Grace Bible Church Glorifying God by Making Disciples
Grace Bible Church Glorifying God by Making Disciples of Jesus Christ
The Greatest Commandments Matthew 22: 34 -40; Mark 12: 28 -34 • Jesus’ answer plainly declares the central duty, responsibility, and privilege we have in life
An Insincere Plot Matthew 22: 34; Luke 20: 40 • The encounter the Sadducees have had with Jesus has silenced them (fimovw / phimoō muzzled) • The Pharisees mixed emotions: ØGlad to see the Sadducees silenced ØSad that Jesus is not
An Insincere Plot Matthew 22: 34; Luke 20: 40 • The Pharisees are plotting once again how to bring Jesus to ruin - this time by addressing a hot topic
A Sincere Question Matthew 22: 35 -36; Mark 12: 28 • This was an often debated question among the Pharisees and the people • Interpretations according to numerology and letterism leads to aberrations and heresy • Numerology asserted there were 613 commandments because
A Sincere Question Matthew 22: 35 -36; Mark 12: 28 • 365 prohibitions (the number of days in a year), & 248 prescriptions (the number of parts in a human body) • These laws were further divided into being heavy (must be done) or light (less binding)
A Sincere Question Matthew 22: 35 -36; Mark 12: 28 • Lack of consensus resulted in endless debate - one they thought could cause problems for Jesus • The man who goes is a Pharisee who is a scribe & a lawyer with a sincere interest in the question & answer
The Supreme Command – The Shema Matthew 22: 36; Mark 12: 29 -30; Deut. 6: 4 -5 • Jesus’ answer is to quote from the shema (hear) from Deuteronomy 6: 4 -5 • Faithful Jews would recite it twice a day, and it is what is inside Phylacteries and Mezuzahs • Jesus points them back to what
The Supreme Command – Love God 22: 36; Mark/ 12: 29 -30 • This. Matthew love bh 4 a 2 : aheb ajgapavw : agapaō is an act of the mind & will for the best & holy interest of others • It is higher and beyond the affection and emotion of the love in friendship (filevw / phileō) • The description of this love here
Love God with all Heart & Soul Matthew 22: 36; Mark 12: 29 -30 • Love God with all your heart (kardiva / kardia) - the seat of your being and will - Proverbs 4: 23 • Love God with all your soul includes your emotions
Love God with all Heart & Soul Matthew 22: 36; Mark 12: 29 -30 • It is a dangerous error to let your emotions lead you for then feelings / experience control instead of truth • It is an error to let intellect shun emotion which crushes passion and leaves worship cold and sterile
Love God with All Your Mind Matthew 22: 36; Mark 12: 29 -30 • Love God with all your mind (dianoiva / dianoia) - faculty of thought, ability to think, understanding • Thoughtfulness keeps emotion under control while setting the direction for the soul’s willful pursuit of God
Love God with All Your Mind Matthew 22: 36; Mark 12: 29 -30 • People tend to have more interest in being entertained that intellectually stimulated • Churches that focus on entertainment degenerate into worship that is defective and false
Love God with All Your Mind Matthew 22: 36; Mark 12: 29 -30 • Emotions are based on perceptions, but those are skewed by self-interest & misguided by ignorance and lies • Love for God based on emotion can easily degenerate into false belief and even blasphemy
Love God with All Your Mind Matthew 22: 36; Mark 12: 29 -30 • Love for God based on proper thinking searches for truth understanding of God and praise for Him
Love God with All Your Strength Matthew 22: 36; Mark 12: 29 -30 • Love God with all your strength (ijscuvo. V / ischuos & daom 5 / meod) = power & ability, force & abundance • A proper love of God exceeds all else and will take up your strength to pursue it
Love God with All Your Strength Matthew 22: 36; Mark 12: 29 -30 • Do you love God with all your strength, or only what is left over after everything else? • Do you love God with all your mind by pursuing knowledge and understanding of Him and His will?
Love God with All Your Strength Matthew 22: 36; Mark 12: 29 -30 • Do you love God with all your soul with passion driving you to know, serve and worship Him? • Do you love God with all your heart setting your will to obey Him?
Commandment Matthew 22: 39 -30; Mark 12: 31; Leviticus 19: 18 • If you love God, then you will love people whom He has created • It is heretical to twist this command to advocate high selfesteem (which the Bible calls pride)
Commandment Matthew 22: 39 -30; Mark 12: 31; Leviticus • Love of self is 19: 18 an axiomatic truth demonstrated by nourishing and cherishing ourselves Ephesians 4: 28 -29 • Love of God bends self love toward others - true love of God will be demonstrated in loving other people
Fulfilling All of the Law Matthew 22: 40 • If you love God, you will obey the first 4 of the 10 Commandments • If you love your neighbor, you will obey the last 6 of the 10 Commandments
A Commendable Lawyer Mark 12: 32 -34 • Those watching understood Jesus could not be entrapped, so no one dared publically question Him again • This man understood Jesus’ answer and agreed - he was not far from the kingdom of God
A Commendable Lawyer Mark 12: 32 -34 • True worship and a right relationship with God was bound up in keeping these two laws • Human love for God begins by responding to God’s love for us proven in Jesus Christ
Grace Bible Church Glorifying God by Making Disciples of Jesus Christ
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