The Light of Brotherly Love

Introduction

Recap of evidence covered up to this point:

A life of sin without a struggle is evidence of not life.

To claim a life without sin, there is no evidence of life.

No desire of confession and repentance of sin is evidence of no life.

No forward living to keep God’s commandments is evidence of no life.

Having no desire to live for God’s heart on matters of living is evidence of no life.

True conversion is illustration be who’s life you are living for and following.

1) The Great Commandment

A. The old commandment

To “love one another” is the commandment that has continued for a long duration of time.

John is speaking of a fraternal love (love between brothers and sisters in Christ)

At least in principal, “loving others” has been around since creation.

Loving God and loving others is the embodiment of God’s moral law.

Lev. 19:18

Deut. 6:5; 10:12; 30:6

Matt. 22:37-39

Remember, God’s law was given for sinners and the organization of nations.

If there is one thing we know about the law, it is this, it is impossible for mortal man to produce such level of holiness in his own life by his own efforts.

Man is described in the Bible as the one who has BROKEN God’s law.

Let us take a brief survey of our nation’s current “love” climate and see whether or not humanity is truly capable of “keeping” such a commandment:

National murder rate? 16,425 estimated

National divorce rate? 40 - 50%

abortion rate? 2018 / (world) 40-50 million per year; (world) 125,000 per day; (USA) 3,000 per day

National average of child abuse cases? (2018) 678,000 maltreatment / 60.8% neglected / 10.7% physical abuse / 7% sexuality abused

Romans 13:8-10

B. The new commandment

The test of new life in Christ

Fallen man cannot love God the way God commands him to love Him, and he cannot love his neighbor, either, the way God commands him.[Phillips, J. (2009). Exploring the Epistles of John: An Expository Commentary (1 Jn 2:8). Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp.]

Here is what was needed: an incarnation of God’s love principle.

People needed to see it in action in every day life.

More-so, the needed that love life implanted in them.

In other words, it needed to be exemplified and then experienced.

Jesus’ incarnation exemplified it and the sinners rebirth incarnated Jesus love in them.

The test of new life through Christ

John saw how Jesus lived, the way He reacted, the things He said, the things He did for people, even His enemies. Everything about Jesus was like turning on the light in a dark place. [Phillips, J. (2009). Exploring the Epistles of John: An Expository Commentary (1 Jn 2:8). Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp.]

Remember back to the OT.

The OT commandments embodied principles, precepts and propositions that had been discussed and debated for centuries.

The law came to life in Jesus!

What was NEW about the OLD commandment was its incarnation.

First in Jesus Christ

Secondly in the hearts and lives of His regenerated people.

“The darkness is past!” & “The true Light shineth”

Quote: Love had been incarnated in Jesus. Love shone in all His ways, and what was true of Him is to be true of us. (John Phillips)

2) The Test Of God’s People (vv9-11)

Love and hate / Light and darkness

These two things cannot coexist in the same heart.

You see evidence in John’s life personally (Luke 9:52-56) (Acts 8:14-17)

You might say, “John is just a very judgemental person.

Matt. 7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.

That is judgement with motivation to condemn while blind to ones own sin.

John is providing judgement criteria with an effort to lead to real conversion.

A. The impact of this principal (vv10-11)

Loving One’s Brethren (v10)

Illustration: In one Peanuts cartoon Lucy says to Charlie Brown, “I hate everything. I hate everybody. I hate the whole wide world!”

Charlie says, “But I thought you had inner peace.”

Lucy replies, “I do have inner peace. But I still have outer obnoxiousness.”

Not that all our brothers in Christ are lovable!

We all know some who have crossed us or criticized us, and some even who have done us harm.

Others, by nature, we tend to dislike for no apparent reason at all.

Here are a few examples:

Those who act like know-it-alls; always find something to criticize.

Those who are noisy people in the most inappropriate times.

John has NO patience for either kind.

This was not a natural characteristic of John.

John’s development to such a level came from his extensive knowledge of Jesus’ life.

His knowledge of Jesus prevented him to entertain personal dislikes, no matter if the dislike was rooted in a known reason or something vague.

Jesus did not allow preference or prejudice to make a difference in His heart, never allowing human feelings to motivate Him to the extent that He attracted this one and repelled that one [Phillips, J. (2009). Exploring the Epistles of John: An Expository Commentary (1 Jn 2:10). Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp.]

That is what John remembered, and that was the standard by which he sought to lead his own life. And that is the standard he lays down for all who say they love the Lord. [Phillips, J. (2009). Exploring the Epistles of John: An Expository Commentary (1 Jn 2:10). Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp.]

It is the Spirit of God who enables us to LOVE the brethren in spite of their actions.

Notice what that prevents you from doing...

“occasion of stumbling”

cause of sin ⇔ trap n. — any cause that results in (or is intended for) a person sinning; whether by preventing righteous action or by promoting sinful behavior.

Illustration: little girl who became increasingly annoyed at the cartoons and caricatures of her famous father, which appeared in the newspapers. One day she took a photograph of her father from the wall and sallied forth to show the newspaper editor and the cartoonist what her father was really like. John expects us to do the same, to show people what Jesus is really like.

Loathing One’s Brethren (v11)

To see the devastating effects of this position, we should take a moment and reflect back to King Saul’s jealously over David.

The darkness of Saul’s life began when David won the applause of the nation for destroying Goliath.

For a while, Saul struggled with his malice and ill will.

It grew to dominating his whole life until he forgot everything else.

Saul also hated those who loved David (his own son, Jonathan).

Saul made at least two dozen separate attempts on David’s life.

Massacred an entire colony of priests out of suspicion they had sided with David.

Two occasions when David had Saul in his power, he let him go (Saul temporarily owned up to his wrongdoing)

He became blind to everything else until jealousy, fear, rage and malice took over his entire existence.

He ended up in total darkness, consulting a witch and dying as a suicide on his own sword.

evil realm ⇔ darkness n. — the sphere dominated by evil, sinfulness, and ignorance of God and His ways; understood as the absence of light.

As I have said many times, “Your behavior is determined by what you believe”

Conclusion

Let me leave you with a very practical definition of what it means to “love the brethren.”

Definition: When you love your brother or sister, you seek to comprehensively and righteously meet his or her need in a way that brings glory to God (2:9). It is no mere expression of feelings but an expression of something higher, something eternal. “God is love” (4:8).

So, what does the evidence reveal in your own interaction with God’s children and your spiritual brethren?

Do you have a love for them?

Do you seek to practice forgiveness and mercy when responding to their actions?

OR, do you find yourself without a desire of growing in fellowship with them, remaining bitter towards them, not willing to show any forgiveness or compassion towards them.......?