Sunday
Morning Bible Study
April 8, 2001
Introduction
The apostle John went through quite a dramatic change as a result of having
known Jesus.
Early on, when he and his brother James had just started following Jesus,
there were still a bit of the old rough edges about them. They were known as the “sons of thunder”,
and apparently it was because of their quick temper.
When Jesus and His disciples experienced some rejection by the Samaritans,
John and his brother James were the ones who came up with the idea of calling
down fire to roast those sinners. In
fact, if the Lord would let them, they would like to be the ones that gave the
orders to heaven for lightning!
(Luke 9:55 KJV) But he turned, and rebuked them, and said,
Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.
Within a couple of years, John had gone through quite a dramatic
change. By the end of his life, John
was known as the “apostle of love”.
This wasn’t because he wore hippie beads, sunglasses, used the word
“groovy”, and flashed the peace sign everywhere he went. It was because everywhere he would go he was
telling Christians to love one another.
There’s probably no greater statement of this than what John weaves
throughout in 1John.
Loving One Another
:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the
devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth
not his brother.
manifest – phaneros
– apparent, manifest, evident, known; manifest i.e to be plainly recognised
or known
doeth – present participle – continuous action
John has been making the point that you can’t claim to be related to God
and continue to live a life filled with sin.
When a person meets Jesus, their life changes. Now he’s going to give us
a concrete example of what it means to not live in sin – he’s going to talk
about loving each other.
:11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we
should love one another.
message – aggelia
– message, announcement, news; a proclamation, command, order
we should love – agapao
– of persons; to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly.
Present subjunctive.
This is the message that Jesus had taught His disciples, to love each other
(John 13:34)
:12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And
wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's
righteous.
that wicked one – poneros
– full of labours, annoyances, hardships; bad, of a bad nature or
condition; in an ethical sense: evil wicked, bad
slew – sphazo
– to slay, slaughter, butcher; to put to death by violence; mortally
wounded
wherefore – charin
– in favour of, for the pleasure of; for, for the sake of; on this account,
for this cause
Cain was the firstborn son of Adam and Eve.
(Gen 4:1-9 KJV) And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she
conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. {2} And
she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a
tiller of the ground. {3} And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain
brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. {4} And Abel, he
also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the
LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: {5} But unto Cain and to his
offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
{6} And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance
fallen? {7} If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest
not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou
shalt rule over him. {8} And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to
pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother,
and slew him. {9} And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And
he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?
Cain looks like a worshipper, just like everyone else at church. He came to God with a sacrifice. But inside he was far different from his
brother. He was filled with jealousy
and hate and wound up killing his brother.
Cain becomes the picture of the person who is a “child of the devil” (3:10)
because he did not do good things. He demonstrated his wickedness by hating and
killing his brother.
:13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.
Like Cain hated Abel.
marvel – thaumazo
– to wonder, wonder at, marvel; to be wondered at, to be had in admiration
The world is made up of people who
do not do “righteousness”, it’s made up of people who are the “children of the
devil”. These are not people who will love others, they are people who will
hate others.
So don’t be surprised is a little
of their hatred comes your way.
:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the
brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
John will tell his readers later that one of the purposes of writing this
letter is to help his readers know for sure that they are saved (1John 5:13)
(1
John 5:13 KJV) These things have I
written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know
that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of
God.
Now he gives one of the ways in which we can know that we are saved.
we know – perfect tense – we have known in the past
and the benefits of this knowledge continue on into the present.
we have passed – metabaino
– to pass over from one place to another, to remove, depart. Perfect tense,
“passed over” in the past, and it still continues on today.
we love – agapao
– to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly. This is not
“subjunctive” here, meaning, “if we should sometimes love the brethren”, but it
is indicative, “because we are continually loving the brethren”.
he that loveth not – present participle, “is not continually
loving”
abideth – present tense, “is continually abiding in
death”
We can know if we’ve passed from being “of the world”, from being a “child
of the devil”, by whether or not we love others.
:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no
murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
hateth – present participle, “continually hating”
murderer – anthropoktonos
– a manslayer, murderer
Cain was a murderer.
Jesus said,
(Mat 5:21-22 KJV) Ye
have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and
whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: {22} But I say unto
you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in
danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca (“worthless”), shall be in danger of the council: but
whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for
us:
perceive we – ginosko – to
learn to know, come to know. Perfect tense.
John is addressing the folks who are affected by the “Gnostics”, those who
thought they had super special knowledge. John is showing that there’s nothing
incredibly difficult to understand about God’s love.
love – agape
– brotherly love, affection, good will, love, benevolence
life – psuche
– breath; the breath of life; the soul
Lesson
The Cross and God’s love
There are plenty of times we doubt that God could love us. G. K. Chesterton
writes, “All men matter. You matter. I matter. It's the hardest thing in
theology to believe.”
For those who have any doubts about whether or not God loves them, God has
one answer: The Cross.
If God didn’t love you, then why did He send His Son to die on the cross
for you?
Jesus didn’t have to die for you.
He could have refused.
Illustration
A plane crashed and burned on a runway in
Philadelphia. The hostess was Mary
Frances Hausley. She stood at the door
assisting passengers to safety. When
she thought all were safe, she heard a woman screaming, “My baby, my baby!” With this prompting she returned to the
flaming plane, never to be seen again.
When the burned wreckage was unsnarled, Miss Hausley’s body was found
draped over the child she tried to save.
The caption of Time’s story read, “She Could Have Jumped.”
-- G. Curtis Jones, 1000 Illustrations for Preaching
& Teaching (Broadman, 1986), p. 88.
When we are going through difficult times, we may begin to question God’s
love for us, wondering if God is really out to destroy us.
But why would He have died in my place if He didn’t love me?
If you ever doubt God’s love, you MUST look to the cross.
:16 and we ought …
we ought – opheilo – to
owe; to owe money, be in debt for; that which is due, the debt
Lesson
Love is required
We owe it to each other to love each other like Jesus loves us.
When I’ve counseled with husbands about learning to love their wives like
Jesus loves the church, I’ve heard many a husband say, “That’s nice, but I’m
not Jesus”. That’s not a legitimate excuse.
God doesn’t require us to do things that are impossible.
You may not be perfect in loving others, but we still need to aim at loving
people like Jesus loves us.
:16 to lay down our lives for the
brethren.
Lesson
True Love is sacrificial
By this time, the readers may be asking, “just how do I know if I really
love someone or not?”
True love, God’s love (agape), is not cheap sentimentality like a
Valentine’s day card, but it’s all about giving up your self for another.
Illustration
From an interview with a famous
person:
People often discuss the
importance of delayed gratification; what do you mean when you talk about
"displaced gratification"?
In delayed
gratification, we put off something so that we can enjoy something even better
later on—avoiding a “sex life” before marriage, for instance, so that we can
more fully enter into a deeper love of the marital union. In displaced
gratification, we put off something so that the gratification can go to
somebody else. Within marriage, for example, we put our spouse’s needs ahead of
our own.
When William Booth
finally left the Salvation Army, he sent a one-word telegram to every member of
his army. That one word embodied the guiding principle of Booth’s life:
“Others.”
What is the reward of displaced
gratification?
The man or woman
who understands delayed and displaced gratification realizes that “others” are
what it’s all about. Instead of demanding our rights and satisfaction, we can
work for the rights of others, we can find fulfillment in seeing other people
satisfied, and we can serve instead of trying to conquer. Displaced
gratification is the oil that keeps our society running smoothly.
Where do you draw inspiration to
live this way?
Learning to put
the needs of others above your own is the “displaced gratification” my father
taught me about. The ultimate understanding of displaced gratification is
reflected in the life of Christ, who gave up heaven for earth, who could have
been crowned king, and who could have called ten thousand angels to rescue Him
from the cross. Instead He accepted brutal, humiliating torture on our behalf.
He put serving others ahead of serving His own needs.
-- John Ashcroft,
Attorney General of the United States.
He is author of Lessons from a Father to His Son.
:17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and
shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in
him?
good – bios
– life; that by which life is sustained, resources, wealth, goods
seeth – theoreo
– to be a spectator, look at, behold; to see
need – chreia
– necessity, need
shutteth up – kleio
– to shut, shut up; metaph. to shut up compassion so that it is like a
thing inaccessible to one, to be devoid of pity towards one
bowels – splagchnon –
bowels, intestines, to the Greeks, this is where their emotions, their
compassion came from.
Lesson
Risk
loving others.
We need to be careful when we’ve been
hurt by others, that we don’t fall into the trap of not loving anybody.
We need to follow Jesus’ example of
loving the entire world, even when the world turned around, rejected Him, and
crucified Him.
(Col
3:12-13 KJV) Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of
mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; {13} Forbearing
one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any:
even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in
deed and in truth.
little children – teknion
– a little child; in the NT used as a term of kindly address by teachers to
their disciples
word – logos
– of speech; a word, uttered by a living voice, embodies a conception or
idea; its use as respect to the MIND alone; account, i.e. regard, consideration
tongue – glossa
– the tongue, a member of the body, an organ of speech
deed – ergon
– business, employment, that which any one is occupied; any product
whatever, any thing accomplished by hand, art, industry, or mind; an act, deed,
thing done: the idea of working is emphasised in opp. to that which is less than
work
truth – aletheia
– objectively; what is true in any matter under consideration
Lesson
Real love can be seen
It’s one thing if a person says they love you, but can you see it in their
actions?
:19-24 Confidence before God
:19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our
hearts before him.
we know – ginosko
– to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel.
Present active indicative.
before – emprosthen
– in front, before; before, in the presence of, i.e. opposite to, over
against one; before, in the sight of
shall assure – peitho
– persuade; to persuade, i.e. to induce one by words to believe; to make
friends of, to win one’s favour, gain one’s good will, or to seek to win one,
strive to please one; to tranquillise; be persuaded; to trust, have confidence,
be confident; Future indicative
lit., “and we shall persuade our
hearts …”
We are the ones that do the
assuring, that do the persuading of our own hearts.
(1 John 3:19 NIV) This then
is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest
in his presence
Lesson
Loving leads to assurance.
One of the things it takes to have confidence and peace in God’s presence
is to know that you are doing the right things.
One of the right things we ought to be doing is to love one another.
:20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth
all things.
condemn – kataginosko
(“against” + “know”) – to find fault with, blame; to accuse, condemn.
Present active subjunctive.
knoweth – ginosko
– to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel.
Present active indicative.
There are times when my own heart condemns me incorrectly. God is greater
than my heart and in those circumstances He does not condemn me.
Lesson
Be careful of self-condemnation
There are times when my own heart (or conscience) condemns me correctly.
Illustration
A defendant was on trial for murder. There was strong evidence indicating
guilt, but there was no corpse. In the defense’s closing statement the lawyer,
knowing that his client would probably be convicted, resorted to a trick.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I have a surprise for you all,” the lawyer
said as he looked at his watch. “Within one minute, the person presumed dead in
this case will walk into this courtroom.” He looked toward the courtroom door.
The jurors, somewhat stunned, all looked on eagerly. A minute passed. Nothing
happened. Finally the lawyer said, “Actually, I made up the previous statement.
But, you all looked on with anticipation. I therefore put to you that you have
a reasonable doubt in this case as to whether anyone was killed and insist that
you return a verdict of not guilty.” The jury, clearly confused, retired to
deliberate. A few minutes later, the jury returned and pronounced a verdict of
guilty. “But how?” inquired the lawyer. “You must have had some doubt; I saw
all of you stare at the door.” The jury foreman replied, “Oh, we looked, but
your client didn’t.”
Sometimes we’re just simply guilty. And even then I need to understand that
God is greater than my heart and knows just how much condemnation I need.
But sometimes we heap condemnation on ourselves incorrectly.
How can I tell if the Holy Spirit has been convicting me, or if I’m just
condemning myself?
One way is to see the direction it’s pushing you. If it’s leading you back
to the Lord, it’s the Holy Spirit. If it’s driving you away from the Lord, it’s
either your self or the devil.
When our heart is condemning us, we need to trust in God, not our heart.
God is greater than our heart, and it’s what He thinks that counts.
Rom 8:31-34 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can
be against us? {32} He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up
for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? {33} Who
shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
{34} Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is
risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for us.
I think it’s interesting how the
modern translations put this verse together and punctuate it with the previous
one:
(1
John 3:19-20 NIV) This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how
we set our hearts at rest in his presence {20} whenever our hearts condemn us.
For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
:21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward
God.
condemn – kataginosko
– to find fault with, blame; to accuse, condemn. Present active
subjunctive.
confidence – parrhesia
– freedom in speaking, unreservedness in speech; free and fearless
confidence, cheerful courage, boldness, assurance
John is talking about the Christian
who has a sensitivity to the Lord. There are some people whose conscience is
seared and don’t feel anything. John isn’t talking about those people.
When our heart isn’t condemning us, we find ourselves able to come boldly
before God’s throne.
It’s not that we can’t come boldly when our heart is condemning us, but in
our practical experience, we don’t come because we feel condemned.
:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his
commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
we ask – aiteo
– to ask, beg, call for, crave, desire, require. Present active
subjunctive. Third class condition, it’s fairly probable that we would ask.
we receive – lambano
– to take; to receive (what is given), to gain, get, obtain, to get back.
Present active indicative.
we keep – tereo
– to attend to carefully, take care of; to guard; to observe; present
active indicative
pleasing – arestos
– pleasing, agreeable
Lesson
Answered prayer comes from an
obedient life
We have to be careful here not to get the wrong idea. We don’t in any way
“earn” brownie points by being good. We don’t receive the answers to our
prayers because we are good.
The idea is that if we are living a life of obedience, we are living a life
that “has a clue” as to what God wants us to be praying for. We will be people
who are praying for the right things.
And because we are living correctly, our own hearts don’t condemn us and
keep us from coming to God and praying for others.
Answered prayer comes from a loving
life
In context here, the “obedient” life is the one of loving others.
in his sight – enopion –
in the presence of, before; towards which another turns his eyes
Lesson:
Do it for Dad.
Do we realize that He’s always watching?
Some people have the concept that when they’re sinning, that somehow God
has stopped watching. They think that when they enter the bar, Jesus stays
outside of the bar, waiting for you to come out. The truth is, He never leaves
you. He goes with you.
We aren’t supposed to be performing in that we’re trying to pretend to be
something that we’re not, but that we’re doing our best because our Dad’s in
the audience, and He’s watching, and we want to please Him.
Illustration
In His Father's Eyes
Bob Richards, the former pole-vault champion, shares a moving story about a
skinny young boy who loved football with all his heart. Practice after
practice, he eagerly gave everything he had. But being half the size of the
other boys, he got absolutely nowhere.
At all the games, this hopeful athlete sat on the bench and hardly ever
played. This teenager lived alone with his father, and the two of them had a
very special relationship. Even though the son was always on the bench, his
father was always in the stands cheering. He never missed a game.
This young man was still the smallest of the class when he entered high
school. But his father continued to encourage him and also made it very clear
that he did not have to play football if he didn’t want to. But the young man
loved football and decided to hang in there. He was determined to try his best
at every practice, and perhaps he’d get to play when he became a senior. All
through high school he never missed a practice nor a game but remained a
bench-warmer all four years. His faithful father was always in the stands,
always with words of encouragement for him.
When the young man went to college, he decided to try out for the football
team as a “walk-on.” Everyone was sure he would never make the cut, but he did.
The coach admitted that he kept him on the roster because he always put his
heart and soul into every practice, and at the same time, provided the other
members with the spirit and hustle they badly needed. The news that he had
survived the cut thrilled him so much that he rushed to the nearest phone and
called his father. His dad shared his excitement and was sent season tickets
for all the college games. This persistent young athlete never missed practice
during his four years at college, but he never got to play in a game.
It was the end of his senior football season, and as he trotted onto the
practice field shortly before the big playoff game, the coach met him with a
telegram. The young man read the telegram and he became deathly silent.
Swallowing hard, he mumbled to the coach, “My father died this morning. Is it
all right if I miss practice today?” The coach put his arm gently around his
shoulder and said, “Take the rest of the week off, son. And don’t even plan to
come back to the game on Saturday.”
Saturday arrived, and the game was not going well. In the third quarter,
when the team was ten points behind, a silent young man quietly slipped into
the empty locker room and put on his football gear. As he ran onto the
sidelines, the coach and his players were astounded to see their faithful
teammate back so soon. “Coach, please let me play. I’ve just GOT to play
today,” said the young man. The coach pretended not to hear him. There was no
way he wanted his worst player in this close playoff game. But the young man
persisted, and finally feeling sorry for the kid, the coach gave in. “All
right,” he said. “You can go in.” Before long, the coach, the players, and
everyone in the stands could not believe their eyes. This little unknown, who
had never played before, was doing everything right. The opposing team could
not stop him. He ran, blocked, and tackled like a star. His team began to
triumph. The score was soon tied. In the closing seconds of the game, this kid
intercepted a pass and ran all the way for the winning touchdown. The fans
broke loose. His teammates hoisted him onto their shoulders while the crowd
cheered.
Finally, after the stands had emptied and the team had showered and left
the locker room, the coach noticed that this young man was sitting quietly in
the corner all alone. The coach came to him and said, “Kid, I can’t believe it.
You were fantastic! Tell me what got into you? How did you do it?” He looked at
the coach, with tears in his eyes, and said, “Well, you knew my dad died, but
did you know that my dad was blind?” The young man swallowed hard and forced a
smile, “Dad came to all my games, but today was the first time he could SEE me
play, and I wanted to show him I could do it!”
Your Father in heaven has never been blind. He’s always been watching.
Do it for Him.
:23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his
Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
It is God’s will that we believe in Jesus.
(John 6:28-29 KJV) Then said
they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? {29}
Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on
him whom he hath sent.
It is God’s will that we love one another.