Five facts about the two most important commandments.
Hi welcome to today's little lesson. Thank you so much for joining me once again. We're
going to focus our attention on this little lesson, and perhaps the next one, on the two
commandments that Jesus said were the two greatest commandments.
And the purpose in this little lesson and the next, is to examine ourselves, to see
how well we're doing at keeping those two greatest commandments. And it can't hurt right,
to have a little self-examination here and ask ourselves the question, am I in line with
God's will in keeping the two greatest commandments? Alright? So we're going to kind of look at
them and break them down a little bit. I'm hoping to present to you five irrefutable
facts regarding those two great commandments.
But first of all, let's talk about those two great commandments. There was a time when
a man came up to Jesus and asked him which was the great or greatest commandment of the
law, and Jesus didn't hesitate, he didn't give any kind of a vague answer. It was cut
and clear. He said, this is Matthew 22 and verse number 37, "You shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great
and foremost commandment."
And so that was true of course both in old and new covenants. It's true for us. The great
commandment for you and the great commandment for me, the foremost one the one that we ought
to be focused on more than any other one is loving God with all of our heart, mind, soul
and strength.
And Jesus didn't stop there because there was more that needed to be said. And I hope
that we'll see momentarily why Jesus didn't stop there. He said then, "The second is like
it." So that means there's a similar commandment that's like it. And it's second only to that
first commandment. So, we know what our first priority should be, now we're going to learn
what our second priority should be. And it's like the first and foremost commandment.
Jesus said, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Okay? Now, hold that thought.
Jesus finished that little dialogue by saying, "On these two commandments, depend the whole
law and the prophets." Certainly, nobody can debate that those two commandments. If you
keep those two commandments, you're doing well. You're likely to be keeping all the
commandments that are found within the law and the prophets.
And so if you want to simplify your spiritual life and your devotion to the lord, it'd be
good to think about these things. And this is of course why James says, a new testament
author, a new testament apposal, whoever keeps the royal law, the royal law, in the statement
you shall love your neighbor as yourself, he does well. Okay?
So James echoes the sentiments that we find, from the lips of Jesus that it's really important
to love your neighbor as yourself. If you do that, you're doing well. Now, let's jump
back up to the foremost commandment. Loving God heart, mind and soul and strength.
I think sometimes when we read that commandment, we think to ourselves, well that's right I
need to be thinking more loving thoughts about God because to love Him of course, that's
going to be in my heart and my mind. And so I ... oh I just need to love Him more with
all my heart, with all my mind, with all my soul and my strength. And so let me just think
more often, loving thoughts and think about how much I love God.
And there's no doubt that thinking about God and loving Him within our hearts and minds
and our meditation, is a part of an expression of loving Him with all of our heart, mind,
soul and strength. Don't get me wrong. But it's just a part of an expression for loving
God. Why? Because it's very clear from scripture that we express our love for God primarily
by keeping His commandments.
Loving God is more than just a thought or a feeling in one's heart, it's expressed by
obedience to God's commandments. Because if you love someone, you want to please them
right? And this is God, so to please Him, we're obviously going to obey Him. And so
many times in the old testament, scores and scores of times, you know, the connection
is made, love God and keep his commandments. And that is also found of course in the new
testament.
Jesus said in John 14, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. And similarly he
said, "He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me." And John wrote
in his first epistle, "For this is love of God that we keep his commandments." Okay.
So if you want to obey, express obedience to loving God with all your heart, mind, soul
and strength, you express that by keeping his commandments.
Now let's just go to the next logical step here. What's the second greatest commandment
after loving Him with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, which is expressed by keeping
his commandments? It's the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself. And so, with
those premises in mind, we can make the conclusion that the foremost way that we can express
our love for God, is by loving our neighbor as ourselves because love for God is expressed
by obedience to his commandments and his foremost commandment after the great commandment is
to love our neighbor as ourselves.
So the foremost way that you can express your love for God is by loving your neighbor. And
this fits right into a common theme here at Little Lessons. When Jesus foretold of the
future judgment of the sheep and the goats, doesn't it? I was hungry and you gave me something
to eat. I was thirsty, you gave me a drink. The sheep express their love for Jesus, by
loving their neighbor as themselves. Okay?
So, it behooves us to ask ourselves the question, how well am I doing at loving my neighbor
as I love myself? Because that's a good indication of how much I love God. Right? I think that,
that is irrefutable. And if we look at it from a little different angle, what's the
foremost way that I could love my neighbor in light of all of that truth? Well the foremost
way I could love my neighbor, is by helping my neighbor, encouraging my neighbor admonishing
my neighbor, doing whatever I can to help my neighbor love God with all of his or her
heart, mind, soul and strength.
And if I'm going to help my neighbor to love God with all of his or her heart, mind, soul
and strength, that would include encouraging helping my neighbor to love their neighbors
as themselves. See how this all fits in there? That's why Jesus said a second commandment
is like it. These are so congruous, interrelated, intertwined. They just can't be separated.
And there's one last question I want to ask, where we're going to start our next Little
Lesson.
If I'm not really concerned about my neighbor and my neighbor's spiritual health and my
neighbor's love for God and love for neighbor, if I'm not concerned about my neighbor's eternal
destiny, like neighbors who are not on the road that leads to light, if I'm not concerned
about that to the point of doing something, how could I possibly make a claim to loving
my neighbor as myself? And if I can't make a claim honestly to loving my neighbor as
myself, how can I be making a claim to loving God with all my heart, mind, soul and strength?
Well you see, you know, I can't.
Okay? So, something to ponder until the next time we get together on Little Lessons.