Sermon Transcript
The following is a lightly edited transcript generated from the audio; it may contain small errors.
- John 13
- The Meaning of Love
- A New Commandment
- Sincere and Disinterested Love
- Active Love
- Self-Denying, Sacrificial Love
- The World Needs to See Christ
- Justus and Greg
- The Church Christ Purchased
- Ordination Vows and Prayer
John 13
Good morning. God is good, amen. Before we lay hands on Justus and Greg, I’d like to share from the word. If you’d open your Bibles to John 13. Gospel of John. John 13 verse 1. It says, now before the feast of the Passover. [audio unclear] the devil had put into the heart of Judas Iscariot Simon’s son to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside his garments, took a towel and girded himself. After that he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. Then he came to Simon Peter and Peter said, Lord, are You washing my feet? Jesus answered and said to him, what I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this. Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, if I do not wash you, you have no part with me. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Then Jesus said to him, he who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean and you are clean, but not all of you. meaning not each one of you. For He knew who would betray Him. Therefore he said, you are not all clean. So when he had washed their feet, taken his garments and sat down again, he said to them, do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example that you should do as I’ve done to you. Most assuredly I say to you, A servant is not greater than his master, nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. But, excuse me, if you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. And then Jesus goes on to say this at the end of this chapter in the same conversation, verse 34, a new commandment I give to you that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this, all will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. Father, we ask that you would illuminate our hearts and minds through your spirit to truly understand your word. Give us ears to hear, give us hearts to obey, give us wills to embrace what you are teaching us this morning and may we truly love you as you loved us. We pray in Jesus’ name, amen.
The Meaning of Love
First, a word about love, the meaning of love. There are four Greek words for love. The first is eros, and we all know what that means because we get the word erotic from it. It is the word for love on the physical side of what we call physical sexual love. Aristotle says that eros always begins with the pleasure of the eye. Interesting, eros is never used in the New Testament for love. Because by the time the New Testament was written, eros came to be associated with lust and not love as we understand it. Another word is philia, and this describes intimate friendship of body, mind and spirit.
This is the word that is used of God’s love for us as well as our love for one another. It’s often the word which we think of when we speak of people that are very good friends, the love of friends. It literally means to kiss or to caress. And so often we see in Scripture we’re exhorted to give one another a holy kiss, right? Of course this is a sign of deep friendship with one another. The third word is storge, and this is the word which is used for family love, the kind of love we have in our family, you know what that’s like? It’s like the people you, you can’t stand, you still love them, you know what I mean? That’s family love, right? There’s a bond there which is almost unbreakable. But there is a greater love than even storge and that is agape. That is the love, of course, that is used here in this text when Jesus says, a new commandment I give to you that you love one another as I have loved you that you also love one another. This is agape love. According to Trench, the great Greek scholar, he says agape is [audio unclear] goodwill. Agape will never seek anything but the highest good of its fellow man.
It does not matter how its fellow men treat it, it does not matter what and who its fellow men are. It does not matter what their attitude is to it, it will never seek anything but their highest and their best good. That’s a perfect definition of agape.
A New Commandment
Now Jesus says here that we’re to love one another, but secondly, he says to love one another as I have loved you.
And He says that’s a new commandment. Now, if you read the Old Testament, what you find is we’re told in the Old Testament to love one another.
Not often, but it’s there, especially in the Book of Leviticus of all places, right? Right? But Jesus doesn’t just say, love one another. And he doesn’t just say, love one another as you love yourself. He says, love one another as I have loved you. And so he calls us a new commandment. Now it’s new in the sense that it was contrary to previous pagan thinking. Because according to the pagan view, Love was for the lovely, or love was for the meritorious, or love was for those who were worthy, love was for those who were beautiful, love was for those who earned it. But that’s not agape love. The Greeks also saw love in a selfish way. It was an exclusive thing. Also, also for the Greeks, the love was How shall I say this? Many of the Greek thinkers saw love as almost a negative thing, believe it or not, because the goal in Greek thought was tranquility. It was inner peace. And love, of course, is the great disturber. Right? To truly love another is to make oneself vulnerable, not just to rejection, but it is to make oneself vulnerable to the pain that another might feel. Because if you love someone and they suffer, then you suffer, right? If you were here last week, or was it Wednesday night when Alison shared? Wednesday evening, a wonderful, wonderful prayer meeting, worship time. And she said that she’s asked God to give her his heart. Well, that is to expose oneself to turmoil. Because the heart of God cares about those who are hurting and cares about those who are suffering. To have the heart of God is to be put in a place where you will grieve and you will be sad. Now you have great joy, but you will have great sadness too when you see the suffering of other people. So Jesus says, what I’m telling you is different because it’s contrary to pagan thought and it’s even contrary to previous Hebrew thought because the highest level of love there was really to love one another as oneself. But Jesus raises the degree. And so it’s new in the sense that he’s saying, we are to love one another as I have loved you, which means not to love others as oneself, but to love others more than oneself.
Sincere and Disinterested Love
So Jesus says, love as I have loved you. Well, what does that really mean? How do we break that down? Let me mention a few things. Firstly, to love as Jesus loved is to love honestly and sincerely. Remember what John says, not to love in word, right? But in deed and in truth. Jesus professed to regard none as his friends, but those whom he really regarded as such. In other words, Jesus did not give false appearances of friendship and false appearances of love. Those he loved, he truly loved. He never led people to think that he approved in them what he did not approve, because Jesus not only spoke the truth, but he spoke the truth in love. He spoke the truth motivated by love. The love of Jesus was also disinterested. Now, notice I did not say uninterested, they’re not the same word. Uninterested means you don’t care. You’re not interested. Disinterested means that you have no ulterior motive, that your motives are pure, meaning disinterested means you’re genuinely interested. Because you’re not showing interest for your benefit and for your gain, you’re showing interest because you genuinely care. Jesus’ love was disinterested in that sense. You know, we tend to forget Jesus really didn’t need his disciples, right? He didn’t seek them out because he was going to get something from them, because in one sense they had nothing to give him. Rather, he sought their gain. He sought their good. He sought their gladness. And so disinterested love seeks the benefit of others. It doesn’t seek one’s own benefit in the guise of loving others. Love like our Lord’s is love that is purified from all selfishness. It is not self-love in disguise. Hold your place here and look at Philippians chapter 2. We’re going to come back here to John. In Philippians 2, Paul talks about the love really that led Jesus to the cross.
And he says in Philippians 2, he’s exhorting the body to unity, to community, to fellowship, to love. He says in verse 1 of Philippians 2, therefore, if there’s any consolation of Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord and of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit. But in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests but also for the interest of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. So he gives an invitation to unity, to fellowship, to being like-minded, one accord, and so he says here’s the ultimate example of that, the mind that was in Jesus. Who? In verse 6. Being in the form of God did not consider robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, now I’m reading the New King James version, the one Paul used. Taking the form of a bond servant and coming in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross. That is disinterested love. It is love that is not seeking its own, but is seeking the good of others.
Active Love
Thirdly, Agape love, the love of Jesus, was active. Jesus’ love was not a love of pious words. It was a love of active deeds. So our love for each other should prove itself in acts of love.
In 1 John chapter 3, John is really telling us that one of the main marks, if not the mark of being a Christian, is love. As a matter of fact, Jesus says, by this all men will know. They will know. This is the badge. In 1 John chapter 3, John says, verse 14, we know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. Not because we walk the aisle, not because we raise our hand, not because we pray the sinner’s prayer. We know because we love the brethren. Now I had the good fortune of, well, good fortune, bad fortune, it’s a mixed fortune, how’s that, of coming to Christ as a young adult. So by the time I came to Christ, I had all kinds of stereotypical things in my head about the church and about Christians and none of them were good. Okay, none of them were good and I thought Christians were weird and I thought all Christians were hypocrites and I thought Christians, yeah. So when I came to Christ, guess what happened? I began to love the weirdos. I began to love the people that [audio unclear] abides in death, whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life. By this we know love because he laid down his life for [audio unclear] But whoever has this world’s goods and sees his brother in need and shuts up his heart or his compassion from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. So true love is not simply a profession of faith and a profession of concern, it is an act. True love issues in deeds. It is not necessary that Christian love should talk much, but it is necessary that it should act much.
Self-Denying, Sacrificial Love
Fourth, the love of Christ is self-denying and self-sacrificing.
The reality is Christian love is not easy. Any amens to that? If it were easy, we’d all be walking around like Jesus. But the fact of the matter is, Christian love is not easy because Christian love has a cost. It is easy to say, I love someone. It’s a lot more difficult to actually love them in practice. Because to put them ahead of myself is to deny myself. To serve another is to deny myself and myself doesn’t like that. Myself wants to be first. Not second or third or fourth. That’s what the self is. That’s what the flesh is like. The Christian love is not easy, but Jesus, when He came, He gave, what [audio unclear] the scripture says He loved us and gave Himself [audio unclear], in the Sermon on the Mount. He loved us and gave Himself, not that He loved us and gave us the Sermon on the Mount. Not just that He loved us and He fed the poor, but He loved us and gave Himself. This is the highest expression of love, and by giving us Himself we know what this means: that He went to the cross and He literally, not figuratively or symbolically, He literally died on a cross for His great love for us. That’s how much he loved us. So Jesus looks at his disciples and he says to them what he’s really saying to all of us, I want you to love one another that way.
I want you to love one another so much and in such a way that if needed you would die for your brother. We’ve already read Philippians 2 where Paul says let this mind, that’s the mind that he wants us to have. And it’s this mind that Jesus is talking about when he says Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
So in summary, Christ’s love is sincere, it’s disinterested, it’s active, and it’s sacrificial. And it is opposed to pride, selfishness, envy, anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, and a host of other sins that are unfortunately all too common in the church. If we love one another, we will actively seek each other’s good. We will pray for one another. We will give to one another. We will encourage one another. We will honor one another. We will bless one another. We will speak the truth to one another. We will admonish one another. We will serve one another. That’s what true love does. And we’ll do all of those things even though it will be costly. You may be saying, wow, that’s a pretty tall order. And you know what, it is a tall order, isn’t it? I was talking with my daughter the other day about some of her seminary classes and apologetics courses she’s taking. And they’re looking at how our society looks at the church and what issues society has with the church.
Now some of it is stereotypical thinking. Some of it of course is based on ignorance. Like I think some of my former hostility toward the church was based on ignorance. Of course, some of it’s the devil. But some of it’s actually warranted. Anybody that’s been to church for any length of time has seen the dark side, right? The dark side. They’ve seen divisions. They’ve seen gossip. They’ve seen slander. They’ve seen some pretty unholy stuff. So that affects our testimony in the world, right?
The World Needs to See Christ
And what the world needs to see is not my religion. The world doesn’t need to see my Christianity. The world needs to see Jesus Christ expressed in and through me. Do you understand what I’m saying? What the world needs to see is the reality that the church is the body of Christ.
That’s what the word says, the church is. The word doesn’t say the church is like the body of Christ. It says the church is the body of Christ. And so when people look at the church, they ought to see Jesus Christ. And you know what? The truth of the matter is no one can live the Christian life but Christ.
It’s true. If you truly put your mind to walking according to Scripture, to really living out what the Scripture says, you will find that in your own power you will be defeated. You will not be able to do it. Jesus, since he’s our Savior, not only saves us from the penalty of sin, he saves us from the power of sin.
Jesus Christ, when he saves someone, he forgives them their sins, but then he puts his spirit in their heart and he changes them on the inside.
The reason we can love one another, even though we’re so often unlovable, is because we have the Spirit of God in us. and it is the Spirit of God that causes us to love one another. The fruit of the spirit is what? Love, joy, peace, et cetera. The spirit of God can give us victory over the power of our, our own selfishness, the power over our own flesh. Jesus living in us is the hope of glory. People can see Jesus in the church because Jesus is in the church. Jesus is actually in the heart of every Christian. And the Christian life is learning to walk with Jesus, learning to walk in submission to Jesus, learning to walk in such a way that Jesus is allowed to express his life in and through our life. Has anybody at your work ever come up to you and said, you know, I’ve been watching you for a while and something about you, you’re different. If that hasn’t happened to you, it should. It should. Because Paul says wherever we, we bring a savor of life or a savor of death. Why? Because he had the savor of Christ. The fragrance of Jesus was about him. And so we should be filled with God’s Spirit so people know something’s different. Now some people won’t like that, but some people will be drawn. We cannot love as Jesus loved, unless Jesus is loving in us and through us. But that is the call. That is the call of true Christianity. Jesus said, by this all men will know. He did not say by any other mark, he said by this, this is the mark. Okay, we must, as John recorded, return to our first love. We must understand the priority of love in Scripture. Because we can get a lot of things right. We can get our liturgy right. We can get our church government right. We can get our orthodoxy right. But if we are not walking in love, all of that is wrong. Because it’s wrong in Spirit. You ever met a Christian who’s crossed all his t’s, dotted all the i’s? He’s got everything right except his heart. You know what I’m saying? I mean, maybe we’ve all been that way at times. I don’t want to be judgmental to other people. But the point is, if we don’t have the love thing down, that permeates everything we do, and it vitiates it. It means it pollutes it. It defiles it. That’s why when Jesus addressed the Ephesian church in Revelation, he says, you’re doing all these good things. You tried false apostles. You’re laboring. You’re doing all these great things. But there is a problem. You’ve left your first love. So in spite of all the good they did, they were often doing it in the wrong spirit, in the wrong motive. So we’re called to love one another, to lay down our lives for one another.
Justus and Greg
And I can say this about Justus and Greg both, that they epitomize sacrificial servanthood.
They have many virtues, and I’m sure they have many biases, because we all do.
But what I’ve seen over the years is a willingness to sacrifice born of their love for the church.
And this is something that we may take for granted, but I can assure you after many years in the ministry and many years of seeking to challenge men to take leadership in the church that this is not as common as one might think. Yes there are men who will serve in leadership. There are men who want preeminence. There are men who want attention. There are men who want the pulpit. There are men who want influence. These men want to serve. And they’ve demonstrated that over the years. You know the old saying, so-and-so will give you the shirt off his back? Well that is literally true with them. And that’s the love of Jesus. It is active. It is sincere. It demonstrates itself in self-denial. It is not talk, it is walk; they walk the walk. And so these are the kind of people we all need to be because this is our Christian badge, but especially this is the motive that ought to permeate those who serve in leadership.
The Church Christ Purchased
One final word, as I was meditating on preparing for this weekend, I’ve read a lot of books on church leadership and church government and different things about the church over the years. And it’s very easy to get into a mindset which is very subtly unbiblical. And what I mean is that it’s easy to talk about the eldership or the office of deacon or pastor or these sorts of things in such a way that you sort of begin to forget why they’re important. And the thing that struck me as I was reading the word this week, I’ll read one more verse to you then we’re going to close, is actually in Acts 20, if you want to turn there with me, in Acts 20 Paul gives a fairly long address to the Ephesian elders. I almost shared from this passage but decided not to. But the point is that in his address to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20 he says this in verse 28. He says, therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God, or some version might say the church of Christ or the church of the Lord God or something like that, which he purchased with his own blood. You see, what’s important about church leadership isn’t the leaders, it’s the church.
The value that’s given to, and the attention that’s given to church leadership derives from the fact, that it is the church that is the object of Christ’s love.
And if church leaders don’t love the church, they shouldn’t be church leaders. I don’t care if they can preach until it’s Monday morning. Doesn’t matter if they can write books, it doesn’t matter if they’re in Greek or Hebrew. If they do not love the flock, they should not be in church leadership. And unfortunately, too many men are in the ministry and they have motives of prominence and they want influence and they want this and that. They want to be on the radio, they want to write books, they want to do all kinds of things, and it is a pollution. Jesus loves the church, and because he loves the church, he appointed the offices of Elder and Deacon so that men would stand up and be an instrument of His love and care and shepherding and concern for his church. It’s about the church. It’s about Jesus loving his people. And I can attest to you that watching these men as well as others I’ve served with here at Liberty that I believe they truly love the church and they are not motivated by selfish interest. So we’re going to have Greg and Justus stand here and Mike is going to give them a charge and then we’ll pray over them.
Ordination Vows and Prayer
Alright, after each question I ask you can respond together if you agree. I do. In regards to faith and doctrine, do you entrust your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, acknowledging that he He is Lord of all and head of the church, and that through Him we know God as the beginning and end of all things. Thank you. Do you believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the verbally inspired, inerrant, infallible, and God-breathed Word of God, and that they are the only infallible rule of faith and practice? Thank you. Do you believe that there is one God who exists as three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit? Do you believe that Jesus rose physically from the dead, that he has victory over the grave, and that his death on the cross is the only atonement for men’s sins? Do you believe that Jesus will one day return for his bride, the church, and that he will judge the world in righteousness?
In regards to practice, do you believe yourself to be called to the office of elder for ministry and you commit in reliance upon the grace of God to maintain upright character and conduct and to be diligent and faithful and making full preparation for the ministry?
Do you commit to be zealous and faithful and maintaining the truths of the gospel, whatever persecution or opposition may arise to you on that account. Do you commit to building Christ’s Church, localized here in Liberty Church, to be a faithful shepherd and caring overseer, praying for the flock and ensuring that they are well fed? Why don’t you guys kneel? Lord, we pray for these two men. We ordain them, God, for the work of ministry. We pray that You would, and ask that You would put Your hand upon them, God, as we have our hand upon them. Lord, let their service be a service born out of love, God, that they’ve already had and shown, that they would continue to show it. I pray that you would give them a perseverance for the days that lie ahead, that they would continue to serve you faithfully, that they would continue to serve you, God, with everything that they have, Lord. I do pray that you would set your spirit upon them, for this service, for this office, that you would give them wisdom and discernment and knowledge beyond their years, God, to lead your church, to guide your- your church, to minister faithfully to, your church, God. Use them in an abundance of ways, Lord. May they never turn to the left or the right, but seek you all their days. Father, I agree with those prayers and we thank you that you love your church so much that you shed your blood for us.
I pray that that love would indwell all the elders at Liberty, all the deacons, and ultimately all of the people. I pray that we would serve as you serve, that we would be willing to wash feet, that we’d be willing to lay down our lives for the brethren. Lord we do acknowledge that apart from you we can do nothing. We are in utter desperate need of the Holy Spirit to make us like you. So Lord we yield ourselves to you, we yield these men to you, and we ask Lord Jesus that you might manifest yourself in them through them for your glory. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Amen.
Alright, you got a gift for them? Yeah. Thank you. You know, so when we kind of were doing the nominating process, one of the, I think a couple people raised a concern about the youthfulness of one of our candidates.
And I said, well you know, Greg looks a lot younger than you think. All right, we’re going to have a little cake reception, right? Cake and punch down in the chapel. But, but we’re going to close with, great is thy faithfulness, so let’s stand together and worship the Lord. God you are faithful. We acknowledge all that we have comes from your generous, kind hand. We thank you that because of that we can look to the future as a bright future, a future of hope, not just here, but everlastingly with you. Lord, we ask you to bless our fellowship at the reception. I pray that we honor you. I pray that we’d encourage and exhort one another in love. We pray in your name. Amen.