## Love: A Matter of Life and Death

## I John 3:11-18

The thought that connects this paragraph and the preceding paragraph is that it may be seen who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil.

(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."

John argued that a lifestyle of righteousness, or of not sinning, is the essential evidence of being a child of God. On the other hand, a lifestyle of habitual, persistent, unrepentant sin is clear evidence of being not a child of God but a child of the devil.

Now John shifts gears and brings us into a discussion of the Christian's obligation to love his brother. Now John makes a transition from a discussion of righteousness in general to a discussion of love in particular. John begins his discussion of love in vs 11. Read passage Remember this, whatever God expects of us, He will empower us to be able to do!

I. Our orders have not been changed. (11)

A. The message is the same as it was from the beginning. cf. John 15:10-12

(JOHN 15:10-12) "IF YE KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS, YE SHALL ABIDE IN MY LOVE; EVEN AS I HAVE KEPT MY FATHER'S COMMANDMENTS, AND ABIDE IN HIS LOVE. {11} THESE THINGS HAVE I SPOKEN UNTO YOU, THAT MY JOY MIGHT REMAIN IN YOU, AND THAT YOUR JOY MIGHT BE FULL. {12} THIS IS MY COMMANDMENT, THAT YE LOVE ONE ANOTHER, AS I HAVE LOVED YOU."

B. Love one another.

1. Not a suggestion or an option.

2. A direct command.

3. True love is more than emotional, it is motional: true love produces action, it must do something, it must give, it will practice in walk what it declares in talk.

4. God is our example: cf John 3:16 Where would we be if God loved, but didn’t give?

C. An example of an abnormal family. v12-13

1. True believers do not find it difficult to love one another.

2. Love between the brethren is natural.

3. A family where no love exists is not a normal family. If one brother dislikes another, if one sister dislikes another it is unnatural.

4. For illustration John refers to Cain and Abel.

a. Cain was of that wicked one. (Jn. 8:44; Eph. 2:3)

b. Abel was of God. (Heb. 11:4)

c. Why did Cain kill Abel? Because his works were evil and Abel’s were righteous.

d. Cain and Abel lived in two different spheres of life: one in darkness the other in light cf. John 3:19-20

5. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

a. You cannot love the world and love God too.

b. If you love God then the world will hate YOU.

c. If you are living like the devil and can’t see anything wrong with it take a look at 2 Cor. 2:14. You are blind to the spiritual.

D. True love will produce assurance. v14-15

1. We know that we have passed from death unto life.

a. No doubt about it we know!

b. A child of God knows whether he is a child or not by one, any, or all of these ways:

1) Testimony of the Word.

(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."

2) Testimony of the Spirit.

(ROM 8:16) "THE SPIRIT ITSELF BEARETH WITNESS WITH OUR SPIRIT, THAT WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD:"

3) Testimony of our own heart-the new heart God puts within us at the new birth.

(1 JOHN 3:20) "FOR IF OUR HEART CONDEMN US, GOD IS GREATER THAN OUR HEART, AND KNOWETH ALL THINGS."

4) Testimony of our love for the brethren.

Note: We are not saved through loving the brethren; we love the brethren because we are saved.

(JOHN 13:35) "BY THIS SHALL ALL MEN KNOW THAT YE ARE MY DISCIPLES, IF YE HAVE LOVE ONE TO ANOTHER."

2. He that loveth not his brethren abideth in death.

a. This is said with the same certainty.

b. If you do not love fellow family members then you are not part of that family.

3. If you hate then you are a murderer: you know that murderers do not have eternal life!

E. The supreme example of love. v16-18

1. The example: "Hereby perceive we the love of God..." (16)

a. We can say God loves you.

b. We can quote Scripture after Scripture that God is love, For God so loved...

c. The only way we can understand with any degree of understanding is to realize that "He laid down His life for us..."

d. Our understanding of that will not really mean anything until we realize it on a personal basis. He laid down His life for ME!

e. The love of God is personal; The salvation of God is Personal salvation.

(ROM 10:9) "THAT IF THOU SHALT CONFESS WITH THY MOUTH THE LORD JESUS, AND SHALT BELIEVE IN THINE HEART THAT GOD HATH RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD, THOU SHALT BE SAVED."

2. Our Response: "we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren"

a. Not in the same manner that Christ laid down His life for us, we cannot be anyone’s Savior!

b. He illustrates what He means in the following verses: (17-18)

1) If you have the wealth of this world, and see a brother in need

2) If when you see a brother in need YOU have no compassion for him.

3) Then, how does the love of God dwell in You?

c. There is nothing wrong with being rich - the sin against God is having wealth without any compassion for the brethren .

1) Note the example of Christ:

MATTHEW 9:36, "BUT WHEN HE SAW THE MULTITUDES, HE WAS MOVED WITH COMPASSION ON THEM, BECAUSE THEY FAINTED, AND WERE SCATTERED ABROAD, AS SHEEP HAVING NO SHEPHERD."

MATTHEW 14:14, "AND JESUS WENT FORTH, AND SAW A GREAT MULTITUDE, AND WAS MOVED WITH COMPASSION TOWARD THEM, AND HE HEALED THEIR SICK."

MATTHEW 15:32, "THEN JESUS CALLED HIS DISCIPLES UNTO HIM, AND SAID, I HAVE COMPASSION ON THE MULTITUDE, BECAUSE THEY CONTINUE WITH ME NOW THREE DAYS, AND HAVE NOTHING TO EAT: AND I WILL NOT SEND THEM AWAY FASTING, LEST THEY FAINT IN THE WAY."

MATTHEW 20:34, "SO JESUS HAD COMPASSION ON THEM, AND TOUCHED THEIR EYES: AND IMMEDIATELY THEIR EYES RECEIVED SIGHT, AND THEY FOLLOWED HIM."

MARK 1:41, "AND JESUS, MOVED WITH COMPASSION, PUT FORTH HIS HAND, AND TOUCHED HIM, AND SAITH UNTO HIM, I WILL; BE THOU CLEAN."

MARK 5:19, "HOWBEIT JESUS SUFFERED HIM NOT, BUT SAITH UNTO HIM, GO HOME TO THY FRIENDS, AND TELL THEM HOW GREAT THINGS THE LORD HATH DONE FOR THEE, AND HATH HAD COMPASSION ON THEE."

MARK 6:34, "AND JESUS, WHEN HE CAME OUT, SAW MUCH PEOPLE, AND WAS MOVED WITH COMPASSION TOWARD THEM, BECAUSE THEY WERE AS SHEEP NOT HAVING A SHEPHERD: AND HE BEGAN TO TEACH THEM MANY THINGS."

LUKE 7:13, "AND WHEN THE LORD SAW HER, HE HAD COMPASSION ON HER, AND SAID UNTO HER, WEEP NOT."

2) Jesus was compassionate, He is our example, Christian means Christ-like.

3) His only motivation was compassion.

4) Our admonition: My little Children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

a] In plain and simple terms He is saying, "Don’t just talk about it-do it!"

b] James 1:22 says you deceive yourselves if you aren’t doers of the Word.

c] Faith is justified by works. cf James 2:18-24

1] Abraham could have stayed near the camp and told God all about how much He loved Him and wanted to obey His commands.

2] But: He was justified when he set out to do what God had commanded him to do.

A consistent lifestyle of heartfelt love that is practical, sacrificial is what God expects of his children. And this lifestyle of love is what God empowers in each of his children through his Spirit.

Loving one another is not unimportant for us as Christians. It is indeed a matter of life and death. Our lives loving one another with Christ-like love will be lives of joy as we experience the truth of Jesus' words that it is more blessed to give than to receive. They will be lives of assurance as we find solid evidence that God has indeed by his grace brought us out of death into life. They will be lives of enriching the lives of others. And they will be lives that bring great glory to God for they will cause others to see our good works and give glory to our father in heaven.