Love the Lord With All Your Strength

Good morning.

Final Soul Activity message.

Today, examine the last part of the Greatest Commandment as we look at what it means to love God with all our strength.

“I think the greatest weakness in the church today is that almost no one believes that God invests His power in the Bible.

Everyone is looking for power in programs, a methodology, a technique, in anything and everything but that in which God has placed it—His Word.”

R.C. Sproul

In our culture, and throughout world history, strength is equated with power, strength is measured by power.

And, in a human understanding, power is found in our physical might.

And so, it stands to human reason that it is physical effort that accomplishes things.

And while that is true to an extent, its not the whole picture of what strength really is.

Conversely, the worst uses of power have been to oppress and to persecute different people groups for whatever variety of reasons.

As I read Scripture, when I observe demonstrations of strength, sometimes I see physical might, but mostly, I see physical acts and works that demonstrate the truth of God’s Word.

If you’ve got a Bible, you can open it to , we’ll read a portion of that chapter in just a minute or two.

While you turn there, here is what it means to love God with all our strength.

Loving God with all our strength means that we use our every action and every resource to demonstrate the truth of God’s Word.

This is distinct from a general demonstration of the truth of God. Demonstrating the truth of God has more to do with the truth of His existence, demonstrating the truth of God’s Word is about the validity and authority of what God has revealed to us through Scripture.

You see, as I am learning, it takes all my strength to proclaim the truth of God with all that I do, and with my every resource. Both publicly and personally.

Publicly, its one thing to say that God exists, but its quite another to proclaim that His Word is true, and not just part of His Word, the whole thing.

And if you don’t think God’s Word is truth and has power, just look at our nation’s reaction to its display. We remove the 10 Commandments from everywhere we can, or at least we cover them up. Christian prayer is prohibited in our schools, heck, we can’t even advertise a spaghetti feed if the food is made by a church. And there’s many other examples, but the point is this: If God’s Word wasn’t truth, and if it wasn’t powerful, its presence wouldn’t convict people to the point that those who reject it have to keep it out of sight and out of mind.

Now, doesn’t it take all of our strength to proclaim the truth of God’s Word to world that wants nothing to do with it?

Personally, loving God with all my strength means that I must constantly keep a check on the things I do, because what I do demonstrates whether or not I believe that God is telling the truth in His Word.

For example, many people today battle sexual sin. God has made it clear in His Word that He created sex to be enjoyed between a husband and wife in the context of marriage, and that any sex outside of that context is sinful, and therefore will do damage to you and others.

So, when we give in to our sexual desires sinfully, we are by our actions saying that what God said about sex isn’t true and we are going to procure our enjoyment the way that we want to.

Here again, does it not take tremendous strength to demonstrate the truth of God in our lives by the things that we do?

That our actions are illustrating the truth of God’s Word?

That’s what it means to love God with all our strength.

Loving God with all our strength means that we use our every action and every resource to demonstrate the truth of God’s Word.

Let’s pray as we come to God’s Word this morning.

The section of Scripture that we will read today is a narrative example of what loving God with all our strength looks like.

We are going to look at King Josiah in this example, and King Josiah was one of the few great kings in Israel’s history. He was made king at age 8, and he served God faithfully during his time as king of Israel, bringing the nation back from pagan idol worship to a worship of the one true God.

So we are picking up the narrative just after Josiah has desperately lamented over Judah’s persistent wickedness and sin. Josiah sent a team to a prophetess named Huldah to inquire as to the Lord’s plans for disciplining Israel. And so we read:

2 Kings 23:1–25 ESV

1 Then the king sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him. 2 And the king went up to the house of the Lord, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord. 3 And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant. 4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 And he deposed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and the moon and the constellations and all the host of the heavens. 6 And he brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron and beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves of the common people. 7 And he broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the Asherah. 8 And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from Geba to Beersheba. And he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the gate of the city. 9 However, the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. 10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to Molech. 11 And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts. And he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12 And the altars on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, he pulled down and broke in pieces and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. 13 And the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 14 And he broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with the bones of men. 15 Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected by Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, that altar with the high place he pulled down and burned, reducing it to dust. He also burned the Asherah. 16 And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it, according to the word of the Lord that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things. 17 Then he said, “What is that monument that I see?” And the men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel.” 18 And he said, “Let him be; let no man move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria. 19 And Josiah removed all the shrines also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the Lord to anger. He did to them according to all that he had done at Bethel. 20 And he sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem. 21 And the king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem. 24 Moreover, Josiah put away the mediums and the necromancers and the household gods and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. 25 Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.

Here was king Josiah, in a land steeped in rebellion of God and apostasy, who, as the Scripture literally says, turned to God with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, and set about to proclaim the truth of God’s Word through his actions, and he used every tool and resource available to him.

First, he led Israel in a renewing of their covenant with God.

Then, he got rid of all the shrines and monuments to their different idols that they had made over many generations.

Next, he removed the leaders who allowed such idolatry to become commonplace among the nation.

And these reforms led to the removal of pagan idols that had been installed by kings no other than Solomon himself in some cases.

So it wasn’t like Josiah was just going after the low hanging fruit that wouldn’t offend anyone, he went after things that the nation would have understood to be sacred, even though it was sinful.

Our nation today shares some similarities with Israel during the reign of Josiah.

Perhaps the most horrifying evil that was going on at this time is mentioned in verse 10.

2 Kings 23:10–12 ESV

10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to Molech. 11 And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts. And he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12 And the altars on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, he pulled down and broke in pieces and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.

2 Kings 23:10–13 ESV

10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to Molech. 11 And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts. And he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12 And the altars on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, he pulled down and broke in pieces and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. 13 And the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

2 Kings 23:10 ESV

10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to Molech.

The worship of the earth has become a nationally sanctioned religion. And I am not talking about taking care of the earth as part of our responsibility given to us by God, but I am talking about how many in our nation today replace God with the earth, and then give earth the treatment and honor that is due God.

But worse, like Judah, we are sacrificing our children at the altar of personal gain at an alarming rate of frequency.

I don’t mean to eclipse the truth of God with current events, but at the same time, we cannot in good conscience ignore how easily our nation is embracing the murder of our children before they are even born, and now, we can do so up until the moment of birth.

First, let me tell you what went on at the idol of Molech

Picture of Molech here

Moloch was one of the false gods that Israel would worship during its periods of apostasy.  This false deity is associated with Ammon in , "Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon."

One of the practices of the cult that worshipped Moloch was to sacrifice their children.   Of course, this was forbidden by God's word:

says, "Neither shall you give any of your offspring to offer them to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am the Lord."

 (See also ; ; ; ).

In some passages the reference is clearly to a deity to whom human sacrifice was made, particularly in the Valley of Hinnom on the SW of the Jerusalem hill (; ) at a site known as Topheth (‘fire pit’ in Syriac).1

The ancients would heat this idol up with fire until it was glowing, then they would take their newborn babies, place them on the arms of the idol, and watch them burn to death.  I can't help but compare today's abortion massacre to the sacrifice of children by these ancient pagans.  In both, innocent life is destroyed for the gain of the parent.

And when we look at abortion in our country today, we find first, these statistics:

The most recent findings that are empirically, academically, and practically verifiable come from 2015.

The American Center For Disease Control accounts for 638, 169 legally induced abortions.

Their report says that the overall abortion procedures are going down.

BUT, the problem with verifying that claim is that states are not required to report their legal abortions.

California’s numbers for 2015, for example, have to be found through their own state’s independent health auditing numbers,

and in 2015, California’s abortion count was just under 188,000.

638,169 + 188,000 = 826,169 legal abortions in 2015

And that’s still not counting a handful of other states who do not report their numbers.

Since 2015, even fewer states reported than did in 2015, and so, the CDC’s number gets smaller, but the practice overall does not diminish.

Let me now show you the major causes of death in America in 2015:

Again, according to the CDC:

Influenza and Pneumonia: 51,537

Diabetes: 80,058

Alzheimer’s: 116,103

Stroke: 142, 142

Chronic Lower Respiratory Diseases: 154,596

Accidents (unintentional injuries): 161,374

Cancer: 598,038

Heart Disease: 635,260

Abortion: 826,169

Doesn’t it give you just a bit of pause to think that the number one reason for human death in recent years in this country has been abortion?

Now, I understand that there are so many mothers who have had abortions and the pain and regret is overwhelming for them.

It is not my intention to demonize anyone, whether they’ve had an abortion, or multiple abortions, or performed abortions, or not.

The intention here is to understand that the state of our nation is not unlike that of apostate Israel, and we have a responsibility and a command as Christians to demonstrate the truth of God’s Word through all that we do, and to use every resource available to us to do so.

And if you need prayer or counseling because abortion has touched your life in one way or another, please let us know. We want to extend God’s love to you in every aspect of your life, the sunny places, and the dark places.

The argument for abortion is that it is needed in cases of the health and life of the mother, and/or the health of the baby.

So I looked over 30 years of research to find out if that is indeed true. Maybe I’ve been wrong and maybe such cases are the predominant reason that we have abortions in this country.

But again, the research shows otherwise:

From the JohnstonsArchive.net, we find an excellent compilation of research regarding the reasons for abortion between 1987 and 2016.

In summary, here are those reasons:

Rape: .3%

Incest: .03%

Life of Mother: .1%

Health of Mother: .8%

Fetal Health: .5%

Mental Health of Mother: .5%

Elective: 98.3% (too young/immature/not ready; can’t afford; to avoid adjusting to parenthood; single mother or poor relationship; enough children already; sex selection; selective reduction)

Anyway you slice it, we are murdering our children because we just don’t want them. And we believe that our lives would be better if said children simply were not alive.

The Israelites in Josiah’s day sacrificed their children for personal gain too.

But Josiah demonstrated the truth of God’s Word through what he did before a nation that was in utter and abject denial and apostasy.

Christians today have much the same challenge.

Again, the point of showing you this contrast, was not to get you all riled up politically. And I hope that the sensationalism of abortion does not get in the way of you hearing God’s Word as we go forward this morning.

But this is current reality in our culture and we have to address it openly, honestly, and consistently according to God’s Word. Otherwise, we are just a bunch of ostriches with our heads in the sand, and every time we look up, the world has changed, but we aren’t doing anything to proclaim the truth of God’s Word in what we are doing.

Loving God with all our strength means that we use our every action and every resource to demonstrate the truth of God’s Word.

Our strength is not measured in how full our churches are, how many retreats we have, or how healthy our church bank accounts are.

As a church, our strength is going to be measured based whether or not we, as a church, demonstrated the truth of God’s Word through everything we do.

Of course, there are some differences between Josiah’s day and now.

Josiah was king of Israel. He had quite a bit of resource at his disposal, and moreover, it was within his power to remove the idols from wherever they stood throughout the land. He had political power and might to use.

We really don’t have that power, do we?

We can vote, and we can even lobby for legislation, but most of us are not in a position of national leadership. And most of the Christian church in American is not in a position of national leadership.

So what do we do?

Let’s be honest, we are probably not going to get many laws changed to reflect God’s revealed truth concerning the value of human life.

But, that doesn’t mean we can love God with all our strength and in so doing proclaim the truth of God’s Word through all that we do and with every possible resource that we have.

Here’s an example from a few years ago.

This is a friend of mine named Josey Horst, seen here pictured with her firstborn child, Seth.

Baby Elizabeth

Now, think about the resources that Josey and James had at their disposal.

In truth, they didn’t have anything.

They weren’t doctors, they could not control what would happen to baby Elizabeth after she was born in any way.

But their conviction that God told the truth in His Word was demonstrated through their lives

They believed God when He said,

Jeremiah 1:5 ESV

5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Psalm 139:13–16 ESV

13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

They demonstrated God’s Truth in what they did.

And as for Elizabeth’s life?

In just 19 minutes of post-womb life:

Saved two lives that day

Changed the OBGYN’s position, she now advocates for live birth

Galatians 5:22–23 ESV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

We have the greatest resource available to mankind in the Person of the Holy Spirit, whose fruit can never be outlawed or otherwise erased from existence.

If we didn’t have technology, we would still have the Holy Spirit.

If we didn’t have musical instruments, we would still have the Holy Spirit.

If we didn’t have a church building, we would still have the Holy Spirit.

And if we have the Holy Spirit, then it is always possible to bear His fruit in our lives, and to help others bear it too.

Bring band up

Practical Apps

Loving God with all our strength means that we use our every action and every resource to demonstrate the truth of God’s Word.

We need to know when to kneel

Sometimes loving God with all our strength means that we kneel before Him in repentance and renew our vows of faithfulness to Him, just like Israel did under king Josiah.

And when we do this, God will point out the idols in our lives, the things that we worship instead of Him, the things or people that are in His place of primacy in our lives, and just like Josiah, we are commanded to allow God to rid our lives of such idolatry so that there would be no other gods before our great God Almighty

When is the last time you kneeled before God as demonstration of loving Him with all your strength?

We Need to Know How to Stand

When we do demonstrate the truth of God’s Word, its critical to know how to go about doing that.

Demonstrating the truth of God’s Word doesn’t just mean exposing sin as we’ve talked about today, it also means showing the sinner how much God loves them.

Does it accurately demonstrate the truth of God’s Word when we call for abortion doctors to burn in hell?

Does it accurately demonstrate God’s Truth when we shun those among us who have committed terrible sin?

Remember the woman at the well

She had tremendous guilt about her life and her choices, but how did Jesus treat her?

He said, “Yes, you have sinned, and yes this is where you are right now. But I am the Messiah, and I am here to give you life and life eternal because I love you. Your past sins do not have the last word over your life, I do. And my word gives you a life, a love, and a joy that will never end.”

God is going to give us all passions and causes, so to speak.

For some of you, it may be to protect the unborn.

For others, it may be the homeless.

For others, it may be broken homes.

For others, it may be international missions.

Here’s the thing.

When we demonstrate the truth of God’s Word, it needs to reflect both the truth about sin, but also truth about God’s love and redemption that is available for all who will put their trust in Him alone.

Jesus loves you.

No matter what you’ve done, Jesus loves you.

Jesus has already paid the price for what you’ve done because He loves you.

And prevailing truth of God’s Word is that Jesus, and not your sin, has the last word over your life.

I pray that you put your trust in Him right now so that you are covered in His love and grace for eternity.

We Need to Know That God Reigns

Changing laws do not change the Lord.

Changing societies do not change our Savior.

Changing definitions of justice do not change our Just Judge.

Jesus reigns over the whole world and everything in it.

And it is his truth that has the power to save lives, both here and for eternity.

2 Kings 23:25 ESV

25 Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.

Loving God with all our strength means that we use our every action and every resource to demonstrate the truth of God’s Word.

We serve an awesome God, who reigns now, and who will forevermore.

There is no other like Him, and there will be no other like Him.

And it is our charge to bring Jesus’ Word, His Truth, to our city. And if we are obedient in doing so, I believe that God will accomplish His Work through us in a way that no one has seen before, and no one will see again, because He is doing something unique and amazing through Valley Bristol.

We are not here on accident, not in Bristol, not even in church today.

Our God reigns.

And we love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Let’s proclaim the truth of His Word together as we close.