A New Commandment

Q: What does the Bible say about the love of Christ?

The Bible teaches that Christ's love is demonstrated through His sacrificial death for His people. The love of Christ is profoundly illustrated through His atoning sacrifice, where He gave Himself for the sins of His people. As noted in 1 John 4:10, 'Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.' This love is unconditional and transformative, highlighting God's initiative in reaching humans who, by nature, rebel against Him. It serves as the foundation for how Christians are called to love one another, reflecting Christ's love in their relationships.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to love one another?

Loving one another as Christ loved us is the identifying mark of true discipleship. The command to love one another is central to the Christian faith, as highlighted in John 13:34-35 where Jesus states, 'A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.' This love is not merely sentimental; it is a deliberate action reflecting Christ’s love for us. It serves not only as an evidence of our discipleship but also as a witness to the world around us. When Christians genuinely love one another, they display the transformative power of the Gospel, demonstrating to all that they belong to Christ.

Q: How do we know the resurrection of Jesus is true?

The resurrection is validated through multiple eyewitness accounts and its significant impact on the disciples. The resurrection of Jesus is a cornerstone of the Christian faith, undergirded by numerous eyewitness testimonies recorded in Scripture. The Gospels provide detailed accounts of post-resurrection appearances, where Jesus interacted with His disciples and others, solidifying their faith. Further, the immediate transformation of His disciples, who went from fearful to boldly proclaiming the Gospel, serves as evidence of the resurrection's reality. This transformative event is affirmed in 1 Corinthians 15:6, where Paul notes that Christ appeared to over five hundred witnesses at once, making the resurrection a well-documented historical phenomenon.

Q: What is the significance of the cross in Christianity?

The cross represents the ultimate act of love where Jesus paid the penalty for sin. The cross is central to Christian theology because it embodies the fulfillment of God's redemptive plan. As seen in John 13:31-32, the crucifixion of Jesus, while a moment of deep suffering, is simultaneously depicted as a moment of glorification for both Christ and God. It signifies that Jesus bore the sins of humanity, fulfilling God's holy justice regarding sin, as stated in Romans 3:25-26. The cross illustrates God's love and justice, showing how He can be both just and the justifier of those who have faith in Jesus. Therefore, the significance of the cross is not solely in the act of dying but in the profound implications it has for salvation and eternal life.

Well, John chapter 13. Sometimes I feel like sitting
right there and not getting up. But John chapter 13. as we read this morning from
the text there, where we didn't read it, but it was just before
2 Corinthians 2, 17. Paul said, Who is sufficient
for these things? But here in this passage, once
again, we're looking at John 13. We have before us the beginning
of 65 verses of our Lord's intimate and private conversation with
his disciples, communion with his disciples. He had cast out
Judas Iscariot from their midst, and now he speaks many final
parting words to his inner circle of close friends and confidants. There may be someone or more
than one here that this may not mean anything to, but God's close,
God's true people. There are many words of, tender
words of kindness and compassion, words of promise, exhortation
and admonition that are meant only for his true disciples.
Now, let's begin here where we left off in verse thirty-one. Now, you know Judas, the Lord
had just told Judas to get out, told him to leave. What you're
going to do, do it quickly. What God had determined before
the foundation of the world to do, Judas went out and did. And then he left. And then Christ began speaking to his disciples,
his true disciples. It says here in verse 31, When he was gone out, Christ
said, and it can be rightly said, starting right here, this is
holy ground, we need to take off our muddy shoes, take off
our muddy shoes and approach this. But Christ turned and said
to his disciples, he said, Now is the Son of Man glorified. Now is the Son of Man glorified. Our Lord is speaking of his crucifixion
that's about to take place, of his crucifixion and death. He's
not speaking of it in the terms of this world, mind, as martyrdom,
as sadness, as disgrace, but he's talking about it as his
ultimate glory. Now, I'm going to die a brutal,
ignominious, horrible, bloody death. The most despised and
lowly form of death known to man. Brutal torture. I'm going
to die like that." And he said, now, I'm going to be glorified. You know, Satan thought that
at this time he was going to be glorified. Got him now. Men
thought, we got him now. Christ said, now I'm going to
get all the glory, all the glory. You would have thought he had
said this at the banks of Jordan when he was being baptized, when
that Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove and God thundered
from the heaven, this is my son whom I'm well pleased. And everybody thought it thundered.
You'd have thought this was a time when Christ would say, now I'm
glorified. Or at the Mount of Transfiguration,
when Christ took Peter, James, and John up into the mountain,
and He was transfigured before them, and Moses and Elijah came
down in a whirlwind, and this glorious sin, Christ was turned
into a glorious white. His countenance shined as the
sun and His strength. You'd have thought, now is the
Son of Man. Now is Christ's greatest glory,
when He's transfigured. Or when he stood at Lazarus'
tomb, the Lord of Glory came down in the body of a man and
stood at the tomb of a man who had been dead and stinking four
days, and he said, Stand up and walk out here. A dead man. You'd
have thought, Now, now the Son of Man is glorified. That's not what he said. He's
facing death. And he says, Now, Right now,
I'm about to be glorified." In the face of his deepest, seemingly
abasement, severe sufferings and terrible shame, he says,
now, right now, is the Son of Man glorified. How? Why? Why do you say that?
Well, because the greatest work in history was about to take
place. The work that all eternity had
been waiting for. The work that millenniums of
scriptural prophecy prophesied would come to pass, now it was
about to be fulfilled. Every jot and every tittle of
the law of God was about to be fulfilled. Now! The fulfillment
of all of God's purpose and plan, right now. And man, right now,
a man, Terry, a man, was about to glorify God Almighty. Never
been done before. No, not really. Never been done
before. Up until this time, man had only
rebelled against God and fought God. The natural, the carnal
mind is enmity against God. Hates God. Hates the thought
of one being in sovereign control and rule over him. We'll not
have this man reign over us. But right now, a man is about
to finish the ultimate glorification of God Almighty. He's going to
become glorious himself. And now, death is about to be
conquered. Death. Now, death will have no
more dominion over men. No more. No more dominion over
men. Death is about to be conquered
by a man. Death came by man, and now, in
the ultimate wisdom of God, death is going to be removed or conquered
by a man. And right now, sin's ransom price
was about to be paid. It's as if all the riches of
the universe had been gathered together, had been saved up in
store from all time and eternity to pay this awful price. And
you know what it was? It was the blood of God's dear
Son. Precious, precious ransom. And right now, a mediator for
man was about to be enthroned. No more need for any more sacrifices,
any more high priests, any more priests and so forth, elders
and so forth to go for the people. Right now, there's going to be
a mediator, a man who's going to sit down at God's right hand,
and now everybody can go up to God himself because of a man
sitting there. Now. And look, he says here, now is
the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. God. The world, as I say, the
world doesn't see any glory in the cross. They see, what the
world sees is a pitiful, helpless, pathetic, effeminate martyr,
poor little Jesus, you know, suffering and dying, wanting
to save people, and they won't let him. And finally, all these
horrible, terrible, wicked fellows got a hold of him and put him
on the cross and killed him. This is the glory of God Almighty
right here. The glory of God. That's what
he said here. God is going to be glorified
such as he's never been glorified before. Right now. Right now. How? How is God glorified in
the cross? In a man hanging up there like
a bloody piece of meat. How is God glorified in something
like that? It's ridiculous to the natural mind, isn't it? How?
Because we see right now in Christ hanging there on that cross.
We see the power and the glory of God. We see, because in the
wisdom of God, kings, all the people, all the kings, all the
rulers, all the devils, Satan and his cohorts, all got together
to kill this man. They all wanted him out of business.
So they all got together to kill him, to put him on that cross.
This is what they wanted to do, and they did it. They with wicked
hands took and crucified the Lord of Glory. But you know what
they did? They did what God wanted them
to do. They did exactly what God Almighty
had determined for the foundation of the world for them to do.
They carried out God's plans. That's wisdom. That's wisdom. The wisdom and the power of God
to bring this whole thing to culmination. to them to do what
they want to do now, but doing so, doing God's purpose and bringing
salvation. It's the wisdom of God. It's
the power of God. We see the power of God on that
cross. And on that cross, we see the
justice of God. No man rightly understands salvation
and why Christ came and what this thing is all about until
he sees the justice of God being fulfilled in Christ dying on
the cross. Nobody knows. until they understand something
of this. God says, I'll by no means clear the guilty. You sin,
I've sinned, we've all come short of the glory of God. And God
says, the soul that sinneth must surely die. The wages of sin
is death. Now, we've all sinned, haven't
we? We've all come short of the glory of God. We've all got to
die eternally, be condemned. That's what the Scripture says,
that's what God says. But God said, I'm going to save somebody.
How's he going to do that? We see the justice of God. We
see how God can be just, that is, holy, and not bend His law
one bit, not change His word one bit. You must be perfect
in restored, perfect in thought, in word and deed all of your
life, since birth. You've got to be perfect, or
God won't accept you. Now, that's not God being a monster.
That's God being holy. He can't have anything in His
presence that's not absolutely holy like He is. He can't defile
His presence, His Word. You've got to be perfect. Well,
how's God going to receive you into heaven? He said some people
are going to be saved. How's He going to do this and
still be just and holy? How's He going to do this? By
taking what that man did, that holiness that that man lived
up to, that life, that perfect life as a man that that man lived,
and give it to you and take your sinful life and put it on him
and killing him, shedding his blood for you. Now we see God is still just. He can take old Henry Sword in,
has something to do with him, commune with him, even though
he appears to be a sinner. But not to God. He's not a sinner
anymore to God. He's holy. He's his son, just
like Jesus Christ. Christ is a sinner now, and God
sees Christ on the cross, and he kills him. Now, we see that
God can be just and justify an ungodly fellow like you and me.
It's the gospel. It's the power of God. It's the wisdom of God,
the justice of God. We see the holiness of God. Scripture
says God's got two pure eyes to look upon iniquity. He won't
do it. He won't even look upon it. Now, we can't fathom this,
and this is the reason people rebel against us. The reason
people say, I just don't believe that, that, you know, God is
love and so forth. The other reason people don't
believe that and the reason people refuse to acknowledge and submit
to this thing of the holiness of God, because we can't even,
we don't even, we can't fathom, we can't fathom holiness. We
can't even think about it. We don't know what it's all about.
So therefore, the things we don't understand, we just don't believe
that. Right? But that's what this book speaks of, the holiness
of God. And he says, I have them two
pure eyes. The sun and the moon are not pure in his eyes, the
scripture says. And God's have two pure eyes to look upon iniquity.
He won't look upon it, the scripture says. And that's the reason when
Christ was hanging on that cross, that's the reason God turned
his back on his son. And when Christ cried out, my
God, why have you forsaken me? Why? Because Christ had turned
in to the most sinful, Man never lived on the face of the earth.
God had made, had placed all the sin of his people on his
son, and God turned his back. Can't look on him. Can't look
on him. Why'd he do that? So he won't
have to do it to you. So he won't have to turn his
back on you. And that's what hell is all about. Separation
from God. When God says, you wanted to
be on your own all your life? You wanted to be your own boss?
You wanted to have it your way? You're going to have it your
way now. I'll go over here and I'll dwell with my people in
happiness and eternity." And you'll be all by yourself like
he wanted to. And then they'll find out. We
see in the cross, Christ hanging there, the greatest glory of
God, we see the faithfulness of God. God faithfully promised,
I'm going to punish sin. And God faithfully promised that
he's going to pardon some people. How's he going to do it? See
it right there. And we see the love of God. Love
of God. Last but not least, this was
the cause of it, this all. The love of God. Herein is love. Not that we love God. Oh, come
on. Let's not talk about our love
to God. I hear all these nitwits talking
about their love to God. Don't tell me about your love
to God. My, so herein is love, the Scripture says. Herein is
love. Not that we love God. Natural
man hates God. That's what 1 Corinthians says. Hates God. Why? Well, said it
before, you know, just don't want an absolute ruler and controller. Wanting absolute authority over
them. They want to have their say.
They want to have their destiny and their life in their own hands.
But the scriptures plainly say that our lives and our ways are in
His hands, to do as He pleases with us. That's God. And herein
is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us, some people,
not all people, some people, and sent His Son to be the propitiation,
that is, the bloody sacrifice. on that cross, a bloody, sin-atoning
offering. It's old-fashioned religion,
blood religion, isn't it? It's the glory of God. It's the
way it is. It's the glory of God. To send
His Son to be a propitiation for our sins, that is a covering,
a cover-up, like the Old Testament priest took that blood of that
lamb and poured it out. It's a bloody-looking mess. But
he poured it out on that mercy seat, and the broken law was
down in there, and nobody could see that broken law. And when
Christ poured his blood out, spiritually speaking, on his
people, God Almighty does not see their iniquity in their sin.
It may be old-fashioned, and it may be gory sounding, but
it's the glory of God. It's glory, glory! That's what
it is. Well, look at verse 32. Now, he said, if God be glorified,
If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself,
and shall straightway glorify him." He said, God is going to
be glorified, and the Son is going to be glorified, and all
flesh is going to see it. All flesh is going to see it,
and that right early. Very soon. Very shortly. Terry,
right away. All flesh is going to see it.
Those that don't believe this, those that don't want anything
to do with this stupid stuff, this old-fashioned stuff, are
going to see Him someday, as He is. They're going to see Him. All eyes. The Scripture says
they're going to see Him. They're going to see Him. And
the Scripture says tomorrow, and the day you think not, and
a few short years have passed, the Scripture says, in a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye, Right away, Christ said, straight away,
God's going to glorify him. He did there on the cross, and
he's going to ultimately glorify him in the end for all to see.
Look at verse 33. Here's where we begin these intimate
words. He says, little children. Now, I don't know how he said
these first two verses. I don't know how he said anything.
I can't repeat the sound of the Son of God. You think about these
blasphemous idiots that play the part of Jesus Christ in their
little Christmas play. You think about it. This is the
Son of God. And for a man to attempt to play
the part of the Son of God. I don't know how he said this. Sometimes I hesitate to try to
imitate the way he spoke. But he said here in verse 33,
he said, I know he spoke with kindness and tenderness and compassion,
such as no man spake like this man. Little children. Little children. This is the
first time he ever said this. First time he ever called them
little children. This is the last time, Dad. Little
children. First time he addressed him was
such, and he did it after Judas got out of there. That's significant,
Rick. Judas was gone, and he said,
Now, little children, and you'll not be addressed as a child of
God. God's not the father of all men.
No, no, no, no. God's the father of his adopted
people. His adopted sons, those that
are being made like Jesus Christ. Believers, those that trust in
Christ. God's father of those people.
Christ said of some people, you're of your father the devil. So
evidently they weren't the children of God Almighty. But He says
to these people, He says, some of these men, He said, little
children. Little children. He said, you had a little while
and I'm with you. He said, I'm leaving. I'm leaving. He said, you'll
seek me. You'll look for me. And as I
said unto the Jews before, I said, where I go, you can't come. And so I'm telling you all the
same thing. Where I'm going, you can't come. You can't come. Now, he was going
the way of all flesh. He was going the way of death.
But you're all going to go. We're all going to go this way. I'm going somewhere if you can't
come. You cannot go the way I'm going. The way I'm going, he said, I'm
going to the cross to die. I mean, to literally die, spiritually
die, be forsaken by God Almighty. I'm going that way. You can't
come. Aren't you glad? I don't want
to go that way. I want to be like Elijah. I want
to walk right into heaven, spiritually speaking. He said, I'm going
this way, you can't come this way. I'm going this way, so you
don't have to go this way. Old song, you ought to walk that
lonesome valley by yourself, hogwash. That's not so. Christ
went down through there for me. He says, I'm going to pay this
great price for sin, sin that you've done. I'm going to pay
that price. I'm going this way, so you don't
have to, Mary. I'm going to go pay it, so you
don't have to. And he said, I'm going to hell itself. So you
don't have to. Go on! We can see it now, hindsight's
20-20. Faith, hindsight's faith, 20-20. Go. God be with you. Go. Well, now, in light of what he
just said here, in light of such love, you know, behold what manner
of love he's going to do for us. He's going to take our whipping,
our licking, our death, our brutal punishment, our wrath, our condemnation,
our separation from God. He's going to go take it all. Now, in light of such love like
that, he did it because he loved some people. Not everybody. No,
not everybody, because everybody doesn't give a hoot about what
he did. But in light of such love, he
says this now, in verse 34, look at it. He says, now, I'm going
to do something for you that's never been done before. I'm going
to show the greatest manifestation of love, the truest, the only
true manifestation of love ever been known by man. He says, now,
a new commandment I'm giving you. A new commandment I give unto
you. We're talking about His disciples.
That you love one another as I have loved you. You also love
one another. Now, turn over to John chapter
17 with me. Now, this is the first subject. This is very significant, people. This is the first subject that
the Lord addresses. Now, we're going to, like I said,
there's 65 verses we're going to go through in this series
of the messages. And this is the first subject
that he addresses after his glorification. This is the first subject, Nancy,
he addresses to his disciples in telling them. He's partying,
he's leaving. Crossed his league. Been with them three and a half
years now. And he's leaving, going back to the Father. Now
he says, now, I've got some things I want to tell you. Listen up
to them. That's the first thing he says. Love one another. Joe
must be pretty important to us. You read it tonight. Must be
pretty important. Pretty important. Well, look
at John 17, let's see. And this is the last words, these
are the last words that he spoke to his father. Look at John 17,
verse 26. He says, I've declared unto them
thy name. Now, these are the last words
we have recorded of him speaking to his father. The first words
he spoke to his disciples before he left, and the last words to
his father. I've declared unto them thy name,
and will declare it. that the love wherewith thou
hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." Something to
this, something to this, turn back to the text. Something to
it, must be pretty important, must be pretty necessary and
vital. Well, I tell you it is, based upon what he says here
in a minute. He says, Now a new commandment
I give unto you. First thing he began to tell
them, and in verse 35 he says, Reason is so important, because
this is the evidence. This is the evidence. Verse 35, "...by this shall all
men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."
Now, a lot of people are very confused about this, because
all Christians seem to be so loving, you know, but that's
not the way it is. That's not the way it is at all.
This is a tremendous exhortation and yet a terrible reproof and
admonition. But let me illustrate this thing
of love. Love of a believer for another
believer. We went into this one time before.
Message was, do you love Jesus Christ? A message about Peter. You go, uh, how do you know somebody
loves somebody else? Really loves them. Really. You
know, everybody go down the aisle, walk down the aisle, and you
promise to love this person from this day forward. Buh. That lasts a long time, doesn't
it? A long time. Somebody one time
asked me a few years ago, we've been married ten years now, but
five years ago, somebody, uh, how long y'all been married?
We said five years. That long? some young person. Oh, yes, great. That is a long time in this day
and age, isn't it? Why? Because our two-bit vows don't
mean a thing. Don't mean a thing. Only his. He'll hear in his love. But you,
I'll prove, I'll illustrate true love. You go down to the hospital.
You go down to the maternity ward of the hospital. You go
down to that window where all those babies are laying in those
cribs behind there. I've got a bunch of squalling,
ugly, red little things kicking around. They're all ugly. I don't
care what you grandmothers and mothers say. They're all ugly
when they're first born. Aren't they, Mary? They are now. You'd think yours
was the only cute one there, but they're all ugly when they
come up here first of all. That's a picture of us. That's
a picture of us. The reason they're ugly is because
that's the way we are to God in our sin at first. But you
go down there. And all those babies screaming
and crying and kicking behind that window. And there's one
baby. You pick out one baby right there
in the middle. Pick out the ugliest one of the
bunch. How do you know whose parent,
whose baby that is? How do you know? Can you tell? Oh, yeah. Get on the other side
of that glass and look over there. And watch the guy who's making
the biggest fool out of himself, you know, looking at that ugly
little thing. Is that the prettiest thing you've
ever seen? Carl, look at him. You can tell
he's going to be special. He looks just like the rest of
them. You can tell. Go to a baseball game, a little
league, I don't know what you call it here, a T-ball, a little
league, whatever. And there's a certain little toe-headed boy
who comes up to bat. How do you know who's parent,
who's child that is? How do you know? Just look up
in the stands and watch the father. You know, he's biting his nails
and he's screaming louder than anybody, you know. And if he
gets a grounder and goes through the infield, you'd have thought
he'd hit a grand slam home run at the World Series, you know.
You could tell by looking. You can tell now. Ain't no mistaking
about it. Daddy, whose boy that is, no
mistake. Or you go to a piano recital,
some little blonde-headed girl gets up to the stool and can't
play a lick hardly, misses every note. And how do you know whose
daughter that is? The ones that have given her
a standing ovation, thinking it's the greatest piece ever
played. Well, there's a sense. in which that's a true manifestation
of love. I like this definition of true
love. True love manifests itself in
this way. True love desires to bestow the
best it has on the object of its affection. This desire, true
love now, desires to bestow the best and all that it has on the
object of its affection. And the closest we can come to
this is love for our children. Well, Christ says, and Christ,
we just said a while ago that the greatest love was pictured
there. And that love emulates that somewhat. But Christ said, now you love
one another Rick, you love Joe Parks like you love Sarah. That's what he says, doesn't
it? And there ain't no excuse for not doing it, is there? That's
what he says, doesn't it? We read it there in 1 John 4
tonight. That's what he says, doesn't
it? I can't do it. Do it anyway! Well, he says, Spirit's willing,
but the flesh is weak. I know it. I know it. But God is much stronger than
our weak flesh. Much stronger. And we pray to
him for desire to do so. I gave several indications of true love, the
way love really manifest itself in five things. First of all,
true love always has, look, true love has constant remembrance
of the one that it loves. Deborah, do you have to be reminded
to think about Andrew? Why, you have to poke yourself
every now and then to do your work, because you're thinking
about Andrew, you know? Why? She loves him. She thinks about
him all the time. She doesn't need to be reminded
to think about him. Well, Christ says, you have to
think on the things of others. That's what the Scripture says.
You have to think on the things of others. And Christ, oh, I'm
glad He doesn't ever forget about us, aren't you? And true love
for Christ. And you know, you can apply this
three ways. us to him and us to one another,
three ways. But he remembers us, and we need
to remember him. We shouldn't have to be reminded
to think about the one we say that we love, our Lord. You know
what I'm saying? Yeah, you do. True love enjoys
hearing about somebody, or from them, get a letter from them.
Well, this is convicting, but I've used it before. Old love
letters you get, you know, when you're dating or whatever, and
you just can't read them enough. Why? Because you say you love
that person, and you love to read about them. You can't get
enough of hearing about them. Somebody starts bragging on them.
You say, yeah, that's right. Somebody brag on your children.
You brag on that grandson of the parks. You'll be a friend
for life if you brag on that boy. Well, that manifests itself
too in our love for Christ and our love for one another. And
like I said, chiefly and foremost is love for us. He calls us sons. He calls us brethren. He calls
us friends. And we ain't nothing. We can
do the same, can't we? Sure, if somebody's our equal,
we can do the same, can't we? Bring on them. Love, true love,
likes to please the one that it loves. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. I had a four-year-old daughter
of mine. I'd give her, if it wasn't bad
for her, and I'm going to give her a lot of things, I'm sure,
over the years that are bad for her. But because of my love,
I want to bestow everything on that girl. What do you want?
If that can get it, I'll get it for you. I'd like to please them. I'd
like to make them happy. That is the ultimate show of
good and happiness for God's peoples when Christ secured for
them eternal salvation. Made us eternally happy. Someday
we're going to experience it too. I hadn't seen, the ear hadn't
heard, the things, the happiness that God has prepared for you
to do. You just don't know. You just don't know. And we want to please, and this
is the only obedience that God will accept, the only service
that God will accept, this kind of service out of this motive,
because you want to please Him who did this for you. You want
to please Him, not out of duty, but out of love. You want to
please Him. Don't do things so that somebody
will see and hear that we did it. That's not it at all. You do it because you love them.
You want to please them. Anything I can do for you, brother, buddy.
Anything. I'd like to. I'd like to help you out. Well,
and love is jealous of the honor of the one it loves. You start
bad-mouthing Rick's wife or daughter. And you see how Rick reacts,
and rightly so, within reason. But you get on his bad side.
He's jealous of their honor, of their name. Jealous of it.
And he'd be doubly, triply jealous of the honor of our Lord and
one another. He says, I've loved you. Christ
is jealous for his people. Satan is a great accuser and
comes and says, there's Garnet. She's a sinner. She's a sinner.
She doesn't hardly believe in you. Watch what you say. He says,
I died for her. That's what he says. He quiets our guilty conscience,
even, that accuses us before him. Jealous. Jealous of the honor of the one
you love. And we ought to be the same with
one another. Don't listen to what somebody says about us.
a family member. Don't listen. Don't do it. It's good advice. It's good advice
here. If somebody's got something to
say, a little juicy tidbit of gossip, say, wait a minute. Hold on. Wait a minute. Before you go on, let's call
him up. Let's call Roberta up. We're going to talk about Roberta.
Let's call Roberta up. Maybe we'll just hear her side
of the story. No, no, no. Wait a minute. I'm sure that
person will say, well, maybe that's exaggerated. That's love. And lastly, and there's many
ways you could go with this, many, many more ways. But lastly,
and probably above all else, true love loves to be with somebody. It does. True love loves to be
with somebody. My wife before has admonished
me about perhaps spending more time here or there rather than
with her. And she's right. True love wants
to be with somebody. Wants to be... familiarity, they
say, breeds contempt. Well, it does in a sense, but
true love breeds... More, you want to enjoy, you
want to be around somebody more and more. Enjoy their company
more than anybody else. And Christ said, Christ prayed
to the thousands that His children would be with Him where He is. Why would He want me? Huh? Why
would He want you in His presence to dwell with Him eternally?
Why me? That's love. Do you see a little glimpse of
real love? Why would the holy God in heaven want a maggot to
dwell with him? Because he loves. And if we love
Christ, need it be said. And we don't
have to be exhorted constantly to come hear about him. We don't
have to be exhorted constantly to come hear somebody talk about
the one you love. People have to be. Enjoy being with them. And the same Holstree said, he
said, now you love one another just like this, didn't he? Now
let me ask you, and me, who do you spend all your time,
energy, and effort on? Your money. That's who you love. Yeah, it
is. Yeah, it is. Yeah, it is. Who do you spend all your time
with or want to spend all your time with? That's who you love. Or what?
Yeah, it is. Yeah, it is. Christ exhorts us
to love one another, doesn't He? And that's the reason I keep,
I'm saying now, we need to, we need to, we need to, to nurture this love for one
another by getting together, fellowship. Yeah, we do. We need
to cultivate it. That's the word I'm looking for.
We need to cultivate it. Now listen to somebody that really
loved the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to here. Oh, Peter. Listen
to Peter. And I know, I know, I've said
it. We've said it. I know what we
say about Peter. Although Peter was about to deny the Lord Jesus
Christ, Peter loved him. Yes, he did. Yes, he did. Because when Christ asked him
there in the end, Peter says, yes, Lord, I love you. No, I
love you. He wouldn't have said that in the presence of Christ
if he didn't really mean it, would he? Besides, Peter left
all he, all, he left his life, his bones. He's a fisherman.
He loved his fishing. That was his life, but he ate,
drank, and slept, and he left it, dropped it, to follow Christ,
and fell in love with this man, Christ Jesus. He loved him. Now, listen to what Peter says
here. Now, he'd been silent long enough. You remember our last study when
Peter spoke up and then, no, when Peter said to John, Remember, Peter was feeling real
guilty about what he'd been doing and saying and all this for a
while, for a little while. Like us, it didn't last long.
But for a little while, he'd been feeling rotten. And he punched
John, said, when Christ said, somebody's going to deny me.
And Peter said, before, you know, Peter, the holy, who is it? Ain't
me. No, he didn't say that. Don't
ask him who it is. Ask him. He's probably shaking. Probably me. Isn't he? Well, he'd been silent long enough.
Christ had been talking, talking about Judas, and he'd been talking
here, and old Peter had been silent long enough. And now,
the suspense was killing him. It was killing him. Christ said,
I'm leaving. And he gave him these words of
exhortation. He said, now you love one another. He said, I'm
leaving you. Now, you love one another. And
Simon Peter spoke up, verse 36, and he said, Lord, where are
you going? I bet he had a quiver in his
voice. A tear in his eye maybe. His best friend. His Lord. His Master. Lord, where are you going? Where
are you going? Where are you going? Well, Christ
said, Peter, he answered him and says, Whither I go, you cannot
follow me now. Now, before, he said, I'm going
the way that you can't go at all. Now, he's talking about
the cross. Now, he says, I'm going and you
can't follow me now. Look at it, verse 36, but thou
shalt follow me afterward. Now he's speaking of his return
to the Father, Terry. Now he's speaking about going
back to the Father, and he promises Peter, says, I'm going. You can't
come right now, but you're coming right behind me. This is a blessed
promise in the light of what Peter's about to do. Peter's
about to deny him and go through the worst trial of his life.
But Christ says, you're going to be right behind me. This was
kind of like that thief hanging on that cross. And he said, Lord,
remember me. Where are you going? I know you're
coming into your kingdom. Remember me. And Christ said,
today, you'll be with me in paradise. This is the same thing he's saying
to Peter right here. I'm going. You can't come right
now, but you're coming later. And old Peter, if Peter, he could
have taken great comfort in this. shut his big mouth for a minute.
Rick, just for a minute, he thought about what Christ just said.
Just for a minute. If he'd only thought, if he'd
quietly thought a minute and let this sink in, what Christ
has said. No, not Peter, and not you, and
not me. But Peter says, verse 37, Why
can't I go? Why can't I not follow thee now?
I want to go. What does this remind you of?
This reminds me of a little child. You go down to the nursery, and
Mama drops her baby off at the nursery, and she starts to leave.
Wah! You know, don't leave me! Don't
leave me! And that child starts pitching
a fit, and if it's old enough to talk, it'll start talking
rashly and ridiculously and foolishly, won't it? Mother's not going
to be gone long. She's coming back to get him.
Oh, this child's world is ending. And that's kind of what this
reminds me of. Lord, why can't I go now? I'll lay down my life.
He starts talking rashly. I'll lay down my life, boy. I'll
go wherever you go. I'll do whatever you do. I'll
do it. Just let me go. And you hear the Lord's words here
to Peter. Peter, will you? See that there? Verse 38, will
thou lay down thy life? And religious people like to
make brash, bold statements, don't they? Will you? Do you love Jesus? Will you give
your life? He said, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, the cock's not going to crow twice. It ain't going
to re-sun up until you deny me three times. Well, and I ask you, I say unto
you, Simon, how many more times are
you going to deny Christ? How many more times? It ain't
going to get sun up until some of us are going to deny Christ,
right? to whoever or whatever, or maybe run into somebody somewhere,
and then deny Him. Here we are. It's a sad fact,
but it's true. It's a sad fact. You know, this
is one more time that Christ is proving His omniscience. You know, before, He said, one
of you is going to deny Me. And He was proving. And it was
so. It happened. One of you shall betray Me this
very night. And it happened. Just as I told
you, he said, so you'll know that I told you so. And he's
telling Peter here, and he's not doing it to gloat here, but
he's saying, Peter, you're going to deny me, and you're going
to turn around and you're going to remember I told you so. He's
showing his omniscience one more time. But this time, you know,
Judas, Peter was really no different by nature than Judas was. What
made the difference? This time, although Christ said,
one of you, he said, Peter, he looked at Peter before everybody
said, you're going to deny me three times. But you're going to do just what
Judas did in a sense, but what's the difference? Who made the
difference? But God, who is rich in mercy. For his great love
wherewith he loved Peter, not Judas, Peter. But he wouldn't cast him off. Rather he was going to lift him
up as a son. Now I hope by God's mercy and
grace that it's going to be said, it can be said about you. You're
going to deny him. Yeah, I am. I am. And to our
shame and our disgrace, we're going to do it. But I hope it's said about me what it was said about Peter.
You can't come now, but you will later. You come later. I'll go
prepare a place for you. I'm about to get ahead of myself
in my text next week. Hope that's a blessing to you.
Staying with me.

A New Commandment

What does the Bible say about the love of Christ?

Why is it important for Christians to love one another?

How do we know the resurrection of Jesus is true?

What is the significance of the cross in Christianity?

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A New Commandment

What does the Bible say about the love of Christ?

Why is it important for Christians to love one another?

How do we know the resurrection of Jesus is true?

What is the significance of the cross in Christianity?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

Comments

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