What Is Christian Fellowship? -- November 10, 2013

Sunday, November 10, 2013

WHAT IS CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP?

I John 1:1-7

            We have taken a pretty thorough look at loving one another over the past six weeks or so.  We have been reminded that Christian brothers and sisters are supposed to love another, even as Jesus loved us.  We know that.  One of Jesus' most basic commands is found in John 13:34, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another."  We find the command repeated several times in I John.  Yes, love is our duty, but we have also seen that this love is not impossible for the believer, because this love is our heritage and even our very nature.  It is God's nature to love, and we are His children.  We love because we have been born of God.  As we see the reality of this love in our loves, as imperfect as it may be, we are filled with assurance that we do indeed have eternal life.  So this Christ-like love is not only our duty, but it is also our privilege.

            This morning we come to the practical question:  "So how do we love one another?"  I believe it is appropriate that we hear the encouragement which Paul gave to the Christians at Thessalonica.  Please allow me to read from the ESV I Thes. 4:9-10, "Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, 10 for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia.  But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more."  We are loving one another, but let's do so more and more!  But how do we do it?  We have been taught by God, so let's explore His teaching.

            In order to do that we need to look at what it means to belong to Christ together.  In other words, what does it mean to share Christian fellowship?  We live in a religious society that is big on a personal relationship with God.  And yes, we ought to stress that.  The problem is that many have redefined the word "personal" to mean "private."  "I have a personal relationship with God through Christ" has come to mean that in the final analysis "It's just me and Jesus. The body of Christ is okay, but I can do without it, if I have to."

            I want to confess to you that there are things in my mind and heart that I am not sure I can express.  Unless the Spirit works, I could leave us confused.  So I am praying and asking you to pray that He take my feeble words and give them life this morning. 

            Pray

I.  The Basis of Christian Fellowship

            Now let's read I John 1:1-7...

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life-- 2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us-- 3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. 5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

            When John refers to "that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with your eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life," what is he talking about?  In verse 2 he goes on to say he is declaring "that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us."  These verses with which John begins his letter remind us of the introduction to his gospel account in John 1:1-2, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God."  He clearly identifies that Word in John 1:14, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us..."  The Word is Jesus Christ.  The "Word of life" here at the end of I John 1:1 is none other than Jesus.  John testifies that he and the other apostles heard Him, saw Him, gazed upon Him, and even handled Him with their own hands. 

            Now focus in on verse 3, "That which we have seen and heard we declare to you..."   And what was it that they had seen and heard?  Jesus!  "That Jesus which we have seen and heard we declare to you."  Why?  "That you also may have fellowship with us."  John's desire is to share what he has with his readers.  That's what fellowship is; it is a sharing together.  It was not the desire of John and the other disciples to keep the good news of Jesus to Himself.  They told it to others so that they too could enter into a sharing of life with them.

            Then at the end of verse 3 John defines this fellowship.  "That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ."  Think on those words.  John claims to have fellowship with God the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.  What an amazing claim, the claim to share the life of God and His Son Jesus.  If you have eternal life, then you also share in the life of the Father and the Son, for in verse 2 Jesus Himself is defined as eternal life.  Eternal life is not just a new kind of life that lasts forever; it is actually Jesus Himself.  How can we ever sufficiently grasp the fact that we share the very life of the Father and the Son?  Though we don't totally understand it, let us glory in it! 

            All true Christian fellowship begins with this truth that the believer shares the life of God the Father and Christ the Son.  I don't want to spend all morning on this truth, but we need to linger here for a moment, because there is no greater key to Christian fellowship.  Our fellowship with one another is like our fellowship with the Father and His Son.  This fellowship is not based primarily in the fact that we share common beliefs.  Nor does it consist in our common morality.  No, it isn't because we go to church services together, read the Bible, and pray.  It is no less than the sharing of common life.  His life is our life.  Col. 3:1-4...

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

            Did you catch that?  "When Christ, who is our life..."  We died and our life is hidden with Christ in God.  Our life is tied up with His; they cannot be separated.  This is not an isolated text.  Go through the first three chapters of Ephesians and note how many times you find the phrase "in Christ" and "in Him," where "Him" refers to Christ.  If you have been born again by the Spirit, if you have been justified through the death and resurrection of Jesus, then you are truly in Him.  His life is our life, and will be so forever and ever.  That's what John means when he says, "And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ." 

            Now come back again to I John 1:3, "That which we have seen and heard we declare to you that you may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ."  Notice how he links the fellowship he desires for his readers with the fellowship he has with the Father and the Son.  This horizontal Christian fellowship is simply an extension of fellowship with the Father and the Son. 

            There was a time when John and the other apostles did not share in that fellowship.  They were without Christ, having no hope, and without God in the world (Eph. 2:11).  They were the enemies of God.  But time came when the Spirit of God did a miracle within them.  They were born again, brought to repentance and faith, and made a part of God's glorious kingdom.  Yes, they came to share the life of Jesus Himself.  They indeed passed from death to life, so that John could say that they had fellowship with the Father and the Son.  That divine fellowship had been enlarged to include them.  Now they too shared in that life, and John wanted others to come into that blessed circle of fellowship.  He longed for others to share that divine life.

           

II.  The Nature of Christian Fellowship

            So what is the point of all this?  I want us to help us understand the nature of Christian fellowship.  We will never understand until we put the entire focus upon the fact that we share the life of the Father and the Son.  If that is not our emphasis, we will settle for something far less than true Christian fellowship. 

            What do you look for, when you seek fellowship with other Christians?  Too often we look for common interests.  "I think I will spend some time with Sally.  She grew up in Santa Rosa like I did, and we even know some of the same people."  So we think that because of that common interest, you and Sally will have good Christian fellowship.  Am I saying it is wrong for you to get together with Sally.  No, not at all.  I am saying we are deceived when we use such things as a basis for Christian fellowship.  If the focus is on the common interests, that will actually be a hindrance to Christian fellowship, because it obscures the common bond in Christ.

            I realize that I am bucking the tide of much of Christian society.  There is an entire mission strategy that is based on cultivating common interests as the basis for Christian fellowship.  Some churches congregate along socio-economic levels.  In other words, you won't find a poor person in that church, and you won't find a rich person in this church over here.  Other churches will tend to gather people who are well educated, to the point that those who are not well educated don't feel comfortable.  Others will gravitate to certain lifestyles such as the cowboy culture we see around us.  The church growth movement that was so popular a few decades ago said basically, "Don't be ashamed of doing that.  It's okay to go after 'our kind of people.'  Folks will find it more comfortable that way."  It may be more comfortable, but it does not elevate real Christian fellowship.

            Please come to Ephesians 2.  Many of us know verses 1-10 pretty well.  After explaining how we were dead in sin and slaves of Satan in verses 1-3, Paul begins verse 4 with "But God..."  "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us...made us alive together with Christ..." (2:4-5).  He concludes in verses 8-10, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."  That's all about our personal relationship with Christ, but notice where he goes from there.  Beginning in verse 11 Paul is speaking to the Gentiles, the non-Jews who had now come into this relationship with God through Christ.  2:11-22...

Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh--who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands-- 12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. 19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

            I don't have time to paint a complete picture of the hostility between Jews and Gentiles, but let me give you the short version.  We know about the racial problems in this country, particularly pronounced in the last century between blacks and whites in the South.  We know about the religious controversy between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland.  We know about the hatred which the Islamic Quran fosters toward Jews and Christians.  And we know about the gulf between the high and low castes in India.  Take those divisions and hostilities, add to them every other you can think of, and you might begin to approach the hostility that existed between Jews and Gentiles.  I am not exaggerating.  None of us have ever known anything like it.  They absolutely despised one another, and the Jews believed they had biblical justification for such an attitude.

            In the middle of that hatred and hostility came Jesus, the Son of God.  And because He gave His life as the propitiation for both Jews and Gentiles, we can read in Eph. 2:13-14, "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off [Gentiles] have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation..."  When we sing that little chorus, "He is our peace," know that it is from Eph. 2:14.  And it is not talking about the peace we have with God, but it is specifically stating that Jesus has given us peace with every other believer.  Even between Jews and Gentiles, Jesus is our peace.  Between young and old, Jesus is our peace.  Between rich and poor, Jesus is our peace.  Between black, white, brown and in between, Jesus is our peace.  Between political parties and varied opinions, Jesus is our peace.  As surely as Jesus' death and resurrection are sufficient to wash away our sins, so they are sufficient to establish peace between all who have been redeemed. 

He is our peace!

            Dietrich Bonhoeffer, best known for his book The Cost of Discipleship, wrote another book titled Life Together, and within that book there is a chapter on "Community."  Where he uses the word "community," we could just as easily insert the term "fellowship."  Listen to his words...

      Christianity means community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ.  No Christian community is more or less than this.  Whether it be a brief, single encounter or the daily fellowship of years, Christian community is only this.  We belong to one another only through and in Jesus Christ.

      What does this mean?  It means, first, that a Christian needs others because of Jesus Christ.  It means, second, that a Christian comes to others only through Jesus Christ.  It means, third, that in Jesus Christ we have been chosen from eternity, accepted in time, and united for eternity.   (Life Together, p. 21)

This is the message that John is communicating:  our fellowship is in the Father and in His Son.

            Consider Jack and Jimmy, who are brothers.  They are now in their 20's, having grown up in the same home.  They haven't seen each other in four years, but now they have made connections and have a few hours to spend together.  You won't hear Jack say to his younger brother, "Do you like fishing, Jimmy?"  "No, but why don't we go catch a movie."  No, that's not the conversation between them.  Why not?  They don't need to look for common interests; they are brothers.  Jack sees Mom and Dad on a regular basis, but Jimmy does not.  So Jimmy immediately wants to know how they are really doing.  Jack wants to know about Jimmy's new wife and the two kids.  They talk about experiences from years past.  Because they are brothers, the focus is on family and the things they have shared in common.

            Do you see?  If we are brothers and sisters in Christ, we are not bound together by common interests.  Those interests can bind people of the world together, and they do.  But we have the common bond that can never exist among unbelievers; we have the life of Christ.  And because Christ is our very life, He dominates the relationship between us.

            So someone is bound to ask:  "So does that mean that we can't talk about anything except Jesus?  We can't do anything together but go to church services, pray, and read the Bible?"  No, that is not what it means.  But it does mean that we shouldn't deceive ourselves into thinking that other common interests are what constitute Christian fellowship.  I can have just as much fellowship with a believer who grew up in Ecuador as a believer who grew up in New Mexico.  Why is that?  Because common nationality is nothing compared to sharing the life of Christ.

            I remember a particular man who came to faith in Christ many years ago.  He and I were as different as night and day, having grown up in completely different backgrounds.  But he was my brother in Christ and that common life bound us together and still binds us together.  I couldn't build a fence any better than he could shoot a basketball, but we knew that we shared the common life of Jesus. 

            Recently I was visiting with a man whom I didn't know very well.  As we began to visit, I found out that he had played a lot of baseball.  If that man hadn't been a Christian, I likely would have grabbed that fact and tried to establish some common ground by sharing that I too played a lot of baseball.  But why should I do that, when we both understood that we share the life of Christ and can focus on the fellowship we have in Him? 

III.  Our Fellowship Then and Now

            Brothers and sisters, for those of us who are truly in Christ, the day is coming when all other interests will fade away and Christ will be everything.  As John puts it, "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (I John 3:2).  "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory" (Col. 3:4).  "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly await for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body..." (Phil. 3:20).  "So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, 'Death is swallowed up in victory'" (I Cor. 15:54).  Christ will be all in all.  Forever and ever we will worship and cry out, "Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne and the Lamb forever and ever!" (Rev. 5:13).       When these bodies have been transformed to be like His glorious body and when sin and sickness and pain and death have been completely removed, we will enjoy perfect fellowship with Him and with one another.  What a day that will be! 

            So can we have a great measure of that fellowship now?  Yes, because John speaks of their fellowship with God the Father and Christ the Son, and he invites others to have fellowship with them.  We might be tempted to say, "But they were apostles."  Yes, they were, but they were every bit as much human beings as we are.  And they were inviting non-apostles to become a part of their fellowship.  This fellowship is not for super-Christians; it is for us.

            What is necessary to have this kind of fellowship?  Please hear me very carefully.  Everything that is necessary has already been provided.  Come back to I John.  1:5-7...

This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

            There is some disagreement about the exact force of this passage, about who it is that walks in the light.  I believe he uses that phrase to designate believers.  It is true that we don't walk in the light perfectly.  At least for most of us there are some times when we stubbornly turn away from the light, but that is not the pattern of our lives.  As a lifestyle, we walk in the light.  This is parallel to what we have in I John 3:6-9...

Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.

We understand that this does not mean the believer never commits a single sin.  Rather, his lifestyle is not one of walking in sin.  So it is with walking in the light.  We don't do it perfectly, but increasingly we welcome the truth of God's light and we turn from our sin. 

            There is also a question about the meaning of "we have fellowship with one another."  Does it mean one's fellowship with God?  Or is it referring to his fellowship with other believers?  While it is true that walking in the light enhances our fellowship with God, nowhere else do we see fellowship with God expressed in terms of "fellowship with one another."  "One another" is used five other times in I John, and it is always of the relationship between believers.  And while the cleansing blood of Jesus brings fellowship with the Father, it also opens the way for us to have fellowship with one another.

            Isn't this beautiful!  As we walk in the light, opening ourselves to God's truth, we have fellowship with one another.  John doesn't say it is possible for us to have fellowship with one another, but we possess that fellowship.  Why?  Because the blood of Jesus cleanses us from our sins.  In repentance and faith we have turned to Him who is the light, Jesus Christ.  And because of the cleansing power of His blood, we have fellowship with one another.  It was sin that separated us, but now that sin has been washed away in the blood of Jesus.  Of course, we have do not yet see the perfection in that fellowship which we will know after we see Christ face to face, but we do indeed experience that fellowship.  To the degree that we joyfully walk in the light of His truth, we will experience more and more of the depth of that fellowship with one another.

            Brothers and sisters, we have fellowship with one another.  Let's live in it.

Conclusion

            I want to conclude by giving us something to chew on.  I want to read you another statement Bonhoeffer's book.   He elaborates at length on this thought, but I will only give you the bare bones this morning.  Lord willing, on Wednesday evening we will expand more on this.  Here it is...  "Christian brotherhood is not an ideal, but a divine reality" (p. 26).  In other words, the true brotherhood of believers is not some ideal we are trying to reach.  Rather, it is a reality that is ours through Jesus Christ.

            Bonhoeffer stresses the idea that we must not construct what he calls a "wish dream."  In other words, I build an idea in my mind of what Christian fellowship ought to be.  Then I measure the fellowship I have with my brothers and sisters against that dream.  He then makes this statement:  "Just as surely as God desires to lead us to a knowledge of genuine Christian fellowship, so surely must we be overwhelmed by a great disillusionment with others, with Christians in general, and, if we are fortunate with ourselves" (p. 27).  He is simply saying that Christian fellowship isn't based on a great emotional feeling that may come our way from time to time.  That is a dream world.  Rather, real Christian fellowship is based on what God has done for us in Christ.  Again, we will explore this truth more fully on Wednesday evening.

            Here is what I want us to do this week.  Go over I John 1:3-7.  Read it until you don't have to read it in the printed Word any more, because that truth is imprinted upon your mind and heart.  Then let's give thanks for this great truth, that God has called us into fellowship with Him and His Son and with one another.  Finally, think of your brothers and sisters one by one.  As you do, thank God for each one and the work He has done in that brother or sister.  True Christian fellowship has its source in God the Father and Christ the Son, not in our common experiences in the world.  We can rejoice in the reality of that fellowship right now in this world.

Not by Bread Alone -- October 27, 2013

Sunday, October 27, 2013

MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE

Matt. 4:4; John 6

            Have you ever been in a difficult situation, a situation that seemed almost impossible to face?  And what made it worse was the fact that it seemed to go on forever and ever.  This morning I want to remind you of a biblical situation which fits that description.  God brought His people Israel out of slavery in Egypt and set them on the way to the Promised Land.  There were difficulties on the way, but they could look forward to entering into Canaan, the land that flowed with milk and honey.  But there was a major problem.  When they came to the land of Canaan, they refused to go in.  With the exception of Joshua and Caleb, along with Moses and Aaron, all the people complained, saying that if they went in, they would be devoured by the giants in the land.  Though Joshua and Caleb assured them that God would give them the victory, the people stubbornly refused.  God was angry with them and pronounced His punishment upon them -- 40 years of wandering in the desert, a year for each day the spies had spent in the land.  During that time, all of the adults would die off and would not enter the Promised Land, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, who trusted the Lord.

            Can you imagine how difficult that 40-year period was for those people?  That generation had no future.  Their destiny was to die, knowing that it was because of their disobedience to the Lord.  Not only was it hard on that genera-tion, but how difficult it must have been for their children.  Because of their parents' disobedience, they too had to wander in the desert all those years.

            That is the background for what Moses said to the new generation in Deuteronomy 8.  Let me remind you of the setting for the book of Deuteronomy.  The wandering in the desert is over; those who disobeyed the Lord at Kadesh-Barnea have died.  Now their children are on the banks of the Jordan River, ready to enter the Promised Land.  But before they went in, Moses gave them one last review.  That review is the book of Deuteronomy.  The word itself means "second law."  Moses would go back over the law of God with those people before they entered Canaan.  Now I want you to listen to what Moses said to them in Deut. 8:1-7a...

Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers. 2 And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. 4 Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. 5 You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you. 6 Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. 7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land...

            Notice especially verse 3, "So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know not did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord."  Young people, do you recognize some of those words?  Where do we find them besides here?  That's right...  When Jesus was tempted by Satan, He quoted these words from Deut. 8.  Let's read Matt. 4:1-4...

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." 4 But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"

            In conjunction with our emphasis upon God's Word this morning, this is our theme:  "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." 

            Jesus also faced a very difficult situation.  While He was on this earth, He was attacked by Satan as no other man had ever been.  Try to put yourself in His place.  You haven't eaten for 40 days, when the suggestion comes:  "Since you are the Son of God and can do whatever you want to do, why don't you just turn these stones into bread and have a bite?"  Would you be tempted to do so?  Of course, and so was Jesus.  What could be wrong with getting something to eat?  Had He not just spent 40 uninterrupted days with His Father?  It was a powerful temptation.  Rather than taking Satan's suggestion, Jesus responded with those words, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"  When He said, "It is written," Jesus was making it known that He was about to quote from the scripture, and that is exactly what He did.

            I think most of us have a good grasp of what Jesus was saying.  The term "bread" was a word that often referred to food in general (as did also the word "meat").  We realize that food is required to sustain physical life.  If you don't eat, you will eventually die.  But Jesus is saying that physical life isn't all there is.  When Jesus was tempted to turn the stones into bread, He reminded Satan that His primary goal was not to stay alive physically.  It was far more important that He obey the Word that came from God.  Though a man may have plenty of physical food to eat, what is it that will sustain Him spiritually?  Every word that comes from the mouth of God.

            Whether or not we take it seriously, we understand it, don't we?  As important as physical food is, it isn't so critical as the spiritual food that comes from the mouth of God.  Later Jesus would say, "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" (Matt. 16:26).  What kind of life are we nourishing?  This physical body is going to perish, even if we feed it in a healthy manner.  But what we feed the inner self will matter for all eternity.  Paul put it like this in II Cor. 4:16-18...

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

            So we learn from Jesus that physical food cannot nourish the soul.  As the physical body needs the physical food, the real self needs spiritual food, and that food consists of every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.  Though physical food is important, spiritual food is far more critical.  Never let the physical things you can see blind you to your need for the Word of God.

            But I see a problem.  Do you?  We get it so far -- don't focus on the physical and temporary things such as food, but focus on the Word of God.  How true it is.  Here's the problem.  In Jesus' day who had the greatest reputation for focusing on and emphasizing the Word of God?  It was the Pharisees, right?  And what's the problem with that?  They knew the Word (at least outwardly), but they didn't live it.  Jesus reserved His harshest words for the Pharisees. 

            Now let's come back to Matt. 4:4, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.."  Jesus did not emphasize knowing the Word of God, but what did He emphasize?  The key word is "live."  Did Jesus get that from Deut. 8?  Let's read again Deut. 8:3, "So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD."  Jesus quoted it right, because the key word here in Deut. 8:3 is "live." 

            The Gideons have a great ministry and they invite us to come alongside them.  We want to get the Word into the hands of as many people as possible.  How can people live the Word, if they don't know what it says?  Exposure to the truth of God's Word can lead to conversion, to a person being justified in God's sight.  We read it earlier in II Tim. 3:15, "and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."  Praise God for the testimonies of those who came to know the scriptures and were made wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus!

            That salvation (more specifically, that justification) is the beginning, but then we are to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.  Knowing every word that proceeds from the mouth of God is not enough; we must live it.

            To put it another way, let's quote another scripture from Hab. 2:4, "...the just shall live by faith."  Paul quoted that verse on two occasions.  There is a sense in which it has a double meaning.  The person who is righteous in Christ has come to life through faith.  That is, he is now alive because he put his faith in Christ.  That is the message of Eph. 2:1-10.  But once a person is justified, declared righteous in God's sight, how shall he then live?  By faith.  Those who are righteous before God continue to live by faith.  Ours is a life of faith.  Col. 2:6, "As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him."  As Paul puts it in II Cor. 5:7, "For we walk by faith, not by sight."  To live by faith is parallel by living by every word that comes from God.  So let's grasp it -- Man shall not live by bread alone, but man shall live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.  The goal is not just to know every word from God, but to live by every word from God. 

            So where do we go from here?  Recall that manna was mentioned in Deut. 8:3.  What was manna?  The word itself means "What is it?"  The Israelites woke up one morning to this white substance which covered the ground, and they wondered, "What is it?"  The manna was the food upon which they would rely for almost 40 years, until they crossed over Jordan into the Promised Land.  The day they entered Canaan the manna ceased.  Deut. 8:3 indicates that manna was a kind of bread.  That is confirmed in Neh. 9:15, "You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger, And brought them water out of the rock for their thirst, And told them to go in to possess the land Which You had sworn to give them."  It is even clearer in Ps. 78:24, "Had rained down manna on them to eat, And given them of the bread of heaven."  As I mentioned, "bread" is a term that can refer to food in general.  And that is exactly what the manna was for them.  Regardless of whatever else they might have to eat from time to time, they always had the manna.

            So here is my question:  "Did Jesus say anything else in relation to the manna which God gave them in the desert?"  As a matter of fact, He did.  Please turn to John 6.  Let's read John 6:26-36,49,58...

Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. 27 Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him." 28 Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?" 29 Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." 30 Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" 32 Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." 34 Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always." 35 And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.....  49 "Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.....   58 "This is the bread which came down from heaven--not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever."

            Three times Jesus mentions the manna.  That is fitting, since Jesus had just fed the 5,000 with two fish and five loaves of bread.  Notice verse 32, "Then Jesus said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.'"  He says emphatically that Moses did not give them the bread from heaven.  What do we make out of that?  Jesus is responding to what the Jews had said in verse 31, "Our fathers ate manna in the desert, as it is written [that means they are getting ready to quote scripture], 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"  Who gave them bread from heaven?  Both Neh. 9:15 and Ps. 78:24 confirm that it was the Lord Himself.  Nowhere does the scripture say that Moses gave them bread from heaven. 

            Then why does Jesus say, "Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven."  I believe Jesus was correcting two false concepts.  First of all, He is making it clear that God and God alone supplies the food and all the rest of the physical things we need.  I believe the Jews had come to see Moses as the source of the manna.  Moses was the primary agent in the story.  He was the one who announced that the manna would be coming.  They had forgotten that Moses was only the messenger, but God was the source.  So Jesus corrects them by saying, "Moses did not give you the bread from heaven."

            But that wasn't all that Jesus said.  We expect Him to continue, "But My Father gave you the bread from heaven."  But Jesus changes to the present tense and He adds one key word, the word "true."  Jesus told them that the true bread from heaven comes from the Father.  The manna sustained them for a time, but it wasn't the real thing.  The manna was only a temporary physical provision, but the Father would give the true and genuine bread from heaven.

            At this point the wheels in their minds must have been turning:  "So what is the true bread from heaven?"  Jesus didn't leave them to wonder.  In the verses that follow, Jesus gives a clear answer...

33 -- "For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." 

35 -- "I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and He who believes in Me shall never thirst."

38 -- "I have come down from heaven..."

            The Jews understood Jesus' claim perfectly.  We know this because of their response in verse 41-42, "The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, 'I am the bread which came down from heaven.'  And they said, 'Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, 'I have come down from heaven'?"  Jesus responded, but He did not forsake His theme...

50 -- "This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not died."

51 -- "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."

58 -- "This is the bread which came down from heaven-- "

            Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."  Remember that He is quoting from Deut. 8, which spoke about the manna.  Jesus contrasted the manna with the written Word of God.  Right?  That was the force of His introduction to those words:  "As it is written."  But here in John 6 with what does Jesus contrast the manna?  Here He doesn't contrast the manna with the written Word of God, but with Himself, the One who is the true bread sent from heaven.

            So is there a conflict here?  Are we supposed to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God or by Jesus, who also proceeds from God?  Do you see it?  There is no conflict.  What is the ultimate Word from God?  Is it not Jesus Himself?  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:1-2,14).  Yes, the written Word of God is vitally important, but it must always be seen in the light of the living Word, Jesus Christ, to whom all the written Word points.

            Now let's read John 6:48-58...

I am the bread of life. 49 "Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world." 52 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?" 53 Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which came down from heaven--not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.

            Brothers and sisters, we who are children of God, our great need is to eat His flesh and drink His blood.  Jesus was speaking to people who had grown up on the written Word of God, and Jesus was well aware of the fact.  To those who were steeped in the written Word, He told them they must eat His flesh and drink His blood. 

            Come back to the manna.  It sustained their physical bodies, but surely it was designed to do more.  When they were hungry and about to starve to death, God provided food for them.  What should have been their response the rest of their lives?  "Thank you, Lord.  We owe our very lives to You.  You did what no man could do."  And with an attitude of deep thanksgiving they should have told their children how the Lord had graciously provided for them in their time of need.  Instead, we read these words in Num. 11:4-6...

Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: "Who will give us meat to eat? 5 We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; 6 but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!"

Yes, they needed the manna, but the manna was designed to point them to the grace and mercy of the living God.  That is what Moses was getting at in Deut. 8:3, when he talked about the Lord testing them and proving them.  The manna was designed to do more than fill their stomachs.  And it did, it exposed their ingratitude and disobedience.

            Do you see the picture?  Yes, we desperately need the written Word of God, but that Word points to the living Word, to the Lord Jesus Christ.  As great as the written Word is, apart from the living Word there is no life.  We must live by the true bread from heaven, Jesus, the living Word.  So in Matt. 4:4 we see Jesus moving us from the physical to the spiritual, from the physical bread to the written Word.  But that isn't the end.  Here in John 6 we see Jesus taking us from the written Word to the living Word.

            I remind you again that those people knew the written Word.  They quoted it in John 6:31.  Yet their lives were empty and divorced from the life-giving power of the Word.  But Jesus pointed them to the core message of the written Word, which is none other than the bread sent down from heaven to give life to the world. 

Conclusion

            Manna represented the normal way of living for the Israelites.  It sustained their physical life.  Man tends to live by bread alone, doesn't he?  We all know that we need physical food to live, so we eat it and we live.  But somehow people get the idea that there is nothing more.

            But what about a man who goes without food for 40 days and then refuses to eat food that is readily available to Him?  Jesus looked beyond the physical food to that spiritual food that sustained Him.  He explained it, when He said to His disciples, "I have food to eat of which you do not know...  My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work" (John 4:32,34).  The will of the Father was for Jesus to go to the cross.  Satan tried to trip Him up, tempting Him to take a shortcut and not go to the cross.  Jesus was hungry, why should He not do the natural thing and whip up some bread out of those rocks?  Why shouldn't He jump off the temple to prove He was the Son of God?  Why shouldn't He bow down to Satan and receive the kingdoms that were due Him anyway?  Because none of it was the will of God.  Jesus refused to go around the cross, because it was the Father who sent Him there to die, to take our sins upon Himself. 

            This is the life to which God has called us.  If you are a child of God, meeting the physical needs can never sustain you.  You must live by the bread that came from heaven, by Jesus Himself.  Eat His flesh and drink His blood.  Yes, you have done that initially by trusting Him with your life.  That is what Jesus is talking about in John 6 up through verse 53.  But in verse 54, Jesus chooses a new word for "eat" and pushes it into the present tense, which speaks of a continual eating.  The idea is captured by the ESV, "Whoever feeds on my flesh..."  Literally, "Whoever keeps on feeding on my flesh..."  We take the words of Jesus and the life of Jesus and we just keep on chewing on it, much as a cow chews its cud.  This is basically the meditating on the Word, of which we read in the New Testament, but now we understand that the subject of our meditation is Jesus.  Every word that proceeds from the mouth of God is seen in light of the living Word, Jesus Christ.  So we keep on feeding on Jesus.

            Remember this:  Our fellowship is not with the book, as important as the book is.  As we read in I John 1:3, "And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ."  The Bible is given to us to point us to Jesus.  We praise God for this written Word, but we worship the Father and the Son.  

Love Is Our Assurance -- October 20, 2013

Sunday, October 20, 2013

LOVE IS OUR ASSURANCE

I John

            A couple of weeks ago as I was going through John 12, I read these verses in John 12:42-43, "Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God."  Notice that John said that these religious leaders (ruler) believed in Jesus.  That's a pretty strong statement.  So would we say that they were true believers, genuine followers of Jesus, what would later be known as real Christians?  No.  Why not?  John says that they believed.  Yes, but he also said that they did not confess Jesus for fear of being put out of the synagogue.  Jesus had earlier said, "Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 10:32-33).  Jesus was not talking about coming forward in a meeting and saying, "Jesus is my Savior."  Rather, He was speaking about openly confessing Him day by day, as we live out our lives in a hostile world.  The bottom line for those religious leaders was this:  "They loved the praise of men more than the praise of God."  They intellectually believed that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, but they were not willing to trust Him in light of the consequences that would come their way.

            By the way, you need to understand something about that term "believe" in the New Testament, particularly in the Gospel according to John.  The word is used about 100 times in John's gospel, but it does not always point to what we would call saving belief.  Another example of belief that is less than genuine trust in Christ is found at the end of the second chapter.  John 2:23-25, "Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. 24 But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, 25 and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man."  Some of them may have later come to truly trust Jesus, but they didn't at this time.

            This shouldn't greatly surprise us, because we have exactly the same situation today.  Many people make a confession that they believe in Jesus, but that does not mean that they necessarily are His genuine followers.  Some are; some aren't.  How many professing Christians are afraid to confess Jesus day in and day out before men, because they fear the consequences?  How many love the praise of men more than the praise of God? 

            That brings us back to I John.  We began to explore I John because of what it says about loving one another.  You will recall that in our pursuing the ministry of the Holy Spirit, we had come to the gifts of the Spirit.  But how do we know what our gifts are?  How do we exercise those gifts?  I believe we are in general agreement that love holds the key to answering those questions.  That is precisely why we find I Corinthians 13, the love chapter, right in the middle of Paul's discussion of spiritual gifts.  We don't effectively identify our spiritual gifts through artificial surveys, but through love, as we serve one another.  And the motive for exercising those gifts is love.  If we truly love one another, we will long for ways to serve one another, and that's where spiritual gifts enter the picture.  So our discussion of spiritual gifts naturally took us to an examination of loving one another.

            So far in I John we have focused on three truths about love...

                        1.  Love is our duty

                        2.  Love is our heritage

                        3.  Love is our nature

            Yes, we are repeatedly commanded to love one another.   But that is only the beginning.  We can do that because love is our heritage.  "We love Him, because He first loved us" (I John 4:19).  We have been adopted into a family of love.  Our Father loves us with perfect love, and we see that same love demonstrated in Jesus, who is not ashamed to call us His brothers.  And even deeper than that, love is our very nature.  In chapters 3, 4, and 5 it is stated that we have been born of God.  So, even though we are commanded to love, that command is not a burden.  We can love in this way because we have within us the life of God, and God is love.

            But consider again this issue of belief, whether it is only a matter of the mind or of genuine trust.  How do we know?  Closer to home, how do I know whether what I call belief in Jesus is the real thing?  Could I be deceived?  Can I have confidence that I truly know Him and am really trusting Him?  Those are crucial questions.  While it isn't healthy to be asking those questions all the time, Paul does tell us to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith (II Cor. 13:5).  But how do we do that?  I John provides an answer.  I John 5:12-13, "He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God."  This is the second time John has stated his purpose for writing this letter.  The first such statement came at the beginning of the letter.  I John 1:3-4, "... that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full."  Here John says that he is writing that their joy may be full, but notice how closely this joy is connected to fellowship with the Father and the Son. 

            John wants His readers to know that they have eternal life, and he longs for them to continue putting their trust in Jesus.  In between these two purpose statements we find a series of tests.  One author from the past titles his commentary on I John, The Tests of Life (William Law).  In other words, John sets before us principles by which we can test ourselves to see if we truly have spiritual life.  What are these tests?  They have been labeled and categorized in various ways through the centuries. When we view them most generally, I believe we find three basic tests...

    1.  The test of belief -- Who is Jesus Christ?

    2.  The test of obedience -- "He who says he abides in Him ought Himself to walk just as He walked"  (2:6)

    3.  The test of love -- Do I love my brothers and sisters?

            This raises another question:  But what if I apply these tests to my life, and I begin to question whether I really am a believer, a true Christian?  Didn't John write this so that his readers would be assured that they do indeed have eternal life?  Yes, that was John's desire.  However, it is inevitable that if it is possible to be deceived about the genuineness of our belief in Christ, then some who apply these tests will have to conclude that what they thought was true belief is not so. 

            We must also admit that John's method of assurance undercuts the kind of thinking with which many of us were raised.  When I was young, I heard a famous evangelist say often, "If the devil ever causes you to doubt your salvation, you just take him back to the 15th of November, 1975 and remind him of how you walked down that aisle and gave your heart to Jesus."  Though that methodology may be ingrained deep within us, it is not based in the New Testament.  John gives us tests that hit us right where we live every day.

            We, of course, are focusing on the test of love.  But understand that the tests of belief, obedience, and love are closely and vitally connected.  One of the commands for us to obey is, "Love one another."  A failure to do so reveals a failure both at the point of obedience and love. 

            So John's purpose, and our purpose, is to look at love in I John and allow God to bless us with His assurance that we have eternal life.  Nevertheless, it is very possible that the application of this test could reveal to one or more of us that we don't truly have eternal life.  My purpose this morning is not to cause anyone to doubt his or her salvation, but that might very well be God's purpose. Though that isn't our primary goal, we can't provide genuine assurance through the test of love without opening the possibility of doubt concerning one's possession of eternal life.  May the Holy Spirit work within each one of us, blessing us with assurance and conviction, as the need arises.

            Let's look at four questions in relation to the test of love...

I.  Are You in the Light or in Darkness?

            Let's read I John 2:9-11, "He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. 10 He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes."  We are immediately confronted with the strong contrasts that are characteristic of this letter -- light vs. darkness, love vs. hate, and later life vs. death.  John doesn't have time to deal with our deceptive shades of gray.  In his language, which is inspired by the Holy Spirit, if you are not loving your brother, then you are hating him.  It's as simple as that. 

            Immediately the question arises, "But what does it mean to love my brother?"  I Cor. 13:4-8a... "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8  Love never fails."  I John 3:16-17, "By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?"  This kind of love desires God's best for the other person and acts accordingly.  Remember, love is not a feeling and it is not expressed primarily in words, but in deeds.  So if you are not loving your brother (or sister) in this way, then you are in darkness.  You may claim to be in the light, but in reality you are in darkness. 

            That brings up another important question:  "What is the meaning of these terms 'light' and 'darkness'?"  It is obvious that John uses them in a figurative sense; he is not talking about literal light and darkness.  Sometimes we equate light with good and darkness with evil, but that is not the primary meaning.  The best way to get at it is to ask this question:  "What does light do?"  It exposes things for what they are.  It brings out the truth.  Light has more to do with truth than with good, though they are obviously related to one another.

            Go back to chapter 1.  I John 1:6-7, "If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin."  To walk in the light is to welcome God's searching truth, which will lead the believer to repentance and renewed trust in Him.  When you begin to be aware of a particular sin in your life, what do you do?  Do you turn toward the light of truth and face God squarely with your sin?  Or do you try to hide -- get busy and try not to think about it?  That's the difference between walking in the light and walking in the darkness.  Light is closely related to God's truth. 

            Again, John is just expounding on what the Master taught in John 3:18-21...

He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.

            Back to 2:9, "He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now."  But praise God that it doesn't have to be like that.  2:10, "He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him."  When you are loving your brother, you are welcoming and rejoicing in the light of God's truth.  But when you are not loving your brother, you are running from the light of God's truth and embracing the lies of the enemy.  He would have you believe that your brother doesn't deserve your love, that he shouldn't have treated you like he did, that no one could love a guy like that.  But when you face the light, the Spirit reminds you that your Father loves you, even when you are not worthy of that love.  He reminds you that love is longsuffering and kind, regardless of the circumstances. 

            When you are loving your brother, you are continuing in God's light.  You will not stumble yourself nor cause others to stumble, because His Word is a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path.  In this life of love, you find deep assurance.

II.  Are you Born of God, or Not?

            Last week we focused on this phrase "born of God."  We saw it in chapters 3, 4, and 5.  If you are a child of God, it is because you have been born of God.  To put it in terms of Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus, you have been born again.  But how do you know whether you have been born of God, whether or not you have this new life within you?  Let's read I John 4:7-18, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love."  John will never be accused of beating around the bush.  He bluntly comes to the point:  "Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.  He who does not love does not know God, for God is love." 

            Love is unmistakable evidence of the new birth.  Of course, we must again be reminded of the nature of this love.  Where can we find a picture of this love?  John tells us that God Himself is love.  Then in verses 9 and 10, he explains what he means by that.  I John 4:9-10, "In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 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."  This is simply an elaboration of John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son..."  This is what God's love is like.  So I John 4:11, "Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."  So if you love like that, then you know that you are born of God, that you have experienced the new birth.  You are truly a child of God.

            We have to be careful at this point.  Who can say that he has loved like that?  It is obvious that none of us have done that perfectly, nor will we do so in the future.  Nevertheless, is this the kind of love that is growing in you day by day?  Can you see this kind of love in you, though not in its perfection?  Do you long to see others come to know Christ as the propitiation for their sins, and are you acting in accordance with that desire? 

            Everyone who loves with this godly love, be assured that you have been born of God and you do indeed know God.  On the other hand, if this kind of loving is not your experience, John says that you do not know God.  You have not been born of Him, because God is love.  Perhaps you say, "But I have claimed Jesus as my Savior.  I know He has answered prayer in my life."  But thus says God's Word:  "If you have been born of Him, you will share His loving nature."  Again, John is simply echoing what Jesus Himself said, "If you love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15).

III.  Have You Passed from Death to Life?

            Now we come to a closely related concept.  John is expressing the same truth, but from a slightly different angle and in different terms.  Let's read it from I John 3:10-15...

In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. 11 For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, 12 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. 13 Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. 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. 15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

            Verse 14, "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren."  But the one who does not love his brother abides (continues, remains) in death.  Remember that we come into this world dead in our trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1).  That is, we are spiritually dead.  The great need is to pass from death to life, and that is exactly why God sent His Son Jesus into this world.  Through His death and resurrection He came to give us life.  "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly," said Jesus (John 10:10).  Many of us confess that we have found that life, but how do we know that our confession is genuine?  If we are loving our brothers and sisters, then we know that we have passed from death to life.  Love is the acid test that enables us to distinguish between death and life.

            Notice in verse 14 and 15 that John indicates that not loving our brother and hating our brother are one in the same thing, just as we talked about before.  14b-15a, "He who does not love his brother abides in death.  Whoever hates his brother is a murderer..."  Failure to love my brother is hatred for my brother.  Furthermore, if I hate my brother, I am a murderer.  John is still taking his cues from Jesus.  Jesus said in Matt. 5:21, "Ye have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.'"  You can just hear them saying, "I have never murdered anyone."  But Jesus then continued (vs. 22), " But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire."  Jesus equates anger toward a brother with murder.  John is doing the same basic thing here.  To hate your brother is essentially to commit murder, and we must all agree with John that a murderer doesn't have new life within himself.

            Actually, this language about passing from death to life was also taken from Jesus.  John 5:24, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life."  Do you understand.  The means of passing from death to life is hearing the Word of Jesus and believing on (trusting) the One who sent Him.  But again, it is very possible for a person to think he has passed from death to life, when that is not really the case.  What is the test?  "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren" (I John 3:14).  Jesus gives the way to life; John shows us how to test whether that passage has really taken place.

            If you are loving your brothers and sisters, rest assured that you have indeed passed from death to life.  Praise God!  The love you are demonstrating is only possible because of the life He has given you!

IV.  Is God Abiding and Is Love Perfected?

            Now I John 4:12, "No one has seen God at any time.  If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us."  That is one powerful truth.  Though Moses was allowed to see God's back parts, no one has seen God "face to face."  Immediately after reminding us of that fact, John then says, "If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us."  Do you see the implication of what He is saying?  No one has seen God, but the next best thing in this life is to have Him abiding in us and have His love perfected in us!  And we know that the key to God abiding in us and His love being perfected in us is none other than Jesus Himself.  How do we know that?  Because of what this same author says in John 1:18, "No one has seen God at any time.  The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him" (NASV -- "explained Him;" literally, "exegeted Him").  God's abiding presence and the perfection of His love comes to us through Christ.

            I am reminded of David's words in the eighth Psalm:  "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that you visit him?" (Ps. 8:3-4).  But that isn't the half of it.  "Lord, when I consider Your unequaled glory, Your awesome power, Your incomprehensible wisdom, how can it be that You would choose to dwell in a man such as I?"  If the very Word of God did not assure us of this reality, to say it would be the ultimate blasphemy.  But the Word does tell us.  "If we love one another, God abides in us."  Perhaps the emphasis here is not so much upon the individual as upon the body of Christ.  As this love for one another can exist only in a group of people, so the fullness of God's abiding is seen in His body, in the household of God. 

            But what about this perfecting of God's love?  While some people view this as our love for God, I believe John is talking about God's love for us.  Of course, the two are tied closely together.  When we love one another, God's love for us has been perfected in us.  That is, it has reached its goal.  Think about it.  What can we give to the God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills?  He doesn't need our sacrifices or even our good deeds.  But when we love one another, our Father is pleased, just as He was pleased to love us in the sending of His Son.  Remember that Paul summed up all the law in one word:  "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Rom. 13:8; Gal. 5:14).  God's love for us finds its completion in our love for one another.  It has run its course and fulfilled its purpose.

           

Conclusion

            So what have we done this morning?  Mainly we have simply read the scripture.  For my part, I have emphasized how love is one of the primary tests as to whether we truly know God, whether we truly have the life of Christ within us.  No doubt, some of you are thinking that I haven't been specific and practical enough.  While I am often guilty of that very thing, this morning I have deliberately been a bit vague.  Why?  Because I can't see your heart.  I recognize that what we have looked at this morning is a very serious matter.  While some of you have received assurance from John's test of love, it may well be that doubt has been stirred up in others.  It is a serious thing to bring doubt into the life of a true believer.

            Please hear me.  It is the Holy Spirit who bears witness with our spirits that we are children of God.  This morning I am praying that the Spirit will take the Word we have examined and work deeply within every single person here this morning.  Understand that we can trust God.  If you cry out to Him this morning, by His Spirit He will give believers assurance and will bring conviction to those who don't truly know Him.  This is an area where other people can pray for you and with you.  I and others can point you to the scriptures, just as we have done this morning, but it is the Spirit of God who must apply those scriptures and test the genuineness of your faith.

            I leave you with the words of the Holy Spirit through John...  (I John 1:3-4; 5:12-13)

That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full...     He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

Pray