Ep 35 – Love Part 3

Hi, welcome back with It’s all greek to me, Vicki and I are going to be discussing this whole incredible concept of the greatest commandment in the whole bible. You know Jesus said on two commandments. Hang everything in the scriptures. Loving God and loving man. Let’s get into the discussion and follow and see what we can learn today from. It’s all greek to me. Well, this has been a fantastic series just talking about love and thinking about story. He eros philia agape these four words. And now we come to the greatest commandment. Those who love God and the greatest commandment in the old testament and in the new testament and what it says about that. And I want to talk to you about that. And uh so Matthew 22 34- 40. But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the saddest ease, they gathered themselves together. One of them, a lawyer asked him a question, testing him, Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law. And he said to him, you shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, this is the greatest and foremost commandment. The second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole law and the prophets literally hang or depend or connect the whole bible from genesis to revelation. All of the law. The law of moses. That is genesis exodus, leviticus numbers, Deuteronomy and all the profits and out of all the things in the bible. Out of everything in the bible. Love for God. Love for one another for a neighbor is the greatest commandment in the bible. And the greatest thing that we can accomplish in this life. Is that amazing Vicky? It really is because most people, when they hear the commandments, they think of them as negative and restricting and not freeing you to enjoy life and love other people love God and love of the people. So God’s God’s greatest commandments are positive. God is all about positive, not negative. If you have an image of God being some ogre up there and is able to throw down lightning bolts and thunder and and make things tough for us. It’s not the God of the bible because his greatest passion and desire for us is for us to love him. Why would you love anybody? Because they are first loving us. They love us. They’re good to us. Like a dad who is kind and generous and good to his Children. Those Children respond back with love. So it really is. Is like saying, look, look at all the blessings I’ve given. You. Look at all the things I’ve done. The greatest commandment That is in the book in the Bible is for us to love him back and to say thank you and be grateful for what who he is and what he’s done. I’m gonna read the Mark 1228 through 30 for passage on the same subject. One of the scribes came and heard them arguing and recognized that he had answered them well, and asked him what commandment is the foremost of all, jesus answered. The foremost is hear O Israel, the Lord, Our God is one lord. And you shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. In other words, With a total heart. To seek God with all of our heart, To love God with all of our heart, to trust God with all of our It’s incredible. And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. This there is no other commandment greater than these and then he continues describe, said to him Right, teacher, you have truly stated that he is one and there is no one else beside him and to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength and to love one’s neighbor as himself is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, he said to him, you are not far from the kingdom of God. After that no one would venture to ask him any more questions. I mean, he equates loving God with more than any sacrifices that you can do, or any offerings that you can get phenomenal and luke 10 25. And a lawyer stood up and put him to the test saying, teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life. And he said to him, what is written in the law? How does it read to you? And he answered, you shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself. And he said to him, you have answered correctly, do this and you will live but wishing to justify himself, he said to jesus and who is my neighbor? It’s amazing that it says he would do this and you will not live. I mean he’s saying, look, you want to live, you want to really be full of life, then love God with all your heart and your soul and your mind and your strength and you’re going to live now. That’s a promise from God and those people that do that really enjoy the fullness of life and it continues. And Deuteronomy 10 12 And now Israel. What does the Lord your God required of you? But to fear the Lord, your God, to walk in all his ways and love him And to serve the Lord, your God with all your heart and with all your soul that’s found in Deuteronomy 10 and verse 12. Now I love this part that I know you love. So I’m gonna let you take them over so many years ago, Dr john Macarthur made every commandment on the positive side and turn them into love is whatever. So it’s the first commandment is. You shall have no other gods before me. Love is loyal. Second commandment. You shall not make for yourselves an idol or any likeness. You shall not worship or serve them. Love is faithful. You shall not take the name of the Lord. Your God In vain. Love is reverent. Fourth commandment. Remember the sabbath Day to keep it holy. The Love is separated. Fifth commandment Honor your father and your mother, Love is respectful. You shall not murder love as humane. You shall not commit adultery. Love is pure. You shall not steal. Love is unselfish The 9th Commandment. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Love is truthful. The 10th commandment, you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. Love is content. What incredible. When you look at the 10 commandments in a positive way, you realize that they’re all talking about love. Love for God, which is the vertical and the first four commandments. And Love for your neighbor as yourself. That’s the last six. Uh, that’s really what love is all about. And those rules and regulations and laws that are there. The top clause there really to allow us to be able to unpack and unfold. What true love is all about? What kind of a planet would we have if we practice just loving God and loving our neighbor and not having jealousy or hatred or any of these murder and stealing the emotions that people have right now, that we’re experiencing in our planet are so hurtful. Uh the fighting and the jealousy and the and the putting down of other people. And you know, we’re 11 people, God didn’t make, he made all the different colors. It’s to him, it’s nothing. We’re just one to him. It’s creative. It’s beautiful humanity. That’s it. We shall love our brother and sisters like we love ourselves, yep, that’s what it is now. The greatest commandment. Uh those who love God when it talks about those who love God is found in several places. I just want to point it out, Deuteronomy 79 know therefore that the Lord, your God, he is God, the faithful god who keeps his covenant and his loving kindness to thousands of generations, with those who love him and keep his commandments. So this is a prerequisite. God is gonna do his part. But when we love him and keep his commandments, we experience what he’s already promised Nehemiah one in verse five. And I said, I beseech thee O Lord, God of Heaven, the great and awesome God who preserves the covenant and the loving kindness two for those who love him and keep his commandments. Then in psalm 74 let all who seek the rejoice and be glad in thee and let those who love thy salvation, say, continually, let God be magnified Daniel 94. And I pray to the Lord my God and confessed and said. Alas, O Lord! The great and awesome God who keeps his covenant and loving kindness for those who love him and keep his commandments. Notice how each one of God’s prophets and servants constantly remind God of his word as they pray, as they preach, as they quote, scripture romans. Chapter eight and verse 28. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good, to those who love him And to those who are called according to his purpose. First Corinthians 2 9. But just as it is written things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which has not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love him, blessed is a man who perseveres under trial for once, he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him. These are very encouraging James 25. Listen, my brethren did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to those who love him. It’s just uh it’s just a phenomenal uh repeating of that same thought for those who love him, for those who love him, for those who love him. The great commandment, the greatest commandment to love God with all my heart with all my soul with all my strength with all my mind. It’s the greatest commandment. We need to constantly be asking ourselves the question and my living up to what I was created for. I was created to love God vertically, and I was created to love my neighbor as myself, last word Vicky. These are incredible promises to encourage us because when God promises to keep his promises, we know what’s going to happen in our life. And they’re all about blessings coming straight to us from heaven and the presence of God in our life. You know, when you don’t feel guilt in your life and you know, you’re walking in the truth and you’re you love God, you are so happy. There’s a blessing that no other person can give to you in your spirit. Because when we know that God is just all around us, he’s protecting us. He he loves us. He’s our father. Anything I have in my life. Any problem I have, I just cry out to him all the time. And I know he hears me and here’s his wonderful promises. Yes, because you love me and you honor me. Yes, is the answer to you know, it’s a freeing experience. It really lets us loose to be the people that we were created to be. That’s why he says, then we will have life. Makarios. Makarios will be bless, bless. This is the blessed like which which really comes from the idea of of largeness. You know, living large that were Mac Mac, you know like a macro and the living large you want to live large, blessed are the and those of the blessed the attitudes is the man right there. James 121 12 blessed is the man who perseveres under these trials for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him. And that’s saying that even when you’re going through trials and hard times and you wait on God and continue to love God, no matter what, you will receive the crown of life, you will, you will really live because you’re doing it God’s way, you’re not cursing, you’re not griping, you’re not like this, life is not worth it. That it would really help people who are depressed and emotionally, totally down to realize that God is for you. God loves you and you need to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbor as yourself, no matter what you’re going through God bless you. What a discussion on the chama and getting into the greatest commandment in the bible. You know, I want to talk about this 66 famous hebrew words, the chama, which is found in Deuteronomy 64 Shema Israel Adonai Elohim Adonai God here O Israel, the Lord is our God. The Lord is one. The chama is the central prayer in the jewish prayer book cedar and is often the first section of scripture that a jewish child learns during its resuscitation. In the synagogue, orthodox jews pronounce each word very carefully and covered their eyes with the right hand. Many jews recite to chama at least twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. Parts of the chama are written on a small scroll which is then rolled up and put inside the mizzou’s a you know what the medusa is, that little uh metal uh entrance to your doorway and it’s nailed up there and inside of it is this prayer with these six words, Deuteronomy 64. The three scriptural passages that unite the total chama is Deuteronomy 64. The complete passage. The first six words then a six word response. Baruch Shem key vote Mahoto uh column vied. And uh this means blessed be the name of the Lord forever and ever. After a pause, Deuteronomy 65 through nine is then recited, which stresses the commandment to love the Lord your God with all of your heart soul and might. And that’s the great commandment that we’re talking about. Deuteronomy 64 through nine. Here O. Israel, The Lord is our God. The Lord is one and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words which I am commanding you. Today shall be on your heart. Yes. And you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up, there’s not that many more hours. Besides that, when you get up, when you’re sitting in your house, when you’re going on the wave, when you come back and go right before you go to sleep and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as front als on your forehead. And you shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates. And that’s why jewish people nail them to the door post. Why you’ll see them in planes and other places wrapping them around their wrists and or around their heads with little amulets that the scripture inside of those ambulance is Deuteronomy 11 13 through 21. Hear O. Israel The Lord Our God is one Lord Amos Sousa or a scroll which you can see a picture of that right there. Obedience to the word of God and its blessings and the consequences of disobedience. Numbers 15. This is the 3rd part, 37 through 41. The use of the tallit rectangular pressure with fish fisher fringes called. Sit, Sit once, he said is attached to each corner of the talent. The reason for wearing that seats it is to remind oneself to observe and to obey all the commandments of the Lord. You’ll see jewish people walking around uh Fridays, friday nights and also on Saturdays. Uh, with this. Now this is why it is important to remember remembering God’s that God wanted them to remember the passover and the deliverance of Israel from Egypt that God wanted them to remember crossing the red Sea, the Jordan river Within putting 12 stones there. God wanted them to remember his word and to obey it and to write it on their hearts to Deuteronomy 64 through nine Jeremiah 31 31 and in the Mazouz a Deuteronomy 11 13 through 21 which we just showed And also in the towel it and that’s the number of uh numbers 1537 through 41. These were all to remember. We tend to forget the blessings of God. We tend to forget the word of God. God wants us to memorize his word and this is what I often do write it down on a three by five, say it the first time. 25 times the next day, 20 times the following day. 15 times the following day. 10 times the following day. Five times the following day. One time and get a new versus scripture and memorize it and begin the process all over again in the new testament. Later in the new testament in the Lord’s supper Matthew 26 2026 26 1st Corinthians 11. And in the baptism Matthew 28 19. These were to be done to remember our Lord jesus christ. Now I’m just going to go two Some of these places in in the New Testament. Notice what it says in 1st Corinthians chapter 11 in verse 23 The Apostle paul writing to the Corinthian Church for I received from the Lord That which I also delivered to you that the Lord jesus in the night in which he was betrayed. And this is now back in Matthew 26 26 will go in there in a moment. He took bread it says, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me. So when we take the Lord’s supper, the bread and the cup which represents the blood of christ and the bread which represents the body of christ. Even as uh we we see in the old testament the bread and the cup with milk is a deck and Abraham that uh he brought out the wine and the bread a picture of the blood of christ and the body of christ in the bread and the wine And then it says in verse 25 in the same way he took also the cup after supper saying this cup is the new covenant, not the old covenant. The new covenant can no, never been there before in my blood, do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. So we had to take the Lord’s supper like they did in the last supper with jesus, the apostles with jesus to remember him, who gave his body to remember Jesus who gave his blood as a sacrifice as a propitiate a shin on the cross, Elia’s Moss, a satisfactory sacrifice for the sins of the world. The lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world. Now, as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death. It says in verse 26 until he comes and so we’re to check ourselves, look inside, make sure that we’re our conscience is clear that we don’t have anything in our system, in our mind, in our heart and our soul in our life that we are consciously sinning and doing evil against the Lord. We need to confess that and forsake that and he who hides his sin will not prosper, but who’s so confesses and forsakes it will find compassion, proverbs says back in the book of Matthew, when the Lord jesus actually took the bread and the cup in Matthew 26 26 the Lord substituted uh he rather instituted the Lord’s supper. Listen to what it says while they were eating, jesus took some bread verse 26 after a blessing, he broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, take eat this is my body. And when he had taken a cup and given thanks, he gave it to the to them saying, drink from it, all of you for this is my blood of my covenant which is poured out for you for the many, for many, for the forgiveness of sins, poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on on until that day when I drink it in a new with with you in my father’s kingdom. And after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Now this is an incredible remembrance when we partake today as christian believers of the of the bread and of the cup we’re saying that jesus christ literally went to the cross and bled and died on the cross for our sins was buried and rose again. It is not the body of christ, it is not the blood of christ. But we do it to remember what jesus did 2000 years ago on Calvary’s Cross. Listen the pictures in the old testament and the pictures in the new testament are there to help us to remember that God is one father son and holy spirit and that God sent his son into this world to bleed and die for our sins to be buried and to rise again from the dead and offers for us eternal life as a free gift. What a fantastic thought as we think about the greatest commandment in the bible. Let me ask you, Do you love God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength? Do you love your neighbor as yourself? You know? Several people came to jesus christ asking him what what do I have to do to have eternal life? The rich young ruler came to him asking him, what do I have to do in Matthew his gospel in chapter 19. What do I have to do to have eternal life? Verse 16 Behold One came to him and said teacher, what good thing do I need to do that I may obtain eternal life. And he said to him, why are you asking me about what is good? There’s only one who is good. But if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments, he said to him which ones? And Jesus said, you shall not commit adultery, murder, you shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, honor your father and mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. It’s interesting, he just kind of summarizes love your neighbor as yourself, which really is the is the uh complete circle around those last six commandments. The first ones Loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and this, this rich young ruler. The bible says, said the young man said to him all these things I have kept, what am I still lacking. I mean he was oblivious to the fact that he was a sinner and needed forgiveness from jesus christ. So jesus said to him to him if you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions, give it to the poor and you shall have treasure in heaven and come and follow me. And the bible says that when the young man heard this statement he went away grieved for he was one who owned much property. Now if you can imagine a young man, a rich young ruler, powerful guy asking jesus christ himself, what do I have to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus tells him to keep the commandments that are dealing with his fellow man. I mean look at the poor that are all around you look at the things that are going on all around you and he has the audacity to tell the Lord, jesus christ. Oh I’m cool, I’ve done it all. And then Jesus goes right to his idol to his God. Well then sell everything you have, give it to the poor, Come and follow me. He couldn’t do it because that truly was his God. He had violated the first four commandments and put money before God will you put God as God in your life. Will you cry out to God for mercy and help your soul? What does it profit? A man to gain the world. But the loosest soul, your soul is worth more than the money that you have. Call out to jesus christ, call out to the father, say father, God, please forgive me, jesus, please come into my life and save me and change me. The greatest commandment of all to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself, really puts a focus on the idols in our life that we need to repent of God bless you with. It’s all greek to me. We’ll see you next time right here on this program.