INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• It is a joy to be a part of a church that is so loving, we are blessed to have some wonderful people at FCC!
• Not all churches are so blessed.
• When you open your Bible and start reading you will begin to notice a re-occurring subject appears, LOVE.
• The subject of love receives a great deal of attention in the Bible.
• Why do you think God spent so much time covering the subject in the Bible?
• Could it be that love is important enough to God that he desires us get a handle on the subject?
• We asked last week if you Know Jesus, today we will take that theme into deeper water as we examine an ETERNAL TRUTH IN A NEW LIGHT.
• Love is one of the most complex and sometimes difficult emotion to deal with.
• Sometimes one of the hardest things we must do is to love each other.
• At times we are not lovable, we do things to each other, things we do not always mean to do, but nevertheless, we have a tendency to hurt one another and get on each others nerves.
• I would imagine it has to be sad for God as He looks down to see how we treat one another.
• He knows how we feel and that has to be disappointing to Him also.
• Even in the beginning of the church, there were struggles with people within loving one another. Many of the New Testament letters deal with conflict and struggles on one level or another.
• We are called to love one another, I hope today we can see that God is not simply making a suggestion to do so, but rather our ability to love one another reveals the depth of the love we have for God.
• It can be easy to rationalize why we only need to love certain people in the body of Christ versus loving all those who are a part of God’s family.
• Let’s begin our journey in verse 7.
• SLIDE #2
• 1 John 2:7 (HCSB) Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old command that you have had from the beginning. The old command is the message you have heard.
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
I. This truth is not new.
• John will take a couple of verses to get to the subject at hand; nonetheless, he wanted to make sure his readers knew the foundation for the teaching was nothing new.
• God has ALWAYS wanted is to love one another.
• The idea of loving others did not begin when Jesus came; Jesus was the perfect example of love. We will look at this thought a bit more in a few minutes.
• 1 John 4:8 reminds us that God IS LOVE.
• God has been and always will be LOVE.
• Some inaccurately state that the God of the Old Testament was a God a vengeance whereas the God of the New Testament is a God of love, therefore, we can do whatever we feel like doing with no consequence.
• God is the same God today as He was yesterday.
• SLIDE #4
• Leviticus 19:18 (HCSB) Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against members of your community, but love your neighbor as yourself; I am Yahweh.
• When you think about it, how can we do our job to reach people for Jesus if we do not love each other, or if we do not love those who are lost?
• Doesn’t it make sense that God wants us to love one another? Look at the price He paid so that we could be a part of His family? You were bought with a price.
• When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was in Mark 12, He responded by saying we are to love God with all we have and then proceeded to says in Mark 12:31 we are to love our neighbor as our self.
• SLIDE #5
• Mark 12:31 (HCSB) “The second is: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.”
• Sounds a bit like Leviticus 19:18?
• Those who belong to Jesus are neither cheap nor easy to replace, we need to understand that God has always wanted us to love each other!
• John says the commandment is one we have heard from the beginning. The beginning can means since creation, or the beginning of the Law of Moses, or the time the gospel had been preached or since the time of our conversion. The context seems to indicate we are speaking of time the gospel was preached.
• Verse 7 speaks of hearing the commandments.
• In this last part of verse 7 John is identifying the source of the authority behind what he is telling us concerning the command about love.
• This command is essential to our salvation from sin.
• Next let’s turn to verse 8.
• SLIDE #6
• 1 John 2:8 (HCSB) Yet I am writing you a new command, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.
• SLIDE #7
II. John offers new light to an eternal truth.
• What does it mean to truly love another? What does it mean to love another as a member of God’s family?
• Does it mean we are just supposed to tolerate one another?
• Do you think that Jesus was “tolerating” us when He died on the cross?
• Do we just “tolerate” our children or do we love them?
• Jesus expanded to scope of love.
• SLIDE #8
• John 15:13 (HCSB) No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends.
• John will build on this theme in 1 John 3:16
• SLIDE #9
• 1 John 3:16 (HCSB) This is how we have come to know love: He laid down His life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers.
• Can we relate to this thought? Are these brothers and sisters in Christ you would take a bullet for? Are there those you would throw in front of the bullet?
• I really struggle sometimes with asking if Jesus would think of a person the way I am?
• What are the boundaries of our love for one another?
• Our love for one another is a badge that identifies us as belonging to Jesus.
• Jesus plainly taught this.
• SLIDE #10
• John 13:35 (HCSB) By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
• This verse seems a bit difficult, Does Jesus mean that people will know if I am a Christian by the way I love others?
• John says this love is the badge that identifies us a belonging to Jesus.
• When a police officer comes to the door, their badge identifies them as such,
• If I cannot love those in God’s family, how will I love those who are not yet a part of the family?
• Jesus was able to teach this because he lived it.
• The darkness is passing out of the life of the one who listens to God’s will in this area.
• The closer you follow Jesus, the more light you will shine!
• Let’s look at verses 9 and 11.
• SLIDE #11
• 1 John 2:9–11 (HCSB) The one who says he is in the light but hates his brother is in the darkness until now… But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and doesn’t know where he’s going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
• SLIDE #12
III. The consequences for rejecting the new light.
• When we say we are in the light yet hate our brother, we are not in a proper relationship with Jesus, we are walking in darkness.
• We learned a while back that if you are in the dark, you are not in a proper relationship with God because God is light and in Him there is NO darkness at all. 1 John 1:5
• One thing about attitudes is the fact that you can hide them. You do not know how I feel about you unless you see it come out in some way.
• The other thing about them is the fact that God KNOWS what you are thinking, you can smile and say hello to a person, God knows what you think about that person.
• Realizing that alone can help us to work on what is in the inside of us.
• The context the brother spoken of here is a brother in Christ. This does not mean we can hate lost people, but the main thrust deals with those in Christ.
• Verse 11 tells us we are blinded by the darkness when we hate our brother.
• We are only fooling ourselves when we think we are right with God while harboring hate, jealousy or envy for our brother.
• Not only are we walking in the dark, but we are blind and do not know it.
• When it is dark, we have no idea whose hand we are really holding as we are being led around in the dark.
• In Matthew 15:14 He called the religious leaders blind guides who would lead others into the pit.
• Let’s jump back to verse 10.
• SLIDE #13
• 1 John 2:10 (HCSB) The one who loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.
• SLIDE #14
IV. The benefits of following the new light.
• Verse 10 tells us that when we love our brother, we remain in the light!
• When we are in the light we will be different, will we get aggravated at times, yes, will we be let down at times, yes, but the bottom line is we will love no matter what.
• I cannot imagine what it would take for me not to love my girls. There were times they could push the limits, but no matter how upset I got with them, I would still love them more than life itself.
• When we love we remain in the light. That is where we want to be. Being in the light means we are in proper fellowship with Jesus!
• Our love will not cause others to stumble!
• When you think of this statement, it is so true. Taken to the extreme, how many crimes are committed by people who do not love another?
• If I love my wife, I am not going to bring harm to her nor would I wish any on her.
• Going down the path of anger and hate will be a stumbling block for us.
• The word stumbling speaks a stick that was used to snare wild game; it was also used of a trap to catch something.
• When you are walking in the light, you can see traps laid out before you. When you love others, your have removed a very large stumbling block in your life.
• If you love someone, you will think the best of them and give them the benefit of the doubt, you will speak to them in a civil manner when you have a problem with them.
• When you love people, it changes you! The change is good!
CONCLUSION
• It is not always easy; however, love is important, it is something we should always be working on.
• God paid a high price for those who belong to Him and He loves them deeply. As His followers, we should strive to love them as much as He does.
