Please Show Your Love... Series

Please Show Your Love…

Text: 1 John 2:7-11

Introduction

I remember growing up watching “Varity” shows. Variety shows were the entertainment of the time. Shows like Ed Sullivan, Redd Skelton, Flipp Wilson Sonny and Cher and many others. Variety shows had a wide range of performers, entertainers, comics and other famous celebrities.

I was flipping through the channels the other night, during one of my insomnia spells, and came across two shows; one old and one fairly new. As the next act or entertainer was introduced in the old show the host would tell a little about the person and just before bringing them on the perform, they would say something like; “Please help me welcome,” and the host along with the audience would begin to applaud.

I noticed in the newer show, the host was a little more hip. When he brought on the next entertainer he would say; “Please show your love for…” then say the person’s name. Know I had heard that before, but I thought to myself that is a strange welcome. I begin to just let that go though my crazy mind for a minute.

Love… I hear people say it many times a day. I say it myself as well. “I love my wife and kids.” “I love going to baseballs games.” “Man I really loved that dessert we had at lunch.” Isn’t it amazing that a person can use the same word to describe how they fell about their wife and family and use the same word to tell how much they enjoyed dessert at lunch.

As we continue our study through the book of 1 John, the Apostle still seem to be addressing the issue of those false teachers that have come into the church. We noticed last week that, some were talking the talk but not walking the walk of the Christian life. The main idea of last weeks message was “The walk and talk, what we say and what we do or who we are must be the same.”

The main idea of our text today is “Anyone that claims to live in the light, in a relationship with God through faith in Christ, but still hates his brother is not living in the light but rather in darkness. We will see in our study how Christian love is affected by light, which is holiness and purity and obedience toward God, and darkness that is sin and disobedience toward God.

Apparently in the church John is addressing there were some saying they were Christians but hated other believers. Let me stop and say this; A Christian that is walking in obedience toward the things of God is going to love his brother and sister Christian.

John is going to repeat himself several times in this epistle on the matter of Christian love. He will teach us three great reasons why Christians should love one another:

1. God has commanded us to love 1 John 2:7-11

2. We have been born of God and God’s love lives in us. 1 John 3:10-24

3. God first revealed His love to us. 1 John 4:7-21

The Apostle John not only writes about love he seems to practice it as well. Many times when he was speaking to these believers he used terms of endearment such as “Beloved” or “Dear little children.” John had great love for his spiritual family.

The Greek language that our New Testament was written in is a more precise than our English language. Our word for “Love” has many shades or differences.

· When we read John speaking of love here in 1 John he is using the Greek word agape (pronounced ah-GAH-pay), which means an unconditional love; the love God has toward man.

· Another Greek word for love is philia (pronounced fee-LEE-ah) and carries the idea of friendship love.

· Then there is another Greek word which is not used by John is the word eros and means more for a sensual love; it is where we get our word erotic.

But we see something else here in this section that sounds very confusing or contradicting. He says “I write no new commandment to you” in verse 7 and then in verse 8 he says; “a new commandment I write to you.” The commandment we are given to love is not something new; these early Jewish Christians would understand that men should love God and one another.

· Jesus combined two Old Testament commandments, Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18 and said that these two commandments summarize all the Law.

· Loving God and loving your neighbor were old but familiar commandments.

The Greeks had 2 different words for “new”

· One word meaning “a new time” and the other meaning “a new quality.”

· The first word you would use to describe the latest car, or the most recent model.