Some time ago a young sailor called his parents after his release from the military service. He said he was bringing his buddy home to stay with him. “You see, Mom,” he said, “my friend is pretty badly broken up. He was severely wounded and has only one leg, one arm, and one eye.” After a little reflection, the mother said grudgingly, “Of course, Son, I guess he can stay with us a little while.” Her voice, however, carried the message that they would not like to be burdened very long with such a severely handicapped fellow. Two days later they received a telegram from the admiral’s office, saying their son had plunged to his death from a hotel window. When his body arrived for burial, his parents saw that he had only one arm, one leg, and one eye! The memory of her last conversation with him lingered with that mother her whole life. She often cried out, “Why didn’t I speak more carefully, more lovingly? If only I could take back those thoughtless words ‘he can stay with us a little while.’ But it is too late now!”
That woman lived with regret because she did not show true love. If we do not have love for others then we also will have regrets.
1. LOVE’S DEMAND (12:9).
"Let love be without dissimulation."
Matthew 19:16-22
"And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments" (vv. 16-17).
The law promised life to those who kept it. God said in Leviticus 18:5, “Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgements: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the Lord.” So Jesus answered this young man’s question of what he could do to receive eternal life by saying, “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” Was Jesus telling this man that he could be saved by works and not faith alone? Theoretically, if a person kept God’s law perfectly, he would be saved by works, but that is not possible for anyone to do. Jesus’ answer was designed to show the man his inability to obtain eternal life by keeping the commandments. Let’s read on.
"He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" (vv. 18-19).
The last-quoted command: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,” summarized the rest of the commandments that Jesus stated, and it ought to have opened the questioner’s eyes to his shortcomings; for how has love his neighbor as himself? The young man was not, however, convicted of sin. He pressed his enquiry as to salvation by works because he thought himself on the road to winning it.
"The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?" (v. 20).
Perhaps the young man really did think that he had perfectly kept all of these commandments. But his response to Jesus’ next statement would prove that he hadn’t.
"Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions" (vv. 19-22).
Was Jesus saying that in order to be truly saved we must sell all of our possessions and give the money to the poor. No, Jesus was showing the man that he had not really loved his neighbor as himself, and so he was guilty of breaking at least one of the commandments. How could anyone, who was content to be wealthy, profess to love his neighbor as himself while needy, poverty-stricken people were suffering all around him. If he actually loved these people as he loved himself, he would help them. This man professed to love others, but his actions proved otherwise.
Are you like this rich young man? Do you say that you love your neighbor when in reality you don’t? Paul wrote, “Let love be without dissimulation.” The word dissimulation means without hypocrisy. Is our love for others without hypocrisy? In olden times the “hypocrite” was a man who played a part on a stage. When we assume a character we do not have, we play the hypocrite.
Here are some other translations of this verse:
J. B. Phillips: “Let us have no imitation Christian love.”
NLT: “Don’t just pretend to love others.”
Amplified: “[Let your] love be sincere—a real thing.”
NKJV and NASV: “Let your love be without hypocrisy.”
The same Greek word that has been translated “dissimulation” in this verse has also been translated as “unfeigned” in 1 Peter 1:22.
1 Peter 1:22
“Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.”
F. B. Meyer writes in his commentary on First Peter: “How often we are one thing to their [our friend’s] face and another to their back! How subtly we are tempted to maintain appearances, because of some ulterior gain! Our politeness is often skin-deep. Our smiles assumed for a purpose. Our words smoother than butter, whilst our hearts are drawn swords. Our acceptance of apologies, as superficial as Joseph’s brethren thought that his would prove to be after old Jacob’s death. Our love is not altogether ‘unfeigned’!”
2. LOVE’S DEBT (13:8).
"Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth one another hath fulfilled the law."
Does the statement “Owe no man anything” mean that it is a sin to have a debt? J. Hudson Taylor, the godly missionary to China, would never incur a debt, basing his conviction on this verse. Charles Spurgeon, the great Baptist preacher, had the same belief. However, the Bible does not forbid borrowing or legal financial transactions that involve interest. What the Bible does forbid, though, is failing to pay honest debts.
While there are these debts that can and should be paid, there is a debt which can never be paid. It is our debt “to love one another.” The debt of love is always owing. Any payment made in this respect does not release us from continued indebtedness.
This is the reason for the Lord’s remarkable answer to Peter when Peter raised the question, “Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?” The Lord’s answer was, “I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven” (Matt. 18:21-22). When Peter has forgiven his brother seven times, he has not even begun to discharge his debt of love. He must forgive and forgive and forgive, realizing that such is the love of God. Love’s debt is large.
3. LOVE’S DUTY (13:9).
"For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."
Paul mentions the last five of the Ten Commandments here and not the first five because his subject is a Christian’s duty to his neighbor—the subject matter of the commandments six through ten.
Matthew 22:34-40
Jesus reduced the Ten Commandments to two, underlining the heart of each of these commands and placing the emphasis on love rather than on law.
Luke 10:29-37
“Who is my neighbour?” (Story of the Good Samaritan).
Galatians 5:14
“For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
When we practice love, there is no need for any other laws, because love covers it all! If we love others, we will not sin against them.
If we love our neighbor, will we commit adultery?
If we love our neighbor, will we kill?
If we love our neighbor, will we bear false witness?
If we love our neighbor, will we covet?
No, if we love our neighbor, we will not sin against him.
LOVE’S DESIRE (13:10).
"Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."
Love hurts nobody. It only does good to others.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
“This love of which I speak is slow to lose patience—it looks for a way of being constructive. It is not possessive: it is neither anxious to impress nor does it cherish inflated ideas of its own importance. Love has good manners and does not pursue selfish advantage. It is not touchy. It does not keep account of evil or gloat over the wickedness of other people. On the contrary, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. It is, in fact, the one thing that still stands when all else has fallen” [Phillips].
We need love for the unsaved.
Someone has said, “The world will not care what we know until they know that we care.”
We need love for fellow believers.
Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi was once asked what it took to make a winning team. He answered, “There are a lot of coaches with good ball clubs who know the fundamentals and have plenty of discipline but still don’t win the game. Then you come to the third ingredient: if you’re going to play together as a team, you’ve got to care for one another. You’ve got to love each other. Each player has to be thinking about the next guy and saying to himself: If I don’t block that man, Paul is going to get his legs broken. I have to do my job well in order that he can do his.
“The difference between mediocrity and greatness,” Lombardi said, “is the feeling these guys have for each other.”
Someone has imagined the Carpenter’s tools holding a conference. Brother Hammer presided. Several suggested he leave the meeting because he was too noisy. Replied the Hammer, “If I have to leave this shop, Brother Screw must go also. You have to turn him around again and again to get him to accomplish anything.”
Brother Screw then spoke up. “If you wish, I’ll leave. But Brother Plane must leave too. All his work is on the surface. His efforts have no depth.”
To this Brother Plane responded, “Brother Rule will also have to withdraw, for he is always measuring folks as though he were the only one who is right.”
Brother Rule then complained against Brother Sandpaper, “You ought to leave too because you’re so rough and always rubbing people the wrong way.”
In the midst of all this discussion, in walked the Carpenter of Nazareth. He had arrived to start His day’s work. Putting on His apron, He went to the bench to make a pulpit from which to preach. He employed the hammer, screw, plane, rule, sandpaper, and all the other tools. After the day’s work when the pulpit was finished. Brother Saw arose and remarked, “Brethren, I observe that all of us are workers together with the Lord.”
jonathanrmcleod@yahoo.com
