"The Love Test"

If you'd open up your Bibles to 1 John 2, we're going to be spending most of our time in verses 7 through 11.

But as you can see on your bulletin, we're going to dip into what Billy preached on verses 3 through 6 for a little bit at the beginning of the sermon.

But let me ask you this.

Right now, are you having a hard time loving another Christian?

You who are blood-bought, are you having a hard time loving another Christian who's been bought by the blood of Jesus?

Maybe there's another Christian who just rubs you raw.

You're loud, they're quiet, it drives them crazy.

Or maybe someone has repeatedly disappointed you and you have a hard time loving that other Christian.

Or maybe you've had ongoing disagreements about politics, about race, about theology, and you've now closed your heart to someone and are having a hard time loving them.

Or maybe someone other Christian has repeatedly sinned against you.

And it makes it difficult for you to love that person.

Essentially, you have closed your heart against another brother or sister in Christ.

And that opens the door to all sorts of other temptations.

Complaining, grumbling, gossip, slander, attacking, avoiding, withdrawing, accusing, being quick to judge,

and being very slow to believe the best.

So on the outset here, let me ask you this question.

Have you closed your heart against another brother or sister in Christ?

Is there someone that God is bringing to your mind right now?

The book of 1 John contains a series of three tests.

The first test is the belief test, the doctrine test.

What you believe about Jesus.

Fully God, fully man.

The second test is what Billy preached on last week.

The obedience test.

Obeying all of the commandments of Jesus.

All of His word.

And this morning, we're going to look at the love test.

That we love one another just as God in Christ has loved us.

So here's the test.

Have you closed your heart against another Christian?

Are you not loving them?

Or in the words of John, are you hating them?

Christian love is having an open heart towards one another to do good to one another at cost to ourselves,

even when someone doesn't deserve it.

So here's the big idea this morning.

At the top of your bulletin, we must love all who belong to Jesus.

That's what we're going to see in this text.

That's what I'm going to make a case for.

We must love all who belong to Jesus for reasons why.

We must love all who belong to Jesus.

And I'm going to bring them all out of, help you to see them out of 1 John 2.

The first reason, Jesus modeled the way we must love.

Jesus modeled the way we must love.

If you've got a pen in hand, you want to circle Jesus modeled love.

Jesus modeled this for us.

Last week, Billy showed us from verses 3 through 6 that those born of God will obey His commandments.

And this obedient test that we see in verses 3 through 6 is not just obedience to some of Jesus' commands.

It's obedience to all of Jesus' commandments.

And if you just look at verse 3 and 4, you will notice that John has commandments in mind.

Because there's a little S on the end of commandment.

Commandments.

We're to obey all of them.

We're to keep all of His word.

Verse 5.

In the Great Commission, Jesus says,

Go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

teaching them to observe, to keep, to obey all that I have commanded.

Those born of God have become disciples of Jesus Christ.

We are to follow Him in all that He commands, in all of His ways.

We are to walk as He walked.

Now, what happens in this passage is we move from verses 3 through 6 into 7 through 11.

And we move from this call to obey all of the commandments of Jesus to now narrowing in on one particular commandment of Jesus.

If you look at verses, verse 7, I'm writing no new commandment, but an old commandment.

The old commandment is the same word that you have heard.

At the same time, this is a new commandment.

So, John moves from having all of Jesus' commands to now having one particular command.

And it's a whole new love test.

It's a test of love.

We move from the obedience test to now another kind of obedience, loving one another.

And what John has in mind here is John 13, 34.

Jesus has just washed the feet of His disciples.

He says,

What we see happening in John 13 is this.

Jesus models to His disciples what humble, loving service looks like.

And then He says to them in John 13, 34, and 35,

Hey, follow my lead.

Love as I love.

Which is interesting because in verses 5 and 6 of chapter 2,

we read,

Whoever keeps His word in Him, truly the love of God is perfected.

By this we may know that we are in Him.

Whoever says He abides in Him, in Jesus,

ought to walk in the same way in which He walked.

In other words, we are to love in the same way that He loved.

Jesus modeled this love for us in humble service, humble loving service.

But the ultimate place that Jesus demonstrated this love is, of course, on the cross.

Where He sacrificially gave Himself for the good of us, even when we didn't deserve it.

Christian love is a sacrificial commitment to do good to others, even when they don't deserve it.

That's what Jesus modeled.

Jesus modeled.

He didn't model this closed-hearted against you.

He modeled open-hearted for you.

So let's just apply this quickly.

First is this.

I just want you to see coming out of verses 3 through 6,

that loving one another is part of obeying all that Jesus commands,

and it's a matter of discipleship.

This is about following Jesus.

This is about being like our Savior and our Lord.

The second point of application is this.

It's a question.

Who are you looking to as a model of loving others?

When you think about, I need to love other people,

who are you looking to as your model?

Maybe you're not even asking the question.

So start asking the question.

But look to Jesus to see how He loved others.

His way is the way we must walk.

Jesus modeled the way we must love.

That's why we must love all who belong to Jesus.

The second reason why we must love all who belong to Jesus

is that we are the beloved of Jesus ourselves.

Would you circle that word beloved,

and then right next to it, write,

me, question mark.

Are you the beloved of God?

There's no question in chapter 2, verse 7,

when John writes,

Beloved, I'm writing you no new commandment,

but an old commandment.

Beloved.

There's no question that this frequent term of endearment

is John's pastoral affection

for these churches in the first century,

western Turkey.

No question.

He loves these Christians.

If anything, it shows his heart is open to them.

He wants good for them.

But the question I want to ask is,

why does John love them so much?

Because John knows that there is someone

who loves them more than him.

That they're not only the beloved of John,

they're the beloved of Jesus.

Jesus loves them.

Brothers and sisters,

our great triune God

sought us from before the foundation of the world

out of love.

He loves us with all that he is.

All that God is,

he is for you,

brothers and sisters.

The three persons of the Trinity

all work in concert with one another

with an open heart

for your good.

Lord,

you are the object

of the triune God's

open-hearted,

unceasing love,

beloved.

I want to press this in a little bit.

I want to help you

sink,

this sink in.

I want you to soak in this

for a little bit

because

many of you

have a hard time believing

that God loves you.

Many of you think

God doesn't care about you.

He doesn't see you.

Many of you think

that you need to walk

in eggshells

around your Holy Father.

Both couldn't be further

from the truth.

You know when God started

to love you?

God started to love you

before the foundation

of the world.

He set his love on you

way back then.

His love for you

didn't start

the moment

you heard the gospel

for the first time.

His love for you

goes way back.

And the

extent of his love

for you

that he would send

his only son

to die in your place

so that you could

take your place

in his family

as a beloved son

or daughter

in love

he predestined us

for adoption.

Beloved sons

and daughters.

How does God

love you?

He loves you

non-stop.

This past week

when you were

at your best

and you're like

I'm crushing it

as a Christian

God wasn't

all that impressed

but he loved you

still.

His love for you

isn't dependent

on your obedience.

He loves you

with a fierce love

for your good.

You know what your

greatest good is?

God.

He loves you

unto himself.

But this past week

when you were

at your worst

when you were

in the depths

of your shame

when you were

taken over

by fear

when you just

committed that sin

again

when you were

living in the

soft denial

of God's existence

because you're

just consumed

with yourself

God never

stopped loving you.

Yes

your sin

still grieves

him

and yes

he loves you

still.

he will never

abandon you

brother or sister

in Christ.

He doesn't

turn his love

for you

on and off.

He loves you

incessantly.

So brother or

sister beloved

of God

if you are

a genuine

believer in

Christ

you cannot

out sin

God's

outrageous

love.

You can't

out sin

it.

you can't

check this

out.

Do you

know how

hard of a

time you

have accepting

God's love?

Here's how

hard a time

you have.

The Holy

Spirit who

dwells in

you is

seeking to

convince you

of that

regularly

that you

are a

child of

God.

He bears

witness to

your spirit

that you

belong to

God.

In fact

at the

end of

Ephesians

3 the

apostle Paul

prays to

the father

to send

the spirit

afresh to

strengthen the

Christians in

Ephesus with

the power of

the Holy

Spirit so

that Christ

would dwell in

their hearts

by faith

that they

would be

rooted and

grounded in

love.

love so

that they

would comprehend

the height

depth breadth

and length

of God's

love for

them so

that they

would be

filled with

the fullness

of God

and his

love for

them.

It's a

ongoing

active

ministry of

the Holy

Spirit in

which the

Holy Spirit

is seeking

to convince

you that

you are

God's

beloved.

Your son

and his

daughter.

Here's why

this matters.

When you

are personally

affected and

filled up by

God's great

outrageous love

for you in

Christ, when

you realize the

greatness of

God's open

hearted love

for you and

you didn't

deserve it,

how can you

keep your

heart closed

against another

Christian?

If you

see and

experience God's

great love

for you, how

can you hate

somebody else

that he

loves?

1 John 4

19 says,

we love

because he

first loves

us.

Is God

bringing

someone to

your mind?

The cure

for a

Christian's

closed

hearted

hatred

is God's

open

hearted

love

for you

in Christ.

We must

love those

who belong

to Jesus

because we

are the

beloved

of Jesus.

Reason

three,

Jesus

is

commanding

us

to love

now.

circle

that word

commanding

and now.

Remember

back in

verses

three

through

six

and

verses

three

through

four

in

particular

the

obedience

test

commandments

is in

the plural

and here

in

verses

seven

and

eight

the focus

narrows

from

commandments

in general

to a

commandment

in

particular

and the

commandment

that I'm

trying to

argue for

that John

has in

mind

is this

command

Jesus

saying

I give

you a

new

commandment

that you

love one

another

just as I

have loved

you

you love

one

another

but here's

what's

interesting

in verse

seven

John

says I'm

writing you

no new

commandment

but an

old

commandment

that you

had from

the beginning

the old

commandment

is the word

that you

have heard

old

commandment

what are you

talking about

I thought

this is

the new

commandment

what's

going on

well as

often in

the case

of your

bible

what you

need to

do when

you have

a question

about one

sentence

or one

statement

you look

right around

to see if

there's an

explanation

so if you

turn to

first

John

three

eleven

here's

what we

read

for this

is the

message that

you have

heard from

the beginning

that we

should love

one another

a new

commandment

I give

to you

that you

love

one another

what

John is

saying is

that the

new

commandment

Jesus

gave

back

way back

then

is now

an old

commandment

to these

Christians

they heard

it from

the beginning

not in

the beginning

Genesis

1

1

but the

beginning

of their

journey

with

Jesus

when they

first

heard

about

God's

great

love

for them

in

Christ

who

sacrificially

gave

himself

to them

when they

didn't

deserve

it

when

that

began

and then

they

were

awakened

and realized

their sin

they were

also taught

that they

were to

love one

another

so what

John is

saying here

is this

old

commandment

stuff

nothing

new

it's like

he's saying

I'm not

writing

anything

you don't

already

know

this is

not

novel

this is

not

some

fresh

take

on

something

rather

this is

basic

following

of

Jesus

discipleship

101

you know

this

this is

what we

were taught

from the

beginning

and in

verse 8

he says

this

at the

same time

it's a

new

commandment

in one

sense

this

commandment

is old

this is

this is

2,000

years old

for us

now

but in

another

sense

it's

new

and it's

always

new

because

this

command

to love

one

another

must

always

govern

our

relationships

with one

another

maybe

thinking

of that

word

new

as

now

would

help

beloved

at the

same

time

it's

a

now

commandment

that I'm

writing

to you

which is

true

in

Jesus

and in

you

Jesus

lived

it

and you

must

walk

in the

way

that

Jesus

walked

it

must

be

true

of

you

we

brothers

and

sisters

must

always

have

an

open

heart

towards

one

another

for

each

other's

good

even

when

we

don't

deserve

it

so

the

old

Jesus

gives

this

command

nearly

2,000

years

ago

the

new

it's

to

be

obeyed

today

this

is

a

commandment

of

our

Lord

Jesus

Christ

to

each

of

us

today

I

find

myself

asking

this

question

why

does

this

commandment

rise

to

its

own

test

in

the

book

of

1

John

in

John

13

35

I

think

we

are

given

the

answer

remember

John

13

34

is

Jesus

giving

the

new

commandment

a

new

commandment

I

give

to

you

love

one

another

just

as

I

have

loved

you

love

one

another

and

35

says

this

by

this

all

people

will

know

that

you

are

my

disciples

if

you

have

love

for

one

another

why

is

this

why

does

this

rise

to

its

own

test

because

our

credibility

and

Christ's

reputation

rides

on

our

ability

to

love

one

another

and

if

we

don't

we

blend

in

with

the

darkness

in

1

John

3

13

John

tells

this

church

why

are you

surprised

that you're

being

hated

by the

world

the

world

hates

Jesus

but

also

hate

you

so

if

you're

not

loving

your

brother

you're

more

like

the

world

so

this

causes

us

to

stand

out

the

new

commandment

that's

being

given

here

is

a

new

commandment

for

a

new

age

look

at

verse

8

at

the

same

time

it's

a

new

commandment

that

I'm

writing

you

which

is

true

in

him

and

in

you

because

the

darkness

is

passing

away

and

the

true

light

is

already

shining

just

one

quick

note

see

the

darkness

is

passing

away

flip

to

now

first

John

2

17

and

the

world

is

passing

away

along

with

its

desires

darkness

in

the

world

we're

talking

about

the

same

realm

the

same

domain

people

living

in

darkness

when

Jesus

came

he

lived

a

perfect

life

he

died

a

substitutionary

death

and he

was raised

from the

dead

and at

that

moment

there was

this new

dawning

of a

new

age

the

true

light

is

shining

Jesus

God

is

light

1st

John

1

5

life

our

Lord

Jesus

is

shining

now

in

between

his

first

coming

and

when

he

comes

back

and

it

will

all

be

lit

up

at

that

point

the

light

is

shining

in

the

darkness

is a

reference

to

Jesus

and

if

we

belong

to

Jesus

if

we

abide

in

Jesus

if

Jesus

is

our

life

he's

our

vine

we

can

do

nothing

apart

from

him

when

we

love

each

other

it

shines

in

the

darkness

it

lights

up

the

place

and

by

contrast

to

that

is

the

darkness

that

is

passing

away

and

what

we'll

see

in

a

little

bit

is

that

that

is

marked

by

hate

hate

for

those

who

belong

to

Jesus

brothers

and

sisters

now

is

the

time

to

love

one

another

with

a

Christ

like

love

is

God

bringing

someone

to

your

mind

he's

commanded

you to

love

everyone

who

belongs

to

him

and

when

we

love

everyone

who

belongs

to

Jesus

we

light

it up

we

bear

testimony

it

it

it

validates

that we

belong

to

Jesus

and

that

Jesus

has

actually

come

so

the

question

is

what

does

this

look

like

what

is

loving

some

other

Christian

look

like

well

if

you

flip

back

in

first

John

chapter

three

in

verse

sixteen

through

eighteen

we

have

a

specific

example

of

how

some

Christians

are

to

love

other

Christians

maybe

better

yet

how

not

to

love

them

by

this

we

know

love

that

Jesus

laid

down

his

life

for

us

and

we

ought

to

lay

down

our

lives

for

the

brothers

but

if

anyone

has

the

world's

goods

and

sees

his

brother

in

need

yet

closes

his

heart

against

him

how

does

God's

love

abide

in

him

little

children

let us

not

love

in

word

or

talk

but

in

deed

and

in

truth

so

the

situation

going

on

there

what

John

is

addressing

is

hey

if

you

Christians

who

have

the

world's

goods

you're

not

living

in

want

you

have

your

needs

met

and

more

if

you

come

across

another

brother

or sister

in

Christ

and

they're

in

need

they're

in

material

need

but

you're

like

whatever

it

raises

the

question

if

you

belong

to

Jesus

what

I

want

to

help

you

see

is

the

heart

situation

because

this

is an

example

but

there's

a

heart

situation

going

on

here

that

applies

to

a

variety

of

other

examples

did

you

notice

verse

17

but

if

anyone

has

the

world's

good

and

sees

his

brother

in

need

yet

closes

his

heart

against

him

that

is

an

unloving

hateful

posture

of heart

that

leads

to

gossip

slander

imputing

motives

divisiveness

splits

departures

the

tearing

apart

of

God's

body

instead

of

the

building

up

and

unifying

of

it

brothers

and

sisters

God

doesn't

love

you

with

a

close

heart

he

loves

you

with

an

open

heart

to

do

you

good

even

when

we

don't

deserve

it

how

can

we

close

our

hearts

to

other

brothers

and

sisters

in

Christ

whom

God

loves

don't

close

your

heart

to

another

Christian

who

has

hurt

you

don't

close

your

heart

to

another

Christian

who

is

regularly

disappointing

you

don't

close

your

heart

to

someone

who

is

frequently

disappointing

you

criticizing

you

or judging

you

love

them

the

temptation

when

you're

sinned

against

or

when

you

have

your

expectations

not

met

is

to

close

your

heart

to

avoid

to

get

angry

to

be

frustrated

to

withdraw

yourself

withdraw

good

from

somebody

else

to

withdraw

your

trust

to

close

your

affections

to

close

down

giving

the

benefit

of

the

doubt

to

close

down

extending

grace

that's

not

the new

commandment

that's

hate

and the

cure

for your

closed

heart

toward

a fellow

Christian

is

God's

opened

heart

to

you

in

Christ

think

about

that

is

God

bringing

someone

to

your

mind

another

Christian

if

he

is

and

you've

realized

you're

hating

them

you've

closed

your

heart

to

them

first

step

repent

turn

to

your

loving

father

and

you

say

1

John

1

9

you

confess

same

word

God

I'm

not

loving

them

I'm

hating

them

please

please

forgive

me

cleanse

me

change

me

that's

where

you

start

because

your

love

is

God's

love

being

perfected

and

after

you've

confessed

you've

got to

ask

questions

like

this

do

I

need

to

seek

somebody's

forgiveness

or

do

I

need

to

forgive

someone

is

there

someone

I

need

to

go

to

and

ask

one

of

these

questions

are

we

okay

because

you

seem

a

little

icy

or

maybe

you

need

to

be

honest

you

know

three

years

ago

when

he

punched

me

in

the

face

I've

not

gotten

over

it

but

I

want

to

be

loving

you

do

you

have

a

next

step

this

new

commandment

is

a

now

commandment

we

must

love

everyone

who

belongs

to

Jesus

because

Jesus

is

commanding

us

to

love

now

the

fourth

reason

is

that

Jesus

delivered

us

from

the

darkness

into

his

light

we

see

that

in

verses

9

through

11

it's

this

contrast

between

those

who

are

currently

living

in

the

light

who

belong

to

Jesus

who

are

loving

those

who

belong

to

Jesus

and

those

who

are

currently

walking

in

the

darkness

because

they

don't

belong

to

Jesus

and

they're

hating

those

who

belong

to

Jesus

our

love

for

one

another

is

proof

that

we

have

been

delivered

from

the

kingdom

of

the

beloved

sun