And now we come to the place where God the Son speaks to us as our chief prophet from heaven using a vessel of clay again. And so we need a prayer. So let us come to the Lord in prayer. Father, we are very weak and still your sinful child, children. And we pray now for the presence and the power of your Holy Spirit, that we might have ears to hear and hearts to understand, and a will to live out your word, Father. We pray this fervently in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the living word, our Savior, our Lord, our friend, our elder brother, our all. Amen. All right, our scripture lesson. Maybe you remember the last time I was here, it was quite a while ago, but we read the same passage we're going to read tonight. 1 John 2, verses 7 through 11. 1 John 2, verses 7 through 11. So hear the infallible, inerrant word again. The flowers fail, but the word of God lasts forever. Verse 7 of chapter 2 of 1 John. Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command, but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old commandment is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command, its truth is seen in him and you. Because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. He does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded him." Thus far, people of God, the reading of God's word. Beloved in the Lord, in our first sermon on these texts, we saw the first test of brotherly love. You remember the passage. We're not talking about a new commandment. The commandment to love one another really goes back to Leviticus 19. And in the New Testament, we read it in John 13. So it's not a new commandment, but it is new in the sense that Jesus lived it out perfectly, sacrificially. holily, righteously. And since his church is united with him by the Spirit who regenerates us, we are to live this commandment out too. So herein is the test that he who loves his brother, she who loves the brothers and sisters in the Lord, may know that they're Christian. But if you do not love the brethren, all the brethren, not just the ones you have something in common with, not just the ones you're comfortable around, but all the brethren, you're probably not a Christian. This is the test, this is the test. John now applies his test to, first to the Gnostics who claimed to have special knowledge and special enlightenment, special spirituality. We see a lot of these people today, don't we? They claim to have special light. They think that they're better than others because they've been enlightened. But their actions do not match with any Christian confession. So this is the first group that he applies this to, as in verse 9, Anyone who claims to be in the light, as the Gnostics did, but hates or rejects his brother is still in the darkness. Now, the Holy Spirit goes on to use two scenarios in this passage, two scenarios about two opposite kinds of people in the church, in the church now. John is speaking to the church. The confessing Christian, first of all, who passes the test of brotherly love, we read about him in verse 10, whoever loves his brother lives in the light of Christ and there is nothing in him to make him scumble. In other words, the word there is scandal. There's no scandal in him. He's not going to stumble because he loves, truly loves the brethren. Because he loves Christ and Christ's love is in him, is in him. So this man passes the test. He's been born again. He knows Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. He lives in the light. And he shows it by loving others and wanting and works for their very best, always their edification. All his speech and all his actions is to build up the brethren of the church. He passes the test. There's no scandal in him. He abides in Christ. He strives to please him. by obedience, because love, as the Apostle John wrote it in Gospel, love is obedience to his commands. The one who loves me obeys my commands. It's very simple, very profound, this love is. He truly loves God and his people, and he works for reconciliation. to whomever offends him. Or if he offends someone, he always goes to that person. He uses God's means. He doesn't deal in the way of our society by saying, I don't want to be around that person. I reject them. I'm not going to speak to them. I'm going to keep my distance. No. That's not the Christian way, is it? It's not God's way. We are to love our brethren. And so that leads us to verse 11, which reads, whoever hates or rejects his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. He doesn't know where he's going because the darkness has blinded him. There's the professing Christian who fails the test of brotherly love. And three things mark out that false confessing Christian, that false Christian who is a hypocrite because he professes faith in Christ, he professes love, but he doesn't do it. So he's a hypocrite. First of all, in verse 11, we find that he's As already noted in verse 9, he is in the darkness until now. He's never been delivered from the power of darkness, never been conveyed into the kingdom of the Son of God's love. He's never experienced that. Old things have not passed away, for this man all things are not new. He's not a new creature. He's still old. Darkness marks his path. All right. He can claim to be a Christian. He can have much light, it seems. He can seem like a Christian, but sooner or later, his actions are going to belie his confession of faith. He's still in darkness, never born again. Second thing that characterizes is he, currently, he's always walking in darkness. He's, sooner or later, we can tell that he's still a slave of the devil, a dupe of the devil. He's never been brought into the light, or she's never been brought into the light. Not at all. Because he's continually in darkness, and therefore, he's blind in the third place. He doesn't really know where he's going. He's like, if you've ever been in a cave and they turned all the lights off, you can't see your hand in front of your face. The darkness is thick. This is this person. A clanging cymbal, worth nothing, as 1 Corinthians 13 tells us. He's never truly come to Christ. never truly repented and believed the gospel. He doesn't know he's going, and his other passages make plain where he's going, of course, is destruction. If you're blind and you're walking down the road, you're headed toward destruction. You're headed toward destruction. This is where these people are headed. toward destruction. He stumbles along from day to day to day in the darkness. He may seem normal. He may seem normal, but when he's tested, he probably really turns out to be like the Pharisees, blind guides leading the blind. All this man is good for is to make other people like himself. make other Pharisees, legalists. In the church that I attend, we're having some trouble right now. I won't go into all the details, but I appreciate your prayers for Little Covenant PCA Church in Millers Falls, Massachusetts. And in this trouble, of course, people become at odds with each other. It's a very sad thing to see. Things are said that aren't edifying. And so I heard one lady speak the other day saying, I don't like to be around this person. So I don't think I'm going to, I don't know if I'm going to stay in this church. Well, that's a very bad statement, isn't it? She's not using the means of grace, reconciliation, forgiveness. The person who is not forgiving, as Jesus makes plain when he taught us to pray, Father, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Jesus makes very plain that the unforgiving person, the person who doesn't have a spirit of forgiveness, is most likely the unforgiven person. Unforgiven person. She's never experienced the wonder of God forgiving all their sins through nothing but the blood of Christ, as we just sang. Never experienced that. That's why they act the way they do. And it's a tragedy. And our little church right now is experiencing some of that tragedy. Yes, so I seek your prayers. Well, what does Ephesians 14 or Ephesians 4, verse 17 say about the unbeliever? Very clear words. In Ephesians 4, verse 17, they are darkened in their understanding, separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. So they're in darkness yet, in darkness. They don't know, as David did, or whoever the author is of Psalm 119, they really cannot say, thy word is a light to my path and a lamp. They can't say that because they're walking around in darkness. That's the test. And dear congregation, this test is crucial, as I'm finding out by experience, to the life and the health of any church of Jesus Christ. It's absolutely crucial. The church can't survive without this love. love of the brethren. As Jesus said, by this shall all men know that you are my disciples, because you love one another as I have loved you, as I have loved you. What did Jesus say? He loved his own to the full, to the end, all the way to the cross. with their misunderstandings of him, with their competition for greatness and ignorance, with their having a wrong view of who he was and what he came to do. He loved Peter. You remember how he worked with Peter. He loved Peter. He prayed for Peter. He restored him. After in a spirit of fear, he denied his Lord three times. That's what Jesus's love was. If you're united with him tonight through the spirit and faith, then you know that love and you're going to practice it. It's so crucial. These people never have really repented. trusted in Christ. They bear bitterness. They bear resentments. And this bitterness takes over and shows itself no matter what they say or how they try to appear to you or me. There's a judgmentalness there. There's a feeling of superiority, perhaps because of what they think they know. As Paul says, 1 Corinthians 8 verse 1, knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. Knowledge doesn't have to pop up, but knowledge without love pops up. Okay? So we must test ourselves in this matter of Christian love as to whether we're really saved or not. Now, Joe Beeke, whom I enjoy reading, He has several questions that he asks and I think they're very helpful. Helpful as 1st Corinthians or 2nd Corinthians 13 verse 4 teaches us we should test ourselves to see whether we're Christians or not. So I'm gonna ask some of these questions tonight and you try to answer them to yourselves. And this is a test. You will be graded on this test. God will grade you. Do we love because love starts in the family? Do we love our family members in obedience to God's commands? Do we love everyone, husbands and wives, children toward parents, parents toward children? Do we love them? Do we have a habit of showing kindness each day to each family member? Do we think loving thoughts about the family members? Do we speak loving words and do loving things? Because love has to start, children, in the home. In the home. Because the home is an embryo of the church. It's a little church. Second question, then do we love our brothers and sisters in the church, all of them, or do we just tolerate some of the people in the church? Oh, he's okay, but I just try to stay away from him. I don't talk to him. We just keep our distance. Yes, of course, I know there are personalities that maybe clash. We don't have to like everybody, but we have to love them. You don't have to like everybody, but we have to try to like them. We have to try to see good in them. Jesus loved us in that while we were yet sinners, rebels, what did he do? He died for us. He died for us. Is that the way you love your brothers and sisters? Do we weep with them? Do we rejoice with them? Do we sacrificially serve them? And not only when it's convenient. That's a test. That's a test. Do we actually love our neighbors as ourselves? Loving God in Christ. Remember, brotherly love is command. It's a command. It's not an option in the church. It's a command. True Christians will grow in love. They'll make every effort to grow in love. They're determined to grow in love. They will seek grace every day to perform this love of the brethren. And that's to the health of the church. And of course, we know that the church is a family. That's why Paul told Timothy Treat the older men as fathers, the older women as mothers, the younger men as brothers, the younger women as sisters. The church is a set-apart family. It's a holy family. It's not like the culture. It must not be like the culture. Come out from them and touch no evil thing, no unclean thing, Paul says. and God will be your father. God will be your father. So this is a test. The church is a family. Are you part of this family? Are you part of the family of God tonight? Probably you are, but I can't see into your soul. God knows, and you may know whether you're a Christian or not, whether you have this love. If so, Praise God. Keep growing in the love of God. Rest every day. Keep yourselves in the love of God. And use the means of grace to grow. Every worship service, like you're here tonight, in your Bibles every day, in prayer, communion with God every day. and showing that you're doing that by your life, by your life. If not, if you're not, if you do not pass the test, if you get a failing grade tonight, repent. God is calling you to repent, to change your mind, to begin to believe once and for all in Jesus Christ. He will accept you. Even though you've treated him badly, as we all have, he will accept you. He will never throw you out. He will receive you and help you and love you and form you after himself. Yes, he will. Oh, yes. To God be the glory. To God be the glory. And just remember tonight that Yeah, we're going to fail sometimes, this test. We're not going to be perfect. None of us are going to be perfect. Sometimes we're going to feel that we really don't want to be around a certain person. Yes, we are. You're going to be on the outs with someone. Someone's going to really offend you. Going to stick in your crawl. What are you going to do about that? Are you just going to rest with that feeling and be like the rest of the world and just disregard that person, steer clear of them, go on the other side of the road, the other side of the aisle? I hope not. Because you see, we are sinners, but it depends on what we do about our sin, doesn't it? That shows whether we're Christians or not. Whether we use God's avenues, God's means to reconcile, or whether we don't, that tells loads about us. That's why what we're going through in our little church is a real test. And my wife and I, Valerie and I, have had to think about this. Do we really love those who want to leave the church? for what we don't think is a good reason. Do we really love them? So it's not that you're going to be perfect, but it's what you're going to do when you show your imperfections. That's going to tell the story. Oh, yes. Come to Jesus. Come to Jesus. He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by him. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you that we might meditate just for a few minutes tonight on this text, this test of brotherly love in the Church. The thing that sets the Church apart Just remember, Father, we remember that love is a doctrine. Love is a doctrine, the doctrine of love. We love because we've experienced your love. We're not loving in and of ourselves. We're filled with hate and resentment. Help us not to go by our feelings, Heavenly Father, as one pastor said rightly. Ultimately, our feelings are irrelevant. It's the truth of your word that counts. As Jesus said, thy word is truth, thy word is spirit. Oh Lord, may the spirit apply this text to our hearts. May we all sitting here tonight and even the children, may they be learning to pass the test, coming to Jesus and realizing his amazing love for sinners like us. Help us to go forth now, to scatter, as the sign rightly says, and be this witness, this witness of obedient love to our neighbors. Help us to love our neighbors by telling them the truth whenever we have an opportunity, the truth of the gospel. Because the heart is deceitful, Father, and desperately wicked, O Lord, help us, Father. Bless us. Thank you for your great love. In Jesus' name, amen. Now let us respond with 119M. 119M.