Cross Road
Baptist Church
© 2017
Sermon Text
Show Some Love
A New Commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
By this shall all men know that you are My Disciples, if you have love one to another.
John 13:34-35
Keep God’s Commands
I have considered the Commands of God and have found that they are given to benefit those who obey them. Many have mistakenly followed the Commands with a faulty understanding. Many believe that God is receiving some form of payment or kickback for their righteous living. When we follow God’s Commands we are the ones who are blessed. When we listen to God’s righteous decrees we are the ones who are led on the right path to abundant life versus being led down the wrong path to destruction. When we honor God by obeying His Holy Word, our lives are the ones benefited. Jesus said A New Commandment I give to you, that you love one another. It is a Command of God but it is new and unlike any of the previous Commandments given by God.
When God created man, He made them male and female and gave them one command. But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die. Genesis 2:17. The command was simple. The command was holy. Rather than Adam and Eve loving God enough to stay away from the Tree, they became curious and ultimately rebellious against God which led to their breaking of God’s One Command. What if they had loved God enough to say – I will not eat? Of course, sin would never have entered into the world. But they did eat and as a consequence, sin entered into the world and death also entered as a result of sin. Here it was that they had one command to obey and they broke it because the chose to identify with the serpent rather than listen to the Voice of God. The broken command was due to an issue of identification. Adam and Eve chose to ally and identify with the serpent. Now we have a new commandment and it is only one, but unless we identify with Jesus Christ, we will not be able to keep God’s Commandment.
Through Moses, God gave the Ten Commandments (the Decalogue). These commands, again, were given for our benefit. The first four Commandments teach to honor and serve the Lord God alone. The fifth Commandment teaches to honor the parents. The final five Commandments teach to love and honor one another. As much as we may study the Ten Commandments, we have not kept them. As much as we may discuss them and confirm that they are right, we have not followed them. We have all been guilty of not honoring God. We are all guilty of not honoring our parents and committing sin against others. Here is the fact; if you break even one of the Ten Commandments, you have broken them all. When Moses witnessed the children of Israel’s pagan revelry as he descended the Mount, he threw all the Commandments to the ground. We are all guilty of breaking God’s Commands. The fact that we have the Commandments does not justify us before God. Our problem is that we lack the inspiration to keep God’s Commandments. The people of Israel knew what to do but lacked the inspiration to do it. I know Nike says “just do it” but that is a pipe dream if you “just can’t.” We Gentiles lack the power to keep God’s commands. The Apostle Peter described this inability to keep God’s command as a yoke that we are not able to bear. Acts 15:10. No, the fault is not in the Commandments, for they are holy. The fault is in the fact that we lack the inspiration and it is only God who can inspire us to keep His Commandments. Here is the Good News out of Heaven, this New Commandment comes with power and the energy of God Almighty. It gives us a “can do” attitude and “will do” ability to keep the Commandment of God. O by the way, we’re back to just One Command. A New Commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
With this New Commandment that Jesus is giving us, will we be able to keep it and honor God? Or, will we fail as we have done in the past? A New Commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. I will answer in the affirmative that yes we will keep God’s command for these three reasons. First, we have the Information directly from God: love one another as I have loved you. We know love because we have witnessed the love of God in our life. The Bible says, the Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us. Romans 5:5. We know better, and if we know better we can do better. Second, we have the inspiration of God, as I have loved you. When you have something, it is not difficult to share it with someone else. If your cup is running over, why not allow it to fill empty lives. We know that God gives love lavishly so it stands to reason that there would be enough for others to glean God’s love from our life. Lastly, we have the identification with God. All men know that you are My Disciples, if you have love one to another.
Love: God Commands It
Our greatest demonstration of the Christian faith is the love that believers express to one another. To love one another is to live in obedience to Jesus Christ and to also draw strength from the Lord Jesus Christ. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13. To depend on self or to depend on the inspiration of others is futile. We must rely on the power of God to keep the Command of God. Not only do we have a Commandment to Love, we should love the Commandment. How do we accomplish that?
First understand that to love one another is commanded by God. This places the priority on why we do it. We don’t do it because I think it is right. Nor do I love because it is to be reciprocated. I love because it is God’s command. A command is not the same as a “supposed to.” With that “supposed to” attitude, I make God’s Commandment a matter of my priority and my ability. It would be easy to say, “I am supposed to love others” and then not carry out the command because I am limiting God’s command to my own strength. That is not the way God’s Commandments work. God’s Law carries even greater weight, strength, and priority in the spirit realm as it does in the natural realm. For instance, you cannot break God’s Law of Gravity. You have no choice but to obey it. If we would look at God’s Commandments as the spiritual order and the way that God has ordained for the operation of life, we would be less inclined to speak of it as “supposed to” and more inclined to say “that’s the way it is.” To love, that is the way it is. To share God’s love – that is the way it is. It is what it is.
The second priority of understanding is to Love because it demonstrates the character of God. This is not some fad that will fade after a couple of years. This is not some new teaching or discovery of man. This is God’s character and the way He operates. Love one another as I have loved you. It reveals the character of God. It honors the character of God. And, it also exposes the rewards of the character of God. Think about it. If God did not love you, He would never have awakened you this morning. If God did not love you, your heart would not be beating. You’re on God’s time and not your own. Some people worship the god of commerce because they are only worried about the next dollar. I worship the True and Living God for that is where my next breath comes from. If it had not been for the Lord who was on my side, where would I be? Now that I know the Love of God, I must also show the Love of God. That is my character. I love because He loved me.
So how do I show the Love of God? That starts with loving God. To worship God is to love God. My prayer and my singing songs of praise is the way we demonstrate that love for God. Perhaps the greatest way I love Jesus is to obey Him with my actions. Jesus said if you love Me, keep My Commandments. To obey is better than sacrifice. No only must I love God through worship and love God by obedience; I must love God by caring for others.
The poet John Donne wrote, “no man is an island entire to itself.” There is a relationship that I must share. It is a “one another relationship.” It is as much a responsibility to receive love as it is to give love. You were born with a need to both love and to be loved. It is never enough to say that God loves you and His love is all you need. God loved you, but then God also gave to His Disciples the capacity and the compassion to love one another. God would have it no other way – it is His Commandment for us to keep.
Show It – You don’t have to tell it.
Our subject is “show some love.” That means if we have God’s Love we need to show God’s Love. Don’t just talk about it. Don’t just wear Christian bumper stickers encouraging others to “Honk if you love Jesus.” Don’t just sing the song “O How I Love Jesus.” Show some love. When I am in trouble and just need a friend who cares, I don’t need poetry. You don’t have to send the Hallmark card that says “God loves you and so do I.” Show some love. I know you have it in you because God gave you His Love. If you don’t show it that means you don’t belong to Him. I have learned that the Love of God is just like the Power of God. It is just like fire shut up in my bones.
This love of God is what the world needs. The world needs love, but the world cannot produce it. Love must originate from God. Let us observe a demonstration of love from the Bible. There were four men who had a paralyzed friend. They knew that Jesus could heal their friend, but there was one problem. Telling the man about it would not get the job done. They had to get the man to Jesus. Luke 5:18-20. It was love that moved them to take action. This is our first take away lesson. Love is action not words. You cannot talk love – you must live it. They picked the man up and carried him. That’s love. They brought the man to Jesus. That’s love. When they saw the crowd blocking the interest, they did not give up. That’s love. When Jesus looked at them, He saw their faith and healed the man. It was loved that pushed faith. That is love.
The second lesson we learn is that love produces results not emotions. We think that as long as we show sympathy, we are expressing love. Sympathy is just the start. Sympathy has a partner called empathy. Sympathy says I feel sorry that you are in those shoes, but empathy says, I have walked in those shoes. This lesson we learn from the Lord Jesus. When Jesus saw people in need, He was moved with compassion. He was moved with compassion to feed the multitude. That is love. He was moved with compassion and taught the people for they were like sheep without a shepherd. Now that is love. It was the compassion that says Do Something. The song by Matthew West suggest that love is what we do.
I woke up this morning – saw a world full of trouble now,
Thought, how’d we ever get so far down – How’s it ever gonna turn around?
So I turned my eyes to Heaven – I thought, “God why don’t you do something?”
Well, I just couldn’t bear the thought of people living in poverty.
Children sold into slavery – the thought disgusted me.
So I shook my fist at Heaven – said “God, why don’t You do something?”
He said, “I did, I created you.”
Chorus: If not us then who – If not me and you.
Right now, its time for us to do something.
If not now then when – will we see an end.
To all this pain – It’s not enough to do nothing. It’s time for us to do something.
If you show me, you won’t have to tell me. So just show me. That is what Jesus did. He did not talk love, He showed it. It was that love that healed and didn’t hurt. It is that love that brings about grace. I don’t need to tell you that Jesus went to Calvary to save a wretch like you and me. I don’t need to tell you that’s love. You read it for yourself. I don’t need to tell you that they hung Him high and stretched Him wide – He hung His Head and for me He died. I don’t need to tell you – you already know that’s love. I don’t need to tell you that they placed Him in a tomb and your old dead nature was buried with Christ. I don’t need to tell you what that is. That’s love. I don’t need to tell you that’s not how the story ends. I don’t need to tell you that you cannot kill love. Love rose again after three days. That’s love. That’s the same love that you have shut up in your bones. You know what you and I need to do? We need to go somewhere and love somebody. You need to go somewhere and let people know that you got the Love of Jesus in your heart. Go somewhere and love them in the Name of Jesus.