Loving You and Protecting Me
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. (John 13:34-35)
Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:18)
THE BIBLE IS MADE UP OF 1,189 CHAPTERS AND 31,173 VERSES (K. JAMES VERSION). Many men and women have given their lives to translate it, print it, preach it, distribute it and live by it. For hundreds of years it has been the best-selling book in the world. Why? What is so different and great about this book that so many men and women have given and continue to give their lives for it?
R.A. TORREY GAVE US THIS 100 YEARS AGO: “It claims to be the Word of God; it seems to be the Word of God; it proves to be the Word of God.” (Torrey) It is the only book that accurately tells the future. Its central theme is about the “Coming One,” and the “One Who Came,” and the “One Who Is Coming Again.”
THE BIBLE TELLS US HOW TO GET TO HEAVEN and how to live on the way to Heaven. It has the reputation for teaching and empowering men, women and children to bend themselves toward holy living and toward loving one another. It does not make us perfect, but it does a marvelous job of turning us toward perfection and in a new direction.
“THE STORY HAS OFTEN BEEN TOLD ABOUT THE MESSAGE the founder of the Salvation Army sent to their international convention. General William Booth was unable to attend personally because of ill health, so he cabled the delegates a message containing one word: “OTHERS!”
“IN THE POPULAR COMIC STRIP "PEANUTS," Lucy asks Charlie Brown, “Why are we here on earth?” He replies, “To make others happy.” She ponders this for a moment and then asks, “Then why are the others here?”
“ONE ANOTHER: IS ONE OF THE KEY PHRASES in the Christian’s vocabulary. “Love one another” is found at least a dozen times in the New Testament, along with “pray one for another” (James_5:16), “edify one another” (1Thessalonians_5:11), prefer one another (Romans_12:10), “use hospitality one to another” (1Peter_4:9), and many other like admonitions.
“IN THE SECTION BEFORE US, Paul adds another phrase: “Bear ye one another’s burdens” (Galatians_6:2). The Spirit-led Christian thinks of others and how he can minister to them.” (Warren Wiersbe)
“A NEW COMMANDMENT - This command he gave them as he was about to leave them, to be a badge of discipleship, by which they might be known as his friends and followers, and by which they might be distinguished from all others. It is called new, not because there was no command before which required people to love their fellow-man, for one great precept of the law was that they should love their neighbor as themselves Leviticus 19:18; but it was new because it had never before been made that by which any class or body of people had been known and distinguished. The Jew was known by his external rites, by his uniqueness of dress, etc.; the philosopher by some other mark of distinction; the military man by another, etc.
“IN NONE OF THESE CASES HAD LOVE FOR EACH OTHER been the distinguishing and special badge by which they were known. But in the case of Christians they were not to be known by distinctions of wealth, or learning, or fame; they were not to aspire to earthly honors; they were not to adopt any special style of dress or badge, but they were to be distinguished by tender and constant attachment to each other.
“THIS WAS TO SURMOUNT ALL DISTINCTION OF COUNTRY, OF COLOR, OF RANK, OF OFFICE, OF SECT. Here they were to feel that they were on a level, that they had common wants, were redeemed by the same sacred blood, and were going to the same heaven. They were to befriend each other in trials; be careful of each other’s feelings and reputation; deny themselves to promote each other’s welfare. See 1John 3:23; 1Thessalonians 4:9; 1Peter 1:22; 2Thessalonians 1:3; Galatians 6:2; 2Peter 1:7.
“IN ALL THESE PLACES THE COMMAND OF JESUS IS REPEATED OR REFERRED TO, and it shows that the first disciples considered this indeed as the special law of Christ. This command or law was, moreover, new in regard to the extent to which this love was to be carried; for he immediately adds, “As I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” His love for them was strong, continued, unremitting, and he was now about to show his love for them in death. John 15:13; “greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
“SO IN 1JOHN 3:16 IT IS SAID THAT “we ought also to lay down our lives for the brethren.” This was a new expression of love; and it showed the strength of attachment which we ought to have for Christians, and how ready we should be to endure hardships, to encounter dangers, and to practice self-denial, to benefit those for whom the Son of God laid down his life. (Barnes)
THE SHORT PART OF OUR THEME , TODAY: “Loving You and Protecting Me” is this: when should I protect myself from death instead of dying for His namesake?” In Jesus’ day, the question for the disciples was: “What if someone tries to rob me at night while I’m sleeping under a tree and will probably kill me to keep me quiet?”
WARREN WIERSBE OFFES A REASONABLE EXPLANATION: And he that hath no sword – “There has been much difficulty in understanding why Jesus directed his disciples to arm themselves, as if it was his purpose to make a defense. It is certain that the spirit of his religion is against the use of the sword, and that it was not his purpose to defend himself against Judas. But it should be remembered that these directions about the purse, the scrip, and the sword were not made with reference to his “being taken” in the garden, but with reference “to their future life.”
“THE TIME OF THE TRIAL IN GETHSEMANE WAS JUST AT HAND; nor was there “time” then, if no other reason existed, to go and make the purchase. It altogether refers to their future life. They were going into the midst of dangers. The country was infested with robbers and wild beasts. It was customary to go armed. He tells them of those dangers - of the necessity of being prepared in the usual way to meet them.
“THIS, THEN, IS NOT TO BE CONSIDERED AS A SPECIFIC, POSITIVE "COMMAND" to procure a sword, but an intimation that great dangers were before them; that their manner of life would be changed, and that they would need the provisions “appropriate to that kind of life.” The “common” preparation for that manner of life consisted in money, provisions, and arms; and he foretells them of that manner of life by giving them directions commonly understood to be appropriate to it.
“IT AMOUNTS, THEN, TO A "PREDICTION" THAT THEY WOULD SOON LEAVE THE PLACES which they had been accustomed to, and go into scenes of poverty, want, and danger, where they would feel the necessity of money, provisions, and the means of defense. All, therefore, that the passage justifies is:
1.THAT IT IS PROPER FOR PEOPLE TO PROVIDE for their wants, and for ministers and missionaries as well as any others.
2. THAT SELF-DEFENSE IS LAWFUL." (Warren Wiersbe)
Read Through the Bible in a Year
NOVEMBER 1, 2018 – THURSDAY
A.M. Jeremiah 31-32 P.M. Titus 2
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)
A Good Verse to Memorize:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16)
Song for Today:
Hallelujah Chorus (4:56) (Flash Mob – Acapella -Food Court )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE
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