[So far in 1 John we have discovered that there is:] 

• [A Communion To Cherish]
• [A Covenant To Proclaim]
• [A Cleansing To Receive]
• [A Commandment Toe Keep]

[In this study we will discover that there is A Compassion To Show.] 

[From 1 Corinthians 13 we discover the definition and content of God’s unconditional love.  We also discover from God’s Word that God’s love is not a natural love; it is a supernatural love that we can only learn through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit within us.  This world’s love is nothing in comparison to the unspeakable love of God.] 

[This study will not focus on the definition of Godly love but rather on the evidence or testimony of Godly love within us.  It’s presence or absence bears an undeniable message for all who would call themselves the Children of God.  The absence or presence of God’s loves within us is an undeniable evidence of spiritual life or the lack thereof.] 

This Passage Reveals: 

A.     A Commission (vs 7-8) [– “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.”  - The Apostle John now writes of an old and a new commandment, but while they are two very distinct commands they are none-the-less eternally linked together.  They are the hallmark of God’s intent through the ages for all mankind and their conduct one toward another.  This command, while expressed under two different lights, or two different covenants, expresses God’s intent throughout the ages (dispensations) for the full manifestation and fulfillment of His revealed will.  The Apostle writes about:] 

1.      An Enduring Command (vs 7; Matt 22.37-40; Rom 13.10) [- 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. – Throughout the ages mankind has struggled to fulfill the written law of God.  The religious leaders of Israel, and of every pagan religion, have tried to legislate morality in a never ending attempt to cause or force people to be moral and godlike.  The end of such legislation or legalism has always been a harsh and cruel religion that developed rebellion rather than devotion.] 

[Yet the road toward a growing and maturing desire to willingly fulfill God’s Word and will has eternally remained the same.  It was expressed by our Lord Jesus Christ when He said,] 

[Matthew 22:37-40 ³⁷ Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.]

[What Jesus said is so undeniably simple that it nearly confounds the human mind.  If a person is finding it hard to obey God and His revealed will then He needs look no farther than his own heart and affection.  If you find that you have no desire to obey and please God than you merely need to ask yourself, “Do you really love God?”  The answer is clear, plain, and undeniable.]

[What about your neighbor, or the stranger you meet alone the road?  Do you find it in yourself to be kind, sensitive, and concerned about their physical, emotional, and spiritual well being?  If you find that you are more comfortable being harsh, cruel, and disconnected then you need look no farther than your own heart and affection.  You are hateful to people, because you are hateful in your heart and mind.]

[The Apostle Paul wrote it this way,]

[Romans 13:10 ¹⁰ Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.]

[Legislating morality and spirituality will always result in rebellion, but what are governments to do.  Hateful people will only be restrained by the law and its justice.  Civil laws and penal systems are the result of the failure to recognize that the real cause of lawlessness is a lack of love.  Those who lack of a love of God will have no desire to develop Godlikeness in themselves.  Those who lack a love of other people will be harsh, cruel, and inhumane toward other people.  Those who lack a love of themselves will care little for their own health and wellbeing.] 

[The Jews tried to legislate morality and failed.  The Church has tried to legislate godliness and failed.  Governments have and continue to try to legislate morality and continue to fail.  The only way for anyone to find it in themselves to fulfill the law of God and live a righteous and holy life is for them to learn to love God, and then to learn to love their fellow human being.] 

[Legalism will always fail, where love will always prevail] 

[It has always been possible for mankind to fulfill God’s will.  It is possible through a sincere and complete love for God.] 

2.      An Indwelling Command (vs 8; Jer 31.33; 2 Cor 3.3) [- 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.”- The new law established through Christ is the intimate expansion of the Old Law given to Moses written in stone.  The Bible declares,] 

[Jeremiah 31:33 ³³ But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.]

[2 Corinthians 3:3 ³ Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.]  

[Our Heavenly Father knew that it would be difficult for human beings to fulfill His law of divine and natural love because it would be difficult for human beings to get beyond their natural tendencies (corrupt hearts) in order to grasp the true concepts of love that would lead to the fulfillment of the law given by God.  It was not impossible for people to understand and develop this godly love, for many did.  Abraham developed this kind of Love.  King David developed this kind of love.  Joseph developed this kind of love.  Many were able to develop the love needed to draw near to their Heavenly Father and live their lives near to Him.] 

[So, God, through Christ offered through the New Covenant an undeniable, supernatural aide to the development and understanding of this necessary love.  This aid is the indwelling presence of God who brings love into our hearts and endeavors to teach us to love God with all our being and to love our neighbors as ourselves.  It is through the indwelling presence of God that we come to fully realize what Paul wrote in,] 

[Romans 5:8 ⁸ But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. ]

[Through Christ God is seeking to “commend” you to His love.  The word commend means that God is trying to unify you with His love.  Through this unification you will learn to love with God’s love, and as a result you will fulfill all of the law of God, for love is the fulfilling of the law.] 

[Hence, the new law of the New Testament is the intimate law of love brought into your life by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit within the born again Christian.] 

B.     An Evaluation (vs 9) [- He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. – We now discover the undeniable evaluation of the reality that the indwelling presence of God must bring into our lives.  Notice in this verse,] 

1.      A Profession [- He that saith he is in the light, . . . – The Apostle John comes back again to the professions that many people make, as he has often in this epistle.  People can say a great deal, but their integrity, their heart, who they really are within themselves will often be distinctly different from who they say that they are.]   

[John’s epistle is one of the most probing and personal epistles recorded in scripture.  For even while it is being read and studied many will begin to compare its declarations with the lives of other people, in order to avoid comparing its truths to themselves.  But the only proper reading of 1 John is one of personal introspection.  When you read what the Apostle has written you are compelled to look within your own heart and ask yourself, “Is God’s light in me.”] 

[But the apostle does not leave you guessing about the answer to this question, he provides the answer with a clarity that few can deny.] 

2.      A Realization [- . . . and hateth his brother . . . [– The question is simple.  Who do you hate?  So just what does hate mean in the Bible?  It means,] 

a.       [Hate - μισέω miséō; contracted misó̄, fut. misé̄sō. To hate.] 

(1)   [With the acc.of person, usually implying active ill will in words and conduct, a persecuting spirit (Matt. 5:43 where it stands as opposite to agapáō [25], to love, in Matt. 5:44; 10:22; 24:9, 10; Mark 13:13; Luke 1:71; 6:22, 27; 19:14; 21:17; John 7:7; 15:18, 19, 23–25; 17:14; Titus 3:3; 1 John 2:9, 11; 3:13, 15; 4:20; Sept.: Gen. 37:4; Lev. 26:17). By implication, meaning to persecute (Rev. 17:16; Sept.: 2 Sam. 5:8; 22:18).] 

(2)   [With the acc. of thing meaning to detest, abhor (John 3:20; Rom. 7:15; Eph. 5:29; Heb. 1:9; Jude 1:23; Rev. 2:6, 15; 18:2).] 

(3)   [Specifically as the opposite of agapáō (25), to love, or philéō (5368), to be a friend to, it is equivalent to not loving, loveless, to slight, with the acc. of person (Matt. 6:24; Luke 16:13; John 12:25; Rom. 9:13; Sept.: Gen. 29:31; Deut. 21:16; Mal. 1:3).] 

(4)   [To love less. In Luke 14:26 Jesus contrasts love to family with love to Himself “If any come to me, and hate [miseí, pres. act. indic. 3d person sing.] not his father, and mother, and wife, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” Here Jesus asserts His deity. Every member of man’s family is a human being, and the love shown to humans compared to the love shown to Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, must be so different that the former seems like hatred. The meaning of miséō as loving less is made clear in Matt. 10:37, “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” In His commands for loving other human beings, the Lord never said, “Love other human beings as you love Me,” but “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matt. 19:19). When it comes to loving God, however, He is placed in a unique position (Matt. 22:37, 38).] 

[Syn.: apéchomai (567), to refrain]

[Ant.: agapáō (25), to love; philéō (5368), to befriend.[1]] 

b.      [Less than love - Most people probably fall into the category of just not loving someone the way God asks them to love them.  Hence, they would not say that they wish death upon this individual, but they would have to admit that they would avoid them with prejudice if they could.  Hence, the hatred they demonstrate toward some person, who is created in the image of God, is demonstrated in their desire to avoid this individual.] 

c.       [To Resist Sin – There is a marked difference between hating sin and the sin someone is engaged in and hating the individual.  The problem is that often the distinction between hating someones presumptuous sin and them as a person looks remarkably alike. Ones desire to stay away from someone may be the result of their desire to stay away from their sinfulness, or it may be the result of their hatred for the individual.  For the one filled with hate, any excuse will do, they just want to have nothing to do with the object of their hatred.] 

d.      [The importance of an honest evaluation – It cannot be stressed enough that you must carefully weigh the spirit that is in you. For if there is hatred in your heart, then there is a failure to grow in the love that God has placed in you, there is a deficiency in your spirit and darkness is prevailing in our life.]  

3.      A Confession [- He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.- The natural human tendency at this point is to bow up and defend oneself.  If you are finding that you need to defend your position then you are reflecting the very point that the Apostle John is making.  You stand under the darkness of hatred and you cannot stand in darkness and light all at the same time.  Demand to cleave to your hatred and you close the door to the illuminating love and presence of God within you.  You cannot harbor hatred and the love of God in your heart at the same time.] 

[What do you need to do?  Confess the condition of your heart, confess the hatred hidden within you and let the glorious light of the love of God transform you.] 

C.     An Illumination (vs 10) [- He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. – Two things will manifest themselves within the truly born again child of God.  These are the result of the love of God growing within the child of God and will give the child of God an immovable assurance and confidence.  There is:] 

1.      A Glorious Manifestation (1 John 4.8; John 14.6) [- He that loveth his brother abideth in the light,. . . – Light manifests, light dispels darkness, light reveals what once was hidden.  What was once obscured by darkness is now plainly and clearly revealed.]   

[God’s Presence - It must be noted that when we walk in the presence of our Lord we walk in His revealing light, accompanying the light of His presence is the love of His presence,] 

[1 John 4:8  . . . for God is love. ]

[Also accompanying the light and love of God is the truth of God, for God is truth as Jesus said,] 

[John 14:6 ⁶ Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: . . .]

[There are many other things that accompany the light, love, and truth of God.  Holiness, purity, justice, forgiveness and kindness are just a few of the many attributes that accompany the presence of God.  There is no doubt that John implies that the many characteristics of God accompany the presence of God, including the light of God, and the love of God.] 

2.      An Assuring Stabilization [- . . . and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. - Sure footedness accompanies those who walk in the illumination of light.  They need not worry about stumbling over some unseen object or obstacle.  They see clearly and therefore can walk with confidence and stability.  The light also has the ability to dispel unknown fears, since the light allows us to see clearly the danger that is set before us and in the face of such danger to see the all-powerful and delivering hand of God prevailing on our behalf.] 

[The born again Christian needs to understand that if they find themselves walking in the comfort of God’s love then you will also find yourself walking in the confidence of God’s light.  How do you know with assurance that you are walking in God’s love and light, by honestly discerning the love or hatred that resides in your own heart and life.] 

D.    A Consternation (vs11) [– 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. – The Apostle John now returns to reiterate the truth that every individual needs to consider in their own heart and life.] 

1.      The Fact of the Darkness [- But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth . . .- Resist the clear proclamation of Almighty God all you like, but you cannot change the reality that exists.  Many may say I am not walking in the darkness, but as long as you fail to love those whom God loves, so long as you lowly esteem those for whom God gave His only begotten Son, so long as you hate your fellow man you are indeed walking in darkness.  Not only are you walking in darkness, but you are wandering in places and heading for places you do not know nor can fathom.] 

2.      The Folly of the Darkness [- because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. – It is important to note the word blindness in this text.  It means,] 

a.       [Blinded - ἐτύφλωσεν tuflow toof-lo'-o (gk) - 1) to blind, make blind 2) in the NT metaph. to blunt the mental discernment, darken the mind. ] 

[This is not a blindness that is natural, it is a caused blindness.  This is a blindness that does not have to be.  It is as though one were to put a blind fold upon one.  It means to make one blind.  Hence, your hatred for someone has cause you to blind yourself or has brought upon you a supernatural blindness, but no matter the provision for the blindness, the cause of it is your hatred and your insistence upon continuing in your hatred.] 

[So consider your heart and what is in your heart.  Does your heart testify of the illuminating, loving, purifying, justifying presence of our Lord Jesus Christ?  Or do you find  hatred in your heart and life?  What will you do with the undeniable reality of what is in you?] 

CrossRoads Baptist Church, Mar 30, 2008, Evening