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Sermon 6

 

Sermon by John Metcalfe on October 30th 2005

At Wonersh Church

 

Blessed Assurance

 

 

   Readings:    1 John 3: 11-24 (p. 1227)           1 Thessalonians 4: 1-10 (p.1187)         

                                   

Let’s pray: “May the words of my mouth, and the thoughts of all our hearts, bring each of us closer to you, our Lord and Saviour.  Amen.”

Let’s continue our voyage of discovery through 1 John.  This letter falls into 2 parts, and the passage that we’re looking at today starts the second part.  If you’d like to follow it with me, please open your bibles at the start of 1 John on page 1225 – Part I kicks off in verse 5 of chapter 1 with the words “this is the message we have heard from him” … and we’re told that the message is: “God is light; in him there is no darkness.”  But today we’re focussing on part II, which starts with similar words at verse 11 of chapter 3: “this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.”  Our focus today is on brotherly love.

We use the word love in all sorts of different ways, and we generally know what’s meant by the context. 

  • We might say “I’d love a coffee or tea”, just indicates a preference for one option over another,
  • Someone might talk of “making love”, implying a physical relationship,
  • And we have the various levels of love between people and objects, for example, between brothers and sisters (a novel concept, I realise!), between husband and wife, or the true love experienced between man and car.  The benefit of love in a life is shown by these words on the tomb stone of a Michael Collins in a churchyard in Gravesend:

 

Beneath this stone lies one whose life

Was spent in quarrels and in strife

Wake not his spirit from its rest

For when he slept the world was blest.

The loves that I just referred to are based on familiarity and some level of desire or liking, strong or weak, and a type of love that can vary in intensity through time.  Jesus’ command that “we should love one another” is something else.

Jesus introduces us to a love that is unconditional and constant, and includes people that we’re not necessarily physically close to. … We don’t know our brothers who’re suffering elsewhere in the world, or are homeless in Guildford, or needing bibles in China, so how can we like them?  But we’re commanded to have love for one another, including those we don’t know and those we don’t necessarily like. 

In the 18th Century, the King of Prussia, Frederick William I, couldn’t stand his brother-in-law, the English King George II.  As Frederick lay on his death bed in 1740, his Lutheran court chaplain urged him to ensure that his conscience was clear by forgiving all his enemies.  This was the only way to make sure of his place in heaven. 

‘Are you sure?’ asked the King

‘Absolutely,’ answered the chaplain.

‘In that case’, said Frederick William to his wife, ‘write to your brother and tell him that I forgive him, but be sure not to do it until after my death.’

Loving isn’t the same as liking – to like we have to know, whereas to love as a Christian we just have to know of.  And Jesus’ message is consistent – the phrase in verse 11 “from the beginning” reminds us that this message of love goes right back to the start of his earthly ministry – in John 15 (v. 12) Jesus tells his disciples: “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”  And even this restates what Jesus said a few chapters before (13:34): “A new command I give you: Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

So what sort of love must we have for one another?  The first few verses, from 11-15, remind us how we change when we become disciples of Jesus – brotherly love is the distinguishing mark of a spiritual life.  The author uses the story of Cain and Abel – with Cain the example of evil, equating those who hate to murderers.  Instead of loving his brother Cain brutally murdered him.  And the reason we’re given for the murder is “because his own actions were evil, and his brother’s were righteous”.  What a stark contrast is drawn between righteous deeds and evil deeds, similar to that made by John in his gospel (John 3:19-21) between light and darkness: “Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.”  So we’re also told that Cain … “belonged to the evil one”.  This illustrates the point that James made last week, from verse 8 of chapter 3, that “He who does what is sinful is of the devil”, and John chapter 8 (v. 44), where Jesus told his adversaries “you belong to your father, the devil … he was a murderer from the beginning.”  The way that Cain treated his brother Abel is the way that unbelievers often treat believers, so we’re warned: “do not be surprised…if the world hates you”. 

And what an appropriate time to be reminded of the contrast between good and evil, light and darkness, with shops and media full of the symbols of Halloween.  Whilst most people don’t think much about its origins, it is a stark reminder to us of the evil that surrounds us and can captivate us if we don’t do something about it.

And verse 14 tells us how we can be sure that we’ve become disciples of Jesus: “We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.”  We can be reassured that we’ve “crossed over from death to life” when we see the change in our lives and in our feelings towards others.  Loving our fellow Christians is the outward sign that we’re true disciples of Jesus.  Obedience to the “new commandment” to love one another becomes the basis for our reassurance. 

This message was echoed by Paul in our reading from his letter to the Thessalonians.  They were already doing a grand job in the “loving stakes” – but that’s no reason to relax: “Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.  And, in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia.  Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.”  Paul wrote this letter to warn the folk in Thessalonica about getting too excited about The Second Coming.  Many of them had given up their daily work and stood about in excited groups, upsetting themselves and everyone else – ordinary life had been disrupted.  So Paul was giving them practical advice, telling them it would be best if Jesus could find them going about their normal daily jobs quietly, diligently and efficiently.  And certainly they should not do anything that would discredit Christianity – the best way of demonstrating that Christianity is the best of all faiths is to show that it makes us better workmen, truer friends, kinder people, and better parents.  The outside world may never come into church to hear a sermon, but it sees us every day outside church, and it is our lives and our love that should be the sermons that bring others to Jesus.

And this love for our brothers is a form of God’s love for us – if you look at verse 7 of chapter 4 on page 1227, John tells us that all “love comes from God”.  But the person who refuses to love his brothers remains in a state of spiritual death.  Verse 15 makes clear that the person who hates his fellow Christian is as guilty as if he’d murdered him.  This sounds a bit harsh, but the author wants us to be in no doubt of the importance of loving our fellow believers – failure to do so is an indication that eternal life is not present within us.  Our behaviour is a measure of our spiritual status. If we’re filled with love, it can’t help but be seen and appreciated by those around us.  I think of a sponge saturated with water.  If you even rest a finger on it lightly, water will run out and we immediately know what is filling the interior spaces of the sponge.  Isn’t that also true of ourselves?  We can tell what fills us on the inside by what comes out under pressure.

So let’s move on to verse 16 where we get to the Good News!  In contrast to the hatred shown by opponents to believers, and the hatred that Cain showed his brother Abel, the standard for loving our brothers was given by Jesus himself.  Jesus laid down his life for us, and that sacrificial act of love by Jesus on our behalf provides the motivation for us to lay down our lives for fellow believers.  This act of selfless sacrifice on Jesus’ part should be the standard by which our love is measured.

Verse 17 gives us an example which is the exact opposite of the sacrificial love that Jesus demonstrated by his death and is expected of all Christians.  If we have adequate material possessions, as most of do, and yet fail to show compassion for a fellow Christian in need, it shows that God’s love is not present in us.  So we’re exhorted to love one another with actions that come from understanding and living God’s truth, and not just with words – actions not words.  Outward actions will reflect the inward reality of our relationship with God.  Even when we feel guilty through sin or shortcomings, our actions in showing love for fellow believers will continue to assure us of God’s acceptance and forgiveness.  Love has to be communicated.

Ole and Olga lived in a small farm in Iowa, and poor Olga was starved for affection.  Ole never gave her any signs of love, and Olga’s need to be appreciated went unfulfilled.  One day, at her wit’s end, Olga blurted out, “Ole, why don’t you ever tell me that you love me?”  Ole responded stoically, “Olga, when we were married I told you that I loved you, and if I ever change my mind, I’ll let you know.”  We know that that sort of lack of communication isn’t good enough in our personal relationships.  Similarly, we must express our love for one another continuously, just as God does for us daily in his Son, Jesus Christ.

Moving on - verses 21 and 22 refer to the confidence that Christians can have when we pray to God and make requests of him.  The word used here for confidence is also used in reference to Christ’s Second Coming (1 John 2:28, 4:17) and to the level of assurance that we have for a positive outcome at the judgment that will occur when Jesus returns.  So believers who have a clear conscience (v. 21) have confidence (v. 21) that God will answer their prayers, because they live lives of obedience and keep his commandments, doing things that please him.  That doesn’t mean that an obedient lifestyle guarantees answered prayer, but it does mean that, if our consciences are clear, and we’re living a life in accordance with God’s commandments, our will is aligned with God’s, and we can reasonably expect to receive answers to our requests.

The final 2 verses in this passage provide us with a good Executive Summary to the passage, restating God’s commandment to his believers.  This has two parts: (a) believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and (b) love one another.  “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 clearly refers to the faithful in the community to whom the author is writing, and that believer will be in a mutual and reciprocal relationship with God.  The assurance of this mutual relationship is God’s Spirit – the Spirit he’s given to us.  So the assurance that we have as believers is based on three things:

(a) – verse 23a, believing in Jesus Christ;

(b) – verse 23b, loving one another; and

(c) – verse 24b, the gift of God’s indwelling Spirit.

May each of us feel assured of God’s love for us, so that through His Son’s sacrifice, and His Holy Spirit in us, we will want to love our brothers more and more.

Let's close with a prayer, asking for God’s help: “Loving, heavenly father, we thank you for the love that you show to us each day.  Thank you for the love of Jesus who died that we might live.  We recognise your command that we should give out love, which comes from you, so that other believers might benefit.  We ask that you will help each of us to let our love overflow like a saturated sponge, for we ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.”

 

John Metcalfe

 

 

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