St. John 13: 31-35
"Then, when he had gone out, Jesus said: Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him.
If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and then he will glorify him.
My children, I will still be with you a little. You will look for me; but as I said to the Jews, so I say to you now: Where I am going, you can not go.
A new commandment I give you: That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. "
HOW TO TREAT US WITH THE OTHERS?
Note that almost all of these principles refer to believers; When the Lord Jesus Christ spoke in John 14, He said: "Little children" referring to theirs, so these principles that we are going to discuss are primarily for the believers, of course the idea behind the principles should also be used in our dealings with the unconverted, but, I believe that the emphasis that God put on these verses is for the believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 12:10 "Love one another with brotherly love; as to honor, preferring one another "Philippians 2: 3" Do nothing by strife or by vainglory; rather with humility, esteeming each other as superior to himself "
Regarding the relationships of each other is that:
1. We must honor each other.
It means that we must give the preeminence as verse 3 says here: "Do nothing by strife or by vain glory; rather with humility, esteeming each other as superior to himself. "
That is the teaching, the demand of the Word of the Lord that we should honor each other. The idea of being the first place is being introduced to the churches, telling us: -The number one is me, and I need you to recognize me, because I deserve it.
That principle is entering the church; But the biblical principle is that we should honor each other, considering ones superior to ourselves.
Romans 12:16 and 15: 5-6 "Unanimous among you; not haughty, but associating with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion "" But the God of patience and consolation may give you one mind among yourselves according to Christ Jesus, so that with one voice you may unanimously glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ "
1 Peter 3: 8-9 "Finally, be all of one mind, compassionate, loving one another fraternally, merciful, friendly; not returning evil for evil, nor cursing for cursing, but on the contrary, blessing, knowing that you were called to inherit a blessing. "
2. We must live in harmony with one another.
The Word of God does not say: "Wherever there are two or more Baptists together, there will be a fight."
Why do you think there is so much contention among the people of God today? when the Word of the Lord says that we should live in harmony? I believe that this was what the Holy Spirit had in mind when he used Paul when writing about you; as soon as it is possible to live in peace with all men.
That means that we must do our part to live in peace, in harmony with all men. The word harmony is with which the word orchestra is described, when each instrument plays its sound, it is done with harmony.
I remember when we were starting the church in Sierra Bayamón, we chose the young people and the middle ones, and we took them to different activities, among them a concert by the famous Pablo Casals, and several of the boys of ten, twelve or fourteen years old, they had never been to a theater like that, nor had they heard that kind of music, it was the first time, so when we went in and sat down, the orchestra members were tuning the instruments; and a little girl said: - How nice they play! It was explained to her that they were not playing yet, but when the concert began that girl was happy when she heard that harmony that came from the instruments when mixing their sounds with each other, each one doing her part.
That is what the Lord has in mind, each one of us has different functions, God has given them to us, but we can not be in discord with each other, only when there are doctrinal principles attacked that tend to be destroyed is that we we have to be discordant, we have to separate, the Bible orders it in that sense, but if we have the same beliefs we must try to live in harmony with each other.
The Bible says that for God it is an abomination to those who cause discord, break the harmony between the brothers.
Romans 15: 7 "Therefore receive one another, as Christ also received us, for the glory of God."
3. We must accept.
In the people of God there can be no racism, there can be no separation of classes. In some countries there is class separation in some churches; there are churches for upper class people, and there are churches for the lower class, I have preached in both, but the reality is that there is a wall that separates the classes; but in heaven God is not going to separate us, it will not be like that, there we will all be together.
It is better that we learn to accept each other without distinction of any kind, the people of God is one, where there is no free, no slave, no servant; We are all one in the Lord Jesus Christ and we must accept each other.
Romans 15:14 "But I am sure of you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, full of all knowledge, in such a way that you can admonish one another."
Colossians 3:16 "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing you (that is another word to admonish) one another in all wisdom, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs."
4. We must admonish one another.
Of course, the warning must be done in the spirit of love. The Bible says we should be warned. There are shepherds who get upset when they are warned for doing something wrong. Certainly it must be done using the Word of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 12:25 "That there may be no disagreement in the body, but that the members may all care for one another." That means we have to take care of each other, to care about each other. Sometimes we are so centralized in ourselves that we do not take care of the needs of others, we focus so much on our program, on our desire, on our ambition, that we do not think of others; But the Word of God says that we must take care of ourselves, help each other, and we will feel more blessed.
I felt blessed by the attitude of Brother Garlick regarding the need of Brother Cordova. That was tremendous! What a blessing God put in the hearts of the brothers to cooperate with that brother! I believe that the Lord's work could be handled more easily if we could put into practice that principle of caring for ourselves, of helping each other.
1 Peter 4:10 "Each according to the gift he has received, minister it to others, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." That means we must serve each other.
Galatians 5:13 "For you, brothers, have been called to liberty; only do not use freedom as an occasion for the flesh, but serve each other out of love. " God expects us to serve each other. Galatians 6: 2 "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." If we can help carry the load, we must; if we can shake hands, if we can take someone somewhere, we must; if we can assist someone, we must; Jesus Christ said: "... carry the burdens to one another."
Ephesians 4:32 "But be kind to one another, merciful, forgiving one another, as God also forgave you in Christ."
5. We must be compassionate to each other.
Today a lot of compassion is needed in the ministry, in the work of the Lord, we have become hard inside, and we do not realize that God wants us to be compassionate to each other, to be compassionate is to feel what the other is feeling, turn the other's load and put it inside.
In the United States the American Indians had an expression that showed compassion, they shared with one another their pain, their sadness.
The Lord wants us to be compassionate to one another. In our dealings with others we must forgive each other. That same thing is expressed in Colossians 3:13, how many times? He does not say seven times, the Lord told Peter seventy times seven.
We must forgive each other, we all make mistakes, there is no one who can say: "I am perfect, I do not make mistakes". We all make mistakes, and we must be willing to forgive each other.
1 Thessalonians 4:18 "Therefore encourage (comfort) one another with these words."
6. We should comfort each other.
Have you ever felt depressed? What a blessing to have a brother who comes and comforts him, encourages him, helps him. Consolate one another There are people who get depressed easily, that is when we have to console ourselves and encourage ourselves with the Word of God.
Romans 14:19 "So, let us follow what contributes to peace and mutual edification."
Hebrews 3:13 "But exhort one another every day, while it is said: Today; so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. "
We must encourage ourselves. What a blessing to be encouraged! There are more critics, but what a blessing those who encourage him, who shake his hand, who help him, who give him a word that makes him want to move on. The Bible says we should encourage each other. James 5:16 "Confess your offenses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective prayer of the righteous can do much. "
7. We must confess our faults to one another.
It does not say confess the sins, because the sins are confessed only to God, but the faults, when we know that we have missed someone, we must apologize to that person. And it also says that we should pray to each other.
Because praying is a great privilege that God has given us. I have always said that the greatest duty of the believer is to win souls and pray; and the Bible says to pray for one another.
On Sundays I pray for pastors, for missionaries, for evangelists, for college Bible colleges and for the people who ask me to pray for them; and of course I pray for my family. Let us pray for each other, we are so centralized by the self, that we forget that there are people in need, that we need our prayers. 1 Peter 4: 9 "Be hospitable to one another without murmuring."
8. We must provide accommodation to each other.
In the time of the Apostle Saint Peter this was very necessary, because there were no motels, no hotels to stay, and the economic situation was immense; so that the brothers who traveled from one place to another depended on the hospitality of others, and as soon as they arrived at a place, they looked for a Christian to stay. But there were some who did not let them stay in their homes. "Host one another without murmuring".
What a blessing it is to be able to offer accommodation to Christians we do not know, who have nowhere to stay and who go from one place to another. What a blessing it is to be able to help. Those are the positive things we should use to treat each other.
I will mention some negatives:
Romans 14:13 "So, let us no longer judge one another, but rather decide not to put a stumbling block or occasion to fall on the brother".
9. We must not judge each other, each one is before his Lord.
The Bible says that we should not judge one another.
Ephesians 4:25 "Wherefore, casting off lies, speak truth every one with his neighbor; because we are members of one another. "
10. We must not lie to each other.
How people love to lie today, there are pastors who lie, evangelists who lie, missionaries who lie. There is a missionary who says that every week he earns two thousand people for Christ, however the church only has two hundred and fifty people.
I saw a letter from a missionary in Puerto Rico and I thought: How is it possible that a man who has been called to preach the Gospel should put those lies in the letter! To impress, but the Bible says: We do not imitate each other; and when a person lies, he is missing the Lord. The Word of the Lord says: "Wherefore, putting away falsehood, speak truth every one with his neighbor; because we are members of one another. "
In my marriage I learned not to lie to my wife, I lied to her three times, but she found out, I do not know how, but she told me. And I learned this; If I lie to my wife, the Holy Spirit will tell me not to lie to her anymore and I have not done it again.
Learn, but I believe that within the Lord's people there is much matter of lies and falsehood, to impress. The Bible says: "... we do not go to each other." God does not like lying. "Wherefore, casting away lies, speak truth each one to his neighbor; because we are members of one another. "
Many missionaries present a very sad story, lying to get support; the Bible says: "... we do not go." Galatians 5:15 "But if you chew and eat one another, see that you also do not consume one another."
James 4:11 "Brethren, do not murmur one another. He that murmurs of the brother and judges his brother, murmurs of the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. "
11. We must not speak ill of each other.
The Bible forbids it. When I was in college, I set a record that no one has yet removed, I was the only graduate who served tables, on one occasion, a boy complained about the food, for which the director chose to expel him. The university has a rule that prohibits complaining, whoever does it, leaves; that same rule we have in school, what we have there is what God has provided, if we complain, we complain against God.
The Bible says we should not complain. Galatians 5:26 "Let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another."
That means we should not provoke each other, being envious of each other, making each other vainglorious. We should rejoice when God blesses someone in the ministry.
When we are envious of something or someone, it is not the work of the Lord, it is our work; and the Word of the Lord says that we should not provoke ourselves, nor be vainglorious, on the contrary, we should rejoice when God blesses someone, when God works and saves souls, because it is the work of the Lord.
There are five steps we must follow in order to achieve that, obeying the Lord's command, which says that we must:
12. Love one another
John 13: 34-35 "Love one another." There is not much love nowadays in the church, nor in the ministry. The Bible says that we love one another, that is not only achieved by loving us, but also:
13. Having fellowship with one another.
The best example was the New Testament church; Acts 2: 41-47 speaks of the communion that these brothers had, they sought, they helped, they helped, they encouraged themselves; there was a communion.
14. Acting humbly with one another.
1 Peter 3: 5 "For thus also were formerly clothed holy women who waited on God, being subject to their husbands; how Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord; of which you have become daughters, if you do good, without fearing any threat. " Sara humbled herself in front of her husband Abraham, calling him sir. We must follow the principle involved in that verse, that we should humble ourselves with one another; and we can achieve this by ministering to one another with the gifts that God has given us.
1 Corinthians 12: 7, 25, 31 "But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for profit" "... so that there is no disagreement in the body, but that the members all care for one another". "Procure, then, the best gifts. But I show you a much better way".
1 Peter 4:10 "Each according to the gift he has received, minister it to others, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God."
15. We must minister to each other with the talents God has given us.
We do this by working together for the Lord, remembering that the work is not ours but God.
1 Corinthians 15:58 "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast and constant, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."
16. We will work together, we will help each other, we will help each other, we will pray for each other, we will encourage ourselves.