It’s the Commandment, not the thought.
Mark 12:28-34 28 And one of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, "What commandment is the foremost of all?" 29 Jesus answered, "The foremost is, 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; 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, "Right, Teacher, You have truly stated that He is One; and there is no one else 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 himself, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." 34 And when Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And after that, no one would venture to ask Him any more questions.
Today we are going to continue in our series on the First and Second Great Commandment, and focus on the Second. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”. And two weeks ago, as we spoke about this out of John 13:34-35 34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
But the first thing I want to draw to your attention today about this Scripture, is a reminder of the obvious, that we sometimes tend to overlook. And that is the fact that this is not a suggestion, nor something we are asked to do if we feel like it, but is the Commandment of the Lord. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Growing up in the church, and being trained in doing evangelism, I was often told to ask people this question. “ If you were to die today and stood before the Lord, what would you tell God as your reason for why He should let you into heaven?” The answer I was told to give, was an answer of faith, that I believed in Jesus as my Lord and Savior. But as we will see from the Scriptures, God is not looking for mere mental assent to the claims of the Gospel. God is looking for those who do His will, and is looking for those who obey His commandment. For it follows naturally, that if we really believe something, then our actions will reflect our beliefs. As it says in NLT 1 John 2:6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
Bob Jones story. A minister I’ve met, still living today, died in 1975, and was brought back to life. He tells of what he saw when he went to Heaven. The question that Jesus was asking those in line to enter into heaven was, “Did you learn to love?”
Did you learn to love? Did love become your practice on earth? Did you live your life, the way that I lived mine? Again, NLT 1 John 2:6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
Two weeks ago, we reflected on the way that Jesus loved us, since He commanded us to love one another, and to love one another in the way that He loved us.
And the first thing that we can say about the way that Christ loved us, was in action, and in reality.
NKJ Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
He demonstrated His love!
This past year, as Valentine’s Day was approaching, Hallmark was advertising heavily on the television, as you would expect. And they had this ad that was just hilarious to me, because it was so true! Have you ever heard the saying, “It’s just the thought that counts!”?
Well in this advertisement, it is Valentine’s Day, and the husband comes down stairs into the kitchen where his wife is sitting at the table. She asks him, “Did you get me anything?” The husband replies no. “Did you get me any flowers?” the husband says no. “Did you get me any chocolate?” The husband says no. “Did you even get me a card!?” The husband says no. And then he looks at her, and says,
“But I really thought about it.”!!!!..... And then you see the wife just become overwhelmed with emotion…because he really thought about it! Then the ad says, Wouldn’t it be nice if it was really the thought that counted?
Just the thought?...Just the thought?...Well sadly, that is about as far as the actions of most people who claim to be Christians go. Just a thought.
Just a thought to love. Just a thought to love our neighbor as our self. Just a thought to love one another, even as Christ has loved us.
But Jesus Christ, the Lord of Lords, and King of Kings, who is coming again to judge the quick and the dead didn’t ask for us to give love a thought! He clearly stated that this was His Command! And that the only way to remain and abide in Him, was to OBEY His commands!
Love your neighbor as yourself! (Pause)
You know, in our mindset in America, in our day and age of Romance, it almost doesn’t register with us to consider the words Love and Obey in the same sentence. In most marriages today, love is something that only happens if we Feel right. Love is something we only give, when it is from our heart, and we feel loving.
But God is calling us to remember our baptism, where our hearts were crucified and buried with Christ, and raised to newness of life, where it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me! God is calling us to abandon our old ways, and our old ways of thinking, and to renew our minds, according to His ways, and according to His power, and according to His LOVE!
Remember the tenet, that if God calls us to, and commands us to do something, it is because He has made a way for us to do it! God’s grace is sufficient for all of our needs!
So, what is this all about? We are talking here about the judgment seat of Christ, our eternal salvation or damnation, in the same sentence as we are talking about fulfilling the Commandment to Love our neighbor as our self? And yes we are.
Now, even though the Word of God is clear, throughout the history of the Church, there has been a lot of debate and falling back in to works righteousness, or being saved of God, based on the merits of our good deeds. Basically, that Good people go to heaven. Or maybe you’ve heard the saying, which many people claim to be in the Bible, that “God helps those who help themselves”.
But then Martin Luther came along, and started reading the Bible for what the Bible says, and came across the book of Romans, and the book of Ephesians, and saw and cried out from the rooftops, No! No! No! There is none righteous, no not one, and all have fallen short of the Glory of God! We are only saved by Grace, through Faith, and not of our selves or of our own good works, lest any man should boast! Martin Luther made popular the phrase, sola fide, which in Latin means “Faith Alone”. And that is that we are saved by our Faith, according to God’s Grace.
But Martin Luther basically stopped there. And then we get to John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church. And He saw what Martin Luther had written, and it set his heart free, from the bondage of trying to be justified before God by his own good works. But John Wesley didn’t stop there. John Wesley saw in the Scriptures, that it clearly did state that we are saved by Grace through Faith, and not of ourselves, but that as Galatians 5:6 states, that our faith should be working itself out in love! Faith working by love!
Basically, it hit home with John Wesley that NLT 1 John 2:6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did. And that God didn’t intend just to save us by His Grace through our faith, just so that we would be Justified before God, and have our ticket punched to be able to get to Heaven some day, but that the Lord Jesus Christ was serious when He taught us to pray, “Thy Kingdom Come, and Thy Will be Done, On Earth As IT IS IN HEAVEN”!
God has called us not only to be Saved, but to be transformed, and conformed into the image of His Son Christ Jesus, so that those who say they live in God, should live their lives as Jesus Did, who did not come to be served, but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many! Who came to show us love perfected, and to show us love demonstrated! Who did not stop short of the mere thought of love, but came and gave it to us, to the fullest measure, even laying down His life for us!
So! How can we stand here today, feeling justified within ourselves, when Christ has demonstrated the ways of His Kingdom, by demonstrating His love, and has COMMANDED us, to love our neighbor as ourselves, even as Christ loved us, if we aren’t out there doing His COMMANDMENT!???
How can we claim to have FAITH in the SON OF GOD, if our faith is not working itself out in the Love of GOD?
Will the thought of it, cut it? Will Christ come again in glory to judge the quick and the dead, and accept good intentions and good words without action?
Listen to what James has to say about the issue.
James 2:12-26 12 So speak and so act, as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment. 14 What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. 18 But someone may well say, "You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works." 19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. 20 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness," and he was called the friend of God. 24 You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works, when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
Is it the thought that counts? Only when it is followed by our actions.
1 John 3:16-18 16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoever has the world's goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.
By this time, some of you may be saying in your hearts, “But I don’t feel that I have any love to give!” I remind you, that it is not about a feeling. It is about a commandment. Remember your baptism, that you were crucified and buried with Christ, and raised to newness of life with Him, being born again, born anew, being a new creation in Christ Jesus. That it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
John Wesley came upon some Christians, who were known as the Moravians. They impressed him greatly, but they had one thing that was wrong in their thinking, that led them to be wrong in their action. They took statements like, “But I don’t feel that I have any love to give!” to the extreme, and counseled for people that felt that way, to sit and wait before the Lord until their heart was changed. They believed that if they didn’t have that kind of faith and love in their heart, that it was best to not act or try, until they felt it in their heart, until they felt that they were ready.
But I don’t see this clause in Christ’s Command. I don’t see a waiting period. I only see a Command.
Of course I believe in practicing the devotional life, of living a life of prayer and solitude, reading the Scriptures, fasting and praying. We all need to draw away often to keep our flame burning, and to renew our spirits. And in the day and age when Pastor’s often hear the complaint from a person in their congregation, “I just don’t feel like I am being fed!”, I remind you what Jesus said about where His food came from. Jesus said to His disciples after speaking to the woman at the well, that His food was to DO the WILL of His Father in Heaven. His food came from action. His food came from living out His love.
I don’t see a period of waiting in Jesus’ words, but I do see a Commandment to Love! Maybe you don’t feel that you know how to love well? But go for it anyways! God will lead you and guide you.
It is much easier to steer a ship or a car if it is already in motion! So move, and act, not just in words and thoughts, but also in deed.
1 John 4:7-9 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.
1 John 4:10-11 10 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. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
There is no way around it. Being a Christian means loving our neighbor as our self. Not loving our neighbor as our self, means not being a Christian. The only way that Jesus said that we were to be known, was by our love. Not only by our belief system, or our theology. Not only by our singing of hymns, and gathering together on a Sunday. But only by our Love. As Jesus said, if you love Me, you will obey My Commandments.
Love the Lord Your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind, and with all of your strength. And Love Your neighbor as yourself.
Who then is a Christian? Who then will be saved? Those who believe in God through the Lord Jesus Christ, who obey and keep His commandments.
Is it really just the thought that counts?
I close today with these words of Jesus, when He tells about that day, when He will return in glory, to judge the quick and the dead.
Matthew 25:31 - 26:1 31 "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 "And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. 34 "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' 37 "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You drink? 38 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 'And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' 40 "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.' 41 "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.' 44 "Then they themselves also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?' 45 "Then He will answer them, saying, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' 46 "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
No comments:
Post a Comment