Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of 1 John chapter 2. 1 John chapter 2. I'd like to read verses 7 to
11, and I've entitled this Message, Do I love my brother? Do I love my brother? 1 John
2, 7. 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 is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother
is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whether
he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes." Let's
pray together. Our Father, thank you that we've
got tonight to be able to assemble ourselves together and hear Your
Word. I pray that You would bless the
Word to our understanding. Bless it by Your Holy Spirit.
Bless the preaching. Bless the hearing, we pray. Lord,
thank You for Christ's sake. Amen. Brethren, John said in verse
7, I write no new commandment unto you but an old commandment
which you had from the beginning." Now, you know, the Apostle John
relates something without saying it in that passage of Scripture. He relates something that every
believer finds great comfort in. And it's this, that Almighty
God does not change. God is immutable. His Word, His
will, His purpose, His way doesn't change. Almighty God does that
which He does today as He has always. He saves His people by
grace, through faith. He's never saved them by the
keeping of the law. It's always been by the grace
of God through the preaching of the gospel. It's always been
like that. And believers love that. How comforting that we can be
here tonight And this is the same message that the Apostle
Paul preached. This is the message that the
Lord Jesus Christ preached. This is the message of the prophets. This is the message. Noah preached
the same thing that we're preaching tonight. God doesn't change. He who is the same and his years
have no end. is the comfort of the Lord's
people. The scripture says concerning
the Lord, it's He from whom every good gift and every perfect gift. I got to thinking about that.
Every good gift and every perfect gift. The Scripture says, is
from above and cometh down from the Father of lights, the Father
of truth and holiness. But every good gift and every
perfect gift. Now what do you mean by that?
It has no print of man upon it. No print of man upon it. I just
got to thinking about that and I thought, how wonderful. What
a perfect gift air is. You know how good that feels?
Just to be able to breathe. Every good gift, every perfect
gift. That's the Lord. He made that. He made that. He made the light
from the sun and the reflection from the moon. It cometh down
from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither
shadow of turning. There's no appearance of change
in the Lord. Don't you hate? I hate change.
I just hate change. I just like to do it the way
I've done it. You know? I mean this, I'm thankful
for technology. I really am. I'm one of the last
ones to get in on it. But I'd be just tickled to death. Just stick my finger in a rotary
and just... It was fine. It worked. I want to write a check. I just
don't want to do stuff if I don't have to on a computer. But when
it comes to God Almighty, God never changes. This world sees
no beauty in the steadfastness of God Almighty in Christ. Now
when I say that, this is what I mean. the world, the world's
religion, the world's thoughts, everything about the world changes. And I can tell you this for a
fact, and it's because of the way that you'll see in worship
services a contemporary atmosphere of worship. What does that mean? It means that whatever belongs
to the present, whatever it takes to cater to the present. That's what we'll do. Here's
what I like. I like to come and we're going
to sing some songs. We're going to read some scripture.
We're going to pray and ask the Lord's blessing. And we're going
to preach. That's the means of God's grace,
the preaching of the gospel, the singing of praises, asking
the Lord. And God Almighty teaches His
people of His immutability. He doesn't change it. Malachi
3.5, for I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore you sons
of Jacob are not consumed. Aren't you glad? I'd hate to
know that there's change in God. If God Almighty has said, I'll
have mercy and compassion on whomsoever I will, that means
that He's not going to change His mind. If He'll have mercy
on me, He's going to have mercy on me. He's not going to change.
Because if there'd be change in Him, then there's a possibility
that He once looked upon me in mercy just decide he's not going
to anymore. And I have no confidence. So
John declares, brethren, I write no new commandment, but an old
commandment. He said, I'm not writing a commandment
of which you're unaccustomed. He said, that old commandment,
that which is from antiquity, that which is from the beginning,
which has always been, of the proclamation of the gospel, always. In the garden, what I'm preaching concerning
salvation by the grace of God, was the message that Almighty
God preached in the garden. When Adam and Eve sinned against
God, and they tried to hide themselves with fig leaves, Almighty God,
in His action, He killed an animal and he covered him. He covered
him. Blood was shed. He was saying
without the shedding of blood there's no remission. You need
a covering. You need an atonement. You need
a hiding place. And he killed an animal and clothed
them. That's what we're saying tonight.
Without the shedding of the blood of Christ, there's no forgiveness
of sin. It doesn't matter. All of the
fig leaves that they could have mustered would never hide their
nakedness before God. Never. The Lord had to do that. That's what we're saying. Salvation
is by the grace of God. So John says the Old Commandment
is the Word which you've heard from the beginning. He said,
I'm not saying anything new to you. So when John says, I write
an old commandment, he doesn't mean outdated, but rather the
commandment is not lately born. It's not newly created. You know, we're reminded of the
commandment. Here it is, 1 John, if you want
to just turn it over, 1 John 3, 11. This is what it says, for this
is the message, or in my margin, I've got a margin here, the commandment. This is the message that you've
heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Now think about this. That's the commandment you've
heard from the beginning. Even when Almighty God gave the
law, gave the law, If we love one another, which is the message
that we had from the beginning, when God gave that law, I tell
you this, if we love one another, we'll honor our father and our
mother. We won't kill, we won't commit
adultery, we won't steal, we won't bear false witness against
one another or covet another's wife, manservant, maidservant,
ox, ass, or anything else. That is, our neighbors. Why?
Because we love Him. I don't want to call the thought
of coming over to your house and stealing something from you.
Why? I love you. I don't want to do
that. This is the same commandment.
So John writes and he says in verse 8, again, a new commandment
I write unto you. Which thing is true in him and
in you, because the darkness is past, and the new light now
shineth." Now, what do you mean, John, a new? You just said, I
write no new commandment unto you. And again, a new commandment,
but that new commandment he's talking about, it's not new in
respect to age, but in freshness. That's what he's saying. He said
a renewed. I write unto you a refreshed. same commandment that you heard
from the beginning. It's not a new commandment, but
it is a refreshed commandment that is refreshed to us every
time we hear it. When we hear the same message
that you love one another, that's a new commandment right now. I need to hear it again. John 13, 34, 35, a new commandment,
a refreshed commandment. I give unto you that you love
one another. That's the same commandment that God gave in
the garden. That's the same commandment that
God gave to Moses. That's the same, but it's a refreshed
commandment. That you love one another as
I've loved you. that ye also love one another.
By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have
love one for another." God's people love God's people. I told you what someone said
to Henry one time. They said, you know, believers
ought to love one another. Henry said, they do. They do. They love one another. John is
writing of that which Almighty God, by His Holy Spirit, renews
daily within the believer concerning loving each other. Which things,
the scripture says, again a new commandment I write unto you,
which thing is true in him? and in you." It was true in him,
this thing of loving one another. John said it was made evident
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And in you, he said, it's made
evident, which is made evident in you and among you. How is
this thing of loving the brethren made evident? In regenerating
grace, the Holy Spirit has imparted, He's put within you life. And the fruit of the Spirit of
God, all those starts off love. Love has been imparted and that
regeneration is accomplished in you. The believer. Why? Why is it accomplished in
you? Because from before the foundation
of the world, Almighty God, who loved His people and chose them
in Christ and purposed, I'm going to save you. I'm going to have
mercy on you. I'm going to have compassion
on you. You will be with me forever.
And in due time, the Spirit of God comes and regenerates them,
and puts life into them, and He puts love, joy, and peace,
and long-suffering, and gentleness, and meekness. Almighty God imparts
that love within His people, and therefore, they love. They act like the believer, but
concerning the Lord, which is true in Him, What happened that
we know that the love that the Lord has for His people, what
happened to make us know that? It says this thing concerning,
this thing which is true in Him are made evident. Here's what
it is. He gave Himself for us. He gave Himself. He gave Himself. Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Here is how concerning that scripture
right there, that love is known. Self-denial. Self-denial. If you profess to love another,
and you're not willing to deny yourself for their sake, then
you're claiming to possess something that you don't have for that
person, love. You don't. Love is self-denying. And according to the scriptures,
greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his
life for his friends. Love is always measured. by the
degree to which a person is willing to subject himself to crosses,
or losses, or suffering, or self-denial for the sake of the one he loves.
What you're willing to give up for that person. Now let me ask
parents, how many parents, whoever's a parent in here, let me ask
you this. What would you not give for one
of your kids if it's within your power to give it? If it came
between you and one of your kids, what would you do? Well, you
say, well, I want to say that I would. You would. You would. I get to thinking about, why
this crossed my mind, I don't know. I was thinking about combat. How many times I'd see you watch
a movie or heard of someone that would take a grenade for his
friends. You know, do you think he planned
to do that, that morning? You think, I tell you what, today
I think, no, but in the moment, it just happened. It just happened. What will you do for one that
you love? All you can. All you can. Love was shown in Christ this
way. He died for his people. laid
down His life, and the Holy Spirit reveals that love is manifested
in God's people. That's what the Spirit of God
said. They love those that Christ loves. And they're willingly suffering
on the behalf of a believer. Mr. Spurgeon made a remark here
that I thought was really good. He who claims to be a Christian
and does not love Christians, though he is in the midst of
Christians, is but an intruder in the family. Now let me ask
you this. If someone comes and you're having
a family get-together, and all your family, Lord willing, I'm going to go
and be with my family this way. And you know I know every one
of them. I know every one of them. I know all my kids. I know
all their spouses. And I know their kids. And I
recognize them. That's my family. Now they all
come from different places, but there's something that we've
got in common. We're family. That's what we're family. Now
I'll guarantee you this for a fact. If somebody's at that place this
weekend and nobody recognizes them and there's no camaraderie
and there's no connection and nobody's ever seen them before
and they're kind of alienated and they're sitting over there
in the corner And they have nothing to do with us and shit like this. I'll tell you something, something's
wrong. You're not part of this family. Something is not right
here. Why? Because you're not of this
family. God's people love God's people
because they're God's people. Every believer in this room tonight,
I've got something in common with you. We're all from different
places. I mean, you're just all over
the place. Here I am from Louisiana. And you're from here and you're
from there. But the thing that makes us together is the camaraderie. the connection, the unity that
we have in Christ. So the Apostle Paul says, he
said, I write unto you, verse 8, which thing is true in Him
and in you. And how was this made manifest? How did you come to realize that
love that's true in Him and in you? How did you know it? How
did you find that out? How did you realize that? He
says, because the darkness has passed. And the true light now
shineth. You come to know God's people
because now the darkness of the ceremonial law is passed and
the clear light of the revelation of Christ is made evident and
you've been enlightened by the Holy Spirit in regenerating grace
and power. God's people know God's people,
because they listen to what God's people say, and they see how
God's people act, and they see the oneness that you have, and
you think, this is my brethren. The thing about Abraham and Lot,
remember that, when their herdsmen got in a squabble? They were
arguing over grass, you know? The herdsmen, you know, he's
getting better grass than I'm getting. And Abraham came to Lot and he
said, Lot, you take anything you want. You take what you want.
I'll take what's left. Why? Because I love you. And
we're brethren. Lot set his eyes towards Sodom.
It was well watered and fertile and everything. Abraham took
the rest. God, you know how the Lord blessed
it. But the problem that they were having, Abraham says, we're
brethren. We're going to spend eternity
together. What's a little grass? This true light, John says, now
shineth in the hearts of God's people. That light that is evidenced
by love. Love for God, love for one another.
Love for the brethren and even for our enemies. I heard Henry say, I get so many
things I can remember what Scott and Henry said, but someone came
to Henry one day and he told him, he said, I hate my wife. And Henry said, well, you're
just an unbeliever. He said, what do you mean I'm
an unbeliever? He said, well, we're commanded
to love our enemies. You're telling me you hate your
wife? He said, if God ever saves you, he said, you'll change,
you'll change. We love our enemies. Now, there's some people that
I can tell you this, I don't know them that well, but if I
tell you that as we're commanded to love our enemies. Do you know
the greatest exhibition of love that you can do for someone that's
opposing you? I know, I know, I mean I'm quite
aware of things that have been said concerning this assembly
here for years and years and years. I mean it didn't just
start recently with Scott, that faithful, faithful preacher. Preacher of the gospel that has
stood for years and years and years. I know what was said.
I know what people thought about the message right here. But do
you know the exhibition of love? Is that he still kept preaching
it. The only thing that will set
a man free is truth. The truth will make a man free. Not arguing with him, not bickering
with him, but the truth. And every time you preach the
gospel to somebody, I mean, you're giving them the best thing you
could possibly give them. You're telling them the only
thing that's going to have any, any eternal effect upon them
is tell them the truth. So there's a love for God's people. There's a love for God and there's
a love for God's people. A love for God's elect. And that old commandment, It's
been newly taught, and it's newly taught every time. Now look at
verse 9. He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his
brother, is in darkness even until now. A person that says
he's been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, and that he has
a true knowledge of the gospel, and he walks in fellowship with
Christ, and he hates his brother, either a brother by creation,
a brother in Christ. He's still in the darkness of
unbelief. He's an unregenerate. I was saying
a while ago about that man, he said, I hate my wife. But the
one that loves his brother and has a true concern for his soul. I know I have no power to make
anybody believe. I know that. I can't do that.
I couldn't talk you into it if my life depended on it. I couldn't
talk you into it. But if Almighty God blesses the
message of the truth preached, and God gives a man or woman
a heart to believe, then it's a work of God's grace. But I
can tell you this, I would desire that the Lord save you. I want
that. I don't want anybody to perish. And if somebody perishes, God
leaves them to themselves and they leave this world in unbelief.
Lord, help me not to be the one that was unfaithful to preach
the gospel. When the Lord told Ezekiel, He
told Ezekiel, He said, you go preach. And He said, if you don't
do it, if you don't preach the gospel, and they perish in their
sins, He said, their blood will be required at your hands. I've
told you before, I don't understand all that that I've just said.
I know it's true because I've read it. He said, if you preach
the gospel to them and they don't believe, He said, you're clear. Their blood is not on your head.
So I want to preach the truth to you. I want to, why? Because
I desire the Lord's Savior. We're going to spend one place
or the other eternally. I can tell you that. It's either
going to be in heaven or it's going to be in hell. But Lord,
help me to be a friend to you and tell you the truth. I don't
want to just tell you something just to have myself saying it. I want to seek good toward all
men. But verse 10, he that loveth
his brother bideth in the light, and there's none occasion of
stumbling in him. He that loves his brother, as
we've considered love, you'll give yourself for him, you'll
lay down your life for him if needs be. I would truly want
to tell myself If it came down to me or you, one of us, because
of love for you, then I would. You don't know what you'll do
until the moment's there. But I would want to say that,
that you'd give yourself for the brethren. But he that loveth
his brother, he abideth in the light, he shows or demonstrates
the truth. of regeneration, that God's truly
saved him. And there's none occasion of
stumbling in him. That is, there's no scandal,
there's no stumbling blocks in the way. You give no occasion
for your brother to think anything other than, you love me. If you love somebody, you're
not going to give them a reason to doubt that. You just, you
know. Verse 11, but he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and
walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whether he goeth, because
that darkness hath blinded his eyes." Now, when it comes to
the basis of love or hate between brothers, I believe that question
is best answered or explained In 1st John 3, verses 11 and
12. Look at 1st John, we're right
there, next page over probably. 1st John 3, now let's look at
this for just a minute as I wrap this up. For this is the message,
verse 11, 1st John 3, 11. This is the message that you
heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. And then the Spirit of God gives
an illustration concerning love or hate. Where is it? Right here. Not as Cain, who
was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew
he him? Because his own works were evil,
and his brother's righteous. Now, that's the first record
that we have of the hatred for a brother. What was the basis? of that hatred. Turn to Genesis 4, and we'll
read this. Genesis 4, verses 1 to 8. Genesis
4, verses 1, And Adam knew Eve his
wife, and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten
a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother
Abel, and Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller
of the ground. And in process of time it came
to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering
unto the Lord. And Abel he also brought of the
first things of his flock. and of the fat thereof. And the
Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering, but unto Cain
to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and
his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain,
Why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou
not be accepted. And if thou doest not well, sin
lieth at the door, and unto thee shall be his desire. and thou
shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his
brother. It came to pass when they were
in the field that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and
slew him." Now, here's what happened. John had told us back in 1 John
3, love one another. Not as Cain who hated his brother
and killed him because his deeds were evil. was a tiller, the
scripture says, of the ground and sacrificed the fruit of the
ground. Now, without a doubt, these boys
were taught by their mom and daddy, Adam and Eve, concerning
the things of God. That's how they knew. They had
to have been told. I'm sure that Adam taught these
boys and their mama. I'm sure they did. This is the
way that God has approached You approach God by blood. That's how an offering is given,
by blood. And Cain, he was a tiller of
the ground, and brought the best of his fruit. I don't doubt that,
and his vegetables. And he brought the best of his
labor. And Abel was a shepherd. And
the Scripture says He brought of the first sons of His flock,
and He brought that blood sacrifice. It was the only sacrifice that
God would accept. And the scripture says that God
had respect unto Abel's sacrifice, but not Cain's. Now how they
knew that, we're not told. It could have been where, as
the Lord, fire came down from heaven and consumed the offering. I don't know. That's recorded
in Leviticus 9, 22. That's how they knew that God
accepted the sacrifice. Fire from heaven came down. But
whatever the way, that God let them know they knew, Cain knew
that his wasn't accepted. And he saw that God had respect
to Abel's and to his nothing happened. And he was mad. He was mad. I've done the best
that I had. I gave the best vegetables that
I had. And God Almighty told Cain, you
don't have any reason to be mad. If you do that which is right,
you'd be accepted. And Cain was wroth. He was mad and he hated Abel. And verse 8 of our scripture
I hear declares that Cain talked with Abel, his brother. They
were out there, I don't doubt. in the field, and I don't doubt
for one second that Abel, the one that sacrificed blood unto
the Lord, I don't doubt for one second that Abel loved his brother. I don't doubt that. And I'm sure
that as they talked out there in the field, Cain was mad at
him, and he's arguing with him, and Abel is telling him, saying,
Cain, you know what mom and dad said? You know how they taught
us? You can't sacrifice anything other than blood, an animal,
by the shedding of the blood. And this is the thing here, that
was the difference. God's not going to be approached
by the best you can do. Isn't that amazing? This thing of works, it's not
new. This was the issue back then.
Works in grace. But Cain, who was of that wicked
one, the scripture says, the devil, he slew his brother because
his works were evil. What did he do? What made them
so evil? He was trying to approach God
his way, on his own merit. by his own righteousness, by
his own worth, and he would not submit himself to the righteousness
of God. That God would accept the righteousness
of Christ himself, the Lamb himself. And Abel attributed acceptance
to God, Abel did, to be all of grace. He said, this is the way
God said he's going to be approached. Cain, God's not going to accept
what you're doing. Has that message ever changed?
We stand up here and what do we say? Listen, you can say that
you're going to approach God by your free will and you're
going to accept, but the scripture says you're not. God's not going
to accept you. And you know what the response
of the natural man is when they hear that? Same thing with Keynes. He's rough and hated. They hate man by nature hates
being told. that your works are not going
to be accepted of God. God's not going to accept you.
God has no pleasure in that. Cain attributed his acceptance
to God to himself. And the whole controversy then
and the controversy now is over this very thing. Salvation by
God's grace or man's works. And Cain hated Abel over that
issue. And now the scripture says, he
that hateth his brother Everyone that makes a claim to be at peace
with God based on the works of his own flesh and will is going
to hate those that God Almighty has taught that salvation is
of the Lord. It's all of grace. Believers in free grace, salvation
by the grace of God. This is what's said of them concerning
this. They're not in darkness anymore.
They're not walking in darkness evermore. They're not walking
in the blindness of man's evil heart and unbelief. I pray that tonight, that the
Lord might be pleased to teach us concerning love for one another. Our love for each other is based
on the oneness that we have in Christ. God Almighty has given
his people a love for the Lord as he set forth in his scriptures
and a love for one another. Lord, teach me. Help me. Thank you. Thank you for the
forgiveness of sin. Thank you for your mercy and
compassion that would not deal with me or my inability to do
as I would. But by the grace of God, may
I be found loving you, being a friend to you, and doing it
for Christ's sake. I pray God bless this message
to our hearts. Amen.