The Eleventh Commandment
John 13:31-35
The old rabbis calculated that there are 613 commandments in the Law of Moses.
As we have been reading through them for our daily Scripture reading, it seems like there are ten times that!
When God gave Israel His Law at Sinai, He began with the reason they should obey it::
Exo 20:2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
I think that is important.
It is the Preamble to the Law, like we have the Preamble to our Constitution.
Israel was to serve God because:
- He is God – that is enough
- He delivered them from Egypt – He had redeemed them unto Himself
The Law then opens with the Ten Commandments.
We did a Wednesday Night Series through them some time ago where we dug into each one.
Exo 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Exo 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Exo 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Exo 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exo 20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
Exo 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.
Exo 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Exo 20:15 Thou shalt not steal.
Exo 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Exo 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that isthy neighbour’s.
We read in Matthew 22 when one of the Pharisees came to Christ, trying to trick Him into entering one of their debates.
Mat 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
To this Christ answered not just one, but two commands.
Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
It believe every aspect of the Old Mosaic Law can be categorized under those two headings:
Love of God, Love of Others.
The first four of the Ten Commandments fit under Love of God.
The last six fit under Love of Others.
Every command that follows in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy may then be fit under one of those ten.
I say all of this to bring us to our text.
Here is Christ, about to be lifted up on the Cross.
Oh, the Glory there is in that!
It doesn’t make sense to those who do not know Christ.
Paul said to them the preaching of the cross is foolishness.
But every child of God knows better.
To us, that Cross, that empty tomb – it is our everything.
We see it and we sing out:
O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
has a wondrous attraction for me;
for the dear Lamb of God left his glory above
to bear it to dark Calvary.
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
and exchange it some day for a crown.
Oh, the glory of the sacrifice of Christ!
The glory of the Love of God that gave His only begotten Son to be the ransom for our sins!
There is no greater glory than this.
And it is just hours away from this moment in the Upper Room.
Knowing what is coming, knowing the need of comfort that the disciples will soon have, Christ tells them.
Joh 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.
Joh 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
A new commandment!
I read a story about a preacher in England that had heard of the Christian character of a certain nobleman.
He wanted to test it for himself.
So he donned the rags of beggar and went to the great manor house.
They brought him in, fed him, and gave him a warm bed for the night.
The next day the lord and lady questioned the disguised pastor about religion, trying to witness to him.
The lady asked him, “How many commandments are there?”, by which she meant to understand how much doctrine the man had been taught.
The pastor replied, “Eleven”.
“Oh, dear sir,” said the lady. “You have heard wrong, for the are Ten Commandments.”
The pastor replied, “True, but here is an eleventh – an new commandment – that ye love one another.”
That lord and lady practiced the command without even realizing its importance.
Now, I have to add that, speaking of an Eleventh Commandment, what Amon Carter said years ago.
He said that in Fort Worth there was an Eleventh Commandment – “Thou shalt not mess with J. Frank Norris.”
That is not the Eleventh Commandment that I want to speak about today.
I want to speak about the Eleventh Commandment that that old pastor saw in practice.
I want to speak about that new commandment that Christ gave to the disciples and to the church.
LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
It is the testimony of history that the elderly John the Apostle, when he could but barely speak for his failing strength, would preach a one sentence sermon – “Children, Love One Another.”
That theme is woven into his gospel and his epistles.
It marked a new age.
Yes, there is love behind the Law.
If the Old Testament Jew loved the Lord, they would follow His commandments.
If they loved their neighbor, they would follow the commandments.
But this love, oh it is far greater than any law can enforce.
This is the highest ideal that man may strive for.
It is the greatest testimony of the Gospel.
It is the Christian love for one another.
I want to highlight its greatness this morning, and challenge us to live out this Eleventh Commandment.
I. It is Great because of Its Founder.
I told you that the preamble of the Mosaic Law is Exodus 20:2:
Exo 20:2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
That is the reason given for Israel to obey the Law.
We have a similar foundation for the New Commandment.
Joh 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.
Why should we love our Christian brothers and sisters?
Because Christ loved you and loved them.
We are all sinners redeemed by His blood
By the way, you cannot have this command without Christ.
You cannot force people to love and care for one another with a reason.
But we are all united under one Savior.
We all owe our everything to Him.
II. It is great because of the Example.
Becky has gotten into embroidery.
She gets the patterns off of the internet and prints them out.
A lot of them not only have the technical pattern, but also a color picture that gives you an example to look at.
Christ does not just give us a command to love, He sets the example.
Joh 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.
There is much that can be said on this.
Charles Spurgeon, the prince of preachers, identified these descriptions of Christ’s love for the disciples, and I think you can make these about us .
He loved them unselfishly.
He loved them in trusting them.
He loved them sympathetically – He truly wept with those that wept and rejoiced with those that rejoiced.
He loved them patiently.
He loved them practically.
What a challenge to us!
To love others as Christ loved us.
III. It is great because of its results.
Joh 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
I cannot tell a Christian because of some type of aura around them
I can tell a Christian by the love they show.
I want to chase a rabbit here for a second.
I think many Christians have lost sight of this fact.
Our greatest testimony to the world is not the size of our church building.
It is not a social media campaign.
It is not the volume of our music.
It is not the liveliness of our worship.
It is not community involvement.
It is not being relevant to the times.
It is not about how short a man’s haircut is.
It is not about how long a woman’s skirt is.
No, our greatest testimony as a local church is this – That We Love One Another.
That cannot be forced.
But when Christ is lifted up, when we humbly follow Him – there is the result – We Will Love One Another.
Is the Spirit moving in a church? Show me the love of the brethren.
CONLUSION.
- I feel like I am preaching to the choir this morning. There are so many examples I could give that prove our amazing our church is at this.
- Do not take it for granted.
- Guard it – don’t let jealousy, pride, sin ruin it.
- You cannot truly love one another without the love of Christ in you