Sermon Brief
Date Written: February 02, 2009
Date Preached: February 18, 2009
Where Preached: Oak Park (Wed Evening)
Sermon Details:
Sermon Series: A Series from 1 John
Sermon Title: Loving Fellow Believers!
Sermon Text: 1 John 2:7-11
7 Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. 8 Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. 9 He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. 10 He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Introduction:
Loving our brothers and sisters in Christ is a command of Christ and we are all called to love each other but so often we fall into the same place as this story:
There was once a preacher who was speaking to a SS class about things money can’t buy. He told them, “I want you all to know that money cannot buy you love”.
To illustrate his point, the pastor said, “What if I offered you $1000 not to love your mother and father?” There was a hush that fell over the room until a very young boy from the back of the class said, “How much would you give me not to love my big sister?”
But that is NOT the way it is in the Christian family… it is NOT how it should be! We do NOT have the option to pick and choose who we love or do not love! First we are called to love each other in Christ and then 2nd we are called to show and share the love of Christ to a lost world!
Jesus taught us that LOVE was to be our central focus and John teaches us here that if we do not have love for our brothers and sisters in Christ, we are walking in darkness… and speaking of darkness:
Do you know how many Christians it takes to change a light bulb? If you’re…
Amish: You would say, “What is a light bulb?”
Unitarians: You would say, “We choose not to make a statement either in favor of or against the need for a light bulb. However, if in your own journey you have found that light bulbs work for you, that is fine. You are invited to write a poem or compose a modern dance about your light bulb for the next Sunday service, in which we will explore a number of light bulb traditions, including incandescent, fluorescent, three-way, long-life and tinted, all of which are equally valid paths to luminescence.”
Mormons: You would say, “Five. One MAN to change the bulb, and four WIVES to tell him how to do it.”
Roman Catholic: You would say, “None. Candles only!”
Charismatics/Pentecostals: You would say, “Ten. One to change the bulb, and nine to pray against the spirit of darkness”
Methodists: You would say, “Well that is undetermined at this time. Whether your light is bright, dull, or completely out, you are still loved. You can be a light bulb, turnip bulb, or tulip bulb. A Church wide lighting service is planned for this Sunday so bring the bulb of your choice and a covered dish.”
Lutherans: You would say, “None. You know Lutherans don’t believe in change!”
Presbyterians: You would say, “It doesn’t take ANYONE because the lights will go on and off at predestined times.”
And finally us Baptists: You would say, “Well it would take at least 25 believers. One to change the light bulb, and three committees of five to approve the change, and nine to comment on how much they liked the old light bulb over the new one.”
This evening I want us to take a look at this passage from 1 John and see what John is teaching us about loving each other and how we can avoid the darkness in our walk with Christ! Let’s look 1st at v.7
7 Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning.
In v.3-6 that we studied last week we heard John teach his readers that you can KNOW that you KNOW Jesus… the barometer that John sets forth is that TRUE believers will be obedient to the commandments of Jesus, just as Jesus had taught in His earthly ministry. We can know that we know if we are obedient and faithful to do what God has commanded…
But as we begin to look at v.7-11 we have to ask the question, “what ‘commandment’ was John speaking about…” I believe as we study this we can view John’s writings from 2 particular vantage points:
1st – we can look at this as John telling these believers that he is telling them NOTHING new here in his teachings. He is not telling them to be obedient to some strange and foreign commandment that they are unaware of… but he is pointing them back to the beginning.
The beginning being the covenant God set up between Himself and the Israelite people. The Law set forth through Moses the Law giver, and proclaimed by the prophets.
Jesus taught when He came to this world that He did not come to destroy the Law but to fulfill it, and here John strengthens that argument by revealing that new believers, although under the grace of Christ…that they were still to pursue a godly life and the Law set a standard by which they should be living!
The law was no longer their judge and condemner BUT it had become a standard of living to strive for, but if they fell…Jesus was there to pick them up and dust them off and put them back on the right track!
The 2nd vantage point that we can see this statement from is from the perspective of Jesus’ teachings in the Gospels. Jesus was asked about the Law and asked what the greatest commandment was…
Jesus’ answer took the entire law and boiled it down to 2 very simple precepts to live by… 1-Love God with all your heart, body, soul, mind and strength AND 2-Love people…love your neighbor as you love yourself! Love God and love people!
And this took ALL the commandments and condensed them to 2 very simple precepts… so from either perspective or vantage point we can see that what John was teaching was nothing new to those he was writing to…
8 Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining…10 He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.
John switches gears here and reveals that even though he has called his readers to be obedient to those commandments that were NOT new to them… he is also calling them to a new commandment that Jesus Himself had given in John 13:34-35…
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
The Greek word used for commandment in v.7 & 8 are the same Greek word, Entolay. This word is also the same Greek word used in John 13:34. This reveals to us the connection between these verses and the correlation they have with each other.
Jesus taught that the world would be able to look at this love for each other and it would distinguish us from the rest of the world… Jesus wanted ALL of His followers to be known for their love!
John is reminding these new believers of something that Jesus had taught His disciples just before He went to the cross and that is the importance of loving each other… the critical importance of ALL believers loving and supporting their fellow believers.
John goes on to compare Jesus to this new commandment of loving each other. Jesus came to this earth and submitted Himself in obedience to the Cross of Calvary out of His love for the world. Jesus gave of Himself because of love! John wants his readers to know that Jesus marked the start of a new era… an era of love, mercy, grace and forgiveness!
John elaborates on this point by championing Jesus over the enemy in saying, “the darkness is passing away…” this phrase points to the victory over death and the grave that Jesus won AND to the ultimate defeat of Satan on the day of the Lord. He says the darkness is passing away and he goes onto to encourage his readers by saying, ‘…and the true light is already shining…”
For so long the Jewish nation had been longing for and hoping for the Anointed One, the Messiah, the One who would deliver them… John is letting them know here that the ‘true light’ is shining… He has come… He has OVERcome… He is Lord!
Jesus has set the example by His love, sacrifice and victory over death and sin. But not just that, Jesus taught and trained disciples who were now spreading the message of the Messiah to all the world…in other words the true light was being shone around the world… it was evident in Christ and that same light is evident in His disciples and John is encouraging them to shine brightly in their love for each other so that the world will sit up and take notice!
We know that the world takes notice of the church…especially the BAD stuff! There was an article in USA Today just a couple of weeks ago where Robert Schuller and his son were at odds with each other and the article predicted the doom of the ministry that Robert Schuller had built.
Now while I am no huge fan of Robert Schuller and his ‘feel good’ gospel, I do believe God has used him in a myriad of ways to reach the lost, and you rarely ever heard about the successes within the ministry… but the moment there is bad news… it is all of a sudden national news.
Jesus and John are advocating that we love each other in such a way that the world will have NO choice but to see that love and take notice of that love and come to the conclusion that the reason behind that love is Jesus Christ!
Far too often our world sees the church as a bunch of hypocrites who are constantly infighting and squabbling over petty issues…and they do not see us as a loving group of believers! We are called to love each other… we are called to be a shining and bright light so that all can see the love of Christ thru our lives and love for each other!
John goes on in v.10 to elaborate that loving our fellow believers is evidence of our true salvation and nature in Christ.
10 He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.
Like v.3-6 John again reiterates the fact that we can know something based on how we act… John writes that if we LOVE our fellow believers we are abiding in the light and serving God as we should, and that our lives will not cause others to stumble in their walk with Christ… revealing a love for those around us in the ministry and walking with Christ.
However in v.9 and 11 John reveals the other side of the equation. He writes:
9 He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now…
11 But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
In v.9 he repeats a teaching angle he uses earlier in this chapter by basically saying… People can SAY one thing BUT the proof is in the pudding [so to speak] In other words, if you are saved you are going to act saved and serve Christ accordingly by being obedient to His commandments!
Here John reveals that hating your brother is in total opposition to the teaching and commandment of Christ to love one another. And the mere idea of someone claiming Christ as Savior but living a life in opposition to His teachings is not plausible…in fact it is impossible.
That sort of claim reveals the darkness in which this person is living… they are blind to the Christian truth of loving one another… they don’t have the proper Christian perspective and sense of direction and thus the use of darkness to describe their situation!
John goes onto to teach in chapter 3 of this letter that if you hate your brother that is no better than being a murder in the eyes of God, and we know what God’s Word says about murderers… they are NOT welcome in God’s kingdom.
Now I want to couch all this in the teaching that John has already laid forth… He taught that if and when we fall prey to sin and temptation that we have an advocate for us… and that advocate for us is Jesus Christ the Righteous and that if we confess our sin to Him…no matter what the sin may be… He is faithful to forgive that sin and cleanse you of any unrighteousness! Murder is NOT an unforgiveable sin, and hate is not unforgivable either!
But what John is teaching here is a lifestyle of hate… an unforgiving nature that holds grudges and allows problems and predicaments to fester and smolder until a rage of fire and anger erupt!
We are called to love each other and forgive each other, and John is telling us here that if we cannot do that…then we have to question our relationship with Christ… he is saying that it is NOT real if we cannot live as God has called us to live!
In other words, what John is saying, is that regardless of how you WANT to live, we are called to live as Christ desires and if we refuse to submit to Him, we have not surrendered our heart and we are not part of Him…we are not part of the light… and if we are not part of the light then we are part of the darkness!
We are commanded to love one another…and that love has to be demonstrated in our thoughts, words and actions. I once heard a story about a little girl who was asked, “Who is your mom’s favorite child?”
The little girl didn’t hesitate as she said, “Well mom loves Johnny the best because he is the oldest and does a lot for her around the house. She loves Susie the best because she is really smart and knows how to cook and clean and help her in the house, but she loves me the best because I am the youngest and I remind her of her mom.”
I thought about that story and thought to myself, what a great picture of God’s love for us…He loves us ALL the best, for His own reasons, for His own purposes! And this is a picture of how we should love each other.
We should love ALL our bro and sis the same… the best… regardless of who they are, how much they give to the church or how active they are in ministry. We are called to love ALL the faithful! Are you loving your fellow believers like this today?
