March 1, 2020 - A Particular Love
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As we make our way through this gospel of John, we’ve come now to the place where the stage is set for Jesus to be arrested...
The plan is set…the pieces are now moving into place, and Judas has left the group to go get the band of soldiers so that Jesus can be taken captive...
And so with Judas now getting everything set up on the outside…we read this from Jesus.
31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once.
33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Jesus here - KNOWING what’s coming....the crucifixion that is coming....
ALSO knows that His DEATH will lead to the GLORIFICATION of God…
31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once.
· Jesus here is teaching that His glorification is the glorification of God, AND…that God is glorified IN HIM…
· So the life of Jesus CULMINATES in – the glorification of God…
Remember that….we’ll come back to it…
· He then explains that He will only be with the disciples a little while longer…
· But that they cannot follow Him where He is going…
· He then lays out before them what we will focus on today…
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
· I want us to focus today on this – PARTICULAR love that Jesus speaks of…
· **You know I think if you asked a variety of people what LOVE is…
…you’d probably get a variety of answers
And they would consist of AT LEAST 2 different things…
A feeling (how you feel about someone)
Actions (what you DO for that person)
And that’s probably as DEEP as they would go…
· I want to go deeper…
· Because BIBLICAL LOVE is deeper than those 2 things. (those 2 things are GROUNDED in something else)
The call of Christ here – TO YOU – TO ME – is that we love one another – yes…
…but with a PARTICULAR love
· And it’s THIS love that we need to look at…
· Jesus just got done washing the disciples feet, and so that SEEMED to be a pretty basic kind of LOVE…
· BUT – even this love exerted by Christ – was this PARTICULAR love we’ll look at today.
· So – the call to us is – LOVE ONE ANOTHER…JUST as Christ has LOVED us…
· That’s the implication to us from this text.
· NOW – what does that look like
Let’s go to 1 Timothy 1 to see…
5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
· Now – the context of this verse is Paul speaking to Timothy…warning him about false teachers….
· Those teachers who weren’t FOCUSING on what MATTERED most…
· But instead devoting themselves to myths…
· Which only lead to VAIN DISCUSSIONS…
· Paul’s telling Timothy – Tell them NOT to do this…
· BECAUSE – we want those teachers to – TRULY LOVE those they teach.
· The LOVE that we display to the world – if it would be PLEASING to God – would be this PARTICULAR kind of LOVE that Paul speaks of here…
· The kind that issues from:
o A pure heart (truth)
o A good conscience
o A sincere faith
SLIDE: Loving One Another: From a Pure Heart (truth)
Love One Another
Love One Another
· In order for us to understand what this means – to love from a PURE HEART…
· Let’s look at what the Bible says about the HEART…
First thing is - the Bible mentions the heart almost 1,000 times...
In essence, this is what it says: the heart is that spiritual part of us where our emotions and desires dwell.
Sounds great…but the problem is....
The human heart, in its natural condition, is evil, fallen and deceitful.
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
In other words, the Fall has affected us at the deepest level; our mind, emotions and desires have been tainted by sin—and we are blind to just how DEEP the problem is.
We may not understand our own hearts, but God does. He “knows the secrets of the heart” (Psalm 44:21 tells us)
24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people
25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.
Based on His knowledge of the heart, God can judge righteously:
10 “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”
Jesus pointed out the fallen condition of our hearts in...
21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.
23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Our biggest problem is not external but internal; all of us have a heart problem.
AND SO - In order for a person to be saved, then, the heart must be changed.
This only happens by the power of God in response to faith.
10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
Psalm 51 and Ezekiel 36 tells us that - In His grace, God can create a new heart within us.
In Isaiah - He promises to “revive the heart of those who are contrite”
And this work of God - involves creating a new heart within us involves testing our hearts (Psalm 17:3; Deuteronomy 8:2) and filling our hearts with new ideas, new wisdom, and new desires (Nehemiah 7:5; 1 Kings 10:24; 2 Corinthians 8:16).
The heart is the core of our being, and the Bible sets high importance on keeping our hearts pure:
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
· This is the HEART…
· And one thing that stands out (I think) in scripture when it comes to the HEART…
· …is that it HANDLES our MOTIVES…
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
· INTENTIONS of the heart…
· The MOTIVES of the heart…
· Motives spring from our HEARTS…
· BECAUSE they are FUELED by our desires!
AND SO – the PARTICULAR love that Jesus calls for us to LOVE one another with – SPRINGS forth from a
· ….PURE HEART
· …PURE desires….which lead to PURE motives
· Desires and motives that are not TAINTED with evil…selfishness…sin!
And so PRACTICALLY…if we want to examine ourselves in this…
· If we want to test our LOVE for one another…
…Do this:
· Ask yourself the WHY question.
· You’re going to help someone in here by making them a meal?
o Want to check your motives?
o Ask yourself WHY you’re doing it. And keep asking yourself WHY…till you get to the bottom!
o Why am I making this meal?
Because they need help and I want to help
Why do I want to help?
Because it makes me feel good to help.
Why does it make you feel good to help?
Because compliments are nice!
· So in this scenario, at the bottom was my desire to – BE MADE MUCH OF…
· That would be – an IMPURE MOTIVE…and NOT the kind of love that Jesus wants from us…
· And so CHECK THIS OUT - we see that Jesus isn’t ALL ABOUT the END RESULT…
· His command isn’t – MAKE THE MEAL!…
It’s – MAKE THE MEAL - SO GOD WOULD BE GLORIFIED!
16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
· We’re called to LOVE ONE ANOTHER from a PURE HEART…
BECAUSE a PURE heart - seeks the glorification of God
But what else…
SLIDE: Love One Another: From A Good Conscience
Love One Another
Love One Another
I think it’s interesting to note that in the OT, there’s no Hebrew word that equates to the NT greek word used for CONSCIENCE...
And it seems that the lack of a Hebrew word for “conscience” may be due to the Jewish worldview in the OT times, which was communal rather than individual.
The Hebrew (OT) considered himself as a member of a covenant community that related corporately to God and His laws, rather than as an individual.
In other words, the Hebrew was confident in his own position before God if the Hebrew nation as a whole was in good fellowship with Him.
The New Testament concept of conscience is more individual in nature and involves three major truths.
The first deals with [Self]-Evaluation:
SLIDE: Conscience: Self-Evaluation
Conscience
Conscience
· Conscience is a God-given capacity for human beings to exercise self-evaluation.
· Paul refers several times to his own conscience as being “good” or “clear”
1 And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.”
4 For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.
And so - Paul examined his own words and deeds and found them to be in accordance with his morals and value system, which were, of course, based on God’s standards.
His conscience verified the integrity of his heart.
A Second aspect to conscience is that it deals with BEING a Witness to Something:
SLIDE: Conscience: A Witness to Something
Conscience
Conscience
The New Testament portrays the conscience this way.
Paul say...
14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.
15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them
He also appeals to his own conscience as a witness that he speaks the truth
1 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit—
Paul’s conscience also TESTIFIED about how Paul dealt with other men
12 For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.
He also says that his conscience tells him his actions are apparent to both God and the witness of other men’s consciences
11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience.
The last thing we’ll look at regarding the conscience is this
SLIDE: Conscience: A Servant to Our Value System
Conscience
Conscience
An immature or weak value system produces a weak conscience...
...while a fully informed value system produces a strong sense of right and wrong.
In the Christian life, one’s conscience can be driven by an inadequate understanding of scriptural truths and can produce feelings of guilt and shame disproportionate to the issues at hand. WHICH MEANS....
Maturing in the faith strengthens the conscience.
We SEE this when Paul addresses his instructions regarding eating food sacrificed to idols.
He makes the case that, since idols are not real gods, it makes no difference if food has been sacrificed to them or not.
But some in the Corinthian church were weak in their understanding and believed that such gods really existed.
These immature believers were horrified at the thought of eating food sacrificed to the gods,
because their consciences were informed by erroneous - superstitious views.
Therefore, Paul encourages those more mature
in their understanding not to exercise their freedom to eat
if it would cause the consciences of their weaker brothers to condemn their actions.
The lesson here is that,
SLIDE:
If our consciences are clear because of mature faith and understanding, we are not to cause those with weaker consciences to stumble by exercising the freedom that comes with a stronger conscience.
We also need to know that a conscience can become SEARED or desensitized
1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,
2 through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared,
Such a conscience is hardened and calloused, no longer feeling anything.
A person with a seared conscience no longer listens to its promptings,
and he can sin with abandon, delude himself into thinking all is well with his soul, and treat others insensitively and without compassion.
***Just because our conscience doesn’t ACCUSE us of our actions in a given situation - doesn’t mean that we have a CLEAR - GOOD conscience…
Now of course – the TERM “GOOD” here cannot be RELATIVE…
*If the criminal, who grew up in a horrible situation, and only knows the criminal life goes and murders someone, his conscience MAY IN FACT NOT accuse him.
· He may be just fine with murder – but just because his CONSCIENCE doesn’t accuse him doesn’t mean his conscience is “good”…or “clear”.
· This call for us to love with a GOOD conscience – THIS GOOD is FOUNDED on biblical truth.
· THEREFORE – the further we are from biblical truth, the further we are from a truly GOOD conscience…
· Good here is INTRINSICALLY tied to PURENESS
· A Good conscience….a PURE conscience…
As Christians, we are to keep our consciences clear by obeying God and keeping our relationship with Him in good standing.
So how do we maintain a GOOD conscience…??
We do this by the application of His Word,
renewing and softening our hearts continually (they become HARDENED)
We also have to consider those whose consciences are weak, treating them with Christian love and compassion.
· We continually strive to seek TRUTH…individually…and
· Together…which do you see – helps us LOVE ONE ANOTHER!
It’s this circular cycle – the PURSUIT of loving one another – is to love one another – and it builds on itself…
This is the call to us…to love one another from a GOOD conscience…
And lastly…
SLIDE: Love One Another: From A Sincere Faith
Love One Another
Love One Another
Hebrews 11:1 tells us this about faith…
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
· Without faith, we have no place with God…
· We can’t buy it…
· We can’t sell it…
· And we can’t GIVE it to our friends…
So how do we get it?
· Can we conjure it up?
· Can we STUDY our way to it?
No – Ephesians makes it clear that faith is a GIFT…
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
· The way that God distinguishes between those who belong to Him and those who don’t is – FAITH
Examples of faith.
Hebrews chapter 11 is known as the “faith chapter” because in it great deeds of faith are described.
By faith Abel offered a pleasing sacrifice to the Lord (v. 4);
by faith Noah prepared the ark in a time when rain was unknown (v. 7);
by faith Abraham left his home and obeyed God’s command to go he knew not where, then willingly offered up his only son (vv. 8-10, 17);
by faith Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt (vv. 23-29);
by faith Rahab received the spies of Israel and saved her life (v. 31).
Many more heroes of the faith are mentioned who:
through faith conquered kingdoms,
administered justice,
gained what was promised;
who shut the mouths of lions,
quenched the fury of the flames,
escaped the edge of the sword;
whose weakness was turned to strength;
who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies” (vv. 33-34).
Clearly, the existence of faith is demonstrated by action.
And in terms of how FAITH impacts us (ONE ANOTHER)…
Our faith can falter at times, but because it is the gift of God, given to His children, He provides times of trial and testing in order to prove that our faith is real and to sharpen and strengthen it.
· So think through this – sometimes those trials INCLUDE relationships within these walls…
· Sometimes God desires to SHARPEN us to become MORE like Him, and he’ll use a TRIAL that springs up within relationships…
· Again – many times trials ARISE between friends - and we end up WALKING AWAY…
· Instead - WE SHOULD view that trial as an opportunity to LOVE ONE ANOTHER with this PARTICULAR kind of love that flows from a PURE HEART, a GOOD CONSCIENCE, and a SINCERE FAITH.
· God is honored with SINCERE faith…
· GENUINE faith…
· REAL trust…
Sincere faith perseveres through trials, EVEN amongst friends.
This is why James tells us to consider it “pure joy” when we fall into trials, because the testing of our faith produces perseverance and matures us, providing the evidence that our faith is real (James 1:2-4).
SUMMARY:
Love One Another From...
A Pure Heart (ask the WHY question)
A Good Conscience (pursue truth - listen to the promptings of your conscience)
A Sincere Faith (a GENUINE trust that this particular kind of LOVE is most LOVING and best for us all)
The prime example being Jesus:
Pure heart: motives - Didn’t come to earth and then go rogue because Israel wanted to set him up real nice as king…NO - He was obedient EVEN unto -death (PURE HEART)
Good Conscience: (truth) - Jesus was tempted - in ALL ways - yet NEVER sinned. His conscience had NO opportunity to testify AGAINST Him...
Sincere Faith: Just read John 17 - genuine TRUST in His mission and purpose and the result of it...
When we do this - The world will KNOW that we are His - and He WILL be glorified!!
Let’s pray!