“True Love”

1 John 2:8-11

 ⁸ Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.

 A. John now adds a ‘NEW COMMANDMENT’

            1. This was a command given by Jesus to His disciples in -

 John 15:9-17      

“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. ¹⁰ If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. ¹¹ These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. ¹² This is My commandment, (now here it is) that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. ¹⁵ No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. ¹⁷ These things I command you, that you love one another.

 B. In John 13:34-35, Jesus Himself called this a ‘NEW COMMANDMENT’

 John 13:34-35       A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. ³⁵ By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

 C. The Apostle John had seen Jesus with his own eyes

            1. He’d seen Jesus offer up His own life, for the sake of others

 “Jesus’ Love is true Love”

 D. And John says that the TRUE LOVE is not only seen in Christ, but in His followers

            1. That is, those who BELIEVE in Christ, will also display His love

  “If the true light of Jesus is shining in our hearts, then His love will be in us, and darkness will be gone.”     -Thomas Hale

 E. When we receive Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior;

            1. The darkness is passing away

            2. And the TRUE LIGHT of God’s LOVE begins to shine

 F. Sort of interesting to note here that the ‘darkness is PASSING AWAY’

            1. Just as it takes time for our eyes to ADJUST to light when we come out of the dark;

            2. So too, it takes time to adjust to the LIGHT of GOD’S LOVE

                        a. As we’re ADJUSTING, we’re actually GROWING IN HIS LOVE!

 G. In Verses 9-11, John now CONTRASTS between:

1. LOVE that is FALSE;

            2. And LOVE that is TRUE

3. Sort of a BAROMETER TEST

⁹ He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now.

 A. In other words:

1. The person who claims to be a CHRISTIAN;

a. Yet HATES HIS BROTHER…Is still in DARKNESS

b. They are NOT REALLY SAVED

 B. Now some people might say:

1. “Well, I DON’T HATE my brother/sister/spouse/neighbor…”

            2. “I just don’t like them”

 C. Maybe that was you RIGHT NOW?

            1. May just now in your mind, God put somebody’s face in front of you…

                        a. And you just JUSTIFIED your HATRED by calling it something else?

 D. We’ll let’s see if that’s true, based on what the word ‘HATE’ here means:

 ‘HATE’ : “To detest or despise, especially to persecute.”

Withholding of LOVE – (Can be INWARD or OUTWARD)

Refusing to TALK to them

Desire for HARM

Bitterness/ resentment / anger

Flying off the handle at the mention of the person’s name –“I’m not angry at….!!!!”

***OFTEN Hatred may display itself in strong emotion, but not necessarily

Malicious, un-justifiable feelings towards others

Whether towards the INNOCENT, or by mutual animosity

Ever been HATED by someone & you didn’t even know they were mad at you?

Opposed to both the love of NATURAL AFFECTION & Godly love

Webster’s New World Dictionary:

 “To have strong feeling of dislike or ill will for or towards; To loath; To despise; To dislike; wish to avoid; shrink from. To look down upon with great contempt; feelings of malice; to detest; disgust; abhorrence.”

 The opposite of LOVE – diametrically opposed

Look up LOVE and you see the ANT. Of HATE

Look up HATE and you see the ant. Of LOVE

 E. Reminds me of what Jesus said in –

 Luke 16:13   No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

 F. “You can’t say that you LOVE GOD;

            1. And yet HATE your BROTHER

 G. LOVE and HATE cannot CO-EXIST w/in the SAME HEART

            1. You’ll either be given to LOVE

            2. Or you will be DOMINATED by HATE

 H. Jesus talks about  a man HATING his brother in -

 Matthew 5:21-26
²¹ “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ ²² But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. ²³ Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. ²⁵ Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. ²⁶ Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny.

 I. A lot of times, HATRED – CONTEMPT – RESENTMENT is:

1. The DIRECT CONSEQUENCE of UN-FORGIVENESS

 J. At one point, a person FEELS as though they were WRONGED by SOMEBODY: (maybe)

            1. Maybe a PARENT,

a. “You weren’t there for ME”

b. “you never showed any interest in my life”

c. “You always seemed to FAVOR my brother…sister…”

i. And it’s produced RESENTMENT, bitterness, un-forgiveness in you

 K. Maybe you were WRONGED by SIBLING,

            1. “Mom and dad always paid more attention to you, than any of us!”

            2. “You stole my boy friend / girl friend”

            3. She/he was always better at something

 L. Maybe its resentment towards a FRIEND / another CHURCH member

            1. They treated you WRONG/ UN-FAIR

            2. Un-kind

            3. Disliked by them

M. Maybe the REASON this morning you CAN’T BE FILLED with GOD’S LOVE is because;

            1. You are BITTER towards you SPOUSE…

a. “You never loved me, you’re never kind, you always treat me so bad”

N. What about BITTERNESS or RESENTMENT towards GOD!

                        a. “My life is such a joke”

                        b. “Why didn’t God give me better looks, better health, better spouse”

                        c. “My life is so hard, God must get a real charge out of my problems”

 O. TRUE or NOT, when a PERSON feels that they’ve BEEN WRONGED…

            1. WITHOUT the LOVE of CHRIST in their HEART…

            2. They FIRST WONT FORGIVE the WRONG DOER (even a perceived wrong)

 “Then what happens is that UN-FORGIVENESS produces BITTERNESS; Which ultimately ends up DEFILING their RELATIONSHIP with GOD.”

 P. Some of you may be STRUGGLING TREMENDOUSLY SPIRITUALLY;

            1. And it all REVOLVES back to HARBORING UN-FORGIVENESS

 Q. When we COME INTO THE LIGHT;

            1. We KNOW that we are in the LIGHT –

a. When God enables us to FORGIVE those who sin against us

 R. MANY PEOPLE claim that at one point in their life they CAME INTO THE LIGHT;

1. There was a time when they PRAYED A PRAYER…

2. But they NEVER REALLY GOT SAVED

                        a. They NEVER really CAME INTO the LIGHT

 S. They may have had an INTELLECTUAL EXPERIENCE with God:

            1. Heard the Gospel and intellectually received Christ

            2. But they never TRULY CAME INTO a personal RELATIONSHIP with Christ

 T. And as John says here, the MANIFESTATION or EVIDENCE of a FALSE CONVERT is:

            1. The PERSON who HATES/ person who CANNOT / WILL NOT FORGIVE

 U. And the EVIDENCE that they are NOT in the LIGHT;

1. Is DEMONSTRATED by their HATRED for their BROTHER

 V. HATRED for your BROTHER/SISTER is:

1. NOT an indication of  BACK SLIDING;

            2. But rather of NO SALVATION AT ALL

 W. John says that person was born in darkness, and remains in darkness even until now

            1. They simply never were saved at ANY POINT in their life

 X. UN-FORGIVENESS IS A CRUEL TASKMASTER!

            1. Concerning UN-FORGIVENESS, somebody once said:

 “Un-forgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting your enemy to die.”

 “I refuse to give any control over my life by harboring un-forgiveness in my heart towards them!”

 THE MODEL PRAYER

 Matthew 6:9-15
⁹ In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
¹⁰ Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
¹³ And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
¹⁴ “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
¹⁵ But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

 Y. Pretty serious REQUIREMENTS from God!

            1. He who CANNOT FORGIVE their DEBTORS

            2. God promises that NEITHER will HE FORGIVE their DEBTS

 Z. As John is describing here in 1 John 2 –

            1. The ABILITY/WILLINGNESS to forgive other people is a –

2. DECLARATION that you are WALKING in the LIGHT

            a. And the TRUTH IS IN YOU!

 Z1. However on the CONTRAST;

            1. He who HATES his BROTHER (evidence that you hate is in your un-forgiveness)

            2. And REFUSES to FORGIVE him his DEBT…is walking proof that…

                        a. That he is UNSAVED       

 Matthew 7:13-27
¹³ “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. ¹⁴ Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. ¹⁵ “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Therefore by their fruits you will know them. ²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ ²⁴ “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: ²⁵ and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: ²⁷ and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

 “Not everyone who talking about heaven is going there.”

 Z2. That’s why I’m lingering on this point…(REMEMBER I’m talking to more than CCB)

            1. I’m pressing you by the power of God’s Holy Word—

a. Search your heart & be assured that you really are saved -

 Z3. You really have NOTHING TO LOSE, but EVERYTHING to GAIN;

            1. If you search your heart and find HATRED –

                        a. You could get SAVED TODAY

            2. If you search your heart and find LOVE;

                        a. Well then you have the ASSURANCE of ETERNAL LIFE!!!

¹⁰ He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.

 A. If you are a living, breathing, walking display of GOD’S LOVE;

            1. Then you will have no occasion to STUMBLE yourself

            2. And NEITHER will you STUMBLE ANYONE else

 B. He who ABIDES in the LIGHT will ACTIVELY SEEK to keep from STUMBLING others

            1. The man who abides in GOD’S LOVE…

            2. Will NOT use his LIBERTY to give an OCCASION to STUMBLE others

 1 Corinthians 6:12    

All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

 1 Corinthians 10:23    

All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.

 1 Corinthians 8:9-13   

But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. ¹⁰ For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? ¹¹ And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? ¹² But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. ¹³ Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

 C. Now that’s TRUE LOVE;

            1. Even though we may feel that we have the PERSONAL LIBERTY to

                        a. Partake in various areas…

                        b. If we know that it will stumble a brother…

                                    i. LOVE says – “Then I will never do that again”

 ILLUSTRATION:

Charles Spurgeon used to smoke tobacco during his years of preaching and he thought nothing of it until one day he walked past his favorite tobacco shop and saw a sign posted stating “Players Cigarettes…the choice of C. H. Spurgeon”. After that, Spurgeon gave up smoking so that he would never again stumble anyone.”

 B. That’s what LOVE looks like

            1. “I’m not going to use my liberties to stumble someone w/ a weak conscience”

 C. Let me ADD….

            1. That INCLUDES what you POST of FACEBOOK & TWITTER & emails

Romans 14:12-23    

 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. ¹³ Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way. ¹⁴ I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. ¹⁵ Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. ¹⁶ Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; ¹⁷ for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. ¹⁹ Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. ²⁰ Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense. ²¹ It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. ²² Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. ²³ But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.

¹¹ But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

 “The darkness of sin, always makes men blind. Satan wants to blind you. He doesn’t want you to see his schemes. Above all, he doesn’t want you to see Jesus.”

 Conclusion:

 1. But you FACE A DECISION now, Will you RESPOND?

            a. Are you walking in LOVE?

            b. Or have you been SECRETLY HATING your brother?

 2. I’m going to give you time this morning to deal with this issue before God;

            1. You may need to get up and confess your attitude towards someone here

            2. You may need to come forward and kneel at the altar & confess your sin

 3. Or maybe this morning God has CONVICTED your heart & you now realize that-

            1. You aren’t saved

            2. “Behold today is the day of salvation”

4. If God has convicted you of an area of your life;

            1. I’m going to encourage you to deal with it right now

 5. Don’t let this GIFT of GOD’S CONVICTION pass you by!

            1. You have a CHOICE…

a. RESPOND, or grow HARDER

 “Repent of your bitterness & let Him fill you with HIS LOVE!”