The Great Commandment

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Introduction

Let me start by asking you a question. What should our aim be as Christians and as a church this side of heaven? Have a think about that. Some of you may well have thought - to glorify God. Now that, of course, is not wrong but what does it mean in practice?

Well this evening we’re starting a new series called: Godly Living, Church Growth and Changing Britain. Godly Living, Church Growth and Changing Britain is the vision of Jesmond Parish Church for the glory of God. Godly Living, Church Growth and Changing Britain is, in summary, what it means in practice to glorify God according to his Word. Yes, we believe God has given us a numerical vision for the next 20 years: for JPC to grow to a congregation of 5000 and for JPC to be involved in planting churches, which will have a total attendance of 5000. For, as 2 Corinthians 5:14 says, Christ’s love compels us. Christ’s love compels us: to evangelise, to plant and to water, as Paul and Apollos did at Corinth. Now, of course, it is God who gives the growth (1 Corinthians 3:6-7) so we must be praying as well as planning and working in the power of the Holy Spirit for the sake of the lost and for the glory of God. ‘Unless the Lord builds the house its builders labour in vain’ (Psalm 127:1).

But that numerical vision is part of a wider God given vision, which helps us to focus in all that we do as a church, and which under girds that numerical vision: Godly Living, Church Growth and Changing Britain.

This biblical vision comes from the Great Commandments of Jesus and his Great Commission. From Matthew 22 and Matthew 28. As we say in CLASS 1, ‘We believe that a great commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission will grow a great church.’


Godly living is based on the First and Greatest Commandment in Matthew 22:37-8.

Jesus [said, v37], ‘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.’

Tonight and for the next two Sundays we’re looking at Godly Living. Though, of course, you can’t totally separate them out, as you can see on the screen. They overlap and work together as shown by the overlapping circles in the Venn diagram. If we’re not living in a godly way in the power of the Spirit as individual Christians and as a church then we’re not going to grow and we’re not going to change Britain. But as we see from our passage in Matthew loving God genuinely with all of our being will lead us to love our neighbour (v39), which is vital for church growth and for changing Britain. When our vertical relationship with God is right then our horizontal relationships will be right. C. S. Lewis wrote this:

"When I have learnt to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now. Insofar as I learn to love my earthly dearest at the expense of God and instead of God, I shall be moving toward the state in which I shall not love my earthly dearest at all. When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased."

Looking at it another way, first the Ten Commandments, then Jesus, make it very clear that there are two kinds of important relationships for human beings. One is a relationship between human beings and God, and the other is a relationship between human beings. The way we treat each other is a reflection of what we think of him.

When we love God wholeheartedly, as we’re commanded to here, then we begin to share his priorities, his love for people, and his desire for holiness, for church growth and for changing Britain. The evangelist Dwight L Moody said, “The world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully consecrated to him.”

So what does Jesus teach us about men and women behaving godly here in Matthew 22:34-40? What does he say about where we begin with Godly living? Essentially Jesus says, first things first, ie God first.

Jesus was asked about godly living in v36 of Matthew 22, even though the motive behind the question wasn’t godly at all. The Pharisee, who was an expert in the law, wanted to test Jesus. He wanted to trap him by asking a question which would have been frequently discussed by the Pharisees. ‘Which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Distinction between ‘hard and easy commandments, and between more and less weighty ones was permissible. But in principle every command (and there were 613 of them) was equally binding. So an incautious reply by Jesus could suggest that he repudiated some of the commandments, and therefore could lay him open to a charge of annulling the law. Look at Matthew 22:34-40:

34Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Now in a few weeks time we’ll be focussing on v39-40. So I’m going to concentrate on v37-38. But I must just make a comment on v40.

What does Jesus mean when he says that all the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments?

Well he is not saying that you can scrap what the Bible says and just do what appears to be the most loving thing in the situation. No, in John’s Gospel, Jesus said that ‘if you love me you will obey my teaching’ (John 14:23). And anyway Jesus’ teaching is the most loving. His commandments are true compassion. The two great commandments do not dispense with all the rest, but the rest depend on them. You see the word ‘hang’, which can be translated ‘depend’, is a technical term for laws that are derivable from others. So Jesus’ words direct us to understand and apply the commandments of the law within the context of an obligation to love God and man.

Jesus also says here that all the Law and the Prophets come from these two commands. Jesus is saying that everything in the OT in some way depends on these two commands. He is saying that God’s plan is that we love him with all our heart and that we love one another as we love ourselves. They are God’s priorities. And if they are God’s priorities they need to be our priorities: that we love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and that we love one another.

Do our priorities reflect his priorities? Is everything we do as Christians and as a church supported by these two commandments? Are you spending time with God each day? As the psalmist wrote: One thing I desire of the Lord and that I seek after – that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life – to behold his beauty, to be in his presence – the presence of the Lord (Psalm 27). Is that our desire? Are we learning to pray as a church? Are we willing to welcome those who are new to our fellowship after the service rather than only speaking with our friends? You see these commandments are familiar to many of us but let’s not assume that we know them and are living them out. All of us need to make the time to get alone with God and deal with him about these things.

Time and time again I keep coming back to that verse in 2 Chronicles 7:14: ‘If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.’ Again Godly Living, Church Growth and Changing Britain are all interlinked. If we want to see growth in the work among young people, in the universities, in the schools, in this city and in this nation then we are to devote ourselves to prayer as well as to action. We are first to commit ourselves to the Lord, to love him above everything and everyone else, to know him and to do his will in the power of the Spirit, in response to his love for us shown supremely on the cross. No one loves you like God does and no one and nothing else deserve your love like he does. Look again at v37-38:

“Jesus [said], ‘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.’

Jesus reminds us that God doesn’t just think it’s a good idea for us to love him…He commands us to do so, which brings us to my next heading:


A COMMANDMENT TO LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD

Of all that comes to mind when we think of what we’re commanded to do as Christians, how often do we remember that God commanded us to love him? And that this is the first and greatest commandment?

The romantic and emotional understanding of love, which dominates our culture does not make room for the kind of love which can be commanded, and a command that we can obey as a decision of the will.

But the original word for love here in both v37 & v39 is not ‘phileo’, which expresses what you might call friendly affection, but rather ‘agapao’, which refers to the commitment of devotion that is directed by the will and which can be commanded as a duty.

Loving God therefore is a choice we can make and an action we can take. Loving God is an action that engages every aspect of our being. So Jesus says we must love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, with all that we are and all that we have. Nothing is exempt from obedience to this command. Heart in the Bible is the seat of the will, intellect and feeling – the command centre of the body. The soul has been described as the ‘source of vitality and power that brings strength to the will and focuses all our energies on pursuing all that we know of God’s will and desires’. The mind is the faculty that directs our understanding, shapes our opinions and perspectives, and cultivates our reflections, meditations and perceptions at an intellectual level, and strength (from Deuteronomy 6:5) refers to our physical capacities and resources.

So what does it mean to love the Lord your God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength?

Have you come to worship here this evening because you love the Lord? Or are you in danger of losing your first love for him despite still being busy for him? That’s what Jesus had against the church at Ephesus recorded in Revelation. Or perhaps you’re unsure what it really means to the love the Lord God. You know it’s what Christians are supposed to do but the reality is that your heart doesn’t really get it, your mind is occupied elsewhere, your soul is silent and your strength awaits something better to energise you.

So what does loving the Lord God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength really mean?


LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART

Loving God with all your heart means you are no longer to be hard hearted and that your heart is not to be divided in its loyalty. As the first 4 Ten Commandments say: ‘You shall have no other gods before me’; ‘You shall not make for yourself a graven image’; You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God’; and ‘remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy’, ie keep Sunday special for God, putting him first.


LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR SOUL

Loving God with all your soul means wholeheartedly (or perhaps ‘wholesoully’) following him all the time and everywhere, whatever the pressures. The example from the OT is Daniel who continued to love the Lord, be devoted to him and put him first even when he faced being thrown to the lions.


LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR MIND

Loving God with all your mind means using your intellect in seeking after God, using our God given brains in his service and taking every thought captive for Christ.


LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH

Loving God with all your strength reminds us that this is not an effortless process. It will take effort to obey his commands, to love our neighbour as ourselves. The Good Samaritan is a good example of costly love.

Essentially loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength means a fundamental loyalty to him. Does that describe your love for the Lord? Or is yours just a superficial allegiance? An outward show only, like the Pharisees? If so take time with God this week to sort this out. You may need to talk and pray with someone after this service.

What does all this mean in practice as we seek to love God and live godly lives?

To be specific and practical, this will mean for each member of the church:

•Spending time in reading the Bible and in prayer each day
•Being committed to a regular bible study group and prayer group/ triplet
•Coming each week to worship God with the congregation at Jesmond Parish Church
•Being in the giving scheme and giving a proportion of our income to God's work regularly and systematically. As Jesus said: ‘No-one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You can’t serve God and money.’ (Matthew 6:24) You can’t love God and money.
•Being involved in Christian service both in the church and in the 'world'.

What is necessary for us to obey this commandment? What must we do? Obedience requires a commitment to do what is commanded. So we must make:


A COMMITMENT TO LOVE THE LORD OUR GOD

Have we made that commitment? Do you love him? Loving him means far more than just saying we do. Do you desire his presence? Do you treasure the ways he provides for us to know him? Do you obey his commands? Jesus said: “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” (John 14:21)

How or in what way are we to love God with all our heart, mind and soul?

With sincerity or an undying love, as in Ephesians 6:24, where Paul writes: “Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.”

With priority. We are to love him supremely. In Matthew 10:37 Jesus says: “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me”.

With constancy. Jesus said: “Just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love; just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” (John 15:9-10)

Why are we to love him?

It is not to earn God’s love, forgiveness and a place in heaven. Eternal life cannot be earned. It is a gift of God through faith in Christ.

As we’ve been seeing, we are to love him because he commands us to and because he wants us to – he is a jealous God. It is a Christian duty. But also because he first loved us. 1 John 4 says that, ‘We love because he first loved us.’ And that this is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4:19 & 10) The Son of God loved us and gave himself for us (Galatians 2:20). In response we are to put our faith in Jesus, love him, put him first in all we do and obey him. When we really realise his love for us and what it cost him we will love him in return. We will want to, we will want to be in his presence and obey him. But some of you might be thinking:

How can we love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength?

It sounds impossible.

1 John 4 tells us that love comes from God and that everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. So we first of all need to be born again through faith in Jesus Christ.

There needs to be a commitment to our God that is total: and such a commitment is only through Jesus Christ himself. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14.6)

To be growing in our love for him and therefore in our godly living will mean following Jesus Christ as Lord and being filled with his Holy Spirit daily. Love is a fruit of the Spirit and that fruit needs to be growing in us daily. So we are not to quench the Spirit or grieve the Spirit but rather be asking God to give us the Holy Spirit daily. In Luke 11 Jesus says that if we ask our Father in heaven to give us the Holy Spirit he will. That is how we can love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.

Last night my daughter asked me, ‘Daddy are you ever cold inside because you’re never cold on the outside?’ I replied, ‘Yes I am cold on the inside sometimes, cold towards God and my neighbour.’ We do fail to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. But there is forgiveness those who repent, trusting in Christ. Who tonight needs to repent, turn to him, admit our lack of love for God and ask him to rekindle that flame and fill us with his Spirit?

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