Love is The Evidence

Scripture

John 13:34–35 NASB95

34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

I love the theme of today’s Right Hand of Fellowship and so just for a few minutes, I want to talk to you on the subject “Love is the Evidence.” That’s the one point.

Just for a few minutes, I want to talk to you on the subject “Love is the Evidence.”

Br

Introduction

In the court of law, in order for someone to be found guilty, there must be enough evidence or proof to convict them of the crime.

Likewise, for those of us who say we are Christians and that we indeed have Jesus in our hearts, we have to look inside the mirror and ask ourselves “If the world and the people around us were the jury and they were trying to figure out whether or not we were indeed Christians, would there be enough evidence to convict us?”

And see the evidence that will prove that you and I are indeed Christians, is not when we came down the aisle on that one Sunday morning, not when we got baptized, not when we recieved the right hand of fellowship, not how much we read our Bibles, not how much tithes we pay, not how much we go to church or Sunday School, or how many ministries we serve in, but by how we love one another.

Now don’t get me wrong, Sunday School, paying your tithes, being baptized, and reading your Bible are all necessary things to do because they help you to understand God, and therefore help you to understand love.

But when you do all of that, but don’t know how to love people, Jesus likens that to being a whitewashed tomb.

Listen to what Jesus has to say about people who look like Christians on the outside, but lack love.

Matthew 23:23–27 ESV

23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! 25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. 27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.

Matthew 23:

Looking like a Christian on the outside, means nothing to God if you are not one on the inside.

And the largest piece of evidence that you and I are indeed Christians, is our love for one another.

The Command (vs. 34)

Yet Jesus, the Son of God, God in the flesh is washing twelve filthy and dirty feet.

And my question to you is “Can you love someone through the filthiest part of their lives?”

I know you have some selfish ways, but I love you (as I make washing motions with my hand)?

I know you have a bad attitude, but I love you (as I make washing motions with my hand)?

Some times you get on my last nerve, but I love you (as I make washing motions with my hand)?

“Can you love someone through the filthiest part of their lives?”

And it’s important to understand that we can assume that all of the disciples are present. But most importantly, Judas still is. Judas, is the one that will betray Jesus, sell him out for some silver, which will ultimately lead to Jesus’ death on the cross. And if Jesus is washing his disciples feet and Judas is still in the room, then we can assume that he also washed Judas’ too.

And if that wasn’t enough, after Jesus gets done washing his disciple’s feet, he announces to them that one of you will betray me. John, the one whom Jesus loved, leans over to Jesus and says “Who is it?” And Jesus responds by saying it is the one who I give this piece of bread to after I have dipped it.” So not only does Jesus wash Judas’ feet, but essentially he serves him communion.

And this picture shows that the extent of love that jesus calls us to is not just loving people who love us back, but to love people we may consider to be enemies.

The Command (vs. 34)

Yet Jesus, the Son of God, God in the flesh is washing twelve filthy and dirty feet.

And my question to you is “Can you love someone through the filthiest part of their lives?”

I know you have some selfish ways, but I love you (as I make washing motions with my hand)?

I know you have a bad attitude, but I love you (as I make washing motions with my hand)?

Some times you get on my last nerve, but I love you (as I make washing motions with my hand)?

“Can you love someone through the filthiest part of their lives?”

And it’s important to understand that we can assume that all of the disciples are present. But most importantly, Judas still is. Judas, is the one that will betray Jesus, sell him out for some silver, which will ultimately lead to Jesus’ death on the cross. And if Jesus is washing his disciples feet and Judas is still in the room, then we can assume that he also washed Judas’ too.

And this picture

The Command (vs. 34)

Looking at the text, in the beginning of verse 34, Jesus is with his disciples and Jesus says:

“A new commandment I give you, that you love one another.”

Well, what’s so new about that? Jesus already said that we ought to love our neighbors as ourselves. So what’s so new about this commandment? We find out the answer in what Jesus says next. He says:

“A new commandment I give you, that you love one another: JUST as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”

What makes this commandment so new, the extent in which we are to love.

You see it’s one thing to love your neighbor as yourself, but it’s a completely different thing to love your neighbor like Jesus.

Because when you love your neighbor as yourself, we’re equals. I love you just as much as I love myself.

But when I love my neighbor like Jesus, I am saying I love you more than my own life. It is selfless and unconditional.

It is that type of love that says I care about your self-interests more than my own.

It is that type of love that says that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

It is that type of love that will allow you to serve communion and wash the feet of the person that will betray you.

It is that type of love that allowed Jesus to step down through 42 generations, to put on human flesh, walk this earth for 33 years, allowing people to beat him, spit on him, mock him, spear him, and nail him to a cross, so that we could have an opportunity to be saved.

It is that type of love that allows Jesus to ask God to forgive the very people that nailed him to the cross. For he said “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

Jesus’ Example (vs. 34b)

When we love our neighbors like Jesus, it is selfless and unconditional.

Jesus’ Example (vs. 5-30)

’ Example (vs. 34b)

Example (vs. 34b)

Leading up to our text, Jesus is having supper with his disciples and in the middle of supper, Jesus gets up takes off his outer garment, takes a towel, gets a bowl of water , kneels down, and begins to wash his disciples feet. Now back then they didn’t wear closed toe shoes, but sandals. And they didn’t have cemented or gravel paved roads like we do. So after a long day, the filthiest thing on a person’s body, would have been their feet.

Yet Jesus, the Son of God, God in the flesh is washing twelve filthy and dirty feet.

And my question to you is “Can you love someone through the filthiest part of their lives?”

I know you have some selfish ways, but I love you (as I make washing motions with my hand)?

I know you have a bad attitude, but I love you (as I make washing motions with my hand)?

Some times you get on my last nerve, but I love you (as I make washing motions with my hand)?

“Can you love someone through the filthiest part of their lives?”

And it’s important to understand that we can assume that all of the disciples are present. But most importantly, Judas still is. Judas, is the one that will betray Jesus, sell him out for some silver, which will ultimately lead to Jesus’ death on the cross. And if Jesus is washing his disciples feet and Judas is still in the room, then we can assume that he also washed Judas’ too.

And if that wasn’t enough, after Jesus gets done washing his disciple’s feet, he announces to them that one of you will betray me. John, the one whom Jesus loved, leans over to Jesus and says “Who is it?” And Jesus responds by saying it is the one who I give this piece of bread to after I have dipped it.” So not only does Jesus wash Judas’ feet, but essentially he serves him communion.

And this picture shows that the extent of love that Jesus calls us to is not just loving people who love us back, but he has also called us to love people we may consider to be enemies, even in the church.

And I know you’re wondering why would I have an enemy at church? Well, first not everyone who walks through those doors have really given their lives to Jesus, and second, for those of us who have sincerely given our lives to Jesus, there are still some areas in our lives that are filthy. And when you put a bunch of people who struggle with sin in the same place with each other, even though we should all be in the process of changing, sometimes we become victims of each other’s sin.

And though it is very important on how we love people outside of the church, what Jesus is really talking about is how we love people inside the church.

So no matter what people do to you in the Body of Christ, we ought to love them as Christ loved us.

Why It’s So Important (vs. 35)

And the reason why it is so important is because it impacts our witness. Jesus says in verse 35:

“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Yet Jesus, the Son of God, God in the flesh is washing twelve filthy and dirty feet.

And my question to you is “Can you love someone through the filthiest part of their lives?”

The evidence that will convict us of being followers of Jesus to the world is our love for one another.

I know you have some selfish ways, but I love you (as I make washing motions with my hand)?

I know you have a bad attitude, but I love you (as I make washing motions with my hand)?

Some times you get on my last nerve, but I love you (as I make washing motions with my hand)?

The evidence that will convict us of being a follower of Jesus is our love for one another.

“Can you love someone through the filthiest part of their lives?”

For how can we preach about a God who loved us so much that he gave his only begotten son to die on the cross for our sins that we may have an opportunity to eternal life.

And it’s important to understand that we can assume that all of the disciples are present. But most importantly, Judas still is. Judas, is the one that will betray Jesus, sell him out for some silver, which will ultimately lead to Jesus’ death on the cross. And if Jesus is washing his disciples feet and Judas is still in the room, then we can assume that he also washed Judas’ too.

The evidence that will convict us of being a follower of Jesus is our love for one another.

And if that wasn’t enough, after Jesus gets done washing his disciple’s feet, he announces to them that one of you will betray me. John, the one whom Jesus loved, leans over to Jesus and says “Who is it?” And Jesus responds by saying it is the one who I give this piece of bread to after I have dipped it.” So not only does Jesus wash Judas’ feet, but essentially he serves him communion.

For how can we preach so much about God’s love, grace and mercy, and not turn around and even do that with each other.

And this picture shows that the extent of love that jesus calls us to is not just loving people who love us back, but to love people we may consider to be enemies.

As Charles Spurgeon put it, “There is no sermon that can be so eloquent to the world as a true manifestation of the love of Christ.”

In other words, there is nor carefully crafted sermon that can preach better than people in the church loving one another the way Christ loved us.

And the more love we have for one another, the more people can become impressed by the gospel.

The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, Vol. LI Christ’s “New Commandment” (No. 2,936)

No sermon can be so eloquent to the world as a true manifestation of the love of Christ; and when God restores to his Church genuine, hearty, and sincere Christian love,—I trust we have not wholly lost it,—but when he gives us much more of it, then shall the world be more impressed by the gospel than it is at present.

The world doesn’t just need people to tell them about the gospel, but it needs people that can show them.

And the way we can show them is by our love for one another.

Love is the evidence.

Other Notes

We have care about what others think about us, not because we care about what they think about us, but because we crae about what they about Chrsit when they think about us.