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(John 13:34-35 KJV) A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. [35] By this shall all [men] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

On Target Or Off Target?

When I was in the Air Force we often had to go out to the gun range to “qualify”. Qualification consisted of 8 hours of instruction on handling a firearm. The first thing you always did was sight in your weapon. You’d aim at the target, fire a test round, then adjust your sights to correct for the drift of the bullet. You learned to breath, how to control yourself so that you could hit the target. If you were off target, you could die in a fight. If you’re off target you can’t win a battle. You’re a casualty!

We live in an off target world!

People stare at their phones rather than talking to one another. I’ve seen a family of five sitting in a restaurant, all ignoring one another while locked onto their phones. Technology is destroying the family, the place where children used to be taught how to live in civilized society.

Medicine – which should be helping and healing people – several years ago started “surgically correcting” children who felt they were born the wrong gender. Children need to be taught and loved, not scarred and mutilated in the name of progress. Several years ago I heard of a man named Thomas Beatie who became pregnant in 2007. Beatie has had THREE children since then. The Guinness Book of world records notes that Thomas Beatie is the first man to give birth in Bend, Oregon (USA) on June 29, 2008. Isn’t that amazing. But as Paul Harvey would say …. “Here’s the rest of the story”. When this individual was born, SHE was born Tracy Lagondino. Tracy underwent chest reconstruction surgery, and was legally recognized by the State of Hawaii as a man, allowing HER birth certificate to be amended. Because “Thomas” wanted to have children, SHE never had her female reproductive system removed. Even with surgery, a female has two X chromosomes, and is scientifically still a female – though the law allowed recognition of this person as a male.

That’s off target!

The world lives in a state of confusion created by sin itself. Someone should have told Tracy Lagondino before being medically altered to Thomas Beatie that men don’t have babies – women do. No one told Tracy/Thomas because the world itself is covered in the darkness of sin. Satan doesn’t want the world to see the truth. We are told in:

(2 Corinthians 4:3-4 ESV) … OUR GOSPEL IS VEILED, it is VEILED TO THOSE WHO ARE PERISHING. [4] In their case the god of this world has BLINDED THE MINDS OF THE UNBELIEVERS, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

The Christian and the Church are a people that have have seen Jesus as Lord and Savior. The Bible says:

(Colossians 1:13-14 ESV) {God} has DELIVERED US FROM THE DOMAIN OF DARKNESS and TRANSFERRED US TO THE KINGDOM OF HIS BELOVED SON, [14] in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

We live in a dark and sin confused world. The world is off target because it is without Christ. Sadly, many churches are off target. Too many churches today think that they are service organizations like the Lion’s Club, the Rotarians, The Kiwanis, or the Masons. Service organizations do good, but many of them compromise with the dark world in order to function. The church is something else.

Though we do good, the Church is “The Kingdom of God’s Beloved Son”. The Church’s job is not to entertain, nor is it a political headquarters. The Church is to be the manifestation of Heaven on earth. The Apostle defines the Church in:

(1 Peter 2:9-10 LSB) But you are A CHOSEN FAMILY, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR [God’s] OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; [10] for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.

We are the Family and Kingdom of God. We preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We adhere to “God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Anyone can be saved if that person REPENT and RECEIVE the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior.

Christian, you are saved by the love of God. Once saved, you are commanded to love the same way that God loved you.

People are fond of saying “God is love”. Yes, this is in the Scripture. But this is only part of the quoted text. The whole text is this:

(1 John 4:7-12 LSB) Beloved, let us love one another, for LOVE IS FROM GOD; and EVERYONE WHO LOVES HAS BEEN BORN OF GOD AND KNOWS GOD. [8] The one who DOES NOT LOVE DOES NOT KNOW GOD, because God is love. [9] By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. [10] In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son [to be] the propitiation for our sins. [11] Beloved, IF GOD SO LOVED US, WE OUGHT ALSO TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER. [12] No one has beheld God at any time; IF WE LOVE ONE ANOTHER, GOD ABIDES IN US, and His love is perfected in us.

An active love is the proof that God has caused a person to be born again. A person who says “I love God”, and yet shows no love toward their brother or sister IS JUST AS CONFUSED AS TRACY LAGONDINO/ THOMAS BEATIE. This woman tried to make HERSELF into a man – and the dark world applauded that. Science declares that you cannot change someone born with XX chromosomes into XY chromosomes. You are what you are born. No miracle of modern medicine will legitimately change that. No miracle of human law fare will change that. Up is up and down is down . But here’s the thing:

You can be born again! Not medically, but spiritually. Through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ you can be “born again to a living hope” (1 Peter 1:3). You can be “born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible seed – through the LIVING and ENDURING WORD OF GOD” (1 Peter 1:23). If you are born again, Jesus says:

John 13:34 A NEW (kainos) commandment I give UNTO YOU, that ye LOVE ONE ANOTHER

To Whom Did Jesus Give This Commandment?

Word Study: Just before Jesus goes to the Cross, He gives a “NEW commandment”. The word “NEW” is the Greek kainos, which means “something novel, unprecedented or unheard of”. This new commandment is something that was never addressed under the Old Covenant. Under the Old Covenant God told Israel:

(Deuteronomy 6:5 LSB) YOU SHALL LOVE YAHWEH YOUR GOD with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

And God told His people

(Leviticus 19:18 LSB) You shall not take vengeance, and you shall not keep [your anger] against the sons of your people, but YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF; I am Yahweh.

Loving your neighbor didn’t mean just the Israelite, but also the stranger in Israel (Leviticus 19:33-34; Deuteronomy 10:18-19). You were to “LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR (or stranger) AS YOURSELF”. The way YOU wanted to be treated is the way you were to treat others. But then Jesus comes along, and establishes a NEW COVENANT. This was prophesied in …

(Jeremiah 31:31-33 LSB) Behold, days are coming, declares Yahweh, when I will CUT A NEW COVENANT with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, [32] not like the covenant which I cut with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, but I was a husband to them, declares Yahweh. [33] But this is the covenant which I will cut with the house of Israel after those days,” declares Yahweh: “I WILL PUT MY LAW WITHIN THEM, and ON THEIR HEART I WILL WRITE IT; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

The OLD Covenant was written on external sources. It commanded that man – in his own power – do the things that God said to do. And of course, man failed to do it. But the NEW Covenant was written on the heart. God would “PUT MY LAW WITHIN THEM, and ON THEIR HEART I WILL WRITE IT”. Jesus ushered in the New Covenant. At the end of the Feast of the Passover, just before Jesus went to the Cross, the Bible says that

(Luke 22:20 LSB) {Jesus} took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is THE NEW COVENANT IN MY BLOOD.

Jesus gave the NEW Command to those under His NEW Covenant, to those who would be born again by faith in Him.

Jesus did not give this command to those who adhered to the OLD Covenant. The Scribes and Pharisees were people who professed to know the Lord, but only knew tradition and ritual. They were bound to an OLD Covenant. They were more concerned about eating bread with unwashed hands (Mark 7:2-3) than they were with a man suffering a withered hand. The hearts were like stone. We see these people in …

Luke 6:6-11 On another Sabbath, {Jesus} entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and the Pharisees watched {Jesus}, to see whether He would heal on the Sabbath, so that THEY MIGHT FIND REASON TO ACCUSE HIM. But {Jesus} knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Arise and stand here.’ And he arose and stood there. And Jesus said to them, ‘I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?’ And after looking around at them all he said to him, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ And he did so, and his hand was restored.

The unsaved religious crowd looked like they were the people of God, but they were not. Jesus condemned them, saying …

Mark 7:6-9 … Well hath Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. {7} Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. {8} For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. {9} And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

Those that are under the Old Covenant cannot “love one another, as Jesus loved us”. Religious people can’t do this. Only those who are supernaturally born again can do this.

Who else was Jesus NOT ADDRESSING when He said, “Love one another, as I have loved you”. Jesus was NOT ADDRESSING PRETEND CHRISTIANS. Before our Lord gave this command in verse 34, He addresses the false or pretend Christian in:

(John 13:21, 25-27 KJV) {Jesus} was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ONE OF YOU SHALL BETRAY ME. … [25] He then lying on Jesus’ breast {this was the Apostle John} saith unto Him, Lord, who is it? [26] Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped [it]. And when He had dipped the sop, HE GAVE IT TO JUDAS ISCARIOT, [the son] of Simon. [27] And after the sop SATAN ENTERED INTO HIM. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.

The false Christian looks good on the outside, but is not indwelt of the Spirit of Christ. When a person is born again, God the Holy Spirit comes to that person and changes them. The Spirit of God takes up residence in the soul of the believer, enabling us to “love one another as Jesus loved us”. The Bible tells us that …

(Romans 8:6-9 LSB) For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, [7] because the mind set on the flesh is [at] enmity toward God, for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able [to do so], [8] and those who are in the flesh are not able to please God. [9] However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.

Judas Iscariot’s mind was set on the flesh, not the Spirit. Judas was a thief (John 12:4-6), more concerned with his own earthly possessions than he was with being possessed of Christ. The Holy Spirit did not indwell Judas, nor does the Spirit indwell any who have not surrendered their lives to Jesus. So “Satan entered Judas”, possessing him so that he could betray our Lord.

To whom is the command given? Not to the religious. Not to the pretend Christian. But to those who have become as little children before Jesus. Jesus illustrated this in:

Matthew 18:2-4 Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, {3} And said, Verily I say unto you, EXCEPT YOU BE CONVERTED, and BECOME AS LITTLE CHILDREN, YOU SHALL NOT ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. {4} Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Word Study: Who are the saved, the born again? Jesus said “Except you be CONVERTED {strepho}”, turned around, stop following yourself and follow the Good Shepherd”. You must turn from the ways of this world. You must turn from the darkness. You must quit operating along the lines of the selfish, pitiful ways of this current age. You have to turn away from the me above all others mentality and become like little children. Give it to Jesus. Obey Him. Let Him lead you.

The world clings to its evil. The worldly, the Iscariots among us, do not want to turn from the darkness. Jesus said:

John 3:19-20 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and MEN LOVED DARKNESS RATHER THAN LIGHT, because THEIR DEEDS WERE EVIL. {20} For EVERY ONE THAT DOETH EVIL HATETH THE LIGHT, NEITHER COMETH TO THE LIGHT, LEST HIS DEEDS SHOULD BE REPROVED.

The lost want to be saved IN their sins. The born again are saved FROM their sins. The born again walk in light, not darkness.

The Christian who is a Christian indeed is “crucified with Christ”:

Galatians 2:20-21 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but CHRIST LIVETH IN ME: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, WHO LOVED ME AND GAVE HIMSELF FOR ME. {21} I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

The Christian is saved by Christ to love as Christ loved.

Loving As Jesus Loves Is Not Emotional, But Actual.
It Is What You Do, Not What You Feel.

John 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.

How did Jesus love us? He loved us to the end.

(John 13:1 KJV) Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, HAVING LOVED HIS OWN WHICH WERE IN THE WORLD, HE LOVED THEM UNTO THE END.

When Jesus looked at His disciples, they were “HIS OWN”. Jesus knew they were broken. Jesus knew Peter’s heart. When Jesus went to wash Peter’s feet, he fought the Master:

(John 13:6-9 KJV) Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? [7] Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. [8] Peter saith unto him, THOU SHALT NEVER WASH MY FEET. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me. [9] Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also [my] hands and [my] head.

Peter loved Jesus, but he was filled with pride. It was not humility that said to the Lord “THOU SHALT NEVER WASH MY FEET”, but defiance. When Jesus said “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me”, Peter replies “well, wash my feet, my head and hands too!”. Peter wants to be the boss of Jesus. He wants to be known as the most excellent disciple – the best of the bunch.

When Jesus later is reclining at the table with the Apostle John leaning against Him (John 13:23), Jesus reveals that one of them will betray Him. Peter once more takes charge:

(John 13:24-25 KJV) SIMON PETER THEREFORE BECKONED TO {JOHN}, that he {John} should ask who it should be of whom {Jesus} spake. [25] He then lying on Jesus’ breast {John} saith unto him, Lord, who is it?

Peter wants to be in charge. Peter is the BOSS! When Jesus reveals that it is Judas who will betray Him, the disciples still didn’t understand, for they were NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO WHAT JESUS SAID AND DID. The Bible tells us:

(John 13:26 KJV) Jesus answered, HE IT IS, TO WHOM I SHALL GIVE A SOP, when I have dipped [it]. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave [it] to Judas Iscariot, [the son] of Simon.

Jesus took a piece of unleavened bread and dipped it into the Charoset (Passover Paste made of crushed fruit, wine, and spices). He plainly showed them that Judas was the betrayer. But they were not paying attention, and were confused because the SOP was normally given to someone being honored.

Jesus honored Judas, though Judas would betray Him.

Jesus then told His disciples that He was going to the Cross. He told Peter that he could not follow Him, where He was going. We read:

(John 13:37-38 KJV) Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake. [38] Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.

Jesus loved them all to the end. He loved Peter, though Peter would deny Him at His time of greatest need. In fact, Jesus loved them though they all went to sleep in the Garden of Gethsemane, leaving the Lord alone in His agonizing prayers.

Jesus loved them all by lowering Himself, by washing their feet. Let’s finish with these Scriptures:

(John 13:12-17 KJV) So after He had washed their feet, and had taken His garments, and was set down again, He said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? [13] YE CALL ME MASTER AND LORD: and ye say well; for [so] I am. [14] IF I THEN, YOUR LORD AND MASTER, have washed your feet; YE ALSO OUGHT TO WASH ONE ANOTHER’S FEET. [15] For I have given you an example, that YE SHOULD DO AS I HAVE DONE TO YOU. [16] Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. [17] IF YE KNOW THESE THINGS, HAPPY ARE YE IF YE DO THEM.

Jesus is not establishing a new ritual here that the born again are to follow. Servants in the ancient world washed the feet of guests to a meal. But Jesus, the Host of the Last Supper, lowered Himself to serve those who should have been serving Him. This is the love that God calls us to. This is the target of every Church, of every Christian. Jesus said “as I have loved you, that ye also love one another”. Are you aiming at this target?

If you are born again as little children then, dear friend, you must practice the love of God. You cannot do this at home sitting in front of Charles Stanley or Adrian Rogers watching the television. We gather together as believers to love one another. You cannot love one another from afar. You are called to be together, to practice loving one another, to actually help each other by obeying God’s Word:

Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

We gather together to provoke one another to love and good works. Just like we encouraged one another to hit the target in the military, we as believers encourage one another to hit the target of love. We must – for Christ’s sake – fulfill this eleventh commandment, else the midnight hour will come to our land. Love one another so that all men will know you are Christ’s disciples.

Jude 21-23 Keep yourselves in the love of God,… making a difference: {23} And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire;