God’s love is at the heart of our lives

Introduction

Good morning brothers and sisters, it’s good to be with you all again. Emily and I missed you all very much. Thank you for your prayers, and we were anxious to worship with you and share God’s word with you. Our text today is 1stJohn 3:11-18, 1st John 3:11-18. If you will all please go ahead and turn in that place in your bibles. Also, when we come to the scripture reading it will be on the screen for you but please go ahead and keep your bibles open as well.

While you are doing that. I want you to imagine a circle. It can be any size of circle, big or large. Then take that circle and put a little dot right in the middle. What is this dot? It’s the center, the center of the circle. This circle now has something that is in a sense, the heart of it. Big or small, the circle now has a central thing. Maybe a small thing could be a tootsie pop, which we know has a tootsie roll at the center of the sucker. We also know that this tootsie pop takes exactly 183 licks to get to the point that… the point that I stopped counting and just ate it. A bigger circle could be that if you take a look at google maps and search Hopkinsville, Ky, you will notice that it is almost a circle as well. What is at the center of this circle? Well oddly enough a major marker comes up and it is the city and county museum which is in and of itself a testament of the history and culture of our County. Zooming in, it isn’t perfectly at the center, but man is it close!

So, let’s take this idea of something that is central, something that matters, something at the heart of it all and apply it to our faith lives. What is this central thing? The answer to what this should be is our sermon title and today’s main point. That, Gods love is at the heart of our lives.

Scripture

If you will all please rise for the reading of God’s word today, which is 1stJohn 3:11-18. We have never done this before, but if you will please turn your attention to the screen above me, on the screen will be the text…. Please read along out loud with me as I read it. When I am done I will finish with “this is the word of the Lord” and you will respond with “thanks be to God.” Before we begin though, let’s pray……. Father, we thank you for this wonderful opportunity to come and hear Your Word today. Your word is truth, and we thank you for this truth father. We ask that you open our ears, hearts, minds, and hands so that we can receive what it is you are sharing with us today. Help us to go out and understand that your love is what gives us life and that we are to live and walk in that; and share it with others. Make us go out and share this with others. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and Precious name that I pray, Amen. 1st John 3, starting at verse 11. Again, please read out loud from the screen above me.

11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 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. 13 Do not be surprised, brothers,[c] that the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

Context

I know I was gone for a little while, so I want to recap a few things we learned in our previous sermon passage. We learned a lot about the truth. We learned that god’s children are to know the truth. The real truth, the truth of Jesus Christ and His gospel. We then learned that God’s children are not to be deceived, many instances in our world will seek to trick and deceive us, but as children of God we are to study and know the truth and apply it to every part of our lives. Especially we are to seek righteousness in our lives as this is a marker of being one of God’s children. We then covered how God’s children battle their sins. This is obviously expected and implied by the previous point itself. Jesus came to destroy sin and the works of the devil. If He (Christ) is our example, if God is our father (as opposed to Satan) then we will follow His lead in this. The message there is the same as it often is, repent and believe. Keep these things in your mind brethren.

Moving into this week’s passage. Now, I want to share with you some important context that will help you understand this passage much better. This is the story of Cain and his brother Abel which was referenced in our text. These were the two the sons of Adam and Eve. Their account can be read in Genesis 4 and I will go ahead and read this for us from the ESV. 4 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten[a] a man with the help of the Lord.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted?[b] And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to[c] you, but you must rule over it.”

8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother.[d] And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?” 10 And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. 11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.[e] 14 Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. 16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod,[f] east of Eden.

So, you can see here that Cain killed his brother Abel. But why? Why would he do this, well the text here makes it obvious, Cain was Jealous of his brother Abel, specifically that God favored and his offering Abel over Cain’s. Even more specifically, he was angry with God because he did not receive favor, but his brother did. This motivated him to jealousy, hatred, and anger that all led to murder. In his heart as we understand it, Cain was murder before he ever became one because Jesus set the precedence and understanding that hatred is equivalent to murder in Matthew 15. What else can we infer from this? Well, when reading between the lines here, we can see that Cain was in rebellion against God but still expected God’s favor (which he didn’t receive). I can say assuredly, that if Cain came to God with the right heart, his offering would have been accepted. It’s likely that God gave them some kind of specific way/order in which to offer sacrifice, as we saw and understood in great detail with the Jewish priesthood. God told Cain that sin was at his door, that he was a sinner in need of a proper atonement, which has always been a blood sacrifice to God. Cain, did not give this.

Instead, he gave grain, which God calls out and says was not what God desired here, that God wanted not just some of his Grain, but his heart to turn from sin as well. This though, was against Cain’s wants, his earthly desires, his desires to fit into this world’s systems, the system’s of Satan and sin, so Cain didn’t want to do it. So he didn’t, he refused and gave God something much worse, his half-hearted half-effort worship that in and of itself stood as rebellion to God who is worthy and should receive our full hearted and full efforted worship.

Cain then, is cursed. Don’t be confused though, Cain brought this curse on himself, and God in His mercy still provided protection for Cain. This curse you might say resembles that of the curse of sin, which affects everyone and everything in the entire earth and so we see the relevance of this message both then and now…. With that context in mind, let’s move into this week’s main text.

Message

Our first point and next slide is: God’s message of life.

11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 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.

John here, is calling us back to another message that we should have heard and known from the beginning of our faith. He did this earlier in the letter, in chapter 1 verses 5-10, where he told us that from the beginning, we are to know that God is truth and light, if you do not practice truth and light and live in the lie that you do not sin, then your faith is questionable if not false. Here though, John is calling us back to another thing that we are to know at the beginning of our faith, that we should love one another. Love the others, especially the brethren. Also, to love other people. This harkens back to Jesus’ two greatest commandments, which we have said several times, are to love God and love people.

He (John) then brings up the example of what not to be, like Cain whom we talked about earlier who was a murderer. A murderer of his own flesh and blood brother. Why is this? Well, it’s clear here. Though Cain and Abel had the same earthly father and mother, Cain and Abel had different spiritual fathers. Whereas Abel’s father was God almighty and Cain’s father was Satan. Cain was full of the sin of pride and want and rebellion; much like many of our hearts are all too often. This led him to a terrible act of even further rebellion. Just as Cain’s spiritual father (Satan) seeks to do, Cain sought to kill and destroy. He was a man that was mired with sin and death.

God though, calls us to something different. As His beloved children the message we receive and are to share is a message of life. That is the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we are forgiven of our sin through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ’s death on the cross. This is the message of life we know from the beginning.

Our Second Point is: God gives us life.

13 Do not be surprised, brothers,[c] that the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

Know this brother and sisters. The world, the systems of the world, which is ruled by Satan, hates you. It want’s whatever good you are trying to do (which of course can only be done through, for ,and to God) will meet resistance. In fact, if you don’t, you’re probably not doing it right and are unknowingly feeding into the wrong kingdom. So, if ever you are doing something for ministry, and it is “too easy” I urge you to observe yourself and make sure your work is for the right kingdom.

Why is this, John says it. We have passed out of death (which is because of and through sin) and into life. Life of which only God and the purity that He gives us can we obtain. This in turn motivates and moves us to love our brothers. Our beloved other Christians. The members of this church body you see and don’t see. The members of other ministries you are involved in, and the other Christians you encounter as you go through the day.

Stott comments on this passage and says, “John now proves his point, that lack of love is evidence of spiritual death. He is not necessarily denying the possibility of repentance and of forgiveness to a murderer (Jesus prayed that his murderers might be forgiven). He is rather stating as a general principle that to take life is to forfeit life and that no murderer has eternal life in him as a present and permanent possession. If this is so, and John accepts it as axiomatic/unquestionable, then clearly anyone who hates his brother does not possess eternal life either, because to hate is to be a murderer. This is a faithful echo of the teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (see Matt. 5:21–22, and cf. Matt. 5:27–28). In equating the hater with the murderer, John is not exaggerating, ‘for we wish him to perish whom we hate’ (Calvin).”[1]

So, we are not to hate. Rather we are to be filled with love and mercy as our God who fills us with life does…. If you find yourself in contention that could lead to hatred of another brother or sister. Make this right, repent to God and ask for forgiveness both from God and to your brother. This is a serious matter for each Christian. Even Paul established that if a believer found in this situation who has not tried to make amends is not to participate in communion, the Lord’s Supper until it is resolved. Search your hearts beloved and take life instead of death.

A Third point and another slide is: God laid down His life.

16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

Building off the thought process of the previous verses. We aren’t just supposed to love one another, we are supposed to be willing to sacrifice deeply for a brother and sister in need. That being said, we aren’t supposed to take advantage of this system and “gouge the brethren” but if we see something like a brother or sister whose house burnt down or experienced a life altering flood and you have the means to provide for them; your love of God motivates you to do this, to provide for them. This can look many different ways, it looks like sending money or even offering to let them stay in your spare room, even up to the most severe sacrifices you can give another person, either way it looks like an act of sacrifice and unconditional love.

We were given the perfect example of this. God laid down His OWN LIFE for us. He, Jesus Christ is Himself God, the second person of the trinity, died for our sake. What’s worse, He was perfect and didn’t deserve the punishment that He took; a bloody and miserable punishment that has been called the worse kind of death and torture a person can endure throughout all of history.

Despite this, despite our imperfections and darkness of our sins both as a group and individually, God loved and loves us to the point of his own torture and death. This is an extreme act of love. No other act of love will ever top it, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t to endeavor to have our lives look like this. Our lives are to always be filled with sacrificial love for the brethren. How then though, will you do this if you hate this brother or sister? I’m telling you, you can’t, and you won’t. Sure, you may give some token effort or put forth a big appearing effort, but our sin nature moves us in such a way that we would hold something back because we don’t think that person deserves it. Yes, this true. I bet everyone in this room, myself included has done this.

So, I urge you brothers and sisters. Seek righteousness. Put aside little squabbles or offenses that others have done or that you have done for others. Make amends with that person. Thank God for the fact that He empowers us through the Holy Spirit to do this and encourages and commands us to this. To live a life of repentance. This in and of itself is a gift. A gift that is given to each believer and should be precious to them. A gift that seems odd and unnatural to those who are not believers, who’s citizenship is on earth and not in the heavenly places as ours is.

John here even says, if you don’t do this, the love of God does not abide in you, it is not in you. If you had a person (OR BETTER YET A GOD, THE GOD) do this for you, you should be motivated to forgive and love the brethren and provide for times of their misfortune. John then concludes by saying, 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. Beloved, yes, we are to love in word and talk, speak well of one another and share when needs occur, but we are also (and especially) love people in deed/actions in a true manner that isn’t just a coverup, but that of unconditional love much like that you would give to your own family, your own children. This is how we are to love each other. God laid down His life for us, let us lay down our lives for each other so that God may be glorified through us.

Conclusion

Do you hear this beloved? Do you hear this brethren? What is your heart full of when you look around this room? Do you look more kindly or more well upon some then others? Sure, we all have friends we will respond more warmly at our close friends, our spouses, and our family and children, but do you silently look at anyone and recoil? Work on this. Repent from this. Your God calls you to this and has set the perfect example of how to do it. Explore God’s word to understand it, read each of the Gospel’s many times if you must. Read your bible many times if it helps even a little (which it will). Remember God’s message of life, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Know that through this God gives us life and makes us turn from the darkness…. Apply it in all situations that Christ died for you and that should be enough. Look for help from the brethren if it isn’t to you. Be a man or woman of Christ whose life is characterized by love.

If there is anyone in this room who is not yet a believer in Jesus Christ. Know this. That yes you are a sinner and are in desperate need of payment for this. You will never find and never make this on your own. Don’t fool yourself, most of the people throughout all of history tried, none of these have succeeded and neither will you. That’s ok though. God has provided For FREE the payment you need. This is the payment of Jesus’s Christ’s sacrifice on the cross to pay for your sin debt. This is a payment in full. One that can be yours but can only be received if you confess Him as your savior and make Him Lord of your life. Yes, it’s there for you. Will you receive it?

If you would like to talk more about his, during our last song together I will be here. If someone needs prayer or just someone to talk to, I will be here for you to. All you must do is come forward. I love you all. Let’s pray.

Father God, thank you so much for the great love and mercy and that you show to us each and every single day. We are so unworthy, despite this you make us worthy to sit at the table with you, to be called your children. Move our hearts in affection to this and You. Move our hearts to want to share You with others that Your kingdom may go further, and Your glory known in us and to those we encounter. It’s in these things I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray. Amen.

[1]Stott, John R. W. The Letters of John: An Introduction and Commentary. InterVarsity Press, 1988, p. 144.