1 John chapter 2, and this evening
we will be looking at verses 3 through 11. We looked at the first two verses
in this chapter last time, where the Apostle John tells us that
we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ, the righteous,
and that he is the propitiation for our sins. That is, that atoning
sacrifice. does put away the sins of his
people. Now tonight, beginning with verse
three. And hereby we do know that we
know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and
keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not
in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in
him verily is the love of God perfected. Thereby know we that
we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him,
ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. Brethren,
I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment,
which you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word
which you have heard from the beginning. 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. He that
saith he is in the light and hateth his brother is in darkness
even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth
in the light, and there's none occasion of stumbling in him. 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 title
of my message this evening is Knowing Him, Knowing Him. In the Lord's Prayer that is
recorded in John chapter 17, the Lord Jesus Christ said, This
is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. And our passage this evening
begins with these words, Hereby we do know that we know him. We do know that we know him. John Gill commented that the
hymn, we do know that we know him, that the hymn may refer
to the father with whom Christ is an advocate or else who is
the advocate. It may refer to Christ who is
the advocate and the propitiation for our sins. But remember, In
Matthew chapter 11 and verse 27, the Lord Jesus Christ said,
no man knoweth the Son, but the Father. Neither knoweth any man
the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son shall
reveal Him. To know the Father in a saving
way. Now all men know that there is
a God, and many people refer to Him as God the Father, and
by creation He is the Father of all men. But to know God the
Father in a saving way is only through the Son, knowing the
Son in a saving way, because He is the only way to the Father. Now tonight, these nine verses
that we are looking at, I'm going to divide into two divisions. First, John gives evidence of
those who know and are in him. I want you to notice that two
times in these verses, John writes, he that saith, he that saith. He that saith he knows him, and
he that saith he abides in him. As I looked at these verses and
these words, it reminded me of something that the Apostle James
wrote in his epistle. He said, what doth it profit,
my brethren, though a man say? What profit is it though a man
say he hath faith and have not works? Then, of course, he went
on to declare that faith that does not produce works is dead. It's not saving faith. It's like
a corpse without a soul. That is faith that does not produce
works. And John here gives the evidence
that a man isn't just saying. Man's not just saying that he
knows him. He's not just saying that he
is in him. But hereby we know, he says,
we know that we know him. First of all, he says a person
who knows him keeps his commandments. A person who knows him keeps
his commandments. A person doesn't keep his commandments
in order to know him. But this is the effect of knowing
him. We know from the word of God
that salvation is by grace. It's by grace through faith.
It is the gift of God's love. We are saved by our works. We're not saved by our works
or by our obedience to his commandments, but men are saved by his work. That is the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ and His perfect obedience to God and God's justice
in our stead and in our place. But we are considering Him as
both the Father and the Son. Hereby we do know that we know
Him, that we consider this Him, speaking of the Father, and also
of the Son. So this means, when John says,
and hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments,
we're talking about the commandments of God the Father, as well as
the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ. The commandments
of the Father. That is, we usually refer to
this as the moral law. The commandments. or the commandments,
I should say, that the son gave to his church in this new dispensation. So we have the commandments of
the father, if we understand this him as referring to the
father, hereby we do know that we know him, if we're talking
about the father there, then it is the father's commandments,
and if it's speaking of the son, then it is the commandments of
the son. We keep, those who know him keep,
his commandments, and that would include the moral law. Now, we
do not say, and I know I've met men over the years who have taught
this and have said this, they say that the Ten Commandments
is the believer's rule of life. Now, we do not say that. We do
not say that, because we know that the Ten Commandments were
part of that old covenant. part of that old covenant was
ceremonial. And when we think about that
law being part of it being ceremonial, then we know that that commandment
concerning the Sabbath was also ceremonial. And sometimes people
say, well, why was that included in those 10 commandments? Well,
my understanding is the commandment to keep the Sabbath was included
in those 10 commandments to show that the law is one whole, one
entirety. I know men break it up into the
moral law, the ceremonial law, the civil law, but the law was
the law. It was all the law. And to show
that, I believe, is the reason we have that commandment concerning
that seventh day. And you know, there are people
today who believe, well, the Lord turned that seventh day
into the first day. But there's not a word in the
scripture to support that. There's not a word in the New
Testament to support that somehow the Sabbath was changed to Sunday. No, the Sabbath is the seventh
day. And the Sabbath is ceremonial
because there were about, I think there were about eight different
Sabbaths that the Israelites were to keep. It wasn't just
the seventh day Sabbath, but there was Sabbath of months and
the first day of the new moon. I mean, there was a number of
Sabbaths. that they were commanded to keep, and they were all listed
together in the same chapter in the book of Leviticus. But
when we read here, we do know that we know him if we keep his
commandments. Well, those moral commandments,
yes, we keep them, but it had always been wrong to lie, It
didn't become wrong to lie when God gave the Ten Commandments.
No, it had always been wrong to lie, to steal, to kill. We are saved in the new covenant
established in Christ's blood, but the moral precepts in that
old covenant are unchanging. They're unchanging, and certainly
they would be included in these commandments here that those
who know Him keep. The Lord's commandments would
also include the ordinances of the baptism and the Lord's Supper. And notice, if you will, here
in 1 John chapter 3, here's one of these commandments of the
Lord. In 1 John chapter 3 and verse
23, and this is His commandment. that we should believe on the
name of his son Jesus Christ and love one another as he gave
us commandment. This is one of those commandments
that those who know him keep. We believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and we love one another. Also in chapter four, first John
chapter four and verse 21, And this commandment have we
from him that he who loveth God love his brother also. Let me give you John Gill's comment
about these commandments. He said particularly his new
commandment of loving one another may be chiefly designed. That
being what the apostle has greatly in view throughout this whole
epistle. The love of God that is perfected. Notice in the verse which says,
verse five, but whoso keepeth his word in him barely is the
love of God perfected. The love of God that is perfected
is not God's love for his people. God's love is perfect. Every
attribute of God is perfect. No, it is the believer's love
for God which is perfected. His love is perfect and his love
is unchangeable and his love doesn't vary. But for believers,
we know that sometimes our love grows cold. Remember the church
at Ephesus, this is the one thing that God told that church that
he had against them. The Lord Jesus Christ told that
church in Revelation chapter 2 that he had against them. They had a number of things that
he commended, but this one thing, thou hast left thy first love.
And so this love is perfected in us as we grow in grace and
knowledge of the Lord. It is the sincerity here, the
sincerity of the believer's love, which is manifested by keeping
his commandments. This is what John tells us. He that saith, I know him, and
keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not
in him. But hereby we know, this is the
first one of these marks of the believer, in 1 John that we are
given, whereby we may know that we have been born of the Spirit
of God. Hereby we do know that we know
Him if we keep His commandments. And His commandments are that
we love one another. And then notice, secondly, a
person who is in Him. Let's look at this scripture
again. Verse three, and hereby we do know that we know him,
if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and
keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not
in him. But whoso keepeth his word in
him, verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby know we that
we are in him. that we know him, first of all,
we keep his commandments. We know that we know him because
we keep his commandments. And we know that we are in him
because everybody know we that we are in him. He that saith
he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. A person who is in him ought
to walk as he walked. Now a person who is truly in
Him will always be in Him. A person who is in Christ, if
you are in Christ tonight, you have always been in Christ because
He chose you from before the foundation of the world. The
union that exists between the Lord Jesus Christ and every believer
is an eternal union. It doesn't, it's not something
that takes place in time. He, he chose his people from
before the foundation of the world. And he chose us in Christ,
in him. So a person who is in Christ
will always be in Christ. He is one of his sheep and the
shepherd, the good shepherd is not going to lose one of them.
Not one of them will be plucked out of his hand. He is in Christ
as a member of His mystical body, and that body is going to be
whole. It's going to be complete. And
when He appears before His Father, He will be able to say, Here
am I and the children which thou hast given me. And not one is
going to be lost. But those who are in Him should
walk even as He walks. Now the word as here doesn't
mean equally, for that is impossible. That is impossible for any child
of God who still has that old nature to walk as Christ walked,
equal as he walked. He walked rather in perfect obedience. He never had a sinful thought.
He never spoke a sinful word. We are to walk as he walked.
But that doesn't mean our walk is equal with his walk. But we are to walk as he walked.
And the one verse of scripture that comes to my mind is that
passage in Acts, which tells us he went about doing good. That's the way we are to walk,
as he walked. We are to go about doing good. And so should those who abide
in him. Daniel is a good example of a
believer walking as he walked. Daniel. And I say that because,
you know, Daniel had his enemies. He had a number of enemies. He
was, uh, uh, high up in the, in the government, you might
say there in Babylon. He had his enemies because people
were jealous of him for his position that he had. And in attempting
to find something to accuse him of, they came up with this, we
shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it
against him concerning his God. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have
that testimony? For people who know us to be
able to say, well, if you're gonna see anything, find anything
to accuse him of, it's gonna have to be concerning him and
his relationship to God. Because he's walking even as
Christ walked. Now the second part of the message,
John gives a commandment that is both old and new. Both old
and new. Beginning in verse seven, he
said, brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an
old commandment which you had from the beginning. The old commandment
is the word which you have heard from the beginning. From the
beginning of time, when we read here from the beginning, you've
had this commandment from the beginning. How old is this commandment? Well, man has had this commandment
from the beginning of time, from the beginning of his creation. When Adam was first created,
he was created in the image of God. And we know that image,
not a physical image, because God doesn't have a body. He's
a spirit, but it is a spiritual image, a moral image in which
Adam was created and God is love. So Adam was created in the image
of God, that is, with this commandment, to love God. And think about
this, if Adam had not sinned, I know that's a supposition,
but if Adam had not sinned, and he and Eve had children, who
had children, who had children, and the population increased,
wouldn't it be wonderful to be living in a world where everyone
loved everyone. And that's the way it would have
been. Because this commandment they've had from the beginning,
man has had from the beginning. John says, I write no new commandment,
but an old commandment to you. The law which God gave from Mount
Sinai. That could be what John means
from the beginning, because you remember the Lord Jesus Christ
told that man who asked him, what's the great commandment?
He said, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
all thy soul, all thy mind, and strength, and thy neighbor as
thyself. And then he said, the whole law hinges on those two
commands. So this commandment they've had
from the beginning. John says, I write no new commandment. unto you, but an old commandment,
which you had from the beginning." Now, when he said, which you
had from the beginning, they had heard this commandment when
they heard the gospel. He's writing to believers. He's
writing to saved individuals for the most part. This commandment
they had heard from Christ. They had heard this commandment
from the apostles who went out preaching the gospel. This command
would not be new to those to whom John wrote this letter,
for they had heard it when they heard and believed the gospel.
The gospel itself is a story of love, for God so loved the
world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. So first
of all, John says, brethren, I write no new commandment unto
you, but an old commandment, which you had from the beginning.
The old commandment is a word which you have heard from the
beginning." They had heard this command, but then he turns around
and says, again, a new commandment. I write unto you, which thing
is true in him and in you. The old commandment and the new
commandment is the same commandment. There's not two commandments,
there's one commandment. And it is the commandment of
love. The commandment is love, and
it is true in Christ. Notice that in verse eight. Again,
a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in Him. Who is Him? Christ. Or the Father. God is love. Christ is love. This commandment
is true in him, and then notice, and in you. The commandment is love, and
it is true in Christ, for he kept God's holy law, fulfilling
it in his love to God and his neighbor. And then the apostle
says, the darkness is past, because the darkness is past. I understand what John is saying
here is the kingdom of darkness, the kingdom in which all men
are born, the kingdom in which we were born, and the kingdom
in which these to whom he was writing is a kingdom of darkness. But now being saved by the grace
of God, he says the kingdom of darkness has passed and we are
now We're not in a kingdom of darkness, but we are in the kingdom
of God's dear son, which is a kingdom of light, the kingdom of light,
the true light. He says the true light now shineth. It's now shineth. The son of
righteousness has risen with healing in his wings as was prophesied
in the old Testament. I want you to notice once again
that John wrote, he that saith, notice that in verse nine, he
that saith, he is in the light, but he hates his brother. Is
he in the light? Is he? He says he's in the light. He says he's walking in the light,
that he's in the kingdom of light. Is he? Is he? When it's true
that he hates his brother, is he in the kingdom of light? No. He is still in darkness. He's still in that unconverted
state. And I think about what the apostle
Paul wrote. Let me turn back here to Titus. Titus chapter 3, verse 3, for we ourselves also
were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived. We're in a kingdom
of darkness, right? All men are by nature. That's
the way we come into this world. serving divers lust and pleasures,
living in malice and envy." Now notice, hateful and hating one
another. That's true of all men by nature,
hateful and hating one another. Now John supposes the case of
this man who says that he is in the light, but he hates his
brother. Is he? Is he? No. John says he's in darkness even
until now. He's still in the kingdom of
darkness. And it's manifested by his hatred
of the brethren. Then in verse 10, he that loves
his brother. Now he doesn't just say that
he loves his brother. That's not what John says. He
doesn't say he that saith he loveth his brother, did he? No,
he that loveth his brother, he loves his brother. He loves his
brother. He doesn't just say that he loves
his brother, he loves his brother. He loves his brother and because
he does, notice he's careful, he's careful. It says there's
none occasion of stumbling in him. Because he loves his brother,
he's careful not to put a stumbling block in the way of his brother. And this especially brings us
to the point of Christian liberty. There are some things that we
have liberty in Christ to do, but others may see things differently. And we would not want to put
us, be a scandal, that's what that word really means, to be
a scandal unto our brother in Christ because we love him. We
would forego whatever that liberty might be for the good because
of love for our brother. Remember Paul said, if meat would
make my brother to offend, I'll eat no meat. Now that is a picture
of love, isn't it? That's what John is talking about
here. He that loveth his brother abideth in light, and there's
none occasion of stumbling in him. He's not going to do anything
or say anything by the grace of God. He's not, at least. It's
his purpose not to say anything that would offend a brother or
sister in Christ. Listen to these truths that Paul
wrote about love in 1 Corinthians 13. Remember, he that loveth
his brother, abideth in the lie. Love is not easily provoked. If we love our brother, then
we're not going to take offense at every little trifling thing,
like some people seem to do. No, no, love is not easily provoked. And love suffers long. This is
what Paul says about love, isn't it, in 1 Corinthians 13. And
not only that, but he said, love bears all things. Bears all things. If we walk as he walked, the
Lord Jesus Christ, when we think about how he walked and how he
has dealt with us, has he showed patience to us? Absolutely. Has he showed mercy to us? Absolutely. Has he pardoned us? Absolutely. We should have patience with
our brother or sister if we love them. And our Lord prayed for
even those who crucified him. Father, forgive them for they
know not what they do. Now, notice verse 11, I'll close. Here we have, in verse 11, someone
who hates his brother. He hates his brother. Notice,
but he that hateth his brother. Now John tells us three things
about this man. He that hateth his brother, first
of all, he's in darkness. He's in darkness. He's still
in the kingdom of darkness. Not only is he in darkness, but
he walks in darkness. That's the way he lives. That's
his conversation or his lifestyle. He walks in darkness. And the
third thing John says about this man, he doesn't know where he's
going. He's in darkness. He walks in
darkness and he doesn't know where that darkness is going
to lead him. But we know where it will lead
him. It will lead him to utter darkness unless the Lord grants
him repentance. It will lead him to utter darkness
where there's weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. He that
hates his brother is blinded by the prince of darkness. I thought as I prepared this
message of something. Is this the same man, this John,
is this the same man who one day wanted to call fire down
out of heaven and destroy the Samaritan? Is this the same man? Well, certainly it is. But he's,
by grace, he's learned some things, hasn't he? By the grace of God. And now, inspired by God, the
Holy Spirit writes this letter. And I read this morning that
as an old man, and It's thought that John lived to be over 100,
I believe, the oldest of the apostles and the last to die. That when he addressed a congregation,
he always said these same things. Little children love one another. Little children, love one another. May the Lord give us that love
for him and love for one another that we should have. All right,
Bill, let's sing a hymn before we're dismissed. Let's sing first, second, and
last verses of number