Another great song by Glad! I just love their harmonies. Hope this is a blessing to your heart.
"Be ye glad, be ye glad, every debt that you ever had, has been paid up in full by the grace of the Lord, be ye glad, be ye glad, be ye glad."
Being once dead in sin, now raised by God's mere mercy, to newness of life.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
HAPPY VETERANS DAY
HAPPY VETERANS DAY
To all the men and women who have so faithfully served in our armed forces: ARMY, NAVY, AIR FORCE, MARINES and COAST GUARD, my wife, DeAnne and I would just like to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!! from the bottom of our hearts on this Veteran's Day, 2009!
We certainly appreciate the great sacrifices you've made to keep our country free from oppression and tyranny. And believe me when I say how grateful we are for what you've done. We certainly realize that because of your great love for and dedication to America we can sleep a lot easier at night.
We also want to recognize all those brave men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice, their lives, in defense of freedom and liberty. We pray for each family member that God wold bless you and give you His peace as you deal with the loss of your hero. And to all the military family members we give you a heartfelt THANK YOU.
On this Veteran's Day please accept and enjoy this tribute of videos as a small token of our appreciation.
God bless you and may God bless America!
Friday, November 6, 2009
Love One Another
BFG Lesson
11/1/2009
1 John 3:11-18
Notes based on sermons by John MacArthur and John Piper
Prepared by Robert Moritz
I actually want to go back and include verse 10 in this lesson because I believe verse 10 is the key verse of this chapter.
v.10-11 – “By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another."
John is right in more ways than one when he says we should love one another. First he’s been talking about the importance of loving one another and loving our brothers throughout this epistle. In fact he spends a good portion of chapter 2 telling us to love one another.
- Take a look back a chapter 2 for a minute starting in verse 9 and we’ll read through verse 11.
"Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes."
So here, John tells us in verse 9, that we better have no hatred in our hearts toward one another. If we’re going to call ourselves Christians – which means walking in the light – then we better have love for one another, because if you don’t John says you’re still in darkness.
There are two distinct things that make up a child of God, Love and Righteousness. These are the 2 themes we see running through chapter 3. The first 10 verses speak of the righteousness of a child of God and verses 11-24 speak of the love of a Christian.
Then secondly John is referring to the teachings of Jesus which is really the beginning of Christianity which in fact was taken from the law of God which was from the very beginning.
If you would, turn in your Bibles to Matthew 22:34-40. Here, the Sadducees had been badgering Jesus with their legalism and He had just put them to shame. Now it was the Pharisees turn.
"But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question to test Him. Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law? And He said to him, 'you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the prophets.'"
Notice here, that the heart of the law is 2 fold, we are to love the Lord our God and we are to love our neighbor. So back in 1 John, John just reiterates what Jesus is teaching and stating that this message of loving one another is something that is not new. Its not something we’re hearing for the first time. In fact its something that should characterize our very lives as children of God.
I remember a few weeks ago when Drew taught on loving your brother back in Chapter 2, he mentioned that he often struggles in this area. That loving or caring for other people does not come easy for him. Well, I too need to confess, that the same is true of me. And I mean, its crazy! One minute I can be driving down the road worshipping and praising God to some song on the radio and all of a sudden I find myself boxed in between some slow moving dump truck on my right and some old geezer in his Cadillac in front of me. Both are doing 10mph under the speed limit and I can’t pass. What’s up with that.
Its at about this point that I’m no longer feeling the love. Right? Now don’t you sit out there and give me no holy look like you’ve never been in a similar situation and you didn't lose it because this guy was not letting you pass.
After all, he’s got all day. He’s only on his way to the drug store to pick up his 35,000 medications. Doesn’t he realize that some of us are working here and we’re late to an appointment? Alright, that’s enough confession time for one morning. Back to our lesson.
So John tells us here in v.10 & 11 that as Christians our lives should be characterized by 2 things - living a righteous life and loving one another.
Don’t Be Like the Children of the Evil One
As we move into verse 12, John says,
"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 deed were evil and his brother's righteous."
Lets take a closer look at the story of Cain and Abel. Turn if you will to Gen 4 and we’ll look at verses 1-12
"Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, 'I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.' And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering but for Cain and his offering He had no regard.
So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The LORD said to Cain, 'why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.'"
Cain spoke to Abel his brother and when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the LORD said to Cain, 'where is Abel your brother?' He said, 'I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?' And the LORD said, 'what have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.'"
John MacArthur says, “The lowest level of human relationships is murder.” And he’s right. Murder is the antithesis of love because murder comes from hate and Satan is filled with hate. That hatred first manifested itself when Cain murdered his brother Able back in Genesis. In the Gospel of John 8:44 Jesus tells us that Satan was a murderer from the beginning. Since Cain murdered his brother, the fruit of that shows us that Cain was of his father the devil.
When I was a new Christian, I used to read this passage and think, ‘why does God accept Abel and not Cain? They both gave of their first fruits? Here Cain worked the ground and gave God his best and God rejected it. Why?’ It just didn’t seem fair to me.
But as I became more mature in my faith, and learned about sin and redemption, I learned that there can be no remission of sin without blood. This is God’s requirement for forgiveness of sin. These sacrifices also portrayed a type of Christ which was to come, God’s great sacrifice of His Son for the sins of the world. That’s why God required a blood sacrifice and not just some vegetables. That’s why Cain’s sacrifice was rejected.
The example of Cain
Cain is the classic example of a murderer. And in these verses we see the formation of two polar opposite religions. Abel’s religion is the religion of grace and Cain’s religion is the religion of human achievement.
a) Abel and the religion of grace
Verse 3 says, "In process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord." That was an act of worship. Verses 4-5 say, "Abel, he also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and to his offering; but for Cain and to his offering He had no regard." It's obvious from the context God had already revealed to them that a blood sacrifice was the only acceptable sacrifice (cf. Gen. 3:21). Hebrews 9:22 says, "Without shedding of blood there is no remission [of sins]." God instituted blood sacrifices as the only proper form of worship, and Abel obeyed.
b) Cain and the religion of human achievement
Cain brought God the fruit of the ground--that which he himself had planted and harvested. He offered what he wanted to offer, not what God wanted him to offer. He invented his own religion, and the Lord would have none of it. Genesis 4:5-7 says, "Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? And why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it."
Verse 8 says, "Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.." He murdered him. 1 John 3:12 says Cain murdered Abel "because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous." Cain was jealous of Abel.
The character of Cain
a) He was a child of Satan
Now, going back to 1 John, it says in verse 12, Cain "was of that wicked one" (v. 12). The Greek word translated "wicked one" is poneros. It is stronger than kakos, the usual Greek word for evil. Poneros speaks of evil in active opposition to good--organized evil. A man who is kakos is willing to be evil and perish in his own corruption, but the person who is poneros seeks to drag everyone else down with him. Who is the evil one? Satan. Cain was a child of Satan. That is made evident because he was a murderer. God's children are not murderers; they love one another. John 8:44 says Satan has been a murderer from the beginning.
b) He perverted God's worship
The Greek word translated "killed" in 1 John 3:12 is sphazo, which means, "to butcher by cutting the throat." It is used in the Septuagint (the Greek version of the Old Testament) to refer to the slaying of animals for Levitical sacrifices. It is quite probable that Cain cut Abel's throat. When Cain and Abel were born, the seeds of death were already implanted in the sins of Adam and Eve. But as far as we know, no one had yet died.
John MacArther states, “The fact that Cain knew how to kill implies he knew God required an animal sacrifice. God instituted a pattern of sacrifice to bring men to himself, but Cain became the first to pervert it and turn it into murder. The human race learned to murder when it was taught to worship.”
c) He was jealous of Abel
Why did Cain kill his brother? Verse 12 says, "Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous." He was jealous--his brother was accepted by God but he wasn't. Jealousy lay at the base of Cain's murder. That's what life is like for the children of the devil.
Not all people are murderers like Cain, and that leads to the next characteristic of a child of the devil.
B. Hate (vv. 13-15)
1. The attitude of the world (v. 13)
Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.
Most people have never murdered anyone, but the only difference between hate and murder is the act--the attitude is the same. There are a lot of haters in this world who don't murder for only one reason--fear of the consequences. If they could get away with it without punishment, guilt, and negative social reaction, they would. In God's eyes, hatred is the moral equivalent of murder.
Let’s jump to verse 15:
"Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him"
Hatred is the same as murder in the eyes of God. And murderers do not have eternal life. As a general pattern, a believer loves and an unbeliever hates.
a) Proverbs 6:17-- The Lord hates "a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood." The Lord hates murderous hands. God's children do not commit murder. According to 1 John 3:15 one who hates is guilty of murder. In God's eyes, the ethic is the same.
b) Matthew 5:21-22--In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said by them of old, you shall not kill and whosoever kills shall be in danger of judgment; but I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of judgment; and whoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; but whoever shall say, you fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." The attitude you have toward your brother is as significant to Jesus as what you do to him.
There are few people who murder as a way of life, but there are many who hate people.
So we need to be very careful here. We need to take a good look at ourselves and ask, Do I hate people? Do I love people? Its very important to examine ourselves.
John Piper states it this way,
“Hatred is the wish that another person was not there; it is the refusal to recognize his rights as a person; it is the longing to hurt or ultimately even to kill him. If I hate somebody, I am no different from a murderer in my attitude toward him. And with God it makes very little difference whether I actually have a chance to carry out the desires of my heart or not. People who hate are murderers according to Jesus and according to John "you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him." John is not denying the possibility of repentance and forgiveness for the sin of murder. What John is stating is the general principle that to take life is to forfeit life and no murderer has eternal life as a present and abiding possession.”
Now, lets sum this up with verse 14
We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death."
Lifestyles of love and hate are very revealing. Specifically they reveal whether one abides in death or whether he has indeed passed out of death into life. People who persistently and consistently love other people in heartfelt ways can have assurance that they indeed possess eternal life. Brothers and sisters, loving one another is not a trivial thing; it is not optional. Loving one another is critically important, eternally important. It is a matter of life and death!
C) Indifference
So far we’ve looked at 2 things that should not characterize Christians – Murder and Hate. However, there is another thing which John warns us about here in vs. 16-18
"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 goods 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 in word or talk but in deed and in truth."
A person who sees a Christian in need and has the ability to help, yet refuses to do so, is not a Christian according to John. The world is characterized by indifference and apathy. The world murders its own, but Christians care for each other with sacrificial love.
Love is not defined as an attitude or an emotion, but as an act of self-sacrifice. We know God loves us because He laid down His life for us. What should we do? Lay down our lives for the brethren. Cain hated and murdered his brother--that's how Satan's children behave. Christ gave up His life for those He loved. That’s how a Christian should behave. One is selfish, the other is selfless.
Piper defines love this way:
“Christian love is finding one's own joy in actively working for the joy of another, even at the self-sacrificial cost of one's own private pleasure, all for the glory of God. And that is the kind of love we are to possess as Christians and the kind of love we are to exercise.”
He goes on to say, “Not only does Jesus' death embody love because it was the greatest possible sacrifice done for the greatest possible good. It was also done for the greatest possible motive. According to John 12:28, Jesus went to the cross in order to glorify the name of His Heavenly Father. And the writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus endured the cross "for the joy set before him" (Hebrews 12:2). These two inextricably linked goals—the glory of God and our own delight and joy in it—are to be the supreme motive for any act of love. They were for Jesus, and they are to be for us.
Verse 17 says,
"But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?"
This means sharing your material resources with those in need, be it spiritual or physical. And even those of us who are on the most limited income have something to share. Perhaps with individuals directly, or through the church, or through social agencies like the Crisis Pregnancy Center or mission agencies.
But the point is clear. How can we say that we are willing to lay down our lives for our brothers if we are unwilling to part with our money for their sake?
Verse 17 also means sharing your time with others in need. Many times that's what a person needs far more than he needs money. It takes time to be a friend; it takes time to talk, to listen, to relieve loneliness. And let me tell you, there’s a lot of lonely people out there. And for many of us it is harder to part with our time than with our money. We’re so busy doing all our daily chores that its difficult for us to stop for a minute and put our arms around a hurting person and comfort them.
That's something I am always struggling with. Stopping and taking the time to really get to know someone and minister to them. My guess is that's where the heart of the battle is for many of you as well. But if you or I close our hearts with respect to time, towards a brother or sister in need, how can God's love be in us?
Verse 17 can also mean sharing spiritual resources with a person in need through a word of encouragement or exhortation from the Bible and through consistent intercessory prayer. And in many cases the sacrifice demanded is greatest at this point because the spiritual battles are very real and very intense.
We’ll conclude here with verse 18
"Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth."
To put it in the modern vernacular, we need to walk the walk not just talk the talk. I believe Scripture tells us somewhere, we are to be doer’s of the Word and not hearers only. Right?
So I encourage everyone, lets all try to examine ourselves to see if we are truly loving the brethren. If you see someone in need, stop rushing around for a moment and give a word of encouragement; Lend a helping hand; or if necessary, donate a little money. Meet the need and glorify God.
God bless
Rob
11/1/2009
1 John 3:11-18
Notes based on sermons by John MacArthur and John Piper
Prepared by Robert Moritz
I actually want to go back and include verse 10 in this lesson because I believe verse 10 is the key verse of this chapter.
v.10-11 – “By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another."
John is right in more ways than one when he says we should love one another. First he’s been talking about the importance of loving one another and loving our brothers throughout this epistle. In fact he spends a good portion of chapter 2 telling us to love one another.
- Take a look back a chapter 2 for a minute starting in verse 9 and we’ll read through verse 11.
"Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes."
So here, John tells us in verse 9, that we better have no hatred in our hearts toward one another. If we’re going to call ourselves Christians – which means walking in the light – then we better have love for one another, because if you don’t John says you’re still in darkness.
There are two distinct things that make up a child of God, Love and Righteousness. These are the 2 themes we see running through chapter 3. The first 10 verses speak of the righteousness of a child of God and verses 11-24 speak of the love of a Christian.
Then secondly John is referring to the teachings of Jesus which is really the beginning of Christianity which in fact was taken from the law of God which was from the very beginning.
If you would, turn in your Bibles to Matthew 22:34-40. Here, the Sadducees had been badgering Jesus with their legalism and He had just put them to shame. Now it was the Pharisees turn.
"But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question to test Him. Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law? And He said to him, 'you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the prophets.'"
Notice here, that the heart of the law is 2 fold, we are to love the Lord our God and we are to love our neighbor. So back in 1 John, John just reiterates what Jesus is teaching and stating that this message of loving one another is something that is not new. Its not something we’re hearing for the first time. In fact its something that should characterize our very lives as children of God.
I remember a few weeks ago when Drew taught on loving your brother back in Chapter 2, he mentioned that he often struggles in this area. That loving or caring for other people does not come easy for him. Well, I too need to confess, that the same is true of me. And I mean, its crazy! One minute I can be driving down the road worshipping and praising God to some song on the radio and all of a sudden I find myself boxed in between some slow moving dump truck on my right and some old geezer in his Cadillac in front of me. Both are doing 10mph under the speed limit and I can’t pass. What’s up with that.
Its at about this point that I’m no longer feeling the love. Right? Now don’t you sit out there and give me no holy look like you’ve never been in a similar situation and you didn't lose it because this guy was not letting you pass.
After all, he’s got all day. He’s only on his way to the drug store to pick up his 35,000 medications. Doesn’t he realize that some of us are working here and we’re late to an appointment? Alright, that’s enough confession time for one morning. Back to our lesson.
So John tells us here in v.10 & 11 that as Christians our lives should be characterized by 2 things - living a righteous life and loving one another.
Don’t Be Like the Children of the Evil One
As we move into verse 12, John says,
"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 deed were evil and his brother's righteous."
Lets take a closer look at the story of Cain and Abel. Turn if you will to Gen 4 and we’ll look at verses 1-12
"Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, 'I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.' And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering but for Cain and his offering He had no regard.
So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The LORD said to Cain, 'why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.'"
Cain spoke to Abel his brother and when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the LORD said to Cain, 'where is Abel your brother?' He said, 'I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?' And the LORD said, 'what have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.'"
John MacArthur says, “The lowest level of human relationships is murder.” And he’s right. Murder is the antithesis of love because murder comes from hate and Satan is filled with hate. That hatred first manifested itself when Cain murdered his brother Able back in Genesis. In the Gospel of John 8:44 Jesus tells us that Satan was a murderer from the beginning. Since Cain murdered his brother, the fruit of that shows us that Cain was of his father the devil.
When I was a new Christian, I used to read this passage and think, ‘why does God accept Abel and not Cain? They both gave of their first fruits? Here Cain worked the ground and gave God his best and God rejected it. Why?’ It just didn’t seem fair to me.
But as I became more mature in my faith, and learned about sin and redemption, I learned that there can be no remission of sin without blood. This is God’s requirement for forgiveness of sin. These sacrifices also portrayed a type of Christ which was to come, God’s great sacrifice of His Son for the sins of the world. That’s why God required a blood sacrifice and not just some vegetables. That’s why Cain’s sacrifice was rejected.
The example of Cain
Cain is the classic example of a murderer. And in these verses we see the formation of two polar opposite religions. Abel’s religion is the religion of grace and Cain’s religion is the religion of human achievement.
a) Abel and the religion of grace
Verse 3 says, "In process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord." That was an act of worship. Verses 4-5 say, "Abel, he also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and to his offering; but for Cain and to his offering He had no regard." It's obvious from the context God had already revealed to them that a blood sacrifice was the only acceptable sacrifice (cf. Gen. 3:21). Hebrews 9:22 says, "Without shedding of blood there is no remission [of sins]." God instituted blood sacrifices as the only proper form of worship, and Abel obeyed.
b) Cain and the religion of human achievement
Cain brought God the fruit of the ground--that which he himself had planted and harvested. He offered what he wanted to offer, not what God wanted him to offer. He invented his own religion, and the Lord would have none of it. Genesis 4:5-7 says, "Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? And why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it."
Verse 8 says, "Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.." He murdered him. 1 John 3:12 says Cain murdered Abel "because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous." Cain was jealous of Abel.
The character of Cain
a) He was a child of Satan
Now, going back to 1 John, it says in verse 12, Cain "was of that wicked one" (v. 12). The Greek word translated "wicked one" is poneros. It is stronger than kakos, the usual Greek word for evil. Poneros speaks of evil in active opposition to good--organized evil. A man who is kakos is willing to be evil and perish in his own corruption, but the person who is poneros seeks to drag everyone else down with him. Who is the evil one? Satan. Cain was a child of Satan. That is made evident because he was a murderer. God's children are not murderers; they love one another. John 8:44 says Satan has been a murderer from the beginning.
b) He perverted God's worship
The Greek word translated "killed" in 1 John 3:12 is sphazo, which means, "to butcher by cutting the throat." It is used in the Septuagint (the Greek version of the Old Testament) to refer to the slaying of animals for Levitical sacrifices. It is quite probable that Cain cut Abel's throat. When Cain and Abel were born, the seeds of death were already implanted in the sins of Adam and Eve. But as far as we know, no one had yet died.
John MacArther states, “The fact that Cain knew how to kill implies he knew God required an animal sacrifice. God instituted a pattern of sacrifice to bring men to himself, but Cain became the first to pervert it and turn it into murder. The human race learned to murder when it was taught to worship.”
c) He was jealous of Abel
Why did Cain kill his brother? Verse 12 says, "Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous." He was jealous--his brother was accepted by God but he wasn't. Jealousy lay at the base of Cain's murder. That's what life is like for the children of the devil.
Not all people are murderers like Cain, and that leads to the next characteristic of a child of the devil.
B. Hate (vv. 13-15)
1. The attitude of the world (v. 13)
Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.
Most people have never murdered anyone, but the only difference between hate and murder is the act--the attitude is the same. There are a lot of haters in this world who don't murder for only one reason--fear of the consequences. If they could get away with it without punishment, guilt, and negative social reaction, they would. In God's eyes, hatred is the moral equivalent of murder.
Let’s jump to verse 15:
"Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him"
Hatred is the same as murder in the eyes of God. And murderers do not have eternal life. As a general pattern, a believer loves and an unbeliever hates.
a) Proverbs 6:17-- The Lord hates "a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood." The Lord hates murderous hands. God's children do not commit murder. According to 1 John 3:15 one who hates is guilty of murder. In God's eyes, the ethic is the same.
b) Matthew 5:21-22--In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said by them of old, you shall not kill and whosoever kills shall be in danger of judgment; but I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of judgment; and whoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; but whoever shall say, you fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." The attitude you have toward your brother is as significant to Jesus as what you do to him.
There are few people who murder as a way of life, but there are many who hate people.
So we need to be very careful here. We need to take a good look at ourselves and ask, Do I hate people? Do I love people? Its very important to examine ourselves.
John Piper states it this way,
“Hatred is the wish that another person was not there; it is the refusal to recognize his rights as a person; it is the longing to hurt or ultimately even to kill him. If I hate somebody, I am no different from a murderer in my attitude toward him. And with God it makes very little difference whether I actually have a chance to carry out the desires of my heart or not. People who hate are murderers according to Jesus and according to John "you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him." John is not denying the possibility of repentance and forgiveness for the sin of murder. What John is stating is the general principle that to take life is to forfeit life and no murderer has eternal life as a present and abiding possession.”
Now, lets sum this up with verse 14
We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death."
Lifestyles of love and hate are very revealing. Specifically they reveal whether one abides in death or whether he has indeed passed out of death into life. People who persistently and consistently love other people in heartfelt ways can have assurance that they indeed possess eternal life. Brothers and sisters, loving one another is not a trivial thing; it is not optional. Loving one another is critically important, eternally important. It is a matter of life and death!
C) Indifference
So far we’ve looked at 2 things that should not characterize Christians – Murder and Hate. However, there is another thing which John warns us about here in vs. 16-18
"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 goods 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 in word or talk but in deed and in truth."
A person who sees a Christian in need and has the ability to help, yet refuses to do so, is not a Christian according to John. The world is characterized by indifference and apathy. The world murders its own, but Christians care for each other with sacrificial love.
Love is not defined as an attitude or an emotion, but as an act of self-sacrifice. We know God loves us because He laid down His life for us. What should we do? Lay down our lives for the brethren. Cain hated and murdered his brother--that's how Satan's children behave. Christ gave up His life for those He loved. That’s how a Christian should behave. One is selfish, the other is selfless.
Piper defines love this way:
“Christian love is finding one's own joy in actively working for the joy of another, even at the self-sacrificial cost of one's own private pleasure, all for the glory of God. And that is the kind of love we are to possess as Christians and the kind of love we are to exercise.”
He goes on to say, “Not only does Jesus' death embody love because it was the greatest possible sacrifice done for the greatest possible good. It was also done for the greatest possible motive. According to John 12:28, Jesus went to the cross in order to glorify the name of His Heavenly Father. And the writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus endured the cross "for the joy set before him" (Hebrews 12:2). These two inextricably linked goals—the glory of God and our own delight and joy in it—are to be the supreme motive for any act of love. They were for Jesus, and they are to be for us.
Verse 17 says,
"But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?"
This means sharing your material resources with those in need, be it spiritual or physical. And even those of us who are on the most limited income have something to share. Perhaps with individuals directly, or through the church, or through social agencies like the Crisis Pregnancy Center or mission agencies.
But the point is clear. How can we say that we are willing to lay down our lives for our brothers if we are unwilling to part with our money for their sake?
Verse 17 also means sharing your time with others in need. Many times that's what a person needs far more than he needs money. It takes time to be a friend; it takes time to talk, to listen, to relieve loneliness. And let me tell you, there’s a lot of lonely people out there. And for many of us it is harder to part with our time than with our money. We’re so busy doing all our daily chores that its difficult for us to stop for a minute and put our arms around a hurting person and comfort them.
That's something I am always struggling with. Stopping and taking the time to really get to know someone and minister to them. My guess is that's where the heart of the battle is for many of you as well. But if you or I close our hearts with respect to time, towards a brother or sister in need, how can God's love be in us?
Verse 17 can also mean sharing spiritual resources with a person in need through a word of encouragement or exhortation from the Bible and through consistent intercessory prayer. And in many cases the sacrifice demanded is greatest at this point because the spiritual battles are very real and very intense.
We’ll conclude here with verse 18
"Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth."
To put it in the modern vernacular, we need to walk the walk not just talk the talk. I believe Scripture tells us somewhere, we are to be doer’s of the Word and not hearers only. Right?
So I encourage everyone, lets all try to examine ourselves to see if we are truly loving the brethren. If you see someone in need, stop rushing around for a moment and give a word of encouragement; Lend a helping hand; or if necessary, donate a little money. Meet the need and glorify God.
God bless
Rob
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