Alright, let's stay right there
in 1 John chapter 3. The title of the message this
morning is, Love in Deed and Truth. And of course, that title
is taken from verse 18 here, where he says, My little children,
let us not love in word. You know, it's easy to say you
love someone. Neither in tongue, don't just
say it, whatever language, but love indeed and in truth. Let
your love be sincere. Now, he says in verse 13, he
says, marvel not, don't be amazed, my brethren, brethren are members
of the same family. Remember Christ over in Matthew
chapter 12, he said, who are my brethren? Those who do the
will of my Father. And of course that will is first
seen when a sinner is brought to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I have friends, family members
that I am physically connected to, bloodline, but they're not
my spiritual brothers or sisters in Christ because they don't
believe the gospel. You understand? You make that distinction. So
He says, don't be amazed, my brethren, if the world, the unbelieving,
Christ-opposing world hate you. Now that hatred, He says in verse
14, we know we've passed from death unto life. That's the new
birth. Being born again by the Spirit. Christ said you must
be born again or you cannot see or enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
That's a sovereign act of God the Holy Spirit. imparting spiritual
life and knowledge to a sinner. It is literally a resurrection
from the dead, isn't it? Because we're born spiritually
dead, the scripture says. Having fallen in Adam, we're
born dead in trespasses and sins. That's why we must be born again
or we won't believe, we won't repent, we won't follow Christ,
we won't be obedient children unless we're born again. And
that new birth comes under the preaching of the gospel. The
gospel is the word of life, the scripture calls it. James 1.18,
you're begotten again by the word of truth. Romans 1.16, the
gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. To the Jew first, the Greek also,
for there is the righteousness of God revealed. So he says,
we know we've passed from death unto life because we love the
brethren. That's a spiritual brotherhood of the saved, of
the church, sanctified, set apart by God, called into the fold,
believers. And he that loveth not his brother
abideth in death. There's a connection there. That's
what he's talking about. Now I said all that to say this,
When it says, Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you,
what is he talking about there? Well, he uses the example, we've
talked about this in several messages, in verse 12 of Cain
and Abel. Cain hated Abel. And he says
there in verse 12 of 1 John 3, why did Cain hate Abel? Why did he murder Abel? Because
his own works were evil and his brothers righteous. Now this
hatred that he's talking about in verse 13 is opposition to
the gospel. By which brethren are evidence
that they are brethren. How do you know, how do Jim Casey
and Bill Parker know that we're brothers spiritually? Because
we believe the same gospel. We have the same Heavenly Father.
We have the same ground of salvation. There's a fellowship. There's
a connection. There's a spiritual bond there. And that's what that
love is that he's talking about. Now that love, he says, don't
just love in word. Don't just say it. Love is a
verb. It's not a noun there. So it's
love in action. But what he's saying here is
don't be amazed. Let's not be amazed if the world
hates us. Now that hatred comes in different
degrees and different forms. Now we look at Cain. Cain hated
Abel so much that he murdered him. But now that hatred doesn't
always come out in murder. In other words, not everyone
who disagrees with the gospel that we preach and believe and
promote is going to draw a knife or a gun and try to kill us.
But what he's talking about is the opposition. The wedge that's
between us because we're not in the same spiritual family.
And I want to show you that now. Now, 1 John is a book about fellowship. It's about brotherhood. A bond that believers, the church. You know what the word church
means? It means called out. Called out ones. They've been
called out of the world, out of fellowship with the world,
and into the fellowship of Christ. And John starts this book out.
We won't turn in all these scriptures, but he starts out in 1 John 1.
Our fellowship is with the Father and the Son. And what identifies
that fellowship? He says, well, we walk in the
light. Now what is that light? Well, it's the light of truth. So this is a fellowship of truth.
So this love is love in the truth. Now I want you to turn to the
book of John chapter 3. The book of John chapter 3. And
I want you to look down at verse 18. Now, the hatred the world has
for the people of God, as I said, doesn't always come out like
Cain It's the same kind of hatred, but it doesn't reveal itself
in the same degree. Somebody said, well, Cain's come
out like that because they were the only two brothers on earth
at that time. Maybe. I don't know. I'm not going to
speculate on this. I'm just going to speak where the Word of God
speaks. But Cain came to worship God, and he thought, he imagined
in his mind, he believed that God would accept and receive
and bless what he had to offer, the works of his hands. And God
rejected it because God had already told him that without the shedding
of blood, without justice satisfied, no remission, and that could
only be accomplished in the promised seed, who is the Messiah, represented,
symbolized by the Lamb that Abel brought. Abel brought the blood
of the Lamb. Abel in bringing that offering
was saying, I have nothing to recommend me unto God, I'm a
sinner. If God were to ever judge me or or if he were ever to act
towards me based upon my best efforts, I'd be damned. I have
nothing but the blood." Again, I mentioned this in her Sunday
school. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood.
That's what Abel was saying. Abel looked forward by promise
to the coming Messiah who was already revealed as the seed
of woman in Genesis 3. He knew that he had no righteousness
before God, but now Cain rejected that message. And he said, well,
I've worked hard here in the field. I'm going to bring the
best that I have to offer to God and that ought to count for
something. And what he found out is it didn't
count for anything. It was evil. Evil, not because
Cain was insincere. It was evil because it was unbelief. It dishonored God. Well, look
at John chapter 3. Look at verse 18. It says, He
that believeth on Him, that's Christ, is not condemned. But he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God." Unbelief. Those who are in unbelief. We all start out in unbelief,
but then, remember he told Nicodemus here in John chapter 3, you must
be born again. How do I know I'm born again?
I believe in the Son. I believe in Christ. I'm submitted
to Christ as the Lord my righteousness. I plead His blood as my only
forgiveness of sin. I plead His righteousness, imputed,
charged to me as my only way of justification. My right standing
with God, my right relationship with God is based on one thing
and one thing alone. The righteousness of his son.
What Christ accomplished on that cross in his death, burial, and
resurrection. It's not based upon my decision.
Did I make a decision? Yes. But that's not what gave
me a right standing with God. Christ had already accomplished
that. We sang it in our call to worship. It's finished. What
was? Redemption. Righteousness. The taking away of all my sins,
the full payment. We sing a hymn called Jesus Paid
It All. Well, did he really? Well, somebody
says, only if you accept it. No, if he paid it all, you will
accept it. That's what the Bible teaches. He said, if I be lifted
up on the cross, I will draw all unto me, all his sheep. He
said, my sheep hear my voice, I know them, they follow me.
You say, well, what made me right with God? I got baptized. Well,
believers are to be baptized in water. That's a confession. That's a public confession. But
baptism doesn't give you a right standing with God. Baptism is
the believer's confession that his or her right standing with
God is already finished by Christ on that cross. His death, burial,
and resurrection. That's why we confess. That's
why we're immersed. When he died, I died. He was
my representative. He's my surety, my substitute.
When he was buried, I was buried. When he arose, I arose. He did
it for me. He's my surety. That means my
sin debt was charged to him, laid to his account. His righteousness,
the merit of his work, the value of his work, the excellence of
his work, was laid to my account, charged to my account. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. You understand that now? Well,
if you don't believe that and you continue in this life all
the way unto death and die in unbelief of that, you know what
the Bible says? You die in condemnation. Unjustified. Unsaved. Now that's an exclusive
gospel and the world hates that. How many people today do you
know claiming to be Christian or claiming to be elsewhere who
will tell you there are many ways to God? You know the popular mountain
theology? God's on top of the mountain.
And we're all just trying to work our way up to the mountaintop
and you're going one way. Some of you go straight up. Some
of you go the long way around. But there are many ways. Now,
here's what I'm saying. That is not biblical. That is not the gospel. That
is a lie. You tell people that today. A
lot of people. That's not Bible, that's not
grace, that's not gospel, that's pluralism. That came from Satan. Satan would love to have you
thinking that there are many ways to God, you just choose
which one. You know, like the Irishman said, you pay your money,
you take your choice. Well, I believe all religions
will be in heaven. Well, that sounds good. And it
sounds loving. But it's not biblical. It's not
gospel. It's anti-Christian. Now look at John 3 verse 19. This is the condemnation that
light has come into the world. Now what's that light? That's
Christ. That's His truth. That's the
gospel. In 2 Corinthians chapter 4 the
gospel is called the light of the knowledge of the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ. Lights come into the world and
men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were
evil. Now the word deeds there refers
to man's best efforts to save himself. Like Cain. He brought the best he could
have, the best he could do. And remember who Christ is talking
to here in John 3. Nicodemus, a religious man. He
wasn't talking to a drunk laying in the alley here. He wasn't
talking to a whoremonger or a drug pusher. He's talking to Nicodemus,
a member of the Sanhedrin. You know what that is. That's
a Pharisee who had reached great heights of religiosity. and was
admired and accepted by the world, by their religion. And he says, your deeds are evil.
You tell a person like Cain. Cain said, I worked hard in the
field. I sweated over that. And I'm going to bring God the
best of my hands, the best of my works. And here comes old
Abel and he says, Cain, that's an evil thing to do. Now you just watched the fire
come out of Cain's eyes. You mean to tell me that everything
that I've worked for, everything that I've done, that it's lost,
it's nothing, it's wicked, it's iniquity? That's what God says. Look at verse 20. For everyone
that doeth evil. Now again, he's not talking about
the drug pushers and the drunks and all. Listen, is it evil to
be a drug pusher? Well, yes it is. But even the
world knows that. Is it evil to commit physical
murder? Yes. But even conscience tells
us that. But what about a person who's
doing their best to make things right between them and God and
between them and their neighbor? Is that evil? If you think that
it saves you or makes you righteous before God, it's evil. That's what this light says.
And that's why people hate it. He says, verse 20, For everyone
that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light,
lest his deed should be reproved. That word reproved means discovered.
In other words, this light shines on deeds that we don't recognize
as evil by nature. You see that? But look at verse
21. Now here's the fellowship of
love and light. He says, but he that doeth truth.
Now what is it to do truth? It's to believe the gospel. It's
to believe in Christ. It's to rest in Him for all salvation. It's to rest in Christ, His blood
for the forgiveness of all my sins. It's to rest in Christ,
His righteousness imputed, charged, accounted to me for my right
standing before God. That's what it is to do truth.
And He comes to the light. that His deeds may be manifest. In other words, it's going to
tell you something about His deeds. And what's it going to tell you?
Look at it. That they are wrought in God. You know what that means?
That means they're the work of God. This is the work of God. Look back at 1 John 3 now. This
hatred is common This hatred for the brethren, this hatred
for the truth, is common to all unbelievers. It may not manifest
itself like Cain in physical murder, and thank God that it
doesn't. We have a constitution in this
United States, which I thank God for, that allows us to meet
here together and to worship without hindrance or opposition
from the government in a physical way or from people. And you know
what, folks? It's not always been that way
for true believers, has it? Back in the early New Testament
days. You know why the apostles and the evangelists and the believers
scattered out from Jerusalem? Because they were being persecuted
sorely. We might ask, well, how was God
in that? Well, that's how God sent the gospel all over the
world to the Gentiles. I'm one of them. How about you? You see, God overruled that great
evil of that hatred to the good of his people. And there was
a church started in Corinth, in Rome, in Corinth, in Ephesus,
Philippi, and then it spread all throughout the world. Look at verse 13 again. Marvel
not, my brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we've
passed from death unto life. We've been born again because
we love the brethren. What kind of love is this? That's
that divine agape love that we don't have by nature that brings
us together in the truth. That's what he's talking about.
It's not socialism. It's not social love, rather.
It's not It's not feelings, it's not emotion, but it's a bond
of the truth, a bond in the gospel. If you believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, there's two things I know about you. You've been born again
from above and you're my brother or my sister in Christ. That's
what I know. If you don't believe this gospel
of God's grace in Christ, which brings a sinner to see his utter
depravity and sinfulness, and drives that sinner to Christ
for all salvation. If you don't believe that, there's
two things I know about you, whatever else I know about you.
You may be a model citizen, but I know this about you, you've
not been born again, you've not passed from death unto life,
and you're not my brother or sister in Christ. Yet, it's my prayer that God will
make you so, But that's what it's talking about. Look at verse
15. He says, whosoever hateth his
brother is a murderer. Now what is he talking about?
He's talking about soul murderer there. Turn to John chapter eight. And let me say this, turn to
John chapter eight, I'm gonna look at verse 44. John 8 and verse 44. The issue of this love and this
hate is not based on feeling or emotion. It's not what we
naturally think of love and hate. I've had people tell me, say,
well, I don't hate anybody. The issue of this love is love
in the truth that bonds us together as a spiritual family. Alright? Doesn't mean we like
everything about each other or we socialize with each other.
I mean, all those things are good in and of themselves. But
what this is, it's a spiritual love, it's a divine love that
comes to a center in the new birth that bonds us together,
glues us together as a spiritual family in the truth. The issue
of this hate is not how I feel towards somebody or they feel
towards me, it's opposition to the Christ that I believe and
trust and value. Opposition to the Gospel, that's
what it is. Christ said it this way, He said,
He that is not for me is what? against me." Now those who stand
in opposition to the gospel may be totally indifferent. I've
had people look at me like they wanted to cut my throat, and
I've had people just look at me and turn around and say, I
just don't care. I don't want to hear what you have to say.
Both of them hate the brethren. Now that's what we're talking
about. But here's the thing. Look at
John chapter 8 verse 4. Now remember what he said here.
He said, Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, and you
know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Well, look
at John 8, verse 44. Now Christ is speaking to religious
Pharisees here, and he says, You're of your father the devil,
and the lust of your father you will do. Now, lust there is an
unlawful desire. That's what that means. We normally
think of lust as being a sexual sin. But it's more than that.
Any unlawful desire is a lust. Alright, here's a person who
desires salvation, but it's an unlawful desire. You see, God
says salvation is by grace, through Christ, based on His righteousness. To desire salvation God's way
is a holy desire. A good desire, that's given us
by God. To desire salvation any other
way is a lust. That's what he's talking about
here. You're of your father the devil and the lust of your father
you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning. Now how did Satan murder? Did he take out a gun and shoot
Adam and Eve? Did he take out a knife and cut
their throat? No. You know what he did? Told them
a lie. Look at it. He was a murderer
from the beginning. and abode or continue not in
the truth. Do you know that anyone who consciously
hears this gospel and rejects it and insists on another way
of salvation or points sinners in another way of salvation,
which is not another way, that's soul murder? Is that too harsh? Well, your argument's not with
me now. This is what the Lord's saying.
You say, well, that's an unloving thing to do. The person that's
speaking these words here is love incarnate. He's the only
one who had perfect love for his people. He said, he abode
not in the truth because there's no truth in him. When he speaketh
a lie, he speaketh of his own. In other words, when Satan speaks
a lie, he's speaking only what comes natural to him. You know,
when a sinner tells a lie about God and God's way of salvation,
he's only doing what's natural. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God. So if I tell you the truth, I'm
really saying something that's not natural to me. It's divine.
That's what I'm saying. The Gospel is a divine message.
It's not a human message. All other religions are human
messages. Somebody said one time, there's
only two religions, really, if you put it down to its nth degree. There's the religion of Cain,
that comes natural, that's natural, fallen, sinful, cursed man. And there's the religion of Abel,
that's divine, that's the religion of grace. It's either by grace
or works. No mixture. Somebody told me
one time, said, that preacher's mixing grace and works. No, he's
not. He's just preaching works. Because you can't have both.
There's no mixture. Lady told me one time, she said
she was going to a church, and I said, well, do they preach
salvation by grace? And she said, well, partly. And I told her,
I said, nah, it all works. Read Romans 11. But he says, when he speaketh
of the lie, he speaketh of his own. He's a liar and a father.
Now go back to 1 John 3. Now look at verse 16. He says,
Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His
life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
Self-sacrificing love. What a thought. Christ, how do
we know He loved His people? God's chosen people? Because
He died for us. John 13, verse 1. He loved His
own to the end. That word end means completion,
finish. How do you know Christ loved
His sheep? Because He completed the work. And the completion of that work
required His obedience unto death. Remember He said He laid down
His life. No man took it from Him. He wasn't
murdered. We who murdered, we who were
in opposition to Christ by nature, it was murder in the hearts of
fallen humanity. But we didn't murder him, he
gave his life. He volunteered it. Before the foundation of
the world. You know the scripture says that the people of God,
believers, their names were written in the Lamb's book of life before
the foundation of the world and it says the book of the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. He knew he was going
to die, that's why he came here, to die for the sins of his people.
Why did he have to die? Because God's justice had to
be satisfied for his people in order for God to show mercy and
grace and love to his people. Hearing his love, we read it
last week. Not that we love God, but that he loved us and gave
his son to be the propitiation. That word propitiation, mercy
seat, reconciliation, it means a sin-bearing sacrifice that
brings satisfaction to God's justice. He laid down his life. Then he says in verse 16, therefore
we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Self-sacrificing
love. In the history of true Christianity,
there have been martyrs, hasn't there? Men and women who died
for the faith. And I want to tell you something,
that takes the grace of God. Somebody asked me one time, they
asked me, they said, would you die for the faith? You know what
I told them? I said, I hope so. I don't have
it in me to do it. You don't either. But the Bible
says that God gives us grace. I know the Apostle Peter, he
stood and denied the Lord three times. That's what I would do
if left to myself. But then later on he died for
the faith, didn't he? It happened. But I'll tell you
another thing. We who know Christ, we can honestly
say we love the Lord. Scripture says that. And we love
the brethren. But I'll tell you, our love is
nothing we want to brag about. I'll tell you what I want to
brag about. I don't want to brag about my love for Christ. Oh,
I do love Him. But my love is not perfect. My
love is not what it should be, not what it ought to be, but
I want to brag about His love for me. That's what I want to
brag about. God forbid that I should boast,
glory, brag, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. His
love for His people is perfect love. And that's what we aim
for. Not to be saved, but because
we already are by His grace. He says in verse 17, He takes
it from the greatest act of self-sacrifice to the most meager act of providing needs. Verse 17, But
whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need,
and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth
the love of God in him? What he's talking about is helping
and supporting brethren. We ought to be charitable towards
everybody as we can and as there is need. And that doesn't mean
welfare. That doesn't mean supporting
people who can work but won't. But we ought to be charitable
toward everybody as we can. But we ought to be especially
charitable towards the brethren who are in need. It's the responsibility
of the church to take care of brothers and sisters in Christ
who are in need. That's what he's saying. And
that's part of that love. It's not, listen, there's nothing
wrong with starting charitable organizations, helping the poor,
helping those who can't help themselves, but you know that
is not the mission of the church here on earth. The mission of
the church is to preach the gospel, to preach Christ. To edify the
people of God. But when a brother or sister
is in need, look what he says in verse 18. My little children,
let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in
truth. Love in deed and in truth. You see, love in the Bible, brotherly
love, is never expressed at the expense of the truth. Brotherly love is never expressed
in a compromise of the truth, a compromise of the gospel. It
never speaks peace where there is no peace, where that person
is not looking to Christ and Him alone for salvation. It tells
the truth. That tells the truth in love
in this way. Why does a doctor tell a person
they're sick? Because they want them to seek
the cure. Isn't that right? And that's why we tell people
that you're lost. If you don't know Christ, if
you don't believe in Him, if you're not submitted to His blood
and righteousness, you're lost. You need salvation. I pray that
you'll hear the truth and believe it. That's what we say. That's
love. Even though they may not see
it as love. They may see it as the worst thing you could ever
say to them. But that's not the issue, is it? We love in deed
and in truth.