my body. No, this lip service is unimaginable from our Savior. And so instead of a closed heart, John is really calling for an open heart. And to be clear, an open heart could just mean an open wallet, ready to extend generosity to someone in need. An open heart could mean an open door, an open home to show hospitality to others. An open heart may simply mean an open schedule to give up your time to benefit someone else. All of this is John's sledgehammer against Gnosticism of his day. They would teach that the soul, the inside is the really important part of man. You know, just spiritual things matter. Christianity says, no, God created us with bodies and therefore we have bodily, physical, material needs. And church, I can only proudly say that the practical love that John speaks of are the very things I've seen take place in this church family. Someone needs a car. Here comes the response. Oh, I have a car. You can borrow my car. Someone needs a place to stay. Oh, I have an extra room. You can actually stay at our house. Someone needs a home repair. Oh, let me help you out. I know how to do that. You clearly don't know what you're doing. Someone needs a job. Oh, I can give you a recommendation. I have a lead for you. Someone is sick. Oh, here, I made you a meal so that your family can eat and so that you could rest. And I could go on and on of the things I've witnessed within the four walls of this church. And all I can say is, well done and may your love abound more and more. Because when we do something as simple as giving a cup of cold water in the name of Christ, Christ says, well done. It is as if you are giving that cup of water to me and you bear witness to the watching world. Surely God is with these people. And that's John's very exhortation in verse 18. Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth. So you're right to be thinking, how could I practice this love? How could I see that brother in need and practice this intentional, deliberate love for the household of God? But just remember what John says. Before you do the love, first know the love. And it all starts at Calvary, for by this do we know love. He loved us and gave himself up for us. So we've seen what not to do. Secondly, what we are to do. Lastly, let's look at the reward of living out this love. And you can almost think of this final section as a kind of heavenly benefits package, if you will. You know, you go and interview for a company and they say, you do this work, here in turn are your benefits. Here's your dental, your life insurance, your health, so on and so forth. And that's a crass way to think of this third section. That as we do the labor of love, in turn, here are the blessings, the benefits that the Christian receives from loving one another. Our God often lays out rewards for us to pursue. And sometimes we think we ought not to be motivated by rewards, as if there's something inherently wrong or self-interested about pursuing rewards. But this is to be wiser than God. Our God tells us, store up treasure in heaven. The question is not, are you going to seek rewards? The question is, will you seek righteous rewards? And you've got two such treasures laid out for us here. That of confidence and that of provision. Firstly, you see the confidence in the first three verses. John leads off, verse 19, saying, By this, that is, by loving one another, we come to know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before God. Simply put, loving one another is good cardio. It strengthens the heart of a Christian to love God's family. As Proverbs says, the one who waters others will himself be watered. And that word for reassure there is often translated as persuaded. As in, you will persuade your own heart by loving others. You will persuade yourself. Yes, I really have passed from death to life. And maybe you ask the question, well, why would I even need to be persuaded? And, of course, to ask that question is merely to answer it. Just last week, we covered the works of Satan, whose very goal is to persuade you that you're, in fact, not a Christian. You are failing. You are an imposter. You are a fraud. And the love of God is not in you. Let's add to that your own indwelling sin that persuades you to not love others, to think only of yourself and to gratify your sinful desires. Let's add on top of that, perhaps more than anything, the trembling thought of standing before a holy, just, righteous God, crying out like Isaiah, Woe is me, I am unclean and undone. Our hearts get clawed with the plaque of unbelief and doubt. John acknowledges this. He knows the human heart. And so, in verse 20, he says, Our hearts can and will condemn us. The Christian, have you ever felt that sting? Have you ever heard that voice in your head? Have you ever had those dark seasons in your soul? That I am condemned, a hypocrite, an imposter. I fail to do what God has called me to do. I am guilty, unloved, forsaken, unwanted, cast aside. Well, John has this balm for your soul. It's this singular truth in verse 20 that, Yes, while our hearts may condemn us, hear this truth. God is greater than your heart. Do not believe your heart. Believe God. Do not lean on your own understanding. Trust God and trust His promises and His character. Believe that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. And John seals his argument with this curious phrase. God is greater than your heart. And then you see John says, And He knows everything. At first blush, you read that and you go, Okay, well, the truth that God knows everything, It seems to be the bad news that only makes certain my condemnation. You mean to say God knows all my secret thoughts, My dark intentions, my sinful motivations. Yeah, I may fool others, but I do not fool God. He pierces right through me. God's all-knowing seems to only secure my condemnation. And indeed, outside of Jesus Christ, it does. But you see just how great is the great love of God. Our God knows everything. He knows you better than you know yourself. He knows your every blemish, every black mark, every dirty, hidden, shameful secret you hold. And if you are in Christ, He has carried that guilt, that condemnation, that shame, and He has nailed it to the cross of Christ. And so now you can flip it around and see what John is saying. The maker of heaven and earth, before whom all mankind lays exposed and bare, before whom every mouth will confess that He is Lord. He knows you. He knows all of you. And He does not condemn you. And here's the point. If the Almighty God does not condemn you, then who is your heart to condemn you? Take the promises of God and prosecute your own heart. Who do you think you are? My heart? Are you stronger than God? My heart? Are you holier than God? Are you wiser than God? Are you more majestic than God? Get out of here with your nonsense. Nothing can separate me from the love of God in Christ. As Paul says, if God is for us, who could be against us? And friends, that includes yourself. You may not be against yourself. And with that good conscience that flows from loving our brothers and sisters comes this reward. If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God. And a great indicator of our confidence before God is found in prayer, approaching God with boldness. J.C. Ryle once said, God has no dumb children, or as we would say, no mute children. A man once overheard Luther praying and said, he prayed with so much reverence as if he was speaking to God, but with so much confidence as if he was speaking to his friend. And bold prayer is just what we have in the last three verses. John says, verse 22, Whatever we ask, we receive from him. Now, to clarify, whatever we ask we receive does not mean everything or anything that we ask we receive, as if John is handing us a blank check when we pray. As James says, we can and do pray for the wrong things out of selfish ambition. But I suspect our danger is rather that of not asking, a kind of indifference, a lack of confidence when we come before God. Not coming to God with eagerness, with expectancy that my Father in heaven will answer me. And John says, what the godly receive really does come from the Father. How many times you might have prayed and then something happens, you say, oh well, that was going to happen anyway. That was going to happen regardless whether I prayed. That's just coincidence. And John says, no, it comes from him. And then verse 22, Because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. Now, John is not saying that our obedience causes God to answer us as if God is obligated by our obedience. But he is saying, here's the confidence of the godly, the privilege of the godly. Do you really think God would bring you from death to life, only to then close off the very way of life that is prayer? Now, in contrast, scripture does lay out for us that the ungodly are often not heard. You can think of the way Peter exhorts husbands. He says, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing her honor, lest your prayers be hindered. Now, he's saying, and by your disobedience, your prayers could just bounce off the ceiling and go unheard. But when we do what pleases him and pray what pleases him, thy will be done, we can be certain, sure, confident that our father will answer us. And the sum of such pleasing righteousness comes in verse 23. John says, This is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his son Jesus Christ and love one another. That lawyer once asked Jesus, which is the greatest commandment? And Jesus gave those two answers. We can imagine if you asked John, which is the greatest commandment? He would give these two answers. Firstly, believe upon Jesus Christ. And if you're here this morning and not a Christian, this is God's great command to you. Believe upon Jesus Christ. This is the first and greatest thing that is pleasing to God. And you cannot do anything pleasing to God apart from obeying this command. To believe in God's son. Else you cannot love rightly. You cannot live rightly. You cannot be relieved of the condemnation of your own heart. And you cannot be relieved of eternal condemnation of a just and holy God. Hear what John is saying. Believe in God's son. He is true love. And from that flows the second great commandment to love one another. As I said, you cannot give away what you do not have. Well, the Christian now receives and knows the greatest love of all. And so he goes and does likewise. Well, as we close, let us lay up in our hearts three uses of this awesome section of Scripture. Firstly, kill or be a killer. Kill or be a killer. Loving one another is hard work. It's hazardous work in a fallen world. Remember, John's first word to you is, don't be like Cain. And remember, God's words to Cain right before he killed his brother was, hey, Cain, sin is crouching at your door. Its desire is for you. You must rule over it. And those are Cain's two choices. He could either kill his sin or he could kill his brother. It's no different for you or I. Same for you. Kill your hatred, your envy, kill your bitterness, kill resentment, or kill your brothers and your sisters. This means we may not nurture bitterness, hold grudges, let resentment fester, allow hatred to simmer, and instead confess our sin. And when proper, be reconciled to our brothers face to face and forgive each other as God has forgiven us. Secondly, make gains on your assurance. Verse 24 summarizes exactly how we can do this. John writes, whoever keeps his commandments abides in God and God in him. By this we know, there's the language of assurance, that God abides in us by the spirit whom he has given us. Have you noticed that when John speaks of assurance, he rarely calls for more introspection, more examination of our feelings, more navel gazing. Instead, it's very practical that as we grow in keeping God's commandments, we also grow in knowing, oh, God's spirit is really working in me. This obedience is not my doing, this is the grace of God in me. Because on my own, I would never keep God's commandments. I would never do what is pleasing to God. And friends, how kind is our God? He does not want poor children. He wants us to know, here are the riches of grace that I have given to you. And our duty and our delight is to grow in that assurance. And to do that, lastly, know more and more of the love of Christ. John's been so clear. Only as we know the love of Christ, do we then love others. And if you think you have plumbed the depths of the love of Christ, then there is no help for you. Because God's word says we are searching out the unsearchable. How far, how wide, how deep is the love of Christ? And to know more of that love, as Ephesians says, we can simply pray for it. Pray to know, along with the saints, to know the depths and the heights and the wonders of the love of Christ. And we've seen this morning, it's the most practical thing in the world. Because when we love our brothers and our sisters, all we're really doing is showing forth the love of Christ. For there is no greater love than this, that a man would give up his life for his friends. And Christian, it is your privilege to go and do likewise. Let us pray. Our gracious God and heavenly Father, we praise you that by this we know love. That the Lord Jesus Christ loved us. He gave himself up for us. That he said, in my life, for yours. And he did it because from heaven he came to seek his bride out of true love for her and love for you, his heavenly Father. We praise you that we are able to receive this love by grace. And by that very grace, we are then to go and do likewise. And so, Father, will you pray that we would go and love our brothers and our sisters. That we would adorn the gospel. That we would bear witness to the watching world. That surely God is among these people. Just look at how they love one another. And we ask this in your name. Amen.
