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Judas went out. He had made his decision. He had deliberately made the commitment to betray Jesus. He opted for the choice which permitted Satan to control him totally. To manipulate him for his evil purposes.

"Therefore, when he (Judas) was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God be glorified in Him, God shall also glorify Him in Himself, and shall straightway glorify Him."

The Lord Jesus was motivated by love. Love to the uttermost. Love to the Father. The love which always obeyed no matter how high the cost. Love to man, even as he was lost and enslaved in sin.

The Lord Jesus was confident. He knew that His obedient love would result in the Father being glorified.

"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."

They could not go with Him through the suffering and sacrifice of the cross. Not yet! Later, yes. But, not yet!

He then reveals to them the principle which is to be of the utmost importance to them. While they may not be able to understand all that He is to do, all that he is to accomplish, it was important that they do begin to understand: WHY?

It is in this vital principle that we have the central theme of the true Christian life. It was so critical that they began to understand that principle. It is so equally essential that we today understand that same principle.

"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another."

The Lord Jesus had revealed to them the fact of the presence of the traitor. Judas had persisted in rejecting the invitation and entreaties of grace. He had gone out from their fellowship with the specific purpose of betraying the Lord Jesus.

He was motivated by selfcentered greed. He found it so easy to justify to himself all that he was about to do. His decision, along with his actions, reveal that he was totally unwilling to die to self. Perverted selflove and exaggerated selfpreservation drove him on relentlessly.

But he was certainly not alone in harboring those debased selfserving attitudes. All of the other disciples were caught, to a greater or lesser degree, in the same trap of the world. The philosophy that everything revolves around: self!

Remember: "There was also a strife amongst them, which of them should be accounted the greatest!"(Luke 22: 24).

Strife! Contention! Heated argument! They were all motivated by their wildly inflated sense of selfimportance.

In true love, the Lord Jesus had washed their feet. In exaggerated selfglorification they claimed to be the greatest.

“I am the greatest!” Which means, you cannot be as great as I am! I deserve all the honor. The prestige. The power. The praise!

Something had gone wrong! It is so very obvious that they were not listening to the Lord Jesus. Nor interested in His Word.

Today it is the same. People are still not listening to the Lord Jesus. They set His Word aside as they relentlessly chase their own selfcentered goals. They are like: "Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence" (3 John 9)

While Jesus said, "I am among you as He who serveth" (Luke 22 27), they argued at the table about their claims to greatness.

Their attitude implied: that may be great for you, Lord, to take the place of the servant. But for us things must be different. We do not think that You understand our circumstances. That is the attitude of the vast majority of "Christians" today.

What does that suggestion really mean? It means that we are attempting to tell the Lord Jesus that we know better than He does! That attitude is far too common today.

"Strife!" "Contention!" In Galatians 5: 20 Paul includes “strife” in “the works of the flesh!” It is not spiritual at all. It is always of the flesh. The attitude of an immature, worldlyminded, and carnal Christian.

As they went out from the Last Supper, "Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of Me this night."(Mark 14: 27).

Peter dared to arrogantly disagree with Jesus! He said, "Although all be offended, yet will not I!" (Verse 29).

Jesus in love then warned selfconfident Peter. "Thou shalt deny Me thrice!"(Verse 30). That really made Peter angrily defensive. He contradicted Jesus in the strongest terms he could muster, And: "Likewise said they all!" (Verse 31).

Self! On the throne! Selflove in control! Self-confidence asserting its strident claims! Willful self-justification daring to correct the Lord Jesus!

Self! That is still our problem! The old man. That wretched, belligerent old carnal self. Jesus commanded, "Deny self!" "Put off that vile old man!" Our answer: Never!

Yet, we so loudly protest that we are faithful Christians. Born again believers. And, We know! Yet, because we are so very full of self, we have so very little likeness to the Lord Jesus.

"A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.''

The Lord Jesus had been asked, "Master, which is the great commandment in the law?" (Matthew 22: 36)

His response: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind''

"Love!" The first and greatest commandment: “Love God!" The second: “Love thy neighbor!” Love is the key!

The Lord Jesus added: "The New Commandment!" This was His Word to His disciples. It is still His Word to us. Even as it is the clear and decisive statement of His will for us in every area of our lives today!

The emphasis of "The New Commandment" is quite unmistakable. "Love one another!" As the Lord Jesus spoke those words to His contentious disciples, He drove the nails of crucifixion through their selfcentered strife.

Paul reminds us, "Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory!'' (Philippians 2: 2, 3). The contrast: "Love" over against: "Strife and vain glory!''

"The works of the flesh ... strife!" "The fruit of the Spirit is love" (Galatians 5: 19, 20, 22).

Not as Peter compared his love to that of the other disciples. Or as so many do today. Comparing their "love" with that of others so as to make themselves look good.

This is the comparison the Lord Himself demands: "As I have loved you!" You must compare the love you have to one another with your experience of My love to you! What a challenge that is. That stops all of our selfserving foolishness.

It is in this that we have the key to understanding the Christian life. The fact that everything must focus on the Lord Jesus Christ. There can be no exception whatsoever.

How can others tell whether or not we are really true disciples of the Lord Jesus? Whether in fact we are really living the true Christian life?

The Lord Himself answers that question decisively. All men shall know when they see the evidence that we love one another. When that love for one another is of the same quality as the love of our Lord for us.

This means that people do have every right to evaluate us according to this standard. So that when they see strife and contention, they know we are not genuine!

Judged by that standard, is it any wonder that so many unsaved people respond to “Christians” as they do. They see our attitudes to one another. The selfishness and selfwill. The strife, contentions, and cliques. They do not find the crucial evidence which the Lord said would convince them.

In The Revelation ch.2 the Lord evaluated the Church at Ephesus. He commended them on their hard work, their strong discipline, and their sound doctrine.

He saw the evidence of their suffering. Also, He took careful notice of their perseverance in that suffering.

Even so, He was compelled to say, "I have somewhat against thee, . . . thou hast left thy first love"(Verse 4).

Return to that first love. Or else, you give Me no choice. "I . . . will remove thy candlestick out of his place"(Verse 5).

Everything else looked so very good. But this was the crucial issue: LOVE! That was the evidence which He had sought. The vital witness that they were actually His disciples. That it was a true Church.

That is still the vital evidence He seeks today. In US. In our lives. That is the essential witness. We dare not attempt to change that fact: “Love one another as I have loved you.”

Lord in His grace and wisdom has acted decisively with the purpose of revealing His love. With Him it is not a matter of mere words. Yes, He had given us His Word. His Word stands strong and sure. But He has given much more.

He presents us with the most decisive evidence. Evidence which can be examined and evaluated, providing convincing proof.

"So Loved!" The Evidence of love: “He gave!” God's love is always active. Working. Providing amazing proof. Both as to the reality and the extent of His love. The evidence of His love in our lives is equally wonderful. By believing, we do "not perish but have everlasting life!"

Lord Jesus said, "As I have loved you!" He gave clear and decisive evidence of His love for them. For us!

He would take us again to the Upper Room. "Having love His own!" He girded Himself with a towel and washed their feet! That is the evidence of His love!(see John 13: 4 - 11).

There He so graciously and so patiently dealt with them. Even Peter. Even Judas. That is love!

He would take us out to the Garden. There to hear Him say, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death" (Matthew 26: 38). To hear Him pray, "0 My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt"(Verse 39) That is love!

To watch, and deeply wonder. "Being in an agony He prayed more earnestly" (Luke 22: 44). That is love!

Observe as He is taken to those trials. Is falsely accused. Vilely abused. Mocked. Ridiculed. Spat upon. All for us! That is love!

As they take Him out to Golgotha. There they crucify Him. He chooses to die for us. To save us. That is love!

We hear that cry of utter and total desolation. "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"(Mark 15: 34). That is love!

We must see it all. Hear it all. To be humbled and broken by it all. For it is this that He is speaking about when He says, "Love one another as I HAVE LOVED YOU!"

Nothing can ever replace that reality. Nothing reduce the incredibly awesome requirement which it places on us. There is no where else to begin. No other example that is to be permitted. Nothing, but this!

He is Lord. In genuine love for Him we not only accept His Word, we willingly apply it, in personal, willing, humble devotion. We are motivated by wanting only and always to honor and glorify Him. What does this require of us?

"We ought!" That is a strong personal obligation. Of binding, inescapable debt! "We owe!" Nothing less than that.

There can be no alternative. No evasion. To love the Lord means we have no choice. That we will look for no other way.

For us to attempt to set aside this requirement reveals two things. First, We do not understand the love of the Lord Jesus for us. Second, our claim to love Him is false.

The love of the Lord Jesus for us was for our salvation. Our sanctification. Our growth in grace to spiritual maturity. To be fully equipped to serve.

Our love for one another must express the identical objectives. Seeking their full and close personal relationship with the Lord Jesus.

Thus, we will give ourselves sacrificially to build. Not to tear down. Encourage, not criticize. Humbly serve in love, not be contentious.

That Christlike love for them may well call for us having to experience the agony of Gethsemane. For bearing false accusation. Even mockery. To give all that we have and all that we are for them.

Paul write, "I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved"(2 Corinthians 12: 15) That is the love the Lord requires of us. "Love one another as I have loved you!"

“And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgement; That ye may approve things that are excellent” (Philippians 1: 9, 10).

Love others, according to sound spiritual knowledge and judgement, which is: discernment. That is, always keep the highest good of the one loved to the fore.

Because of this requirement, there will be many times that true love has to say, "No!" Because the one loved is seeking something that would hurt, not help, them. At times we are accused of being unloving for saying "No!" in such circumstances. Yet our duty is clear.

"Approve the things that are excellent!"according to God's standard of that which is excellent! Follow His Word!

"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?"

Many loudly profess to love one another. Yet fail this vital test, when we have the things our brother is in need of, true love shares!. To refuse, is to reveal our sheer hypocrisy!

Many loudly boast about their love. But too often such love is revealed to be nothing but the empty selfserving love of the world.

"My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue: but in deed and in truth."

Do not just talk about loving one another. Do it! Live it! Live it out in all the fullness of the glorious reality which we see in our Lord Jesus Christ. He lived love to the uttermost. Lived love out to the final sacrifice of the cross. Nothing less than that will ever measure up. "Love, as I have loved you!" That is the genuine love of the true Christian life. Being totally expendable to build others up in their faith and in their walk with the Lord.

There are so many Christians today who live, talk, and act as though this is not the case. Their attitude to the Church is so negative. So critical. So unloving.

Many are so quick to justify such negative attitudes. They obviously feel that when The Lord Jesus loves the Church, it is not that Church of which they are a member.

To such, this statement is: abstract. But, the Lord Jesus does not speak of some vague abstract Church. He loves specific Churches. Actual Churches. He assures us: Where two or three are gathered in His Name, that is His Church. He is there!

This is that local Church of which we are a part. He loves that Church. He gave Himself for that Church. He loves, and gave Himself for everyone who makes up that Church. Specifically: for that Church and for those people!

His body was broken on the cross, so that that Church would be His body! As His body that Church is the temple of the Holy Spirit. He means exactly that. All that. Our attitude to that Church should reveal our full agreement with His Word concerning His Church.

The consciousness of that fact should strike home with us, to have the most humbling effect. Forever changing our attitudes. Our evaluation. Our understanding of the Church.

It will have a profound effect on what we say about the Church, and about the people who make up the Church He loves.

Criticism, faultfinding, and gossip will all die. All negative and destructive attitudes will go. How could we be negative to that which He loves so much? Rather, we will seek to love as He loves. To give ourselves sacrifically.

We will not willingly hurt the Church He died for. Understanding that He poured out His precious blood for the Church, we would rather give the last drop of our blood than to see reproach come on His Church.

"Love one another as I have loved you!" This is exactly what He means. Nothing less than that.

"Sanctify it!" That emphasis is essential to the focus of His love. That is the objective of such sacrificial love. To redeem the Church to Himself, then set it aside as being holy, worthy of God. Worthy of the purposes of God.

"As I have loved you"is the commitment to set us apart as being made holy, and thus, worthy. Worthy of belonging to God. Worthy of serving Him.

In His sacrifice of love He reaches down to redeem the most unworthy. By His blood He cleanses. By His broken body He makes whole. Through His Spirit He sanctifies. The end result is to be the pure Church which He creates for the glory of the Father.

Because we love Him, we willingly accept His objective and aim for His Church as our own. We seek to love as He loves. Therefore, in the fellowship of the Church we are committed to move together to achieve His goal.

The reality of sanctification is maintained by this vital method. The constant use of the Word of God.

Those who love the Lord, love His Word. They live in His Word. They walk daily by the light of His Word.

Within the fellowship of The Church His Word holds a central place. We bring ourselves under the searching light of its scrutiny. To the thorough examination of the Word.

The Word reveals all our faults and failures. Convicting, reproving, and correcting us. Bringing us to repentance, confession. As well as to restoration and renewal.

This "cleansing by the Word" is essential. It fully maintains the purity of the Church as the Temple of the Holy Spirit

We are to be fully committed to this reality. Because we are to be fully committed to: "Love one another as I have loved you."

"As I have loved you" has this incredible end result clearly in view. As we love Him, we joyfully embrace this amazing and glorious goal.

This is the objective of His love. Then it will always be the objective of our love. In our love for one another, we are actually preparing for that exciting moment. That we will be present, personally participating, when He presents His sanctified Church to Himself .

This is all a vital part of: "Love one another as I have loved you!" This is living the true Christian life in its amazing and exciting fullness. What a privilege!

That is where His Word is leading us. "Love one another as I have loved you!" So that His Church will be "A glorious Church!''

Yet so many today have completely lost sight of His plan and purpose. They express themselves contrary to His objective. The Church has been made what man wants it to be. Having lost the vision, we have lost the motivation to aim for the highest. Now being content with mediocrity, or less. Selfserving strife and factions are the norm. The debasing attitudes of the world run rampant.

How desperately we need to hear Him again today. "Love one another as I have loved you!" When we do, we will begin to regain the vision of His objective. Motivated by such love, our aim will also be: "A glorious Church!"

"A glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."

When we love one another, as He loves us, the spots and wrinkles which are so common will go. As love lives, self dies. The cause of the spots and wrinkles is removed.

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, Christ liveth in me" (Galatians 2: 20).

He lives in me. He loves in me. Then all that I desire is His perfect will in all things. Particularly in His Church. That it be the Glorious Church He desires. Free from all spots and wrinkles. Holy and without blemish.

"Love one another as I have loved you." That is the love which always seeks the highest and the best. The love which willingly sacrifices to make the highest and the best an actual reality.

“Holy.” As he is Holy. That is what He seeks for us. That is what we will faithfully seek for others. For the Church of which He has made us a part.

"Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy!" (Jude 24)

"Blameless!" "Faultless!" "That we may present every man perfect in Christ" (Colossians 1: 28)

There is no alternative to this. Surely we are not looking for an alternative. That would be the attitude of the world. But certainly not the attitude of the person who really loves Jesus.