Leave Your Hate at the Door (1 John 3:15-19)

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

One who moves in hate but proclaims to be a child of God must make corrections today if they desire to dwell with God.

Introduction

Throughout this series of sermons, I have done my best to preach to all of you about what walking in spirit and in truth is.  I’ve preached to you that walking in spirit and in truth is a sincere service that takes place in and out of the sanctuary where we serve God and each other.  A common thread I hope you have noticed throughout this series has been my calls for fellowship, not separation; love and not hate.  

I say to you once again this week, no more hate is needed in our world, especially not from those who proclaim to be God’s children.  With that in mind, I want to conclude this series by sharing scripture from 1 John 3:15-19.  The reason I share this scripture with you today is  because if desire to inherit the kingdom of heaven, then it is imperative for you to live for the kingdom today.

In my sermon this week, I am going to be focusing on the necessity to love and not hate. I am going to focus on what hate does to our soul.  And, I am also going to focus on how hate hurts one’s chances of ever dwelling in God’s kingdom.

Hatred Is Enmity to God

So, let me start this week’s message off with a rather obvious point.  God does not and will never dwell in fellowship with hate.  Hatred, you should understand, is enmity to God, which is simply to say that hatred stands in hostility to the Lord.

We should always remember that God is love, as John said in 1 John 4:8.  God has shown us time ane time again that He is love through His mercy, patience, forgiveness, fairness, and truth.

Hatred on the other hand moves in selfishness, greediness, and envy.  Hatred has shown itself to be proud, boastful, rude, and to rejoice in iniquity (sin).  I will remind you that Isaiah 59:2 shows us that the Lord separates Himself from sin; He does not tolerate sin, and therefore, hate in His presence.

We know through scripture that God doesn’t tolerate hate.  In Paul’s story, when he persecute the church as Saul in blind hate, God rebuked him and temporarily blinded his sight (Acts 9:1-9).  

In Jonah’s story, when he chose to disregard God’s instructions to preach to the Ninevites because he hated them, God first put him into the belly of a great fish to teach him a lesson.  Then, when Jonah refused to let go of his anger towards the Ninevites, God let him bake under the sun until he finally put away his hate and learned grace.

In the story of Cain and Abel, Cain killed his brother out of envy.  Cain hated that God favored his brother’s offering over his and murdered him in cold blood.  God then cursed Cain to be a fugitive and a homeless wanderer who begs for food (Gen. 4:1-15).

So, because hatred stands in hostility to God, He moves in hostility towards it!  One should never think that it is OK to move out of hate and that God would be pleased with such.  I remind you, God’s command is to love, even those who may hate you (Matt. 5:43-44).

The Poison of Hate

I want all of you to understand the poison that is hatred because so many are consumed by it, and you need not to be consumed by hate.  

Proverbs 10:12 states, “Hatred stirs up strife.”  I want you to consider all of the strife that we see in both this land and throughout the world today.  Have you realized that hatred is at the center of all of it?  Hate was also at the center of all of the cultural, national, religious, and racial strife yesterday.

Proverbs 14:30 states, “A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rotteness to the bones.”  Having hate and rage stored up in your soul is physically unhealthy.  Some wander the earth today who you can literally see hatred’s physical manifestations.  Hate will run your blood pressure up, mess up your heart, and plague your body!

In 1 John 2:11, the scripture states, “He who hates others is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”  

So, as a poison, hatred blinds one’s spiritual sight, and they lack clarity on what is righteous and unrighteous.  There is no way you can tell me that it is a righteous cause to hate people because of the color of their skin, their nationality, or because of who or what they believe in!  The righteous cause is to uplift your neighbor, not to tear them down!

Along that train of thought, in 1 John 3:15, John wrote, “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”  In other words, hatred does not live for the kingdom of God.  Hate poisons the soul, corrupting it so much so that what comes from it is murderous.  As James said, “The wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God (Jas. 1:20).”

The Need to Remove Hatred

So, we have several reasons why we should remove hatred from within us and from around us.

Reason 1:  Hatred is completely unhealthy for us; it is unhealthy for us physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.  

Reason 2:  It poisons our homes, jobs, communities, schools, and even churches.

Reason 3:  God don’t like ugly!  Again, God moves with hostility towards hate and will not permit it in His presence.  Revelation 21:4 makes this clear when, in His revelation, Christ revealed that there will be no more death, sorrow, crying, or pain, for those things which are brought on by hate will pass away.  

In Matthew 25:31-46, when Jesus spoke of His judgment at His second coming, He made it clear that those who didn’t care for the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, or those living in need during the period of the Great Tribulation will be cast into the same everlasting fire that’s prepared for the devil. 

So, if your desire is not to perish but to have everlasting life in God’s kingdom, the warning is quite clear:  Leave your hate at the door!  If you desire to dwell with the Lord for everlasting life, you must turn away from permitting hate to fester in your soul and lead you.

Living for Tomorrow’s Kingdom, Today

We must not wait to try to get right for the kingdom tomorrow, for tomorrow is not promised, and the eternal tomorrow will be too late.

Christ’s call for immediate repentance

Let us keep in mind that when Christ preached God’s kingdom, He called on all people to repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand (or nearby) (Matt. 4:17).  That call was not a call for one to delay, but rather a call to stir up fear of God’s judgment.  Christ encouraged people to immediately repent because the time for correction is now, while one lives and has the opportunity to make them.

Now, some believe that when that day comes, when they stand before the Lord, they will be able to plead their case.  At that day, God is going to make judgment, not listen to one plead their case.  If you stand before God with a sinful heart, a heart that was filled with hate, God will cast you away from His presence for everlasting life.

My encouragement for you today is for you to heed Christ’s warning and make corrections immediately!  Don’t you wait to the day that you stand before the great white throne, thinking that you will be able to change God’s mind on how He will judge your sinful living.

I want you, who are reading this sermon, to understand today that God is already making note of whether or not you are fit to inherit His kingdom.  Therefore, it is imperative that you take advantage of God’s mercy today and do not wait to make corrections to show yourself approved.

Corrections Needed to Inherit God’s Kingdom

What John shares with us in 1 John 3:15-18 are three steps we should take so that we can make correction and assure our hearts before the Lord.

Move in Christ-like love instead of hate

In this scripture, John first called for the correction I have been focused on in recent weeks.  John called on God’s children to stop hating their neighbor, and therefore, to stop murdering or bringing harm to their neighbor.  So, John called for us to love, which again, is God’s command.  

Now, I feel it is important for you to understand the kind of love that John was calling for because there is a difference between what we think is love and Christ-like love.  If you take a look at 1 John 3:16-17, you will see where John speaks specifically of the kind of love we must be certain that we are moving in.

In that scripture, John points to Christ, and he tells us not to move according to a love that is of the world but move in Christ-like love.  Now, can you understand why John doesn’t encourage us to move in the manner of love that we think is right according to our opinion?

Our idea of love is incredibly flawed, incredibly biased, and incredibly prejudiced.  Yes, our love is far removed from Christ-like love.

John tells us believers that we know what true love is because true love has been made known to us through Christ laying down His life for our sins to be washed away.  By giving His life for us, Christ lifts us from the death of sin.  Because of Christ, we are going to be lifted from the mortal to the immortal.  

Ask yourself, how many are willing to lift you to higher levels?  How many of us are willing to lift others to higher levels, especially strangers?  Yet, the child of God is, again, commanded by the Lord to do such a thing!

As John said, “We also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”  Such kind of love seems impossible for us to have, to literally lay down our lives for others.  I am reminded of what Paul said when he said, “Perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.”  

Yet, as I preached in my sermon, “Without Love, We Are…” I preached that it is good for us to care and to sympathize with the plight of others.  As I preached in my sermon, Walk by Example, it is good for us to make intercession, praying for and advocating for others.

Moreover, because the Lord will esteem us in the day we are lifted unto glory, you and I ought to esteem others higher than we esteem ourselves.  While it may be difficult for many of us to literally sacrifice our lives for someone else, I believe all of us can put others before ourselves.  When you can put the needs of others before your own needs, that is truly a great sacrifice that pleases the Lord.

Give and do not be stingy

With that in mind of esteeming others, I want you to keep in mind John saying, “If you have the world’s goods and see someone in need, and shut your heart to them, how does the love of God abide in them (1 John 3:17)?”

The world teaches that if you have the world’s goods, you should be stingy and store them up for yourself.  God’s way is a way that is giving.  As James said, when we go to the Lord, He gives to us liberally and not reluctantly (Jas. 1:5); He is not stingy, especially when it comes to our needs.

So, if we are God’s children and should take after Him, shouldn’t we also be liberal in our giving when we have it to give?  When our brothers and sisters are in need, especially in times like now, it is not good for us to ignore their need when we have the ability to help. 

We live in a day when there aren’t just millionaires living in the world, but there are billionaires who have hundreds of billions of dollars.  Some of you may disagree with what I say next, but I believe that the presence of such wealthy men is a sign of how deep we are in the pit of sinful living.  

Let me be clear about this:  I am not preaching against you gaining wealth to live comfortably.  Yet, I believe that many are living as the rich young ruler lived.  The rich young ruler turned away from Christ and the kingdom of God because He didn’t want to sell His possessions.  

I also believe we are living in a day when many are as the rich fool Jesus spoke of in parable.  Rather selling away his goods to help those in need, he chose to build a larger barn so that he could store even more of his goods for himself.  Yes, that is the world we live in today:  greedy people who are perfectly content to watch others struggle to barely get by.

We must be roe giving.  Why do you suppose God blesses you as He does?  When you have ample, and the opportunity presents itself, help the brother, sister, and stranger who is in need.  Keep in mind what Paul said to Timothy, “Godliness with containment is great gain (1 Tim. 6:6).”

Put love into action, not just words

You see, love isn’t just a word you use, and it isn’t just a sentiment.  When John spoke of the kind of love that we ought to have, He said in 1 John 3:18, “Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” 

Let’s be clear about this:  John was saying that love moves and takes action.  Again, it is not enough to see your brother and sister struggling and tell them that you will pray for them when you have the ability to help them in that moment!  Don’t get me wrong, I am a prayer warrior, but when God has given you the gifts to help, get into action!  

We have enough people smiling and nodding, pretending to be allies, but in the end working as adversaries.  We are living in a world where love and help is truly needed today, and we must be willing to make the correction to genuinely put forth the work of love.  The most dangerous kind of love is the love that goes nowhere and does nothing!

Be Honest, Be Genuine, Be Sincere

Again, I preach to you, honesty, genuineness, and sincerity – this is the love that uplifts!  

One who walks in spirit and in truth perfects love through action.  Where so many are consumed today with hate and spewing it wherever they go, we as God’s children must rise above it today.  Let those who refuse to turn from hatred souls be consumed with hate, but ours cannot.  We have fruit to bear, and that fruit is needed in our world.

Should we move in the kind of love that John shared, it will bring life not just to our souls, but to the souls of all of those around us.  This is the work that Christ has called on us to do.  This is a work that helps us to live in fellowship today, and prepares us for the fellowship, harmony, and unity which we will dwell in for everlasting life tomorrow.