the subject of false claims that
are being rendered to the church of which he is pastoring and
he says over in verse 6 after we dealt with the idea of whosoever
is keeping the word in him verily is the love of God perfected
we talked about how the term perfected means to simply fulfill
James chapter 2 is where we went just in case you guys forgot
the objective of the word of God in the life of the people
of God is to bring us into conformity to the will of Christ. When faith
has done its work, we will respond by faith in obedience to the
gospel. When faith has done its work
in our life, we will respond by faith in obedience to the
gospel. So always remember that faith
is given to us as a motive by which we obey God on a non-meritorious
grounds and by his grace and by his strength we correspond
to his will so that he might be glorified. When God calls
us to pray we actively pray and thereby glorify God. When he
calls us to witness we actively witness and thereby glorify God. When he calls us to act in obedience
to him, the purpose is not for us to merit anything, but for
God to be glorified in our obedience. So the idea of perfection in
the pragmatic and functional sense is simply that the aim
for which God's word penetrates our heart is that we would respond
openly and explicitly for his glory. I think I was meditating
on Matthew chapter 5, I think it's verse 48. Be ye perfect
even as your father which is in heaven is what? Perfect. Isn't
that what he says? So I thought about be ye perfect
as your father is in heaven is perfect. In conjunction with
the idea of manifestation, as John has said, verily the love
of God is perfected in you And if we are going to be perfect
in any kind of similitude of the perfection of the father,
I think what he means by even as your father in heaven is perfect,
I think what he's saying is God is invisible and cannot be seen
or comprehended or detected or known until he manifests himself
to us in the person of Jesus Christ. God is invisible and
cannot be seen, detected, or known until he manifests himself
in the person of Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ becomes, for
God, in relationship to us, the perfection of God. Jesus Christ
becomes for us the manifestation of God's intentions and God's
purposes and God's will so I would say that If God were to say to
you and I be like God apart from Christ We'd have no way to do
it because God would have to first Perfect himself in the
functional sense in which we're talking so that we could see
him And so in the same way, what he would say to us is, as dear
children, Ephesians chapter 5 verse 1, walk in love even as, this
here is your parallel conjunction, even as God, for Christ's sake,
has loved us. You guys see that? So it's a
reciprocal thing. It's not a matter of substance
equality. It's a matter of responding to
God's claim on us as his children. As I am your father, so walk
in me." And we're about to see that here now. So when you read
in verse 6 of 1 John chapter 2, and for 1 John chapter 2,
yeah, he, not verse 6, but verse 4, he that saith, I know him,
and keepeth not his commandments to the liar, and the truth is
not in him. But if you are keeping his word, present indicative
verb form, then in you, here's the response of God's word when
you keep it. It will naturally produce in
you an active obedience by which the love that he poured in you
will come to maturity. If you and I will stay in the
word, the word will fulfill its promise to work in us the love
of God on such a level that it will work out in our lives in
the obedience that will bring him glory. You guys got that? So now follow the next verse.
This is where we want to get into our study and start making
our way, try to catch up with John. because he's turning a
corner. Verse six says, he that saith,
here's another one of the seven claims of the false prophets.
He that saith he abides in him ought himself also to walk as
he walked. Once again, John is challenging
the assumption of the claims of the false prophets or false
teachers who had left the church. He says, they say they abide
in him. but they don't walk like him. Now, John is saying that that's
not possible. It's not possible for you and
I to say we abide in him, but we don't walk like him. Now,
we're going to look at three reasons for which this conclusion
that John draws is true. It's not possible for a believer
to actually claim having a relationship with God on a level of such close
proximity as to be in God. That's what it means to abide.
Menal is the Greek verb meaning to abide or to remain or to be
under or to be in. It's kind of like when a person
is in their house and they dwell, that's another way the word is
translated, dwelling in your house. We'll look at some verses
here in a moment, but a person that says he dwells in God is
making certain assumptions of which If those assumptions are
true, it's impossible for him to not therefore then walk like
Christ walked. So we wanna take into consideration
this particular claim. He that said he abided in him. Now, where have we heard that
phrase abide before? Remember what I told you, John
echoes Jesus all the time. Go with me in your Bible to John
chapter 14. Let's look at a few verses that
underscores this reality. So now what John is doing, he's
simply testing the claims of the false prophets whose lifestyle
has betrayed them as not being sincere and earnest. And what
he's doing is helping the church of which he is pastoring to keep
themselves from a profession only christianity a christianity
that merely talks and does not have a substantive uh... lifestyle to correspond with
what they say but here is what we mean by john echoing what
jesus said i'm gonna start at first twenty one and go through
uh... john twenty one through of but john fourteen twenty one
through verse twenty five and i want you to mark the phraseology
actually twenty-four verse twenty one he that hath my commandments
keepeth them he it is that what so you see the correspondence
with verse 4 of 1st John if a man's keeping my words what's gonna
happen to him is that love of God is gonna flow into him that's
just a necessary consequence of the word being and in fact
keeping God's Word is an evidence that you love God it's just a
natural evidence and notice what he says And he that loveth me
shall be loved of my father. Do you see that? So they're watching.
Here it is again. The man that is keeping God's
word, that's retaining, keeping, guarding, heeding, listening
to, treasuring, adoring, longing for the words of Christ will
experience the love of God in his being. And not only that,
but the father will pour more love into him. Listen to the
language, because this then is really profound, because he says,
not only is the person that is keeping them is the one that
loves me, but he that loves me shall be loved of my father,
shall be loved of my father. I am demonstrating that I love
Christ. But in my love for Christ, the benefit, accruing benefit,
is that God is loving me. You guys follow that? So the
word is an evidence that I love Christ. My love for Christ is
rewarded by God loving me. See, whoever loves the son, the
father loves him. And there's a reason for it,
but what we are doing is demonstrating the comprehensive nature of the
love of the triune God in the life of the person who keeps
God's word. And I will love him, see that? You keep my word, you're
evidencing that you love me. My father will love you and I
will love you. Now, when you think about the implications
of that, two persons of the Godhead are here openly declaring that
they will love you. If you love me, we will love
you. Did that make some sense right there? So now here's the
question that we want to ask again. The text implies conditionality. Remember what I've said several
times. I don't believe in unconditional love. I just don't. I don't believe unconditional
love are two concepts that can be integrated because love by
nature is conditional. It is a law unto itself. It carries
within it certain axioms. And according to God, when you
love God, he loves you back. Are you hearing me? there is
a reciprocating nature to loving God. And this is conditional.
If a man keeps my word, he will know the love of God and the
father will love him and the son will love him. And if you're
struggling with that, remember I shared with you long ago, Proverbs
chapter 30, we'll be done. Proverbs eight, we'll be dealing
with that down the line in our gospel and sexuality class, where
we will demonstrate that the culture of people who are advocating
any other sexual identity other than the male female sexual identity
that has been given us by God essentially hates God. Are you
following me? It will it will fall out that
why people are wanting to be other than what God has made
them is because they hate God. It only stands to reason that
if God made me in his image and I don't like what I see, I don't
like God. Are you hearing me? And so the
bandying about the idea of unconditional love is a nonsensical term. It's not biblical. It may make
us feel good and gooey and all that stuff, but there's no such
thing as unconditional love. Love is a law unto itself. Love
has requirements. Love has stipulations. Love has
boundaries. Love has warnings. Love has threats.
You know what Proverbs says? All that hate me love death. Why? Because love is conditional.
It's conditional. And so what we are demonstrating
is that evangelical love, the gospel love that comes to you
and me, is a love from God that meets conditions by which God
can love us. The evangelical love of God in
Christ is a love from God that meets conditions by which God
can love us. And the condition that God requires
for him to love us is faith. Are you hearing me? I want you
to work through this now. The unbeliever perishes under
the wrath of God, right? The unbeliever perishes under
the wrath of God. The believer experiences the bliss of perfection
for all eternity. And somebody will say God loved
them both equally unconditionally. Somebody tell me what's wrong
with that picture. The unbeliever perishes under
the severity of God's wrath, abhorred and rejected for all
eternity under the hostility of God because of his holiness
and his justice. And they perish apart from Christ,
the source and object, the means by which God's love can bring
a person into a saving relationship with God. Other people experience
the absolute epitome of bliss in the presence of God for all
eternity, with joys and pleasures that can't be described, called
the sons and daughters of God, with God eternally forever, free
of any potential for hurt and harm in an unending everlasting
state of bliss. One is experiencing the love
of God, the other is not. Are you hearing me? And the grounds
upon which one is and one is not is faith. Do you guys get that? Without
faith, it's impossible to please God. Now, is that what the Bible
says? So stay with me right now, just
in case y'all still deluded by unconditional love principles.
If it's true that Hebrews chapter 11 is right, that without faith,
it's impossible to please God. Is pleasure a derivative of love? Is pleasure a derivative of love?
If pleasure is the manifestation of God's approval of who you
are and what you're doing, that is a derivative of love. And
if the opposite is his displeasure, which is a derivative of his
hostility or antipathy towards you, those who are objects of
God's wrath are objects of his displeasure. Those who are objects
of his mercy and grace are objects of his pleasure. And the pivotal
point is faith. Am I telling the truth? Faith.
So watch this. No one enters into the door of
the experiential love of God unconditionally. The devil doesn't get to walk
up and bask in the love of God. The demons don't get to wade
in the resources of God's favor and approval and approbation. This hostile world that would
kill God over and over and over again as they seek to mar his
image in us and in our children have no right to feel confident
that they can walk into the love of God. Am I making some sense? Because the love of God is not
unconditional. It's conditional. Whenever God
calls a sinner to himself, He calls a sinner to himself on
the grounds of conditions. Come unto me, all you that labor
and are heavy laden. Not you that are at ease and
confident in your self-righteousness, you who labor and are heavy laden.
Come! Conditions. Are you hearing me? Conditions.
The condition is laid out to the sinner and guess what? The
sinner says, I don't like your condition. But what's the condition
again? Faith! Whosoever believeth on
him hath everlasting life. Isn't that right? You know what
we call that? A conditional proposition. Am
I telling the truth? Some of you guys understand logic
a little bit. Is this a rational consideration
that the love of God in the scriptures is nowhere depicted as unconditional? On God's part, he met the requirements
necessary for the conditions to be met for me to enjoy his
love. He brought faith about and he
gave it to me so now I can respond to him. And in my response to
God by believing, guess what? I'm glorifying God, right? I'm glorifying God. And guess
what else? The people that will perish under the wrath of God
because they don't believe will glorify God too. God will be
glorified. Every knee shall bow, every tongue
shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God,
even if it means in hell. So thus love is not depicted
in the New Testament in the evangelical sense at all as unconditional. It's always conditional, even
if the conditions are met by God. Verse 21, the latter part. He shall be loved of my father
and I will love him. And here's a third response to
the keeping of God's command. And I will manifest myself to
him. Do you see that? What a great
gift. Judah said unto him, not a scary
Lord. How is it that you will manifest
yourself to us and not the world? Do you see the distinction? A
promise is made that God would manifest himself to those who
keep his word. That's conditional, isn't it?
But he's not going to manifest himself to the world. Now, if
God is an unconditionally loving God, why would God make a distinction
between the group and category of people to whom he will manifest
himself and those to whom he will not? Might I assert or say
that if God doesn't manifest himself to us, we perish. Right. And yet, without any explanation,
you know what he said? Uh, the, uh, the question came
from Judas, not as scary. It, it appears to me that God's
love is not only conditional it's particular and distinguishing. That's the other aspect of God's
love in Christ that people don't like. People don't like the fact
that God puts conditions on his love. And then people don't like
the fact that God bestows his love on whom he wills. But may
I say this about the love of God, which flows from his nature
because God is love. We're going to learn that when
we get to the fourth chapter, will you stay with me for a minute?
You're not going to tell God how to act. You're not going to tell God
how to act. You're not going to tell God how to behave. Certainly
not in what he does and definitely not in what he is. None of God's
creatures have the capacity to make God act any other way than
who he is. And the way the Bible reveals
God is as sovereign. Sovereign. This is the problem
with the creature. The creature does not like the
fact that the God of the Bible is sovereign. Are you hearing
me? This is why in a 21st century,
we have to be careful about what enters into our ear gate in terms
of the fluffly, nice, contemporary terminology, the unconditional
love of God. It makes no sense to me. OK, and so be very careful,
because virtually everywhere you read where God talks about
his love is always based upon conditions. Conditions that we
meet are conditions that God meets for us because love is
not going to violate itself. So even on a practical level,
I'll help you understand this because just you may still fall
prey to this. You might actually think you love people unconditionally. Who here loves somebody? Who
here can think about somebody that you love so much? that they can do anything and
it won't change the temperature, dimension, range, significance,
intensity of your love towards them. See, the lights are on tonight,
see. See, we don't have any hypocrites in the house tonight, but you
know this delusional religious world. Well, I just love them
unconditionally. You liar. You liar. You're a liar. The notion that
you love people unconditionally is something you are entertaining,
but it's not a reality and experience. We draw back and we draw near
to people on a reciprocating level based upon how they act
with us. This was tough. I said it in
our prayer group, but I can say stuff in our prayer group that
I can't say the rest. Cause we'd be praying so we can handle stuff. Cause if we don't like it, we
can just go write the prayer, write about it. And here's the
reality. As much as you might want to fondly embrace the notion
that you love all your kids equally, you're lying. So now you're better than Jacob
and you're better than Abraham. Are you hearing me? And you're
better than Isaac. And you're better than David. See? Boy, we be floating on clouds.
Don't we be floating on... You know, I'm so holy. No, you're
not. You're a sinful creature. The sovereignty of God is designed
to lay us low and to deal with God in terms of mercy, not merit. Do you guys get that? The sovereignty of God, the fact
that God does whatever he wants to, and he doesn't take into
account whether you and I like it or not, is designed to lay
us low and to negotiate with God on the grounds of mercy,
not merit. When I think about God in the
truth, and I think about the prospects of a relationship with
him on any level, in any category, the way I must approach God is
on the grounds of mercy. When I talk to God, it has to
be on the grounds of mercy. You know what mercy means? I
don't have a right to negotiate with God. I don't have a claim
on God. I'm not bringing to God a piece
of news he don't already know. I'm not getting ready to make
God better if he takes my advice. And I'm not adding to God anything
if he puts me on his team. I'm very much aware that God
doesn't need me. And I'm also aware that smarter
men than me have tried to have a conversation with God and ended
up in a lot of trouble. Are you hearing me? So when I
come to God, I come to God on the grounds of mercy, which means
that God could obliterate me and would be right to do so at
even the thought of questioning why God does what he does. But
I found out that not only is love his attribute and his holiness
is his attribute and his justice is his attribute, but mercy is
his attribute too. And because mercy is his attribute,
I slide into a conversation with God on the basis of his mercy. So that I don't threaten. His
sovereignty. I'm not going to tell God to
be something just to make me feel good and emotionally satisfy
his creatures. Am I making some sense, ladies
and gentlemen? In other words, here's what I'm saying. The gospel,
as magnanimous as it is, is still too narrow for the proud. Got it? As magnanimous as the
gospel is, it's still too narrow for the proud. That's why people
won't come. Because to come, you got to come
on God's terms. So listen to what he says. Verse
23, Jesus said unto him, if a man loved me, he will keep my words. Do you
see that? And my father will love him and we will come unto
him and make our abode with him. Do y'all see that? Now here's
what John is saying. Now watch this. Watch this. This
is what John is saying. If you say you abide in him,
what you are saying is they abide in where? You. Got it? The man that says he abides in
God is really saying that both the father and the son abides
in him. Now that has far-reaching implications. The man that says he's abiding
in God is also saying that the Father and the Son is abiding
in him. What does a person look like who has the first person
and the second person of the Trinity in them? See what I'm
getting at? What John is saying is you can't
tell me that you abide in God Your lifestyle demonstrates that
God doesn't abide in you There's a foregone conclusion that if
you're in God God's in you Now let me tie the knot on this go
with me back to first John Here's also what first John is
saying about that by which he brings us into an oblique an
obligatory response to the fact that if God remains in me, if
he abides in me, if he stays in me, if he rests in me, if
he situates himself in me, if he is continuing with me, if
he's persevering with me, if God is dwelling with me because
I'm dwelling with God, there should be some necessary results. But before we get to that, here's
what we also know. Not only when a person says that
they abide in God, that the father and the son abides in you, But
when a person says you abide in God, they abide in God. They
are also saying the third person abides in them. Now, watch this. I'm at first
John, chapter two, verse 24 through 27. Are you there? Let therefore
let that therefore abide in you, which you have heard from the
beginning. that which you have heard from the beginning shall
remain in you you also shall continue in the what and in the
what my goodness now John uses that sort of indefinite article
to cause us to ask the question what is this antecedent force
our entity that actually secures the presence of the father and
the son in us since we say we abide in Him. In other words,
there's a reason and a cause for which the Father and the
Son abides in us. And according to John, the cause
and means and instrumentality by which the first person and
the second person abides in us is the third person. The only
way the Father and the Son can abide in you is by the Spirit. You guys got that? Watch the
language. And this is the promise that
he hath promised us, even eternal life. These things have I written
unto you concerning them that seduce you. See, here is the
reason for which John writes, the seducers. But look at verse
27. But the anointing, do you see
it? The anointing, which is the synonym
for what? The third person. But the anointing,
which you have received of him, who Christ abideth in you. And you need not that any man
teach you, but as the same anointing teaches you all things, and is
what? True, and is no lie, and even
as it hath taught you, you shall abide in him. Do you see the
correlation? The father and the son abides
in us because we abide in him, but they only abide in us because
the spirit is the vehicle or the means or the instrumentality
by which they do. And rightly so. Just to be clear
about the economical relationship between the three persons of
the Godhead. We learned this in theology class,
that in relationship to the three persons of the Godhead, just
like it is in the complementarian relationship between a husband
and a wife, they are a coupled unit, husband and a wife, the
twain become one flesh in a complementarian relationship where both parts
are uniquely and distinctly different, but combined together become
a what? Unit. two uniquely and distinct
entities combined together become a unit. Apart from each other,
they cannot perform their job. That's what the scripture teaches.
That is the functional relationship in the covenant context of a
husband and a wife. With the Godhead, it remains
that way as well. We have the relationship of the
father, the relationship of the son, and the relationship of
the spirit. All three of those persons work
together in a complementarian way. They complement each other. They work together to fulfill
their objectives. What the father purposes, the
son himself prepares and the spirit performs. What the father
decrees, the son accomplishes, and the spirit applies. What
the father objectives are, our goals are, the son produces,
and the spirit brings to pass. This is how they work in an economical
relationship. The role of the spirit is to
bring to pass the work of Christ, which is the decree of the father
in the life of the people. So follow this now, when we talk
about the proximity of God in our lives, when we talk about
that in any substantive way, what we are talking about is
the work of the spirit. When we talk about God in the
abstract sense, in the objective sense, in the remote sense of
Him being omnipresent, in Him being transcendent, in Him being
immutable, in Him being high and lofty, we are talking about
God in the objective sense, where we cannot say that we can possess
God in our being. It's not possible to possess
the Father in our being. The Father is in heaven. It's
not possible to possess the Son in our being. The Son has created
all things. He upholds all things and sustains
all things even now, you and me. But it is possible to have
the Father and the Son by the Spirit. For the Spirit is able
to bring to reality in our being both the Father and the Son.
So even though you don't read about the utilitarian, the utilitarian
work of the spirit, uh, in any given text where it's talks about
the son being in us and the father being in us, always know that
the only way they can be in us is by the spirit. Are you hearing
me? The only way they can be in us
is by his spirit. And that's what John is saying
here. Now listen to the language again, but the anointing, Which
you have received of him abides in you and you need not that
any man teach you But as the same anointing teaches you all
things and isn't john echoing what jesus said in john 14 15
16 I will send the comforter unto you and he will teach you
all things He will bring to remembrance those things of mine and show
them to you and glorify me That's the role of the third person
To make jesus a reality in our life Verse 27 Again, but the anointing which
you have received of him abides in you and you need not that
any man teach you but as the same anointing teaches you all
things and it's true and there's no lie. And even as it has taught
you you shall what abide in him. So if any man abide in him the
triune God abides in him by which we abide in him. Notice the last
line. If the anointing abides in you,
you shall abide in Him. In other words, the only way
that I can maintain dwelling with God, abiding in God, communing
with God, continuing with God is by His Spirit. Do you guys
get that? The goal of the Spirit is to
keep us in Christ. Now, I'm saying that I abide
in Him because that's my experience. But what I am not saying is I
am the cause of my abiding. The cause of my abiding is the
spirit of God. But it's proper to also say that
the fact that I'm abiding in him also means that he is abiding
in me. See what I'm getting at? Now,
there are some net consequences to that reality, which I want
us to see back at verse seven of chapter two. I'm sorry, verse
six. Are you there? Chapter two, verse
six. He that said he abideth in him.
What's the next word there? Ought. Ought himself also to
walk as he walked. Now, what does that mean? Ought.
That little word ought there means I'm indebted. Ophelia is
the term. And it's the same term that is
used when the scripture says, oh, no man anything. But to love
one another. When the tempters came to Christ
and said to Jesus. Should we obey Caesar? Or God? And he said, show me a coin.
He said, whose inscription is on this coin? They said, Caesar.
They said, render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and unto
God that which is God's. Remember that? Because you abide
under the auspices of Caesar's kingdom, you are indebted to
Caesar. Because you abide under the auspices
of God's kingdom, you are indebted to God. Meaning that if we say
that we abide in him, we make that claim. We are now indebted to walk like we abide in him. You guys got that? That's what
that means. Lower art means we are indebted. Now, why is that the case? Somebody
tell me, why is it the case that if I say I am in him, I'm indebted
to walk like he walked? Why is that the case? Because
the son is in me and the father's in me. And just like the father
was in the son, the son walked according to his relationship
with the father. So we who say that the son and
the father in us are to walk like he walked. You guys got
that? That's the logic, that's the
argument that John is making to demonstrate the distinction
between the rulers, the false prophets and false teachers that
had left the church. Go with me to John chapter 13.
We're gonna look at two verses on this. Our walk is an obligation
to him because we are privileged to be able to say we are in him.
John 13 verse 14. I'm going to start at John 13
verse 14. Well, I'm going to use this as the illustration,
and then we'll explain what it means to walk in him. We'll move
to our next verse. Notice what Jesus does. This
here is the Lord's, the last Lord's, last supper and the first
Lord's table for Christ and the disciples. And he does a phenomenal
thing for them. And, and we, we see this at verse
12 of John 13. So after he had washed their
feet, and had taken his garments and was set down again, he said
unto them, Do you know what I have done to you? You guys see that?
Now, you remember, they were all discombobulated because their
master washed their feet, right? They couldn't get with that.
Peter struggled enormously. But the Lord wasn't doing anything
but giving them a mirror. And an illustration of what he
expected from them for the privilege of them being able to say that
they are in Christ and Christ is in them. He was sharing with
them what it should look like when you guys go about telling
people that you are in me. So he models for them what it
will look like. Now watch the language. Do you
know what I've done? He says, verse 13, you guys call
me master and Lord. See that? And watch this now.
That's a privilege, isn't it? To call Jesus master and call
him Lord is privilege. And the Lord says, and that's
the right thing to do because I am, I'm your master. I'm your
Lord. Watch this. If then your Lord
and master have washed your feet, you also, here's our word, are
indebted to wash one another's feet. Do you see it? See, there is no disconnect between
what our master did in his obedience to his father and what we are
to do in our obedience to him. The privilege that Christ had
to tell the world that he was the son of God is the same privilege
given to us. We tell the world that we are
sons and daughters of God, but that privilege comes with obligations. Are you following me? See cuz
listen now the moment you tell people that you're a son of God
you're advertising for God now Did you do you understand that
you know, you didn't you didn't just put a banner up for God
You're indebted to represent him, isn't that true? Jesus came
he put the banner up. He said I'm here to represent
God and You know what he said i'm here to represent now y'all
can follow me and I know y'all because that's what y'all do
You can follow me all the way to calvary And determine whether
or not I rightly represented god See what i'm getting at I
have the privilege of saying i'm the son of god. They they
killed him Because he said he was the son of god And what john
is doing is passing to us the blessed privilege and obligation
of using that terminology And even more important than that
What John is saying to us is there are a bunch of people out
there that are saying they are in him and their lifestyle does
not correspond with the implications of that statement. And I don't
want you to be like them. That's what John is saying. So
listen to the language again. Verse 14. I then Your Lord and
Master have washed your feet. You also ought to wash one another's
feet. For I have given you an example
that you should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord, neither
he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If you know
these things, happy are you if you what? Do them. So see what we have with John's
writing, go back to our text. I'm going to expedite this now
in three ways, because the question that we can ask now is what does
it look like to walk even as he walked? Verse six, he that
saith he abideth in him ought also to walk even as he walked. What does it look like or how
can we describe Christ's walk? Well, I'm gonna stay in the epistle
of John and give you three words which will serve as synonyms
for how Christ walked. The first one is Christ walked
in the light. He walked in the light. That's
1 John 1-2. Christ walked in the light. Didn't
he walk in the light? Well, that's what we're called to do, walk
in the light too. The second manner in which Christ walked
is in love. Christ walked in the love of
God. There's no one that can say that
Christ was not love. He was the epitome of love. So
our lifestyle should be indicative of walking in the light, walking
in biblical truth, walking in gospel truth. It should also
be indicative of walking in love. Walk in the light as you are
called children of the light and children of the day. Isn't
that 1 Thessalonians 4-5? Walk in love as dear children,
that's Ephesians 5-1, even as Christ walked in love and gave
himself for us. One more way in which Christ
also walked. This will work itself out as
we continue to go through the text. He walked by faith. Did
Christ walk by faith? You know, the pagan said this
when he was on Calvary. I want you to watch this now.
The pagans that killed our master while he was laying hanging there,
bleeding to death, said this. He trusted in God. Let God deliver
him now. He trusted in God. See now, follow
this now. One of the reasons they killed
our master is because he demonstrated a trust in his father. Oh You
oh you trust God, huh? Okay, let's see if you're gonna
trust him when we hang you high between heaven and earth and
you go through the excruciating pain of crucifixion right The
whole gang said he trusteth in God He trusteth in God. Let's see if God will save him.
I Out of their own mouths, they declared that our master walked
by faith. And you remember what our master said. I don't do anything
but that which my father has shown me and that which my father
has commanded. That's called walking by faith.
So what I mean by what John says, he that saith he abideth in him
ought to also walk as he walked. I want you to just follow this.
If Christ is in me, three things are going to be manifested, light,
love, and faith. Light, love and faith. What are
we talking about? We are talking about regeneration. We're talking about being a partaker
of the divine nature. We're not talking about two or
three alien entities in us. We're talking about a congeniality
of the spirit of God invading my life, making me a son of God
so that naturally I walk in the light. Naturally I love, naturally
I believe. So light, love and faith, fruits
of regeneration aren't they light love and faith are fruits of
regeneration now he's gonna John is gonna reinforce these throughout
our class so you can leave that right there and let's go to verse
7 which is in your new outline walk in what your new outline
says walk in what Okay, so yeah, so here we go now walk in love.
So chapter 2 is getting ready to transition from light chapters
1 & 2 chapter 1 and part of chapter 2 Addresses the issue of light
certainly chapter 1 but chapter 2 is getting ready to move us
into walking in love and here's what we have in verses 7 and
following and Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you,
but an old commandment, which you have from the beginning.
The old commandment is the word which you have heard from the
beginning. So someone tell me what John
meant when he says, I'm not telling you anything new. You heard this
from the beginning. What is John? The apostle, the
Jewish theologian, the Hebrew, raised up under the Tanah, the
Torah, one of the first principles of the law, inculcated and catechized
in them as little children, saying, when he says, I'm not giving
you a new commandment, what is he saying? What is the commandment? To love the Lord your God with
all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and your neighbor as
yourself. Are you seeing what I'm getting
at? All he did was break it down in his evangelical terms and
demonstrate that what that commandment in the Old Testament meant was
that it required Christ in your life to be able to do that. To be able to love God requires
God loving us enough to come into our life in the person of
Jesus Christ and grant us the gift of love and the gift of
light and the gift of faith in order for us to respond to him.
When you think about Matthew chapter 22, it's around 13, 14,
or Deuteronomy chapter four, Deuteronomy chapter six, where
it says, love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
What do you think about? What comes to your mind when
those, because Jesus dealt with the lawyers, they said, what
is the greatest commandment, right? Jesus says, you know what,
you know what the book said, you guys are Hebrews, you guys
are Jews, you know what the book says, in but two commandments,
under this, everything falls in place. That's a beautiful
reality. And vertically, God is to be
everything to me. Horizontally, I must love my
neighbor as I love myself. That's it. You guys got that? That's it. Those are the two
principle axioms by which a man not only knows that he loves
God, but is known that God loves him. In other words, if a person says
he loves God and he really does, you know what Paul said in 1
Corinthians chapter 8? The same is known of him. You guys remember that text?
He that said he loves God, well, the same is known of him. People
will know that you love God. Because you act like you do. Can I keep this thing simple?
Are we lost? See, here's what I'm getting
at. If you and I were dealing with trying to execute the command
to love God, absent of the presence of God, then this might be some
profoundly difficult command. But given the fact that the scriptures
have said, that the person that is actually keeping and guarding
and regarding and cherishing and loving God's word already
has the love of God in him. And because he loves Christ,
because that's what the word is going to ultimately result
in. You study the scriptures, you read the word, you abide
continually in the word, you're going to love Jesus. Listen,
this is why we know people who don't love Christ don't know
God's word. They don't know his word because the word is going
to lead you to Christ. And that will be an evidence
that God has loved you. And if you love Christ, remember what
he said, the father's gonna love you. Ain't that what it says?
So when we are called by John to walk as he walked, all John
is calling us to do is to love the father and love our neighbor. You guys got that? And that will
be evident by us walking in the light. We're getting ready to
see that in a moment. Walking in love, getting ready
to see that in a moment. And then when we get to chapter
five, walking by faith. Now look at verse eight. Again,
a new camp commandment I write unto you, which thing is true
in him and in you. Do you see that? Now notice what
he says. First of all, he says, 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. And here's the reason why. Because
the darkness is past and the true light now what? Ah, we're
back on the light business again. Remember what I said a few weeks
ago, the way John argues, he argues in concentric circles,
going forwards and backwards, linking previous themes with
present themes in order to demonstrate that he knows where he's going
and he's not disjointed in his thoughts. He is now talking about
love But he's also talking about light. Isn't that right? Well, the light was in the first
chapter. Now we're in the second chapter. But John doesn't disconnect
love from light. Notice how he deals with this.
He says, I didn't give you a new commandment. That's verse seven,
brother. And I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment,
which you've heard from the beginning, love the Lord with your whole
heart, soul, mind and strength, your neighbor as yourself. However,
he says in verse eight, again, a new commandment I write unto
you, which thing is true in him. And it's also true in you. So
he said, now I'm giving you a new commandment. Even though a moment
ago, I told you, I didn't give you a new commandment. I give
you an old commandment. But really, the old commandment that I'm
giving you, I'm giving it to you now in a new way. And what
he means by a new way. Is that what was said in the
Old Testament about loving the Lord, your God, with all your
heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbor as yourself.
Was viewed as an obligation on the part of the people of God,
apart from the finished work of Christ. But once Christ came
and finished the work, That commandment is now given to us with respect
to what Christ did and how he modeled that commandment and
transferred what he did and how he modeled that to us. So when
the scripture says, I give you a new commandment, which thing
is true first in him, before we get to us, we go back to him
and ask the question, how is it true in Christ? See what I'm
getting at? This commandment, this new commandment
that I give you is true in you, but it's first true in Christ.
What is the new commandment? Well, it's the old commandment.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength
and your neighbor as yourself. Well, how did Jesus do that?
What's the answer? Calvary. It's just that simple,
see? We are dealing with a crystal
centric command that takes the old and makes it new without
changing it at all. Only brings it into crystal perspective
by the person and work of Jesus Christ. See John chapter 13,
when Jesus took off his clothes, put on that towel and washed
his disciples feet, he was preparing them for his cross. That's how
he loved us. He laid down his life. That's
how he loved God. He laid down his life. How are we then to love God and
love our neighbors by laying down our life? Are you guys hearing
what I'm saying? So what John is simply saying
is don't ever take the commandments and consider them apart from
the person and work of Jesus. To do so is to set yourself up
for failure. More than that, what John is
saying is, and this ought to be a comfort, at least to the
first century church, but it should be a comfort to you. Listen
to what he says. Again, a new commandment, I write
unto you, which thing is true in him and is true where? Now, first of all, that's a compliment,
isn't it? Okay, so John, tell me what it
is that's true in me that's true in him. Well, what's true in
me that's true in Christ is the love of God that he shed abroad
in my heart, which Christ had in his heart that gave him the
grace to love his father and to love me enough to lay down
his life. What's true in me that's true
in Christ is the fact that Christ walked in the light, that Christ
walked in love and that Christ walked by faith and that God
has given me grace to do the same thing. And the reason why
is I am in him and he is in me. See what we're talking about
is union. Are you hearing me? We're talking about union and
listen to the beauty of what John is saying. John is saying
now watch this. He's getting ready to, he's getting
ready to flip all the way back to light and it's going to turn
into love again, but he's going back to light and he's now using
the metaphor of a 24 hour day. He says, because the darkness
is past. and the light is already shining.
Do you see the metaphor? Because the darkness has passed
and the light is already shining, I can tell you of a truth that
I know that just as it was true for Christ, it's true for you. What was true for Christ is true
for you. Christ walked in the light. In
fact, you know what he said? He said, I am the light of the
world. He said, if a man follow me,
he will never walk in darkness. Isn't that what he says? Then
he says, walk while you have the light, because the night
is coming when no man can walk. Isn't that what he said? So when
he said, I am the light, you know what he was saying? The
light has come into the world and the darkness is passing.
And that was certainly the case in Jesus day, wasn't it? Remember
what John says? And the light came into the darkness
and the darkness comprehended it not or overcame it not. This
was the true light that lighted every man that comes into the
world. This is what John is talking about. Here's what he's saying.
Christ, who is the light, penetrated the darkness and demonstrated
that he was not only walking in the light, but he was the
light. He gave us that same command. Did he give us that command?
He gave us the command to walk in the light. And whenever you
become a true believer, that's what you do. The evidence that
you and I have been born again is that the darkness that we
used to be in is passing away and the light is now manifesting
itself. That's how you know. Now, I'm
just going to work with John on the text just in case this
is difficult for you. I'm not going to stay and do
any lengthy exposition because our time is up. But I just want
you to see how the flow goes in our text. Remember, he's talking
light. He's talking love. He's talking
light. He's talking love. Now he's getting
ready to give you the antithesis so that you can understand he's
talking light and love because he's getting ready to talk about
hate and darkness, isn't he? Watch it. Verse 9 and 10. The man that says he is in the
what? See how John is jumping back
to chapter one. The man that says he's in Christ
and Christ is in him, that he abides in Christ and Christ abides
in him. Watch this now. He that says
he's in the light and yet he what? Hates his brother. Is in darkness even until now.
Are you with me? He who says he is in the light
but hates his brother. is in darkness, even till now.
In your outline, verses 9 through 11, light and hatred are mutually
exclusive because hatred is darkness, demonic, and devilish, right?
Hatred is darkness, demonic, and devilish. One passage of
scripture to affirm it. Go with me in your Bible to John
chapter 12. Now, if you're being fatigued by this tedious language,
all John is doing is flipping from the gospel of John to his
own writings in 1st John and echoing everything his master
said. He isn't saying anything new.
He's just recalling how Christ spoke to him about the experience
that they were having with Christ as they journeyed with Christ
to Calvary. John chapter 12 verse 35 and
36 and notice how the analogy follows through. Here's what
Jesus says, verse 35. Then Jesus said unto them, yet
a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have the
light. Here it is, lest what? Darkness
come upon you. For he that walketh in darkness
does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe
in the light that you may be what? Now watch this. These things spake Jesus and
departed and did hide himself. Why? Because the rulers who said
they knew God but were walking in darkness hated him and wanted
to kill him. And he told his disciples, don't
be like them. That's what he's saying in 1st
John chapter 2 as well. Go back to 1st John So when John
says he that said he is in the light, but hates his brother
You can actually tie that idea of hating one's brother into
rejecting Christ and crucifying him because they demonstrated
that they did not love Christ and They demonstrated that they
did not walk in the light by their murderous treachery of
killing the only light of the world. He that saith he is in
the light and hates his brother is in darkness even till now. Verse 10. He that loveth his
brother does what? Okay, stop right there. See,
here we go then. You know what John just did?
John just made the evidence of me loving people, me walking
in the light. Isn't that what he just did?
So see, so John actually, he does his own development and
exegesis of these propositions if you let it follow. Because
I know that, you know, we're in an intellectual age and we
use terms love and we use terms light and we use term faith.
These things become abstract to us because we are not as pragmatic
as we ought to be. But here's what John says. Here
is what it means to love your neighbor. for you and I to walk
in the light. If I am walking in the light,
I am not gonna kill my brother. I'm just using John's language.
If I'm walking in the light, I am gonna be loving my brother,
right? Can I tell you why? Just in a
very pragmatic way. I'm gonna be the means by which
the lights are cut on. Are you ready? I'm gonna be the
means by which the lights are cut off. And the lights being
on, I am now giving my brother an opportunity to walk in a way
where he doesn't stumble. Are you following me? See, if
you are walking with me and I don't love you, all I need to do is
cut the lights off. If I cut the lights off pretty
soon, you are going to stumble. That's what Jesus said. Walk
while you have the light. If a man walks in darkness, he
will stumble because he does not know where he is going. You
guys see that? So what I am taught by this is
that if I'm going to practically and successfully love the saints,
and love my brother and love my neighbor, I'm going to want
to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord and in the truth
of scripture and I've got to line my life up so that I'm consistent
with this book so that when people see my path, they'll be able
to be confident of their own path by the light I shed on my
path. Otherwise, I am willingly setting
you up to stumble. And if I'm living in such a way
as to cause you to stumble, two things are true. I don't love
you and I'm not walking in the light. And if I'm not walking
in the light and I don't love you, it's not possible for Christ
to be abiding in me. Am I making some sense? Because
if he is the light and he dwells in me, then I'm going to be the
light by which others are able to walk in the light. And I'm
not going to give anyone an occasion to stumble because I love them
enough to keep the lights on. See what John is saying? John is saying to you and I,
true, which is a synonym for light, is very important for
our journey. that we don't get to say one
thing and do another. We don't get to believe false
doctrine and false teaching. We don't get to believe in error
and heresy. We don't get to embrace lies
and practice falsehood. We don't get to be a pseudo Christian
without it having calamitous consequences in the life of people
we know and we love. John is so concerned with the
souls of men and women that he's saying to the brethren that listened
to him, brethren, listen to me. I was with God for three and
a half years. And I saw how he walked. And
we who were with him never once stumbled because of how he walked. Are you hearing me? Really what
he's doing still is demonstrating that these fellas who had left
the church saying one thing and doing another, they didn't know
God at all. Because had they known God, they
wouldn't have done that. Verse 10, and we'll come back
here next week and work through this. He that loves his brother
abides in the light, and there is no occasion of stumbling in
him. See that? There is no occasion
of stumbling in him. to walk in the light means that
I'm abiding in Christ means that my lifestyle is going to be earnest
and sincere enough to avoid me stumbling and others around me
stumbling. And what this class is actually
teaching is the importance of honesty with God. It's going
back to chapter one. and saying, if we confess our
sins, he is just and faithful to forgive us of our sins and
cleanse us from all unrighteousness because we are walking in the
light. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses
us from all sin because we are walking in the light. We are
being honest about who we are. Because we are walking in the
light, we are confessing who he is. Because we are walking
in the light, we are not causing people to stumble by putting
on a pretense or a facade or a false notion about who we are
so that people stumble by the lies that we perpetrate because
we're pointing to ourself and not pointing to Christ. because
we're pointing to Christ, because we are showing men and women
that we need the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, we're keeping
the lights on. We're keeping the lights on.
And you and I don't become an occasion to stumble on the part
of anybody. If you are honest with God, then
you're gonna be honest with your neighbor and you're gonna be
honest with your neighbor enough to point them to Christ, which
is the sole grounds upon which you are free from any kind of
stumbling because there is no occasion of stumbling in Jesus. Let's pray. Father, thank you
for this time. Thank you for the word. In fact, thank you
for my brothers and sisters who have come out tonight. We truly
do desire to know you more fully and to enjoy the light that Christ
has manifested in his humanity as he walked this earth and he
modeled for us what it means to walk with the Father in his
accomplished redemption as he has for us purchased our redemption
and has granted us grace to have become a partaker of the divine
nature. Help your sons and daughters
to be able to cherish the privilege of being called sons and daughters
of God. As we go our way, give us traveling mercies. If you
will prepare our hearts to worship you on Sunday, grant us grace
to see him in his glory. One more time, we pray in Jesus
name. Amen. God bless you guys.