Christians Love One Another

Well, if you have not already, please make your way in your Bible to 1 John, the first epistle of the Apostle John. If you're new to the faith, that's not the big one, just called the Gospel of John. It's a little one toward the end of your Bible.

I may have mentioned it to you, I think I have said it from the pulpit before, I can't remember if I've said it, but I have I remember years ago, a friend of mine who was also a pastor and a student of the Word, he and I got— I wouldn't say it was a heated discussion, but it was definitely a— might qualify as a disagreement over the personality of the apostle John. And he was saying in his mind, the view he had of the apostle John was that he was like stern and firm. And strong and like a, you know, not mean, but you know what I mean, like a strong personality. And I was saying, "No, I feel like the John I'm— the vibe I'm picking up when I read the New Testament and read about him and see him interact with Jesus and read his letters and his books, I get the idea that he's super tender and sweet and kind. Might be like a gentle personality."

So he and I would go back and forth on this. Well, now after all these years, I've been a pastor 22 years and teaching longer than that, and now that I've preached through John's things except for Revelation, which that's Walter's responsibility, I now figured it out that we're both right. It is not either/or. John is both of those things, just like his Lord is both of those things, firm and strong, maybe even what some people might call mean. And tender and gentle and patient and kind, carrying people along. And I wonder if we are able to navigate that in our own lives as Christians. I wonder if we have the ability to do what John and Jesus do. Because I feel like there's— Christians are almost always one or the other and not both.

There's the headhunting, heresy-hunting, critical, Christians online just saying what's wrong with everybody. And if they could, and if there was a temple, man, they would love to kick over some tables in the temple, just like Jesus did, because that's the Jesus they see, right? The Jesus that's calling the Pharisees hypocrites and the Jesus that's telling Pilate that, "The Lord, I could rip this place apart if I wanted." That's the view of Jesus people have. And then you got the other people who would never ever have a confrontation. By the way, those previous people who want to kick over tables, I find that those people primarily do their main bulk of their work online and aren't usually just having meaningful discussions with people over doctrinal things. They're usually very proud and bold in TikTok and YouTube. They're not actually having conversations with anyone.

But on the other side of that are the softies, the tender people that think that everything that Jesus ever taught, you have to treat every single interaction as though you have a little baby on your lap, like Jesus letting the children come to Him. Or raising little Talitha from the dead, right? That's the only Jesus they see. But the truth is both are in the Bible. And not only are they in the Bible in people like Jesus and John, they're in the Bible in this passage. This passage we're going to look at in 1 John 3 has both in it. It has tender, sweet love, loving the brethren, sacrifice, charity, giving to others, meeting needs, being tender, being kind, being compassionate, and it talks about hellfire. So maybe you wanted the Bible to only have one half of that story in it. It doesn't. And maybe you wanted John to only be a tender softie who Jesus looks down from the cross and says, "This is your son, Mary, Mom. This is your boy right here, the sweetheart, the sweetheart."

Is this one that only says, "Love one another" and "Little children"? Well, I got news for you. They're both in there, and this is John saying both. God is both loving and wrathful. He is both, and He doesn't stop being one to be the other. God doesn't stop being loving when He becomes wrathful, and He doesn't stop being wrathful when He becomes being loving. He is both all the time. All of His attributes are immutable. And so I ask you to buckle up as we start a text that has both ideas in it, where John is going to say, this is what Christians do, they love each other. Christians love each other. They must love one another. And he's also going to say, and if you don't, God is going to be mad. So buckle up for that. Let's pray.

Father, this text is very, very clear. There's only a couple of lines in it that might need explanation. Most of it is understandable at just first read. If we just read it, it's very clear. But in the history and the need that we have because of the distance between us and the events and the letters being written, we definitely need to preach this book. We definitely need to break it down and do some exposition. Because even though it might be simple to understand and read, there are points in it that really need to be meditated on and stewed on and understood and digested. So I'm asking, Father, that as we handle the book and we look in it together as a church, that the things in it would go home with us today, that we would not dismiss a passage that's so very clear on how we are supposed to act with each other as Christians, even more with the heavy warnings in it. So please help us not only heed the warnings but take the commandments and love each other. In Jesus' name, amen.

## Children of God vs. Children of the Devil

Well, coming out of that last passage, I'm not going to review it, but if you were to look back at verse 10 of chapter 3, there's sort of a summary there in verse 10 about the difference between the children of the devil and the children of God, right? The idea of being born of God means you don't sin. How are you all doing with that, by the way? You learned a couple of weeks ago that Christians don't sin. So for the past couple of weeks, none of you have sinned, right? Because 1 John 3:9 says that you don't sin when you're born of God. So all of you took that to heart and went home and said, "That's it, I'm never sinning again."

Well, I know that probably didn't happen like that, and you also know that what John means is that a Christian, a true believer, somebody truly born again by the Spirit of God, seeing the gospel, accepting the gospel of Jesus Christ on their behalf, that person doesn't make sin their lifestyle. So I trust that even though you didn't become perfect in the last couple of weeks, you definitely are committed to not making sin your lifestyle. But in verse 10, there's a shift. In verse 10, we have a shift that goes from children of the devil sinful people, wicked people, children of God, righteous people, commandment-keeping people. Then there's that shift at the end of it that says they love the brethren, that they love one another, they love Christians. So there's a transition verse in verse 10 that gets us now to this section of chapter 3 that is all about the fact that real Christians, genuine Christians and genuine Christianity has love of the brethren in it.

And you can see it in verse 11. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. So John is not giving new news here. Like he said before, a new commandment, but not a new commandment. This is not new to the Judeo-Christian faith that we're supposed to love each other or keep commandments. It's not new. He actually said back in chapter 2, these are things you already know. These aren't novel things. This is not a novel concept. It is an axiom, a matter of fact, a self-evident fact that Christians "Should love one another." It's an imperative even though there's not an imperative in the original Greek here. This is not a commandment that says, "Love one another," like other places. It says that in plenty of places, just not here. But this text, even though there's not a commandment in the Greek, there's certainly a commandment in the word "should."

And incidentally, if you want to give it a sweet name, all of you who just had babies and now you're going to have 10 more and you're going to have girls in there, Ophelia. It'd be neat to hear somebody name their daughter Ophelia because that's the word for "should." in the New Testament. Ophelia. It's a neat, beautiful word. And that's where the name comes from, by the way. It comes from that word. So John is reiterating what he's already said. This is not new to you. This is what you knew from the beginning. Christians are supposed to love each other. And as self-evident as it might be, as obvious as it might be, he still needs to say it.

Why does John repeat what Jesus repeated over and over again? I should ask you as though you were a Sunday school class. When the Bible repeats something over and over again, what does it say about us? We need it repeated over and over again. The Holy Spirit never wasted ink. We need to hear it again and again because we forget again and again.

Now, verse 12 is beautiful. And then if you were to cheat and look ahead in the 2020 or '22 and '23, you're going to get the whole message there. But I don't want you to go ahead. If you're willing, just go with me and stay with me in linear fashion. But verse 12 really John brings it home strong, like immediately out of the gate, just so you know what I mean about love and what I don't mean about love. Verse 12, "You're supposed to love one another, you should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother." And why did he murder him? "Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous."

You know what you should know, which is Christians are supposed to love each other. You know that. And a way you know that you're not going to do that is you're not going to act like murderous Cain who kills his brother. Look at my spectacular notes and how intelligent Pastor Jonny is. My note for this verse 12 is, "Christians should not murder." And everybody in the room wants to say a big holy sanctified, "Well, duh, of course Christians aren't supposed to murder." But don't move too fast because we have way more to say on it later. We're going to expound on that idea in the future. In this message, the near future. But I want you to put it in your pocket. I am not dumb when I say to you, Christian, you're not supposed to murder. That's not dumb. It's not a foregone conclusion. It's not obvious. It seems obvious, but you'll see even John doesn't make it obvious. John is going to clarify for us in a bit. But for now, we get the example of Cain who murdered his brother Abel. We get the example that that is the opposite of love. The opposite of love is hate, right? We all understand that. Everybody in this room, even the kids understand the opposite of love is hate. And what he's saying is the highest, most amplified form of hate is murder, like Cain did his brother. And many people think that means physical murder only, but we'll see in a bit.

So Christians should not murder. Don't say amen to that, please. We have more to say. We have more to say about whether or not we think it's a good idea that Christians don't murder. So for now, Christians should not murder because Cain murdered, and he murdered because his works were evil, and Christians' works are supposed to be good. Christians are supposed to love each other, their brother, not like Cain who hated his brother. Really clear. This is why I'm saying you don't really need me to preach it. You got it. Loving is loving and hating is hating, and we understand the difference.

But now let's talk. Since we're talking about hate, John's now going to move into some other thoughts on hate. Verse 13, do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. Again, John says really obvious things that I don't think are that obvious. Do you know how much counseling I've had to do for people when they tell me they're being mistreated by unbelievers? Do you know how much counseling I have to do where people are in my office saying, "I just don't— my boss, they just keep— I don't even understand. My neighbor, they're just— I can't even— my son, he just treats me like garbage." And they're so surprised. Shocked. They marvel that someone acts as though and treats them as though they hate them.

Now, where did John get this crazy idea that Christians shouldn't marvel that the world hates them? He gets it from his Savior, because the Savior said it to him. "John, my disciples, don't be shocked if the world hates you." And what was Jesus' reason there? "Because it hates me." So isn't it weird that two places emphatically say the world is going to hate you? You who are a Christian were taken out of the world and put in Christ. You are no longer of the world, even though you are still in the world. So you're walking around in the world that has set itself against the Almighty, This world that's under the influence of the devil, that's coming in chapter 5. This world that loves Satan and his things, the children of the devil. This world hates the Creator. It hates the Savior. And if you name his name and identify with him, it's going to hate you too.

Now why? The real question for me is, why are we shocked when it hates us? Why? And maybe a better question is, why are you not shocked If it doesn't hate you, meaning maybe the world doesn't hate you right now, and that might be indicative that you are not walking well with Christ. Because if you walked well with him, if you were vocal in your faith, if you were faithful and said out loud what the Bible says, like if there was a vote right now in the world, in your country, in the world, a vote, we're going to go to the polls and vote whether we keep Christianity or get rid of it. Okay, you're the Christian that has to campaign for Christianity. You, you're the representative. So you have to publicly say there is only one King and Savior, and his name is Jesus Christ, at the exclusion of all other religions and saviors. The God of the Bible hates homosexuality. The God of the Bible sends people to hell for eternity who don't repent and believe the gospel. You're going to go out there and say all of that. Is the world going to embrace you or is the world going to condemn you? Would the world vote for keeping Christianity or for excluding and dissolving Christianity?

So my question to you is, why aren't you doing it? Why aren't we more vocal? Why haven't we made the case for Christianity louder? Why aren't we saying more loudly in our world, Jesus hates sin. God hates those who— the workers of iniquity. Why aren't we saying that? Now, you probably are. When you share the gospel and you talk about sin, you are doing those things. But I am asking, wouldn't it only be surprising to us that the world hates us? Wouldn't it only be surprising to us if we were vocal about our faith and saying everything against the world? Maybe we're not supposed to be surprised, but we sure are. We're surprised we don't get treated fairly. We're surprised we don't get the good things unbelievers have. We're surprised that the wicked prosper. We're surprised that our country doesn't give us what we want in our lives.

So the world hates Jesus, folks. It hates him. Since the fall of Adam, the world has been against God. The world hates God. The world wants Jesus dead. And the evidence that the world wants Jesus dead is it killed him. That's the evidence. It killed Him. And right now, the world is still, even after He's risen from the dead and conquered death, the world is still trying to kill Him. And I don't just mean philosophically, I mean in stopping His representatives from representing Him, in persecution, in silencing, in killing, martyrdom, taking, trying to stop the voice of Christ. The shocking thing to me is that we're shocked about it. I'm shocked that we are shocked. I'm shocked that John has to say, "Hey, just so you know, the world's going to hate you. Don't be surprised at it." And then we say, "Well, of course it would hate us."

We say everything it does is wrong, right? Of course it's going to hate us. We say all the things it loves are against its Creator. So it's going to hate us, right? That's what you would think we would do, but no. What we do is we say, "Well, I stand for Jesus Christ." And somebody says, "Oh, what are you, a goody-two-shoes? holier than thou? You judge people? What are you trying to take control of somebody else's choices over their body and abortion? What are you, you think you're so much better than me because you don't drink alcohol? What do you think, you're so much better than me because you're not sleeping with people on the side? What are you gonna, you're gonna shame me for my behavior in my life?" And then we say, no, I'm trying to be nice to you. Why are you being so mean to me? I'm trying to tell you about Jesus and that Jesus makes you happy. And we act surprised that the world hates us when we speak up.

And I am saying the world only hates you when you speak up. And if you don't feel like the world is hating you, there is a good indication that you're not speaking up. But if you do, don't be surprised if it hates you. Of course it hates you. It hates your King. It hates all authority that isn't Him. "We will not have this man to rule over us," is still the chant of today.

Verse 14, look at the first half of it. We know, we know, Christians know, the audience, the little children of John and us, we know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. And evidence that we know we're not of death like Cain, and evidence that we know we're of love, we're not surprised that the world hates us. The world loves death, not us though. We have passed from death to life. We are now in Christ, so we know that the world's going to hate us, and that we, unlike the world hating us, love the brethren.

Now, something hit me hard in the preparation of this, the review of this, and I know for sure, I've already been anxious about it, I know I'm going to fail at relaying it. Okay? I know I'm going to fail at relaying this to you. I'm asking you to do some heavy lifting for me here because this is a pretty novel thought. It's not good when preachers have new thoughts. I've told you that before. You don't want to hear your preacher always saying something new. That might mean he's not being biblical because the Bible's old, okay? So you don't want to always hear your preacher saying something new. But I am going to say something that I don't know that I've ever heard before, and I'm certain I've never said before.

That when you look at this contrast, Cain killed Abel, right? Cain killed Abel. He murdered him. You don't be surprised if the world wants to do to you what Cain did to Abel. The world hates you. Everybody got that? That's what hate looks like. It looks like verse 12, and verse 13 tells us the world's gonna think of you the way Cain thought of Abel. It's gonna hate you because its works are evil and yours are good. We know better than that because we've passed from death to life. And then he says an amazing thing that I never saw it in this context this way before. We know that because we love the brethren. Because instead of identifying with the world, instead of taking the world's side, instead of owning what the world owns and trying to be a part of this world, We take the Lord's side, and more than that, we take the side of the brethren.

So here comes the novel thought from PJ: How much thought have you, my brothers and sisters, given to the fact that the world hates not you, but each other? How much thought have you ever given that right now the world hates your pastor. I know you've never thought that before. Right now, the look on your face tells me you've never thought it before. You've never thought before that the world doesn't just hate me, it hates these people I love. It hates my children. It hates my pastor. It hates my church. The world out there that's under the sway of the devil hates you, the people I love. Now I'm saying that, I'm trying to emphasize it to you. Why would I love that world if it hates you? What am I saying about my love for you if I love that thing that hates you? Why would I ever align with it when it's trying to destroy the people I love?

Because I don't think we think that. We're too selfish. We only think it hates me and it hurts that it hates me. It hurts that I'm the victim of the world's hate. But please, we are supposed to— we move from death to life. Why? How do we know that? What's the evidence? Because I love you. We're in this together, you and me. And this world hates us, all of us. And I should hate that it hates you. I should hate right now that the sin of lust and pornography is trying to destroy the young men in this church. I should hate right now that we're distracted by stupid politics. I should hate right now that millions of babies are being killed in the country you live in. You trying to raise children would have you destroy your children. I should hate that this world wants you women to not be housewives. It's attacking you, and I should hate that. If I love you, I would hate that you're under attack.

So it isn't just that the world hates me, it's that I should care that it hates us. You. And I know pastors fight for these things a lot. We fight for people a lot. But we're supposed to be fighting for each other. This says that we pass from death to life. And we know that. Why? Because we love the brethren. And evidence that we're not like Cain, and evidence that we're not murderous, and evidence that we're not like the world that hates is that we love. And I'm telling you by implication and inference, we should hate that the world hates our brethren. We should hate it. We should be praying more for our friends and our family and our church that are under attack by evil. We should care when our guys in law enforcement where our first responders have to go out there and see the worst things all day, every day. We should care about that. We should care that guys have to go to work in environments where people are cussing and vile and saying the most horrible things and trying to get them to go along with it. We should care when wives are just on Pinterest trying to find good things for their family and being attacked at every angle for— with covetousness and materialism and Instagram, or young moms feel like failures because of the Instagram filters on there on everybody else's life. We should care about that. I should care what you're going through as a Christian and how the world is attacking you. I can't pray for you if I don't care for you. And you should care for me too.

So please take the lesson that jumped off the page at me in this context. We know we have passed from death to life. How do we know that? Because unlike the world that hates the brethren, unlike the devil that hates the brethren, unlike Cain hating his brother, I love my brothers and sisters. I love 'em. And I'm gonna stand in the fire with them. And we're gonna fight this world together. It isn't just me at home with my family. It isn't just you at home with your family. We're supposed to stand with the brethren. And I don't think our world cultivates that. Our world is very self-centered. Our world is only about what we care about. Our world is always advertising to us the thing that makes me happy. It's always putting the thing in front of me that's my interest and fulfilling my passions. It's all about me.

And I'm asking you, what is the evidence that you, you in this room, have passed from death to life? Is it just because you're happy now as a Christian? Or do you have evidence that you're loving the brethren, that you're in the trenches with them, that you're supporting them in their walk and their faith, and that your arms are locked together with them and you're saying, "We're in this together. I got you. Don't you dare go out there in that world this week and feel alone." 'Cause I got you. I have your back. I'm in this with you. When you're at work and those men are laughing at terrible things or looking at women and saying horrible things and you're sitting there thinking, "I'm struggling here. How do I keep my mind off of it? How do I not go along with what they're doing? How do I not go to the lowest bar and the lowest common denominator and think negative things and gossip things and sexual things and joke and laugh at the wrong things? How do I not go with them?" Well, right now I know Pastor Jonny's praying for me. That's what I know. He knows what I'm going through and he's praying for me. That's what we should be doing, that all of us for each other. Mom, when you're there on Tuesday washing the same socks again and again and again and asking, "Is this what my life is about?" Yeah, Pastor Johnny's praying for you. That's what's supposed to happen, that we're in this together, serving our Lord together in a world that hates him. And I hate that that world hates you. And I wish I had thought that more and preached it more. But sometimes the Bible has to teach me things.

Now the second half of the verse, this is where things get really— is it unspiritual to say hairy? Things get hairy right here. The second half of verse 14, "So we know that we pass from death to life, and we love the brethren." We know it. That's an evidence. "He who does not love his brethren abides in death." Now John gets extreme. This is that part in my intro when I said, How do you see John? Do you see him as a teddy bear? As a softie? Like putting his arm around you? Or do you see him saying strong things too? Look at verse 14. Now 15, "Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him."

Before when I said— my note looks stupid, but it wasn't stupid— when I said Christians should not murder, and you might have thought, "Well, that's obvious. Why does he even put this kind of thing in the notes? Can't he just take 5 seconds and come up with something more creative or artistic or poetic than 'Christians should not murder'?" No. I picked the words very much intentionally.

Do me a favor. I don't do this a lot. And maybe that might surprise you that I don't do it a lot. There's a reason I don't have you turn to other passages a lot. Maybe you didn't know that over all these years, that was by design. I very much don't like turning from the book we're in if I don't have to. But today, I have to. So turn to Matthew chapter 5, please. And just like John echoes the words of Jesus when he says, "Do not marvel, do not be surprised, do not be shocked if the world hates you." And then, of course, Jesus gives the appositional phrase to that, which is, "Because it hates me, it's going to hate you," right? And John's reiterating the concise version of that.

Well, John is also here reiterating what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5:21, where Jesus comes on the scene. You all know the story. John the Baptist tells, he's coming, he's on his way, make straight your paths. He comes on the scene. Jesus is now on the scene, and Jesus is preaching. Now, Jesus didn't come just to preach sermons. One of the things, especially the Sermon on the Mount does, is Jesus has to correct centuries-old thought in the land of Israel. So people in Israel had the law of God. They had the commandments of God. They had the prophets. They had their history. They had Abraham. They had Moses. They had all of that, right? And they had all developed their own thoughts and doctrines and traditions based on those things. So that when Jesus comes on the scene, what might be called Judaism was all over the map. And in particular, it was really missing the heart of God in lots of areas.

So what God had intended when He called that people out of Ur of the Chaldees and made a nation of them, what He intended for them in their hearts with His heart had gotten so clouded and muddied that by the time Jesus comes on the scene, it would be hard to find somebody that's a Jew, a child of Abraham, that would be able to clearly delineate what Judaism even meant, right? What God intended when He started it. In fact, you get people like— remember when Jesus is born and Simon gets to hold the baby Jesus, right? He understood it. Like, "I'm holding the hope, the consolation of all of the world right now." So he understood the Old Testament in a way. And other people do too. Other people understand it, but by and large, the people had kind of lost their way. And the teachers were not doing a good job.

So Jesus comes on the scene. He's the best teacher ever. And one of the things he's going to do is he's going to tell the people, you have had some ideas about what God thinks, right? The Sermon on the Mount is a lot of that. Like, if you want to summarize the Sermon on the Mount, God might not think what you think. You're Israel for sure. You're the children of Abraham for sure. You're the children of Moses for sure. That's true. But you might be assuming some things about God that God needs to clarify for you. So let me preach the Sermon on the Mount to tell you the heart of God. The Messiah is here. I'm bringing to you not only the heart, but the intent of the heart in coming to save mankind. I'm here to tell you what God really thinks, right? There's something like that. And Jesus says, "This is my Father's real heart."

And he comes to this point of Matthew 5:21, and he says, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.'" Now, we both know that that was said and written, and there is a distinction when Jesus says that, that it's written or you've heard it said. There's a distinction, but I don't want to draw such a line there that we miss, we get caught or lost. Where does it say you shall not murder? Who knows the answer to that question? In the Ten Commandments, in Exodus 20, when God rescues the people out of Egypt. Now they're his people. He says, "You are my God and I am your God and you are my people, and my people don't have other gods." They don't engrave images and have other gods. They keep my name holy. They keep my day holy. They honor their parents. They don't kill each other. That's one thing they don't do. They don't kill each other. My people don't kill each other. Right? It's one of the commandments. And everybody understands that the same way, even in this room. Maybe when I say Christians shouldn't murder, you say, well, duh, because we all understand what that is, right? Christians shouldn't physically kill other Christians. Well, duh. Who's killing other Christians? Why are you even saying that? Why would John say that?

Well, John is clarifying because Jesus clarified Verse 22 of Matthew 5, "But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother without cause..." This is the part where I take a quick timeout. If you try to grab onto the "without cause," you will miss the whole point of the passage, and I would encourage you to not do that. In fact, I would challenge you, don't do that. If you zero in on the "without cause" here, you're missing the heart of God, okay? Don't look for exceptions.

He says, "You have heard it said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, but whoever murders will be in danger of judgment.'" That's 21:22. "But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment." So Jesus is not saying there's an exception here. That's not why he's doing it. There is an exception, but he's not emphasizing the exception. He just wants to make sure we're clear that if you are unjustly angry with your brother, just being angry, The reason I say don't zero in on it is because everybody who's angry thinks there's a good reason they're angry, and they try to justify that good reason why they're angry. And they try to say, thankfully, because I have a cause in my mind, I don't have to obey the commandment. Don't do that. Don't look for the exception, look for the rule.

And if you thought that the rule was only anger, look what comes next. We're not done. In danger of the judgment, whoever says to his brother, "Raca," shall be in danger of the council, but whoever says, "You fool," shall be in danger of hellfire. Now I ask you, are there exceptions to Raca and the fool? There aren't here, in our text. There aren't a text, there's no, in our text, that says these are the good times to call somebody an idiot. Now just so you know, there are texts in the Old Testament that say, "Don't answer a fool according to their folly." That the foolishness of this world, there are texts that say there is foolishness in the world. But Jesus is not giving us exceptions. He's giving us the rule.

The heart of God is no Christian ever hates another Christian, ever. He's never angry with another Christian unjustly. He would never call another Christian an empty-headed fool or a moron. He would never have something in his heart that has any sort of desire to do any level of injury to a brother. All Christians only want the best for other Christians. They don't say their ideas are stupid. They don't say they're stupid. They don't say they're worthless. They're not looking for the fault. If we obeyed this text, if we obeyed this text correctly, in my mind, if we get this text correctly, we would never ever— we would be scared to be angry at a Christian. If you have any sort of like, "Why are they doing that?" If that happens in your heart, any sort of judgmentalness in you, any sort of like, criticism in you, that should scare you. Even if you're right, it should scare you. Only God does that perfectly.

Anger is not a sin. This text is not saying anger is a sin. The Bible actually tells you in other places to be angry and don't sin. Incidentally, in Ephesians, that's a passive voice verb. That's be made angry, but don't sin. It doesn't say active voice, go be angry. It's if you are made angry, don't sin.

So why am I saying all of this so emphatically? Because I really believe that we look at other people and go, "Why are they doing that?" And we feel free to do that, as though we're the arbiter and the standard of, "Why are they doing that?" Like we're free to do that. "I don't like what you're doing." When I think we should be terrified to criticize Christians. I don't think we should never criticize Christians, but I think the criticism should come from a place of a desire for their benefit. For the good of the body of Christ, for holiness and righteousness. That if I get what I want, we all win in the Lord. Not if I get what I want, I get what I want.

People are so offendable. And I would say if we did what John says here and love correctly, you're gonna see it in a minute. I'm not even done. I haven't even gotten to the part where we lay down our lives for each other. I'm just talking about the bad part where John is echoing Jesus. Anger, hatred, calling someone an idiot, a fool. You can go all the way. We can talk about coarse jesting from Paul. We could talk about filthy language from Paul. We could talk about edifying one another, building each other up in the most holy faith, endeavoring to keep unity. We could go on and on and on that the identity of the body of Christ is to make sure the body of Christ is good and okay.

That if you're going to be the body of that head, the one thing you're not doing is stabbing the hand. Maybe it'd be better to say stab in the back, huh, for the analogy? And gossip and slander and tearing each other down and thinking the worst of each other and thinking the worst of each other while we think we're smart and because we see things that they don't see and we're smart and blah, blah, blah. So you're smart, but what are they, raka, empty-headed? What does the text say?

Now you're back in John. What is John saying? Whoever hates his brother is a murderer. He equates hatred with murderer. But what is the opposite of hatred? It isn't like less. The opposite of hatred is love. And there's only an A and a B here. There isn't a C. The A is you love the brethren, and the B is you hate them. John doesn't give a third or fifth option. John isn't grading on a scale or a curve. He doesn't say, Way up here is love and way down here is hate. And I want to tell you what this looks like and what this looks like and what this looks like and what this looks like. No, John says there's love or hate. And I think he gets that from his master.

Love, love. What's our context here? Christians do what to each other? Love covers a multitude of sin. It is not intent on uncovering the sin. And exposing it and criticizing it and tearing down Christians. Why am I so emphatic about this? If you knew, if you knew the things I've heard and said and have been said to me, and frankly, the things I've said too, a lot, that we do it in the name of maturity and understanding and wisdom. And I'm a lot further down the road than maybe you are. And we're quick to question Christians. And we're quick to think that our questioning is just because we trust our opinions. I would say these verses should arrest criticism. Like, that we should have a moment before any criticism where we stop and do a count to 10 and remember the Sermon on the Mount.

Like, before you criticize anything, even if it's a just criticism, like, "This could be improved. We could do that better. You need to do this in your life. I see this problem with you." That if you have a criticism— by the way, all of those assume that you're actually talking to the person that you're critical of. That's not usually how it works. Usually we're talking about them behind their back. Aside from that, if you actually are trying to help people and encourage people and strengthen them and you care about doing this right and loving the brethren, then you will take a quick pause. You'll develop a reflex, just like when you pull up to a stop sign and you're about to go, even if your light is green or you have the right of way, what did every good driving instructor teach you to do at every intersection, even if you have a green light and even if you have the right of way? You have a habit, don't you, of looking both ways? And maybe some of you did not have that habit and you learned that you should have had that habit, right?

So you've developed a reflex that I'm at an intersection, I have the right-of-way, it's now my turn to go, I'm still gonna look, right? You have that? Build that into your faith. Before you have an opinion of a fellow believer— not the whole world, we don't owe the world this, this is for Christians— Take a minute and say, before I think a thought of them, I want to make sure it has none of what John is talking about in it. I want to make sure it has none of what Jesus warned about in it. I want to make sure I'm not coming from a place of self-righteousness where I condemn somebody or think my way is best without thinking of the fact that God loves that person and I'm supposed to love them too. I'm supposed to give them all the charity I can, the benefit of the doubt. Love hopes all things and it believes all things.

And John is making it so stark when he said the opposite of that is murder. Like, John, can't you take it easy? Give me something a little bit less than murder. Don't make all hatred murder. There's got to be some justified hatred of the brethren, right? Nope. There's no exceptions. Never allowed to hate a brother. Never. The world already hates them enough for you anyway. If you're worried they're not getting enough hate, just back off. The world will hate them enough for you. I'm joking about that. Don't be happy that the world hates your brother.

Verse 16, by this we know love, because he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. So John is saying we know love. We have the biggest evidence of love that ever was. We have the most clear example of love in that the perfect Son of God who was not deserving of death at all, who had life in himself, who was perfectly holy and righteous in every way, laid down his life for filthy rotten sinners. You want to know what love looks like? Instead of murdering somebody that deserves it— did Jesus deserve to criticize us when we were in sin? Did we deserve criticism? Ah, so are we looking to justify our criticism of other people when our Savior, instead of justifying his criticism of us, died for us? He lays down His life for us. That's what love looks like.

So class, you want to know what love looks like? Look at the cross. That's what love looks like. It takes an unlovely thing who can't help itself. It takes an unlovely person who doesn't deserve love, who doesn't deserve grace, and that love of God lays down His own life for that people. And you want to know how you love? Same way. How hard is it for American people and American Christians to lay aside their own desires for someone else. This doesn't just say their desires. This doesn't just say, "As a matter of convenience, please don't argue over the kind of meal served at the Memorial Day picnic. Lay aside your opinions over the Memorial Day picnic meal." I don't know what it's going to be, by the way. I'm just being funny. "Lay aside the comfort of the chairs at your church." This literally says to lay your life down for the brethren.

And you might say, "Well, yeah, I would lay my life down for a Christian, but don't expect me to like the color of the bathroom they painted." I mean, come on, that's too much. You can't expect me to like the dessert they brought to the potluck. I hope you're all tracking with what I'm saying. What is our level of charity output when it comes to Christians? Well, what should it be? It should be the sacrifice of everything we are for the brethren. Not my way, but His way for them.

So instead of hate, instead of Cain-like selfishness, being angry at his brother and killing his brother because his works were evil, instead of the hate that the world gives us instead of the hate instead of love that the world gives us. We know better. We have been taken out of all that, and the one evidence we have that we know we are in the light and have the life is that we love the brethren. There should be evidence, recordable, measurable evidence that we are sacrificing our lives for the brethren. Not just receiving the benefit of Jesus' sacrificed life for us, but evidencing that we love like he loves because we lay down our lives for the brethren.

And if you need a practical of what that looks like, do you notice if you think, "No, PJ, this is only talking about martyrdom. This is only like talking about real full-life sacrifice." Wouldn't it be interesting to think that that's what it's talking about? Like in one case it is actually talking about dying for the faith, but in the murder case, anger is not murder? In other words, when Jesus says even being angry without cause, calling a brother empty-headed or idiotic, That's the same as killing them. So Jesus is saying it isn't just killing them that's killing them, right? Well, same way here. It isn't just sacrificing your life as a martyr, taking a bullet for someone. That is sacrifice. Look at the next verse. The next verse tells us he means more than just dying for the faith, martyrdom.

But whoever has this world's goods and sees his brother in need and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? Now, the first thing I need to tell you is this is not communism. This is not socialism. This is not the Bible saying everybody should have the same thing. Christians say those crazy things, man. They say that what this says is that there should be no rich people, that there should be no people that have abundance, that everybody should distribute evenly among everybody. They want to be, you know, socialists. That's not what the Bible means when it says these things.

What it's saying is if you're in the Christian community, and especially in the first century when the people were being persecuted and it cost you In the first century, you couldn't maybe become a farmer or a livestock owner because somebody might not sell livestock to you now that instead of identifying with the Jewish Sanhedrin, you identify with this Christus person, this Christos person, this Yesu Christos guy, and you say that he's the Lord instead of Caesar. I'm not touching that, so I can't hire you. So it was literally costing people to follow Jesus, not just persecution, but in day-to-day life. It would cost you to follow Jesus. And then we see it, don't we, in the book of 1 Corinthians and in other places, that the Jerusalem saints got the worst of it, didn't they? Because they were being isolated and they were being condemned for following Christ. And so Paul and the churches would take up offerings to, "Hey, those people are hungry and they're in need and we need to take care of them." So that's the idea that's in this, but it's also, I think, fits other things too.

The idea more generally with Christians, that if there's an actual need— need is a strong word, it's stronger than a want. Okay? Need and wants are not the same. So I want to make sure we're clear that I'm not saying because Pastor Joni has said he might need a new car that you need to do what you did and take up a giant offering and buy me a new car. You did that already. Don't do it again. But that is— well, maybe a car is a need in our day. But I hope you understand the difference between an actual need and a want. And in this text, the idea is let's say your brother's need is something like, I don't know, they need help with something, or moving, or they need you to lift something, or maybe they need to install something in their house and you know how to do it, or whatever. They have a need and you know how to do it, and you stand back and pray for old George to do it.

You guys remember old George, right? The guy that does everything at church? The guy that waters the lawn out front? The guy that takes out the garbage? The guy that leads the Awana kids? No, that guy's not George, that guy's Jim. The idea of being sacrificed for the brethren, the idea of being laying down your lives is more than just dying. It means to meet needs. It means to take care of. And if I could add, I hope it's not too much of a stretch, it also means spiritual needs. It also means you're in a church with people that are going through lots of things in their life, and their needs might not be a physical need. Now it does say this world's goods. Did you see that? So I don't want to rip it out of its context. The context is physical needs. I don't want to abuse the text. But what if the physical need is some time and some fellowship? Maybe you got enough money to buy someone coffee and they could use an encouragement. And you go have coffee with them. Something. Maybe you have the world's goods and that little thing in your pocket called a cell phone or in your purse. That's the world's goods, right? You have a phone in your pocket. That's the world's goods. And maybe your friend needs you to use that thing and say hello and you love them. You're praying for them this week. Say, "Pastor Jonny reminded me that the world hates you. I just want you to know I love you." That's what you can use your world's goods for, that iPhone you have or the Android. Don't shut your heart up. Do you see that? Do you see what it says? "He who sees his brother in need and shuts his heart up from him, how does the love of God abide in him?"

Think about that. Has God opened his heart of love to you? How did he do that? He sent his Son for you. Did God close his heart up from you? No, he gave you the most precious thing to his heart. He gave you the most important thing to him. Did he shut his heart from you? No, he poured his heart out to you. And now he says to you, hey, my people need that too. Show them what my love looks like. Show— that's what Jesus did when he comes on the scene. You all thought that my Father was just a lightning bolt throwing God waiting for everybody to keep the commandments, trying to smash everybody? That's what you thought of him? No, my God, my Father is a God of love. He loves his people. He loves righteousness. Jesus displayed the Father so perfectly. Literally, the Bible says he exegeted the Father. Did you know that? The word hermeneutics, Jesus hermeneutics his Father. He declared him. He taught what he looked like. And now he's telling us, John is telling us, you do that. You do that. God took care of you, take care of each other.

Verse 18, "My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth." That doesn't mean word and tongue are meaningless. Words are very powerful. God's truth is words, and He acts out of His truth, so He's not saying don't use words. Words are very valuable. What he's saying is not words only. You know, like, "Go be warm, brother. Hope everything's fine. Hope it works out for you. Praying for you. See you later. I gotta get on the golf course." The idea is show your love for someone. Take time, whatever they need, to give them. This is what James is saying when he says, "Faith without works is dead." If you are content to just think about others, maybe it's time to get uncomfortable and do for others. Encourage them. Strengthen them.

That doesn't mean get in pity parties, by the way. That doesn't mean get in gossip sessions, by the way. That doesn't mean get in venting sessions, by the way. I don't mean go be with your friend and then just sit there and gripe for 3 hours. That's not what John is talking about. He's talking about strength. He's talking about God loves us. He gave himself for us. He's given us everything and we're okay. We're gonna get through this. We have the truth in us. And we're going to live the truth with each other.

How would you measure your life if— okay, let's say it's your job. It is your job, but let's say it is. Hypothetically saying you want to do verse 18 well. "My little children," John calls his little children again, "let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth." In our context where love is the opposite of hate. Hate is murder and destruction and tearing down. Hate, in my opinion, with Jesus' words to amplify it and make sure we fully understand it, is not uplifting our brethren, but either tearing them down or destroying them completely, okay? That's what hate looks like. Hate is what Cain did to Abel, and it's more than just physically murdering. You can murder in your heart, right? So instead of holding your heart in or being cold, be like Jesus who pours his heart out and opens his heart like God did to his people. And now you come to verse 18 that says, "Make sure not to just do that in words," right? Not just in words or tongue or speech, but also in your life and deeds done in truth. The deeds in your life that are biblical deeds.

How would you know if you're doing that well? How would you measure that if you journaled? Today, these are the deeds I did in truth. These are the deeds I did that were in truth. These are the things I said to my brother that encouraged him or my sister. These were my efforts today and the energy and the number of minutes I spent on doing the things that would help my brother. What would your journal look like?

Now, we get down to the summary idea. The last few verses here are essentially like an encapsulation of everything, even the previous context with the world loving or not following after Satan versus being a child of God. Verse 19, "And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have a confidence toward God.

I have to give an exception real quick. When he says if our heart does not condemn us, there are people who should be condemned in their heart that aren't. Do you all understand that? There are people who are guilty but don't feel guilty. This text is not talking about that person who's doing the wrong thing and has no conscience about it. This person is talking— John is talking to the brethren, Christians who understand the call, who understand that Jesus died for them, who understand they don't want to be hateful like Cain was hateful to his brother. These are people that John has already taught. They already know better. They know that they're of the Lord. They know that they have the heart of God. They know that they're not going to shut up goodness inside of them when they could give it to God's people. They know they're not going to call people— be critical of God's people, but they're going to uplift people.

So when he says our conscience can condemn us or not condemn us, he's not just saying it's mere conscience. It's conscience that's been informed by everything that he said. So if I boil all that down, what John is saying that if you live the way God tells you to live, you have a clear conscience and you're not condemned. You don't have to feel guilty before the Lord. I served my brothers. I sacrificed myself. I didn't tear my brothers down. I loved the brethren. I wasn't like Cain was to Abel. I wasn't like the world was to Christians. Instead of hating them, I loved them. I was on their team. I cared about their well-being. I wanted to uplift them in edification. I wanted to help their spiritual life. I wanted to help their worship life. I wanted to help them see the Lord and follow the Lord. And Lord, because I did all of those things, because you did indeed take me out of death into life, and because You've given me new life. I have committed myself to loving your people like you love your people. And here's the evidence. These are the things I've done for you. And now that I've done those before you, I don't have to worry about judgment.

Somebody does. Somebody's breaking into cars out there. They might have to worry about judgment. Thank you. Abraham's on it. But by the way, it could just be an accidental, you know, like a a loud car, those kind of things. But we have had it happen. I hope you know that. It was an evening service one time, a bunch of cars got broken into in our parking lot. A couple of windows got broken too. That was not fun. Did everybody just push the buttons on their car?

So John wants to make sure that you have a clear conscience too, that we have assurance and no condemnation. And you can have that when you do the things that he is saying to do here. Right? That's the idea. If I love like Christ loved, if I lift like Christ lifts, if instead of tearing down I build, if I do all those things that John says, then I won't have any conviction. I can take communion every month happily. I can be excited about what we're doing as believers together. I don't have to wonder if I'm right with the Lord or if I'm right with my brother. If I'm working on the things the way he says to, I put away all sin, I'm nothing like Cain, then I can have a clear conscience before God. That's what those verses there mean. And you should want those things. You should want assurance before the Lord. And you have assurance when you do those things.

And then lastly, verse 22 and 23. These are, like I said, these two verses in my mind, maybe I'm wrong, I don't know if John's doing what I think it looks like he's doing. I'm just suggesting, I'm making a suggestion that John is summarizing everything he just taught. And if I'm right about that, it's a beautiful summary. Look at verse 22 with me. "And whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight." What are the commandments in this context? Loving the brethren, right? In case you're wondering, it says that. 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.

Why does he throw in the believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? That's interesting, isn't it? After all this, didn't he already just say you know these things? Didn't he already just say you've passed from death to life? Didn't he already essentially say They believe because. He's summarizing again and again. This is what a real Christian is. A real Christian, a genuine Christian, and genuine Christianity. This is what it is. To believe in Jesus and act like it. That's it. That's Christianity. Believe in Jesus and act like it. And you say, "Well, how do I know what to do?" That's what the commandments are for. They were never to make you Christian. We've talked about that a dozen times in this series. This doesn't say, "Believe in Jesus," and then keep commandments, and then you're loved by God. It doesn't say that. We're already loved by God. Already. He's already given us His love. He already— He poured out His love from His heart in giving us His Son. This is love, that He laid down His life for us. We already have that. That's an established fact that we have Jesus Christ, those of us who have believed.

But He's still saying, this love I'm talking about, and the commandment keeping I'm talking about, and the brethren and the way you treat them, it comes because you believe. In Jesus Christ. Do you notice it's all there too? His Son, Jesus Christ. So if you're gonna say you're of the Father, you better love his Son. And if you say you believe in his Son, you gotta believe that he's the Messiah. The Messiah, the chosen one. And that Messiah dies for his people and loves his people and sacrifices for his people. And then it says he gave us commandment to do the same thing. That's what the commandment is, that we love each other.

Have you ever heard of easy-believism? That's a word us old people talk about. We don't use that word much anymore. You younger people need to put this word in your pocket. Easy-believism is two words, but the concept is this. It happened in the church growth movement in our country mainly, the big evangelical church growth movement trying to get more people involved in church. And so things— the barrier to entry and obedience and all that and dressing right and acting right and We take all that away and make church more appealing to people. And the one way you can make church more appealing to people is to never talk about how God hates sin. Because you don't want anybody uncomfortable, right? You want everybody comfortable and give them what they want and do entertainment things and make the pastor be a comedian and all those other things. Just try to make church as entertaining and as happy as possible.

In fact, if you want to make church really, really exciting and attractive to the people, give them exactly what the world gives them but in the church. Make the church look just like the world. Same music, same attitudes, same behaviors. In fact, you can even have the same hobbies. You can have a mixed martial arts club at your church. You can just make the church look like the world. Everybody will love it, right? And then the time comes to say, in order to be a Christian, I'm not going to tell you God hates your sin and condemns you to an eternal hell. I don't want to say that because they won't come through the door as often if I say that. So I'm going to say it as easy as I can. Jesus loves you no matter what, just as you are. He knows you make mistakes. He knows nobody's perfect. And Jesus just loves you. So pray this little prayer and you can be safe. This little nice little prayer, "Jesus, save me from my sin." That's all you gotta do. Come back next week when we do our stage production of Hamlet with a Jesus theme on it.

The reason I'm saying all that is the belief part is really small. And it has no requirements. And it sounds really good and easy, that God just accepts everybody. And that there's no commandment keeping associated with it. There is a modern version of that. The more modern, in the last 10 years, the version of that isn't easy-believism. It's hyper-grace. To where people from our world, the conservative world, especially the Calvinistic world, have amplified grace in a way that grace is so big, and love is so big, and God's mercy is so big, you don't even need to talk about obedience. So instead of it being an easy-believism, it's just a giant grace with no law. Get rid of the law, get rid of the commandments. So in easy-believism, they took sin very lightly. But in hyper-grace, they take obedience very lightly. They minimize the need to obey God. And I wonder what they do with passages like this. I wonder. I wonder how anybody can read these passages and not see the word commandment 3 times in 2 verses. It's right there. A commandment is there 3 times. You just erase that? No. Christians keep God's commandments. Why? Because they love Him. And they love each other. And He expects it.

How do you know what God wants you to do as somebody who is His beloved child? He gives you His commandments so you know. You don't have to guess. Well, how can I love my God more than anything? By not having any other ones. How can I love my God more than anything? By not making something and worshiping it instead of Him. How can I love my God more than anything? By not blaspheming Him. How can I love my God more than anything? By loving the Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus, the Sabbath, the one who gives me my rest. How can I love my Father more than anything? By honoring the father and the mother that He gave me that reflects His fatherhood. How can I honor my God more than anything? By telling the truth like the God of truth tells the truth. Do you see that the commandments are showing your love for Him? And He loves His people. And keeping commandments is loving His people like He loves them.

Please take with you this week: the world hates you, but it doesn't just hate you, it hates all of us. Maybe this week we'll make a special prayer time for the other people in this room, that they are under attack by the devil in this world and their own flesh. And I'm not just going to pray that they're doing okay. I'm gonna pray that they know they're loved by God and by me. I'm gonna love them. The world can hate them, but I— the world can hate you all in this room, Sovereign Grace. The world can hate you, but I'm gonna love you. You don't ever have to think— I'm making you a promise from the pulpit so I can practice what I preach. I'm not gonna take the world's side against you. In your fight against the world, I'm on your team, okay? We're in it together. I want you to have that sense that we are in this together, that when you sense that pressure of the world, you can at least say, "I know a handful of people that are in this fight with me, and we're in it together." When my kids are being attacked, when my wife is being attacked, when I'm having trouble at work, when I'm struggling in my faith, it isn't just that I'm not alone as a Christian. It means I'm not alone being attacked. I have allies in the battle. I have strength and people who love me. Let's commit to each other in that. Let's pray.

Father, thank you for John and for testimony of this passage, and thank you for loving us, giving us the example of what it looks like. You love us and gave your Son, and that's obvious if we're seeing it. Now help us be like him, sacrifice for others, love the brethren. If there's any correction that needs to happen, please be gentle with us as we try to be more like him. In Jesus' name, amen.