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Sermons from 1 John |
LOVING ONE ANOTHER (Pt. 2) |
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Other sermons from 1 John
Sharing The Word Of Life (1:1-3) Other sermons in this study is being added as they are prepared & preached.
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An intimate moment and expression of love has been preserved for us in a letter written during the Civil War by Major Sullivan Ballou, of the Union Army, to his wife Sarah:
“I have no misgivings about or lack of confidence in the cause in which I am engaged and my courage does not falter. I know how American civilization leans upon the triumph of the government. I know how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the suffering of the revolution. And I am willing, perfectly willing, to lay down the joys of this life to help maintain this government and to help pay that debt. Sarah, my love for you is deathless. It seems to bind me with many cables that nothing but Omnipotence can break. And yet my love of country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me irresistibly with all those chains to the battlefield. The memory of all those blissful moments I have enjoyed with you come crowding over me, and I feel most grateful to God and you that I have enjoyed them for so long. And how hard it is for me to give them up and burn to ashes the future years, when God willing, we might have loved and lived together, and watched our boys grow up around us to honorable manhood. If I do not return my dear Sarah, never forget how much I loved you nor that when my last breath escapes me on the battlefield it will whimper your name."
One week later, Major Ballou was killed at the first battle of Bull Run. I doubt that it ever crossed the mind of Major Ballou that his expression of love for both and country and wife would ever be immortalized in time and history. Yet, love – genuine and sincere love – always has a mark of timelessness and eternity upon it. Love, as we learn from 1 John, has an eternal source and bears the mark of the Eternal One. As we saw in our last study, I John 4:7 declares, “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God.” The author and source of real love is God! Love is received from God and when practiced is a reflection of the Divine; therefore, it has an eternal nature about it. In verses 7-21 of 1 John chapter four, we are admonished to “love one another.” The theme and emphasis of 15 verses is on loving one another. In loving one another we take that which is eternal and insert it into humanity. In loving one another we take that which we have received of God and we impact the present with that which is eternal. The living of the Christian life is not just living a life that will bear fruit in eternity. It is living the kind of life that brings eternity into the present and so effects the present that in eternity it will bear fruit. As Christians, we live for the eternal, but we also live by the eternal in the present. In loving one another we are not only living for the eternal but we are also living by the eternal for love is of God. In short, if you want to live the kind of life that is beneficial in the present and blessed in the future, love one another. In our last study we turned our attention to verses 7-8 and saw that love is the outcome of a personal relationship with God, the outgrowth of a progressive relationship with God, and the outflow of a proven relationship with God. In verses 9-12 John continues his instructions on loving one another and expands on the subject by reminding us of the greatest example of love this world has ever known. He draws our attention of the love God has shown to every man, and in so doing, gives us a model for loving one another. Let’s look at these 4 verses and continue learning why and how we are to love one another. First, we see: 1. THE MANIFESTATION OF LOVE In verse 9 we read, “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.” This world has never known a greater example of love than the love God showed to us in the giving of His Son, the Lord Jesus. The word “manifested” means “to render apparent.” Sam Gordon in his commentary on 1 John speaks of the “public appearance of God’s love.”(1) I think that is an excellent description of the word “manifest.” God made His love public in the giving of His Son to the cross of Calvary. Verse 9 states that “God sent His only begotten Son into the world.” The phrase “only begotten” speaks of one that is unique, the only one of its kind. There are many sons of God but there is only one Son of God. God did not send just A son of God. He sent THE Son of God – His beloved Son. In sending His only begotten Son we see the depths of God’s love for this world. S.D. Gordon said, "We would all easily agree that the greatest picture of God's marvellous, overmastering passion of love is seen in the Cross.” Peter Mackenzie said, "When God Loves, he loves a world. When he gives, He gives His son. Such is the boundless love of God. In St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, there is a life-sized statute of Christ writing in agony on the cross. Underneath is the inscription, “This is how God loved the world.” In the cross we see how God loved the world. An expression of John’s is “God so loved.” In the familiar and beloved John 3:16 we read, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” It is not just that God loved, but that He, “so loved.” The love that God has shown to us is an evident love. He has demonstrated and proven His love. His love is an expensive love. It was love that was costly and sacrificial. In 1 John 4:11 we once again see this description of God’s love by John: “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” In this case we are to love one another as God has “so loved.” We are to love as God has loved. John is telling us to look at God’s love and learn from how He loved so we can love in the same fashion. How did God love? What is it that we see in God’s love that is to be adopted in our loving one another? First, as we look at God’s love we see that: A) Love Always Has An Object You can’t love without there being an object of love. John said in verse 9, “In this was manifested the love of God toward us.” God’s love had an object. It was love that was shown “toward us.” We were the objects of God’s love. Again, you cannot love without having an object. If you say, “I love you,” there is an object of that expression of love. It may be a wife, husband, child or friend, but there is always someone that is the object of your love. If you show love there is always an object. If you stop by the florist and buy a dozen roses, it is normally not for the purpose of carrying around in the floorboard of the car just so the car will smell better. In most cases there is an object in mind. When John tells us to love one another it is the “one another” that is the object of our love. The words “one another” simply mean, “each other.” We are to love each other. The people that we meet day after day are to be the objects of our love. Our family, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, our Church family, are to be the objects of our love. Furthermore, when we look at God’s love we see that: B) Love Always Has An Objective Why did God “so love” us? John says in verse 9 that God manifested His love “that we might live through Him.” John tells us that God manifested His love toward us that we might be given life. The word “live” speaks of that which has been quickened. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 2:1 that we “were dead in trespasses and sins.” Then in Ephesians 2:5 we read, “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are ye saved).” We were given life by and in Christ! The objective of God’s love is that we could be brought out of death into life! When we love we not only have an object but also an objective. The objective of our loving one another is the benefit of another. There was a story in Reader’s Digest about a fellow that was attending a junior stock show when a grand-champion lamb, owned by a little girl, was being auctioned. As the bids reached five dollars per pound, the little girl, standing beside the lamb in the arena, began to cry. At ten dollars, the tears were streaming down her face and she clasped her arms tightly around the lamb's neck. The higher the bids rose, the more she cried. Finally, a local businessman bought the lamb for more than $1000, but then announced that he was donating it to the little girl. The crowd applauded and cheered. Months later, the same fellow was judging some statewide essays when he came across one from a girl who told about the time her grand-champion lamb had been auctioned. "The prices began to get so high during the bidding," she wrote, "that I started to cry from happiness." She continued with: "The man who bought the lamb for so much more than I ever dreamed I would get returned the lamb to me, and when I got home, Daddy barbecued the lamb--and it was really delicious." The local businessman had an object of his love and compassion and an objective to his love and compassion, although misled by the object and misled in the objective. Yet, in any case and every case, love always has both an object and objective and the objective has the benefit of the object in mind. When the Bible tells us to love one another, the idea is that we are to reach out to others in way that benefits others. Loving one another is reaching out to others in a time of need. It is being there for them and with them when they need us the most. It is reaching out to them in a time and way whereby they receive from our expression of love that which helps and benefits them. I think of a study that Rene Spitz did of the absence of parental affection. In a South American orphanage, Spitz observed and recorded what happened to 97 children who were deprived of emotional and physical contact with others. Because of a lack of funds, there was not enough staff to adequately care for these children, ages 3 months to 3 years old. Nurses changed diapers and fed and bathed the children. But there was little time to hold, cuddle, and talk to them as a mother would. After three months many of them showed signs of abnormality. Besides a loss of appetite and being unable to sleep well, many of the children lay with a vacant expression in their eyes. After five months, serious deterioration set in. They lay whimpering, with troubled and twisted faces. Often, when a doctor or nurse would pick up an infant, it would scream in terror. Twenty seven, almost one third, of the children died the first year, but not from lack of food or health care. They died of a lack of touch and emotional nurture. Because of this, seven more died the second year. Only twenty one of the 97 survived; most suffering serious psychological damage. What Rene Spitz found was that children need and are greatly benefited by parental affection. That is true for everyone – children or adults. Everyone needs to be loved and shown love. Everyone benefits from being loved and shown love. When we are told to love another, it is more than a command to obey. It is something that needs to be practiced. Love always has an objective and that objective is the need of love and the benefits received from our love. Secondly, we not only see the manifestation of love as exemplified in God’s love, but also: 2. THE MEASURE OF LOVE In verse 10 we are reminded of the measure of God’s love: “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He love us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” You not only see the depths of God’s love, but also the length. God sent His Son to be the “propitiation for our sins.” The word “propitiation” speaks of making atonement for sins. In making atonement for sins we see the measure of God’s love. This required the death of a sacrifice and substitute for sins. To say that Jesus was the propitiation for sins is to say that He was sent by God to die for our sins. It was not just that God sent His Son; it was that God sent His Son to die on Calvary’s cross. In this we see the measure of God’s love. As we look at the measure of God’s love we continue learning what it means to love one another. First, in the measure of God’s love we see that: A) Love Takes Initial Steps When it comes to God loving us and us loving God, who took the first step? Who was the first to show love? John says, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us.” It was God who first showed love. We will later notice verse 19 where John says, “We love Him, because He first loved us.” The initial step was taken by God. He first loved us and our love is a response to His love. When it comes to loving one another, John is talking about the kind of love that always takes the first step. In other words, our love for one another is not to be the kind of love that merely responds to love that was first shown to us. As God took the first step, we are to take the first step. I have people say, “I went to so and so Church and nobody shook my hand or spoke to me.” I would agree that says something about that Church. It doesn’t sound like it was a very friendly Church. But it says more about the person upset than the Church itself. It tells me that the person upset was waiting on others to be friendly rather than being friendly themselves. The best way I know of making sure you get hand shook is to get out of your seat and shake somebody’s hand. You take the initial step. The same is true when it comes to loving one another. Many are sitting around complaining that no one shows them love when the command is to be the one showing love. It is true that if everyone was obeying this command we all would be the recipients of another’s love. Yet, we are not responsible for what others do or may not do. We are to love, even when no one else loves. Furthermore, we are to love even when love is not returned. The command to love one another does not have conditions. What if God had placed conditions on His love? What if He had only loved if we had first loved? He would have never sent His Son! He took the first step and when it comes to loving one another, it doesn’t matter if they love us or not, we are to take the initial step. Someone has said that love is always more concerned with what it can give than what it can get. That is not necessarily the case. Love must never be concerned with what it gets, but only with what it gives! Love always takes the initial step. I might add, love takes the initial step even when it involves those who are unlovable. We read of God’s love in Romans 5:8, “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” God didn’t love us because we loved Him. He didn’t love us because we were deserving of His love. He loved us in spite of ourselves. Dr. Ross Campbell in his book “How to Really Love Your Child” writes: “In order to love my children, I must remember that (1) They are children. (2) They tend to act like children. (3) Much of childish behavior is unpleasant. (4) If I do my part as a parent and love them despite their childish behavior, they will be able to mature and give up childish ways. (5) If I only love them when they please me (conditional love), and convey my love to them only during those times, they will not feel genuinely loved. This in turn will make them insecure, damage their self-image, and actually prevent them from moving on to better self-control and more mature behavior. Therefore, their behavior is my responsibility as much as theirs. (6) If I love them unconditionally, they will feel good about themselves and be comfortable with themselves. They will then be able to control their anxiety and, in turn, their behavior, as they grow into adulthood.” Just as we love our children unconditionally, we are to love others unconditionally. Secondly, in the measure of God’s love we see that: B) Love Takes Sacrificial Steps God sent His Son to “be the propitiation for our sins.” God’s love was a sacrificial love. It was sacrificial in that He “sent His Son” and in that He gave His Son to be a sacrifice for our sins. His love was not a love without costs and without a price. We are to love one another as God so loved us, and if need be, our love is to be a sacrificial love. William Gladstone, in announcing the death of Princess Alice to the House of Commons, told a touching story. The little daughter of the Princess was seriously ill with diphtheria. The doctors told the princess not to kiss her little daughter and endanger her life by breathing the child's breath. Once when the child was struggling to breathe, the mother, forgetting herself entirely, took the little one into her arms to keep her from choking to death. Rasping and struggling for her life, the child said, "Momma, kiss me!" Without thinking of herself the mother tenderly kissed her daughter. She got diphtheria and some days thereafter she died. The story reminds me that real love forgets self. Real love doesn't count the cost. To love one another may mean the sacrifice of our own time and wants. It may mean a personal, emotional or even a financial sacrifice. Others is the object of our love, their benefit is the objective of our love, and it is a love that does not regard the cost of showing love. I think of a story I read that illustrates the ultimate sacrifice of love. After a few of the usual Sunday evening hymns, the church's pastor slowly stood up, walked over to the pulpit and, before he gave his sermon for the evening, briefly introduced a guest minister who was in the service that evening. In the introduction, the pastor told the congregation that the guest minister was one of his dearest childhood friends and that he wanted him to have a few moments to greet the church and share whatever he felt would be appropriate for the service. With that, an elderly man stepped up to the pulpit and began to speak. "A father, his son, and a friend of his son were sailing off the pacific coast," he began, "when a fast approaching storm blocked any attempt to get back to the shore. The waves were so high, that even though the father was an experienced sailor, he could not keep the boat upright and the three were swept into the ocean as the boat capsized." The old man hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with two teenagers who were, for the first time since the service began, looking somewhat interested in his story. The aged minister continued with his story, "grabbing a rescue line, the father had to make the most excruciating decision of his life: to which boy he would throw the other end of the lifeline. He only had seconds to make the decision. The father knew that his son was a Christian and he also knew that his son's friend was not. The agony of his decision could not be matched by the torrent of waves. "As the father yelled out, 'I love you, son!' he threw out the life line to his son's friend. By the time the father had pulled the friend back to the capsized boat, his son had disappeared beneath the raging swells into the black of night. His body was never recovered." By this time, the two teenagers were sitting up straight in the pew, anxiously waiting for the next words to come out of the old minister's mouth. "The father," he continued, "knew his son would step into eternity with Jesus and he could not bear the thought of his son's friend stepping into an eternity without Jesus. Therefore, he sacrificed his son to save the son's friend. How great is the love of God that he should do the same for us? Our heavenly father sacrificed his only begotten son that we could be saved. I urge you to accept his offer to rescue you and take a hold of the life line he is throwing out to you in this service." With that, the old man turned and sat back down in his chair as silence filled the room. The pastor again walked slowly to the pulpit and delivered a brief sermon with an invitation at the end. However, no one responded to the appeal. Within minutes after the service ended, the two teenagers were at the old man's side. "That was a nice story," politely stated one of the boys, "but I don't think it was very realistic for a father to give up his only son's life in hopes that the other boy would become a Christian." "Well, you've got a point there," the old man replied, glancing down at his worn bible. A big smile broadened his narrow face as he said to the boys, "It sure isn't very realistic, is it? But I'm standing here today to tell you that story gives me a glimpse of what it must have been like for God to give up his son for me. You see, I was that father and your pastor is my son's friend." That is an example of the ultimate sacrifice of love, but God paid the ultimate sacrifice in showing us love, and love always take sacrificial steps. Thirdly, we not only see the manifestation and measure of love, but also: 3. THE MATURITY OF LOVE We read in verse 12, “No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.” John speaks of God’s love being “perfected in us.” The word “perfected” speaks of that which is brought to completion. It describes how we are growing in our love for one another. As we grow in the Lord we also grow in love. We grow in our understanding of loving one another and we grow in our undertaking of loving one another. As we mature in love we see that it results in: A) A Reflection Of God In Our Lives T.S. Rendall wrote, "Love always comes to visibility,” and another has said, “The purely spiritual quality of love needs a body for its self-expression.” That is precisely what John is now describing. God has demonstrated His love in a measureless fashion. How is this sinful world to know of God’s love? One way is by seeing that love in us. No person has ever seen God. The only way they can see Him is through His children. We are to be a reflection of our Heavenly Father and in particular be a reflection of His love. I think of the poem that says:
Christ has no hands but our hands To do His work today; He has no feet but our feet To lead men in His way;
He has no tongue but our tongues To tell men how He died; He has no help but our help To bring them to His side.
We are the only Bible The careless world will read, We are the sinner's gospel, We are the scoffer's creed;
We are the Lord's last message, Given in deed and word; What if the type is crooked? What if the print is blurred?
What if our hands are busy With other work than His? What if our feet are walking Where sin's allurement is?
What if our tongues are speaking Of things His lips would spurn? How can we hope to help Him And others to Him turn?
As God’s children we are to be a mirror of His love so that others can see the Lord in and through our lives. This world needs to see God’s love and we are the mirrors by which they see His love. Furthermore, as we mature in love it results in: A) The Reality Of God In Our Lives John speaks of how “God dwelleth in us.” The ideal of His indwelling is that the reality of His presence becomes real in our lives. His indwelling presence is more than a fact. It is a force in our life. As we mature in the Lord and love, the Lord becomes even more real to us. He becomes a living reality in our life. If you want God to be real in your love, then love one another!
Endnotes (1) “Living in the Light 1-2-3 John,) Ambassador, pg.158 |