The Legacy of Love

Adrian Rogers was a motivator, an encourager, and a leader of the faith. He was also passionate about presenting scriptural application to everyday life circumstances, and you'll hear that in today's message.

Now, let's join Adrian Rogers. Turn to 1 John chapter 3. Look up here and let me ask you a question. How would you like to have sweet assurance to say, I know that I know that I know that I'm heaven-born and heaven-bound? Furthermore, how would you like to have great, great boldness in your faith to be able to pray to come to God and pray with such confidence that you absolutely know that your prayer will be answered?

And let me ask you another question. How would you like to have sweet communion with the Lord? I mean for the Lord, not to be somebody that you read about or hear about, but for the Lord Jesus Christ to be in your life a bright, burning, loving, gracious reality, to have assurance, to have confidence, to have communion with the Lord day by day.

Would you like that? Well, there's a key to all of that, and that's what we're going to talk about today, and that key is love. Now, listen, love today is, well, it's sort of a word that we pass by. It's kind of shopworn, but I want you to learn from the Word of God today, the legacy of love. And when you see it, you're going to realize what I said a few moments ago, that even if we were utterly selfish, utterly selfish, we would want to love.

Of course, we can't be selfish and love, so that's really a contradiction. But look in God's Word, and you'll understand what I'm talking about, beginning here, 1 John 3, verse 11, for this is the message that you've heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. Wherefore slew he him, because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.

Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death, and whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him, hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him, my little children? Let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed, and in truth, and hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and with all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God, and whatsoever we ask we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things which are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his son Jesus Christ, and love one another as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him, and hereby we know that he abideth in us by the spirit which he hath given us. There are four levels of life.

Let's start at the lowest level of life, and that is murder. Look, if you will, in verse 11 again, and this is the message that we've heard of him from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. Adam had two sons.

One was a martyr, and one was a missionary. Cain slew Abel. By the way, the first murder was over religion. That's what the Bible says here.

It was over religion. Cain hated Abel's religion, and Abel was a martyr for the faith. False religion is almost always murderous. It comes from the devil. Jesus said in John 8 and verse 44 that Satan is a murderer. Jesus said he's a thief that comes to kill and to steal and to destroy.

Who is manipulating the street gangs? Who is enticing sometimes well-fed and well-paid doctors to snuff out life in the womb? Satan. That's the lowest level of life. That's of the devil. That's murder.

All right, now let's move on to the next level, not much higher. Look, if you will, now in verses 13 and 14. Marvel not my brethren if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother bideth in death, and whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer. Now, the next level, not murder but hatred. You say, well, I've never killed anybody, but John says if you have hate in your heart, God wrote it down in his ledger as murder. Jesus said if you're angry with your brother, you have hatred in your heart. If your heart is headquartered for hate, you're on a mighty low level of life. Now, you might not have pulled the trigger, but in God's sight, God might see you as a murderer.

He that hateth his brother is a murderer. I remember hearing about a woman who went to the doctor. She'd been bitten by a rabid animal, and the doctor came back and said, yes, you do. You have rabies, and she got out a pen and a piece of paper and began to write. He said, what are you doing, making out your will?

She said, no, I'm making a list of people I'm going to bite. They're people just like that, filled with hatred. God writes it down as murder. That's another level of life, but then there's another level, a little higher, but not a whole lot better, and that's not murder or hatred, but it is indifference.

Look in verse 17. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother hath need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him. Now, there are many who say, well, I'm not a murderer, and I don't hate people. I just go my way.

I do my thing, and I let them do their thing, and you're indifferent. And that too, my friend, is not of God. Jesus gave a whole parable, the parable of the good Samaritan about those who passed the man by, who had been beaten and bruised and bloodied and left for dead.

The world is full of the beater uppers and the passer uppers, and thank God there are some picker uppers, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, those are three levels of life, but I want to deal with the fourth level. That's the level of the child of God, those who are saved, and that is the level of love. Not murder, not hatred, not indifference, but love. Now, before we get into our text, I just want to take just a little moment and tell you of the great, great immeasurable value of love. I looked up some scriptures.

I want to share them with you. Get a pen and a piece of paper and just jot these scriptures down. Let me tell you why love is so very, very important. Number one, it is absolutely the greatest virtue. Just write down 1 Corinthians 13, verses one and two, and our Lord here is comparing all of the other virtues with love. For example, he says in verse two, if I have faith so that I can remove mountains and have not love, I am nothing. What Paul is saying is what good is it if you can get rid of mountains and you can't get rid of malice? Love is greater than faith, greater than mountain moving faith. He says, if I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and have not love, I'm just like that gong on the gong show.

I'm like sounding brass and tinkling cymbal. It is the greatest virtue. Love is the greatest virtue. Love is the greatest commandment. One time they asked the Lord Jesus, Jesus, what is the greatest commandment? Put this scripture down. Matthew chapter 22, verses 37 through 40. Jesus says unto him, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.

Now watch this. And the second is likened to it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself on these two commandments, hang all the law and the prophets. What he says, you can take the 10 commandments, you can take the Pentateuch, you can take Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, you can take it all and just write down this, love God with all of your heart, love your neighbor as yourself. That's it. That's the sine qua non, that's it.

That is the whole thing summed up. Love is the greatest virtue. Love is the greatest commandment. And by the way, if love is the greatest commandment, what is the greatest sin? Not to love. Because you've broken the greatest commandment, not to love God, not to love your brother. Listen, love is the greatest testimony.

Jesus Christ said in John chapter 13, by this shall all men know that you're my disciples. If you love one another, you don't have to have a lapel pin. You don't have to have a bumper sticker. A man out in California, true story, he was one of these guys always on time, one of these guys does everything just right, businessman, woke up in the morning. He always liked to get on the freeway in California early so he would not be late. Waked up, went out to try to start his car, the battery was dead. He asked his wife, can I take your car?

She said yes. By this time, he'd missed the wind of opportunity and that freeway had become the world's longest parking lot and he's inching along and then it comes to a dead stop and the man behind him toots the horn. Now, the guy's already late. He's already irritated and the man behind him blows the horn. He just sits there and steams a little and after a while, the man behind him blows the horn again.

True story. This executive who was a member of a fine church in California got so irritated, he just gritted his teeth. He said, I don't know why that guy is blowing his horn at me.

Doesn't he see I cannot move? Then the man tapped the horn the third time. This man, so angry, this executive, normally well controlled, threw open the car door, went back to that man, tapped on the window. The man lowered the window. He put his finger in that man's face and said, listen you, I don't want you to blow your horn at me one more time.

I cannot move my car. And he said some other things that weren't very nice to him and the man behind him said, sir, what is wrong with you? What do you mean, what's wrong with me? He said, what's wrong with you? He said, no, what's wrong with you, sir? He said, doesn't that bumper sticker mean what it says, honk if you love Jesus? He said, I do love Jesus.

I am so sorry. We need to take the saint off the dashboard and put him behind the steering wheel. Isn't that right? You see love, love is the greatest virtue. Love is the greatest commandment. Love is the greatest testimony. By this shall all men know that you're my disciples if you have love one for another. It is the greatest motivation. You know what the apostle Paul said? The apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians, the love of Christ constraineth us. That's what keeps me going. It's the love of Jesus.

It really is. Do you know to be a soul winner is not even loving souls. Jesus said to Peter, lovelest thou me, feed my sheep. Not do you love sheep or do you love to feed them? But love, love is the greatest motivation.

It's the greatest thing in the world. And friend, now we're going to come back to our text. All that was for free. That's not even in the text.

All right. That's just to get you ready. I want to say that love is also the greatest investment you'll ever make. The greatest investment you will ever make. And what John is giving us here are three things that we gain. Three things that we receive. Three benefits and blisses from love. When we learn to love, what is the legacy of love?

Here they are. The first one is a good conscience. The second one is a great confidence. And the third is a gracious communion. That's the legacy of love. Now, first of all, let's look, if we can, and see how we have a good conscience when we love.

Now notice in verse 19, and hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and with all things. What causes your heart to condemn you?

Lack of love. When you have malice in your heart, when you have hatred in your heart, you have a condemning heart. God has wired you that way. If you're saved, if you're born again, you cannot fail to love and have good conscience. Now, we're talking about the word conscience. Well, you say, I don't see the word conscience there. Well, in the Bible, the word conscience and the word heart are often used interchangeably. When he says, if our heart condemn us not, he's saying if our conscience does not condemn us. Now, when you have love in your heart, you're going to find a wonderful thing that your conscience is going to be clear. Now, your conscience is not an enemy. Your conscience is a friend, is something unique put in you that God did not put into animals. Have you ever thought about it?

Animals can't blush and animals can't laugh. Man has a conscience. Now, that conscience, the little boy said, when he was asked what conscience is, he says, that's the part of us that feels bad when everything else feels good. But that's not really true.

It's more than that. That may be the world's frivolous definition of a conscience. But that conscience is that part of you that God has put in you.

It is an ability to contemplate our actions and to make moral judgments. And the Bible teaches that all of us should have a good conscience. Put these scriptures down. 1 Timothy 1.19, holding faith and a good conscience.

Put this one down. Acts chapter 24 and verse 16, Paul said, now this is the apostle Paul. He talks about his ambition. He said, and herein do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men. Bill Gothard said that conscience, a good conscience is this, that inner freedom of spirit and assurance from knowing that you have a transparency toward everyone. That no one is able to point a finger at you and accuse you of wrongs toward him that you've never made right. Now you can just take that definition by Bill Gothard and write the word love.

Listen to it again. That inner freedom of spirit and assurance from knowing that you have a transparency toward everyone. That no one, no one is able to point a finger at you and accuse you of wrongs toward him that you've never made right. There is absolutely no way that you can have a good conscience without love. When you love, you will make it right. And when you make it right, you have that transparency. And friend, that'll do you more good than a sleeping pill. If you don't have assurance, if you're doubting your salvation and you've given your heart to Jesus Christ, you better check up and see if perhaps there's some bitterness in your heart, some sin in your life.

It is an acid that will destroy your assurance. Look at verses 19 and 20 again. And hereby, now he's talking to you. Hereby refers to love. And hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him, for if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things.

Your heart will condemn you and you will never, listen, never have a good conscience until you learn to love. When you love, when you love, I mean truly love, when you've made it right, you're going to have that sweet assurance. So here's the first legacy of love and these are going to build one upon another. The first legacy of love is a good conscience. The second legacy of love, not only a good conscience, but a great confidence.

Now notice how one folds into another. Look in verse 19, and hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him, for if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

Confidence, boldness. First of all, my heart doesn't condemn me. And all of this is in the context of love. My heart doesn't condemn me. And when my heart doesn't condemn me, then I have confidence toward God. Boldness in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Well, you say, what good is this confidence? This confidence, dear friend, that you have with God, this confident heart that comes out of a clean conscience is what helps you to pray and get your prayers answered. Look again at this passage of scripture.

Now watch this. If our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God, and it's all linked together. Verse 22, and whatsoever we ask, we receive of him because we keep his commandments and do those things which are pleasing in his sight. Now, what commandments is he talking about? Well, just go down to verse 23, the last part, that we should believe on the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he gave us commandment.

That's what he's talking about. How do you get your prayers answered? Have a good conscience. Well, what does that do?

It gives you a great confidence. And you can come to God and ask in his name and get your prayer answered. Answered prayer is not for rebels. Answered prayer is not for those whose hearts are filled with hate.

It is not, it is not, it is not. The Bible says if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. That's a prayer promise that we don't like to quote, but that's one of the promises. That's a prayer promise.

Let me illustrate this. Have you ever read over there in 1 Peter chapter 3? Peter is telling husbands and wives how to dwell together as heirs of the grace of life. I like that phrase, the grace of life. That's kind of like the cherry on top, the grace of life, a happy marriage. Husbands and wives dwell together as heirs of the grace of life. And he says that your prayers to God be not hindered. Let me give you a real example of this.

You and your wife are having one of those little discussions that can be heard about three blocks away. And you get into it. Hey, look, sometimes Christians can do this.

True? I mean, they get their eyes off the Lord and they get into one of these things. And they're at one another's throat. And whatever else they're doing, they are not dwelling together as heirs of the grace of life. And then mother goes in to check the baby and she comes out and she's got a frightened look on her face.

And it's obvious that the baby is very sick. And you're both believers. And you know that you need to pray. You feel so silly right now. You say, we better pray. All right. But you can't pray.

You feel like fools praying in that atmosphere, that hostility, that venom. Do you know what you do? You say, sweetheart, I'm so sorry. I was wrong. I was a fool. Darling, forgive me.

She says, well, it was my fault too. You hug, kiss, make up, the conscience is clear. The assurance is back and you can pray.

Isn't that right? But you cannot pray with a condemning heart. I mean, if you don't have a good conscience, you cannot have a great confidence. And if you don't have a great confidence, you can't get your prayers answered. It's just that plain. That's what John is talking about.

It's very practical. Love, love gives a good conscience. And when love gives a good conscience, love gives a great confidence. Now here's the third legacy of love.

And this is the reason I told you folks, if you were just even selfish, you would want to love. It gives a gracious communion. Look, if you will now in verses 23 and 24. And this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his son Jesus Christ and love one another as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments and dwelleth in him and he in him, that is you are in Jesus and Jesus is in you. And hereby we know that he abideth in us by the spirit which he had given us, the abiding spirit.

Now that's the third legacy of love, a gracious communion. The Holy Spirit just whispering to us that we belong to God. The Lord is real to us.

That's the ministry of the Holy Spirit to take the things of Jesus and show them to us. Look, when I learn to love and I live by love, I'm going to have a good conscience. And when I have a good conscience, I'm going to have a great confidence.

And when I have a great confidence, I'm going to have a gracious communion. I mean the Holy Spirit is going to be whispering to my heart that I belong to Jesus Christ and he to me. Do you know the reason that some Christians doubt their salvation? They don't have the witness of the spirit. And how do you know that you're saved?

Because some preachers told you that you're saved? Or does God's spirit bear witness with your spirit that you're a child of God? Now the Holy Spirit can be there and you can be saved and you can have absolutely no assurance because you failed to love. And the Holy Spirit is just grieved. And you know, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to give you joy and peace and understanding and wisdom and power and grace and to make Jesus Christ real to you. Not just what you hear on Sunday morning, some sermon, but God in your heart abiding in the spirit of God, that gracious communion, not merely union but communion. That's koinonia, that's that word that goes all the way through the book of 1 John. But now folks, let me tell you this about the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is very gentle. This time I want you to turn to Scripture. Would you turn to Ephesians chapter 4?

Just turn to it. Ephesians chapter 4. Look, if you will, in verse 26. Be angry and sin not. And by the way, the only way to be angry and sin not is to be angry at sin. Be angry and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath. That is, husbands and wives, don't go to bed angry.

Back to back. Neither give place to the devil. Now, when you do that, when you have unresolved anger, what you've done is just opened the door to the devil. You said, devil, come on in, wreck my home, wreck my marriage, ruin my life, defile my conscience, destroy my confidence, and destroy my communion. You've given a place to the devil. But now skip on down and verse 30 says, and grieve not the Holy Spirit. When you give a place to the devil, what do you do? Well, you grieve the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit is resident in your heart and in your life when you're saved.

Now, watch this. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Now, if you have anger in your heart, if love is not there, that doesn't mean that the Holy Spirit of God forsakes you.

He cannot, he will not. You are sealed by the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption. You see, that's one of the great verses on eternal security. You are sealed by the Holy Spirit.

But now watch this. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. Now, what grieves the Holy Spirit?

These things right here, and I want you to look at them. First of all, he says, bitterness. You know what bitterness is? Bitterness is an unresolved hurt.

Did you hear it? An unresolved hurt. Somebody has hurt you. Somebody's done you wrong. It may be real.

It may be imaginary. But you perceive that somebody has done you wrong. Anybody here like that, somebody's hurt you? Maybe a child, maybe a father, mother, brother, sister, a boss, a dear sweet pastor. Somebody has done you wrong, and you have bitterness.

Now watch this. Bitterness turns to wrath. That's next, wrath.

Look at it in verse 31. Do you know what the word wrath means? The word wrath has the idea of heat. It's something burning, sort of a slow burn. The best illustration I can give you of this is to think of some oily rags in an attic or in a closet, smoldering, or just the heat building up.

All right, now watch. First of all, there's bitterness, and then there's that wrath. There's that slow burn, and then it says an anger. What's the difference between wrath and anger?

Well, wrath is that slow burn, but anger is when somebody opens the door and the oxygen hits those rags, and they burst into flame. Anger. You say, well, I lost my temper. You probably found it. You know when a person says, I lost my temper, what they're saying is really not my fault.

This is not really me. I just, I lost it. Know what is happening, folks, is that you're showing what's in your heart.

Now watch it. Bitterness turns to wrath. Wrath turns to anger, and what does anger turn to? Clamor. What is clamor? That's speaking loudly.

You're wrong. Don't shout. I'm not shouting, and you begin to get your voice loud. You begin to say things, and you get on a roll, and then watch this.

Clamor turns to evil speaking. Then you begin to say things you would never have said, but you're on a roll now, and you begin to say to your loved one, to your child, I wish you'd never been born into our family. You begin to say to your parents, I don't love you. You begin to say to your husband, I want out of here. I want a divorce.

I wish you were dead. The devil says, tell them more. Tell them more, and you say these awful, terrible, hurtful, horrible things. The Bible calls that evil speaking, and then he says malice.

You know what that is? That's when evil speaking turns to the desire to hurt somebody. To do malice means to actually harm them. You may want to hurt them financially, emotionally, physically. You may want to abuse them, and you may do things in a rage. You look back, and you say, how did I do that?

Tell you how you did it. You weren't abiding. You weren't spirit filled. You let the sun go down upon your wrath. You gave a place to the devil, and you grieved the Holy Spirit. Grieve not the Holy Spirit. When you grieve the Spirit of God, when you grieve him, he's so gentle. Have you ever seen somebody's spirit just close up?

I've done some awful dumb things in my life. I've said some things to Joyce I ought not to say, and I've just watched her spirit close up. The Holy Spirit's a dove. He's not a lion.

He's a dove. You can grieve the Holy Spirit. By the way, the Holy Spirit is a person.

The Jehovah's Witnesses don't believe he's a person. You can't grieve an influence. I can't grieve that piano. You can only grieve a person, and by the way, you can only grieve somebody who loves you. Grieve is a love word.

Your neighbor's kids will vex you. Your own kids will grieve you, amen? You can only grieve somebody who loves you. You see, the Holy Spirit of God loves you, but when you don't love, you grieve the Spirit of God, and he closes up, and he withdraws, and you don't have that communion with God that you ought. Oh, but the legacy of love. When you love, you have a good conscience, then you have a great confidence, and then you have a gracious communion.

Isn't that great? Isn't love wonderful? You see, and the love of God, the Bible tells us in Romans 5, 5, is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. Now, it will do you no good whatsoever if you say, well, the pastor said to love, and I'm going to love, and so you just grit your teeth and clench your fist, and you say, I'm going to love if it kills me.

You don't have what it takes. Love is not the way to God. God is the way to love.

That's more than a turn of phrase. You listen carefully now. Go back to 1 John 4, verse 7. Beloved, let us love one another.

Now watch this. For love is of God. That is, it comes from God. And everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love.

You see, listen, the only way, the only way that you can love is to have the love of God in your hearts. Do you know when that comes? Whosoever is born of God. Are you born of God? Now, what is the new birth?

It's not a feeling. It is a transaction where you come to the Lord in absolute sincerity, and you say, Lord, I'm a sinner, and I can't save myself, but I need to be saved. Jesus, you died to save me. You promised to save me if I would trust you. I do trust you with all of my heart. Come into my heart. Forgive my sin and save me.

The Bible says in this same book of 1 John 5 and verse 1, when we believe, we're born of God. That's not an emotional matter. It may show in emotions, but your emotions are the shallowest part of your nature. Salvation is the deepest work of God.

He doesn't do the deepest work in the shallowest part. You just trust him. Say, come into my heart.

Listen, as a teenage boy, I trusted Christ, and I can tell you this, and God is listening. From that moment on, there's been a river of love flowing in me, and it's of him. Love is of God. You'll never love your wife. You'll never love your children.

You'll never love your neighbors, you are, until you give your heart to Jesus. Remember again, love is not the way to God. God is the way to love, and Jesus is the way to the Father. What is the legacy of love? What is it? The legacy of love is a good conscience, a great confidence, and a gracious communion.

That's love. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Heads are bowed and eyes are closed, and if you've never received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord, I'd like to help you right now. Why don't you pray this way? If you're not certain that you're saved, pray this way.

Dear God, just speak to him. I know that you love me, and I know that you want to save me. Thank you, Jesus, for paying for my sin with your blood on the cross. I open my heart now. Now by faith I receive you.

Just by faith I receive you as my Lord and my Savior. Forgive my sin. Save me, Jesus. Save that from your heart. Save me, Jesus.

Did you ask him? Then tell him this, Lord Jesus, thank you for saving me. I receive it by faith. I will make it public. I will not be ashamed of you, and I will follow you the rest of my life wherever you lead me, not in order to be saved, but because I have been saved and because I love you. In your name I pray. Amen.