Christ: The Light of Love

Pastor Jason Booth delivers a sermon titled "Christ, the Light of Love" based on 1 John, chapter 2, verses 7-14. He emphasizes the importance of love and forgiveness among believers. He addresses doctrinal issues and false teachings, reminding the congregation of Christ's sacrifice and the need to love one another. He encourages them to let go of bitterness and wrath and to live in the light of God's grace. He emphasizes that righteousness comes through Christ alone and that believers should be motivated by His love. The sermon also touches on the power of the Holy Spirit and the sanctification of believers. Overall, the message highlights the significance of love and forgiveness in the Christian faith. The following message is brought to you by the people of Redeemer Church of Piketon, Ohio. For more information, please visit RedeemerPiketon.org. And now, here's Pastor Jason Booth with the message. The title of my sermon this morning is Christ, the Light of Love. Christ, the Light of Love. And so, with that context in mind, let's consider verse 7 through verse 14 of 1 John, chapter 2. The Word of the Living God. Beloved, I am writing to you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the Word that you have heard. And at the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for His name's sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong and the Word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. We do trust that the Lord will add His own blessings to the public reading of His Word today. Amen. Amen. In the light of love, it is so easy for us to be sidetracked in this old world. So many cares can take our minds off of the things of God and off of what really matters. And even in this own epistle, in this very epistle, the apostle here is dealing with heavy-duty doctrinal issues amongst this church. He writes to them in chapter 1, if I could just for a moment, I'll digress just for a moment, and I'll look back here. He says in verse 1 of chapter 1, that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, looked upon, and have touched with our hands, concerning the Word of life. He says in verse 2, the life was made manifest, and we have seen it and testified to you and proclaimed to you the eternal life. And the reason he goes to the detail of talking about how he's seen with his eyes, he touched with his hands, he was speaking about the physical nature of Jesus Christ, and how He wasn't just a spirit. So, John is dealing with serious doctrinal issues. Things that would fundamentally change what it means to be a Christian. And then in chapter 2 of this epistle, he tells us in verse 2, that Christ is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the world. Speaking there about the greater congregation of faith, those who would be drawn in from every kindred, nation, tribe, and tongue. That Christ satisfied God's wrath. So, he begins by saying, yes, He came in the flesh. Chapter 2 tells us that He died, and that His own flesh, His own body, became a sacrifice that propitiated God's wrath. That satisfied God's wrath. And then in verse 7, the scripture begins, this treatise now on how it is that we ought to behave one to the other, in light of Christ coming in the flesh, dying in the place of sinners. How should we behave, beloved? Well, the Apostle John is dealing with all these issues. Doctrinal strife, false teachers, and also an unloving attitude amongst the brethren. So, he's dealing with all of this, and in the span of just a few paragraphs of text, we have many themes of which to consider. Yes, he challenged those who were teaching the falsehood that Jesus did not come in the flesh. He challenged that, and he said, absolutely not. I saw Him with my eyes. I touched Him with these hands. John teaches the church. Even in the midst of doctrinal controversy, that love is never to be put on the back burner. Beloved, Christian love. We ought to be known by our love, and they will know they are Christians. They will know we are Christians, rather, by our love, says the old spiritual. Christ illuminates our darkness, does He not, and forgives us by His free and sovereign grace. We see it in the text of this very epistle. Jesus Christ came to save sinners. And what did He do? He saved His people. He saved us. He came in the flesh. The Bible says that He satisfied God's wrath in chapter 2, verse 2. The Bible says, you ought to love one another as Christ loved you. How do we live in the light of God's sovereign grace? He is the light of love. If He is the light of love, then we ought to live illuminated in love. We're lit up by the love of the Master. And as He loves us, we surely ought to love one another. He is the light of love who frees His people, unleashing us from the chains of unforgiveness, bitterness, and wrath. He empowers us to live in love for one another for His name's sake. Oh, how it is that our lives so many times are swallowed whole by envy, strife, bitterness, unforgiveness. The things that we harbor unforgiveness in our hearts like it's a child that we're tending to and we feed it secretly. We strengthen it in the dark times when no one else is around in the dark hours of the night by feeding into bitterness and wrath and spite. And next thing you know, you've got an unwelcome guest at every dinner. You've got an unwelcome guest at every family function. And what is this unwelcome guest? This root of bitterness that has sprung up within you that you've held up and ought against your brother even in the church, even amongst the household of faith. And you've allowed bitterness to reign in your members. John says, no, no, no that ought not be. And remember, the emphasis on our motive for this is not the righteousness that we obtain through Christ. Your ability to forgive your neighbor is not your righteousness before Almighty God. I want to make it clear to you you're not going to go to be with God forever one day because you were a good little boy or girl or tried really hard to be a good little boy or girl. But John is laying out some very practical guidance for the believers in this very text. He says in verse 7 that he's not leaving a new commandment for you. He's not. The commandment in Scripture has always been the same. Love your neighbor as yourself. Treat each other right. Be fair one with the other. Be equitable one with the other. But our righteousness is in Christ alone. He came in the flesh as the book says. He died satisfying God's wrath and now as believers as those who name the name of Christ those who know that it was Christ who went our way up Calvary Hill. It was Christ who bore our cross all the way up all the way up Golgotha. It was Christ that bore our sin and who died a hellish death on earth. Drinking damnation dry as the perfect sinless Savior for His people. He did these things for us. And then the Spirit of God came and applied this truth to us that we would be willing to believe it. He regenerated us. We believed the Gospel. Now we know Christ. We know what He did. We should be amazed by His grace and motivated toward love. Love covereth a multitude of sins, beloved. I was reminded this morning that greater is He who is in me than he that is in the world. I was reminded that Christ, beloved, is the great Sanctifier. Christ is the One. And if my works are hidden in Christ, if the works He's called me to do being good to my neighbor, showing kindness, preaching the Gospel faithfully and not watering it down or changing it for the spirit of the age, these are all good works. Not because I'm doing them, but because they're being sanctified for the use of the Master by God Himself. And the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed me and by imputation I am holy. The words I speak are sanctified by the great Sanctifier Himself, Jesus Christ. And so when I preach, it's a sinner doing the talking, right? But it's a forgiven sinner speaking to you. And the words that this old sinner says to you, they're not my words. If you came here to hear my opinion on the Gospel thing, then you've wasted some pretty expensive gas. But if you've come here to hear the Word of the Lord preached, then you're witnessing a miracle. For an old sinner stands behind a wooden desk and as he speaks, the words he speaks are being accompanied by the Holy Ghost of God. And those words are being sanctified and fit for the Master's use. If the Lord can use the jawbone of a donkey, He can use us, beloved. If He can use a little bit of meal and a little bit of oil in the widow's stores, He can use us. If He can use an old strip of leather to fell a Philistine pagan, He can use us. And He has gone mightily in our direction by saving the otherwise unsavable. By redeeming the otherwise irredeemable. We are lost and undone and far from Him, but through the Lord Jesus, we will have all things. He's the Great Sanctifier. I hear people say, oh, you sovereign grace types don't even preach sanctification. And I'm here to tell you, I preach absolute sanctification. Because He has become for us our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. The last few Sundays, I've done nothing but preach about Holy Ghost power, sanctification, holiness, the power of God. Oh, I don't subscribe to charismatic theology, beloved. I also believe that sovereign grace preaching ought to have a pulse to it. We ought to be excited in the truth. Not rejoicing that the demons are subject unto us, or that we've got some cool fad going on in our worship services, we're all about worshiping emotionalism. But let me tell you, He has made this old sinner alive in the Spirit. And beloved, your hearts should be filled. No matter the diagnosis. No matter the calamity that befalls you. No matter the weight the world would set on your shoulders. Know this, you may not be happy every day, but you can have the joy of the Lord. Oh, when I think of His goodness, when I think of His mercy, when I think that He sanctifies every word He'll use from this old mouth for His glory. He calls me up to preach and with stammering lips, this old human will speak to you and God will use these words in His own way. That's the power of God. That's not some man. Do you realize it's a miracle of grace that God, the Creator of the universe, would even bother to give us a revelation in the Scripture? This is grace on paper. And He's given it to His people. He's told us that He'll love us and He'll never leave us, He'll never forsake us. And in the light of all that Christ continues to do in us, through us, He's such a good God. He's an all-sufficient Savior. And you know what He calls His people to do? He calls us to love the brethren. And I don't mean just pay lip service to it. I mean love one another. Verse 7, Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment, which ye have heard from the beginning. The old commandment, which is the Word. The old commandment is the Word, which ye have heard from the beginning. So the commandment here is not new revelation. John isn't trying to lay out some mind-boggling new expose on what God just told him last night. This is not new revelation in that sense. John is simply now bringing and recalling to their remembrance that which God has already said. 1 John 3 and 23 tells us a little bit more about this. I want to go there just for a second. It says, 1 John 3 and 23, and this is His commandment that we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the commandment that we're called to believe. The call, the commandment is faith in Jesus Christ. A sense to the true testimony of who Jesus is. His purpose. His work. All things that entail Jesus and His ministry, His gospel. Beloved, you're called to trust in Jesus. You want to be obedient to God? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And how is it that you come to believe? It is the work of God that you believe on Him who He sent. The belief that you think you offer God, you know better. You know that wasn't yours to offer. It was the gift of God. It was His gift of grace. He drew you to Christ. God gave you to Jesus. And you heard this gospel truth and you believed it by His gift of faith. All of this is the work of God. The miracle of grace. The wonder of grace. The commandment is that we should believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The word which we have heard from the beginning is the gospel. There are no new commandments. This preacher is not going to stand in the pulpit and tell you there is a whole new list of rules that you have to keep. But in fact, I'm just going to call to your remembrance that which God would have us do. And how He would have us live. The righteousness is all of Jesus. But don't you want to live a life? Don't you want to seek to live a life that in minuscule proportion at least points you toward that day when we're not going to have to struggle with sin anymore. We're not going to have to struggle with striving anymore. You know, I want to please God. I do. I know what I ought to do. But I also know that there is a war raging. And the good I want to do many times I do not do it. And who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He gives us victory. And He calls us to love one another because love covers a multitude of sin. In other words, beloved, don't you know the Lord doesn't call you to a hard path. He calls you to a path where the Bible says His yoke is easy. In other words, the Bible says His yoke is easy and His burden is light. He doesn't call you again to bondage because He hasn't redeemed us. He hasn't saved us to put us back under bondage. But He saved us what? It is for freedom that Christ has made us free, the Bible declares. And He calls us to love one another. It's the right thing to do. The word which you have heard from the beginning is the justful call unto salvation through Jesus Christ and His righteousness imputed by grace through faith. In fact, that which was from the beginning is Christ Himself. John 1 and 1, we shared earlier, clearly specifies that. That Jesus was from the beginning, that He came in the flesh, that John saw Him and touched Him with His hands. Jesus Christ is the word we have heard from the beginning. He is Himself the very word of life. So John is not telling the Christians here, I have brand new news from God and how it is that you're going to be saved. He's saying, no, no, no, there's no new commandment regarding righteousness. There's no new commandment regarding Christ. He is that which was from the beginning. He is the word. And the commandment is that you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Then in verse 8, He plays a little bit of a word game here. He says, at the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. So it's a play on words. He says it's not a new commandment, but as the gospel, as Christ's revelation unfolds itself in the world through the preaching of this gospel, the darkness is passing away. And so it's not a new commandment in the sense that it's fresh and new and brand new material for you. It's simply the new order of business as the gospel unfurls the flag over the world. Listen, John is simply continuing his line of thought concerning the light of the gospel shed abroad in the hearts to the faithful. Darkness is passing away. What does that mean? It means that the Lord is reaping His harvest. He's bringing in His souls. His people are hearing the gospel and are being saved. Beloved, this has been going on now for thousands of years. People hear the gospel. I love how we call it the old, old story. I wonder if thousands of years ago they called this gospel the old, old story. And they could have because it was the same story told to Eve when she was promised that her seed would bruise the head of the serpent. It's the same promise given to Abraham when he was told he would be the father of many nations and he would lead over a nation of priests for the world. It's the same promise given to Moses. Moses commanded the people to put the blood on the post of the doors and the Passover lambs. The blood was shed. All the sites, all of the templates, all of the types and shadows, the tabernacle system and its types and shadows, the temple and its types and shadows. And then, lo and behold, in the fullness of time came Christ, the fullness of all those types and shadows. I guess it's always been the old, old story, hasn't it? Of Jesus and His love. Darkness is passing away. I'm so thankful that the light of life, the moment He illuminates a dead, cold sinner's life, the darkness has to flee. When God gets a hold of an unbeliever, they come to faith in Christ. Did you know that the Lord has never tried to save anyone? He's never tried to save anyone. Salvation, like the old preacher would say, salvation is not by chance. Salvation is by grace. And grace never fails. Charity, love, the Bible says, never fails. You know, even in our lives, love doesn't fail because as the Lord gives you the strength to love your brother, it's never a perfect love. You're not a perfect person, neither am I. But where love is, does it not hide a multitude of transgressions? Doesn't the Lord wonders when we ask Him to give us a forgiving heart, the bitterness just washes away at times, sometimes like a mighty river, sometimes it's like the Lord takes a scouring pad and just scrubs it away real slow. But bitterness is an ugly thing. Striving with the brothers is an ugly thing. The Lord doesn't want that kind of stuff named as people. Oh, now you're not righteous because you go around telling everybody how much you've forgiven them and now you're going to find pride in telling everybody how much you've forgiven them. And I've forgiven more than my neighbor does, so I must be better than them. No, no, no, no, no. Sometimes forgiveness can hurt a little bit. You know, it steps all over our pride. It steps all over our sense of justice. They did me wrong! And I want them to pay! The Bible here says, no, no, no, darkness is passing away. The Lord of glory has forgiven you in Christ. Now what are you going to do with all of that light? What are you going to do with all that truth? Christ is the true light. Just as sunlight makes life flourish all over the world, so too does the light of Christ bring forth life. You know, I wonder sometimes if you're sitting around your house and there are times when people live long lives and they lose their family members. And if you live long enough in this world, you're going to experience a lot of pain. A lot of pain of loss. Katharine works amongst the elderly in the nursing home and there are souls in that place that haven't had visitors in years. And it's not because of neglect. It's because they've lived so long that they don't have anyone left. And that's a scary thought. And many of us as we age, we wonder, are we going to be by ourselves? Are we going to be alone? And loneliness becomes a real issue in later life. But there are bitter, cold, mean old people that have no reason to think that because they've got tons of family members but they're so cold and so bitter and so mean that nobody wants to spend a second with them because they're just so angry. And the Lord here calls His people to not stumble in bitterness. Listen to what it says. Verse 9. Verse 9. He that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother is in darkness even until now. Now, is John saying they're not saved? No, because he's calling them brothers. He's not saying they're not saved. He's saying that they're stumbling. Look, in verse 10. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. To not love your brother is to stumble. It's to falter. It's to have a problem. And I believe a loving Father will correct His children. He'll bring to our minds. He'll convict us by the Spirit of God. You don't have the option not to. You need to love your brothers and sisters in the Lord. You need to care about their well-being. Boy. It's a simple thing. This is something you would tell preschool children on how to get along. But yet, the Scripture knows what's in the hearts of man, beloved. The Scripture knows what we're all about. We are self-centered, stubborn, mean old people, and when we get our feelings hurt, or when we get wronged, or if we think somebody went too far, we just rise up in self-righteousness so quickly that we're ready to just pounce on someone else, even if they're a blood-bought brother or sister in Christ. Our hearts ought to be tender toward our brothers, even if we don't like someone personally. Even the Scripture says this, it says, listen, even if our gospel is preached in contention, it's being preached. In other words, you might not even like that guy on an individual level. But you can still thank God for his soul and pray for him and love him in Christ. The Scripture's not calling you to become best buddy pen pals with everybody that walks down the street. But the Scripture does call you to love your neighbor. And the Scripture absolutely calls you to love the brother. Verse 11, but he that hated his brother is in darkness and walketh in darkness and knoweth not whether he goeth, because that darkness has blinded his eyes. If you want to have a miserable time of things, walk in the darkness of unforgiveness. Walk in the bitterness of strife and contention. Folks get tore up. And this time of year is really bad? Oh, hold on. Mark a note. I'm going to preach topically and seasonally for about two minutes. This holiday season is a time where a lot of people experience bitterness towards family members that have done them wrong. They start thinking about mom or dad and how they didn't raise them just right. In my line of work, I see people and get a chance to talk to people quite a bit. And times will come up when people will just bear all and they'll tell you about what a terrible childhood they had and how 50 years later they're still as bitter and still as sore about the way their dad raised them or their mom treated them. And it might have been just as simple as they never gave me a hug. And they always had some negative thing to say to me. And they develop these complexes. And some folks let that become a root of bitterness in their life. Or children will have something to say about their siblings. And the next thing you know, sibling rivalries become generational strife. The next thing you know, you've got 60 and 70 year old men still complaining about how their 10 year old cousin, you know, stole something from their house one day. And it became this whole family squabble. And families are destroyed and all of this because of roots of bitterness and unforgiveness and our quest for self-righteous judgment and justice. The Scripture says if you want to live in that, you're going to live stumbling around in the dark. Why? Well, there's no joy in that, beloved. We talk about this season of being a season of joy. I want you to know that in Christ, every single day is a day of thanksgiving. He is our all in all. And we need not a special day in December to remind us of that. Here's my reminder. Are you ready? Here you go. I have a pulse. God is good. And God is on the throne. And God is still using me in this world to do His will and to go His way in the preaching of the Gospel. And when He's done, I won't have one of these anymore. I won't have a pulse anymore. I'll go on to be with Him. He is faithful. The sun came up this morning and His blessings are new today. They'll be new tomorrow. Lord willing, if He lets me live, I will experience His blessings every day in Christ because of His fullness we have all received. Every day is a day of thanksgiving. And if I look on the cross, how can I have bitterness toward my neighbor? As I look upon the face of Christ, how can I then look with anger at someone who's done me wrong? Oh, I can. You know I can because I'm a wicked old sinner. But in Christ Jesus, oh, He can mold us and make us. He can give us the power to do that which He has called us to do. Isn't that why He sent the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us? Love one another, beloved. Love one another. Because we've been loved by God, we can love our neighbors. And why would we pack around all of this bitterness that would just keep us in the dark, stumbling around, when we can give all that to the Lord and say, God, have mercy on me. And then we start praying for those who despitefully abuse us and blessing those who would make merchandise of us and saying, God, I know they don't have my best interest in heart but I know You do. I pray You'd bless them, Lord. Move on them, Lord. Save their souls if they're unsaved. And if they are saved, Lord, then help us both love each other. It'd be a better use of our time, beloved, than sitting around thinking of new ways to get even with people. Let's quit stumbling in the dark and by God's grace, in light of what He's done for us, let's love one another. Christ is the light who brings eternal life to us. Is He not? Did He not shine that gospel light right into our hearts, illuminating our old dead sinner souls and making us alive in Him? It's because of His abiding presence in our lives that we are made free. Free to what? Free to love! Free to love our brothers and sisters. Because of His grace, because God's love is shed abroad in our hearts, we're free to lay aside rivalries and contention. Free to gladly put on the mantle of Christian and brotherly love. This is the expectation of how forgiven, gospel-believing people ought to live. Oh, my, my. We're not going to give one inch on gospel doctrine. But I think we ought to not give one inch on loving the brethren, too. If you believe this gospel, if you believe this gospel, if we agree on what it is that God did in Christ to save sinners and the Lord has caused us to have faith in Him through this blessed gospel, then we are brothers and sisters. And this is a bond that we did not set up. This is a bond created by God. We ought to love one another. Those who harbor contentious feelings against fellow Christians are opening themselves up to do what? To live a life in the dark, stumbling around. That's what the Bible says. The Apostle John writes of those believers who push back against God's call to love one another as no better off than those who continue in darkness. Isn't it sad to see someone who knows the gospel allow bitterness and strife to just consume them? There's no joy in that life. There's no peace and contentment. The Lord has got them behind the woodshed, so to speak. And they're just languishing in their bitterness and strife, stumbling around in the dark when the light of love is right there. Oh, we can be stubborn. And the Lord, look, you don't believe that stubborn people can be used of God? Have you never heard of Jonah? And you think God lets somebody fall into that predicament because He hates them? No, God loves His people. And if you've got to go through some stuff for God's love to be made manifest in your life, then guess what God's going to do? He's going to put you through some stuff. Oh, well now, I don't know Okay, well, read the book of Jonah. You tell me God didn't put Jonah through some real ordeal. Now, Jonah put himself through that. Well, obviously, but God had a way of teaching that old boy a thing or two. Has any of you ever had to punish your children? Did you do that because you enjoyed punishing them? Or did you do it because you loved them and did not want them to make those mistakes? You wanted to raise your children right. Now, a child might not understand in the moment that a mother or father corrects them in love. They might even think you have ill will towards them in that moment of heated exchange, right? How do you like that? Heated exchange. That's the new way of saying what you all know what I mean. But as an adult child looks back on loving parents and they realize there was a reason why they had rules in that house. There was a reason why they had guardrails up because they knew that I'd jump off the ledge without the guardrails. The Lord has guardrails, beloved. And he calls his people to love. Those who harbor contentious feelings against fellow Christians are just opening themselves up to stumble. It's an awful, terrible life. But I want you to understand something. Let's say you're sitting here today and you've allowed bitterness to just sort of run amok in your life. I want you to know that God is still faithful. If he's caused you to believe the gospel, you're his. But aren't you tired of living behind the woodshed? Aren't you tired of getting beat down by your own stupidity and selfishness and stubbornness? It's time to release all that. And you know the Bible commands us to love, so this is something that we can do in his strength. Love one another. It doesn't say, eh, go ahead, do what you can. No, the Bible says, no, no, no, no, no. Love your brothers. Put it away. You chose to hate. Well, that's an easy one for stubborn old sinners, isn't it? By his grace. Give all that to the Lord. Give it all to the Lord. Say, Lord, God, help me with this. Turn it over to him and then look at the cross and tell me how you can hate your brothers when you look upon Calvary. I know if you look at the face of Jesus, he's looking down at you and he knew, he knew you didn't love him first. He had to love you first. He had to make you willing. He had to change your everything to get you to believe him. That's the kind of love he shows. Lord God, teach us by your example. Alright. The call is clear to God's people. Love one another as Christ loves you. Christ's light begets love. Everywhere Jesus goes, it's all about love. Well, why is that? Well, it was in love that God sent Jesus. Love is what motivated this whole thing to start from the very beginning. 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. Love is the motivator. Verse 12, I write unto you little children because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. Now, I wouldn't be a proper gospel preacher if we didn't talk a little gospel before we dismissed. Listen to me. I didn't tell you to love your neighbor because your preacher's trying to add a bunch of requirements to your salvation. I didn't tell you to love your neighbor and to be a forgiving person because your righteousness is somehow tied up in your ability to do this or do that. That's not at all what the text is saying and how do I know that? Because John just spent a whole mess of time telling Christian people to quit behaving like dummies and love each other. And then, in verse 12, he reminds all of these stubborn dummies, as it were, that your sins are forgiving you. He's looking at a bunch of people who are striving around, not loving each other, stumbling in the dark, being all mean and self-centered, and he looks at those wretches and he says, I'm reminding you that your sins are forgiven. And boy, the heart that knows the Lord ought to be humbled when we see that kind of writing in the Scripture. But, love, listen to me. You're not saved by what you do and even when you fall into terrible practices, the Lord comes along with 1 John in this epistle and he reminds you, listen to me, children. You have been forgiven for my name's sake. You'll find yourself in the pit sometime in this old world. You'll find yourself in places where you never even imagined you'd get that low in life, right? But there isn't a hell deep enough where you can go to hide yourself from the presence of Almighty God. And there isn't a vice grip on the planet that could pry you out of the hand of Almighty God. He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it. And if he finds you in the very belly of hell, he's going to come around to you and say, hey, you. Boy, I saved you. What are you doing? Get up! And boy, through finances, through direct actions, through whatever might happen in this world, it all comes together for our good. The Lord will pick you up. He'll restore you. He'll pull you out of that old pit. He'll set your feet upon the rock. Listen to me. He took Jonah and put him in the belly of a great fish. The old boy was being eaten alive. Out of the belly of hell, cried Jonah, the Bible says. It was a bad scene. And the Lord used all of that to remind him about love, to remind him about doing the will of the Lord, which is to believe on Jesus. And how can you look upon Jesus and experience all that love and not then be able to look at your neighbor and say, in the name of Christ, I love you. John writes to remind them of their only source of righteousness. Our sins are forgiven. Why? Because we love each other? No. Our sins are forgiven because we come to church on Sunday morning? No. Our sins are forgiven because we've been baptized in water? No. Our sins are forgiven for his namesake. Verse 13. I write unto you fathers because you have known him that is from the beginning. Who's that? That's Jesus. I write unto you young men because you have overcome the wicked one. How have they overcome? You overcome by the word of your testimony. And what is your testimony? Christ. Christ alone. The hope of glory. Christ in me. And boy, shouldn't that give me the motivation by the power and unction of the Holy Spirit to love the brethren. To care. To be patient. Because you're going to fall in the ditch. If I'm not patient with you, I'm going to look at you with judgmental eyes and say, look what they just did. And then walk away and act like it didn't even matter. No, what I ought to do is to be heartbroken about it and do what I can with the other brothers in the church to help you and restore you. Restoration and love. That's what our lives are about. Oh, we'll be absolute bulldogs regarding the gospel. And we better be. But we ought to be puppy dogs toward the brethren. And I think you can do both. I think you have to do both. Fierce as wolves. Meek as lambs. Fierce as wolves. And I think that's the way it ought to be. Let's go on. Verse 14. I have written unto you fathers because you have known Him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you young men because you are strong. And the Word of God abideth in you. No matter where you find yourself, Christian. It doesn't matter how bitter you let this old festering sore of unforgiveness and hatred become in your heart. I want you to understand that the Lord says that He abideth in you. His Word abideth in you. Who is the Word? Jesus! Who is He who is from the beginning? Jesus! Whose blood has saved us? Jesus! And the Bible says, and ye have overcome the wicked one. No matter where you find yourself, beloved, the Lord of Glory is your overcomer. He is the One who saved you for His name's sake. He is the One who is from the beginning. He is the Word who abideth in you. And I'm telling you right now, greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. God is loved by us because He first loved us. And He says, let's love one another. I say we listen to Him. He'll give us the strength. Will He not give us? The Bible says He'd give us more grace. Is that not true? Does the Lord give more grace? Does He pour out grace upon grace and favor upon favor to His people? Do we not go even now from glory to glory as the Apostle Paul said? Can't we tap into this storehouse Can't we tap into this storehouse of grace? So the Bible says out of our bellies will flow rivers of living water. The Spirit of God is here in fullness. He's here to move in power. And you are free and loosed in the name of Jesus Christ to love the brethren because He loved us. John speaks to the various groups. Notice how he said old folks, young folks, young men, all those different groups of people. All the various groups of the church. No one's left out. If you're a little old lady, you're called to love the Lord. If you're a young man, you're called to love the Lord. And guess what? Love the Lord. Love your brothers. Because He's calling you to love your brothers too. Old men, young women, young men, young boys, young everybody, boys, girls, men and women, everyone. Black, white, slave, free, male, female, no that matters. The Bible says all are one in Christ Jesus. You're called to love God and love the brethren. And notice also he uses these words. He says, you have known the gospel. Quote, ye have overcome the wicked one. I need to camp here just for a second. It doesn't say you're going to overcome. It doesn't say eh, you might believe it later on. No, it says you have believed. Ye have overcome. Notice the past tense usage of all these terms. Listen, ye have known the Father. The saving work of Christ is established in the lives of the congregation he's writing to. And it's established right here amongst those of you who know the name of Jesus. You know the gospel and you believe it. It's not that you're trying to get saved. You are saved. You can trust in that. And beloved, the very motive for our loving our brothers is the finished work of Christ and how it's been applied to our hearts. How his love has been shed abroad. And now we love God and so we love each other. Because how can we look at the face of Jesus and then not look at someone else and say, my, God has forgiven me much. I can forgive you too. Let's conclude. The light of Christ is shining. Remember this little light of mine. I'm going to let it shine. Well the only light I want to see is Christ's light. I don't have a light. I wish I had a light. I have at times the ability by his grace to reflect the light of Jesus Christ. He is the light. But thank God he's the light that ever shineth. He ever liveth to make intercession for us. And the Bible says our sins are forgiven for his name's sake. Are your sins forgiven today? If they are, it's because Jesus Christ went your way up Calvary's hill and he drank damnation dry on your behalf. And now you know him in the full pardon of your sins. I encourage you. I admonish you to love one another. The Bible already calls you an overcomer. It says you've overcome. And have you done this? By his righteousness alone. He is the righteousness. And in light of the mighty work of God wrought on your behalf, you are now free to love your brothers and sisters. You are now free to forgive and to forbear and to be patient. Jesus was asked, how many times should we forgive someone who does something against us? He basically says every time. 70 times 7. You know, the disciples were coming up with little solutions and cute little legalisms and they thought, well, Lord, we'll forgive them up to 7 times. And Jesus was like, no. Better be glad that God doesn't hold us to that standard. The Lord has obtained for us eternal redemption. And that means we're going to be not a people that forgives once or twice. No. We're going to be known as a people who forgive. Let love guide you. Let patience pass for perfect work. That's what the Bible says. You are now free to forgive. You are now free to love and tend and nurture and protect those God places along your path and life's journey, especially those of the household of faith. And may we seek to follow Christ's example as he graciously illuminates our path with Christ, the light of love. Lord, I bless you today. Help us to love one another for love is of God. We thank you, Lord. We praise you. Help us to do that which you call us to do, Lord, in this regard, to be a people of love, forbearance, patience, kindness. Lord, for we have been forgiven much. Remind us each day to love to forbear to be kind and to be bold in the hope that dwells within us. These are the things we ask in Christ's name. Amen.