Love One Another

Temple Baptist Church - 8-7-2011

Romans 13:8-10

Introduction:

A. Churches are known for several things:

1. There are great soul winning churches. (I want this church to be one for the souls of men!)

2. There are great missions churches. (I want this church to be one for God’s glory!)

3. There are great preaching churches. (I want to be a great preacher for my people!)

4. There are great loving churches. (I want this church to be one!)

1 Corinthians 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

B. Of all of the gifts given to the church, the greatest is that of brotherly love. No bickering, no fighting, no hurt feelings, no clicks, no murmuring and complaining, no gossiping, no backbiting, just loving one another in the Lord and getting the job done for the Lord.

1. Christian Love Is Given At The Moment Of Salvation - Romans 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

2. Christian Love Is One Of The Most Visual Signs Of Salvation - John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

3. Christian Love Is A Sign Of Knowing God (many saved do not know God!) - 1 John 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

Philippians 3:9-10 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

2 Timothy 1:12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know (present tense—at the end of Paul’s life) whom I have believed (Past tense—on the Damascus Road), and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

C. Christian Live Is A Sign Of Abiding In Christ – 1 John 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

1. We Are To Love Our Neighbor As Ourselves (The Bible calls this the Royal Law) - James 2:8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:your Neighbor Can Be Either Saved Or Lost!

Leviticus 19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

Luke 10:29, 33, 36 But he, willing to justify himself (Jewish Lawyer), said unto Jesus, And (shows an attitude) who is my neighbour? . . . But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him . . . Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?

a. Your Neighbor Is A Person Of Any Religion

b. Your Neighbor Is A Person Of Any Race

c. Your Neighbor Is A Person Of Any Region

2. We Are To Love One Another As Ourselves

a. This Love Is Expressed In Unity –2 Corinthians 13:11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

1 Timothy 5:1-2 Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.

John 13:33-35 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you. A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

b. This Love Is An Expression Of Service - Galatians 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

1 John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

c. This Love Is An Expression Of Purity – 1 Peter 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

1 John 3:11-19 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

d. This Love Is Expressed In Forgiveness – 1 Peter 3:8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:

Ephesians 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

Colossians 3:13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.