Introduction – Our numerical
growth does not prove our health.
Cancer grows. If we are to truly
understand what it means to be Christian, we must understand the doctrine of
‘loving one another’. And we must
understand it as a doctrine, not a cliché.
Love One Another: A
Command (John 15:12-13, 17) – Loving one another is not
a suggestion. It is a command. In this passage we see that the love Christ
is talking about is a love of sacrifice.
Jesus is not talking about ‘being nice’ to one another. “Greater love has no one than this, than
to lay down one’s life for his friends.”
Commanded From
the Beginning (1 John 3:10-12) – From the first of human
relationships, this has been our commandment.
And John leaves no room for splitting the difference. We are children of God or children of the
devil, and the test is love. We either
love to the death or we kill in hatred.
But we are to imitate Christ in the little details of life, not simply
in the grand moment of giving our life away (1 John 3:16-17).
Closely
Connected (1 John 3:23) – This command for this kind of
love is closely connected to our belief in Christ. It is a firstfruit of our conversion. So this commandment exists not just since the beginning of the world,
but since the beginning of our lives as Christians. This love flows out of our abiding love in Christ (John 15:9-10).
Commanded and
Given – Christianity is not working out our salvation
on our own, but working out what God is working in. This kind of love God teaches us (1 Thes 4:9) and makes us abound
in (1 Thes 3:12).
Love One Another:
Imitate Christ and the Father (John 13:34) – Our
love towards one another is to imitate the love Christ has for us. One reason to be reading the gospels is to
see how Jesus loved the disciples. His
love was not a saccharine-sweet sentimentalism. By studying Christ, we avoid defining ‘love’ by our own standards
or the standards of the world.
The Love of the
Father (1 John 4:9-11) – Central to this is the fact
that God loved us, not that we loved Him.
He loved us when we were unlovely, full of hatred, sin, and
rebellion. And that is the love we are
called to imitate with one another.
Love One Another:
The Distinguishing Mark (John 13:35) –
Christians know they are called to display their faith publicly. What they often forget is that they are also
told how that display is to be made.
But the primary badge we are to wear, the very center of our distinction
to the world is to be our manifest love to one another. If we do, we are promised they will notice;
and this gives us another measuring stick to determine whether we are
understanding and implementing true biblical love or not.
Starts in the
Home – And or course, our strong temptation is to
look good here and in public. But the
true test begins at home, with those closest around you all the time. Children, this means you as well. You are commanded to love your little
brother and sister in the same way that Christ loves you. And He loved you while you were yet a little
stinker – so…
Seeing the
Invisible Father (1 John 4:12) - We cannot see God the
Father. But His love is manifested to
us in the flesh of His Son. No one has
seen God except (in a sense) when we love one another.
Love One Another:
From the Heart (Rom 12:9-13) – In 1 John 5:2 we are
told that our love for one another is measured by our commandment-keeping. It is important to notice that love is not
defined emotionally. But we must keep
these commandments from the heart which means we must love with our
emotions. They must follow. The command is directed to our emotions – we
are to be kindly affectionate, and we are to love fervently.
Emotions
– Now, many of us might respond, “No one can tell my emotions what to do?” Well, that’s part of the problem. Like undisciplined, unruly children,
undisciplined emotions cannot be controlled or enjoyed.
Love One Another:
True Liberty (Gal 5:13-15) – We have been called to
liberty, true liberty. But this liberty
enslaves itself with the opportunity to serve one another. How often are congregations or individuals
guilty of biting and devouring one another all in the name of Christian
liberty. Isn’t this what so many unbelievers
see when they look at the church?
Prisoner of the
Lord (Eph 4:1-2) – In his liberty, this is how Paul
describes himself. And he describes
being a prisoner of the Lord in terms of how he serves others – “with all
lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love.” You cannot say that you love God while
hating your brother.
Conclusion – “Above all
things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love will cover a multitude of
sins’” (1 Pet 4:8). We all stumble
in many ways, in a multitude of sins.
If we do not love one another as defined in the scriptures, we lie about
our love for God, we display darkness, not light, to the world, and we will
devour one another in schisms and divisions.
One of the keys to effective body life is simply this – love one another. It requires initiative on everyone’s part,
sacrifice on everyone’s part. It also
requires contact with one another, not isolation with the exception of a couple
hours here on Sunday. And the result
will be a body truly built up in Christ and a world noticing the difference the
true gospel makes.