John witnessed how Jesus, who knew the Law of God, showed His love for the brethren. And if we call ourselves Christians (followers of Christ) then we are also to demonstrate the love for the brethren.
He provides another way for us to know if someone is a believer or not: if one claims to be a believer yet hates his brother, then he walks in darkness. He is not a believer.
But John also provides a way for us to know we are truly followers of Christ: if we love the brethren, then we abide in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in us.
Please read:
Gal 6:9-10
1 Cor 15:58
2 Thess 3:13-15
Matt 24:9-14
Christ warns us that in the end times we will endure trials and lawleseness will abound. And because of these trials that believers will endure and because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
But Jesus gives us encouragement: he who endures to the end will be saved!
Titus 3:8
Prov 3:27
And we are told to be especially loving toward other believers:
Rom 12:9-13
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"But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes."
When we see a person who hates, we tend to judge them. But here John reminds us that those who hate are in darkness and do not know where they are going.
Please read:
2 Cor 3:12-15
They still have the veil over their eyes and cannot see Christ as we see Him because we have that Liberty in Christ Jesus:
2 Cor 3:16
That veil has been taken away from our eyes.
2 Cor 3:17-18
Only because of what Christ did for us can we claim Liberty. Because of the Spirit of the Lord, we are being transformed into the image of Christ "from glory to glory".
Much prayer is needed for those who are unbelievers; that the Lord will remove the veil from their eyes as He did to our eyes.
But to those who claim to be Christians and still walk in darkness....
2 Thess 3:14-15
We are to admonish (warn) a fellow believer who is in sin...but we are not to keep company with that person.
1 Cor 15:33
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To think otherwise is to think foolishly.....yet that's what many of the adults in the church thought: our kids aren't doing these things!!
But I know someone who was in that youth group who knew for a fact that these sins were going on in that youth group because he was one of them and so was his brother! In my high school youth group (which consisted of about 25 kids ranging from freshmen to seniors) there was sexual immorality, drugs, and drinking going on as well.
But in our last church, these sins were not dealt with because the parents were in denial. So, the sins continued and lawlessness abounded.
Please read:
1 Cor 5:1-5
Paul tells the believers in Corinth (a very sinful city...) to confront this immorality that some may be saved.
1 Cor 5:6-8
Paul warns that to ignore the problem is to cause great trouble in the church. Sin must be dealt with!
Now, look at your own homes. Has sin been dealt with? You may have been in denial about some sins or were not willing to confront them...and have you seen the damage done to your home?
I know I tend to let Nathan get away with things for too long....and then BOOM! Something happens and it all hits the fan at once.
But Scott likes to get after Nathan's disobedience right away before everything goes BOOM.
Yet when it comes to Nathan's school work...Scott is the opposite. He tends to be in denial about Nathan's grades and the consequences of low grades. But I tend to get after Nathan right away because I know that things can get out of hand if we ignore the problem.
Think about your own house hold. Do you tend to deny disobedience rather than deal with it? Or do you see it in your children or yourself and deal with it immediately?
- Paul warns us that a little leaven (sin) leavens the whole lump of dough. During the Passover Feast, the Jewish people were to clean their house and rid it of any leaven (yeast) which symbolized sin. Any leaven they found, they were to immediately dispose of it.
We need to deal with our own disobedience or that of our children immediately before it damages the entire household. I have seen many a Christian home come down simply because the sins of the children were not dealt with by the parents. Instead, the sins were condoned and accepted. Now, those families are suffering.
Not sure if there is any disobedience to deal with in your life right now? Ask the Lord to reveal it to you, and He will! Search out that leaven (sin) in your own house hold and dispose of it.
As I have mentioned here in this blog before, my main weakness is gossip. I tend to let my tongue get out of hand or if I hear gossip, I encourage it instead of discourage it. So, the Lord admonishes me about it all the time. Like recently, He used my husband to admonish me about my out of control gossiping and it worked! I was convicted of my sin and confessed it before the Lord.
But then He used me to admonish my husband about gossiping too. Scott attends a Sat. morning men's Bible study. One time, frustrated, he told me that all they did that morning was talk about other people in derogative ways. "You guys are worse than women!" I joked. And Scott agreed that what they were doing was wrong.
So, he, in turn, admonished the other men at the study and reminded them that instead of judging other people they should pray for them instead. The men at the study were convicted...and now they have agreed to pray for people instead of talk about them.
Paul gives us the command:
"Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."
It can be hard sometimes to take a long hard look at ourselves and know our weaknesses. I know mine is gossip and I pray for control over my tongue everyday. I notice on those days when I haven't prayed, I usually say something I regret and later have to deal with God about it.
Know your own weaknesses and take them to the altar daily before the Lord!
Well, we have looked at alot today. We must apply all that we have learned to our own lives:
- Love one another just as Christ loved us.
- Admonish fellow believers, who are in sin, out of love
- And stay in the light because He is in the light.
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Until next time......
"When our savior called on His disciples to imitate the example He had given them in what He had done, we are to understand not merely by the example He gave in the emblematic action in washing His disiples' feet in itself considered, but more especially of that much greater act of His that was signified by it in abasing Himself so low, and suffering so much, for the spiritual cleansing and salvation of His people. This is what is chiefly insisted on as the great example Christ has given us to follow. So it is once and again afterwards in the discourse Christ had with His disiples, this same night, in verse 34 of the same chapter: 'A new commandment I give to you, that ye also love one another.' (John 13:1-35)."
-Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) (Altogether Lovely, 1997, p. 183)
Blessings,
Ruth
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