ONE ANOTHER
God gave us one another for a purpose…
We are the Body of Christ in this world to stir one another up, build one another up, encourage one another, and most certainly to love one another.
In the Old Testament, God gave us His Word for living a life with full purpose.
Love Him… first and foremost, Deut. 6 tells us.
But trace backwards to the Priestly covenant given in Leviticus, and you will find our love for one another must be expressed out of sincerity and truth as we prove our love for God.
I want to share six principles in reference to how we should love one another.
1. HONESTLY
Listen to what Leviticus 19 shares…
Leviticus 19:11 – Do not deceive one another
11 ‘You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another.’
God furthers this call to love one another through these amazing passages locked away in the OT… Listen as I read this passage in light of our neighbor’s position within the community.
Now, I know there are many descriptors of people whom God labeled within the community, but stay with me as I use the word “neighbor” in place of these other descriptors for emphasis.
13 ‘Do not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. …
14 ‘Do not curse (a neighbor), nor place a stumbling block before (a neighbor), but you shall revere your God; I am the LORD.
15 ‘Do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to (a poor neighbor) nor defer to (a rich neighbor), but you are to judge your neighbor fairly.
16 ‘Do not go about as a slanderer among your (neighbors), and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor; I am the LORD.
17 ‘You shall not hate your fellow (neighbor) in your heart; Do not incur sin because of him.
18 ‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against (a neighbor), but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.
This is further emphasized by Zechariah, the prophet… when the Hebrew people had been in bondage for 70 years in Babylon before returning to Jerusalem.
They not only worshipped false idols, it could be said they worshipped themselves above their neighbors.
They went through the motions of worship, but it was not God they honored.
So God reissued this call…
Zechariah 7:
8 Then the word of the LORD came to Zechariah saying,
9 “Thus has the LORD of hosts said, ‘Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; [that is… be compassionate to one another…]
10 and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.’
11 “But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing.
12 “They made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the LORD of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from the LORD of hosts.
13 “And just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen,” says the LORD of hosts;
Did you catch that?
Because they refused to listen to God’s Word, they turned a deaf ear to Him and it seems even toward one another, oppressing one another and devising evil against one another.
Here’s the deal: when you do not love one another honestly… you will deal with one another maliciously.
NOTE: They would not listen to God… God would not listen to them.
Zechariah simply calls out…
Zechariah 7:9 – administer true justice, show mercy and compassion to one another
Love One Another… HONESTLY
2. SACRIFICIALLY
Now, as we approach the heart of God in the NT…
Jesus shared His final words with His disciples, before going to the cross; so it was important for them to hear.
Gospel of John - Love One Another (13:34, 13:35, 15:12, 15:17)
It was after Judas left the upper room to betray Jesus, that Jesus began to comfort His disciples with these final words.
John 13:34 “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.”
Honestly love one another… and that will lead to a sacrificial love for one another.
John 15
12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.
13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
… 16 “…Christ chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.
17 This I command you, that you love one another.”
Christ sacrificially loved us.
That is the condition for which we should love one another.
This takes on a stronger message with husbands who ought to love their wives the way Christ loved the church… sacrificially. (Eph 5)
3. GENUINELY (Real)
Romans 12:9-10
9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.
10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;
ILLUS: There is a beautiful Hebrew legend of two brothers who lived side by side on adjoining lands.
One was the head of a large family, the other lived alone.
One night, the brother who was head of a large family, lay awake and thought:
“My brother lives alone, he has not the companionship of wife and children to cheer his heart as I have. While he sleeps, I will carry some of my sheaves into his field.”
At the same hour, the other brother reasoned: “My brother has a large family, and his necessities are greater than mine. As he sleeps, I will put some of my sheaves on his side of the field.”
Thus the two brothers went out, each carrying out his purposes and each laden with sheaves—and met at the dividing line. There they embraced.
It is said, that many years later, at the very place where they met… stood the Jerusalem temple, and on the very spot of their embrace stood the temple’s altar. (Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times. Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.)
Romans 13
8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
9 For this, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”
10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
NOTE: This is what Jesus said to the rich young ruler… in Matthew 19; He gave six commandments out of the ten, which deal with our horizontal relationship expressing the truth of our vertical relationship.
If you truly love God, then go sell all you have, and in a sense “love your neighbor” by giving it to the poor; then come follow Me.
Paul reiterates this truth to the church in Galatia…
Galatians 5
13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”
Love One Another is the Law fulfilled in one statement.
We must commend ourselves as servants of God, as
2 Corinthians 6 declares…
4 but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses,
5 in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger,
6 in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love,
7 in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left,
8 by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true;
9 as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death,
10 as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.
4. PERSUASIVELY
Paul gave a passionate plea to the Ephesians…
Ephesians 4
1 I… implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,
2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love,
3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
You see, God gave gifted individuals to the church for the building up of the church…
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;
15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,
16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
NOTE: It ought to be self-evident that others SEE our love for each other, building each other up, and those outside will confess what they see in us for the glory of God’s love in us.
In Love… Love for Christ, Love for One Another…others will take notice… this is REAL.
Let me follow this up with a passage from 1 Thessalonians…
1 Thess 4 (dealing with immorality…)
7 For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.
8 So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.
9 Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another;
10 for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more,
11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you,
12 so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.
Paul writes back to bless these Thessalonians…
2 Thess 1
3 We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater;
4 therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure.
NOW…this is persuasively genuine…
Your faith is greatly enlarged…
Your love for one another grows even greater…
Even though they are under persecution…
Listen… The world persecutes Christians far too much… why would we ever want to persecute one another?
I believe that’s why Peter even issues the command to fervently love…
5. FERVENTLY
1 Peter 1
18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,
19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.
…now jump down to verse 21
21 … so that your faith and hope are in God.
22 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,
1 Peter 4
8 Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.
Then a litany of other “one anothers” exudes from this…
9 Be hospitable to one another without complaint.
10 As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
It is because we should serve one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God…
2 Peter 1
that…4 …by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge,
6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness,
7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. [THE CULMINATION FACTOR - LOVE]
8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.
10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;
11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.
It is by this premise that brotherly love ought to give way to a deeper, more perfect love – agape (Gk) abandoning self; giving all; a sacrificial love.
Lastly,
6. VIVIDLY
I began with John earlier…let me end with John once more.
1 & 2 John
Love One Another (1st 3:11, 3:23, 4:7, 4:11, 4;12; then 2nd 1:5)
1 John 3:10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.
11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another;
14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.
16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
17 But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?
18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.
It’s almost as if all these principles are borne out of in this very passage…
Honestly
Sacrificially
Genuinely
Persuasively
Fervently
Vividly
1 Jn 3:23 This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. (cf.2 John 1:5)
It doesn’t get any simpler than that… believe in His Son Jesus Christ… Love one another.
But just in case that’s too difficult to wrap your brain around… John clears the air …
1 John 4
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.
10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12 No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.
NOTE: Again… the vivid love of God expressed by / thru us discloses the reality of God in our midst.
…manifested…
Let me wrap this up.
Simply put… love one another…
Honestly
Sacrificially
Genuinely
Persuasively
Fervently
Vividly
THE GOAL
1 Tim 1:5 But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
ILLUS: It is said that the young son of Bishop Berkeley once asked him the question, “Papa, what do the words, “Cherubim and seraphim” mean?”
The bishop took time to tell the little questioner that cherubim was a Hebrew word meaning knowledge, and the word seraphim stood for flame, explaining that it is commonly supposed the cherubim are angels that excel in knowledge and the seraphim are those who excel in love for God.
“Then I hope,” the boy said, “that when I die I will be a seraphim. I’d a lot rather love God than to know everything.” [Evangelistic Illustration]
1 Thess 3:
12 and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you;
13 so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.
[All Scripture is taken from NASB]
