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Pastor Mike will be speaking on The Commandment of Love Part 1. He will be in John 13:31-38.
If you have ever doubted whether God loves you all you have to do is look to the cross for not only is God’s love displayed but God’s holiness is displayed and the sins are placed upon Jesus Christ and he bears the brunt of the wrath of God.
Are you ready? Are you ready for hope worth having? This is Pastor Mike Sanders and welcoming you to our radio broadcast of Hope Worth Having. We’re excited to be with you today and we’re looking forward to what God’s Word has for us.
The distinction of our ministry is that we are totally devoted to teaching the Bible verse by verse chapter by chapter helping us to understand in the context to which it is written in a way that it is applicable to our lives and making sure that we are truly hearing the voice of God through His Word.
Today we’re going to be in the Gospel of John we’re coming back to the Gospel of John we’re in chapter 13 we’re covering verse 31 through 38 this is actually going to be a two -part sermon and we’ve entitled it the commandment of love so we’re gonna look at this commandment that God has given to us and we’re gonna dissect it and see how we can live this out in our life so I want you to get your Bible and join me as we learn and grow together I want you to take your Bible this morning with me the commandment of love is what I want to teach you on and we’re going to be in the Gospel of John chapter 13 so the Bible is divided into the Old Testament the New Testament you come to the New Testament Matthew Mark Luke and John and so John chapter 13 verse 31 through 38 is our main text for several weeks we have been preaching and teaching out of the Gospel of John chapter 13.
Many Christians believe that 1st Corinthians 13 is the love chapter because the Apostle takes so much time defining love for us, but really John chapter 13 is the true love chapter in the Bible. And in John chapter 13 we are learning profound truths about love.
As a matter of fact as we started out in this chapter we learned that the badge of discipleship is really love. That the way that we authenticate, that we’re really believers and disciples of Christ is the way we show love.
And then we learned about the vulnerability of love. Because when we love others there’s no guarantee of how they will respond to us. Jesus loved Judas, and he loved him with all of his sin, all of his failures.
He loved Judas, and Judas would go on to betray him, and that’s the way love is. It’s vulnerable, but God calls us to keep on loving. And after teaching us the vulnerability of love, John now helps us understand the commandment of love.
We are reminded this morning that the most distinctive and effective characteristic of God’s children is love. On the night of the crucifixion of our Savior, Jesus stated clearly in John 13, verse 35, “‘By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you love one to another.'” It is not the shirt that you wear.
It’s not the tie that you wear. It’s not the earring that you have or the necklace that is on. It’s not even your unique hairstyle that makes people know that you’re a disciple of Christ. It’s not the bumper sticker you have on, the fish emblem.
It’s not the translation of the Bible. It’s not any particular denomination. It’s not the label of your theology that distinguishes you as a true follower of Christ. It is one thing. It is love. It is love.
God has commanded us to love. Love is the supreme mark of a disciple. The Apostle Paul declared that love is a priority over all other Christian virtues. If you’re like, I just want to get one thing down, I just want to get one virtue down this year in my Christian life, then I would say, begin with love.
It is the supreme virtue, you say, how do you know that, Mike? Listen to what the Apostle said in 1 Corinthians 13, verse 3, though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
You can be the most generous, the most helpful person on this planet. You can be out there engaged in service projects every day of the week. You can be out there burning from both ends of the candle and selling out completely in your efforts and all of your Responsibilities and roles for the kingdom of God, but if you do not have love it profits you nothing It makes no difference So the Bible says we’re to love one another That sounds good,
doesn’t it? But can it really be done? So I want to talk to you in this text About how we can follow through and fulfill this great commandment of love this standard that is upon us this expectation that has been revealed to us by our Savior and As we look at this text, I want us to begin to understand the source of love So pick up with me in verse 31 and notice what the Bible says Therefore when he was gone out Jesus said meaning this is Judas.
He’s left Judas is gone now. He’s gonna go betray the Lord. He’s gonna go pick up his 30 pieces of silver He’s going to let him know where Christ is but here’s what Jesus said now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him if God be glorified in him God shall also glorify him in himself and shall straightway glorify him little children Yet a little while I am with you You shall seek me and as I said unto the Jews whether I whether I go you cannot come So now I say to you Jesus is the source of love The divine love that we are called to live and express to each other and demonstrate to each other is really from God.
And it is imparted to every believer through the Holy Spirit. The Bible says in Romans 5 .5, that the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us. And so this love is not something that I’m mustering up.
This love is not something that I’m just gonna say, well, look, I’m gonna work harder at it and I’m gonna get better at it, but rather it is something that must be a work of the Spirit of God in my life.
It must be the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit that lives within me. Love is the work of the Spirit. It is not the work of the flesh. And when we think about, hey, how can I do this thing called love?
How can I love others? How can I love the people in my own circle? How can I love people who are difficult? And how can I love people who I don’t get along with? And how can I love people that really irritate me?
Well friends, I’m here to tell you it’s not in your strength. And the source is not within you in the sense of your flesh, but it is the source of the Holy Spirit of God and the work of Christ in your life.
Now when Jesus tells us at the outset in verse 31 through 33, the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in Him. If God be glorified in Him, God shall also glorify Him in Himself and shall straightway glorify Him.
Here is the point that the pinnacle of the glory of God is the work of Christ on the cross. And Jesus was letting His disciples know that He was about to enter in to the zenith of His purpose and His mission, and that He would be glorified as He gives His life for the sins of mankind.
As He gives His life for you, so as He pays the penalty for your sins and my sins. And so in this work that Christ is doing, the thing that brings most glory to God is the salvation of souls, and that as Christ has died for those who would believe in Him, Christ giving His life for us, Christ sacrificing His life for us to bring about the salvation of all who would put their trust in Him, would bring about the glory of God.
God, the glory of the Savior. And as we receive Christ in our life, we would glorify Him. And thus we would then have, through the power of the Spirit of God, through our salvation that has been given to us through Jesus Christ, we would now have the source of the ability to be able to express love.
Because God’s love is displayed on the cross. If you have ever doubted whether God loves you, all you have to do is look to the cross. For not only is God’s love displayed, but God’s holiness is displayed.
And there we see the righteousness of God manifested as the wrath of God is poured upon our savior for the sins that I’ve committed and the sins that you have committed and the sins are placed upon Jesus Christ and he bears the brunt of the wrath of God and God did not relinquish and God did not ease up, but rather poured out the wrath upon him.
And in the cross and in this great work on the cross, we see God’s character demonstrated his love and his holiness and we see God’s glory demonstrated. You will not love others apart from the work of Christ.
You will not be able to effectively love your spouse, your children, your family members, your friends, your coworkers, your neighbors. You will not be able to love your enemies without understanding that the source of the love that you have in your heart is from the work of Christ on the cross in that he is glorified preeminently through the salvation of souls.
Listen to what the Bible says in Ephesians 3 .10. It is to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church, to the principalities and the powers and the heavenly places.
And all that verse is saying is this, that it is the heart of God to manifest the character of God through the church to all principalities, to all authorities and to all people that they may see the glory of God.
God, and when you and I are showing the love of Christ, we are showing the redemptive message of Jesus Christ and the work of Christ on the cross. When we choose to live in the flesh, we show the destructive message of the devil.
And at the heart of you being able to love God and to love people is the work of Christ where He is glorified preeminently. Those who do not love, those who do not practice love, the love of God and the love of others, have no true acquaintance or relationship with God.
Because the Bible says God is love. He is not only a holy God, but He is a… God is love, in that the very essence of God is that He is love. And the Bible teaches us in 1 John 4, 16, that we have known and believed the love that God has for us.
God is love, and He who abides, or practices in love, abides in God and God in Him. And that’s why I say to people, your assurance of your salvation is not when you prayed a prayer. It’s not when you signed a decision card.
It is not when you were baptized. It is not that you took a class. The assurance of your salvation is the manifestation of the Spirit of God in your life. And you know that you know God by who you love.
Do you love the world? Do you love God? Because wherever your love is directed is the manifestation of your heart and whether the Spirit of God lives in you. The commandment that Jesus gives us to love one another is a commandment that stems from the glory of God.
This is what I want you to get. Since God’s glory is His shining brilliance, His weighty presence, all of His commands that He has given us are for our good, but they emanate and they come from His person and His work.
The work that He did on the cross, the work that He does within us. So many people are trying to be loving. So many people are trying to love in their own effort and they miserably fail because they do not realize that they must come back, if you will, symbolically to the cross and they cry for the love of God to be poured out in their hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit that they might love others as they should.
For when the Spirit of God is filling our hearts, the love of God will manifest itself in our life. You cannot separate His glory and His work and me loving as I should. Listen to what Peter taught in Acts chapter 3, verse 13.
The God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob and the God of our fathers has glorified His Son, Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied Him in the presence of Pilate when He was determined to let Him go.
Jesus Christ was glorified. The Father was glorified. as Christ was delivered up to His enemies to be crucified. And there is glory in the cross. And there is glory when God’s people come to Christ and the cross, and they come to God the Father for the source of this love, and that we surrender everything completely and say, Lord, help me to love this difficult person in my life.
Jesus said, where I’m going, you cannot come. Where was Jesus going? To the cross. His disciples could not come because they were not qualified to die for their sins, for our sins. Only Christ was because His life was sinless.
His life was holy. His life was righteous, but He was preparing them that as He’s given them this new commandment, the source of that would not be in their own strength, but it would be in Christ. And think about this, Romans 5 .8, you know it, God demonstrates His own love towards us, and while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
He died for us. I want you to notice the sample of love, not only the source of love, but the sample of love. Look at verse 34 in our text this morning, and notice that Jesus said, a new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
It was not new in the sense that it had never been taught in the Bible. Leviticus chapter 19, God taught His people to love their neighbors, to love others, but it was new in the sense that the Pharisees and the religious crowd, the community, had been teaching, the religious community had been teaching that you gotta get even with people.
And you gotta get back at people. And you don’t let anybody take advantage of you. And so Jesus comes and says, I’m gonna be counter -cultural. I’m gonna go against the grain. And I’m gonna give you a new commandment.
And that new commandment is that you love one another. But Jesus told us how to do that. Look at verse 34, as I have loved you, as I have loved you, Jesus instructs the disciples to love one another as He loved them, as He loved them.
This is why it’s important for a consistent study of the life of Christ in your life. Because He is your example. He is up on display for us to show us how to love, to not only define love and to be the source of love, but to show us how to love.
How did Jesus love us? Let’s just start right here. He was unselfish, right? He was unselfish. Love’s highest expression in any relationship is self -sacrifice. Yes. You see, you wanna fix your marriage?
Quit being selfish. I’m telling you the truth. I mean, the greatest marriage advice, Jesus gave it. It’s the greatest marriage advice ever. Deny self. It is. Some of you may say, that’s comical, that’s trite, that’s not true, but it is true, friends.
If every day you came home and said, it’s not about me, but I wanna serve my spouse, I wanna help my spouse, I’m telling you to transform your marriage. If it wasn’t always about you and what you wanted, it would change your relationships.
If you didn’t get up every day thinking about what you want and my way or the highway, if you would say, look, I’m a servant, I’m gonna grab the towel and serve others, you know what would change relationships in this church family?
Choosing to be unselfish. You say, but Mike, it’s always been done that way. Yeah, it’s always been done that way, but that doesn’t mean it’s always the right way, right? And so what I’m trying to tell you is that some of us need to back down and say, it doesn’t have to be my way.
There are things that I’m very determined, very strong in, uncomfortable. And the older I get, the less those things are, right? And then I’m like, hey, I’m flexible. You know, I was at Xfinity the other day, Comcast store, getting something, a piece of equipment.
And they said, we’re sorry, sir, our computers are broken down. And do you mind being a little patient? I said, don’t worry, I’m flexible. I’ve been married 28 years. Amen. How did Jesus love us? He was so unselfish.
Listen to John 10, 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. First John 3, 16, by this we know love because he laid down his life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
Maybe you need to let go of something. Maybe you need to come in with a humble heart in your relationships. Maybe you need to be flexible. I always tell parents when you’re raising your teenagers, you really need to pick your battles because if you don’t pick your battles, you can rag on your kid every day of their life.
Because how many of us know teenagers are just, you know, sometimes making just one bad decision after another, right? And yes, we understand that, but focus on the priorities. You’re worried about the hair, I’d worry about the heart.
Okay? And what I’m trying to say is get those big rocks, but be flexible and don’t be selfish and don’t tell them that this is the way you were raised and this is what your parents did because that isn’t going to help.
In all your relationships, be unselfish. How did Christ love us? I think this love was not only unselfish, it was undeserved, right? It’s undeserved. I mean, have you ever really thought about what a rotten person you are?
I know we get up and we say, man, you’re an amazing person. We look in the mirror and say just how wonderful we are and how special we are and how gifted we are. And I believe all that. But the truth is the best of you and I are miserably short of the righteousness of God.
And the Bible says that our righteousness is as filthy rags before God. Filthy rags. I’m not talking about the rags that your kitchen sink, ladies. I’m talking about the rags that the lepers use to wipe their body down as the pus spewed from their skin, the lepers would come and use this rag and wipe their body down.
And then, guess what? I mean, you’d think they’d throw it in your Samsung washing machine, right? But no, they left it there and the next leper came, and the next leper wiped his body down. That’s the best of you and me.
And I know that’s not the power of positive thinking and it’s certainly, but listen friends, what it ought to be is that you and I ought to be so overwhelmed that God would love us, that He would go to the cross for us, that He would pursue us, that He would draw us, that He would speak into our life, that He would call us unto Him for salvation.
And here’s the reason I’m saying this, because you’re struggling and I’m struggling, we’re struggling together to love others. And here’s why we struggle. They don’t deserve it, amen. I would agree with you, they probably don’t deserve it.
Probably cut you off on 81, you know what I’m saying? Upset you, rude, unkind. But I just want you to remember this, you didn’t either. You didn’t deserve His love. And I’m challenging us this morning to love people who do not deserve it.
I’m challenging us to love people who mistreat us, who say things about us, who mischaracterize us. I’m challenging us to love people who we know they’re wrong. And they have hurt us, and they have let us down.
But friends, listen, loving people is difficult. But if you’ll love like Jesus, you’ll still love those who are undeserving. When we treat others like God treated us, it will change the world. And it’ll not only change the world, it’ll change your family.
It’ll change our church. It’ll change all of your relationships when you treat people like God treated you. I got to keep moving. Certainly we say, who can love like this? And I can’t, you can’t, but in Christ we can, right?
We can do all things through Christ. And that’s probably why that John 3 16 comes before John 13, verse 34 and 35. Because I need His love in me. I need His love through me. I need His love around me.
Because Mike in and of himself cannot do this. So the Bible teaches us that we’re called to love God and we’re called to love people and this becomes becomes the distinguishing mark of all who are true disciples of Jesus Christ.
I hope today that as you have been studying along with us in the Gospel of John 13 .31 -38 that your love is abounding, that it is growing and developing, and that you are seeking how you may love God more and how you might love others more.
And that’s really what it’s all about, is that us loving God, bringing glory to His name, and showing that love in ministry to others as we continue to serve our fellow man. I want to remind you that we are on social media.
Yes, you can type in Hope Worth Having, and we’re on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and many different social media platforms. These platforms are designed simply to promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And so we try to put out ministry statements, we try to put out emphasis on certain passages of scripture. And we’re constantly just wanting to bring people back to the cross and remind them of the great love that God has for us and how we are called to live by faith in these times that we are in.
So I hope that you’ll check out all of our social media, that you’ll like us, you’ll friend us, whatever the social media requires, you follow us so that we can continue to be an encouragement into your walk with Jesus Christ.
This is Pastor Mike Sanders reminding you that in Christ there is hope worth having.