We’re going to be in First John. We’re continuing in our teaching series, Love Made Known. We’re walking through the letter — the epistle — of First John. It’s near the end of your Bible in the New Testament. We’re going to be in chapter three today. If you need a Bible, we want to give you a Bible. Come to the prayer room after the gathering. Our team will be ready. If you need prayer, you can find prayer with a team member there. But we also have Bibles — at no cost to you. We give out Bibles every weekend. We want to make sure you have a copy of God’s word.

Well, as the seasons change — hey, you just got baptized. Congratulations. You just walked back into the room. We just cheered for you, but you weren’t in the room yet. So now we’re cheering again because now you’re in the room. That’s awesome. I love the season change. And you know, there’s no season like allergy season. Anybody else with me? You love allergy season? Oh, it’s a great season. Well, May doesn’t just bring allergy season. May also brings another season that my family really loves — and it’s the season that begins farmers market. And we love going to the farmers market.

The farmers market is just this really cool scene. You come onto the scene and you’ve got all these different things that were grown locally, made locally. It’s like a taste of the valley all coming into one location. It’s really quite something to come onto the scene of a farmers market. We really enjoy that. Hey, you just got baptized too — we’re congratulating you as well. We just cheered for you, but you weren’t in the room yet. Now we’re cheering again. All right, there we go. Okay, now we’ve cheered for everybody. We’re good.

So — farmers market. It’s amazing. You can see: okay, this was grown from our area. And what’s cool at the farmers market is when you buy something, they tell you where it’s from. You go, “Hey, this was grown at this intersection or on this road or at this highway.” And you go, “Okay, I’ve been driving by that. I didn’t realize those trees — hey, that’s where I got my oranges from. It’s right there.” What’s also really great when you see everything lined up at the farmers market is you recognize that every one of those things that has been grown in our area came from a different route. A different route produced every one of those items being sold. You go, “Wow, that’s kind of crazy to think about — a different type of root produces all these different types of fruit.”

Another thing that’s great about the farmers market is it brings people together — people from all over the area. My family loves going, and it ends up kind of being like a community dinner where we see people we haven’t seen in a long time. All these people from all these different locations — and every one of the people that comes to the farmers market, they have a different route. They’ve got a different kind of life they’ve come from. And you see the fruit of this person’s life.

Well, all of us have some type of root system. And the root system of our lives is what’s producing whatever fruit other people observe in our lives. And in this passage, what God is going to show us is two types of root systems and how those root systems produce two very, very different types of fruit.

So I’m going to read 1 John 3 beginning in verse eleven.

“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 were 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, and 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.”

Let’s pray together. Father God, Lord, thank you for your word and this text here from the Apostle John. It points to a very clear command twice — love one another. So God, help us as we read your word. Help us to be humble and help us to submit to your word, that we would respond to Jesus in obedience to love one another. And we’re going to need your help to do it. So I ask, God, for your help. And I pray this in Jesus’ name. And all God’s family said, Amen.

So another aspect of the farmers market that brought a resurgence to the whole scene is this concept of organic food. And now that concept of organic has flooded all the big stores and everything — when you go to the supermarket, you’ve got the organic section and then you’ve got the section I buy from, you know, the poison section — we’re all going to die from eating this food over here. But when we look at this passage, it is describing organic Christianity. It is describing authentic Christianity, undefiled Christianity. You want to know what real following Jesus looks like? It looks like this. And it’s summed up in three words: love one another.

So what does it look like to love one another? Well, if the root of our lives is producing a fruit, and what God wants out of the fruit of our lives is that we would love one another, then we should be asking — how do we do this? If you are a follower of Jesus and what God wants from you is that you would love one another, you should be asking the question: what does it look like? Well, the command has been given to all of us to love one another. We each have a decision to make. Will we obey the command or will we disobey the command? And I want to encourage you — obey the command.

In verse eleven: “For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” One of the reasons the Apostle John wrote this letter is because of the deception going out to people. People were being deceived — heresy, things that were not true about God and not true about Jesus were being spoken. And he writes this letter to correct the deception, to correct the heresy. And he’s saying, “Hey, remember what you have heard from the beginning” — and he’s referring to Jesus speaking. Remember what Jesus taught from the beginning: that we should love one another.

The Apostle John wrote First John, but he also wrote the Gospel of John. And in the Gospel of John, he records Jesus giving the same command four times in chapters thirteen and fifteen — love one another. In his letters — First John and Second John — the Apostle John repeats this command six times: love one another. If you want to know what it looks like to be a Christian, it is those three words. Love one another. This is the mark of a true Christian. This is genuine Christianity. This is authentic — organic — following Jesus. This is the real thing.

So what does it look like to love one another? Number one is this: love is proof of eternal life in Jesus Christ. Eternal life looks like love. So when you see eternal life, you’re going to see love. And love is proof of eternal life in Jesus Christ.

Let me explain it through our family. All of us have a family tree. No matter how dysfunctional your family is, you’ve got a family tree. And when we get around the dinner table in our family, let me explain it this way — there is a lot of biology represented around my dinner table. A whole lot of biology running through a whole lot of family trees. We have some very interesting discussions about diversity, about ethnicity, about culture, about family ancestry, about biological parents and biological family. We have discussions about the varied biology that is around our dinner table. Why? Well, in our family, God has done something a little unique — we have adoption as a part of our story. So we have a lot of biological lines sitting around a dinner table together. And it’s helpful to ask questions about biology and family trees, because they lead to: how come my hair is the way it is? How come my eyes are the way they are? How come my skin is the way it is? How come I’m the height that I am? All real simple stuff that every kid asks about.

Well, in verse twelve, we’re going to look at a family tree. And it’s going to shift from biology in a family tree to the spiritual nature of family trees. Verse twelve: “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.” This is referring back to the very first dysfunctional family. Adam and Eve had kids. Two of them were Cain and Abel. So it’s saying we shouldn’t be like Cain, who was of the biological family tree of Adam and Eve — but then it goes further. It says he was of the evil one. So now this is not describing his biology. It’s describing the spiritual nature of his life. He was of the evil one, and he murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil.

In the same way that the biology of our family tree gives us a look — how we look — the spiritual nature of our family tree also gives us a look. And Cain had a look. The look that Cain had was the look of a murderer. He was the look of the evil one. He was following a spiritual family tree — a spiritual root system — that went back to the evil one. And this is saying: don’t follow that example. Don’t follow that root system. Don’t follow that family tree, because Cain was modeling the behavior of his ancestor — Satan, the evil one. Don’t do that. Don’t go down there.

At the end of verse twelve, it contrasts with his brother: “And his brother’s were righteous.” So Cain’s deeds were of the evil one, but his brother Abel’s were righteous. He’s saying: do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. It’s contrasting Cain and his spiritual nature with Abel and his spiritual nature. Cain was of the evil one. And Abel was of righteousness — his look was pointing to God.

When Jesus described how somebody will know if you’re a follower of Jesus, he said it this way: “By this will all men know that you are my disciples — by your love for one another.” So how does somebody look at someone else and say, “Oh, they’re a follower of Jesus”? It is by their love for one another. Love is at the heart of the gospel message. Love is at the heart of Jesus, and it is at the heart of those who follow him.

And yet — that’s one root system, one family tree of righteousness in Christ. The other is of the enemy. And this is describing that the world will hate you if you are of the family tree — the root system — of righteousness in Christ. Now it’s not talking about the globe or the planet. It’s talking about people — the world system. If you operate like Abel, in the root system of righteousness, the family tree of God, don’t be surprised when the world hates you. Just like Cain hated Abel — Cain, who was operating out of the spiritual root system of the evil one.

Verse fourteen now shows us the contrast: “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers.” So how do we know when our root system changes? We know that we transfer out of the root system and family tree of the evil one into a new root system — a new family tree of righteousness — when because we love the brothers. That’s how you know. When you love like Jesus has commanded you to love, when you are obeying the commands of Jesus, then you understand: my life has passed out of the root system of death and into the root system of life.

It’s an incredible contrast being made here — between Cain and evil and hatred and murder and Satan, and those who are obeying Christ, who are in Christ, who have assurance of their salvation and assurance that they are a part of life. A person comes to Jesus Christ by placing their faith in him — in the finished work of Jesus on the cross, his blood shed for the forgiveness of our sins. And when we place our faith in the effectiveness of the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins, we pass from death into life. And we know we’ve passed from death into life because our lives are going to be different. We’re going to love people. We’re going to love the brothers.

The end of verse fourteen provides another contrast: “Whoever does not love abides in death” — and abide means remains or continues. “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. And you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” The scriptures teach that eternal life is in his Son. This eternal life is found in Jesus Christ. So this is contrasting those who abide in evil — the root system, the family tree of Cain — versus those who abide in righteousness, the root system or family tree pointing to Jesus Christ.

Now, in our family, when kids were adopted into our family, it did not change their DNA. Our children’s DNA is the same prior to being adopted as after being adopted. Their DNA did not change. Yes, they are now a part of our family, but that did not change their DNA. Well, something very different happens when we come to Jesus Christ. When God adopts us as his children and we are now in the family of God, there is a very significant change to our spiritual DNA. Because we go from the spiritual DNA of death to the spiritual DNA of life in Jesus, in the family of God. And we absolutely have a new look. It is not a look determined by the biology of our family tree. It is a look determined by following Jesus Christ and having the Holy Spirit of God living in our life.

And Jesus says: this is how people are going to know what your new look is — by your love for one another. They’re going to know you’re my disciple by your love for one another.

So what does it look like to love one another? Number one — love is proof of eternal life in Jesus Christ. Number two — love is known by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ looks like love. It is the greatest expression ever — the cross of Jesus Christ. It is the greatest demonstration of sacrifice ever. And that looks like love. Love is known by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

I’ll illustrate it this way. When my wife and I were newly married with one or two kids — a young family — we found ourselves in some trouble. We made some really poor financial decisions. We overextended ourselves and found ourselves in a financial debt that we were not able to repay. Man, we were in a heap of trouble. We didn’t know how we were going to get out of this financial debt. We were in over our heads and we didn’t know what to do.

Well, God brought somebody into our lives who made a financial sacrifice and paid off our financial debt. They relieved us of the burden and the obligation. God brought someone in to financially sacrifice — to take care of the mess we created — so that we might be the beneficiary of no longer being obligated to that financial debt. And it made a huge impact on my wife and my life. Very, very significant.

Well, this passage is going to describe how for all of us, the spiritual debt due to sin has been taken care of because of a sacrifice. In verse sixteen: “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” This is referring to Jesus Christ laying down his life to go to the cross — that he willingly gave his life to die on the cross, to shed his blood on the cross, for the purpose of his blood paying the price for our sin. This is how we know love. He laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

In the same way that my wife and I were financially in over our heads, all of us spiritually have been sin over our heads. Every one of us. And every one of us has needed somebody to do something for us that we could not do for ourselves — to rescue us from being sin over our heads. And that person is Jesus Christ. We know his love because he laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

You may be familiar with John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Consider that alongside 1 John 3:16. In John 3:16, it’s displaying the love of the Father that leads to the sacrifice of the Son — that we might have life. In 1 John 3:16: “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” The way that we know the love of God is because Jesus laid down his life for us. And that leads us not just to have eternal life, but to lay down our lives for the brothers. It’s a chain reaction that goes all the way back to the heart of God.

Jesus said that he was the Good Shepherd, and the Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. And he told his followers: in the same way that I have loved you, I want you to love one another. We have all needed help and we have all needed the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Verse seventeen — if verse sixteen is about the ultimate sacrifice, verse seventeen is about a sacrifice that’s a little bit less drastic. Verse seventeen: “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?” If we have goods, if we have material blessings, financial blessings, possessions — whatever — and we see someone who’s in Christ, a brother or sister in the family of God, and they’ve got a need — what’s our heart toward them when we see them? If we close our heart against that person, how does that show that God’s love abides in us?

So when we have material blessings and we observe the needs of others, what is our heart condition toward them? Love may mean laying down our lives. People talk about, “Oh, I’d die for Jesus. Oh yeah, I’d give up my life for a brother.” Okay, that’s a pretty extreme statement and a pretty extreme form of love. How about you live for him? I’m glad you want to die for him, but how about you live for him as well? I’m glad you want to die for your friend, but how about you live for your friend? Because a lesser form of love is this: hey, I’ve got stuff that God has given me, and I see someone in the family of God who’s in need, and I’m going to open up my heart and see how God’s going to use me to maybe be a part of the solution. And that’s going to show that the love that God has is living in my heart.

So love may lead to laying down your life, but love always shares material blessings — and it’s proof that God’s love is abiding in us.

Verse eighteen: “Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth.” Don’t just talk about love — be loving. Don’t just say “I love you” — do things that prove that you love. Jesus didn’t just say “I love you.” He did say it, but he also went to the cross and proved that he is loving. So the Apostle John is saying, “Hey, I watched him do that. Let’s not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth.” Our culture loves the word love. Our culture uses the word love to communicate a lot of things that are not love. But love is not words that are flippantly said. Love is action that is grounded in God’s will.

In the same way that my wife and I were forgiven of financial debt and someone came to our rescue and did something for us that we could not do for ourselves — when we were in that obligation of debt, we weren’t even able to help anyone, because we weren’t even able to take care of our own problem. We created a problem and the problem we created prevented us from being any help to anyone. But God handled that and took us to a different side of the story. And now when we see the gifts that God has given us — the possessions, the material goods that this passage talks about, the things God has blessed us with — we see that we are responsible to steward these resources. God has given us these resources and we’re responsible to steward them and use them wisely for the opportunities God brings. Which means now we get to be on the other side of the story and get to help people who are in need. We see our blessings from God as stewardship opportunities for God.

So what does it look like to love one another? Number two — love is known by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Number three — love is obedience to the commands of Jesus Christ. Obeying Jesus looks like love. What does it look like to love? Obeying Jesus looks like love.

My wife and I have been learning a hobby and it’s super complicated and really overwhelming. So we’ve been taking this hobby and breaking it down into smaller pieces — just trying to learn one skill set at a time, make a little bit of progress in the right direction. We take the whole thing that’s overwhelming and break it down into something smaller. And I would say this: if you’re here and it is overwhelming to you to have a relationship with the Lord — the concept of God is overwhelming, following Jesus is overwhelming, obeying the commands of Jesus is overwhelming — I would challenge you: just break it down into something smaller. See if you can get a handle on just these three words: love one another. And as we look at this text, maybe God’s going to help you see how you could take a little action step, a little step of progress toward loving one another.

Verse nineteen: “By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him.” So when we are not just saying the words “I love you” but we back it up with action, we’re going to know that we’re obeying Jesus. We’re a part of what he’s doing because we know we’re obeying his commands. We’re going to know that we’re of the truth, and it’s going to reassure our heart before him. Because active obedience to the truth of God’s word is going to reassure our heart that we know him. We’re going to have assurance that we know God because we’re obeying his commands.

Verse twenty: “Whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.” Each one of us experiences self-condemnation. We experience our own conviction, our own judgment of our life. And sometimes we condemn ourselves too lightly. Sometimes too harshly. Sometimes we convict ourselves too little, sometimes too much. Sometimes we’re like a really easy judge on ourselves. Sometimes we’re like a really mean, harsh judge on our own life. The point is we’re not real great at it. So whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, for he knows everything.

We think we know ourselves really well. We do not know ourselves very well. Our conscience knows us like a little bit — we fool ourselves all the time. We think we’re our own best friend, like me and me get along great. But we actually don’t know ourselves like God knows us, because God actually knows everything. So whatever’s going on in our heart — take it for what it is. But God is greater than our heart and he knows everything. And that’s a good thing, because he knows the truth in every situation. Which means every time he makes a decision, he makes the right decision. And we know that God is a God of grace and mercy. Whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and he knows everything.

Verse twenty-one: “Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God.” So it is possible to have a clear conscience because of obeying the commands of Jesus. It’s possible to have a clear conscience because we are doing what God is asking us to do. The apostles talked in Acts 23:1 about having a good conscience. And the reason they had a good conscience is because they were obeying Jesus and they were living for him and sharing what he has done with others.

But our confidence will grow because our trust in God — in who he is and what he says — grows. Let me explain it this way, and it’s perfect that we’ve got the baptismal tank right here.

When I’m teaching my kids to be in the pool — summertime’s coming up, I’m excited — I’ll be in the pool and the kids are on the side. I’m like, “Hey, jump to me.” And they’re like, “No, no, I’m not going to do it.” And finally they build up the bravery and the courage and they take this little jump. It’s like a half jump — it’s not even a real jump. I basically have to grab them off the edge. “Yeah, you did it. You jumped. Good job.” Because they’re totally freaked out. And now they’re in the water with me and they’re smiling and having a good time — “Oh, this is fun.” They get back up on the side and this time they’ve got a little bit more bravery and they jump a little further. Pretty soon they’re running and jumping, then doing back flips. And I’m like, “Okay, they’ve got this.” So they run, they jump, I step out of the way and just let them fall. That’s what every good father does — you work them up and then you step out of the way. But the point is: my kids gain confidence in me because “Hey, he caught me. Dad caught me. Okay, he’s not going to let me get hurt. He caught me. He caught me.”

Well, as we come to the Lord, he catches us. And our confidence grows. Every time he catches us, and then catches us again, and catches us again — there’s something incredible that happens when our confidence grows, because God is trustworthy. Not because of our righteousness, but because of his righteousness. Because he’s always doing what he says he’s going to do. Every time he says he’s going to do something, he does it. And our confidence grows in God because he’s trustworthy.

Verse twenty-two: “And whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.” We get into a really good spot in life when we’re operating like this. When we’re obeying Jesus and we’re confessing our sins and repenting of our sins and trusting in the righteousness of Jesus and living out his commands — it puts us in a really good spot. Our confidence is in Christ, not in us. And when we’re in that spot, we begin to pray differently. Instead of praying selfish things that are all focused on us, we begin to pray things that are in alignment with the heart of God. Whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. When we pray, we’re praying from a location spiritually where we’re lined up with God, and we’re praying things that he actually wants. And we’re going to have the answers to those prayers when we’re praying things in alignment with God. We’re loving obedience. Our prayers align with God and we’re living to please him.

Verse twenty-three: “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.” What the Apostle John does in this one verse is he takes two commandments and makes them one commandment. One commandment is believing in the name of Jesus Christ. The other commandment is loving one another. And he’s saying: 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. It’s a unique display of faith and love — two commandments coming into one commandment.

So again, are you overwhelmed? It’s okay if you’re overwhelmed. I just want to encourage you — break this thing down into something small. God, what is my next step? Help me understand one action I can take to love one another. God, will you show me please one step I can make to love one another, so that I can take a step of progress in being obedient to you?

The last verse explains how this is possible: “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.” The scriptures talk about how when we come to faith in Jesus Christ — placing our faith in Jesus Christ, the Savior of our sin, for the forgiveness of our sins because of the blood shed on the cross — when we place our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord God and Savior of our sin, the Father God gives Holy Spirit God into our lives. It describes the Holy Spirit of God as the seal of our redemption — or the seal of our inheritance. In other words, the Holy Spirit of God in the life of a believer is the proof that that person has salvation.

The Bible also talks about the Holy Spirit of God as producing fruit. The fruit of the Spirit as described is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. So this verse is helping us understand: how is it possible for our lives to have this fruit of loving one another? Well, it’s because of the root. And the root is that the Holy Spirit of God is placed into our life. And it’s from the place of the Holy Spirit of God living in us — the root of God — that the fruit of the Spirit is now able to be seen.

So — what’s at your farmers market? When people come and check out your farmers market, what are they finding? What type of root is producing the fruit in your life? As people come and observe the different fruit from the root in your life, what are they observing? Are they finding some organic spiritual fruit? Are they finding some authentic Jesus fruit? Are they finding genuine Christianity? When someone comes to your farmers market, do they go, “Oh, this is how I know that person follows Jesus — by their love for one another”?

The scriptures say that every person who has the Holy Spirit of God in them has that same Holy Spirit as every other person who has the Holy Spirit of God in them. We are united by one Spirit. It’s the same Holy Spirit of God that lives in every person who is redeemed by God. Every person has the same Holy Spirit. Which means that those who are in the body of Jesus Christ, there is something unique about them — something different from every other group — and it is the Holy Spirit.

So when someone comes to this farmers market, when someone walks in here, there should be something incredibly distinctive. When they observe this community, they would see that the Holy Spirit of God lives in this group of people and the Holy Spirit of God is producing fruit in this group of people. And they can come in and observe and say: by this I can tell that these people are really followers of Jesus — because of their love for one another.

So if you’re here and the things I’m sharing sound like some things you need help in, I would like to pray for you. If you’re here and you need some help to have confidence of your faith in Jesus Christ — confidence that the Holy Spirit of God lives in you — and you need some help to submit to the Holy Spirit of God, so that your life might bear fruit that looks like the kind of fruit that God wants to come out of your life, if that sounds like you, I just want to invite you to stand and I’m going to pray for you right now.

Father God, Lord, thank you for those who are standing. You know exactly why every one of these people are standing. You know exactly what’s going through their heart and mind right now. You know exactly the situations they’re thinking about. You know the people they’re thinking about and why they’re standing right now. You know what has motivated them to stand up and ask for help. And God, I’m asking that you would help every person here who is standing. Would you help them have confidence in the blood of Jesus Christ shed for the forgiveness of their sin? Would you help them have assurance — by the seal of their redemption, which is the Holy Spirit of God that lives in them — and would you help them to be submissive and humble and obedient to the Holy Spirit’s leading and to the word of God, so that the fruit that comes out of their life is the fruit of the Holy Spirit of God? Lord, I pray for all those who are standing. I pray that you’d meet them right where they are and that you would encourage them to continue to love you, Lord, and to love one another. And I pray this in Jesus’ name. And all God’s family said, Amen.

If you need further prayer, our team will be available to pray with you in our prayer room. Church family, we love you and we’re going to see you again real soon.