Sermon Tone Analysis

Matthew 22:37-40

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stephen Caswell © 2005

Introduction

 

The 2 Great Commandments are to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

/Today I would like to look at how love fulfills the 10 commandments.

/We can either view the 10 commandments as a negative prohibition or as a positive way of living.

If we focus on the, */thou shalt not/*, we will live life negatively like the Pharisees did.

But if we see the 10 commandments through the eyes of love we will view them totally differently.

We will see life as an opportunity to love and serve both God and man.

Love Embraces God's Law

* *

*Matthew 22:37-40:* /Jesus said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

This is the first and great commandment.

And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets./

/ /

/How did Jesus respond to the lawyers question?/

Jesus quoted the /Shema/, a statement of faith found in *Deuteronomy 6:4-6.*

The confession of faith begins with, */Hear, O Israel!/*

The greatest commandment is to love God with all that we are and have — heart, soul, mind, strength, possessions, service.

/To love God is not to have good feelings about Him, for true love involves the *will* as well as the *heart*./

Where there is love, there will be service and obedience.

But love for God cannot be divorced from love for one’s neighbor; so Jesus also quoted *Leviticus 19:18* and put it on the same level as the Shema.

/All of the Law and the Prophets hang on both of these commandments.

/In fact the entire Bible commands that we love for God is love.

The Pharisees failed here.

They were strong on legalism but weak on love.

*Luke 11:42:* /But woe to you Pharisees!

For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, *and pass by justice and the love of God*.

These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone./

 

1.

Love The Lord With Everything

/ /

Jesus said that the Law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.

The first four commandments involve our relationship with God, the second six with our neighbor.

The Preeminence Of Love

 

If love is the soul of Christian existence, it must be at the heart of every other Christian virtue.

Thus, for example, justice without love is legalism; faith without love is ideology; hope without love is self-centeredness; forgiveness without love is self-abasement; fortitude without love is recklessness; generosity without love is extravagance; care without love is mere duty; fidelity without love is servitude.

Every virtue is an expression of love.

No virtue is really a virtue unless it is permeated, or informed, by love.

*At this point I would like to look at the 10 commandments in light of the New Testament.*

*1st Commandment:* *Exodus 20:3:* /You shall have *no other gods* before Me./

/ /

*/Put negatively/*, this commandment states that nothing* *can come before God in our lives.*

*/Why do I say negatively?

*Because the commandment starts by saying thou shalt not.*/*

*This commandment not only prohibits the worship of false gods.

It also refers to our */jobs, homes, farms, cars, possessions, money, people, fame and position/*.*

*/Anything that takes God's place in our lives is another god.

/*Matthew 22:37: *expresses it */positively./

*/Jesus said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind./

To love God with all our heart, soul and mind and strength is to love Him with all our being.

To love the Lord with all our heart speaks of the emotional nature, the soul speaks of the volitional nature, the mind speaks of the intellectual nature, and our strength the physical nature.

This is not just a feeling but a commitment of our wills that leads to action.

God shows His love for us by providing for our needs.

He showed it most fully by sending His Son Jesus Christ to die for us.

God asks for first place.

*/When you love someone you spend time together with them.

You talk to them and share what’s on your heart.

You listen to them and are interested in their thoughts.

You serve them and meet their needs.

You don’t do anything you know that would hurt them./*

/If we love God we will let Him set the goals and values that we live for/.

If we love God we won’t be too busy to serve Him.

/David was a man after God’s own heart.

He loved the Lord with all of his being.

David was devoted to God.

He lived every moment for the Lord.

/He put God first and refused to compromise.

The Psalms reveal David’s deep love.

His life of faith shows that this was genuine.

He loved God with all his heart, soul, mind & strength.

* *

*2nd Commandment: Exodus 20:4-5a:* */You shall not/*/ make for yourself a *carved image*, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; *you shall not bow down to them nor serve them*.

/

 

Put in a */negative sense/* the second commandment forbids idolatry.

Today millions of people worship idols of wood and stone.

The Israelites sinned when they worshipped the bronze serpent in Hezekiah’s day.

It’s just as sinful to worship or pray to statues of Jesus, Mary, Peter and Paul.

*/In fact idolatry is entertaining thoughts of God that are unworthy of Him./* *John 4:24: */God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

/Expressed */positively,/* we must worship God only.

Satan asked the Lord to worship him during the wilderness temptation.

Jesus responded in *Matthew 4:10:*/ Away with you, Satan!

For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.

/Christ rebuked Satan and told Him that only God was worthy of worship and service.

*/To worship God means to give Him what He is worth.

/*

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*Romans 12:1* *says:* /I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

/Paul asks believers to present themselves as living sacrifices to God.

A sacrifice had no will of its own.

It's will had been yielded up.

The word */service,/* *λατρεία* in *Romans 12:1* means*/ religious service/* or */worship.

/*In light of God's mercy to us we ought to serve Him wholeheartedly.

He is worthy to be worshipped.

*/The second commandment relates to the Lord's service and worship./*

/If we love the Lord we will joyfully serve and worship Him only./

*3rd Commandment: Exodus 20:7:* /You *shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain*, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

/

 

*/Negatively/*/ put, the third commandment forbids using God's name in blasphemy./

/This means using the names Lord, God, Jesus Christ and other divine names as forms of expression./

A persons name represents them.

God is holy and must not be associated with corrupt speech.

The Jews revered God's name so much that they wouldn't even say it.

People that claim to be speaking a word from the Lord need to be very careful that they are in fact doing that.

God will judge all who speak in His name.

/In a *positive* sense the Bible encourages us to proclaim God's name in ways that honor Him./ */Praise, prayer, preaching and witnessing do this.

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1. */Praise /Hebrews 13:15:* /Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name./

We don’t have to be in Church to sing.

Singing praises to God seems to be on the way out.