A New Commandment | Sermon 11/12/2023

Apologia Utah

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Okay, if you would turn with me in your Bibles to the

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Gospel according to John, chapter 13. We're going to be in verses 31 through 38 today.

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John 13, 31 through 38. The title of the sermon, church, is

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A New Commandment. A New Commandment.

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So starting in verse 31 of the Gospel according to John, chapter 13, hear now the magnificent and glorious words of the living and true

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God. Therefore, when he had gone out, Jesus said, Now is the

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Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him,

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God will also glorify him in himself, and will glorify him immediately.

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Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek me, and as I said to the

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Jews, now I also say to you, where I am going, you cannot come. A new commandment

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I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

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By this, all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

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Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered, Where I go, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow later.

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Peter said to him, Lord, why can I not follow you right now? I will lay down my life for you.

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Jesus answered, Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny me three times.

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Thus ends the reading of God's holy and inspired word. Let's praise the church. God, I ask that you would illuminate the scriptures today by your spirit, by the very same spirit who gave us these words.

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God, I pray that you would cause us to see these words the way that we ought to.

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I pray that these words would be transformative in the hearts of your people, me included.

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God, we don't want to come here simply to be entertained. We don't want to come here simply to be informed.

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We come here because we know that you are transforming us from glory to glory.

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God, sanctify your people today through the proclamation of your word. Please be with us, dear

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God, and let not the enemy snatch what you have produced. I pray this in Jesus' name, amen.

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Well, church, we have been in John chapter 13. And as I have told you previously before,

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John 13 all the way through 17 contain the farewell instructions and encouragements of Jesus to his disciples.

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It is unique. The other Gospels don't have this amount of farewell or goodbye or parting words.

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As much as John, John dedicates all these passages, all these chapters to it.

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This is Jesus and his legacy. He is leaving his legacy in their hands, so to speak.

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This is like a father giving a final meeting to his trusted children on the instructions for the care of his estate before he dies.

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And maybe in that sort of meeting, he might give them a final call to be courageous.

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Though I am gone, you'll be fine. Maybe he assures them of his love for them.

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And we especially see that here with Jesus as he calls these men his little children.

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These chapters are some of the most important moments of the disciples' growth and maturity.

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And just like as if a father were about to give his greatest instructions, his most precious secrets, and his special love to his children, everyone else who doesn't belong must leave.

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The legacy is not to be given to outsiders. Jacob's blessing was only given to his sons, as an example.

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The inheritors will stay, and so Judas was commanded to leave.

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Judas doesn't belong. Jesus commanded him, what you do, do quickly.

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And that man left into the night. It's like when close friends are having a conversation and someone they cannot trust enters into the group and makes the conversation tense or the air is thick.

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Words are restrained, they're carefully considered before they're given. But when this type of foreigner to the group leaves, a relief washes over everyone, and discussion then flows freely and lovingly.

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So now it is the same thing with Judas having departed. Judas is gone, and so now

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Jesus can tell these men all that he wants to tell them, and by extension, even us.

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These are for you. These words today are for you, and they are of the utmost importance.

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So let's get right into it. We ended on verse 30 that said, So after receiving the morsel,

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Judas went out immediately, and it was nightfall. Verses 31 and 32 continue the dialogue.

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You can look at your printout or grab your Bible. It says, Therefore, when he had gone out,

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Jesus said, Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.

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If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and will glorify him immediately.

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Jesus, those words are incredible. They are almost near impossible to quite understand.

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Glorify him, and I will glorify him, and the Son of Man glorify God, and God in him.

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And there's all these words, but what do we make of it? What do we make of these things? Well, you might even consider immediately this self -designation that he has.

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Jesus says, The Son of Man once again. In John, in the Gospel of John, Jesus has been very select in the amount of times that he's said

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Son of Man. But now he's saying the phrase, the title, Son of Man, along with all these words of glory.

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So what comes to your mind? To me, what comes to my mind is the vision in Daniel 7.

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One like a Son of Man coming up to the Ancient of Days, presented to the Son of Man, was a given dominion, a given glory, and a given kingdom.

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And it said that all of it is everlasting. It is unfading. And all peoples, nations, and men of every language will serve him.

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The Son of Man will be glorified. But this, according to Jesus, is also a mutual glorification too.

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What glorifies the Son, glorifies the Father. What glorifies the Father, glorifies the

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Son. In Isaiah 49, verse 3, the Lord speaks to his servant. And by the way, in Isaiah, who is the servant of the

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Lord? It's Jesus, right? We've gone over this a few times. This is Jesus.

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In Isaiah 49, he said, You are my servant in whom

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I will show my glory. This is the Father speaking to the Son. You are my servant in whom

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I will show my glory. This is significant because God is glorified in the

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Son of Man. And that means that what the Son of Man does in His own actions, in His own volition, glorifies

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God. You say, why is that important? We all glorify God.

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There is a level at which the Son is glorifying the Father, where it's what

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He does, and not what the Father necessarily does through Him. You see, we glorify

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God through our actions, through God's sovereignty, but through the will of the Son, the

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Son glorifies the Father. What He does is holy enough, what

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He does is marvelous enough, that it also glorifies God. It's not a derivative glory, but a direct correlation and connection between the

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Father and Son. And this glorifying has happened in the wake of Judas leaving.

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Judas has left, and that marks the beginning of what's called the Passion of the

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Christ. The crucifixion. And so, what

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Jesus is also saying, is not only is what He does glorifies the Father, and the

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Father glorifies Him, but He's also saying that what He's about to do in His death will glorify

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Him and the Father. And so what humiliates Him, simultaneously also exalts

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Him the most. What the world thinks is all about shame, hanging on a criminal's cross, is actually about glory.

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And so while the powers of darkness may cheer during His death, all praise afforded to Him is given, even outside time and space.

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It wasn't fully known by finite demons or devilish people who carried out His execution, but all the saints in all the past, and all the saints who are from the future, and the multitude of angels, and cherubim, and seraphim, and all the inhabitants of heaven cheered from their vantage point, seeing the cross as the focal point.

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All that glory. It's like His death and resurrection were an explosion that shot glory down the timeline, into the past and into the future.

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And that glory that came from Christ wasn't even all that He did, it was also ascribed to Him.

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We, all of us, we ascribed to Him. We said, He is glorious. He is glorious.

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And the cross wasn't just a bridge to glory for Jesus. Do you get that?

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Jesus didn't come and die on the cross and use the cross as a bridge for more glory, even though He gets it.

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Jesus died on a cross also to save the world from its sin.

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Glory wasn't His singular aim or objective. It was love. It was mercy.

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It was forgiveness. The glory of God then is revealed to men and women in a blood -stained cross in an empty tomb.

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And an inestimable amount of goodness from God was displayed for all the seen and unseen creation there.

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Not since God said, let there be light at the beginning of creation had so much glorious brightness and radiance was ever seen than in Christ that day.

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The light of the world was shining in divine brilliance. The darkest of days became the brightest one and so the glory of God is revealed also in mercy and grace and forgiveness and love.

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So there is a sense in which there is the glory of God's holiness, there is the glory of God's holy divine wrath and anger, there is the glory of His power, the glory of His creating abilities, glory of His justice.

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But now humanity will get to see the glory of His grace. The glory of His grace.

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Some of us actually talked about the problem of evil last week, the problem of sin.

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Why did it come? Why is sin and evil present in the world? Why does there have to be a sin -bearer?

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And we kind of concluded, as Paul did in Romans 9, as Paul said, so that in showing mercy

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He would make known the riches of His glory. Humanity now gets to see every type of glory of God.

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We get to see every type of glory of God and we'll praise Him for it. Like I said, the glory of His justice, the glory of His love, the glory of His goodness, the glory of His power.

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And now we get to see the glory of His grace. All that God is, all that is

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His being, glorifies Him. Not one part of Himself doesn't glorify

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Him. And that includes the betrayal and the crucifixion and His sacrifice and His resurrection and His ascension.

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It's all a package deal. And Paul recognizes this in Philippians 2, verses 8 -11.

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It says, "...being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

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For this reason also God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is

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Lord to the glory of God the Father." So that's not unlike what

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Jesus just said in verse 32, that God is glorified in Him.

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God will also glorify Him in Himself and will glorify Him immediately. The glory is immediate.

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There is no delay. Jesus isn't waiting to one day receive this sort of honor.

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He has it. It's His. It's His own possession. It doesn't matter what the world thinks.

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It doesn't matter how many times someone curses His name today. The truth is,

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His glory is ever present in this world, no matter those who suppress that truth in unrighteousness.

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And when He returns, it will be unmistakable as well. Some might say, how will

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I know if it truly is Him when I hear a worldwide sound of a trumpet?

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Well, if you stare in the direction of the coming Christ, you might blind your eyes as if you were looking into the sun, except it will be even brighter.

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So is the radiance and glory of the Son of Man. So Jesus then, after making these statements about glory,

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He looks upon His eleven disciples with great love and endearment. They thought that He's loved them for three years, but He's loved them for an eternity.

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They don't even realize how long He's loved them.

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Tender is the love of the Savior toward His disciples. He's honestly the perfect man.

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Perfect strength, perfect gentleness, perfect courage, perfect love. Jesus says in verse 33,

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Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek Me, and as I said to the

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Jews, now I also say to you, where I am going, you cannot come. Time is short.

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Their remaining time together is fading like the sand descending upon an hourglass.

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He can lovingly call them all His children now because the betrayer is gone.

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A child of God is exclusively those who have believed and follow

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Him. Jesus knows right now, they don't fully understand, why does the

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Messiah have to leave? He's only just arrived. Why does Christ have to go? Like children lost in the marketplace looking for their father or mother, so will the disciples seek

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Him, looking for Him. But it's not their time yet. They have much to do.

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Christ's work is almost complete while theirs is only beginning. They have a lot of labor ahead of them before they can go back to be with their

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Lord. And so where He is going, they cannot come. Jesus already said earlier that He's going back to the

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Father. He's going back to the halls of heaven. The heavenly host awaits

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Him. But right now, these men, little children, they cannot join

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Him. He said this phrase to the unbelieving Jews as well.

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He said that more in judgment. To them, He means something completely different.

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We'll see that in verse 36. But what about us? What about us?

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Right now, you and I haven't joined Him. We haven't joined

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Him yet. We don't know what time exactly when we will join

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Him, but we will. For now, we have more to do. We'll spend the rest of our lives getting ready to join

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Him. Now, in the midst of all this consolation, Jesus exhorts them as He does.

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Verse 34, He says, A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

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A new commandment. A new commandment I give you. Why does

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Jesus say this is a new commandment? You see, already there are brotherly love laws, there are neighbor love laws, especially in Leviticus 19, love your neighbor as yourself.

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Deuteronomy 6 and Leviticus 19 contain all of the law.

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Love God, love neighbor. Some think

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He called it a new commandment because back then, in the

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Old Testament, it was given externally. It was externally followed as well.

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But now in Christ, He writes the law inside of us. As we have become new creatures in Christ, as we walk in the newness of life, we follow new commandments in that they are

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Spirit -delivered and Spirit -performed. Some argue

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Jesus says this is a new commandment because those Mosaic laws on loving your neighbor or loving your brother carried with them many qualifications, many conditions, and extra works.

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They were weighed down by these laws. They couldn't simply love their neighbor. They couldn't simply love their brother because all these other things were connected to it.

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And now Jesus has performed the law and made it all new.

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These certainly could be part of it. Some have thought that He calls it a new commandment by a more simple principle.

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These men have heard these commandments their whole life. They've heard them since they were children.

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They've gone to synagogue. They've gone to temple. They've heard these things recited. They probably recited them themselves.

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And over time, these brotherly love laws have lost their meaning. It was commanded from the lips of sinful men their whole life.

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It was spoken and not performed. Hypocrites have given these laws and delivered these laws to them for hundreds of years.

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And in this way, the love laws become almost as if obsolete or powerless.

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But the perfect one has come. And He who has truly performed this law gives it with authenticity and without hypocrisy.

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That's one idea as well. But my personal opinion as to why Jesus calls this a new commandment is that there is something that Jesus adds to these love laws that were not there previously.

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Jesus adds something right here. This is my opinion. The Mosaic legislation has always been concerned with loving

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God and loving neighbor. But the newness aspect of this commandment is in the qualification that Jesus added.

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Even as I have loved you. Even as I have loved you.

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He adds that on to the end. The apostles and all of us Christians have now experienced the love of God in a colossal way.

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We have received what is so significant that it necessitates a change in the way that we love.

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That's what makes it new. We've never been able to love like this. We've never been able to love the way that Christ has loved us.

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Our love needs to turn into the Messiah's sort of love.

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And so Christ frames it as a novelty. As if it's a new commandment.

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He gives the better law as the better law giver than Moses.

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And with the spirit that will be given them, they will have the eyes to see. They'll have the ears to hear. The newness that wants to love.

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As if the law is totally brand new, Jesus says, love one another. He says, even as I have loved you, so you love one another.

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This is first saying that the ability to love is based on the love that Christ gives us.

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We love because He first loved us. Love is a communicable attribute of God.

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That is to say, God is love and He allows us to participate in that attribute.

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You say, what are you talking about? There are communicable and incommunicable attributes of God.

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And the ones that don't communicate to us are things like His all -powerful nature. His all -seeing nature.

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His all -knowing nature. You and I don't share in those attributes of God. We don't get to enjoy those things with Him.

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He alone possesses them. But communicable attributes are those that communicate to us.

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We get to enjoy goodness. We get to perpetuate goodness. We get to experience love from Him and then we can give love.

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Does that make sense? Those are attributes that come from God. God is love, and yet somehow we get to love.

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We get to love. And so we can only truly and properly love one another when we first receive

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Christ's love. Our love was not the way it should be before Christ saved us.

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Our love has changed. It's been perfected. It's being perfected,

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I should say. Christ's love for us and regenerating us and saving us purifies it.

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It can be done rightly now. It can be unselfish. This kind of love can be untainted.

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And because you and I have been loved much by Christ, we ought to more easily love much as well.

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You have been loved much by Christ. And so with that, you can love much now.

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You know, I see some of you ladies in the church, you share things together. You give each other things.

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I really appreciate stuff like that when I see it. Some of you have received extra groceries.

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Some have been delivered double the groceries and you're like, let me, instead of stocking up, you've blessed other people in the church.

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Or someone has gone to some sort of vegetable pantry and they've gotten like 50 pounds and they've blessed people.

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There's a brother here who his parents' farm had tons of fruit and apples and he gave it out.

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And I love that. I appreciate that. You see, when you get an abundance of something, when you are so filled up with it, you often give it out to other people.

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The same goes for the love of Christ. You and I as the children of God have an abundance of love from Christ.

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Our cups overflow. We are like a mountaintop lake with mountains and peaks raining down and trickling down the love of God like water into this mountaintop lake and we're filling up, we're filling up, we're filling up.

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Such is the love of God towards us in Christ. And the fact is, sometimes we don't even realize that.

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Sometimes you don't and I don't realize that there's an abundance of love of Christ in us.

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And that's one thing. We need to start remembering that. There's an abundance of love of Christ in us.

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And number two, because we have an abundance, like all those things that I was just talking about that you give out, because we have an abundance of love from Christ, we ought to give out the love of Christ.

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We ought to share it. As that mountaintop lake full of the love of God, we need an outlet to come down and give to other people.

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We are not to hoard the love of God. We are to share it. We can share it rightly because Christ has shared it with us first.

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We can love one another because we have an abundance of love from Jesus. So we talked about the newness of the command, how we can rightly love because He loved us.

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We just talked about how there is an abundance of love within us because Christ put it there and we should give it out.

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But now the question is, if we ought to love like Christ, if we ought to love like Christ, how did

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Christ love? How did Christ love? Jesus didn't simply love us with warm feelings.

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Jesus did not simply love us from afar. He didn't stay in heaven. He came down.

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He left His glory and He humbled Himself. Jesus did not simply say out loud,

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I love you, but He never demonstrated it. True love has action.

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True love acts. True love manifests outwardly.

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The Apostle John must have been so impacted by this moment that years later he wrote in his first epistle this, chapter 3 verse 18 of 1

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John, little children, he even speaks like Jesus, little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.

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In deed and in truth. Because those are two of the premier ways that Jesus has loved.

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He loved them and He loves us with truth. And He loved them and us with deeds, with works that He performed.

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See for every faithless moment or hasty word that the Apostles gave,

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Jesus gave patience. He gave love. When the Apostles were scared on the boat in the storm,

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He spoke and called out to them, and then He comforted them. When the disciples were nervous to go on their mission throughout

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Judea, Jesus told them that when they're out there sharing the gospel of the kingdom,

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He would give them the words to say in the moment that they needed it. He would give them courage.

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Where they lacked knowledge, He taught them. And as we will see, even though He is about to leave,

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He will give them the Holy Spirit so they will be comforted. They will know that they're not truly separated from Him.

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And I don't even need to say it, do I? I don't even need to say the main way that Jesus loved, because we all know it.

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He gave His life. He gave His life. He will die as God so that we will not experience the wrath of God for all eternity.

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He made payment on our sin so that our sin debt has been wiped clear, and He took it upon Himself on His own body.

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And so loving one another results in action. Brothers and sisters, love results in action.

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And we have to be humble enough to admit that we have needed God's help with this.

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We constantly get this wrong. We constantly fall short in this area. We have to admit this.

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Lord, we need Your help. We don't love the way that You love. I'm going to bring in, once again, some bigger words here.

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But this is how what's called orthodoxy relates to what's called orthopraxy.

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Ortho, you kind of think of an orthodontist. That means like straight. Well, in this language, in Latin, it often means not only straight, but it also means correct.

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So orthodoxy means straight or correct worship or correct doctrine.

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And orthopraxy means correct or righteous practice of that doctrine.

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And so those things are never ever divorced. Orthodoxy or correct doctrine will inevitably produce correct orthopraxy or correct practice.

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In Titus 3 .8, we see it actually. Paul says, I want you to stress these things so that those who have trusted in God, there's the orthodoxy, may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good.

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There's the orthopraxy. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone. These are the things that are seen by men.

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Correct doctrine without living it out is not the example of Jesus. Nor is wrong doctrine with right orthopraxy.

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You know, there are some people out there who are giving to humanitarian aid and they're doing all these wonderful things and they're building houses and they're giving to people.

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And it's like, wow, look at that. But they have the doctrine of demons. It doesn't matter.

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And there's people especially these guys on the Internet and they have the best doctrine and they can argue with you for hours from their mom's desk in the living room.

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And they'll go at it with you. They have the best doctrine and they're right. But then they don't do anything with the

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Gospel. They don't do anything with their church. They don't do any of those things that the Bible talks about.

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Either way, it's wrong. Orthodoxy brings correct orthopraxy.

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So, they're a package deal. Now you say, what about feelings, Pastor Wade?

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What about feelings? Now, you might be waiting for me to go and nail feelings, but I love feelings.

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It's when they're a barometer of what is true, truth, that is wrong. But feelings are a gift from God.

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Feelings are often a good thing when they're accompanied with truth. You know,

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I think about the feelings that I had, the feelings of excitement, these in love feelings that I had when

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I was falling in love with my wife over 13 years ago. I still get them now, but they've developed and matured in a different sort of way.

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I was floating for over a year and my wife needed me to stop floating and come down and actually do something.

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And so, come down, and I needed to serve her. I needed to protect her.

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I needed to provide for her, lead her, teach her, guide her, comfort her, keep her warm. That's one of her favorites, right?

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She's always cold. Give her affection. Tell her I love her. She needs my love to come out of the clouds and do something.

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Love has action. Feelings are wonderful and they're a gift from God, but they shouldn't stay in the feelings realm.

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Love comes down and it acts. And these things are done out of a commitment, a devotion, a covenant that God has made even between me and my wife.

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And a covenant has action. This has similar principles in our Christian relationships.

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We're often the best at saying, yeah, I love that person. I love them.

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But in the mind is this voice that's like, yeah, but I don't want to hang out with them.

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I don't want to go to their house. I don't want to do anything for them. And then you're like, oh, yeah,

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I'm in a conversation with someone. Yeah, I love them. I love them a lot. Right? We're really good at saying that sort of thing, but then behind the scenes in our mind, we're thinking something else.

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But let's ask ourselves out loud. How have

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I acted out the love Jesus gave me to those who should receive it?

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And put anyone's name in the blank. How have I acted out the love of Jesus that he's given me and carried it out to this person?

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We're going to see in John 17 that Jesus prayed for his disciples. He prayed for us as well.

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Do you actually dedicate time to pray to God for others? Do you petition for them on their behalf?

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You know, it's one thing that when you're leaving church and you're like, oh, I'll pray for that buddy. And you're like, I'm going to forget.

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And you drive home and you don't do it. Now, that just happens sometimes.

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But there's something about being intentional that even during the day, we might consider these people.

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We might see some sort of emergency has come up and to stop what we're doing and pray for them. Or simply even to make rounds in your prayer life and pray for specific people or specific families and to lift them up before God.

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A lot of this has to do with what he did at the beginning of this chapter. You remember he did the foot washing?

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He was washing the disciples' feet. Jesus put the priority of his life and his status below others.

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Who didn't deserve it? Who did not deserve it, Jesus made himself lower.

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Have you ever given someone else a meal? Have you ever helped them when they're in a bind? Have you ever called someone up maybe to encourage them, pray for them?

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Even those of us who consider ourselves awkward and you just bite the bullet and you do it.

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You check on someone. Do you ever feel hurt for someone else when they are hurt? The Lord Jesus wept when he saw

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Mary and the others weeping around him. And so Jesus says, just as I have loved you, love one another.

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Just as I did this as an example to you, do it to one another. Are you and I in our love like Jesus to other people?

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Are we like Jesus in our love to one another? This patient, this loving love, this gracious love, this love that holds no record of wrong, this love that forgives.

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Look, it's not going to be perfect. There's only one who's perfect. But are we seeking to do this?

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And are we seeking to do it because maybe we heard a sermon from Wade Orsini at Apology at Church or are we doing it because Jesus actually asked us to?

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Not because it makes us even feel better. I love to love people. It just makes me, well, great.

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That's a great benefit. But are you doing it because Jesus asked us to?

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He commanded us to do it. He has the right to.

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He expects us to. Here's the reality though. When a

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Christian looks at the example of Christ and His love, when you look at Christ and His love, you know what happens?

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It's like a mirror. You look back at yourself and you see how sinful you are. You see how much you fall short when you look at the love of Christ.

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And then when you look at how much you fall short, you look down. But really the only way to get through that is to look back up at Christ then.

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And so Christ is the one in that perfect cycle we look at. We see Him. We see we fall short.

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And when we see we fall short, we look back up to Him that He would provide, that He would help us to mature and develop in this area.

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This is a cycle we may never leave in this life. But it's amazing to consider that our love has become better than what it was before Christ saved us.

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If you've been a believer for 10 years, your love for other people is likely different than the love that you had 10 years ago.

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Your love for other people is hopefully different than even 5 years ago. Your love for people now should be different than even a year ago.

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Our love, because of Christ loving us, changes and matures and develops.

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It becomes less selfish. And we have a honeymoon period too. Even as believers, we come into the very first church, like wow, all these people love

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God. And then finally someone rubs up on you and you're like whoa, I thought they were supposed to love me.

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Me. Why they do that against me? They don't love me. And then someone rubs you up right here.

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Whoa, what are they doing to me? And so we have these moments where in the honeymoon period, no one could do wrong and we're at church and Jesus loves us.

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But then reality sets in and sanctification occurs. And church is one of the places where you're going to receive sanctification.

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And all those things start happening. But little by little, with the Spirit of God within you, with the instruction of God from His Word, we change.

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And you start to see His love more tangibly. You know what? The love that I saw my wife have for me, it was amazing when we first met.

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But I'll tell you what, her love for me now is even stronger. It's even different.

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Christ's love to you will manifest even in a stronger way tomorrow and the next day and the next.

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His love for you is like a never -ending fire. It just continues and continues and continues.

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So all this is not even merely a command. It's a blessed gift.

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It's a privilege. The fact that you and I get to love one another like Christ loves is a privilege.

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It is a gift. And this is such a significant gift that love will be the identifying marker of a follower of Christ.

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It's not only a response to the love of Jesus towards us, it is a witness.

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Our love towards one another is a witness to other people. Our love reveals something.

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Verse 35. Look at this. By this, all men... all men will know that you are

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My disciples if you have love for one another. That's heavy. All men will know that you are

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My disciples if you have love for one another. It doesn't matter how much someone says they love

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God if they hate His church. If you say you love

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Me, Pastor Wade, I love you, but you hate My wife, you don't actually love Me. You don't.

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You don't love Me. And the same goes for Christ. If you don't love His bride, if you hate

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Christ's bride and then go to Him and say, I love you, Christ, you don't actually love Him. You can't love a man and hate his bride.

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That's not true love. If someone hates the bride of Christ, the people of God, their brothers and sisters, they offend

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Him who paid for the church with His own blood. Well, you don't know how much

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I've been burned by the church. I'm sure I do, because I've been there too. Maybe not to the degree that you've been burned by the church.

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And so my admonishment to you would be if that's someone even listening online, get to a biblical church, number one.

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Of course there are bad churches out there. But number two, get ready for the good church that you find to also fail you, to also let you down, right?

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Albeit not as much as the false one. You ought to find reconciliation and resolution for conflicts at a good church.

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But still, none of them are perfect. None of them are perfect. He's literally in the process of perfecting

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His church. That's the reality. Even Jesus puts up with a broken church, right?

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Even Jesus puts up with a failing church, if it's true. Maybe you've met people like this.

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Do you know how many times the church fails Jesus, but He never gives up on her? All the time.

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All the time, and Jesus never gives up on the church. You know, it's like having bad food and I get food poisoning from that, and I have a terrible day of food poisoning and all the rest, and then

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I go, I'm not going to eat food anymore. I'm done. It's like, actually, if after you recover you don't eat food, eventually you will die.

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It's like, no, I was burned by food. And we do the same thing, though, with church.

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Church is so important to us. It should be. The Bible demonstrates it's so important to us, and it'd be like saying, you know what,

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I've been, I've had church poisoning. I'm done with the church. I don't want to go through that again.

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Well, you don't do that with food, so don't do it with the church. A bad church experience doesn't mean that I stop assembling with the saints for the rest of my life.

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You know, imagine an interview with someone like this on television. So, sir, you are a, is that right, you're a follower of Jesus Christ?

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Is that true? Yes. Yes, it is. And I imagine that you, in your worship of God and Jesus Christ, assemble with people who are like -minded to yourself.

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A place that you might congregate with others who also worship

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God like you. I don't, actually. I don't. Excuse me?

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Excuse me? Then what do you do with nearly all the corporate and communal commands in the

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New Testament that has you with other people? What do you do with those? And the man says, well,

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I find that I live out my faith best at home and without interacting with others, right?

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I've actually met people like this. You guys aren't like this because you're actually here. And maybe it's your first time coming out of that.

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Welcome. Stay. Right? But how will anyone see this man's love for others?

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And if you can't see his love for others, then how are you going to see a love for Christ? Because that's what the text says right here.

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All men will see that you are my disciples when you have love for one another.

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It'll be visible. They will know you are his disciple by your love for each other.

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One who loves Christ much loves his people much. I recognize that Christianity has had ugly moments in history, shameful moments, things that never should have been done, things that ought not to be characteristic of Christians.

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And maybe many of those people have been false professors throughout the years who really demonstrated they were never really of the faith.

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I don't know. I don't know. But I will tell you this. With all the amount of history that I've read and history that I know and the biblical record, things have actually shown the amount of murder, hatred, and fighting that takes place among other religions is astronomical comparatively.

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It is an astounding difference. The religion of atheism and agnosticism has caused the murder and hatred of millions of fellow image bearers.

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And if we even counted the amount of abortions, the millions of abortions that happen every year, there's a genocide right there too, right?

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Especially all the murders that happened in the rise of communism. Islam, whether against various sect groups also in Islam or Muslims against non -Muslims, there has been a history of immense bloodshed.

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Hindus, believe it or not, Hindus are supposed to be considered so peaceful, they have an intense,

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I mean look into it, an intense crazy history of violence, violent bloodshed.

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Pagan tribes on the continent of South America have been murdering and slaughtering one another for centuries.

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There are many more examples of this. But we, we will be known for our love for one another.

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And you know when I say that, that's not some sort of aha moment where someone can, someone like a liberal can say, see, it's all about love.

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It's all about love. No, that's not what Jesus is trying to say, it's not the love that you define, it's the love that Jesus gets to define.

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It's the love that Jesus lays out. It's not the kind of love that you think you have, that these liberals have.

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He shows us what love is. I mean, these sort of people need to read beyond what the golden rule says, right?

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If you read the words of Jesus, they're intense. Read the words of Jesus through the rest of the Gospels.

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Read the words of Jesus through the Revelation. Those are intense words. But it says,

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By this, all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. The opposite is also true.

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By this, all men will know that you are not, or at least not acting like his disciples, if you do not have love for one another.

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Not having love for one another ought to call into question the realness of one's love for Christ and even his love for them.

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And I'm not even making this up. This isn't the word of Wade. This is the word of God. Look at 1 John 4, 7 through 8.

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It says, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows

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God. And here it is. The one who does not love does not know

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God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

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Remember, John tells us who the liar is. The liar is the one who says, I love

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God and hates his brother. That's what it says in his letter. Loving God and loving one another are never divorced.

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They're never divorced. You show one by the other. You show you love God by loving his people.

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You show you love his people by loving God. James 1 .20

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says, The anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Our anger towards other people is never producing righteousness in us.

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It's not. Our anger towards other brothers and sisters in Christ is never producing righteousness.

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It's producing the opposite. It's not making us more like Jesus. It's grieving the Spirit within us.

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And if you have hatred or bitterness in your heart today, you can be free of it.

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Tell God you want to be free of it. Tell someone you trust. Confess to them,

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I have to tell you, I have a heart of bitterness. Can you help me? Can you pray with me?

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You see, holding on to it keeps the root protected. Keeps it from seeing the light.

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You know what happens when a plant is pulled up and its root system is visible?

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When air and light hit a root, it is soon to die. And so what do we do?

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We pull out bitterness and hatred of brother and sister by the root. And you let that sucker see the light of day and let it die.

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You let it die. Hebrews 12, verse 15 says,

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See to it that no root of bitterness springs up causing trouble, as by it many are defiled.

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A root of bitterness defiles. This word defile is also the word for pollute, stain, or taint.

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James talks about how one drop of bitterness can often pollute a whole fresh spring.

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It ruins it. And hatred of the brethren destroys us. Not forgiving eats us up inside.

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It's a faith -killing sin. If you feed that sort of monster, it never dies.

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It loves it. It takes it in. It takes over. And what a stain it brings upon the name of Christ.

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When the church quarrels, the world mocks, and the devil laughs.

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Because they will know that we are Christians by our love for one another. Now things take a turn in this lesson from Christ.

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Peter isn't eager to obey. He's eager to know details that Jesus didn't disclose.

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No questions are asked by Peter or the disciples on how to best love one another or something like that.

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Peter is thinking about something else. His mind is going back to the part when Jesus said,

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I am with you a little while longer. Remember, Peter has always been seeking to protect

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Jesus as if he could from chief priests, from temple police, from death, from leaving.

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Peter's always trying to put it in his own hands. No, Jesus. I'll be there for you.

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Verses 36 through 38, our last verses for the evening. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going?

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Jesus answered, Where I go you cannot follow me now, but you will follow later.

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Peter said to him, Lord, why can't I not follow you right now? I will lay down my life for you.

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Jesus answered, Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny me three times.

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Peter's like, Why is he talking about love right now? I'm ready to fight for the cause.

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I'm ready to give my life for this Messiah. Let's go to war. Let's go to battle.

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I mean, imagine not fully getting it because those are some of the promises that they've seen and they've taken promises of the

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Messiah and they've made them all about this national sort of liberty and freedom that Jesus is going to come and be some sort of king that's going to rule in the way that they want.

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Well, he is ruling. He is reigning. He is king and he rules with a rod of iron, but he had to die first and it's not what they expected.

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So imagine not knowing all these things like you and I know now and going, Why does he have to go?

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Come on. I'll be there. I'll give my life for you. So if you look at Peter and you go, Come on, man.

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Look at the bigger picture. You and I would be right there. We would do the same thing. We'll go all the way and we'll say it in a hasty way.

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We'll say it with quick words, not thinking it through. We'll say it just like Peter. He made this vow to Jesus.

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Jesus has in many ways, I'm sorry, Peter has in many ways appeared to be the most vocal in his concern for Jesus.

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Peter throughout the Gospels has kind of looked like the guy who would follow Jesus to the end, right? Kind of has.

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But not only will Peter not love Jesus as Jesus has loved him, he will deny him three times before men prior to the dawn of morning.

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Peter's vow is hasty and untrue. Not only will Peter not give his life for Jesus in the next 24 hours, he will do the exact opposite.

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He will give up Jesus to save his own life. And so Jesus isn't saying, will you lay down your life for me as a question of curiosity or commitment.

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Will you lay down your life for me? He's saying it as if a rebuke.

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Jesus doesn't need Peter's life. Will you lay down your life for me? You need me to lay down my life for you.

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We'll go over this obviously in John 18 as well as Peter's restoration in John 21.

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For now, Peter won't come with him. Three decades from this point, almost 30 years later or so,

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Peter will die. He's not going to die in place of Christ.

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He's not going to die for Christ. But he'll die on behalf of his beloved Savior. And so with these solemn and foreboding words,

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Peter is finally silent. He'll deny me three times. He's done. Let's wrap this up, church.

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I know coming away from a sermon like this with so much substance and topic changes that have occurred in the text, there can be a lack of direction of where to go from here.

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So I want to give you these lessons on loving one another like Christ loved us all summed up and reiterated real quickly for you so that we can solidify this in our hearts and in our minds.

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So, the first step is to repent. We must tell

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God that we are turning away from not loving one another and often even hating one another.

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Next, we must look to Christ. We must see His love for us. Reread the

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Gospels. Spend time in the Word. Read books about Jesus' love.

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I highly recommend a book to you. I think every Christian should have it. It's called

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Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortland. Gentle and Lowly. It's about the love of Jesus towards sinners.

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Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortland. I have a few extra copies if anyone needs it. Read something like that.

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Go be alone with God and think of His love for you. So repent, and see

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Jesus' love. If we have bitterness or anger, now at this point would be the time in the steps to say out loud to God that we are seeking

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His help. That we want to remove the root of bitterness. We want to remove the root of anger.

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Asking the Lord to show us how to have compassion and grace on those who have hurt us.

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Because He has had grace and compassion on those who have hurt Him. Jesus, show us.

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How do I do this? I need your help to do it. The next step is recognizing

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Jesus has filled us with an abundance of love. I talked about this. His love for us is everlasting.

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It's unfading. It's a constant source that continues to stream into us. And so then we are to seek to give it out.

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And as Jesus said earlier, we seek to give out love to one another the way

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He did it. And so once again, you look at Jesus, you see the way Jesus loved, and you love just like Jesus.

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You can take any example in Scripture and love like Jesus loved.

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So what are some of those ways we give grace? We're slow to condemn.

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Pray for those. We give as Jesus gave. As Peter says, love covers a multitude of sin.

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You correct others in love. You mourn with someone. You feed them when they can't feed themselves.

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You provide for them when they don't have the means for themselves. You can take off your tunic and give it to someone who doesn't have a tunic.

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Love bears all things. It believes the best. Love hopes all things.

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You know, I got into the habit, I'll be honest with you, I got into the habit of being pessimistic and saying, well, you know, with this circumstance, this is probably the way it's going to happen.

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God is sovereign. No, I didn't believe all things. I didn't hope all things in that situation.

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Do you hope the best? Do you see the best that may come? We don't need to protect ourselves from the fact that we may be discouraged or we may see something not happen because He protects us, because He loves us.

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So go ahead. Believe all things. Hope all things. Love says since someone is saved by Christ, they can change for the better.

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You see, oftentimes we say they'll never be able to change. They'll never change.

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Well, if they belong to Jesus, the fact is they will change. That's what sanctification is.

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He's making them more like Him. They won't remain the same. And so we believe that love endures all things.

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Love takes what is thrown at it and overcomes conflicts and reconciles. Love doesn't complain about others.

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Love defers to one another and grants someone else preference above yourself. Love says

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I hold no records of wrong since my record has been wiped clean. Paul puts it this way in Ephesians 4, verse 32.

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Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other just as God in Christ has forgiven you.

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And the last step to loving like Christ loved us is to let the holy word of God bind us to it.

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See, when we feel like hating, when we don't feel like loving, when we've stopped putting love to action, we ought to look at this new commandment of Christ, as he said, and remember our

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Lord's desire and expectation of His disciples. These things will be what show that we are

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His followers. That's what he said. The world will know we are

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Christians by this kind of love. Amen? Let's pray.

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Lord, we need you. We need your help. As a church, we have not loved like Christ loved us.

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Lord, it's been oftentimes superficial. Our love has been filled with so many conditions that were against scripture.

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Lord, we have lacked the giving of grace even though we have received it ourselves.

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Lord, we've had moments where we've acted so much in the flesh, all we could think about was our hatred of one another.

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Lord, we see and we know that we've been filled up with your love and you have made us new and you can help us to love like you loved.

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And that's my prayer for myself and everyone listening, Lord. Help us to love like you loved us.

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Help us to love with that self -sacrificing nature.

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With that setting others above ourselves the way Christ did. Lord, help our love to be pure.

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Help our love to be genuine. Help our love to not just be, as John said, in word or tongue, but let it be in truth and in deed.

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Help our love come to action for one another, Lord. I'm telling you,

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God, we need you to help us. We need you to empower us by your spirit to do that.

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So, Lord, we repent from not loving. We repent from our hatred. We love your bride.

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We love your church. Help us always to do that, Lord. We pray this in Jesus' mighty name.