Love God with All Our Heart
Scripture: Matthew 22:37-40Devotional Series: The Good Shepherd
Teaching: The Good Shepherd pt. 1 (SUN_AM 2021-03-07) by Pastor Star R Scott
The moment we become an authority unto ourselves, we are in opposition to God. That’s friendship with the world, it’s the world that is anti‑Christ, that hates Jesus, that opposes Jesus and all that is righteous and holy. If you embrace one segment of rebellious society, you are at enmity with God, you have become the enemy of God: your sin is now to a place where, if not repented of, will ultimately cause this Law to judge you and to damn you. Be very careful about giving place to those little sins: if you’re guilty of one, you’re guilty of all.
Now, in this Latter Day in which we live, the secret power of lawlessness (giving place to the seduction of Antinomianism) will bring strong delusion, so we need to be very careful. So, the Law is good; the Law came because of transgressions. Romans 7:7 says, “I wouldn’t have known I was in sin if the Law hadn’t said, ‘Thou shalt not covet.’” Amen? But, if we are cleansed through the washing of the water of the Word, if the Word is a lamp unto our feet, if we have hidden it in our hearts that we might not sin against Him, then how vital this Law is. If in fact we don’t know our own hearts, if in fact we think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think… Have you found yourself there every once in a while? How many of us are puffed up and haughty? All of the Law and the prophets are fulfilled in this: Love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself (Galatians 5:14, Matthew 22:37‑40). What do you think: Do we love God with all of our hearts; do we love our neighbors as ourselves? Do any of you prefer yourself over others in this room? Do any of us have a tendency to seek out for fellowship or make decisions that express nepotism in some way or another? The Bible calls it “respect of persons”; do you have respect of persons? Do you respond differently to, and treat differently, those who are closer to you than you do to others? That’s not the love of God. Many things that we just take as the natural course are really a minimization of this revelation concerning the keeping of the Law. First Corinthians 13 makes for great Valentine’s Day cards, but look what it says: “Love is kind, it doesn’t envy others, it vaunteth not itself, it’s not puffed up, doesn’t seek its own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil, rejoices not in sin, but rejoices in the truth, it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things; love never fails.” The secret power of lawlessness: 1 Corinthians 13 reveals God’s heart and how the regenerated person ought to behave. If you look at this and think, “You know, this seems too hard to live out and to fulfill.” Jesus will fulfill it in you and through you; amen? But you must believe it; you must give yourself over to it, and you need to repent when you’re reproved for living otherwise.
We have asked the question so many times: How teachable are you? When somebody comes to you with the Word of God and points out different areas in your life, how quick are you to repent and to be broken by that? Habitually, is the first thing out of your mouth justification? “Well, here’s why…,” and “You don’t understand.” Well, I might not understand everything that’s behind it, but I understand what I just saw and heard; amen? Why are you so harsh when you’re supposed to be longsuffering? Why are you quick to anger when you ought to be patient and kind? Why is it always about you? Why are you puffed up? Are you a braggart who goes around boasting all the time, thinking that everything has to be about you? We try to justify all these cliques when we are a community in which every member should receive the same care and service and attention and love as every other member.
Now, in this Latter Day in which we live, the secret power of lawlessness (giving place to the seduction of Antinomianism) will bring strong delusion, so we need to be very careful. So, the Law is good; the Law came because of transgressions. Romans 7:7 says, “I wouldn’t have known I was in sin if the Law hadn’t said, ‘Thou shalt not covet.’” Amen? But, if we are cleansed through the washing of the water of the Word, if the Word is a lamp unto our feet, if we have hidden it in our hearts that we might not sin against Him, then how vital this Law is. If in fact we don’t know our own hearts, if in fact we think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think… Have you found yourself there every once in a while? How many of us are puffed up and haughty? All of the Law and the prophets are fulfilled in this: Love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself (Galatians 5:14, Matthew 22:37‑40). What do you think: Do we love God with all of our hearts; do we love our neighbors as ourselves? Do any of you prefer yourself over others in this room? Do any of us have a tendency to seek out for fellowship or make decisions that express nepotism in some way or another? The Bible calls it “respect of persons”; do you have respect of persons? Do you respond differently to, and treat differently, those who are closer to you than you do to others? That’s not the love of God. Many things that we just take as the natural course are really a minimization of this revelation concerning the keeping of the Law. First Corinthians 13 makes for great Valentine’s Day cards, but look what it says: “Love is kind, it doesn’t envy others, it vaunteth not itself, it’s not puffed up, doesn’t seek its own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil, rejoices not in sin, but rejoices in the truth, it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things; love never fails.” The secret power of lawlessness: 1 Corinthians 13 reveals God’s heart and how the regenerated person ought to behave. If you look at this and think, “You know, this seems too hard to live out and to fulfill.” Jesus will fulfill it in you and through you; amen? But you must believe it; you must give yourself over to it, and you need to repent when you’re reproved for living otherwise.
We have asked the question so many times: How teachable are you? When somebody comes to you with the Word of God and points out different areas in your life, how quick are you to repent and to be broken by that? Habitually, is the first thing out of your mouth justification? “Well, here’s why…,” and “You don’t understand.” Well, I might not understand everything that’s behind it, but I understand what I just saw and heard; amen? Why are you so harsh when you’re supposed to be longsuffering? Why are you quick to anger when you ought to be patient and kind? Why is it always about you? Why are you puffed up? Are you a braggart who goes around boasting all the time, thinking that everything has to be about you? We try to justify all these cliques when we are a community in which every member should receive the same care and service and attention and love as every other member.