Love Others

Continuing in our series entitled “Return to Me.”

We’ve learned that God is redeeming a lost world and uses His people, you and me.

However, we have a tendency to depart from Him, which causes us to undergo discipline to the point we cry out to God in repentance and confession.

God then forgives and restores us so we can continue to serve Him in his mission.

So we’re focusing on the returning to God as we depart and what it will take for us to see revival in our church and then a spiritual awakening in our community.

The first step was to “Love God Wholeheartedly.”

Love for God is demonstrated when we are obedient to His commands.

Secondly, it’s demonstrated through getting rid of idols of the heart.

Jesus said the greatest command was to “Love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.”

So today I want to spend some looking at that looks like.

We all know the story of the Good Samaritan and who our neighbor is.

Those who helps, cares, and love others like God loves them.

Two groups

Those in the church.

Those in the world, lost, pagan pool.

Let me give you two examples of what I’m talking about as shared by Claude King.

I read of a wife diagnosed with ALS­ Lou Gehrig's Disease.

She gradually began losing muscle control in her arms, then legs, and eventually all her muscle functions began shutting down.

As the disease progressed, she was unable to function without assistance.

She and her family were members of a rela­tively young church with several hundred members.

The people began to express their love for him, his wife, and their young children.

They helped with cooking, laun­dry, and house cleaning.

They ran errands and took care of the chores so he could devote time to his wife and family.

Toward the end of her life, she required almost constant attention.

People helped the better part of every day.

They love upon her and her family daily.

At memorial the pastor posed a question: "I wonder why God has given our young church this opportunity to love so deeply?"

That Sunday in his sermon the pastor said he believed God wants to ask our church a question: 'Would you be willing to love a lost world that much, so they can come to faith in Christ?"

The second came during a mission trip to Africa, King talked with a pastor who was seeing a Disciple-Making Movement take place.

He described one of the dynamics that facilitated the rapid growth of Christianity in his country, which was 80% Muslim.

He and some of his leaders were in a prayer meeting when a Muslim delegation came and stood right outside.

They kept praying and the Muslims kept standing outside.

Finally, they quit praying and walked outside.

The Muslims said, "Don't be afraid. We are not here to hurt you. We are here to ask you for a favor. We've been watching what you have been doing in the village near ours. We've noticed the way they love each other. The men love their wives and treat them with respect. The parents love their children. We want that for our village. We were wondering if you would send your storytellers to our village to tell us what you told them."

The pastor went on to explain that was the first time a delegation came with that request.

He said, "I quit counting after 35. I'm guessing 70 or more villages have sent similar delegations, usually headed by the Imam, with the same request."

We see that loving others had a major effect on people in and out of the church.

Love One Another

Let’s look at John 13:34-35, “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Why would Jesus give a command to love one another?

Jesus is aware of the need for love among the disciples.

He knows it will be imperative to their spiritual well being and advancement of the Gospel. for them to love one another.

So important that Jesus felt He had to command them to love.

I am sure these men were all close.

All the time they spent together and the sacrifices they’d made together to follow Jesus.

However, some of them shared closer relationships than others.

There had been some debate and contention at times.

James and John had asked to sit on the right and left hand of Jesus, creating jealousy among the others.

Peter was always outspoken and part of the inner circle.

Matthew was a tax collector.

Thomas was somewhat of a loner, prone to doubt and pessimism.

The point is: all these men were different.

They had different personalities and points of view.

They were to lay aside any personal differences they had and love one another.

Their love for each other was to exceed any former controversies or obstacles they faced.

This stands as a great challenge for us today.

You see we too are called to love one another.

We’re all different.

We have different likes and dislikes; different strengths and weaknesses; and different callings and points of view.

However, we need each other!

The world in which we live creates challenges we can’t overcome alone.

We must be willing to lay aside any differences we have and love one another.

Many churches are in turmoil and a state of decline because believers can’t love each other and get along!

Listen what God says through His word about loving one another.

Romans 12:10,13-16-"Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Outdo one another in showing honor. Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble."

1 John 3:16-18-"This is how we have come to know love: He laid down his life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has this world's goods and sees a fellow believer in need but withholds compassion from him-how does God's love reside in him? Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth."

l John 4:20-21-"If anyone says, 'I love God,' and yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother or sister whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And we have this command from him: The one who loves God must also love his brother and sister."

Galatians 6:2-"Carry one another's burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."

What are some tangible ways you can love one another?

Provide food for someone during a sickness or death of a loved one.

Pray for those who are broken.

Show acceptance to those who are considered “outcasts” or different than you.

Send notes of encouragement or expressing gratitude.

Helping with building repair project or lawn care.

Love A Lost World

Verse 35 tells how a lost world will see us if we love one another.

They will see our love and recognize we are God’s disciples.

That love, which so many people today are looking for, can only be found in Jesus.

That opens the doors for us to share with them the love of Christ, like the missionary did with the Muslims.

After Jesus spoke these words, He was soon to be arrested and crucified.

He knew that the opposition He faced would remain as the disciples continued the work of preaching and sharing the Gospel.

Jesus knew the opposition would remain fierce.

Many would deny the truth and others would question the legitimacy of the disciples and the message they shared.

Love would be essential for the furtherance of the Gospel.

Love would separate the followers of Christ from the world.

By loving one another, as Christ loved them, the world would see and know they were true followers of Christ.

Today we live in a fast paced world.

Many never take the time to notice others.

We are so busy and burdened taking care of our own needs that we fail to consider the needs of others.

The world is looking for someone to show some loving compassion.

They seek someone to care.

They seek a message that transforms those who were once selfish and unconcerned to loving, giving people.

We must love one another so the world can experience that love and recognize the source of our love.

There is no greater way to reveal Jesus to a world that needs Him than by loving as He loved.

More on God's Design for Loving a Lost World:

Matthew 5:16-"In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven."

Matthew 22:39-"The second [commandment] is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself."

Matthew 25:34-40-"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me; I was in prison and you visited me.' "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and take you in, or without clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick, or in prison, and visit you?' "And the King will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'"

1 Peter 2:11-12-"Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and exiles to abstain from sinful desires that wage war against the soul. Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that when they slander you as evildoers, they will observe your good works and will glorify God on the day he visits."

Is there enough evidence of Christ’s love in our lives for the world to notice.

As those who know us examine our lives, do they see the love of Christ in us?

Are we impacting the unsaved by living out the love of Christ before them?

Our love for the Lord and one another is the greatest witness we have.

It does us no good to recite doctrine if our hearts do not show love!

How can we show our love to the lost world that God wants to redeem?

Join others in acts of compassion.

Sharing food with the hungry, clothing with the poor, lodging with the homeless.

Taking a stand for the oppressed or pricing representation and advocacy for those facing injustice or discrimination.

Helping immigrants learn to read and speak English or find jobs.

Provide school supplies, personal toiletries for seamen, or baby items for new moms.

Well?

As we prepare for our reopening, regathering and restart, as a church we need to show love to one another and the lost around us.

People have been isolated for so long, they need to be loved and who better to give it to them than the church.

Are we as loving as we should be?

Could it be said that we love others and Christ loved us?

H.A. Ironside in his commentary on John said this: Love is a very practical thing. To what extent are we manifesting it toward those in more difficult circumstances than ourselves? To what extent are we manifesting it to those who have failed and sinned? Are we content simply to point out their faults and criticize and say hard, unkind things? Or do we love them enough to go to them in the Spirit of Christ and seek to recover them to Himself? “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another.”

Let’s pray