The Power Of Love 1 John 3:11-24, Adapted from a Jeff Strite sermon http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/the-power-of-love--316-and-us-jeff-strite-sermon-on-jesus-teachings-81389.asp

1. Adapted from a Jeff Strite sermon
http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/th
e-power-of-love--316-and-us-jeff-strite-
sermon-on-jesus-teachings-81389.asp

2. 1 John 3:11 NET For this is the gospel
message that you have heard from the
beginning: that we should love one
another, 12 not like Cain who was of the evil
one and brutally murdered his brother. And
why did he murder him? Because his deeds
were evil, but his brother's were righteous.
13 Therefore do not be surprised, brothers
and sisters, if the world hates you.

3. 14 We know that we have crossed over
from death to life because we love our
fellow Christians. The one who does not
love remains in death. 15 Everyone who
hates his fellow Christian is a murderer, and
you know that no murderer has eternal life
residing in him. 16 We have come to know
love by this: that Jesus laid down his life for
us; thus we ought to lay down our lives for
our fellow Christians.

4. 17 But whoever has the world's
possessions and sees his fellow Christian in
need and shuts off his compassion against
him, how can the love of God reside in such
a person? 18 Little children, let us not love
with word or with tongue but in deed and
truth. 19 And by this we will know that we
are of the truth and will convince our
conscience in his presence, 20 that if our
conscience condemns us, that God is
greater than our conscience and knows all
things.

5. 21 Dear friends, if our conscience does not
condemn us, we have confidence in the
presence of God, 22 and whatever we ask
we receive from him, because we keep his
commandments and do the things that are
pleasing to him. 23 Now this is his
commandment: that we believe in the name
of his Son Jesus Christ and love one
another, just as he gave us the
commandment.

6. 24 And the person who keeps his
commandments resides in God, and God in
him. Now by this we know that God resides
in us: by the Spirit he has given us.

7. In a ―Peanuts" comic strips Lucy says to
Shroeder (the boy she‘s hopelessly in love
with)
"Guess what...If you don‘t tell me that you
love me, you know what I‘m going to do?
I‘m going to hold my breath until I pass out!―
Looking up from his piano, Shroeder
says, "Breath-holding in children is an
interesting phenomenon. It could indicate a
metabolic disorder.

8. A forty-milligram dose of Vitamin B6 twice a
day might be helpful. I think that‘s probably
it... You need Vitamin B6. You might also
consider eating more
bananas, avocados, and beef liver..."
As he goes back to his piano, Lucy sighs, "I
ask for love, and all I get is beef liver!"

9. Love is a powerful need in people‘s lives
Back in the 70‘s one psychiatrist wrote:
―In my practice at the Atlanta Psychiatric
Clinic, people sometimes ask me what
psychiatry is all about.

10. To me, the answer is increasingly clear.
Almost every emotional problem can be
summed up in one particular bit of behavior:
It‘s a person walking around
screaming, ‗For pity‘s sake, love me.‘ Love
me, that‘s all. He goes through a million
different manipulations to get somebody to
love him.‖

11. That was the very need that motivated God
to send His son to the cross:
John 3:16 NET For this is the way God
loved the world: He gave his one and only
Son, so that everyone who believes in him
will not perish but have eternal life.
God knew we needed someone to say ―I
love you‖

12. ―Jesus said ‗I loved you this much.‘ And
then He stretched out His arms and died.‖

13. The books in our Bibles haven‘t always had
chapter and verse divisions. Somewhere
during the middle ages, someone realized it
would be easier to study the Bible if it was
divided in a way that people could locate
specific section of any book. So, I‘m not
sure if it‘s a quirk of Scripture or if God
deliberately led the people who originally
put chapter and verse divisions into the
Bible… But, 1 John 3:16 is almost a mirror
image of our beloved John 3:16.

14. 1 John 3:16 NET We have come to know
love by this: that Jesus laid down his life for
us; thus we ought to lay down our lives for
our fellow Christians.
Remember – For God so LOVED the
world… Well, We have come to know love
by this: that Jesus laid down his life for us;
But then John adds: ―thus we ought to lay
down our lives for our fellow Christians.‖

15. Why should we lay down our lives for our
brothers? BECAUSE Jesus laid down His
life for us! Now, this is obviously an
important point for John because he dwells
on this subject for several verses – but why
is it so important?

16. 1st – It’s important to John because
that’s not how you and I used to live
1 John 3:12 NET not like Cain who was of
the evil one and brutally murdered his
brother. And why did he murder him?
Because his deeds were evil, but his
brother's were righteous.
Now why would John warn us NOT to be
like Cain???

17. Because… we used to be like Cain.
That‘s the type of world we grew up in.
That‘s the kind of example that others set
for us.
That was the kind of response that would
have come naturally to us.

18. Paul wrote Titus: Titus 3:3 NET For we too
were once
foolish, disobedient, misled, enslaved to
various passions and desires, spending our
lives in evil and envy, hateful and hating
one another. 4 But "when the kindness of
God our Savior and his love for mankind
appeared, 5 he saved us not by works of
righteousness that we have done but on the
basis of his mercy, through the washing of
the new birth and the renewing of the Holy
Spirit,

19. When you read verse 3 just now did you
visualize a Jerry Springer kind of person.
The type of person who‘s always
screaming, always accusing, always
concerned only about themselves, always
eager to get into a brawl in front of God and
everybody.

20. But you folks aren‘t like that. I have yet to
see any of you behave like that on Sunday
mornings or any other time. In fact, when I
go to Wal-mart or the grocery store, I never
see anyone yelling and screaming in the
aisles.

21. So most people aren‘t like the goofballs
they parade before us on Springer type
shows. However, we do have a tendency to
be like Cain. As the passage out of Titus
says: 3:3 For we too were once
foolish, disobedient, misled, enslaved to
various passions and desires, spending our
lives in evil and envy, hateful and hating
one another. That means this is a common
experience for ALL of us.

22. John uses the example of Cain because
Cain was a ―slow burn‖ type of a guy. Then
the LORD said to Cain, ―Why are you
angry? Why is your face downcast?
Genesis 4:6 NIV
Cain hadn‘t said ANYTHING, as far as we
know, but you could tell how Cain felt by
just looking at him. Cain didn‘t say much…
but eventually his anger built… until he
killed his brother.

23. Most of us are ―slow burners‖ like Cain was.
If we allow ourselves to think like Cain do
we get angry about how people have
treated us. We replay the incident in our
minds (over and over and over again.) In
fact, if we think someone will listen we‘ll
replay incident for them. BUT we‘re not just
retelling the story, we‘re RELIVING the
story, we‘re re-FEELING the emotions – the
pain and hurt and the rage.

24. There was a teacher once who was
known for his elaborate object lessons.
One day, when his students came to
class, they saw a big target hanging on
the wall, and a number of darts on a
nearby table. The teacher told the
students to draw a picture of someone
that they disliked or someone who had
made them angry...and he would allow
them to throw darts at the person’s
picture.

25. One girl drew a picture of a girl who had
stolen her boyfriend. Another student
drew a picture of his little brother. Still
another drew a picture of the
teacher, putting a great deal of detail into
her drawing.
When they were all finished, the teacher
hung their pictures one at a time over
the target and the class lined up and
began to laugh and enjoy themselves as
they threw their darts at their particular
picture.

26. Some of the students threw their darts
with such force that their targets were
ripping apart. At last, as the class was
nearing its end, the teacher had the
students take their seats… and then he
began to remove the underlying target
from the wall. The one over which the
students had hung the pictures they had
drawn.

27. And underneath that target…was a
picture of Jesus....
A complete hush fell over the room as
each student viewed the mangled
picture of Jesus; holes and jagged
marks covered His face and His eyes
were pierced out.
Matthew 25:40 NET And the king will
answer them, 'I tell you the truth, just as
you did it for one of the least of these
brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for
me.'

28. The Bible tells us that, because you and I
are Christians, we must love as Jesus loved
us. We must forgive as Jesus forgave us.
SO… 1st John reminds us about how we
should love, because that‘s NOT how we
used to live.

29. 2nd – John reminds about how we
should love, because this IS how we’re
supposed to live
In fact, the more we love, the more of God
we have in our life.
1 John 3:23 NET Now this is his
commandment: that we believe in the name
of his Son Jesus Christ and love one
another, just as he gave us the
commandment.

30. 24 And the person who keeps his
commandments resides in God, and God in
him. Now by this we know that God resides
in us: by the Spirit he has given us.
You see, if – as Christians - we love one
another then God LIVES IN US. AND His
Spirit controls us.

31. Paul says about the same thing in Galatians
5, when he tells us the fruit of the Spirit is:
―Love…
joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness…
‖ and so on.
If we have God‘s love dwelling within
us, that is a mark that we are anointed by
God. We are indwelt with His Spirit. Love is
the marker that tells us we belong to Him.

32. Have you ever seen an annoying
commercial with a preacher yelling ―IF YOU
WANT TO HEAR ANOINTED
PREACHING, AND HEAR ANOINTED
SINGING….‖ you should come to his
church.
Now, all due respect to that preacher and
his church… he‘s got it all wrong. He‘s
trying to say that his preaching and the
singing of their church have a special
―anointing‖ from God‘s Spirit. But, that‘s not
how it works.

33. How much we love is the yardstick God
gives us to measure how much of His Spirit
dwells within us.
The Christians John was writing to were
being challenged by certain individuals who
had told them they didn‘t have the
―anointing‖ because they lacked some
special knowledge or experience.

34. John wrote: These things I have written to
you about those who are trying to deceive
you. Now as for you, the anointing that you
received from him resides in you, and you
have no need for anyone to teach you. But
as his anointing teaches you about all
things, it is true and is not a lie. Just as it
has taught you, you reside in him.
1 John 2:26- 27 NET

35. John is not ruling out human teachers. At
the time when he wrote, however, Gnostic
teachers were insisting that the teaching of
the apostles was to be supplemented with
the higher knowledge that they (the
Gnostics) claimed to possess. (NIVSB)

36. Have you ever talked with a person who
―prays in tongues?‖ Often is the case, they
began to say you need to ―open yourself
up‖ to the possibility that God would allow
you to have this same experience in your
life as well. It becomes obvious that they
believe how much a person prayed in
tongues was the ―gage‖ of how much of the
Spirit a person had within them.

37. The Bible never used ―tongues‖ (or any
other spiritual gift) as a measuring stick of
spirituality even when tongues existed in
the early church. The ―measuring stick‖ of
how much of God‘s Spirit we have in our
lives is LOVE… nothing more, nothing less.
Jesus said, Everyone will know by this that
you are my disciples — if you have love for
one another.―
John 13:35 NET

38. Love indicates being born again.
1 John 3:14 We know that we have crossed
over from death to life because we love our
fellow Christians. The one who does not
love remains in death.
Proof of lineage. 1 John 4:7 NET Dear
friends, let us love one another, because
love is from God, and everyone who loves
has been fathered by God and knows God.
8 The person who does not love does not
know God, because God is love.

39. So, how can I tell how much I love???
Look again with me at 1 John 3:16 NET We
have come to know love by this: (this is our
example) that Jesus laid down his life for
us; (so, we ought to follow His example)
thus we ought to lay down our lives for our
fellow Christians.

40. How do we do that? 17 But whoever has
the world's possessions and sees his fellow
Christian in need and shuts off his
compassion against him, how can the love
of God reside in such a person? 18 Little
children, let us not love with word or with
tongue but in deed and truth.

41. That is what Christ taught.
But, by contrast, RELIGION teaches that
doctrine and worship are the highest
priorities. Anything that interferes with
doctrine or worship for ―religious people‖ is
set aside.
Diet Eman (author of Things We Couldn‘t
Say) told the story about a rail line that ran
nearby and was used by the Nazis to
transport boxcars jammed with Jews and
other ―undesirables.‖

42. They were on their way to the death camps
in the east. Many times, the trains were
sidetracked for hours while the miserable
people begged pitifully for food, water and
mercy. There were no bathroom facilities for
the journey, which could last four days or
longer.

43. Nearby, I‘m told, was a small church located
close enough to the rail line to hear the
cries coming from within the boxcars. The
church people attending services were
deeply disturbed by these mournful
―distractions,‖ and so, they began singing
more loudly so they wouldn‘t have to hear
them.
These were ―religious‖ people.

44. By contrast, JESUS taught us that our
HIGHEST priority should be to show love to
others.
Luke 6:6 NET On another Sabbath, Jesus
entered the synagogue and was teaching.
Now a man was there whose right hand
was withered. 7 The experts in the law and
the Pharisees watched Jesus closely to see
if he would heal on the Sabbath, so that
they could find a reason to accuse him.

45. 8 But he knew their thoughts, and said to
the man who had the withered hand, "Get
up and stand here." So he rose and stood
there. 9 Then Jesus said to them, "I ask
you, is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath
or to do evil, to save a life or to destroy it?"
10 After looking around at them all, he said
to the man, "Stretch out your hand." The
man did so, and his hand was restored. 11
But they were filled with mindless rage and
began debating with one another what they
would do to Jesus.

46. Now, I don‘t mean that we shouldn‘t keep
our doctrine pure (in fact, Scripture is quite
clear that we MUST do that).
Or that we shouldn‘t strive to give God our
best worship.
What I‘m saying is this–
We can be DEEPLY religious.
We can be ABSOLUTELY pure in our
doctrine.
We can be RIGHT ON TARGET with our
Sunday morning worship.

47. But, if we fail to love others…if we fail to
love others
whose lives are less than perfect
who have failed
and who‘ve fallen
Then we‘ve failed.
We have fallen.

48. Because, you see ultimately, the reason we
are to love others as Jesus loved us - is
because they need Jesus too. They‘re just
like we were when we first came to Jesus.
They are crying out ―for pity‘s
sake, somebody love me‖ Our objective, as
Christian‘s, is to give them our love…
because Jesus gave His love to us.

49. Commenting on John‘s writing about love
Thomas a‘ Kempis summed it all up in
these words: "Whoever loves much, does
much."
An evangelist once told how much he‘d
admired his mother because of how she
loved. He told of the time, as a boy, when
he found her sitting at the table with an old
tramp. Apparently she had gone
shopping, met the tramp along the way, and
invited him home for a warm meal.

50. During the conversation the tramp said, ―I
wish there were more people like you in the
world.‖
Whereupon his mother replied, ―Oh, there
are. But you must look for them.‖
The old man simply shook his head, saying.
―But, lady, I didn‘t need to look for you. You
looked for me.‖

51. Commenting on his mother‘s kindness
toward the tramp, the evangelist reflected
that she did something more than simply
offer him welfare. He said ―It was a
compassion that went out of its way to love
the unlovely. And that‘s the story of our
Savior‘s life, death and resurrection.

52. He came looking for us in the sick, the
maimed, the lame, the bruised, the broken
hearted…the wretched wanderer, the poor
and forgotten, the prisoner, and the lonely.
Then the evangelist closed with this
question: ―Has he found you?‖