Purifying Within (Communion Means Receiving God's 'Unfeigned Love of the brethren.')

Selected Verses:

John 13:34. A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

I John 3:3. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

I Peter 1:22. Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

Opening:

I want to read just a few verses. I trust that we all will listen carefully: "Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end." That wonderful word--how He "loved them unto the end"!

And then He tells about Judas. "Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, 'Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in Him.'" That's a strange word, isn't it? Well, it means that now He was ready to be made a sacrifice. Judas, the traitor, was now gone, and now He was alone with a handful of people who loved Him--a little bit. And now He was glorified as the Passover Lamb, ready to be slain, to be broken, to shed His precious blood.

Oh, this wonderful glorification of the Son of God! God wants to call it to our remembrance tonight. God wants every one of us to remember Jesus like that, and to remember that here alone is salvation because He gave Himself for us. And He gives us tonight His broken body and His shed blood. And so He says, "If God be glorified in Him, God shall also glorify Him in Himself."

"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. A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another."

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Selected Quotes:

"If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love." Communion doesn't only mean communion with the Father and with the Son, but it means communion with all the saints.

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Here is the very foundation stone of the new covenant. And what is it? "That ye love one another as I have loved you." Oh, we have learned to tolerate one another (haven't we?) pretty good. But, you know, that isn't love. God's got something far more wonderful for my heart and your heart. And the question only is whether I want it. This is His salvation, praise God! He said, "I come to do Thy will, O My God." "And if I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and don't have that love..." Now the question is whether I want it, whether I want Him. Jesus Christ cannot reign in a heart where the love of God has not conquered all lovelessness, all lack of love, and all evil feelings and evil thoughts. "Love that suffereth long and is kind," Oh, that's what He means when He says, "As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you. Now open your hearts for this love, and let it reign within you."

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There's an x-ray of heaven shining right through you. I wonder how many bed bugs and how many ants and centipedes and poisonous adders there are crawling around on the inside. Beloved, that's where our gossip and our backbiting and our faultfinding and our criticism come from. It doesn't come from the other fellow; it comes out of my heart. Out of my "heart proceed evil thoughts". There was nothing like that in the heart of Jesus Christ. In the heart of Jesus was the love of the Father that "gave His only begotten Son" for sinners, who "spared not his Son" because of me.

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We talk about how "we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him." But, "every man that hath this hope in him" does something about it. Oh, he doesn't go through the day and spend his day foolishly, pursuing the things of the flesh and doing the will of the flesh and of the mind. He's through with that. He is doing the will of God. The Spirit of God works in him mightily, burns in him like a fire of the Almighty to consume all lovelessness and all dross.

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I know how we all like to be pretty. Don't we? And when we get to be a little bit older and it doesn't work anymore, then we get these big corsages. I always say it's like the pies in the restaurant: when they get to be stale, they put whipped cream on them; then they sell again. Sure. Excuse me, but it's the truth. But who wants to be pretty on the inside? "So shall the King greatly desire thy beauty." Who cares? Who in this meeting cares for Jesus tonight? Beloved, He's here, and He desires so greatly to beautify me. He says, "I have this against you: you've left your first love. You're not going to get through that way. I'm going to cast that candlestick out of its place except you repent. I cannot use a bride that is not beautiful on the inside."

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The proper thing for me and for you is to "purify myself even as He is pure." Dear Lord, how do I do that? Why, by opening my heart, by wanting You, by "purifying my soul through the spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren." That's the question tonight: do I want His beauty? Do I want His purity?

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Oh, that we might see the Lord "high and lifted up" like Isaiah, and cry, "Woe is me! I am undone! I dwell among a people of unclean lips." Isaiah was cleansed because he repented, and all the others were blinded.