THE BOND OF BROTHERHOOD

I JOHN 4:7

A. "BELOVED, LET US LOVE ONE ANOTHER; FOR LOVE IS OF GOD; AND EVERYONE THAT LOVETH IS BEGOTTEN OF GOD, AND KNOWETH GOD"
  1. There are sixty-six book in the Bible:
    1. Each one of them seems to have a special part to play in the great drama of the universe
    2. All of them, we believe, are a revelation of God and His relationship to the universe
  2. The writings of John the beloved seem to have a very special and outstanding assignment:
    1. That function is, as the letters written by John reveal so clearly, to portray the love of God
    2. He sums up the meaning of love in three words - "God is Love" B. THE BOND OF BROTHERHOOD
  3. It is Peter:
    1. Who writes about "love the brotherhood" - I Peter 2:17
    2. "Honor al men, love the brotherhood. Fear God, honor the King"
  4. Paul writes about:
    1. "The bond of peace" - Eph. 4:3
    2. "Above all these things put on charity which is the bond of perfection" Col. 3:14
  5. John, according to our opening text, emphasizes love:
    1. Love in its origin
    2. God is love; this is the first fact in the universe, first in time, and first in significance
    3. Man cannot be the only or the highest thing that loves in this vast universe
    4. There are, doubtless, untold numbers of beings in the universe that love, perhaps infinitely more than man is capable to love
    5. But love must have an original source and John says, "God is love"
  6. Love had its supreme manifestation in Christ:
    1. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son" - John 3:16
    2. "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself" - 2 Cor. 5:19
    3. "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all" - Rom. 8:32 C. THE BOND OF BROTHERHOOD
  7. The love of God in Christ to us is the motive of our love to one another:
    1. "We have known and believed the love that God hath to us" - I John 4:16
    2. "We have seen and do testify that the Father sent to Son to be the Saviour of the world" - John 4:14
    3. That is the assurance, that is the ground Jesus Christ has disclosed for the love of God
  8. Love in its issues:
    1. Love is the chief of the Christian graces. It is the keystone of the arch which gives beauty and symmetry and permanency to the others
    2. Love is the crowning glory of the Christian character, the essential element of Christian perfection, the highest exhibition of Christian excellence
    3. Love is the parent of many Christian virtues; in the first place love begets justice
  9. Love in its insight:
    1. Divine love has its throne in the heart because out of it are the issues of life
    2. "Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life" - Prov. 4:23
    3. Love that does not spring from the heart is simulated love
    4. "Let love be without dissimulation" - Rom. 12:9
  10. Love the brotherhood:
    1. The brotherhood consists of all the believers in Christ Jesus
    2. The members of the church, the members of the mystical body of Jesus Christ
    3. All for whom the Son of God died
  11. But the brotherhood of men goes farther:
    1. It includes all human beings
    2. All for whom Christ dies; and He died for all
    3. It includes also those who are unlovable
    4. For said Jesus, "If ye love them that love you, what reward have ye?" - Matt. 5:46
  12. Love for man:
    1. Is a mark that God dwells in us and we in Him
    2. For God is love - I John 3:17; 4:12,15


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