Love One to Another
by Raymond Sloan
March 25, 2021 · Cornerstone Apostolic Church
Kind: teaching
Scripture: John 13:21-30, John 13:31-35

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/raymond-sloan--love-one-to-another
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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i believe that prayer works you've come too late to tell me it doesn't i've seen god work some pretty miraculous things every day in my life who will help me pray tonight come on pray with me lord we love you we are thankful for the power for the joy for the incredible anointing that is in your word that's on the church thank you for that thank you lord for the opportunity to gather together tonight in this place oh god to draw near to you to understand you to be lord to fall to do god what you want us to do to fall in love with you and to be god what you'd want us to be tonight we call upon the name of the lord jesus there is no other name no other name tonight lord that we call upon only you i pray lord that you would move upon the needs of your people you're a healer i pray tonight for provision i pray god for these families that have had loss i pray lord tonight for those that are hurting those that are sick lord i pray for roy and anthony i pray for christian and wendy and gloria and herb and kathy and kara and beverly and ken and sheila the oakley for oakley and a family for tyrone for a penny for donny for jonathan for tanner and desmond edwina for shannon and emily i pray lord god for each one of these you know what they are we speak today lord those names out knowing god that you have all the answers to them pray for the united states of america lord i pray for chattanooga and our community i believe you for revival in our day i believe you lord jesus for the revelation of who you are god that will sweep our world in jesus name be god in our lives tonight we honor you and love you and we trust you for great things tonight blessed be the name of the lord blessed be the name of the lord come on would you just love him now for a moment lord i love you and i thank you the opportunity to be here the opportunity to know you and to have fellowship with you i thank you for it jesus i thank you for it in jesus wonderful name we pray somebody say amen amen look at your neighbor and say god's gonna do it believing in that amen also don't forget before you're seated you can start reaching around for your phone in your bible and somebody else's wallet whatever i'm joking um you can go on the app and give and give over here in the offering plate or as you go out the door for those of you that are following the plan of god for your finances and giving amen you can be seated i want to welcome all of you to yet another session wednesday night bible study so good that uh that we're all in here if you got your bibles out we're gonna be reading those probably most of it uh or at least a few portions right we are in the middle of another series of fundamental let's call them foundational blocks for the church that's what our theme is for 2021 as we are looking at the fundamental uh basic established principles that god gave us as the church okay uh tonight we will continue in the the series on love look at your neighbor and say i love you tell somebody come on some of y'all didn't say it love you horton at least enough to go to heaven come on turn to somebody tell them i love you y'all young people ain't said a word turn to somebody and tell them i love you or i'm going to embarrass all of you no there you go gotta love love makes the world go around right that is a powerful and a potent portion of what god has for us as the church i know that as again last week i used that same analogy that as much as as we in 2021 at times we're uncomfortable with telling someone you love them or they'll misunderstand or or you may have a lawsuit or something you know because of it the truth is is we love love will take care of a whole lot of things amen what goes along with that now of course there is conflict and confusion in our world because love is misused it's misused it's it's misguided in many ways um a lot of times the way that the world thinks is that if you mention jesus that anybody today in the in in your work day at school wherever you were did anyone today verbalize outspoken voice say the name jesus lift your hand why did you do it j words okay why else see well hopefully it wasn't in a derogatory way if so put that hand down you'll have to be up here in a while uh many times quite honestly i feel like in our culture we've we've mentioned this before calling on the name of the lord jesus sometimes can be misunderstood okay uh last week we looked at perfect love brother gibson the week prior looked at three kinds of love or three different mentions of love and then on the outset um god so loved that he gave um fear we discovered last week with fear in your life it will hinder and stop much of what god wants to do but perfect love understanding its principles and precepts perfect love what does it do to fear it pushes it out it cast it out when you've got that fear out of the picture you now have the ability to communicate freely with the one who created you amen and then you know that he loves you and you then will reciprocate that back to him the action the attitude that the enemy does not want you to have is love all right he wants you to be mean hateful upset mad not love nobody just kind of show out if you will in the flesh so before we move further turn to someone else and say i love you some of y'all didn't say it no you all said it to the same person okay all right again i'm trying to help you get over that intimidation of those i don't even know them so all the more you ought to love them what if you knew them you probably wouldn't love him i didn't just say that let's go to the book of john tonight the book of john tonight we're going to talk about our love one to another okay john chapter 13 if you have that in your bible or on your phone or your apparati would you say amen john chapter 13 verse 21 through we're going to go to 30 this time cody you got that buddy loud as you can read start and read slow don't read real fast because we'll lose you john chapter 13 verse 21 go man wait can everybody hear him speak up say it you don't need to mike just speak loud stop you're gonna have to do better than that come on it's a football game that voice oh you're a quiet person all right let's go over that start again one on another okay 24 keep going keep going 25 keep going all the way to 30. stop um let's carry on yep no on this unto him yep verse 29. very good okay did everybody remember this story by in in in one of your bible classes or sunday school class okay uh very simply here we're all aware of the circumstance all right this is the situation to where the this is if you will coming to the end of a very very powerful and incredible ministry of the man jesus okay interesting to note jesus is spending intimate personal time with this group of followers okay how do we know this if you will in our modern day verbage what do we call this time the what no okay that's good but this particular scene in our world is known as the last supper right that okay that that's the image that all of us can can picture in our brains and it is indeed quality time but but here's the thing this feast is underway they have prepared for it as jesus told them to do they have done exactly what was commanded how long have they been with jesus up to this point approximately about three years about three years now some of course knew him before and all but in ministry time about three years so this this was very very customary to them and they were very comfortable with this all right much that had happened up till this night would prove to these followers of jesus that he actually knew what he was talking about he knew exactly what was about to come in fact what the disciples were going to see from that point forward was an incredible unraveling if you will of an old testament prophecies that had been wrapped up for a long time they would begin to unfold right before their very eyes okay isaiah talked about it jeremiah spoke of it some of the old prophets spoke of this time that was coming of course they're living in the moment so to them they're just scratching their heads saying this is surely a good time to be together jesus knew what was going to transpire very interesting here how that in the written word that we see here in john the bible says that that he was troubled in his spirit speaking of jesus right and being i don't know about you but i would probably feel bad if i knew that i was troubling the lord but yet we we do that we do that a lot don't we in our actions and attitudes and whatnot he's not put off by it it's just simply he's like you know what if you would just okay here's the thing the bible says that jesus says one of you in this room you're going to betray me of course they're all looking at one another probably several of them thought they knew i knew it hannah i knew it's him yeah you could tell you could just tell yeah but it's just he was at that attitude you know yeah they're back and forth looking back and forth looking and and john the one that's laying up next to him in that image you see at the painting if you will hey lord who is it and he said i'm not going to tell you a name but i'm going to hand a piece of this sop this bread that we're partaking of i'm going to dip it in a mixture and it's part of the meal that we partake of and who i hand it to is going to be the going to be the one that is going to betray me now i'm not sure and it doesn't really say how many heard what jesus said but if i had been there no i'm good i don't want no stop i don't know what i'm saying no i'm good i'm full i'm full i i just had a big meal before i come in you know y'all go home and enjoy it because i knew what jesus was saying here he gives it to judas what listen to this what happened when jesus handed judas the sob what's it say before then satan just that quick that quick the wheel was turning now we all realized that there was probably already some communication and contact that judas had had but the enemy this devil's slew foot when everyone called him the deceiver he didn't get in him until he took of that sop for prophecy's sake he then went out and they're all still sitting around saying what's going on here what's happening it's night time out there it's the feast if he goes out after dark during the feast anybody on the street that sees him according to custom is going to think that he is not following the rules of passover and he could actually be called a heretic because he's not doing exactly what the law was you get in your house your staff what did they do in the old testament before they left egypt anybody remember what they do though what'd he tell him to do get dressed get in behind the door put the blood stay there until what until you hear the command you with me okay stay on it so judas leaves jesus is there he he's still in that mode of ministering all these disciples these followers are looking at one another trying to figure out what just happened here there was the bread there was the food the wine the things that they were partaking of all of this understand had a purpose for them to have later in their lives a point of contact from when things began to go very quickly into the crucifixion of jesus christ all of these prophecies that had been given from old testament days were somehow still in the mix here and jesus is is is trying to get these guys to realize what is about to transpire the reason that we have read this portion of script i thought pastor you was going to talk about love where i'm headed but there's a reason that this is in this particular portion of scriptures that we are here into tonight it is because the context of the setting in which they were facing jesus is about to die now they don't know that but jesus is about to die there's all this stuff going on in the midst of this somebody's going to betray me and they're looking at one another they've got now questions and murmurs and rumors and stuff and they're they're scooting around they're they're one talking to each other what do you think how's this going and there's this activity happening these guys and the faith that they had and what jesus could do was definitely being put to the test and they weren't now you and i are very fortunate 2021 what do we have in our hands the bible so we can read the end of the story these guys were living it so they didn't know with me they are going to have to understand what is transpiring right now where they are because for generations and generations to come what were they told to do in this meal this do in what in remembrance of me get what's going on here this is not a trip to mcdonald's this isn't just a sunday afternoon meal and later get a good nap this is going to be life-changing for eons and generations to come these men hear this left in this room with jesus we're going to be the world changers ask your neighbor are you a world changer now people are people agreed anyone here not a person okay we have a couple okay everybody's like which one you know who raised their hand we are flawed humanity contrary to your mind you are not perfect contrary to the one sitting behind you or in front of you or wherever you are full of issues you don't think you are wait till you walk out this door tonight and figure out the issues why'd he pull out in front of me god bless you hey come to my church yeah don't tell them that we are flawed humanity we are very adequate in our ability to fail and fall are we not that's what we have been built when you are born in sin and you're you're shaped in an iniquity there is no telling what you can do there is no telling how far your mind and your spirit and your desires can take you and except for the power of the blood of jesus christ you would continue to follow that sinful lifestyle how many are thankful for the blood of jesus well these guys they're in the middle of this this situation is unfolding as they're in it as humanity is shaped in a sinful style in a sinful way realize humanity holds within their lungs the breath of god god gave humanity that breath but yet that humanity is well able to sin and falter it is only one thing that you can do to change that and that is to make a conscious decision and let conviction work and repent of your sins turn around from it let jesus christ come in and do a work on your heart anybody ever repented before okay stay with me when you allow the sin nature that you have to be put to death then you understand that now it's no longer your will it's his it's it's no longer just simply you messing up but you have the ability because you have an advocate with the father where you can have that in between keep you on the straight and narrow when you come out of the grave of baptism what happens to you you are now considered a what new creature what happened to your old ways they became what they died and your old man became a new one now here you are are you still able to sin you can fail can't you you can mess up bad i'm i'm not really sure that i understand in the scriptures and i've been through many bible studies with many different other biblical theologians and they try to explain to me that once you once you know jesus then that's it and the rest of your life live it like you want to and i i don't think my bible says that it doesn't i've even been told before don't get sidetracked but i've been told before by by some that when you know the name jesus you are now perfect and you cannot sin i looked at them and said you just sinned uh-uh you just lied well no no no no no no no well you mean no no no no that's what you just did prove it well you proved to me that you're still perfect they he looked and he said because the bible says no no no no i can look square in your eye and i can see imperfections your hair is not parted right you got a zit right there how deep you want to go oh you're being silly tell me i'm being silly you don't want to open the can of worms finally he said well we'll just agree to disagree and i said i don't agree with that i don't know what else to say am i wrong come on eli don't leave me out here by myself no no okay finally it came down to are you trying to pick a fight with me he said are you trying to pick a fight with me i said do we doing this in the flesh or the spirit because i tell you one thing we're going in the flesh here you better make sure i'm dead when i hit that floor because if i come up katie bar that door right there we finna have a come to jesus on the other side of that door hear what i'm saying when you go to the word of the lord listen in the group of disciples that were the closest to jesus in this place in that midst satan was there something was going to have to happen and jesus was doing everything he could to teach and instruct and get something into these men to where they would comprehend that their humanity was very frail and very capable of falling judas goes out he's full of satan now and man his life is on a big old fast course he does the deed that he had looked for he sells jesus out for a mere 30 pieces of silver and then afterwards what does he do he kills himself boy there you go how much is your life worth i here we go no surprise to jesus but very confusing to all the rest of them do you hear what judas did did you hear what he he left there and he went and struck a deal with the sanhedrin and when when when he when he was feeling so bad i'm not sure what really happened but i understand that he went out and he hanged himself and then i'm not sure how it all happened but but i i've heard rumors saying that that the the handful of silver coins they used it to to put towards a parcel of land to bury those who had nobody but the other 11 are still in the room and understanding something here we are now at the lesson tonight notice what happens after judas walks out of the room john chapter 13 verse number 31 still there in your bible therefore when he was gone out jesus said now is the son of man glorified and god is glorified in him verse 32 if god be glorified in him y'all with me god shall also glorify him in himself and shall straightway glorify him 33 little children notice what he's saying here yet a little while and i am with you ye shall seek me and as i said unto the jews whether i go you cannot come so now i say to you verse 34 a new commandment everybody say new a new commandment i give unto you ready that you love one another as i have loved you that ye also love one another verse 35 by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if you have love one to another notice that it's a continuance of what had just transpired in that particular feast they're looking at one another who's going to betray jesus who's going to be the one that sells him out he walks out the door the door gently closes or slams whatever it was and the bible says that when he was out jesus says to those who stayed around now it's gonna get real good i had a lot of things i've been wanting to talk to you all about but i couldn't because i got flesh here holding me but now you're fixing to see glory because i'm going to be glorified now something in the interaction that i have with you is going to change now here's the question that jesus is posing to those sitting around him in that particular night the bible says it's nighttime right he is saying to them through these series of statements the only way you're going to know what is going on after this night is by the love that you have for each other because if you don't love one another no one out here is going to think that you knew me but the only way they're going to know that you knew me is how your love one to another you know what he says now with the son of man glorified the creator glorified in him him created to glorify god this is not a separation of a big god a little man this is each one complimenting one another to understand the power of unification that said the revelation now of the glorified man jesus is released and these guys sitting around the table i don't know what i would have said except the only thing i could think of is what what i mean my mind and its sinful human nature i don't know that i could have grasped it and so jesus what happens after jesus hung on the cross went into the grave the grave opened he came out what does the bible say he did he spent what 40 days with them doing many infallible proofs it's in that time that what he had demonstrated to them in that chamber of the feast you're going to love each other and that's how folk are going to know who you are and then with these things that he's doing these powerful actions and instructions that he's giving there's only one there's only one way friend and this is going to be just as carnal as i can get there's only one way that peter could have stood up on the day of pentecost with the others and preached a message to where they all said amen that's because love would have been the center point of it come on i can pick three of y'all right now and give you a task and you'll just sit and look at each other i think we need to do that no i think look i'm the older i know wait a minute i'm the leader i'll see when we can go go i mean you know you'll have this going on and some will be back and some about all right it's humans you got these guys standing there 120s in the upper room the streets are filling up with folk and they're all saying with the rest of them he's preaching and every one of them saying that's exactly what happened how are these guys doing this man i feel something you know what they felt the spirit of god working with the unity of love hang on to me for just a few more minutes jesus said i'm going to leave you soon and where i'm going you can't go i don't want you to go where i'm going you don't need to be there because that's not your purpose this is my purpose to do this so that you can have your purpose because when i'm gone from here i'm gonna leave in this world a comforter and with that comforter that comfort that comes from the glory of god is going to be what makes the difference in this present world and you know how they're going to know that the comfort is in you anybody here have the gift of the holy ghost spoken tongue anybody go ahead lift your hand don't be ashamed of it come on you ought to shout yes anybody here remember what you did right after god filled you with the holy ghost and you spoke in tongues anybody remember what'd you tell him and what'd he do and what'd you do and then what and then what no you didn't yeah i bet you somewhere in that you didn't walk up to him and go um pastor i have a news update for you for anyone who didn't i got a feeling because you were like probably 99 and a half percent of the rest of it just like us you're bawling and squalling and snotting and you just fell on him crying and love was moving anybody ever watched somebody receive the wonderful gift of the holy ghost and their countenance changed you know what just happened is love lifted them i can tell you what i did i just fell all apart cause i'd been screaming for it for three nights at a junior high youth camp and when i finally received it and i got and i called my mom when i couldn't oh my goodness you know you get a horse for me all through camp well i just loved everybody anybody remember that i mean as far as you were concerned the sky was a different shade of blue birds sounded better and flew smoother i don't know if birds can fly unsmooth but everything just looked different tell me the holy ghost ain't the best thing ever happened to you if your life isn't changed and love come in and overshadow you you uh better question what happened to you you want to know oh lord help me stay on track i'm trying to stay on this clock jesus says i'm giving you a new command something new is about to happen what's the command jesus love each other you love one another love one another love one another come on at the outset of this class last week and tonight i said look at somebody telling you love them some of you had no shame whatsoever look over and say i love you some of you you're like you know you know this is how i get away with when i don't really know the person i love y'all see that way you're just kind of just out there y'all know what i'm talking about i love y'all yeah i love y'all too that way it's just kind of generic-y just cuz it's out there when i say samuel i love you that's directly to sam and anything that's inside of him now begins to get fall apart because perfect love removes a fear if i haven't said to my wife 15 times a day that i love her do you think she questions my love probably not but if i go a month that way i'll be lucky to be alive why now y'all stay with me i'm watching my clock we're still okay if the followers of jesus if the followers of jesus were truly going to be known as disciples of jesus there was one thing that would identify them not their cac shirt not the logo on their hat or their car it ain't gonna be what signs on the door out there nor what kind of fellowship card they have it is gonna be because of their love one to another jesus gave to the church the power the purpose and the presence that they would need to turn the world upside down he gives the key to everybody and that key is loving each other that is the sign of a true follower of jesus now as i bring the the the wheels out to land this thing right after judas steps out the door right after the the bread being given to him the the words that were going through the crowd satan enters into him and and the task begins at that point jesus knew exactly what was about to transpire he's going to the garden and what's he going to do he's going to pray when he got to the garden what did he tell him watch and pray right right here you just wait right there right there and he goes a little further what's he do when he prays now this is the word of god made flesh praying the word of god and then he does what he comes back to this group and they are earnestly in a prayer meeting aren't they not at all what are they doing lord help us to understand why that happened after jesus even said to them somebody here is going to betray me and he says to them they're going to know you as my disciples because of your loved one to another and straightway they go out and they come back and they didn't realize the power of love when jesus was doing the work in them come on pray with me can't you just pray an hour he goes what do you think the disciples did when he walked away i really don't think they just fell back over i don't because they're probably like a lot of us whoo yeah we're going to do it this time lord lord lord oh glory glory now probably three four minutes into that lord i'm gonna sit right here and just i'm one's gonna dwell yeah i'm just gonna get i'm just gonna dwell with you lord um peter this is a quiet prayer time come on how many times have you said to the lord i'll do better next time oh god don't let me meddle lord just give me another yeah i can pray with you an hour so what did jesus do when pray comes back what are they doing they're sleeping again i really don't think that they had full intention of going see the lip you got to have it i think they're like us how many comes the prayer chain and you're on fire for the first 30 minutes huh and then you're looking at your walk don't see it now all right i prayed for everything and everybody i know lord hey i'll go back through it i don't want to do just lord uh you know and and 31 minutes into it has longer than last prayer chain now i i know folk you know them they can pray for hours and hours and feel like it moment i've been in that mode not even realizing the clock when i come here for prayer chain i set all my stuff down out the way i don't want that bothering me 99 of the time i don't have music or nothing playing i want quiet with god i don't need the words of a song playing because then my mind goes on them and every hour i need thee or some of these new songs this is how i bite my battles y'all know that's pastors right i'm coming to a close listen to me carefully even when we make terrible decisions and choices in our lives we can overcome those by the love of jesus christ that works in us it doesn't mean that we condone sin and that we say it's okay to be a sinner it simply means that the lifestyle the shame the guilt all of that the conviction that comes when we falter and fall and sin and fail and land on our faces cause should cause us every time to realize and understand that in spite of the failure and the fault love can pick us up sins can be dealt with there is power in repentance if you don't believe that you're in the wrong religion there is power in the repentant heart lord i'm i need i want to do right please forgive and cleanse me i'm going to turn from that again i'm going to follow after you and i love you lord i want your love to shine through me god can still restore you the great challenge for all of us is to be a witness for jesus christ agreed and more than just saying i'm a silent witness yeah i'm one of them yeah i don't say a lot but boy i live the life and a lot of times that gets us in trouble because i've met a lot of folk out there that look the part but boy they were far from it i'm sorry you apostolic no oh what i was thinking i don't know i thought that love you no you don't you're right i take it back stand up with me please tonight this month of foundational teaching january we talked about the foundation of the word of god the power of the word of god february came and brother gibson did an incredible job of giving time talent treasure giving we we have started since then our are giving affirmation to where we pray this prayer on sundays guys god's opening doors i don't care what you say i believe it's because we're praying in united prayer i believe that because we are understanding what giving is that god is making a way for things what if the same way that we pray that prayer expecting god to give we love one another knowing that god is getting exalt exalted through that because people outside will see our love for each other isn't it possible that your life can be changed because his love shines through you pastor sometimes it's hard to love somebody i know i know now i didn't point to nobody y'all don't look at nobody won't just stare at me it's okay i realize there's challenges but you know what can happen when you begin to snuff out your ability to love is fear begins to settle in and you have lost that perfect love because you have forgotten how much he loves you pray with me right now would you jesus jesus we love you we are thankful for the power of love as we love each other god i believe that the church can grow and mature and prosper and that the world at chattanooga can see our love for each other and then they can see you through that we're not backbiting one another we're not murmuring and complaining about each other we're loving one another lord and working through our faults and issues and failures we're we're coming to the house of the lord we're living it on the street we're living it in our homes we are allowing the love of god to move and to flow within us and change us and to make us lord what you want for us to be i plead the blood of jesus right now over this church i rebuke the enemy that's trying to discourage and sell us out in jesus name i believe that love can overcome so many things and i'm trusting you god that our witness and our testimony is going to change this community lord as we love one another god and the power of love is seen throughout chattanooga i believe right now revival can happen because of love i believe the revelation of the oneness of god can happen because of love i believe that our nation can be turned around right now to run to you jesus if we'll love help us tonight it is fundamentally important god that we stand upon you and the love that you have for us in jesus name i plead your blood over us the church each family every individual go with us lord god as we leave this place let us ever love you and trust you we're going to come back this weekend lord expecting miracles signs and wonders we're going to come back lord this weekend expecting and believing that you're going to fill somebody with the glorious gift of the holy ghost they'll speak in tongues as the spirit of god gives utterance we believe you for that lord we trust you for that lord it's not by might nor power but it's your spirit that makes the difference i love you i trust you and i believe in you in jesus name we pray somebody say man