The First Epistle of John Series Sermon 9 Four Reasons to Love - Four Ways to Love I John 3:10-24 August 22, 2004 Four reasons to love 1 So that we might know we are a child of God 2 It has been God's commandment from the beginning 3 To confirm our eternal life 4 To avoid hindering our prayers Four ways to love 1 Lay down our lives 2 Share our worldly goods 3 In deed and in truth 4 Believe on His name PRAYER I like the story John McKay told about the supreme confidence of the legendary University of Alabama football coach Bear Bryant. He said, "We were out shooting ducks, and finally, after about three hours, here comes one lonely duck. The Bear fires. And that duck is still flying today. But Bear watched the duck flap away, looked at me and said, 'John, you are witnessing a genuine miracle. There flies a dead duck!'" Reason to Love #1 – To know we are a child of God 1 John 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. -    are manifest = are made evident, are made obvious, are exposed to view God's family will get along with each other. John 14:35 "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." Love is the badge of quality that is to shine from the Christian's heart. Reason to Love #2 – It is what God has wanted from us all along. 1 John 3:11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. -    "love one another" and "love thy neighbor as thyself" are repeated numerous times thoughout the Bible Love Thy Neighbor - Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 5:43; Matthew 19:19; Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8 Love One Another - John 13:34; John 15:12; John 15:17; Romans 13:8; 1 Thessalonians 4:9; 1 Peter 1:22; 1 John 3:11; 1 John 3:23; 1 John 4:7; 1 John 4:11; 1 John 4:12; 2 John 1:5 "If you serve men you will become a cynic; if you serve God you will become a lover of men." - Mother Teresa 1 John 3:12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous. slew = slaughtered, murdered Abel is a type of Christ, killed because he was righteous Genesis 4:3-16 Cain sacrificed his brother's life because of his self love. Christ sacrificed his own life in love for His brothers. Hebrews 11:4 1 John 3:13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. Marvel not = Do not be surprised Notice the term of endearment - my brethren     John 17:14 Jesus praying over the disciples at the last supper, "I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." "While the world's hostility is to be expected it is not to be made the badge of the quality of our Christian life." - Marianne Maye Thompson Reason to Love #3 – To confirm our eternal life 1 John 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. If we love each other we can be confident that we are His children Notice that he who is in death does not have to stay that way. We passed from death to life. So can they. Some modern translation say, "he that loves not" or "does not love" "remains in death." They leave out his brother. Textual problem that does not change the meaning. John 5:24 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." Loving is our confirmation of eternal life. We are not saved through loving the brethren; we love the brethren because we are saved. 1 John 3:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. hate is equated to murder Matthew 5:21-22 "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgement: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." Ways to Love #1 – lay down our lives< /P> 1 John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. laid down, lay down - Greek tithemi has different range of sense than English lay. It in no way is related to laying ourselves down in a reclining position. It is in the sense of laying down a thing. Interestingly it also has the sense of ordering or organizing, like sorting laundry on a table or layout in publishing or drawing a diagram on a board to explain a complicated concept. It can also mean lay aside as in saving money. Once again, I think John meant all three. He laid down his life at the cross but he also purposed his whole life or laid out his life as an example for us. He also spent it like saved money for us. Philippians 2:5-8 "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." If someone were to throw themselves in the ocean to drown and claim to dying for you while you were safely on the shore it would seem pretty foolish. The gospel is foolishness to those who are perishing. 1 Corinthians 1:18 "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Romans 5:8 "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Oh how marvelous! Oh how wonderful! And my song shall every be. Oh how marvelous! Oh how wonderful! Is my Savior's love for me." John 13:1 "… when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end." Ways to Love #2 – sharing our worldly goods 1 John 3:17 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? world's good = material possessions bowels of compassion = pity or heart. It sounds funny in English but very pretty in Greek. It means very deep compassion. dwelleth = abide, reside, remain, stay Does brother mean only fellow Christians or everyone? Widow's mite - Mark 12:41-44 James 2:15-16 "If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?" "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."- Jim Elliot Ways to Love #3 – in deed and in truth 1 John 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. -    Note the term of endearment, my little children or dear children Not talking about not verbalizing your love. John has been professing his love for the reader in words throughout the entire epistle. But it as someone once said, actions speak louder than words. Talking about sincere love from the heart, not feigned love for appearance - C. S. Lewis: "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." "Maybe if we stop thinking of love as a wonderful emotion and realize it's the source of motion, then we'll learn to live it instead of talking about it." -unknown Reasons 1 and 3 – revisited, which leads to Reason #4 to love which is to avoid hindering our prayers 1 John 3:19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. "And hereby" refers to the above back to 1 John 3:10 "In this the children of God are manifest…" assure peitho also means persuade or convince. some texts have know in the future tense, we shall know. Minor textual problem truth is in the possessive case. we are of the truth or we belong to the truth or we are the truth's. "If we feel the love for our fellow-men welling up within our hearts, we can be sure that the heart of Christ is in us." - William Barclay 1 John 3:20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. -    Two ways to look at this verse. The Living Bible says, "But if we have bad consciences and feel that we have done wrong, the Lord will surely feel it even more, for he knows everything we do." The Jerusalem Bible says, "Able to quiet our conscience in his presence, whatever accusations it may raise against us, because God is greater than our conscience and he knows everything."         Neither of these are particularly literal translations but either of the expressed concepts can be supported by the original Greek. I prefer the latter because of the sweet general tone of the letter. Just as evil people can not trust their conscience which has been seared by their own wickedness we also should trust the word of God above our feelings. Do we truly love? If we do, it comes for God within us notwithstanding whatever other failings we may have. 1 John 3:21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. Note the term of endearment The Greek word translated confidence comes from the Greek concept for the right to free speech without fear of governmental retribution Hebrews 10:18-20 "Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh" Confidence is a key to success in our spiritual lives as well. Our confidence in not so much in ourselves as in our God. Someone said, "The army of Israel thought Goliath was too big to defeat; David thought he was too big to miss." Let's notice a few of the many verses concerning confidence: Paul wrote in Philippians1:6, "…being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." Hebrews 10:35 "Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward." 1 John 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. If we ask from a sincere love of Him and others, our prayers will be in accordance with His will and we will experience a joyful life of answered prayer. James 4:3 "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." Reason to love #2 revisited - He commanded it Way to love #4 – Believe on His name 1 John 3:23 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. Notice that the word commandment is singular. Matthew 22:37-40 "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And t he second is like unto it , Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Like unto it as if they are the same command. 1 John 3:23-24 suggest that these two are one command and that command sums up all the rest. Reason 2 - Romans 13:8-10 "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For … it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. 1 John 3:24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us. - commandments, plural, see note on 3:23 abide and dwell are the same Greek word, remain, endure, stay, live, abide, dwell Spirit = Holy Spirit or spirit of love? Is there any difference? All truth is God's truth. Is all love God's love? Romans 8:9 "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ , he is none of his." thru Rom 8:16 also apropos. Four reasons to love 1 So that we might know we are a child of God 2 It has been God's commandment from the beginning 3 To confirm our eternal life 4 To avoid hindering our prayers Four ways to love 1 Lay down our lives 2 Share our worldly goods 3 In deed and in truth 4 Believe on His name