Sunday Sermon: Jesus Demonstrates and Commands Love

Sunday’s sermon message found its anchor in John 15:12-17.

12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.

Jesus commands us to love one another. Do not mistake ‘one another’ for all mankind. The command contains a pretty explicit hedge toward believers, as many other passages affirm. Romans 12:10, 13:8, 1 Peter 1:22, 4:8, 1 John 4:19-21.

The command to love is so crucial, that its opposite is a deadly cancer that must be removed at all cost.

1. How does Jesus love?
2. Jesus loves with a costly, sacrificial love. John 15:13
3. Jesus loves with a forgiving, welcoming love. John 15:14, 15
4. Jesus loves with an intentional, purposeful love. John 15:16

We are to love one another, as Christians, and especially within the church, with a sacrificial, costly, forgiving, welcoming, intentional, and purposeful love.

As Robert Chapman said, “My business is to love others, not to seek that others love me.”

1. Possible Applications:
2. Be present
3. Be involved
4. Prioritize love over the self
5. Be honest