SCRIPTURE: 1 John 3:11-24 (ESV)
DATE: 9-17-17
It’s good to be with all of you at Gateway Church this weekend. And if there’s one thing I want you to remember — no matter if it’s your first time with us, if you’re worshiping with us at our North Main campus, or watching this online — I want you to know that God loves you and I love you too.
Today we’re continuing our series “What’s Happening Now” as we look at some things that aren’t changing around here at Gateway.
We know that lots of things are changing — change is natural in a season of growth or transition — and we’re experiencing both right now — and change is inevitable, but progress is optional. So in the midst of lots of change we want to take a look at what’s… happening… now. What’s remaining the same at Gateway. What’s not changing.
We’ve seen that our commitment to the Next Generation isn’t changing. Our commitment to missions isn’t changing. Our commitment to a successful transition between pastor Ben and myself isn’t changing.
And another thing not changing here at Gateway — is our commitment to connect to one another. We’re a church that connects to one another.
ANNOUNCE THE TEXT
If you have your Bible, please turn with me to First John chapter three. We’ll be looking at verses eleven through twenty-four today. And, if you’re a guest with us, something we like to do here at Gateway is hear from you. So if you have a question during the sermon, you can text your question into the number on the screen or you can submit it on the Gateway app.
SCRIPTURE INTRODUCTION
Now while you’re finding First John chapter three, let me quickly tell you what this letter is all about. The letter is written by the apostle John — one of the twelve disciples who learned from Jesus. And John has written this letter so that “those who believe in Jesus can know they have eternal life.”
Those are his words in First John chapter five, verse thirteen — the key verse of the letter — where John writes — “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13 ESV)
So John’s goal is for his audience to know with certainty whether or not they have eternal life. He wants them to have confidence that they have eternal life.
- He doesn’t want them to be guessing about their eternity,
- He doesn’t want them to be basing things on a hunch,
- He doesn’t want them to make assumptions — John wants them to know — he wants them to be certain — that they have eternal life.
And throughout this letter, John gives us a variety of tests that help us know if we have eternal life.
- His goal isn’t to make us doubt our faith,
- He’s not writing to make us confused,
- John wants us to know — he wants you to know — whether or not you have eternal life.
Yet, John knows that there’ll be pretenders in the church — people pretending to be followers of Jesus when they’re not — and John’s letter may lead these pretenders to doubt, or be confused and wonder why his message is so different from what they believe.
So this letter brings assurance, hope, and joy for the true Christian as it affirms what you believe and the life change you’ve experienced. But for pretenders — this letter contains a message that may wake you up from your false sense of security.
And if I preach this passage well — it should be doing both of these things among us.
Assuring true Christians that your faith is real — while challenging those who haven’t been changed by the gospel. And here’s why this is kind of change is important for all of us.
SERMON INTRODUCTION
We live in a day and age where hatred runs deep.
- This is true for our country — as we see racists use their cars as weapons to drive into crowds.
- It’s true around the world — as we see terrorists strike out at others.
- And hatred is even found in many churches.
And for those who doubt the validity of the Bible — one thing the Bible makes brutally clear is that this world is broken — things aren’t how they’re supposed to be — something’s gone terribly wrong — and one way we know this is because there’s hate in our world.
Now immediately when I mention hate, most of us think of “those people.” And usually those people are not like you — whether it’s extreme Muslims jihadists, the KKK, or the husband who beats his wife — but what you and I usually don’t do is reflect on our own hate. Areas in our lives where we aren’t loving. Areas in our hearts where we’ve justified our hateful attitudes. Particular ways in which we contribute to the hate in our world.
But for a follower of Christ — for those who believe in Jesus — the gospel promises us freedom so we no longer have to hate — we’re given freedom to love.
We’re changed so we have no need to hate and are free even to love those who hate us.
But even more challenging is that the Christian faith teaches that not only do Christians have the freedom to love, but we have a responsibility to love. And our motivation to love others — this change so we can be people of love — is possible because of Christ’s sacrifice.
What John makes clear to us is this.
PROPOSITION
“Since Christ laid down His life for us, we must love one another.” We must love one another. We see this in verse eleven — and when you see a word in all caps, yellow, and underlined — no matter where you are — go ahead and say those words out loud with me — in verse eleven John writes, “For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should LOVE ONE ANOTHER.” (1 John 3:11 ESV)
Since Christ laid down His life for us, we must love one another.
Now the “message” that John refers to is the message of the gospel. That Jesus came to our world to save sinners from Satan, sin, and eternal death by living a perfect life in our place, dying the death we deserved, and by being resurrected from the grave.
And verse eleven shows us that one of the ways you “know” you’ve believed the message — the gospel — is by your love for other people. So that’s where we’re headed today. Since Christ laid down His life for us, we must love one another.
And in our verses we see three things. We see who we’re to love. How we’re to love. And promises to those who love. Who, how, and some promises. Let’s begin with the who. Who are we to love?
MAIN POINT 1
“We must love the brothers.” Since Christ laid down His life for us, we must love the brothers — which means fellow Christians.
Now other passages in the Bible focus on loving all people, but we’re not in one of those passages today. And because we’re talking about connecting to one another — connecting to the people of this “one church in two locations” — we’re going to be very specific and talk about loving the people of Gateway Church.
But please don’t think that this means we’re not to love all people — we are. I’m just not focusing on that aspect of our faith today — today our focus is on the love we’re to have for one another.
That we are to connect to the people of Gateway Church. Look with me in verse twelve.
“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, 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.”
(1 John 3:12-15 ESV)
Since Christ laid down His life for us, we must love the brothers.
Now John uses some strong language to show the importance of love and the power of hate. But in these verses we see some reasons why we must love the brothers — our fellow Christians. And the first reason is this.
There’s a war going on. In verse twelve John writes, “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.”
(1 John 3:12 ESV)
You see there’s a war going on between evil and righteousness — between those who are enemies of God and those who are friends of God — between the children of darkness and the children of light. And this war has been going on much longer than you or I have been alive.
We can look back through history — or with a discerning eye look at the world around us — and see the war going on. And it’s a war driven by hate.
And this hate fueled war produces all kinds of evil things. Things like racism and abortion, the sex slave trade and pornography. This hate fueled war produces terrorism, murder, adultery, and gossip.
This war goes back to the first pages of the Bible — where two brothers bring sacrifices to God. Abel presents his sacrifice to God in faith — Cain doesn’t. We know this because the author of Hebrews writes, “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous,
God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.” (Hebrews 11:4 ESV)
Cain hated Abel because of his faith — so much — that he murdered his own brother. And Cain’s hatred continues today. Because we also see that…
The world hates Christians. We see this in verse thirteen. “Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world HATES you.”
(1 John 3:13 ESV)
“Don’t be surprised” — the only command in our passage — the only thing John tells us to do is this — “don’t be surprised that the world hates you.”
Now — in our verse — the word “world” means the unbelieving world — people who are opposed to God.
So don’t be surprised when the world hates you. And this is important for us to remember because this should drive us to love our fellow Christians — to connect to one another. Why?
Because in knowing that the world hates us — and if you’re a Christian it hates you just as it did Jesus — we should be driven to love each other more deeply and not treat each other the way the world already treats us. We should connect to one another to love one another because we all need a place of refuge from a world that hates us.
Finally, we see that…Hate is murder.
In verse fourteen John writes, “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.” (1 John 3:14-15 ESV)
Do you see the formula? Hate equals murder. And murder equals not having eternal life. So to hate others means you do not have eternal life.
Now don’t misunderstand me. Not hating doesn’t save you — Christ saves you. But when Christ saves you — He saves you to a life of love not hate. In fact, hate for others is proof that you don’t love God. Because your hate is proof that you’re not spiritually alive.
And to not be spiritually alive means you’re dead to God. You haven’t passed from death to life. You’re still under the judgment of God.
And for those who call Gateway your church — here’s how this applies to you. To really love the people in this congregation you’ve got to spend more than an hour with them on the weekend. I don’t know how — in response to Christ laying down His life for you — how you can be loving your fellow Christians in this church and connecting to them if you’re not spending quality time with them.
And this is why we beat the drum of Life Groups. And one constant — one thing not changing — is our desire for all of you to be in a Life Group.
Because we’ve seen that — in response to Christ laying down His life for us — we’re to love our fellow Christians. And at Gateway, our Life Groups are where we show love for one another. Our Life Groups are our refuge from a world of hate. They’re where we connect to one another.
This is true for our adults, but this is also true for our students. So college students, if you’re not in a Life Group you need to get connected to one of our college groups. And parents, you need to make sure that you bring your middle and high school students to their Life Groups on Sunday nights. This weekend they meet at our North Main campus at 6pm.
The point is this.
If you’re not in a Life Group — it doesn’t matter if you’re an adult, a college student, or in middle or high school — get in a Life Group. Go to the What’s Next Wall at your location and sign up to join a group today.
Because Christ laid down His life for us, so we must love the brothers.
That’s the who. Now to the how — how do we love one another?
MAIN POINT 2
“We must love in deed and truth.” Since Christ laid down His life for us, we love in deed and in truth. Look with me in verse sixteen.
“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.” (1 John 3:16-18 ESV)
We love in deed and truth. So how do we do this — how do we love in deed and truth? First, we…
Love with our lives. In verse sixteen John writes, “By this we know love, that he (Jesus) laid down his LIFE for us, and we ought to lay down our LIVES for the brothers.” (1 John 3:16 ESV)
This verse tells how we love one another — we love others how Christ first loved us — He gave His life for us — so we give our lives for each other. So how do we lay down our lives? One simple way is to make time for others. Don’t over-schedule, overburden, or overload yourself so you don’t have time to connect to others. To connect to others you must have control over your time.
Also, we…
Love with our goods. In verse seventeen we read, “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.” (1 John 3:17-18 ESV)
So by “goods” here, John means material possessions. The “goods” are neutral, but they can be used for either love or hate.
And the humbling thing for us to consider is that we “have the world’s goods.” We’re the wealthy people of the world. The poorest of us are doing better off than 80-90% of the rest of the world.
So we’ve got the world’s goods in our country — in our church — in our bank accounts. And John tells us that if any of us sees a fellow Christian in need and closes our heart against them — meaning we make a decision to not respond to their need — what does John say this reveals about our heart?
It reveals that God’s love does not abide — or live — in us. And those should be shocking words to us.
Now John isn’t teaching salvation by works — meaning to get God to love you, you’ve got to do certain things — no — John is saying that for people who’ve truly embraced the love of God — as displayed in Jesus giving His life for them — a person who’s received God’s love will use their goods to show love towards those who are in need.
Because it’s impossible to close off your heart towards a person in need — and here we’re specifically talking about a fellow Christian in need — and legitimately claim love for God. You just can’t. Why? Because Christ’s love for us cost Him dearly and Christians respond to His love by loving others no matter the cost.
So we must love in deed and in truth — by laying down our lives and by using our goods to help meet each other’s needs.
You see — Christ laying down His life for us — teaches us an important truth about love. It tells us that love always starts with God. In the next chapter of this letter John writes, “In this the love of God was made manifest among us (God’s love was revealed to us in this way), that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation (the sacrifice) for our sins.” (1 John 4:9-10 ESV).
Christ’s love for us is greater than all other powers — including racism, hatred, addictions — and Christ’s love for us includes a great promise to those who may not be a Christian. For John tells us that even unbelievers can know God’s love through Christ’s sacrifice.
Because you can see the selflessness. You can see the love. You can see the beauty in a man sacrificing Himself for people He loves. You can feel the hope of things like racism being defeated by the kind of love Christ displayed on the cross.
But there’s a response to God’s love that’s required of each of us. In response to God’s love, we’re to love God and love others in deed and truth. In our actions and in our words. With our lives and with our goods.
And obviously this kind of selfless love would change our society. The kind of love that lays down its life for the sake of others is a love that can be trusted — it’s a consistent love because the words of the person are in line with their actions. And a society full of people who love others selflessly is a society that both Christians and non-Christians long for.
But — and listen closely — for the Christian, this kind of love for others isn’t optional.
- It’s who you are in response to Christ laying down His life for you.
- It’s who you are in response to “for God so loved you.”
- It’s who you are in response to being connected to Jesus Christ — you connect to others. You love others.
- You lay down your life for the sake of others because of God’s great love for you — and them.
And for those of you who are part of this congregation, you must ask yourself “How am I doing at laying down my life for the sake of my brothers and sisters here at Gateway? How am I loving them in deeds and truth? And how are we — as a church — demonstrating this kind of love to our fellow Christians in our community and around the world?
You see, when you and I begin to dig deep into what Christ’s love towards us means, we see that there’s only one response that proves that we “know God” and have truly “believed in Him.”
And this changes us drastically from the unloving, self-centered, hate-filled people we were before we believed the gospel, into men and women who love in deed and in truth. Who are willing to lay down our very lives so that others may experience God’s love through us as we connect to them and to one another.
During the first part of the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, no safety devices were used and twenty-three men fell to their deaths. Obviously something needed to change. Not only were the deaths tragic, but the men who continued working on the bridge were rightfully scared for their safety.
So during the last half of the project, a large safety net was used, which cost a hundred thousand dollars — which was an incredible price to pay at the time — but a price that saved at least ten men who fell into the net.
But something else happened. Once the safety net was in place, the workers accomplished twenty-five percent more work in the same amount of time. Once the men were assured of their safety, they were able to complete the job much more quickly.
If you’ve been changed by the gospel — your eternal life is guaranteed. God has said, “You’re mine forever” — so that’s your safety net. And in knowing you have that as your safety net you can now set out to accomplish what Christ has for you to do. And what are you to do?
- Well part of what you’re to do is love your fellow Christians selflessly by laying down your life for them.
- To connect to them outside of our worship services.
- And to love them in deed and in truth because you have the most certain, and secure, and confidence stirring safety net that anyone could ever hope for: Christ laid down His life for you because He loved you. And His love frees you to be a radically loving person in a world full of hate.
We’ve seen who and how we’re to love. Now to the promises. But — remember — to receive these promises…
MAIN POINT 3
We must keep His commandments. We must keep His commandments to experience these promises. In verse nineteen John writes, “By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22 and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his commandment, that we BELIEVE in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and LOVE ONE ANOTHER, just as he has commanded us. 24 Whoever KEEPS HIS COMMANDMENTS abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.” (1 John 3:19-24 ESV)
John couldn’t have been more clear about the commandments he’s talking about. First, believe in Jesus Christ — that in Christ God became man to defeat Satan, sin, and death, so that whoever believes in Him — and turns from their wickedness — will be saved. And second, we must love one another.
Believe and love. Believe in Jesus and love one another. Believe in Jesus Christ — the one who laid down His life for you — and keep His commandment to love others.
And two things happen — these are the promises — when we keep His commandments. First…
We have confidence before God.
In verse nineteen John writes, “By this we shall KNOW that we are of the truth and REASSURE our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have CONFIDENCE BEFORE GOD; 22 and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.” (1 John 3:19-22 ESV)
Keeping God’s commandments let’s us know that we’re of the truth. It reassures our heart for the Day when we’ll find ourselves in the presence of the most Holy and Powerful God.
And in the difficult days of life when our own heart condemns us — when it tells you that you’re a terrible person, unworthy of God’s love, or that you’ll never be the Christian you’re supposed to be — you’ll have confidence in knowing that God’s love is greater than your own condemnation.
And this is good news for those of us who struggle with our Christian walk. You long to be more obedient — to be a better Christian — but you just can’t seem to get it right. So you beat yourself up. You put yourself down. You let your heart condemn you all while your Heavenly Father is saying “I love you.”
Do you hear Him saying those words to you right now? “I love you. I the Creator of the universe, the Maker of all things, the Beginning and the End, the One who breathes life…I…love…you.” Have confidence. God loves you.
Additionally…
Keeping God’s commandments gives us assurance of His Spirit. In verse twenty-three we read, “And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and GOD IN HIM. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the SPIRIT whom he has given us.” (1 John 3:23-24 ESV)
We find here an amazing promise. You can know that God lives in you and that you live in God. How? Because God’s Spirit is given to us who believe so we can keep His commandments without them being a burden, but a joy.
And God’s Spirit in you — is His seal upon you — His promise that you are His “forever loved child.” And the assurance of God’s Spirit let’s you know — with confidence — that you have eternal life.
And one implication of this promise is that without God’s Spirit you can’t keep God’s commandment to love others. Try as you might — but without faith in Christ — you’ll never be as loving as you should. You’ll always be contributing hate to our world.
And this means that our nation and world won’t ever get over its hate problem — we’ll never be able to experience the kind of love that brings peace and prosperity among all people without first experiencing the love of Christ. There will always be racists and child molesters, porn watchers and wife beaters, and all the others ways we show hate for others in our sickened world unless we — God’s people — show them Christ’s love.
This also means that the only way we become a church that leaves a lasting legacy for God’s glory is by loving each other as Christ first loved us. For this kind of love compels us to connect to one another. This kind of love transforms the way we treat one another. And this kind of love can change the way the world views us followers of Jesus — if we respond to Christ’s sacrifice — by loving one another.
CONCLUSION
Now the most spectacular thing of all is this: Jesus not only gave us these commands — He perfectly fulfilled them. He succeeded where we’ve failed. And although we’re more like Cain than we’d ever dare to admit and are undeserving of God accepting our sin tainted sacrifices — though we are like Cain — Jesus is the perfect Abel. He was murdered by us hate-filled people on the cross. And His blood still cries out today with a message of Good News about God’s love.
For in shedding His blood, Christ secured victory for His side of the war between love and hate. He laid down His life for us, so we could lay down our lives for each other. And Jesus gave up not only the world’s goods — but all of Heaven’s goods — so that we could experience His love.
So now we have confidence before God — because we know that our eternal reward is based on Christ’s perfect obedience. And we’ve been given God’s Spirit so that — as the world hates us — we can find a place of refuge as we connect to one another.
What an act of love for you and me — for all people. Jesus giving His life so you might believe in Him and receive eternal life. That in this world of hate — you can have confidence in knowing that you are loved.
Since Christ laid down his life for us, we must love one another. Let’s make it our goal to connect to one another so we show this world full of hate what it means to be a people full of love. Let’s pray.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, I pray that today would be the day of salvation for many who are listening. That those who started today as Your enemy, would receive the gracious gift of Your love by believing in Jesus’ sacrifice for them, turning away from their self-reliance, and by placing their faith in Your hands.
I pray that today would also be a day of great encouragement for the Christians who are prone to doubting Your love for them. They’ve evaluated Your love based on their performance instead of Christ’s sacrifice. And God they believe — but their heart has been condemning them. So I pray that they would feel no more condemnation, and instead would know Your great love for them.
Give them the assurance that comes from knowing that Christ gave His life as proof of Your love for them.
And God for all of us, I pray that we would see that the only heart changing, affections stirring, priorities shifting appropriate response to Christ laying down His life for us, is that we would love one another. A love rooted in the gospel. A love grounded in Your love for us. A love built upon Your love for all people. For this kind of love — a love that connects us to Jesus Christ — is a love that connects us to one another.
May we submit ourselves to trusting in the eternal safety net You’ve provided us — Your love as displayed in Christ’s sacrifice — so we love one another for Your name’s sake. Amen.