The Eleventh Commandment

One Saturday evening the saintly Samuel Rutherford was conducting family devotions in his Scottish home when there was a knock on the door. The stranger was warmly welcomed and invited to join the family circle. Questions from the Scottish catechism were being asked and answered. When the visitor's turn came, his question was "How many commandments are there?"

"Eleven," he replied. Rutherford was amazed that a man so evidently well-educated should be so ignorant, so he corrected him. In reply the stranger said, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another." Rutherford was startled at the response.

Next morning as Rutherford walked along the path to the church, behind the hedge he heard a voice in supplication and recognized it as the voice of his visitor. 'Who are you?" Rutherford asked when the stranger emerged. "My name is Ussher."

He was the primate of Ireland, to whom we largely owe our Bible chronology. In explaining his presence, the bishop said, "I had heard so much of your piety that I chose this way of judging for myself." Their hearts flowed together in devotion to their common Lord. He invited the bishop to preach, and, not surprisingly, his text was John 13:34, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another."
Quoted from: Enjoying Intimacy With God by J. Oswald Chambers, p. 87.