Sermon outline:
LOVE IS PROVED BY:
by sacrifice (vs 16)
by mercy (vs 17)
by actions (vs 18)
THE RESULTS OF TRUE LOVE:
assurance (vs 19-20)
answered prayer (vs 21-22)
abiding (vs 23-24)
Sermon text:
Ill:
• 4 boys in secondary school had a reputation of playing truant;
• One morning they turned up very, very late for their lesson,
• They told the teacher they were late because the car bringing them had a puncture.
• Looking at them they could tell that the teacher was not too impressed.
• Nervously they started to embellish their story by saying;
• “Honest sir, in fact we had to fix it for ourselves so that we could get here”.
• The more that they spoke, the less convincing they sounded
• So the teacher said to them; “Show me your hands”,
• They were spotlessly clean
• And so he decided to get to the real truth.
He ordered each boy to stand in the corner of the room facing inwards:
• He gave them all a small piece of paper and a pen,
• And told them of his simple test to determine the truth!
• “One question I want you to write the answer to it”, said the teacher.
• “Which wheel had the puncture?”
1 John chapter 3 is about simple tests:
• Last week you would have looked at verses 14-15:
• One of the things John the writes in those verses is;
• Love is a test;
• By which it can be determined whether or not a person is saved (“Passed from death to life”).
• Now in our section today another test is before us:
• John moves on from the love test …………to the test of love.
• The question he will answer in verses 16-18 is:
• How can we tell whether a persons love is genuine or fake?
(A). THE DEFINITION OF True LOVE (vs 16-18):
(1). Love is proved by sacrifice (verse 16).
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers”.
The Message:
“This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves.”
The apostle John asks his readers a simple question:
• What is the ultimate proof that Christ loved us?
• He then went on to give his readers and us the answer:
• The proof of his love was not merely what he said, but what he did!
• He gave his life as a sacrifice on the cross.
Ill:
• A wealthy English family once invited friends to spend some time at their beautiful estate.
• The happy occasion was almost plunged into a terrible tragedy on the first day.
• Because the children went swimming,
• And one of them got into deep water and started drowning.
• Fortunately, the gardener heard the other screaming children;
• And jumped into the pool to rescue the drowning child.
• That youngster was Winston Churchill.
• His parents, deeply grateful to the gardener, asked what they could do to reward him.
• He hesitated & then said, “I wish my son could go to college someday and become a doctor.”
• Churchill’s parents replied “We will pay his way,”
Years later when Sir Winston was prime minister of England:
• He was stricken with pneumonia.
• Greatly concerned, the king summoned his best physician to treat him;
• That doctor who came was Sir Alexander Fleming (the developer of penicillin).
• He was also the son of that gardener who had saved Winston from drowning as a boy!
• Later Churchill said,
• “Rarely has one man owed his life twice to the same person.”
Now each one of us here today can say those exact same words:
• Jesus Christ is the one who created the world and therefore gave us physical life.
• And by his sacrifice on the cross, he is the one who gives us spiritual life!
• So the apostle John makes it very clear that if you want to pass the test of true love:
• It will cost you, because true love is sacrificial.
Quote Warren Wiersbe:
“Self-preservation is the first law of physical life,
but self-sacrifice is the first law of spiritual life”
(2). Love is proved by mercy (verse 17).
“If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?”
I guess we all have our own understanding of what being in need is:
Ill:
• In Hollywood there is a very expensive exclusive school;
• Those who attend are children of movie stars, producers, and directors.
• Asked to write a composition on the subject of poverty,
• One little girl started her literary piece this way:
"Once there was a poor little girl. Her father was poor, her mother was poor, her governess was poor, her chauffeur was poor, her butler was poor. In fact, everybody in the house was very, very poor”.
Quote: C.E.V:
“17If we have all we need and see one of our own people in need, we must have pity on that person, or else we cannot say we love God.”
The apostle John gives us a hypothetical case:
• Of two people;
• One is a person in need and the other is a person able to meet that need.
• Notice: He does not say the Christian who is able to help is wealthy:
• But he does say that this person is in a position to share something (If he or she so desires).
• And that’s the stumbling block;
• They have the means to help but no real desire. (He or she shuts the door of his or her compassion).
In verse 17:
• The N.I.V. uses the word “Pity”.
• The K.J.B. uses the expression: “the bowels of compassion”.
• It is comparable to our expression “The heart”.
• It refers to the seat of our emotions, on the OHP I have chosen to use the word ‘Mercy’.
By asking the negative question, “how can the love of God be in him?”
• John is making the point that genuine love gives to those in need.
• It sees the need and responds to the need (they have mercy, pity, compassion).
Ill:
• Giving our all to the Lord is not like taking a £10,000 pound cheque;
• And laying it on the table saying ’Here’s my life, Lord. I’m giving it all.’
• The reality for most of us is; that God sends us to the bank;
• And has us cash in the £10,000 cheque for pound notes.
• Then as we then go through life;
• We are to use the money God has given back to us in a daily giving of ourselves to him.
• So God arranges opportunities for us to;
• Use £5 here and £10 there and maybe a £100 elsewhere.
• True love may start out with a big promise of commitment;
• But it proves its genuineness by those little acts of love, £5 at a time.
• It would be easy to go out in a flash of glory;
• But it’s harder to live the Christian life little by little and to last the long haul.
(3). Love is proved by actions (verse 18).
“Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth”.
• Those two words “in truth”
• Protects the Christian from practical piety that might arise out of verse 17:
• We are never to feel more superior to those who need our help;
• Rather we value them as individuals and that is why we want to help them.
In verse 18 the apostle John will teach using his favourite particular style:
• That is he first gives us something negative;
• Then follows it with something positive.
(a). The negative:
• The negative response to a persons need is with ‘words & tongue’
• That is to talk about it and even JUST to pray about it.
Ill:
• Several years ago, Larry Walters, a 33-year-old man;
• Decided he wanted to see his locality from a new perspective.
• So he went down to the local army surplus store;
• And bought forty-five used weather balloons.
• That afternoon he strapped himself into a garden chair,
• And several of his friends tied the now helium-filled balloons.
• He took along a six-pack of beer, a sandwich, & a Bull-bearing gun,
• Figuring he could shoot the balloons one at a time when he was ready to land.
Walters, who assumed the balloons would lift him about 100 feet in the air,
• Be he was caught off guard;
• When the chair soared more than 11,000 feet into the sky.
• This took him smack into the middle of;
• The air traffic pattern at Los Angeles International Airport.
• Too frightened to shoot any of the balloons,
• He stayed airborne for more than two hours,
• This forced the airport to shut down its runways for much of the afternoon,
• Causing long delays in flights from all over the country.
• Soon after he was safely grounded and cited by the police,
• Reporters asked him three questions:
• First question: “Where you scared?”
• He replied “Yes.”
• Second question: “Would you do it again?”
• He answered “No.”
• Third question: “Why did you do it?”
• “Because,” he said, “you can’t just sit there.”
That’s what John is saying in this verse:
• “You can’t just sit there.”
• Love requires action!
(B). The positive “But with actions and in truth”.
Ill:
Remember the story of the good Samaritan (Luke chapter 10 verses 25-37).
• A lawyer came to Jesus and wanted to talk about an abstract subject;
• “Who is my neighbour?”
• But Jesus focussed his attention on one man in need;
• And changed the question to; “Who can I be a neighbour to?”
(B). The Results of True Love (verses 19-24):
3 THINGS ARE MENTIONED:
(1). Assurance (verses 19-20):
“This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence
20 whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything”.
There are 2 types of assurance that the Christian enjoys.
(1). ASSURANCE OF SALVATION
Ill:
• On one occasion a man once came to D. L. Moody;
• And said he was worried because he didn’t feel saved.
• Moody asked, “Was Noah safe in the ark?”
• “Certainly he was,” the man replied.
• “Well, what made him safe, his feeling or the ark?”
• The inquirer got the point. “It is not my feelings that save, but Christ”
We are safe in Christ!
• We have ‘by faith, through grace’ been born into his family.
• And we cannot be unborn, we have been by his Holy Spirit forever.
(2). ASSURANCE OF HIS PRESENCE
Quote: C.E.V:
“When we love others, we know that we belong to the truth, and we feel at ease in the presence of God. 20But even if we don’t feel at ease, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything”.
• Notice: the Christians assurance in this verse is not based on a past commitment,
• When we professed Christ as saviour.
• In this passage the assurance of salvation is based upon;
• A relationship – that is our relationship with other Christians,
• In other words it is based on something continuously occurring in the Christians life.
• The way we talk, think, treat and practically help one another.
• John says will bring us into experiencing the prescience of God.
• And even if the feelings aren’t there, the truth of this teaching is there!
Ill:
• Papa Panov’s Special Day (Martin the Cobbler) is a story based on book by Leo Tolstoy.
• A lonely old shoemaker who lived in a small Russian village.
• One day he has a dream that God is coming to visit him,
• So all day long he waits expectantly,
• He is constantly looking through his window to see if anybody is coming;
• Throughout the day he sees various people in need.
• e.g. Frozen road sweeper a hot drink.
• So he invites him and the others in and is kind to them all.
• At the end of the day, he is disappointed because God has not come to visit him.
• He falls a sleep on his workbench and has another dream.
• He asks God “Where were you? I waited all day for you to come”
• The Lord answers him, “I did come to you in the person of…. names the people who came”.
The punch-line to the story is (verse quoted in the book is):
“In as much as you have showed kindness to the least of these people,
you have shown it to me”.
(2). answered prayer (vs 21-22)
“Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God
22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him”.
• When Christians are right with each other; fulfilling their duty to help one another.
• That will produce with in us a confidence toward God.
• Practical love for one another is proof that we are living in the will of God,
• And if we are in the will of God we can confidently expect our prayers to be answered.
Ill:
• The noted brain surgeon, Dr. Bronson Ray,
• Was taking a stroll one day when he saw a boy on a scooter smash headfirst into a tree.
• Realizing that the boy was seriously injured,
• The doctor told a bystander to call an ambulance.
• As he proceeded to administer first aid,
• A boy not much older than the injured one nudged through the crowd that had gathered;
• And said to Dr. Ray,
• “I’d better take over now, sir. I’m a Boy Scout and I know first aid,”
When we are right with each other; fulfilling their duty to help one another:
• Like that boy Scout, we have a confidence,
• A confidence that God has time for us and will hear us.
Ill:
• Kathy makes requests of us;
• Normally it’s; “Can we watch CBBIES?”
• Sometimes we say; “Yes you can but first put away your play dough”
• When she has fulfilled her part of the bargain, I will grant her request.
Remember that verse 22 is not a blank cheque:
• Which allows us to obtain anything we desire;
• It reminds us that answered prayer is conditional on us fulfilling our part (in this case meeting needs)
Notice the verbs “obey” (or “Keep”) and “do” they are significant:
• The obedience, which is necessary for answered prayer is habitual practice.
• It is referring to a lifestyle rather than one-off actions.
Also notice in verse 22 there is a double emphasis:
• (1). “Because we obey his commands;
• (2). “And do what pleases him”.
• At first reading they same like one and the same;
• But there is an important difference.
• Commandments are binding requirements;
• Danger that we can do the right things but do them with a wrong attitude.
• But “Doing what pleases him”,
• Speaks of glad and willing service, a right attitude.
(3). abiding (verses 23-24)
“And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
24 Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”
Quote C.E.V. verse 24:
“24If we obey God’s commandments, we will stay one in our hearts with him, and he will stay one with us. The Spirit that he has given us is proof that we are one with him.”
• In Matthew chapter 22 verses 34-40;
• An expert in the law asked Jesus to name the greatest commandment.
• Jesus replied; “Love God with everything”
• And the second commandment said Jesus “Love your neighbour as you love yourself”.
• In those two statements Jesus summarised the 10 commandments;
• (First 4 are upward (us & God) the other 6 are across wards (us & others)).
The apostle John (inspired by the Holy Spirit):
• Rephrases those two statements of Jesus:
• And gives us one new statement.
“To believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us”
John reminds us that faith towards God & love toward men are two sides of the same coin:
• It’s a mistake to emphasise doctrine and neglect love.
• It is also a mistake to say doctrine is not important as long as we love everyone.
• Priority number one is to get right with God
• “To believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ”.
• If we have done that then it will evidence itself in priority number two
• We will “Love one another”.
Ill:
• A young African convert prayed one evening like this:
• "O Lord, You are the needle and I am the thread!"
• That day he had visited a school and watched some girls who were sewing.
• He noticed that the thread always followed the needle,
• And he saw in that simple task a profound spiritual truth.
• If he stayed close to the Lord, praying, reading His word, & depending entirely on Him,
• He would always be led by God’s Spirit.
• To act like him in his dealings with other people.
Verse 24b:
24 Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”
This is the first mention of the Holy Spirit by name in this letter:
• He is mentioned in the context of indwelling and teaching the Christian.
• When we are seeking to obey God in our lives and seeking to help other Christians.
• God is able to fill us with his Spirit;
• Thus drawing us closer to himself.
• But when we disobey his word or refuse to help someone in need;
• We grieve his Spirit and he seems far from us.
Ill:
The story is told of a monastery in Portugal,
• Which is perched high on a 3,000 foot cliff;
• And accessible only by a terrifying ride in a swaying basket.
• The basket is pulled with a single rope by several strong men,
• Perspiring under the strain of the fully loaded basket.
• One American tourist who visited the site got nervous halfway up the cliff;
• When he noticed that the rope was old and frayed.
• Hoping to relieve his fear he asked one of the monks,
• “How often do you change the rope?”
• The monk in charge replied,
• “Whenever it breaks!”
You and I as Christians have been sealed with the Holy Spirit:
• Unlike the tourist we never have to worry about the rope (the link) snapping.
• But if grieve the Spirit of God he will seem distant.
• Yet if we make the effort to believe and obey;
• That too will have a big effect on us!
Quote: Glenda Fulton Davis
“It’s not always easy to smile and be nice,
When we are called to sacrifice.
It’s not always easy to put others first,
Especially when tired and feeling our worst.
It’s not always easy to do the Father’s will.
It wasn’t so easy to climb Calvary’s hill.
But we as His children, should learn to obey;
Not seeking our own but seeking His way.
It’s not always easy to fight the good fight.
But it is always good and it is always right!”
