The Eleventh Commandment - Part A

Your love your neighbor as you love yourself. And then Jesus said there is no other commandment greater than these. This then is the crown jewel of all commandments. This is the Grand Canyon command.

This is the pinnacle. This is as high as against all the great the great love chapter in first Corinthians 13 now by these three faith, hope and love. But the greatest is love, loving our neighbors could be hard to do.

In fact, recent surveys about six and 10 people never talk to their neighbors that may be because were all busy. But then again it may be because we just don't like practicing studies found that many folks complained of the neighbors allowed to have overflowing trash bins blocker driveways have a list of grievances goes on about well today and connect with Skip weekend division Skip Heitzig introduces us to the 11 commandment. That's right, there actually more than 10 because when Jesus came he gave us another one will see that today is Skip begins the final teaching of the series God's talk to with number 11. First we will tell you about a new resource for December all about prayer. Recent research has found that Google searches for the word prayer surged worldwide alongside the spread of the novel coronavirus Google trends data shows that the search intensity for prayer doubles for every 8000 killed 19 cases, but is there a right way or a more effective way to pray just best-selling author Kay Arthur when the battle is raging were to be on the frontlines on the frontline center knees on the front line standing in the full armor of God, casebook, Lord, teach me to pray in 28 days offers simple but powerful instruction on how and what to pray and what to expect when you do, and it's our way to say when you give a gift of $25 or more today to help keep this ministry on the air. Give online securely connectwithskip.com/offer for call 800-922-1880 balance joints Of the Gospel of John chapter 13 versus 3435 somebody once said blog may not make the world go round, but it sure makes the trip more enjoyable and that little statement expresses the universal sentiment that the sweetest of all human emotions is love well the last 16 weeks we have looked at God's top 10 the 10 Commandments and we have gone through it very slowly.

As you note, this is the 17th installment. In that study and we have taken one week in some cases two weeks per commandment. And the reason we probed so deeply and looked at every word and every nuance in all of the application is because the 10 Commandments are foundational foundational in Scripture also foundational for us as a nation under you know this, but as you walk up to the Supreme Court building on the east pediment is relief. Statues cut out in stone of all the great lawgivers lined up and all of them are turned inward facing Moses as he stands there with the 10 Commandments. Right there on our nation Supreme Court. The idea that the 10 Commandments are foundational for us and our laws as a nation will today. I've had to turn to John chapter 13 we sort of depart from that but want to put the icing on the cake of the 10 Commandments study by looking in the New Testament where Jesus in the upper room in this beautiful display of humility and love washes his disciples feet and then he turns to them and he gives them a message called the upper room discourse in the upper room discourse.

He says now I'm giving you a new commandment. Let's look at it in verse 34 of John chapter 13 the Lord Jesus speaks a new commandment I give to you that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another every generation has song about love spoken about love written about love and it would seem still doesn't quite know the definition of love. What is it mean to love well a group of professionals asked some for 28-year-old kids what love was and I always love hearing what children think about anything. It's very refreshing and sometimes very profound.

Well, one child says this is what love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and they smell each other. Kate's picture. Another kid says love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together.

You talk more mommy and daddy are like that and they look gross when they kiss. One girl said I let my big sister pick on me because my mommy says she only picks on me because she loves me so I pick on my baby sister because I love her to another child says love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt and then he wears it every day right.

Love is what's on Valentine's Day card. You know the stuff we'd like to say but you never be caught dead saying it. Finally this child.

I think has pretty close to the truth when my grandma got arthritis. She couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore so my grandpa doesn't for her, even when his hands got arthritis to that says this child is love. That certainly is love, whoever that child was gutted very, very close to the biblical standard of love.

We notice something in verse 34 this is a commandment that Jesus gives a commandment to love which doesn't quite sound right to our ears. Does it.

Okay, here's an order. Love because typically we think will love is voluntary is and it isn't an emotion that arises spontaneously yes and no.

Yes it's voluntary, meaning it's a choice.

No, it's not necessarily an emotion that rises spontaneously from the heart. It is given in command form because it is not optional. It is absolutely the summary of all of the Commandments given that Jesus said in Matthew 22 on these two loving God and loving your neighbor hang all the law and the prop is just a side note, something interesting. I like to study how many times words appear. The word love appears in the Gospel of John from chapters 1 through 12, only 12 times so about an average of one usage per 12 chapters 12 times in chapters 1 through 12.

However, in the rest of the gospel of John from chapter 13 to 21. Guess how many times the word love appears 44 know why is that will number one we are moving toward the end, the culmination of Jesus life and ultimate demonstration of love is going to be on the cross and the core value that Jesus wants to pass on to his men.

The disciples is that of loving one another.

So we find its frequency and its intensity employed as we go through it while working a look at this commandment, the Jesus gives and there several things I want you to notice about a first of all, it's a substantive commandment.

I mean it's weighty it's weighty because it's given by the Lord himself on new commandment I give to you.

It's the Lord Jesus himself incarnate, love who is speaking, the one who said before Abraham was, I am the one who appears with Moses the lawgiver on the Mount of Transfiguration, the one who said I did not come to destroy the law, I came to fulfill it. This is the one who says, I give to you a new commandment now some of you who study the Scripture and know what well our thinking he now wait wait wait. This isn't new.

I've read this before in the Old Testament. And you're right you're right because it appears so to speak in Leviticus chapter 19, the 18th verse where it reads never seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone. But love your neighbor as yourself, for I am the Lord. So what does Jesus mean then when he says I'm telling you something new. Here's a new commandment. I'm glad you asked the word new is kind Skynet us and it does not mean recent. It does not mean new in age or in chronology.

If Jesus wanted to use that he would've turned to a different word and that is Ney's that means new in age or recent. Jesus uses the word kind us, which you could translate it.

Here's a fresh commandment. Here's a renewed commandment here is something unprecedented.

It's not new information, but it is a new application or a renewed application of the old Revelation what Jesus is doing is summing up the last six commandments and the one easy to remember commandment you could take all of the last six commandments the second table of the law and sum it up with this is the irreducible minimum of the last six commandments as Paul writes in Romans 13. Love is the fulfillment of the law.

So here's a renewed fresh unprecedented in its application commandment and what is the commandment what is it that he commands us to do the love and you know the word for love.

We've talked about.

In fact, is probably the first word anybody learns when they become a Christian in the Greek language. It's the word agape or I got pothole which is the love of the will. Here's something interesting about the word agape by the way you find it all over the Bible, and though it's a Greek word, it seems to appear nowhere else in any ancient pagan Greek literature. You don't find the word agape defined other terms that the Greek language employs, but you do not find this word, it seems to be a brand-new invention to describe a brand-new thing a brand-new way of loving. It is as I mentioned the love of the will, it is not enough feeling that you can't control. It's a choice that you absolutely can control. It's not a warm response or a fuzzy feeling toward those who are kind and lovable very very different than and loving people isn't the same as liking people. I just want to let you off the hook here because honestly I don't think you, like everyone, and you know what, I don't think you're supposed to like everyone, I don't think God likes everyone I know he loves everyone, but when it comes to attitudes and behaviors and actions that are built into a person's character. God is unlike that fact, the Bible says God is angry with the wicked every day. But at the same time, the attitude, the choice of God's perfect love is toward all people, so William Shakespeare, believe it or not, came very very close to a perfect definition of agape love in one of his love sonnets fact was sonnet 116 where he says love is not love which alters when it alteration finds nor bends with the remover to remove oh no, it is an ever fixed mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken. That's very close to the idea of what agape love is in the Scripture. It is the love of the will, the love of choice, not the love of liking or human emotion. So when a husband sits next to wife with his arms folded across a counseling table and says I don't love her anymore know that it's a choice or a series of choices that he is made, so this is a substantive commandment given by the Lord himself.

It's renewed its fresh second thing I want you notice about this commandment. It's a superlative commandment, that is, Jesus said it is the greatest of all of the commandments that are given. Jesus sums up not just the second part of the 10 Commandments, but all of the 10 Commandments in that word love in Mark's gospel chapter 12 there was a man who came up to Jesus and he was a scribe. He was a religious leader and probably trying to trap the Lord. He said okay. What's the first the greatest commandment, Jesus quickly answered him, your love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your soul.

All of your mind. All of your strength.

That is the greatest commandment.

The first but the second is like it. You are to love your neighbor as you love your self. And then Jesus said there is no other commandment greater than these. This then is the crown jewel of all commandments. This is the Grand Canyon of commandments. This is the pinnacle. This is as high as it gets. And Paul would agree. He wrote the great love chapter in first Corinthians 13 and now abide, these three faith, hope and love. But the greatest is love. So essentially what Jesus does. Here's takes all of the Christian life.

All of Christian responsibility and he summarizes it and prioritizes it saying do this love God, love people and you will have it wired.

It is Christianity. In a nutshell? Why is this the greatest commandment. Why is this the superlative most essential of all the commandments. One of the answers is in the way God wired us. God wired human beings to be relational, and peak of human relation is real love so that every person craves love fact I would say you would do almost anything in the world to get love if you knew that you would be unconditionally love for just who you are and that you would have the capacity to give unconditional love is what people want. That's what people are searching for Dr. Carl Menninger, who founded the famous Menninger clinic. I think in Topeka, Kansas before he died, decided to do an experiment. He had several people come into his clinic and he wanted to find the very core of all of their illnesses, so he he embarked on an experiment he told his clinical staff for the next several months.

This is what I want you to do everybody to come to the door, make sure that they are in a an environment of creative love. His words creative love. Give them large doses of love, which means no bad attitudes will be tolerated by you if I see a bad attitude you're out of here. I want there to be a pervasive ongoing atmosphere of creative love.

After the experiment. He noted within six months that the average stay of the patients in his clinic was cut in half. After that, cut in half and he said love cures people, both the ones who give it as well as the ones who receive so what we have here we have a fresh renewed commandment given by Jesus himself to employ the love of the will to choose to act toward people in a certain way, which is the irreducible minimum the summary of all of the commandments given the third thing I want you to note is that this is a comparative commandment.

In other words, there is a benchmark.

There's a standard that Jesus gives so that we can compare our love to that standard to see if we in the market. Love goes beyond what we say it's an act of the will Skip budget will talk more about this commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves when he concludes this teaching the 11th commandment teaching you just heard was the final message in series God's talk to you for Velasco 10 Commandments given thousands of years ago are relevant to us today as you follow along in the series. You'll find out how each of God's instructions applies to daily living. Be encouraged and inspired as you listen again and share this series with a friend. You can do that when you purchase a copy of this entire series for your audio library, God's top 10 get all 17 teachings bundle is an audio CD package for just $39 plus shipping and now let's go in studio to check in with Skip and his wife lend you today so it coming to an end of God's top 10 and you throw us a curveball. What you say there's 1/11 commandment and I really Jesus reduce things and said love your neighbor as yourself that a new commandment I given to you that you love your neighbor as yourself. That's right.

And so sometimes that's the hardest for us to follow because a lot of us don't even our neighbors, except that we do a lot of them by name, sell and do you have some tips that you can give us to begin reaching out and when it talks about neighbor doesn't just mean the people that live next door to you in your neighborhood, though, that is your neighbor technically neighbors anyone other than you. Anyone other than you. That you come into contact with injured is your neighbor. So when Jesus set a new commandment I give to you. First of all, it wasn't new in the sense of it never existed before.

Because that's a quote out of Leviticus 19 comes from the Old Testament. So when Jesus uses the word knew he meant renewed a fresh let's take a fresh look at something is the idea, let me let me apply it in our renewed in priority here is exactly and and certainly to to your point. Jesus said that was one of the top to the love God with all your heart mind soul and strength. You love your neighbor as yourself. So key to understanding that is that Jesus said that you will love people like I have loved you, so he didn't just say start loving people as you see fit. As you feel like you to love but do it as I do it. So now we have a model we have something to use to trace and and get a good picture of and that is the love of Jesus that I did make it any easier.

Did it did make it easier, but greater love. But if you look at them. The you get a good idea of of what it's like. So what was Jesus look like all of the sacrificial right. He he gave himself he gave his time. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. So we know his love is sacrificial, so our love to some degree has staff sacrificing. We know his love was unconditional.

He said father forgive them. They don't know what they're doing and there were no conditions or stipulations tied under that statement. So it's unconditional sacrificial.

The third thing is its nonreciprocal necessary didn't have to be reciprocated.

Doesn't have to have do this if you do that back so it's unending nonreciprocal love.

The Bible says in Romans five. While we were sinners. He loved us, died for us so we have a good description of the rocker love exactly like Jesus because after all he was God in human body.

We have a template we have a model with which to love and hear something about God's love. He pours it out into us the same book of Romans is the gotta shed his love abroad or poured out his love into our that's a relief. It makes it possible because for me. Maybe it's impossible but with God coming in and through me. Then I have the potential to love as he love he never calls us to be manufacturers, but distributors so he'll pour out the love and he just says don't hold onto it, give it away while thanks so much guys can. I hope you take some time to connect with Skip today. You can would you like them on Facebook follow him on Twitter or Instagram, and the hope for all that is it. connectwithskip.com comes to loving our neighbor as ourselves. There's one example to follow Jesus will see how we model this course next hearing, connect, Skip weekend division presentation in connection you guys never change and ever-changing