LOVE, A KEY
INGREIDENT TO CHRISTIAN
BEHAVIOR
BEHAVIOR
Leviticus 19:18,
Deuteronomy 6:4-7, Mark 12:28-34
Leviticus 19:18
18 "'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one
of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
A. Defn:
Revenge=nagam= grudge, punish
grudge= natar= to guard, anger
love=
ahab= have affection for
1. We have to
change the way we deal with the issues we have with others.
2. God gave us
the recipe; "two" don't and "one"
do.
a. God
commands us not to attempt to get even or punish others.
b. God
commands us not to get angry with others.
c. We must
not allow our emotions to rule our actions.
d. We must
not allow any wrong done to us, to destroy the love God commands
` us to show the wrong doers.
` us to show the wrong doers.
3. God commands us
to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.
a. The way we
treat ourselves is the way we should treat others.
b. We should
want the best for our neighbors regardless of their behavior.
B. "I am the
Lord".
1. God does not
want our opinion on this issue.
2. God's
commands are not options that we can choose to obey.
3. God does not
care if we like our neighbors or not.
a. Our
neighbors should be treated with respect even if they do not respect
us.
b. We should not make the bad attitudes of
others our attitude.
c.
As Christians, we are the role models for correct behavior.
4. What God
commands us to do is the right thing to do.
a. Following God's commands will
always be effective.
b. We do not
have to understand God's commands to follow them.
c. We have a
limited view. God has the entire view.
d. We can
only see a short distance, but God sees the end from the
beginning.
beginning.
Deuteronomy 6:4-8
V:4. " Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is
one."
A. Hear= shama= attention and obedience.
1. God commands
us to pay attention to His Word and to be obedient to His
Word.
2. Israel
a. God
created us to be under His rule.
b. God did not intend that we be influenced
by the world around us.
B. The Lord=
Yehovah= self existant, eternal
1. God= Elohiym=
Supreme God
a. The word
"Elohiym" is plural indicating the Godhead.
2. The Lord is
about unity. One God in three persons.
a. God the
Father.
b. God the
Son.
c. God the
Holy Spirit.
3. The
Israelites were surrounded by people who believed in many gods.
a. We have one
God, the I Am God, who is everything we need Him to be.
b. No man, thing
or object can serve as our God.
c. No man,
thing or object can provide eternal life.
V:5. " Love the Lord your God with all your heart and
with all your soul and with all
your strength. "
Defn: Love=
ahab= have affection for
A. God wants all of
you.
1. God does not
share you with anyone.
2. God wants
your total attention and obedience all the time.
B. God commands us
to Love Him.
1. With all your
heart.
a. The heart
is the seat of understanding. ( Barnes Notes)
2. With all your
soul.
a. The
center of your will and personality.
3. With all your
strength.
b. The out
goings of all your energies and vital powers.
4. God wants all of our efforts, thoughts and
activities to be devoted to Him.
V:6. " These commandments that I give you today are to
be upon your hearts."
A. The Word must be the only guide to your
way of living.
1. If you are
not living by the Word, it is not in your heart.
2. When you
think, your thinking must start with the Lord.
3. When you
reason, you must start your reasoning with the Word of the Lord.
4. When you act,
you must act according to the will of the Lord.
B. God promised
that obedience to His commands will be the success in our
lives.
V:7. " Impress them on your children. Talk about them
when you sit at home and when
you walk along the
road, when you lie down and when you get up."
A. The commands of
the Lord must be taught to our children.
1. It is the
duty of the parents to study the Bible with their children.
2. Our own
understanding grows as we study with our families.
B. Our children
are very impressible.
1. They will
be influenced by us or the world.
2. It the job of
the parents to make time in their schedule to study the Word
with their
children.
a. If
parents don't teach their children, the world will teach them.
b. We must
get the Word into our children so they have the tools to resist the
world's
influence.
C. We are
commanded to set aside time for Bible study.
1. Bible
study must start at home.
2. When we
are riding in our cars, our talk should not be idle, but about the Lord.
3. We should
teach our children to pray before going to bed.
4. We should
teach our children to pray when they get up in the morning.
a. We
should get on our knees and lead them in prayer while they are
young.
b. We
must teach them to pray before every meal.
c. Think
of the impact they will have at lunch time at school when their peers
see
them praying.
Mark 12:28-34
V:28. "One of the teachers of the law came and heard
them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him,
"Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"
A. There are many
people who make it a habit to debate the Word of God with others.
1. They did not want to learn more about the
Word, but to prove they knew
more than
anyone else.
2. The teachers
of the law thought they were the experts on the Word of God.
3. They
believed that Jesus was no match for them.
4. They failed
to realize that Jesus was the Word.
5. They failed
to realize that their knowledge was limited to their human
teaching
and understanding.
6. There is no
limit to the knowledge of Jesus. He is omniscience.
a. He knew
what they were thinking before they said a word.
b. He knew
the motives behind their questions.
c. His
response to them was set before the foundation of the world.
B. Not everybody
that comes with the crowd, is apart of the crowd.
1. One of the
teachers came to learn more about the Word.
2. He came to
listen, not to debate.
3. He came to
be enlighten, not to impress others.
4. He came to
add to his knowledge, not to display what he knew.
C. "Of all
the commandments, which is the greatest?
1. If we have questions,
others may have the same questions.
2. Questions
provide us with the opportunity to have Bible study.
3. Answers to
our questions may enlighten others.
D. The Word is
the resource for all our questions.
1. Since the
Word cannot return void, someone will be enlighten, encouraged
or given
new directions.
V:29 "The most important one," answered Jesus,
"is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our
God, the Lord is
one."
A. Jesus who is the
Word used the recorded Word to answer all questions.
1. The Word is
eternal and will never change.
2. Jesus said,
"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My word will not pass away"
Matt 24:35
B. Jesus uses the
Word we have studied to give us answers.
1. One of the
jobs of the Holy Spirit is to bring to our remembrance the Word
we have
studied.
2. Jesus said,
" If you abide in me and my Words abide in you, ask whatever you
wish and it will be done for you."
wish and it will be done for you."
a. All we have
to do is ask and Jesus will give us an understanding of His Word.
C. We must understand
that we are in the presence of the Lord at all times and that He
hears our
requests.
1. Jesus is one
with the Father.
2. Jesus is one
with the Holy Spirit that indwells us.
3. We are
connected to the one God who has all the answers.
V:30. " Love the Lord your God with all your heart and
with all your soul and with all
your mind and with
all your strength."
Defn: Love =
agapao= regard with strong affection
A. God is Love.
1. Love is the
most important aspect of Christian living.
2. The Word of
God never changes.
3. Jesus repeated
the command God gave to Israel
B. It is because of
God's love that He sent His Son to die for our sins.
1. God expects us
to respond to His love by giving Him our total love.
2. God expects us
to put Him first above all other interest we have.
3. God promises
that if we seek Him first, all other things will be given to us.
V:31. " The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as
yourself.' There is no commandment
greater than
these."
A. Since God has
treated us with great favor, He expects us to treat our neighbors with
the same favor.
1. We are
commanded to love our neighbors.
2. It is a
command, not an option.
3. This command
does not come with any conditions.
B. We are commanded
to love our neighbors regardless of whether they love us or not.
1. We are
commanded to be the role models of Christian love.
2. Some people
don't know how to love because they have never experience true
Godly love.
Godly love.
V:32. "Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You
are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but
him."
A. The questions from
those who opposed Jesus was His opportunity
to explain
Christian
doctrine.
1. Jesus uses our
questions to give us a proper understanding of His Word.
2. We should look
for opportunities to discuss the Word with others.
B. Notice, the scribe
gave Jesus his approval.
1. The scribe was
testing the correctness of the Word based on his limited
knowledge.
knowledge.
2. We can't test
the correctness of the eternal Word with our finite knowledge.
3. The best we can
do, is to trust the Word.
4. We will come to
know the truth of the Word through our life's experiences.
V:33. " To love him with all your heart, with all your
understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself
is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."
A. By asking
questions, this scribe came to a clearer understanding of God's Word.
1. He stated the
Word in His own language.
2. The Word
becomes real in our lives when we can relate it to our conditions.
B. The Word is stored
into our hearts when we can see it working in our lives.
1. The more we
live by the Word, the more we will learn to rely on it.
2. The more we
discuss the Word, the more we will understand the Word.
C. The scribe came to
understand that Love was more important
than all
our sacrifices
to the Lord.
1. Samuel said
that to obey is better than sacrifice. 1
Samuel 15:22
2. This is love, that
we walk in obedience to His commands. 2
John 6
V:34. " When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he
said to him, "You are not far
from the kingdom
of God
questions."
A. This scribe was
trained by those who opposed the teaching's of Jesus.
1. By studying
the Word for himself, the scribe came to the light.
2. Just because
someone is in the dark does not mean they will stay in the dark.
3. The Word
changes hearts.
4. The Word draws
people to Christ.
B. Jesus approved the
scribe's progress in understanding the Word.
1. Jesus is
always in the mist of our study.
2. It is Jesus
who helps our unbelief.
3. It is Jesus
who elected us out of a world of darkness to be His disciples.
C. When you know
God's Word for yourself, no one can persuade you to
believe the
lies of the devil.
1. When you know
God's Word for yourself, you can easily determine who is
influenced
by the devil.
2. A knowledge of
God's Word gives you advance warning to avoid the devil and
his
influences.
D. Why did Jesus say,
"You are not far from the Kingdom
of God
1. The scribe was
still in the crowd. Matt 23:1-12
2. His heart was
different from the crowd, but he did not standout from the crowd.
3. Perhaps, he
wanted to come out and announce his faith in Jesus, but he was
afraid.
4. Perhaps he
wanted to be different, but he did not want to chance being kicked
out of his
position of being a scribe.
5. It takes
courage to stand up for Jesus.
a. You have
to love Jesus more than you love your position, status or
connections.
connections.
b. He talked
about love but he was not ready to love.
ARE YOU READY TO LOVE?
Rev. Mitchell
No comments:
Post a Comment