By the time you arrive in John chapter 13, you're entering into a very personal and intimate setting. You're in the upper room with Jesus and the disciples. Within a few hours of these conversations, Jesus will be arrested. Really, by tomorrow, from this moment in Scripture, Jesus will be hanging on the cross. He will be crucified. Every word that Jesus says in this context is of utmost importance. The disciples were very aware, Jesus himself is cognizant of the fact that the tone has changed. The hour has come, that would be the terminology that Jesus would use. It's time now. Everything that you've studied for, as it were, everything that you have pursued, everything that you have lived after is now coming to fruition. Every word that Jesus says in this moment is intensely practical and incredibly relevant. Jesus is emphasizing that the disciples have each other and in this moment in time that's all they have. He's conveying a command, a mandate, a call to them that applies to us. You'll remember as we began our study last week that I read two verses from the book of Hebrews. The writer of Hebrews said this, let us consider one another. to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another. And so much the more as ye see the day approaching." The writer of Hebrews understood that every Christian needs encouragement in the fight. And when I reference fight, I mean the good fight of faith. Every believer seeking to persevere in this challenging world, to pursue after holiness and righteousness, every now and again just needs somebody to come alongside of them, which is literally the depiction of the word, put their arm around them and exhort them, encourage them to take one more step. When the writer says, let's consider one another, he is being very specific. Let's think of ways. Let's get creative about motivating each other. to righteousness, motivating each other towards holiness, motivating us to just stay in the game. One writer said, encouragement is oxygen to the soul, and that's a fact. It's the only way that we can stay after it. It's the only way that we can run our race continually. Focus. Give careful and intentional thought to being an encouragement to other people. This is a mandate. This is a call that does not just belong to pastoral staff, but to every believer that is gathered to persevere. And it is more urgent as the return of Jesus approaches. We don't seek to provoke each other with the thought of critical exasperation, trying to chip away at one another and trying to wear each other out with one more negative thought or one more judgmental correction, but rather we move forward acknowledging honest endeavor and allowing for imperfection. That would go a long way if we could just acknowledge honest endeavor as people tried to honor God and we allowed for some imperfections and we didn't write them off the second that they fell short of what we perceived them needing to be. The Bible equips us with all the tools that we need. in order to support each other. Those two words, one another, are used throughout the New Testament. You and I were not meant to live in isolation, but were rather designed by God to live within community. You need me, and I need you, and we all need each other. But as one writer said, people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. With that in mind, we enter into the upper room with Jesus. It makes sense to start where Jesus started. It makes sense to put the emphasis where Jesus put the emphasis, and from the onset, I'm gonna tell you, as soon as we read these verses, you're gonna think in your mind, I've already heard it, I already understand it, but if you're honest, you'll recognize you are not implementing it nor applying it as Jesus expects you to. Here in the upper room, we have this command from Jesus in verse 33 of John 13. Jesus is now speaking. You can picture him at this table with the disciples. Lean, preparing to partake in the last supper. Jesus says, little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me, and as I said unto the Jews, whither I go ye cannot come, so now I say to you, 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, if ye have love one to another." Again, we're entering into a scene that the Holy Spirit, by His inspiration, allows us to listen in on some incredible conversation. Jesus is heading toward the cross, the crucifixion literally hours away, and you can hear the empathy, you can hear the compassion, you pick up the whole tone of the conversation when Jesus says, little children. It's an affectionate term. It's the term of a parent talking to toddlers. There is some real love being communicated. It's the only time in the gospels that Jesus calls his disciples little children. He's being extremely intentional with every word that he speaks. And he's just told them something. I'm leaving. And you've heard me tell the Jews that where I'm going, you cannot come. You heard me say it to them, so now I'm saying it to you. I'm leaving and where I'm going, you cannot follow. Now in the next chapter, we're gonna get some clarity on that. For it's in John chapter 14 that Jesus senses, your hearts are troubled because I told you you can't go where I'm going. But I need you to know, I'm going to my Father's house to prepare a place for you, and if I go and do that, I will come again and get you so that you can be where I'm at. And Thomas says, well, tell us how to get there. And Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. But here in John 13, he's just said, I'm leaving. And where I'm going, you cannot go. You can hear the inner monologue of the disciples. You're going away? You're telling us that you're leaving us here and that we can't come? I think, intimated in the language, is that they were feeling for the first time a childlike fear. And in effect, what Jesus does when He levies the new mandate to love one another, is He is saying to them, yes, I'm leaving, and no, you cannot come, but I want you to know, you're not alone. You have each other. You have a family right here in this room that is surrounding you that is supposed to love you just like I have loved you. And by the way, this love will be so pure and it will shine so bright that the world on the outside will take note of this family. The mandate is love each other. This terminology, love one another, is so frequently used in the New Testament. It's so intensely practical. In fact, in many verses, it's kind of amplified for us, helps us to understand what exactly that looks like. In fact, four times in the Gospel of John, Jesus himself will tell us to love one another. It's your job, it's your call, it's your mandate, it's your responsibility. If you're a believer, this is the expectation Jesus has of you. As you get into the writings of Paul, he'll help us understand what this love looks like. In fact, he'll write this in Romans 12, 10, be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love. Now that's just a way of saying, have some family warmth towards each other. Kind affection shared to those that are within the family. Paul writes to a really troubled church, the church at Corinth. I mean, they are carnal people. It's a sinful church. He writes two letters in the New Testament. They're really his longest epistles, and he's trying to straighten out a whole lot of problems. It's a church full of division and strife. As he finishes his second letter, he says this to them, greet one another with a holy kiss. Now if we were to take that literally, we would be kissing each other in church. Anyone want to sign up for that? My wife doesn't even want to sign up for that if it was a church of one being me. Now he does say make it a holy kiss, it's not a sensual thing. What he is communicating is this, there should be some family warmth and some affection amongst believers. Greet one another with a holy kiss might be along these lines. It's okay to shake a hand and pat an arm or to put an arm around somebody or to hand off a hug conveying some family warmth. It's really hard to hug somebody when you're ticked off at them, isn't it? It's really hard to put your arm around somebody when you don't like them. Convey some kind affection. Love each other with some family warmth. In fact, he'll tell the believers at Galatia, this is the whole impetus for your service, Galatians 5.13, but by love, serve one another. Don't just do it because you have to do it. Don't just do it because your name's up on the rotation. By love, serve one another. It dictates our humility. It is what dictates our patience with each other, Ephesians 4, 2. With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love. being patient with each other in love. It's by this love that we can acknowledge some honest endeavor and we can tell somebody they're doing a good job and mean it. It's with this kind of forbearance that we can allow for some imperfections and not just throw people on the trash heap once they offend us and never let them back on our side of the fence. In fact, it should be something that we pray for. Paul said this in 1 Thessalonians 3.12, this is a prayer. He's saying, the Lord make you to increase and abound in love, one toward another and toward all men, even as we do towards you. Pray about loving people more. Not just those in the room, those out of the room, all men. We've already established we ought to be creative. We ought to focus intentionally on finding ways to convey, to communicate, to articulate this love to each other. That's Hebrews 10, 24. Consider one another to provoke unto love. And here Jesus is establishing this as literally the ultimate symbol of our salvation. For he says, by this, your love for one another, shall all men know that you are my disciples. If you have love for one another, everybody will know you belong to me. Jesus is very intentional with his words. For he uses the term agape love there. Unlike other words used for love by modern Greek writers of the day, agape wasn't even something that they grasped. In effect, Jesus and Christianity invented this kind of love. They understood the kind of love that was sensual love. They had a word for that. They understood the kind of love that conveyed friendship. They had a word for that. In fact, we've taken that and we have the city of Philadelphia, which is the city of brotherly love. Does anybody believe that? Anybody ever been to Philly? Anybody ever felt loved in Philly? Felt loved in South Philly? I happened to root for the Washington Commanders, die hard, moved there in 1981, been a fan forever. They're traveling to Philly today. I don't feel loved. In fact, I hope when they leave that they are greatly hated for having ended the season of the City of Brotherly Love Eagles. I'll be on an airplane, so I won't even get to watch it. It's probably better for my mental state. They had a word for family loyalty. They understood what that was, but Jesus uses this word intentionally, and he says, I want you to have a love for each other that's not driven by feelings. It's not driven by some passion, rather it's a deliberate sacrificial choice to love. It's choosing to give, it's choosing to commit, it's choosing to serve. As one wrote, this was a revolutionary idea because in the Christian context, love is not something you fall into, but something you actively choose. This command as we read it, is not for some broad, abstract group, which makes it very easy for us to apply. But as Jesus communicated this mandate for His disciples, they're in a room with 13 people, and Jesus says, in effect, Love one another as I have loved you, and I don't mean love them as I have loved you, I mean look across the table, look at the person next to you, and love them by choice like I have loved you. Love them. That means that Peter, who we know had a fiery personality, had to love James and John, who were fellow fishermen from the same area, and no doubt felt some competitive spirit toward Peter and Andrew, his brother. James and John, you'll remember, were arguing amongst all the other disciples about who was the greatest. In fact, they sent their mother up to Jesus to ask that they could have the chief's seats, and it aggravated every other disciple. Remember that Peter would have known everything about his brother Andrew, and Andrew would have known everything about his brother Peter, every shortfall, every imperfection, every side complaint, and Jesus says, I don't mean just in theory love people, I mean, Peter, get over yourself and love James and John. And Andrew, I know you know everything about your brother Peter, but love him. Think about this, one of the disciples was Simon Zealot, Simon the Zealot. He was basically a part of an extreme political party. And then on the other end, you have Matthew the publican, who was a trader to Israel and actually worked for Rome and taxed his own people. And Jesus says, you two with different ideological backgrounds, you love each other, not just in theory, in the real world. Nathaniel, Philip love each other. There was even Peter, James, and John who were kind of the inner circle around Jesus. They got to go places the others didn't get to go. No doubt that created some friction and Jesus said, get over it, love each other, not just in theory, you guys in this room at this table, love each other. Stop for a second and let that sink in. When I read this phrase, love each other, I think, well sure, yeah, I do that. But he says, love people that are in this room. right now. You out there love me and I love you, but here's the facts. We live life together and we aggravate each other. And sometimes in church we can hold on to something for years and years and years. I can't believe you complained about that and I'm never gonna forget. I can't believe that I heard you say that to my kid. I'm never letting go of that. I can't believe you looked down your nose at me with some spiritual condescension. I'll never forget that you did that. We hold on to these little petty things. And all of us in here, from different places, and from different backgrounds, and who are different colors, and have different experiences, Jesus says, all of you, not just in theory, love each other right here, right now, in this place. It's a willful love. It's a practical, hands-on kind of love. It's a love in action. In fact, Jesus said this, a new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another as I have loved you. It's a high expectation. Choose to love people like Jesus loved. It's interesting that Jesus didn't say, try to do this. He didn't say, give it your best shot. He said, love each other like I have loved you. His love is holy, it's selfless, it's sacrificial, it's gracious, it's understanding, it's unconditional, it's forgiving. And unless your love is like that, it's failing. And let's face it, we're failing in this regard. There are too many factions in the average church. There are too many splits, too many clicks, too much gossip, too much backbiting, too much criticism. It's not being lived out like Jesus expected. When people look at the church and when people view your life, do they see what they are supposed to see and do we can do better? How's this love manifested? It's manifested just like this. In Philippians 2, 3 we read, let nothing, let not one thing be done through strife or vainglory. Don't do one thing that you do with a spirit of complaint or angst. Don't let one motivation be jockeying for position. None of that. But in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every single person, look at every other person's things. Make sure their emotional state is on the front burner and yours on the back. Make sure that their needs are on the front burner and yours on the back. How can I do that? Let's get practical. How about this? We can admit when we've wronged someone, it's okay to say sorry. One wrote this, most of the bitterness that exists within church has nothing to do with doctrinal differences. It comes from a fundamental lack of love and an unwillingness to accept the humility that love demands. We're just too full of ourselves. It's okay to say sorry. Second, how about this, we can forgive those who have wronged us and add this, whether they ask for it or not. Let them off the hook. We could take some scripture and back it. We could go to the book of Philemon where he had a slave, Onesimus, who ran away from him and actually financially hurt him, and Paul sends him back to Philemon and says, accept him, receive him, forgive him, and put him back in his post, and don't ever bring it up again. Let him off the hook. It's a willful love. We can concern ourselves. We can actually give careful consideration to the joy and the needs and the lives of others. And again, this was real. This was guys sitting in a room around a table. It's love in the real world. It's love for your family. That's what Jesus wants. And note this, that kind of love does not start here in this room. It starts in your heart. And it starts with how you treat your husband and how you treat your wife. Because this mandate to love as Jesus loved is reiterated in Ephesians 5 when Jesus says to husbands, love your own wives as I have loved the church. How do you love your husband? How do you love your wife? Like this? How do you love your kids like this? How do you love your parents like this? How do you love your friends, your coworkers, your church confidants? How do you love them? It starts small right there like that. It's as if Jesus turned to the world and said this, I'm gonna give you the right world to prove the authenticity of anyone who says they belong to me. World, I'm going to give you the right to decide for yourselves based on what you see. Can they tell that you're a follower of Christ by the way that you treat others? By the way that you acknowledge honest endeavor and allow for imperfections? By the way you treat your wife? By the way you treat your husband? By the way you treat your enemy? By the way you treat your co-worker? Can they tell you're a Christian by the way you talk about other people? Our world gets more polarized and more divided, not so of believers. It's a willful love for all men. Not only that, it's a working love. Which means on occasion, with that love of choice, you gotta take that out of your tool belt and put it to work. I find this interesting and I'm done shortly. Jesus has just told the disciples, I'm leaving, and you can't go where I'm going. But while I'm gone, I'm gonna give you a new commandment. Love one another as I have loved you. Love each other just like that. In fact, that's the way the world is gonna know that you're my disciple. Love each other like that. I'm leaving, yes, but you're not alone, you have each other. This prompts, and of course it does, a question from Simon Peter, verse 36. Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Lord, Jesus, where are you going? What are you talking about? Jesus answered him, whither I go, thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt follow me afterwards. Peter, being Peter, said unto him, Lord, why can I not follow thee now? This is probably why Jesus had to call them little children, right? The patience of the Lord. Here's what Peter says. I will lay down my life for thy sake. Now, let this sink in, this conversation. Jesus answered him. He's gonna ask him a question. It could be tainted with some sarcasm. Will thou lay down thy life for my sake? Is that right, Peter? For verily, verily, truly, I say unto thee, the cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me thrice. Where are you going, Jesus? What are you talking about? You're gonna go and we can't follow. Why can't I go with you now? I would lay down my life for you, Jesus. Is that true, Peter? Would you do that? Because I'm gonna tell you something. Tomorrow morning won't come before you've denied me three times. Not true, Peter would say. And in fact, when this legion of Roman troops comes down to arrest Jesus in the garden, you have this little fisherman who's done nothing more than menets his whole life, leap forward with a knife in his hand and take off Malchus' ear. I think Peter was trying to flex and say, I told you I would die for you. I'd imagine there were Roman guards standing around that were laughing at this guy. They could have killed him in an instant. But Peter denies three times. You know what would have been very easy for Jesus to do? Take Peter and throw him on the trash heap. You're just another one. You're just another one who doesn't get it. You're just another one who can't succeed. You're just another one who's imperfect. You're just another one whose heart's not fully in it. You're just another one who doesn't get what I'm going through. You're just another one who doesn't know how hard it is for me. Peter, get out of here. You're no good anymore. You failed. But instead, on a beach in John 21, Jesus will restore Peter to ministry, and three times he'll say, Peter, do you love me? Yes, Lord, I love you. Peter, do you love me? Yes, Lord, I love you. Peter, do you love me? Yes, you're aggravating me. Of course I love you. What do you mean do I love you? Then love other people, feed my sheep. Love other people like I've loved you. Don't drop the ball this time. You know what's woefully apparent in the world of Christianity? We throw people on the trash heap way before Jesus ever would. And we write people off. And we create some feudal caste system of the really good Christians, the kinda alright Christians, that we don't think you're gonna make it into heaven Christians, and the oh my word you're going straight to hell people. And most people in our world are in the bottom two. Because, well, after all, we're so good at it. We're so Christian. We chuck almost everybody on the trash heap. And Jesus doesn't look at you and say, you know what? You're my favorite student for doing that to people. He looks at you and thinks, aren't you glad I don't chuck you on the trash heap for what's in your heart and what's in your mind and what motivates you? Aren't you glad I don't chuck you on the trash heap for the pride that nobody can see but's hidden inside of you? It's a working love and every once in a while, Christians, we gotta take that tool out of our belt and actually put it to work. Jesus makes it clear, it's His commandment that we love one another. In other words, you can't hate each other and consider yourself my friend, Jesus would say. But if you'll obey my command to love one another, then you and I will be able to be friends. In other words, the demand of God for us is very poignant and specific. Because to the Greek mind, they might say, well, I'll love you if you're in my family. And Jesus' love says, I love you, and I'm going to treat you like you're a member of my family, whether you are or not. The Greek mind would say, I love you because you're a lot like me, and we have a lot in common. And the love of Jesus says, I'm going to love you even though you aren't in the remotest like me. They might say, I love you because you meet my needs and you make my heart beat fast. And the love of Jesus says, no, I love you. And I commit my heart as long as it beats to meeting your needs. And to couple this study with our last, consider carefully how you and I can do better at loving each other. and start it in your own heart, and start it with your husband, and start it with your wife, and start it with your child, and start it with your parent, and start it with your friend, and let that love be real love. Let it go to work, let it be of the will, love like Jesus loves. Would you please bow your heads with me for just a moment? Thanks for listening this week to the Graceway Baptist Church Podcast. For more information about our church and our ministries, head on over to our website at gracewaycharlotte.org. We are a church located in South Charlotte. We are growing and our ministries are doing big things for Christ. If you're looking for a way to get plugged into what we're doing, email us at info at gracewaycharlotte.org. Also, stay in the loop with everything happening by following us on Facebook and Instagram. Our handle is GracewayCharlotte. Thanks again for listening to the Graceway Charlotte podcast. We'll see you next week.