LOVE IN ACTION

1 JOHN 3:11-18

  I. Love one another (3:11-13)

•          Jn. 13:34. Love one another.

•          Rom. 12:10. Prefer one another.

•          Rom. 12:16. Be the same mind one to another.

•          Rom. 14:13. Let us not judge one another.

•          Rom. 14:19. Edify one another.

•          Rom. 15:5. Be like-minded one to another.

•          Rom. 15:7. Receive one another.

•          Rom. 15:14. Admonish one another.

•          Rom. 16:16. Greet one another.

•          1 Cor. 12:25. Care for one another.

•          Gal. 5:13. Serve one another.

•          Gal. 6:2. Bear one another’s burdens.

•          Eph. 4:2. Forbear one another.

•          Eph. 4:32. Be kind to one another.

•          Eph. 5:21. Submit to one another.

•          Phil. 2:3. Esteem the other better.

•          Col. 3:9. Lie not one to another.

•          Col. 3:13. Forgive one another.

•          1 Th. 4:18. Comfort one another.

•          Heb. 10:24. Consider one another.

•          Jas 4:11. Speak not evil of one another.

•          Jas. 5:9. Grudge not one against another.

•          Jas. 5:16. Confess one to another, and pray one for another.

•          1 Pet. 4:9. Use hospitality one to another.

•          1 Pet. 5:5. Be subject one to another.

      A. Message in the beginning (11; 1 Jn. 2:7; 2 Jn. 6)

Jn. 13:34. A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

Jn. 15:12. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

      B. Murder of a brother (12-13)

Gen. 4:8-9 [GNB]. Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out in the fields.” When they were out in the fields, Cain turned on his brother and killed him.

 9. The LORD asked Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” He answered, “I don’t know. Am I supposed to take care of my brother?”

          1. Cause

              a. Evil (Mt. 6:13, 13:19-38; Jn. 17:15; Eph. 6:16; 1 Jn. 2:13-14, 3:12, 5:18)

Jn. 3:19. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

              b. Envy

Jude 11a [GNB]. How terrible for them! They have followed the way that Cain took. For the sake of money they have given themselves over to the error that Balaam committed.

          2. Contrast

              a. Righteous (Mt. 27:24; Rom. 1:17; 1 Pet. 3:12; 1 Jn. 2:29, 3:7-12)

Gen. 4:4-5 [GNB]. Then Abel brought the first lamb born to one of his sheep, killed it, and gave the best parts of it as an offering. The LORD was pleased with Abel and his offering,

 5. but he rejected Cain and his offering. Cain became furious, and he scowled in anger.

Heb. 11:4 [MSG]. By an act of faith, Abel brought a better sacrifice to God than Cain. It was what he believed, not what he brought, that made the difference. That’s what God noticed and approved as righteous. After all these centuries, that belief continues to catch our notice.

              b. Reaction (Mk. 13:13; Lk. 6:22; Jn. 17:14)

Jn. 15:18-19 [NIV]. If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.

 19. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

 II. Love my brother (3:14-15)

      A. Evidence of life (14; know–1 Jn. 5:13)

1 Jn. 4:21 [NIV]. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

          1. Revived (Jn. 5:24; Rom. 5:21, 6:23)

          2. Responsive (dead–Rev. 3:1)

1 Jn. 2:11 [CEV]. If we hate others, we are living and walking in the dark. We don’t know where we are going, because we can’t see in the dark.

      C. S. Lewis said, “Indifference, not hate, is the strongest enemy of love.”

      B. Evidence of death (15; 1 Jn. 5:12)

          1. Hatred (Mt. 5:43-44; Tit. 3:3; 1 Jn. 2:9)

1 Jn. 4:20 [GNB]. If we say we love God, but hate others, we are liars. For we cannot love God, whom we have not seen, if we do not love others, whom we have seen.

          2. Homicide (Jn. 8:44; Gal. 5:21)

Mt. 5:22 [MSG]. I’m telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a brother ‘idiot!’ and you just might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell ‘stupid!’ at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill.

III. Love of Christ (3:16; Rom. 8:35; 2 Cor. 5:14; Eph. 3:19)

Eph. 5:2 [NIV]. And live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

      A. Seen

1 Jn. 4:10. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son [to be] the propitiation for our sins.

          1. Substitution (Rom. 8:32; 1 Cor. 15:3; 2 Cor. 5:21; Tit. 2:14)

Rom. 5:8. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

          2. Sacrificial

Jn. 10:11. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

      B. Surrender (Eph. 5:25)

Jn. 15:13. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

          1. Debt (Lk. 11:4)

Rom. 13:8. Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

1 Jn. 4:11. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

      Henry Drummond wrote, “The greatest thing a man can do for his Heavenly Father is to be kind to some of His other children.”

          2. Deny

Jn. 13:14. If I then, [your] Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.

 IV. Love of God (3:17-18; Rom. 5:5, 8:39; 1 Jn. 2:5, 3:17, 4:9, 5:3)

      D. L. Moody said, “If we could make people believe that God loves them, how we should find them crowding into the kingdom of heaven!”

O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints’ and angels’ song.

      A. Insincerity (17)

          1. Sustenance (Mk. 12:44; Lk. 15:12; 1 Jn. 2:16)

          2. See (need–Acts 2:45, 4:35; Rom. 12:13; Eph. 4:28)

Jas. 2:15-16 [CEV]. If you know someone who doesn’t have any clothes or food, you shouldn’t just say, “I hope all goes well for you. I hope you will be warm and have plenty to eat.” What good is it to say this, unless you do something to help?

          3. Shut (compassion–Phil. 1:8, 2:1; Col. 3:12; Phile. 7-12-20; 1 Jn. 3:17; Thayer–seat of tender affections; heart of mercy; Mt. 9:36, 14:14, 15:32, 18:27, 20:34; Mk. 1:41, 6:34, 8:2, 9:22; Lk. 7:13, 10:33, 15:20; moved to pity)

      The splanchnic nerves supply sympathetic innervation to the abdomen. Jesus embodied the term compassion. Jesus felt the pull of the people upon His heart (Mt. 15:32). Compassion affects of the eye (Mt. 9:36), stretches the hand (Mk. 1:41), moves the feet (Lk. 10:33).

      Amy Carmichael said, “You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.”

      B. Incarnation (18)

1 Jn. 4:9. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

          1. Unprofitable

              a. Talk

              b. Tongue

          2. Undeniable

              a. Good (Eph. 2:10)

Jas. 1:22. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

              b. Genuine (1 Jn. 1:6, 2:4)

1 Pet. 1:22 [NIV]. Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.

      Tertullian (Apol. 39 [A.D. 145-220.]) commenting on the observation of unbelievers about believers said, “But it is mainly the deeds of a love so noble that lead many to put a brand upon us. See, they say, how they love one another. . . .”