you shall seek me and I said
as I said in the Jews whether I go you can't go. So now say
I to you. A new commandment. I give unto
you. That you love. One another. As I. Have loved. That you also love one another. By this shall all men know that
you're my disciples. If you have love one to another. And he says this to them before
all this mess takes place. Now there is, I want to make
some introductory comments. I've entitled this message, The
Badge of Disciples, The Discipleship. By this shall all men know you're
my disciples. By the love that you have one
to another. There is no salvation apart from
sound doctrine. There is no salvation, apart
from the truth of the gospel. Turn with me for a moment to
2 John. 2 John. Verse 9. 2 John. Verse 9, Whosoever transgresseth
and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. That's strong language. He hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine
of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. Now, we love sound
doctrine. There's no salvation apart from
sound doctrine. There's no salvation apart from
the truth of the gospel. Turn to 2 Timothy chapter 1. Paul says in verse 13 of 2 Timothy
chapter 1. Hold fast. The form. The outline. Of sound words. Which thou heard of me in faith
and love, which is in Christ Jesus. Now he tells us what these
sound words are in this passage of Scripture. Look in verse 8. These sound words are the testimony
of the Lord himself. Look in verse 8, Be not thou
therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner,
but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God who hath saved us. Now, there's everything we believe
in that statement. He saved us. He did it all. He saved us and called us with
a holy call. Now, what came first, the saving
or the calling? According to this passage of
scripture, he saved us. And then he called us. You see,
my salvation was accomplished outside of my personal subjective
experience. That means my works don't have
anything to do with it. Isn't that wonderful? Is that good
news to you? He saved us outside of anything we do. He saved us
and he called us. He called us by the gospel with
a holy calling, not according to our works. He didn't call
us in response to some works we have or some decision we made
or something we believed. But here's how he called us according
to his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began. Do you know everything you have
was given to you before you ever were born if you're a believer?
I love that. I love that, and let me say this
regarding the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no salvation
apart from hearing this message and believing this message. The doctrines of grace, total
depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, Christ's successful
redemption for those the Father gave him, irresistible grace,
perseverance of the saints, You can't preach the gospel and not
preach this. It's impossible. This is the gospel, and there
is no salvation apart from hearing and believing the truth. Now, that's a non-negotiable.
By the grace of God, we stand for that. Now, that being said,
there is nothing more distasteful and ugly than the appearance
of sound doctrine and an unsound life. Now let me repeat that. There
is nothing more distasteful and ugly than the appearance of sound
doctrine. Notice I said the appearance
of sound doctrine because it's only an appearance and an unsound
life. In reality, It's not sound doctrine if there's
an unsound life, even if it sounds sound. We don't really believe
any more than we put into practice. Now, our Lord said in this verse
of Scripture by this. Shall all men know? That you're
my disciples. Here is the true badge of discipleship. Here is the evidence of genuine
discipleship that can be seen. No mention is made of gifts.
No mention is made of miracles, of intellectual attainment, or
even soundness of creed. Nothing is said about what we're
against. Nothing is said about what we stand for. By this shall
all men know you're my disciples, by your love to one another. That is the Lord's
badge of discipleship, love to one another. Turn with me for
a moment to 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Paul says in verse 1, with the tongues of men and of
angels. Though I have such eloquence
that I can speak as well as an angel and have not charity, I
am become as a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. My speech
is offensive. Verse 2, and though I have the
gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries, I, I, I, man,
I, I understand them all. And I've got all knowledge. I
know everything. And I have miracle-working faith. I have all faith so that
I can remove mountains and have not charity. What? I'm nothing. It doesn't even
count. It's not real. It's not inspired
by the Spirit of God, even though I have all these things. Verse
3, And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor. That's
a worthy endeavor, isn't it? If I sold everything I had and
took the money and used it to feed the poor, and though I gave my body to
be burned, I would not budge an inch for what I believed,
and I was willing to go to the stake and die before budging
an inch on what I believed. Yes, I stand for this. Though
I give my body to be burned and have not charity, it profits
me nothing. Now can you see how important
this issue is? This is the one mark of discipleship
that our Lord gives. By this shall all men know you
are my disciples. By your love to one another. Now there are several marks the
Lord gives of genuine discipleship. Turn back to John chapter 6 for
a moment. Verse sixty six. From that time. Many of his disciples
went back. And walk no more. With him. Now these genuine disciples.
They went back, said they were disciples, but they went back
and they walk no more. Let's back up to verse 59. These things said he in the synagogue
as he taught in Capernaum. What a message that was in John
chapter 6. Many therefore of his disciples,
they claimed to be his disciples, when they'd heard this, they
said, this is a hard saying, it's a harsh saying. This is
disagreeable. Who can be expected to hear such
teaching? When Jesus knew it himself and his disciples murmured
at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? What if you
shall see the Son of Man ascend up where it was before? It's
the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profits nothing. The words
that I speak to you that you find to be harsh, disagreeable
sayings, the words that I speak unto you, their spirit and their
life. But there are some of you that
believe not. Now that answers the question
as to whether or not they were true disciples. These people
that left, there's some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew
from the beginning who they were that believed not and who should
betray him. And he said, therefore, that's why I said to you that
no name can come to me except it were given to him of my father. From that time then his disciples
went back and walked no more with him. And I don't read where
he asked him. Now you'll reconsider this. Maybe
I didn't say this right. No, he watched him leave and
didn't ask him to come back. What are the marks of true discipleship?
We see there are those who claim to be disciples, but evidently
they're not. We'll turn to Luke chapter 14.
We'll get back to John 13 in a moment, but look at Luke chapter
14. Verse 26. What's verse 25? And there were great multitudes
with him, and he turned and said unto them, If any man come to
me, and hate not his father and mother and wife and children
and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot
be my disciple. Now I want you to listen very
carefully. You and I, if we're disciples of Christ, we cannot
love anyone or anything better than Christ. Everyone and everything else
is unimportant in comparison to Him. Now, if I love Christ, Better
than I love you. And if you love Christ better
than you love me, we're going to get along real well, aren't
we? We surely will. I can't love anything or anyone
better than Christ, even if it's my mom and dad. They have to
go if they come in my way. Of my Lord and Savior. Look in
verse 27 of the same chapter, and whosoever does not bear his
cross and come after me, he cannot be my disciple. Now, this cross
bearing is our confession of Christ, our confession of his
cross. And if I'm unwilling to take
the heat of confessing him, I can't be his disciple. Not truly. Look in verse 33, so likewise,
whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, He cannot
be my disciple that's talking about getting the cost if you
look at this passage of Scripture, he says, remember that the cat
and the cows kept the cost if something's too costly that you.
It's too much to follow Christ and you can't be his disciple. Not a real disciple. Not someone
who's truly been saved by his grace. Turn to John 8. These
are marks of true discipleship. Verse 31, Then said Jesus to those Jews
which believed on him, If you continue in my word, then are
you my disciples indeed, in truth, in reality. Now what do you have
to believe to be saved? Is there a minimum? Is there a minimum? Yes, there
is. I must believe everything he
says. That is an absolute minimum. And that doesn't just mean giving
assent to what he said, but I find his words spirit and life. The words that I speak unto you,
they're spirit and they're life. In John chapter 6, when that
crowd left, he looked at his disciples and he said, will you
also go away? And Peter said, to whom shall
we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life, and we believe
and are sure that thou art that Christ, the son of the living
God. Look in John chapter 15. Verse
8. Herein is my father glorified
that you, every disciple, bear much fruit, the fruit of the
Holy Spirit. So shall you be my disciples. If I do not bear the fruit of
the Holy Spirit, love, joy, peace, and so on, I'm not one of his
disciples. Now, this is a mark of discipleship.
And then in our text, in John chapter 13, where he says, by
this, in verse By this shall all men know you are my disciples,
by your love one to another." Now, this is actually, this love
he's speaking of, is actually an evidence of being born of
God. This is the product of the new birth. It's the product of
regeneration. Let me show you this in the scripture.
Turn to 1 John chapter 4. 1 John chapter 4. Verse 7, Beloved, let us love
one another, for love is of God, and every one that loveth is
born of God. Do you see that? Everybody loves
this kind of love. This is not talking about love
between a man and a woman or a parent and child, this is a
superior love. This is the love that comes from
the new birth. This is something that only a
believer can have. An unbeliever can't have this kind of love.
You know, this love never fails, as we're going to see. It continues
forever. Verse 7, Beloved, let us love one another, for love
is of God, and everyone that loveth is born of God. and knoweth God. He that loveth
not knoweth not God, for God is love. And this is not just
an I love you love. This is a love that is seen in
deed and in truth. Look in 1 John chapter 3, verse
16. Hereby perceive we the love of
God, because he laid down his life for us, and we ought to
lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good,
and seeth his brother hath need, and shutteth up his bowels with
compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? It doesn't. My little children, let us not
love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed, and in truth. Now back to John chapter 13,
verse 33. When our Lord says this, he realizes
the weakness of his disciples. He recognizes that Peter is going
to deny that he even knows him that very day. He's aware of
all that. It's all part of his good and
perfect will. And yet he says to them, in verse
33, little children, yet a little while I'm with you. You shall
seek me. And as I said unto the Jews,
whether I go, you can't come, so now say I to you." Now, he
said this previously to the Jews, but he meant something completely
different. Look in John chapter 8, when he was speaking to the
Jews. John chapter 8, verse 21. Then said Jesus again unto them,
I go my way and you shall seek me and shall die in your sins.
Whether I go, you cannot come. But he says to his disciples,
where I'm going under the wrath of God, you can't come. You can't
follow me there. I'm doing this alone, but you'll
follow me afterwards because I'm going to save you and I'm
leaving you for a short time. So here is what I'm leaving with
you. John chapter 13, verse 34. Here's
what I'm leaving with you. A new commandment. A new commandment. Now, you can't go with me to
the cross. We did representatively, but
we can't experience what he experienced. He by himself purged our sins. And here's what I'm leaving you
with, a new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another
as I have loved you, that you love also one another. Now, this
is a new commandment. It had never been given before.
Well, doesn't the Old Testament say, Thou shalt love thy neighbors
thyself? I mean, wasn't that already there?
There's a lot of difference between loving your neighbors yourself
and loving each other as I have loved you. This is a brand new
commandment that had never been given and had never been heard. It's always new and it's always
fresh in the excellence of it. It's new in the argument of it.
Love your neighbor as yourself or you'll go to hell. That's
the law. But that's not the argument of
this. You love one another as I have loved you. Old Paul said
in Galatians chapter 2 verse 20, he loved me and he gave himself. He gave himself for me. The giving of his love, the patience
of his love, the forbearance of his love, he never stops loving. Now it's one thing to be commanded
to love because you'll be condemned if you don't. But there's not
much love there, is there? If you don't love me, you'll
go to hell. That doesn't really create love, does it? He says,
you love one another as I have loved you. And it's new in that
it springs from a new nature. The love he is speaking of is
impossible for the natural man, and it's impossible to be produced
by the law. This love is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. When
Paul gives the fruit of God the Holy Spirit, he says the fruit
of the Spirit is what? Love. And this is what always
accompanies genuine faith. Turn to Galatians chapter 5.
Verse 6. For in Jesus Christ, neither
circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision, but faith
which worketh by love. Now, what's he mean in Christ
Jesus, neither circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision?
Well, somebody says, I try to keep the law. I've been circumcised. I'm doing my best. I'm living
up, trying to do what I can. What's that avail with God? Nothing. Doesn't mean a thing. Somebody says, well, I understand
that. I understand salvation is by grace. I understand circumcision
doesn't avail anything. I believe the doctrines of grace.
What's that avail with God? Nothing. For in Christ Jesus, neither
circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision, but faith
which worketh by love. The way I express love to God
is only seen in how I treat you. Anything else is just talk. You know, I love you. The words
I love you can be either the most meaningful or meaningless
words. There are. It depends upon the
works that are behind them. Isn't that so? Turn to Matthew chapter 25. Verse
31. When the Son of Man shall come
in His glory, and all the holy angels with him. Then shall he
set upon the throne of his glory, and before him shall be gathered
all nations, and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd
divideth his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on
his right hand, but the goats on his left. Then shall the king
say unto them on his right hand, his sheep, ye blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you." When? From the foundation
of the world. This was determined to be yours
by God himself. But he goes on, that's not the
end of the thought. He goes on to give these evidences
that took place that proved that God had done something for them.
Verse 35, for I was in hunger and you gave me meat. I was thirsty,
and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took
me in. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited
me. I was in prison, and you came to me. Then shall the righteous
answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee, and hungered and
fed thee, or thirsty and gave thee to drink? When saw we thee,
a stranger, and took thee in, or naked and clothed thee? Or
when saw we thee, sick or in prison, and came unto thee? And
the king shall answer him, saying to them, Verily I say unto you,
Inasmuch As you've done it unto one of the least of these, my
brethren, you've done it to me. Then shall he say also unto them
on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed into everlasting
fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was an
hungred, and you gave me no meat. I was thirsty, you gave me no
drink. I was a stranger, and you took me not in. Naked, you
clothed me not. Sick and in prison, you visited
me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when
saw we thee in hunger, or thirst, or stranger, or naked, or sick,
or in prison, and did minister to thee? Then shall he answer
them, saying, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as you did it not
to one of the least of these, you did it not to me. And these shall go away into
everlasting punishment, but the righteous unto life eternal. Now you see the difference with
seeing in their love. By this shall all men know you
are my disciples. This is how they know. By your
love. A love that expresses itself
just like it is expressed here in Matthew chapter 25. To one
another. Several other scriptures. Turn
to Romans 12. Romans 12. Paul says in verse 1, I beseech you therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice. You want to do that? You will
present yourself to Him. a living sacrifice. Holy, acceptable unto God, which
is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this
world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect
will of God. And you find out what that is
in chapter 12. Go ahead and read all the chapter
in your, when you, got time, but this is part of it. Look
at verses 9 and 10. This is that good and acceptable
and perfect will of God. Let love be without dissimulation,
without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil. Cleave
to that which is good. Be kindly affection one to another
with brotherly love in honor, preferring one another. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 1, I therefore the prisoner
of the Lord. beseech you that you walk worthy
of the vocation wherewith ye are called with all lowliness
and meekness with long-suffering for bearing one another, putting
up with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Turn to Philippians chapter
2. If there be therefore any consolation
in Christ, Philippians chapter 2, verse 1, if there be therefore
any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship
of the Spirit, if any bows and mercies, fulfill ye my joy, that
ye be like-minded, having the same love. As I've already said,
if Christ is my love, if Christ is your love, me and you are
going to get together and get along real well, aren't we? If
his glory is more important to me than anything, if his glory
is more important to you than anything, And we're on the same
page. You know, I love folks that love the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know, anybody that loves Christ, I love them. I'm their
biggest fans. I mean, I'm fans of everybody
who loves Christ. Because they love Him who I love. Let nothing, he says in verse
3, be of the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let
nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in loneliness
of mind. Let each esteem others better
than themselves. Let not every man on his own
things, but every man on the things of others. Let this mind
be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. You know, Paul
said in Galatians 5, 13, for you've been called unto liberty,
only not, let not that liberty be an occasion to the flesh,
but by love. serve one another. Now, if I've
been called by the grace of Christ to liberty, that liberty will
cause me to love the ones he set free. It'll cause me to love the ones
who set me free, and it'll cause me to love people enough to preach
the only message that sets people free, the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, we're going to finish in
1 Corinthians chapter 13. Would you turn with me there?
Now, this is a chapter that I believe that we would do well to read
this chapter very often. 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Let's begin reading in verse
29 of chapter 12. Are all apostles? No. Are all prophets? No. Are all teachers? No. Are
all workers of miracles? No. Have all the gifts of healing. No. Do all speak with tongues.
No. Do all interpret. No. The answer to those questions
all or no. But covet earnestly the best gifts. You know, I want
to be gifted by God, don't you? I want to be gifted to preach
the gospel. I want to be, I want whatever gifts he would have
me have, I want to have and I'm to covet those gifts. Covet earnestly
the best gifts. And yet show I unto you a more
excellent way. A way that's better than any
gifts. Now, if there's something you
want to covet, if there's something you want to desire to have, here's
what it is. This is better than any gift.
Now, let's go on reading. Chapter 13, verse 1. Though I speak with the tongues
of men and of angels, and have not charity. Now, this is the
love that is produced by God, the Holy Spirit, the fruit of
the Spirit. a love that is beyond the grasp
of the natural man. This is, this is superior to
the love of the natural man. Natural man loves himself. He
does. I love myself. And I love everybody
that's connected with me. Anybody that can help me out,
I love them. That's the love of the natural man. Folks that
don't love me, I'm not real impressed with them. That's the love of
the natural man. But this love is infinitely beyond
that. This is the love that God gives
his people, that if a man doesn't have it, he doesn't have the
spirit of God. If a man doesn't have this love, he's not a disciple
of Christ. By this shall all men know you're
my disciples, by your love, one for another. Now let's go on
reading. Though I speak with the tongues of many of angels,
and have not love, I am become as a sounding brass, or a tinkling
cymbal. In other words, even though my
speech is eloquent, and everything I say is right, it's a fence
It's offensive to God, and it's offensive to his people if true
love is not there. It sounds like a gong. It may
be right, but it's no good. It's not really right. It's not
really sound. There's evil underneath it all,
is what he's saying. If I have not love, whatever
I'm saying, even if I'm preaching like an angel, it's no good.
Verse 2, and though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand
all mysteries. I can give you every mystery
of the Old Testament and tell you exactly what it means. And
though I have all knowledge, I'm as sound as I can be. And though I have all faith so
that I can remove mountains, I've got miracle-working faith.
If I have all these things and have not charity, I am what? And though I bestow all my goods
to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned for
the cause of truth, I'm willing to die for what I believe. And
yet, if I have not charity, it profits me nothing. Charity, verse 4. Charity is what charity does.
You know what that means? It's patient. It's patient. You know, the Lord's patient
with us, isn't he? He's so patient. And I am called upon to be patient
to those that I love. Love is patient. And love is kind. Love is never
mean. Love is kind. Now, that doesn't
mean love does not get provoked. And it doesn't mean love will
not expose that which is contrary to the truth. But it's never
mean. It's never mean. Love is kind. And love, charity, he says, envies
not. You know, you don't envy somebody
you love. If I love you, I'm not jealous when you're promoted.
I'm happy when you're promoted. If you're exalted, I'm exalted
if I love you. Love doesn't envy. If you envy
somebody, you don't love them. That's not the kind of love that
God puts in the hearts of His people. Charity envies not. And charity vaunteth not. It doesn't promote itself. Wherever you find a man promoting
himself, you'll find a man who loves himself, but he doesn't
love anybody else. Charity promotes the object of its affection.
Charity doesn't promote itself. It's not puffed up, he said,
puffed up with pride and self-importance. I know what I am. I'm a sinner, saved by the grace
of God. And I know that if the Lord took
his hand off of me, I was, I would be, I'd be what I am. I'd be what I am. I realize that.
Charity is not puffed up with pride where it looks down its
nose at other people. It really believes itself to
be the chief of sinners. It's not pride. It's not puffed
up. It's not proud. Verse 5, it doesn't behave itself
unseemly. It's not rude. That's what that
means. It's not rude. It seeketh not her own. It's not self-seeking. It seeks the benefit of those
who are the objects of its affection. It seeketh not her own. It's
not easily provoked. It's not touchy. It's not always
offending. Don't you hate being around people
where you've got to walk on eggshells when you're around them to keep
from offending them? I can't stand being around people like that.
You know, those folks sure don't love much, do they? They don't
love any. Love is not provoked easily. Touchy. Always flying
off the handle. It thinketh no evil. It's not
suspicious. It thinks the best. Verse 6. It rejoices not in iniquity,
but rejoices in the truth. It doesn't rejoice in the fall
of others. It rejoices in the truth. That's what it rejoices
in, the truth of the gospel. Verse 7, it bears all things. It puts up with all things. You
know, you'll put up with a lot of somebody you love, won't you?
You surely will. It believes all things, it hopes
for the best and what it can't see it hopes for and it endures
everything. Verse 8, charity never fails. It never ceases, it never stops
loving. Now this charity, how many men
and women have truly loved each other when they married each
other and they stopped loving each other? You say that's impossible. No, it's not. People do it all
the time because that's a human love. It can begin and it can
fail. How many people have just been
madly in love with each other and they end up hating each other's
guts? That love will fail. That love
will fail. But this love that he's speaking
of will never cease. You see, it's of God. It's the
gift of God. It's the product of the new nature.
It's that new commandment and it will never fail. It will never
cease to love. charity never fails. But whether
they be prophecies, they shall fail, and that's actually cease.
Whether they be tongues, they shall cease. It's the same word
translated fail. Whether they be knowledge, it
shall vanish away, for we know in part and we prophesy in part,
but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part
shall be done away with. Now what he's talking about are
these supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit. The ability to prophesy,
that's going to cease. When that which is perfect is
coming, he's talking about the full canon of the New Testament.
When he had written this epistle, we didn't yet have a New Testament.
But he says when the New Testament is written, all these gifts,
prophecies and words and so on are going to cease. They'll no
longer be needed. They're going to cease. We know in part, we prophesy
in part, but when that which is perfect has come, what's the
only perfect thing we have in this world? The Word of God. When that which is perfect is
come, that which is in part shall be done away. Now, when I was
a child, I spake as a child. I understood as a child that
I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish
things. You know, charity also is maturity.
We grow in love. For now, he says in verse 12,
we see through a glass, darkly. Boy, that's the truth. I see through a glass dimly.
I don't know what the Lord is doing. I don't know what's going
on. I never do. I never do. You know, somebody
says, I know this is the Lord's will. I don't. I hope it is.
But I never know. I know this is what the Lord
had me do. Well, I hope this is it. I hope this is it. As
far as my understanding is, we see through a dark glass. Do you understand how cynical
you are? You don't even come close to it. You don't want to
know, do you? Do you understand how glorious the Lord Jesus Christ
is? We have such a dim view. We see through a glass darkly. But then, face to face, now I
know in part, just partially, but then shall I know, even as
also I am known. The Lord knows me. And one of
these days I'm going to enter more into my knowledge and understanding
of him. It says in verse 13, now abides
faith, hope and charity. These three, you know, these
supernatural gifts, miracle working gifts, all that kind of stuff. It's ceased. It ceased with the
apostles. This is all that's left now. Abided faith, hope
and charity. These three. But the greatest
of these. Is charity. Now why is that? How can love be better than faith
in Christ? How can love be better than hope?
Why does he say the greatest of these is charity? Because
he said this is greater. Why? Well, I believe somebody
right now that I don't see. I don't see the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't know what he looks like
physically. I've never seen him. I believe on him. But I don't see him. One of these days I'm going to
see Him and my faith will be turned to sight. Now I've got a hope. I have a
hope that one of these days I'm going to be just like Christ,
perfectly conformed to His image. I have a hope that I'm not going
to see Him anymore, that I'm not going to have any more unbelief,
that I'm going to love God as I ought to love Him. I've got
a hope that I'm going to be just like the Lord Jesus Christ. One
of these days, That hope will be turned to experience. I will
actually be conformed to the image of Christ. I won't sin
anymore. I'll be just like Him. And I'm
waiting for that day. But that hope that I have now,
it won't be hope anymore because I'll be experiencing it. There
won't be any need for faith. There's sight. There won't be
any need for hope. It'll be experienced. But you
know something I'm still going to do? I'm going to love Christ as only
greater, and I'm going to love you. That love will still be
there. Love is the greatest thing there
is. So he says in verse 1, follow,
pursue, make this your aim. Follow after charity. Make this what you're ambitious
about. Make this what you seek, to love
one another as He loved you. That is the great commandment. And how beautiful grace in doctrine
is. when it is accompanied by graciousness
in practice. How beautiful the gospel is with a man or woman who loves
Christ and loves his brothers and sisters in Christ. I was
preaching once at Joe Terrell's. long time ago, 15 or 20 years
ago. And I was talking to a couple of men, and I said, how did you
start coming to church here? What drew you here? And they
said to me, the way Herm Roseboom loved us. That's something that the way
Harm Rosaboon loved us. I want to be that man, don't
you? May God give us grace to exemplify
this. By this shall all men know you're
my disciples, by your love one to another. Let's pray.