Love: Love One Another
A Sermon on 1 John 3:11-20 by Pastor Shafer Parker
Watch the sermon here.
Introduction
In reading this passage I’ve been reminded of a truth I remember first seeing in Isaiah many years ago; God sees into the heart of things, He understands the essence of things, which means he sees everything in stark contrast: black or white, right or wrong, heaven or hell, in Christ or of the devil. Here’s the scripture I was reading when this truth hit me. Isaiah 3:10 - “Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds. Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.”
Notice this. For God there are two categories of people, the righteous and the wicked. But we have a different set of categories: there’s me, and then there’s all the people who are worse than me. In other words, we try to see things in shades of gray. They’re black, which makes me look less black, gray.
John’s Argument
v.11 “For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.”
v.12 “We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.”
v.13 “Do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, that the world hates you.”
v.14 “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers (i.e., the family of God). Whoever does not love abides in death.”
V. 15 “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”
v.16 “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for (our brothers and sisters).”
Life Application:
You will find doubt disappearing from your mind and heart if you keep your spiritual eyes focused on the cross.
Of those around you, you know which ones love God by noticing which ones give themselves in service for others.
The only assurance of salvation we have is found in our readiness to lay down our own lives in service toward others.
