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The Bible tells us that the religious
leaders in Jerusalem described the men who were followers of
a man named Jesus as people who were turning the world upside
down. You see, the first Christians,
who were the first church, they made up the first Christian church
in Jerusalem, were so radically different in some ways that the
Jewish leaders believed they were totally changing the world. These Christians were having
a dramatic effect on the way people thought, on what people
believed, on how people conducted themselves, and especially how
people related to each other. And they were having such a dramatic
effect in these areas that the powerful people in Jerusalem
thought these Christians were a great threat to society. They said they were turning the
world upside down. We need to ask ourselves if we
think that we, as Christians, as a church, can accurately be
described as people who are turning the world upside down. If the
answer is no, then we have a problem. And I think, personally, that
the huge, overwhelming number of churches, even many Reformed
Baptist churches, would have to answer this question no. So
today, I want to talk to you about being people who turn the
world upside down. Please open your Bibles this
morning to the book of John, chapter 13, verses 1 through
35. Verses 1 through 35. of the book of John, chapter
13. This part of the Bible tells
us what happens as Jesus and his disciples celebrate the Passover
on the night that Jesus is arrested, the very day before he is crucified. These are the words of the living
God. Now before the feast of the Passover,
when Jesus knew that his hour had come, that he should depart
from this world to the Father, having loved his own who were
in the world, he loved them to the end. And supper being ended,
the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot,
Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given
all things into his hands and that he had come from God and
was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside his garments,
took a towel and girded himself, tied the towel around himself.
After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash the
disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which he
was girded. Then he came to Simon Peter,
and Simon Peter said to him, Lord, are you washing my feet?
Jesus answered and said to him, what I am doing you do not now
understand, but you will know after this. Peter said to him,
you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, if I do not
wash you, you have no part with me. Simon Peter said to him,
Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. And Jesus
said to him, he who is bathed need only to wash his feet, but
is completely clean. And you are clean, but not all
of you. For he knew who would betray
him. Therefore he said, you are not all clean. So when he had
washed their feet, taken his garments and sat down again,
he said to them, Do you know what I have done to you? You
call me teacher and Lord, and you say, well, for so I am. If
I then, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, You also
ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example
that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly,
I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor
is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know
these things, blessed are you if you do them. I do not speak
concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen. but
that the scripture may be fulfilled, he who eats bread with me has
lifted up his heel against me. Now I tell you before it comes
that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am he.
Most assuredly I say to you, he who receives whomever I send
receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me. When Jesus had said these things,
he was troubled in spirit and testified and said, most assuredly
I say to you, one of you will betray me. Then the disciples
looked at one another perplexed about whom he spoke. Now there
was one leaning on Jesus's bosom, one of his disciples whom Jesus
loved. Simon Peter therefore motioned
to him to ask who it was of whom he spoke. Then leaning back on
Jesus' breast, he said to him, Lord, who is it? And Jesus answered,
it is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have
dipped it. And having dipped the bread,
he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. Now after the
piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him,
what you do, do quickly. But no one at the table knew
for what reason he said this to him. For some thought, because
Judas had the money box, that Jesus had said to him, buy those
things we need for the feast, or that he should give something
to the poor. Having received the piece of bread, he went out
immediately, and it was night. So when he had gone out, Jesus
said, Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him.
If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself
and glorify him immediately. Little children, I shall be with
you a little longer. You will seek me, and as I have
said to the Jews, where I am going, you cannot come. So now
I say to you, a new commandment I give to you. that you love
one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this, all will know that you
are my disciples if you have love for one another. Today we're
going to concentrate on verses 34 and 35, and these verses are
contained within this part of the Bible which is a specific
unity, and it's very important that we understand that these
35 verses are a combined unity. But our concentration is going
to be on 34 and 35, although we're going to look at how the
rest of this part of the Bible emphasizes what we find or communicates
what we find in verses 34 and 35. The title of today's sermon
is simply, Love One Another. However, that title does not
really capture the extremely critical truth of what Jesus
says here. So the main point or the big
central message, big central truth or theme of the message
today is that sacrificial love is the absolutely necessary characteristic
of the church. And you have some sermon notes
in your bulletin that might help you follow along. Sacrificial
love is the absolutely necessary characteristic of the church. In order to be a true church,
Christians must love each other sacrificially. If Christians
do not love each other sacrificially, they are not a true church, they
are just a religious club. There are four things Jesus says
in these two verses that communicate this central truth, and we're
going to look at each one of them. First, this is a new commandment. Second, Jesus commands us to
love other Christians sacrificially. Third, by loving other Christians
sacrificially, everyone will know that we really are Christians. And fourth, if we do not love
one another sacrificially, we will not be a true church. Firstly,
then, this is a new commandment. This is a new commandment. Jesus
says, a new commandment I give to you that you love one another
as I have loved you that you also love one another. Now, this
is not one of the 10 commandments. This is not the greatest commandment,
to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. This
is not the second greatest commandment, to love your neighbor as yourself. This commandment is new. It is
not a command to all people. It is a command to Christians.
We know that because verse 35 tells us, So it's a command to
Christians that if they love one another sacrificially, that's
how the world is going to know that they're followers of Jesus. This command is only for Christians,
and specifically Christians in the context of the local church. Also, this command tells us to
love other Christians as Christ loved us, not as we love ourselves,
which is part of the second commandment. So this commandment is a new
commandment to Christians to the church. Secondly, Jesus commands
us to love other Christians sacrificially. Jesus commands us to love other
Christians sacrificially. Jesus says, love one another
as I have loved you. You see, Jesus is talking about
dying on the cross the next day. That's what he's talking about
in these 35 verses. Peter did not want Jesus to wash
his feet, but Jesus told Peter, what I am doing you do not understand
now, but you will know after this. That is, after the crucifixion
and resurrection. And Jesus also says, if I do
not wash you, you have no part with me. Jesus is talking about
washing away their sins. In Psalm 51, verse 2, King David
writes, wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from
my sin. And in verse 7 of that same Psalm,
David writes, wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. This is
the washing Jesus is talking about. By washing their feet,
Jesus shows them what he is going to do by dying for them. He will
suffer hell in their place and forgive their sins. So the love
Jesus is talking about is his death on the cross for their
sins. That's the love he is talking about here when he says, love
one another as I have loved you. Jesus gives them this example
of foot washing to show them that they must love each other
humbly and sacrificially. The Bible scholar John Stott
writes, the foot washing in this part of the Bible, the foot washing
is an acted parable, acted out parable of his washing away of
sin through his sacrifice. Love is defined by the cross. It is love of that caliber which
his disciples are called upon to express towards each other. In other words, this command
is not talking about our feelings. Most of the time we read this
command and think, oh, this means we're supposed to have warm,
fuzzy feelings for each other. And I'm just so happy to go feel
good about everybody in the church and obey Jesus. But that is not
what Jesus is talking about here. He's not talking about having
warm, fuzzy feelings for each other. This command means that
loving one another as Christ loved us must involve putting
to death things about ourselves for the good of other Christians. It must involve putting to death
things about ourselves for the good of other Christians. There
simply is no other meaning we can take away from what Jesus
says here. That means self-sacrifice, and
that is going to be painful, and it is something we must do
continually. It's not just a one-time thing.
If you are a Christian, I want you to look at how Jesus loved
you. And if you're not a Christian, I want you to read what Jesus
did to save you from being a slave to sin and spending eternity
separated from God in a place called hell. Look at the love that Christ
has for us as Christians. Open your Bibles to Mark chapter
15, verses 15 through 33. Mark chapter 15, verses 15 through
33. Here the Bible describes the
murder of the Lord Jesus Christ. Beginning in verse 15, the Bible
tells us, so Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released
Barabbas to them. and he delivered Jesus after
he had scourged him, or beaten him severely with whips, to be
crucified. Then the soldiers led him away
into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the
whole garrison, all the soldiers, and they clothed him with purple,
and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on his head, and began
to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews! Then they struck him
on the head with a reed, which is a hard stick, to drive the
thorns into his skull. And they spat on him, and bowing
the knee, they worshipped him. And when they had mocked him,
they took the purple off him, put his own clothes on him, and
led him out to crucify him. Then they compelled a certain
man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he
was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear his cross. And they brought him to the place
called Gotha, which is translated place of a skull. Then they gave
him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but he did not take it. And when they crucified him,
they divided his garments, casting lots for them to determine what
every man should take. Now it was the third hour, and
they crucified him. And the inscription of his accusation
was written above, the King of the Jews. With him, they also
crucified two robbers, one on his right and the other on his
left. So the scripture was fulfilled,
which says, and he was numbered with the transgressors. And those
who pass by blasphemed him, wagging their heads and saying, aha,
you who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save
yourself and come down from the cross. Likewise, the chief priest
also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, he saved
others himself he cannot save. Let the Christ, the King of Israel,
descend now from the cross that we may see and believe. Even
those who were crucified with him reviled him. Now when the
sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land
until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour, Jesus
cried out with a loud voice, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, which
is translated, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Do you understand what happened
here? This is not a description of just the brutal physical suffering
and physical death of Jesus. That's how we normally understand
what goes on here. But Jesus cries out, my God,
my God, why have you forsaken me? In a way that we cannot fully
understand, Jesus in his human nature, his human body and soul,
Suffer the eternal judgment of God against you and me for our
sins. In that moment, as he hung on
the cross and cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken
me? He was forsaken by God. Jesus suffered separation from
God, which is the very definition of everlasting hell. The absolute
worst, most horrible, unimaginable suffering and torment of hell
is the absence of God without hope or being delivered by God
or ever knowing God or experiencing God. That's hell. You see, that is God's judgment
against us and every human because of our rebellion and sin. When Jesus says that whoever
believes in him will never die, this is the death he's talking
about. He is not talking about some
excruciating physical death. He's not talking about the fact
that we, he's not talking about not having to die physically.
The fact is that we do have to die physically. All of us will
die physically. He is talking about hopeless,
never-ending absence of God, full of terror and agony and
excruciating heartbreak and grief forever and ever and ever without
end. And that is what Jesus suffered
for us in that final moment on the cross. This is the death
we will not suffer and we do not need to fear if we are truly
followers of Jesus. However, if you are not a Christian,
If you are not a Christian, you are separated from God right
now. You have no idea or concept of the love and peace and comfort
and goodness and freedom from slavery to your lust and appetites
that comes only from being one of God's people. And if you're
a child or a teenager, let me tell you, I'm speaking to you
also. I'm not just talking to adults. I'm speaking to you. If you're not a Christian, if
you haven't admitted your sin and trusted in Christ, you have no sense of the peace
and comfort and love that comes from belonging to Jesus Christ,
being born again and believing in Him. You are living in spiritual
darkness even though it may not feel like it. You are living
in spiritual darkness and death, spiritual death right now. But
there is still hope because you have not died yet. and you're
not yet separated from God forever. So this truth about death, about
everlasting separation from God forever, if you're an unbeliever,
if you're not a Christian, should fill your soul with terror and
at the same time with a longing and a yearning to be rescued
from this death and to be united with God both now and forever. Oh, unbeliever, if you feel God
moving in your heart or mind at all, Admit you are a sinner in rebellion
against God. Turn away from living for your
sins that fill your heart. All of your own thoughts and
desires and pleasures, those are your sins. Because you're
living for yourself, you're not living for God. Turn away from
those and believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who
lived a sinless life for you and has already suffered hell
for you. So the first two things Jesus
tells us is that this is a new commandment only for Christians,
and it is a commandment to love other Christians sacrificially. Thirdly then, Jesus tells us
that by loving one another sacrificially, everyone will know that we really
are Christians. By loving one another sacrificially,
that is how people will know that we really are Christians.
Jesus doesn't say, if you tell people you're Christians, they'll
know. He doesn't say, if you go to church every Sunday, they'll
know. If you do good works every Sunday, they'll know. Or every
day. He says, this is how the world
is going to know that you really are a Christian. By this kind
of love, Christians, we shine the reality and presence of the
person of Jesus Christ into the darkness of the world. The Holy
Spirit of God lives in us and it is that being, that presence
of Christ in us, that shines out of us into the world as we
love this way. Because we can't love this way
in our own human nature. It's impossible. Jesus says,
a new commandment I give to you that you love one another as
I have loved you that you also love one another. By this all
will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.
These disciples believed what Jesus said and obeyed this new
commandment. The Holy Spirit of God worked
powerfully in the early New Testament church to give us an example
of what this kind of love looks like. Open your Bibles to the
book of Acts chapter 2 verses 44 through 47. Acts chapter 2
beginning in verse 44. Here the Bible describes what
happened after one of the disciples named Peter preached the first
sermon after Jesus rose from death and rose into heaven. Beginning
in verse 44, we read, now all who believed were together and
had all things in common and sold their possessions and goods
and divided them among all as anyone had need. So continuing
daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from
house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity
of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. and
the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. This is the first local church
after Jesus went into heaven and sent his Holy Spirit to live
in his disciples and establish local churches. This is a description
of their overflowing love for each other that involves sacrifice,
and sharing, and forgiving, and encouraging, and caring for,
and enjoying each other, and strengthening their salvation. Now, verse 35, verse 35 is the
only place in the Bible that tells us how people will really
know that we are Christians. that they will see the reality
of who Jesus is and what he has done by the fact that we love
each other sacrificially. Please understand that without
this sacrificial love for one another, we are just wasting
our time. Let me repeat that. Without this
sacrificial love for one another, we are just wasting our time.
Nothing we do will bear any real fruit, and we will just be playing
church, and we will just be religious. Open your Bibles to 1 Corinthians
chapter 13, verses 1 and 2, and listen to the Holy Spirit of
God speaking through the Apostle Paul confirm what I just said. The Apostle Paul tells us, though
I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love,
I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though
I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and
all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove
mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. Do you hear that? Incredible words. The best preaching in the world. The greatest understanding and
knowledge in the world. The purest doctrine in the world. The deepest theology we can possess. and the strongest even unimaginable
faith mean absolutely nothing without this sacrificial love.
Paul is not talking about emotions. Again, that's not what Paul's
talking about. He's not talking about warm fuzzy
feelings. He's not talking about just liking
other people and making them feel good and feeling good ourselves. He's talking about loving one
another the way Jesus loved us and died for us. The Bible scholar John Stott
writes that a Jewish historian named Tertullian reported in
the late second century the comment of the pagans in his day. The pagans were saying, behold,
How these Christians love each other. How ready they are to
die for each other. Their mutual love was the magnet
which drew the pagan multitudes to Christ. It has the potential
to do so still. And I agree with John Stock.
It has the potential to do so still. We have looked carefully
then at three things we find in this part of the Bible. This
is a new commandment only for Christians. It is a commandment
to love one another sacrificially, and by loving one another sacrificially,
everyone will know that we really are Christians. These three truths
are stated clearly and directly in verses 34 and 35. The fourth
truth Jesus presents here is implied in verse 35, or indirectly
stated, but clearly stated in the book of Revelation. The fourth
truth tells us here, Jesus tells us here, is that if we do not
love one another sacrificially, we will no longer continue to
be a true church. If we do not love one another
sacrificially, we will no longer continue to be a true church.
In verse 35, Jesus says, By this, all will know that you are my
disciples, if you have love for one another. And remember, he's
talking about the kind of love he has for us, sacrificial love. Now, this statement also means,
then, that if we do not have love for one another, this kind
of love for one another, the world will not know that we are
disciples of Jesus. or followers of Jesus. In other
words, no matter how good the preaching and teaching is, no
matter how God-centered the worship may seem, no matter how beautiful
the music and singing is, we will not be showing the world
that we follow Jesus. We will not be showing the world
the reality of who Jesus is and of his work of salvation. We
will not really be witnesses to the truth of God's message
of salvation in the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus
Christ. Because we will not be loving
one another as Christ has loved us. And he says that that kind
of sacrificial love is how people will know that we are Christians. Jesus states this fact very clearly
in the book of Revelation chapter 2 verses 1 through 5. Revelation
chapter 2 verses 1 through 5. Here Jesus tells the apostle
John, To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, these things
says he who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks
in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. And listen to this.
This is what Jesus is saying to the church at Ephesus. I know
your works, your labor, your patience, that you cannot bear
those who are evil. And you have tested those who
say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars. And you have persevered and have
patience and have labored for my namesake and have not become
weary. Did you hear all of those good
things that these Christians in Ephesus were doing that Jesus
recognized? Ah, but listen, as he continues.
Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your
first love. You have left your first love. Remember, therefore, where you
have fallen. Repent and do the first works,
or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from
its place unless you repent. A Bible commentator named Alan
Johnson writes, the majority of commentators take the first
love referred to here in Revelations 2, 1 through 5, to refer to the
original Christian love the Ephesians had for one another. That understanding
is supported by a statement in the Apostle Paul's letter to
the church at Ephesus, in the book of Ephesians, chapter 1,
verses 15, where he writes, therefore, and he's writing to the Ephesians,
the same church Jesus was speaking to, therefore I also, after I
heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and your love for all
the saints, Do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention
of you in my prayers. You see, the Ephesian church
was known for its love for each other, its sacrificial love for
each other. And what Christ says in Revelation
is you've lost that love. You've lost it. And if you don't
repent and start loving each other sacrificially again, I
am going to come and take your lampstand. That means he's going
to remove them as his representatives in the world. If we do not practice
sacrificial love for one another, the Lord Jesus Christ will remove
us as his representatives in the world. We will no longer
be a true church. Jesus will remove our lampstand. The lampstand is the light of
our witness to the truth of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. And
that's what he said he would remove. The light of our witness
to the truth of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ, unless
we love one another sacrificially. We might actually be saved ourselves,
but nothing we do will display the truth of Jesus Christ to
the world. It doesn't matter how much we
say, unless we love one another sacrificially. Nothing we do
will have any effect or produce any fruit. So here in John chapter
13, the Lord Jesus tells us these four critical things. First,
he gives us a new commandment only for Christians. Second,
it is a commandment to love one another sacrificially. Third,
by loving one another sacrificially, everyone will know that we really
are Christians. And fourth, if we do not love
one another sacrificially, we will no longer continue to be
a true church. These four truths dramatically
declare that sacrificial love is the absolutely necessary characteristic
of this church and any true church. Step away from my notes for a
moment. I'll reveal a little bit of how old I am. There was
a song many years ago, I think back in the 60s, that said, what
the world needs down, can anybody finish that? Is love, sweet love. That's the only thing I've got
plenty of. That's not the kind of love we
need. But what the world needs down, what Christians need now,
and what the church needs now, is to learn to love each other
sacrificially. Now that we have heard this truth,
how must we go about obeying this new commandment? How do
we do this? How do we apply what Jesus says
here? Well, the word sacrifice itself
has something to do with death. It means putting to death something. And if we are to love the way
Jesus loved, which was willingly to sacrifice himself, willingly
to die, it means then that we must willingly put to death things
in ourselves for the good of others. Therefore, in order to
obey Jesus, we must put to death things in our hearts and in our
thoughts and in our lives and in our habits and in our living
for the good of others. Now loving, as I've mentioned
previously, does not mean we're doing something so we will have
warm emotional feelings about others or so that they will have
warm emotional feelings about us. As we practice putting to
death things in ourselves for the good of others, we may even
find with some frequency that we don't have warm fuzzy feelings
about that. And that person doesn't have
warm fuzzy feelings about us. But that's not the test, that's
not the measure, that's not the requirement. Warm emotions, good warm emotions
might be involved in it, but they might not be. Scriptural
love is thinking, speaking, and acting for the good of the other
person. The emotions are not the purpose,
and scriptural love is not emotion alone. It may include the emotion,
but it is not emotion alone. Scriptural love is something
that is for the good of the other person. Now this morning, in
making application of what we've heard Jesus tell us, I want to
suggest or outline 11 things that Christians should put to
death in their lives as sacrifices for the purpose of loving one
another in the same way Jesus loved us. Now, this is not at
all the whole list. This is just the beginning. But if we begin striving to do
these things, we will find the Holy Spirit of God working in
us. to form the right attitude and
to equip us and enable us to not only do these things, but
to see the other things we need to put to death in ourselves
in order to love others. Now, these things are not in
any order of priority. They are all equally important
and they are on the back of the sermon note sheets you have in
your bulletin. Firstly, put to death your reasons for not becoming
a committed member of a local church. Put to death your reasons
for not becoming a committed member of a local church. Now,
someone might think I'm speaking to you directly. However, I want
you to know that the majority of people in this worship service
this morning are not church members. So I'm not singling anyone out
personally at all. I'm speaking to every Christian, whether you're in this congregation
or however you might hear this sermon. I'm speaking in general
to people who profess to be Christians. but for whatever reasons are
not committed members of a local church. The Bible does not support
any idea of a Christian not being a member of a local church. Now,
there may be times when we're relocating and it takes its time
to resettle into a membership in a local church, but in terms
of simply not being a member of a local church, The Bible
does not support any idea of not being a member of a local
church. The Bible says Christ loved the
church and died for her. Yes, he loved you as an individual,
but he also loved you in order for you to be a member of a local
church, which the Bible says is the spiritual body of Christ
in the world. Being a Christian without being a committed member
of a local church is a totally foreign idea to the Bible. You
see, you cannot possibly love other Christians sacrificially
the way Jesus is talking about here in a committed way unless
you are committed to them and know them and are committed to
them by your promises to them. which are promises to worship
God together and serve God together and to love them sacrificially.
Secondly, put to death the reasons you give yourself for not attending
worship services. Put to death the reasons you
give yourself for not attending worship services. Hebrews chapter
10 verses 24 and 25 commands us to attend worship services. And when we attend worship services,
we encourage other Christians, we strengthen them, help them
grow in their faith, and express our concern for them. And it's
good for them. It's for their good. Of course,
if we're actually sick or if our work demands that we have
to work or lose our job, Those are circumstances for which the
Bible allows us to miss worship services. Thirdly, put to death
your shyness and those parts of your personality that keep
you from greeting people or getting to know people in the church.
Put to death your shyness or anything that keeps you from
engaging with people and getting to know them in the church. In
1 Peter 5, verse 14, the Apostle Paul writes, greet one another
with a kiss of love. Now, I'm not suggesting we all
start kissing each other every Sunday. But that was how people
greeted each other at the time that Peter wrote this. The point
Peter makes is that we are to show affection to each other,
smile at each other, shake hands, hug each other, say a few words.
This might not be your natural temperament or personality. Someone
might say, well, I will feel like a phony if I do that. But you would not be a phony.
A phony is a person who acts like someone they are not in
order to impress people or to fool other people or to manipulate
them. If you put to death this shyness
and this habit of your personality for the purpose of encouraging
other Christians and showing them that you care about them
and are interested in their lives, you are loving them like Christ
has loved you. It might be awkward and painful
for you, but that doesn't compare to how awkward and painful Christ
felt as he suffered and died for you. Fourthly, put to death
your hurt feelings and grudges. Put to death your hurt feelings
and grudges. In 1 Corinthians 13, verse 5,
the New International Version translation states that love
keeps no record of wrongs. Love keeps no record of wrongs.
Has someone in the church hurt your feelings or insulted you
in the past? Think about the hurt feelings
of Jesus on the cross dying for you and about how he was insulted. Your hurt feelings do not compare
at all. Jesus commands you to forgive.
In Mark 11, verse 25, Jesus says, and whenever you stand praying,
if you have anything against anyone, forgive him. that your
father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. You are
commanded to forgive whether the other person even knows you
were offended. You have to put to death your
hurt feelings and grudges and forget them and show affection
and concern and interest for the other person because it's
good for them and it's good for you. Fifthly, put to death your
pride. Put to death your pride. Put to death your pride. Anytime
anything is repeated three times in the Bible and the Hebrew,
that means there's great emphasis on it. In James, chapter 5, verse
14, the Bible tells us, confess your trespasses to one
another. Confess your trespasses to one another. Do not let your
pride keep you from saying you're sorry. Do not let your pride
keep you from admitting that you make mistakes. Do not let
your pride keep you from saying you were wrong. Do not let your
pride keep you from considering whether or not you might be wrong.
Do not let your pride keep you from admitting your sin and seeking
forgiveness. In Philippians 2, verse 3, God
tells us, Boy, that's hard to do. We think about ourselves
like 70,000 times a day, according to people who study our thoughts. If we treat others as more important
than ourselves, we display the power of the Holy Spirit in us.
If we treat people as more important than ourselves, we display the
power of the Holy Spirit in us. That can strengthen their faith
and show them how to treat others also, and that is good for them.
Sixthly, put to death your excuses for not practicing hospitality.
Put to death your excuses for not practicing hospitality. Throughout
the New Testament, the practice of hospitality was a vital part
of the life of the church, of the lives of individual Christians.
It was practiced by inviting people into their homes and treating
them as honored guests. We read about that in Acts chapter
2 earlier this morning. And 1 Peter chapter 4, verses
8 and 9, the Bible commands us, above all, Keep fervent in your
love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another
without complaint. Notice that in these two verses,
God connects fervent love for one another with the practice
of hospitality. Treating other Christians as
honored guests in your home is good for them. It encourages
them. It shows them that Christ loves them by your concern and
care for them. God does not care what your reasons
are for not practicing hospitality. None of them are acceptable to
him. Put your reasons to death and love other church members
by practicing hospitality towards them. Seventhly, put to death
your fear of practicing loving correction when another church
member sins. Jesus says we have to go to a
sinning church member by ourselves, one-on-one, before we ever say
anything to anyone else, even the pastor. We're to go to the
other sinning church member if we know we have evidence the
person has sinned and we know it's a sin according to scripture.
We're to go to that person one-on-one and talk with him or her about
the sin. We must be motivated by love
for them because it is good that we call them to repentance. It
is good that we call them to repentance because sin is death
dealing. Sin is destructive. It eats up
the mind and soul and life of even a Christian. You never lose
your salvation, but sin just rots your life. It is death dealing. That's why Jesus gives us this
command to address it in the lives of other Christians. Learn
what Jesus tells you to do in Matthew chapter 18, verses 15
through 17, and practice it for the good of one another. Eighthly,
number eight, put to death your excuses for not tithing, for
not supporting the church financially. The Bible teaches tithing. Tithing
is God's plan for financing the work of the church. And you don't
have to be a church member to be required by God to respond
to God's provision for the church. If you're a Christian, you have
an obligation to support the work of God in the world in the
local church and to support that financially. Financial giving
is God's plan for financing the work of the church. If anyone
should tell you otherwise, they have a wrong understanding of
the Bible. Every Christian is required by God to support the
church financially by budgeting a specific percentage of his
or her income to give to the church. And that specific percentage
is not my money. It's God's money. You see, if
you do not give a definite percentage of your income to support the
church, that means that you are expecting someone else to pay
the bills. Now, that's like me expecting
my neighbor to pay my rent. And it's not good. For my neighbor,
he wouldn't do it in the first place. But it's not good. And it's not good for other Christians
to place the total load of financing the church on them. And that's
what we do if we do not support the church financially. We are
expecting other Christians to pay the bills. And let me clarify
something. I've been in ministry about 35 years in five different
churches. And in almost all of them except
this one, I haven't encountered it here so far, but I've encountered
someone who said, well, I tithe by my service, by the things
I do. That's not tithing. That's just
doing the work that God has given you to do. Thank God that you
do that, that you use, and we'll get to that in just a moment,
that you use your spiritual gifts and abilities and talents But
that's not supporting the work of the church financially. Now,
this is not a sermon to present the scriptural requirement for
tithing. However, if you do not put to death your excuses for
not tithing, you are expecting someone else to pay the bills,
and that's not love for them. That's not for their good. The
fact is that you will not tithe, you will not support the church
financially unless you want to do so. The primary reason you
should want to do so is because God has loved you and saved you
and given the most precious, valuable thing possible, beyond
all possible value, and that was his son, to save you. That's the first reason, out
of love for God. The second reason is because
God commands it. And the third reason is that by supporting the church
financially, you are showing your love for other members by
paying your share of the expenses of the work of the kingdom of
God through the church. Ninthly, number nine, put to
death your grumbling and complaining and criticizing. In Philippians
chapter two, verse 14, God tells us, do all things without grumbling
or disputing. And in James chapter 5 verse
9, God commends us. Do not complain, brethren, against
one another. And in Ephesians chapter 4 verse
29, the Bible tells us that everything we say and everything we think
should be for the purpose of building others up. Tenthly,
put to death your habit of using all your free time for yourself.
Put to death your habit of using all your free time for yourself.
In Ephesians 5, verses 15 and 16, God tells us, Be careful
how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most
of your time, because the days are evil. We are to make the
most of our time. Since Jesus commands us to love
one another by putting to death things about ourselves, one of
the most valuable things we possess is our time. Certainly, we have
the privilege and obligation of using our free time for rest
and recreation. However, we can use some of that
time to help other church members and encourage them, to help other
Christians and encourage them. We can visit them, send them
cards if they're sick. We can help them move. We can
babysit for them. We can watch their pets for them
while they are on vacation. We can take the time to send
them birthday cards and anniversary cards. to let them know that
we're thinking about them and care about them. We can accept
invitations to spend time with them and extend invitations to
them to show them hospitality. We can invite them into our homes
for a meal. We can send them text messages
and emails telling them that we are thinking about them and
praying for them. We can use some of our time some
of our free time in these ways and many others for the good
of other Christians, eleventhly and finally. Put to death any
reasons you give yourself for not using your talents, skills,
or spiritual gifts for the good of the church. Put to death any
reasons you give yourself for not using your talents, skills,
or spiritual gifts for the good of the church. In 1 Corinthians
12, verse 7, the Bible tells us, to each one is given the
manifestation of the spirit for the common good. Now here, God
is talking about spiritual gifts. But the principle applies to
our talents and skills and abilities also. Whatever ability or gift
or talent or strength we possess that can bless and strengthen
other Christians and the Church, we should use it and we should
put to death our reasons for not doing it. Many of these things are being
done, obviously done, and have been done by many people in the
church. So I'm not saying that we don't,
we haven't done these things or we're not doing these things.
I'm simply saying that we need to understand Christ's command
to love one another sacrificially as a command to put to death
things in ourselves for the good of other Christians. And these
are just some of the ways, some of the ways that we can do that. These 11 things are not a complete
list of the things we can put to death in order to love other
Christians. However, if we start with these
11 things, God will show us other things that we can put to death. Now, if you're a Christian, I
do not want to leave you with a sense of a heavy burden of
responsibility. I want you to know that the Holy
Spirit of God Himself will enable you to love each other, love
other Christians sacrificially. You simply need to commit yourself
to obeying this command. Think about the command. Ask
God to help you obey it and the Holy Spirit will change your
mind and heart and give you all the ability you need to love
other Christians in this way. And when you do, you will experience
the supernatural presence and power of God himself alive and
working in your heart and life. The living God himself will literally
shine himself into and through your heart and soul by his living
eternal Holy Spirit and through your actions in a
way that will leave you speechless and trembling in awe. There is
no earthly experience like it. Now, if you're not a Christian,
you cannot love Christians sacrificially. because your human nature is
in rebellion against God. Your human nature is no different
than the human nature of any other human being. When the first
man and woman sinned, the entire human race was thrown into sin,
corrupted by rebellion against God. That is the reason you do
not believe in God or worship Him and obey Him if you're not
a Christian. You're not only unable to love
Christians sacrificially, you are unable to receive such love
from Christians fully because you simply don't understand it.
Oh, but let me tell you, there is hope. If you're not a believer,
there is hope for you. You can still believe in God.
You're not dead yet. You can still believe in Jesus
Christ. You can still know that your problem is not believing
in Jesus Christ and not obeying God. And most importantly, you
can still cry out to God and ask Him to give you spiritual
life, to give you faith in Jesus, to forgive your sins. The Bible
says that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.
If you're not a Christian, And again, I'm not talking to only
adults. If you're a child or a teenager,
if you're not a Christian, I beg you, believe the truth about
Jesus Christ. Believe the truth that you are
a sinner separated from God. Beg God to give you faith in
Jesus Christ and to forgive you and to give you everlasting life.
And if God saves you, you will begin to experience a love that
is beyond human understanding, and you will have the capacity
then to put to death things in yourself, your selfish, selfish,
self, self, selfish self. You'll have the capacity to put
that to death. One of our scripture readings
this morning is Jesus says, if anyone would come after me, what?
Let him deny himself or herself. and take up his cross, that means
dying daily, and follow me. If you call out to God and God
gives you spiritual life and faith in Christ, you will, for
the first time in your life, be able to do something unselfish. Not because you're able to do
it, but because the Holy Spirit of God, of Jesus Christ Himself,
will work in you to make you new.
Love one Another
Series The Gospel of John
| Sermon ID | 101324213434213 |
| Duration | 59:25 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | John 13:1-35 |
| Language | English |
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