LOVE IN THE LIGHT
1 JOHN 2:7-17
#1John2
INTRODUCTION… BOAT STORY PART 1
Once upon a time there was a world that was totally dark. No light. No light at all. No sun. No moon. No stars. The only lights in the whole world were lamps, candles, fires, and other man-made lights. The super-rich people had flashlights, but that was more of a legend that most people only dreamed about. Light was a commodity often missed in this world.
In this world that was totally dark was a man that lived in a town a lot like Venice in Italy. There were no roads in this town because the town was built on canals, rivers, and lakes. Everyone’s house was on some kind of water. Everyone used some kind of boat to get around. Our story centers on a man in a boat making his way through the dark city canals. It was more of a gondola or canoe really, but sufficed to say that is was a small 2 or 3 person boat. It had a place in the back/stern for a person to row and a place in the front/bow where a lamp was hung. The lamp would light the way of the man in the boat.
READ 1 JOHN 2:7-11
Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. 8 Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. 9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
I. ALL ABOUT THE DARKNESS (VERSES 7-11)
In the first part of the passage we read this morning, the Apostle John speaks a lot about light and darkness. Light and dark are opposites much like east and west, rich and poor, chocolate and spinach. Because light and darkness are opposites, light is often used to symbolize goodness or God and darkness is often used to symbolize badness or Satan. Right is light. Wrong is dark. Good is light. Evil is dark. It is no different for the Apostle John as he writes to us.
John is reminding us about a command that is old and new all at the same time. What John will talk about has been true since the beginning of time, but has been added to in fullness and meaning since Jesus Christ appeared. Jesus Christ was the ultimate example with His life and death and resurrection of what light really is and what a life surrendered to God actually looks like. The life of Jesus once and for all defined what light and dark are for us. The old command that is new again is that we walk in the light and follow God. That has been the command from God since the beginning and has been His desire for us. God has always wanted us walking along with Him. Once Jesus arrived, we had what walking in the light looks like in flesh and blood.
John reminds us that the world is darkness. Darkness is sin. Darkness is what makes us stumble in relationships. Darkness is what makes us stumble within ourselves and betray our morals. Walking around in darkness is continual decisions that lead away from God. John specifically mentions in these few verses that darkness is hating our brother. Hatred comes from sin-filled attitudes and emotions which feed our decisions, words, and actions. Galatians 5:19-21 defines for us the acts of the sinful nature and define darkness for us, “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” I have always noticed that the Apostle Paul says that the acts of the sinful nature are “obvious.” It is obvious what darkness is to people who have seen light.
John reminds us that for those of us who are believers, we have a light inside us. We have Jesus Christ in our hearts which gives us the spiritual power of light in our lives. We have the power of light on our side which fills us and enables us to walk away from darkness and live in the light. John specifically mentions in these few verses that light is loving our brother. Love is part of the fruit of the Spirit which feeds our emotions, decisions, words, and actions. Galatians 5:22-23 defines for us the working out of the Spirit in our lives, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
BOAT STORY PART 2
The man in his boat is just about to head home from work. Unfortunately, his job at the local market was on one side of town and his home with his family was on the complete opposite side of town. He had to make his way through all the canals home as quick as he could. He lit the lamp on the front of his boat and set off into the canal. He pushed off with a long oar and began to make his way down the canal. In his boat was a box of supplies for his neighbor, some groceries for his family, and himself. He and the stuff took up some of the room in the boat, but not all of it.
As he made his way down the canal, he could see about twenty feet from the lamp in all directions. It was shining well. He passed out of the market area into where some houses were. The light revealed a man walking on the right side on a walk way.
“Hey there!” the man on the walk called out.
“Hey there!” the man in the boat called back.
“Hey can you spare some room in your boat for me? I need a ride down the canal.”
“I cannot. I am on my way home. There is no room.” The man in the boat knew there was no reason to deny the man, but it was an inconvenience. That there was no room in the boat was a lie. There was room for at least one or two if they sat correctly. As soon as he passed the man, the lamp at the front of his boat dimmed. Where he could once see twenty feet from the lamp, he could now see less. The darkness crept closer to his boat.
The man in the boat continued down the canal towards his home. Further down the canal he could see a faint glowing. It looked like some kind of collection of lights. As he got closer, he noticed it was a fire. A house was on fire! That was awful. There was a string of people with buckets from the canal all the way to the house. They had formed a chain to fight the fire. Bucket after bucket of water was being dumped into the house. He could see flames and smoke. He could see they needed more hands and help. The man decided to head home instead of stop and help. As soon as he passed the fire brigade, the lamp at the front of his boat dimmed. Where he could once see twenty feet from the lamp, he could barely see what was in front of him. The lamp was barely shining. The light from his boat lit almost nothing. The darkness crept closer to his boat and almost overtook him.
READ 1 JOHN 2:12-14
I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. 13 I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father. 14 I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
II. PASSING FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT (VERSES 12-14)
The Apostle John knows that life is divided into dark and light. Darkness is sin and evil. Light is goodness and righteousness. The passage that we are reading is written to people who are already believers. Verses 12-14 tell us that plainly. The passage is written to people who have passed out of a life of darkness and sin and into a life of light and godliness. John describes us to ourselves that we might be encouraged to follow wholeheartedly after God. He wants to encourage us that we have the power and the ability to live life in the light.
First he tells us we have been forgiven on account of the name of Jesus (verse 12). A Christian person is not someone who is perfect or without sin… none of us. We are people who acknowledge our sin and claim the need for God to forgive us. We are not perfect people, but we are forgiven people. Knowing we are forgiven is meant to allow us to step forward confidently in life in righteousness and goodness. 1 John 1:9 already told us, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
Second, he tells us we are people who know God (verse 13, 14). I hope you realize that it is a privilege and absolute grace that we know absolutely anything about God. The Almighty Eternal God is honestly unknowable. He is so far above us. He is eternally infinite. We are mortally finite. God allows Himself to be known by us which gives us hope and direction and meaning in our lives. God allows Himself to be known by us which leads us into a personal relationship with Him which gives us eternal life. John 17:3 tells us, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
Third, he tells us that we have overcome the devil (verse 13, 14). I don’t know about you, but sometimes life seems harder than it needs to be. Sometimes it feels like Satan has our number and he never lets up. He knows what buttons to push and exactly what will tempt us away from God. John lets us know that we who are believers in Jesus Christ have already won against Satan. He has no hold on us and we always have a way out. James 4:7-8 reminds us, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you.”
Fourth, he tells us that we are unique and strong because we have the word of God inside us. The Word of God is our power to live this life victorious over sin and death. Without the guidance of God from His Word, you and I would be lost, but we have God’s revelation to us in the form of the Bible and in the form of His Son Jesus Christ which gives us spiritual strength to face the temptations of the day. Psalm 119:9 tells us, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.”
You see people who are believers have passed from darkness into light. We live as forgiven people. We live knowing God and taking direction from Him. We live continually overcoming sin in our lives. We live with God’s Word at the center of our lives. This is John’s description of living continually in the light. That is our aim.
BOAT STORY PART 3
The man in the boat could barely see in front of his boat. This was dangerous. Light was needed for him to navigate the correct canals to get home. Some went right. Some went left. He could not believe that after each encounter his lamp had dimmed.
As he made his way through what he thought was a familiar canal, his oar bumped the walk and he realized he had drifted dangerously close to the edge. As he looked at the walk, he noticed a mother and two kids sitting around a small dwindling candle. All three of them looked disheveled and in his estimation probably did not have a home. He could barely see, but it looked like all three of them were sharing a small piece of bread. He knew that was not enough for all of them. He shook his head. He pushed his oar to move past them and his lamp poofed out. No light. None. He was in complete darkness.
The man immediately moved his oar to move towards the bank and as he did so the lamp flickered on and had a small glow. His boat lightly clunked against the walk. He looked at the dimly lit lamp. He looked at the mother and three children. He looked at his ample supplies in his boat. With a call to the mother, he beckoned her over to the canal edge and gave her some food from his provisions. She was so thankful and she started to cry. The kids ran to her and jumped up and down excitedly. They screeched thank yous to him. While he was giving the mother and children food, his lamp grew steadily brighter.
READ 1 JOHN 2:15-17
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world-- the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-- comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
III. ALL ABOUT THE LIGHT (VERSES 15-17)
The Apostle John wants nothing more than to encourage us to be faithful people who live in the light. I have to say that as I look at the words of John in this passage, he does not leave room for compromise. People who live in darkness are not part of God. They simply don’t know Him because to know Him is to obey Him. People who consistently live in sin as their lifestyle do not know God. On the other hand, people who live in the light are not part of the world and belong to God. John sets up an either or type of world view. The light is not concerned with the things of the world which is darkness. The light chases after the love of God. The light denies sinful cravings and lustful things. The light chases after the will of God and follows it.
John is not telling us anything that has not been stated elsewhere in the Scriptures. As the people of God, we are to follow after God and shake off what the world considers important. People who chase God follow His commands, seek God’s will to do it consistently in their lives, deny selfishness, and try and pattern themselves after God’s qualities.
* Ecclesiastes 12:13 says, “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”
* Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness”
* Matthew 16:24-25 says, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”
* Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
You see over and over God expects the people that confess to be His to live in the light. As I reflect specifically in this passage, John points out the specific example that we are to love the people around us. We are not to love them as the world loves, but rather we are to love as God loves. Love is what marks us as people who are in the light and not in the darkness.
BOAT STORY PART 4
The man in the boat made his way down the canal towards his home. He used the oar to navigate. The lamp was not as dim now, but ever since he had left the woman and her children the lamp was a little brighter. Not like when he started, but a little brighter. As he was just about home, he could almost smell his wife’s cooking. He could almost hear his kids laughing.
As he rounded a bend towards home, the lamp lit a boat in the middle of the canal in front of him. The boat was not moving in the water and was in distress. The boat was sitting quite low in the water. He could see a man in the boat bailing water. The man had a bucket and was bailing over and over so that his boat would not sink.
“Hey there!” the man sinking and bailing cried out.
“Hey there!” the man in the boat called back.
“Hey can you spare an extra hand? I can’t bail water and fix the leak at the same time!” He said this all while bailing water constantly.
The man looked at the man bailing water. He looked towards home. He looked at the lamp on the front of his boat. “I will,” he cried out. He lashed his boat quickly to the sinking one and grabbed the bucket. With much effort, he took over bailing water at a feverish pace. The owner of the boat quickly grabbed supplies and fixed the hole in his boat. It did not take long for the man to fix his boat for everyone in this dark world who lived in this town were boating experts.
The man did not notice it, but while he was bailing water, the lamp on his boat grew brighter and brighter. It grew brighter than it had ever been. In fact, the lamp was so bright it helped the man fix his boat even faster because he could see exactly what he was doing. The lamp grew so bright that the people who lived in the area came to their windows and look out. They saw one man helping another and nodded their heads in affirmation. They saw mercy and kindness and love from one person to another.
SUMMARY/CHALLENGE
I happen to love the Apostle John. I love that he writes about the world in terms of light and dark or good and evil. There is no gray area with the Apostle John. That resonates with me as I think that way as well. Very few things in my life I “ride the fence on” or see as a gray area. Our world now is full of gray areas and it leads us away from our God when we live in the gray.
The Apostle John specifically speaks about loving our brothers as an extension of living in the light and following after God. “Brothers” means fellow Christians. “Brothers” means your family. “Brothers” means your neighbors and other people around you. “Brothers” can be anyone who is in your sphere of influence.
Here is my simple challenge for us this week as we live out this passage. I challenge you to love 2 people in a tangible unexpected way this week. It might be a card, an action, an overdue phone call, a gift, quality time, or a purchase of some kind.
LOVE 1 person you know
LOVE 1 person you don’t know
CONCLUSION
