1 John 3 Reading from the English Standard Version 1 John 3 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Beloved, we are God's children now. And what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know. that when he appears we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. We'll end our reading there. Well brethren, we are continuing in our series of messages from 1 John under the theme of assurance of eternal salvation. Assurance of eternal salvation. And last time when we were in this passage of scripture, which was two weekends ago, we stood amazed at the love of God for us. A love by which he not only calls us his children, but a love by which he makes us his children. As John says there in the first verse, we must marvel at the love that the Father has given to us. Other versions say the love with which he has lavished us. He's poured it upon us in grand abundance. We are to be amazed by it, that we should be called children of God. And not only being called, that is what we are. And I really need to emphasize once again before we move on, that this is Christianity. It is the fact that God has loved us in a unique way, in a miraculous way, in a way that blows our minds as it were. And as we go on as individuals, day by day, in a world of trials, a world of temptations, a world of real difficulties, we are overwhelmed as individuals that God has marked us out as objects of his eternal love and affection. Putting it differently, if you as an individual know nothing of this love in a personal way, that you are not overwhelmed by this singular love that God should have for you, you are just somehow in the midst of this forest of human beings going to church and going through religious activities and somehow just hoping that things will work out well for you in the end, most likely you are not converted. Most likely you are not a Christian. You have not experienced the salvation of the Bible. And that's not me speaking. That's what this book, 1 John, is seeking to argue out. That those of us who are true Christians have experienced the love of God. We are thrilled by the love of God. We are alone in our homes. Maybe at night, if we even switch off the lights, we are in our bedsheets. And they, alone, we are saying, Lord, you have really loved me. You are good to me. I can hardly believe this. And with those thoughts, we go from consciousness into what I call the land of nod. In other words, we sleep on those thoughts. What a loving God. What a loving Father. Today we answer the question, in the light of all this, how come the world does not recognize us? How come the world does not give us due recognition? Not simply not knowing us, but knowing us in terms of who we are. overwhelming station that God has given us. Now often for young Christians, this bothers them. Especially soon after their conversion and they've experienced a miraculous transformation. There is a real change in their beings. And in the midst of all that excitement, they just expect that even the world is going to, as it were, pat them on the back and give them all those words of praise, acknowledging what has happened in them. That's what they expect, and to their utter shock, the world's response is in the negative. They get persecuted. They are slandered against. And they begin to wonder why this discrepancy between what I think has happened to me, this great and glorious transformation, and what is happening on this other end, the persecution of the world. Well, if you are in that category today, then here in this passage is the biblical answer. Back to 1 John 3 and verse 1. See what kind of love the Father has given to us. That we should be called children of God. And so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Let me read that again. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. I think we ought to begin in looking at this statement with the amazing contradiction. First of all, it's only right that we should think that the world ought to recognize what has happened to us. Because it is indeed a great honor to be called children of God. There can't be a greater honor than this in the entire universe, that the creator of this vast, vast, vast universe in all its glory, the one who sits on the throne of this universe surrounded by thousands upon thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand angels, this rainbow-decorated throne, not only called thus his children, But that is indeed what we are. Surely we should expect that the world should know us, should recognize us, should give to us due recognition. Look at the way in which the world recognizes the children of presidents. the children of prime ministers, the children of chiefs, the children of kings. Have you seen the way in which the world recognizes them? They respect them a lot, and yet they are not the kings. They are not the chiefs, they are not the presidents, they are not the prime ministers, but they are highly respected. In fact, to the point of being idolized. So that if one of them was to come into a church service, the ushers would immediately come over and whisper to the song leader or the pastor sitting there, actually that person sitting there is so-and-so. And you can even see from the movements within the congregation that someone has come in who is no ordinary person. And the song leader begins to feel the pressure to announce that so-and-so has come in and you are most welcome, sir, madam. You don't just go on in your activities when such individuals have come into your midst. And if for any reason a meeting had gone on and that had not happened, You find by the end of the meeting, the end of the service, there's even an apology being made for the failure to recognize such individuals in the midst of the people. In fact, they don't only recognize them that way, but there's a constant pressure on such people to do favors for the ordinary people. It is, please, next time you are with your father, can you please tell them I need a job? Can you please tell them that I've had difficulties with a neighbor who's been very unfair to me, and so on and so forth? Can you please appeal to these people on our behalf? There is a recognition in that sense. But here you are, a child of God. You're saying to yourself, how come this ain't happening despite the fact that mine is not the king, but the king of kings? He is not the Lord, but the Lord of Lords. He's not only the chief, he's the chief of all chiefs in the universe. In fact, he commands his angels to look after us day by day. the mighty angels. We don't see them with our own eyes, but the Bible says that he has charged them to be responsible over our individual lives. The angels of heaven recognize us and give us due care and attention. It only makes sense that we should be saying, in the light of the kind of attention God has given us, surely the world should do the same. No wonder John brings up this statement, the reason why the world does not recognize us or know us is that it did not know him. He is stating a fact. The fact is that the world does not give due recognition to those of us who are the children of Almighty God. This is something that the apostles had already experienced painfully. They had not been given a red carpet welcome, despite what God had done for them in Christ Jesus. What is their own explanation for this? Well, when we turn to 1 Corinthians and chapter 1, 1 Corinthians chapter 1, this is what Paul says concerning the world recognizing spiritual things. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. I begin from verse 20, but my interest is in verse 21. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Verse 20. Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of his age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? And here is a statement. For since in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom. Notice, the world did not know God through wisdom. In other words, the world, through its own wisdom, has failed to understand the things of God as they really are. There is a complete blindness to the realities that are happening in the spiritual realm. So when the world looks at Christians, you know what they see? The equivalent of Muslims. That's all they see. You are simply followers of a religion. That's all you are. Nothing has happened more than that. It is the fact that just as those who believe in Muhammad or those who believe in other prophets or other gods, including in African traditional religions just as they believe and they go about what they do, so it is with Christians also. All that happened is that you were born in such a family and therefore you have continued the beliefs that your parents taught you or somewhere along the line some clever Chap convinced you that there is a God who has a son called Jesus who's going to come again one day, and you should follow those teachings. That's all they see. But you know, the Bible digs deeper than that. The Bible says that for you to have become a Christian, you experienced an act of God called regeneration, or being born again. Look again at 1 John 2, and the very last verse, explaining why you are living the life that you are currently living. Verse 29, If you know that He is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him, has been born of God, has been born again. That explains the kind of life that you are living. It is this new birth. But you know, to the world, that's just a cliché, being born again. It's just a cliché, just a phrase that you use for one another. When you say, look, the Bible is using ordinary terms, in order to refer to extraordinary experiences. It is using a physical term, the way in which a mother gives birth to a child in order to explain spiritual experience. God has given birth so that one who was dead is now alive. Something has happened to the person who then becomes a Christian. He is born from above. He is born of God. He is born again. The world doesn't understand all that. That's a lot of talk. But it's all meaningless. To the world, you simply had some teaching. You were convinced intellectually about that teaching. and you began to follow it. There is no God of the universe in love and mercy begetting you afresh, putting new life into you by his Holy Spirit, awakening you from death, making you new, and because a child who is newly born immediately bursts out crying in what is called the cry of life. In the same way, because God gave you new life, spiritual life, eternal life, you also cried out in faith, Jesus, save me! It's a result of the new birth. God giving you new life, infusing into you new life. The world knows absolutely nothing about that. So instead, the only recognition that you get is the world getting very upset with you, that you seem to be claiming something special about yourself. The world getting very upset with you, concerning your new moral standards, referring to you as being holier than thou, being very upset about the fact that you are claiming that you are a child of God, that you alone as Christians have a relationship with God, the creator of the universe. that you alone are the ones who are going to heaven. They get very upset and they persecute you. It's especially worse when having been brought up in a church-going family. You now experience salvation, the new birth, and then you come home And you tell your parents and your siblings that have now become a Christian. I mean, that angers them beyond description. What do you mean you've now become a Christian? What have you been all along? And then when you now say to them, you must be born again. You are asking for hot coal to be poured on your head. You've now gone mad. That church you are going to now has confused you and everything else. Because as far as they are concerned, they should have been Christians because they've been going to church all along. How dare you! now disqualify them. And yet all you are saying is there is a change, a real change, a spiritual change that has taken place in your heart that you never knew before. And as far as you can see, they do not show that change at all. Persecution becomes the order of the day. And all I'm saying to you is this. Do not be surprised that this blind world, this blind but religious world persecutes you as a true child of God. Don't be surprised. It's because there is spiritual blindness. It's spiritual death. this reality that has happened in you, they know absolutely nothing about. But let's go further. The reason is spiritual. This blindness, it's spiritual. And the proof of it is that when the Son of God Himself came into the world, the world did not recognize him. Back to our text. Back to our text. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. It's not saying it does not know him, as though it's an ongoing reality. but it did not know him. In other words, there was a time when God visited planet earth. God himself, the creator himself, the governor of history himself, the one who controls all things himself, the one who commands the angels of heaven to do his bidding, that one came on the planet. What was the reception like? Well, let's go to John chapter one, not first John, but John chapter one and hear how the reception was. John chapter one. John 1, I begin from verse 9. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him. Yet the world did not know him. Can you believe that? He's the one who made the world. He now comes into this world, and the world fails to recognize him. The Bible goes on to say, he came to his own. That is, the Israelites, the Jewish people that had been picked out from the rest of humanity. through Abraham and Isaac and Jacob becoming the 12 tribes of Israel. How was their reception of him? He came to his own and his own people did not receive him. His own people! The very ones he specifically called out from everyone else. Even they did not recognize him. What was his reception? Well, I'll tell you how the reception was. He was born in a cow shed. That's where he was born. And for his baby crib, he was laid in a cow's feeding trough. Try and do that for this baby who is soon to be born. as a grandchild to Queen Elizabeth. Try and do that and see how you will be summarily gotten rid of by the whole nation of Britain. He was chased for the purpose of being murdered and had to go and hide in Egypt until King Herod died. And even when he came back, he lived the life of a carpenter's son, the son of an artisan. This, with a hammer and nail and plane and axle, toiling away, making furniture. That's the way he grew up, the son of God. When he became an itinerant preacher and taught the people not only how to live, but he also taught them who he was, that he was indeed the son of God. I and the Father are one, he would say to the people. The very one who was teaching true humility, that we should learn in life to humble ourselves, because he who exalts himself will be humbled, could not have been speaking out of pride. He was simply telling facts. This is who I am. Before Abraham was, I am! And you know their answer? He's trying to equate himself to God. Stone him! Kill him! Throw him over the edge! Get rid of him. Until finally, at the tender age of 33, they murdered him. Got rid of him. Not a single occasion in his life did he ever visit a palace. Not at all. He was among the common people of the streets. He was with the lame, the blind, the sick, the mourning. That's where he was, feeding the hungry and healing the sick. And yet, despite living such a blameless life, where he could challenge the people, saying, which one of you accuses me of sin or error? Tell me! And nobody could do that. Despite the fact that he lived a life full of love and good deeds, as I said, he fed the hungry, he healed the sick, he even raised the dead! They still rushed him to a cross and murdered him. Murdered him. Now friends, if that's the way the world treated the son of God, not one who was promoted to be a son of God, one who has been eternally the son of God, who then comes into this world They don't give him a red carpet welcome, instead they draw blood out of him and use it for a red carpet. What on earth makes you think you will have a different reception? Now, that's what John is telling us in this text. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. A servant is not greater than his master. Jesus said, if they treated me this way, don't expect a different treatment from them. Don't! You will be persecuted. You will be persecuted. So here is the simple point. Don't bet your assurance of salvation, your assurance of who you are before God, your assurance of who you are spiritually, by the world's attitude towards you. Don't. And that's something young Christians need to hear. Because they often come with tears down their cheeks. Why is this happening to me? Why? When I was just a hypocrite, this wasn't happening. But now that I'm a true child of God, and all I am doing is sharing the truth, why is this happening to me? Well, look at Jesus! You will be in grave error when you judge yourself by the world's standard and attitude. In fact, when you do that, What tends to happen is that you postpone your present spiritual reality to the time after you die. You say to yourself, well, yeah, now I may be a Christian, yes, I'm professing to be, yes, but Being a true child of God, where even the angels have special attention to me, and God has aligned the whole of history in such a way that all things work for my good, both what looks good and what looks bad. God wants everything to work for my good, to ultimately be a blessing to me. He's engineering everything in that direction because He loves me, because He's chosen me from all eternity to be His. Now, that's too much. Maybe after I die. Because you are judging yourself the way in which the world judges you. And John is saying, no, no. You are special. You are unique. You are God's child now. Not tomorrow. Not next year. Now. Very now you are a child of God. God will never allow anything to happen to you which is simply going to harm you now. However negative it might look, he has a silver lining around that cloud. He intends it to be a blessing to you. He has even called his angels and said, look after my child. There he is. in the midst of the sea of humanity. There he is. Look after him. Look after him. It's not after he dies. It's now. Now. Now. He is my child. I've begotten him. There's a new life that is in him. It's been a transformation. My spirit lives in him now. So instead of allowing the world to determine your thoughts concerning yourself, turn to this book and let the Bible tell you who you really are today. Let the Bible be the one to inform your mind to inform your heart and to overwhelm you with the consequences of the love of God for you. Let the scriptures tell you that you are born again, born of the Spirit, born from above. You are new. You are special. Divine light dwells in you by the love of God. But perhaps I'm speaking to somebody who has never known this change, and yet you still want to hang on to the name Christian. But you've never known this change, this transformation, this righteousness, replacing unrighteousness. You've never known it. But simply because as a baby you were sprinkled with water. Or maybe even as an adult you were plunged into water. And you've had your name on a membership list. And you've been involved in some kind of Christian activities. But you cannot speak of a renewed person from within that can make you say that the things I loved, I don't love anymore. The things that held me in chain have been broken free from them. Something has happened to me. You can't speak in those terms. And you have some wishful thinking that even other people it's the same. They also don't really know this reality. It's just words being spoken here. Otherwise, all of us are just hoping that somehow on the Judgment Day, somehow, God will wear our good works, wear them against the bad works. And when the good works are heavier than the bad ones, then He will say, come into heaven. Otherwise, all this talk is completely foreign to you. Here's what I want to say to you. You're not a Christian. And I'm saying it out of love. You're not a Christian. You're not a Christian in the biblical sense of the word. You are a Christian the way in which other people are Muslims. Yes, in that sense. Simply following some teachings. But you're not a Christian in the biblical sense. and all that God would open your eyes to today. That Christianity is about coming to this Jesus, coming to Christ as a sinner, and experiencing His saving grace, His cleansing, by His blood, His renewal in our inner beings, being overwhelmed by God's love for you, that is Christianity. And my plea to you is this, throw away your professional faith if it is not supported by this truth, this reality of being born again. born anew, born of the Spirit, born from above. If it is not supported by that, throw it away and instead plead with the Lord Jesus Christ that He may truly, assuredly save you today. I plead with you. Don't hang on to a kind of Christianity that is like cobwebs so that a little bit of flame from hell far away will consume it all together. Don't hang on to that. Dress in the righteousness of Jesus Christ that the flames of hell cannot consume. Come to Christ instead. Refuse to be satisfied with anything less. than this reality that I'm born again. Today I'm a child of God. That's what He wants for you. Amen.