View Video Blog, Right Click Link: I John 3:11-12 (Part 4)
For this is the
message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one
another. 12 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 righteous.
THE STUDY:
This morning we are going to answer
the question found in this passage, why
did he murder him? John reminds his readers that because Cain “was from the evil one” love had
so disappeared from his heart that he could murder his own blood brother.
Casting his lot with the evil one
took Cain much further into depravity than he could have imagined. John’s only
explanation for Cain’s action was “because
his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous”[1]
The reason for this murder was
Cain’s jealous resentment of his brother’s superior righteousness (Gen. 4:2-7).
In saying this, John touched a sensitive nerve, since hatred toward another
Christian is often prompted by a feeling of guilt about one’s own life as compared with that person’s.
It is well to remember that such reactions are satanic, as John bluntly
affirmed here.[2]
WHAT WE CAN WALK
AWAY WITH ….
- We walk away this morning with the understanding of two things: 1. When we are being persecuted or being treated unkindly by a person it may lie within that person themselves. What we bring about in that person is the sense of guilt due to their own lack of righteousness. James 1:2-3 says, Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 2. Sin will take us farther down the road of immorality than we ever thought we would go.
CONCLUSION:
Because
of the natural law of seedtime and harvest, the farmer knows when and what to
plant to achieve the desired result. He knows that you harvest wheat if you sow
wheat, that you do not sow weeds and reap wheat.
God’s moral and spiritual laws work in the same way. You
cannot sow sin and reap righteousness, or indulgence and reap health, or strife
and reap peace. You cannot sow “the works of the flesh” and reap “the fruit of
the Spirit.”
But there is a further truth in this law. You reap what you
sow in quality, but you reap more
than you sow in quantity.
Let today be a day that is filled
with the deeds of the Father and not that of the evil one!
Blessings my friends
Pastor Rod
[1]
Williamson, R. (2010). 1, 2, & 3
John: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition. New Beacon Bible Commentary
(121–122). Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press.
[2]
Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-). The Bible knowledge commentary : An
exposition of the scriptures (1 Jn 3:11–12). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
