Welcome to Unveiled Faces, a Redeemer Presbyterian Church podcast. Please enjoy our feature presentation. So good morning again, and I am blessed to be able to stand before you today and give this message. The sermon I have for today is from a series that I preached in 2018 on 1 John. This is the third sermon in the series. And at that time, I was preaching a pretty regular basis every other week or so forth. And so there wasn't a large gap. But for this congregation, that's not the case. I did preach the first and second sermon, but it's been since March. So before we dive into the listed scripture, I do want to revisit a question that was asked of me prior to the preaching of this particular sermon. So I'm gonna read through the beginning of 1 John 2, going over verses one through six, then I'm gonna talk about that question. So it reads, my little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments. Whoever says I know him but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him. Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which we walked." So after I preached the sermon the first time, my wonderful wife came right up to me and said, what commandments? Then I preached the sermon, and right after I was done preaching, before I even got back to my seat, someone else came up to me and went, what commandments? So just to remind, 1 John 2, 3, and by this we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments. So when I preached this originally, I was keeping something back, just because I knew what was coming next. I knew that the next sermon would go into greater detail. So we'll take a look at 1 John 2, 7, and then we'll spend some time in scriptures for help with what commandments. So back to today's text, 1 John 2, 7. Beloved, I'm writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. There is a lot to this verse. The first part of the verse states, I write no new commandment to you. Then what were the commandments we were supposed to keep? First, we need to remember what this time period was. Where was this written? We are not speaking about hundreds or thousands of years after Christ walked on the earth. The best estimate of ranges on the time of the writing of 1 John is 85 to 90 AD, somewhere in that area. Remember, the author John had known Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Before the gospel, what commandments did God's people follow? The Ten Commandments. The commandments of the Old Testament were still intact and still to be followed, but as I spent more time in the word studying, I began to understand the old commandment being referred to in this passage more likely is the commandments that Jesus made. When referring to the word you heard from the beginning in 1 John 2, 7, the verse is referencing Christ's ministry. First, let's talk about a new commandment. In writing this, John is not adding a new commandment, number 11, to the Ten Commandments, nor is he adding to the commandments that Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, gave. In keeping the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament, we show love to God and to people. I want to take a few minutes and go step-by-step through these commandments. Let's start with the New Testament and the commandments that Jesus gave us. from Matthew 22, verses 36 through 40. Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. from Mark 12, verses 28 through 31. Then one of the scribes came in, having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that he had answered them, well, asked him, which is the first commandment of all? Jesus answered him, the first of all the commandments is, hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second like it is this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandments greater than these. These were the commandments Jesus gave. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. Now let's take a look at the Old Testament and the Ten Commandments. From Exodus 20 verses 1 through 3, To obey this commandment, who should we love? God. Verses four through six. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments. To obey this commandment, Who should we love? God. Verse 7, you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. To obey this commandment, who should we love? God. You should start seeing a pattern here. Verses eight through 11. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work, you nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who's within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. To obey this commandment, who should we love? God. Verse 12, honor your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you. To obey this commandment, who should we love? Fathers and mothers, others. You shall not murder. I think it would be very loving to others if we don't murder. You shall not commit adultery. To obey this commandment, who should we love? Others, you shall not steal. It is loving not to steal from people. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. To obey this commandment, who should we love? Others. You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's. Again, who do we love? Others. We can make a note here. Notice none of the commandments say, love yourself first. Choose what makes you happy. Define your own truth. All things that the world around us tells us will make us feel good. We are commanded, love God, love others. We cannot follow the 10 commandments without following the commandments Jesus gave. If we love God, we will obey his commandments, and we will love others. Paul states in Romans 13, eight, oh, no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. Now that we have an understanding about the old commandment referred to by John in verse seven, let's take a look at 1 John 2, eight. At the same time, it is a new commandment that I'm writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. The new commandment, as we see in the next verses, is to love our brother. But this is a continuation of the commandment Jesus gave us to love your neighbor as yourself. If we love our neighbor, we should also love our brother. This commandment should already be true in us as Christians, as we are no longer in darkness. The true light of Jesus Christ is shining. His death has paid our price. We are in darkness until the Holy Spirit changes us, but after that, the true light shines and the darkness in us begins to fade away. Our eyes are opened and we can see. We are made alive. 1 John 2 9 states, whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. How can you hate your brother? and still be following the commandments. Do we hate our brother? What does the word hate mean? The word hate means to detest, to pursue hatred. As Christians, how do we handle our differences, whether theological or with the world at large? Matthew 5, verse 44 states, but I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, Do good to those who hate you and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. I think of the blessing that we have in our service. We have the corporate prayer where each week a man goes up and prays. And who does he pray for? Almost always we pray for our government officials. Do they tend to hate us sometimes? Sure. Do they tend to do the opposite of what we want them to do? Sure. But we pray for them. Are we following this example in our lives? There is so much hate out there. And I thought there was a lot of hate when I wrote this five years ago. It's only gone up. Whether on TV, internet, social media, when we look at the world around us, do we see the words of Matthew 5, 44 coming from Christians? How are we handling this as Christians? Do we pursue hatred against those who hate us or disagree with us? Is it wrong to rebuke them? No. But are we pursuing hatred? Do we pray for them, like we do during the service? Do we pray for their souls? Do we pray for their eyes to open, that God will use them? As a people, can we do better? Verses 10 and 11 shows the fruit of loving your brother or the consequences of failing to love your brother. First John 2, 10 states, whoever loves his brother abides in the light and in him there is no cause for stumbling. Verse 11, 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 want you to think back. Have any of you guys ever been in absolute darkness? Imagine you're in a deep cave, and you turn off the light, your flashlight, or more than likely our phone apps. But what would you be able to see? Would you be able to get out of the cave? No, you'd probably more than likely stumble, flail, Feet trying to find the path with no sense of direction to move, to get out. Have you ever played or watched the kids game pin the tail on the donkey? Or have you ever taken a swing at a pinata? In either case, typically you're blindfolded, spun around, and sent in the general direction, if the adults are nice, of the donkey or the pinata. The participant stumbles, walks askew, with little chance of success because they are in darkness. If we are walking in darkness, we cannot see where we are going. If we are pursuing hatred, we are directionless. Just like the people in the dark cave, or those disoriented blindfolded kids struggling to find their target. We need to be walking in the light to find our direction. Throughout these past verses, John has challenged his audience to keep God's commandments. to walk in the light and to love his brother. This is not an easy task. It is so tempting to post something, to slam somebody, to pursue the hatred. It goes against our sin nature, our love of our flesh, to follow this. Only by God's grace can we overcome it. So after these tough standards that the author has laid out before us, at this point, John gives us purpose for writing and offers encouragement. Verse 12, 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. So I'm gonna stop there, midway through verse 13, and look at what we just read. The author's writing to three different ages, three different stages of life. First to the little children, then to the fathers, and finally to the young men. To the little children, he writes, because your sins are forgiven for you, are forgiven you for his namesake. Now if we can remember back to 1 John 2 verse 1, John addresses everyone as little children. This passage is for everyone and is of utmost importance because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. The Lord has forgiven us because of Christ's sacrifice and has called us. All believers, new and old, should delight in this. Our sins are forgiven. John is saying, this message, it's for all of you. You have heard the call. The next group John addresses is fathers. He put just fathers as more mature in the faith. He says, I write to you because you've known him who is from the beginning. The him being Christ who is with God from the beginning. This group addresses more than just fathers. It's a word picture. It's those that are more mature in the faith. The ones who have been there. John once again is saying, This message is for you. You have persevered. You are still here. The last group John identifies is the young men. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. Why is this the last group mentioned? I'd like to take some time now to read an excerpt from the writings of J.C. Ryle about young men. He writes, I am growing old myself, but there are few things I remember so well as the days of my youth. I have a most distinct recollection of the joys and the sorrows, the hopes and the fears, the temptations and the difficulties, the mistaken judgments and the misplaced affections, the errors and the aspirations which surround and accompany a young man's life. If I can only say something to keep some young men in the right way and preserve him from faults and sins which may mar his prospects both for time and eternity, I shall be very thankful. Reasons for exhorting young men. For one thing, there is the painful fact that there are few young men anywhere who seem to have any religion. I speak without respect of persons, I say it of all, high or low, rich or poor, gentle or simple, learned or unlearned, in town or in country, it makes no matter. I tremble to observe how few young men are led by the Spirit, how few are in that narrow way which leads to life, how few are setting their affections upon things above, how few are taking up the cross and following Christ. I say it with all sorrow, but I believe, as in God's sight, I am saying nothing more than the truth. Young men, you form a large and most important class in the population of this country. But where and in what condition are your immortal souls? Alas, whatever way we turn for an answer, the report will be one and the same. Let us ask any faithful minister of the gospel and Mark what he will tell us. How many unmarried young people can he reckon up who come to the Lord's Supper? Who are the most backward about means of grace? The most irregular about Sunday services? The most difficult to draw to weekly lectures and prayer meetings? The most inattentive under preaching at all times? Which part of his congregation fills him with most anxiety? Who are the Rubens? for whom he has the deepest searching of heart, who in his flock are the hardest to manage, who require the most frequent warnings and rebukes, who occasion him the greatest uneasiness and sorrow, who keep him most constantly in fear for their souls and seem most hopeless. Depend on it. His answer will always be the young men. This was written in 1888. by J.C. Ryle over 120 years ago. You wonder what he would be saying today. Our young people face the most perilous road. Their life is laid out before them. Hopefully they have had good training, but there comes a point where they have to make their own choices. Who will they follow? The word of God instructs us and keeps us, but the path the world lays out is quite different. The wicked one has laid out a path to destruction. This has not changed. Satan tempted Jesus with all the world could offer. During the time of the early church, the temptations to the youth were there as well. Have the temptations of the world today become less since 1888 and the time of Ryle? No, I don't think so. Was the world pulling at the young men and women during the early church? Yeah, absolutely. Is the wicked one plotting? and working against all who walk in light, children, young men, and women, and elders alike. Absolutely. In any time period, it is hard to be a young man or woman in this world. John encourages the young men who are the recipients of this teaching, for they have overcome the wicked one. I want you guys to take a moment, look around this room, Look at all these young men and women that are here. What a blessing that we have, that we have a room filled with young men and women. The end of verse 13 and 14, with a few changes, repeats the previous statements. Now speakers and writers repeat for emphasis. During my studies, I read commentaries pondering the need for these next verses, some even going as far as questioning the translations. I disagree with these suggestions. When something in Scripture is repeated, it's because it is extremely important. It is not in vain, and frankly, I want to be encouraged again. I'll conclude today with the Holy Spirit-inspired words that John penned, starting with the end of verse 13 and ending with 14. This was written so long ago, but it could be easily written to this congregation as an encouragement today. 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. This has been a presentation of Redeemer Presbyterian Church. For more resources and information, please stop by our website at visitredeemer.org. All material herewithin, unless otherwise noted. Copyright Redeemer Presbyterian Church. Elk Grove, California. Music furnished by Nathan Clark George. Available at nathanclarkgeorge.com.