Love: The Glory and Duty of Christian Community - John 13:31-35

1:08Well, welcome back to John chapter 13. This is the upper room. Beginning the discourse, the upper room discourse today. Judas had to go out of the room. If you'll remember, feet have been washed. Jesus announces his betrayal, and then Judas is sent out or left, and then the formal upper room discourse is ready to begin. It's really something that is just for believers. Now that Judas is gone, now Jesus begins his direct address to the disciples, preparing them for his departure. And what this what is what's taking place is that Jesus is concerned about the community that he is leaving behind. This message is about the community that Jesus wants upon his departure.

2:16And in it, we'll come across: what is the test of a true church? What is a true church? Well, and even more specifically, are we a true church? And what's going to come out of these few verses this morning and through the rest of this discourse is this the core value of Christian community is love. Love is the core value. It is the great principle. In fact, it's one principle that we would all readily agree. Yeah, this is the defining factor of God's people, is a love for God and a love for his people. Love. It puts God's Character on display. So, we all understand this principle. We talk a lot about this principle, but we probably practice it the least.

3:12It's one that really life is a process of learning and growing in our ability to love. It's part of the sanctification process. You know, we're all familiar with the words in Paul and Ephesians 5:25: Husbands, love your wife, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her. I think we're very familiar with that charge to husbands. And what a standard. I mean, Paul is expressing what a husband is to be like. He is to love his wife like Christ loved the church. He is to sacrificially be giving up himself for her well-being. That's the standard.

4:02Husbands, how many of you want to raise your hands and say, You love your wife like Christ loved the church? How many of you would agree that that's a good standard, right? Okay, we can all agree there. We're hopelessly committed to falling short of the standards we raise, as it should be, but God takes us the same, right? We strive for those standards. I used to think this was one of the most. Convicting statements in all of scripture: go love your wife like Christ loved the church.

4:37And that's not because my wife is difficult to love, but because I am so committed to my own small little universe. I am selfish, and that makes it hard to love because we are we love ourselves. And the very nature of Christ-like love is that you have to die to yourself-love in order to serve the interests of somebody else. In fact, we just sung, look through the cross to the crown, right? You look through the cross, even for our Lord. The way of expressing his love was through death, death to himself.

5:32And so, love, by its very definition, is much closer to death than we realize. Every time you extend true love, there's a death that's taking place to your own, to self-love. Well, that's for husbands, that doesn't involve any of the rest of us, right? Wrong. You know what I think? Think Paul got his idea, got the thought about loving others like Christ loves others. It's from the text we're working through this morning. A similar command is given. We just read it.

6:19And I would paraphrase it something like this: and it's given to all of us, all of us who are truly believers in Christ. And this is how I would paraphrase it: love your fellow member like Christ loved you. Husbands, you're to love your wives like Christ loved the church, and members of the body of Christ, you are to love your fellow member like Christ loved you. That's the standard. Few really practice love like this. And yet, that's what we need to learn.

6:58In fact, he's given you a body of believers so that you can learn this kind of love. That's why it's very important to be part of a body of believers. And at the outset, it's important for you to understand the context. This message is not about Christian love toward a lost world. It's about Christian community. It's about love within the Christian community. Oh, yeah, there's much to say about. How are we to love those in the world? But what we are talking about right here this morning at this moment is love towards the Christian community, to your brothers and sisters in Christ, and you are to love them like Christ loved you.

7:50This is all about Christian community. Love is one of its core values, and yes, it is even its defining characteristic. And I'm excited to just unpack this this morning. The message is called Love: The Glory and Duty of Christian Community. And I want you to see the glory and duty of love. So, to encourage you to love one another more deliberately and more sacrificially. The glory and duty of love. Very simple, straightforward outline. But that's where we're going. So, first of all, I want to talk to you about the glory of Christian community. So, let's just pick up where we left off last time: the narrative. If you'll remember there in verse 27, after the morsel, Satan then entered into him, Judas. Therefore, Jesus said to him, What you do, do quickly. In other words, here, you want to serve, you want your soul wed.

9:00To my great adversary, then go and serve him. Go give all of your strength to him. Go do what you want to do. Let it run its course. Let his fury run its full course. You can be party to that if you want. Go do it. And therefore, he gives him the morsel. Satan then enters into Judas. Verse 30: So after receiving the morsel, he went out immediately, and it was night. So now the formal upper room discourse is ready to begin. Jesus is alone with his disciples, those committed disciples. And all the commands and comforts that come out of this upper room discourse are directed to the true followers.

9:55And that's why Judas had to leave the room before the discourse would begin. But the first thing I want you to see is the way glory operates. The way glory operates. Look at verse 31. Therefore, when he had gone out, speaking of Judas, Jesus said, Now, now, at this moment, is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. So the Son of Man is glorified, even has been glorified, passive. Something is happening, and God. Is also being glorified in the Son of Man. So the Son of Man is being glorified, and God is being glorified in him.

10:42So you think about the nature of, or think about what glory involves, inevitably there is a relationship here, isn't there? The Son of Man is being glorified, and God is being glorified in him. And they're unquestionably speaking about the cross. They are talking about the cross. Both the Father and the Son are glorified on the cross. And so we need to understand how this glory works. We need to understand the nature of glory and how it operates between the Father and the Son before we can really get in our minds how glory operates between God and us.

11:30And if you notice, there's, first of all, what is this nature? What is the nature of glory? Well, first of all, the Son is glorified. Why? Because he reflects the character of God. Why is the Son glorified? Because he is reflecting the character of God, not himself. That's his glory. Second, we'll point out how or why is God glorified? In all this, because God is glorified because the Son is showing the character of God, He is showing the heart of God. So the Son is glorified because He reveals the heart of God, and God is glorified because it's His heart that's being revealed.

12:21You see, it's the character of God that is put on display, and He used Christ and the cross event to put His character and His heart on display, and that's why few like to really, really want to glorify God under these conditions. Because what God wants to do is put His character on display through us, and yet it inevitably involves the crosses of life. Because what has to be put down is what we would want in our fallen nature.

13:07We must die to that to be able to exhibit God's character in us. And you see, the disciples struggled with this kind of glory because they wanted to see themselves in positions of earthly honor. They wanted to put themselves on display. And just days before this, they are talking about. Let us be on the right and let us be on your left. And then here, no one's going to wash it. Here's Jesus then, stands up, washes everybody's feet. And he, they didn't want that. Their minds were married to their own earthly glory.

13:51You see, we are far more interested in self-promotion than maybe we realize. We are far more interested in promoting ourselves than exhibiting God's character. And the very nature of glory in us is that we reflect Him. So we struggle with putting God on display in our lives because it inevitably involves a cross. Look at verse 32. And I want you to see the glory of Christ on the cross. And that's where Jesus goes. He goes, He sees the crown beyond the cross. But it's not for his, it's not a worldly crown. It is a crown of honoring his Father. Verse 32. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him immediately. So who is the one that God glorifies? The one who puts his character on display. Look at that. If God is glorified in him, here's the condition. If God Is glorified in him, in the Son of Man, in me. If God is glorified in me, God will also glorify him in himself.

15:13Why? Because God wants his character known. And so here's Jesus coming to display the character of God. So God is going to glorify Jesus because God is putting himself on display because he is everything good and everything wonderful. Jesus knows this, and so he gives himself to the will of his father. But notice three realities in this verse, verse 32. Number one, God is glorified in Jesus. Since you could read that if, not as a condition, but more as a statement, since God is glorified in him.

15:58But so first reality is God is glorified in Jesus. Second reality, God will glorify Jesus in himself. God is going to glorify Jesus. And the third, he's going to do it immediately. Immediately. So a chain of events has already been set in place. He's unquestionably speaking about the cross event. And of course, the resurrection closely. But he is unquestionably speaking about the cross. Cross. Now, there certainly is not any appearance of glory in being crucified between two thieves hanging naked up on a cross for six hours with all the public authorities pointing at you saying this is exactly what you're not to do. I mean, there's no glory. We see no glory in that. And neither did the disciples. Oh, give us, let us sit on your right and left. Let me tell you who the right and left, when he went into Jerusalem, they were two thieves crucified.

17:15That's not at all what the apostles had in mind for Jesus' exaltation when they went into Jerusalem. But we know that this is the event that Christ is talking about. And what may look like a time of horror is really a time of great glory. A time of great glory, not just for the Son, but for the Father. Not just for the Father, but for the Son. And we have to really refocus, recalibrate our understanding of what's going on, as did the disciples. It's at the cross where the heart of the Father is. And the heart of the Son are revealed.

18:06It is the most glorifying event. So, if this is the way glory operates, let's get a little more detailed and ask the question: how did Jesus glorify God? How did he do that? Well, I'll give you three ways that I believe it comes out of this text. Number one, he revealed the heart of the Son of Man. He revealed his own heart. Second, he revealed the heart of his father. And third, he revealed the depth of Trinitarian love.

18:47I'm going to look at each one of those. First, he reveals the heart of the Son of Man. And this Son of Man is the one that unquestionably is going to rule the earth. Ever since those words were given in Daniel 7, there is a king coming, there is one who receives a kingdom that will never fade away, that will put to an end of all, and he will give the glory of all this kingdom to his saints.

19:18Who is the Son of Man? Jesus. Who are the saints to whom the world and all its glory is going to be given in the eternal state? To those who love like he does. So, what's going on in his mind? What's his heart? Think about his heart for a moment. Here is one with all the power he needed to free himself from this humiliating event. He has all this power, and no doubt he could have used this power, and he was even tempted to use this power for himself. Look what they're doing. Did you hear what they're saying? Did you hear what he's saying? Man, you need to set the record straight. Could you hear all that temptation going on? If that were us, oh, come down off the cross. Okay, well, let me show you I'm the son of, you know, I can do all of this.

20:17He could have. And the question, the temptation put squarely on Christ in the full force that any temptation could ever put on any individual was to start, and here's the temptation: exercise your own power for your own benefit. Step into the realm of autocratic authority. Don't wait for the Father to glorify. You have the power, you have the means, you have the ability. Step into autocratic authority and start using that power for yourself. That's what Adam did.

20:58Here we see the perfect Adam. And he will demonstrate that union with the Father's will is far superior than being separated from it, even if it involves crucifixion. You see, so the cross allowed the cruelness of Satan and the wickedness of fallen man to come together and have their fullest expression. And here's the heart of the Son. As Satan and mankind were doing their worst, Jesus remained in complete subjection to his father's will. His life was not taken from him. He laid it down and he trusted his father. And he never acted independently of him. That's what we need to learn, isn't it? That's what he showed.

22:02And never was the power of the perfect man more vividly displayed than on the cross. The glory of the perfect man is an unwavering trust in the Father's will. And that's where the work of the Spirit is taking us, if you're truly in Him, to an unwavering trust in the Father's will. Because, see, to not trust in the Father's will is to break union with God. But here's the Son. By staying on the cross, Jesus showed us that the Father's will can be trusted and even joyfully embraced, even when it calls for crucifixion. And he is, he sees the cross, he goes through the cross, he goes, Let me tell you about my father's will, let me tell you about how good my father is. Get in, follow him, love him, trust him, even if it involves a cross and the many crosses that you're going to have to carry. It's worth it. Go through it. Go through it.

23:12That's what he says loud and clear. You see, what Jesus loves to bring us to is he loves to bring us to his father. And he's saying, Go through it with your father. And you will find a joy beyond measure in carrying out his will. Even if, from your earthly standpoint, there is no appearance of glory at all. Jesus loves to exemplify the Father's will. And that's why he's glorified. So the cross. Showed us the heart of the Son of Man, but the cross also shows us the heart of God.

24:06Shows us that the Father hates sin on a level that we can't even really comprehend. He is holy on a level that we can't even comprehend, and he is absolutely just. There is no impartiality. All of this is shown, and yet the Father's heart is also to save mankind, not to destroy. He delights in seeing humanity redeemed through the redemption that he has provided in his Son. And so, by raising and exalting Jesus, the Father showed that he will not abandon those who trust in him.

24:58God delights to honor those who entrust themselves completely to him. You see, all that revealed at the cross. But there's one more thing here that takes us into the deep, deep love of the Father and the Son. This is where we leave the realm. Of human love and enter into that deep and beautiful, wonderful love relationship between the Father and the Son. Because, see, the cross not only showed us the heart of the Son of God, and it showed us the heart of the Father, it also shows us the depth of Trinitarian love. And this is where we step into that beautiful and glorious subject of theology proper.

26:04You see, the cross revealed the depth of love between the Father and Son that goes beyond the extreme limit that even can be manifested among humanity. I mean, Father's love towards the Son, we see that as one of the greatest loves. And then to see his Son unjustly crucified and to endure all that, and yet we're able to understand that God our Father loves us more than even that. That's the extremity to which our minds can even go. And so he takes us to that extremity, and he shows us that the love relationship between the Father and Son goes even beyond that.

26:46You know, Jesus talks about his relationship with his Father throughout his ministry. And the cross just affirms everything that Jesus said. And he does so with an exclamation point. I just want to read you a few verses of what Jesus has been saying through the Gospel of John and will continue to say. John 8, 28, Jesus said, When you lift up the Son of Man, speaking of his crucifixion, then you will know that I am. And I do nothing on my own initiative, but these things I speak as the Father taught me. He who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him. So the Son's love for the Father is displayed. Like, he says, I'm not going to do anything, absolutely nothing, without it being my Father's will. And you see, the Father's love commitment to the Son, I'm never going to abandon him. It's not going to leave him alone.

27:53John 10, 17 says, This, for this reason, the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from me, but I lay it down on my own initiative. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from the Father. So he's saying the reason that the Father loves the Son is because the Son has an unwavering trust in the Father.

28:19John 12, 49, Jesus says, This, I did not speak of my own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent me has given me a commandment as what to say and to what to speak. I know that His commandment is in. Eternal life. Therefore, the things I speak, I speak just as the Father had told me. This love relationship is seen in that the Father provides the word. Jesus spoke them and nothing else. John 14:30 says, I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in me, but so that the world may know that I love the Father.

28:57I do exactly as the Father had commanded me. He said, Jesus wanted the world to know how much His Father is worthy to be loved. And so he goes to the cross. John 15, 9, just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Abide in my love. If you can keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

29:29And here it's like he's saying, Look, I'm telling you these things because I know the Father's will. And if you abide in the Father's will, there is a joy that is beyond your ability to comprehend. And he's saying, likewise, if you will abide in me and trust me like I have trusted my Father, you will abide in my love and in my joy. You see, God has good purposes for the crosses in life. And let me tell you something, if you follow Christ, you're going to have to die a million times. Yes, you initially come, you set the principle, you died yourself, you believe, but then life, the sanctifying process is a series of deaths. And you really can't express love towards someone without there being some death to your own self-love.

30:27He calls us to a radically different standard. But he we're called in those crosses of life to die to theirselves, to ourselves, and there is good reason. Many, but one of them is there's no joy in the small, little confines of your lone little universe. Abide in his joy. His will is best. Go through. Trust. You'll see that as Christ demonstrates. So the question comes down to how do you and I glorify God? Well, let me just put it in one little sentence. Glory is being agency to reflect the character of God. Glory is being agency to reflect the character of God. You see, God is. Glorified when his character is put on display.

31:34And so the person who puts God's character on display is glorified. Why? Because others see God in you. That's the highest privilege anybody could ever have. When Jesus went to the cross, he put God's love on display. And the church, that band of disciples, is commissioned to the same task. We here are to reflect God's love by truly loving one another. That's the glory. To love one another, that the heart of the Father, number one, that people will understand the heart of the Son, but understand the heart of the Father. But more than that, to be able to demonstrate the love relationship between the Father and the Son.

32:30To be able to relate, when we love each other, we preach the cross. So, what is the glory of the Christian community? Well, it's the glory of Christ. What is the glory of Christ? Displaying God's character. So, Jesus' glory was about reflecting the heart of God. You see, glory is not. About putting our devotion on display. It's not about putting our works on display. It's not even putting about his gifts on display, but it's putting his character on display.

33:21That's what is truly glorifying to God and glorifies us. He shares that glory with us by allowing us to put it on display. So his character, putting his character on display in all of the interactions of life that he takes us through. That's what love's about. I look back at the word immediately, verse 32. The betrayal is in motion. And now he begins to speak as a father would a tuck child. So, first, I want you to see verse 33 the seriousness in which this duty is commissioned. We've looked at the glory of Christian community. Now I want you to see this duty, the duty of Christian community. Verse 33, little children, I am with you a little longer. You will seek me. And as I said to the Jews, Now I also say to you, where I am going, you cannot come. So the significance of the situation just can't be understated. He now speaks as a father to a child. Deep emotion is involved. A change is taking place, a change that between Jesus and his disciples. There's going to be a major change in their relationships, and it's not going to be changing. I'm reminded I came across the final words from this, from a lieutenant in the Revolutionary War to his son. I just want to read you a portion of it. So here's a father speaking to his son. Unto my wife and my children, whom I love so dearly, I leave you these few lines that you may meditate some time upon. In the first place, I desire you to keep holy the Sabbath day. Live in fear of God as if each day was to be your last. For our life is but an inch or two of time. Therefore, take my advice. Begin to serve the Lord in your young days before the evil days come. I desire you to live in brotherly and sisterly love among one another. Be kind to your mother. Let her not suffer nor cross her in her old age. My son, David, be kind to your little brother. Be not cross to him, for that child lays close to my heart. He is your younger brother.

36:00I beg you to see that he gets good learning. Likewise, your two sisters, so as to read and write. I love you all and would fain stay home, stay some time longer with you, but the will of God must be done. We have limited time here on earth, and when death comes, we must go. Therefore, as a dying father, take my advice and call on the Lord in your young days. It is the best time. And delays often prove dangerous, for we are not sure of old age.

36:37We can relate to a father saying goodbye. Well, in a similar way, Jesus is saying goodbye to his disciples, and he is preparing them for life without him. And what he's about to do, he's about to entrust all that he has spent his life building to this little ragtag group of disciples. So Jesus has gone through all this work, done his ministry, all this, and now he's going to entrust the future of that to his disciples. And so he gives them the most critical command. Look at verse 34.

37:21A new commandment I give to you that you love one another. That's the duty, the duty expressed. It's a most critical command. It's a command so comprehensive that it summarizes all that Jesus has done for them to date, and it defines for them their ministry to each other going forward forever. It's like he's saying, delay is dangerous. Get right on this. The prince of the ruler is coming. The prince and ruler of this world is coming. Get right to this. And so he gives them the command. A new commandment. Now, the command to love one another is not new, right?

38:11Leviticus 19:18 says, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. But what is new is he takes this to a whole nother level, right? Christ's love for his people had not yet been revealed to this level. And so now a new commandment with much more vividness, with much deeper motivation, and all that is given. Love one another. That's the specifics. Now, he's going to explain this a little further. Look back at verse 34. A new commandment I give to you that you love one another. And here comes the comparison: even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. Another, just as I have loved you.

39:05So, Jesus has loved something he did in the past. I have loved you like this. And the way you should be loving, in a present tense, you should be loving one another continually in the same manner. And notice that this is how you are to love one another. He does not say this is how you should love the world. No, he specifically says, you need to love each other like this. I think there's a lot of misunderstanding what church membership is about.

39:45A lot people haven't been taught about church membership or the importance of it. But let me tell you this. Let me put it to you like this. If I am given the command to love my wife like Christ loved the church, I need to know who she is. Would you not agree? There is an exclusive love that I must have a specific address. The same thing here. You must know who this command is given to. It's given to you, and you must know who it involves. And it involves those blood-bought believers in Jesus Christ who assemble together with. You.

40:32And so, inevitably, as the church goes forward, there will be membership efforts, membership criteria, so that the church can define: yes, these are truly, yes, this person is one of those whose testimony lines up with a believer. And so, yes, we can see. So, inevitably, by this command, Jesus makes a criteria for membership. You see, what does love mean? Y'all are to love one another continually. Well, to love someone is to have affection for, to value.

41:20It involves attentiveness, right? It involves consideration. It involves care. It involves kindness. It involves concern. And that's the way Jesus loved his disciples and how he wants us to love each other. And so he says, even as, to the degree that I have loved you, this is how you are to love one another. You remember, as we looked back, and Jesus, verse 13 says, Before the I mean, verse 1 of chapter 13 says, Before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour had come and that he would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. And as we looked at, as we walked through that, that his love is to the utmost, and this is the way we are to love one another. And as we looked back then, there were four characteristics that he put on display about his love. Number one, it acts, acts, he acts. His love moves him to act for the benefit of his people. It serves. His love compels him to serve the interests of others. It cleanses. His acts always lead to a right relationship with God, and it seeks communion. He seeks to remove those offenses. And this is the way we are to love. We are to be concerned, attentive. And look, look at the reason for this duty. Verse 35. By this, all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. You see, the world is going to know who the true followers of Jesus are by watching how they relate to one another.

43:26It's not going to be how well we articulate the finer points of doctrine. Although I believe that's a worthy and important endeavor. It's not even going to be how devoted we are to good causes, although I think that's a very important endeavor. And it's not even going to be based upon our personal sacrifices that we make in our religion, so to speak, although it's important, it may be. Others are going to know that we are followers of Christ because of our love for one another. That's why he puts you in the church.

44:08And when we love each other, we put God's love of the Father to the Son on display. He's not just trying to raise a standard that is higher than a previous standard. He is putting forth a command that glorifies God by putting the love relationship of the Father and the Son on display for the world to see. That's the duty of the Christian community: to teach the world theology proper. The Father's love for the Son in the way we react. It's much bigger than just a moralism.

45:01It's revealing the character and nature of God. That is why God had to make man in his image. He didn't just make one man because one man can't be a monument, because God is a relational being. And so God wants a dynamic of love. And so he creates the church and he tells the church to love one another because it's this living dynamic that is the monument Christ is leaving behind. A statue cannot communicate this about God. Even a cross or an empty tomb cannot communicate this about God. The monument that Christ is leaving behind about himself is a living, breathing community that is characterized by what characterized him the most, and that is love. Love to the Father and love to each other.

46:00So when you step into the church, you step into a glorious arena where you are invited to love like he loved. We talk a lot about love in Christian circles. I'm going to go a little bit later today, okay? So just be at ease. I think the importance of this is a function. We really need to get. I won't go too long, but I will go a little later. We talk a lot about love in Christian circles. And if only our practice could live up to this profession. And loving shows up, loving one another shows up in the way we speak to one another. It shows up in the way we relate to one another, what we say about one another, the way we bear with one another, how we strive to help one another, the way we serve one another. It shows up even in the way we dress, can be an expression of love for ourselves or love for another. Everything that we do, our daily conduct, our daily interaction, all of this speaks about or communicates the love that we have.

47:19Love is delighting in promoting somebody else's well-being or happiness. That's what it is. Love is the fixed attention of a well-regulated mind aimed at contributing to somebody else's happiness. And I would say happiness in the context of well-being. Some practical ways to love. I just want to. How do we love like this? How do we get this out of the grand theology and get this down to brass tacks? As you come in, look for ways to love, to express love. And let me say, one of the first things is just get to know. Each other. We used to have this principle or this directive to our kids when we came to church. When they were little, we wanted them to do three things. We had a meal at the church that we were going to breakfast meal, but very much like what we have here. We had three things. Number one, greet, eat, and retreat. And that was all geared towards before you go and eat, greet somebody by name, greet them, make an effort to get to know somebody and create, and it was mainly for them as younger kids to relate to the older adults, or just anyone older, but mainly adults, so that they could relate. And so, go out of your way is an expression. You cannot love somebody if you don't know them. And if you're called to love the people, and you might as well get to know them, know them on a name basis. And make an effort. That is an expression of love.

49:03And so I would even say to the older generation, to the younger generation, greet, eat, and then retreat back in here, okay? So make an effort to love one another. And in this small way, and yeah, maybe Malawi said it's kind of a little embarrassing. Well, like I said, loving inevitably brings about a death to yourself, even. If it's a small death, so how to get plugged into a church? And I will say this: do not wait until you're given a post to serve by one of the pastors, or one of the elders, or one of the teachers. Don't sit around and wait. Many times, we make church all about ourselves. Well, I want a post, I want a place to serve. Let me tell you something. Look around you right now. The dynamic is here. The command is upon you. You love the people in this room. If you're a member of this church, you love the people in this room. When you come in, you look for ways to love them. That is your ministry. That is your command. And the degree, like Christ loves you, that's the way you are to relate to people in here.

50:24We talk a lot about love, but we need to, it takes sacrifice and it takes deliberate sacrifice on our part to put ourselves down and to go and look and give ourselves to the interests of somebody else. But that is what love is. That's what it cost Christ. That's what the cross was about. And let me tell you, there is a crown on the other side of that cross. If you will learn to truly. Love, you will learn the true joy of life.

51:07You will learn the joy of the Father that Jesus so delighted in. And it's all here, it's all around you. So, I wanted you to learn the glory and duty of loving each other so that you'd be deliberate, not be afraid to sacrifice in loving the people here. If you're engaged to this church or whatever church you're engaged, get in, love at this level. You cannot be obedient, and you cannot ever know the joy, you cannot ever know the Christ of Scripture without putting on love like this. It's like the one lesson we need to learn in life is this one right here.

51:55What all this life that this soon will be over, the one thing we need to learn out of this life is how to truly love. This temporary life is not the time for earthly glory. It wasn't for Christ, and it certainly will not be for his followers. And that's what his disciples had to learn. What is this world for? Now is the time to love like Jesus loved, and it inevitably involves crosses. And yet, there's a beauty in the cross. The cross tells us the monumental story of a man, the greatest of men, who died to himself. That's what the cross tells us about.

52:48And yet, that death to himself is intrinsically linked to his love for others. And if we're going to be followers of him, we're going to have to get good at dying because that's the essence of loving. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your goodness. We thank you for this amazing testimony. We thank you for the deep love that you have for us. We thank you, Father, what a privilege it is to be alive, to be human, to have been put in the body of Christ where we can put your love on display, not because we're anything in ourselves, but because you gave us your spirit. You caused us to be born of your spirit. And so, in going to the cross, you made the way that you could put your spirit in us, give us that nature, give us that love for the things that we never loved before.

53:54Father, that you put in us that desire, that drive, that capacity to be like you and to. Love like you did. Father, it's beyond our ability to do so, and yet we see the standard all the same. And so we ask by your Spirit that you would motivate us, compel us, help us to be more deliberately and sacrificially in love with the people that you have saved. In Christ's name, amen.