Let's turn to God's Word together, and this morning we're going to continue our series in 1 John, John's first epistle. And this morning's reading is 1 John chapter 3, 1 John chapter 3 from verse 11 to the end of the chapter. 1 John 3, 11 to the end of the chapter, and it's on page 1022, if you're using the church Bibles. 1 John 3, 11 to 24. For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We should not be like Cain. who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brothers. Whoever 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. By this we know, love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him. For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, We have confidence before God, and whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do what pleases Him. And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He has commanded us. Whoever keeps His commandments abides in God, and God in Him. And by this we know that he abides in us by the spirit whom he has given us. Amen. And thanks be to God for his holy word. And we trust that he will bless it to our souls in its reading and especially its preaching. Let's pray together. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you that as those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, the whole of our lives are now justified. You have been pleased to pardon our sins and you have promised eternal life in your kingdom. Yet it is at this time as we come to you and as we open up your holy word, we are so conscious that we have not yet been made perfect in Christ. that we are not yet glorified and in your kingdom, that there is still a work to be done in each of our hearts, in our lives, in our souls. And so we pray, Lord, that you would teach us in this hour through the preaching of your truth. We pray that you would sanctify us and that you would make us to be more and more like our Savior. We pray for the ministry and the power of your Holy Spirit to be at work through the proclamation of this, your truth. And we pray, O Lord, that all of it would be to your honor and praise, for we ask it in Jesus' precious name. Amen. In the thirteenth chapter of John's Gospel, the thirteenth chapter of John's Gospel at the beginning of what's often referred to as the farewell discourse, Having just washed the feet of his disciples in the upper room shortly before he was condemned to death on the cross, Jesus turned to his disciples and he said, a new commandment I give to you. that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another." Now, as I think I've mentioned before, Jesus wasn't saying there that this was a new commandment in the sense that the people of God had never before been obligated to love one another. The second table of the law or the second half of the Ten Commandments is summarized by the one command to love your neighbor as yourself. But what he was impressing here upon his disciples at that time was that the command to love one another was new in the sense that it was now being fully and perfectly exemplified by his own death on the cross. and in the sense that if we are then united with him through faith, then we are those who have had the love of God poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. That's Romans 5, verse 5. And as such, we now possess both the power and the will to demonstrate what is essentially this new standard of love towards one another. In other words, it's here we're reminded that while on the one hand all people indiscriminately, all people who are made in the image of God are able to be loving, all people are able to demonstrate acts, practice acts of kindness and demonstrate love towards others. Yet at the same time, there is a distinct kind of love which is absolutely exclusive to Christian men and Christian women, to those who are alive in Christ. And this love is a love that Jesus says will demonstrate that we belong to his church. It's a love that we are able to demonstrate by virtue of our union with him. Now, the same apostle who recorded those words of Jesus in the upper room has already highlighted here in this letter that love for one another is one of the defining hallmarks of a genuine, authentic faith. And as if to really underline the importance of this quality or this virtue in the Christian life, he's going to pick up again on this same subject once again in chapter four. And so three times, three times throughout the letter, he focuses on the importance of love for the church. But here in this passage that's before us this morning, John highlights four particular things that we need to understand if we're going to be serious about and committed to loving the bride of Jesus Christ, as Jesus himself has called us to. First of all, he reminds us of the exclusivity of this love. Secondly, the perfect example of this love. Third, the practical application of this love. And finally, he speaks about the assuring consequence of this love. First of all, John underlines here the exclusivity of Christian love. Look at verses 11 to 15. He says, for this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, the beginning no doubt being a reference back to the words of Jesus in the upper room, that we should love one another. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. Why did he murder him? Because his deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death and into life because we love the brothers. Whoever 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. Now, John is not saying there that hating your brother is morally equivalent to taking your brother's life. But just as Jesus reminded us in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter five, the two things, hatred and murder, belong on the same moral spectrum or continuum. Murder is in the end like the ultimate expression or outworking of hatred. And so here, John is using the example of Cain's murder in order to really stress the fact that to hate, particularly when that hatred is directed towards the people of God in the church, is in the end something that identifies a person as being outside of God's kingdom. In other words, it's here we're being reminded, as we are many times, over and over again it seems throughout this letter, here we're being reminded that there are just two categories of people in the world. There are those who, like Cain, are of the evil one, and who will therefore hate the people of God. And there are those who have passed from death to life and who therefore will love the people of God. Now that's not to say that every unbeliever will necessarily express outright hatred towards God's people in a very obvious, in a very explicit kind of way. nor is it to suggest that they will be willing to take another person's life like Cain did. But fundamentally, what John is underlining and highlighting here is that the spiritual line of demarcation between these two groups still stands. That whereas the people of God have been brought into union with Christ and will therefore now demonstrate the love of Christ, albeit imperfectly, towards his bride, the church, On the other hand, those who are outside of Christ belong to the evil one. They remain at present in death and will therefore often hate the church. And just by way of a very real and present example, it is quite ironic, is it not, to think that the very community that holds marches in various cities throughout the world, and at those marches will often wave giant placards on which it says, love, not hate. is the same community that happens to be at the very forefront of the world's hostility and hatred towards the bride of Christ, towards the truth of Christ, and therefore the people of Christ. And you see, this is why John says to us in the very context where he's explaining this real division that exists, do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. He's saying, this is what you must expect. Why? Because whereas those people are operating in the same spirit by which Cain was willing to murder his brother because his deeds were evil, you are those who stand on the side of righteousness, like the one Cain killed, by virtue of the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will therefore be hated by them. Why is it important for us to stop here and give a practical present day example? Why is it important for us to know this, to understand this, to really believe this? It is important because it is in knowing and remembering this that we will not then be surprised by the world's hostility when it comes. We will not then consequently run the risk of either repaying evil with evil or capitulating and falling away. Instead, we will be able to stand by God's grace in the truth of Jesus Christ and respond by his grace in a manner worthy of the name. The second thing John does, if that's the negative, the positive, having highlighted this exclusive nature of the Christian's love for the bride of Jesus Christ and all that we have been delivered out of through the gospel, he then reminds us of love's perfect example. Verse 16, he says, by this we know love. By this, he's saying, we know what love looks like. That he, Jesus, laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers, the church. The reason why Christ came into this world and was willing to suffer and die on a cross was because of his profound and perfect love for his bride, the church. And John is effectively reminding us here that as those who have been now embraced by that love, who have received that love, and therefore who now belong to his kingdom, we are to have that same priority that he had, which means that we must therefore be willing to follow in his footsteps by laying down our lives for the sake of the elect. In other words, it's here we're reminded of the old adage that church is not an event on a Sunday. It is a community of redeemed and regenerate saints who are ready and willing to increasingly, as we are sanctified by the Lord, ready and willing to lay down our lives for the sake of Christ's body, the church. Now you say, well, of course that's the case, intellectually. Intellectually, in our minds, we know that to be the case. But what about experimentally? What is it that so often stands in the way of this? What is it that prevents us from following this pattern and which therefore needs to be identified within our own hearts and wrestled to the ground and put to death each morning? Well, there's many things that could be said, but it seems to me that the greatest barrier to a sacrificial spirit is the pride of self. We so quickly forget, don't we, that the Christian life is one in which we have been called to deny ourselves, to deny ourselves, and to take up our cross and to follow Christ. We find it so much easier to speak than to listen. We find it so much easier and comfortable to be served than to serve. we find it easier to think first of our own interests instead of first the interests of others. But friends, this is precisely why the Apostle Paul said those great words in Philippians chapter two, have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Steve Lawson said, no one ever started out so high and ended up so low as Jesus Christ did. No one ever started out so high and ended so low. as the Lord Jesus Christ. But friends, that is the pattern that John is here calling us to follow, isn't he? Out of love for the body of Christ and for the honor and the glory of his name. Do you want this city and this nation and this world to see the glory of Christ? Then lay down your life for the sake of his bride, the church. This is the way John is saying that they will know that we are his and that he will be glorified. What will that mean? Well, the third thing John makes very clear to us in this passage is that this distinct Christian love is something that always has practical application, practical application. Look at verses 17 and 18. He says, but if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? The answer to the rhetorical question by implication is, it doesn't. That's what he's saying, isn't it? How does God's love abide in the one who closes his heart? Does someone else's need? Little children, he says, let us not love in word or talk. But indeed, and in truth, John is warning here in a way that Jesus himself warned against being one who talks the talk, but does not walk the walk. James 1.21, be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Now again, we respond to this and we want it to kind of bounce off ourselves, don't we? We say, well, that's pretty straightforward. That's so much so that we don't want to or need to spend too much time thinking about it. But friends, what brings all of this into very sharp focus? And what very much underlines the critical nature of what John is commanding here is when we just stop and when we consider the fact that according to Jesus, this practical demonstration of love towards the people of God in particular, is in the end the thing that distinguishes those who will be spared on the day of judgment from those who will be condemned. How do we know that? We know that from what he said in Matthew chapter 25. Then the king will say to those on his right, come, you who are blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the king will answer them, truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers, meaning his bride, the church. You did the same by implication to me. Then he will say to those on his left, depart from me, you cursed into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels, for I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was thirsty, you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not welcome me. naked, and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison, and you did not visit me. Then they also will answer, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, a stranger, naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you? Then he will answer them, truly I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, one of the least of these my people, you did not do it to me, and these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." It doesn't get much more straightforward than that, does it? It's not a call to suddenly get all fired up for what's come to be known as ministries of mercy out there in the world. Not that such things are wrong in and of themselves, but it is a warning to the church, to those who profess faith in the gospel, that although we are justified through faith alone and in Jesus Christ alone, yet one of the primary ways in which that justifying faith is tested and is proven is by the extent to which that faith is then followed up with a life that is devoted to the community of God's people. Dear friends, Jesus Christ is jealous for his body, the church. He is jealous for her purity. He is jealous for her fidelity to the Scriptures. He is jealous for her comfort. Jealous for her encouragement, jealous that she would have all that she needs to press on in the faith, to do his will in the world and to persevere to the end. And therefore, since he is jealous for this and committed to this as his highest intention in the world today, so must we be likewise. So must we be likewise. So first we've seen the distinct nature of this love, that it belongs exclusively to those who have been brought from death to life. We've seen the supreme example of this love, the one who laid down his life for the sake of his bride. We've seen that this is a love that has practical expression and demonstration. And the fourth and final thing that John highlights here in this passage is that, at least in part, it is the practice of this love, it is through the practice of this love that we can be personally assured of our own salvation and the genuineness of our faith. If you look at the rest of this passage from verse 19 to 24, from verse 19 to 24, you notice that at both the start and also at the end of these verses, John speaks about our personal assurance. By this, he says, we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him, in verse 19. And then in verse 24, he says, and by this we know that he abides in us by the spirit whom he has given us. And you bear in mind that that final verse of the chapter comes immediately after he just said in the preceding verse, this is the commandment that we believe in the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he has commanded. In other words, although there are times when our own hearts will condemn us, verse 20, sometimes rightly by the Holy Spirit, because we have sinned, we are lacking in some aspect of discipline of the faith. and sometimes wrongly because the devil is whispering in our ear, accusing us in the way that he does. Although that is the case, it seems to me that the crux of what John is saying in these verses is that if we want to know and be assured of our salvation in Christ, of the genuineness of our faith, then one of the things that we need to do is to remember there was a time when we prayed the sinner's prayer. That's not what he says, is it? That's not what he says, that's what modern evangelicalism says. What does John say? What does the word of God say? It says that personal assurance comes when repentance and faith is followed by a life which is patterned after the commandments of God and is therefore committed to loving the bride of Jesus Christ. In other words, John is reminding us here that there is a very real connection between our attitude towards the church and our assurance of salvation through Jesus Christ. John Flavel said this, he said, God does not usually indulge negligent souls with the comforts of assurance. He will not so much as seem to patronize sloth and carelessness. He will give assurance, but it shall be in his own way. His command hath united our care and our comfort together." Now that's not to say that assurance will become suddenly a constant in the Christian life. If only we will do the right things. If only we will do everything that we can each day in accordance with the Scriptures. Unlike justification Assurance is something that can ebb and flow for all kinds of different reasons, and so we must avoid being overly simplistic or superficial when it comes to this important subject of our assurance of salvation. But notwithstanding that, this text of the Word of God is teaching us that keeping God's commandments and loving one another particularly which the Apostle Paul, remember, says in Romans 13, is the fulfillment of the law. Doing this, John is saying, is one of the primary ways in which assurance is strengthened and we can feel ourselves to be strong in the Lord Jesus Christ. Dear friends, there is not a single person in this church this morning who has always and perfectly lived up to this high standard of distinct Christian love towards the people of God. But Jesus has. Jesus has. And therefore, we must look to Him and we must seek Him each and every day of our lives. We must understand the privilege of our belonging to His bride, the church. our immense privilege of being those who have been called from death to life to be citizens of heaven, members of his body, the church, and all of that, that we might then in turn respond by demonstrating, by demonstrating that love of God, which has been poured into our hearts, by which all men will know that we are his disciples. May God grant it to be so in each of our lives. May we check ourselves under the all-seeing gaze of our holy God. May we be honest with him in our own hearts and minds this morning about our lack of love, about the things that we have done and that shouldn't have been done, about the things that we should have done that we've failed to do. And may we, looking to the Lord Jesus Christ, know his forgiveness. and may we go on the way loving his bride as he loved us. Let's pray together. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for the grace that you've shown towards us. We thank you for the way that you have indeed delivered us and brought us from death to life, from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light, and all of this through the Lord Jesus Christ and his life, death, and resurrection for our sake. We thank you for the privilege of belonging to your covenant community. We thank you that we've been called out according to your perfect purposes and your sovereign decree, called to serve your kingdom and to declare your praise. We thank you for the example of our Savior. for the love that he has so perfectly demonstrated towards his bride, the church. Thank you for his willingness to lay down his life for her sake, that the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, to give his life as a ransom for many. We pray, our Father in heaven, that you would help each one of us to follow his example. Help us, we pray, to deny ourselves, to take up our cross daily, and to follow after Christ. We pray at this time, Lord, that you would forgive us for times when we have not done so. for times when, because of pride, we have been self-centered, instead of looking to the interests of others before the interests of ourselves. Help us, we pray, to be men and women who live by your commandments. Help us to love the Lord our God with all of our heart and soul and strength and mind, to love our neighbor as ourselves, particularly, Lord, the community of your people, that all men might know that we are your disciples. We pray at this time for this particular community of your saints, and we pray, Lord, for all of the saints throughout the world and for whatever each one finds themselves facing and struggling with in a fallen world. We think of those who are grieving the loss of a loved one. We pray, Lord, that you would draw near, that they might know the tender comfort of the Good Shepherd. We think especially of Morag at this time as she visits her dear mum, Mary Ann, who is coming to the end of her days, it seems. And we pray, O Lord, that you would minister and to Mary Ann by your Spirit, and that she would be strong in the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray for your comfort and for your peace to be known in the hearts of all who are struggling at this time. We pray, our Father, for those who are experiencing mental and physical affliction. We ask, Lord, for the healing power of your own restoration. We think of those who are being persecuted for the faith in various parts of this earth. We ask our Father that they would know your protection, that you would stay the hand of evil. We pray that you would grant to each of your servants the grace to stand in the evil day. We pray for all of the saints, O Lord, throughout the earth at this time, and we ask that you would pour out your Spirit upon your bride, that you would cause your church to be a pillar and a buttress of your truth. We pray that you would cause her to shine like stars in the universe. We pray that she would be that city on a hill that cannot be hidden. and all of this, Lord, for the salvation of those who are lost and to the glory of our great God and our Savior. Father, we pray that you would continue to bless this Lord's Day to us here in this place. We pray for every Christian, every church in Perth, and throughout Scotland and throughout the United Kingdom. We pray for the ongoing march of your gospel, particularly our Father, in days as we've been remembering this morning, in days when there is very overt and increasingly fierce opposition to your truth. from government and in society at large. We pray, O Lord, that you would preserve the freedom to preach your word in this land. We pray, Lord, that you would look upon parents, Christian parents, that you would help them to stand firm and to be wise as they seek to instruct their young ones in the way of truth. We pray for Christian teachers, Father, that they would not bow down to evil teaching, that they would stand firm in your truth, that you would grant them the grace and the wisdom to be faithful and fruitful in that particular sphere of service. We pray, our Father, for this land. We are so conscious of all that is taking place in the Scottish government. Oh, our Father, We pray that in your judgment you would remember mercy. We pray for better days ahead. We pray for days when the gospel would flourish, when your church would rise up again. And we pray, Lord, particularly, that you would continue to add to her number those who are being saved. Bless this day to us and to all the saints we pray, for we ask it all in Jesus' precious name. Amen.