Chapel of the Lake
We Proclaim Love For One Another
Welcome to Chapel of the Lake in Lake St. Louis, Missouri, the chapel family is a multi-generational community of believers who gather weekly to worship and explore God's Word as we grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ. Join us now as Pastor Aaron McMillan opens the scriptures. Well this morning we're going to continue in our series through first John. We're going to return to a theme that John has already touched on back in chapter 2 and that is love. In particular today we're going to be talking about love for one another, that the church ought to be proclaiming a love for one another. If you remember in first John chapter 2 John argued that to love God is to keep His commandments and keeping His commandments is evidence that we are truly walking in the light and in our passage today John's going to expand on what this love looks like in more detail and especially now in relation to one another. You'll notice that the text that we'll be walking through is listed as 1 John 3 11 through 24. Don't panic we're going to stop at verse 20 and we're going to save the last four verses for two weeks from now when we're back and continuing through first John. I think that this is an important topic for us today. Love is something that we maybe talk about a lot but it seems to be harder and harder to define what love truly is. We hear slogans like love is love. Love yourself. All you need is love or maybe the classic love is like a box of chocolates. And so with all these messages and especially as I look at our culture today it's important that the church knows what it means when it proclaims God's love. That the church knows what it means when it proclaims love for one another because what John has been doing over and over again so far through this letter is reinforcing the idea that the church is different than the world. That the church has a different standard. That the church does not accept what the world claims to be true. That the church stands against those who want to change or alter the message that Jesus brought into the world. It's important that the church understands and proclaims that there's a difference between light and dark. That there is a difference between right and wrong, righteousness and unrighteousness. That there is a stark difference between the world and Christ. So that's where we're going here this morning if you'll just indulge me in a brief word of prayer. Diller we need your word this morning. May it come through your spirit with clarity, with conviction, and with your power that you might change us as we hear from you today. We pray in your name. Amen. Today marks really the middle section, the midpoint of the letter of John. If you were to divide the book the letter of first John to two sections we would have just finished the first section last week and we couldn't title that God is light. What John is going to begin to expand on for the rest of his letter could be under the broad heading of God is love. And so we see more of a doctrinal emphasis, although we don't lose that that's going to continue to be in focus, but a doctrinal emphasis and implication on what it means for God to be light. But now we see that he'll use this the same callback to what he said in verse five of chapter one for this is the message that you have heard from the beginning. So now we have this shift and now we're going to better understand what it means to say that God is love. So our first section here this morning is going to be verses 11 through 15. The Apostle John says, "For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 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 murdered his own deeds were evil and his brothers righteous. Do not be surprised brothers that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him." There's a lot of things here in this first section but I think we can pretty much sum it up by saying that love must be evident. That love must be evident. Look back with me at verse 11 for this is the message that you have heard from the beginning. Well what's the message from the beginning? Well it's simply the same command that John will continue to reiterate that came from Jesus himself and that's to love one another. This isn't new to John. He's picking it up straight from Jesus himself. John 13 34 and 35 a new commandment I give to you Jesus says that you love one another just as I have loved you. You also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. He says it again in John 15 among other places. This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. These things I command you so that you will love one another. Jesus is purposefully reemphasizing this over and over to his disciples as he walks with them and now John 30ish, 60ish years later is saying don't forget the message that you heard from Jesus. Love one another and we're going to look more into what that looks like in a practical sense but before we get there John takes this interesting turn. He says here's the command that you love one another but then he goes all the way back to Genesis 4 and he starts talking about Cain not about love but about Cain and about hatred and about murder and like well John what are you doing here verse 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 brothers righteous do not be surprised brothers that the world hates you. John's giving us this negative example of Cain. He's showing the contrast between here's the command to love and here's Cain but it's not just about Cain. He brings up Cain because Cain is really the prototype for the world. John's reminding us that this difference between the world and those of the world and the church or those who follow God has always been opposed to each other ever since the fall. What does he say in these verses about Cain? Well we learned that Cain's hatred originated in the evil one that's the devil and that this hatred led to murder. Why did Cain murder Abel? He says it here in verse 12 because his own deeds were evil and his brothers righteous. Really what I see here is that Cain was jealous of Abel. Cain resented his brother. He resented his righteousness which led to hatred which led to murder and so here what we're starting to connect is John is telling us what's true of Cain has been true of the world ever since that hatred and murder are not just in the world but they're of the devil himself and if it's of the devil then it certainly is not of God which is why he also says in verse 13 do not be surprised brothers that the world hates you. This is nothing new. The world hates the church for the same reason that Cain hated Abel. Their deeds are evil and their evil deeds are exposed even further by the righteousness and the obedience of those who follow the Lord and so inevitably there is going to be friction as we the church try to go out and minister into this world. Jesus says the same thing once again in John 15 to his disciples if the world hates you know that has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world the world would love you as its own but because you are not of the world but I chose you out of the world therefore the world hates you. Now I have to take a sidebar here for just a second. Why did Cain hate Abel? Because he was evil and Abel was righteous. I told the first service and I still haven't come up with better. I'm trying not to use improper language in church but I think this is important to say. Cain hated Abel because he was righteous not because Abel was a jerk. Do you understand why I'm bringing this up? The hate of the world that John is talking about is the hate that comes for those who stand up for the gospel who stand by the truth of God's word who aren't afraid to stand against the trends in modern culture but it wasn't because Abel was mean. It wasn't because he was rude or brash. It wasn't because of anything enabled at all and my fear is and I may include myself in this at the same time. My fear is that sometimes we give the world cause to hate us that has nothing to do with the gospel. It has to do with how we interact with the world. It has to do with our opinions or how we share our opinions. It has to do with how we talk to other people or how we may talk down to other people and what we end up doing is giving them fuel to hate the church but they don't need anymore. The world is always going to be opposed to the church because it has always been opposed to the church but if the world is going to oppose the church let's make it about the right reasons. Let's make it about the gospel and not about us. Let's make it about God and not about us. The reason why the world hates the church is because the church stands with Christ and the world is of the devil and the devil is opposed to God. This is nothing new. Jesus described the devil as a liar and murderer from the beginning and so when we put all that together it's like well how is the church supposed to survive in this type of environment? How do we combat the hate of the world? It's here back in verse 11. It's here in the commandment in the message that was first given to us that we would love one another just as he commanded us and John reinforces this point, look at verses 14 and 15. We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death, everyone who hates his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. John says that we can know, this is one of those themes that he keeps coming back to over and over throughout this book, that we can know whether or not we are of Christ or we are of the world. John says we can know whether or not we are walking in darkness or walking in light, whether or not we have passed from death into life and he gives us really just one test if we love the brothers. So we might pause and ask well then who are the brothers? Now getting real technical I think it's really pretty simple. The brothers are believers. It's brothers and sisters in Christ. It's all those who have placed their faith in Jesus. John is saying there's a very tangible way that you can know that you've passed from death into life and that's if you love the church. If you love those in the church, now is John saying that we don't need to love anybody else? No of course not. It's just not what he's emphasizing here for good reason. Jesus clearly taught us that we are to love everyone and even went so far as to tell us to love our enemies. John would never contradict that. But he's saying if you want to know whether or not you're saved. If you want to know whether you've passed from death to life just look at how you love brothers and sisters in Christ. And the reason why he's pointing this out I think is to show us we know how the world treats the church and they're always opposed. But how does the church treat the church? The church ought to love the church. It only makes sense because if the church is only in the church because they know Jesus because they love Jesus and if they love Jesus then by default we've already seen and have continued to tell us then we must love the church. And so if there's a disconnect between how the church loves the church then we have a real problem because that should be the easiest most natural thing for believers to love one another. So yes we're to love the whole world but especially those of the faith. If we're honest it should be, let's put it the other way, if we're honest if we can't love one another in Christ do we have any hope of loving the world who is outside of Christ. I don't think so. So we should can start here within the church and then extend that same love to the world around us. In context of what John is putting before us the fact that the church is and always will be hated by the world is why I think this gathering is so important. It is why the author of Hebrews insists that we not forsake the assembling of believers. Why? Because the church is called to be a refuge to believers, a place where we can support and encourage and help one another grow in both our faith and our love. We need each other if we have a hope of making a difference out in the world. If we have a hope of showing love to a lost and dying world we need the gathering of the saints to come together to worship, to pray, to deepen and develop relationships because this is how we demonstrate love for one another. You showing up here today in some senses you saying I love the brothers. I love the brothers and sisters. I'll let you think through the implications of what it means when you're not here and it will come up here again in a moment. But I also want to point out something that's also important in verse 14. John says we know that we have past out of death into life. Now it's important to understand and see the verb tense. It's translated as half past. In the Greek it's perfect tense which all just means there was a point in time that it happened and it's continuing to have effects today but it happened because we don't want to read this too fast and say oh if I love the brothers then I will pass from death to life. No we're losing the gospel in there. He's not telling us how we are saved. John is giving us evidence of our salvation. How we are saved is by believing that Jesus is truly the Son of God who died for our sins, was crucified, buried, rose from the dead and we trust in him for our salvation. That's how we are saved. And John is telling us that we can know that we have been saved by the way that we love one another. He says that love is the evidence of the righteousness even and the adoption even that we talked about briefly last week. It's not the basis of our salvation. And so as you keep reading and you get to the second half of verse 14 whoever does not love abides in death, everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, he's saying in case you miss the connection with Cain here let me double down and make it explicitly clear you cannot hate your brother and claim to know Jesus. Why? Because hating is equal to murder and murder is of the devil and to be on the side of Satan is clearly to reject eternal life. Again this isn't John's new teaching. This is exactly what Jesus says in Matthew 5. You have heard that it was said to those of old you shall not murder and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the counsel and whoever says you fool will be liable to the hell of fire. This increases the level of urgency here. Now my guess is that there's not a murderer sitting among us here this morning but that's not the test that John or Jesus is putting before us. Jesus taught that it wasn't just the act that is sinful but it's the motivation behind the sinful act. It's important briefly to know and remember that John isn't saying that one act of sin or even hate or even murder for that matter can't be forgiven but he's contrasting the world and believers. And he's saying that as a general principle and I think we can all agree a general principle that he wants us to understand is that murder and therefore hate and therefore anger and therefore insults is to give evidence that you're not walking with the Lord. It's when we put it in that framework then I really have to stop and pause. I can't just say well I never killed anyone I'm good. No it's but have you ever been angry? Have you ever insulted someone? Are you harboring resentment in your heart? Are you withholding forgiveness? Is there hate in your heart? If any of those answers are yes there is only one of two places that you need to run this morning. If you're truly a believer and you're wrestling through some of these emotions then you need to run to 1 John 1, 9. If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and we rest in that truth. I say yep I am not perfect but I'm going to Jesus and what happens is now our fellowship is restored. But John is also telling us that if we are harboring hate and we are harboring anger it might as well be a murderer and that could be evidence that you are not in the household of God at all. In which case you need to run to Romans chapter 10 verse 9 which says if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved. In both scenarios it's the same solution run to Jesus. It might be for the first time or it might be for the hundredth time because you're struggling with this particular emotion or particular challenge but the answer is going to be run to Jesus. John doesn't just say that love is evident he takes it a step further in the next three verses and says well it also needs to be demonstrated. Not just that exists within you but that it's demonstrated and can be seen. Look at verses 16 through 18. By this we know love that he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's good and sees his brother in need yet closes his heart against him how does God's love abide in him? Little children let us not love and word or talk but indeed and in truth. John shifts and goes back to the positive example so we had Cain which we're going to come back to in just a second and then Jesus and now he says he begins where we all should begin. Well let's if we're going to define some things let's start with Jesus and what do we when we look at Jesus what do we learn of love that this love is sacrificial that the essence of love is self sacrifice. This was perfectly manifested in Jesus but don't miss how it's in contrast to what came before. So John Staugh and his commentary just has a helpful paragraph that I'm going to read but I kind of give you a cliff notes version of a chart to help hopefully visualize what he's saying and it's the contrast between Cain and Christ. This is what he says about Cain. Hate is negative. It seeks the other person's harm. It leads to activity against them even to the point of murder. This is exactly played out in the life of Cain says in his four Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him literally slaughtered him. Okay then he says but of Christ love is positive. It seeks the other person's good. It leads to activity for him even to the point of self sacrifice. Sound familiar? Christ laid down his life for us. Staugh says indeedly it is precisely because Jesus laid down his life for us that we know what love is. John is saying we have two choices. We can align with one or the other but not both. Who are you aligned with? Are you aligned with Cain? You might say well I'm not a murderer say okay but are you hateful? Are you seeking another person's harm? Are you actively working against them or are you with Christ? Is your love positive? Is it seeking the other person's good? Are you working for their sake? Are you willing to lay down your life for the brothers? Because that's the example of Christ. And this is where it's important to see in verse 16 he just doesn't define love in terms of what Jesus did. Look at the rest of verse 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. And like well John I'm not Jesus. And that seems like a big ask. And I would say you're right. Again this is not new. Jesus greater love has no one than this that someone laid down his life for his friends and we hear that we're like oh that's nice and that's a great verse and this and that but John is actually telling us like no we're supposed to follow the example of Christ. And I don't want to gloss over it because I think in like me personally and generally in our in our culture in our context we have no idea what this looks like. Do you know who knows who this looks like? Is that the missionaries that our couples are going to see next week. They today literally risked their lives for the brothers. In many of these areas that these Filipinos missionaries are coming from if they're found with a Bible. If they're found leading a Bible study they're done. They're either beaten or arrested or killed. That's happening in 2024 all over the globe. And our people have the privilege of going and meeting with them. Anyway they tell us thank you so much for coming. I'm like oh my goodness. Why would what will compel them? The love of Christ compels them. Every time they invite a new person to their house and share the gospel it's a huge risk. Why do they do it? The love of God. They know what Jesus has done for them and so how could they withhold that same kind of love to people that need to know about God. I'm humbled every time I think about these missionaries because we we have no context for that in my opinion. And you might think well I'm so glad I've been the West. I'm so glad I'm in America. Well that doesn't mean you're off the hook. We are still supposed to have the same mindset but even because I don't think that many of us if any of us will be called to make this ultimate sacrifice of laying down our lives for someone in this room or or another believer but look at what it says in verse 17. This isn't just a conceptually oh I ought to be willing to lay down my life some point. Now he gets more practical but if anyone has the world's goods well now that's you. We can make a case where the Filipinos don't have many worldly goods but if you're in here today you have the world's goods. There's no question about it. So if anyone if we have the world's goods and sees his brother in need yet closes his heart against him how does God's love abide in him? John's saying this doesn't make any sense. We're supposed to love one another and if one of the one anothers has a need and you have the ability to meet it well then you should meet it because if the call is to lay down our life for the brother how much more should we be willing to part with things that are worldly. Things that don't matter for eternity. And there's a slight subtle distinction that I want to show you in verse 17. So far it's been one another and brothers and it's all been this idea of plural this idea of the whole group and we just need to generally love the church and the people within the church but look how he phrases it in verse 17. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother singular well that's just grammar which is funny because I'm not a grammar person. Who cares it's an S or not an S? Well I think it matters. I think it matters because John is moving from this abstract idea to the specific. He's taking us out of this generality that he's like oh yeah I love Christians and I love the church and Chapel Lake is great. He's like yeah but what about when that brother comes? What about when that sister comes? What about when a specific need is put in front of you are you willing to meet that need because if you are not I'm not sure that's love and if and if that's not love I'm not sure you're in in Christ. His commentators named GP Lewis he said this. That was a little convicting so be ready. It is easier to be enthusiastic about humanity with a big H 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 right. Loving everybody in general may be an excuse for loving nobody in particular. Oh I think I've been guilty of that but then it's like well how can we love people who we may not even like? Well there's good news. I don't think you have to like everybody. Like is an arbitrary word. Like is subjective. Like is based on maybe common interest or common region or this that or the other and you know some people you're just not gonna like. I even think that's okay but the command isn't to like and this is what differentiates the church again from the world. While like is subjective love is a command to be obeyed which means you can do that. It's not a question of whether you like it or not. It's a command of will you obey. The command is to love. What does love look like? That's what he's been talking about this whole time. It means you're gonna lay down your life. It means you're gonna meet a need. It means that by nature you're going to put the interest of others in front of yourself. It views and sees people in the same way that Jesus would see and treat people. You mean I'm supposed to do that? Yes. Yes. You are supposed to do that in a very practical specific way. John is telling us that if we see a need and we can meet that need then if the love of God is in us we will meet that need which means that the opposite is true. If we close our hearts if we turn away from the person in need especially those within the church how can we claim that the love of the Father is in us. Because didn't God see our need? Didn't God give of himself so that our need could be met even though we were undeserving? Oh yes. Of course that's our standard. That's the standard of God's love that we are to demonstrate to those around us. Verse 18 he says we're not only called to demonstrate sacrificial love or practical love but to also that love ought to be consistent. Little children let us love. Let us not love in word or talk. Anyone can say anything and sound pretty nice. Let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. It's much like he said in chapter two we ought to walk in the way that Jesus walked and ought to be consistent. This is the same truth that James writes about and James chapter two. If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food and one of you says to them go in peace be warned and filled without giving him the things needed for the body well what good is that? James and John they're saying the same thing. Love is not just a feeling or emotion but it is work and action. It is not a one-time transaction but something that should continuously, consistently characterize followers of Christ. That's what he means when we are to love in deed not just word but he also says that we are to love in truth. What does it mean to love in truth? Or one I think it just means sincere that we're actually genuine. That goes with a consistent theme that we love in a genuine true manner but probably more in view is the idea that to love in truth means we love in relation or in an understanding of who God is. God is truth. God is love. Therefore love and truth will always go hand in hand. In order to love well then we must have a good understanding of who God is because then the more we understand who God is the more we can love like him. The love that God has expressed in Christ is the example that we have to follow. It's a love that sacrifices. It's a love that is patient and kind that is humble and long-suffering that is unselfish and enduring but is also a love that calls out sin that exposes darkness that defies the world. This is the kind of love for one another that the church needs to proclaim yes but also demonstrate. It's a love that is proclaimed and demonstrated. At this moment, at least as I'm listening to myself talk, as I talk, I'm like wow this seems like a lot and I can't do that. This is too hard. Fair. I could see that perspective. John's not done writing and this is where we'll end. This love isn't just a chore. This love isn't just a hard thing. Yes, it needs to be evident and demonstrated but it also brings assurance. Just look at verse 19 and 20 with me, our last two verses for this morning. "By this we shall know," there it is again, "by this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him. For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and he knows everything." We can never forget John isn't writing this book to tell the people that they aren't living up, that they aren't meeting up, that they just need to try harder and do more because they're just not loving enough or they're just not righteous enough. That's not why he's writing. He's writing to actually encourage them to say no I know you. I've seen how you've acted. I've seen how you have loved and I'm telling you that the way you love should bring you confidence, should bring you assurance. Why does John go through so many iterations of you can know this and you can know this and you can do this? Well, it at least brings me comfort because I think John knows human nature. I think John knows that sometimes and it doesn't matter how mature we may or may not be that there are times that our heart falters. There are times that we question our motives and our actions. There are times that we wonder, am I really anywhere close to loving like Christ's love? We are tempted to think about all the times that we have failed and come short and John doesn't want to leave us there. He's saying no, have confidence, have confidence, but confidence where? Not in your feelings. It's not about if you feel saved. It's not about if you feel anything because look, by this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart. Well, what's the by this? It's what just immediately came before. The by this is by the way we love one another and we could keep working backward and then we can think, well, like, why would I even want to love one another? Well, because that is actually evidence that you've been born again. If you've been born again, that means that you're a child of God and if you're a child of God, we saw last week that that results in what? It results in righteousness and obedience expresses itself in love. And what we start to realize is, oh, just my desire to love one another, just my desire to love God, just my desire to pursue righteousness and to pursue obedience is actually tangible evidence that I am actually walking in the light, that I am forgiven, that my sins have been forgiven because the world cannot point to any of those things. John's whole point, they're diametrically opposed. And so he writes to encourage us that we find confidence not in how we feel on a particular day or even how we perform on a particular day. We find our confidence in who God is. John knows that we're going to question ourselves. That's verse 20. So if you're struggling with assurance or I'm not good enough or I'm not sure, read first 20. For whenever our heart condemns us, a.k.a, your heart will condemn you, your feelings will betray you. Some days it will feel like you're not a Christian. He says, don't trust your feelings. For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart. Praise the Lord. It's not about me. I'm trusted in what God has already said. I'm trusting in what Christ has already done. I'm trusting in that if I place my faith in him, I'm a child of his. That's where my trust is. That's where my assurance is. That's what gives me confidence that God's greater, even with my own conscious and my own heart, wants to condemn me. I say, no. Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And I throw it back and say, devil, go away. Get out of my heart, get out of my head because God is greater. And I'm trusting in what he has done and not would I feel or have done. He is greater than my heart. He knows everything. The church ought to proclaim this kind of love. This is the love that we're talking about in the church. It needs to be evident in our lives. It needs to be demonstrated where people can see it. But when we do that, we can look at that and say, yeah, man, the Lord is at work in me. Got a long way to go. But I have confidence because the Lord is at work in me. There's a guy who went and talked to D.L. Moody, and he was like, I'm not feeling saved. And D.L. Moody said, or something like this, I'm obviously paraphrasing, he said something like, let me ask you a question. Was Noah safe in the ark? I said, well, of course. Was it because he felt safe or was it because of the ark? We trust in the ark who is Christ. He holds us. That's what differentiates us from the world. It's about Jesus. It's about what is he done, what he's done for us. It's about showing the world that kind of love. Let's pray. Dude, we're thankful that we can have confidence that we are in the truth, that we are walking with you, that we have fellowship, because we don't need to be perfect. We simply need to trust in you, and we pray for your grace when we feel. We pray that you would keep us close to your heart, that we would be honest with where we're at, that we would confess our sins, that we would consider if we have ever placed our faith in you, that you would help us know what it is to love in the way that you love, that you would help us demonstrate love towards one another, that you would help us see, recognize and meet the needs of those around us so that by our example, the lost and hurting world would see the better way that you have for them. We pray these things in your name. Amen. May God bless you as you grow in your walk with him this week. week.