1 John 2:7-11

7 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. (1 John 2:7-11, NIV).

If we could point to one issue that affirms the Christian church, it is the principle of love. If we could point to one issue that destroys the church it is hate, the lack of love.

When we hear of a group of people who are helping one another in time of need, we sense the positiveness of that group. When we hear of a group of people who are bickering, fighting, and throwing mud at one another, we sense the negativity of that group. This is one reason why the political group that gets the lowest ratings week in and week out is our Congress. The political bickering and power moves have caused people to lose faith. Their ratings are traditionally lower than that of the president, no matter how bad you think the president might be. For example, 45% of the people poll who responded to recent questioning approved of the job the president is doing, only 20.5% approve of the job the Congress is doing.

John is dealing with teachers who left the church. They denied the fact that Jesus had a body and they permitted and even encouraged immorality and disobedience to God’s moral law. They were pseudo-intellectual and through the special teachers, gave people new information and ideas about God.

John speaks to us as he encourages us to love God and to love one another. This command to believe in Jesus and to love one another forms the basis for his concern.

We share this concern. We want people in this church whose faith goes beyond knowing the Bible into practical acts of love towards other Christians. We want people who love God and in response to that love, love other members of the same family.

Three issues arise as John seeks to tell us about the necessity for love of God and love for one another.

The issue of continuity arises in this verse.

The message of the false teachers was new. They were getting secret knowledge that was only for the “spiritual person.” Their ideas about God, about Jesus, about life were not centered in anything old, but were the product of new teaching, new revelation.

John says to them that the message he gives has the added advantage of continuity.

7 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.

Let’s trace the continuity of this old command.

First, from the Old Testament: 18 “‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbour as yourself. I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:18, NIV).

Who is the neighbor here? It is “one of your people.” This picture of neighbor speaks of how the Jewish person was to treat another Jewish person. Love your neighbor as yourself.

The Jewish people might hate the Philistine, the Egyptian, the Assyrian or the Babylonian, but they were to love their neighbor, a brother Israeli.

Second, Jesus reinforces this: 25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” 27 He answered: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’” 28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” 29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?” (Luke 10:25-29, NIV).

Jesus answers him with the story of the good Samaritian. His neighbor is the man that he can help. In other words, just to say you are a good neighbor, doesn’t make you one. A good neighbor is someone who will help their neighbor in time of need.

Third, Jesus transmits this to the disciples. For example,

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34, 35, NIV).

9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no-one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other. (John 15:9-17, NIV).

Jesus tells his disciples to do with one another what the nation was to do with one another. Practice love! So the old commandment had a new feature to it. Love one another.

This became harder as the Jewish people were forced to face the inclusion of a group they traditionally hated, the Gentiles.

That is why John tells us, 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

What had they seen? They had seen Jesus die for all the world. He didn’t just die for Israeli’s. He didn’t die for just Americans. He died for Arabs, Chinese, Russians, Saudi Arabians, Iraqi’s, Mexicans and all people. He didn’t just die for men, he died for men and women. He didn’t die for just the Jewish people, but for the Gentile, the Romans, the barbarians. He didn’t die for the citizens of Rome, he died for the slave as well.

Look at the early church! It showed love by including all who trusted Jesus. From the very first, the church in Jerusalem gave money to help the widows of Jewish people who were from other parts of the Roman empire, call the Grecian Jews, who had real needs. Not only did Jesus die for all the mixes I mentioned, the church accepted them and loved them.

John tells us that there is tremendous continuity in his message. I will tell you that if you hear of someone with a new revelation, a new doctrine, a new teaching, beware. John is very strong that what he had for them was both old and new. There was continuity in the teaching.

This is why we focus on preaching the Bible. We may try to make application in the 21st century, but our roots are in Jesus and before him in the Old Testament.

This message of love was taking time, but it was growing. For John tells us 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.

The darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. God is light and in him is no darkness at all. The light is overcoming the darkness. I suspect that John might have considered that darkness left the church when the false teachers walked out the door. They knew they didn’t belong and they were unwilling to receive Jesus as he truly was. The light was overcoming the darkness.

Now if there was an issue of continuity related to command, we find there is also an issue of verifiability.

If a person makes a claim to be in the light, how do we know that claim is true? If a person says, “I’m good with God,” how do we verify that claim?

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.

Remember in the early church they did not have the confusion we have today. You were either for Christians or against them. If you were for them, then you fellowshipped with them. If you were against them, then you did not. One group leaves because they don’t agree with the teachings of John or the other apostles. The rest either went with them or stayed with the church. We do not hear of Christians in the New Testament who did not go to church, did not worship and pray together, who did not meet together. If it had been an issue, someone would have written about it. Now if you don’t like this group, you can go down the street to another, or get in your car and go to Portland or Bangor. It wasn’t like that in the first century. You were either for or against the Christians, no middle ground.

So if you claimed to be in the light, but hated your Christian brother, you were still in darkness. “Still” means you were never in the light.

I have a great concern for people we know that made a profession of faith, attended church, something happened and they no longer want anything to do with Christians. They claim to walk in the light, but that claim is false. The ongoing hatred they have towards Christians makes that claim invalid.

But, 10 Whoever loves his brother lives in the light. People who trust Jesus and love Christians live in the light. Jesus put it this way, 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35, NIV). The implication is that if you don’t love other disciples, no one will know that you are a disciple of Jesus Christ.

The Barna Research group did a survey in 2008. They found that about 23% of the people they surveyed said they had not attended any kind of a church in the past year. Of that 23%, 6 out of 10 of them believed that they were Christians.

So I ask you this question. If someone claims to walk in the light, to love God, but they are not there to pray with Christians, to encourage Christians, to share the workload that Christ has put on us, to share in the sacrifice and burden that we have, do they truly love Christians?

I will say this and moved on. Christ loved the church. Do you want to know how I know that? He gave himself for it. The organization may not be perfect, but the church is a body, a group of people, who meet to glorify God through worship, edification and evangelism. We love when we give ourselves for others.

The third issue is the issue of visibility that is associated with this command. We have seen the continuity between the Old Testament, Jesus and John that makes this old command new. We have seen the verifiability of anyone who claims to live in the light. Now we look at the issue of visibility.

To state this succinctly and clearly, the truth is this: If you walk in the light, you don’t stumble. If you walk in the darkness you do. The visibility that comes by walking in the light benefits you. You don’t stumble. You don’t fall.

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.

Walking in darkness is tied in with walking in hatred. When we live with bitterness, anger, wrath, malice or lack forgiveness, we will stumble and fall. When we gossip, backbite, steal, covet, fornicate, lie, or cheat other people, we will stumble and fall.

How many times have we said of others, “Can’t they see what they are doing?” What do we see? We see them stumbling and someone is going to get hurt.

Churches split because people walk in darkness. Families are destroyed because someone walks in darkness. Businesses fail because someone walks in darkness. Friendships are broken because someone walks in darkness.

But when we walk in the light has he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. There is no stumbling there. We bring our sins to the light. We confess and are forgiven. We treat others the way God wants them treated. We don’t stumble. If you ever question what is best to do, follow the path of love. This is especially true with brothers and sisters in Christ. You will not stumble!