Please open your Bibles to John chapter 13. This is 34-35. Looking particularly at these verses, also in context with other scriptures. Words of our Lord Jesus, a new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another, as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, ye have love one to another. Amen. And so the last number of years we've going through the Westminster Confession as a summary of biblical doctrine and considering that in the light of the Scriptures. And one of those chapters, chapter 26, is of the communion of the saints. We spent one evening just on that subject in terms of beginning with the foundation of our duties as Christians to each other is that we are brought together in Christ. That is, we trust in Christ and are united to Him, then we're united to one another. So there's that union of the saints, by the grace of God, and living together then as those united in Christ, that's where we speak of communion, fellowship. Westminster Confession, there's this statement concerning, in that sense, our duties as Christians to each other. Saints, by profession, are bound to maintain a holy fellowship and communion in the worship of God and in performing such other spiritual services as tend to their mutual edification, as they're building up one another. as also relieving each other in outward things according to their several abilities and necessities which communion as God offereth opportunity is to be extended unto all those who in every place call upon the name of the Lord Jesus. So there's a summary there of what it means to to be together as Christians and there is a particular expression of that in particular congregations, particular assemblies of Christians who know one another and see one another day-to-day, week-to-week. They live together in these particular duties, but also that we're to extend this love to all who profess the name of Christ, particularly as they come across our path. Well, we spent one evening on those things last year. God willing, this year we'll spend 11. And particularly, considering the practical outworking of those duties, what does it mean to be together as God's people? What are our duties? And what does it mean to love one another? As I mentioned, we'll be looking at this in terms of some of the one another's of the scriptures, particularly in the New Testament, We find many commands do this to one another, for one another. And we begin this evening with Love one another, which we can say, on the one hand, is the summary of all of our duties. They all come under that duty of love. Think of how Jesus summarized the law and the prophets. All the law and the prophets, he said, hang on, these two commandments, love God and love thy neighbor as thyself. So love sums up, fulfills the law. It doesn't do away with the law, it sums it up. And so love one another in a sense sums up all our duties, but also we can see it as the fountain from which all our other duties flow. It's with this love that all these other duties follow that and go along with it. And we're enabled to do those duties if we have that love. So I want to consider then these verses under three headings. Firstly, there is Christ's commandment, then Christ's example, and then Christ's reputation. So Christ's commandment, firstly, a new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another. And perhaps the first thing that we can We need to realise about this commandment is that it is a direct order from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He gives it to us and in all of the Bible is given to us. by Christ, the Old Testament, given as the Spirit of Christ spoke through the prophets, Peter says, and the New Testament, the apostles and prophets laying their foundation of the Church. But this, there are those things that are given us directly, in that sense, from the mouth of Christ as it was upon the earth, and this as well, as well as finding it throughout the Scriptures. And Christ says it's a new commandment, a new commandment I give unto you, which leads us to ask, well, did the duty of love to other believers only begin in the New Testament? Did it only begin here in John 13? Did the disciples know nothing of this before? Was there nothing of this in the Old Testament? Well, no, and yes. There is a sense in which it is new, but there's a sense in which it is old. And we're helped to understand this by John in his first letter. In 1st John, chapter 2, in verses 7 to 11. 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. 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 he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. Now what's that new commandment that he's speaking of here, which is old at the same time? It's the commandment to love, your brother, to love the brethren. This has always been the case, that that is our duty. Cain, in hating his brother, he sinned and he knew that it was sin. It's old because it was from the beginning, but it's new. As John speaks of it, as Christ, tells us because Christ was giving it anew and he was giving it with his own particular example and with more motivation. See there's always been, we look in the Old Testament, And we see there in Leviticus 19, 18, those words that many people assume is just Jesus came up with them, but they're not. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. We see the same principle. And we see what that looks like. What does it look like to love your neighbor as yourself? We see what that means in God's law and throughout the scriptures. But, even though that is the case, we come to the New Testament and we do see a greater emphasis in terms of teaching, in terms of instruction, in terms of commands on love for one another. And so in that sense, it's given a new context, and that's the context in which Christ has come. And a particular thing that makes this commandment, puts it in a new light, is that there's Christ's example, and we're going to go to Christ's example shortly, but that He says, love one another as I have loved you, that He also loves one another. So that gives us a new light, more light, on what it is to love one another, and also There's not only a clear example in Christ and His love, but greater motivation, because God's love has been seen from the beginning as He has saved sinners and called them to Himself, as we see through the Old Testament Scriptures as well. But we see His love most clearly in Christ, in the sending of His Son, in the fulfilling of His promises, And so we're given that far greater reason to love one another, seeing the love of God and knowing the love of God for us. Again, I'm going to be going back to 1 John a few times, a number of times, in 1 John 4, verse 10 and 11. Here is love. Not that we love God, but that He loved us. and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. We're going to come back to that later. We've learned something about how we can love one another from that. But we see there Christ sacrificed to take away our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. So you see, in this context, it's a new commandment. And what is that commandment? To love one another. What does that mean? What does it mean to love one another? love we'll spend monthly through the year we're going to be considering in essence fleshing out what that means as we consider different scriptures of these one and others but as we think about love we need to realize a number of things especially in contrast to what the world says often about love Because in the world, if you speak to people about love, they say, well, they might just, love means I really like something, or I really like someone, or I have feelings for them, or such things. But love is not mere feelings. True love involves feelings, it involves the affections, it involves the whole person. But it's not primarily, or wholly, feelings. And this is true whether we're thinking of love for God, Love for God, as the Bible describes, is not having nice thoughts and feeling good about God. We're to love the Lord our God with all our heart and all our soul and all our strength and all our mind. It's the whole person directed to God and devoted to God, much more than feelings. And it's the same when it comes to men. And we see something in terms of what the Bible says, again I'm going to go to the letters of John, about love that's not just feelings from statements like this. In 2 John 6, this is love that we walk after His commandments. So love involves keeping God's commandments. In 1 John 5 verse 2, by this we know that we love the children of God. And I say, well, what's he going to say? Because we feel, we feel nice, we have nice thoughts about them, we have nice feelings for them, we like them. No. By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep his commandments. So you see, so love is, it's not a divorce from feelings, but it's not mere feelings. It's also not mere words. Again, the Apostle John, 1 John 3, 18. My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. That means show your love by actions. That's where true love is seen. It's also not, I mean, there are those who say, okay, it's not feelings and it's not words. It's action. Love is action. It's just doing the right thing for others. Certainly it involves action. But it's not mere action. It's not mere deeds. What does Paul say about this in 1 Corinthians 13? He talks a lot about love, about charity, about love. He says, So there's deeds, aren't they? Good deeds. So you can do all those good deeds. You can help other people, but it doesn't mean necessarily that there's love there. So what is love? I'm sure there are many different definitions in terms of biblical teaching that people have come up with, but I'm going to say that love is affections and words that show themselves in action for the good of the other. Now, as regards God, if we're talking about particularly our whole being directed to Him and devoted to Him and living for Him, that's what it is to love God. But as we think of love for others, it does involve our heart and our mind directed to others, seeking the good of others and doing good for others. So that's something about what love is. And when we come to Christ's example, want to explore that a bit more, what that looks like. But, who is the one another? Jesus says, love that ye love one another. This is, this, even though This statement, this command, is related to the commandment, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. It's not the same. It's more particular. See, love thy neighbor as thyself, that extends to all men everywhere. And with particular application is, as people come across our path, think of the good Samaritan helping that Jew on the side of the road in Jesus' parable. Who is your neighbor? Your neighbor's the one in need. And there is love required to all. And Jesus even teaches us, doesn't he, in the Bible shows love for our enemies. But this is a particular love for the brethren. And we see this in the next verse. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. So Jesus is talking to his disciples and he's speaking of their love for one another. Now that doesn't mean that there's no love to be shown to others. Paul says in Galatians 6 verse 10, I do good to all men, especially to those of the household of faith, is a priority. And this is what the Bible speaks of as love of the brethren, brotherly love. Hebrews 13 verse one, let brotherly love continue. Why is it called brotherly love? Now Jesus doesn't mention the word brotherly here, it's elsewhere, but this is what he means when he says love one another. It's called brotherly love because believers are brothers and sisters in Christ. They're members of the same family, of the family of God. And this takes us, in that sense, underneath the duty to the foundation, and that is when God saves a sinner, that sinner is justified, is forgiven of his sins and set right in the sight of God, as we've been considering recently in Romans. There's the law court, there's God as the judge, forgiving sins and pardoning and declaring righteous. But then we see Instantaneously, God as Father adopting the justified sinner into his family, into the family of God. And whenever a sinner is brought into the family of God, what does he find but that there are others there. And so it's not just him and God, it's not just her and God, it is the family of God. That's the reality that undergirds this command. that if you are, in the language of Christ, if you are His disciple, if you're following Him, if you're trusting in Him, then you find yourself in the church, you find yourself in the band of disciples, and you have a duty to each other. If you're a child of God, you find yourself with other children of God, and that makes you brethren, it makes you siblings. And your duty and your privilege is to love, to love one another. And just as there's obligation in our families to love one another, so in the family of God. So we've got motivation here to love one another. Christ commands us. And it's a good commandment. And then we have Christ's example. That you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another. All that Jesus says, as I have loved you. We can say that all that Jesus has ever done for his disciples have been out of love for them. Providing for them, teaching them, admonishing them, comforting them. all that he had done but as we think as we look at these verses in this chapter there are two things in particular before us that Jesus is referring to and we go back to the beginning of the chapter there in verse one now before the feast of the Passover when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end." And when it says He loved them unto the end, I don't believe it's speaking of the foot washing. I'll come to the foot washing in a minute. That was an act of love. This is speaking of love to the uttermost, love to the greatest extent, and it is looking to the cross. It is Christ looking to His death for His disciples, for His people. And we see even in verses just before our text, in verse 31, that when He was gone out, Jesus said, now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in Him. If God be glorified in Him, God shall also glorify Him in Himself and shall straightway glorify Him. He's thinking of the cross. Christ was going there to glorify God in his death as he gave himself in love for his own. He loved them to the end. And so if we think of this example, as I have loved you, we are to be thinking of the first instance of Christ's death. We see this more in a couple of chapters after, John chapter 15. This is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants, but the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth. For I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, that your fruit should remain. that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, whom I have given you, these things I command you, that ye love one another." You see there the example then of Christ's death. His love shown, He's pre-empting, He was going to lay down His life for them. Love one another this way. And I mean, we read before there from 1 John 4, 10 and 11, where it speaks of God giving His Son propitiation. Listen again, here in His love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. When we think of Christ dying for the sins of his people, dying for the appreciation for our sins, there is his love willingly laid in his life. But who is he doing it for? Who did He do it for? Well, we were yet sinners. A propitiation is a sacrifice to take away anger, wrath, to satisfy justice. Christ died for sinners. The love of God is seen in Christ being given and Christ died as a love for the unloved. God's love was not conditioned on the loveliness, on the helpfulness, on the whatever beauty of those that He showed that love to. Now He would by His grace bring forth love from them, that we would love Him as He first loved us, but it's love for the unloved. And so Christ's example, when Christ says, as I have loved you. There's a willingness, as we think, okay, what should our love look like? There's a willingness, needs to be a willingness to give our lives for one another. Not to save one another, we can't, Christ is the only saviour, but to give our lives, if necessary, to take the bullet, as it were, to protect one another. But there's also the aspect, not quite so hypothetical for us, of love to those who are unlovely, at least in our eyes. Love to those who don't deserve it. Love to those who have done us wrong. Love to those who maybe cannot repay us, cannot invite us back, cannot help us in return. So that's the first aspect, as we think of when Jesus says, as I have loved you, that we're looking to his death, the ultimate sacrifice, but also love for the unlovely there. But the second aspect is in terms of the foot washing. He would love them to the uttermost, to the end, on the cross. But then there is also the example, which we read there, of His getting down and washing their feet. Now, we'll just read again verses 12 to 17. So after He had washed their feet and taken His garments and was set down again, He said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? He call me master and lord, and ye say, well, for so I am. If I then your lord and master have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, the servant is not greater than his lord, neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. Now this is not the occasion to spend much time on it either, but this is not a sacrament to be practiced as some have done. It's an example of sacrificial service, of lowliness, of humility, Let's think of the situation, and perhaps children too, because it's a little bit different than our situation. We, I know some of us, we do wear thongs, we wear sandals, we walk about and our feet get dirty, but we're talking about roads that weren't paved, generally, you know, dusty roads, dusty feet, coming from a journey to someone's house, as the disciples had done, and everyone's got dirty feet. and also not only are they often not sitting at a table with their feet nicely under the table covered by a tablecloth, they're perhaps on lounges where their feet are sort of up almost in the next person's face and so it was a proper thing to do then for your feet to be washed and that was generally left to a servant particularly in the houses where they had the servants or perhaps the the lowliest person in the company But here they were at the supper, it would seem that no one was there to wash their feet, and no one among the disciples was going to go and do it. So Christ got down, laid aside his outer garments, took the towel, put it around him, and went and washed his disciples' feet. Now the whole conversation with Peter and so on, that's something for another time, but what Jesus is saying here, what I have done for you, that's how you're to be one to another. And so what we're talking about is not a sacrament, I will do this once a year and make us feel special about these things. This is about loving one another enough to do hard, even menial, lowly, dirty things for one another. We can think of that literally, cleaning the toilet, changing the nappy, cleaning up the mess, whatever it is, whether it's a child's mess or some accident, doing the thankless task stooping low, or it could be in more of a proverbial, you know, figurative sense, the lowly job, the thing that no one sees and no one promptly will notice. And what we learn as we think on Obviously Christ's love and giving himself, that is greater love of no man than this. That's the height of love, a willingness to die for another. But sometimes when we're thinking about love, and we're thinking about love like Jesus, we can leave it there in the hypothetical. Yes, of course I'd be willing to lay down my life for other members of my family and members of the congregation and another believer. I'd jump in the way of the bullet or whatever it was, And there can be a willingness to die. But something that we learn from Jesus washing the disciples' feet is that love is not only a willingness to die, but it's a willingness to live for one another. And in that sense, I mean, Jesus describes, and the Bible describes the Christian life as daily dying, doesn't it? So these things aren't in conflicts, We're to daily die to self, to deny ourselves, to put ourselves not first, to think of the things of others more, before the things of ourselves. Think of others more highly than of ourselves. And Jesus shows us that love is not just about intention, but about action. That it needs to be worked out. Now another aspect though, before moving on just to verse 35, that I wanted to mention, in a number of the verses that I've referred to, also from 1st John, 2nd John, show this connection between love and the law. Love is the fulfilling of the law. Upon the commandment of love, love God, love your neighbour, hang all the law and the prophets. It sums up the teaching of the scriptures. And we read there in 1 John 5 too, by this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep His commandments. So how That's how we know that we love the children of God, if we love God and keep His commandments. So what that teaches us is that one of the ways in which we love one another is by keeping God's commandments. And I want to think with you about that very briefly, just going through the commandments, so that you realize that love for one another isn't some airy-fairy up there. It's very concrete and real. As concrete as washing one another's feet, doing the menial things for one another, but as concrete also as keeping the commandments of God. So that if we think of the commandments, when you worship and serve the one true God and don't go after other gods, you're not leading others into idolatry. You're loving them by worshipping God and worshipping Him first. When you worship God His way, not worshipping idols, not going after things that He hasn't commanded, you're not leading others into false worship, you're not imposing on their consciences what God doesn't. When you love God and use His name in a right way, You're loving others by, in that sense, giving, by hearing you say right things about God and not, rather than blaspheming God. When you keep the Sabbath, you enable others to rest. You provide opportunity for others to worship God and seek Him. Children, when you honour your parents, when you obey your parents, you're loving your parents. Parents, when you raise your children in the nurture and ambition of the Lord, all this under the fifth commandment, you're loving your children. When we submit to lawful authorities, we're loving them. When they rule in a godly way, in a lawful way, they're loving their people. When you don't kill someone, you're loving them. When you rather protect their life and preserve it in a lawful way. When you don't commit adultery, when you guard your heart and your eyes and your marriage, you're loving others. Loving your wife, your husband, but loving others by protecting their marriages and their chastity. and so on. When you're not stealing other people's property, when you're obeying God by not stealing other people's property, by working hard, you're loving others. When you tell the truth to others and about others, you're loving them. When you're not coveting what belongs to others, but rather are content and rejoicing in what God's given you and what God's given them, you're loving them. Can you see? These things, this is what the Bible means when it speaks of, this is how we know we love the children of God, when we love God, we keep His commandments. Love fulfills the law. As we learn to love from Christ and from His Word, to love one another. And then thirdly, Christ's reputation. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." In brief, the mark of a Christian is love, brotherly love. We could also talk about, Jesus doesn't speak of it here, love for enemies. Certainly that is something, that turning of the other cheek. Blessing those that curse. That's a characteristic of a disciple of Christ, but here particularly brotherly love. Why love? Why not faith? Why not doctrine? Why not obedience? Or love? covers all of these things. Because how, ultimately, do we see faith? We can hear faith, a profession of faith, but where does it become evident? How can we be sure that there is faith? When it works in love. When it bears fruit. And, yes, sound doctrine, but sound doctrine, to have sound doctrine is to love God with all your heart and soul and mind. And love is obedience to God's commandments. Love one another. That's how they'll know that you're my disciples, that's what Jesus is saying. So that's the test. Now it's, it's not all about feelings. At all. But, if, but you are to consider your feelings. If you, if you're looking down the pube, as it were, or thinking of other professing Christians and its bishops and resentments, hatred effectively, in your heart, but you're covering that over with smiles and actions, that's a problem. It's not just about feelings, but consider your heart, consider your affections. On the other hand, it's not enough, is it? To be all smiles, to be all warmth, and no, no follow. The Apostle John, again, in his epistle, and he is called the Apostle of Love, isn't he? Different times. But he speaks of these things, and we need to realize Love is not, and love for one another is not a side issue. This is about life and death. Not about how we gain eternal life, we can't. But about whether we have eternal life. In 1 John 3, 14, to 18. We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, and he knoweth that no murderer hath eternal life abided in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but indeed in the truth. So it's such an important The question is, do you love the Brethren? Do you love those who love Christ? How are you showing that? Also we can ask, well, how can we have this love? It means that God will work in us. 1 Peter 1.22-23 Seeing that ye have purified your souls and obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently, being born again not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. It means that we must be born again by the Word of God. That's the only way that there can be this unfamed love. What is unfamed love? It means sincere love. Love that is not with hypocrisy. It's not just an external thing where the heart is burning. within, it is sincere love from the heart. And if Peter says that you have loved one another with a pure heart, fervently being born again, that's where it comes from. And we need to be born again. But also as those who are born again, We need to be seeking grace and asking that God would enable by His Holy Spirit that we would put away that bitterness and put away that hatred and put on love and walk in love as Christ has first loved us. And sometimes you might have heard it said, you might have said it, you can choose your friends but not your family. And the idea being, well, we just need to put up with our family, learn to love them. Perhaps that would help. Also thinking about brotherly love. So we don't choose our family in that sense. The church is God's family. And if you are a Christian, If you are trusted in Christ, then the church is your family. There are those that God has placed you with in your immediate family. There are those that you might come into contact with or have contact with from time to time who are in the wider family. There are those you might meet who come from far away and sometimes it can be that immediate, you discover that there's a common faith and a love for Christ and that immediate fellowship. It's a beautiful thing. We need to be thinking and remembering that the church is not A social club. The church is not about getting together and spending time with people that are like me. And people that I like. The church is a family. And it's where God has placed you. And those who are with you in that church, as much as they profess Christ, they are your brothers and sisters. Jesus says, love them. Love them. As I have loved you. Amen.