How Do You Love Christ?

So, imagine if you will, a man in our church who sends flowers to his wife every day.

Not only does he send flowers to his wife every day, he'll even leave little notes for her, little sweet notes.

And he does this daily.

But all the while, this same man doesn't care for his wife.

He doesn't nourish her.

He doesn't clothe her.

He doesn't even spend time with her.

Although we would all say that it's a good thing to buy your wife flowers and to write notes that are sweet to them, yes, we would all agree with that.

But the man's not even feeding his wife.

He's not clothing his wife.

We would have stern words for this man.

We would have a stern correction.

It would probably be something like you have bypassed the most important.

And although you are doing good things, you're not doing the best thing.

You're bypassing the most important.

And I want us to be thinking about that tonight, that idea.

Because the question I would like to ask us tonight is when we think of our Christian walk, when we think of the things that we do in our Christian walk, when do we feel like we are serving and loving Christ the best, the most faithfully?

And I would like us to fill in that blank in our mind.

And I would like us to think if maybe we are doing good things and maybe we're bypassing the most important thing.

And hopefully we can come to what I mean tonight.

How do we love Christ?

What is the primary?

What's the most important way?

If y'all would turn with me to the book of John, we'll start in chapter 14 and then we'll move on to 15.

It's kind of a topical sermon, so I'm kind of going to be...

I've got a lot of references here.

So just bear with me.

But the context here of what's going on in John, chapters 13 through 16 and even 17 is you have Christ at the Last Supper.

John 13 · chapter mention

He is together with His disciples and He is speaking of things of most importance here.

Hopefully these things are going to be some of the most important things that He wants them to carry through and that He wants them to focus on.

And I believe in chapter 14, they're on the way to where Christ is about to be crucified.

It's almost like they get up and they start walking and He's still having the same conversation.

And within this conversation, you will see a theme.

It's a theme that really runs through the whole of the New Testament, I would argue the whole Bible.

But especially in the New Testament through Christ's ministry, through the apostles' writings, this is a theme that you cannot escape.

If you'll join me in John 14, 15, we read this.

"If you love me, you will keep my commandments." If you flip over one chapter, He kind of flushes this out more.

If you go to John 15, 12, particularly, I'll read a little bit before it.

I'm going to start in verse 8, 15, 8.

"By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.

As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.

Abide in my love, if you 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." And here it is, verse 12, "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." So the answer is we love His people.

This is a major theme.

And 1 Peter 4, 7 through 9, Peter puts it this way.

He's talking to a persecuted people, and this is what he's telling them in the middle of their persecution.

He says, "The end of all things is at hand.

Therefore be self-controlled and so reminded for the sake of your prayers.

Above all, above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of emotions, show hospitality to one another without grumbling." Peter says, "Most importance, first place, put it above everything, keep loving one another." And 1 Peter 1, 22 through 25, he writes this, "Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and abiding Word of God." And I could go on and on with references like these through the New Testament.

And so why does Christ say that if you want to love me, if you want to keep my commandments a part of that, it's to love my people?

Why would he say something like that?

Why does Peter also say the same thing, that it's a thing of most importance?

It's to be held up high, that we love one another.

Well first, it's because as believers, we are his body.

We are the body of Christ.

We have a unity that cannot be undone.

We cannot be separated from Christ himself.

We are his body.

And 1 Corinthians 12, 14 through 26, we read this.

Now he's talking about all the, you know, we, he starts off in verse 14, let me say this,"For the body does not consist of one member but many." And he talks about how the foot can't look at the hand and say, "I don't need you." I can't look to the ear and say, you know, "Well, you don't do what I do." But in verse 24, he says this about Midway, "But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.

If one member suffers, all suffer together.

If one member is honored, all rejoice together." Paul's saying here that we're so connected that when one member suffers, we all suffer.

That if one is honored, then we all rejoice together.

In Romans 12, 4 through 5, he says it this way, "For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function.

So we though many are one body in Christ, individually members, one of another." In Ephesians 4, he says this, "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism." Brothers and sisters, we are the body of Christ.

I find that sometimes we think that we are somehow closer to God when we are in our individual prayers at our home.

Sometimes we think that we are closer to God when we're doing our personal devotions and reading Scripture.

Sometimes we think we're closer to God when we're singing in our car on the way to work and we're singing hymns and all these things are good.

Don't be wrong.

I'm not pitting them against anything I'm saying here.

Do those things.

They're great.

But are we viewing those things more important than the gathering of the saints?

Do we see that more important than when we come and we have prayer service before church as we come together as a body of believers?

Are we elevating that above the other?

Are we saying that our personal reading is better than having the word preached to us?

I'm not here to tell you that those things are wrong.

Those are good and right things.

But what I'm saying is when we come together with the body of Christ, there is a special unity there.

If I had to rank them, I would put the gathering of the brethren first.

We are like the very hands and feet of Christ on earth as His body.

We are to each other.

We are to serve one another.

You will never be closer to the presence of the Lord than when you're gathered together with His people.

This is the closest to heaven we get when we gather together on Sundays.

If a part of the body is hurt or diseased, we tend to.

We react.

We would react to our own bodies that way.

If disease popped up, we would deal with it.

It is the nature of a body.

We would care and protect it.

In the same way, when there's a healthy part of the body, it helps tend to the other parts, the weaker parts.

This is the way that we should view the body of Christ.

Because of our unity, we can care for one another.

It even matters when we sin.

Sin doesn't just affect you as a believer on your own, it affects the body.

That's how connected we are in Christ.

You could become hard-hearted from sin.

You could become blinded.

You could cause pain for others.

In the same way, our holy living is a benefit to us all.

Ephesians 4, 15-16.

Rather speaking the truth and love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head and to Christ, from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Brothers and sisters, your scripture reading, your praying, it's not just for you, it's for all of us.

We need strong Christians.

And when some of us are weak, we need you to come and encourage us.

We need, how will you have something to say encouraging if you don't know the word?

How can you point out sin to a brother that you're caring for if you don't know what sin is?

This also protects us from legalism when we go into prayer and reading scripture, does it not?

It corrects our motives.

It corrects us because we're not trying to earn a position with the Lord.

Our position is already earned by Jesus Christ Himself.

But we're looking outwardly to love others.

So we are the body of Christ.

That's why it's so important that we gather together.

And because we are the body of Christ, when we love and serve the body of Christ, we are loving Christ Himself.

Christ so identifies with this church that it's as if when we do anything unto the least of these, we're doing it as to Him.

We see this concept all through scripture.

Jesus talks about this many, many times.

And Matthew 25, 34 through 40, He says this, "For I was hungry and you gave me food.

I was thirsty and you gave me drink.

I was a stranger and you welcomed me.

I was naked and you clothed me.

I was sick and you visited me.

I was in prison and you came to me." And the righteous will answer Him saying, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink?

And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you or naked and clothe you?

And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?" And the King will answer them, "Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me." What an amazing statement that is.

In Matthew 10, 40 through 42, He says the same thing.

He says, "And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water, because he is a disciple, truly I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward." Right before that, He says if one receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person, he receives a righteous person's reward.

He's saying that we'll be rewarded by God Himself.

We also see this played out with Paul's conversion, do we not?

He's on his way to persecute more Christians.

And in that journey there, the Lord Jesus confronts him.

And what does He say?

He says, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" And He said, "Who are you, Lord?" And He said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting." So we see that Christ identifies with His body so much that whatever we do unto His people, it's as if we're doing it unto the Lord.

This is why this is so important, that if we are to love Christ, we are going to love His people.

Another reason why it's so important that we love and serve His church, because we were bought with a price.

Your brother and sister has been bought by a price.

In 1 Corinthians 6, 19-20, "You are not your own, for you are bought with a price, so glorify God in your body." In Colossians 1, 19-22, "For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross." 1 Peter says something that I think is important to get.

He says that we weren't purchased or ransomed with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

Let me ask you, what greater price could be paid for your brothers and sisters?

What more valuable substance could we possibly get that has ever existed?

We look at expensive cars and houses, and we tend to look at them and be like, "Man, that's awesome.

Look how much that costs." We'd love to see the inside of them and drive them or see the houses.

We're just amazed.

The millions that are spent on cars and houses.

Are we ever amazed when we look at our brothers and sisters in Christ?

You see, gold and silver, diamonds, jewels, all those things will be found again.

Those things can be dug up.

Where are you going to get the blood of an innocent man that died for your sins?

Where's that?

Where do you go to dig for that?

Where's that reserve?

It doesn't exist out there.

It's only existed once in the person of Jesus Christ.

There was no blemish.

Perfect man, an innocent man, the Son of God, spilled His blood for us.

This should change the way that we live and the way that we look at our brothers and sisters, shouldn't it?

If this is true, if Christ has paid such a huge cost, how then can we not be patient with our brothers and sisters?

How then can we slander them?

How can we talk ill of them?

How can we not think the best?

How can we not care for them?

How can we not think the best?

If we can only grasp this, I believe that we would serve one another really well.

Another reason why we are to serve and love one another and why it's such an important thing to Christ is it glorifies God and is a major part of our witness.

In 1 Peter 4, he says this, it's the same, I'm just going to read further, it's the same reference I made earlier, 4, 7 through 11.

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins, show hospitality to one another without grumbling, as each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace.

Whoever speaks is one who speaks oracles of God, whoever serves is one who serves by the strength that God supplies.

Here it is, in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

It glorifies God when we serve one another, when we love one another.

It is our witness to the world.

It is a major part of our witness to the world.

Jesus in John chapter 13 at the very beginning of this discourse that I was talking about earlier at the Last Supper, He says this, a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.

John 13 · chapter mention

You also are to love one another.

By this, all people will know that you are my disciples.

If you have love for one another.

So many times we want to fill in so many different things there, don't we?

And I'm not saying any of us are ignoring this, but sometimes I find myself, maybe not focusing on this, but something else.

This is a real testimony to the world.

I canceled Disney Plus because they're a woke.

Whatever it might be.

Now, maybe that is a way.

But Christ says, by this, how you love one another.

Let us not bypass that.

And so we see that this is a major theme.

We see that this is important to Christ and the apostles, and all of their writings, really.

So how?

How does this come about?

How do we love and serve one another?

What are the things that we are to be about?

Well, the first way that we care for one another, one of the ways is physical needs.

We care for each other physically.

In Romans 12, 13, Paul says, contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

James puts it really stark.

He drives it home.

He says this, religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

True religion, pure religion, I should say.

And if you think back to the Old Testament, we have the same things going on in the Old Testament where Israel was judged again and again.

They were judged because they weren't doing these things.

They weren't caring for the widow.

They weren't caring for the afflicted.

They were unjust.

So we care for our brothers and sisters.

We love and serve Christ when we care for them physically.

How else are we to love and care for our brothers and sisters with the gifts that we've been given?

God has given us all gifts.

Just like I was talking about earlier, we're all not the same part of the body.

We all have different gifts.

We have different things that God has given us.

Going back to that 1 Peter reference, he says, "As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's very grace.

Whoever speaks is one who speaks, oracles of God.

Whoever serves is one who serves by the strength that God supplies." We have gifts.

I find it interesting that Peter writes that, because if you think back when Peter was restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and he was asked three times,"Peter, do you love me?" What does he say every time?

Every time to Peter, he says, "Tend to my sheep." He says, "Feed my sheep." He's saying, "Peter, if you love me, if you love me as Lord, if you love me as a friend, you will feed my sheep." We knew that he was going to be an apostle who was going to feed the sheep.

That was going to be his role.

And that was important, so important that that's the way Christ said,"You're going to show that you love me." In Romans 12, 4 through 10, he says this,"For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function.

So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another, having gifts that defer according to the grace given to us, let us use them if prophecy and portion to our faith, if service and our serving.

The one who teaches and is teaching, the one who exhorts and is exhortation, the one who contributes and generosity, the one who leads with zeal, the one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness.

Let love be genuine.

Abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good, love one another with brotherly affection." So we are to use our gifts.

We're to care for one another's physical needs.

We're to use our giftings that we have that the Lord has given us, not for our sake, for the sake of our brothers and sisters, for the body.

And it's easier than you think.

I can imagine there's some out listening right now that are listening and thinking,"I have nothing to give.

I have no money.

I'm a new Christian. I don't know much." Maybe you think that you have no wisdom to impart.

Maybe you're a young Christian that just feels like you don't have much to offer.

Let me tell you this.

By you coming weekly and gathering with the saints and seeing you grow in the Lord, you're serving the church.

Can you sing a hymn?

Can you come and just be here?

It's such an encouragement to see Christians grow in their faith.

And the Lord serves His church through you.

Kids, if you're in Christ and you're a true believer, you're not too young for this.

You too can serve the church.

Your obedience to your parents, a kind word to an older person.

There's nothing insignificant.

Remember the words of Christ that even a cup of cold water is as if we're given a cup of cold water to Christ Himself.

What an encouragement that is.

Pastors, when you preach to us on Sundays, when you counsel us, when you care for our souls, you're loving Christ.

The ladies who help out with coffee, the men who help out with coffee and water, and you're serving Christ.

It seems so simple, doesn't it?

It seems like that just doesn't even make sense.

I was trying to think of a way to try to explain how that could be, right?

That service to the Lord, it's as if we're doing these things unto the Lord.

Because when we think of it, the Lord, He's not in need of these things.

But a brother that I was talking to explained it to me this way, and I think it's a good way to put it, is that we do experience this.

As a father or a husband, when someone comes to your family and they do something for one of your children or for your wife, think about it. You think of it as serving you.

Your household, because it's a service done to your household, you take that as if they've done it as unto you.

Another way that we're going to...

Well, let me say it this way.

Love in the church is the result of the outpouring of the Spirit and people dedicating themselves to the commands of Christ and to His Word.

If you look in Acts 4, 32-35, we have this.

"And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to Him was His own, but that had everything in common.

And with great power, the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.

There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need." You know, we pray in this church for revival, and we pray for an outpouring of the Spirit, and I'm glad we do.

And we always think of people coming to Christ, which is a glorious thing, and that's exciting.

Do we ever think about the fact that what the church will look like in a revival?

How the saints will treat each other?

A true revival in the church is a church that is loving one another well for the sake of Christ.

So in closing, how did we answer the question earlier?

How do I answer the question of how I've been living my life?

Have I been doing things while neglecting one of the most important things, the loving of my brothers and sisters in Christ?

Because see, we can have all this other stuff.

We can have all the giftings in the world.

We can have everything and look like we are so knowledgeable.

That we're so faithful, that we're willing to give it all up for Christ.

And yet, if we don't have love, what is it worth?

Paul puts it this way in 1 Corinthians.

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but have not love, I am a noisy gong and a clanging cymbal.

And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but have not love, I am nothing.

If I give away all I have and if I deliver up my body to be burned but have not love, I gain nothing." We cannot separate loving Christ from being about loving His people.

If we love Christ, we will love His people.

You know, I was reading in Revelation, and I'm not going to pretend to have great knowledge and understanding of Revelation.

But I did find it interesting.

In chapter 2, the church of Ephesus.

This church had a lot going for it.

Let me read verses 1 through 7 in chapter 2 of Revelation.

"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write, The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands, I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil.

But I've tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.

I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary.

But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.

Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first.

If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

Yet this you have, you hate the works of the Nicolations, which I also hate.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." These men, this church, they weeded out false doctrine.

They had so much going for them.

Not yet, he said, they're not, they had lost essentially their first love.

And he tells them to go back to do the things that they were doing at first.

Let us not be people who just acknowledge, who have all of our theology right, who cast out the false teachers and stay away from them and can point out error and all that.

Let us not be a church or a people that has all that down, but doesn't have love.

Let's pray.

Lord God, we need your Spirit.

We need an outpouring of your Spirit, and we need your Word to have an effect on our hearts and our minds, or through the preaching of your Word.

Lord, let us not forget.

One of the most important things that you would have us do, and that's love one another, is that you would help us in this endeavor, that you would grant us this, that we might be a healthy church, that we might be one that is a witness to the world, that glorifies you and lifts up the name, the name of Jesus high.

We thank you for all the blessings we have in Christ, in Jesus' name, amen.

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