All you need is love
Notes
Transcript
Expect hate
Expect hate
Know love
Know love
Practice love
Practice love
1 John is like the Bible’s greatest hits.
You’ve got such strong, clear, direct imperatives.
It’s punchy, aggressive, and in your face.
If it was a greatest hits album there would be no slow songs - just an album of bangers.
When I was younger, I had a greatest hits album. It wasn’t divinely inspired though.
It was a greatest hits album from The Beatles.
So....less than divine.
Anyone remember when the beatles were all still alive and playing together?
Did you get to go to a concert?
Anyways - it was the ‘1’ album - and it had every number 1 hit song from the beatles on it.
So I had this CD and I had my boombox and I would just listen to it over and over again.
One of the songs on that album was called “All you need is love”.
Anyone remember that one?
Not quite a banger, in my opinion.
It was this loose gooey song written about the power of love.
And from their perspective I see how makes sense
because there’s nothing better as a musician than when people love your music.
It’s validating!
They’re validating the songs that you’re writing which sometimes flow out of the deepest part of who you are.
Evidently the Beatles didn’t practice what they preached
If you know the history of the band you might say that love tore them apart.
Yoko Ono and John Lennon’s relationship seeded tensions that eventually destroyed the band.
They didn’t have the love necessary to keep the band together.
At least they had a hit song that agrees with John’s message in our scripture tonight.
How’s that for an intro?
The way our passage starts off probably sounds familiar to you
We’ve heard John use similar phrases before.
1 John 1:5 “5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”
1 John 2:24 “24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father.”
1 John 1:1 “1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—”
John is appealing to a message that’s familiar to the readers.
Just as it is you - you’re probably tired of hearing about loving the brothers.
Week in and week out - love love love
All we talk about is love on Wednesday nights
But that’s too bad because sometimes the bible doesn’t care about your feelings.
And if the bible doesn’t care about your feelings, then I don’t either.
That’s called tough love.
What a way to start, right?
Okay back to it
Now this first opening verse kind of sets the theme
It’s like the thesis statement of this scripture.
We should love one another
And there’s an interesting word in this first verse that I think we should be curious about
The word beginning
When is the beginning?
Is it like the beginning beginning?
Like when things were formless and void?
Or maybe the beginning of Jesus’ ministry?
Maybe the beginning of the 1 John?
Well what is a beginning that all of John’s intended readers experienced in their lives?
The beginning of the walk with the Lord.
John is referring to the gospel.
John is telling them to remember the gospel.
Or rather the heart of the gospel
Which is that Christ loves us, without limits or conditions.
This love is so powerful and strong to reverse our sin nature.
It’s not just a love that’s nice to think about - it actually changes us.
It modifies who we are. His love reverses the polarity of a sinful heart.
Jesus’ love for us allows us to love others.
It empowers us to follow through on the commandment he gives to us in John 13:34
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
This commandment, straight from the mouth of our savior cannot be fulfilled without first being loved by the savior.
To borrow from chapter 4 of this book 1 John 4:19 “19 We love because he first loved us.”
And this love accomplishes more than just allowing us to feel goodwill towards fellow believers.
Christ’s love is bigger than that - His finds its zenith when He allows himself to be nailed to a cross and mocked.
This act of love removes the stain of sin from our lives and makes a way for us to spend eternity with God.
If you don’t know this love - I want to let you know that there’s nothing standing in your way right now.
Nothing you’ve done, nothing you’ve said or thought will disqualify you from knowing the love of Christ.
If you feel stirred by something I’ve said - or if you have questions please come talk to me after the service.
Okay so, let’s zoom back out
The gospel’s message is one of Christ’s love for us
And Christ commanded us to love one another.
So when the apostles preached the gospel, they passed on Jesus’ commandment to love another
To them it was a matter of first importance and so they included it in their message from the beginning.
And John is again calling our attention back to that essential commandment of Christ.
Reminding us of the gospel that we heard from the beginning.
What he’s implying here is that there is nothing new or sacred that we need to concern ourselves with.
You’ve heard Tony, Adam, and Daniel all reference John’s battle against gnosticism.
Daniel did a great job explaining it a few weeks ago - if you didn’t hear that go listen to it.
So if you ever come across somebody claim to have insight - be very skeptical.
I used to run in circles that were a lot less Bible based than this church.
It was super common for teachers to parade through the pulpit touting some morsel of knowledge that unlocked this, that, or the other.
People with come up with keys they discovered to unlock the power of prayer.
You probably heard something like this before. They use language when talking their prayer lives being revitalized by one thing they started doing.
But they’re pulling the wool over your eyes, shifting attention away from scripture on onto themselves.
That’s one of the things that I love so much about this church and the men who teach the bible here. They never point to themselves.
They could die and be forgotten, and what we need would still remain.
God’s word will continue on into eternity.
This reminder from John is so important for us. Especially, this age of marketing.
In our modern world, marketing doesn’t stop with products, but continues into, sermons and books and strategies for spiritual disciplines and discipleship.
All of it trying to get your time, attention, and sometimes your money.
But listen to what John says.
This is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
Cling to the basics of the gospel. Pick up your Bible and read it.
That’s what John is calling us to.
All we have to do is be committed to not get distracted.
Tony and others have pointed out - John is masterful with using contrasts to draw out a point.
We see another example of that here in verse 12.
12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.
That’s quite the contrast, right?
Love/ hate fueled murder
John doesn’t want us to be confused here at all.
In case any of you thought that murder could be mixed up in love - you’re wrong. John says so.
Are we all clear on that?
So John is bringing up one of the earliest human characters in the bible - Cain, the eldest son of Adam and Eve.
Cain was a farmer. Scripture called him a worker of the ground.
He had a brother named Abel who kept sheep.
In Genesis 4 we read that Cain becomes angry with Abel after God is accepts Abel’s offering that came from his livestock, but shows no regard for Cain’s offering of the firstfruits.
This story can be a little confusing without the proper context - so let’s get into it a little bit.
Both Cain and Abel brought a sacrifice to the Lord, but one was obviously different than the other.
Cain brought produce from the ground. So his wheat, barley, or some other sort of plant.
Abel brought the firstborn of his flock and the choicest portions of the flock as well.
We can start to see the differences in the offerings immediately.
Cain’s offering was vegan. Plants only - which is a very common type of sacrifice.
Got Questions? Bible Questions Answered What Is a Grain Offering?
Instead, the purpose of a grain offering was to worship God and acknowledge His provision.
So Cain’s offering is solely meant as a nod to God.
Abel bring an animal sacrifice.
This difference is really significant because of the purpose and function of animal sacrifices.
The killing of an animal, and the shedding of its blood reflects the sin-canceling sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross.
So in short - Abel comes with a sacrifice that shows his humility and acknowledges his sinfulness.
Cain shows up with the bare minimum, and no hint that he recognizes his sin or need for God’s forgiveness.
Abels’ righteousness is in his attitude toward God.
He comes in admission of his guilt and his need of God’s forgiveness.
God accepts his sacrifice.
And standing in stark contrast we have Cain.
He threw down some grain out of compulsion and then became angry when he wasn’t shown the same favor as Abel.
This is not God being fickle or playing favorites.
Cain could’ve have gotten a lamb from his brother to sacrifice.
Some scholars think that Hebrews 11:4 implies that Abel secured a grain offering for himself.
So it’s not like each brother was limited to the commodity he produced.
No, Cain’s sacrifice was unrighteous. Done out of an evil motive - he was clearly looking for recognition and was upset when he didn’t get it.
In contrast, Abel’s sacrifice showed his righteousness.
Alright, everybody good?
Got the context? Great.
So what is this verse telling us?
Well Cain killed Abel “because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous”.
Cain didn’t kill his brother because his brother did anything to him.
It’s not like Abel said something nasty to Cain, or stole from him.
He simply offering a sacrifice to God that was pleasing.
And in doing so - his righteous deed laid bare the rotten foundation of Cain’s motives.
John is telling us not to be like Cain.
Which when we hear that we think - duh.
Don’t kill. Got it.
But there’s something else here.
I think 2 Corinthians offers a helpful lens through which to view Cain’s actions.
2 Corinthians 7:10 says
10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
Paul is telling the Corinthian church that he has rejoiced at their grief because it was Godly.
Paul had called out the Corinthians for their sinful behavior and caused them to grieve into repentance.
The grief they felt motivated them
It pushed them to turn away from their darkness.
Cain had the opposite reaction.
Cain experienced worldly grief when his evil deeds were shown.
And this worldly grief led to death. And not only the physical death of his brother.
But his own eventual spiritual death.
John is pleading with us - don’t be like that.
Rejoice in the righteous acts of your brothers.
And if their actions should cause you o feel grief let Godly grief push you to repentance.
Don’t lash out against your brothers.
That behavior is typical of the world.
So much so in fact that John writes
13 Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.
When the church acts righteously, in accord with God’s word the world cannot stand it.
The evilness of their actions becomes self-evident and their only choice is to justify their actions
and demonize believers.
When Christians stand for what they believe in, the world takes notice.
And they rarely approve.
Of course scripture is filled with examples of that.
In Acts the apostles were jailed repeatedly for preaching the gospel despite being warned and intimidated.
In Thessalonica Jason, a believer who assisted Paul, was attacked and dragged before the authorities of the city for hosting Paul.
If you think “yeah but that was in the wild west of Christianity. America is a relatively safe country for believers”
You would be partially correct. I don’t think people are being slain in the streets for the faith in San Antonio.
But don’t think you’re too safe.
Anyone remember the name Jack Phillips?
He’s a baker in Colorado who refused to make a wedding cake celebrating a same-sex couple’s so-called marriage.
He refused to make the custom cake on the grounds of his Christian faith, but invited the couple to purchase anything else in the shop.
They got their cake from a different bakery in Colorado - but they also filed a lawsuit against Jack Phillips.
In order to not comply with state orders to accomodate same-sex couples, he stopped selling wedding cakes of any kind.
That cost him 40% of his business.
Phillips lost 40% of his business and dealt with an 8 year legal battle that was eventually decided in his favor by the Supreme Court.
This is just one of the lawsuits brought against Jack Phillips and his bakery.
He was also sued by Amber Scardina who asked for a custom cake celebrating a gender transition.
When Phillips declined to make the cake on the basis of his Christian faith he another lawsuit was brought against him.
This man has feeling the affects of the hatred of the world for over 10 years. And it’s still ongoing.
He’s been targeted because he has made up his mind to not violate his beliefs.
And the world hates him for it.
That’s what John is telling us.
He’s echoing Jesus’ words in John 15:18
18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
It’s like He’s saying “Get in line, Pal. The world has been hating me long before it hated you.”
This word applied to Jesus’ disciples in the early church, it applies to Jack Phillips, and it applies to us.
Don’t expect the world to embrace you for clinging to Christ.
When you disapprove of your buddy’s fornication. He’s expecting a high-five and you respond with brokenheartedness over sin.
Choose not to attend the same-sex wedding of a close friend’s child.
Or maybe a friend from work is having an extra-marital affair. She wants to tell you all the details and you kindly say “No thanks.”
Or maybe you advise a young-woman not to get an abortion
All of these examples should cause brokenness in a Christian - and that righteous sorrow will inspire either godly grief in that person, or worldly grief which will give birth to hatred.
John is preparing us to live in a sinful broken world.