2. Though these themes do re-occure it is not true that they are merely repetitious

1. each time we return to a topic John is expanding our perspective & giving each topic Some new detail & emphasis

C) It is like looking at a painting that has incredible detail in it / each time you look at it/ you noticing something else

1) that only enhances what the artist was seeking to portray & communicate.

4. As we come to this section of chapter 3 John builds on the theme of Love !

1. He goes into some more detail on how we are to love/ by drawing our attention to the Love modeled by Christ

2. Hopefully - there is a difference in the degree of our love for pizza & the Lakers and the love for our wives

1. Easy to say - I love you - "True actions speak louder than words"

3. Our heavenly father desires that our actions would match our words / and He is

very blessed by such actions that reveal our true heart !

The story is told of a desert wanderer who found a crystal spring of fresh water. The water was so pure he decided to bring some to his king.

Barely satisfying his own thirst, he filled a leather bottle with the clear liquid and carried it many days beneath the desert sun before he reached the palace.

But the king would not let his faithful subject even imagine that it was unfit for use. He tasted it with expressions of gratitude and delight, and sent away the loyal heart filled with gladness.

After he had gone, others sampled it and expressed their surprise that the king had even pretended to enjoy it. "Ah!" said he, "it was not the water I tasted, but the love that prompted the offering."

I believe this is true w/ the Lord Many times our service is marked by multiplied imperfections, but the Master looks at our motives and says "It is good."

1. 1^st John Reviews the Main Point by presenting a contrast / 2^nd He paints a picture of the kind of love we are to Have .

B) 3^rd He Gives some Practical insights for our lives in showing us how the love that we are to have for each other is to be in action!

1. Love in deed & in truth - life that is absent of hate!

C) John begins here in verse 13 by making an unusual statement Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. We live in a world of Hate !

4. There is hatred in the business world . There can be such a fierce competition & desire to succeed that an absolute hatred can develop for against competitors
5. There is hatred between individuals I hear people say things like I hate him or I hate her . can’t stand them / I don’t want to be in the same room as them !

1. The world is filled w/ a great deal of Hate but our lives are to be marked by Love ! This is One of Johns main points in this epistle !

F) Shares it again here in v. 14,15 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. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

Romans - love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts by the H.S.

1)And Paul tells us in Gal. Ch. 5 that the fruit of spirit! = Love…/ Breakdown

3. Joy is love rejoicing / peace loves calming / long-suffering loves patient / kindness loves showing mercy /

1. goodness = loves grace & giving / faithfulness is loves sureness - counted on/ gentleness = loves humility & compassion
2. self control = loves self restraint and order!

4. Paul says there in Gal./These characteristics will be evident in the life of those who are walking in the Spirit/ Those who are Abiding in Jesus !

1. Look at other people differently - through the eyes of love!

5. The degree of love that comes forth from our lives- reveals where we are really at spiritually

1. And an Absence of love or even hatred reveals that we really don’t know the Lord or are not in fellowship w/ the Lord at the least

1. But the Person who doesn’t show love abides in death!/ What John is saying here is that Love cannot co-exist w/ hatred

27. Now this is a rather perplexing statement because all of us in this room have had times where hatred, bitterness, & anger have filled our hearts !

1. Some who have been really hurt by others have to struggle w/ those type of feelings constantly !

2. But the thing we need to remember is in this whole section of Ch. 3 John is talking in terms of a lifestyle ! Attitudes that mark your life !

1. He uses words like doeth, practices, abides, thus illustrating that he is talking about a lifestyle ! Habitual sin

Bb) And John points out that the person who knows the Lord will not live in an Habitual state of sin ! Here the sin in focus is the sin of Hatred

3. John point in this whole section is to say the person who really is in fellowship w/ the Lord cannot live that way Because it goes against his new nature v. 9

1. His seed refers to Divine nature and the indwelling of the H.S./ the H.S. in him will convict that person of such sin !

D)But John says here in v. 14-15 Hatred un dealt w/ in the life of a person is evidence that they either do not know God or are not in fellowship w/ God

1. "Only difference between murder & hate is the outward act! The inward attitude and intention are the same"
2. Well you say - I would never allow it to go that far!

1. Jesus said if you have hatred in your heart toward someone you are guilty of murder

3. Our tendency when we have been wronged is to scream someone needs to pay

Justice needs to be served ! And our Lord Jesus quietly answers back

1. Someone did pay / justice has been served I paid it all & in full 2000 yrs ago on a cross at Calvary / You need to Love & Forgive !

29. Guys this is such a key to dealing w/ bitter-ness & hatred that can spring up in the Heart is to realize Jesus Paid the Price !

1. Realizing & admitting that His sacrifice at Calvary is totally sufficient to cover that sin !

4. We have little trouble believing & accepting the fact that Jesus sacrifice at Calvary was sufficient to cover my sin & wrong doings

1. But we sometimes don’t want to accept that about the sins & wrongs that have been done against us / because our flesh likes to be bitter !

E) But Jesus said I paid the price, for the sins of all the world & I paid it in full , meaning it was totally complete So you need to love & forgive !

1) Prov 10:12 - Hatred stirs up strife /but love covers all sins

F) Matt 5:43,44 You have heard it said love neighbor & hate your enemy

1. The love of Christ is to be our model - comparison

2. We live in a world of comparisons - arbitration in sports one short stops play compared to another determines salary - worth

1. Earlier this year Basketball was waiting for Michael Jordan sign/ What he made would put everything in place

3. Wives compare husbands - parents kids - people churches - pastors!

1. But when it comes to love - we need to look higher - see love demonstrated in Christ - consider _3__ things

1. Loved those who crucified Him! "Father forgive" " Paul said when we were enemies of God Christ died for us"

A) 400 years before John B. "Silent years" - no prophet in Israel

Man was far from God - not seeking God!

1. He showed his love when the Religious system in Israel was corrupted and the rest of world were idolaters

2. The gross immorality that was in the world during the days when the Romans were in Power was probably one of the worst times in History

1. Homosexuality was rampant / they were extremely immoral people who influenced the minds of the whole world !

C) He loved us when we were at our worst !

1. Jesus looked past the sin & saw the sinner and loved him - laid down his life for him

2. Self preservation is natural characteristic of physical life - watch out for me

1. self sacrifice is natural characteristic of spiritual life

3. Jesus exemplified that self sacrificing love when concealed His deity / He Laid aside His right to assert Himself as God! & Came in the form of a man

4. He Came humbly- (not as a king but as a lowly peasant from one of worst cities in Israel! Naz. ( resembled TJ

1. Jesus humbled Himself - took form of a servant

B)That is what God seeks to do in our lives as we abide in Him / abide in His love

In January 1981, Colombian rebels kidnapped Chet Bitternman, shot him, and left his body in a hijacked bus. Imagine how his parents and loved ones must have felt at the senseless death of this young man!

But in April 1982, as a demonstration of international good will, the churches and civic groups of Bitterman's native area, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, gave an ambulance to the State of Meta in Colombia, where their Son Chet had been killed.

Bitterman's parents traveled to Colombia for the presentation of the ambulance. At the ceremony his mother explained, "We are able to do this because God has taken the hatred from our hearts."

She shares this true story in her book, The Hiding Place:

It was a church service in Munich that I saw him, the former nazi solider who had stood guard at the shower room door in the processing center at Ravensbruck.

He came up to me as the church was emptying, beaming and bowing. he said "How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein,". "To think that, as you say, He has washed my sins away!"

His hand was thrust out to shake mine. And I, who had preached so often to the people in Bloemendaal the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side.

Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him.

I tried to smile, I struggled to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer. Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me Your forgiveness.

1. Which means: I look past sin - see sinner! Realizing that Jesus Paid the price and He has empowered me to love & Forgive

1. Moves from theology to practicality - defines what it means to lay down our lives

2. See a brother in need - help them! Practical

1. Young mother w/ 2 kids was at a Women’s bible study - shared w/ her group -the trouble she had finding time for devotions

3. Now this Group - could have judged her & maybe some did / thinking "We can do it why can’t she"

1. But 2 women showed up at her house - one day the following week / - go to bedroom - pray read - we will take care of kids & house

4. They did this for about 1 hour for 7 straight days - allowed the young mom to set up a pattern/ rekindle that spark of sitting at the feet of Jesus

1. And to develop the discipline of getting in the Word / After those 7 days she was able to do it on her own!

1. Make vulnerable - possible hurt or taken advantage of!

1. time

C) To love this way will also mean you will be inconvenienced ! Not something you put on a schedule ! Classic example of this seen Parable of good Samaritan:

B) In the story the Religious guys - passed by - words but no love

1. but the Samaritan (who in theory was an enemy) loved - in action

3. Cared for him - paid price for him - made sure he was taken care of

1. He went the distance!

Charles Schwab American Industrialist "We become vulnerable when we love people and go out of our way to help them.",but if you want to steer away from trouble, be hard-boiled. Be quick with a good loud no to anyone and everyone. If you follow this rule, you will seldom be bothered as you tread life's pathway. Except you'll have no friends, you'll be lonely, and you won't have any fun!" Schwab had made his point -- love may bring heartache, but it's worth it!

C. S. Lewis: To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. But If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your own selfishness. But in that casket -- safe, dark, motionless, airless -- it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.... The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers of love... is Hell. The choice is yours

A) A love that He supplies to us as we abide in Him / a love that loves not just w/ words but in deed & truth in action !

2. Love that looks past sin & see the sinner / It sees the person for what they are/ that they are same as we were before we came to Christ

3. Attitude that Jesus had when he looked at sinners and said Father forgive don’t know what do

1) That they are people wandering around like sheep w/ out a shepherd

4. It might mean that in love - I lovingly deal w/ people’s sin

1. Reach out - maybe confront - but must be done in love

5. Jesus said - didn’t come to condemn the world but to save!

1. Our job isn’t to judge but to love and minister /seek to save and restore

Remembering that He has left us here to be Light to a world that is lost & in the dark ! And to be salt - to have a preserving , healing & flavor enhancing affect

upon our world !

And the World will see these things & Know that we are his disciples by our Love