Let us learn how to be brethren and love one another. Jesus came meek and lowly of heart and gave His life when we were out of it. He defeated the seed of the serpent. Let your local church lead you in love. (1 John 3:9-16)

Speaker(s): Thomas Schaller
Sermon 12167
6:30 PM on 9/19/2021

P. Schaller –

So tonight we have a word from 1 John. 3 and then we’ll have our prayer for the sick tonight and anointing with oil.
How many of you have been healed in the ministry? Really healed by the grace of God. Really
healed from God. How many of you through the years? The last months I’ve heard I think four
people have shared with me that they were healed. Of course, there is so much going on with
regard to our health. We’re going to believe God tonight for a miracle, a work of grace. Why
wouldn’t he? That’s the way we think about it. Turn to 1 John. 3:11. How many of you were not
hear this morning? You were in another service somewhere? Okay. So many of you were here
and you heard the message on being a servant this morning. 1 John. 3:11-12. Can I have the Ipad
there, pastor? Thank you. We have learned love, that God loves us first and we have in history
we have the beginning. We have time. We have Jesus died on the cross. We have 2021. There
are two seeds from the beginning. The seed of the woman and that’s the seed of the Spirit of
God in you and me. We are born of the Holy Spirit.

We are born of Christ. We are born again.
That seed is in us. Look at chapter 3:9. I’ve studied that verse many different ways and talked to
people about it who know about it and I understand it that that seed doesn’t sin. I sin but that
seed does not sin, because that seed is Christ. You are born of God. That seed that is in your is
Christ and he does not sin. He is love and he dwells in us. Not as Cain who killed his brother.
He has a seed as well. That’s the seed of the serpent. The seed of the serpent. That’s the seed
of evil. That’s the seed of hatred. That’s the seed of antichrist. That’s the seed – that’s
essentially the seed of the world. The world is without God in darkness and does not
comprehend God. It does not know God. And Cain. Cain is of that seed, so this is chapter 3:12.
Why did Cain slay Abel? Why? It’s a good question. Because these two spirits are contrary to
each other. They are enemies. One is of God and the other is of the devil.

They are both in the world. They are here. That’s why Christ was slain on the cross, and the same spirit is happening
today. The same thing is going on. There is the work of evil and the work of God. By God’s
grace we are worshiping him and knowing him and loving him and finding him. Filled with the
Spirit and growing in grace and knowledge of Him. This is what is being said here. vs. 12. The
reason why is because the evil and the righteous, the evil hates the righteous because the
righteous brings light to the evil. Reveals that it is evil. That’s what Jesus said in John 3. Light
came into the world but men loved darkness more than light because their deeds are evil. They
don’t like it when the flashlight goes on them. They don’t like it when their heart is revealed. This
is the nature of the world we are in. So 1 John. 3:13. Don’t be surprised if you wake up one day
and realize this is happening in your life. Don’t be surprised. It’s not because you said th wrong
thing. Not because of the cosmetic side of things.

It’s not that. It’s deeper. There is the world hates the righteous. Abel, why were you killed? Did you misbehave? Did you offend Cain? No, I don’t know that I did. I’m sorry if I did. That’s not why you were killed. You were killed because
you were righteous and Cain was not. That’s pretty profound I think. vs. 14. So we have this
sketch of we could say we have the hatred sketch like this, and then we have this other one,
love the brethren. Notice it doesn’t say love Cain. Not loving Cain. No, it says love the brethren.
There’s a couple different words you should know the difference. Neighbor. I lay down my life for
my neighbor or do I die for my neighbor? By the way, there is a difference between dying and
then laying down your life. We have Jesus died for the world but he laid down his life all the time
and he continues to do so as a servant. He lays down his life for the brethren. He is a servant of
God. This is love the brethren. This is family. Love the brethren is family. It’s community. It’s
fellowship. It’s satisfying. It’s reciprocal. It happens. We love the brethren.

The seed is the Trinity really. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit loving each other is in us and we are loving each other.
As the Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father, so we love the brethren. Love the
brethren. But the brethren are imperfect. Yeah. Yeah. That’s exactly right. The brethren can be
like actually – the brethren could behave like Cain and have hatred, but this is the meaning of
the text. We are not to be like Cain and hate each other. We are to be like Jesus and to love the
brethren. We are to lay down our life, not hate each other. I have found hatred in my heart in the
church at different times. Not hating the church but hating a brother or sister in the church. I
cannot lay down my life for the brethren because I’ve gotten offended. Because they
disappointed me. Because they were not there when I needed them. Because of my flesh.
Because this is the nature of man. We have the nature of Cain, not the seed in that sense of the
devil but we have a fallen nature and the fallen nature man cannot love like God loves, cannot lay down his life as God lays down his life.

So we are told here, no. We cannot have fellowship and be like Cain. Cain will kill a church. Cain will kill a brother. Cain will tear it apart. Cain will be so critical. Cain will be so unhappy. Cain has hatred in his heart. Cain cannot do it. Cain is not the answer. It has to be the Lord. So that is what this is about. 1 John. 3:14 love – AGAPE is the
Greek word. AGAPE. Love the brethren. You know, you don’t just love people that you like. You
love people that are different. You love people that are people. You love the brethren. You don’t
just in circumstances show love. In your heart you have the love. You think no evil about them.
You endure. You bear all things. You have a lot of patience. You have longsuffering. You are
loving the brethren. This morning we said there is a consumerism in church life where you go
shopping for the thing you need and what you want. There’s a consumerism in the church and
you go shopping for what you are looking for that fits you, but actually this doesn’t say that. It
says we have Christ in us and he laid down his life as a minister, as a servant and didn’t protect
himself. He thought it was not robbery to be equal with God.

It wasn’t something he was grasping for. It’s a better translation. It goes he didn’t have to be God. He was God all the time, but it wasn’t like he had to prove himself to be God and be powerful. He humbled himself and
became a door mat. He went very low. P. Scibelli shared with me yesterday, he said the only
time that Jesus described himself was in Matthew 11 when he said learn of me. I am meek and lowly.
The only time he described himself and he said I am meek and lowly. Meaning I am very
humble and learn of me. Like be like me. You can take a beating. You can bless those that
curse you. You can forgive your enemy. You can be very longsuffering, very patient with people.
You can lay down your life, lay down your life. I guess I need a volunteer, a young guy who is
flexible. Do we have anybody? A young guy just for a minute? Volunteers? Okay. Arbor, do you
want to do it? Arbor is standing up and he’s a normal guy who has his preferences and desires
and protects himself and initiates and is very capable.

He’s a very capable guy. You could maybe say strong, opinionated, can get things done. He’s very capable. He’s a very strong guy. But then Jesus comes into his heart and fills him with the Spirit. And this brother has love in his
heart. He loves the brethren. So a brother comes and offends him. He borrows money and
doesn’t pay him back. He makes fun of him, ridicules him, judges him. Arbor can defend himself
and protect himself, but, you know, Jesus told us learn of me. Learn of me. I am meek and
lowly. There is some other way of life. There is a way of life I want you to learn. Love. Love the
brethren. As a brother offending him, I know that’s not right. We’re not encouraging that, but it
happens. He gets hurt or offended. So he has a choice. As he grows in God and he has a
vertical relationship with God, he’s able to give things to God and seek God and ask God to fill
him and teach him doctrine, teach him humility, teach him the nature of God. And to love the
brethren. Love the brethren when they are good to you, but can you love the brethren when they
are bad to you? Can you love the brethren when you don’t like it?

When you get hurt, can you love the brethren. Isn’t that a good question because we all know it’s not a party. It’s not a
picnic. It’s not a tea party. Oh, this is so nice and – life is, life is in the kitchen. Life is on a
Monday morning. Life is when my wife isn’t there for me or my children are disobeying or my
son is in jail. Life is when the bank makes a mistake or a cybercriminal steals my account. Life is
like crazy many times. So but Arbor has a benefit. He is not only saved but he is growing in the
faith and he’s learning. He wants to learn love. I must learn to love. It takes time, but I must
learn to love. I must learn to forgive. Do you think it’s easy? It’s not. Is it easy to raise kids? It’s
not. Is it easy to keep your marriage together? It’s really not. That’s why it’s a mess. There’s a
very strong direction that is from this world that is against what we are saying, what love is. God
is love. People say, I don’t need God. I got it like Arbor. Like he’s here vertical, strong, capable. I
got it. I believe in God. Leave me alone. Yeah but listen.

The day is coming you need God. You do. Nothing less than God Almighty. I need God. Right now I need God. One day you are going to say I wish that I had learned about Jesus Christ. I am meek and lowly. I wish that I had
learned love. I wished I had learned to forgive. I wish I had learned how to think about things
way back when I was in good shape. It’s never too late. Never too late. We said this morning
when Moses saw an injustice, he looked this way and looked that way and then killed a man.
And we said that’s like Arbor here. Strong, good shape, ready, capable. He sees something
wrong and looks this way, looks that way and he solves it but it doesn’t solve it. Jesus has
another way for you to live. Moses got in trouble. He was a refugee for 40 years in the desert.
Then God called him and said, are you ready now? I got a different way. Take your shoes off.
Take your shoes off. You’re not the strong man anymore. I want you to trust me. We want Arbor to take his shoes – no, leave your shoes on! Go down.

Now listen. When Jesus died, I want you to get this point clear. He’s alive right now. He’s alive. He feels pain. Okay. He got hurt. He’s alive. He’s a door mat. His neighbor, I don’t know, his neighbor is a constant antagonist and he
feels it all the time. Or in the church. Love the brethren. Lay down your life for the brethren.
Nobody thanks you. You never got a birthday card. Your name isn’t on the wall. There isn’t a
brick with your name on it out there. You don’t have any recognition. You’re all alone on the
missionfield. I called one missionary one time, and he said to me, it’s amazing you are calling
me. I said, why? He said I’m walking in the woods thinking about how Greater Grace has
forgotten about me. Greater Grace ministry doesn’t care about me. They have forgotten about
me, and I feel very alone. He said it’s amazing you’re calling me. I said, I know. I’ve been there. I
know those thoughts. They are real. That’s part of life. What are you going to do about it? What
are you going to do about it? You’re going to lay down your life for the brethren and you’re going
to say in your heart, it’s okay Lord. If everybody forgets me, for Jesus was on the cross and
everybody forgot about Jesus.

No man cares for my soul. I am forsaken. I am a worm and no man. I am forgotten. You know what a worm and no man means? It means lizard brain. There’s nothing. I’m not even a man. I’m filled from spinal cord, head to nervous system. That’s all. I can twitch and move around and wiggle on the cross. I’m a worm and no man. How about that kind
of death? That’s a horrible death. Isn’t that amazing? If he laid down his life for us, and we are to
learn of him, then we are in this life to learn how to love the brethren. And he as he is alive and
hurting is learning to forgive me. He’s learning to pray for me. He’s learning to edify me. He’s
learning to pick up the phone and say hello. I am for you. How can you be for me when I hurt
you? Because I am. Because that’s the nature of God. I am so much for you I need to talk to
you cause we can have a talk and we’ll speak truth to each other. And encourage each other in
truth and be broken and lay down – I want to lay down my life for you.

Isn’t that what it means? Okay, so now I’ll finish up here with this text. It goes – it looks like Arbor is having a good time
down there! Do we have a pillow here? We could throw him a pillow! vs. 14. Do you know what?
It’s so nice to go to bed at night and say I love the brethren. It is so nice. I forgive my brother. I
have nobody I hate. I have no revenge. I don’t look for revenge. I look for mercy. The same
mercy I got I want my brother to get mercy. I want him to be blessed more than ever. It’s like
Jesus on the cross, “forgive them; they don’t know what they do.” And furthermore to the thief,
“today, you will be with me in Paradise.” I’m a minister. I’m a minister of light, love, of
forgiveness. I’m a minister of truth. That’s what people need. They don’t need revenge, do they?
They need love. Love. Sometimes we are so caught up with right and wrong. Do you want to
stand up for a second? He’s caught up with right and wrong. This is wrong. This is right. We say
we understand that. This is a mess.

This is a mess. There is nothing we can do. We need God. When there is a crazy mess, what do we need? We need God and his grace. We need the Spirit of grace and the Spirit of God to love. It would be like a dad frustrated with a teenager and there is right and wrong and he’s so frustrated with his son or daughter and it’s just like wrong what
happened. So much of this frustration in life with people. It happens and then, and then Arbor
gives it to God. He says, Lord, I don’t know what to do. I’m just going to love. I want you to teach
me longsuffering. Maybe in five years this changes. Maybe with my daughter or my son I’ll
speak to them not right in the driveway when I’m flying off the handle and I could yell at them in
the driveway. Maybe I’ll wait 48 hours. Go back down there! And you say, I got to give it to God
and think about it. I have to wait 48 hours. God give me some wisdom, how to be smart. If they
need a penalty, I need the right kind of penalty. If they get a penalty, I need the right kind of
penalty for the right reason.

The penalty cannot be too severe. One brother told me – he was older than me. He was a very old guy. But he said to me in confidence. He’s gone to be with the Lord, but he said to me, I want to tell you something. I have a wound and I think he was in his 80’s. I have a wound from when I was 15 years old. My father penalized me one summer when I
got out of school. One summer he said I had to stay in the house for the whole summer. I had to
stay in the house for the whole summer. My friends are out playing in the sunshine and I had to
stay in the house. My father penalized me that way. He said that thing was so wrong. That was
so wrong what my father did to me. This is Ephesians 6 “father, provoke not your children to wrath.”
What does it mean? That in this world as parents, we need to know, learn, I need a church. A
church can teach me and help me raise my children. A church can help me in my relationships
with people. A church can teach me love. You can’t find love in a barroom or in a movie theater.
You can’t find love by reading a book.

You need to find love in God. And find God in the doctrine. Come unto me. Learn of me. I will teach you. I am meek and lowly. And this is what Arbor has got to learn and is learning. While he is suffering, he lays down his life for the
brethren. Here’s the kicker. This is the key. All that I said doesn’t mean anything unless this is
true. And God is with him. If that is true, then this is so life-changing. If God is with him. That
brother in another country, a missionary feeling hurt, and he’s able to say Lord, I feel – do you
know when we went on the missionfield to Finland in our first year, we were to get $1000 a
month from our local church. We were there ten or eleven months. Five times we didn’t get the
money. We didn’t get the money. We were losing weight. We were losing weight. I weigh 190
pounds. When I finished my first year, I weighed 155 pounds. I lost about 40 pounds. I was
losing weight because we didn’t have any money. We didn’t have food to eat sometimes. A guy
had a factory with canned food, and we got some jars of tuna and tomato paste or some
chocolate bars and [? Finnish word?] and a few different items.

It didn’t matter to me because – I’m sure it did but just to say my local church can fail me. But this isn’t what this about. It’s about God. It’s about God. It’s God with you. Look at what happened in Finland. In our first year we
had about 20 people. In our second year we had about 200 people. God was teaching us. I
never said to the Fins, my church has failed me. I never said that to my children, my church has
failed me. I never said that to my wife, my church has failed me, because this isn’t what it’s
about. It’s about a love that is from God that loves the brethren when it’s bad, when they fail,
when it isn’t good or it’s not right or whatever it might be. That’s a great thing. So the last verse
here I think, vs. 15. Could you stand up again? Thanks. You’re doing good. Right now, he may
be right now as he stands here a murderer. Why is he a murderer? Because he can’t lay down
his life for the brethren. He can’t love. He can complain a lot.

He can defend himself. He can fight like a trooper. He can knock your head off. He can fight but what good does it do? This isn’t about him being strong. It’s about finding God, isn’t it? It’s about finding God. Learning to be a
servant. Nobody thanks you. Nobody knows you are doing it. Nobody is recognizing it but it’s in
your heart. It’s how you live. You end up getting blessed in many ways. It showers on you.
Jesus is with you. God is showing you the new way of life. It’s a game changer. I come here to
be a servant and to bless others. When things are wrong, I want to come in a blessing. When
things are under a curse, I want to bring a blessing. When there’s no rain, I want to come in and
be a blessing and pray for God to bring rain. When there’s trouble around us, we want to find
God and his grace and minister grace and teach it and learn it and grow in it and lay down my
life for the brethren. vs. 16. This is the last one.

What condition were we in when he did it? He laid down his life for us when we were stupid, when we were selfish. He laid down his life for us when we were arrogant. He laid down his life for us when we were filled with ourselves and our
opinions. He laid down his life for us when we didn’t have a clue. He laid down his life for us
when you lived in a dorm and felt like quitting, when you come to the church and you’re thinking
this is my last time. I’m done. I’m finished. He laid down his life for us when we were imperfect,
one foot in the faith and another foot outside of it. He laid down his life when we were weak and
unrighteous. So ought we. vs. 16. that’s a game changer. That means that someone who learns
that now, might be one day teaching it in another country and saying, let’s not complain about
our country. Don’t talk about it like that. I got, I want to finish but this is so timely what I want to
say. When we went to Finland, I met this German guy who was also a believer from East
Germany, and he would just complain about Finland.

He didn’t like Finland. He just complained about Finland. I told him I never do that. I never talk like that. I never complained. And he said, why not? Then he’d give this whole thing. I goes, you don’t come here to complain about the
country. You come here to bring a blessing. You come here to bless. You come here to
minister. We’re privileged if they give us a visa. If we eat their bread and we have the air they
breathe and the water they drink, why would we complain about this country? This is a blessed
place. Can you see it? Do you see it? Do you understand it? Do you understand what it is? Do
you understand anything about life? Like life isn’t about you having it your way. Life is about
finding God, living with God through God in this world. And forgiveness is a huge thing because
God is a forgiving God. If he forgave me, I ought to forgive others.

This is the way it is. When you and I walk in that, there is a blessing on our life. He opens doors. He teaches you. You get deeper. I realize there are many people that get married and I don’t know if they understand
what this means. To be a servant. How amazing it is. If you marry a servant, and you are a
servant and you marry a person who is a servant, what that means that you are servants. It’s
not 50/50. You take out the garbage 50 percent of the time and I’ll do the other 50. You wash the dishes 50/50. You cook 50/50. Laundry 50/50 and all of this kind of thing. Oh, what a boring,
empty, frozen discouraging, critical, judgmental marriage. What about joy? You lay down your
life and give it all up and be a servant. And then you just flow. You got more energy. You can do
your neighbor’s dishes! You got more energy.

How’s my neighbor doing. You have a ministry.
You come to the church, who has a need? You have the blessing of God in your life. Do not
calculate your life based on yourself. Learn to live in faith as a servant as you find that blessing,
the seed, the seed of Christ. You find that blessing in your life. It’s not necessarily always easy
but you learn and you become a blessing. Okay. Amen. Thanks Arbor. Take your shoes. How
about if you want to look over to your neighbor and fellowship a minute or two on the message.
Just say what did you get out of it? Just talk for a minute and we’ll do the offering.

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