I Love Him!
Mark 12:28-34
Last Sunday morning we looked at Paul's description of God's incredible love for us, as well as another assurance of the security of God's love. Nothing can separate us from His love. But this morning I want to follow that up with a message entitled, "I love Him!" What does it mean to love Him? Can you say that you really do love the Lord? What is a picture or description of what our love for Him is to be? That's a great question, and we find that the Scripture gives us a clear understanding.
Mark 12:28-34
12:28 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?"
12:29 Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments [is:] 'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.
12:30 'And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This [is] the first commandment.
12:31 "And the second, like [it, is] this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
12:32 So the scribe said to Him, "Well [said,] Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He.
12:33 "And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."
12:34 Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." But after that no one dared question Him.
Some background on this text helps us to see that this is the last of a series of questions to Jesus from the religious leaders. Some questioned Him regarding taxes. Others questioned Him about the resurrection. And then we find what we read in our text this morning - what is the greatest commandment. Scholars agree that this was a well meaning man that had no ulterior motive, but I want one thing to be clear this morning - good motives do not get a person to heaven.
As I said a moment ago, this question really was a legitimate question, for you see, "the scribes had determined that the Jews were obligated to obey 613 precepts in the Law, 365 negative precepts and 248 positive. While they believed all were binding, they assumed a distinction between weightier and lighter statutes and often attempted to sum up the whole Law in a single unifying command.1 One of their favorite exercises was discussing which of these divine commandments was the greatest."2 this scribe comes to Jesus wanting His input on the matter.
The Bible says that the scribe was pleased with Jesus' response. Jesus begins by stating what devout Jews, even today, do - quoting the "Shema" twice a day. What is that? It's just what we read. It is from Deuteronomy 6:4 and it begins, "Hear (which, in Hebrew is "Shema,") O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One." Literally, "Listen up, Israel! Jehovah Elohim, our God, is One." Just in case anyone may have thought that Jesus' theology was a bit out there, His declaration makes it very clear that it was based on the Word of God.
And, "Jesus' reply went beyond the debated lighter/weightier classifications to a statement of the most important command and its inseparable companion, which together summarize the whole Law."3 What's the greatest commandment? Love God.
I want you to see some characteristics of this command.
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It is Passionate - Love
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The word is talked about much more than it is done. Jesus says that the greatest commandment is to love God. Now, we could spend hours defining love, and in fact, I could tell you that this word used for love is from the root word, agape, which is the greatest kind of love found in Scripture. But I don't want to do that this morning. I want to ask how we can know that we really love God.
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How can we know that we love? Let me give some practical points:
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Love begins with a decision. How many times have we heard the saying, "I fell in love with…"? Do you want to know something? If you fall in love, I'll guarantee you that you'll fall out of it at some time! You let that one you fell in love with guys get up with that bed head - you may very well fall out! Ladies, that guy you married because you fell in love with him - you may very well fall out of love the first time you catch his morning breath!
Love begins with a decision. It is a decision to love someone else. And it is a decision to love God. Emotions will lead to a roller coaster life. But decisions will keep one on course. I want you to understand that life and circumstances can cause one to be very fickle when it comes to relating to God. But a decisive commitment to Him will never be based on what life may throw at us each day.
I love that movie, "Facing the Giants." And one of my favorite scenes is when the coach is out in the middle of that pecan grove and he has wrestled all night about their desire for children. And then he asked his wife, "If God never gives us children, will we love Him anyway?" His love for God was settled by a decision. And then later on in the movie when she leaves the doctor's office being told that she wasn't pregnant, though she was. On the hood of that car before the nurse came out, she decided her love for the Lord when she said, "I will still love you anyway."
You can know that you really love when you have made a definite decision to deeply care and express that care.
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Love is always demonstrated. You cannot love without demonstrating that love. There is no way whatsoever. If you say you love but you never show it, who are you kidding? And the greater the love, the greater the emphasis and frequency of demonstrating that love. There's a third point about this love,
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Love cannot be dismissed. Do you know what this means? It means that when a relationship may go through some rocky times that it won't fall apart just because. It would be funny if it were not so sad to hear of many of the Hollywood stars marrying and divorcing, marrying and divorcing. It's almost like some of them have the marriage of the month. Can I tell you something? They may say that they "love" someone else, but they're still acting! They may be infatuated, but not in love. This kind of love that the Lord speaks of here is a love that cannot be dismissed. Come what may, they're sticking it out. Sickness won't separate the two. Bad news won't separate the two. Struggles won't separate the two.
Church Family, I want to remind you again that we serve an awesome God that has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. We serve an awesome God that cares more for us than we will ever know. His love cannot be dismissed! But when things go tough and wrong for a while, are we dismissing our love for Him? When God doesn't do things like we want, when we want, will we still love Him anyway?
What we find is that this command is passionate - love. And please understand that "God is to have the supreme place in man's life. No other love can be allowed to rival love for God."4 Let me address a second point briefly,
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It is Personal - "You shall…"
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The word "you" is singular. I want you to understand that in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, the word, "you" is in the singular. What does that mean? It simply means that the God of the universe commands a specific and personal devotion from you. It's not a reference to a group or a nation or to just a certain set of folks. It's a personal command for every person to personally love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength. Let me put this to you again. There is no way to get around the personal nature of this command.
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Can I ask if your relationship with God is personal? Or, would you honestly say that you are riding someone else's coattail into God's presence? What do I mean? Do you have a personal relationship and worship of your God or is it mom and dad's God? Do you have a personal relationship and personal worship of your God or is it your wife's God?
One of the things that I pray for my children every month is that their relationship with God will be one that is personal, not an extension of mine.
Something else I want you to see of this love,
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It is Pure - heart, soul, mind, and strength
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Notice how it is that we are told to love the Lord our God. Jesus stated four "areas" that we are to love Him - heart, soul, mind and strength. I want you to see something that it may be easy to skip over, but it helps to solidify this point. "The multiplicity of words emphasizes the thoroughness and fervency that our love for God should embrace."5 In other words, Jesus could have said, "with all your heart, soul, mind and strength." But that's NOT how He put it. "With all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength." "With" tells us the source and it means that this love is to come out of it. "All" means the whole of - there is nothing left in reserve. "Your" as I shared a moment ago, makes this a very personal issue. It's one thing for me to say to Maysville Baptist Church to love God, but it's a much more personal and powerful point when I tell each person in this room that your call is to personally love God! It's a point that must be made and understood.
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All of me is to love the Lord. Notice what the Lord addresses.
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Heart - We could call this the control center. We still use this a good bit today. "I love you with all my heart…" we still say. If something disappointing happens, we may say that it broke our heart. The heart really is the control center. And by the way, when we love the Lord with all our heart, it most certainly means our heart is pure. And that is extremely important considering that Jesus said (Matthew 15:18-20a), "those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man."
And just as a reminder, dear friend, Solomon wrote this important word, "Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it flow the issues of life." Keep your heart! Guard your heart! The alternative is not good!
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Soul - this can refer to the self-conscious part of an individual. Jesus referred to the soul on numerous occasions. In fact, He referenced the soul when it comes to desires and aspirations - the drive of an individual (Mark 8:34b-38), "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."
It's amazing what people give up in exchange for their soul! For some it's material goods; others, acceptance. For some it's power. But for all, it's a great loss. Jesus simply reminds us that, regardless of our occupation or position in life, our drive and aim should be to love God with all of our soul.
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Mind - this refers to our thought capacity. Paul referenced the mind on several different occasions. He wrote to the Romans (8:5-7), "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be."
He wrote to the Colossians (3:2), "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." Where is it that your mind is set? As we saw in both of these Scripture references, where the mind is set the feet are sure to go. Can I ask it another way? What is it that you think about all the time? Rest assured, your feet will follow. But Jesus also added our,
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Strength - that is, our bodily powers.6 That has to do with what I just said. Our feet will follow the mind. The mind thinks on what the soul is set on. And the soul's direction is determined by the condition of the heart. Another point regarding this love,
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It is Permanent
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There is no such thing as a part-time disciple. This means that the heart has no divided allegiance, the soul has one aim, the mind has set thoughts on that which is above, and the strength of that individual is to make sure that all is done to glorify His Lord. I know what some of you may be thinking, "That's ideal, preacher. That's just not practical in the 21st century." I disagree, friend. Our Lord gave this command in both the Old Testament and the New Testament without an exception clause. It was a command, not a goal. It was a command, not a suggestion. It is a command.
Listen, I know that commitment may be seen by some as a four letter word, I still want you to know that it's still what God requires from us. I understand, as I shared last week, that struggles can push people to the end of their rope. We may go through a season where we wonder even if the foundation we have lived upon for years is still true. It is. When it may be tempting or even will seem comforting to jump ship when things are tough - don't you do it! I would rather be on a rocking boat than shark-infested waters.
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But how can we tell that we really love Him? Two ways:
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Worship. Do you know that God created man with an intense desire to worship? And since the very beginning, the devil has done everything possible to get man to worship the creation rather than the Creator. Man will worship, but the question remains what he will worship. The children of Israel worshiped a golden calf when Moses delayed coming down from meeting with God. The people that built what would be later known as the Tower of Babel worshiped their strength and abilities. The Greeks in Athens worshiped knowledge. "Atheists don't worship anything, preacher." Sure they do. They worship a vacuum!
What is worship? Very simply we define worship as expressing my love to God. Can I ask you when the last time was that you expressed your love to God? By yourself, when was the last time that you truly expressed your love to God? I'm not talking about going through the routine of a quiet time, or a prayer time. I'm talking about a time when you were deeply moved and wonderfully blessed with a time of being alone and basking in His love. "Well, my house is like a three-ring circus and there's almost no time that I have to myself, much less of peace and quiet!" I understand that it may be difficult to have some good quality time, but you know something, when there is a deep love and a deep longing to be one-on-one with the one you love, you'll make it happen.
I'm going to get out on a limb here, and I'm sure I'll have some folks that want to saw it off. I hear of couples not having a date, not in weeks, but in years. Do you like that? Are you more in love with each other than you were a year ago, five years ago? Bonnie and I work pretty hard to get some date times - and it may not always be at the most convenient times - but when we can get them, we do. Listen, what you really want to do, you'll do. And I'm telling you that a great need in your life is some quality, one-on-one time with your Lord in order for you to personally express your love to Him.
What about corporate worship? "I'm here at church, preacher." I'm thrilled you are, but have you worshiped since you have been here? Is your motive for being here something different than to worship Him alone? Hey, Sunday School teacher, do you take advantage of these times to worship as well as be used of the Lord to convey His Word to others? In fact, do you worship while you teach? I'm convinced there are some here that have been so preoccupied by other things that you're about to let another opportunity to worship pass you by. If you're not worshiping, you do not love the Lord in the way that you desperately need. Thank the Lord for the privilege of worship!
But there's another way that we must love Him as well,
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Discipleship. There are four main habits of discipleship that we talk about in our Discovering Maysville Baptist Church class:
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Time with God's Word - and how important it is that we do that through a quiet time. Listen, if you're not having a daily quiet time, you're not going to be growing as you desire. Students, that goes for you as well. Discipline yourselves now to get into God's Word daily, so that God's Word can get into you!
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Prayer. What a privilege it is to pray! Do you have some regular, uninterrupted times of prayer? "I'd have to get up at 3 o'clock in the morning for that to happen!" Well, have you ever woke up at that hour wondering why it was that you were awake? And you were probably mad you were awake, weren't you? It may have very well been the Lord getting you up for some good uninterrupted time with Him. Prayer. Don't make it hard. It's just talking AND listening to God. Please listen carefully to what He has to say. And if you have a wandering mind, write down your prayers. It's a great tool and blessing to look at later!
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Tithing. It really is a mark of a growing disciple. I greatly appreciated David Settle's testimony this morning. Here is a man that has been a believer for many years and has relied upon the promises of Scripture - and he simply states that God has been so very, very faithful. I say the very same thing! Remember that you are a steward of all you have. God is the owner of it all, and the way that we show we are a faithful steward is to bring the first tenth to His house so that the ongoing ministries of the church can still be ongoing. Trust Him. He's faithful!
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Fellowship. Building relationships and encouraging one another. I'll speak more to this next week, but I want to challenge every one of you not in a Sunday School class to get involved immediately. New members, and prospective new members, get yourself to our new member's class so that you can not only find out more about Maysville Baptist Church, but also build relationships with some folks that are new just like you.
Are you loving Him? Can I ask you if you are simply going through the motions of religion, but honestly there is no relationship with Him to speak of?