1 John 2:1-11

My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not (1 John 2:1).

Now, he is talking about the purpose of writing is to bring you into fellowship with God, but the thing that breaks fellowship with God is sin. In Isaiah 59, "God's hand is not short that he cannot save, neither is his ear heavy that he cannot hear. But your sins have separated you from God" (Isaiah 59:1-2). Always the effect of sin. God said to Adam, "In the day that thou sinneth thou shall surely die." And Adam sinned, and God came into the garden, and He said, "Adam, where art thou?" Fellowship with God had been broken as the result of sin, always is. So, in order that you might have fellowship with God, it is necessary that we sin not. And John is writing that you might have power over sin. And the power over sin, of course, comes through the abiding of the Holy Spirit within our lives. "These things have I written unto you, my little children," or, "These things write I unto you that you sin not."

And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 2:1):

The advocate is the intercessor, the one who intercedes for you. One who is representing you, one who stands there in your behalf, one who pleads your case or your cause. If we sin, we have Jesus up there as our advocate before the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. "Therefore, He is able to save to the uttermost all who will come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25). Paul in Romans 8 tells us, "Who is He that condemneth, it is Christ who died, yea rather is risen again, and is even at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us." Writing to Timothy, he said, "There is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus." So, when we sin, we have an advocate with the Father, one who is representing us, even Jesus Christ the Righteous.

When Job was going through all of his problems and his friends were trying to help him to understand his miseries, one of his friends said, "Hey, just get right with God and everything will be okay." Job said, "Look, I look at the stars in the heavens and I realize how vast God is to create this universe, and I realized how nothing I am. How in the world can I ever approach God to plead my case? He is so vast. I'm nothing. The gap between us is so great I could never cross it. The reach between the infinite and finite, impossible to bridge from man. And that's the shortcoming of every religious system, because they start with an earth base and try to reach to the infinite. Starting with a finite base and trying to reach to the infinite. Impossibility. The finite can never reach to the infinite, no matter how it much it may stretch. And that's every religious system comes short, because it starts with an earth base. The Gospel, Christianity starts with a divine or heavenly base, "For God so loved the world." He reached down. The infinite God reached down to touch finite man. No problem there. Being infinite He can do anything. And so, starting then with a divine base, God reaching down to man, there is success, there can be a contact made. And He reached down to man through Jesus Christ. That which was from the beginning, which we have seen, which we have looked upon, which we have heard, which we have touched was manifested, we beheld Him, we heard Him, we saw Him, we declare. God became man.
Now, this is what Job had a problem with, God is so vast. He's infinite, and here I am finite; how can I ever approach God to plead my case? He said, "For there is no daysman betwixt us who can put His hand on both of us." In other words, Job saw that the only solution for finite man to reach an infinite God was to be someone standing here in the middle, in this gap, who could touch God and who could touch man. But they don't exist, Job said. So here I am, no way to approach this infinite God. Now, that which Job was crying for, a daysman to stand betwixt, is exactly what Jesus is: one God, one Mediator, the man Christ Jesus. So that He touches God, because He was in the beginning with God and was God, and yet, He became man and He reached out and He touched men. And He lays His hand on us both. And so, if we sin we have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus the Righteous.

And he is the propitiation for our sins (1 John 2:2):

Or the one who has paid the price for the freedom from sin, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world.

You see, in the death of Christ, He received the pardon for every sin of every man in all of history. There is not a sin that was not atoned for in His death. Jesus said, "All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven man, except the blasphemy of Holy Spirit, which will not be forgiven, neither in this world nor the world to come" (Matthew 12:31-32). Which is the rejection of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit's witness that Jesus Christ is the only answer to your sins. You see, Jesus said, "I didn't come into the world to condemn the world, but the world through Me might be saved, and he who believeth is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, seeing he has not believed on the only begotten Son of God. This is the condemnation, light came into the world, but they would not come to the light" (John 3:17-19). That's the only thing you're gonna have to answer for when you stand before God. Jesus is the propitiation for our sins and for the sins of the whole world. There is only one sin that you must account to God for and that's the sin of not coming to the light, the sin of rejecting the fellowship that God has offering through Jesus Christ. The sin of rejecting God's love. This is the condemnation: light came into the world, they would not come to the light, because their deeds were evil. So God isn't gonna down a long list and enumerate every horrible thing you've ever done. If you should stand before the Great White Throne Judgment of God, there will only be one issue and that's your rejection of Jesus Christ. Your rejection of God's offer of pardon through Him. For He is the propitiation for our sins, but not only ours, but for the sins of the whole world.

And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments (1 John 2:3).

In the fourteenth chapter of the gospel of John, Jesus said, "He that hath My commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me, and he who loves Me shall be loved of My Father and We will come and manifest Ourselves to him" (John 14:21). He that hath My commandments and keepeth them. It isn't enough just to have the commandments; it is keeping the commandments. Paul said, "Hey, just because you have the law, don't think that you're justified. It isn't the hearers of the law that are justified, but the doers of law that are justified" (Romans 2:13).

Jesus said, "This is the commandment that I give unto you, that ye love one another" (John 13:34-35). I can say, "Oh yes, I have His commandments, He told me to love one another," and yet, you hate everybody. You see, having the commandment isn't enough. How can I know that I know Him? If I keep His commandment!

Now he that saith, I know Him, and keeps not His commandments, is a liar, the truth is not in him (1 John 2:4).

Now, if I say I believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and my Savior, then that very belief is going to bring about a certain style and manner of living. If I really believe it. Now, I can say I believe something that I don't really believe. And I may fool people into thinking that I believe something that I don't really believe, but I don't fool God. For true belief in Jesus Christ is going to be manifested my behavior. I cannot walk in darkness and possess the light.

But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him (1 John 2:5).

And so, basically, the whole commandment comes down to this: love God and love each other. Love. "He that loves," Paul said, "has fulfilled the law" (Romans 13:8). And when he taught love, he said, "Against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:23). It all comes down to loving, loving God first, supremely, and loving one another. That's where it's at, you do that and you done 'em all; you've kept them all. And that's basically what he, when he talks about the commandment, he is talking about loving God and loving each other, and you can't do one without the other. They go together. He that loveth God ought to also love his brother. He that saith that he loves God and hates his brother is a liar. How can you love God whom you've not seen and hate your brother whom you have seen who was made in the image of God? It's all in love.

Hey, some people say, "Oh, I have a rough time with the commandments of God." Well, what's so rough about loving God and loving each other?" Now, you see, the "Thou shalt nots" are all entailed in love. If you really love someone, you're not gonna lie against them, you're not going to steal from them, if you really love them. And so, thou shall not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness. You see, they're all superfluous if you love. If you really love God, you're gonna not take His name in vain, you're going to honor Him and keeps His days, your life wholly unto Him, separate unto Him. All of the rest follows along with loving God supremely and loving each other. And so, whenever you deal with the commandments, don't try and go down and enumerate the ten or the longer list, just deal with the two. Loving God supremely and loving each other. Keeps it simple that way.
And so, how can I love someone who is so nasty and mean? I can't, but He loves them, and as I submit myself to Him, He can put His love in my heart for them. And the fruit of His Spirit abiding in me is love. The love that suffers long and is kind, it envies not, vaunts not itself, is not puffed up, and doesn't behave itself unseemly, doesn't seek his own, believes all things, bears all things, hopes all things, proves all things. A love that never fails, as the Spirit of God is in control in my life.
So, "Whoso keeps His word, in Him verily is the love of God perfected." Oh, that God's love would be perfected in life. Oh, how I pray for that. How I pray for that. And you know it can't until I've really come to the end of myself. The old flesh, the old man, crucified with Christ. As long as I'm interested in me, and that's mine, that's my territory, and I'm, you know, drawing out my little area of territory, and don't you trespass, you know. The love of God is not yet perfected. Because the minute you come over on my territory, you're gonna get it, you know. You did that to me, you said that to me. How could you do that to me, you know. So interested in myself. God's love is not yet perfected in me. And the more God's love is perfected, the less there is of me, the self-life. Now,

He that saith that he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked (1 John 2:6).

He is our example. Look at His life; study His life. Jesus said, "Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me" (Matthew 11:28-30). Learn about Him, study Him, because if I abide in Him then ought to be walking as He walked. Giving my life in concern and care for others. How many times you read in the New Testament, "And Jesus, looking upon them, had compassion upon them." Whenever He saw a person in need, He was always moved with compassion. He was touched in His heart to reach out and to help those that were in need. Now, if you see a brother in need and you shut up your heart towards that brother, then how can you say that God's love is dwelling in you? You're not walking as He walked; you're not being touched as He was touched with the weaknesses and infirmities of others.

Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither [where] he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes (1 John 2:7-11).

What is darkness? Hatred. What is walking in darkness? Hating. Now, if there is someone you are really upset with and you really hate them, you're walking in darkness. "But I can't stand them, I hate them." Look out, look out, you're walking in darkness. You may say you're in the light, but you're deceiving yourself. You're blind; you're stumbling along, you can't see where you are going. The darkness has blinded your eyes. There's nothing so blinding as hatred. When your heart is filled with bitterness and hatred toward someone, you become blind to any value or good that might exist there. You don't want to see it.
Love is like a light, no occasion of stumbling for that man who walks in love. Love lights the path. This basically is the whole teaching of Christ and the gospel all summed up in this concept of love, and loving God, and loving each other. And really, as John said, His commandment isn't grievous; it's really rather wonderful. It's very healthy to love people; it's very unhealthy to hate. Hatred and bitterness create chemicals that have a destructive effect upon your body physically. Love produces chemicals that cause you to glow. You ever see a person in love, how they glow? The chemicals that are being created in their glands, they just, you know, brings a glow to life when you love. And when you have hatred, other chemicals eat you up, sap, take away, shrivel your skin and make you look ugly. Oh, that we would learn the simple lesson of love.
We'll take up at this point next week in our study as he writes to the little children, fathers, and young men. So, we'll break it in the middle of that chapter.
Father, we desire tonight that Your love be perfected in us. That we might walk as He walked, react as He reacted, love as He loved. O Lord, work in our hearts through thy love. Not just in words, but in deeds and in truth. And so, may we show our Savior to the world. In Jesus' Name. Amen. "