This sermon delves into the theme of 'Evidences of Eternal Life' based on passages from 1 John. It emphasizes the importance of genuine love for others as a sign of true faith, contrasting light and darkness, life and death. The speaker highlights the practical demonstration of love through actions, not just words, as a hallmark of genuine Christianity, urging listeners to examine their hearts and ensure their love for others reflects the love of God.

Will you turn, please, to 1 John? I'd like very much to have you follow as I read several scriptures. It's most important that we understand the Word of God. Scripture is what God said, and the message, at the most, is what the speaker thinks God meant. And if you have to remember one or the other, always remember the Scripture, because that's what God said. Now, I have three portions today dealing with our theme, this Evidences of Eternal Life, number three. If you follow the suggestion I've made, you put a one in front of chapter 1, verse 6. That's the first evidence. And you've put a two in chapter 2, verse 3, the second evidence. Now I'm asking you to put three threes, and you'll notice why, understand why, after I've finished reading. I begin with verse John 2, 9 to 11. He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there's none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because the darkness hath blinded his eyes. So I suggest you put the first three opposite the ninth verse. The second portion is the third chapter, verses 11 to 19. For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that you should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother, and wherefore slew he him, because his own works were evil, and his brother's were righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. And then I put a three I have just opposite verse 14. We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer. And you know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he lay 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 indeed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. And now to the fourth chapter, two verses in 20 and 21. And I would put the third three just opposite 20. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this is the commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also. It must be very important that God should have moved upon John by the Holy Ghost to give us those three passages in this very short letter. Now you see the Apostle's argument is clear. We've seen it in these last two services. Since God is like to the exclusion of all darkness, then fellowship with darkness excludes fellowship with God. I want you to hear that. I want you to get a hold of that. Since God is like to the exclusion of all darkness, then fellowship with darkness excludes fellowship with God. Since God loved the world, the second of his arguments is, and gave his son, and the son loved the world and gave himself to the death of the cross, all who are born of him and thus become partakers of his love and grace will love God's will as it's revealed in the commandments. I closed yesterday with a quotation from John Wesley. It's John Wesley who said, The commandment to the sinner, Thou shalt not, becomes the promise to the saint. Thou shalt not. The emphasis makes all the difference. You see the saint wants to obey God and the sinner hates the infringement of his rights and privileges as he views them that God's commandments impose upon him. And the third argument is that since being and abiding in the light requires loving one's brother, he that hateth his brother is in darkness and abides in death. That's the third principle that we're dealing with. Now, if truth were confined to language and not to be exhibited in life, then when you've said the word, you've performed the act. But you see, the profession of life in Christ involves an obligation to live and to walk in accordance with that profession. Obedience, not words or feelings, is the test of union with Christ. Those are important to you. You've got to understand it. Now you see why it's so important. Here's this friend, a neighbor, that's come to you and said, I'm not sure. I'm a child of God. Please help me. Now, of course, what they'd like is for you to give them assurance. But if you give it to them and they lose it, then you're obligated to go back and give them another dose. They have a right to just sort of come cling to you like an oyster does to a rock. You gave it to them and they lose it, well, that's your responsibility. But if you bring them to the Word, and the Spirit of God works in the Word, into their heart to show them where they are, that's not your responsibility. Your responsibility is to bring them to the Word. Your responsibility is to pray for them, not to give them assurance. You're to bring them up. You know, it's not the nurse's or the doctor's responsibility for the tuberculosis that's shown when they stand up in front of the fluoroscope or the x-ray machine. All they're doing is just bringing the person to the place where they can discover what their true condition is. And so when you bring someone to the Word of God and they stand before that Word and God begins to work in their heart, you're performing the greatest service that you can. It's important for you in doing that to understand that death and life are two very distinct territories or states or kingdoms, if you wish. What is the state of death? We've got to go back to Ephesians 2, verses 1 to 4 in order to understand what the scripture teaches regarding this territory, this state, this kingdom, this place where darkness reigns where the God of this world controls. And you, said the apostle writing to that church at Ephesus, who were dead in trespasses and sins, who walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince and the power of the air, that same spirit that now works in the children of disobedience among whom we all had our manner of life in times past fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature the children of wrath even as others. Now that's the territory, the state, the kingdom of death ruled over by the God of this world, the prince of this world, the prince of darkness. In the Bible, death always implies separation, not annihilation. The person who's dead in his trespasses and sins is geographically just as close to God as the most devout believer. You see, when Paul on Mars Hill made that declaration, that in him, in God, we live and we move and we have our being, he was making a statement so profound in its implications that it's been easy to overlook. Hard for us to realize, isn't it, that God was just as near to Hitler with all of his brutalities as he was to the most devout believer that you've known? True. And you name any other person in history and it was equally true. You see, dead in trespasses and sins does not mean that there's been an annihilation of the capacities of that individual. We've so taught, I guess, and preached about the effects of sin that we've almost given the impression that to be dead in trespasses and sins makes a human being something of a subspecies to the human family, as though there's been an annihilation of certain capacities. I've used the illustration in the past. I think it's appropriate today. You go to put on your radio or your television set and nothing happens. And someone says, well, what's the matter? And your reply is, well, the set seems to be dead. Now what does that mean? That overnight or in the period since you last used it, that all of those intricate little pieces and parts inside the box have turned to rust and to dust and they've just sort of been annihilated? Is that what it means? No, not at all. It just means that something is disconnected. Something is not operating. Maybe it's just a loose wire or some wire in it that's been disconnected or broken. Whatever it is, it has the effect of the, that which was invented and manufactured to pick the sound and in the television, case the television, the picture out of the air, make it available to you, it isn't working. It's dead. There's a separation somewhere in it and it doesn't function. And so with people. Those that are dead in trespasses and sins are those who have committed their will, made the supreme choice of their life to please themselves. And as long as that choice prevails, God will not reveal himself to them. Their receiving set is dead. As you know, we have three different receiving, three different atmospheres in which we live. We have the atmosphere of air and a receiving set of our lungs that we take through mouth or nostrils. We have an atmosphere of sound and the receiving set is our ears. We have an atmosphere of electronic impulse and the receiving set is the radio or the television set. Well, there's a third atmosphere and that atmosphere of God and the receiving set is the human spirit. But in the traitor and the rebel and the anarchist there is it isn't operating. It's disconnected. We'd say it's dead. Now in repentance and in saving faith that is reconnected and the first broadcast that one gets is from the antenna of Calvary that you can call Almighty God Abba Father the witness of the spirit. But you've got to understand that in this kingdom of death this kingdom of this world kingdom controlled by Satan, there is no contact with God though they're close to God geographically. All of the control that's brought about is brought about by the prince of this world the God of darkness Satan. Well if we understand the state of death and we understand that those that are in this kingdom walk according to the prince and the power of the air then we realize how important it is that those who name the name of Christ should indeed have been born into the family of God. Otherwise what you're going to have in the church are people that are still under the control of Satan claiming to be the children of God and the book of Revelation tells us about that and it says that they claim to have life but have not and are of the synagogue of Satan. So you can see how very important this is to God. Now against the kingdom of darkness is the kingdom of light. In Colossians chapter 1 verses 12 and 13 we read giving thanks unto the father who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear son. Translated into the kingdom of his dear son. Now can you see the great implications, the dangerous implications if those who are still walking according to the course of this world according to the prince and the power of the air somehow sneak into the church? Fifth colonists for hell? You can see the danger of what that's going to do. You can see the effect that it's going to have in the long term. True believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, those that have eternal life have chosen to leave the realm of darkness. They have renounced the prince of this world. They have committed themselves to the prince and the author of life through the Lord Jesus Christ. In his kingdom all is liberty and happiness. In Satan's kingdom all is bondage and misery. In Christ's kingdom all is life and love. Universally prevalent in everyone that's there in Satan's kingdom all is death and hatred. So there's a great contrast between these two kingdoms. Now the hallmark that mark of genuineness that mark that can't be imitated. You know there was a time another century when anything that was made in metal or glass had to be stamped in the material so people could collect glass and could collect certain metal items and could know that they had antiques. But a few decades ago a law here in this country was changed and all they had to do was put a sticker on the bottom of the piece of glass that looked like an antique made as an imitation of an antique and a great many unsuspecting people bought what they thought were antiques for antique prices only to find that what they had were Japanese imitations that had come into this country with a sticker on the bottom that could be washed off. And even though because it wasn't truly an antique. Now in the days gone by perhaps in the New Testament there was a mark of genuineness. I'm afraid we've been willing to have a little sticker put on to those that come now and if they know the plan of salvation and say certain words we're prepared to accept them. But I think we've still got to go recognize that the hallmark of true and real citizens of the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ hasn't been changed. It's still there. This is how one knows about himself. We know we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. There's the hallmark. That can't be imitated. That can't be put on. And this is how you discern others and verify their claims to be part of the kingdom of Christ. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Recently a situation developed with some associates of mine about one of whom a statement was made by a very active church member he said if this proves to be what I think it is, I am going to kill that person. They don't want to go out in the dark. They don't want to turn their back. They want eyes in the back of their head because if it's what I think it is, I will kill them. And it was one professing Christian speaking about another. And they didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with it. But the scripture says he that hates his brother is a murderer. You know that a murderer doesn't have eternal life abiding in him. No, this is a mark of genuineness. And so it's more than just words. It's more than just a verse of scripture. God says that loving our brethren has to be in reality. He says this in a very precise way. Our concern for our brethren has to be practical as well as emotional. You know that first and great commandment. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and mind and soul and elsewhere with strength. And thou shalt love thy neighbors thyself. We've used as a definition of love there because it is in the imperative mood and our emotions are not under the control of our will that this love so commanded has to be a committal of the will to seek the highest good and blessedness and joy and happiness and well-being and fulfillment and satisfaction of God and of our neighbors. And so I can put it this way. There are certain things you have a right to want. You should be, it says, to love thy neighbor as thyself. There are certain things that you have a right to want and want for you because you're important to God and God loves you. That's the measure of the love for the neighbor. You know, if you hate yourself I just hope I'm never forced to be your neighbor because according to the scripture it might be worked out that you could treat me the way you treat you and that might not be so comfortable. No, I suggest that we understand that there are certain things that it's appropriate for you to want for you. You ought to want to live in an environment where law prevails. Not the law that gone on your hip but where there are courts by which contracts can be enforced and agreements can be maintained. You ought to want to have the fruit of your labor some portion of it at least that the IRS will let you keep that you can dispose of as you wish, as you see fit. You ought to want to be able to develop your potential to have an opportunity for education. You ought to want an income sufficient so you can live with a measure of dignity, make contribution to those institutions you consider important and to help get the message of God's redeeming love out to the ends of the earth. You ought to want the opportunity to use your skill and talent where you think it will be to the best advantage for you and yours and others. Make that list as long as you want it. Put into it everything you think is right everything that you think you can have without robbing God and ensuring that God gets the glory out of your life he deserves without robbing your neighbor. You see when you've made this list of things you feel you are entitled to and you should have a right to want and you put your name at the bottom. You're obligated to put my name right under it. I'm your neighbor or anyone else you see. What you want for you thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself and if you are committed to seek the highest good and blessedness and happiness and well-being of yourself with respect and concern for that same interest on the part of God you must have it also for your neighbor. And so he is making it quite clear that to love our brethren is to be practical not just emotional. If you're not willing to divide your bread with the hungry do you think there's much possibility that you're going to be willing to lay down your life for the brethren if you aren't willing to lay down some of your bread for them? The scripture's pretty clear isn't it? It gives you a little test you see your brother hungry and you go you say be warm, be cold, be fat how does the love of God dwell in that man? No this is a very practical test that we've been born of God. Whatsoever love we may profess for people is proven to be a lie if we're not charitable and benevolent and concerned and willing to as to the degree that we're able to bear one another's burdens. If we shut out concern for the poor then we shut Christ out of our hearts and we shut ourselves out of heaven. It's just that simple. What the word says. I didn't write it you have this world's good, the means of life in this world and if we refuse to care we demonstrate that we are not his. Isn't that interesting? Very, very simple. Again I go back and say now look I didn't write it I'm only trying to tell you what the scripture says and the scripture says that love for brethren love for brethren is to be in deed and in truth not just in word be warmed, be clothed be fed means nothing when the person to whom you say that has not the means of being warmed and clothed and fed. And it's therefore our responsibility. You know it's quite amazing to me who's our neighbor, who are our brothers back when my ancestors came into Minneapolis it wasn't Minneapolis it was St. Anthony and they could have homesteaded where 7th and Hennepin and Nicollet is but with great foresight they said hmm that's too far from the water from the river. So they went 5 miles up the river to 55th and Lindale and homesteaded there. It's hard to forgive them but we've done it I did a sheer effort. The fact of the matter is that there was reasons for wanting to be close to the river it was a highway. On north of 55th where the Reedheads from Maine settled there was Nahum Crooker and his wife Esther and then there was my grandfather from Lindale back to Logan and from 55th to 57th was all Reedhead homestead or Reedhead family homestead. On the other side the south side of 55th the Perkins settled. Now on occasion they looked across and they saw that over on the south side of 55th they opened the shutter and the log house the first they had looked across and there the Perkins house was on fire. Now you see they were neighbors. Later my father married Ruby Perkins across the road but that's much later but here's what I'm trying to have you understand because they could open the shutter and could see across the road and see the smoke and the flame and see the fire the people over on the north side of 55th had to go down and help the people on the south side of 55th because there weren't any fire departments and the only one that could help were the neighbors. But who's the neighbor? The person who sees the need. That's who your neighbor is the person whose need you see. I was sitting in our living room one day watching a news broadcast from Guatemala and they were telling about the earthquake occurring in Guatemala and it showed some mother showed some wrecked buildings behind and the camera started to tilt and the mother started to run and the excited reporter said, oh there's another tremor. It's going again. And here sitting in my living room I could see an earthquake shaking down the houses and frightening the mothers with their children down in Guatemala. Oh don't you see the strategy gone. He put that funny little box in the living room and you know what it did? It became a window on the world and it made you neighbor to everyone who breathed the breath of human life. That's what it did. Made you neighbor to the world because it put a window on the world right there where you could see it and that person who's been born of God who's passed from death to life is going to feel the same way about those that are in distant lands as he feels about his brother in the flesh and his neighbors and those that are one with him in Christ because when God brings us out of death into life from the kingdom of death and darkness and hatred into the kingdom of light and life and love then those that are members of that kingdom are going to feel about it the way the king feels and he loved the world and gave himself for it and you find someone who names the name of Christ and I care not how much theology he can recite. He may have memorized all of Burkoff and Shedd and Hodge and give them all the same way a tape recorder would that you had read those books into but if he doesn't have a heart of compassion for the lost and those that have never heard the name of Christ how does the love of God dwell in such a person? How much theology does it take to exchange for the love of God shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost? There isn't any exchange that rational men could make. Now, he that hateth his brother is a murderer and to see a brother's need and not to care is to designate one to be dead in trespasses and sin. What is this love we're to have to our brethren? Well, we've already defined it. Love is a supreme choice of the life to seek the full commitment of the will to bring the greatest good and blessing and happiness to God and to all men. In contrast hatred is the decision of the will, a choice of the life to bring harm, unhappiness, loss, and pain. Not necessarily by a direct choice but by a choice that withholds the means by which those that are in need might be helped. Now love is love and hate is hate and between these two there is no mutual ground. If you can suppose for a moment that hatred is compatible with light and life and love it just proves that as far as you're concerned you would still be dead in your trespasses and sins. And so the question you ought to ask when you're bringing someone through the scripture and you come to these number three, how do you feel about your brother in the flesh? How do you feel about your brethren in the Lord? How do you feel about the neighbors in the block where you live, in the town where you reside, in the state where you're a citizen? And the world? What's your concern? What's your measure of burden? For years I was deputation secretary of Sudanitarian Mission and had the privilege of going into many, many Southern Baptist churches and talking to them about missions. At that time I could say that the Southern Baptists gave on an average three quarters of a stick of gum per member per week for four missions. You know something? Since gum has become 25 cents a package that's still true. Hasn't changed. Price of gum's gone up and the amount of giving has gone up just about to keep pace with the price of gum so we could almost say today that Evangelicals as a whole across America and that includes the Charismatics give about three quarters of a stick of gum per member per week for four missions. That doesn't really represent what I would call a great degree of love for our neighbors who've never heard the name of Christ. Why do you say that? Because you see among that number there are some who give generously. Some who give because of a great love and longing and burden who understand something about it. If you are talking to someone who's not sure they're a child of God if they profess to have entered the company of those who are alive in Christ but as they come to the scriptures these three threes we've marked and the spirit of God speaks to them and tells them now this is you you've demonstrated no love and no compassion and no concern for your brethren don't try to talk them out of it. Let them just be there under the light of the word of God because it's God's means of trying to bring them out of death into life. Now I go back to what I said yesterday Salvation is not a plan Salvation is not a scheme of doctrine Salvation is not a list of scripture verses. Salvation is not something that's performed upon you by religious people Salvation is not a decision Salvation is a person the Lord Jesus Christ and thus Paul in 2 Corinthians 13 5 said examine yourself whether you be in the faith. Prove your own self. Know you not your own self how that Christ be in you except you be reprobate Do you not understand that when the Lord Jesus Christ by the spirit of God the life giving Holy Ghost comes into your life to bring life that it is going to be consistent with himself and that you are talking to someone who's not sure they're a child of God if they profess to have entered the company of those who are alive in Christ but as they come to the scriptures these three threes we've marked and the spirit of God speaks to them and tells them now this is you you've demonstrated no love and no compassion and no concern for your brethren don't try to talk them out of it. Let them just be there under the light of the word of God because it's God's means of trying to bring them out of death into life. Now I go back to what I said yesterday Salvation is not a plan Salvation is not a scheme of doctrine Salvation is not a list of scripture verses Salvation is not something that's performed upon you by religious people Salvation is not a decision Salvation is a person the Lord Jesus Christ and thus Paul in 2nd Corinthians 13 5 said examine yourself whether you be in the faith prove your own self know you're not your own self how did Christ be in you except you be reprobate do you not understand that when the Lord Jesus Christ by the spirit of God the life giving Holy Ghost comes into your life to bring life that it is going to be consistent with himself and that is going to be manifest in your life and thus it is that we have here in this 14th verse we know we've passed from death unto life because we love the brother he that loveth not his brother bideth in death when I became deputation secretary for the Sudan Interior Mission the one whom I was assigned to work with was Harold B. Street who lived here in Minneapolis and I had the privilege of traveling with him for several weeks to find out how he conducted Bible and missionary conferences and in the course of assisting him and learning from him he told on occasion about various people that God had touched through that ministry I'd been a missionary in the Sudan in the company of our field director we'd gone down along the Sudan Ethiopian border we'd seen several tribes that had not had any contact with the gospel and we decided that we were going to try to open just a small station in the Yaboos River area so that we could reach about three small fragment tribes there weren't more than a thousand people in the area but three little tribes that had been decimated over the years there was a 98% incidence of venereal disease among the people and we knew that it would be only a short time until the tribes were exterminated and so a letter went back to the home office in New York we need $2,500 to build two small houses for two families to begin a work among these three tribes at the Yaboos River within by a return mail the check came back for $2,500 and it said donor Mrs. Kordekamp I didn't know anything about it other than we had $2,500 and Sam Burns and went out there and Chuck Guth came to join him and they started the mission station there but while I was with Harold Street here in deputation work he told about Mrs. Kordekamp she and her husband had been farmers down in George, Iowa they'd had a good Iowa farm and they'd been successful back there some years ago when the price of land went up they were able to get a buyer that wanted to buy their farm but somewhere between $800 and $1,000 an acre which was a lot of money then so they sold the farm, they bought a nice house in George on an Elm line street, put the money in the hands of their banker to invest for them and they would live off the proceeds they were going to sit down and say so take thy ease the banker came and told what he'd done with the money and they all were pleased one night they went to bed quite wealthy by Iowa standards and the next day they woke up to the shocking news that the Samuel Insull Empire had collapsed and all the money they had had been in Samuel Insull's stocks and insured stocks and bonds and all the money they now had was a house they owned free and clear less than $1,500 in their checking account Mr. Kordekamp went to bed that day less than 6 weeks later he had died, was buried just had no heart to live Mrs. Kordekamp didn't have the luxury of doing that she had to take care of him and she had to live and so she decided that she would open her home she had 3 bedrooms she'd bring 3 public school teachers in she'd give them board and room and she curtained off one of the rooms, the old dining room closed the doors, curtained it off she stayed there and she made the living room into a living room dining room and there she fed the teachers and after 2 or 3 years of this S.I.M. had a conference down at Spirit Lake, Iowa and notice of it came to Mrs. Kordekamp and she went out the end of the week she came to Mr. Street she said Mr. Street God has burdened me to sell my house and build a mission station in Nigeria to give the gospel to 500,000 people you told about well Mrs. Kordekamp you can't do that this is all your living Mr. Street you're the servant of God and if God tells me to give the money and to give it through you, you're going to build that station now don't argue with me about 3 months later he got a check for $5,000 to build the station and the station was built in Nigeria to give the gospel to 500,000 people 2 years later she came back to the Bible conference at Spirit Lake and she said to Mr. Street when she sent the check, oh isn't it marvelous not only am I going to build a station but Oak Hills Fellowship up at Bemidji Larry invited me to come up and be their laundress and so I got an opportunity to be a missionary I'm going to be the laundress at Oak Hills and she said now Mr. Street, I'm like Sapphire I kept back part of the price in case I got sick and I just feel if I keep it I'm going to use it that way so I just want to have you build a half a station in the sedan I've been reading about that and that's the money we got to build the station well I was telling this in New Jersey and when I finished I stepped down from the platform and a gentleman came stand beside me waited until I was finished talking to other people and he said Brother Ed you only know part of the story about Mrs. Kortekamp well I said tell me the other part he said yes it's true she's laundress but she's more than that you know up in our area in Bemidji there's a lot of what we call jack pine savages make their living off of deer and blueberries and it's pretty meager sometimes the men will leave to try to get a job in Twin Cities Mrs. Kortekamp has gotten together clothes for all ages of children and she's gotten sheets and bedding and clothes for women and for boys and she darns them she not only launders them but she darns them and she stores them he said some time ago a call came in about a family out there where the father gone to look for work and he hadn't found any the family didn't have any money and the mother was sick and the children were sick and they told Mrs. Kortekamp heard about it so she came to me and I was the only one there and could take her and she said now I'll get everything ready and she got boxes of clothes and boxes of bedding and she got a big hot canister with soup and food and her mops and her soap and she said now I got everything done here take me out and come and get me Monday morning that was Friday afternoon she went in and she changed the bed and bathed the mother and gave her the medicine that would relieve some of her discomfort and she cared for the children, she bathed them, she changed their bed, she mopped the floor she served them all a hot meal and when she'd done all of that she sat down by the bed she said now I'm not a missionary I'm just a launderer but I want to tell you about Jesus and what he's done for me and what he'll do for you by this time this tall dignified man has tears running down his cheeks what's he say brother Eden she isn't a missionary she's a launderess but she's led more people to Christ in our area than any of our missionaries have you see she loves God and she loves people listen to it we know we've passed from death unto life because we love the brethren father of Jesus grant that the spirit of God reply the word to our hearts and to our lives you will realize fresh anew what it means to have been translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of thy dear son in his name for his sake we ask him amen