FULFILLING THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT : LOVING GOD WITH ALL OUR HEARTS AND LOVING OTHERS AS WE LOVE OURSELVES
***************************************************************************************************************************************
OUTLINE
1. THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT IS TO LOVE GOD WITH ALL OUR HEARTS AND TO LOVE OTHERS AS WE LOVE OURSELVES. ALL THE OTHER COMMANDMENTS ARE CONTAINED IN THESE TWO COMMANDMENTS.
2. ALL OUR SPIRITUAL AND CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES ARE IN VAIN IF WE DO NOT HAVE LOVE IN OUR HEARTS. THE LORD WANTS US TO SERVE HIM BECAUSE WE LOVE HIM.
3. GOD IS LOVE AND ALL THOSE WHO KNOW GOD SHOULD LOVE ONE ANOTHER. WHEN OUR LOVE IS COMPLETE WE WOULD HAVE NO FEAR TO FACE THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT.
4. WHEN WE ARE ROOTED IN THE LOVE OF GOD , NOTHING CAN SEPERATE US FROM HIS LOVE. ONLY THOSE WHO ENDURE TILL THE END SHALL BE SAVED.
5. WE MUST LOVE OUR ENEMIES AND DO GOOD TO THOSE WHO HATE US AND BLESS THOSE WHO CURSE US AND PRAY FOR THOSE WHO MISTREAT US.
6. WE MUST UNDERSTAND THE WIDTH AND LENGTH AND HEIGHT AND DEPTH OF THE LOVE OF CHRIST. WE MUST ALLOW THE HOLY SPIRIT TO POUR OUT THE LOVE OF GOD IN OUR HEARTS.
7. THE LORD HAS GREAT BLESSINGS FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM . ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD TO THOSE WHO LOVE GOD.
THE MESSAGE
FULFILLING THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT : LOVING GOD WITH ALL OUR HEARTS AND LOVING OTHERS AS WE LOVE OURSELVES
***************************************************************************************************************************************
1. THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT IS TO LOVE GOD WITH ALL OUR HEARTS AND TO LOVE OTHERS AS WE LOVE OURSELVES. ALL THE OTHER COMMANDMENTS ARE CONTAINED IN THESE TWO COMMANDMENTS.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
****************************
MATTHEW 22:36-40
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together.
One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'
This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
ROMANS 13:9-10
The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
2. ALL OUR SPIRITUAL AND CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES ARE IN VAIN IF WE DO NOT HAVE LOVE IN OUR HEARTS. THE LORD WANTS US TO SERVE HIM BECAUSE WE LOVE HIM.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
****************************
1 CORINTHIANS 13:1-7
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
MATTHEW 6:1-4
"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
REVELATION 2:1-4
"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands:
I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.
You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.
JOHN 21:15-17
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?" "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."
The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep.
3. GOD IS LOVE AND ALL THOSE WHO KNOW GOD SHOULD LOVE ONE ANOTHER. WHEN OUR LOVE IS COMPLETE WE WOULD HAVE NO FEAR TO FACE THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
****************************
1 JOHN 4:7-21
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
We love because he first loved us.
If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
4. WHEN WE ARE ROOTED IN THE LOVE OF GOD , NOTHING CAN SEPERATE US FROM HIS LOVE. ONLY THOSE WHO ENDURE TILL THE END SHALL BE SAVED.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
****************************
ROMANS 8:35-39
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
MATTHEW 24:12-13
Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,
but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
5. WE MUST LOVE OUR ENEMIES AND DO GOOD TO THOSE WHO HATE US AND BLESS THOSE WHO CURSE US AND PRAY FOR THOSE WHO MISTREAT US.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
****************************
MATTHEW 5:43-48
"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?
And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
LUKE 6:27-36
"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic.
Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them.
And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that.
And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full.
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
LUKE 23:34
Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots
ACTS 7:59-60
While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep.
6. WE MUST UNDERSTAND THE WIDTH AND LENGTH AND HEIGHT AND DEPTH OF THE LOVE OF CHRIST. WE MUST ALLOW THE HOLY SPIRIT TO POUR OUT THE LOVE OF GOD IN OUR HEARTS.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
****************************
EPHESIANS 3:14-19
For this reason I kneel before the Father,
from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
ROMANS 5:5
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
7. THE LORD HAS GREAT BLESSINGS FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM . ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD TO THOSE WHO LOVE GOD.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
****************************
1 CORINTHIANS 2:9
However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"
ROMANS 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
***************************************************************************
