INTRODUCTION
SLIDE #1
• In life, everything has demands. If you want children, when you have them, they demand a lot of time and a lot of money.
• If you want a spouse, it will require a lot of time, effort and patience once you get one. If you want to be a good ball player, it will demand a lot of hard work and practice. If you want to have a good job, it will demand a lot of hard work, training and education.
• If you want good grades, it will demand that you pay attention and that you study.
• There are not too many things in life in which you get something than does not demand something of you.
• Why is it that so many of us feel like we can get something out of their relationship with Jesus when they are not willing to put anything into it?
• Do you realize that your desire to have a relationship with Jesus on the level that means something will demand something from us?
• We have spoken a lot about the subject of love since we have been in the book of 1 John. Today we are going look at the demands of brotherly love.
• It if great to talk about how much we love one another, but it is another matter to mean it.
• If we want to truly love one another, there are some things that this love will demand of us. Brotherly love does not happen by accident or by the fact that we are sitting in the same building together today.
• Let’s read 1 John 3:13-18 together today as we examine some of the demands of brotherly love.
SLIDE #2 & 3 1 JOHN 3:13-18
SERMON SLIDE #4
I. BROTHERLY LOVE DEMANDS AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE ISSUE (13-15)
SLIDE #5
1. The world shows it will hate what is good. (13)
• This is a bit of an odd way to begin this section, but there is logic to it.
• John tells us not to be astonished or surprised when the world hats us. What he is really says is “stop being surprised” at what is happening.
• Are you ever surprised when a person tries to do good and then they become the object of scorn? You see a person who is doing good things being mistreated and you wonder why.
• The same world which Cain belonged to is the same world we live in. I have seen many instances where a person who is trying to do good or be a righteous person will be made fun of and even hated by those of the world.
• We live in a world which we are called not to love (1 John 2:15-17), a world where anti-Christ’s flourish. We live in a world which is blinded by Satan, is it any wonder that righteous, God-loving people would be mistreated?
• SLIDE #6 John 15:17-19. The world rejected Jesus, it will reject you also.
• We are living in a world that is offended by righteous people because it makes them feel bad about their own condition; it makes them realize they are not as good as they thought.
• This is why Jesus is so offensive to many people. Jesus makes you face the reality about yourself and your condition.
SLIDE #7
2. The love we show to one another is evidence of our salvation. (14)
• We must be careful to remember that our goodness is not the reason we are saved, it is not HOW we are saved. I have repeatedly spoken of how we cannot earn our salvation. We must understand that loving someone is not going to earn your ticket to heaven.
• Our ability to love one another is evidence of the salvation we possess by grace though our faith in Jesus.
• John says we KNOW that we have definitive knowledge of our passing out of death into life.
• The word “Passed out of” denotes a geographical change. When we love our brothers in Christ we can know we have moved out of Death Valley into life.
• Love alone is not the basis of our acceptance before God. It is the base on which all other virtues rest.
• The one who continues not to love continues to abide in death. The absence of love is a sign that one is dead to God.
CLICK #7
3. Not loving one another has terrible consequences. (15)
• Verse 15 seems very extreme, it does not seem like it could be true?
• Isn’t there some middle ground? SLIDE #8 READ VERSE 15
• Sin lies in the heart. Verse 15 tells us the one who hates their brother has the spirit and heart of a murderer. Only outward restraints have restricted the action already contemplated within the heart. SLIDE #9
• The heart that is turned to evil thoughts and intents is not a heart for God.
• The hate is a continuous contempt for a person.
• How many murderers would we have in our society if there were no outward restraints?
• John is not saying we are guilty as a murderer, but the same spirit and disposition.
• SLIDE #10 Matthew 5:21 - 22 (NLT) “You have heard that the law of Moses says, ‘Do not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the high council. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.
• The thing we need to understand is that no murderer has eternal life abiding in them. Love and hate cannot abide in the same heart.
SLIDE #11
II. BROTHERLY LOVE DEMANDS SACRIFICE (16)
SLIDE #12
1. Jesus was our example.
• SLIDE #13 John 10:11 (NLT) 11“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
• . As usual, Jesus gives us the example of what we are supposed to do.
• SLIDE #14 John 10:18 (NLT) 18No one can take my life from me. I lay down my life voluntarily. For I have the right to lay it down when I want to and also the power to take it again. For my Father has given me this command.”
• Verse 16 tells us that He laid down His life. This means that He did so by His own choice.
• Not only are we told that He did so by His own choice, but He did it for us. Jesus laid down His life for our welfare.
• SLIDE #15 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NLT) 21For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
• Cain was an example of what selfishness and hate will do to a person, Jesus is the example of what love does for us and what it will do for others.
• When we feel it is hard to sacrifice for others, we need to think about the sacrifice Jesus made for us.
SLIDE #16
2. We are to follow His example.
• Jesus did not give us the example for nothing! He gave it to us so we could follow it.
• The word “ought” in verse 16 has the essence of a moral obligation, it implies we are bound to sacrifice our lives if need be.
• We are called to sacrifice materially if need be. Verse 17 talks of this. IF we see a need and we can fill it, we need to do what we can.
• The word “need” in verse 17 can be translated “necessity”.
• The willingness to give what one has, even our life, for the sake of others, is the essence of true love.
• If we are willing to give our life for another, we will help them in the smaller ways also.
Boarding the SS Dorchester on a dreary winter day in 1943 were 903 troops and four chaplains, including Moody alumnus Lt. George Fox. World War II was in full swing, and the ship was headed across the icy North Atlantic where German U-boats lurked. At 12:00 on the morning of February 3, a German torpedo ripped into the ship. "She’s going down!" the men cried, scrambling for lifeboats.
A young GI crept up to one of the chaplains. "I’ve lost my life jacket," he said. "Take this," the chaplain said, handing the soldier his jacket. Before the ship sank, each chaplain gave his life jacket to another man. The heroic chaplains then linked arms and lifted their voices in prayer as the Dorchester went down. Lt. Fox and his fellow pastors were awarded posthumously the Distinguished Service Cross. Today in the Word, April 1, 1992. http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/s/sacrifice.htm
SLIDE #17
III. BROTHERLY LOVE DEMANDS COMPASSION (17)
SLIDE #18
1. We are called to have a heart for one another.
• Verse 17 speaks of knowing a brother is in need and then closing our heart to them, this deals with being compassionate towards a brother in need.
• This passage speaks of physical needs, but I believe this goes deeper to spiritual needs.
• When we see a brother struggling materially, we need to try to help them, when we see them struggling spiritually, we need to help them.
• The physical needs are easier to take care of because it is usually a matter of some money, but having the compassion to help a struggling brother take time and patience.
• We have to be careful. We do not want our heart to close towards another person.
• There are some who put themselves in need and others who are in need because of circumstances beyond their control.
• We need to be willing to help when there the basic necessities are lacking.
• It is a matter of being willing to put others first. That can be difficult for us to do that. IF we are the center of the universe, then we will never be willing to help others.
CLICK #18
2. A person who lacks a heart for others lacks the love of God within them.
• Absence of compassion for those in need shows us that our love for God is non-existent to weak at best.
• John tells us that if we are willing to close our hearts to those in need, then the love of God is not in us. John says, HOW DOES THE LOVE OF GOD ABIDE IN HIM?
• The implication from the question is that it cannot. As our love for God increases so will our compassion toward others.
SLIDE #19
IV. BROTHERLY LOVE DEMANDS ACTION (18)
SLIDE #20
1. Faith without works is dead. Love without action is dead!
• Talking a good talk does not get you too far. Our walk needs to match our talk.
SLIDE #21-22 James 2:14-18 says:
James 2:14 - 18 (NASB) 14What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. 18But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
• We are told in 1 John that our love in to not ONLY be by word or tongue, but action is to match what we say.
• In order for us to have action, we must be willing to be involved in each others lives.
SLIDE #23
2. Action or lack of action reflects our true feelings.
• If we have no deeds to show for our talk, it shows how we really feel.
• I will pray for you! How many times have we told people we would do that only to not do it? We do not mean to not do it, but we forget, it is not that important to us to remember.
• Notice our love is to show in our words and deeds and in truth.
• We must do what we do out of a true spirit. Our love for one another is not to be hypocritical.
• Without demonstrations of actions, there is no love.
CONCLUSION
• We have spoken a lot about the issue of love in this book. I feel we do a pretty good job in the area of love, but as with everything, we have a lot to learn.
• I pray that we will all examine how we feel and act toward one another. God will not bless a non-loving church.
• As our love for each other grows, people will flock into this place because people are looking for love.
• SLIDE #24 Brotherly love demands: Understanding the issue, sacrifice, compassion, and action!
• Are you lonely, feeling like you are unloved and unwanted? Jesus loves you and wants you, the Auburn Christian Church loves you and wants you to be apart of our family. Are you ready?
