Love One Another

Introduction

You do not know what I believe. I believe black lives matter. I believe brown lives matter. I believe white lives matter. I believe yellow lives matter. I believe all lives matter. I believe aborted lives matter. Seventy-three million or more have been killed by intelligent people around the world per year. The Lord said in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”  Note those words: “Before I formed you in the womb, I loved you.” This is a cursed nation because we kill people in the womb. May God have mercy upon us.

Salvatore J. Cordileone, the archbishop of San Francisco, opposes abortion and we stand with him, a Catholic bishop. Abortion is murder. In Deuteronomy 5:17 we read that abortion is murder, yet we have gotten used to abortion. Millions, millions, and millions—seventy-three to a hundred million per year—have been killed by sophisticated, cultured people. May God have mercy upon those who killed babies. If you trust in Jesus, God will forgive you.

In 1 Samuel 16:7 we read, “The Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance [meaning color, height, weight], for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance [color, height, weight], but the Lord looks at the heart [mind, will, emotions].”

All are sinners. One must trust in Jesus Christ to be saved, to be a saint, to be in the family of God. God looks at the heart, not at the square feet of your house or the number of bathrooms you have.

In Mark 7:20–23, Jesus said, “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.'” Thirteen sins and more. Every sinner is unclean. But if you are a sinner hearing my voice, I have good news for you. Christ will forgive our sins. He forgave my sins. He justified me.

Your color does not define you. God sees thirteen sins and more when he looks at the heart of a sinner.  We want to consider the following points.

1. Christ is in all who trust in Jesus Christ, the only Savior. He is the boss—eternal, infinite, holy, triune, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent (everywhere present). In Colossians 3:11 we read, “Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all,” all who trust in Jesus.
2. The Father is in all who trust in Jesus Christ. Your color doesn’t matter. Your degree doesn’t matter. In Ephesians 4:6 Paul writes, “[There is] one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” Our color doesn’t matter.
3. The Holy Spirit is in all who trust in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is around us as a wall of fire. The Holy Spirit is in us, with us. We live in God. He rules us. So we read in Romans 8:11–14, “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. Therefore, brothers [and sisters], we have an obligation—but it is not to the [flesh, in the Greek], to live according to it. For if you live according to the [flesh], you will die.” But thank God, the Spirit lives in us. And by the Spirit we kill sin, and by the Spirit we obey God. “but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”
4. God’s church is a family without discrimination on the basis of money or color or anything else. A family. God’s church is a family. We are brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers. Consider the following:

• • Galatians 6:10: “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” And we practice in this church. We introduced fellowship. Fellowship means you talk to one another and find out what that person’s needs are and then take care of it by your money. Put your hand in the pocket and get money and take care of that person. We are related to each other by regeneration and justification and adoption. God adopted us into his family. We are brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers.
  • Ephesians 2:19: “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household.” We must get this into our heads. There is no discrimination in the church, in God’s church, because the church is a family, the church is God’s household.
  • Ephesians 3:14–15: “For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.” God is now our Father. Our father used to be the devil, for all children of Adam were by nature children of the devil.
  • 1 Timothy 3:15: “If I am delayed, you will know how people ought to [behave] themselves in God’s household [God’s family], which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.”
  • Matthew 12:15: “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother. There is no discrimination in God’s church.

5. All God’s people are in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. All are foreloved. Who said that? Professor John Murray. We are foreknown, predestinated, called, regenerated, repenting and believing, justified, adopted, being sanctified to be glorified. (PGM) This is called the ordo salutis. What does that mean? The order of salvation. Can you imagine? The Father is in us, the Son is in us, and the Holy Spirit is in us as the Boss. He is teaching us how to live, how to kill sin and how to obey God.
6. We all were sinners (TULIP). Do you know what TULIP is?[1] In that acronym, T stands for total depravity. So we were totally depraved, but God saved us. Jesus himself said in John 8:44, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” This is true of all people who do not trust in Jesus Christ alone and be saved.

Our father was the devil. But thank God, the heavenly Father is now our Father.

• • Matthew 6:9: “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.’” Our father is no longer the devil. Hallelujah!
  • 1 John 5:19: “We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the [devil].” The vast majority of the people of the world are controlled by the devil, including kings and queens and presidents and prime ministers and all that.

7. Now we are all children of God. “All” means all who trusted in Christ. This is called substitutionary atonement. We sinned; he died. Jesus died in behalf of the elect.

• • 2 Corinthians 5:19, 21: “that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. [Thank God! Substitutionary atonement]. . . God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” We are clothed with Christ’s righteousness all the time. When the triune God looks at us, we are dressed in the righteousness of God.
  • Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Thank God. It is all right to shout and praise God. When you understand theology, you will shout. “Shout unto God with a voice of praise.”
  • Acts 16:30–31: “[The Philippian jailer] then brought them [Paul and Silas] out and asked, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’” This is the first question all people must ask. What must I do to be saved? Your mother should ask. And I know a number of mothers have gone to hell when they died. A number of fathers have gone to hell when they died. They rejected the gospel, and you know who they are. “They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Jesus became the Savior of all who obey him. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is my Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. We had parents come here to see grandchildren. Their grandchildren and children believed in Christ, but they themselves rejected Jesus Christ.

8. Those who are children of God must love one another sacrificially as God loves us.  In the Old Testament and the New Testament there is a change in love. In the Old Testament, you are to love your neighbor as yourself. In the New Testament, Jesus said in John 13:34–35, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” That is why we introduced fellowship, so that you can find out the needs of your brother or sister or father or mother and then put your hand in the pocket or write a check to help those people. You cannot take money with you when you die. Jesus concluded, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Christ loved us and died on the cross for us. He did not commit any sins. He took our sins and our guilt and our punishment and our hell. Theology says that on the cross Christ went to hell.

• • 1 John 3:16–17: “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers [and sisters]. If anyone has material possessions [which everyone has] and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him [he is not saved], how can the love of God be in him?”
  • James 2:18–21: “But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’ Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good!” Faith has three aspects. What is the first? Knowledge. Second is assensus. You agree the Bible is true. But that is not faith. James continues, “Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?” God was testing him. “Take your son, your only son, the son whom you love, Isaac.” But he did. But he was spared. Isaac was spared because his death cannot save himself. But another one did. “Take your son, your only son, the son whom you love, Jesus.” Jesus died for us and we are saved. Hallelujah!

The Epistle of 1 John consists of four pages in our Bibles. In those four pages, the word “love” (meaning sacrificial love) is used forty-four times. So I ask you again, what did you do with your money? Jesus loved us. In John 13:12–17 we read, “When [Jesus] had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. ‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ he asked them. ‘You call me “Teacher” and “Lord,” and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet [which is the work of a slave. Jesus became a slave], you also should wash one another’s feet.’” Doing the work of a slave, washing the dirty, dusty feet—Jesus did all that. In the same way, we are to love one another. You must love your wife as Christ loved the church and died for her, and love your brother and sister in the same way.

9. Election

Christ died only for the elect. I do not understand election, but, thank God, I am an elect. Christ died for me. In Romans 8:28–30 we read, “And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew [foreloved], he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers [and sisters]. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” Theology matters. Stupidity does not matter. A person will go to hell with stupidity. We must think!

10. Conclusion

In conclusion, consider John 3:16: “For God so loved the world [of all elect sinners] that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” Only one thing is needful. I am preaching the gospel to you today. All elect sinners will believe in Jesus and be saved. May God help us to trust in Jesus Christ alone and be saved forever. Amen.

[1] T stands for total depravity; U is unconditional election; L is limited atonement; I is irresistible grace; and P is perseverance of the saints