8. 1 John 2:7-11 The Social Test

1 John 2, we'll be reading verses 7 to 11. Hear now the inspired word of God. Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment, which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you have heard.

On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. The one who says he's in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until.

Now.

The one who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Let's pray. Father, once again, as we look into this epistle of 1 John, we ask that you'd open our eyes, our ears, and our hearts, that, Father, that we would see the light of Scripture, the light of Jesus Christ.

And we pray, Father, that as these words go forth, that you would take your gospel, your words, and put it forth and accomplish every purpose for which you send it. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Please be seated.

You ever run into somebody who claims he can do everything bigger and better? Sometimes it's hard to tell if the person is telling the truth or not, but there are certain claims that are very easy to verify.

For example, if somebody claims to be a world record holder in the bench press, well, that's pretty easy. Take them to a gym, put 1 ,000 pounds on the bar, and say, go ahead, lift it. By the way, the world record is about 1 ,400 pounds.

In other words, what you do is put them to the test. You say you can do this. Let's see if you can do it. So we've been looking at in the epistle of 1 John. Last week, we began a study in chapter 2, and in verses 3 to 6, we saw how John gave us a test to know if you are saved or not, and we called it the moral test, 1 John 2, 3.

By this, we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments. The Christian life is such that if a person is truly saved, in other words, is in fellowship with the Father and the Son, he will keep his commandments.

As the Puritans put it, no holiness, no heaven. And the reason for this is simple, because Christianity is a complete makeover of the person from the inside and out, pardon the modern terminology. Remember, John is not endorsing perfectionism.

He's not saying that you have to keep the commandments perfectly and never sin. But it is a lifestyle of obedience to God's Word. Now, this should come as no surprise, because it's stated numerous times in Scripture.

It's even part of the Great Commission. The Great Commission says in verse 18 of Matthew 28, Jesus came up and spoke to his disciples saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And in verse 20 is the one I want to focus on, teaching them to observe all that I commanded.

You.

And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. In other words, let me just sum that up. As you are going and making disciples, which is the business of the church, the business of Christians, along with baptizing them, you are to teach them to observe all that Jesus has commanded.

Notice carefully the command. It's not just to teach the commandments. You have to do that, but it's not merely just teaching them, but to teach how to observe the commandments. In other words, to teach obedience to everything that Jesus has taught.

And keep that in mind as we look at the overriding purpose of John's first epistle, which is given to us in chapter 5, verse 13, where John says, these things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal.

Life.

John is very deliberate in stating the objective of his letter. The very purpose of this letter is that you may have assurance of salvation. But John is not the only one who emphasized this. We see the author to Hebrews talk about the importance of it.

In Hebrews 6, 11, he says, and we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end. In other words, it's important that you have assurance.

It's important to be saved, but it's also important that you know that you are saved. Peter tells us in his epistle, make your calling and election sure. And as we have seen in previous sermons, assurance comes along with maturity in Christ.

It's part of the sanctification process. It is so important that we know that we have assurance to both please God and to be productive in his kingdom. James weighs in on a little different context, but it's applicable when he talks about the person who is a doubter.

He says in verse 6 of chapter 1 of his epistle, but he must ask in faith without doubting for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the.

Wind.

For that man ought not to expect that he'll receive anything from the Lord. And again, the author of Hebrews rebukes his readers. And he says in verse 12 of chapter 5, for though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone else to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God.

That's a rebuke. And you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he's an infant. I would never say that. He's calling them babies.

Grow up.

But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. In other words, if you're not a mature Christian, you're in for trouble. So yes, the scripture is clear that the change in the person who is saved is clearly seen and evaluated not only by yourself, but by others.

And we saw that the first test was, we called it the moral test. The transforming of the person from conformity to the world to one who is obeying the commandments of God. That was verses 3 to 6. Now in verses 7 to 11, we find the second test, and we've dubbed this the social test.

By the way, I get that phrase from James Montgomery Boyce. It's not novel with me. Or we could call it simply the law of love. All five verses, 7 to 11, explain this social test, but it's summed up pretty nicely for us in verse 10.

Look at verse 10, 1 John 2, 10. The one who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. In other words, the social test is the test of love for his brother. So let's go back and let's start at verse 7.

Look at verse 7 once again, where John says, Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you have heard.

Now that's an interesting way to start a topic. What is this old commandment? He says, I'm not writing something new. This is old. What is the old commandment? It's the law of love. Some people object to love being called a law, but that's what Jesus calls it.

Remember when Jesus was asked, Master, what is the great commandment? In other words, what is the greatest law? Jesus very quickly responds in Matthew 22, verse 37, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

That's the great commandment. It's love. He goes on. He says, This is the great and foremost commandment. And then he doesn't end there. He says, And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

And then verse 40 is very profound. He says, On these two commandments, love the Lord, love your neighbor. On these two commandments depend the whole law and prophet. What is interesting is that Jesus doesn't go to one of the ten.

He doesn't say, You shall worship no other God. I mean, that's true. But he doesn't point out the rest. The great commandment is love. And he's commanding us to love. So that might mean we have to change our definition of love a little bit.

He goes to the overriding principle. What he does in that verse 37, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. He goes back to one of the laws found in Deuteronomy.

It's called the Shema of Israel. Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. That's Old Testament law.

And he said, These are the words which I am commanding you today, and they shall be on your heart. Now, notice the priority that the Lord places on these words of the law. Because after that, starting in Deuteronomy 6, after he gives this law, he continues in verse 7 of Deuteronomy 6.

You shall teach them diligently to your sons, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand.

They shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Let me sum up those three verses. Whatever you can see, do whatever you can to see that the people of God understand the priority of loving the Lord God Almighty.

Talk about it to your sons, to your family. When you're sitting in your house, when you're walking by the way, when you lie down, when you rise up. In other words, in the daily routine of your life, whatever you are doing, you should have foremost of your mind is loving the Lord God with all your heart, soul, and mind.

Teach them, discuss them. And then he says, write them on your doorposts. Make it known to everybody who enters your house. Then he says something interesting, bind them on your hand and your forehead.

How many Jews took this literally? And have you ever seen an Orthodox Jew wearing what they call phylacteries? A little leather pouch on the forehead or on the hand? And they put these words of law in there, so following this literally.

But the symbolism of the hand and the forehead is much deeper than that. It means everything you think and everything you do. Thinking with your head, doing with your hands. In other words, your life should be filled with the law of love.

But Jesus doesn't stop with the Deuteronomy passage either. He quotes then Leviticus 19 .18, and he says, this is the second greatest commandment. And Leviticus 19 .18 says, you shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

I am the Lord, he finishes. And then he pronounces, Jesus pronounced that the whole law of God and the words of all the prophets, in other words, the whole entirety of scripture hangs on these two commandments.

So in that sense, this is not a new commandment. It was commanded back in the Old Testament. And to emphasize that point, John says, you've had this from the beginning. Now, whether he means the beginning of the church or the beginning of the nation of Israel or the beginning of time doesn't change the meaning.

The point is, these truths have been taught and well established in the church and certainly understood in the first century. So this is nothing new. But then on the other hand, John says, I am writing something new.

He's obviously paralleling the words of Jesus recorded by him in his gospel in chapter 13, verse 34, where Jesus, speaking to his disciples, says, A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another even as I have loved you, and that you also love one another.

Now, this poses a question. It should evince a question in your mind. How can a commandment be both old and new at the same time? Well, it's old since they had the commandment from the beginning, as Jesus says, and both John and Jesus have pointed out.

We've already seen that these commands are rooted in the Old Testament. But how then is it new? Let me quote Martin Lloyd-Jones just for a minute, if I may. The good doctor says,. But though it is in that sense an old commandment, it is also a new one in that it is possible now in a new way that it was never possible before.

The Lord Jesus Christ, by coming into this world and by doing what he has done, has made this old commandment in a sense a new commandment because there is a new possibility connected with it. Look again at verse 8 of 1 John 2.

John says, On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. What John is doing in this section of his epistle is exactly what Jesus commissioned the apostles to do, to take the message that he taught them and make disciples of the whole world, first in Jerusalem, then to all Judea, then to Samaria, and then to the remotest parts of the earth.

So look again at what John says in verse 8. He is taking the new commandment, Jesus' words, and passing them on to his followers. And now that's a gradual process. But look at his words closely. The new commandment is true in him, that is, in Christ, and in you.

See, there's the newness of the old commandment. The love of God is in you. Paul says in Romans 5 .5,. And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Here's the new aspect of the commandment. The new covenant is a new and better covenant than the old. That's why it's called new. Hebrews 8 .6,. But now he has obtained a more excellent ministry, speaking of Christ, of course, by as much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant.

And one of those better promises is that the gospel now would go to the whole world. And that's exactly what John alludes to in verse 8. Look at verse 8 again,. Because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.

Here's an interesting fact. The apostles, though they were few in number, took the great commission of Jesus seriously. That is, the commission to evangelize the world. That's the testimony not only of Scripture, but church history.

And John, writing in the latter part of the first century, says they are already seeing the results. The darkness is passing away. The true light is already shining. The gospel message changes hearts one by one.

But these 12 men, and expanded as the church grew, literally, as the witnesses would say, turned the world upside down. They took this commission seriously. They didn't say, oh, Lord, that's too big. Can you give us a little piece of the world?

Just let us evangelize where we can. Jesus says, go to the remotest parts of the world, and they did. It's amazing. You know, that's important for us, because we can sit here, and we can look around. Do you realize that you live in one of the most pagan areas of the world?

New York, especially Long Island, is pagan. Nassau County is so bad that the missions organizations call it as an unreached land. So what do we do? Throw up our hands and say, ah, the job's too big. That's not what disciples did.

That's not what we do. Jesus said, evangelize, starting in your Jerusalem. For us, this is Jerusalem. We start here, and we expand out. And none of this is in my notes, so I could get in trouble here whenever I depart from my notes.

Do you realize that this little church has had an impact in Cuba? It's part of training gospel ministers in Colombia, helping women in Greece get out of trafficking. We have literally started to impact the world.

Just this little group here, through your prayers, through the financial support that we give to these men and women who are going out. Don't get discouraged. Greater is He that is in you than He that is in the world.

Now let me find where I am in my notes. When Jesus ascended into heaven, now let me go back up. The birth, the life, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was a world-changing event. And when He ascended into heaven and sent forth the Holy Spirit, He gave the church heavenly power to accomplish the mission He commanded on earth.

And those who trust in Him are changed people. That's the message of scripture. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5 .17,. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature. The old things passed away. Behold, all things have become new.

And again in Colossians 1 .3, Paul says,. For He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son. And Peter says,. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness and into His marvelous light.

And then the words of Jesus again in John 8 .12, where Jesus says, I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. This change that happens to a person is a profound change in direction.

So much so that Jesus confirms the legitimacy of the social test. John 13 .35. And listen carefully to this. By this, all men will know you are my disciples if you have love for one another. The change which starts in the heart enables the person to love God and then love his neighbor.

And this love is manifested in both word and deed. And while we are engaged in spiritual warfare, we don't let the world set the rules of warfare. Even that has changed. The Apostle Paul says,. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.

And of course we know, the Apostle Paul listed in Ephesians 6, we're all familiar with the armor of God. So what are the weapons of our warfare? Truth is in our arsenal. Righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith and the word of God.

Those are listed very clearly as weapons of warfare. But Paul not only gives us what our weapons are, he gives us a battle plan. How does the Christian wage warfare? Paul tells us in Romans 12, starting in verse 14, listen to how the Christian is supposed to engage in war.

Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse. Well, that's different. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly.

Do not be wise in your own estimation. Verse 17, crucial. Never pay back evil for evil for anyone. That's a universal negative. Never pay back evil for evil. Respect what is right in the sight of all men.

Verse 18, if possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Then verse 19, never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.

And then he gives us some more instructions. Verse 20, but if your enemy is hungry, feed him. And if he's thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head. That doesn't mean you're going to harm him, that means you take him out of the fight.

You ever smile at somebody and give them a kind word when they're being nasty to you? They don't know what to do. It completely disarms them. And verse 21 is what I call the spiritual nuclear weapon. Listen to this.

Do not be overcome by evil. Overcome evil with good. That's the weapons of our warfare. The law of love, while being this social test for love towards our brother and love towards God, even extends to our enemies.

So the social test, to be specific, asks this question. Do you love the brethren? One of the characteristics that we find in the Apostle John's writing is that he is very straightforward. You could even say that the Apostle John was blunt.

He didn't mince words. And we see that in the text that's right before us. For while he extols the virtue and the benefits of being in the light, he speaks rather strong words addressing the dire straits of those who are not walking in the light.

Look at verse 11. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. Once again, we don't see any neutral.

You're either in the light abiding in him or you're in the darkness groping. Hate the brethren? You're in darkness. What does it mean to walk in darkness? Well, Paul gives us a description in Titus chapter 3.

Listen to how he describes himself. For we also once were foolish ourselves. And here's what it means to walk in darkness. Disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hurting one another.

That's what it means to walk in darkness. You know, some people, some people think that this language is too strong. But those who reject Christ are those who not only are walking in darkness but are controlled by the world view surrounding them.

You think those are too strong? I have a little test for you. Go stand in front of the abortion mill and have the tenacity to call abortion murder and see how you're treated. Because somebody might say, oh, by the way, I just have a different view of that.

They call you names. They hate you. They wish you were dead. But you know this. Stand against any of the progressive social agenda and you will face the wrath of the enemy. But it goes further than that.

Verse 11 says, not only are they in darkness and walking in darkness, but they're blinded by it. Their eyes have been blinded. That's why even when you attempt to shed some light on them, they still cannot see.

And know this sad note. They often think they are loving. They think that it's a loving thing to do is to put a baby to death. They do not see the error they are in. And one last point on those in darkness.

Listen to Dr. Jones one more time. He says, the man who is in darkness, who is walking in the darkness, and whose mind is dark is in occasion of stumbling both to himself and to everybody else. You're stumbling.

But enough of the dark side. Look again at verse 10. The one who loves his brother. Now we've already introduced this concept of abiding in the light. But let's examine it a little bit more closely. For this is where we should be living as children of God.

You know, the main definition to abide is to remain or to stay. But it's more than that. As we have already seen, abide is a favorite word for the apostle John. He uses it more than any other biblical writer.

He quotes Jesus using the term over 15 times, 10 of them in John 15 alone. But John uses the term 18 times in his epistle. So what does Jesus mean when he says, abide in me? Well, in scripture, the word indicates permanence.

Not just remaining for a short time, but a long-term commitment. Let me give you a couple examples. Psalm 9 is a psalm of David. It's a psalm of thanksgiving for God's justice and deliverance from his enemies.

So David contrasts the transience of the enemies of God with God's permanence. Verse 6 of Psalm 9. The enemy has come to an end in perpetual ruins, and you have uprooted the cities. The very memory of them has perished.

He says the enemies of God will perish and will not even be remembered anymore. But verse 7. But the Lord abides forever. He has established his throne for judgment. And another psalm of David gives a similar idea.

This time David is recounting the confidence he has in God because of his faithfulness. Psalm 61, verse 5. If you have heard my vows, O God, you have given me the inheritance of those who fear your name.

You will prolong the king's life. His years will be as many generations. He will abide before God forever. Appoint loving kindness and truth that they may preserve him. But the benefits of abiding depend upon whom they fall.

Listen again to the words of Jesus. He who believes in the Son. John 3, 36. He who believes in the Son has eternal life. Now that's abiding. It's eternal. But he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.

Notice the permanence of God's wrath on the wicked. The word is also used by Paul to assure us of the permanence of faith, hope, and love. Remember what he says at the end of the love chapter? But now, faith, hope, and love.

Abide these three, but the greatest of these is love. So the word abide means remaining permanently. Now this gives us some parameters to understand what Jesus means when he says, abide in me. In John 15, 4, we find a concept in the form of a command where Jesus issues it.

It's an imperative where he says, abide in me. The other times Jesus uses the word, he is basically just describing the relationship as those who he loves has set his love upon and who are part of his family.

And he describes the results of that relationship. Those who abide in him bear much fruit. So this abiding is not an optional part of the Christian life. It describes the Christian life. You cannot be a Christian if you are not abiding in Jesus Christ.

So what does it look like, this abiding? Well, first, it begins in the heart. There can be no abiding without regeneration of the heart. And then the abiding Christian grows from a seedling to producing mature fruit.

And Jesus has given us many examples of what this looks like in life. One of my favorite verses is Matthew 6, 33. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

See, for the abiding Christian, God is his priority. Jesus says, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

Now, of course, Jesus is not commanding his followers to hate his parents and other relatives. No, you can't do that. And don't use this verse to say you can't either. But if you have to choose, you must choose Christ.

In Matthew 16, 24, Jesus said, if anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

What we see in all of these verses is the attitude of the heart. But that heart attitude must lead to change, to change what is on the outside. Abiding in Christ is what enables you to become sanctified.

John's epistle sheds light on this. Last week, we looked at verse 6 of chapter 2. And he says, the one who says he abides, who abides in him, ought himself to walk in the same manner as he walked. Our present text, verse 10, the one who loves his brother abides in the light.

And we'll see this more in future as we continue in our study. Verse 28 of 1 John 2, now, little children, abide in him. Just as we close, remember this. Jesus is speaking to his disciples, to true Christians.

The admonition to abide in him is for all Christians. What we see in these verses is that being a disciple of Jesus is an all or nothing experience. You can't give Christ just a little slice of your life, he demands it all.

He comes before all things, including your families and even your own life. And the goal of abiding in him is to become more like him. It goes to the heart of your purpose here on earth, to glorify God, to enjoy him forever, to please him by obeying all that he has commanded us to do.

Let me put it to you this way. Being a Christian is hard. It's no easy road. That's why we are called disciples of Christ. There's a discipline involved in living the Christian life. And abiding in Christ is a sign of a true Christian.

Jesus Christ dwells with each of his true children through the power of the Holy Spirit. He abides in us, and we in him. So testing is a part of life, isn't it? We've seen that over the last couple of weeks.

Even your spiritual life. And remember the words of Jesus. By this, all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. If you're here today and you're not a Christian, you're not a believer, you're still walking in darkness.

And if you remain in that state, the wrath of God will abide on you. Repent of your sin. Be translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear son. Let's pray.