Out of Death and Into Life
We Love the
Brothers
(1
John 3:14-15, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, October 16, 2016)
[14]
We know that we have passed out of death into life,
because
we love the brothers.
Whoever
does not love abides in death.
[15]
Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer,
and
you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
Out
of death into life
Don't
miss opportunities for daily grace. They come in many ways—not only
in Bible study and prayer, but in the opportunity that we have to
listen to someone and to care. Ask yourself these important
questions: What was I created for? What was I redeemed for? The Lord
has made you and redeemed you to enjoy Him and to give your life away
in service as an act of true worship. If you are too busy, you may be
missing the fact that the people all around you in their hectic lives
are your opportunities for receiving and giving daily grace.
God
has gone to great lengths to rescue you out of death. You were once
worse than comatose in sin. Dead people do not have daily
opportunities for the kind of grace that only comes to the redeemed.
Though they may be restrained from much evil, at the end of the day
they are still spiritually dead. But you have “passed out of death”
by the grace of the Almighty. Where are you headed now that you have
left the old neighborhood of the dead? The same God who brought you
out of death has brought you into life together with all who belong
to Jesus.
But
how can we know? Love is the proof, especially love for “the
brothers.”
Do
you have the life that John writes of? If so, it came to you by the
Lord's mercy. You were delivered from spiritual blindness and have
come to see that God is your only hope. Through the simple act of
prayer, you have expressed your need to the One being who can bring
life to the dead. As John Calvin wrote in his Brief Outline of the
Christian Faith, “Man must
turn to God in order to ask from him, by prayer, what he has learned
to be in him.” This sincere petition for life is the first step of
the new Christian.
A
genuine work of saving grace is displayed in a life of love for the
brothers and sisters in God's family. This obedience of perfect love
was first and most supremely displayed in the cross of our Lord and
Savior. Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that
someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) Jesus won
us by His love. He came. He healed. He taught. He saved. This love of
Christ for His disciples lives on right now through His disciples. It
is the visible proof that you have passed from spiritual death to
spiritual life.
Here's
how this works: Love lived once. Love lives on today. Let love live
through you.
Where?
Let love live through you at home. Let love live through you among
the “brothers” in the church. There is more for you (work,
community, world), but you can start in these two spheres of family
and church as proving grounds for any broader work as a Christian
servant.
Of
course, non-incarnational Christianity has its advantages. You don't
have to be around people that are less than perfect in so many ways.
To look at this another way: Incarnational living is annoying. But it
is also very rewarding. As Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give
than to receive.” (Acts 20:35) [Example of Paul in Ephesus as
recorded in Acts 20. Further example of modern life in a Presbytery.
Living a life of spiritual friendship and common endeavor in the
church is well worth it, and it is a sign that a person has moved
from death to life.]
What
about the person who “hates his brother?”
These
verses contrast the condition of someone who loves the brothers in
Christ with those who hate the brothers. Right away we might all
object to what appears to be an exaggeration. We would say, “I
don't hate them.” But the
apostle John makes the connection between “not love” and “hate”
taking away any supposed middle ground. How could this be? Remember
this: Detachment is a soft hate. It turns another human being created
in God's image into a person who does not even exist in our world.
That kind of elimination of a person is truly hateful.
John goes on to make
the connection between “hate” and “murder.” That may seem way
over the top, but remember that Jesus made the connection between
calling someone a fool and God's command that tells us, “You shall
not kill.” Detachment is hatred. Hatred is man-killing. And a
man-killer does not have eternal life abiding in him.
But we feel sure
of much better things... (Hebrews 6:9-12)
But
not you. By God's grace, the church is a resurrection community of
true brotherly love. Of course, there is much room for us to grow in
love toward one another, even in the best times and in the best
churches. We are not in the best times or the best environment for
Christian living. We are told by Jesus that the day will come (Is it
already here?) when “the love of many will grow cold.” (Matthew
24:12) What can Christians do to turn up the temperature of our love?
Just
as we turn to God in prayer in our first motion of Christian faith,
we can pray to Him for much improvement in love. We can ask for the
daily grace of seeing every present annoyance as an opportunity for
daily grace, rather than an unpleasantness to be avoided.
Why
not cultivate a new habit of instant and constant prayer? Paul says,
“Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) Another quote from
Calvin to the point: “To know that God is the Lord, to know that
everything good comes from him, to know that he invites us to ask him
for what we need, and yet not to call on him and pray to him, is like
knowing of a treasure hidden in the earth and, through indifference,
to leave it there, without taking the trouble to dig it up.”
The
false pride of not admitting our need will do us no good. “Blessed
are the meek.” We should humble ourselves, since spiritual
arrogance only leads to the murderous spirit that John sees as a sign
that the King of eternal life is not remaining in us. Grace is the
only way to obtain a gift as precious as exemplary love. Ask and you
will receive.
Augustine
said this in a sermon on 1 John: “Love God and do what you want.”
The more you actually love God, the more you will love the brothers.
Jesus loved the Father supremely, and then He did what He wanted. He
loved you. Paul loved God and then he did what he wanted. He loved
the church in Ephesus.
You
were created for this. You were redeemed for this. Admit your need
for grace. Yes, you are the meek. And also admit this: that you (and
not haters like Haman) shall inherit the earth.
Old
Testament Reading—Esther 7 –
The Death of Haman
Gospel
Reading—Matthew 5:5 –
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
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