LOVE AMONG BELIEVERS

JOHN 13:1-5;’’ It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He now showed them the full extent of His love. The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the father had put all things under His power, and that He had come from God and was returning to God; so He got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel round His waist. After that, He poured water into basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped round Him. Vs. 12-14; when he 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, your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. vs. 34; ‘’a new command I given you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another’’. vs. 35; by this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love my disciples’’.

This article is prepared in line with the close of Jesus’ ministry. His confrontations with the scribes and Pharisees were essentially at an end, except as they appeared as his accusers the next day when on trial before the high priest and as he painfully sensed the result of their venom as he hung upon the cross. His paramount thought now was one of concern for his disciples.

These disciples had listened to his parables; they had witnessed his miracles; they had heard him in his masterly defence of the truth as the scribes and Pharisees endeavoured to prove that he was a blasphemer. But now,that was all over. His few remaining hours of service were to be devoted to his own apostles—those whom he had appointed to carry on the ministry of the Gospel following his departure in death, and his subsequent return to his Heavenly Father.

What great lesson would he impart to them at this important juncture? Would he remind them of one of his parables? Would he set forth some profound truth which he had not previously mentioned? Well, to start with, Jesus preached a powerful sermon to his disciples by means of an object lesson. At that time the washing of feet was quite customary when people gathered for any special occasion. The roads were dusty, and nearly all wore sandals, so if one walked very far his feet became rather uncomfortable; therefore one of the servants in the home would wash the feet of the guests to help them feel comfortable and more at home.

There were no servants in the upper room where Jesus met with his apostles the night before he was crucified. None of the disciples took advantage of the opportunity thus to serve his brethren, so Jesus did it himself. Jesus then proceeded to draw lessons from this act of courtesy. First he asked, “Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.”—vss. 12-14

Here was a valuable, though menial service. Jesus did not, we think, intend that it be used as a ritual for all of his disciples later to follow, although there are some small groups of professed Christians who have taken this thought from the lesson. The conditions which called for feet-washing were quite different then, and do not exist in most countries today. But it was a wonderful and much appreciated service on the part of most travelers at that time.

But Jesus made it plain that at that time this was a privilege which belonged to his disciples any time the need might arise. He wanted them to display this brotherly interest in one another, even as he had displayed it toward them. Even though he was their Lord and their Master he was glad to humble himself and thus do what he could to make his apostles comfortable.

Humility is one of the characteristics of love. The New English Bible reads on this point: “Love is never boastful nor conceited” (I Cor. 13:5) When love is in control of the heart, the disciple of Christ will not be boastful of any great thing which he may think he has accomplished. He will be just as happy to do the little services for his brethren as those in the world might do only in connection with the “important” things.

In verse 34 of the chapter Jesus is quoted as saying, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” No true Christian will ever say to the Lord that he is willing to do anything he wishes him to do just so long as it is in an executive capacity. The truly consecrated heart will esteem the little and menial services as “important” and will render them gladly.

Verse 35: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” What a summary this is of the intent of Jesus’ ministry as it entered the hearts of his disciples! If they had learned this lesson they were ready to graduate into their great assignment in the working out of the divine plan.

SELF EXAMINATION

When God calls a man to salvation, He calls him into an intimate relationship that thrives on faithfulness and continued devotion. Being infinitely holy Himself, He expects anyone who seeks to have an enduring relationship with Him to desist from all works of darkness and continually walk in the light; to honour Him daily and sincerely seek to please Him; to believe, accept  and abide by the precepts of His word; to make righteousness a way of life; and most importantly, to remain in the hope of heaven by earnestly longing for the second coming of Christ. In summary, it is to live the victorious Christian life.

Now living this victorious life requires the believer to constantly examine himself-his thoughts, words, actions, motives, interactions-in the mirror of Gods word. 2 Corinthians 13 : 5 admonishes, ‘Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith ;prove your own selves .Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you ,except ye be reprobates?’’.If you profess to be saved from sin, then you must examine yourself and ascertain that your salvation is a present reality and not a past glory. You cannot live the victorious life that God purposed for you by relying on a stale, badly-tarnished testimony of a relationship with Christ or by parading a faith that is no longer active or viable. You must live daily with the assurance that should Christ return suddenly or that death strike, you will be with the LORD in heaven.

The standard of God for the truly heaven-bound believer is to have the nature of Christ. To live as He lived. 1 John 2 : 6 says ‘’He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself to work,  even as He walked .’’To walk as Christ walked is, among other things, not having to struggle with besetting sins. It is to be free from pride, covetousness, worldliness, materialism, impatience and lust. It is to be free from moderate and temperate in all things – not engaging in gluttony, talkativeness, time -wastage and not looking down on others or slandering them. It is to desist from half – truth and exaggeration; it is to habitually practise righteousness rather than indulging in sin and promising to repent later.

The experience of salvation is not only obtained but also maintained by absolute submission to the lordship of Christ. You were made a new creature when you yielded your all to Christ, and you must keep abiding in Him to continue to enjoy His presence. The scripture warns in 1 Corinthians 10 : 12,’’Wherefore,let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall’’. There would not have been need for this warning if it were not possible for us to be cut off from God after we were saved. The greatest saint can only stand as long as he can depend on Christ and continue in obedience to the word of God.

Examine yourself today, because God will be more severe with religious sinners than He was with Sodom and Gomorrah(Luke 10 : 12 - 14).He will not excuse anyone who  holds the truth of His word in unrighteousness or uses His grace as a licence to continue sinning. Present  your heart and life before the x-ray of His word now;  take a break from the flurry of activities (whether secular or religious) that surround you and find out if you are still fully at peace and in tune with your God. Isaiah 55: 6 – 7;’’seek ye the Lord while He may be found ,call ye upon him while he is near:let the wicked forsake his way,and the unrighteous man his thoughts:and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him ;and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon’’.

GOSPEL OF PEACE



Before Christ came to the world, we were enemies of God.  Jesus Christ came to bring us peace with God.  When we believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and that God raised him from the dead, we receive righteousness, justification, and peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
John 14:27
  Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ brought peace to those that believe in Him, perfect peace, not as the world gives.
John 16:33
   These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.  In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
   Jesus Christ did not bring peace to the wars of the world.  Jesus Christ did not bring an end to tribulation in the world.  Jesus Christ brought man peace with God!  We are no longer enemies of God.  In Christ we have peace.  We have that which he had; a peaceful relationship with the Father.
Ephesians 2:13-18
   But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
   For he is our peace [peace offering], who hath made both [Jews and Gentiles] one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
   Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
   And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
   And came and preached peace to you which were afar off [Gentiles], and to them that were nigh [Jews].
   For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
 We are no longer at enmity with God or one another as believers in the body of Christ.  Jesus Christ got rid of the separation between man and God.  We ALL have access to God by the work of Christ.  We all have peace with God.
Romans 10:8-10, 15b
   But what saith it?  The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach:
   That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
   For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. . . .
   . . . How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
   The good news that we preach, the gospel of peace, is that if a man or woman confesses with their mouth the Lord Jesus and believes in their heart that God raised him from the dead, that person gets saved.  That person is at peace with God.  That person has the same access to God as the Lord Jesus Christ.  Now that is certainly glad tidings of good things!
   Each of the epistles written to the church, and each of the leadership epistles written to individual believers begin with a greeting reminding us of the grace of God given us in Christ and of the peace we have from God and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians 1:2
   Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ;
Galatians 1:3
   Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,
Colossians 1:2
   To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 1:1
   Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Timothy 1:2
   To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Titus 1:4
   To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.
 1 Timothy 1:2
   Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

Philemon 1:3
   Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
    God does not just repeat words.  Each time a greeting is sent to the believers as a group or to individuals in the church, the Word of God records grace and peace from God and from the Lord Jesus Christ.  It must be important to God that we recognize the peace given us in Christ.  Now, we can share the gospel of peace every place we go.
Ephesians 6:15
   And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
   There are many other scriptures in the church epistles written to us that tell us about peace in action in our lives.  Galatians and Philippians talk about peace as one of the fruit of the spirit that guards our hearts.  Colossians talks about peace ruling in our hearts.  And Ephesians talks about endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the binding of peace. As we accept our Lord Jesus Christ, may His peace continually reign in our lives.

What does it take to live a life of faith?

You are welcome to this special part of our Gospel Points on faith. I will use about 10 minutes of your time to show you briefly what it takes to live a life a of faith. I hope it will bless you immensely as I intend to make it as practical as possible. There are 2 things I will expose here. They are meant to increase your awareness of the faith life and what it takes to live it. Let’s begin.

1.     It takes courage. 

I will want you to notice what God told Joshua as he was about to embark on his own journeys of faith. See it from Josh 1:7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.”  For you to live by faith, you need to be very courageous. Faith is not for the weakling! It is for the strong and courageous. I would say that the first block on the foundation of faith is courage. Courage gives you extreme boldness to face any opposition to your journey of faith; it gives you strong carefulness to obey God’s law and makes you successful wherever you go! Cowardice and panic are the opposite of courage. Men of great faith are men of brave courage. So to live a life of faith you must be very brave in all you dare to do for God.  I will want you to notice that God took special time to instruct Joshua ever before he took his first faith steps to be very courageous! Notice this also in the following scriptures: Josh 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." Here it is God’s commandment to be courageous. I want to round up this point by stating that Bro. Joshua actually turned out to be strong and courageous and eventually became a preacher of courage. See this in Josh 10:25 “Joshua said to them, "Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous. This is what the Lord will do to all the enemies you are going to fight." This is Joshua defeating the five kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon by faith and courage. You may read the full story in Joshua chapter 10. When your faith mixes with courage, you will be able to defeat even kings! I will expect to see you a man of faith and a preacher of courage. That is the first thing it takes to live a life of faith. Let’s see the second.

2.     It takes knowledge. I will not hesitate to discuss this. I love it and I know you will too. See 2 Peter 1:5-6 “…make every effort to add to your faith… knowledge” From that passage, God wants us to add 7 things to our faith and the second among them is knowledge. The second thing it takes to live a life of faith is knowledge. Let me appreciate the passage in Hos 4:6 “my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests” I once have described knowledge as Know-to-the-edge – that is to say it requires total or extreme knowing, to the edge.

Follow me on the next post for details on the faith life! I hope this post has blessed your life today.