Sunday, January 7, 2006
THE TEST OF LOVE
(I Jn. 2:7-11,15-17; 3:10-24; 4:7-21)
In my Bible, I John is contained in about 5 and a half pages. Check it out in your Bible. This is a very short letter. It is no chore to sit down and read it in a few minutes. So let me ask you a question. How many times do you think the word "love" appears in I John? Would you believe that it appears more in I John than in any other book of the New Testament except the Gospel of John? Though it is only 5 and a half pages of the 430 pages in my New Testament, one out of every five occurrences of the word "love" (226, and it includes "charity") is in I John, occurring no less than 46 times. Taken together with John’s gospel, almost half of the occurrences of "love" are in these two books. John might well be called "the apostle of love."
Now you will recall that we have been studying I John, looking at it as containing "The Tests of Life." And in broad terms, those tests are three. What are they? Belief. Righteousness, or obedience. And what is the third? It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out; it is love. While there is much in I John about belief and righteousness, I would have to say that there is even more about love. According to I John, the person who is born of God and has fellowship with God loves other people. As we will see, John affirms that truth in many different ways.
So let’s read from God’s Word and see what this little letter has to say about love… (I Jn. 2:7-11,15-17; 3:10-24; 4:7-21)
2:7-11 Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. 8. Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. 9. He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. 10. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. 11. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes
2:15-17 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever
3:10-24 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. 11. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous. 13. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. 14. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. 15. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 16. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 18. My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. 19. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. 20. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. 21. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. 22. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. 23. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. 24. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us
4:7-21 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. 12. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. 13. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. 14. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. 15. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. 16. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 17. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 18. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 19. We love him, because he first loved us. 20. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 21. And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
That is quite a large portion of I John… just over a third, to be exact. Since we will be going over these passages, why did we take time to read them all? I want to emphasize the Word of God itself. As we go through this letter, we are not establishing principles we think are good. We are simply taking principles that God has put in His Word and trying to apply them to our lives. Brothers and sisters, friends, seekers, this is the Word of God. We must deal with I John openly and honestly, because this is what God Himself has written through His Holy Spirit. I challenge you (I beg you) to read this letter for yourself. Read it again and again. If you want to know something about love, read I John, where the term occurs with much greater frequency than anywhere else in the Bible. These passages are worthy of our best meditation.
This morning we are going to make a start at understanding what John says about love by laying a foundation. There are a few things we must bear in mind, if we hope to understand what this little letter is telling us about love.
I. John’s Principles Are Rooted in Jesus’ Teachings
Don’t think for a moment that what John tells us is some new teaching. Far from it. The "apostle whom Jesus loved" is the one who leaned on Jesus’ breast at the last supper. He is also the apostle who leaned heaviest upon Jesus’ teachings concerning love.
It is impossible to spend much time in I John without recalling Jesus words in John 13:34-35, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." Jesus referred to this as a "new commandment." The command to love was not new, for we read in Lev. 19:18, "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD." What was absolutely new is the extent of this love. Jesus commanded His followers to love one another, even as He Himself loved them. And how did Jesus love them (us)? "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (Jn. 15:13). Jesus did indeed lay down His life for His friends. This is the background of the love theme in I John.
We must understand that the love of which John speaks is not the love we hear about from the world. This love cannot be understood apart from the cross, for it was at the cross that Jesus laid down His life for His friends. And then we read in I John 4:10-11, "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another." Do you see how the cross stands at the very center of John’s teachings about love?
I would encourage you to go back and read John 13-17 as a background for the love theme in I John. This is where we will find the root of John’s teachings.
II. The Absoluteness of John’s Statements
Let’s suppose that I say, "Tom is a very black and white type of person." What do I mean by that? I mean that with Tom things seem to be very clear cut. Right is right, and wrong is wrong, and there is no in-between. If you ask Tom about an issue, he won’t use the word "maybe." He will tell you exactly what he thinks. Tom doesn’t know any gray areas. I John is founded upon some very black and white statements. That is what I mean by the absoluteness of John.
Just to make sure we understand what I am talking about, let me give you an example. This example isn’t from I John, but it is from the scriptures. Suppose I say: "Jesus is the only way to God. Apart from radical trust in Jesus, no one can be right with God." That is a very absolute, black and white statement.
I must say that such statements are very unpopular in our world. We live in a world that glorifies tolerance. This isn’t the old tolerance that says, "I may not agree with you, but I respect your right to believe what you choose." No, this is the new tolerance, which says, "What you believe is just as valid as what I believe. Who am I to say that I am right and you are wrong." In the world of the new tolerance there are no absolutes. The leaders of this world in which we live hate absolutes.
If we are going to get hold of the truths of I John, we must understand that John speaks in absolutes. Some would say that we must allow for his style, but recognize that things can never be as absolute as John portrays them. I remind you that ultimately John is not the author of this letter. Remember that holy men of God spoke as they were moved (carried along) by the Holy Spirit (II Pet. 1:21). The absolutes of I John are not due to the style of the human writer, but they are an accurate reflection of God’s truth.
So let’s consider a few of those absolutes. We encountered one of them when we were studying 3:4-10. According to that passage, every person is either a child of God or a child of the devil. So if a person is not a child of God, what is he? He is a child of the devil. There is nothing in between. But we say, "He is a seeker, a person who is seeking the Lord." That he may be, but if he is not yet a child of God, he is still a child of the devil. Remember what John says in 3:7-8, "Let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil…" And then in verse 10, "In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil…" When you hear people say that John was exaggerating a bit for effect, don’t be swayed. John was simply speaking God’s truth, which he said that every person is either a child of God or a child of the devil.
Consider another one. According to I John, I either walk in light or I walk in darkness. Let’s read it in I John 1:5-7…
This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
This absoluteness begins with God Himself. "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." We are not to understand that God is primarily light with only a slight mixture of darkness. God is light, and there is no darkness in Him whatsoever. And then that absoluteness extends to those who know Him. Notice in verses 6 and 7 that John speaks of walking in darkness and walking in light. There is nothing in between. We either turn to the Lord, who is light, and thereby walk in the light. Or, we turn away from the Lord, who is light, and walk in darkness. No in between.
And then there is another. We either obey the Lord or we don’t obey. Let’s read it in 2:3-5…
And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
Again, you will notice that John speaks of keeping God’s commandments and of not keeping His commandments. There is nothing in between. There is a wonderful Old Testament illustration of this principle. We find it in I Sam. 15. Let’s just read the story again to refresh our memory. I Sam. 15:1-21…
Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD. 2. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. 3. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. 4. And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah. 5. And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley. 6. And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye showed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 7. And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt. 8. And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9. But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly. 10. Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying, 11. It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night. 12. And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal. 13. And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD. 14. And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? 15. And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed. 16. Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on. 17. And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel? 18. And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. 19. Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD? 20. And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.
When Samuel confronted Saul with his disobedience, Saul protested: "Yes, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord." How could he say that, in light of the fact that there animals alive and one man alive, King Agag? Saul had two explanations. First of all, concerning the killing of the people, he had killed all but one. Suppose there were 1,000 Amalekites. That would mean that Saul had killed 99.9% of them. Surely if we do 99.9% of what God says, that constitutes obedience. No, it does not. In just a moment, we will see how the Lord speaks of 99.9% "obedience."
His other explanation concerned the animals which were spared. Saul explained that it was the people who kept the animals alive. But Saul was the king. He was the one who gave the orders. He could have simply told the people to go ahead and kill the rest of the animals. But Saul had an explanation for this failure as well. He explained that the animals were kept in order that they might be sacrificed to the Lord. Surely that would be acceptable with God.
Now listen to God’s response through the prophet Samuel in verses 22-23…
And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 23. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
What man would call 99.9% obedience is defined by God as rebellion and stubbornness and is no better than witchcraft and idolatry. Speaking of absoluteness… Wow!
Now there is one more of these absolute statements that I want to bring to your attention. And this is the one that will affect us most directly in our study of love in I John. Let’s read it in I John 2:9-11…
He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. 10. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. 11. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.
Notice those words "love" and "hate." Those are very strong terms. Then notice that there is nothing in between. John says that a person either loves his brother or hates him. You will note again the absoluteness of light and darkness, and this contrast between love and hate parallels it exactly.
I believe this is where we have the most problem. We want to say, "Well, I can’t say that I love my brother or sister in the Lord, but I sure don’t hate any of them." If I don’t love him, I hate him. If you don’t love her, you hate her. If you have a problem with that, take up with the Lord. I’m just the messenger. I may not be able to explain it, but I must affirm that this is what the Lord says. Go through this entire letter, and you will look in vain for some attitude between love and hate. It is either one or the other. We must bear this in mind.
So as we get into John’s teaching about love, prepare your minds for God’s way of dealing with things. He deals in absolutes.
III. The Strong Connection between Love for God and Love for His People
We see this connection again and again in this letter. In fact, we know this truth. We know it on a surface level, but somehow we become immune to the depth of this truth. I’m not going to say much about it this morning, but rest assured that we will be coming back to it again and again.
Let’s read the clearest announcement of this truth in I Jn. 4:20, "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?"
In I Jn. 2:22 we read, "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son." Well, according to 4:20, he is also a liar who claims to love God while hating his brother.
Conclusion
May God prepare us to grasp the truth about His love, as we continue to meditate on I John. In your bulletin you will find a summary of the principles we have laid out this morning…
1. John’s principles are rooted in Jesus’ teachings. Be reading John 13-17.
2. John deals in absolutes; everything is black and white. Surrender your own ideas and welcome
what the Spirit says.
3. John emphasizes the connection between love for God and love for His people. Meditate on
I John 4:20.
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