21. 1 John 3:10-15: "A Matter of Life & Death"

1 John chapter 3, starting in verse 10, hear now the inspired word of God.

By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious. Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.

For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

Not as Cain, who was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him?

Because his deeds were evil, and his brothers were righteous. Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you.

We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.

Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

Let's pray. Father once again, as we look into your word, especially in this important epistle, where the apostle

John explains to us in great detail what it means to be a believer in Jesus Christ, and what our obligations are, and how can we be assured of that salvation.

So open our eyes, our ears, and our hearts, that we could see, hear, and understand what you have to say to us this morning.

We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Please be seated. I want you to picture a scene for a moment.

The heroine of the story is lying in a hospital bed, having been infected with a deadly virus.

The hero has acquired the only antidote, and he is miles and miles away.

And so he's rushing through all kinds of obstacles and opposition to reach his dying love.

As he encounters many obstacles, he keeps shouting, get out of my way, it's a matter of life and death.

There are car crashes, bombs bursting, automatic gunfire. The shouting continues, out of my way, it's a matter of life and death.

And of course, just as he reaches the hospital, he encounters his arch enemy, the villain.

And the fiercest of all battles ensues, just as time is running out, and it's a matter of life and death.

It's a common theme in literature, isn't it? As well as the movies, television.

If it's not some deadly disease, it's an impending explosion from a deadly bomb.

Or an innocent man is about to be executed, and information proving his innocence is just out of reach.

Dozens of variations, it's a matter of life and death. With those thoughts in mind, we come to our text for the morning.

And John addresses another matter of life and death.

Look at verse 14 of 1 John chapter 3. John says, we know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren.

He who does not love, abides in death. Now, of course, here

John is addressing the matter of spiritual life and death. Which is all the more important, because the consequences are eternal.

Jesus addresses this topic in the third chapter of John's gospel, in that very simple verse that we all learn in Sunday school.

John 3 .16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

It's describing a matter of life and death. Let's remember the context of the first three chapters of this marvelous epistle of John.

Remember, so far in the epistle, John is encouraging the people to come to full assurance of faith.

And to do so, most recently, he says, look at who you are in Christ. He says, do you want to be encouraged?

Do you want to be confident? Do you want to know that you are saved? Then remember who you are.

You are children of almighty God. And we've spent some time examining just what that means.

And among other things, we found that it means that we are actually joint heirs with Christ.

Think about that. That means that everything that Christ accrued for himself by being obedient on the cross is credited to our account.

It means that the love of God for Jesus Christ is directed toward us as his children.

And there's so much more, but even just that much should strengthen your faith.

It should give you assurance of your faith. And now in these verses before us this morning,

John builds upon those things and he adds another principle. Look at verse 10.

By this, the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious. Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God.

And then here's the addition. Nor the one who does not love his brother. Now, we began looking at that verse two weeks ago.

And we saw how it was somewhat of a summary of the first two and a half chapters and also an introduction into the rest of the epistle.

If we understand what it means to be a child of God, then distinguishing between the children of God and children of the devil,

John says, that should be obvious. The children of the devil, they do not practice righteousness.

The children of God do, but that's not the distinction that John emphasizes here.

He actually refers back to a concept he had introduced much earlier in the epistle. And that is that the mark of distinction of the child of God is love of the brethren.

By reverting to loving the brethren, John kind of ups the ante, so to speak.

In other words, this subject is not left up to debate.

If you're a child of God, according to John, the holy scriptures say, then loving the brethren is inevitable.

It's not only an exhortation to love one another, it's a test of faith. You cannot say you're a child of God and not love the brethren.

That's exactly what John says here. And we see that it's an exhortation, besides being a test, in verse 11, where he says, for this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

And we're given this exhortation based upon who we are as children of God. Now, I want you to just pause for a minute and think, this is a common theme in scripture.

What I mean by that is doctrine precedes practice. Doctrine defines what the practice should be.

God commands certain things from his children, but he commands those things based upon who we are in Christ.

And there is an expectation, says John, upon the

Christian to love one another. For he is obviously different from the children of the devil.

That's what he says. There's a difference, an obvious difference. John is concerned about this doctrine because this is not the first time he's addressed it in this epistle.

He addressed it all the way back in chapter 2. Remember, we actually at that point, we called it the social test for faith.

And speaking of loving one another, we read these words in chapter 2 of 1 John. Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you.

But an old commandment which you have heard from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you have heard.

Remember, we saw that the commandment was old and that it was given all the way back in Leviticus.

This is not just some new teaching. Leviticus 19 .18, right in the law of God, it says,

You shall not take vengeance nor bear grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

But then on the other hand, John says, but I am giving something new. He's obviously paralleling the words of Jesus recorded by him in his gospel.

In chapter 13 of John's gospel, verse 34, Jesus says,

A new commandment I give to you that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

When you first read that, were you puzzled as I was? How can a commandment both be old and new at the same time?

Well, it's old since they had the commandment from the beginning. It's not something new in that sense.

We've already seen it's rooted in the Old Testament. But then how is it new?

I want to quote Dr. Martin Lloyd -Jones again. He says it so well. He says, But though it is in that sense an old commandment, it is also a new one in that it is possible now in a new way that it was never possible before.

The Lord Jesus Christ, by coming into this world and by doing what he has done, has made this old commandment in a sense a new commandment because there is a new possibility connected with it.

Notice the continuing theme. We have the ability to obey God because of who we are in Christ.

We're not who we are in Christ because we can obey the commands. It's the other way around. But John isn't merely repeating this for emphasis, though that's enough of a reason.

But he's linking loving the brethren to the passing from death to life.

In other words, loving one another is not merely a good idea. It's not something that, well, yeah, it would be a good thing for in the church if we all loved one another.

It's not what he says. You know what he says? It's a matter of life and death. That puts a little different emphasis on it, doesn't it?

See, this is one of the principles that the early church really had down well and it aggravated their persecutors to no end.

Tertullian, in his treatise, Apologeticus, wrote it in the late second century.

He talked about how the pagans, they hated each other. They couldn't get along with one another.

And then when they would see how the Christians behaved, and this is a quotation from one of the pagans, look how they love one another and how they're ready to die for each other.

What did John say? It's obvious. Children of God, children of devil.

Even the enemies of the gospel understood that loving one another was a defining concept of Christianity.

And John continues in his exhortation by going back to the beginning, the very first brothers.

He said, we should love one another. And then he says this in verse 12.

Not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him?

Because his deeds were evil and his brothers were righteous. And that's what the rest of the events in Genesis.

Cain and Abel are real historical people. And yes, their lives and the events in Genesis lay the important foundation for our theology.

Genesis is such an important book. But don't just relegate these stories to allegory.

That's a tragic mistake. And this morning, I'm only going to focus on just one small portion of their story that's relevant for our study in 1

John. But Abel was the second son of Adam and Eve. Cain was the older brother.

I know there's a lot of speculation, were they twins? And it makes no difference to our purpose here. Cain was given a job of being a farmer while Abel cared for the flock.

And we're given not many details. But it's obvious from the text each one of these had knowledge of God and God had revealed things to them.

And you can be sure that Adam and Eve had taught them some lessons from the fall. You know that they were schooled.

Talk about the original homeschoolers, right? But be that as it may,

God spoke in some way to them. And they knew that they must give offerings to God.

Look at Genesis 4, starting in verse 3. So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the

Lord of the fruit of the ground. And Abel on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions.

And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering. But for Cain and for his offering, he had no regard.

So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. So it's very simple. God accepted

Abel's offering but not Cain's. And Cain knew that he didn't have regard for it because immediately his countenance fell.

He was rejected. So we see that God was communicating. These men had the word of God.

Not in the way we have it, but in a direct revelation. And then there's another confrontation in verse 6.

Then the Lord said to Cain, why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, what does that mean?

If you obey. If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door and its desire is for you.

But you must master it. Cain is given very specific instructions by God on how to remedy his situation.

And he tells him the consequences if he doesn't heed his instructions. And so what does

Cain do? Does Cain say, oh yeah, I'm gonna do well. Now we read in verse 8,

Cain told his brother Abel. And it came about that when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him.

Cain has dialogue with his brother. And again, the details of the dialogue are not given.

Therefore, they're not important for us. But it's certainly clear that Abel didn't tell him what he wanted to hear.

Cain's response to the rejection of his offering and the exception of Abel's is kill his brother.

Instead of listening to God, following his instructions, he takes matters into his own hands.

He comes up with his own solution. And he kills his brother.

And then the conversation with God that follows is also instructive. Verse 9, then the

Lord said to Cain, where is Abel, your brother? And he said, I do not know.

Am I my brother's keeper? And he said, what have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.

And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.

There are so many things that can be said about the curse and upon this whole set of circumstances.

But I'm going to focus just narrowly on ours purpose for this morning.

The only reason we spend some time on Cain is that it's important to set the context of the faith of Abel.

So what do we do? We turn to Hebrews 11. We are given some very important pieces of information in the epistle of Hebrews chapter 11.

Remember the context of Hebrews 11. After examining the superiority of Christ in every respect over the old covenant, the author of Hebrews gives us a litany of personal testimonies of faithful servants of God.

And he begins with Abel. And he says that by faith,

Abel offered a better sacrifice. Let me read verse four. By faith, Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous.

God testifying about his gifts and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.

Now, how was Abel's sacrifice better?

Was it better because it was animal rather than fruits? I've heard sermons expounded that at length.

Maybe, possibly. But that's not what the text says.

The difference between Abel's and Cain's, Abel's was offered in faith.

By faith, it was a better sacrifice. Abel believed that God had revealed to him and obeyed what

God had told him while Cain did not. Here's the point. There's a relationship between faith and revelation from God.

And this is a lesson we already explored in 1 John. Obedience is a demonstration of faith that a person possesses.

If we've learned anything from our past study in Hebrews, we must know by now that no animal sacrifice ever made a person righteous.

The blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin. And yet, Abel is referred to as righteous from Jesus himself.

In Matthew 23, verse 35, where Jesus is pronouncing a curse on his generation for their unfaithfulness, he calls, he says, from the blood of righteous

Abel to the blood of Zechariah, it's going to fall on their heads. Jesus himself calls Abel righteous.

So how is a person, how is Abel declared righteous? Certainly not by any of his own actions.

But it's by imputation of the righteousness of Christ to him. Just as the scripture testifies of Abraham.

Abraham believed and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Abel believed

God and obeyed in accordance with that belief. So by faith, he offered a better sacrifice than his brother

Cain. Remember the definition of faith? Hebrews 11, 1.

Our faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Abel obeyed

God and we are to emulate the faith of Abel. That's the reason the author of Hebrews gives us his example.

It's also the reason John uses Cain as a negative example. Abel has a testimony which is worthy for us as opposed to what

Cain had. Look again at Hebrews 11, 4. By faith,

Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous.

God testifying about his gifts and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks. I have to pause on this for a minute.

There's something very interesting here. Notice who testifies about the righteousness of Abel.

God does. God is the one who testifies. Abel never says anything about himself.

We don't get a sense from the text that Abel was bragging to Cain that his sacrifice was accepted and he wasn't taunting.

We get no indication of that whatsoever in the text. Abel never says anything about himself.

It was God who had the regard for his sacrifice and calls him righteous.

In other words, God was pleased with his sacrifice. And his pleasure with the gifts of Abel is a testimony to his righteousness.

And so Christ, excuse me, and so Christ has no trouble when he speaks about Abel calling him righteous.

Here's a good point, a little on the side. God takes pleasure in his children.

God testifies about them. And at the risk of being flippant, you know me,

I'd never want to be flippant. At the risk of being flippant, God brags about his children.

Consider my servant Job, he tells Satan. Look at him, blameless in all his ways.

God testified about David. Look at him, look at David. He's a man after my own heart.

God testifies about Abel's faith and puts him forth as someone we should look to for an example and an encouragement.

There's an important lesson in that for us. What is our propensity?

Especially if you meet somebody new. I want to tell them all about myself, all my accomplishments.

Look at the things I've done. You know what Proverbs says? Proverbs 27 to let another man praise you.

And not your own mouth, a stranger, and not your own lips. Who better to testify for us than God?

You're his child. If you're his child, he brags about you.

Some of the trouble that you have from the evil one is because God brags about you to him.

You don't want him to brag too much, do you? Second lesson that we learn from Abel's testimony is that we deserve

God with the very best of what we have. Look at Genesis 4 .4.

And Abel on his part also brought the firstlings of his flock. The firstlings, the very best.

And God had regard for that offering. When Abel brought offering to the

Lord, he chose the best that he had. And this principle should be applied to every area of our lives.

I know this is usually where a pastor will insert a nice lesson on tithing. And you should be tithing, but that's not the point here.

The point is that God deserves our very best of whatever we give to him. Let me ask you this.

What part of the day do you give to the Lord? Do you give the best part?

Or do you give him what's left over? What about work for the church, acts of charity?

Do you always give what's left over when I have time? Or do you present the firstfruits of your time, firstfruits of your heart?

Where are you putting your treasure? Those are important questions. Third, the prerequisite for pleasing

God is to act from faith. This is one of the main points of 1

John. It's all throughout this epistle. Because giving money, giving time, or anything else is fruitless if it doesn't come from a heart of faith.

I don't care how much money you have, you can give all that you have if it's not coming from a heart of faith. Abel's offering was acceptable because it came from a heart of faith.

I love what Martin Luther says about Abel. He says, Abel could have sacrificed the shell of a nut and it would have been acceptable.

But he was able to give his best because he believed God and he trusted him. So giving the best was the only natural response.

But the indication is that Cain obviously gave his best too. Yet it wasn't accepted by God.

Why? Because it didn't come from a faithful heart. Empty works is nothing less than Phariseeism.

And by the way, don't give in a grudging manner because God loves a cheerful giver. I say this periodically from the pulpit and the deacons always get mad at me.

If you're giving your tithes and you're offering begrudgingly, keep them. Because they're not doing you and they're not approving anything for God.

He does not reward begrudging giving. Remember Ananias and Sapphira. They wanted to make a big show, but they lied.

And they had grudging in their heart. And God struck them dead.

Fourth, obedience to the commands of God are a demonstration of faith.

John Owen said this. Our persons must be first justified before our works of obedience can be accepted with God.

For by the acceptance, he testifies that we are righteous. While it's possible for an unregenerate man to do some good works, even obey certain commands to a certain extent, yet not be truly saved.

The converse cannot be true. A person who has been truly saved must of necessity respond by acts of obedience.

Able sacrifice was a natural outgrowth of his faith in God. For the

Christian, the obedience and good works are the natural product of the grace of God in his life.

Remember James says it so well. He said in chapter 2 verse 17,

Even so, faith, if it has no works, is dead being by itself. But someone may well say,

Well, you have faith, I have works. Show me your faith without the works and I will show you faith. My faith by my works.

A person who shows no fruit of grace in his life cannot be a

Christian. If the spirit of God is dwelling in you, that will make a drastic change.

Not just in what you do, but in the attitude and the motivation behind what you do. One of the greatest manifestations of that work is loving one another.

I think that's one of the hardest commandments. Fifth, acceptance by God means opposition from the world.

As far as we can tell with scripture, Abel never did anything to deserve his brother's wrath. The only reason given in scripture for the murder of Abel is that his sacrifice was accepted and Cain's wasn't.

When you begin to walk in obedience to the commands of Christ, you will have problems in this world.

I don't make very many promises from this pulpit. That's one I'm going to make. If you believe in Jesus Christ, you will have problems in this world.

I promise you. He says, don't say I never keep all my promises.

And that's what John reminds us of in verse 13. He says, do not be surprised brethren if the world hates you.

You know, the world may like some things about you. If you live a consistent Christian life, you will to some extent serve gratitude from the world.

If a bank teller gives you too much money as a Christian, you know you have to give the money back.

She's going to like you. If you're generous with your money towards civic projects, you'll be appreciated and maybe even give you a plaque.

If you give of your time to feed the homeless, people will consider you a good person.

But if you're consistent in your Christian life and you call abortion murder, see how they treat you then.

If you call homosexual behavior sin, you will incur wrath like you have never seen.

If you desire to live a consistent Christian life, you will have trouble sooner or later. Which leads to the next lesson.

Suffering and even being killed for Christ is an honor in this life, but it will greatly be rewarded in the next.

Paul says in Philippians chapter 1 verse 29, he says, for to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake.

Experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now here to be in me. Paul says it has been granted to you to suffer.

It is a badge of honor. It's a privilege to do so. And the saints of God will do so with joy, even though the trials may be hard.

And when you go through those times, God will bless you. Remember you have never been forgotten by God.

First Peter chapter 3. Listen carefully to this encouragement. For the eyes of the

Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears attend to their prayer. But the face of the

Lord is against those who do evil. Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good?

But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled.

And Peter tells us, he reminds us again, don't be surprised when these things happen. Verse 12 of First Peter 4.

Beloved, do not be surprised by the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happened to you.

But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of his glory, you may rejoice with exultation.

For if you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed. Because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

These are all things which the testimony of Abel tells us. And he still speaks even though he is dead.

Can you imagine, do you think Abel ever thought that his name would be spoken thousands of years later and held up as being righteous?

The main lesson from our text this morning though is very simple. It's an exhortation to love one another.

Why? Because it's the surest demonstration that you have passed out of death into life. Cain killed his brother,

John says, because he was of the evil one. He had murder in his heart. Look at verse 15 of our text for this morning.

Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. And you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

That brings me to the end of the message. And I thought, how do I close a message such as this?

Very simply, love one another. Why? It's a matter of life and death.

Let's pray. Father, we come before you in prayer and we thank you and praise you for the blessings you've given to us and your son.

We thank you, Father, for the exhortation that you give to us in this epistle of 1 John.

I pray, Father, first for the person here tonight, this morning, who doesn't know you, that you would be pleased to take away the stony heart, give them a heart of flesh, that they might repent and believe and come to faith and be passed from life, from death unto life.

For those of us who have already come to that place, help us, Father. Help us to love one another, even as you have loved us.