Matthew 22 34 - 46

Is it possible for God to be deceived by men?

Matt 22:34-46 But when the Pharisees heard that He had put the Sadducees to silence, they gathered themselves together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, 36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" 37 And He said to him,  "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  38 "This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 "The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  40 "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." 41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question,42 saying, "What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?" They said to Him, "The son of David." 43 He said to them, "Then how does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying, 44'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand,  Until I put Thine enemies beneath Thy feet"'?  45 "If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his son?"  46 And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question.  NASB

Ø      Point 1 – Religion leads to deception – v.34 but when the Pharisees heard that He had put the Sadducees to silence, they gathered themselves together.

o       Illustration - The church I grew up in was a place where certain things made you less than a Christian and certain things were acceptable and were overlooked. Don’t, don’t, don’t!

o       Prov 16:25 There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end there of are the ways of death.

Ø      Point 2 – Men deceive themselves in believing they can deceive God. V. 34 But when the Pharisees heard that He had put the Sadducees to silence, they gathered themselves together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him,

o       Illustration - Men cannot deceive God – Story of the good slave in the house of an wealthy Arab trader in Bagdad during the time of the Sultans before Mohammed. “Please let me go to Damascus!”

§         Application – Jesus knows the truth about our hearts - Isaiah 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Ø      Point 3 -- Relationship leads to service and sacrifice. V. 37 And He said to him,  "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  38 "This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 "The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  40 "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."

o       Illustration - The Pharisees defined righteousness as doing something. “Keeping the Law” Judg 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

§         Application - Jesus defines righteousness as being something that is impossible without a heart change.

Conclusion – What does it mean to love God love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might with ALL our heart?

1.      Realize that our hearts are wicked and we cannot know them ourselves. Jer 17:9-10 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10 I the LORD search the heart,

2.      As we think in our heart so are we. - Prov 23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he

3.      Ask God to search your heart and show you what He finds. - Ps 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

4.      Ask God to create a clean heart in us. - Ps 51:10-12 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. 12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

5.      Set your heart on things above. - Col 3:1-3 Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of the father.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthy things.

6.      God is greater than our hearts. - 1 John 3:16-20 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19 This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20 whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

7.      Ask God for an undivided heart. - Ps 86:11 Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.

8.      Guard your heart. - Prov 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

9.      Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. - Prov 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.