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1 John 3:11-18
Stephen Caswell
Abraham Lincoln Loved
No one treated Abraham Lincoln with more contempt than did Edwin Stanton, who denounced Lincoln's policies and called him a low cunning clown.
Stanton had nicknamed him the original gorilla.
He also said that explorer Paul Du Chaillu was a fool to wander about Africa trying to capture a gorilla, when he could have found one so easily in Springfield, Illinois.
Lincoln said nothing in reply.
In fact, he made Stanton his war minister because Stanton was the best man for the job.
He treated him with every courtesy.
The years wore on.
The night came when an assassin's bullet struck down Lincoln in a theater.
In a room off to the side where Lincoln's body was taken, stood Stanton that night.
As he looked on the silent, rugged face of the President, Stanton said through tears, There lies the greatest ruler of men the world has ever seen.
The patience of love had conquered in the end.
A child obtains much of his character from his parents.
The same is true in the spiritual realm.
Last week we saw how to recognize the children of God and the children of the devil.
John said that sin and righteousness identifies the fatherhood of everyone.
Today he picks up the same theme from a different perspective.
How we treat our brother reveals our spiritual state.
God's children love their brother whilst a child of the devil hates his brother.
*/Brother/* or */brethren/* is used 8 times in this passage.
When it comes to this matter of love, there are four possible levels of relationship, so to speak, on which a person may live:*/ Murder, Hatred, Indifference and Love.
/*The first two are not Christian at all, the third is less than Christian, and only the last is compatible with true Christian love.
/Firstly,/ Murder
*1 John 3:11-12:* /For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother.
And why did he murder him?
Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous./
The commandment to /love one another/ is stated twelve times in the New Testament.
It is mentioned more times than any other commandment.
John says you have heard this commandment from the beginning.
John emphasizes /origins:/ Go back to the beginning.
If our spiritual experience originates with the Father, we /must/ love one another.
But if it originates with Satan, we will hate one another.
John says that we must not love like Cain did who murdered his brother.
Murder, of course, is the lowest level on which one may live in relationship to someone else.
Cain is an example of some one who hated his brother.
Make no mistake Cain was not an atheist.
He is presented as a religious man, in fact a worshipper of God.
However, Cain tried to earn God's favor through works and not by faith.
And this is the point: children of the devil masquerade as true believers.
They attend religious gatherings, as Cain did.
They may even bring offerings.
But these actions in themselves are not valid proof that a man is born of God.
The real test is his love for the brethren, and here Cain failed.
We aren't told how the Lord accepted Abel’s sacrifice and rejected Cain’s.
It may be that He sent fire from heaven to consume Abel’s sacrifice of an animal and its blood.
But we /are/ told the results: Abel went away from the altar with God’s witness of acceptance in his heart, but Cain went away angry and disappointed.
God warned Cain that sin was crouching at the door like a dangerous beast, but promised that if Cain would obey God, he, like Abel, would enjoy peace.
Instead of heeding God’s warning, Cain listened to Satan’s voice and plotted to kill his brother.
His envy had turned to anger and hatred.
He knew that he was evil and that his brother was righteous.
Rather than repent, as God commanded him to do, he decided to destroy his brother.
This is the level on which Satan himself exists.
The devil was a murderer from the beginning of his fallen career.
Blame Now On Others
Instead of holding themselves responsible for misfortune, more Americans now blame others.
In past economic depressions, murder rates went down and suicides went up because Americans — trained in the puritan ethic of self-reliance and internal restraint — blamed themselves for personal economic failure.
Now when people reach a breaking point in frustration, they lash out at others.
/Secondly,/ Hatred
Murder is the lowest level of relationship we can share with a brother.
At this point, you are probably thinking, But I have never murdered anyone!
And to this statement, God replies, Yes, but remember that to a Christian hatred is the same as murder.
The only cure is love!!
/a.
World Hates Believers /* 1 John 3:13: */Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you./
John tells us not to be surprised if the world hates us.
/Why?/
Because we show up their sin.
Christians belong to God's family whilst the world belongs to Satan's family and there has been ill feeling between these two from the very beginning.
God condemns sin whilst Satan promotes it.
The two families cannot get along together because they have nothing in common.
Therefore, Satan moves his children to hate and kill God's children.
He did this at the beginning when Cain killed Abel and nothing has changed since.
The world hates God and His children for exposing their sin.
But God's children don't behave this way!!
/b.
Believers Love The Brethren/
*1 John 3:14:*/ We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren.
He who does not love his brother abides in death./
/How can we know that we're saved?/
We prove ourselves genuine by loving our brother.
Love can't save us anymore than good works can.
Love in fact proves that we have already been saved.
Jesus described the results of faith as passing over from death to life.
*John 5:24:* /Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in Him who sent me has eternal life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
/
/ /
If we have been born again of the Spirit then we must love our brother.
After all we are all a part of the same family.
When we belonged to the world system, we hated God’s people; but now that we belong to God, we love them.
If you don't love your brother then you are still unsaved.
You are living in death.
Envy, un-forgiveness, and hatred lead to murder.
Christians have no right to hold a grudge against their brother.
The Lord has forgiven us far more than we could ever forgive another.
Therefore we must forgive one another in love.
These verses, like those that deal with habitual sin in a believer, concern a settled habit of life: a believer is /in the practice/ of loving the brethren, even though on occasion he may be angry with a brother.
Occasional incidents of anger do not nullify the principle.
If anything, they prove it true, because a believer out of fellowship with his fellow Christians is a miserable person!
His feelings make clear to him that something is wrong.
/c.
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