I give you a new commandment: love one another; as I loved you, that you too loved them; in this everyone will know that they are my disciples: if they love each other.
No doubt many of you have heard the story of Archbishop Usher’s meeting with Mr Usher. Rutherford, but it is so appropriate that I will make sure to repeat it.
- The archbishop had heard of the wonderful power of Rutherford’s devotion and the singular beauty of his home order and wanted to testify for himself.
- But he did not know how to do it.
- Until it occurred to him that he could disguise himself as a poor traveler.
- Following this idea.
- At dusk.
- He called Mr.
- Rutherford.
- Being greeted by Mrs.
- Rutherford.
- I asked him if he could have shelter for the night.
- He replied.
- “Yes.
- ” as they were receiving foreigners.
- He took him to the kitchen and fed him.
- As part of his usual discipline.
- The family catechization of his children and employees on Saturday night and.
- Of course.
- The poor man stayed among them in the kitchen.
Ms. Rutherford asked everyone a few questions about the commandments. The poor man asked, “How many are the commandments?” He said, “Eleven. “Ah, how ugly for a man his age, who has gray hair: not knowing how many are the commandments, in our parish there is no child over the age of six who does not know?The poor man replied, nothing, but he took his food and went to bed. Later, he got up and listened to Rutherford’s midnight prayer and reveled in it, made himself known, lent him a better coat and preached to him on Sunday morning, surprising Mrs. Rutherford used these words as his text: “New commandment, I give you. “He began by observing that this could be correctly called the Eleventh Commandment. Then the archbishop left, but he and Rutherford cooled off together. It’s the eleventh commandment. The next time you ask us how many commandments there are, we will respond correctly: eleven.
Why is this commandment new?Do you know that our Lord has approved the summary of the Ten Commandments presented by the scribe: “Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy might?And with all your intelligence; e: Will you love your neighbor as yourself?(Lk 10:27) So how is this commandment fulfilled? that they love each other??Is it new?
It’s new, first in the breadth of love. We must love our neighbor as ourselves, but we must love our brothers and sisters in Christ as He loved us; it’s much more than we love each other. Christ loved us more than we love him; Christ loved us so much that he gave himself up for us, so that none of us would say, “I have to love my friend, my brother, my neighbor and myself,” but can we interpret Christ’s commandment:?Do I have to love my brother in Christ as Jesus Christ, who died for me, loved me?It is a kind of nobler love in relation to the love we must show our neighbour. love of benevolence; it’s a love of affinity and an intimate relationship. Does this imply a higher degree of sacrifice than recommended by the law of Moses?
It is a new commandment because it is sustained for a new reason. The ancient commandment was backed by this statement: “I am the Lord, your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of servitude?( Ex 20. 2) . The Israelites were to obey the law for the redemption God had made on behalf of their people; However, we are commanded to love one another because Christ redeemed us from slavery worse than Egypt’s, greater value than the offering of a miry of lambs at Easter. “Christ, our Passover Lamb, was sacrificed by us (1:5. 7).
He took us out of the iron yoke of sin and Satan, completely breaking our chains. Our enemies persecuted us, but he destroyed them at sea, in the Red Sea. Christ redeemed us with the blood of his heart; Therefore, his new commandment comes to us with the greatest possible meaning: “As I have loved you, that you also love one another. “It is a new commandment because of its extension and for the reason it is sustained.
It is also a new commandment because it is a new love, which comes from a new nature and involves a new nation. I must, as a man, love my compatriot because he is a man. However, as a regenerated person, I have a duty to love my brothers in Christ even more, because they too are regenerated. Blood ties must be recognized by us much more than by those who are not regenerated. We easily forget that God – made the entire human race a home on the face of the earth? (At 17. 26). By common blood bond, we are all brothers. However, beloved, the bonds of grace are much stronger than those of blood. If you have been born of God, you are brothers of a much stronger brotherhood than the natural brotherhood that allowed you to sleep in the same cradle, to suckle from the same breast; because brothers according to the flesh can be separated forever. The right hand of the king may be the position assigned to one of them, and the left, the position assigned to the other; but the truly born brothers of God share a brotherhood that will last forever. Those who are now brothers in Christ will always be brothers.
We express a truly blessed attitude when we are able to love one another because grace within us sees the grace that is in the other and discerns in it, not the flesh and blood of the Savior, but a likeness to Christ and loves the other. by Christ; just as it is true that if we are of the world, the world loves its own, it is also true that if we are of the Spirit, the Spirit loves its own. is united by strong ties. Being ourselves born of God, do we always seek others who have been “regenerated, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, who lives and is permanent?. When you find them, you can’t help but love them. Between us, there is immediately a bond of union, you are connected to God. Therefore, you must have fellowship with all those who are related to him, you like it. is it or isn’t it?
Beloved brethren, this is a new commandment because it is limited by new needs. Christians must love each other because they are subjects of a king, who is also their savior. We are a small group of brothers in the midst of a large multitude of enemies. Jesus said to his disciples, “Do I send you like sheep among wolves?”(Mt 10:16). If they are true Christians, they will not have the love of the worldly. They can’t have it. They’ll ridicule you and call you an idiot, a hypocrite or something so unpleasant. Then join each other more. Whatever opposition you find from the outside, let it consolidate you into a stronger union [between them]. We are like a small company of soldiers, in enemy territory, densely surrounded by vast battalions of enemies; so we have to stay together. We must be like one man, united in intimate communion, as our great captain commands us. May God grant us that the very fact that we are in an enemy country results in us become more completely one of what we have been!
When I hear a Christian find mistakes in his pastor, I always admit that the devil has found someone to do his dirty work. I hope that none of you will ever be quered of God’s servants who do all they can to promote the Lord’s cause. Are there many who are already willing to find mistakes?
Furthermore, dear brethren, this commandment is new because it is suggested by new characteristics. With our neighbor, there may be something nice; but in our brothers in Christ there must be something beautiful. Suppose they are people born of God? For my part, I have no more beautiful vision than that of a person born in Christ. I love hearing the prayers of this new convert. Maybe there are? errors and mistakes in the sentence, but that does not destroy it. A Bali lamb in exactly the same shade as a Bali sheep. However, a lamb is a very beautiful object and everyone loves to hear its fragile bleating. There is beauty in the lambs of Christ’s flock, just as there is beauty in mature sheep. There is nothing better to see in the world than an elderly believer who lived close to God. How calm is the spirit of this believer! When he begins to speak of the things of God and to bear witness to the love of his Lord, how charming is his speech! There are many beautiful things about true Christians. So try to find their excellences, not their flaws. If we ourselves are in the right frame of mind, are we very likely to admire the good in others? There is a beauty in your friends that is not in you. Don’t always look in the mirror. There are better views to behold. Look at the face of your brother in Christ; And when you see some of the Spirit’s work in him, love him for it.
One more thing: this commandment is new because it is a preparation for better prospects than we have enjoyed before. Those of us who believe in Jesus will live together in heaven forever; therefore, we can be good friends as long as we are in this world; We will see each other with the same glory and be committed, forever, to a common fulfillment: the worship of our Lord and Master. Remove the many obstacles that currently exist in our society?You can also testify that I often learn more in an hour of conversation with a pious man than I learn from an educated man who knows very little about the things of God. Never judge men by clothing dress, but in what they are in themselves. It is the heart of man and, above all, the grace of God that resides in the heart of this man whom you and I must appreciate and love. God help us do this!
Excerpt from a sermon preached at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in Newington on Sunday, April 4, 1875, reprinted by Pilgrim Publications.
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By: Charles Haddon Spurgeon. © 2011 Faithful. Original Ministérium: The New Commandment of Christ.
(From the original in English: Christ? S New Commandment, C sermon. H. Spurgeon republished at Chapel Library Free Grace Broadcaster, number 206. )
Translation: Wellington Ferreira.