Love Your Neighbor As Yourself

Good morning to everyone! I don’t know who all was here last week, but for those who were able to be here, or to watch the message online, I can say with clarity and assurance that you were most blessed to hear the timely word that my wife, Desirae, delivered to everyone last week! AMEN?!!!!! What a powerful service it was! From the time of praise of worship and throughout the message that she delivered and on into the worship at the end!!!! WOW!!!

I also wanted to mention that a very special young man from our body just celebrated a birthday this week, mister Will Kerley. (Have Will and Brittany stand and mention of the great job that they are doing with the young adults class on Wednesdays!)

A minister decided that a visual demonstration would add emphasis to his Sunday sermon.

Four worms were placed into four separate jars.

The first worm was put into a container of alcohol.The second worm was put into a container of cigarette smoke.The third worm was put into a container of chocolate syrup.The fourth worm was put into a container of good clean soil.

At the conclusion of the sermon, the Minister reported the following results:

The first worm in alcohol - Dead

The second worm in cigarette smoke - Dead

Third worm in chocolate syrup - Dead

Fourth worm in good clean soil - Alive!

So the Minister asked the congregation -

“What can you learn from this demonstration?”

Little Nancy, sitting in the back, quickly raised her hand and said,

'As long as you drink, smoke and eat chocolate, you won't have worms!'

That pretty much ended the service ...

If you have your Bibles ready this morning, would you please turn with me to the gospel of Matthew 22:34-40

Matthew 22:34–40 ESV

34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 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. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

This is a very familiar passage for a lot of us, if not most of us, right?

A little more than a week ago, my wife was reading to me from her morning devotional that she was doing at that time and the scripture passage that the devotional was based upon that particular morning, was the one that we just read, Matthew 22:34-40.

As she was reading the devotional aloud for the two of us, I felt a strong unction within me to write down some thoughts that were instantly going through my mind that pertained to this scripture passage.

And it’s from those thoughts that I jotted down that morning, that today’s message is derived.

You see, that’s typical as to how many, if not most of my sermons come to me. (A message from someone else. A conversation with someone, a song that I hear, a picture that I see, a scripture that I read and the instant thought comes right behind it!)

Holy Spirit uses so many things to prompt me to read and write about for a message.

I do not usually know from week to week, what the sermon topic for that week is going to be about, as He gives me the topic when He is ready for me to have it.

And at times, it’s right up until that Sunday morning, that I am getting the download from Holy Spirit and as to what He wants me to speak about and say to you!

But today’s message was impressed upon me instantly that morning and I knew then that I would be giving it soon.

I just needed Him to share some clarity as to where exactly He wanted me to go with this message!

As with Dee’s message last week, I believe that this word is timely and needed as another wake-up call for the Body of Christ.

How many of you know and believe that God’s Word is always right on time?

It may not come to us how we want, or when we want to hear it, but it is never wrong and it is always on time!

The prophet Habakkuk said in Habakkuk 2:3 “For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.”

This passage in Matthew that we just read, can be found as a similar account, in the gospel of Mark, chapter 12:28-34 and also in Luke’s gospel, chapter 10:25-37.

In all three of these Biblical accounts, we find the “great commandment” being given, but with some slight variations as to the details mentioned.

For instance, in Mark 12:29-34, we read,

Mark 12:29–34 ESV

29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 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.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 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 oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Yeshua answers the scribe here by quoting from the Jewish prayer known as the “Shema” found in Deuteronomy 6.

But then notice that the scribe, after being impressed with the accuracy and precision of Jesus’ answer as to what the greatest commandment was, elaborates and says that loving God with all of one’s understanding and strength and loving one’s neighbor as one’s self is greater than all of the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices that are required by the law!

Jesus then declares, “You are not far from the kingdom of God”, indicating that the man had the head knowledge for truly finding a relationship with the Lord God, but in reality he still lacked the heart to pursue it.

Then in Luke 10:25-28, we read,

Luke 10:25–28 ESV

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 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.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

In Luke’s gospel account, we find the lawyer asking Yeshua the same question as the rich young ruler who came to Jesus and asked, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

I love how Jesus throws it back on him and basically says, “You’re religious keeper of the law, you tell me what is greatest commandment is and then I’ll tell you what I think!”

And then after the lawyer answering correctly, Jesus declares that He was correct and in doing so, the man would truly live.

But the lawyer in Luke’s account, wanting to justify his self-righteous nature asks another question to Jesus and says, “And who is my neighbor?”

And from there, Jesus gives the very familiar parable of the “Good Samaritan”, in which He turns the lawyer’s question back on him and basically asks the man, “Instead of who is your neighbor, who should you be a neighbor to?”

You see, to the religious elites in Jesus’ day, the only person that they would ever consider to be a “neighbor” to them, was someone who was “righteous and morally perfect” as they considered themselves to be!

NEVER, NEVER, EVER, would sinners such as prostitutes or tax collectors, be considered a “neighbor” to them and most definitely NEVER would a Samaritan, (whom they hated like no other), be considered a neighbor to them!

This is why when the lawyer answered the Lord’s question, he wouldn’t even say the name, “Samaritan” in giving his answer, because of his religious pious hatred for such a person!

And it’s the focus from the parable of the “Good Samaritan”, and its showing us whom we should strive to be a neighbor to, alongside of the second part of the great commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself”, that we are focusing on this morning.

Pay attention to focus of the great commandment. Everything bound up within the 613 laws of the Jewish Law and your keeping them, meant nothing unless you loved the Lord God with all of your heart and soul and mind and strength. (A.K.A. “your entire being”)

But then Yeshua stated and corroborated that there was another command that was equal in weight and merit to the first and greatest commandment.

We are to “love our neighbors as ourselves”, right?!

Jesus basically said the same thing, but in another way, when He gave the “Golden Rule” in Matthew 7:12, where He said,

Matthew 7:12 ESV

12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

If we treat others the way that we would want to be treated, then in effect, we are showing the love to others that we have for our own lives and our own care.

Just as the Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 5:29, “For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,”

We, by nature, strive to provide for the needs of our own bodies and to give them what they need to survive and thrive.

And that is be the exact same desire of our hearts as followers of Christ. We are to desire to do for others and their lives, as we would do for our own lives.

And this love for others, first comes from our love for God and from His perfect love that He instills within us.

John said in 1 John 4:7-8, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

John continues saying in verses 10-11, 20-21, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.”

The Bible clearly shows that we are to show God’s love to those around us; to those we find in need and whom we can bestow God’s perfect love upon. (Those that Jesus called our neighbors!)

And when I heard Desirae reading the passage to me from Matthew 22 a week ago and that we are to “love our neighbors as ourselves”, the question popped into my head, “Why isn’t the body of Christ, large and in part doing that very thing?

Yes, I know that many churches, even as ours did up until a couple of years ago, have food pantries and clothing handouts to help those in need, but that is not what this command is saying.

The great commandment and its counterpart are individual commands; that is, they are given to each one of us to fulfill in and through our own lives!

If I see someone in need lying on the street and it is within my means to help them, and I say, “Well, that is what the food shelters are for. They should just go to the church building and let the church assist them”, then I have failed the commandment and the teachings of Yeshua!

It is not the “church building” that was given the commandment, but each person that makes up that building was given the commandment for his/her own individual lives!

We have done a horrible thing as the church, by instilling into people’s minds the concept that church lead ministries and working in them suffices and fills the requirements for our individual lives!

People mention to me that they want more ministry avenues through the church to serve in. And I get that, because serving in help ministries as a corporate body has strength and power through numbers and resources, BUT.............serving in a ministry within and through a church building never removes or replaces the commandment from God from a person’s personal life as a true believer!

To love your neighbor as yourself means that wherever you are, if you see someone in need and you have the means to help them, then the love of God within you should compel you to want to help them, right then and right there.

Not point them in the direction of a church building and say, “go over there and know that God loves you and so do I!”

In effect, you become like what James mentions in his epistle where he says in James 2:15-16, “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?”

If the Samaritan in Jesus’ parable had said to the man lying naked and injured on the road, “Hey man, hey dude, there’s a church just up the street that can help you out. Go in peace and be warmed and filled”, how do you think that would have changed the parable and meaning of the great commandment?

Jesus showed that being a neighbor to someone and showing the love of God to that neighbor, was for each individual member of His body. Not just as a corporate whole!

Does everyone see and understand what I am saying here?

OK, then I’ll move into the next part of what I believe the Lord is wanting to say to many people today.

Everyone read together with me from Matthew 22:37-39, from up here on the screens. (** READ ALOUD WITH CONGREGATION **)

Matthew 22:37–39 ESV

37 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. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

If we know that this is what the Lord commands us to do and that our Savior, Yeshua, drove home the emphasis of this commandment by reinstating it as a new command in John 13:34, where He said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another”, then why do so many of us struggle to do this very thing?

I think that many people would say that they are “loving their neighbor as they love themselves”, but in an opposite manner in which the commandment was given.

What I mean is this. There are Christians, and probably some of you in this room this morning who, if they were honest, would say to me, “Pastor, I do love others like I love myself. That’s easy, because I hate myself and so I show hate to others!”

You see, the enemy of our souls has done an amazing thing within this nation and within the body of Christ, by hijacking people’s thoughts and opinions about themselves and thus stripping away the ability for them to comprehend the love of God and be able to show it to others!

Millions upon millions of people in this country today, many of whom are Christians, have deep wounds within their souls, that prevent them from truly loving themselves and accepting who they are in Christ and how He created them to be.

These wounds can come from family members, or close friends, or just poor nurturing and parenting skills when they were small children, or from other avenues.

Consider this:

91% of 16-24 year olds use the internet for social networking.

Rates of anxiety and depression have increased 70% in the past 25 years.

Seven out of 10 young people report experiencing cyber-bullying through social media. (Cyberbullying includes sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else. It can include sharing personal or private information about someone else causing embarrassment or humiliation.)

Young people who use social networking sites for more than two hours per day are more likely to report poor mental health, including psychological distress.

One group of researchers was able to predict depression with up to 70% accuracy just by studying a person’s Twitter posts.

Here’s the thing........millions upon millions of young people, each and every day, are developing their identity, based upon the lives of others through such venues as social media!

In many, if not most of these cases, the young person was never shown and taught of how special they are and how much God truly loves and values them and how much the parent truly loves and values them.

And in many of the cases, the young person experienced some form of sexual violation from a family member, or a close friend and the scars from this traumatic event left them empty and with no love or acceptance of who and what they truly are.

They cannot see themselves the way that God sees them, because they are looking through eyes of hurt and brokenness!

They don’t love themselves, and so they try to find or create for themselves, another identity that everyone else identifies with.

A study of more than 3,000 adolescent girls showed that seven out of 10 believe that they are not good enough. They feel they aren’t measuring up in terms of their appearance, academic performance and personal relationships. The same study showed that 75 percent of girls with low self-esteem have engaged in “negative activities such as disordered eating, cutting, bullying, smoking, or drinking when feeling badly about themselves.”

And its not just teens that struggle with this scenario. It carries over into the adult life and it will affect and torment them for the rest of their lives without the healing that comes from the Lord God! (Mention the two young men from this week who are finally getting healing after the scars and addictions in their lives!)

Our society today is riddled with people who look to external sources to find their identity and try to change who they are, so that they feel accepted with the world around them!

People live and move and have their being from the norms of society and social media.

They dress according to what the fads are

They change their hair according to the latest styles.

Their homes reflect the way that other people’s homes look, instead of reflecting who they are.

They walk and talk and act like others, so that they do not stand out as the individual that God created them to be!

And let me stress this point to everyone sitting here right now, or listening in via the livestream..........God created you and gave you life! Every child that was ever formed in the womb, was not a mistake. No life exists except that God willed it to be and allowed it to happen!

You were not a mistake! Your parents may not have planned on your happening, but God purposefully placed you here and for such a time as this!

This is why abortion is such a heinous crime against humanity. Every child within the womb was given life by their creator, almighty God.

And so to take that life away is going against His will and His plan.

READ FROM RAVI ZACHARIAS BOOK ABOUT ABORTION!

Listen to what God says about you:

Before He formed you and knit you together within your mother’s womb, He knew you and loved you!

He chose you and made you to be His before the foundations of the world were put into place!

And if you belong to Him and are His child, then according to the Bible, you are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that you should walk in them.

You are special and were chosen by God; as a Christian, you are of royal lineage and part of the priesthood of the kingdom of God.

And as to the lies of the enemy, who comes only to kill, steal and destroy you and your life and your identity in Christ, you must know and believe that any and all sins that you committed before you came to know Jesus are stricken from the books in heaven and God no longer sees them or remembers them, because they were covered under the precious blood of Jesus the Christ!

Psalm 103:12 says,

Psalm 103:12 ESV

12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

You are not bound to or determined by your past and the sins of your past. God says, “I no longer see your sins and I do not identify you with those sins any longer once they are covered under My Son’s precious blood! Stop listening to the lies of the enemy and begin to walk as the child I created you to be!”

Stop looking to this broken world for your identity and begin walking as the child that God placed you here to be. Regardless of what you look like, regardless of your intellect or your personality is like, you are special in the eyes of God.

He made you special according to His will and from His immeasurable love!

The world and the enemy says that you are not accepted and that you are not loved and because of this and because you do not see yourself as God sees you and you do not love yourself the way that He loves you, you are unable to show that love to others!

You are unable to love your neighbor, because you DO NOT LOVE YOURSELF!!!

You have gone out into the world looking for acceptance and tried to be the person that you think that they world will accept and love, based upon its fallen standards of what love and acceptance looks like.

And the enemy of your soul and those that are his puppets, tell you and try to convince you that have no were else to go; that you are not accepted by God and His kingdom and that you are nothing without the world and its way of living!

Let me remind you of how God sees you. You are His child and though you have wandered from Him and His will for the life that He created for you, He is waiting for you to come back to Him and to turn to Him and let Him restore you to who and what He created you to be!

Just like the parable in Luke 15 of the prodigal child that left the Father and wandered to a far distant land, that is you right now.

And just like the prodigal child, once the enemy gets you away from the Father and His perfect love for you, then he hits you with and enshrouds you in severe spiritual famine, where every you are broken and without hope and in fear and looking to the disgusting world around for survival!

But that is not who you were called, or created to be.

You were called the the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

You were called to be more than a conqueror in Christ!

You were called to be an ambassador of the king and you are called to be an heir to the royal throne of heaven!

All that you have to do, is turn from the life and the place that you are in right now and return to the Father.

And just like in the parable, as you return, yet while you are still afar, the Father is standing there looking for you and waiting for you. And as soon as He sees you approaching Him, He will run to you and grab you and embrace you kiss you and call you His own!

And just like the Father in the parable, God will cover you in a righteous robe, the blood of His Son, Yeshua, and put a ring on your finger, which is His anointing and power and authority that He bestows upon you via His Holy Spirit and He places nice sandals upon your feet, so that you will always walk in His ways and in His kingdom and He declares to the whole world, “This is my child, whom I created and whom I love. They were once dead, but are now alive; they were once lost, but are now found. Let us celebrate the return of My child whom I love so very much!”

And as you feel and experience the love of your Father, it will change your heart and allow you to see for the very first time who and what He created you to be and you will begin to love yourself for who you are in Christ Jesus and in doing so, you will finally begin to love your neighbor the same way!

Instead of worrying about trying to fit in to this world, you will begin to stand out......to come out from among the world and shine as a brilliant light into the darkness!