INTRODUCTION
1. In the temple during
His final week prior to His crucifixion, Jesus
was questioned by
various religious groups...
a. The Pharisees and
Herodians sought to entangle Him with a
question about paying
taxes
b. The Sadducees tried
to trip Him on the subject of the
resurrection
-- His answers caused
people to marvel and be astonished
Matthew
22:22
“When they had heard these words,
they marveled, and left him, and went their way.”
“And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his
doctrine.”
2. The Pharisees tried
once again, this time sending one of their
lawyers...
a. Testing Him as to which is the great commandment in the law
"But when the
Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were
gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question,
tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the greatest commandment in the
law?”
b. Jesus replied by
offering two great commandments
1) The first pertained
to loving God
“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. This is the first and great commandment.”
2) The second pertained
to loving one's neighbor
“And the second is like unto it,
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
-- Upon these two
commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets
“On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
[It is proper to ask, therefore, do we love
God and our neighbor as we
should? Do we understand what is involved in loving
God and our fellow
man? Perhaps by reflecting upon these "Two
Great Commandments" we can
find the answer to such
questions...]
I. THE COMMAND TO
LOVE GOD
A. UNDER THE OLD
COVENANT...
1. The Israelites were
expected to love God
“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God wit all thine heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”
-- Emotionally,
physically, intellectually, they were to love
God
2. Thus they were to
love God with their whole being
-- Note how the Law
stated their responsibility in
Deuteronomy 10:12-13
“And now, Israel, what
doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in
all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart
and with all thy soul, To keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes,
which I command thee this day for thy good?”
B. HOW WE ARE TO LOVE
GOD TODAY...
1. Does God expect any
less of us? Of course not! We are to
love God:
a. With all our heart
“If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be
Anathema Maranatha.”
b. With all our soul (body and mind)
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your
reasonable service. 2And be
not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that ye may prove what is that
good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
c. With all our might
"For ye have need of
patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the
promise.”
d. With all our mind
“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are
true, whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just,
whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of
good report; if there be any
virtue, and if there be any
praise, think on these things.”
2. We demonstrate our
love for God through keeping His
commandments
a. This is the love of God
“For this is the love of God, that we keep his
commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.”
b. This is evidence that we love Jesus
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
C. THE BLESSING OF
KEEPING HIS COMMANDMENTS...
1. We enjoy a special
relationship with God and Jesus
"He that hath my
commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me
shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to
him. 22Judas
saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself
unto us, and not unto the world? 23Jesus
answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my
Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”
2. We will abide in the
love of God
“If ye keep my
commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's
commandments, and abide in his love.”
3. Our prayers will be
answered
“And whatsoever we ask,
we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that
are pleasing in his sight.”
D. HOW TO GROW IN OUR
LOVE FOR GOD...
1. By allowing God's
love for us to move us
"In this was manifested
the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the
world, that we might live through him. 10Herein is
love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
a. God loved us, even
while we were still sinners
b. When we reflect upon
His love for us, we will love Him
more!
2. By asking God to help
us grow in love
“And the Lord direct your hearts into the love
of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.”
3. By keeping the word
of God
"But whoso keepeth his
word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in
him.”
a. The love of God is
perfected in those who keep God's word
b. Therefore the more we
obey Him, the more our love for God
will grow!
[Do we love God any less
than what was expected of the Israelites?
We
certainly have
compelling reasons to love Him even more (e.g., the gift
of His Son)! Now let's consider...]
II. THE COMMAND TO
LOVE OUR NEIGHBOR
A. ENJOINED UPON
CHRISTIANS...
1. We owe it to our
neighbors to love them
“Owe no man any thing, but to love one
another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.”
2. When fully applied,
it fulfills what the Law required
Romans 13:9-10
“For this, Thou shalt not
commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear
false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any
other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 10Love
worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”
a. Five of the Ten
Commandments spoke to working no ill toward
our fellow man
b. If one truly loves
his or her neighbor, they will not be
guilty of killing,
adultery, stealing, lying, or
covetousness
c. For sins (and many
others) do grave harm to our neighbor
B. ENHANCED BY A NEW
COMMAND...
1. Jesus taught us to
love one another
“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye
love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35By this
shall all men know
that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
2. This new command
takes our love to a higher level
a. No longer do we just
love one another as we love ourselves
b. We must love one
another as Christ loved us!
1) He loved us with the
greatest love
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a
man lay down his life for his friends.”
2) He became poor, that
we might be rich
"For ye know the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became
poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.”
3. Thus no one can use
low self-esteem (or low self-love) as an
excuse not to love
others as they should
C. EXPERIENCED WHEN WE
KEEP GOD'S COMMANDMENTS...
1. We demonstrate true
love of one another by keeping the
commandments of God
“And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I
wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning,
that we love one another. 6And this
is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as
ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.”
2. This is how we know
that we really love one another
"For the truth's sake,
which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever.”
a. Not by just claiming
to love one another
b. But by setting the
proper example, and encouraging each
other by the example we
set!
D. EDUCATED BY THE
EXAMPLE OF GOD...
1. We develop love for
one another by being taught of God - cf.
"But as touching
brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught
of God to love one another. 10And
indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we
beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more;”
a. The Thessalonians had
been taught of God to love their
brethren
b. They did so
remarkably, though there was always room for
improvement
2. Jesus by His own
example demonstrates what true love is
"Hereby perceive we the
love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay
down our lives for the brethren. 17But whoso
hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his
bowels of compassion from
him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 18My little
children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”
