Sermon Tone Analysis

An Old Command

1john2.7

What does it mean to be New at something?

It could mean that we are talking about something that didn’t exist before or that we are talking about something that replaces something else that previously existed.

Think about a New driver… What are the implications for a student that is a new driver?

They need to learn the laws of the road.

They are going to make mistakes.

We need to know who they are so we can have patience with them if we are going to share the road with them.

We certainly are not going to ask them to drive long distances for and length of time, until we are sure they are getting enough practice.

While they may be new to driving, driving is not a new thing.

Many people have been driving for many years before they even attempted to sit behind the wheel.

However, they are new to this whole driving thing, so they are a new driver.

How about a New Car?

We could be talking about a brand new, right off the showroom floor vehicle that no one has ever driven before.

A NEW car...

Or we could be talking about a previously owned vehicle that we just purchased.

It isn’t NEW by age, but it is NEW to US.

How about someone who restores Old cars?

If they are really good at it, we would say, “Wow this is like a NEW car”.

even though it is old, it is like it’s new.

As I have entitled this sermon an OLD Command, we see from the text that it is a New command that is actually Old.

What I mean is this… When the Apostle John says, “new”, he is not referring to new in the sense of time, but rather something that is fresh in quality, kind or form.

This kind of New is something that replaces something else that is worn out.

John uses a word play here to illustrate his point, let’s dive in to see how it applies to us.

1john2.7

Now John is not crazy here… “I’m not writing you a new command, but I actually am writing you a new command...”

He is trying to illustrate something.

He is trying to show how they are in step with what God has already said.

He is going to encourage the Family of believers in a very optimistic way, but first he needs us to see that what we couldn’t do before, we can do now.

So what is old is now new… IN HIM and IN YOU...

His illustration of darkness passing and Light already shinning is not just a contrast but a picture of light coming in and driving out darkness.

So let’s focus on this New command and Old command phrase and see what it means.

Of all the commands we have in scripture, some are commands that once the Gospel comes into the picture they are now abolished.

So we must be talking about an old command that is now being made new IN Him and In Us too...

Well if we read the rest of John letter here and his subsequent letters we will know rather quickly that this command is the command to Love.

And specifically to love God and each other.

And this is not New but very old.

duet

So every Jew would’ve known these commands very well.

And yet in the sinful struggle of humanity, no one is able to keep these commands, Yet they are not NEW in the sense that people have never heard them before.

They know these commands… They know the standard is to Love.

The Old command is to Love God and Others

Everyone has this innate awareness that we should Love God and we should love others.

God’s law tells his people this explicitly.

There is never a way out of knowing that you are supposed to Love God and Others.

Yet the Gospel says that we do not love God and others… We are actually God’s enemies and hate God before he changes our hearts by his Spirit.

So this Old commandment is one that causes us a lot of tension, because it points out our own sinfulness.

We fail at loving God and others as ourselves.

That is the old command.

So how are these things New then?

In what ways are these old commands made new?

“The commandment of love was “new” because Jesus personified Love in a fresh, new way and it was shed abroad in the hearts of believers” John MacArthur

So Jesus is the living version of this Love that they were commanded to have, and now this Love is alive in our hearts by his Spirit.

And because this love is in us we now have an awareness of this OLD command.

And this awareness teaches us to follow God’s Law and hold his standards.

This church is being encouraged because they are acting like they know God by loving each other.

This is how that Old command is being made new.

It is something that John did not come up with by himself either… Jesus who is love personified shared it with his followers as a new command, even though it is old… look...

john13

Jesus tells John and the rest of the disciples here, this is a new commandment… To Love each other.

As they were loved By Jesus, who is God, they are to love each other.

So as God loves us we are to love each other, and this is to be how people know we belong to him!

So the Old commandment is a new one in Christ!

The New commandment is to Love each other as Jesus loved us!

Notice that our love is shaped by his Love First!

We cannot love without first knowing he loves us and experiencing that Love in the forgiveness of our sins.

What was an Old commandment that was impossible to fulfill is now made new in Jesus, and we can fulfill it because we have experienced it.

We can love each other because in Christ God forgave us, so we can overlook the things we don’t want to overlook.

And this is a process that takes time but grows as we know Him… that is why he said in verse 8

It is true in Him… Christ… and in us who are in Christ...

Because darkness is Passing… it is fading… why? the True Light is already shinning!

Jesus’ love is filling us and we are showing it to each other.

The Old commandment is a new one that we are now able to experience.

But John doesn’t just leave it there.

Remember he is trying to help Christians know they belong to God and not listen to false teaching.

So How will they know when someone is teaching false even when they are using some scripture?

Well he gives us more than an illustration or word picture, he points to those who were teaching false hoods and how they treated believers… Look at the next couple verses.

1john2.

Now if you do not remember 1 john 1 vs 5, John told us that God is Light!

He has gone on about abiding in Christ in both his gospel and this letter.

So it should be plain now what he is saying...

If you say that you know God, that you are in Christ or the Light… but you hate your brother, you are not in Christ at all… you are still in darkness.

This is simple teaching… If you are in this room and you hate someone else in here because of something they have said or done to you, then you have a reason to question the genuineness of your faith.

Why?

Whoever loves his brother Abides or lives in Christ or the light.

In that person there is no stumbling, he is not in darkness.

But conversely if you hate your brother you are walking in darkness and you do not realize where you are headed.

True believers love each other

See this understanding of how an old commandment is a new one that they must SEE is really a true test of a believer.

Do you love your brothers and sister in Christ?

Jesus said this is how the world will know we belong to him… Jesus personified Love and his people must show that same love.

Now that does not mean that we do not point out Sin in people lives when we preach the Gospel.

It would be unloving to see someone with visible sickness and disease and not say anything to them.

Yet if you tell them and they don’t listen and you start to hate them, you are walking in darkness.

Story of Jeanette George...

We do not hate Sinners because we were once one of them… We cannot expect people who are in darkness to see their problem, so we lovingly point it out to them while praying that God would open their eyes and the Spirit would illuminate their sight to see it and believe.

But for us who claim Christ and are walking in Light and truth… we love each other.

So we do not hate other christians who don’t believe the Doctrines of Grace, we do not go picking fights with people who picket our church… We pray for them.

We do not agree with people who walk in darkness and their life choices, but we do not hate them, we pray for them.

And lord willing God will save them and they will be here with us, and we all will be following an old commandment that is a new commandment.