1 John 3, verse 10. John writes,
In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of
the devil. Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God,
neither he that loveth not his brother. Now a person's daily
walk and attitude, that makes it clear whose child they are,
makes it clear who they're following. People who do not believe Christ
in their daily life, they don't seek after godliness. They don't
seek after holiness. They don't try to know the will
of God, much less be conformed to the will of God. They live
a life of selfishness and greed because that's human nature.
That's the only nature that they have. And when they live that
way, they make it obvious that they're not the children of God
because they don't imitate their Lord. They don't act like Him.
They're children of Satan because they act like him. When a person
lives their life that way, it's clear evidence that there's no
grace in the heart. But now people who love Christ,
who believe Him, they do righteousness. They do live a life of holiness
in imitation of their Savior. And when they do that, they show
clear evidence that there's grace in the heart. They're kind people. They're generous people. They're
forgiving people. They're like the disciples of
old. People noticed the apostles. They took notice that they had
been with Jesus. People notice you, and there's
a difference. You show evidence of being with
the Lord. And what John's going to talk
about in this lesson, and you see it throughout Scripture,
the key mark of believers is that they love the brethren.
That's a key mark of believers. And you know, there are times
that even believers can be hard to love. Because we're still
sinful, we've all got our own quirky personalities and things
about us, you know. But we're loved anyway. First
of all, we're loved for Christ's sake. Christ loves all His children. He loves them all the same. I
should too. But you know, we're loved for
Christ's sake, but we're also loved for our own sake. We've
all got the same nature. We've been given a new nature.
It's the same nature. We love the same Lord. We love
the same gospel. We have the same desires that
come from that same mixture. And in the end, for believers
now, it's pretty easy to love one another and get along with
one another because we're all brethren. We're brothers and
sisters, part of the same family. And people who do that, do that
because they are born of God. People who do not do that, do
not love their brethren because they're not born of God. Simple
as that. Now, verse 11. For this is the
message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love
one another. Now, Scripture places a lot of emphasis on this point,
that believers love one another. Just like I said, this is a key
mark of believers, that they love the present. That we love
one another is the commandment of grace. Love is what the whole
law hangs on. I'll show you that over Matthew
chapter 22. The whole law, all of God's law, hangs on this.
Love. In Matthew 22, verse 35. Then
one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting
him, and saying, Master, what is the great commandment of the
law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it.
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments,
loving God and loving thy neighbor as thyself, hang all the law
and the prophets. The whole law hangs on this.
Love. And this was the commandment
of our Lord to His disciples, that we love one another. Look
over in John chapter 13. John 13, verse 34. A new commandment I give unto
you, that ye love one another, as I have loved you, that ye
also love one another. By this loving one another shall
all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."
And he didn't just say it once, he said it again. Look over at
chapter 15, verse 12. This is my commandment. This
is the commandment of our Lord and Savior, that ye love one
another, as I have loved you. In verse 17 of that same chapter,
these things I command you, that ye love one another. This is
the commandment of grace. And I'm telling you this, it's
not possible to be born of God and be a hateful, unloving person. It's not possible. Because if
we're born again, we're born of God who is love. So it's impossible
to be a hateful, unloving person. By this all men know that you're
my disciples. Now verse 12, back in our text.
Not as Cain, who is of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And
wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil,
and his brother's righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the
world hates you. Now Cain is the perfect example
of what John's talking about here, about someone who does
not love his brother. It's shown in his actions. He
was a child of Satan. He was motivated by Satan. He
followed Satan because he had a heart of hatred. So what did
he do? He killed his brother. Now why
did he kill him? He didn't love his brother. He
hated Abel because Abel was righteous. Now you know Abel wasn't righteous
because he was somehow better than his brother. They were cut
out of the same cloth, born to the same parents. Abel wasn't
righteous in himself. He was righteous because of his
sacrifice. Because he brought the blood of the lamb as a sacrifice
as God had commanded him. Cain, his works were evil. Why
were his works evil? Because the sacrifice he brought
was a sacrifice of his hands, the fruits and vegetables that
he grew. He didn't come the way God commanded, bringing the blood
of a sacrifice. He brought the works of his hands
and his works were evil. Now, when they brought those
two diametrically opposed sacrifices, we never read in scripture where
Abel hated Cain, do we? But Cain hated Abel and he killed
him. And man's sin nature has not
changed from the beginning of man's history till today. Sin
nature hasn't changed. Satan hasn't changed. His nature
hasn't changed. Adam's nature hasn't changed.
So don't be surprised when the world hates you for the same
reason. Don't be surprised when the world
can't get along with you because it's the same reason that Cain
hated Abel. And when the world hates you,
it simply shows a lack of grace in the heart. When the world
does not love or have any understanding or acceptance of God's children,
all that shows is a lack of grace in the heart. What is happening
on the exterior is simply showing what's on the inside. What's
on the interior, there's no grace in the heart. Now, 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. Now the most obvious of the fruits
of the Spirit is love. People who God saves, not people
who make a profession in religion, but people who God saves love
the brethren. Look over in Romans chapter 5.
I'll show you why that's true. Romans 5 verse 5. People who
God saves Love the brethren. And hope maketh not ashamed,
because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Ghost which is given unto us. If the love of God Almighty is
shed abroad in our hearts, it will come out by conduct. People
who have passed from death in Adam to life in Christ have been
given a nature that loves. And that will show in their conduct
and their daily attitude. Now we're commanded in Scripture
to love all men. And that's the nature now that
believers are given to love all men. How can we go preach to
people and witness to people that we don't love? That we don't
care anything about? The reason John preaches on the
radio is we care about people in our community. We want them
to hear the gospel. The Apostle Paul said, my heart's
desire and prayer to God for Israel, for that nation Israel,
that unbelieving, stiff-necked, rebellious people, my heart's
desire and prayer to God for them is that they might be saved.
He had a heart that cared for people that loved all men. This
is not what Scripture is talking about here about believers loving
the brethren. is not an exclusionary love. That you've got to meet a certain
amount of criteria and you've got to think the way I think
in all these things before I love you. No, we're to love all men. Particularly, we're to love those
who are of the household of faith. There's a deep bond between believers
that can't be explained. It's a bond of love that's a
family love that's in Christ And you can't explain it. You
can't duplicate it. You can't fake it. I go places
preaching. I still remember this. The first
time I went to Dingits, West Virginia, never laid eyes on
a soul there. And within 30 minutes, it was
like we'd known each other our whole life. There was a bond
there that cannot be explained. That's the love that Paul's talking
about here. That deep bond between brethren. And that kind of love is not
natural. The natural means. People who
do not love the brethren, who don't love people in general
because they're just too busy living their lives, loving themselves,
show that they're in spiritual death. They abide in death. That's
what Scripture says. There's been no work of grace
in the heart, so there's no love in the heart. And there's no
love shown in their life either. Because what's in the heart is
going to come out. It's going to come out your mouth.
It's going to come out in your actions. Now verse 15, Whosoever
hateth his brother is a murderer, and ye know that no murderer
hath eternal life abiding in him. Now let's look over Matthew
chapter 5. We'll get some help on this.
Matthew chapter 5. I looked at that verse this week
and I thought, well, David had a man murdered. I know he's in
glory, so what's he talking about here? Well, Matthew 5, verse
21, you've heard that it was said by them of old times, thou
shalt not kill. And whosoever shall kill shall
be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you that whosoever
is angry with his brother without a cause, shall be in danger of
the judgment. Murdering, he doesn't physically
take his life if he's angry without a cause. He'll be in danger of
the judgment. He's just as guilty. And whosoever
shall say to his brother, Rakeh, vain fellow, says that in anger,
shall be in danger of the council. But whosoever shall say, thou
fool, shall be in danger of hellfire. What he's saying here is whoever
has a heart that's filled with hate is already guilty of murder. Whoever has a heart that's filled
with hatred does not have the love of God abiding in them.
Believers who have the love of God shed abroad in their heart,
like we read just a minute ago, can't have room for that kind
of hatred. Now, I know we still get angry
and pry off the handle, or I know I do, but that's not the general
bent of your will. That's not the general way that
your heart is a heart that's filled with anger. And murder
is mentioned particularly here, but I don't think he's talking
so much about the act of murder here as he's talking about a
person who hates, a hateful person. And if someone who hasn't literally
taken someone's life can still be guilty of murder, they've
hated many, they've killed them with a look many times, haven't
they? They've killed them in their hearts many times. That
single act of murder can be forgiven. under the blood of Christ, just
like any other sin. There's no sin too great that
Christ's blood can't forgive it, can't wash it away. And the
point John is making here is a person who's been regenerated
has a new heart. They've got a new nature that's
contrary to that old nature that hates, that old hateful nature. And if you still have that whole,
your life shows that old hateful nature all the time, all that
showing is that you don't abide in Christ. That's what he's saying.
Now verse 16, 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. Now here's the true definition
of love. Here's the true example of love
to believers. The Lord Jesus Christ. His love
for His people is perfect. He loved his people from all
of eternity with a perfect love. Now, how do I know that's true?
Because in time, Christ came and he died for the ungodly. He died for his people. He didn't
love in word only. He loved in deed and action.
He put it into action and became a man and he openly showed his
people his love for them by taking our sins in his body. He willingly
took our sins in His body, made sin for us, and died as our substitute
so that we could live. Now that's love. That's the very
definition of love. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
embodiment of love. And true love is not a doctrinal
theory that we read about. God's love, the love of God,
is not a doctrinal attribute of God that we study. Although
love is an attribute of God, it's not just a doctrinal attribute
that we study. True love, God's love, His love
for His people, is real. And it's put into action when
He suffered and died for us. It's put into action when He
comes and reveals Christ to us. That's love. And as God's children,
were to follow the example of our Lord and love our brethren
the same way the Lord loves us. He said, you love your brethren
like I've loved you. Now, that's a tall order, but
that's what we're to do. Now, how is that? How did God
love us? Sacrificially. He gave His only
begotten Son that we could live in Him. Well, how are we to love
our brethren? Sacrificially. We're to give. And you could say, I don't know
if old Frank, he's good enough to be loved very sacrificially.
I might be a little bit, but I don't know. Let's not take
that too far. Well, if you say that, you'd
probably be right. But let me ask you this. When
did God love us? Did any of us deserve God's love? Did any of us deserve for Christ
to become what we are so we could become what He is? Absolutely
not. When did God love us? When we
were yet dead in trespasses and sins. So we're not commanded
to love our brethren when they earn it. Love our brethren. Love them. Sacrificially. Even
to the point, Scripture says, of laying down our life for each
other. Now none of us ever has, probably
never will be, called on to die for our brother, to give our
life so one of our brethren can live. And even though we probably
won't be called on to love sacrificially to that extent, there will be
opportunities for us. Look here at 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? How can the love of God dwell
in a person who shuts up their bowels of compassion from their
brother? Not possible. A person who has enough of this
world's goods to spare and won't share it with someone who's in
need, how can God's love be in them? It can't be. How does Christ love His people?
Well, we were born in need, weren't we? In need of righteousness.
In need of holiness. And it's a serious situation. Righteousness is just not something
you can do without. You can just scrape by without.
We'll perish eternally without it. Without the righteousness
of God. And we didn't have it. And we
couldn't get it. We couldn't earn it. It's impossible
for us to get it. So the Lord Jesus Christ gave
it to us. He worked out a perfect righteousness
as a man and He gave it to us. He gave us what we did not have
so that we could live. And if God's love's in you, you'll
love the same way. When you see one of your brethren
in need Having to think about it, you'll give to them. If you
could shut off your vows of compassion to those that you see who are
in need, your compassion and your love doesn't run very deep,
does it? And it doesn't run very deep
because it's not real. That's just so. And it's our
responsibility now, as believers, it's our responsibility to look
out for one another. So nobody here is going without
the necessities of life. That's our responsibility. But
it's more than our responsibility. Scott has an article in the bulletin. It's not just your responsibility.
It's your joy. You're motivated by love. It's
your joy to look out for one another and to provide for one
another, to help, if you can, someone in need. How can I be
greedy with the things that I have? How can I? If you're a child
of God, how can you be greedy with the things that you have?
Because if you're a child of God, you know this. Everything
you have, God gave you. Nothing you have, you own. It's
all the Lord's, and He just gives it to you to use for a while.
Now, how can I be greedy with what belongs to the Lord? How
can I keep what belongs to the Lord from His people if I've
been made a steward of it? I want to be a good steward of
what the Lord's given me. Miss Luther always said this,
God always gives you enough to share. Might not have much, but
you've got enough to share. And that's the attitude of God's
people, isn't it? Now, verse 18, John says, My
little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but
in deed and in truth. Now, let's not just talk this
now. Let's not just talk about loving
one another. It's not just some theory that we talk about in
science classroom or something, you know, Relativity or atoms
bouncing off each other that do things that I don't understand.
To me, that stuff is theory. I can't understand that. This
love of the brethren. It's not just theory we're talking
about now. Let's not just give lip service
to it and go home and forget about it. Let's put it into action. In our daily lives, let's put
this into action. Indeed and in truth. It's not
just for show on Sunday. in our everyday life. Show real
love for one another. Well, how do we do that? How
do I show my love to you? Well, we've just been reading
here, love is going to give. Love's not going to let one of
our brethren go without. When we know about it, we're
going to give. Love forgives one another. We
need forgiveness every second. Every day, don't we? Love forgives.
Love prepares with each other. Love's patient with one another's
weakness. Love will restore in the spirit
of meekness. Love will serve one another.
And love won't complain. Love just goes in action to serve
one another in a cheerful way. Love's happy to do it. That's
my joy. It's my privilege. I'm happy to do it. Not because
you have to. Because you want to. And you
miss out on a blessing if you don't. So put it into action. And verse 19 says, Hereby we
know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before
him. Now, this assure our hearts before
him, you know is not because of anything that we've done.
Christ is the object of our faith. Not our works, not our love,
not ever, anything we do ever gives our hearts any assurance.
The only assurance our hearts will ever have is the Lord Jesus
Christ. We're confident and assured in
Him. It can never be our love. It
can never be our works because they're mighty weak. They're mighty weak, aren't they? In truth, I can tell you I love
you. I care deeply about you. But
not like I should. So I can't find any assurance
there. For years, I've watched our children go off to college.
And I've taught them in class when they're just little things.
I've watched them grow up. I've watched them go off to college.
And every year I watch them go off. I worry about them. I hope
they make wise decisions when they go. I hope they do the things
they're supposed to do. I hope the Lord keeps them safe.
I pray for them. Honestly, I pray for them. Never
like I did yesterday when I dropped my flesh and blood off. as shameful, but if we're honest,
that's the way we are. You can't love somebody else's
like you do yours. It's not perfect love. So I can't
find any rest and assurance there, Kenner. But I do in Christ. Complete rest and assurance in
Him. But while that's true, this is
true also. There's cause for concern. And
there's cause for unrest when you don't have any love for the
President. My dad told me once, years ago, wherever they were
at, he said the first sign he knew something was wrong is he
looked around and said, where's the love of the brethren? I read
about it. Where is it? If there's no love
of the brethren, now that is a cause for concern. Because
where God gives faith in Christ, He gives love for the brethren.
Where there's faith, there's love every time. They're inseparable. And it seems in a cause and effect
relationship, Now, you look outside and you see the trees blowing.
And you're inside, you can't feel the wind, you can't hear
the wind, but you see the trees blowing. Well, you know the wind's
blowing, don't you? Because you see the trees moving.
When you truly love, when we truly love one another, and you
see that love in action, here's what you know, there's faith
in the heart. I can't see in your heart, I can't see that
faith, but when I see the love, I know the faith is causing it.
Just like I know the wind is causing the trees to blow. And
when the trees are standing still, and there's not a leaf rustling,
you know there's no wind, don't you? There's nothing moving to
cause that tree to move. For there's no love in action.
There's no faith in the heart. Because faith and love always
go together. The outward evidence that we
have faith in Christ that gives us a good conscience toward God
is that we love the brethren. Now verse 20, For if our hearts
condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and knoweth all things.
Now if our heart condemns us for lack of love for the brethren,
if my heart condemns me, how much more would God condemn me
for lack of love for the brethren? I just know a little bit about
myself. God knows everything, so how much greater judge is
He than what I am? And if I condemn myself, how
much more will He condemn me for not loving the brethren?
I think that's primarily what He's talking about here. But
here's the second meaning, and this is also true, that gives
the believer comfort. We truly love one another, don't
we? Now, we love one another. It's not perfect. It's not what
we want it to be, but we do love one another. And our hearts at
times will condemn us. Our conscience will bother us
because I didn't show that love like I ought to, like I want
to, not like the way it should be. But the believer can take
comfort. Our heart condemns us. Here's
where our comfort is. God's grace is greater than our
sin. He's greater. His blood has reached
deeper than it's staying gone. That's our comfort. Now, verse
21. If our heart condemns us not,
then we have confidence towards God. Now, he's not talking here
about just if our heart doesn't condemn us for any sin. If your
conscience is never bothered because of sin, it's because
you've got a dead heart. It's the unregenerate man that's
never bothered because of the sin. If we've been given spiritual
life, we have a sense of our sin. We don't know it completely,
but we know something about our sin, our imperfection. But the
believer's heart doesn't condemn us and make us fearful of God's
judgment and God's wrath. Why? Because Christ suffered
for us. He was condemned for us. What
John's talking about here in context is still talking about
love of the brethren. If your heart doesn't condemn
you because you know you truly love the brethren, then you have
confidence before God. Not because you're so good and
you love people. Because God's given you faith.
Because He's given you that new heart. You didn't produce it.
God gave it to you. And it's only God's children
that can have any confidence before God. That's what He's
saying. Now verse 22, And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because
we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing
in His sight. And this is His commandment,
that we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ.
and love one another as He gave us commandment." Now, he's not
saying here, if you can have confidence in your prayer, expect
the Lord to give you everything you ever asked for in prayer,
as long as you've obeyed God's law. Well, that wouldn't be good
news to any of us. It'd be like me standing here
and telling you, well, you know, you'll get everything your heart will ever
wish if you just obey God. If you're not getting what you
asked for, it's because you're not obeying Him. Well, no. That
would be a defeatist message, wouldn't it? Because we can never
obey His law. Just like I said a minute ago,
our confidence in coming before the Father in prayer and knowing
that we're being heard and being accepted is coming in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Coming in Him. We'll be heard
because of Him because He's making intercession for us. But I know
this is true also. The Lord will not hear those
who are purposely living contrary to His will. Look over Psalm
66. Psalm 66, verse 18. If I regard iniquity in my heart,
the Lord will not hear me. Look over at 1 Peter 3, we'll
see this again. 1 Peter 3, verse 7. Now Peter's writing here to believers,
to husbands who are believers. He says in verse 7, 1 Peter 3,
likewise ye husbands, dwell with your wives according to knowledge,
giving honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel, and as
being heirs together of the grace of life that your prayers be
not hindered." You see what that's saying. There's no need for me
to give any explanation of that. So what commandments is it that
John's talking about specifically here? Faith in Christ and love
for the present. There it is. Faith and love going
together. That we believe on the name of God's Son, Jesus
Christ, and that we love one another as He gave us commandments.
Those are marks of believers, faith and love, and only believers,
only God's children, can ever expect to be heard in prayer
by our Father. Now verse 24, And he that keepeth
his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him, and hereby
we know that he abideth in us by the Spirit which he hath given
us. Here's a summary of everything John's been saying in this chapter.
You cannot separate faith and conduct. They go together. When
Christ dwells in us and we dwell in Him, we will keep His commandments. We'll do what Scripture calls
good works. And those good works are a result
of Christ dwelling in us. They're outward evidences that
Christ dwells in us by His Spirit. And those are marks of believers. Marks that let us know and let
other people know that there's grace in the heart. That's what
he's talking about. All right. Well, I hope God blesses
you.