Love One Another – Part 3
1 John 4:7-21 (19-21)
July 24, 2022
This morning we return one more time to this famous passage in 1 John where the famed apostle is driving home to us ONE OBVIOUS THEME.
LOVE ONE ANOTHER
And to RECAP as we begin,
John’s reasoning for this command has been extremely compelling.
Love One Another because:
#1 ATONEMENT DESERVES IT
1 John 4:7-11
We noted the remarkable love of God that was shown to us.
(9-10) “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
We took careful note of what John said.
Namely that God’s love “was manifested in us”
That is to say that God’s love has become visible
By something that He has done in us.
What? “that we might live”
• God gave us life.
• New Life
• Eternal Life
• Abundant Life
The presence of this life is the manifestation of God’s love on our behalf.
• When we were dead, He made us alive.
• When we were in sin, He raised us up.
• When we were doomed, He adopted us as sons.
We did not deserve this love, nor did we initiate it.
God freely and sovereignly chose to set this love on His enemies.
The DEGREE of that love is seen in the price He paid for our redemption.
“He loved us and sent His son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
God’s wrath had to be appeased.
God’s holiness had to be satisfied.
God loved us while we were His enemies,
But in order to pardon us, His holiness had to be propitiated.
Christ did that.
He came to this earth, He took on human flesh, He submitted Himself to the Law, He bore our sin, He received our punishment, He died on the cross, and He rose again.
This is the redeeming love of God.
This is the restoring love of God.
God’s love was not some mushy enabling sentimentality
That winks at sin and overlooks offense.
No, God’s love is real and genuine and weighty.
It is a love that chose sinners and then saved them.
It is a love that was extremely costly to Him.
And yet God loved us so much.
We remember then this atoning love of God.
To which John made his first point.
(11) “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
We love one another because atonement deserves it.
• Our brothers may not deserve it…
• But God does.
• We do it for Him.
LAST WEEK the second reason John would compel us to love one another.
Love One Another because:
#2 ASSURANCE DEPENDS ON IT
1 John 4:12-18
• Are you absolutely certain that you are a child of God?
• Are you absolutely certain that when you die you are going to heaven?
• Do you know that you have been redeemed?
• Do you know that you are in Christ and Christ is in you?
You can know those things.
In fact God would have you know those things.
And according to John there is no better proof of such things
Than when you live like Jesus in this world and love your brother.
(17) “By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.”
• How do you know if Jesus is in you?
• How do you know if you are in Him?
And the simple answer would be: WHEN YOU LIVE LIKE HE LIVED
Or perhaps more appropriately: WHEN YOU LOVE LIKE HE LOVED
And again, we are NOT talking about some sentimental tolerance of sinfulness. That was not the love of Christ.
• The Gospels are full of verses where Jesus exposed and confronted sin.
• The Gospels are full of verses where Jesus preached repentance.
• The Gospels are full of verses where Jesus demanded departure from idols.
If you think the love of Jesus is to wink at sin
Then you’ve not read the Gospels.
No, the love of Jesus was to do whatever it took to pull sinners out of sin.
• The love of Jesus was to confront sin…
• The love of Jesus was to expose sin…
• The love of Jesus was then to forgive sin…
• The love of Jesus was to atone for sin…
And John’s question would be:
DO YOU LOVE LIKE HE LOVED?
I’m not saying that any of us does that 24/7,
BUT DO YOU EVER LOVE LIKE HE LOVED?
If you do, it is because Christ is in you.
If you do, it is because the Holy Spirit is in you.
See, the Holy Spirit causes things to occur in our life.
1) BELIEVE “the love which God has for us” (16)
2) CONFESS “that Jesus is the Son of God” (15)
3) TESTIFY “that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world” (14)
And the testimony John refers to is the testimony of love.
It is when we love our brother as Jesus loved us
That the testimony of God’s work in our lives is perfected.
We then see evidence of the Holy Spirit in us,
And we know that we have been saved.
So when you love like Jesus.
When you walk as He walked…
• In that moment you can have assurance that you are redeemed for you wouldn’t love like that if Jesus weren’t in you.
But if you don’t love…
On what basis or fruit are you claiming to be redeemed?
So we should love one another.
Not only because atonement deserves it, but also because assurance depends on it.
Well THIS MORNING we close our study of this passage
By giving John’s 3rd compelling reason to love one another.
Love One Another because:
#3 AUTHENTICITY DEMANDS IT
1 John 4:19-21
In short, love one another because that’s what Christians do.
We could perhaps makes this point by moving no farther
Than the first two words of our text this morning:
(19) “We love”
Perhaps you are familiar with Paul’s letter to Timothy.
• Paul would set out to instruct this young pastor regarding the church at Ephesus.
• The immediate objective was to get that church back on track.
• They had grown preoccupied with the Law and with genealogies and other nonsense, and had gotten off track as to their calling and purpose.
Paul wrote:
1 Timothy 1:5 “But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”
What else are we trying to produce?
If the greatest commandment is to love God
And the second greatest is to love your neighbor
Then it is foolish for us to assume there is a higher goal.
This is the objective.
• Not only to make sinful people holy people…
• Not only to make dead people alive people…
• But to make selfish people loving people.
That is the final objective.
That is the ultimate goal.
THAT IS AUTHENTIC CHRISTIANITY
In fact, if one does not have love he is nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.”
LOVE IS THE DEFINING MARK.
When we fail to walk in the love of God in the world
We miss the very concept of what it means to be Christian.
• When we have no concern that sinners will go to hell in their sin…
• When we wink at those who set themselves up to be enemies of God…
• When we refuse to leave our comforts so that men might hear the gospel…
• When we are preoccupied with our reputation and not the eternal state of world
• When we would rather be loved by men than to tell them the truth…
• When we are fine with sinners being condemned…
How can we say that we are walking like Christ?
What is authentic about that?
Do you truly love anyone that is lost?
• Have you even told them that they are lost?
• Have you told them of their great danger?
• Have you told them how to be saved?
• Have you told them of forgiveness in Jesus?
It is a deceived and indeed a phony church
That thinks we are walking like Christ when we affirm sinners
And strive to make them feel comfortable in their sin.
Jesus’ love sought sinners and sought to pull them out of their sin.
• His whole life was about leaving comfort behind that He might find those who
were lost.
• He confronted their sin…
• He warned them of judgment…
• He offered them forgiveness…
• He ultimately laid down His life for their salvation…
Christ’s entire ministry can be summed up with the word love.
And Christians should be described in the same way.
John says, “We love”
Authentic Christianity demands that “we love”.
And this is the point of John here to conclude this marvelous section.
We’ll take this 3rd point and we’ll break it down a little further as well.
1) LOVE IS A MATTER OF OBSERVATION (19)
John says, “We love because He first loved us.”
On one hand we could keep this point PURELY THEOLOGICAL
And say that our love is the result of God’s work in our lives.
• We could say that through salvation God poured His Spirit into our lives and
thus caused us to love like He loves.
And that would certainly be true.
In fact that was the basis upon which
John promised assurance in the previous verses.
But John here is speaking far more practical than that.
John is speaking in terms of THE HUMAN RESPONSE.
John is talking about the fitting reaction
That we give to such great love by God.
It is God who “first loved us”
• This has been well-discussed.
• We didn’t initiate it, God did.
• We didn’t even ask for it, God willed it.
• God’s love toward us was not reactionary.
• His was determined, sovereign, perfect…
Our love however is reactionary.
“We love BECAUSE He first loved us”
THE POINT IS THAT when a person realizes and acknowledges and receives this great love of God, the response to it will be to love in return.
NOT ONLY to love God, which is easy,
BUT ALSO to love God’s children on God’s behalf.
And in this verse perhaps we have an EXPLANATION
As to why WE AT TIMES FAIL TO LOVE.
Could it be that our failure to love is because we have forgotten the great love which God has shown us?
PRIDE DOES THIS, BY THE WAY.
The more you value yourself,
The less amazed you’ll be at God’s love for you.
• The more arrogant you become, the less amazing God’s love becomes.
• It is actually possible to see God’s love for you as God’s fitting response to who
you are.
Why wouldn’t God love me?
I mean look at me.
PRIDE IS THE ENEMY OF LOVE.
This is why we say that loving one another is matter of observation.
It is observing the greatness of God’s love,
That He loved you when you were not worthy of love.
I know we have mentioned this many times lately,
But PERHAPS AN ILLUSTRATION is where we need to go next.
TURN TO: EZEKIEL 16
• Let me show you a picture of God’s love.
• It is lengthy, but it is necessary.
Let’s begin with OUR INTRINSIC WORTH
Just the simple value of a life.
(READ 1-5)
Now, I know in the church we argue and fight for the sanctity of life, but you do understand that in the world life has very little value.
• Whether it’s the “aborted baby” in America…
• Whether it’s the “throw away baby” in China…
• Whether it’s the “starving baby” in Africa…
• Whether it’s the “abused baby” …
And that is just children, but life has very little value in the world.
I know that when you are born, if you are fortunate, you are surrounded by a handful of family members that genuinely rejoice at your birth.
But trust me when I tell you 99.999999% of the other 7.5 billion people
COULD CARE LESS.
Humans don’t even matter to humans most of the time.
AND YOU SEE THAT HERE.
• This was a throw away baby.
• It represents Israel.
• By association it represents the church.
And then we see the first expression of God’s love.
God shows us a love that even the rest of humanity won’t show.
(READ 6-14)
It begins simply with God “SEEING” what others would not.
Matthew 9:36 “Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.”
• When the world turned a blind eye…
• When it was easier just not to look at the plight of humanity…
• God first demonstrated love by seeing you.
And it continues with God “SAVING” what others would not.
• God told this child to “Live”
• He spared this child.
• He saved this child.
Most of the world won’t do that, let alone what God did next.
The story moves forward with God “SELECTING” that child.
• God (8) “entered into a covenant…so that you became Mine”
That is tremendous love.
God has now married what no one else even cared if it lived.
Still God’s love moves forward by becoming a “SANCTIFYING” love.
• Just as Jesus washes His bride the church, so God washed this child whom He had loved.
• In verse 9 “I bathed you with water, washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil.”
We must point out the obvious that He married her while she was filthy.
It wasn’t until after He entered into the covenant
That He began the process of washing her off.
BUT NOW, HE WASHES HER.
And still God’s love moves forward again by “SATISFYING” her.
• We saw those beautiful words in verses 10-14.
• Words like “clothed” and “wrapped” and “adorned”
• Until she became “exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty”
This child that no one wanted.
This child left to blister and die in the sun.
And yet God reached in and loved the unlovable.
That is what He has done for each of us.
But we’ve talked about that love many times over lately.
THE STORY ISN’T OVER.
For look at the gratitude that was given to God for this great love.
(READ 15-34)
And if you are honest, you know that passage fits.
• For even though God has loved us when we were unlovable.
• Even though He saw us and saved us and selected us and sanctified us and satisfied us, still we have so many times rebelled.
• How often we still sin.
• How often we forget.
And this sin would certainly bring about necessary discipline from God.
• She would have to be punished.
• Her sanctification would require that she walk through some hardship.
• And we won’t read it but verses 35-59 outline her coming punishment and the necessity of it.
But then, after a period of discipline, we see God’s love show up again.
This time it is a “STEADFAST” love.
It is a love that never fails.
(READ 60-63)
Are you aware of this love in your life?
• Have you forgotten not only the love which God has shown you?
• But also the love when God shows you continually?
Not only that God loved you when you were sinful,
But that God has loved you ever day since?
• That God has loved you even when you have been ungrateful.
• That God has loved you even when you have been unfaithful.
• That God has loved you when you have failed Him.
Perhaps this morning we need to again observe the love of God.
Because observing this love is what produces love in us.
It is much easier to love when we remember how loved we are.
A cold-hearted Christian
Has clearly forgotten how much he is loved.
Love is a matter of observation.
2) LOVE IS A MATTER OF OPPORTUNITY (20)
Where as verse 19 speaks of our MOTIVATION to love,
Verse 20 focuses on the APPLICATION of it.
HOW DO WE DO IT?
How do we love God in return for the great love He has shown us?
Surely it must be MORE THAN JUST AN EMOTION.
• God’s love was far more than emotional.
• God didn’t just feel love toward us and whisper it from heaven,
• God’s love is measurable.
• We have felt the effects of His love.
• He picked us up, He washed us off, He clothed us.
His love is seen and verifiable.
BUT HOW DO WE LOVE GOD IN RETURN?
• It’s not like you can wash God’s car?
• It’s not like you can cook God a meal?
• It’s not like you can give Him a present?
How do we show God love in return?
Where is our opportunity?
And this is what John points out.
(20) “If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.”
That is a very strong statement from John.
Don’t go around claiming to love God if you hate God’s children.
“for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.”
What’s your point John?
Namely that your brother represents your opportunity to love God.
Right there in front of your face is your opportunity.
Do you want to love God?
Do you really want to show Him love?
Have you felt as though you lacked opportunity?
WELL THERE IT IS.
Sitting right next to you in the pew.
There is your chance.
We referenced it last week, but let’s read it again this morning.
TURN TO: MATTHEW 25:31-46
Could it be clearer than that?
And don’t miss the point.
We AREN’T saved for eternity by loving the least.
• Salvation is not granted to those who are benevolent.
• That would be salvation by works and that is not possible.
We are saved because we love and trust Christ.
But how do you know if someone loves and trusts Christ?
• Well, did they love His brothers?
And friends, if you’ll grasp this,
It will make practical ministry so much easier for you.
It is really hard in our world to show practical love
To people whom we don’t think deserve it.
And indeed many times they may not.
Well quit looking at them according to their human worth.
And start looking at them through Christ’s eyes.
If you measure people by how valuable they are to you,
You are likely to find very little,
But if you measure them by how valuable they are to Christ
It will change your valuation.
THIS PARABLE TEACHES US THAT JESUS IS WATCHING.
And He takes it personal.
He attributes our treatment of other believers to how we treat Him.
We remember when David became King.
He wanted to show to love to his deceased friend Jonathon.
How did David do it?
2 Samuel 9:3 “The king said, “Is there not yet anyone of the house of Saul to whom I may show the kindness of God?” And Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan who is crippled in both feet.”
• That man’s name was Mephibosheth and David not only gave him an
inheritance but fed him daily at his own table.
• David wanted to love Jonathan and he found his opportunity.
Are you looking for opportunity to love Jesus?
THEY ARE EVERYWHERE.
And this should not be new information.
Micah 6:6-8 “With what shall I come to the LORD And bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves? Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?”
Isaiah 1:13-17 “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.”
In Zechariah a delegation approached God in Jerusalem to ask if they should keep fasting in the fifth month like they had been doing.
Zechariah 7:8-10 “Then the word of the LORD came to Zechariah saying, “Thus has the LORD of hosts said, ‘Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.’”
Isaiah had a similar sermon to others who were fasting:
Isaiah 58:5-7 “Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the LORD? “Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free And break every yoke? “Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry And bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see the naked, to cover him; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?”
God has been telling you how to love Him hasn’t He?
The opportunity is everywhere.
And if we don’t seize that opportunity
It is foolish to go around claiming we love God.
Authentic Christianity loves God by loving His people.
So we talk about loving one another and we see that it is a matter of observation and it is a matter of opportunity.
3) LOVE IS A MATTER OF OBEDIENCE (21)
Again, the words are clear.
“And this is the commandment we have from Him…”
Did not our Lord command it?
• Certainly He has demonstrated it…
• Certainly He has deserved it…
• But He has also demanded it…
Now it is no longer a matter of observation or of opportunity.
It is simply a matter of whether we will obey the commands of our Lord.
Watch Him in the upper room.
• Watch Him get up from the table…
• Watch Him lay aside His garments…
• Watch Him gird Himself with a towel…
• Watch Him begin to wash the disciples feet…
There sat Matthew, the unworthy tax collector who got rich by cheating his own countrymen.
There sat James and John, the men who only seemed concerned about getting the best seats in the kingdom; even asking for their mother’s help.
There sat Thomas, the pessimist who just knew things were always going to go south; the one who wouldn’t even believe Jesus rose from the dead.
There sat Simon the Zealot, the terrorist who used to try and assassinate Romans.
There sat Peter, the big talking coward who would soon deny 3 times.
There sat Judas, the traitor, who was about to sell Jesus out for 30 pieces of silver.
And here is Jesus washing their feet.
(sanctifying like God did to that little baby)
And then saying:
John 13:12-15 “So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? “You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. “For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.”
And then saying again later:
John 13:20 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”
Is that not the same thing we read in Matthew’s gospel?
And again:
John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
And again:
John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
And again:
John 15:12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.
Could any of the disciples leave that room that night and not realize what Jesus wanted from them?
JOHN CERTAINLY FIGURED IT OUT
And he has dedicated his epistle to making sure you see it too.
This is what it means to be an authentic Christian.
And you cannot claim to be authentic without it.
You and I can go out into the world all day long and claim to be Christians.
• We can fill Facebook with religious posts…
• We can cover our car with Christian symbols…
• We can wear Christian T-shirts…
• We can attend Bible studies…
• We can have daily quiet times…
You can participate in mission trips, sing in the choir, preach sermons, and do whatever else you deem as Christian behavior.
But if you don’t love your brother there is nothing authentic about you.
“We love”
We love God and we show Him that love by loving His children.
So there you have John’s compelling reasons for loving one another.
Atonement Deserves It – God is not asking you to do anything that He has not first done for you.
Assurance Depends on It – You will know you are a child of God when you love.
Authenticity Demands It – It’s not just about feeling real, it’s about being real.
So let me close up this passage simply by encouraging you
To seize one of those plentiful opportunities around you.
Go love Christ this week in a real and practical way.
“For when you do it to one of the least of these, My brethren, you do it unto Me”
