Christian Sacrifice: "Laying Down One's Life for A Friend" (John 15:13)

There was once time when as Christians we wanted to lay down our lives for one another. Jesus said,"There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends." (John 15:13). He said, "love one another as I have loved you,"(John 12:15) which means "just as Christ loved the church laying down his life for her." (Ephesians 5:25). The problem is that the Church is not so noble as it once was. There was a time when we knew if we laid our life down from brother is was unto the Lord (Matthew 25:36, Colossians 3:23). Back in days of the Apostles, Christians loved the Lord with their whole heart: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." (Matthew 22:37), and so you knew a devout brother was dying for a devout brother. It was through a devotion to the Lord Jesus, a love found in Him that made people sacrifice themselves for the saints, but today the church is not loving Lord with all they are, and so the impetus to die for a Christian brother is lost, because you do not know if they love Immanuel as you do, and so you could actually be wasting your life.

This is how far we have fallen as a church! There was a time when you could be certain that if you died for a Christian brother or sister, it was unto the Lord, that they loved the Lord with all their being too, and so you were on same page, sacrificing your self for a like hearted brother, because they loved the Lord with thier whole heart. Now there are sheep and goats in Church, those who are worth dying for and those who should be left to be sheared and slain because they are not true brethern, but "wolves in sheep clothing." (Matthew 7:15).

I am reminded how when a sinner converted to becoming a Christian they served Christ in the station in which they held. An example is Marsellius, Richard Burton's character in The Robe (1953). Burton is a Tribune and Centurion, when he converts He pledges, "I am soldier in Christ's service, I shall serve him with my sword." (Marcellus is living 2 Timothy 2:3). He does this, by helping raid a Roman prision and rescuing a brother in Christ named Demetrius. In a touching scene, Marsellius (Burton) stops at bridge, while the carriage taking Demetrius drives off and Burton stays behind with drawn sword on horseback, He says, "Goodbye brother," and turns to face the prusuing Roman guard, knowing he will die. This scene is moving, because Marsellius has decided to "lay down his life for a brother," (John 12:15), and he does this in the capacity to which he was raised, as Tribune, but not of Rome, but now for the Truth.

There was a sense in those days if you died for fellow saint it was worthwhile, and honorable sacrifice to preserve the faith. Now it seems like foolish errand, one where a St. Andrew could die for Alexander the Coppersmith (2 Timothy 4:13-15). In many ways, the Church has become like prophecy on Jacob, "You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother. But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck." (Genesis 27:40). The reason Jacob caste the yoke of Esau off his neck is Esau became an enemy of God (Romans 9:13). As Jesus Christ separates the sheep and goats (Matthew 25:31-46), there will be many goats we discover among us, and we will caste off the yoke that bound us together, and they will go to "eternal punishment, and the righteous to eternal life." (Matthew 25:46).

I believe we are living times when to "lay down your life for friend," will require great discernment. The Apostle Paul says, "And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you..," (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13, NKJV), and "Never be in a hurry about appointing a church leader. Do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure." (1 Timothy 5:22). We must be careful not to appoint an Alexander the Coppersmith, "Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Be on guard against him yourself, for he vigorously opposed our teaching." (2 Timothy 4:14-15). There are wolves in sheep clothing in the Church today, and they do not deserve the sacrifice (John 12:15). The point about Marcellus in The Robe is that he knew Demetrius, and how devout he was and so died for his sake out of love for a brother he knew and who had led him to faith in Jesus Christ. You do not sacrifice yourself for someone you do not know, unless Jesus Christ makes it clear to do so!

Many take the sacrifices in Matthew 25, "feeding the hungry, helping the sick, and visiting those in prison" as command for us Christians for unbelievers. But that is not what Jesus says, ""The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." (Matthew 25:40). These brothers, are not brotherhood of mankind, but believers, "For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother," (Matthew 12:50), "But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers," (Matthew 23:8). The friends that Jesus says lay your life down for in John 15:13 are these, "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." (John 15:15, notice this is two verses after lay down your life for friends). Thus to lay down you life should be for someone who is intimately close to Immanuel, with the Trinity, who has "everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you."