John 13. And we're going to read from verses 33-38. So John 13, starting in verse 33. Jesus says, "'Little children, yet a little while I am with you, You shall seek Me, and as I said unto the Jews, whether I go, you cannot come. So now I say to you a new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are My disciples if you have love one to another. Simon Peter said unto Him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, whether I go, thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt follow me afterwards. Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake. Jesus answered him, wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, the cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me thrice," or three times. We come to this section in John where Jesus is really just getting into His parting words to His disciples. We said before that Jesus is going to spend the end of 13, and then 14, 15, 16, really equipping His disciples and preparing them for His departure. We looked last time at the glory of the cross, and this morning what we're going to be focusing on is really what Jesus calls the identifying mark of a Christian. The identifying mark of a Christian. If you had to choose one thing, and the text gives it away, so I can't trick you this morning, but if you had to choose one thing that sets a Christian apart from everybody else, what would it be? What is the most important attribute of a Christian? And the good news is, we don't have to guess about that. We don't have to try to come up with it. Jesus has already told us. And He tells us this, or He tells His disciples this, and I think the setting in which He says it and really the surrounding information really helps us to grasp, I guess, the magnitude or the weight of what Jesus is saying. So let's start in verse 33. and we'll make our way down. I'll just go ahead and say this. We've already spent some time addressing verses 36 through 38 when we were thinking about Peter's failure and the omniscience of Christ and so forth. And so we're not going to try to go into detail on that, but we are going to tie it into what we're looking at this morning in 33, 34, 35. All right, so the first thing we have in this section, as Jesus begins to equip His disciples, is we have these affectionate parting words of Jesus. Look how He starts out in verse 33. Little children, little children. This is a, really, it's a gentle expression of tender affection. As Jesus approaches His disciples, remember, we have less than 24 hours before he's killed. Less than 24 hours. A lot is going to happen in that 24 hours. And most of the actions and the behaviors of his disciples are not going to be good. I mean, they're going to abandon him. They're going to forsake him. Peter's going to deny him. they're going to fall asleep while He's asking them to pray for Him. Look how Jesus approaches little children. This affectionate love that Jesus has for His disciples. You'll perhaps recognize this phrase is used more in the New Testament. Once by Paul, in Galatians 4.19, but John, the same writer of the Gospel of John, John is going to use this nine times in his first epistle. John will address his audience. My little children, my little children, my little children, my little children. In every case that this phrase is used, when Jesus uses it, when Paul uses it, when John uses it, It is used to communicate either a difficult reality or an important truth that needs to be grasped. So in our case here, Jesus is getting ready to communicate a very difficult reality. He's getting ready to leave. And as Jesus communicates this, He's communicating it in a very tender way. is going to communicate it in a very affectionate way. So in other words, when when this little phrase is used, it's used to say hard things in a soft way or a way that's easier to receive. or it's used to affectionately grab one's attention for an important truth. This is the way John will use it in 1 John many times. So why do we even take the time to even say that or point any of that out? Well, we already said, what's the identifying mark of a Christian? We asked that question. You know that. It's that we love one another the way that Christ loved us. So then the question has to be, how do we know how Christ loved us? Well, we have four Gospels. And then we have a bunch of epistles that play on that and explain it. But if you want to know how Christ loved us, then we watch Christ walk. We watch Christ or we listen to Christ talk. We take His example, as we'll see later, and we try to mimic that. We try to imitate that. And so the first thing we see here as Jesus begins with a very difficult reality for His disciples, is that He's so tender and He's so affectionate toward them as He communicates this. So what is His message? Well, little children, yet a little while I am with you, you shall seek Me. And as I said unto the Jews, whether I go, you cannot come. So now I say unto you. This is what Jesus says. Where I'm going, you cannot come. I'm leaving." Now, this is not the first time Jesus has said this, but this is the first time that Jesus has taken the time to sit down and make sure that His disciples understand, hey, this is a reality, and it's coming very soon. Jesus even makes mention here, as I said unto the Jews. So in John 7, 33 and 34, Jesus says this to the Jews. In John 8, 21, Jesus says it, but now He's going to take the time to not only make sure that His disciples are prepared for what's about to happen. Remember, they had no idea what Judas was doing whenever Judas left. The text says they were all kind of confused about that. Jesus is going to take the time to equip them for that. Now, this is a big deal. And the reason that we know it's a big deal is because after Jesus, in verses 34 and 35, lays out this big, big command. Love one another as I have loved you. By this shall all men know that you're my disciples, that you love one another. When you get in verse 36, Peter says, well, wait a minute, wait a minute. Let's go back to what you said before. Where are you going? And why can't we go? Peter hadn't got past the fact that Jesus is leaving. I mean, this is a big thing for the disciples. And so as Peter is trying to take this in, Really, either his attention span stops or he misses the magnitude of the command because he goes back in verses 36-38 to say, what are you talking about, Jesus? Where are you going to go that I can't go? You don't realize how far I'm willing to go to be with you. And Jesus says, Peter, it's not going to be long, and you're going to deny me. You're so sure of yourself right now, but it won't be long, and you're going to deny me." Well, these are kind of all peripheral. These are leading up to the command. Jesus says, I'm leaving. You're not going to be able to follow me. And so now, I say unto you, I give you a new commandment, or a new commandment I give you." So, I think this is important also for us to grasp before we actually get into the bulk of the material. Jesus is saying, since I'm going to leave, and I'm not going to be with you anymore, I'm going to give you a new commandment. So this is connected to the fact that He's leaving. Remember the command? Love as I have loved. Since I'm not going to be here to love you in person the way that I have been, I'm leaving you to do that for me. You do that in my stead. Since I'm leaving, in my absence, this is what you need to prioritize. That you love one another. Well, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why Jesus took the time to say, this is what you need to prioritize, right? Loving one another the way that Christ loves us. Well, that's one of the first things to go by the wayside, isn't it? I mean, it's the most unnatural thing. No one naturally loves this way. No one is naturally inclined to what we say in In shorthand, no one is naturally inclined to self-sacrificial love. Nobody wakes up in the morning saying, man, I can't wait to put you above myself. I can't wait to exalt your preferences over mine. I can't wait to serve you and to sacrifice my expectations. I can't wait to do any of that. knowing that, number one, this flies in the face of everything that is natural about us. Knowing that this is not going to make it very high on our priority list unless he puts a spotlight on it. The very first thing he says whenever he's ready to depart and equip his disciples for that is, I'm giving you this new commandment. giving you this new commandment. So we have this affectionate words of departure, and then we have what is clear in verse 34, is a new commandment. A new commandment that I give you. A.W. Pink says this, Love was now to be explained with new clearness, enforced by new motives and obligations, illustrated by a new example, and obeyed in a new manner. We have this new commandment to love. Now, kind of the funny thing about this commandment is that, and John picks up on this in 1 John, is that this new commandment to love one another is an old commandment that's found in the Old Testament. And so there's something new about an old commandment that Jesus is trying to emphasize in this section. So look in 1 John 2. 1 John 2. I mean, you know, if you're familiar at all with the Bible, that John 13 or the upper room in any of the Gospels, any of the other Gospels, is not the first time that this whole command or this whole idea that you ought to love one another comes up. This is something that the Bible has been teaching and commanding for a long time before this upper room scene. 1 John 2. in verse 7, 1 John 2, verse 7. 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 you have heard from the beginning. And a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passed, and the true light now shineth. He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now." He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whether he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes." So John picks up and... verse 7 and 8, and we go down to 11 to see that love is what's under consideration. John picks up on this reality that this is an old commandment. In many ways, it's not new. It's one that you have had from the beginning, John says. But then in verse 8, he says, again, there is a new part, or there's at least a newness, a new aspect, a new commandment that I write unto you, which thing is true. and in Him and in you. So let's think about this commandment that's both old and new. Number one, let's think about the old aspect of this commandment. As John says in 1 John 2, that we've had this commandment from the very beginning. Look in Leviticus 19. Leviticus 19. In Leviticus 19 verse 18, and there are several repetitions of this, command, but I'm picking one. In Leviticus 19, 18, thou shalt not avenge nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. I am the Lord. So we have this command from God that his people are to love their neighbors, are there to love one another. You know, to love your neighbor is just another way of saying love each other. You'll notice though, how they're supposed to love each other here. Love your neighbor as yourself. That is treat them the way you would want to be treated and how you've always heard the golden rule laid out there. But nevertheless, this is a command And it's a command that's found in the Mosaic law. It's a command that is repeated in the Mosaic law. Love is to be a priority. Love, it's not just what we would call the, if there is such a thing, the easy kind of love. Easy kind of love in the sense of, you know, love those who love you and, love your inner circle or whatever. Love has always been a very difficult thing to do. Love is something that we have to strive to do. Even to love someone as much as we love ourselves is a very difficult thing to do. In Matthew 22, I'm not going to turn here, But in Matthew 22, 36 through 40, this is where the lawyer comes to Jesus and says, what is the greatest or what is the most important commandment? And you know, Jesus's answer that you would love God. And then the second is like unto it that you love your neighbor as yourself. So it's an old commandment. And even in the oldness of it, if we could say it that way, it was always a prominent commandment. That is, it was meant to be important. It was meant to be a priority. That you love your neighbor as yourself. But then whenever we get to John 13, there's a newness about this. And if you've been thinking about the words of the text, then you've probably already figured it out. Jesus gives a new commandment here in the sense of not only are you to love your neighbor as you love yourself, but Jesus ups the ante when He says, love one another as I have loved you. This is a whole new level of love. The way that Jesus has loved with a perfect love, and we're going to look at some attributes of His love in just a minute. But as we think about what it means as New Testament Christians to love one another, and also as we think about what it means as New Testament Christians to identify ourselves as New Testament Christians, no longer is the standard, well, I just love other people the way I want to be loved, or I treat other people the way I would like to be treated. That's not it. Jesus says this new commandment that I'm giving you is that you love one another the way that I love you. Whether or not that's the way you want to be treated, that you love one another in this way. That I love you. Again, 1 John 4, 7-11. I think we just looked at that one. No, we didn't. Let's turn there. We were looking at 1 John 2. Let's turn to 1 John 4. 1 John 4, in verse 7, it says, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God. And everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. And this was manifest the love of God toward us because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. If God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. Okay, so anybody who reads 1 John 4, 7-11 and takes it seriously realizes this is a high calling. A couple of things that we ought to keep in mind. Number one, love, the kind of love that God is commanding from us can only be displayed through the power of the Holy Spirit in an individual. This is not something that you manufacture. It is something that you have to put effort into, so I don't want to pretend like it's something that you just kind of sit back and it naturally oozes out of you if you're born again, because that's not true either. But outside of the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit, this kind of love is impossible. But within the realm of the power of the Spirit abiding in the heart of the believer, not only is this possible, this is expected. God expects it. John, who tends to be very black and white in the way that he communicates, he says it this way, In verse 7, love is of God and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. Verse 8, he that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. So John says you find somebody who loves, this word for love you know is agape, love. Those who love, are born of God. They know God. The only way that this happens is if they are born of the Spirit of God. And this is evidence that they do indeed know God, but those who do not love have no reason to think that they know God. Because love is of God and God is love. It's a pretty big statement. J.C. Ryle says this about the virtue of charity or Christian love. He says, "'Of all the commands of our Master, there is none which is so much talked about and so little obeyed.'" "'Of all the commands of our Master, There is none which is so much talked about and so little obeyed. Think about that. Think about all the talk about love, not just in the Christian world, but just in the world in general. Love, it's a fantastic idea, isn't it? Francis Schaeffer said something like this near the end of his life, and he was talking about humanism which is essentially what our entire culture operates out of now. And he said the problem with the humanist is they have such a strong affection and love for man, mankind, humanity in general, that they end up not having any love for men in specifics. All right, so they love this grand idea of loving people but somehow it never makes its way to actually loving a real person. And that's all of our struggle at times, isn't it? I mean, what could be more wonderful than the thought of loving? I'm a loving person, until I'm not. And so are you. We have these grand ideas about how loving we can be and about how loving we are. It tends to be more of a sentimentality to us than what's being taught in the text. You know this, but just as a reminder, anytime this word is used, this agape word, charity, Christian love, It is always an action. It has nothing to do with your feelings. It has nothing to do with sentimentality. It is always an action. It's something that you're doing. We ask ourselves then, how did Jesus love His disciples? I mean, if we're supposed to love the way that He loved and the way that all men are going to know that we are Jesus's disciples is if we love the way that He loved, then it's worth asking, how did He love His disciples? We could spend, you know, a hundred sermons on this, but I'm just going to give a few, I think, key areas just for consideration and practicality. Number one, out of Philippians 2. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ. I'm not going to go there and read the whole text, but he humbled himself. So in order for Jesus to love you, he had to humble himself. Right? I don't know if you think about it that way or not, but you're not naturally lovable to Jesus. Do you know that? In order for Him to love you, He has to intentionally humble Himself. So you cannot, if we're thinking about loving people the way that Jesus loved us, you cannot love someone the way that Jesus loves you without humbling yourself and being willing to sacrifice your personal preferences and legitimate rights in order to serve someone who is undeserving of your love. " Did you get all of that? Jesus, who thought it was not robbery to be equal with God? I mean, it was His right. That's who He was. But He humbled Himself. He took upon Himself the form of a servant. He became obedient unto death, a form of humility. And He did this for people who did not deserve His love. There was nothing about them in and of themselves that merited that. So, in all the grand ideas and romanticized descriptions about love, if you're not willing to humble yourself, you can't love the way that Christ loved. Your pride will keep you from this every time if you let it. So number one, pride has to be dealt with. Number two, Jesus, not only did He humble Himself to love His people, Jesus chose to love His people. That's not a small point. Jesus chose to love His people. Now, I realize that oftentimes when we talk about love, and you know this, in the Greek there's four different words for the one word we have in English, and so it's not always fair to try to make examples about different forms that we don't always clarify. Um, but you know, oftentimes we think about love or maybe I should say oftentimes love is talked about in a sense of, well, you know, when you know, you know, right. I mean, there are just some people. And, uh, this is not original with me. Paul David Tripp makes this distinction and I think it's worth making. Oftentimes we, um. We confuse love with attraction. You can be attracted to somebody, and it doesn't even have to be like a romantic attraction. You can be attracted to someone and there be an emotional stir without there being any real love. You can also love someone that you're not really attracted to. That's no fun, is it? But if that weren't true, Jesus and the Father would have never loved you. Never. The kind of love that Jesus says marks one of His disciples is the kind of love that chooses to love someone that you're not necessarily attracted to, or that you're not necessarily stirred by in some way. I'm not saying this is the only way, but this is part of what it means You choose. The kind of love that Jesus commands is a choice or a decision that leads to action. It is not a feeling. It is not motivated by feelings. It is motivated by, and we'll get to this a little later in the message, it is motivated by an awareness of the magnitude of God's love for you. in your own sinfulness and unattractiveness. So He humbled Himself. He chose to love them. And some of these are just observations, but it's still worth saying. Number three, He spent time with His disciples. He spent time with His disciples. You cannot love someone the way that Jesus loves you if you never spend time with them. promises of the New Covenant. And one of the things that makes the New Covenant vastly different than the Old Covenant is that through the Holy Spirit, Christ dwells permanently in the hearts of every one of His people. Part of the covenant fulfillment is that He spends every waking and sleeping hour with us. Again, oftentimes, these thoughts of love and sentimentality and, you know, I just love everybody kind of thing. Well, you can't really love the way that Jesus loved if you never spend time with folks. And let me remind you, this is not a marriage sermon. This is a church and fellow Christian sermon. So this is not you need to have a date night, although if you're married, that would be good. This is how the body and how fellow Christians ought to love one another. So that if you're part of the body, and you're never spending time with those that you're joined to, that you've covenanted yourself to, it is impossible for you to love them the way that Christ had told you to love them. In some ways, this is kind of like the common sense Advice you give to a young person these days who's trying to go into the workforce, and they say, how can I separate myself from everybody else? And if they can just start by showing up, they're already ahead. If you don't show up, you're never going to do it. You can't do it. In the same way, if you're going to love your fellow Christians, and as far as your priority goes, it starts here and works its way out. You've covenanted yourself here. And it works its way out into other Christian relationships. But if you're not spending time with your brothers and sisters in Christ, it is impossible for you to obey the command that Jesus gives. To love each other the way that I have loved you. Next, He took an interest in them. He took an interest in them. We're going to talk about this again in just a second. He walked with them. He asked them questions. He taught them. He gave them things to do and so forth and so on. Jesus knew His disciples. He took an interest in them. You cannot love someone the way that Jesus loves you and be cold, aloof, disinterested, or keep yourself at arm's length. That's not the kind of love that Christ loves His people with. We've got to take an interest and actually engage. Another one here. This is kind of along with the other one, but Jesus spoke to them and He taught them You know, a big part of the way Jesus loves His people is He teaches them. He speaks to them. And He speaks relevantly from His Word into our lives. Well, again, you can't love someone the way that Jesus loves you if you're unwilling to speak to them or to impart relevant truth in appropriate ways. This is one of the areas where, and I'm not talking about specifically our church, although it would apply here, but just in Christian churches and culture, just in general, this whole business And we've talked about it for a couple of years now as far as trying to do the one and others and so forth and so on. But this whole business of discipleship, this whole business of the older teaching the younger, this whole business of being able to have the courage to speak into somebody's life, or being able to have the love to receive it when somebody speaks into your life. When you look around, and again, I'm not just talking about our church here, but in Christian circles at least that I know of, as a whole, where are the tightest two older, younger women? Where are the tightest two men who are teaching and helping the younger men? And for the most part, it's just not there. Why? Well, there could be a lot of reasons for that. But I'll say this, if we're going to love each other the way that Christ loved us, we cannot be afraid to speak into one another's lives in a relevant and appropriate way when there's an opportunity. Sometimes people have this idea that love just means we accept everything about everybody. Love means you don't say anything to stir anybody up. Isn't it funny that right after Jesus said, I want you to love each other the way that I loved you, and then Peter opens his mouth, Jesus says, essentially, this is a nice way of saying it, but he says, Peter, you're an idiot. You think you're going to follow me to death? In less than 24 hours, you're going to die to me three times. That's love. That's love. So Jesus spoke to them. Jesus taught them. And then finally, as we think about loving the way that Jesus loved us, this is kind of the obvious whenever we think about this. Jesus sacrificed himself for them. He sacrificed Himself for them. You cannot love someone the way that Jesus loves you, again, if you're not willing to lay down your rights, your preferences, your expectations, your demands, your comforts in order to serve them. You know, self-comfort is really the enemy of love, this kind of love. Most of the time, the things that hinder us or the thing that hinders us in general from loving the way that we ought to love is that we love comfort more than we love people. I'm shy. I don't do well with other people. I feel silly. What that means is I'm uncomfortable doing what Jesus has told me to do. Well, it's been a long week, a long day. whatever, fill in the blank. I don't mean you fill all you want, and I do the same thing. It's a love of comfort more than a love for God that's willing to obey the command. So if we would love the way that Christ loves, we must sacrifice, or we could say it this way, we must crucify this idea that I can do something that is totally unnatural to the natural man. and remain comfortable the whole way. That's not going to work. Self-sacrificial. Again, the other side of it is, oftentimes we... Now, we wouldn't say this out loud, but why is it that we would choose comfort over an opportunity to love another person. Here's the answer. They're not worth it. They're not. They're not worth it. I have things that I like to do. I have things that I enjoy. And this person is just not worth that. It's not worth me sacrificing. Think about this. Tim Keller has a great quote here. He says, When Jesus looked down from the cross, He did not think, I am giving myself to you because you are so attractive to me. No, He was in agony. And He looked down at us, denying Him, abandoning Him, and betraying Him. And in the greatest act of love in history, He stayed. He said, Father, forgive them. They do not know what they are doing. He loved us, not because we were lovely to Him, but to make us lovely to Him. You know, it's amazing how much different, how much better your perspective can be on someone, about someone, When you humble yourself, take an interest, and choose to sacrificially love that other individual? Well, consider what the New Testament says about this important character trait of love. I'm just going to have to tell you what it says. If you want the notes, as always, you can tell me and I'll send them to you. We mentioned this already, but in Matthew 22, 36-40, Jesus says that this is the greatest commandment. Or put in another way, this is what God esteems to be the most important thing. You want to know what God's highest priority for your life is? His highest priority for you is, number one, that you love Him. And then number two, that you would love Him by loving others. That that love for Him would spill over into loving others. 1 Timothy 1.5 says, this is the end of the commandment. You could say it this way. This is the end goal of the law. that you would love. Charity. Love. So you could take all of the Mosaic Law, all those commands, and you could distill it down into one thing. God is teaching His people how to love. And He's teaching His people what love is about. Or, put another way, in Romans 13, 8-10, Paul would say that love is the fulfilling of the law. 1 Corinthians 13, verse 13, Paul says, love is the greatest of all gifts. It's the greatest of all gifts. You could be a great orator. You could be skilled or gifted in whatever area you, maybe you're naturally inclined to, but you know the chapter already. You know what Paul says. If you don't have love, any other gift that you try to exercise is worthless. But love is the greatest gift. Again, love being charity, this action, it's not a feeling, this act of loving. Colossians 3, 12-14, love is the bond that perfects the unity of the saints. Love is the bond that perfects the unity of the saints. Why would you humble yourself? Because you love somebody. Why would you be gentle? Because you love somebody. Why would you be patient? Because you love somebody. Why would you put up with people? Because you love them. Then we could keep going and going and going and going. If you do not have love, and you're not willing to exercise love, there is no unity. No unity. There's no unity in any scenario, any case. Anytime you have a situation where unity is lacking, there may be a lot of contributors to that, but when you boil it all down, there is a lack of love somewhere. You can know for sure that we have stopped operating out of a heart of love toward one another when there is no unity. Now, sometimes people say that the reason that unity is lacking is because they love something so much they just can't put up with whatever. There's very few things where that could be biblical. So if somebody came in here and said, we're going to make some major doctrinal changes, OK, it's time to Time to break unity. I cannot go with you in some unbiblical directions or whatever. But aside from that, where there's a lack of unity, there's a lack of love. Here's another thing. 1 Peter 4, verse 8. Love covers a multitude of sins. Love covers a multitude of sins. Here's something in case you didn't realize. You live in a world full of sinners. You're one of them. Sinners are obnoxious, which means you're obnoxious to somebody, and somebody's obnoxious to you. Sinners are in need of being covered. You are, and everybody else you know is. And what Peter says in 1 Peter 4.8 is that if you're operating out of a heart of love, that's going to cover a multitude of sins. It doesn't mean that you don't resolve those sins. It doesn't mean that you don't work through those sins. But what it does mean is that those sins will not make the relationship irreconcilable. Love will do that. And then Ephesians 5, 1-2 lets us know this is the way that we imitate God. How? By walking in love. Walking in love. Now, how do we understand a Christian or even ourselves? How do we understand this when we lack this kind of love? When this is absent? And again, it's not how do we understand when this is absent in our relationship with the people that we like the most, but even how do we understand it when this is absent in the people that we like the least? The people, again, that are not attractive to us, people that are not the people we want to naturally invest in, spend time with even. How do we understand a lack of love? Well, 1 John 4, 1 John 4 and verse 19 says we love him because he first loved us. This is why we love God. We love God because God first loved us. And again, Matthew 22, Jesus says the first command, the most important command is that we love God. And the second is like unto it, you love your neighbor as yourself. And the connection there is if you're loving God, you're going to be loving your neighbor. So a lack of love for your neighbor is a lack of love for God. You say, well, how's that? Because God's the one that commanded you to love your neighbor. That's hell. Remember what Jesus says? We're not there yet, but He says in John 15, if you love Me, you will keep My commandments. So when we lack love for other people, this is directly tied to or it is a response to our perception of God's love toward us. Here's what I mean by that. In Luke 7, verse 47, Jesus said, this woman loves much because she was forgiven much, but to the Pharisee, you don't really see your need for a lot of love from God, and so your love for God is not that great. Brothers and sisters, if we can fathom a scenario where somebody is more unworthy of our love than we are of God's, we're out in left field somewhere. The idea that God would love me with what Paul calls in Ephesians, a great love. And I could somehow withhold love from somebody else. The problem was with my perception of God's love. God didn't look at me and say, I'll take that one because he's just a good guy. He's going to be faithful. He's going to be kind. He's going to be whatever. No, He said, despite you, and in light of everything that you've done that deserves My wrath, I'm choosing to give you My love. So if we lack love in our hearts for someone else, and we're struggling to live out, again, because love is an action, this love toward other people, is because of a faulty understanding of God's love toward us. So then the question is, what is love? What is love? Well, 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter, verses 4-7, It's a traditional passage that we read at weddings as people are ready to take vows to one another. One of the ways that we know that oftentimes when this is done, it's done sentimentally is because the bride and the groom don't say, wait a second, I'm not signing up for this. Love is patient. Kind. What does it mean to be patient? We've talked about this before, but it's just worth saying. All these things are fruits of the Spirit. There is no such thing as somebody who's just naturally patient. You might be naturally indifferent, and so you don't get worked up about things because you just don't care about anything. But you're not naturally patient. Patience becomes evident when there is a pressure on a person, and when that person doesn't respond to that pressure in anger. That's what patience is. Love is kind. I can't comment on every one of these for time's sake. Love is not jealous or envious. Rich Thomas says, the real test of jealousy is what attitude a man or woman has toward those who are better at being what he would like to be or what he would like to attain. Love is not jealous. Love does not boast or brag. That is, put oneself on display through words. Love is not arrogant. Love doesn't exalt oneself above others. Love is not rude. Thoughtless. Inconsiderate. Disrespectful. Unmannerly or coarse. Love is not rude. It's not self-seeking. Love does not insist on having things his or her own way. Love is not easily provoked. This means love does not react to irritations in an unloving way. It thinks no evil. It's not taking inventory of wrongs. He doesn't rejoice in iniquity. Love bears all things. Love bears all things. This is another way of saying love puts up with. Think about what all God has put up with when it comes to you. Oftentimes we do think about that as it relates to our unregenerate state before we came to know God. But I want you to think about how much God has had to put up with you this year. We're getting ready to go into 2026. How much did God have to put up with you in 2025? How many of the same lessons is God having to teach you in 2025 that he's been teaching you every other year? Well, the truth is, if we had eyes to see, we would be astounded at how much God's had to put up with. And if we're going to love one another the way that Christ loves us, then we're going to try to bear all things. Love believes all things. Love hopes all thing in all things. Love endures all things. And so. Back to our text. Jesus says, "'Little children, yet a little while, and I am with you. You shall seek Me. And as I said unto the Jews, whether I go, you cannot come. So now I say to you a new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another.'" By this shall all men know." And men, you'll see in your Bible, is italicized, so it's really, by this shall all people, all know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another. Well, think about how this applies to you. Think about how this applies in your home. Do your words, attitudes, and actions, do they mark you out as it relates to your spouse and your children? As being influenced by the kind of love that Christ loved you with? Do they? Because if it doesn't matter at home, then it doesn't matter here, right? All. All will know. Not just the people that get to see you in a suit and a tie or a dress or whatever on a Sunday with your best foot forward. All. What about at church? What about at church when you're here? Do your words, your actions, your attitudes, do they mark you out with the kind of love that Christ has had for His people? Do you display the kind of interest, the kind of investment, the kind of sacrifice? What about in your day-to-day life, your day-to-day interactions with your extended family, with your neighbors, with your co-workers or whoever else you're interacting with? If all people had were the ability to know that you were a Christian or to deny that fact based on how committed you are to loving What would they conclude? Well, in our flesh, we really do wish Jesus would have mentioned something else. This is the identifying mark. This is how all men will know that you're my disciples if you're serious about doctrine. Doctrine is something we ought to be serious about. Jesus could have said it, but he didn't. He said love. If you're serious about your standards. Standards are important, but that's not what Jesus said. If you're serious about, you know, fill in the blank. But Jesus says this. Is what's going to mark you out? This is how all men will know that you are my disciples. If you have love one to another. And so may the Spirit convict us of where we need to grow and then empower us as we seek to abound more and more in love toward one another. Let's pray. Father, we have to confess as we come to a passage like this, we fall shamefully short. of the standard that has been set for us. And yet, Lord, we remain hopeful, primarily due to the very truth we prayed through this morning in Psalm 138, that You are going to perfect that which concerns us. Lord, You are not going to give up on Your work in us. And part of how You don't do that is You convict us of these things. Father, I pray that You would make us aware of our failings in this area, but You wouldn't just leave us to wallow in self-pity or wallow in shame, but that our awareness would be met with a desire and an effort to grow through the power of Your Spirit that we would be intentional about loving one another the way that You've loved us. Father, would You show us more than we've ever seen before, the extent of Your love for us and just how undeserving we are of that, that we might love each other more. I pray in Jesus' name, Amen.