Series: 1 John
Title: Hereby We Know
We Love
Text: 1 John 5: 2
Date: March 21, 2019
Place: SGBC, NJ
1 John 5: 2: By this we know that we love the children of God, when
we love God, and keep his commandments.
Now we know that John
is not speaking of the ten commandments.
Paul said those commandments “written
and engrave in stones” “is the
ministration of death”; “the ministration of condemnation” (2 Cor 3: 7-9) Contrary to popular teaching, it is not
the law of Mt Sinai that God writes on our hearts in the new birth—it is the law of faith. (Rom 3:27; Rom 8: 2; Heb 10: 14-23)
So
what does John mean when he says “we love
God and keep his commandments”? All the commandments of God are summed up in
this one commandment, “And this is his
commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ” (1 Jn
3:23). That is “the holy commandment” (2 Pet
2:21). It is the commandment God the
Father gave to Christ our Prophet that Christ said is “life everlasting.” (Jn 12: 49-50)
“Jesus answered them and said,
This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent” (Jn 6: 29). On the mount of transfiguration, God gave
his commandment from heaven when he said, “This
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him” (Mt 17:4-5).
In
verse 1, John declared that we love God and our brethren by faith in his Son—"Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the
Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat…” Notice, John says believing on Christ is
loving God. John equates faith in Christ with love
for God. He said, “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ…loveth [God] that begat.”
And we love our brethren the same way, “Whoseover
believeth that Jesus is the Christ…loveth him also that is begotten of him.” We love our brethren the same way we love God,
that is, by believing that Jesus is the Christ.
Then in verse 3, John again tells us he is speaking of faith in Christ, “For this is the love of God, that we keep
his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” The only commandments
of God that are not grievous are these, “Come
unto me, all ye that labour and
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of
me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For
my yoke is easy, and my burden
is light” (Mt 11:28-30). Christ is
God. And those are the commandments of
God that are not grievous. The apostle
Peter said, concerning the law given at Mt Sinai, it was a “yoke…which neither our fathers nor we were
able to bear” (Acts 15: 22). Peter made
that statement as a believer who once was under the law of Moses but was now
under the law of Christ. So he was
speaking by experience as one who knew which commandments of God are grievous
and which are not. Peter said the
commandments given at Sinai were so grievous that neither our fathers nor we
were able to bear them. But he knew that
through faith in Christ we establish the whole law of God because Christ
established it on behalf of his people (Rom 3: 31-4: 3). Therefore, Peter knew (as every true believer
knows) that the commandment to believe on Christ is not at all grievous, but easy
and light, because in Christ we find rest from the impossible labor and heavy
burden of the law of Sinai, which no sinner can keep.
Then
in verses 4 and 5 John even declared more clear that he is speaking of God’s
commandments to believe on his Son, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh
the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that
overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”
So in verse 2, John comforts
every believer. Anyone who has
experienced the many doctrines and commandments of men know that they give all
sorts of laws in order to love the children of God. All those doctrines of men would leave a true
believer wondering if he ever loved his brethren at all. They would leave a true believer doubting and
in bondage and torment. But in our text,
John settles our hearts by declaring, “By
this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God”, which
John says we do by believing that Jesus is the Christ. And we know we love the children of God when
we “keep his commandments”, which all
are summed up in his one commandment to believe on the name of his Son, Jesus
Christ our Lord.
Proposition: We love the children
of God by believing on his Son, continuing in faith in spirit and truth, being
fellow helpers to the truth of Christ.
ABIDE
IN CHRIST
By obeying God’s
commandment to believe and abide in Christ, and to abide in the doctrine of
Christ, we love our brethren. Christ is
God in human flesh. His commandment is
that his people abide in him and in his words (his doctrine, his gospel).
John 15:
4: Abide in me, and I in you. As the
branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can
ye, except ye abide in me. 5: I am the vine, ye are the
branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much
fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6:
If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and
men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 7: If ye abide in me, and my words
abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
We are sinners with
no strength in ourselves. It is by
Christ that we bear this fruit to begin with.
When we are born of God, Christ effectually commands us, giving us faith
to believe on him. We continue abiding in Christ the same way. And by our union with Christ—abiding in
Christ and Christ abiding in us—Christ makes his child bear fruit.
By Christ abiding in
us and his words abiding in us, Christ promises, “Ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” We will look more in depth at this in
another message. For now, notice, it is
obvious in 1 John 5 that he has these words of Christ in mind because a few
verses after our text John declares this very thing Christ declared concerning
prayer. (1 Jn 5: 14-15)
So in our text, John declared that obeying these commandments of God to believe
on Christ and abide in him is how we love God (1 Jn 5:2) That is what Christ said,
“He that hath my commandments and keepth
them, he is that loveth me…” (Jn 14: 21).
Also in our text, John declares this is how we know that we love our
brethren. John declares the same thing
in his second epistle.
2 John 1: The elder unto the elect lady and
her children, whom I LOVE IN THE TRUTH; and not I only, but also all they that
have KNOWN THE TRUTH; 2: FOR THE
TRUTH’S SAKE, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever. 3:
Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, IN TRUTH AND LOVE. 4:
I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children WALKING IN THE TRUTH, as we
have received A COMMANDMENT FROM THE FATHER. 5:
And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a NEW COMMANDMENT unto
thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that WE LOVE ONE ANOTHER. 6:
And THIS IS LOVE, that we WALK AFTER HIS COMMANDMENTS. This is THE COMMANDMENT, That, as ye have HEARD
from the beginning, ye should WALK IN IT.
“And this is love,
that we walk after God’s commandments.” God
commandments are that we walk in the truth, which is persevering in faith in
Christ and in the gospel of Christ. This
is how we love our brethren. We can show no greater love to our brethren
than by believing on Christ and continuing in the doctrine of Christ under the
preaching of the gospel as God commands us.
We do so by God’s grace by the constraint of Christ’s love for us. As John says, “For the Truth’s sake.” We do
all for Christ sake. We receive one
another, bear one another’s burdens, cover one another’s sins, and do all that
we do together as brethren for the sake of Christ and for the sake of the
gospel of Christ. The apostle Paul said,
1 Corinthians 5: 13: For whether we be beside ourselves, IT IS TO GOD:
or whether we be sober, IT IS FOR YOUR CAUSE. 14: For THE LOVE OF CHRIST CONSTRAINETH US;
because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 15: And
that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto
themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
Christ’s love for us constrains us. He laid down his life for all his people so
that all his people are now dead—crucified with Christ. Our body of sin is destroyed having been
slain by the justice of God when Christ was crucified. And Christ died for his people that they
which are now born again should not live for ourselves but for him who died for
us and rose again.
Therefore, Paul said, if we be beside ourselves, it is to God our
Savior! It is for the Truth’s sake! If we be sober, it is for your cause, our
brethren for whom Christ died. In all we
do as the church of God, we do through faith in Christ, for the sake of Christ,
for the promotion of the doctrine of Christ, constrained by the love of Christ.
Only when we the Spirit of God has given us a pure heart and brought us
to obey Christ by believing on him do we love our brethren. The scripture says, “Seeing ye have purified your souls IN OBEYING THE TRUTH through the
Spirit UNTO UNFEIGNED LOVE OF THE BRETHREN, see that ye love one another with a
pure heart fervently” (1 Pet 1: 22). As
John declares, it is by obeying God’s command to believe on Christ, to abide in
Christ and in the doctrine of Christ that we love our brethren.
COMPROMISE IS NOT
LOVE
2 John 7: For many deceivers are entered into
the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a
deceiver and an antichrist. 8: Look to yourselves, that we lose
not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. 9:
Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not
God. He that abideth in the doctrine of
Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
“Whosoever transgresseth and
abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God.” It is not love to depart from the truth by compromise
or to comfort those who are hiding in a refuge of lies.
I was reading an invitation to a conference that a church leader sent to
me. It said, “There will be nothing preached or done that is controversial or
offensive.” In other words, we will take
the offense out of the cross and the gospel will not be preached.
The gospel is offensive to proud, natural man. If we preach the three R’s it will be
offensive to sinners. To declare all
sinners ruined by the fall with a
will bound in sin so that no sinner can save himself is offensive to proud
fallen man. To declare the necessity of redemption by Christ Jesus who redeemed his particular people
alone offends the self-righteous. To declare
the necessity of regeneration by the Holy
Spirit by which sinners are called to life and faith in Christ is offensive to
the will-worshipper.
Yet, if we would love our brethren, even strangers, we must declare that
salvation is by the will and work of God who saves whom he will, apart from our
works. It is offensive to sinners. But speaking the truth in love is the only
way we can show a sinner true love. And it
is the greatest way we can love!
But it is not love to make men with a false refuge think they have a
good hope! Many think you show love by
receiving and uniting with all denominations who preach false doctrine. They say do not offend them. Don’t tell them that God first loved his
people and only his people. Don’t tell
them that God first chose his people and only his people. Don’t tell them Christ
is the Wisdom, Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption of his people so
that none can glory save in Christ alone.
Still, religious
leaders who say things like that are only betraying a heart of unbelief. They do not believe on Christ themselves
therefore they do not believe that God is able to save through the preaching of
the gospel of Christ in truth. Until a
man has experienced the hammer of God’s word breaking his hard heart he cannot
and will not believe that God saves through the preaching of the gospel of
Christ in truth.
Jeremiah 23:29: Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like
a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? 30:
Therefore, behold, I am against
the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.
31: Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the
LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith. 32:
Behold, I am against them that
prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to
err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded
them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.
Does the Holy Spirit
teach us to receive men who preach and promote lies?
2 John 10: If there come any
unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither
bid him God speed: 11: For he
that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
Brethren, that is not being mean.
But if we receive men as brethren who believe lies, it is pure hatred! John said it is to partake of his evil deeds. To love is to remain faithful to Christ as we
speak the doctrine of Christ in truth.
The greatest love we can show to eternity bound sinners is to believe Christ
so that we declare the doctrine of Christ that sinners are saved by Christ’s
works and our own!
FELLOW HELPERS
TO THE TRUTH
3 John 1: The elder unto the wellbeloved
Gaius, whom I LOVE IN THE TRUTH…3:
For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified OF THE TRUTH THAT
IS IN THEE, even as thou WALKEST IN TRUTH. 4: I have no greater joy than to hear that my children WALK IN
TRUTH. 5 Beloved, thou doest FAITHFULLY whatsoever thou
doest to the brethren, and to strangers; 6: Which have borne witness of thy CHARITY before the church: whom
if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well: 7: Because that for HIS NAME’S SAKE they
went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles. 8: We therefore ought to receive such, that we might be FELLOWHELPERS
TO THE TRUTH. (3Jo 1:1-8)
We love our brethren
by keeping God’s commandments to walk in the truth of Christ, doing whatsoever
we do faithfully to Christ, that we might be fellow helpers to the Truth.
By the Truth of Christ
abiding in Gaius and his brethren, Gaius and his brethren walked in the Truth
of Christ and did whatsoever they did faithfully to Christ. That is true God-given love (charity) which
the church bore witness to.
This is John’s point
in our text. By this we know that we love the brethren—when we believe on Christ
the Truth, when we abide in Christ the Truth, when we do all that we do faithfully
to Christ, for Christ’s name’s sake, that we might be fellow helpers in promoting
the truth of Christ.
Brethren, God has
entrusted us with the gospel of Christ in this place. Think on that! What a privilege! What an honor! What a responsibility! If we would love one another and strangers (who
may be Christ’s lost sheep) then the way we do so is by believing on Christ
ourselves, abiding in the doctrine of Christ under his gospel, and doing all
that we do faithfully to Christ. We give of ourselves helping those who preach
the gospel in truth that we might be fellow helpers of the Truth together—that we
might promote the truth of Christ far and wide. But we must do so in truth! Paul said,
2 Corinthians 4:1: Therefore
seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; 2: But
have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor
handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation OF THE TRUTH
commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
That is what I do
each time I preach. I preach from God’s
word showing exactly what God says in his word.
I say to all who hear, did I know show you in God’s word that this is
the truth? Here it is in black and white
on the pages of God’s holy word. We do
not handle the word deceitfully. We do
not walk in craftiness. We have
renounced those things. By manifestation of the truth, we commend ourselves to
every man’s conscience. And do not miss
out on this! We do so in the sight of
God!
Paul preached the gospel to all men letting nothing become a distraction.
He took nothing from the Corinthians
because they were such money grubbers that he did not want that to be the only
thing they could focus on! He declared
the reason being this: “And this I do FOR
THE GOSPEL’S SAKE, that I might be partaker thereof WITH YOU” (1 Cor 9: 23). The first cause was for the sake of
Christ and his gospel. And that was how
he loved them. He did it that he might
be a partaker of the gospel with them—a partaker of Christ and all his
blessings with them. Paul knew God would
only bless the preaching that honored his Son and gave him the preeminence. It was great love to preach Christ alone,
making himself a servant to his brethren. And this Paul did for the sake of Christ. Paul said, “For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves
your servants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Cor 4:5).
Brethren, if we would
be fellow helpers promoting the gospel of Christ then we must do all in faith to
Christ and for his name’s sake. Paul
said, “And whatsoever ye do in word or
deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father
by him” (Col 3:17).
One last illustration. I want to you see how the Lord Jesus commended
Peter’s faith and faithfulness when Peter declared his name in truth. And I want you to see the contrast. The Lord asked his disciples who men were
saying he was. Then he asked his apostles.
Matthews
16: 15: He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16: And Simon Peter
answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17: And Jesus answered and said unto him,
Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto
thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18: And I say also unto thee, That thou
art Peter and [but] upon this rock I will build
my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Christ commended
Peter because of his testimony which exalted Christ in truth. He said, “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona! You are blessed of my Father. Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto
thee, but my Father which is in heaven revealed this to you.” Many misunderstand what Christ next to Peter
but let me try to paraphrase so I can show you.
Peter’s name means rock. Christ
used a sort of play on words. “And I say
also unto thee, “Thou art he whose name means rock. But Peter, upon this Rock—upon the clear,
truthful preaching which declares that I am the Christ—God’s anointed; the Son
of the living God in human flesh sent to save my people from their sins—upon this
Rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it!” But be sure to notice that Christ
commended Peter because of his faith in Christ and because of his faithful
testimony which bore witness that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living
God, the salvation of his people! Christ
commended Peter because that is the Rock on which Christ will build his church. And as John tells faith in Christ and
faithfulness to Christ in the declaration of his name is true love to brethren.
Now, notice the
contrast.
Matthew
16: 21: From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that
he MUST go unto Jerusalem, and [MUST] suffer
many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and [MUST] be killed, and [MUST] be raised again the third day.
Christ declared to
them that “as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness even so MUST the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” Christ must be exalted on the cross! Christ must be high and lifted up on the cross
as well as in the gospel we preach and believe.
It is a must!
Matthew
16: 22: Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from
thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
No doubt, Peter
thought this was love to prevent Christ
from being high and lifted up on the cross.
And what Peter did is no different from what men do who think it is
love not to exalt Christ and him
crucified in the gospel they preach.
It is exactly what men do who think it is love to skip over passages of
scripture that might offend erring brethren and offend the loved ones of the
erring brethren. It is exactly what men
do who think it is love to pamper professing believers who walk contrary to the
word of God in a refuge of lies. But did the Lord call it love?
Matthew
16: 23: But [Christ] turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be
of God, but those that be of men.
When men refuse to
exalt Christ on the cross, it is of the devil.
It is an offense to Christ. It is
savoring not the things that be of God but those that be of men! Now, listen to the Lord’s lesson. May he give us grace to obey this word in
faith to him.
Matthew 16: 24: Then said Jesus unto
his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up
his cross, and follow me. 25: For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and
whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26: For what is a man
profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what
shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
We must deny ourselves—if we will believe
on Christ and be faithful in proclaiming Christ then we must deny ourselves. We
must deny our wisdom, deny our ways, deny our works and deny our worth. We must deny our vain thinking that we can
believe on Christ and love our brethren while forsaking his people and his
gospel to go our vain way. We must deny
any vain notion that by taking the offense out of the cross we can make the
gospel palatable to sinners. We must
deny even the thought of compromise. Whatever
it is that we would do that is contrary to faith in Christ and faithfulness to
the truth of Christ, we must deny ourselves!
We must take up our cross—even if our dearest
loved ones reject us and persecute us because we believe on Christ and proclaim
his gospel in truth, we must be willing to suffer for the sake of Christ and
his gospel. "Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe
on him, but also to suffer for his sake.”
We must follow Christ—we must follow him if
we ourselves would be saved. We must
follow him under his gospel with his people abiding in the doctrine of Christ. We must follow him if we would be the
instruments God uses to save others. We
must follow him in the message we hear, the message we support and the message
we preach. He is the Way, the Truth and
the Life, no man comes to the Father but by him.
For whosoever will save his life shall
lose it—and that is what we
do in any way that we insist on having our way rather submitting to God’s way. If we refuse to deny ourselves, if we refuse
to take up our cross for his sake then we are attempting to save our life. We may gain the whole world by doing so! Multitudes may sit under our preaching by
doing so! But Christ said we shall lose
our lives. And what is a man profited, if
he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give
in exchange for his soul?
and whosoever will lose his life for
my sake shall find it—may God by his sovereign grace make us lose our life
entirely for the sake of Christ—believe on him, abide in him, abide in his
doctrine under his gospel with his people, be fellowhelpers of the truth—and do
all for his sake, for his glory, for his honor!
Oh, may God make us faithful to Christ alone!
In
closing, brethren, remember, it is not love to God, to our brethren or to
anyone else to compromise the gospel simply because I want to save my own life and
have my will be done.
Hereby
we know that we love the brethren, when God’s irresistible grace makes us deny ourselves,
take up Christ’s cross, and believe on Christ apart from our works. We love poor, needy sinners when we are willing
to suffer persecution that we might remain faithful to Christ and preach him in
truth!
It
is only through the testimony of Christ the Solid Rock in truth that Christ
builds his church. And it is only by abiding
in Christ and his doctrine and being faithful to Christ that we love God and
our brethren.
Amen!