Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro:

AG:

TS: John had just reminded us to obey Christ’s commands and walk as he walked.

Now he singles out one specific injunction for special attention.

This, the command to love, may be said to include all tRhe others (;).

RS:

Now he singles out one specific injunction for special attention.

This, the command to love, may be said to include all the others (cf.

; .).

Because[1]

RS: We still must realize that love embodies all of God’s commands.

Love for God and each other fulfills it all.

1.

Its oldness (7)

John’s audience , just like us today, shouldn’t be surprised at the example he uses.

This old command which they had from the beginning.

What could he mean.

Findlay states it well: “ ‘The commandment’ here intended can be none other than Christ’s law of love for His disciples—that which our Lord singled out amongst the Divine precepts to stamp it for His own by saying, ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I loved you’ ()” (p.

155).[2]

Findlay states it well: “ ‘The commandment’ here intended can be none other than Christ’s law of love for His disciples—that which our Lord singled out amongst the Divine precepts to stamp it for His own by saying, ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I loved you’ ()” (p.

155).[2]

Jesus commanded we love each other.

This is old news, but we often forget it

John’s audience had been attacked by people saying the demands of the Christian life were new.

they wanted older ways

More comfortable traditions.

Traditions which speerated people

But the church's theology hadn’t evolved into something new

The command to love is from Jesus and was a summary of all the OT>

2. Its newness (8a)

While it was old, it also was new.

It had new implications.

By “new” John means novel, new in kind or quality.

“Old” suggests that the command under discussion was one with which the readers should have been familiar.[3]

John says “at the same time”which here means “in another sense,” “from another point of view.”

Verse 7 teaches that in itself the command to love is not new.

Verse 8 teaches that there is, however, another sense in which it is new.

In at least three ways the command is new:

First, it is new in its authority.

Though the essence of it can be found in the Old Testament, Jesus, as it were, gave it new birth, clothed it with fresh sanction, and enjoined it as the command for the new age which He inaugurated ().

Jesus, God in the flesh, called it new.

As head of the church, King of Kings

and lord of Lords, he gives a command to love

The world both religious and secular, wasn’t used to this kind of love

Second, it is new in its standard.

That is to say, Christ made the command new by making His own love its model ().

He thereby gave fresh meaning to it.

It is modeled dafter Jesus

Sacrificial

He put the needs of others, even His enemies , ahead of His own needs.

Unconditional

It is based upon His choice not because of any worth in us

He loved us first!

Third, it is new in practice and application.

As Conner says, “It is as old as the Gospel and as new as each soul’s experience of the love of God in Christ Jesus” (p.

63).

Ramsay explains that though the command is as “old as the earliest apostolic preaching, it is ever new as a fresh and vital and present force.

‘Old as the sun, new as the dawn’ ” (p.

261).[4]

Everyday as we experience the Love of God and grow in our capacity to love others, this command is made new.

Aws we apply it, we begin to love others as CHrist did.

we start putting them ahead of us

We focus on serving rather than being served.

We love first and undonditionally

3. Its appropriateness to the new era (8c)

John points out that loving is completely in line with the new age in which we are.

This is suggested by John’s statement of his reason for urging this command on his readers: I am writing you … because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining (verse 8c, rsv)

The is passing away, and the true light is already shining (verse 8c, rsv)

.

The gist of it is that “the ideal state of things, to which the perfect fulfillment of this commandment belongs, has already begun” (Plummer, p. 41)

We are living in the days after CHrist’s advent.

The Light of the world is dispelling the darkness.

As we fulfil His command to love, we reflect His light

Apparently some of the arguments John was countering were that believers were inappropriate in their love and concern for each other and the world

They crossed all human barriers

Rich and poor

slave and free

male and female

All were loved by God and by the Jesus’ disciples

Each church and believer today should still love that way.

4. Its capacity to reveal character (9–11)

1 Jn 2:9-11

John concludes his discussion by pointing out the revelation brought about by how we treat each other

One’s response to the command to love reveals his essential character.

In short, the man who habitually breaks that commandment shows that he belongs to the darkness; the man who habitually keeps it shows that he belongs to the light.

How tragic it is when I hear of christians fighting.

so often the source comes down to selfisly demanding we get our way.

Other times, it is holding back due to the diversity in the Kingdom

They aren’t like us, so I have trouble loving them

It can be their appearance, background, preferences, language,

None of that matters!

If we withold love, it reveals our dark nature.

On the other hand, when we see God bringn togher a diverse chruch amde up of all kinds of peole, we see His light on full display!

AGe doesn’t matter

Preference to worship style doesn’[t matter

Clothing style doesn’t matter

We see each other as brothers and sisters and seek to meet each others needs.

Conclusion:

Jesus’s call to love is a call to put others ahead of ourselves.

[2] Vaughan, C. (2011).

1, 2, 3 John (p.