The Law of love
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Welcome
Next Sunday is our Evangelism Sunday!
We will be meeting here at 2:00
Please make plans to attend
We have entrusted with the greatest message that has ever been told
Next Sunday we get to take it to people who desperately need the gospel
Business meeting
We will have a “short” business meeting right after church
If you can, please stay and join us for that
The title of our message today is, “The Law of Love”
One of marks of a true believer is to be a person of love
Only In Christ do we have the ability to love like Jesus loved
This love defines us
This love compels us to action
This love assures us that we are truly are born of God
1 John 3:11-13
(v 11) From the beginning:
John is saying this message of love has always been foundational for the faith
Those who are born of God must possess this love for each other
There is a natural tension between the world and believers
There is a natural tension between the world and believers
Cain and Abel formed two lines in the human race
And everyone falls into one of those two categories of people
Jude 1:11: “Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain”
Everyone is either in the line of Cain
Or we are of the line of Abel
Cain killed Abel
He didn’t kill him because he deserved it
He didn’t kill him because he did him wrong
He killed him because Abel’s deeds were righteous and his were not
Abel’s offering was accepted
Cain’s offering was not
The first murder in human history was because of religious persecution
Cain killed Abel because he was righteous
And nothing has changed in 6,000 years
(v 13) “Don’t be surprised if the world hates you”
There are still two lines of people today
The righteous and the unrighteous
The saved and the unsaved
And tension between the two has not changed
And it will never change until Jesus takes us home
The world has a natural hatred for believers
The world has a natural hatred for believers
It’s because they have a different nature than believers do
It’s because they have a different way of life than believers do
And it’s because believers deeds are righteous and the world’s are evil
The more righteous you live the more you will be hated
The more you walk with Christ the more the world will hate you
The more you become like Jesus, the more persecution you’re going to experience
No better evidence of this than in the life of Jesus
He was perfect and the world hated Him for it
Jesus said this to the disciples:
John 15:18-19 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you”
A good sign your not of this world is you don’t fit in with it
Verses 14-15
Our love for each other testifies that we are born of God
Our love for each other testifies that we are born of God
(v 14) “We know we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren”
Death here is speaking of is condemnation
The whole world is waiting for judgement
Heb 9:27 “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment”
All of us were once in the same boat as this world waiting to be judged
But because we now love we have passed from death to life
Life means eternal life
It’s a life now lived in Jesus Christ
It’s the spiritual birth we talked about last week
And we KNOW we are in this life because we love the brethren
The brethren just means other believers
THIS LOVE IS NOT A FEELING
Its a genuine love
Notice also it’s an ongoing love
“Because we love”
He uses the present tense
What this does is express an ongoing action
We know we are born of God because we have an ongoing love for other believers
Anyone can manufacture love short term
Anyone can be nice for a while
Anyone can do something nice for someone else
The real indicator is how long it lasts
Christ like love (John says) is ongoing
It never ends
In other words we love them in their triumphs
We love them in their failures
BUT WE LOVE THEM
“Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer and you know no murderer has eternal life”
What led Cain to kill Abel began with hatred
Jesus told us unrighteous anger is equivalent to murder
Matt 5:22 “But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment”
The word brother here again refers to a spiritual brother not a physical brother
And the issue Jesus is referring to is harboring anger within one’s heart towards another believer
One form of unrighteous anger is an ongoing anger
Why?
Matt 6:15 “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions”
John is saying the same thing
He is saying anyone who hates his brother
Again notice the present tense
He is speaking of an ongoing hatred of someone
Its holding a grudge against someone
Everyone has been wronged by someone
BUT if we do not practice forgiveness, we put ourselves in danger of hatred
Cain did not kill Abel because he became angry and then forgave him
He killed Abel because he let his anger stew in his heart and give birth to an action
He killed him because he never truly loved him
He killed him because his brother was righteous
His heart just determined who he really was
And its the same for us
What’s in our heart determines who we truly are
We can fake it on the outside
But our hearts condemn us
Verses 16-18
True Christian love is demonstrated
True Christian love is demonstrated
# 1) It is an ongoing love
Its not a wishy washy world love
Its not an emotion
It’s lifelong
# 2) It’s a love that is demonstrated
That means its a love that is put into action
No real love can be without action
Its a nice thing to hear someone say they love you
But its a whole different thing to see someone demonstrate that love
(v 16) “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us”
Jesus demonstrated what true love looks like
Jesus did not just say He was going to save the world from sin
God did not just promise Israel a Savior and forget about them
Jesus physically laid down his life for his friends
“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
“And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren”
Since we have had such a great love bestowed on us
Since we have been shown such a great act of love
We ought to love others this way
The word “ought” used here means “to be under obligation”
Since we have been shown this great sacrificial love we should in return love each other sacrificially
Since we have experienced true love we must also demonstrate this on each other
(v 17) “But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?”
John moves from laying down our lives for each other to the giving of our goods
The contrast in dying for one and meeting ones needs is intentional
He is not saying if we do not die for each other we are lost
He is saying that we should be willing to die for one another because Jesus died for us
THE POINT: is that if we should die for one another how much more should we be willing to meet our brother’s needs?
John’s question is not to be answered
Its a rhetorical question
The answer is, “it doesn’t”
No one who has experienced the life giving sacrificial love of Jesus Christ can close up his heart to his brother or sister in need
No one who has been born of God can know another believer needs help and have the ability and power to help them and simply turn the other way
An indicative of God’s love in us is that His love compels us to love the brethren in deed
Its not because Christians are good people
It’s because Christians possess a different love than this world possess
I want to give you na example of what happens when the love of Christ saves a soul
Pentecost was the brith of the church
3,000 people came to Christ
And a community of Spirit filled believers was created
And I want you to notice what the Scriptures say about them
Acts 2:44 “And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need”
They sold their things to meet others needs
They had this sacrificial love John says must be there
“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
THE WORLD WILL KNOW WE ARE CHRISTIANS BY THE WAY WE LOVE EACH OTHER
We can say we, but even the world does this
We must show them how we love
People will want to become Christians when they see this outpouring of love
Verses 19-22
This Love gives us confidence before God
This Love gives us confidence before God
“And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him”
Here’s our words again, “and by this WE KNOW”
Assurance of our salvation is the possession of this self-sacrificing love for the brethren
Because we do not withhold our goods from those who are in need
Because we have experienced the love of Jesus Christ in our own lives
Because God’s love is greater than our hearts
“And shall assure our hearts before Him”
This kind of love in your life should set your hearts at ease that you belong to Him
If you truly love the brethren
If you take what God has given you to meet their needs when it is in your power to do so
When presented with a situation to help another Christian your love moves to action
This your heart can rest assured
(v 20-22) “For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.”
To be honest I have no idea what John is saying in verse 20.
And I could not find any commentator that made enough sense to me to preach it
But I do understand the next two verses
If we are living right, we can be assured God will answer our prayers
If we have this self sacrificing Christian love we have confidence toward God!
We can boldly approach the throne of grace!
We can come to Him assured that He will hear us!
What we ask of Him according to His will we KNOW we will receive it
God answers the prayer’s of the upright!
Psalm 119 “How blessed are those whose way is blameless, Who walk in the law of the LORD”.
“How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, Who seek Him with all their heart”
“Oh that my aways may be established, To keep Your statutes! Then I shall not be ashamed, When I look upon all Your commandments"
Verses 23-24
The entire Law is kept with one word: LOVE
The entire Law is kept with one word: LOVE
(v 23) “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 (just as He commanded us)”
As NT believers we are not under the OT law
Jesus Christ fulfilled the law
But He did not do away with the Law
In many aspects Jesus deepened the law
Murder is now anger
retaliation is now replaced with love your enemies
The whole law can be summed up in LOVE
Matt 22:37 “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
Everything hangs on the law of Love!
Jesus said these are the two greatest commands because they are indispensible from the Christian faith
What marks us as God’s own is our love for one another.
To not have this love is to not have Christ!
It must be an ongoing love
It must be a self-sacrificing love
It must be a demonstrated love to be Christian love!
The only way to possess this love is to experience it for yourself
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life
1 John 3:16 “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren”
You cant give someone something you don’t have
And the only way you can possess this kind of love is by experience the great sacrificial love of Jesus Christ
In other words you must be born again
You ant to know why you don’t love the brethren?
Its because you need Jesus
Jesus came because of love
He sacrificed because of love
He died because of love
And when He lives in you, you become a part of His love
Do you know him?
You can today, by giving your life to Him and in return He will give you a heart of love.
~PRAYER~