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00:00Let me read to you a verse from Galatians chapter 5 and verse 14. This is what it says,
00:06for all the law was fulfilled in one word, even this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
00:14Did you see what he said? He said the whole law is wrapped up in loving your neighbor as yourself.
00:18I'll give you a little exercise to do when you get a chance. In the book of Exodus in the 20th
00:22chapter is the listing of the 10 commandments. When you get a chance, go through and read them
00:26and you'll notice that the first four commandments in the list of 10 commandments are commandments
00:31that have to do with your relationship with God. Have no other God before me, no graven images,
00:36that kind of thing. At the top of the first four commandments, write the first part of Jesus'
00:42answer here. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. When you love the Lord God
00:47with all your heart, soul, and mind, you will keep those first four things. When you get to the end
00:51of the fourth commandment, leave a little space in your notes and write, and your neighbor as yourself
00:56and your neighbor as yourself is a summary statement of the last six commandments in the
01:01Decalogue. Don't murder. You don't love somebody if you murder them. Don't take their wife and commit
01:08adultery with her. Don't covet all of the things you don't do because you love your neighbor. You got
01:14it? First four commandments, love God with all your heart. Second six commandments, love your neighbor
01:19as yourself. That's why the writer of the book of Galatians can say all of the law hangs on
01:26on this one truth. Love God with all your heart. Love your neighbor as yourself.
01:34Introducing Dr. David Jeremiah's newest 365-day devotional, Every Day with Jesus. Inside this
01:40beautiful Leathersaw volume, you'll find 365 daily inspirational readings from Dr. Jeremiah.
01:46Every Day with Jesus is yours in appreciation of your gift of any amount in support of this program.
01:51And when you give a generous gift of $120 or more, Dr. Jeremiah will thank you with four copies of
01:57Every Day with Jesus, one to keep and three to share with others. Request yours from Turning Point today.
02:03How can I be sure of my salvation? How can I overcome temptation? How can I get victory over worry?
02:24How can I find forgiveness? Is there only one way to God? Why do Christians have so many problems?
02:37Why don't my prayers get answered? Is there a sin God cannot forgive?
02:43What is faith? What is faith? What is the greatest commandment?
02:50What is the greatest commandment? Hello, I'm David Jeremiah, joining you for the last message
03:10in our 10-part series called 10 Questions Christians Are Asking. Out of all the questions we have answered
03:18in this series. Today's question is the only one taken word for word from the scripture.
03:26A Jewish scribe actually asked Jesus today's question, which is also the title of my message.
03:33What is the greatest commandment? Because Jesus answered the scribe in detail,
03:39we will have no trouble answering today's question. But Jesus' answer was in two parts,
03:46an answer, and a sequel. And along the way, we will clarify a saying that has become a popular part
03:53of modern culture. Most importantly, we will grapple with the profound implications
03:59of the commandment Jesus said is greatest of all. To learn more about this question,
04:06I hope you'll join me for today's edition of Turning Point.
04:09Let God turn your question marks into exclamation points with Dr. David Jeremiah's book,
04:1610 Questions Christians Are Asking. Inside, Dr. Jeremiah has gathered 10 spiritual questions
04:22he has found weighing on believers' hearts and minds during his lifetime of ministry.
04:27Questions that you may have too, like, how can I be sure of my salvation?
04:31Is there a sin God cannot forgive? Why don't my prayers get answered? And more. Then,
04:37take your study deeper and reflect on discussion questions at the back of each chapter,
04:42on your own or in a group. 10 Questions Christians Are Asking is yours in appreciation when you support
04:48this program with a gift of any amount. And if you give $50 or more, Dr. Jeremiah will send you
04:53the 10 Questions Christians Are Asking study set. Inside, you'll find Dr. Jeremiah's book and his current
04:59teaching series on your choice of CD or DVD album. Plus, a 10 Questions Christians Are Asking bookmark,
05:05only available in this study set. Replace your doubts with confidence. Order this book and study set
05:11when you support the ministry of Turning Point today.
05:22I remember reading a story about a guy who was getting ready to go out of town for the weekend
05:27to a formal event. And as the week went along, he got toward the end of the week and realized that he
05:34hadn't gotten his formal wear, dry clean, and it was in a mess. And cleaners where he normally went
05:40couldn't handle it. But he had remembered across town there was a cleaning establishment that had
05:44one-hour cleaner on the front of it. So, he got in his car, took his clothes to this establishment,
05:50and he filled out the claim ticket. And he said, I'll be back in a couple hours to get my clothes.
05:54And the guy says, no, no. He said, we can't have these for you until Thursday.
05:58He says, well, it says on this establishment, one-hour cleaner. Oh, he said, that's just the
06:03name of our business. We can't do that.
06:07And I thought to myself, isn't that the way it is for a lot of Christians?
06:11We have the word Christian plastered over us, but it doesn't really mean anything. That's just
06:17the name we call ourselves. And we are not expressing that in what we do. Well, today,
06:23in this question and answer thing with Jesus and a scribe, he's going to help us understand what it
06:30means to really be who we claim to be. What does it mean to truly be a Christian? How does that work
06:36out? What does it look like? How do I know if I've really got this disease or not? The passage begins
06:43in the 28th verse with what we might call the search for the first commandment. Listen to these
06:49words. Then one of the scribes came and having heard them reasoning together, that is, Jesus and
06:56the others who were questioning him, and perceiving that Jesus had answered them well, ask Jesus this
07:03question. Which is the first commandment of all? Jewish tradition divided the commandments of God's law
07:13into positive commandments and negative commandments. According to tradition, there are 613 commandments
07:21in the Old Testament. You said, Dr. Jeremiah, I'm depressed. I thought that we're only 10,
07:27and I'm not doing all that hot with the first 10. Well, there's 613 of them, y'all.
07:32613 commandments in the Old Testament. And if you break them down, they are like this. 248 of these
07:41commandments tell us something we should do, and 365 tell us something we shouldn't do.
07:48These are not just the 10 main commandments. These are all the sub-sub-commandments that you can get
07:54if you read every word of the Old Testament. And this scribe came to Jesus that day, and he said,
08:00Master, which of all of those is the most important? It's like you're walking into a room and hear all
08:07613 commandments laid out on a table, and the scribe says, Jesus, we want you to go and pick
08:13one of them up and say, this one is the most important. Which is the first? Now, most of us
08:21wouldn't have been surprised at all if Jesus had answered him by giving him what is the first of the
08:2710 commandments. And you know what that one is in Exodus 20. I am the Lord your God who brought you
08:32out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me.
08:37That's the first commandment of the 10 commandments. We might have thought Jesus would have answered him
08:42with that, but he did not. Jesus answers in verses 29 and 30, the first of all the commandments is,
08:50hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your
08:56heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first
09:01commandment. So the scribe said to Jesus, what is the most important commandment of all the
09:07commandments? And Jesus said, here it is, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul,
09:12strength, and mind. What does he mean when he says this? He says the most important thing you can do
09:20to be who you claim to be is to love the Lord God. Let's break it down, first of all, with all of your
09:27heart. The heart, according to the New Testament concept, is the center of your emotion, the center
09:35of your feeling, the center of your desires. It's where you make your plans and where you talk with
09:40yourself. Your heart is the emotional part of your being. So when you say to somebody,
09:45I love you with all my heart, well, you don't say to your wife, honey, you know that pumping station
09:53I got in my chest? I love you with that. No, no, no. You love your wife. You love your husband. You
09:58love them with all of your heart, all of your emotion, all of your desire, all of your feeling.
10:05God Almighty doesn't want our passive love. He wants our passionate love. So he says, if you want to
10:11know the real commandment, here it is, love the Lord your God with all your passion, with all your
10:16heart. And I don't know about you, when I read that, I think, whoa, man, I'm not sure I'm doing
10:22that. I know I should, and perhaps there are some times when I do, but I wonder, how do I measure up
10:29loving God like that? And then it says, and not only should you love him with all your heart, you should
10:35love him with all of your soul. And the soul in this context is kind of like the volitional part of
10:42you, the will of the desire, the thing that you turn the switch on with. You love Almighty God with
10:47your soul, and that's how you move forward. You make decisions with your soul. It is the way you
10:53get something started. It's how you turn on the ignition. It's where you love God with all your energy.
11:01energy. Love God with all your heart, your emotion. Love God with all your energy and will,
11:07your soul. And the third one is, love God with all your mind. Now, how many of you know that if
11:11you're going to be a Christian, you have to have your mind, because that's the only way you can
11:15understand the gospel? If you're a Christian today, you're a Christian, first of all, because the gospel
11:19came through your mind gate into your system. God has given us minds, and those minds are his,
11:26and he wants us to equip them and use them and then give them back to him in some way that we
11:31can serve him. Love God with all of your mind. And then the last one is, love God with all your
11:38strength. And strength is your physical capacity, your physical prowess. However you use your body
11:47to love God, however you use the strength that he's given you to work with others, and we'll give you
11:53some ideas about that as we go along today. So let's just stop for a moment and think about the
11:58search for the number one commandment and the statement about the commandment. And here's the
12:02statement, love the Lord God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and
12:07with all your strength. Now notice the sequel to the first commandment. Mark verse 31, chapter 12.
12:14And the second, Jesus said, is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other
12:23commandment greater than these. Now isn't it interesting that the scribe asked Jesus one
12:28question and he gave him two answers. Jesus says, here's the first commandment, love the Lord your
12:34God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind. And the second is like it, love your neighbor
12:39as yourself. Now you know what that's become, don't you? That's now called the golden rule.
12:46The golden rule is do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Now the golden rule has
12:53been maligned and misunderstood and misapplied and misused for many years and for many reasons.
12:58And so I want to take just a few moments and tell you what the golden rule is not before I tell you
13:04what it is. I know that's not good grammar, but it is good theology. Notice first of all, this command,
13:11this golden rule command is not conclusive. If applied out of context, it can backfire and cause
13:18personality conflicts. You say, how can that happen? Well, apart from loving God first and loving others
13:24as you love yourself, if you use the golden rule as your dictum of life, you are really going to treat
13:31people the way you like to be treated, which means you will deal with others from your own perspective.
13:36And it implies that we're all alike and what I want and need is exactly what you want and need.
13:42Do unto others, not as you want them to do to you, but do unto others as they would like to have done
13:47to them. In other words, don't measure your relationships by what you want in the person who
13:53you love, but get to work and find out what's going on in the heart of the person you love and then try
13:58to help meet their needs. That's what they call the platinum rule, but it's not really any different.
14:03It's just the golden rule in the context in which it was presented. And so the golden rule, first of
14:09all, is not conclusive. You can't just take it and say, oh, I live by the golden rule. If you do that out
14:15of the context of the New Testament, you're going to make a lot of mistakes and probably a few enemies.
14:21Not only is it not conclusive, it's not comprehensive. Let me just give you the bottom line on it not being
14:27comprehensive. Listen carefully. You can't get to heaven on the golden rule. Can't get there.
14:34You stand before the Lord someday and he says, why should I let you into my heaven? You say, well,
14:38I kept the golden rule. Not. Depart from me. I never knew you. So will you say, if the golden rule is
14:48not conclusive and it's not comprehensive, then what's the use of it? Well, the purpose of this and the
14:55second part of Jesus' answer to the question, what is the great commandment, is to understand
14:59that it's important that we, who tend to keep all of this stuff in our own sphere and our eyes on
15:06ourself, if we're to really understand what it means to love God, we have to get our eyes off of
15:12ourself and get our eyes on to other people. And this is very conclusively proven at the end of
15:18this message. But listen to me. If you go through the Bible, you will begin to discover over and over
15:23again that this principle jumps to the top in many passages. I could put 10 of them on the screen
15:29and just go through them one after the other. But let me just give you three places where this is
15:33presented. Philippians 2.4, let each of you look not only for his own interests, but also for the
15:42interests of others. Romans 15.2, let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.
15:53And 1 Corinthians 10.24, let no one seek his own, but each one the other's well-being. Someone has said
16:04that if we love our neighbors as we love ourselves, when our neighbor loses his job, we feel his loss
16:14almost like we have lost our job. When our neighbor loses his spouse or her spouse, we feel like it's
16:22almost happened to us. If we love our neighbors as we love ourselves, we get past the barriers that
16:32separate us and into the heart of the one we love, and we discover what their need really is, and we
16:38identify with it as if it were our own need. In the culture in which Jesus walked on this earth and in
16:47which the Bible was written, there were a number of words for love. One of the most well-known is the
16:53word eros, from which we get our word erotic. It is the word for sexual love or sensual love.
17:01And then there was another word called esteros, however you want to pronounce it, and that was a
17:05word that was for friendships, the kind of relationships you have sometimes with your Christian
17:11friends, your friendships. So there was erotic love and there was friendship love. But when Jesus
17:16came on the scene, a new word was born, and that word is the word agape, almost unknown before the
17:24presence of Jesus. And that's because the word agape is a God word. It's the word that describes God's
17:30love for us. And the best definition of agape love is this, doing something for others without any
17:36expectation of anything in return. That's how God loved us. You know why he has to love us that way?
17:42I'm going to tell you right now because we got nothing to give him. If he didn't love us with agape
17:47love, he couldn't love us. If his love was like the love we see in our world today, we would never be
17:52loved. But God loved us totally because it was in his heart to love us without any expectation that we
17:59could do anything to repay him. And the Bible says that's the kind of love we're to express when we love our
18:05neighbors. Love your neighbors. And don't be waiting around at the mailbox to see if they sent you a
18:13thank you note. Or don't get all anxiety driven because you did this for them and spent three
18:20weeks and you ain't heard one thing back from these sorry people that you love. When you love people
18:28with agape love, you love them because it's the nature of God in you to help you do it and you
18:37don't wait for any response. Now notice as we come through to the end of this text, there is a
18:46superiority of the first commandment in verse 13. Jesus explains in his answer that I've been explaining
18:53you today and he gives them the answer that we have studied and now notice what happens. So the
18:58scribe said to him, well said teacher, you have spoken the truth for there is one God and there
19:05was no other but he and to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding with all the
19:10soul and with all the strength and to love one's neighbor as oneself is more than all the whole burnt
19:16offerings and sacrifices. Now that is a profound statement. Here is a man who lives in the professional
19:25outward world of Judaism acknowledging that all of the stuff that he does to make himself feel better
19:31as a Jew is in second place to loving God with all of his heart and loving his neighbor as himself.
19:39Wow. It's the last thing you would have expected him to say. So how's Jesus going to respond to that?
19:46That brings us to the last verse in the text or the last section of it. Now when Jesus saw he
19:53answered wisely, he said to him, listen to this, you are not far from the kingdom of God.
20:03He said you are not far from the kingdom of God. What you have understood today about the importance
20:10of loving God and loving your neighbor, you're moving closer to the kingdom of God. You're not far.
20:17And the Bible says, and then Jesus didn't answer any more questions. End of the period of interrogation.
20:24I mean, I thought about this. Suppose you're standing before God and he says, why should I let
20:28into my heaven? And you say, well, Lord, I don't think I'm far. Think I'm close. How many of you know,
20:33you don't want to be close when you get to heaven. You want to be all the way there. Close.
20:37You want to be all the way. You need to embrace what you've heard. Accept the one about whom we speak.
20:47Accept Jesus Christ as your savior. Don't be close. Be all the way.
20:53Okay. Now, as we kind of look back over our shoulders at this interchange Jesus had with
21:01this man, I want to remind you of how this all fits together. Remember, Jesus was asked
21:07one question and he gave two answers. What is the first commandment? And Jesus gave him,
21:14love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself.
21:16That's not one answer. That's two. One question, two answers. But now in his answer, he's going to
21:23wed these two things together. So really it is one answer. How do you love God? You love God
21:30by loving your neighbor. Love is not a warm, fuzzy feeling around your heart. Love is a action word.
21:40When you love, you do something. When you love somebody, you do something.
21:47Here is an ironclad illustration of that from an interchange Jesus previews in his Olivet Discourse.
21:56Let me just read it to you if you want to follow. It'll be on the screen.
22:00Then the king will say to those on his right hand, come you blessed of my father,
22:04inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you
22:10gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. I was naked and
22:22you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. And the righteous
22:32will answer him saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you a drink?
22:40And when did we see you a stranger and take you in or naked and clothe you? Or when did we see you
22:45sick or in prison and come to you? And the king will answer and say to them, assuredly, I say to
22:51you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me.
22:58Jesus said, if you want to love me, you need to love others because by loving others, you love me.
23:08And I went back through this list and it's pretty profound, isn't it? What is on this list?
23:14Giving somebody who's hungry something to eat, giving somebody who's thirsty something to drink,
23:19putting some clothes on somebody who doesn't have any, helping somebody who is sick,
23:24visiting somebody in the hospital or working with somebody who's in prison. Quite a list,
23:31isn't it? That's what the scripture says. You love God by loving others. You serve God by serving others.
23:39And that kind of takes this out of the quote unquote spiritual realm and puts it down in the
23:44practical realm where it belongs. So much of our doctrine never gets outside of our house.
23:50So much of our belief never gets past the door. But the Bible says, you want to know what it's
23:56like to really live according to the sign that's on the front of you? You want to live up to what
24:02it means to be a Christian? Here it is. So simple and yet so profound. Love the Lord God with all your
24:08heart, soul, mind, and strength. What does that mean? That means when I'm loving my neighbor,
24:12I'm to love them with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. And then as I love my neighbor,
24:18I'm loving God and I'm fulfilling the number one priority that God has for us.
24:28Dr. Jeremiah will return in a moment with one more inspirational word to close today's program
24:33right after this.
24:37Let God turn your question marks into exclamation points with Dr. David Jeremiah's book,
24:4210 Questions Christians Are Asking. Inside, Dr. Jeremiah has gathered 10 spiritual questions
24:48he has found weighing on believers' hearts and minds during his lifetime of ministry.
24:52Questions that you may have too, like, how can I overcome temptation? Is there only one way to God?
24:59What is faith? And more. Then take your study deeper and reflect on discussion questions at the
25:07back of each chapter, on your own or in a group. 10 Questions Christians Are Asking is yours in
25:12appreciation when you support this program with a gift of any amount. And if you give $50 or more,
25:18Dr. Jeremiah will send you the 10 Questions Christians Are Asking study set. Inside, you'll find
25:23Dr. Jeremiah's book and his current teaching series on your choice of CD or DVD album, plus a 10
25:29questions Christians are asking bookmarked, only available in this study set. Replace your doubts
25:34with confidence. Order this book and study set when you support the Ministry of Turning Point today.
25:41And now, with one last word for today's program, here is Dr. Jeremiah.
25:48Accountants use the term bottom line to refer to the most important number on a company's balance sheet.
25:55Likewise, we could say that the bottom line of Christianity is loving God with heart, soul,
26:02mind, and strength. If we love God that way, everything else falls into place. So how do we love God?
26:11We start by accepting his offer of forgiveness and salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
26:17I hope you've done that. And to encourage you on that path, please allow me to send you two free gifts from
26:25Turning Point, a booklet called Your Greatest Turning Point, and our monthly devotional magazine called
26:32Turning Points. These resources will encourage you in your walk of faith. And we will gladly send them to you
26:40free of charge if you will contact us here at Turning Point today.
26:48David Jeremiah and Turning Point are making a global impact for the Kingdom of God, but we can't do it alone.
26:54That's where Bible Strong Partners come in. Bible Strong Partners form the foundation of Turning Point,
27:00allowing Dr. Jeremiah to reach the world with the Gospel and enabling you to share in the eternal impact of the
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