The Expression of Love

1 John 3:10–18 NKJV

In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 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? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

Prayer

Last week we examined the simple truth....

Since loving our brothers shows that we are born of God, we must love our brothers and so prove that we have passed from death to life.

Not only is loving our brothers and sisters to be a warning against hating them like Cain.

It is like we saw and evidence that we have been born from above.

It is an evidence that we are indeed the children of God.

What we saw last week was like a photo negative of the direction that John is going to take us this week.

This week we see that photo for what it really is.

Since Christ has intentionally and purposefully laid down His life for us.

We must lay down our lives for our brothers, in action and truth.

This positive photo focuses on the Lord Jesus Christ.

It focuses on how we know love.

How do we know love?

1 John 3:16 NKJV

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Christ Has Laid Down His Life

“Self-Giving Love”

We have seen this before, but John is redefining the concept of love.

In the Old Testament, people were commanded to love one another as they love themselves.

The standard of love was based upon the way a person loves themselves.

But John is intensely raising the bar here, he is saying that Christ has laid His life for us.

1 John 3:16 (NKJV)

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.

The standard of love for the Christian community will be marked by a self-giving, self-sacrificing love.

I want us to look at three different characteristics of this life giving love.

The first is the Lord Jesus’ intentionality in giving himself up.

Intentional

“Deliberate Action”

Often times, when people talk about the death of Christ, they speak about it as though Jesus was helplessly being abused.

They speak of the action as though Jesus didn’t know what was happening to Him.

They speak of His life as though He was trying to just “Do good things”, something like Gandhi but was just brutally killed.

But when you open up the New Testament, you don’t see a picture of a Jesus who was blindsided.

You don’t see a picture of a Jesus who was dumbfounded.

He intentionally knew what he was doing.

Mark 10:33–34 NKJV

“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.”

Does this sound like a Jesus who was dumbfounded?

Does this sound like a Jesus who was caught off-guard?

No! He was being obedient to His Father in heaven.

His Father had sent Him for a purpose and He was living intentionally for it.

All of His earthly life, He was living intentionally.

In another place Jesus says...

John 10:11 NKJV

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.

Jesus is saying that He is the One sent from the Father.

He is the ONE who has come to give His life for the sheep.

I want you to notice the irony behind what He is saying.

Shepherds were to be ones who protect the sheep and serve the sheep, but to lay their life down for sheep.

But He goes on to say...

John 10:18 NKJV

No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”

Now Jesus is saying here that no ones takes His life from Him.

But He is the ONE who lays it down Himself.

The cross was not a clean-up job.

His laying down of his life was not a back-up plan.

Jesus is saying that for Him to lay His life down for the sheep was intentionally what He had come to do.

John 10:27–28 NKJV

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.

So Jesus is saying that He possesses eternal life.

He is the ONE who has eternal life and has the ability to bring it to others.

Standing by A Pool

All of us have experienced swimming in a pool or at least standing by a pool with a lifeguard.

Picture with me:

You’re standing by a pool by yourself, nobody else around, minding your own business.

And the lifeguard that is on duty dives into the water to save you.

In the process of “saving you”, the lifeguard drowns.

We would NOT look at this and say the lifeguard was a hero.

Suicide bombers have intentional deaths.

An intentional death is NOT enough.

An intentional death ALONE is NOT what makes Jesus’s laying down of His life special.

Unlike this lifeguard, Christ is the ONE who intentionally pursued us.

Possessed Life

He was the ONE who possessed all life.

In Him was life, and He had the ability to bring that life to others.

So just possessing life alone is not good enough.

He it was who intentionally, every step toward calvary was a step toward redeeming His people.

“The love of Christ for us in his dying was as conscious as his suffering was intentional. If he was intentional in laying down his life, it was for us. It was love.”

Laying down our lives for someone else in a haphazard way does not help in any way.

An intentional death is of no use if there was not a plan behind it.

Purposeful

“Calculated for an End”

1 John 3:16 (NKJV)

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.

It must have a purpose behind it.

This purpose was the redemption of His people, the redemption of the world, and inaugurating of the kingdom of God.

Remember the passage from Mark that we sighted above, where Jesus predicted His own death.

He predicted His coming crucifixion.

He predicted the giving of His own life for others.

But directly before this, Mark clearly expresses to His readers that Jesus was leading the way.

Mark 10:32 (NKJV)

Now they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed. And as they followed they were afraid.

He was the ONE intentionally going forward toward Jerusalem.

And it was there, as they were on their way to Jerusalem for Him to be betrayed and killed that He utters these words.

Mark 10:45 NKJV

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

The purpose that Jesus gives for His laying down of His life was as a ransom for many.

Standing by A Pool

Now go back to this pool analogy.

It was silly to think about a life guard dying in the place of someone who was NOT in need.

But imagine that you were drowning.

And the lifeguard leaps into action to save you.

And in the process, gets you out of the water.

We would call them a HERO!

Now in this situation, the lifeguard recognized an actual need.

In the same way, it is exactly what the Lord Jesus has done.

Acknowledged the Need

He also acknowledged our own weakness.

He saw the brokenness of humanity and He acted.

He saw the corruption of this world and He was moved.

The difference here would be that the life guard likely did NOT intend to give their life when they jumped into the water.

An intentional and purposeful death would be great, but there is still more John is saying here.

Self-Sacrificial

“Laid Down”

1 John 3:16 (NKJV)

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.

If someone is under the impression that they have grasped the teaching of Christianity by saying..

“Christianity is all about love!”

It is always important to ask them to define love.

Because it is in this definition of love that we see Christianity for what it truly is.

If they are giving to Christianity their own definition of love, it will be self-centered.

They will love others for their own benefit.

It will also be self-glorifying.

They will love others to be praised by other people.

John’s definition of love though hinges upon the self-sacrificial nature of love.

This kind of love is best defined by loving an object which is unlovely or hateful.

Standing by A Pool

Now go back to this pool analogy.

What we have in Christianity is similar to a person cursing the lifeguard.

Disregarding the commands of the lifeguard.

Spitting in the face of the lifeguard.

And then diving into a pool and drowning.

But in this analogy, the lifeguard has the ability to bring a person back from the dead.

Intentionally, purposefully, and self-sacrificially diving into the pool.

Raising us from the dead by taking our place.

Gave Himself

Over and again in the New Testament, it says that Jesus felt compassion for the people.

Take for instance, the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus saw a need and He provided.

He provided even what He didn’t physically have.

John 15:12–13 NKJV

This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

Jesus is saying that the greatest love that could be expresses is self-sacrificial love.

It is love which does not regard their own life, but willing, intentionally, and purposefully gives themselves up.

Implication

Maybe you don’t know the Lord Jesus today, I would plead to you to come to Christ for the first time.

He already knows your need.

Turn from your sins and in His sin covering work for you.

And brothers and sister, this is the kind of Savior we have.

We have a Savior who has intentionally, purposefully, and self-sacrificially died in our place.

Even greater, has risen from the dead so that we may have life in His name!

What a great Savior!

What a great salvation we have!

But it is at this point that John reminds us not only about what salvation is, but what we have been saved for...

1 John 3:16 NKJV

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

True Love Expressed

“The Great Implication”

I call this the great implication because Christ goes beyond raising the bar to setting a standard for love.

He says that in the same we have been loved, we are to love our brothers and sisters.

Now I should probably state the obvious, in our context, dying for your brother or sister is unlikely to need to happen.

We don’t often see a need for a person to die for their brothers.

The Epistles of John Brotherly Love as the Mark of the Christian (3:11–18)

it would be inappropriate for Christians to think that they had accomplished their Christian duty by being ready for an—unlikely—act of martyrdom.

But, I want to make an assertion which I think this passage would affirm and it holds true.

I am convinced that what we live for, we would die for.

If we are unwilling to live our lives in a self-sacrificial way toward our brothers and sister, we would NEVER die for them.

If we ARE WILLING to live self-sacrificially toward our brothers and sister, we WOULD die for them.

One area we can see this take place is within marriages.

Our culture totes the banner of satisfaction.

They say, “Do whatever makes you feel good!”

It would teach that if we are NOT personally satisfied in our marriages, we should break it off.

That’s NOT what the Bible teaches though.

God teaches that a man must die to himself as he loves his wife.

Ephesians 5:25 ESV

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,

And women are taught to submit to their husbands in everything.

Ephesians 5:24 ESV

Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

It is in this marriage dynamic that we see the beauty of this command to love self-sacrificially.

He immediately gives an example of someone withholding love.

1 John 3:17–18 NKJV

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? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

What does it look like to love in word or tongue?

Word and Tongue

“Just Talk”

Like I have said, here John is not imagining that everyone will need to lay their lives down for their brothers or sisters.

Rather, the “ordinary” life circumstances is what John has in mind here.

Notice the progression.

1 John 3:17 (NKJV)

But whoever has this world’s goods (possessing goods), and sees his brother in need (acknowledging need), and shuts up his heart from him (withholding resources).....

There are three elements involved, Possessing, Acknowledging, and Shutting Up.

Example of what this may sound like in real-life...

“I care about the needs of people, but I’m strapped myself.”

“I care about the needs of people in our church, but I don’t have to meet up with any of them.”

“I care about the needs of people, but I’ve got other duties to attend to.”

Possessing the Goods

“Worldly Possessions”

John has in mind here a person who has plenty of physical possessions.

Now this text is NOT calling us to give to the point of neglecting our family or those who are closest to us.

This is actually what the Pharisee’s were doing, they were saying if you want to give a tithe and neglect your family that is fine and pleasing in the sight of God.

Matthew 23:23–24 NKJV

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

The Pharisee’s were tithing even the smallest herbs in the garden, to show how holy they were.

They were going to great lengths to show their piety, but Jesus says they were neglecting justice and mercy.

This would be the equivalent of us tithing from our vacation fund and yet were neglecting widows and orphans in our gathering.

This was serious, and Jesus says it is like they were swallowing a camel and straining a gnat.

We should not give everything we have to the point of neglecting those closest to us.

What John has in mind here are people who are well off.

People who have been given what they need physically.

1 John 3:17 (NKJV)

But whoever has this world’s goods (possessing goods), and sees his brother in need (acknowledging need), and shuts up his heart from him (withholding resources).....

Acknowledging the Need

“Seeing Your Brother”

What does John mean by an actual need?

There is a way we can give to others which is actually more harmful than good.

There is a way we can give that systematically harms a person.

This is why the Apostle Paul says...

2 Thessalonians 3:10–12 (NKJV)

For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.

For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies.

Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.

A refusal to work should NOT be reward with church benevolence.

Idleness should not be rewarded with habitually giving donations.

Rather, as Paul is urging these believers, let the person become productive so that they can actually provide for their themselves, their own family, and the needs of others.

The problem with idleness in this way is it drains resources from the church as well as neglects the actual needs of others.

We must be “Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves.” (Matthew 10:16)

With that qualification in mind, we shouldn’t forget that there was an actual need here.

1 John 3:17 (NKJV)

But whoever has this world’s goods (possessing goods), and sees his brother in need (acknowledging need), and shuts up his heart from him (withholding resources).....

Withholding Resources

“Shutting Up Your Heart”

The word which is translated here heart, is understood as a person’s guts or bowels.

In Hebrew though, the guts or bowels were the center for the heart.

The word usually means their bowels because it represents the deepest affection at the core of our being.

John is saying that this person has the possessions, he sees the needs, and he closes his heart toward that person.

He asks a simple question of them...

1 John 3:17 NKJV

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?

He is implying that the person who shuts off his heart toward his brother does not have the love of God abiding in him.

Hebrews–Revelation Comment

“It is easier to be enthusiastic about Humanity with a capital ‘H’ than it is to love individual men and women, especially those who are uninteresting, exasperating, depraved, or otherwise unattractive. Loving everybody in general may be an excuse for loving nobody in particular.”

Jonathan Edwards pointed out that when a person says, “I can’t afford to help people”

What he means is “I can’t afford to help people without it burdening me.”

“I can’t afford it” you mean “It will really, really hurt me.”

James also gives an example of this same thing.

James 2:15–17 NKJV

If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

John and James are essentially saying the same thing.

We should love our neighbors in ways which are real and tangible.

John gives us a way to love one another correctly...

1 John 3:18 NKJV

My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

What does it look like to love in deed and truth?

Deed and Truth

“Love is Action”

John is pleading with us, don’t just love people with your words.

He is trying to get us to see the way Christ did not just love with His words.

Gifts, talents, finances, are not to be used for personal boasting.

Rather, they are a means for us to enrich others lives.

It means that we can be eager to help others with what God has first given to us, even at our own expense.

Time, Money, and Talents

To begin to love others in deed and truth, we must first recognize that everything we have is not FOR US.

Often, people who are in need will not ask for it, because they are falsely humble.

Out of the fact that they don’t want to be an inconvenience or a burden.

Since Christ has intentionally and purposefully laid down His life for us. We must lay down our lives for our brothers, in action and truth.