"A CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY!"
Written and preached by David P. Nolte

JOHN 13:31-38

When you buy computer software from Microsoft, they include a "Certificate of Authenticity!" It says, "This Certificate of Authenticity is your assurance that the software that you have purchased with your computer system is legally licensed from Microsoft Corporation. ... The security sticker(s) above indicate that this product is genuine Microsoft software." The certificate says, “This is the real McCoy, or rather, the real Microsoft!”  Jesus spoke to His disciples and indicated their "Certificate of Authenticity!" He said they were authenticated as His disciples by their mutual love. Many wonderful stories of authentic love have been recorded for our benefit. One moving story of love comes to us from 17th Century England. A young soldier on guard duty had been remiss in his responsibility. Maybe he just became bored; maybe he had endured too many hours of consecutive service. But the unthinkable happened: he dozed at his post and was discovered by an officer. Oliver Cromwell, Puritan political leader and general, ordered that the soldier be shot for his offense at the ringing of the evening bell. His fate seemed sealed and his doom certain. But that night at the fateful hour, something happened that altered the situation dramatically. Cromwell didn't take into account that somebody loved that soldier with authentic love. What is authentic love?

1. AUTHENTIC LOVE IS CHRISTLIKE: V34:
1. Jesus gave a command to love one another. That part of the command was not new. Even the Law enjoined that: "You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord." Leviticus 19:18.
2. What Jesus added to the command made it new and revolutionary. He said, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another." John 13:34. "Even as I have loved you" ... that clause makes all the difference in the world.
3. What is it, though to love as He loves? What is Christlike love?
1. It is to love unselfishly: no ulterior motive contaminates our fondness, no personal agenda taints our affection. We don't ask, "What's in it for me?"  Unlike Elvis Presley: "Love me tender, Love me true!  All my dreams fulfill!"
2. It is to love sacrificially: Jesus measured the extremity of love in this way: "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13.
3. It is to love mercifully: as Jesus prayed that the Father forgive his tormentors, so we must be merciful and forgive others.
4. It is to love unconditionally: that is, we don't ever say, "I'll love you when you deserve it! I'll love you if you do this or that."
5. It is to love unendingly: authentic love never ends.
4. So, let's get to where the arrow strikes the target: what does that mean in practical terms today?
1. It means that we will be willing to absorb, without retaliation or thought of revenge, insults and injuries in a spirit of grace.
2. It means that we will give up, willingly, all that is selfish, petty and mean for the good and benefit of others.
3. It means that we will serve others in the manner in which Jesus Christ served: humbly, gladly, and without complaint.

Jesus Christ loved this sin broken and condemned world enough to die for it. Someone loved this condemned soldier, too, and determined to do everything possible to secure his pardon and release. All pleas and defenses to Cromwell struck deaf ears and the sentence stood. But it was obvious to him and to all that this one young lady loved her soldier with a consuming love. Love, authenticating love, is also love that can be observed.

2. AUTHENTIC LOVE IS VISIBLE: V35:
1. Jesus said that the world would know the reality of discipleship by love; that means they can observe something in our lives. But a caveat is in order here:
1. Jesus did say that we ought to let our lights shine so men can witness our good deeds. But that is not so we can bask in the limelight; it is so they will give glory to our Heavenly Father.
2. Jesus sternly cautioned: "Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 6:1.
1. If you give benevolent gifts, do it anonymously and secretly.
2. If you pray, don't try to appear pious in the eyes of your contemporaries.
3. If you practice the spiritual discipline of fasting, don't look like you're starving yourself to death.
2. The Bible gives us an idea of what it means to love with an observable, visible love.
1. Ephesians 5:1-2 "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma."
2. 1 John 3:17-18 "But whoever has the world's goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth."
3. Matthew 25:34-40 "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'"
3. Doris Day used to sing a song called, "My secret love." Christian love is no secret love. In the song, she said, "My secret love's no secret anymore." Is your love for one another still a secret? It ought not to be!
4. Let your love for one another be evident. Let it show, let it be manifest, let it cause others to say as they said of the early church, "Behold, how they love one another!"

Jesus wants our love to be more than an emotion; He wants it to be a testimony to others. He wants love demonstrated. The young girl knew how to demonstrate her love for the soldier. When the appointed time of execution came and the bell should have sounded marking the hour, no sound came from the belfry. The girl who was to be married to the condemned man did something dramatic to save his life. She put action to her attitude and work to her words. Love that authenticates our discipleship is like that. Authentic love is always more than verbal.

3. AUTHENTIC LOVE IS MORE THAN PROMISE: V38:
1. Note Peter's stated claim: "Why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You." John 13:37. He wanted to imply how much he loved Jesus. He wanted to demonstrate his love to Jesus as the Lord had commanded. But Jesus knew his heart and asked a searching question.
2. What Peter needed to recognize was:
1. Jesus is not really all that impressed with glib guarantees. Promises easy made are easily broken.
2. If you are not ready to live for Jesus, you are sure not ready to die for Him!
3. Performance is more valuable than profession, practice is more significant than promise.
3. So, when it comes to our "one another" relationships, we state our commitments, we declare intentions, we make promises to others:
1. Our marriage vows: Keep them!
2. Pledges we make to our family: Live up to them!
3. Responsibilities we accept in the church: Fulfill them!
4. In these, and other ways, we find opportunities to show, beyond mere profession, the reality of our love for Christ and for one another.

The young lady had climbed up into the tower and had clung to the great clapper of the bell to prevent it from striking. Brought before Cromwell to give an account of her actions, she only wept and showed him her bruised and bleeding hands. Cromwell was greatly impressed, and he said, "Your lover is alive because of your sacrifice. He will not be shot!" Jesus Christ did more than that for us! He actually gave His live. And if He so loved us, we ought to love one another! Love does not make us His disciples; it is merely the authentication of our claim to be His disciples. Following Jesus as Lord, obeying Him, keeping His Way is what makes us His disciples. But Jesus says that as His disciples, we have something to say to the world and they won't believe us if they don't see us loving one another. We will appear to them as phony, as pseudo Christians if what they see is bickering, back-biting, grudge bearing and gossiping. Love says, "We really belong to Jesus. Come and follow Him, too." This love is not manufactured, it's "God-ufactured" as the Holy Spirit engenders in the faithful, obedient heart the Love of Jesus. When we love as He did and put it to work, that's our certificate of authenticity -- the world can then see, trust our message and motive, and follow Jesus to life.  Ask Him to change your heart today; to take out the self-serving attitudes, the hate, the anger, the indifference.  Ask Him to change your heart and give you a heart of Authentic Love.  

Return To New Testament Sermons

Return to Archive

Return to Home Page