Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ,
We are in a section of John’s letter where a SERIES OF CONTRASTS between a true profession of faith and a false profession of faith are being made. And this has a twofold purpose: On the one hand it is done to help believers recognize a false profession of faith in others but on the other hand it is done to encourage believes who have doubts about their own salvation.
And what we started to see last time is that A PROFESSION OF FAITH CAN BE TESTED. There are certain things that will be the case in those who truly are God’s children.
The first of these tests was the MORAL test, which we saw in v3: “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.” A true follower of Christ will be eager to keep His commandments.
Well, today WE ARE INTRODUCED TO THE SECOND TEST OF TRUE FELLOWSHIP – THE SOCIAL TEST. And the social test is about love for others.
And it is especially fitting that we come to this topic on this LORD’S SUPPER SUNDAY. One of our Lord’s Supper forms says this: At the Supper, Christ, by His Spirit, “unites us with all true believers … in true brotherly love.” One aspect of the Supper is to express our love for one another. So if we do not love our brother or sister then we should not come to the Supper.
And we were reminded of this last Sunday in the words of the preparatory form that urged us to examine ourselves “to be sure that we resolve to live … in love and peace with our neighbours,” because if we live in hostility with [our] neighbour,” and we come to the table, we “partake of the sacrament unworthily and … eat and drink judgment on [ourselves].” So you can see that this is a very serious matter. Those who come to the Lord’s Supper table must be able to say, I live in love and peace with my neighbour.
So as I said, it is especially fitting that we consider the social test on this Lord’s Supper Sunday.
I. And we do so under two headings, first of all considering the LAW of love and then the LIFE of love. So first of all the law of love.
A. In the previous section, we were urged to keep the commandments. But now John is going to single out one of them in particular. And it is the command to love one another. And John makes this plain for us by referring twice to a ‘new commandment,’ which was the language Jesus used in our earlier reading from John 13. Now, there is a sense in which the command to love one another is not new as John explains. He says, It is “an old commandment that you had from the beginning.” Earlier in the service, we also read from Leviticus 19, where it says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” So the command to love others is ancient. But Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” So John says, That old commandment “is a new commandment that I am writing to you.”
B. And that kind of begs a question, doesn’t it. If God’s law included the command to love others, WHY DID JESUS SAY THAT HE WAS GIVING US A NEW COMMANDMENT? Well, we are given the answer in the rest of v8, which we shall consider in a moment. But we need to know a bit of background before we come to that. You see, for centuries, the Jewish teachers of the Law had been putting limits on what love meant and on who your neighbour was. And there is no better illustration of this than THE PARABLE OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN. Jesus had just explained that the greatest commandment included love for your neighbour. And a law expert asked him, ‘Who is my neighbour?” And he asked him this because the law experts of that time loved to debate that question, with some having a very narrow view of who qualified as your neighbour and some having a slightly larger view. But basically, even the ‘widest’ view was limited to Jews only. Well, Jesus answered his question with the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Boys &Girls). A Jewish man was attacked and left for dead by robbers. And then a priest arrived. But did the priest love him? No. He passed by on the other side. And then a Levite arrived. But did the Levite love him? No. He passed by on the other side too. Well finally a Samaritan, a person from a nation that the Jews hated the most of all, and vice versa, arrived. And did he pass by, boys and girls, like the other two had? No. Jesus tells us that “He had compassion” and tended his wounds and took him to an inn where he could recover.
C. So why is it that the old commandment to love your neighbour had produced such a narrow, introverted, and selfish version of love among the Jews? Well, we see the answer in the rest of v8, where having spoken of the new commandment, John continues, “WHICH IS TRUE IN HIM.”
1. Again and again in the OT, the prophets speak of a new covenant that God will make with His people. And they speak of this new covenant in connection with the promised Messiah. Galatians 3:24 says, “The law was our teacher until Christ came.” The command to love becomes a new commandment because of the coming of Jesus Christ. And it is a new commandment because He is the ultimate demonstration of what love is.
a. The love we are called to must be a reflection of the God who is love. And John 3:16 tells us that “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.”
b. And Jesus demonstrated what love is with His selfless, sacrificial, service: We see this as He washed the feet of His disciples. We see it as He touches lepers, as He restores a woman caught in adultery, as He speaks with the Samaritan woman by the well, as He eats with tax-collectors and sinners, and as He took little children in His arms and blessed them. But we see it most powerfully as He goes to the cruel cross to suffer there on our behalf.
c. Jesus demonstrated love in a way that the bare commandment never could.
D. But the new commandment is not just true in Jesus Christ. For John continues, “AND IN YOU.” Jesus said, “As I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples.”
1. Those united to Jesus Christ love as He loved.
2. Those who have experienced the gracious and patient love of God in Christ are eager to be gracious and patient with others.
3. Those who were loved by God while they were still enemies, are eager to love their enemies.
4. Those who have benefited from the selfless and sacrificial love of Christ are eager to love others, selflessly and sacrificially.
And so in Acts 4 we read about Barnabas who sold a field and brought the money and gave it to the apostles so it could be distributed to those in need. And this is just one example of the love of Christ being reflected in the deeds and the words of His followers.
E. And this is what John speaks of as he continues in v8, “THE DARKNESS IS PASSING AWAY AND THE TRUE LIGHT IS ALREADY SHINING.” The world of that time was a very dark place. God’s saving love had been pretty much exclusively focused on the Jews for 2000 years. And we have seen how warped the command to love neighbours had become among the Jews. But now, the love of Christ, as seen in the words and deeds of His followers, affected people in Jerusalem, and then in Judea, and then in Samaria, and then in Asia Minor, and then in Macedonia, and then in Italy… And in this way, “the true light was already shining.”
So the LAW of love is that we would love one another as Christ loved us.
II. And we see more of this as John goes on to talk about the LIFE of Love in vv9-11.
A. And he begins with a “whoever says…” quote. If you remember our comments on 1:5-10, you will remember that there were three “if we say…” statements in that section which were John quoting the GNOSTICS. The Gnostics were a group of people in that place who claimed to be Christians but who held to some very wrong ideas. Well, John quotes these Gnostics here in v9 as well. He says, “Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.” You see, the Gnostics were big on ‘the light.’ They had ‘the light’ of secret knowledge and everyone else was ignorant and in the dark. And while the NT also speaks about light and darkness, as we have seen, being in the light is not about some mysterious, secret knowledge but being united to Jesus Christ who is the way, the truth, and the life; who is the only one by whom we receive eternal life. And the consistent message of the Bible is that those in the light walk in the light, which includes loving others. Can one of you boys and girls tell us the very first fruit of the Spirit Love! Therefore, anyone who “hates his brother is still in darkness” – he or she is not converted; he or she is not a follower of Jesus; he or she is not in fellowship with God.
B. So, HOW DO WE TEST OURSELVES IN THIS? What does loving my brother look like? What does hating my brother look like? Well, there are many places in Scripture we could go to for answers but today let’s limit ourselves to what we read in these verses.
1. Verse 10 says, “Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.” And if we keep in mind the Gnostic situation that John was addressing, we get a steer for what is in view here:
a. The Gnostics denied the divinity and eternality of Jesus, and His work on the cross as the basis of salvation. So they taught a FALSE GOSPEL. And a false gospel is a huge stumbling block. And today you have TV evangelists who teach what is called the prosperity gospel – if you believe in God you will be healthy and wealthy. That is a false gospel and it is also a huge stumbling block.
b. But another fault of these Gnostics, as we have seen, was the idea they had that they were free of sin, regardless of how they behaved. And you can easily imagine where this led them – drunkenness and sexual immorality. So their sinful BEHAVIOUR also was a stumbling block to the gospel. And how often do we read today about some Christian celebrity or Pastor being found out in some public sin, which just gives non-believers the justification they seek to mock Christianity and Christ. But you and me also, if our behaviour or speech out there does not match what we profess in here can be a stumbling block to those whom we are trying to share the gospel with.
c. And finally, in connection with v10, the word “BROTHER” points us also in the direction of the many passages in the Epistles which warn believers against causing their brothers an sisters in Christ to stumble by our misuse of Christian liberty. One of the realities of life in the church is that you have new Christians and those who have been Christians for a long time. And you also have a whole range of issues where Christians legitimately hold different views or practices. And it is very easy for Christians to fall into the trap of doing what they think is right with no thought about how it might affect others. But listen to how love for our brother is described in the Epistles: 1 Corinthians 10, “Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbour … Give no offense to … the church of God.” Romans 14-15, “Therefore … decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother … If your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love … So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding … Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.” Can you smell the aroma of Jesus Christ that flavours those words? Can you see how they are a reflection of His character and behaviour?
2. Well, v11 reveals more about hatred and love for our brother. We read, “Whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” The GNOSTICS were unconverted and godless men and women. So in their desire to teach others the truth, as they saw it, they were the blind leading the blind in total darkness. BUT REMEMBER THAT JOHN IS SPEAKING HERE ALSO TO BELIEVERS. So we need to ask this question: Can believers fall into the sin of hating their brother or sister? You better believe it. And we shall see more about this as we continue through 1 John. So let’s settle for a few thoughts today.
a. Jesus might have called it a new Commandment, but it is still a commandment! “Love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”
b. But must I love all of them, you might be thinking? Including him or her? Is it OK if I just tolerate her? Is it OK if I just don’t hate him? Well, consider these questions:
(1). Does the Lord Jesus just tolerate you?
(2). Does He just not hate you?
(3). Is His love for you dependant on your behaviour and attitude toward Him?
c. This means then that JUST AVOIDING SOMEONE OR TOLERATING SOMEONE IS REALLY HATRED BEGUN. I expect we all know a time when we felt out and out hatred for someone. And we have probably all seen and heard hatred in others. It is very ugly. And you get a whiff of it in the language of v11. The words of a hater are like the words of someone who is blind. Have you noticed that? They speak about someone in a way that bears little or no resemblance to how you see them or hear them. You and the hater hear someone or see someone or are talking about what someone said or did and the hater is accusing them of this or that or the other thing and you are scratching your head and wondering if you are talking about the same person. What they say doesn’t make sense. It is illogical. They are continually suspicious. But you’re thinking to yourself, That’s not what I heard them say? Are you sure that’s what they meant? Are you certain that’s what they did?
(1). JOHN STOTT, the theologian and author said, “Hatred distorts our perspective. We do not first misjudge people and then hate them as a result; our view of them is already jaundiced by our hatred.” Hatred is a set of glasses and hearing aids through which we see and hear everything a person says and does.
(2). And Brothers and Sisters, young people and boys and girls, avoiding someone or just tolerating them is hatred begun. And the journey from there to the set of glasses and hearing aids that is out and out hatred is a short one.
Well, by way of conclusion, the great COMFORT in this passage is that John saw the true light of the love of Christ shining in and through the believers He wrote to. And congregation, the true light of the love of Christ shines in and through you! THERE IS LOVE OF BROTHER AND SISTER IN HERE. Praise the Lord!
But there is CHALLENGE in this passage also. And this is because the Word of God functions like a mirror – it helps us see ourselves as we really are. And the fact is that our obedience to this commandment will be imperfect until we are with Christ in glory.
So if the Spirit of the Lord has convicted you of a lack of love for your brother and sister, that is OK. To be convicted of sin is an evidence of the Spirit of Christ at work in you.
And the right response is repentance, whether it be the first time you have realized this or the 100th time.
o 1 JOHN 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” So go to God and confess your sin.
o But MATTHEW 5:23-24 says this also, “Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.” And MATTHEW 18 says that when my brother sins against me, I should go to him and “tell him his fault.” Now, we are also told in 1 PETER that “love covers a multitude of sins.” So we don’t have to go to someone to deal with every ‘small’ sin. But neither should the command to love be used as an excuse to tolerate sin in ourselves or others. So if there is hostility between you and your brother or sister, don’t come to this Supper. Go to him or her and be reconciled. And if need be, seek the counsel or help of the elders.
Now sometimes we do this but our brother or sister does not respond as we hope and believe they ought to. But so long as you have done all that is in your power to do, and there is no hatred in you; so long as you are resolved to live in love and peace with your neighbour, then come, and come with a quiet conscience. Come to this Supper where Christ, by His Spirit, “unites us with all true believers in one body in true brotherly love.”
The church of Christ is not a group of individuals who meet together for worship. It is the family of God where brothers and sisters love one another as they have been loved by Christ. Does your life show that you are a part of the family of God? Amen.