Well, we read in Genesis chapter
4 but I want to turn now to the New Testament and John's first
general epistle and I'll read in chapter 3 and reading from
verse 9 through to verse 15. John 3 and
we read from verse 9 through 15. Whosoever is born of God doth
not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot
sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are
manifest, and the children of the devil. Whosoever doeth not
righteousness is not of God's, neither he that loveth not his
brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning,
that we should love one another, not as Cain, who was of that
wicked one, and slew his brother, and wherefore slew he him? Because his own worth were evil,
and his brother's righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the
world hates you. We know that we have passed from
death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth
not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother
is a murderer, And you know that no murderer hath eternal life
abiding in him. But the particular words that
I really want to center your attention on for a while this
evening are found here at verse 14. We know that we are passed
from death unto life because we love the Brethren. He that
loveth not his brother abideth in death. It's an interesting portion of
Holy Scripture. That's a very striking statement
that we find in that first verse that I was reading, verse 9.
And some might be troubled at it and want to conclude that
it teaches a form of sinless perfection. John says, "...whosoever
is born of God doth not commit sin." for his seed remaineth
in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God." Now is it
really teaching that believers can attain to that condition,
that state, where they are free from all sin? That they, in this
life, have attained sinless perfection? Well, that could not be the case,
really, because of the general context here, the whole analogy
of faith, as the old writers would say, the teaching of God's
words in its totality. We don't just take a verse in
isolation, but we have to see it, of course, in its immediate
context, but also in the light of the Book of Scripture that
it appears in, and also in the light of what we find throughout
the Word of God. And we remember what John says
previously in the opening chapter of this epistle. In chapter 1
and verse 8, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us. Then again at verse 10, if we
say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, that is,
we make God a liar, and His Word is not in us. Those then who
of the truth of God's word in their hearts, do not pretend
that they can ever attain that state of sinless perfection. Well, what then are we to make
of that word that we read at the ninth verse? Isn't John here
really speaking of the believer's spiritual nature? being born
again, not of corruptible seed, says Peter, but of incorruptible,
by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever. We read here of that incorruptible
seed, which is the new nature that is coming to the souls of
those who have been born again of the Spirit of God. Whosoever is born of God doth
not commit sin. His seed, God's seed, remaineth
in him. And it is that new nature that
cannot sin. That's the divine nature. Peter
again speaks of how believers are partakers of the divine nature. And of course, we're reminded,
aren't we, in Galatians 5 how that the flesh lost it against
the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these two are
contrary one to the other. And Paul says he cannot do the
thing that he would. The new nature never sins, but
there's still the old nature. And so there is that continual
conflict within. And all of this is part and parcel
of what it means to come to that true knowledge of salvation in
the Lord Jesus Christ. And really that's what I want
to take up for a time this evening as we look at the words that
I announced as our text in verse 14. We know that we have passed
from death unto life because we love the Brethren. He that
loveth not his brother abideth in death. Here is something to
be known And it is interesting though, so many times in this
epistle John uses that expression, we know. We see it there in chapter
2 and verse 3, Hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep
his commandments. And then again at the end of
verse 5 in that chapter, Hereby know we that we are in Him. And so it continues right through
the epistle when we come into this third chapter. What does
he say there in verse 19 of the chapter? Hereby we know that we are of
the truth and shall assure ourselves before Him. And then again there
at the end of the third chapter, he says, "...hereby we know that
He abideth in us by the Spirit which He hath given us." And
so on throughout the whole of the book. We see it further in
chapter 4 and verse 13 and chapter 5 and verse 13. There is something
to be known. This is life eternal, says the
Lord Jesus, that they might know thee, the only true God and Jesus
Christ, whom thou hast sent. What is that life eternal? It
is to know the blessing of salvation, which is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so here in the text, you see, we know. We can know that
we have passed from death unto life. There is a deliverance.
There is a salvation to be experienced. What is it to pass from death
unto life? Well, going back to the statement
that he makes in verse 10, he speaks of the children of God
being manifest, and the children of the devil. Who so doeth not
righteousness is not of God, and he that loveth not his brother.
There are these two marks of those who are the children of
God. There are those who do righteousness
and at the same time there are those that love the brethren. And of course he takes that up
again here in verse 14. But first of all he speaks of
passing from death unto life in terms of righteousness. Now, what is this righteousness
that he is speaking of? Well, then John goes on to make
reference to Cain and Abel in the passage that we read back
in Genesis 4. Verse 11, he says, This is a
message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love
one another, not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew
his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because
his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous." We
need the same righteousness that was there in Abel over against
the wickedness of Cain. What was Abel's righteousness? Abel's righteousness very much
centers in the sacrifice that he presents unto the Lord. As
we see there in Genesis 4 and verse 4, his offering was a sheep.
And the fat thereof, it was that fat on the inward parts that
was to be consumed upon the altar. And it was by means of the sacrifice. that Abel attained a righteousness
before God that was not the same with regards to his brother Cain. Of course, Abel appears, doesn't
he, in chapter 11 of Hebrews, the chapter that gives us that
great list of those of faith in the Old Testament Scriptures.
concerning the fate of Abel there in verse 4 of Hebrews 11. By faith Abel offered unto God
a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness
that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and by it he being
dead yet speaketh. Cain and Abel speak to us today,
and Abel's acceptable sacrifice His excellent sacrifice, as it's
called, is a witness that he was righteous. The righteousness
then that is being spoken of here in verse 10 is to be understood
in terms of what follows in verses 11 and 12 concerning Abel. Whosoever
doeth not righteousness is not of God, those who do righteousness.
We need that righteousness which is of faith. It is, of course, always the
object of the faith that is so vital, so important. We're reminded
of that, aren't we, in Romans chapter 4, where we read of the
faith of Abraham. He believed God and it was counted
to him for righteousness, reckoned to him, imputed to him. for righteousness. And what was it that he believed?
Well, as we see there at the end of the fourth chapter in
Romans, it was the object of that faith which centered on
the promised seeds, which is Isaac, of course, in the historical
context, but Isaac, a remarkable type of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so the faith of Abraham, who is the father of believers,
centers really in the in the person and the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and that great sacrifice that Christ made, and
of course the sacrifice of Abel is pointing us to that, when
Christ would come and make one sacrifice for sins forever. What
is this righteousness then that is experienced in salvation? Well, we're aware, I'm sure,
of what it is. It's twofold. It's that righteousness
that is there in the justification of the sinner. How do we have
confidence before God? It is only because we're looking
to the righteousness of another. As John says here at verse 28
in the previous chapter, Now little children abide in him
that when he shall appear we may have confidence and not be
ashamed before him at his coming. We are to abide in Him, that
is the Lord Jesus Christ. How do we abide in the Lord Jesus
Christ? By the faith of God's elect. As Paul says in the Philippian
epistle, to be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ. The righteousness which is of God by faith. Or we conclude that a man is
justified by faith without the deeds of the law, says the apostle. It's quite remarkable, isn't
it, when we think of what God says concerning the work of the
judges back in the Old Testament there at the beginning of Deuteronomy
25. What are the judges to do there to justify the righteous
and that to condemn the wicked? What does the Lord God do? God
justifies the ungodly. God justifies the ungodly, Paul
says in Romans 4, 5. How can that be? Well, it is
that righteousness that is reckoned to the believing sinner, that
righteousness of Christ that's accounted to him, imputed to
him. It's justification by faith. This is the salvation then, that
we desire to have a knowledge of. But how is this justification
evidenced in the life of the believer? Because it says, doesn't
it, in that 10th verse, whosoever doeth righteousness. I know he puts it in negative
terms, whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, but of course
the opposite is true, whosoever doeth righteousness is of God.
the believer is a partaker of the divine nature. And he desires to live according
to the commandments of God, the precepts of the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. As John says at the end of chapter
2, If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth
righteousness is born of him. It's not only the great truth
of justification, but also the blessed truth of sanctification.
There is a righteousness, a holiness of sanctification. And this is
the will of God, says Paul to the Thessalonians, even your
sanctification. And how God has made provision
for that sanctification by the gracious ministry of the Holy
Spirit, the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy
Ghost. Going to the Thessalonians, Paul
speaks of the sanctification of the Spirit. The sanctification
of the Spirit is by the Spirit working faith in the soul that
there is that great spiritual union with the Lord Jesus Christ.
There's no innate strength in any believer to make himself
righteous. He says here at verse 6, Whosoever
abideth in him sinneth not. Whosoever sinneth hath not seen
him, neither known him. How can we be kept from sinning
only as we are abiding in the Lord Jesus Christ? The branch
cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, says Christ. No more can ye except ye abide
in me. Our sanctification is by union
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Without me, he says, ye can do
nothing. And again, from me is thy fruit
found. Whatsoever is not of faith is
sin. All the time it's a matter of
our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who of God is made unto us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. or there is a
salvation then to be to be known and that salvation is by union
with Christ and that union is experienced by faith alone and
so we know the blessings of salvation in justification and sanctification and we can know it and how can
we know it? well the verse The text, we know
that we have passed from death unto life because we love the
brethren. He that loveth not his brother
abideth in death. Here is the mark whereby we can
assure ourselves. And what does he say subsequently
here? in verses 18 and 19. My little children, he says,
let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed, and in
truth. And hereby we know that we are
of the truth, and shall assure our heart, or the margin says,
persuade our heart before him. If we love one another, not in
words, neither in tongue but in deed and in truth, then we
know that we are of the truth and we can assure our hearts.
We can have an assurance that we really are the Lord's people. That's what he is saying. It is faith, and it's faith that
worketh by love. Faith is a working grace. Again, when we come to the end,
really, of the chapter, verse 23, this is His commandment that
we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and
love one another as He gave us commandments, or we're to live
by His holy precepts. It is a mark of grace, a mark
of grace where there is that genuine love of the brethren. We know that we pass from death
unto life. How do we know? Because we love
the brethren, the communion of saints. And of course it's there
in the Apostles' Creed, I believe in the communion of saints. Or
do we really believe in the communion of saints? And it's not just
a communion with living saints. We can enjoy communion with those
saints who have gone before us, as it were. where we have the
writings of godly men. And maybe sometimes when we read
some of those good old books and we read of the truths that
they embraced and the experience that they had of the grace of
God, how we feel drawn towards them. They minister to us. We
know communion with them. It's remarkable seeing the communion
of saints. Now at times when we're with
the Lord's people and we're engaged in profitable conversation, we
feel the union. It's delightful. But do we cherish
it as we ought? Do we seek it as we ought? To
speak of those better things. There is a spiritual union there. There's that communion between
the people of God, there's that love that they bear one to And
then we have the antithesis of that. In verse 13, Marvel not,
my brethren, if the world hates you. All believers are not of
the world. John says, doesn't he, love not
the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any
man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the
lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father.
but is of the world, and the world passeth away, and the lost
thereof. But he that doeth the will of
God abideth forever." John is very emphatic with regards to this
whole business of the love of the brethren, the way God's people
are to show their love one to another in practical ways. It's interesting what he says
here in verse 15, "...whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer,
and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in
him." You think of the implication of what he's saying in that verse
when we take account of the context and what he said previously with
regards to Cain and Abel. Those who hate and despise their
fellow believers, have more of the spirit of Cain, the first
murderer, than they have of the spirit of Abel, who was the first
martyr. That's the implication. Whosoever
hated his brother is a murderer, just as Cain was, and the curse
that came upon him. You know that no murderer hath
eternal life abiding in him it's a it's a solemn statement that
he makes he's a murderer if he hates his
brother he's a spiritual murderer that's what it means of course Paul says we know that the law
is spiritual and I am carnal soul under sin but God's law
is a spiritual law and it's the Lord Jesus Christ himself who
brings out that blessed truth in the course of his own ministry
there in Matthew chapter 5 verses 21 and 22 he takes up the language
of the sixth commandment thou shalt not kill thou shalt do
no murder and he says if you hate your brother without cause
you're guilty or if you speak ill of your brother in a sense,
assassinate his personality. You're murdering the man. It's
a solemn word, isn't it, that we have there at the end of verse
15, no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. But then also, thinking of Cain
and Abel, when we look at Cain and his spurious works, what
does it say here in verse 12? Not as Cain, who was of that
wicked one, and slew his brother, and wherefore slew he him, because
his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous. His
own works were evil. What were his works? They're
not really intrinsically evil. Cain was a tiller of the ground.
and he brought of the produce that had been produced. Now,
when Adam and Eve were in a state of innocence in Genesis chapter
2 we're told how the Lord God took the man and put him into
the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. Adam would attend
to the garden and doubtless at times he'd be tilling the ground.
and there he is before the fall in that state of innocence. What
are we to make then of what he said with regards to Cain, that
his works were evil? Well, what he brought to God,
you see, was something in which we see his trusting in his own
works, his trusting in the labors of his own hand, He brought of
the first fruits of the ground, an offering to the Lord. In contrast
to Abel, whose sacrifice is one that is clearly pointing, directing
to the Lord Jesus Christ and that great sacrifice for sins. Cain's works were evil. His brothers were righteous. And then, of course, he goes
on to commit a terrible crime, a wicked sin, in that he slew
his brother. In this, the children of God
are manifest, and the children of the devil. Whosoever doeth
not righteousness is not of God's, neither he that loveth not his
brother. Or we look to the Lord as our
righteousness, And we give evidence that we're those who are in the
Lord Jesus Christ because we love the brethren. And we can
make this blessed deduction. It's a wonderful thing really.
Here is an area where we can test ourselves and try ourselves
as to whether or not we're in the Lord Jesus Christ. We can
know whether we really have passed from death unto life. We were
those who were dead in trespasses and sins. But we can know whether
we've been delivered from that state of lifelessness in sin
and trespasses. We know that we have passed from
death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loveth
not his brother abideth in death. Oh, the Lord then be pleased
to grant that we might know something of that blessed assurance even
that full assurance of faith as we come before the Lord tonight
in our prayers and before we turn to prayer we're going to
sing our second praise in the hymn 609 walk in love Lord we
fain would walk in love But alas, how slow we move! Pride,
that haughty monster, Pride often makes a star to sight. Lamb of
God, thy power make known, Sweetly draw, and we will run, Make our
love to thee and thine, Like the sun at noonday shine. 609, the tune is Buckland 450. you.