GOD'S COMMANDMENT
1 John chapter 3:18 to 24
Again we meet the expression my little children, affectionate and directed to the young in the faith, who might have misunderstood what was meant by the love to be practised to brothers (and sisters) in Christ.
It is not merely to be by word or "by the tongue." Kind words which are comforting and cheering are not condemned, but warm words should be accompanied by warm deeds to make real in deed and in truth. This is where actions do speak louder than mere words.
This kind of love is not a sentiment but it is of the kind that expresses itself in action. The letter of James expounds the subject in greater detail and gave examples: "If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,' but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?" (James 2:15-16)
It is like when a brother in need comes to us and we simply say, "I'll pray for you, brother." It will be tragic when many believers come into the presence of Christ, after having been provided with this world's goods, and not having used them to help out needy fellow believers.
We express our love of the brethren by what we do for them, not by what we say. Our tongue is very good at running ahead of our feet, but Christian love, the real article, is not a matter of the head or the tongue. If indeed we are children of God, we will manifest this love. Self-sacrificing love is required of us as believers. It may not be necessary to give our lives, but certainly it is necessary to give of our substance, time and so on. Christianity is a love relationship.
If our lives manifest these things, we have an assurance that we are of the truth when we come before God in prayer. Furthermore, just as it is possible to be ashamed at the appearing of Christ if we have wasted away uselessly that which has been given to us, we shall have confidence when we stand before Him if we are using our resources wisely for the furtherance of His kingdom.
God gives us an assurance in our hearts that we are in His will and that we are doing that which He wants done. Paul had this assurance when he said, Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. (2 Timothy 4:8).
God's omniscience is linked with his love and sympathy. God knows every secret in our hearts. The child of God can have an assurance, but suppose we do not have it, because we feel in our conscience that we are not doing all that we should be doing? Does that mean that we have lost our salvation or that we did not have it to begin with? We certainly do not lose our salvation. If our heart, or conscience, condemns us, God is greater than our hearts, greater than our lack of assurance. He is still going to hear our prayer, wonderful God that He is. When we fail Him, He won't fail us. We can depend on Him. Even if we don't have assurance, we may just keep going to Him.
On the other hand if our heart (conscience) does not condemn us, we have the consciousness of fellowship (not a claim to sinlessness) in God's presence, and we come to Him confidently in prayer (Hebrews 4:16). It is wonderful to have assurance when we pray.
There are no limitations on requests made in prayer, when there is complete fellowship with God, which means complete surrender of our will to that of God our Father (Mark 11:24; Luke 11:9; John 14:12; 16:23). The answer may not always be in the form that we expect, but it will be better. We receive regularly the answer to our prayers because we keep his commandments and we do the things that are pleasing in his sight.
Love in action gives assurance in prayer, for we can expect God to hear and answer our prayer when our life is pleasing to Him. That is something that is desperately needed today. When persecution first broke out in the early church, and the apostles were warned to stop preaching the name of Jesus, they went back and reported this to the other believers, and they assembled together and went to God in prayer.
They didn't pray that the persecution would stop: they began their prayer by saying, "Lord, You are God" (Acts 4:24). This is something which seems to be absent in most churches today. People are not sure that our heavenly Father is God, that He does run this universe, and that He is in charge.
God's greatest commandments to the Israelites were summarised by the Lord Jesus, as follows:
The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. 'And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. "And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." Mark 12:30-31 (NKJV)
God's commandment to us, however, is:
that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He (the Lord Jesus) gave us commandment. 1 John 3:23 (NKJV)
The name of His Son Jesus Christ stands for all that He is (chapter 1:3). We are not obeying this commandment if we just say we believe on Him but we are not concerned for other believers. It is not a love in which we just go up and put our arms around someone, one that we just talk about, but it will be expressed in genuine concern for the individual. We will not be gossiping about him, or hurting him in any way. But we will be concerned about him. This is the Christian life in a nutshell.
When we abide in God, obeying His commandment, He abides in us through the Holy Spirit (John 14:10, 17, 23; 17:21, Romans 8:9,14,16). The Holy Spirit verifies these things to our hearts if we have not grieved Him. We grieve the Holy Spirit when we do not do His will. Jesus said,
"If you love Me, keep My commandments."
John 14:15
If we do not do that, we grieve the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is given to every believer, as Paul makes clear in Romans 8:9: "But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His." The mark that we are a child of God is that we are indwelt by the Spirit of God, and it is the Holy Spirit who will verify these things and make them real to our heart.
R David Jones
18 Little children, let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth.
19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth, and reassure our hearts before him
20 whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
21 Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God;
22 and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
23 And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.
24 All who keep his commandments abide in him, and he in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit which he has given us.