The Greatest Command Pt.1
Following The King • Sermon • Submitted
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What is the greatest commandment in the Law (Bible)?
According to Jesus, the greatest commandment in the law is...
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 command is first found to be given in the book of Deuteronomy. As the people of God were preparing to go into the land God promised them, God gave them some very specific commandments to follow and obey. The first of which is this exact command.
Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:
That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.
Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:
That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.
Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
As they entered the land that God had promised them they were going to face temptations that would pull them away from their God.
As they entered the land, one thing and one thing alone was needful - singular to devotion to their singular God.
Has anyone in here every played golf before?
My grandpa picked up golf after he retired and got pretty good at it. I would go out with him from time to time to the driving range, or ride in the golf cart while he would shoot around. Every now and then I would get to hit on the driving range and actually play a round with him. It was from my grandpa that I learned the greatest command in golf - keep your eye on the ball.
From this one simple command flows the rest of the game.
- Your stance can be perfect, but it won’t matter if you aren’t looking at the ball.
- Your swing can be perfect, but it won’t make a difference unless you keep your eye on the ball.
That seems like a fairly simple concept, but over and over again you can find guys on the golf course who have been playing for years yet still look like absolute noobs. Why? Sometimes they fail to keep their eye on the ball.
The single greatest command in my life and your life is to love God with all that we have.
Keep your eye on God. He must be your singular passion and singular devotion. He is to get the very best of you at all times. Nothing and no-one should receive love from you above God.
You should love God more than your parents. Some of you are thinking, “That is pretty easy”.
You should love God more than your girlfriend or boyfriend. If you are willing to sin against God to appease your boyfriend or girlfriend, you don’t love God with all your heart, soul, and mind.
You should love God more than your sin.
More than your reputation. We will do a lot of sinful stuff in order to preserve our reputation. We will lie. We will throw others under the bus. We will manipulate situations.
More than your lust. I know the fight here is difficult. When our lustful pleasures are being fulfilled, God seems to be the last thing on our mind in the moment.
You should love God more than your leisure. The Puritans spent their “off days” in worship of God. That was their leisure. Charles Spurgeon recommended leisure time should be prayer and reading, retreating to God. What is your leisure time like? Is God in it at all?
Basically, is there anything in your life right now that if you had to put it on a list beside God and had to choose one, you would choose the one that isn’t God?
According to Jesus, this is the greatest command: Love God with everything that you have!
Why should we obey this commandment?
Is this really that big of a deal? Does it matter if we love God supremely?
I would say a resounding yes, and here are a few reasons why.
Number one, because God loved us.
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
If you are reading the churches bible reading plan then you would have just read Romans 5 a couple of days ago. Romans 5 gives us a great reason why we should love God.
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
“For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Jesus didn’t die for righteous people. Jesus didn’t die for good people. Jesus died for sinners!
Number two, if we don’t love God supremely, we cannot have Him.
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Jesus said...
Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
If you don’t love God through Jesus, you are not one of his and therefore cannot have eternal life. You are a child of the devil.
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
Application:
It matters for you!
How do we obey this commandment?
And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
First, you can’t even begin to love God without His enabling of you to do so. You don’t just turn on a light switch one day and all of the sudden you love God.
Is there any picky eaters in here? How do you actually know if you like something? You have to try it, right? You can choose to try a new food anytime you want.
With God, it is a little different. In order to love God you must first taste and see that Jesus is good. He is the center of our affections for God. But here is the catch, you don’t just one day turn on your love for Jesus. God turns that on. He draws us by His Spirit and enables our eyes to open and see Him in all of His beauty in the person and work of His Son Jesus. Then, by faith, we lay hold on Him and esteem Him more valuable than any riches or gold this world has to offer.
Second, you love God because you are stunned by his love for you.
And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat.
And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.
And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.
There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.
And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?
Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.
And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.
Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
Did you see that? Why does this woman pour herself out to Jesus in this way. Why is she so affectionate towards Him? Grace.
Have you ever been blown away by Jesus? Have you ever recognized your own sin for what it is and His grace for what it is?
What is the proof that we are obeying this commandment?
The proof that we are obeying this commandment is two-fold.
Number one, are you affectionate towards Him?
I have no doubt in my mind if my kids love me. I can tell by how they act towards me that they do.
Number two, we prove that we love God whenever we keep his commandments.
If ye love me, keep my commandments.
One translation says it this way… 15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jn 14:15.
As in, your love for me will produce obedience to me.
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
First off, did you notice what it said? His commandments aren’t grievous. That literally means “to being a source of difficulty or trouble because of demands made”. (BDAG) It also literally means that they are not difficult to carry out.
The demands of Basketball - AM practices, suicides, not starting. GRIEVOUS!
God’s commands are not this way. It is more like City league basketball. I show up and play because I love to play the game.
The commands of God are not grievous BECAUSE we are born of God and have His Spirit in us. And when we fail, it always has to do with us and not God.
With all of that being said, I want you to ask yourself, “Am I an obedient Christian?”
Do I obey the commands of God? Do I obey the commands of Jesus?
The third proof that we are loving God with all we have is found in this questions, “Do you love your brothers and sisters in Christ?”
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
Not your bestie. Not your boyfriend. Not your the people you sin with. Do you love the people of God? How do you treat the people you are in this room with? How do you care for them?
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.
But 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?
My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
Go back to Matthew 22...
Notice Matthew 22:39...
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Do you want to know if you really love God? Ask yourself these three questions.
Does He have my affections?
Do I keep His commands?
Do I love the people of God?
Conclusion:
Christians need to fall back in love with God.
Non-Christians need to fall in love with God through Christ for the first time.