Love, the Guiding Light I John 2:7-11
INTRO.: Love is a very popular idea in today’s world. We distort and misinterpret it, but it is on everyone’s lips. Many of our most popular songs, books, and movies are about love. There are enough to fill a library.
We often forget love is a truly Christian idea. It is seen in its fullness only in Christ. Love originated in the mind of God, of whom it is written, "God is love." But, often what the world calls love is vastly different from what God in Christ revealed love to be.
The world describes love as a feeling, an overwhelming passion. God says it is a guiding principle of moral life. Love is the light by which the Christian makes the moral decisions of His life.
ILLUS.: One of our cars had switches for the windshield wipers and the headlights side by side. The switches looked and felt alike. While driving on a winding country road on a rainy night, my friend, Paul, accidentally turned off the headlights in an effort to turn the wipers on. It was a very frightening experience to suddenly be "in the dark" in a very dangerous situation.
If you live without love in your heart, you are often in the dark when you need to make important decisions, because you can’t see which way to turn. But, John writes, "Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble." v. 10.
I. John calls love a command both old and new: verses 7 & 8:
A. This is the message John’s readers have heard from the beginning:
1. John states clearly what the old command is in I John 3:11 and II John 5
2. Jesus called the same command new in John 13:34
3. The love Jesus commands is not just a feeling or a passion, but unselfish, intelligent, active good will.
4. To exercise this kind of love is a decision we make, a command we obey. One cannot "fall into" this kind of love.
B. "Love one another" is indeed an old command. It was around long before Jesus was born.
1. One of God’s earliest commands to the Jews. Lev. 19:18
2. At the time John wrote, it had been a major theme of the Church for at least 50 years.
3. Even today, it is an old and familiar theme in every generation.
C. ILLUS.: a beautiful butterfly emerges from a cocoon spun by an ugly caterpillar. It is the same creature in essence. But, by a process called metamorphosis, it has become a new creature in appearance and ability. It is beautiful and it can fly.
1. Jesus brought love out of its cocoon. He raised it to a new standard and gave it new meaning.
2. Men really didn’t know what love is all about until they saw it in Christ.
3. In Christ, love is new in its worldwide extent, (John 3:16) and in the lengths to which it will go. (Eph. 5:1, 2.
II. Love lets the light shine: I John 2:8
A. We usually think of darkness ass ignorance and superstition, and this is a proper analogy.
1. But, John is writing about the difference between love and hate. Love is light. Hate is darkness.
2. We are not truly enlightened or in any way knowledgeable about the really important issues of life unless we have learned and shared the love of Christ.
3. II Peter 1:19 refers to the time when "the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts." This is the full realization of the love of Christ.
B. Darkness is passing away, even now.
1. We live in the midst of an ongoing process. As the Gospel is spread, the light is shining and getting brighter every day.
2. Current events considered, we aren’t always aware of this process, but the light is shining more brightly than we realize.
3. ILLUS.: We moved back to Pittsburgh, my home, in 1973 at the height of a petroleum crisis. All unnecessary lighting was turned off to conserve energy. Everyone thought we would have a drab Christmas that year. However, the Old World custom of the luminary was revived and it turned into one of the brightest, most cheerful Christmases I remember.
4. The light was in the hearts of the people and they inevitably found a way to let it shine.
C. As the light shone brilliantly in Christ, He expects us to let it shine through us as well.
1. Every day He was on earth, He shed the light of the love of God on all He met.
2. Let your light shine: share the Gospel, do deeds of kindness, live the godly life.
3. We should be growing in our ability to love those around us, both brothers and sisters in Christ and those who do not know Him.
III. It is imperative for Christians to walk in the light:
A. William Barclay pointed out five possible attitudes toward our fellow man:
1. Treat him as negligible. Give him no consideration at all.
2. Treat him with contempt, as one far less important than we are.
3. Treat him as a nuisance, to be noticed or helped only when we are obligated.
4. Treat him as an enemy with whom we are in competition.
5. Trat him as a brother to serve. An opportunity to let the light of God shine.
6. Everyone will show one of these attitudes. Nothing but the last satisfies God’s expectations.
B. ILLUS.: "The Hallmark" Many of us can t tell fourteen caret gold from eighteen carat. Sone of us can t even tell gold plate from solid gold. In old London town the jewelers of Goldsmith’s Hall took pride in doing good work, and they wanted each customer to know what he was buying. So they devised a mark of quality, and its use became established by law. When a piece of gold was stamped with a little crown and the figure 18, everyone knew it was eighteen carat. ‘The mark of the hall" guaranteed it
1. If we are true disciples of Jesus, He stamps upon us a mark of quality, a hallmark, a guarantee that we are genuine. "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another,
C. Love prevents stumbling in our Christian walk because it helps us make right decisions.
1. Love fulfills the Law. Rom. 13:10
2. It helps prevent us from stumbling by shedding light on the decisions we must make.
3. It also prevents us from putting a stumbling block in the way of others.
CONC.: Let me remind you of the definition of love; "Unselfish, active, intelligent good will." We are expressing the love of God when we look our on the world with an eye for opportunities to serve others. Remember the words of Jesus; "by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples. . . "
