Blessings of Brotherly Love (1 John 3:10-24)

If I were to say that I had found the key that provides access to a wide range of spiritual blessings, I and sure that you would be interested. John gives such a key – brotherly love. He makes clear that such love is a defining distinction of the people of God, which separates them from all other communities. It is very sobering to note how he describes all others – according to John, they are all children of the devil. This description does not mean that Satan fathered those people; instead it means that he has a very strong influence over them, that they so imitate his preferences that they can be identified as his children. We can easily tell who the children of the devil are in this sense – they do not live according to God’s law. Perhaps we would then expect John to say that Christians are people who keep God's law, which would be a true description. Yet John, under the guidance of the Spirit of God chooses to focus on the particular aspect of brotherly love as one of the central features of Christian identity.

There are many applications that can be deduced from John's teaching here on brotherly love. I want to focus on three applications, beginning with the claim that brotherly love is expected when there is trouble in the church.

1.     Brotherly love is necessary in times of church conflict (3:11-15)

We know that the problem John was dealing with in this letter had been cause by an attack on the church by false teachers who had infiltrated these congregations and led some people away from the faith. It is not too difficult to deduce that if these temporary disciples had been marked by brotherly love they would not have listened to the false teachers. I suspect this is the reason why John refers to the story of Cain and Abel.

Often we so focus on the family tragedy that we forget that the central issue in their disagreement was the worship of God. Abel offered to God an animal from the flock and Cain offered to God some produce that he had grown in his fields. From one perspective, both were giving to God from their assets. Yet it is clear from the account that Abel's offering pleased God whereas the offering of Cain did not, which presupposes that God already had revealed how he should be worshipped. Abel chose to obey God's requirements, but Cain chose to disobey and worship according to his own tastes. The outcome was that instead of having an increase of brotherly love, there was an increase of hostility on Cain's part, which climaxed in murder.

John was writing to those who were endeavouring to live according to God's requirements and to implement his rules. They had come through a situation in which hostility had been shown against them by those who had left. Those who had followed the false teachers actually revealed that instead of belonging to Christ they clearly belonged to the world. Although they had been worshipping God in public in the past, their worship was actually an expression of worldliness, just like Cain. John tells the Christians that they should not be surprised that the consequence of false worship is hostility.

There is a very important lesson here for us to note. Our personal method of worshipping God leads either to increased brotherly love or to increased hostility and disagreements. If our worship is according to his Word, as far as both our minds and hearts are concerned, we will come out of a worship service with an increased sense of brotherly love. If we do not have this increase, it means that whatever else we may have been doing during the worship service e we were not worshipping God.

We will consider personal assurance later on. In the meantime we should note that here John mentions a very important aspect of biblical assurance, which is that it always includes love for the brethren. How can it be otherwise? It is impossible to love the Heavenly Father and despise one of his children at the same time; it is impossible to love Jesus and detest one of his real disciples at the same time; it is impossible to love the activities of the Spirit in one's heart and concurrently to engage in an attitude that grieves him, and hostile thoughts about other believers grieve the Spirit. We can disagree with brethren, we can be appalled by their attitudes, but we Cana never descend into the response of Cain. If we do, we show that we belong to the world.

The public worship of God includes many things. But one outstanding detail is that we anticipate the wonderful day when all the children of the Heavenly Father will be together in the Father's house. The future enjoyment of the gathering together in glory of the people of God is a feature of eternal life. Aspirations after it must throb in the veins of our souls as we gather together in public worship. Such longings will reveal that we have eternal life.

2. Brotherly love is imitation of Christ (vv. 16-18)

John then moves on from depicting the way brotherly love is displayed in worship of God to how it is practised in daily life by Christians. Before he details the method of brotherly love he provides his readers with a theological reason for showing true love. He did this with regard to the previous point when he said no, ‘Don’t be like Cain when you worship God!’ With regard to our current point, he says, ‘Imitate Jesus when you interact with your brothers!’ John says that best example of love, indeed its most significant display, took place when Jesus died on the cross.

There is an obvious detail connected to the death of Christ which John cannot mean, and that is that laying down of the lives of believers can be an atonement for their sins. Making atonement for the sins of his people was the primary purpose of the Saviour's death and it belongs exclusively to him. It is essential that we trust in him as the One who provided atonement, that we depend on him alone. Yet, in addition to seeing his death as an act of atonement, we are also to view it as an example of healthy brotherly relations. Therefore we need to note some aspects of Christ's sacrifice and apply them to how we express brotherly love.

To begin with, we can observe that the sacrifice of Jesus was voluntary - he did not perform it against his will. Second, we know that his sacrifice was wholehearted, that he held nothing back that was essential in order for him to perform a sufficient sacrifice. Third, his sacrifice was personal in the sense that he dealt with the sins of specific people. Fourth, his sacrifice was difficult – the path that he went down was marked by great trouble and arduous, gruelling experiences.

We should be able to see what kind of expressions of brotherly love that John has in mind. Brotherly love is not shown by reluctant, reticent, vague and easy displays. Instead it is seen in actions that felly chosen, fully given, precisely targeted, and done in trying circumstances. John points out that if we have the means of solving the difficulty, then true brotherly love will do so. Failure to meet the need, when we can do so, is clear evidence, says John, that God's love is not at home in our hearts. John uses a very graphic word picture when he writes that such a refusal is the equivalent of closing one's heart against a needy brother.

Of course, we all know that talk can be cheap – in fact, talk by itself, even if accurate, is not an expression of truth. Brotherly love involves an inner, united response to Christians in need: our minds assess the situation, our feelings are moved by the circumstances, and our wills spring into action. When such a response takes place, the world sees that members of the Christian family love one another.

3. Brotherly love brings rewards of grace (3:19-24)

Of course, one common deduction arising from giving to others concerns the manner by which God will reward those who help in this way. Perhaps we are surprised by the use of the term 'reward', but we must remember that it is the word used by Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount when teaching about almsgiving. This is what he said: ‘Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you’ (Matt. 6:1-4). I think John mentions three rewards here.

First, the apostle reminds his readers that real brotherly love receives from God the reward of legitimate assurance (vv. 19-20). John depicts a situation in which a believer is condemning himself for his failures. The believer has taken his concerns to God – he is 'before him', that is, in the presence of God. He is engaging in self-examination and finds plenty within and without by which to condemn himself. Therefore he needs genuine evidence that he has undergone a spiritual change. John tells such a concerned disciple that practical expressions of brotherly love done for the right reasons provides such evidence. God reveals that he greatly approves of such behaviour and right there in the presence of the all-seeing God the believer receives from his God a wonderful sense of assurance that he has undergone a real work of grace in his heart.

Second, John states that the believer who engages in such brotherly love will enjoy the immense reward of grace that is answered prayer (vv. 21-22). The range of answered prayer is very wide: ‘and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him’ (v. 22). Sometimes I wonder why my most ardent prayers are not answered, and no doubt you do the same. Well, here is a way to test ourselves. Have we failed to show practical brotherly love in a situation that God in his providence has brought to our attention? If God has done so, we must realise that he is testing us. And the price of ignoring the needy person is great – if we ignore his pleas for help, God will ignore our petitions. On the other hand, when we show genuine brotherly love to needy believers, God will delight to answer our prayers. I wonder if it will be revealed to us on the Day of Accounts: 'These prayers of yours would have been answered if you had shown compassion to needy believers whom you could have helped.'

Third, John summarises his teaching on brotherly love by pointing out that such behaviour ensures the sanctifying presence of the Holy Spirit in our souls (vv. 23-24). This is an essential blessing if we are going to make progress in the Christian life and one way of ensuring its reality is by maintaining healthy brotherly love throughout our Christian journey. I trust we can see its importance.

In summary as we conclude, we should note that brotherly love reveals whether or not my worship is genuine, whether or not I am Christlike, and whether or not I am receiving rewards of grace from God. Surely we should make it our aim to help all needy children of God about whom he in his providence makes us aware. Because if we do so, the spiritual rewards are great.