Focus On:
Adoration: Who God Is And What God Has Done;
Confession: Agreeing With God About Our Sin;
Thanksgiving: God Wills That We Be Thankful All The Time;
Supplication: Pleading A Humble Petition To God;
Fellowship: Be Ready To Do Any Good Work In His Name;
Joy: Spiritual Maturity Produces Lasting Joy.
Walking In The Light: A Strong Desire To Know Jesus And Spend Time With Him.
A New Kind Of Love: Our Love For One Another Is Motivated By Our Love For Christ.
The Church Family: Intentional Spiritual Growth And Fellowship.
The Things Of God: Love The Father Or Love The World.
The Truth: Guard Your Heart And Mind Against Error.
The Lord's Return: Be Courageous Until He Returns.
Abiding In Christ: Be Delivered From The Practice Of Sin.
I JOHN IS WRITTEN IN WHAT CAN BE UNDERSTOOD IN 2 SECTIONS:
GOD IS LIGHT,
GOD IS LOVE.
THIS STUDY BEGINS THE SECTION OF GOD IS LOVE:
FOCUS ON LOVE IN ACTION: GOD'S LOVE FLOWS THROUGH US TO ONE ANOTHER.
1 JOHN 3:11-18 EXPLAINED:
- To Say And Do Acts of Philadelphia Love.
- To Have Proof That One Has Passed From Death To Life.
Life Without Love Is Death.
To Love Is To Be In The Light;
To Hate Is To Remain In The Dark.
- To Show That Hate Can Turn A Person Into A Potential Murderer.
- To Follow In The Steps Of Jesus The Christ.
He Laid Down His Life Upon The Cross.
He Said To Lay Down Our Life For HIS Family.
1 JOHN 3:11-18: OUTLINED:
Hatred Is In Direct Contrast With God’s Love: It Will Distinguish The Believer:
The Conflict Between Love And Hate:
The Mark Of The World Is Hatred.
The Mark Of The Church Is Love.
1. THE MARK OF THE WORLD IS HATRED:
A. HATRED IS REPRESENTED IN ADAM’S FIRSTBORN, CAIN (3:12).
The First Person Born On This Earth Under The Curse Of Sin.
The Self-Centered, Evil Bent Of The Fallen Human Heart.
Hate Seldom Goes To The Extreme Of Murder; The Roots Are There.
Represents The Hatred Of The Fallen Human Race.
Abel Obeyed By Faith.
Cain, In Defiance And Disobedience, Brought An Unacceptable Offering.
When His Brother’s Offering Was Accepted And Cain’s Was Rejected, His Envy Began To Boil and Seethe.
Even Though God Confronted Cain And Exhorted Him To Repent.
Cain Ignored The Warning.
As A Result, He Slit the Throat Of His Brother.
“DO NOT” BEHAVE LIKE CAIN:
- Cain belonged to the EVIL ONE and murdered Abel his brother.
- Murderers don’t have eternal life residing in them.
- Cain kills Abel because the works of Cain were evil,
- Cain hated Abel because the works of Abel were righteous.
B. HATRED ORIGINATES WITH SATAN (3:12, 15).
Cain Was “of The Evil One” (3:12).
The Murderer Was A Murderer From The Beginning.
Hatred Or Love Finds Their Roots In The Human Heart,
Hatred Finds Its Source In Satan,
Love Originates With God.
“DO NOT” BE SURPRISED IF THE WORLD HATES YOU.
- The Evil World System Resents the Christian Way Of Life.
- An Evil Person Will Instinctively Hate A Person Living Upright.
- Righteousness (Living Upright) Always Provokes Hostility In The Minds Of Those Whose Actions Are Evil.
- The Reason Is That A Person Living Upright Is A Walking Rebuke To An Evil Person.
- A Person Living Upright Passes A Silent Judgment On An Evil Person.
- A Person Living Upright Senses The Guilty Conscience Of A Society.
- A Person Living Upright Makes An Evil Person Feel Condemned.
C. HATRED DIVIDES PEOPLE AND MAY RESULT IN THE TAKING OF LIFE (3:12, 15).
Hatred Becomes Indifference Or Avoidance Of Another Person,
Causes Separation And Distance In Relationships.
Selfishness And Hatred Become Murder.
Anger Is The Same As Murder In God’s Sight,
All Murder Begins There.
We Cringe When We Hear Of Someone Murdering Someone Else,
We Often Tolerate The Roots Of This Sin By Excusing Our Anger As Justifiable.
We Need To See Our Own Selfish Anger As Hideous And Serious.
D. HATRED IS MOTIVATED BY PERSONAL SIN (3:12).
John Asks, “And For What Reason Did He Slay Him?”
It Was Not Because Abel Was Doing Evil.
Rather, Cain’s Deeds Were Evil And Abel’s Were Righteous.
The Root Of Cain’s Slaughter Of His Brother Was Rebellion Against God.
So, While Hatred May Be Directed At Other People, Invariably The Hateful Person Is At Odds With God.
He Needs To Confront His Own Sinful Heart.
Hatred Is Shown In Adam’s Firstborn, Cain,
It Originated With Satan.
It Divides People And May Result In Murder.
It Is Motivated By Personal Sin Or Rebellion Against God.
E. HATRED IS THE EVIDENCE OF SPIRITUAL DEATH (3:14, 15).
A Person Whose Life Is Marked By Selfish Hatred Of Others Shows No Evidence Of New Life In Christ.
Paul Was A Murderer.
David Was A Murderer.
Moses Was A Murderer.
A Person Marked By A Pattern Of Selfishness, Envy, Jealousy, Strife, And Hatred Demonstrate Spiritual Death.
However, Overall Direction Of A Person’s Life Changes With A New Life In Christ.
John’s Words Are A Test, Based On Evidence, Of A Person’s Spiritual Condition.
John's Words Are An Exhortation To Those That Profess To Believe In Christ.
As Believers, We Have To Battle The Hatred That Stems From Our Own Selfishness.
Spiritual Growth Results Inevitably From Spiritual Life With Constant Effort.
We Must Put Hate To Death And Replace Them With The Fruit Of The Spirit.
2. THE MARK OF THE CHURCH IS LOVE:
A. LOVE IS REPRESENTED IN GOD’S FIRSTBORN, CHRIST (3:16).
That One Who Laid Down His Life For Us.
Demonstration Of Real Love—God’s Love—
The Righteous One, Who Willingly Sacrificed Himself On Behalf Of The Ungodly.
NOTE: Hatred Sacrifices Nothing For Others.
“DO” LOVE ONE ANOTHER:
This Message Was From The Beginning Of Christianity.
Jesus Said: Know You Are My Disciples Because You Have Love For One Another.
B. LOVE ORIGINATES WITH GOD.
Love In The Believer Comes From God.
One Who Does Not Love Is Not Of God,
One Who Loves Is Of God.
NOTE: Hatred Divides People And May Result In Murder.
C. LOVE UNITES PEOPLE AND RESULTS IN LAYING DOWN OUR LIVES FOR OTHERS (3:16-17).
Jesus Showed His Love By Laying Down His Life For Us.
One Ought To Make Sacrifices For The Family Of God.
Self-Sacrifice Is Never Convenient.
Love Unites People Through Practical Deeds Of Self-Sacrifice.
NOTE: Hatred Is Motivated By Personal Sin.
D. LOVE IS MOTIVATED BY GOD’S LOVE IN CHRIST.
Beloved, If God So Loved Us, We Also Ought To Love One Another.
NOTE: Hatred Is The Evidence Of Spiritual Death.
E. LOVE IS THE EVIDENCE OF SPIRITUAL LIFE (3:14).
Passed Out Of Death Into Life, Because We Love The Brethren. He Who Does Not Love Abides In Death.”
This Fruit Of The Spirit Never Grows To Perfect Maturity In Life,
One Should Be Able To See Growth In Love
When One Compares:
A Self-Centered Life Before Conversion
TO
A Focus On Others Since One Was Saved
To Say That One Knows Christ,
- But Continues To Live For Self,
- But Continues To Be Unwilling To Be Inconvenienced
- But Continues To Be Unwilling To Meet The Needs Of Others
One Needs To Examine If Truly One Has Passed To A New Life.
The New Direction Of New Life Will Be To Grow In Love For Others
HOW DO WE KNOW WHEN A PERSON BELONGS TO GOD?
We Know That We Demonstrate A Righteous(RIGHT LIVING) Lifestyle
We Know That We Demonstrate A Love For The Family Of God.
CONCLUSION:
GOD’S LOVE FLOWING THROUGH US
TO ONE ANOTHER THROUGH THE CHURCH
MARKS A SHARP CONTRAST BETWEEN US AND THE WORLD.
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