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Christ's New Commandment · Stornoway Free Church of Scotland - Sermons

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  John 13 and I'm going to look at two verses verses 34 and 35.
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  John 13 at verse 34, a new commandment I give to you that you love one another just as I have
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  loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples
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  if you have love for one another. Now we're all very much aware of how powerful an influence
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  example can be, whether it's an example that leads people in the right direction or otherwise,
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  an example a life that leads people to consider things which are good or else an example that
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  leads people astray into a different type of lifestyle. But example itself can be a very
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  powerful tool, a very powerful influence and I'm sure we've all found that. Many of us I'm sure
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  tonight can actually look to our own background and upbringing and find examples there that helped us
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  towards where we are now in relation to our faith and our coming to know the Lord.
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  But the example of Jesus of course is by far the most powerful of all because there is a perfect
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  example. Everything that he did as an example to his disciples and to us as we read his word
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  comes across to us as a perfect human life and there is no other example like that. It is an infallible
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  example. It's an example in which he himself is set before us indeed as he says to the disciples here
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  in this chapter that he is setting an example to them by what he has done in their presence here
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  in this incident where he washed their feet. And yet of course we remember that we're actually not
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  saved by Jesus as our example or by following his example only. It's there for us and it's precious
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  to us but following Jesus as an example is not itself going to save us. We need Jesus as our atoning
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  sacrifice between ourselves and God before we come to follow him as our example. And the basis of our
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  standing before God is not by our following Jesus' example but by our coming to embrace him as our
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  substitute redeemer who came into the world to save us from our sins. And having been saved, having come
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  to embrace him, having come to know him, we then have his example as something that we set before us
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  to follow. And in this instance we have an example of loving one another. As Jesus loved them so he is
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  saying this now I am saying to you, I'm commanding you, that you love one another just as I have loved
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  you. So that's the first thing we're looking at is that loving one another is as far as Jesus is
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  concerned and our relationship with Jesus. It's a new commandment from him for us to love one another.
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  Second thing we read is that loving one another is to be as Jesus loved us. We love one another
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  because he's commanded it and he calls it here a new commandment and we love one another because
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  through that we come to reflect on and reflect out Jesus' love for his people. By this all people will
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  know that you are my disciples if you have love one for another. So love for one another, a new
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  commandment, and then secondly love for one another as Jesus loved us. So obviously the first of those
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  love for one another as commanded by Jesus is a requirement on our part. He requires that of us.
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  A requirement on his part that we actually love one another. Now he's saying here it's a new
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  commandment. Why is he calling it a new commandment? Because when you go back to the Old Testament
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  it's obvious that God taught his people Israel to love him and to love one another as well. You find
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  that in some of the great texts of the Old Testament, Deuteronomy chapter 6. Behold the Lord your God is one.
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  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your strength.
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  Go to Leviticus 19 verse 18. It speaks about loving your neighbor as yourself. So the two things are
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  combined in the New Testament. You actually find them coming. You love the Lord your God with all your
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  heart and your neighbor as yourself as Jesus taught on another occasion. But why is it called a new
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  commandment? If it's been in existence for all these centuries, if the people of Israel knew it,
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  if it was there in the time of Christ himself on earth, why is he calling it a new commandment?
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  Well one reason I think is that it has never been seen in this way before. God commanded his people
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  in the Old Testament to love him and to love one another, to love their neighbor as themselves.
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  But it had never been seen visibly like this in the person of a human being. And I know Jesus is more
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  than a human being, but this is God in the flesh, God in our nature. The word become flesh. And through
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  that, God is actually giving this great example, Jesus himself giving this example of what it is and
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  how it is there to love one another. They have never seen God's love this way before. They've heard
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  about it. They've known about it. They have never seen it in action in the way that it's now revealed
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  in Christ. So from that point of view, it is a new commandment. Not because it's entirely new.
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  Not because they didn't know anything about the substance of it, but because they had never
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  seen it as God himself present amongst them. Through Jesus here, went on bended knee to wash their feet.
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  That was something not only unexpected, but unparalleled, something that had never been seen
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  by them before.
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  And it's new in that respect, at least. And therefore, you find it's also new in the sense
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  in which there's a movement from the Old Testament emphasis there. You love the Lord, your God,
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  and your neighbor as yourself. So Jesus is really saying now, you love the Lord, your God,
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  but you love one another. And he's emphasizing the love for one another to add to what he said
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  about loving our neighbor in previous contexts. And you see, it's not just to love your neighbor
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  as yourself. You love one another as I have loved you. So he's extending the dimensions, really,
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  if you like. If you think about what he said in the Old Testament about loving God and loving one
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  another and loving your neighbor, if you think about that as the first edition of the Book of Love,
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  if you like. Well, here is the new expanded enlarged edition. And he's added these details so that it
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  takes on an extra dimension, if you like, as Jesus taught it, as Jesus showed it, as Jesus is the example
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  of it. So this is the new edition, this new commandment, that you love one another just as I
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  have loved you. Just as I have loved you. Of course, that is such an enormous statement in itself.
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  This little word, as or just as, these two words, not very big words, but they're really significant
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  and filled with meaning. It's not just any kind of love. It's not just any type of following the
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  example that Jesus has set for us. It's not just trying to follow his example in love up to a
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  certain degree, and then when it satisfies ourselves, we leave it at that. No, he's saying, it's as I have
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  loved you, as you have seen my love in action, as you have seen what it meant for me to love you,
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  this is how you are to love one another. It's required by Jesus, patterned upon his own
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  wonderful love, as he has shown that to the disciples, and we'll come back to that in a minute,
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  when we see the nature of that love, as he washed the feet of the disciples. But it's love for another,
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  a new commandment. In other words, it's required by Jesus. And you know, it really should be enough
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  for us, shouldn't it, that we know that our love for one another is commanded by Christ, and we should
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  say, well, if it's commanded by him, that's enough. That really should be enough for me to persuade me
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  that I need to love my fellow Christians, that we together need to love one another. It's his command,
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  as much as any command. Whatever he has commanded has the same status as any other command.
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  It's something of an imperative from him, from his authority, and that's what lies behind our
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  need to love one another, one of the features of the need to love one another. But then secondly,
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  this love of one another as a new commandment, it isn't just required by Jesus. You can see here,
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  it's a reliable indicator of something. It's a reliable indicator because he says here,
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  by this shall all people know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. It's a distinguishing
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  mark of God's people, that they love one another. It's one of the main distinguishing marks of God's
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  people, that they love one another. Now, sadly, as you and I know very well, it doesn't always come
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  to that, and we don't always match up with that. And I'm sure every one of us has to say of ourselves,
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  there are times when I have failed to meet that standard. And when we together as a church have failed
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  to meet that standard, and it's no excuse for us that there's no perfect church on earth in this world.
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  The fact remains, this is still the standard. Whatever our past has been, whatever our present is,
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  whatever our circumstances are, this commandment from Jesus, this new commandment, it's to be a reliable
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  indicator for that world out there as to what a Christian life and what the Christian church is about.
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  There's a sense in which the world out there meets with God when they see us loving one another.
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  And as we've said already, there is a powerful example in the example of Jesus to us, but you and I have to
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  follow that in the life we live in relation to each other, as well as individually, but in relation to
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  each other. This is what Jesus is, by this, all people will know that you are my disciples. If you have
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  love for one another, he's focusing on their love for one another as a reliable indicator for the world
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  of what discipleship for Christ really is about, what the church of God is about, what the
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  people of God, who they are, what they're like, what their life is all about.
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  And that's why I'm saying there's a very real sense in which the world out there, they don't meet with
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  God through the Bible. Most of them never read the Bible. Some of them, many of them don't even know
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  what the Bible contains. They would know very little about Jesus himself, about the way of salvation.
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  And we meet them, as we heard in prayer, in the supermarket or wherever around us, in our neighborhoods
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  and our interaction with them at work or whatever, day by day. But this is particularly what Jesus is
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  emphasizing. Because they don't read their Bibles and because they don't know God from that, and because
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  they don't know what the church is like by reading about it in Scripture, they have to see it in us.
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  They have to actually come to know what true love really is about and what it looks like.
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  Let's face it, we're living in a world where the word love is perverted, where the word love has been
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  taken and out of context altogether, even in the ordinary sense of human or married love,
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  taken and actually made into something that is contrary to what we know genuine true love is.
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  And certainly biblical love and the love of God. Because we live in a situation, and we say this
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  very often, but it's there for us always to remember and always to note, where sadly so much
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  of what passes for the church and the world is really just the importing of the culture of the world
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  into its practices. Now, that's not holding ourselves up and saying, aren't we much better than other
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  people than other Christians who confess to be Christians, but are obviously very worldly and have
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  imported things of the world? We're not doing it for that sake. We're doing it because it saddens us,
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  because it really grips our heart that people pass off being Christians as just the world dressed up
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  in the dressings of the world.
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  By this, all people will know that you are my disciples. Not when you decide to become as like
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  the world as possible. Not when you import the values of the world into your thinking and into
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  your practice. Not when you really give the impression that actually there's not that much
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  difference at all between a Christian lifestyle and the lifestyle of everybody else. Not when you give
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  the impression, as the church sometimes gives, that really out there the best way we can actually live
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  for Christ is to try and attract the world by becoming like them.
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  By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you love one another as I have loved you.
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  And there is no compromise there on the part of Jesus.
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  The world, friends, has to come to meet with God through what they see in us.
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  This is to be our witness. This is our wonderful privilege to live Christ-like lives,
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  challenging though it is, hugely demanding though it is, time-consuming though it is.
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  Everything else about it that's difficult is difficult.
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  But then it's our great privilege.
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  Because God has given, not just to you individually, but to us collectively, in this locality itself,
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  he has given to us collectively to be the means by which the world gets a reliable indicator
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  as to what true love is about.
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  And what the people of God look like and are like to each other.
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  It's a great privilege.
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  We should thank God for that.
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  That he has taught us this way.
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  That he has brought us to appreciate this.
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  That this, in fact, is what he's emphasized for us.
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  And, you know, when you go to John's other writings and his epistles, especially his first epistle,
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  let me just point you to that for a moment.
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  John, 1 John chapter 4 and verses 11 and 12 especially.
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  Because you read there as follows.
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  Well, you can read from verse 10.
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  In this is love.
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  Not that we have loved God, but that he loved us.
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  And sent to son to be the propitiation for our sins.
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  Beloved.
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  See, there's the same emphasis coming through.
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  If God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
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  But he doesn't leave it at that.
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  That's pretty much the same as what he's saying in John 13.
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  What Jesus said in John 13.
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  But he goes on to say, no one has ever seen God.
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  If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
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  We're not going to go into all of that.
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  But the point I'm really concerned to put across to use this.
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  No one has ever seen God is very closely attached to our love for one another being visible.
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  In other words, because no one can actually see God as he is.
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  And especially that world in which we live does not see God.
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  They have to see him in us.
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  They have to see him through our love.
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  Through our love for one another.
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  Especially.
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  That's the indicator.
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  And not only is it an indicator to the world.
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  But let's not forget this.
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  First John chapter 3 and verse 14.
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  By this we know, or herein we know, that we have passed from death to life.
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  Why?
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  Where's the indicator that we have passed from death to life?
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  Is it because I can persuade myself individually, personally, that I'm a Christian?
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  Yes, that may be part of it.
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  But that's not what John is saying.
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  By this we know that we have passed from death to life.
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  Because we love the brothers.
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  We love the Christians.
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  We belong to the church we belong to.
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  We love our fellow believers.
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  We love our fellow Christians.
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  Remember that was said in a time of real difficulty.
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  Real Christian, real danger to Christians.
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  In the days of the Apostle John.
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  Real danger from all kinds of sources.
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  Not just from these authorities.
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  The governing authorities.
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  But also from defections from the faith.
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  All sorts of things like that.
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  By this we know.
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  That we have passed from death to life.
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  Because we love one another.
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  We love the brethren.
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  We love Christ's people.
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  So it's an indicator to ourselves.
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  Who we are.
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  That we have indeed come.
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  To be saved by God.
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  That we are his people.
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  Because we love one another.
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  And the implication is.
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  We would not have this type of love for one another.
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  If that were not the case.
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  And I'm sure you can follow that.
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  In your own experience.
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  Most if not all of us can say.
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  Well there was a time when.
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  I may have appreciated.
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  What some of God's people were like.
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  I appreciated the life they were living.
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  I could see they were different.
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  But I couldn't say I loved them.
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  But I love them now.
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  Because I've come to be one of them.
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  Because I belong to them.
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  Because I see God in them.
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  I see Jesus in them.
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  And he has placed me as one of them.
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  In this wonderful spiritual body.
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  So loving one another.
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  It's a new commandment.
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  Briefly in the sense we've said.
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  It's required by Jesus.
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  It's a reliable indicator.
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  To the world.
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  To ourselves as Christians.
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  That this is who we are.
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  This is who God is.
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  Now secondly.
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  He goes on to say.
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  Loving one another.
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  Is as Jesus loved us.
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  Loved his people.
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  A new commandment I give you.
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  That you love one another.
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  Just as I have loved you.
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  And what does that mean?
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  Just as I have loved you.
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  If that's the foundation.
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  If that's the pattern.
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  If that's the quality.
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  If that's the nature of the love.
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  That we are to have for one another.
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  What does that mean in practice?
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  Well first of all it means.
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  Self giving.
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  Giving of yourself.
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  Because it's impossible.
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  To define love.
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  Certainly completely.
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  By thinking of it other than love that's shared.
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  Or love that is mutual.
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  Or goes between one person and another.
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  Or a group of people.
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  That share love together.
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  That is exactly what he means here.
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  By as I have loved you.
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  Jesus loved his people.
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  In giving himself for them.
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  And in giving himself to them.
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  You go back to the beginning of this wonderful chapter.
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  You'll see that John very deliberately records some details for us there.
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  Before the feast of the Passover.
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  When Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of the world.
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  This world to the Father.
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  He knew that that meant the cross.
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  Knew that that meant the death of the cross.
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  Sufferings of the cross.
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  All of that entailed.
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  He knew that that's what lay ahead of him.
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  Having loved his own who were in the world.
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  He loved them to the end.
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  And during supper.
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  When the devil had put into the heart of Judas Iscariot already.
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  To betray him.
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  Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hand.
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  That he had come from God.
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  That he was going back to God.
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  He rose from his supper.
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  Laid down his outer garments.
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  And took the towel.
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  And girded himself.
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  He went through all of that action.
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  That really symbolized.
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  If you like.
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  The humbling of himself.
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  In love.
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  To the benefit of his disciples.
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  And what that's really saying to us.
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  Is that the mind of Jesus.
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  Was set upon what was waiting for him.
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  In the sufferings of the cross.
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  What was waiting for him.
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  In leaving this world.
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  And departing to go to the Father.
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  After resurrection.
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  But everything between that moment.
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  That he spoke to them.
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  And his ascension to glory.
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  Is in the mind of Jesus.
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  Including the cross.
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  And what does it say?
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  He loved them.
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  To the end.
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  He loved them.
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  To the furthest extent possible.
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  He didn't hold back.
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  Anything of himself.
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  Though he knew that this was really.
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  What was waiting for him.
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  Not only did he know that.
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  But he also knew the kind of people there were.
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  We read there that Jesus.
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  Judas.
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  Had already in his heart.
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  To betray him.
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  Satan had put that desire.
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  That thought in his heart.
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  And.
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  Jesus.
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  At that stage.
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  Knew this very well.
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  But he held.
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  Nothing back.
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  When you look to chapter 15.
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  Verses 12 and 13.
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  This is my commandment.
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  That you love one another.
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  As I have loved you.
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  Greater love.
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  Has no one than this.
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  That someone lays down his life.
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  For his friends.
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  That's what he knew.
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  That's what was in his heart to do.
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  The selfless love.
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  Of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  Knowing all this.
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  At that moment.
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  Still he loved them to the end.
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  He loved them.
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  To the extent.
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  That he needed to love.
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  That they needed to be loved.
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  In order to be saved.
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  And you know.
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  It's.
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  It's very much symbolic.
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  As you read.
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  What he did with the clothes.
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  His outer clothes.
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  And so on.
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  In fact.
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  It's really.
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  Pretty much the language.
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  Of Philippians chapter 2.
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  Isn't it?
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  In the form of God.
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  He.
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  Thought it not.
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  Something to grasp.
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  Or to hold on to.
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  But made himself.
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  Of no reputation.
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  Taking the form of a servant.
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  He.
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  He.
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  He left.
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  If you like.
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  The form of God.
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  That he had been in.
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  From all eternity.
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  The place that he had.
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  In the Trinity.
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  And glory.
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  He took.
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  Something else.
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  The form of a servant.
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  Didn't cease to be God.
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  But he took something.
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  He didn't have before.
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  You compare that to.
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  To John 13 here.
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  And that's what you find.
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  Isn't it?
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  When he knew that.
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  His hour had come.
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  He laid aside.
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  His garments.
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  His outer garments.
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  And he took a towel.
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  And girded himself.
• 24:06
  Round his waist.
• 24:07
  With it.
• 24:10
  He might have said.
• 24:13
  Look at these disciples.
• 24:16
  Here's one.
• 24:16
  Who's going to betray me.
• 24:18
  Here's one.
• 24:20
  Who's going to deny me.
• 24:23
  Here.
• 24:23
  The whole lot of them.
• 24:24
  And they're not going to be faithful to me.
• 24:26
  To the end.
• 24:26
  They're going to be bewildered.
• 24:28
  Most of them are going to turn their back.
• 24:29
  When it comes to the cross.
• 24:31
  And when it comes to my death on the cross.
• 24:33
  How can I possibly be.
• 24:35
  Expected to love.
• 24:36
  This kind of person.
• 24:38
  These kind of people.
• 24:42
  He loved them.
• 24:45
  He loved them to the end.
• 24:46
  Truly I'm saying to you.
• 24:49
  A new commandment.
• 24:51
  That you love one another.
• 24:52
  Just as I have loved you.
• 24:54
  What kind of difficulties.
• 24:55
  Do you and I have.
• 24:57
  In loving Christ.
• 24:58
  In serving Christ.
• 25:00
  In being Christians in this world.
• 25:02
  Yes there are difficulties.
• 25:03
  Of course we don't deny that.
• 25:04
  What are the challenges we have.
• 25:07
  To actually showing our love for one another.
• 25:09
  In the face of a hostile world.
• 25:11
  There's so much isn't there.
• 25:13
  So much that you have to endure.
• 25:14
  So much that you have to expect.
• 25:16
  So many difficulties that come your way.
• 25:18
  So many challenges.
• 25:19
  So many persecutions.
• 25:21
  Even at times.
• 25:27
  But then you go to this.
• 25:28
  And you say well.
• 25:30
  Whatever I face in this world.
• 25:34
  It's as nothing.
• 25:35
  Compared to what he knew.
• 25:37
  And he faced even at that moment.
• 25:40
  Yet what did he do.
• 25:41
  Was he deflected.
• 25:42
  From his love for them.
• 25:44
  Was he put off going through.
• 25:47
  With his love.
• 25:48
  And finishing what he had come to do.
• 25:50
  Just because he knew the kind of people they were.
• 25:52
  No of course he wasn't.
• 25:55
  He might have found it.
• 25:56
  Easy to say.
• 25:57
  I can't wash the feet.
• 25:58
  Of all of these.
• 26:00
  Sinners.
• 26:01
  And undoubtedly.
• 26:04
  Some of our fellow Christians are easier to love than others.
• 26:11
  But Jesus does not qualify our love that way.
• 26:16
  This is my commandment.
• 26:19
  That you love one another just as I have loved you.
• 26:23
  Just as I have loved you.
• 26:29
  I daily failed.
• 26:31
  In meeting that standard.
• 26:34
  I'm conscious of that.
• 26:36
  I have to confess that before God.
• 26:38
  And I'm sure you do as well.
• 26:40
  But this is what we're always drawn back to.
• 26:43
  This is really the crux of the issue.
• 26:45
  This is the supreme example.
• 26:46
  This is what we've patterned our lives on.
• 26:49
  As I have loved you.
• 26:54
  So you.
• 26:56
  Now must love one another.
• 27:00
  It's self-giving.
• 27:02
  We give of ourselves in love to others.
• 27:06
  To our fellow Christians.
• 27:08
  As well as to the Lord.
• 27:09
  That means our time.
• 27:11
  Our gifts.
• 27:13
  Whatever way God has gifted us.
• 27:14
  Our talents.
• 27:15
  Our use of time.
• 27:17
  Our priorities.
• 27:20
  It's all for his sake.
• 27:22
  But it's as he has loved us.
• 27:25
  That we are to love one another.
• 27:28
  And again.
• 27:29
  I don't want to labor the difficulty of it.
• 27:30
  By any means.
• 27:31
  I don't want to in any way give the impression that.
• 27:34
  We're making it easier than it really is.
• 27:36
  But I don't want to labor the difficulty.
• 27:38
  Because I want to focus on the privilege of it.
• 27:40
  And the privilege of actually having it.
• 27:42
  For one another's benefit.
• 27:44
  But also for that world out there.
• 27:45
  To see what a Christian life is like.
• 27:50
  What a follower of Christ is like.
• 27:52
  Not only that.
• 27:53
  But what followers of Jesus together are like.
• 27:56
  So you are to love one another.
• 28:01
  And that's the final point.
• 28:03
  To love one another.
• 28:04
  Because this really is a love that's shared.
• 28:09
  I can't believe the time has gone.
• 28:10
  When you're talking about love.
• 28:12
  You don't notice the time.
• 28:13
  Do you?
• 28:13
  Especially the love of Jesus.
• 28:15
  And the way that we're required to love one another.
• 28:17
  But let me just point you briefly.
• 28:19
  To another passage.
• 28:21
  In Ephesians chapter 4.
• 28:23
  And I'll be very brief.
• 28:24
  Ephesians 4.
• 28:26
  Verses 15 and 16 especially.
• 28:29
  Now Jesus.
• 28:31
  Paul rather here is talking about the growth.
• 28:33
  Of God's people together.
• 28:36
  And how they are to grow.
• 28:37
  Until they find it reached the maturity.
• 28:40
  That God has designed them for.
• 28:42
  And how that is.
• 28:44
  So that especially they'll be.
• 28:46
  No longer tossed to and fro.
• 28:48
  By the deceit of people.
• 28:50
  Who are trying to present them.
• 28:52
  With other than the truth.
• 28:55
  But speaking he says.
• 28:56
  Rather speaking the truth in love.
• 28:59
  We have to grow up in every way.
• 29:01
  Unto him.
• 29:02
  Who is the head unto Christ.
• 29:04
  From whom the whole body joined.
• 29:05
  And held together.
• 29:07
  By every joint.
• 29:09
  With which it is equipped.
• 29:10
  When each part.
• 29:12
  Is working properly.
• 29:14
  Makes the body grow.
• 29:17
  So that it builds itself up.
• 29:20
  In love.
• 29:23
  There's no way we could.
• 29:25
  Really deal with that sufficiently.
• 29:27
  In two or three minutes.
• 29:28
  Because it's got a huge amount.
• 29:29
  To teach us.
• 29:30
  What the growth of the church is.
• 29:32
  What the growth of God's people.
• 29:33
  Together is about.
• 29:35
  But the point.
• 29:36
  We're emphasizing.
• 29:37
  In line with what we have.
• 29:38
  In John 13.
• 29:40
  Is the emphasis in the passage.
• 29:41
  On love.
• 29:42
  We are to grow up.
• 29:44
  We are to grow spiritually.
• 29:46
  We are to mature.
• 29:47
  Keep on maturing.
• 29:48
  In the faith.
• 29:49
  Not individually only.
• 29:50
  But together.
• 29:51
  As a fellowship of God's people.
• 29:53
  How are we to do it?
• 29:55
  Speaking the truth.
• 29:57
  In love.
• 29:58
  Love.
• 29:59
  And we are to grow up to him.
• 30:02
  Unto him.
• 30:03
  Towards him.
• 30:05
  And when each part of the body.
• 30:07
  Each one.
• 30:08
  Such as we are here this evening.
• 30:10
  When each of us together.
• 30:12
  United together.
• 30:13
  When each part is working.
• 30:15
  Efficiently or effectively.
• 30:17
  Then together.
• 30:18
  That makes the body grow.
• 30:19
  So that it builds itself up.
• 30:22
  In love.
• 30:23
  You see.
• 30:25
  So tonight.
• 30:26
  The question for myself.
• 30:28
  Of course.
• 30:29
  That's not just mere talk.
• 30:30
  A lot saying.
• 30:31
  Speaking the truth.
• 30:32
  In love.
• 30:32
  It's not just about speaking.
• 30:34
  It's not just in conversation.
• 30:36
  And it's just one side of it.
• 30:38
  First John again.
• 30:39
  Chapter 3.
• 30:40
  Verse 18.
• 30:41
  Emphasizes.
• 30:42
  Let's not love.
• 30:44
  In speech only.
• 30:47
  In word.
• 30:47
  Or in tongue.
• 30:48
  But indeed.
• 30:49
  In action.
• 30:51
  And in truth.
• 30:52
  There are two sides to it.
• 30:53
  Speaking the truth.
• 30:54
  In love.
• 30:55
  Acting in love.
• 30:56
  But it's always together.
• 30:58
  What he's saying.
• 30:59
  There is that.
• 31:00
  From that.
• 31:01
  We grow.
• 31:02
  Or the body grows.
• 31:03
  Or edifies itself.
• 31:05
  In love.
• 31:07
  We're not just made.
• 31:08
  To love one another.
• 31:09
  Friends.
• 31:11
  We're made to grow.
• 31:12
  In love.
• 31:13
  For one another.
• 31:14
  We're made to grow.
• 31:16
  Together.
• 31:16
  As we speak the truth.
• 31:18
  In love.
• 31:19
  To each other.
• 31:20
  And that's the kind of growth.
• 31:23
  That Paul has in mind there.
• 31:25
  In Ephesians.
• 31:26
  Chapter 4.
• 31:28
  So that.
• 31:29
  Each part.
• 31:31
  Does.
• 31:32
  Its own bit.
• 31:34
  The body grows.
• 31:35
  In love.
• 31:37
  In other words.
• 31:38
  I'm not just to ask myself.
• 31:40
  Tonight.
• 31:41
  Am I growing in love?
• 31:44
  Am I growing as a Christian?
• 31:45
  And am I growing in love?
• 31:49
  How difficult that may be.
• 31:50
  To quantify.
• 31:51
  Or define.
• 31:52
  It's something I need.
• 31:53
  From time to time.
• 31:54
  Regularly.
• 31:54
  To ask myself.
• 31:55
  And you do too.
• 31:57
  But it's not just that.
• 31:58
  It's not just.
• 32:00
  Am I growing in love?
• 32:01
  Or how can I see.
• 32:02
  That I'm growing in love?
• 32:03
  What I have to ask myself too.
• 32:05
  Is.
• 32:05
  Am I contributing.
• 32:07
  To the body of Christ.
• 32:08
  Growing in love.
• 32:11
  Am I doing my part.
• 32:13
  As one.
• 32:16
  Member of that body.
• 32:18
  To contribute.
• 32:19
  To the overall growth.
• 32:22
  Of the body.
• 32:23
  In other words.
• 32:24
  Am I concerned.
• 32:25
  Tonight.
• 32:26
  For the growth.
• 32:27
  Of God's people.
• 32:28
  Together.
• 32:29
  Of which I form a part.
• 32:31
  Am I as concerned.
• 32:33
  For that.
• 32:34
  As I am.
• 32:35
  For my own personal growth.
• 32:36
  I should be.
• 32:38
  Because God has firmly.
• 32:40
  Firmly.
• 32:41
  Positioned me.
• 32:42
  And placed me.
• 32:44
  In the body of Christ.
• 32:46
  And I have a responsibility.
• 32:48
  To that body.
• 32:49
  As I have to myself.
• 32:51
  Individually.
• 32:52
  To grow in love.
• 32:54
  To contribute in love.
• 32:56
  To love.
• 32:58
  Others of the body.
• 32:59
  As I have been loved.
• 33:02
  By my Savior.
• 33:03
  In one of his books.
• 33:08
  In the collection.
• 33:11
  In the collection.
• 33:11
  Of John Owen's works.
• 33:13
  That great Puritan.
• 33:14
  Theologian.
• 33:15
  He says something.
• 33:17
  About scripture.
• 33:18
  Do you think we can.
• 33:19
  Very easily.
• 33:20
  Apply to this particular.
• 33:22
  Topic itself.
• 33:23
  Of growing in love.
• 33:24
  Or loving.
• 33:25
  One another.
• 33:27
  And this is how he put it.
• 33:28
  We look on the scripture.
• 33:30
  We might say.
• 33:31
  We look on.
• 33:32
  Love.
• 33:32
  And we've looked at tonight.
• 33:33
  We.
• 33:34
  This is how he put it.
• 33:34
  We look on the scripture.
• 33:35
  And receive it.
• 33:37
  Not as the word of men.
• 33:39
  But as it is indeed.
• 33:40
  The word of the living God.
• 33:42
  In those very fords.
• 33:44
  And appearing shallows.
• 33:46
  Of this river of God.
• 33:48
  Scripture he's talking about.
• 33:49
  Where the lamb may wade.
• 33:52
  The elephant may swim.
• 33:55
  Everything in the scripture.
• 33:56
  Is so plain.
• 33:58
  As that the least believer.
• 34:00
  The least able believer.
• 34:01
  May understand.
• 34:02
  All that belongs to his duty.
• 34:03
  Yet.
• 34:06
  Is nothing so plain.
• 34:08
  But that the wisest of them all.
• 34:10
  Have reason to adore the depths.
• 34:13
  And stores of divine wisdom in it.
• 34:15
  In other words.
• 34:16
  Let's just apply that to John's gospel.
• 34:18
  And to that passage.
• 34:19
  That deals with our love for one another.
• 34:21
  And for Jesus as well.
• 34:23
  Loving as he has loved us.
• 34:27
  You can feel as you wade out into.
• 34:29
  This.
• 34:30
  Stretch of water.
• 34:32
  If you like.
• 34:32
  The waters of love.
• 34:33
  You can feel.
• 34:36
  That they begin to.
• 34:37
  Wash around your ankles.
• 34:41
  And the youngest saint.
• 34:43
  The youngest believer can do that.
• 34:44
  They can go out so far.
• 34:46
  They can do.
• 34:47
  As Owen says.
• 34:47
  They can paddle in it.
• 34:51
  But then I look out beyond that.
• 34:52
  And I see.
• 34:53
  That the water gets darker.
• 34:55
  And I see that.
• 34:57
  If I do complete.
• 34:59
  The initial part.
• 35:00
  If I do complete.
• 35:02
  This preliminary part.
• 35:03
  This preliminary part.
• 35:03
  Of growing.
• 35:05
  Then I've got plenty yet.
• 35:06
  To get used to.
• 35:09
  And there are depths.
• 35:10
  That still go beyond me.
• 35:12
  That I probably will never see.
• 35:14
  In this life.
• 35:14
  The full extent of it.
• 35:16
  Because it's love.
• 35:18
  It's the love of Christ.
• 35:19
  Christ.
• 35:22
  And it doesn't matter who you are tonight.
• 35:24
  Or how long you've been a Christian.
• 35:26
  Even if you've just been a Christian for a short time.
• 35:30
  There's so much in here.
• 35:32
  That you can find.
• 35:33
  To paddle in.
• 35:35
  To try to grow in.
• 35:36
  To apply to yourself.
• 35:39
  To love.
• 35:40
  Your fellow Christians.
• 35:42
  As God has loved you.
• 35:43
  And once you've paddled for a while.
• 35:47
  Then you realize that.
• 35:49
  Actually there's a lot more to this.
• 35:52
  There are depths to this.
• 35:55
  Because what we're trying to do really.
• 35:56
  Is to follow.
• 35:58
  The example that Christ has set.
• 36:01
  Of loving as he loved.
• 36:04
  And if you can get to the end.
• 36:06
  And the furthest dimension.
• 36:08
  Of how he has loved us.
• 36:10
  And where his love for us ends.
• 36:13
  Then you can say.
• 36:14
  You've reached the point.
• 36:16
  Of completion.
• 36:18
  But I guarantee.
• 36:19
  You'll never do it.
• 36:21
  Maybe not even in eternity.
• 36:23
  But certainly not in this life.
• 36:26
  Because the example.
• 36:28
  Is Christ's.
• 36:29
  Perfect.
• 36:31
  Love.
• 36:32
  May he bless these words.
• 36:34
  To us.
• 36:34
  We're going to conclude.
• 36:37
  Singing together in Psalm 133.
• 36:40
  Well known psalm.
• 36:41
  That talks about the unity.
• 36:43
  Of God's.