© 1984 Adair

As I have loved you, you also are to love one another. —John 13:34

It is a new commandment also because it is a new love, springing from a new nature and embracing a new nation. I am bound as a man to love my fellow man because he is a man. But I am bound as a regenerate man to love my fellow Christian still more because he also is regenerate. The ties of blood ought to be recognized by us far more than they are. We are too apt to forget that God “hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth” (Act 17:26). By the common tie of blood, we are all brethren. But, beloved, the ties of grace are far stronger than the ties of blood. If ye are really born of God, ye are brothers by a brotherhood that is stronger even than the natural brotherhood that enabled you to lie in the same cradle and to hang at the same breast; for brothers according to the flesh may be separated eternally. The right hand of the King may be the position accorded to the one, and His left hand may be the position assigned to the other; but brothers who are truly born of God share a brotherhood that must last forever. They who are now brothers in Christ shall always be brothers.

It is a very blessed thing when we are able to love one another because the grace that is in any one of us sees the grace that is in another and discerns in that other, not the flesh and blood of the Savior, but such a resemblance to Christ that it must love that other one for His sake. As it is true that if we are of the world, the world will love its own, so is it true that if we are of the Spirit, the Spirit will love His own. The whole redeemed family of Christ is firmly bound together. Born of God ourselves, we keep looking out to see others who have been “born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible” (1Pe 1:23). When we do see them, we cannot help loving them. There is a bond of union between us at once…You are allied to God. Therefore, you must have fellowship with all others who are allied to God, whether you like it or not…

Beloved friends, this is a new commandment because it is enforced by new necessities. Christians ought to love one another because they are the subjects of one King, Who is also their Savior. We are a little band of brothers in the midst of a vast multitude of enemies. “Behold,” said Christ to His disciples, “I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves” (Mat 10:16). If you are true Christians, you will not have the love of worldlings:¹ you cannot have it. They will be sure to ridicule you and call you fools, hypocrites, or something equally uncomplimentary. Well then, cling the more closely to one another. Whatever opposition you meet with outside, let it only weld you into a firmer unit [with one another]. We are like a small company of soldiers, in an enemy’s country, strongly garrisoned by the vast battalions of the foe, so we must hold together. We must be as one man, banded together in closest fellowship, as our great Captain bids us. God grant that the very fact that we are found in an enemy’s country may result in making us more completely one than we have ever been before!

When I hear a Christian man finding fault with his minister, I always wish that the devil had found somebody else to do his dirty work. I hope that none of you will ever be found complaining of God’s servants who are doing their best to help on their Lord’s cause. There are plenty who are ready to find fault with them…

Further, dear brethren, this is a new commandment because it is suggested by new characteristics. In our fellow men, there may be something lovable; but in our fellow Christians, there must be something lovable. Suppose they are only newly born to God—for my part, I hardly know of a more beautiful sight than a newborn Christian. I like to hear the prayer of the one who is just converted. There may be…mistakes and imperfections in it, but that does not spoil it. A lamb does not bleat in quite the same tones that a sheep uses. Yet a lamb is a very beautiful object, and one likes to hear its feeble notes. There is a beauty about the lambs in Christ’s flock as well as about the fullgrown sheep. There is nothing more lovely to be seen in the whole world than an aged believer, who has lived very near to God. How calm the old gentleman’s spirit: when he begins to talk about the things of God and to testify concerning the love of his Lord, how charmingly he talks! There is much that is beautiful about all true Christians, so try to search out their excellences rather than their defects. If we are ourselves in a right state of heart, we are all the more likely to admire that which is good in others…There is a beauty about your friend that there is not about yourself. Do not be always gazing in the looking glass: there are fairer sights to be seen than any you will find there. Look into your fellow Christian’s face; and as you see anything there that is the work of the Spirit, love him because of that.

Once more, this is a new commandment because it is a preparation for better prospects than we have ever enjoyed before. We who believe in Jesus are going to live together in heaven forever and ever, so we may as well be good friends while we are here. We shall see each other there in one common glory and be occupied forever in one common employment: the adoration of our Lord and Master. The remembrance of this truth ought to break down many of the barriers that at present exist in society…I can also bear witness that I have often learnt more in an hour’s conversation with a godly poor man, than I have learned from an educated man who has known but little of the things of God. Never judge men by the clothes they wear, but by what they are in themselves. It is a man’s heart; and above all, it is the grace of God that dwells within the man’s heart that you and I are to prize and love. May God help us so to do!

From a sermon delivered at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, on Lord’s Day evening, April 4, 1875, reprinted by Pilgrim Publications.

Notes:

1. worldlings – those absorbed by worldly pursuits and pleasures, not by spiritual matters.

Published with permission of Chapel Library.