The Great Commandment – Sermon 1: Loving God
Series: The Great Commandment
Chuck Sligh
July 22, 2018
NOTE: A PowerPoint presentation is available for this sermon by request at chucksligh@hotmail.com.
TEXT: Matthew 22:34-40 – “But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they gathered together. 35 Then one of them,…a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, saying, 36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
INTRODUCTION
Do you ever think about all the “things” you do in a given day? Think for a moment about all the tasks—routine and not-so-routine—that you accomplish each day—beginning with the moment you get up out of bed. I read recently where the average person thinks over 50,000 thoughts and accomplishes hundreds of tasks—some minor—some major, every single day. Whew!—It makes me tired just thinking about it!
Thank the Lord, we don’t have to consciously think about everything we do each day. For instance—you don’t have to consciously think about brushing your teeth, or taking a shower, or eating. When brushing your teeth, you don’t say to yourself, “Okay now—up, down, up, down, up, down. Now let’s do the tongue. Now the roof of the mouth. BINGO. All done.” No, you do it without thinking about it.
Sometimes we don’t even think much when we’re driving. Did you ever get way down the road and suddenly ask yourself, “How in the world did I get here?!” You were thinking about other things, but you sure were not consciously thinking about your location minute-by-minute. Your brain was kind of on auto-pilot.
On the spiritual plane, deep down inside you, there is a guiding force driving your life. It’s what drives your spiritual life when you’re spiritually on auto-pilot—by which I mean when you’re not consciously thinking about your walk with the Lord.
What is it that drives you? What makes you tick?
Churches have these driving forces as well. For some churches, it’s TRADITION; with others, it’s FINANCES; with still others, it’s programs, or personalities or the building they meet in.
Today is the fourteenth anniversary of the organization of Grace Baptist Church As I was preparing to start our church, I asked the Lord to show me what should be the overall force that should drive our church. What should be our purpose for existence? What are we HERE for as a church?
I discovered part of the answer in our text. One of the key guiding forces that has defined and guided our church is found in our text.
Let’s look at the context of this passage. Verses 37-39 are what is often referred to as “The Great Commandment.” This passage takes place very close to the end of Jesus’ ministry. In fact, Bible scholars place it on the Tuesday of Passover week of His death, so if this is correct, these are some of Jesus’s last teachings on earth.
The entire chapter of Matthew 22 reveals an attempt by the Jewish authorities to destroy Jesus’s credibility before the crowds by asking Him a series of difficult questions designed to trip Him up and either make him look bad or pit him on one side or the other of the great debates of the day—dividing the people over Jesus. But Jesus, the all-wise Son of God, handled their questions deftly and wisely, in the foiling the Pharisee and the Sadducee plots.
Verses 34-35 tell us that when the Pharisees heard that Jesus silenced their opponents, the Sadducees, by His teaching, they put forth one of their own to try his luck at tripping Jesus up. They chose a lawyer who, though the Pharisees used him as a pawn in their attack of Jesus. was actually earnest and respectful in his question.
There are two clues that he was more than just a set-up man, both from the Gospel of Mark’s version of the story. First, Mark tells us that the lawyer was present when Jesus “reasoned together” with the Sadducees, and Mark tells us he perceived “that he [that is, Jesus] had answered them well” (Mark 12:28). Second, at the conclusion of his discussion with Christ, Jesus said to the man, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” (Mark 12:34).
Back in verse 36 of our text in Matthew, the lawyer posed his question to Jesus.
He said, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?”
This was not a new question, for the scribes had been debating it for centuries. They had documented 613 commands in God’s Law—248 positive; 365 negative. No person could ever hope to know and fully obey all of these commandments. So, to make it easier, the experts divided the commandments into “heavy” (that is, important) commandments and “light” (unimportant) commandments. A person could major on the “heavy” ones and not worry about the trivial ones.
The fallacy of this approach is obvious: You need only break one law, heavy OR light, to be guilty before God, for James tells us, “…whosoever shall keep the whole Law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10).
The lawyer asked one question, but Jesus gave two answers:
1. First, He quoted what is known as the Shema, which is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-5, which was recited daily by every orthodox Jew. Webster’s New World Dictionary defines the word Shema as “a declaration of the basic principle of Jewish belief, proclaiming the absolute unity of God.” Here is what Deuteronomy 6:4-5, the Shema, says: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5 And you shall love the LORD thy God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”
2. Second, Jesus quoted the second part of Leviticus 19:18 and put it second only to the Shema. – The entire verse goes: “You shall not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, [and here’s the part Jesus quoted] but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.”
THIS, says Jesus, is to be our supreme purpose, our great command, our guiding force in the Christian life. Jesus took all the commandments of the Old Testament—all 613 of them—and distilled them into one two-part command, known as “the Great Commandment.”
In other words, everything else in the Christian life is either subservient to this command (for Jesus said this was THE great commandment), or is subsumed as part of the Great Commandment, for Jesus said in verse 40, “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Everything you need to do to obey God can be wrapped up in this commandment. This is what it all boils down to—to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself. That’s the whole duty of mankind is wrapped up in two commandments spanning a mere three verses.
How many of us have really been taught this and had it emphasized in our churches? If this is the greatest commandment for the Christian, and by extension, the church, then I think we’d better pay attention and see what it means. Our vision for Grace Baptist Church, and for each of us individually, has been and continues to be that this commandment would be the driving force in our Christian lives.
If you want to distill the purpose and function for each of us personally on this earth and our church corporately, you could wrap it up in this little phrase “To love God and people.” Isn’t that what this passage teaches? The purpose of our church is “To love God and people.” YOUR purpose on earth can be summarized very simply: “To love God and people.”
When you start a job, you’re given a job description. This is the job description for the Christian: “To love God and people.” Here’s the job description for Grace Baptist Church: “To love God and people.” If I ask you what your job is, you should instantly respond, “To love God and people.” Say it with me: “To love God and people.” Say it again: “To love God and people.” What’s your job in the Christian life? “To love God and people.” What’s the number one job of Grace Baptist Church? “To love God and people.”
Now it’s very easy to say that, but what does it really mean?—THAT’S the hard part. If this is an all-inclusive command, then it covers a lot. So, this week and the next couple of weeks, we’re going to look at what this means in detail.
My outline is simple—Point number 1: Love God; Point number 2: Love people. Now tell me again, what is your job description? — “To love God and people.” What should be the purpose and driving force for this church? “To love God and people.”
Let’s begin by looking at the first part of the commandment—Loving God.
I. JESUS BEGAN BY SAYING IN VERSE 37: “…you shall love the Lord your God…” – CHRIST’S COMMAND HERE IS POINTED.
By saying, “YOU shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind,” Jesus was not giving a general teaching—He meant it to be applied personally. Whenever God gives a command in His Word, we tend to think, “This applies to So-and-So.” Or when we hear the preacher preach, we often think, “Man, I wish So-and-So were here to hear this. Boy, he really needs this, or she really needs this.”
But if we’re going to get what Jesus is saying here, we have to stop looking at the specks in our brothers’ and sisters’ eyes and start looking at the beams in our own eyes. Jesus—knowing our tendency to generalize His commands—is very penetrating. He says “You shall love the Lord your God with this all-embracing love I’m talking about. I’m not talking to your neighbor, or your brother or your mother or your spouse. I’m talking to YOU.”
When I was a child, we used to sing the African-American spiritual, “It’s Me, Oh Lord.” The words went like this:
It’s me, it’s me, oh Lord,
Standing in the need of prayer.
It’s me, it’s me, oh Lord,
Standing in the need of prayer.
Not my brother, not my sister, but it’s me oh Lord,
Standing in the need of prayer.
Not my mother, not my father, but it’s me, it’s me, oh Lord,
Standing in the need of prayer.
As we study the Great Commandment, let me ask you not to think about the need of any other person in this congregation except yourself. Ask yourself, “Do I love my God the way Jesus commands me?” If the answer to that question is No, then you should ask the next question—“What am I going to do about?”—AND THEN DO IT!
II. THE SECOND WORD TO NOTE IN THE GREAT COMMANDMENT IS “SHALL”—“You SHALL love the Lord your God…” – THIS REMINDS US THAT JESUS’ INSTRUCTIONS WERE COMMANDED.
This is self-evident, I know, since this is called “The Great COMMANDMENT” but I mention it not because it IS commanded, but because of WHAT is commanded. God commands us to love Him with an all-embracing kind of love.
That brings up the question, “Is love a feeling or an action?” This may sound like weird question, but it has tremendous ramifications in all our love relationships.
You see, if love is a feeling, it cannot be commanded, yet we see that God commanded love for Him in the Shema, and three of the four Gospels record that Jesus repeated the command, including here in our text. In verse 39, we’re commanded to love our neighbor. In other places, husbands are commanded to love their wives, wives to love their husbands, and we’re even commanded to love our enemies.
But here’s the problem: you cannot command an emotion. For instance, you cannot command someone to be angry. You cannot say to your child, “You go to your room right now and be happy.” You cannot say to someone under you at work, “I command you to be excited about your job or you’re fired.”
You can command someone to ACT as if they are angry, happy, or sad, that is, to hide their true emotions, but you cannot command the emotion itself. In other words, you can command behavior, but an emotion just IS or it ISN’T.
Most of us think love is an emotion. There is no doubt that there is an emotional element to love, but true love is not merely an emotion, but a condition that can be actuated by a decision of the will.
That’s why we are commanded to love God and people.
Alex Thomas says,
When I worked as an Addictions Counselor for a number of years, people tried to manipulate me. They were often angry with me. They swore at me. They threatened to kill me. One or two pointed a gun at me. Many of them were downright miserable. I didn’t like some of them. It was hard to feel affection for them. I did not feel lovingly toward them, but I tried to act in love. I wanted the best for them. I wanted them to grow in understanding of themselves and their addictive behavior. I wanted them to be free from their addiction. That was to me what love is—actively promoting goodwill, healing, growth and wholeness.
On the other hand I know people who say they have certain feelings toward another person. They say “Can’t you see that I love you?” At the same time they treat the other person miserably, unfairly, and with no respect. Love is a fraud. It may be felt but not acted upon.
Thomas is helping us understand that love is action based upon choice not a feeling. If we CHOOSE to love and then ACT in loving ways, eventually the FEELING of love follows. We’ll talk more about this next week and we’ll also look in more detail exactly HOW we can manifest love to God in tangible ways, so we’ll move on for now.
III. THE NEXT PART OF THE GREAT COMMANDMENT IS “THE LORD YOUR GOD”—“ You shall love the Lord your God with all thy heart…soul, and…mind.” – THIS TELLS US THAT THE LOVE CHRIST COMMANDS IS EXCLUSIVE.
We cannot love any god to fulfill the Great Commandment. Jesus was well aware of the plethora of gods and religions in the world, and if there ever were a time for Him to be broad-minded, this was it!
But here and elsewhere, Jesus excluded all other GODS and all other WAYS to God. Jesus told the devil in His temptation, “…You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.” (Matthew 4:10)
In the politically correct day we live in, it’s considered rude to insist that the God of the Bible as THE one true God. Yet Jesus made it very clear that we must worship the one true God alone, and no other:
1. Can we come to God by loving BUDDHA?—No, for Isaiah declared, “Thus says the LORD…I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.” (Isaiah 44:6)
2. Can we come to God by loving CONFUCIUS?—No, for Jesus said in John 17:3 – “And this is life eternal, that they might know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you hast sent.”
3. Can we come to God by loving ALLAH?—No, for Paul asserted, “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6)
4. Can we come to God by trusting ANYONE besides the Lord God, and through the mediator-ship of ANY person or ANY religion or ANY way besides His Son, Jesus Christ?—No, for Paul told Timothy “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:5)
The love Jesus commands is a EXCLUSIVE love.
CONCLUSION
In closing, let me remind you again: your job description is to love God and people. First, we must love God with all our HEART, with all our SOUL, and with all our MIND.
You may not know yet what all that all entails, but for now, let me ask you an important question: Can you honestly say that as far as you know how to, right now, you love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind? If not, why not?
It could be because you have never come to Jesus for salvation. It is impossible to love someone you do not know. To properly love Jesus, you must first know Him as your Lord and Savior.
May I invite you to come to Him today? Please, see me after the service or let’s get together to talk give me the great joy of sharing with you how you can have eternal life and your sins forgiven.
Let me ask those of you who are believers and followers of Jesus: Is there some sin that’s holding you back from loving God with all your heart, soul and mind? Because I love my wife, there are certain things I don’t do because I know they displease the one I love. I avoid them because they hurt my relationship with her and my love for her is too great to allow those things to come between her and me.
And there are certain things I avoid because I know that they steal my affections from her. I don’t Facebook, message, email other women for any purpose other than church business. I don’t go out for meals with other women. Why?—Because I don’t want to be tempted away from the one I love.
I wonder if you have found another spiritual lover besides the Lord. Is there something that steals your affections from Him?—Some time-consuming ACTIVITY that crowds out time with the Lord?...Some PERSON you put before the Lord? Attachment to material things that you value over advancing God’s? Is there another god (with a little “g”) that has stolen your affections for the Lord God? If so, why don’t you turn from them and turn back to your Lord who wants you to love Him in return for His spectacular love for you.
