Let's read our text again from
1 John chapter 3. Verse 14. You know these chapters
every verse contains so much. To be said that it's hard to
get past one verse and we're not going to be able to do so
tonight. Verse 14. John says 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 this verse begins with these
words, we know. John uses this statement a lot. Actually, eight times in this
epistle, he says, we know. And nine times in this epistle,
he says, you know, we know. And the gospel is a thing of
knowledge, true knowledge. You shall know the truth, the
Lord said, and the truth shall make you free. The gospel is
a thing of knowledge. We know. Somebody says, well,
I don't know. Well, John says, I do. We know. You've heard of the word agnostic. It means I don't know. Somebody's
agnostic. They say, I don't know if God
exists. I don't know. You know what the Latin word
for agnostic is? Ignoramus. We know. Oh, I love to be able
to say that. We know. He says, we know that we have
passed from death to life. Now, what a statement. We know
we have passed from death to life. Now, what is meant by that?
Well, it's the opposite of what we see in this life. Men pass
from life to death, don't they? That's how we think about it.
Men live, they have their jobs, they have their families, they
do the things they do. A lifetime goes through and then
they die. We read the obituaries. You know,
I read the obituaries every morning in the paper. I'm always trying
to look for somebody that I knew that they died. And that is the
way every one of us are going to end up if the Lord doesn't
come back first. We're all going to end up in obituary. So and
so lived and they died. But John says we passed from
death to life. Now what in the world does that
mean? The Lord said to Adam in the
Garden of Eden, In the day you eat thereof," talking about the
fruit, in the day you eat thereof, you shall surely die. dying you will die. Now you and I both know that
Adam didn't die physically at that time. He lived many more
years and had many more sons and daughters. I don't know how
long he lived but it was a long time. I think maybe it says somewhere
over 900 years. He didn't die immediately physically
but the very second he ate that fruit he died. He died spiritually
and what that means is he became dead to the things of God. That's
seen in right afterwards. He ran from God's presence. There was a time when he relished
God's presence. He no longer relishes God's presence.
He wants to be away from God. He Blame God for his fall. The woman that you gave me, she
gave me of the fruit and I didn't eat. He thought that he could
fool God and hide from God. He became spiritually stupid.
He should have known better than that. You can't hide from the
living God. But he thought he could hide from God's presence.
And then he thought he could provide a covering that would
be okay. The fig leaves, talking about,
which is a reference to salvation by works. I mean, this man became
dead in sins. He became dead to the things
of God. Now, if God hasn't giving you life right now, you're dead
in sins. Dead to the things of God. You
lack the ability to perform the functions of spiritual life.
If you're dead, you can't believe, you can't repent, you can't love
God, you can't do anything but sin. You're dead in trespasses
and sins. That's what the scripture says.
Ephesians 2, 1, and you have ye quickened who are dead. trespasses
and sins. And that's the state of every
man by nature. We're born into this world dead
in sins. I'm born with the nature of my
father Adam and Really, the natural man has no discernment. He doesn't
have a clue as to what grace means or his need of it. He sees
no beauty in Jesus Christ. He sees no beauty in the gospel.
He sees no need for God to be just and justify the ungodly.
That's not even an issue with him. He's dead in sins. He has
no understanding of sin, no understanding of the character of God. He's
dead in sins. He may be religious, but he's
dead in sins. Now that's the state of the natural
man dead. He has no discernment. He doesn't
see the difference between law and grace because it's not even
an issue with it. He's dead in trespasses and sins. Now there is another Notice it
says, we know that we've passed from death into life because
we love the brethren. There's another passage of scripture
that speaks of passing from death to life. And what an awesome
concept that is. To pass from death, to go from
being dead, dead, and entering into this thing called life,
eternal life, the life of God in your soul, spiritual life. Turn with me to John chapter
five. Gospel of John chapter 5, verse 24. These are the words of the Lord
Jesus. And he says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, That gives us
some idea of the importance of this verse. Twice he says, verily,
verily, truly, truly. Now when he says that, it's not
filler space. This is to let us know that something very important
is being said. And when he says, I say to you,
That's the authority, isn't it? This is not Todd saying it. This is not the Pope saying it. This is not some religious leader
saying it. I say to you. And that's what makes it so.
I say to you. What did he say? Verily, verily,
I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him
that sent me hath everlasting life. He's got it. And shall
not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. There's that statement. He's
passed from death unto life. Now let's look at this passage
of scripture in its context. Start in verse 16. And therefore
did the Jews persecute Jesus and sought to slay him because
he'd done these things on the Sabbath day. He healed a man,
an impotent man, that had been that way for 38 years on the
Sabbath day. I love it the way the Lord selects
the Sabbath day to do most of His miracles. It would just irritate
people, it would make them mad, and He did it on purpose just
to do that because He knew exactly what He was doing. Verse 16,
therefore the Jews did seek to persecute Jesus and sought to
slay him. They wanted to kill him. They wanted him to pass
from life to death. They wanted him dead over this
issue because he had healed on the Sabbath day. Now I want,
just for a moment, think about how ridiculous that is. He broke
the Sabbath day. He healed somebody. That's showing
a complete misunderstanding of what the Sabbath day is all about.
Well, we shouldn't work. And you're making a work out
of works in that. That's what this misunderstanding
of Sabbath day. But verse 17, but Jesus answered
them and I love his answer to them. My father worketh hitherto
up to this point on the Sabbath day, he's working and I am too.
I'm the Lord of the Sabbath and I'm working on the Sabbath. That's
exactly what he's saying to him. I'm working on the Sabbath. My
father works on the Sabbath doing his great works and I'm doing
exactly what he does. You talk about not working on
the Sabbath. I'm working on the Sabbath. I'm the Lord of the
Sabbath and I understand the Sabbath. You do not. My father worketh and that just Verse 18, therefore the Jews
sought the more to kill him, because not only had he broken
the Sabbath, but he said also that God was his father, making
himself equal with God. And they heard exactly what he
was saying. Verse 19, then Jesus answered and said unto them,
verily, verily, I say unto you, the son can do nothing of himself,
but what he seeth the Father do. For what things soever he
doeth, those also doeth the Son likewise. I'm simply doing what
I see him doing. Verse 20, for the Father loveth
the Son. Who does God love? I know somebody
he loves. He loves the Son. and he loves
all in the son. For the father loveth the son
and showeth him all things that himself doeth. And he will show
him greater works than these that you may marvel. For as the
father raises up the dead and gives them life, that's what
quickens means. He's dead, somebody's dead, the
father raises them up and gives them life. And look how the Lord
words this. For as the father raises up the
dead and quickens them, even so the son quickens or gives
life to whom he will." Now notice the language. There is an inescapable
implication behind that statement. He doesn't just say, I raised
the dead. He says, I raise up whom I will. Now what he's saying to those
people is this, as to whether or not you're raised up from
the dead and given spiritual life is completely up to me.
That's what he means by that. Why did he say that? Why didn't
he say, I quicken people, or I quicken whoever asks me? He
didn't say anything like that at all. He said, I quicken whom
I will. What he's letting these people
know right now is your eternal destiny is in my hands. what happens with you is up to
me, you have no control in it, what happens to you eternally
is up to me. As the father raises the dead
and gives them life even so in the same manner the son quickens
whom he will. Verse 22, for the father judges
no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son." Now he's
saying the same thing. It's up to me as to what's going
to take place to you. The Father has committed all judgment to
me. Verse 23, that all men should
honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth
not the Son honoreth not the father which sent him. You're
to give me the same reverence and honor that you give the father,
and if you don't honor me just like that, you don't honor the
father at all. What a statement he makes regarding
himself. Now with that backdrop, listen to what he says, verse
24. Verily, verily, I say unto you, truly, truly, I say unto
you, he that heareth my Word. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the Word of God. If any man has ears to hear,
what a gift of grace. If any man has ears to hear,
let him hear. He that's of God heareth God's
words. You therefore hear them not because
you're not of God. Heaven and earth shall pass away,
but my word shall not pass away. Everything you see, all material,
all matter, everything is going to be burned up. It's going to
pass away. It's going to be gone. The galaxies,
the stars, everything is going to be gone. But my word will
not pass away. He that heareth my words. Now you can't believe what you've
ever heard. The words, our Lord said this about His words. He
said, the words that I speak unto you, they're spirit and
they are life. You remember when He said to
the disciples, will you also go away? And Peter answered,
to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life, and we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ,
the Son of the living God. Verily I say unto you, he that
heareth my word. And you know what people do who
hear his word all the time? They believe. You can't hear
his word and not believe it. If you don't believe it, you
never really heard. He that heareth my word and believeth
on him that sent me. Now, this is such an important
statement. He believes on him that sent
me. If you hear his word, this is what you'll do. You'll believe
on him who sent me. You remember when the Lord said
in John chapter six, verse 29, this is the work of God, that
you believe on him whom he hath sent. Do you believe that Christ
was sent by the Father? That's a simple question. Do
you believe that His Father sent Him? That He was before He was
sent. That the Father sent Him. And that He did what the Father
sent Him to do. Now this is saving faith. I love
the simplicity of it, to hear His Word, and to believe on Him
who hath sent me. This, I came down from heaven,
He said in John chapter 6 verse 38, I came down from heaven,
not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent me. And this is the Father's will
which hath sent me. that of all which he had given
me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last
day. This is the will of him that sent me that of all, that
everyone that seeth the son and believeth on him should have
everlasting life. Turn with me to John 17 for just
a moment. Beginning in verse six. I have manifested thy name unto
the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they
were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word.
Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given
me are thee, for I have given unto them the words which thou
gavest me, and they have received them, and have known surely that
I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst
sin. There it is. Now this is what
saving faith is. You hear His words and you believe
on Him who sent Him. Is that too simple? Well, let's
go on reading and see what our Lord says about this back in
John chapter 5. Verily I say unto you, he that
heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me, what's it
say next? Hath everlasting life. That means he's got it. If you hear his word and the
evidence of hearing his word is you will believe on him who
sent the Lord. You believe he was sent. If you
believe that, If you believe he was before he was sent, God
sent him and he did what God sent him to do. He saved everybody. God sent him to save. If you
hear his word and you believe on him that sent him, you have
everlasting life. You got it. You got it. Is it really that simple? Yes,
it is. You got it. And look what he
says next. and shall not come into condemnation. He won't be judged. He won't
be condemned. He won't be damned. Why? Because
there's nothing to condemn him for. He's been justified. That's why he believes. He's
been justified and God gave him faith. There's no condemnation. I love that verse we sing. No condemnation now, I dread. I am my Lord's and He is mine. Alive in Him, my living Head. and clothed with righteousness
divine. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. Now, get a hold of this. This
is what faith is. I'm always interested in a real
simple look at what faith is. He that heareth his word, and
the only evidence that you really hear his word, this is what happens
every time, you believe on him whom he has sent. If you do,
You have eternal life. You will never come into condemnation. Believe this, and you've passed
from death to life. You're one of the ones Christ
willed to quicken. You've passed from death to life.
Now let's go back to our text in 1 John chapter 30. We know, he says in verse 14,
we know that we pass from death unto life. Hold your finger there
and look in chapter five, verse 11. And this is the record that
God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His
Son. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the
Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto
you, that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may
know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the
name of the Son of God. He's writing this so you'll have
assurance. I'm writing this to you so you'll know that you have
eternal life. You know, a lot of folks, when
they deal with 1 John, if you listen to preachers, they look at all
these passages, scriptures, try to, you better examine yourself.
You better see if you line up here. This is almost like they're
using this book to make people doubt. That's not what John was
doing. He was doing this so that you'll know you have eternal
life. We know. that we've passed from
death to life. Now there's a lot of things that
could have been said about this passage from death to life. You
now have some concept of your own sinfulness. You never had
it before, but you do now. You now have some view of the
need of free and sovereign grace. You need grace. It's not just
a doctor you'll argue about and even see it in the scriptures.
You need his grace. You need him to choose you. You
need him to die for you. You need him to cause you to
believe and to repent. You need him to give you life.
You now see the beauty and the glory and the excellency of Jesus
Christ. You see him as all. You see him as all to God. Oh,
when you hear that the Father loveth the Son, you say, yes,
he does. How could he do anything but
that? Oh, you see him as all in your salvation. You see him
as all to God, and he's all to you. That's passing from death
to life. You can now see the difference
between grace and works when before you couldn't see this. It was a meaningless concept.
It was religious mumbo-jumbo. It might have been explained
very clearly to you, but it just didn't mean anything to you.
You didn't have a point of reference. Now you do, because you've passed
from death to life. I think it's interesting that
when you were dead, you thought you had some ability. You thought
you had a free will that you could decide when you wanted
to be saved. When you were dead, you thought stuff like that.
when you were given life, you didn't believe that way anymore.
You see your inability, you see your depravity when God gives
you life. But what does John use as the
evidence of being passed from death to life? And this is so
important. First John chapter three, once
again, verse 14. We know We have passed from death into
life because we love the brethren. Because we love the brethren. Some years ago, there was a woman
who attended here for several years. I liked her. I never had
a lot of confidence in her. And just because I don't have
a lot of confidence in somebody doesn't mean that they're not
saved. I can't see who's saved and who's
not. But at any rate, this lady attended here several years. And then she came to my study
one time and said, I'm, I'm moving, I'm going somewhere else. And
there's not a church there. But you know, I'm, I don't know
anybody there. But I'm, I'm moving there. And I said to this individual,
I said, you know, she's going somewhere where she didn't know
anybody, just moving. And I said, what about the church? These people ought to be the
people you love, that you want to identify with, that you want
to cast your lot in with. These are the people of God.
These are the people you ought to want to love and serve and
be with. This ought to be your true family."
And she looked at me and said, well, I can't truly say I feel
that way. Okay. She was being honest. By this, we know we pass from
death to life because we love the brethren. Who are the brethren? Do you remember, well, before
I, John chapter 13. Who are the brethren? Verse 34. John chapter 13 verse
34, a new commandment I give unto you that you love one another
as I have loved you that you also love one another. Now how has he loved you? Freely. How has he loved you? He's loved you as you are united
to Christ and you're lovely because of union with Christ. That's how he's loved you. That's
the way we are to love one another. By this, verse 35, by this shall
all men know you're my disciples if you have love one to another. Now this is the evidence, this
is the mark of passing from death to life. Now who are the brethren?
I can answer that real easily. They're the elect. They're the
people Christ died for. They're the people God the Holy
Spirit has regenerated. They're the people who love the
Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 8, 29 says, For whom He
did foreknow, them He also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among
many brethren. That's who the brethren are.
Hebrews 2 11 says both he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified
are all of one for the which cause he's not ashamed to call
them brethren this is a very special title the brethren the
Lord said I go to my father and your father I go to my God and
your God think of the Words of the Lord on Judgment Day, inasmuch
as you did it to the least of these, what? My brethren, you've
done it to me. Inasmuch as you did it not to
the least of these, my brethren, you did it not to me. And the word brother means from
the same womb. That's what the word means. From
the same womb. Brethren. We're all begotten
in the eternal counsel of God. Eternally united to Christ and
partakers of the divine nature, the brethren all believe that
Christ is all. And all the brethren have Christ
in them. The brethren are those beloved
by God. We're bound to thank God always for you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord. Because God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification and belief of
the truth. Paul said, when you sin against
the brethren, and wound their weak conscience. You sin against
Christ. This is what made Ananias when
God told him to come to Paul. And Paul, just recently, he'd
been on his way to kill Christians. He hated Christians. He was going
to stamp out the name of Christ. And Ananias, after the Lord tells
him to go to Paul, he comes up to Paul and the first thing he
says is, Brother Saul. How powerful that is. Brother
Saul. Receive thy sight. Now, we love the brethren, not
necessarily because they're lovable. A lot of times they're not. But
we love them because they're the brethren. Amen? That's enough of a reason. They're
the brethren. Now, we want them I want to be
lovable. I want you to be lovable, but
I couldn't help her. This is a true story. It was, I think, in Cherokee.
Bill Carver was closing out the meeting, and he said, help us
to love one another. And Don told this from the pulpit,
so I think I can tell it. He said, help us to love one
another, and especially help us to love Don Porter, because
he's hard to love. True story. It's a true story. I'm sure it's
the same. Help me love Todd. He's hard
to love. But at any rate, how do I express
my love to my brethren? This is what I want to close
with. Verse 17. But whoso hath this world's good,
1 John 3, 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? My little children,
let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in
truth. Now, I love you is a great phrase. if there's actions behind it.
It's a very hollow phrase if there are not actions behind
it. I'm sure there are times when
I tell my wife I love her, it really means something to her.
And then if she's mad at me and I tell her I love her, it doesn't
sound the same, does it? Doesn't sound the same. Turn to Matthew chapter seven. How do I show love to my brother?
By not judging him. By not judging him. Paul said,
let us not judge one another anymore. Now, that doesn't mean
that you have no opinion of if your brother is conducting himself
in a way that's contrary to the scriptures. That doesn't mean
you don't have an opinion of it and you don't have thoughts
of it. That's not what not judging means at all. What it means is,
is you don't know what's behind it. You don't know the facts.
You are unable to make an accurate judgment about anybody concerning
anything. You believe that? It's so, you
don't know what they've gone through. And you are unable to
make an accurate judgment about anything. And as far as that
goes, if you're honest with yourself, you know the things you do is
worse than what they do anyway. You really believe that about
yourself. Whatever it is he's doing, I'm worse. Now let's look
what the Lord says. Judge not that you be not judged. If you want somebody to sit in
judgment on you, judge them. If they feel judged, they're
going to see every mole, every inconsistency, every contradiction. They're going to look at it and
see it. They're going to be upset with you. But if you don't judge
them, they're just going to overlook everything. That's the nature
of judging. Judge not that you be not judged,
for with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged. And with
what measure you meet, it shall be measured to you again. And
why, beholdest thou the mote that's in thy brother's eye?
But considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or
how wilt thou say to thy brother, let me pull out the mote out
of thine eye, and behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite,
first cast out the beam out of thy own eye, and then shalt thou
see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. I wonder
if there's anybody in here that doesn't have any beams in their
eyes. And you're all of a sudden ready to sit in judgment on your
brother. I've got rid of all my beams. No, you haven't. I'll assure you. So how can I
love my brother by not judging him? How can I love my brother? By forgiving them. I think of
what Peter said, Lord, how off shall my brother sin against
me? And I forgive him till seven times. And he thought that was
magnanimous. I mean, if I forgive somebody
seven times, wow, I'm really, is that the limit? Lord said
no, till 70 times seven. that doesn't mean 491 is okay
either. What that's talking about is
every single time. Be kind, tender-hearted, forgiving
one another. even as God, for Christ's sake,
hath forgiven you. Did you? You know, I read the
Herald-Leader this morning. Did you all read the article
about the guy who yesterday, and he was a Muslim, and somebody
murdered his son a couple of years ago. And when the sentencing
took place this week, he came up to that boy that did that
and hugged him. The boy, I mean, the man who
killed his son and said, I forgive you. Isn't that beautiful? and
that was a Muslim. How much more should you and
I do that for Christ's sake that knows something about the forgiveness
of God? Matthew chapter 5 verse 23. How
can I love my brother? If you bring your gift to the
altar and remember that thy brother has somewhat against thee. Now
think about that. You're bringing a gift to the
Lord and then you remember your brother has something against
you. you've done something in their mind that they're offended
by. What does he say to do? He says, leave your gift and
first be reconciled to thy brother and then come after thy gift. And how do I love my brother?
By seeking reconciliation. Not letting them, not having
that reason for them to be seeking reconciliation for that. 1 Thessalonians
4, 6, defraud not thy brother in any matter. Now here's how
I love my brother. Don't defraud him. Don't use
him. Don't manipulate him. Don't be
deceitful with him. Do not defraud your brother. Treat him as you want to be treated.
That's how you love your brother. Don't defraud him. Don't use
him. And then James 411 says, Speak not evil one of another,
brethren. Don't talk bad about your brother. You know, sometimes
what you do not say is the best. Speak not evil of one another,
brethren. Love covers a transgression. Speak not evil of one another,
brethren. Don't, don't criticize. Don't,
don't speak evil. And then in James chapter five,
verse nine, we read grudge not one another brethren. What is
more ugly than holding a grudge? not speaking or withholding yourself
in some way. To hold a grudge is to fail to
forgive and to seek to punish that person you're mad at. You
hold a grudge. And how ugly and unlike Christ,
how contrary to love. Now we know this when love is
absent, life is absent. Isn't that so? When love is absent,
life is absent. First John chapter four. Verse seven. Beloved, let us
love one another for love is of God and everyone that loveth. is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not
God, for God is love. Now, I've got to say this. Every single one of those things
that I mentioned sting me. Shutting up my vows of compassion
when I shouldn't. Being judgmental. Not forgiving
freely. Not even being concerned if my
brother has something against me. Is there a problem? Defrauding
my brother. Speaking not evil of my brother.
Holding a grudge. Every one of those things. They
make me see that I'm sinful. and I don't feel good about my
love to my brethren. I feel like it ought to be much
greater. You do too. But I love the brethren. Everybody that's somebody that
loved Christ, all of God's elect, all for whom Christ died, all
who see Christ as all, I can say honestly, I love them. You
can too if you're a believer. You really can. We know we passed
from death to life because we love the brethren. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that we might pass from death to life by your grace. Lord, we hear your words. We hear your word. Lord, we do
believe that you sent your son. And we believe that he did what
you sent him to do. He saved his people from their
sins. And Lord, we believe that we
have everlasting life, believing your gospel. and will not be
condemned, but have passed from death to life. Lord, we ask in
Christ's name that we might truly love the brethren. Give us grace to do this. In
Christ's name we pray, amen. What do you got, Matt?