If you were this morning, go with me in the Bible to Mark chapter number 12. Mark chapter number 12, and we're working through this portion of the Scripture. Mark chapter number 12. We'll begin our reading this morning in verse number 28. Mark 12 and verse number 28. If you'll follow along with me, we'll read here through verse number 34. we're right in the middle of the passion week most people believe about wednesday is what we read and where we are in this passage scripture right in the middle of the way before jesus goes the cross calvary he's in jerusalem and he's getting grilled by a number of folks there uh... unlikely group of people have come together the pharisees the scribes decide to seize the iranians they've all come together with one purpose to send Jesus to the cross and to save what they have developed to be their life and their religion. They're holding on to a dead religion, they're holding on to hypocrisy, but they're holding on because that's what the life that they know. And they're unwilling to be submissive to the Spirit of God. By the way, if you get to the place where you are so comfortable where you are that you're unwilling to allow the Lord to change you, then you are in a bad spot. you're in the wrong disposition because we need to always be willing to allow the Lord to grow us and change us like the Apostle Paul said. Now this is the Apostle Paul. He was well-versed and quite able and the greatest missionary that ever lived. He said this about his life. He said, I press toward the mark. I'm working toward it. I press toward the mark for the prize. The high calling, which is in Christ Jesus. He said, I'm going for a goal. I'm going somewhere. I'm trying to get more and more like my Savior. And we need to learn today from these folks, and we'll begin our reading this morning in verse number 28. The Bible says, And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? and jesus answered him the first of all the commandments is hero israel the lord our god is one more and i'll shout love the lord by god with all my heart with all my soul and with all my mind with all my strength this is the first man and the second is like namely this now shall love my neighbor as i sell there's none of the commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto him, Well, master, thou hast said the truth, for there is one God, and there is none other but he. And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, wisely, with thought, discreetly, He said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question. So we come to this portion of scripture, and Jesus has a meeting now with a scribe. And the scribes were an interesting group of people. They were a well-trained order of Jews. Jewish zealots, people who were notorious for knowing the Scriptures, people who were notorious for being well-educated, and the scribes by and large in this portion of Scripture have fought and were in great opposition to Jesus. Jesus came and threatened their order. threatened their society and threatened their standing among the people. But here we come to one specific scribe, and God is beginning, you can see, to do a work in his heart. He hears the answer that the Lord has just given to the Sadducees. The Sadducees were sad, you see, because they didn't believe in the resurrection. If you don't learn anything this month, you'll learn what a Sadducee is, right? And Jesus takes God's Word and makes it very plain, the portion of Scripture that the Sadducees claim to believe, Jesus takes God's Word and makes it very plain to the Sadducees, though they did not believe in a resurrection, God did. And the message that Jesus preached to the Sadducees that day, He said, I want you to go back in your mind's eye to Moses. You know Moses? He lived hundreds of years after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died. And Moses said, I'm sorry, God said to Moses, God said to Moses, I am the God, present tense, I am right now the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And Jesus says, see, side you sees? There is a resurrection. There is life after death. And God, Jehovah, believes in it. Now, the Sadducees were silenced and went off mad, licking their wounds. But this one scribe, this one particular scribe that we look at today, he heard their answer. Look at what the Scripture says, verse number 28. And one of the scribes came and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, ask him which is the first commandment of all." Now, what I begin to see, and I believe we can prove it in the Scripture, is I begin to see this one scribe, this one specific scribe, whose heart is beginning to be tendered. He claimed to believe the Word of God. He had studied and was a student of the Word of God. And when Jesus Christ silenced the liberal Sadducees, in his heart he leaped with joy and faith because he said, Amen, that's what I believe. So he thought, you know, I better ask him some more questions. I don't see in this context, in this specific portion of Scripture, and in the spirit of this scribe an attempt to trap Jesus. But I see a sincere seeking and searching for what Jesus believed and what Jesus believed to be true. Now this scribe comes to Jesus and he says to Jesus, which is the first commandment of all? He says, I want to know what the first commandment of all. Before we go to the next verse of Scripture, just by way of introduction, I want you to see the setting of this whole story. This is Passover week. Jerusalem was always a busy place. But during Passover week, Jerusalem was an extremely busy place. The temple was just overrun with people coming and making sacrifices and offering sacrifices. All the Pharisees and all the scribes and all the religious rulers and leaders of the day were all present, and there was religious activity like none other. When the Bible said, and Jesus said just a few verses ago, The house of prayer into a den of thieves. The den of thieves was live and well. There was religious activity like none other, like no other time during this Passover week. It's also the Passion Week. We know what happens at the end of this week. It's the week that Jesus goes to the cross. And all these Pharisees and all these Sadducees and all these scribes and all these Jewish religious people are all together And they're all fighting one similar cause. They're all fighting against Jesus because Jesus is a threat to their perceived life. He's a threat to what they've always done. He's a threat to how they've always done it. He's a threat to their way of life. By the way, you should never perceive Jesus as a threat. If Jesus comes into your life and He tells you to quit doing something you love, it is not because He wants to inconvenience you. It's because He wants to save you. If God asks you to do something, to change something that you don't want to change, it's not because He wants to hurt you. It's because He wants to help you, and He loves you. But what we see is we see the Pharisees, and we see the scribes, and we see the Sadducees in their Their arms are folded, and their feelings are hurt, and they are angry, and they are willing to do anything to keep Jesus from changing the way life had always been. They were fighting for self-preservation. What do we see about this scribe? It's different. He's fascinated. He's fascinated by how Jesus dealt with the Sadducees. And he questions him further. You see, this man didn't understand what he needed to ask. He really didn't. He didn't understand what needed to be said. But in an honest way, he asked Jesus a question. And when you seek Jesus honestly, you know what you get? You get an answer that will help you. You get an answer that will meet your need. And in light of the great religious hypocrisy going on, and in light of the religious hypocrisy that this little scribe, this one man was such a part of, Jesus gives the answer that this man needed. And I dare say, in light of religious hypocrisy that stirs up and shows its head even among church people like us. In our society, Jesus gives the greatest answer. And the title for today's message is this, Thou Shalt Love. Thou Shalt Love. What did Jesus tell this Sadducee? He gave him God's Word and God's Word to this Sadducee was, there's only one God, Thou shalt love the Lord your God. He says, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. The answer to religious hypocrisy, the answer to anger, the answer to the fulfilling of the law, the answer to a complete Christian life is boiled down into this one statement, this one truth, Thou shalt love. God teaches us from His Word. what that means thou shall love we'll begin here with this first point the message of the Bible the man comes and asks Jesus what is verse number 28 which is the first commandment of all he says you tell me Jesus you're a rabbi you're not quite a scribe I mean I'm a scribe you're a rabbi You tell me, which is the first commandment? Jesus answers very aptly. Verse number 29, Jesus answered him, the first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Well, he started right, that's for sure. If Jesus had answered differently than this, we'd have to believe that that was the first commandment. But Jesus gives an answer that's quite interesting. It begins with the word here. In Jewish tradition, even to this day and to this moment, there is a thing called the Shema. Shema is a word that literally means here. If you were to talk to a Jewish person today and say, tell me the Shema, You know what they'd tell you? They would quote to you this verse of scripture, but they'd quote the Old Testament version of it, which looks exactly the same from the book of Deuteronomy. If you were to say, what's the Shema? They'd say, well, OK, no problem. I've known that since I was a child. They would say, the Jewish person would say, hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind, with all thy strength. This is the first commandment. That's the Shema. Now, when the scribe asked, what is the first commandment? This was exactly what he was looking for. If someone had come up to him and said, what's the first commandment? He'd have said, it's the Shema. Here, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God. All that. That's what he would have answered. You see, the Jewish people carried these verses of scripture rolled up on little pieces of paper in a little box. They either had it on their forehead or they had it on their arm. Most of them are referred to as a flattery. And it was something that was important to them. And in its foundation, it was meant to keep them tied to the basic truth, the most profound truth, the most simple truth, the beginning, the fundamental issue of Jewish religion. It was the Shema. Here, O Lord, there's one God. There's one God. And that one God is to be loved with all your heart, soul, mind, strength. And they carried it around. But I want you to know something that happened in the heart of that scribe, in the heart of the other scribes, in the heart of other religious people all around during this Passion Week, the week of the Passover. They carried this Word and this truth around on their arms and on their foreheads, but it was not in their hearts. Because if the message of God's Word, Thou shalt love, had it been in their hearts, They would have accepted with open arms the love of our great Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, the answer to their religious hypocrisy was a message from the Bible. Let's just look at that message. Scripture says in verse 29, Jesus answered him, First of all, the commandment is, Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord. The foundation of everything is that Jehovah God is the only God. He is the only Lord. He is the Creator God. And folks, I'll just have you know something today. This is something that we need to draw. It's a conclusion that we must draw in our hearts right now. You see, you begin to think the way the world thinks. And you begin to kind of discredit the existence of God and the person of God. And before you know it, you'll be far off base. Your heart will be cold and your life will be ruined. The scripture continues in verse number 30. With a command, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind, with all thy strength. This is the first commandment. Oh, what a wonderful, what a wonderful truth and what a wonderful commandment. He says, Thou shalt love. Love who? Love the Lord thy God. How? You love Him with all you are, with everything, every ounce of your being. Everything in your life is dictated by your relationship to God. Every word you say is seasoned by your relationship to God. Every decision you make is seasoned by your relationship to God. You don't do anything on your own without first seeking the counsel of God. There's the essence and the scent of God on everything you do. I'm afraid that's not our case in religious circles often. Because we look one way on Sunday and we act and talk another way all week long. I heard a guy say just yesterday, he said, you can tell who the real Christians are at work. He said some of them are talking about praising the Lord on Sunday and getting drunk on Monday night. He said those aren't the real Christians. He said he gave testimony of a man in his business, in his work, that is the real deal. and he's consistent. What's the difference? The scribe and the scribes at this time they said we believe the Bible and they held on their heads or on their arms a scroll that said thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, strength, mind. But it was just a piece of paper and it was not a way of life. It was just a title and it wasn't the actions because their actions were using deception and lying and trickery and their actions would lead to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the perfect man, the only man that ever lived, sinless. And Jesus said, you need to hear from God's Word. And God's Word says that you need to keep God in the center of everything. You need to make Him the Lord of your life. He needs to be the only Lord. He needs to be the only thing you worship. He needs to be the only God you serve. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all your heart. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul. He said you should allow God to dictate your emotions. Your soul is your intellect, emotion, and will. It's our personality. It's the way we react and respond to things. I'll tell you a convicting thing. If you'll allow the love of God to dictate your emotions, you won't fly off the handle near as often as we're tempted to. If you live in light of the fact that God loves me, and He's in control, and He is faithful to me, and He will take care of me, and He will provide for me, and He knows me, and He loves me, if you'll live in light of that love, your emotional stability will be spot on. Because God never changes. He says you should love the Lord with all your soul. with all your mind, with all thy strength." How much of your effort is put toward loving God and serving God? And Jesus just takes the Word of God, the very answer that this scribe wanted to hear, the very answer that he would have given himself, and Jesus quotes the Bible, and the Bible does the work of a hammer, and it pierces and crushes the heart of this scribe. And you see his response. You see, the Bible message that Jesus gives leads to the clarity that this man received. I like this because I can just see, and I don't know if you can see this with me, but as Jesus quotes Deuteronomy, the Shema, As he quotes this verse of scripture to this man, I watch his eyes get brighter and brighter. And he's like, you said exactly what I thought you'd say, but the word of God began to deal with him and convict him. He thought, oh wow, the way we've been acting is not pleasing to the Lord. Jesus continues his teaching. In this verse of scripture, in verse number 31, he says the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbors thyself. There is none of the commandment greater than these. What did he say the second part of this was? Thou shalt love, there's the commandment again, thy neighbor as thyself. Folks, if we love God and we love our neighbor, then the other things take care of themselves. Every week of my life, I deal with controversy and issues and problems between people. And that's good, that's fine. I'll tell you something that would solve so much of our hate and our bitterness, would solve so much of our insecurities and saw so much of our whining and crying and baby acting Christianity. Love God and love your neighbor. Folks, I'll tell you something. You won't bad mouth the people who sit in the same church as you if you love your neighbor as yourself. You'll have patience and grace on the lives and the actions of your children and your family and your husband and your wife if you'll love your neighbors yourself. You won't be so quick to criticize the people around you if you love your neighbors yourself. You won't be driving down the road mad at everybody that does something you don't like the way they drive if you love your neighbor as yourself. You'll be patient. You'll be kind. By the way, the book of Romans, chapter number 13, listen to this. O no man anything but to love one another, for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law." Jesus, the Bible says, if you love Another, you have fulfilled the law. The Bible says, verse 9, for this, Romans 13, verse 9, for this, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet. And if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. You know what the Apostle Paul says? He says if you'll love God and you'll love your neighbor, he says we don't have to worry about you killing people. We don't have to worry about you committing adultery because you'll care more about the person you commit adultery with and the people it hurts around you because you love your neighbor as yourself. We don't have to worry about you stealing because you love people and you love what God has provided for them and you love somebody more than you love yourself. You won't steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness. You love God and you love people. You don't want to be deceptive. He says if you love God and love your neighbor, you don't have to worry about the rest of the Ten Commandments. Because you'll take care of them. It'll be natural. It's the outpouring. It's the natural reaction to a heart of love. And our rotten attitudes and our childish behavior as children of God, It's an outpouring of a heart that is against God and a heart that loves itself more than it loves God and a heart that loves itself more than it loves other people. And the condition that this scribe found himself in, and the condition that the scribes found themselves in, and the condition that the Pharisees found themselves in, and the condition that the Sadducees found themselves in, is a condition that's very familiar to the condition I think Christian people find themselves in today. They love themselves, they love their history, they love their routine, they love what they knew to be true more than they love God, His Word, or anybody else. And I say, shame on me! Shame on me! God says to religious hypocrites, He says, if you love your neighbors yourself, we're not going to have to worry about all the other things that you might do wrong, because love fulfills the law. Love fulfills the law. Wow, what a message Jesus just preached. That Sadducee had it on his arm, but he didn't have it in his heart. He had it on his head, but he didn't have it in his heart. And he wasn't living it, and he saw that the people around him weren't living it. And the very foundation truth that he'd established his scribe trade and his scribe life on, he'd sat aside. And he's more interested in people disobeying the Sabbath than he was people loving their neighbor. And he's more interested in people dressing a certain way than he was loving his neighbor. And he's more interested in somebody, their menial exterior actions, than they were the love of God in their hearts. And Jesus took the very answer that he needed to hear and he said, here's what you need to know. I see it. I see that scribe's eyes open up. He's like, wow. The thing I'm so familiar with, it's cut me so deeply. I want you to hear this guy answer. He makes a comparison. You remember what's going on in this portion of Scripture? At this time, it's the Passover week. There's a buzz of religious activity everywhere. The Pharisees and everybody else are out to get Jesus. They're willing to lie, cheat, steal, it doesn't matter, to preserve their way of life. They're full of hate and discontentment. There's lots going on religious-wise, and he concludes his statement, this scribe, in verse number 33. He says, it's more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. I want you to see his eyes lighten up. Jesus has just told him what he's heard for years, but it just made sense. It just clicked with him. He says this, he says, Verse 32, "'Well, Master, thou hast said the truth, for there is one God, there is none other but He, and to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, with all the strength, and to love His neighbor as Himself is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.'" He's like, you've said it right, Lord. You've said it right. And I've forgotten, I can just see Him. He's like, oh my lands, I am so guilty. I'm so guilty. I've been worried about Jesus coming and messing things up, and all along I've forgotten to love God, which is the most foundation point. He says, and I've been worried about this little detail and that little detail, and I've been aggravated with Jesus. I've been aggravated with these leaders. I've been aggravated with these people and the followers of Christ. He said, I've been mad about this, that, and everything, but I've forgotten the most important thing. I've got to love God. I've got to love my neighbor. He says, that's better and that's more important than all this sacrifice that's going on in the temple this week. It's more important than observing the Passover. It's more important than anything else. I've got to love God and love my neighbor. God gave him clarity. You say, oh my. I want to see how Jesus concludes this passage of Scripture. Jesus concludes it looking at this scribe who has not yet put his faith and trust in Jesus, but he has a very bright hope. The scripture says in verse number 34, and when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he answered wisely. He was thinking and honest. He answered discreetly. He said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. What did he say to that guy? He said, Look, man, you're not far. You're not far from the Kingdom of God. What makes the Kingdom of God the Kingdom of God when you make Jesus the King? He said you're not far. There was a bright hope. I won't speculate what happened to this man, but I know what could have happened. He has this revelation, he's like, wow, I asked Jesus a simple question, and the Word of God pierced my heart, and I am so encouraged yet challenged by the fact I need to love God and love my neighbor. And that's the foundation of the Old Testament law. Over the course of the next few days, this scribe will have the opportunity to watch Jesus Christ go to the cross and pay the price for his sin. The greatest act of love ever, the Bible says, the love of Christ constraineth us. He'll have the opportunity to watch Jesus, the sinless Son of God, pay the price for his sins on the cross of Calvary. He'll have the opportunity to put his faith and trust in Him and live for Him for the rest of his life. Jesus looked at him and said, You're not far. You're not far. You have an opportunity. You have a hope. You have a reason. And Jesus will show him the greatest love ever. And not only show the love that was written in the Shema, But He will fulfill the love. He will fulfill the love of the first commandment. And He'll go to the cross and pay the price for our sins. Oh, it's wonderful what Jesus did for this man. It's wonderful what Jesus did for us. Now here's my question. There's a command from God's Word. Thou shalt love. The world says, I don't love him anymore. It makes me sick. I don't love her anymore. I don't love them anymore. Jesus says, look, if you have a problem with loving somebody, it's not the problem of the person that you want to love. It's your problem. You see, loving other people is not conditional on the people who you need to love. It's conditional on the heart of the person who needs to be giving the love and showing the love. Thou shalt love. You can't love somebody. It's not their fault. You don't know what to do. I don't, but God does and He says it's not their fault. He says, Thou shalt love. Thou shalt love. And I wonder how many of your problems and mine would be solved if I just take God at His Word and love Him with my whole heart. I rest confidently in the love of Christ and the faithfulness of God and love God with everything. And I wonder how many of our problems would be solved if we'd love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus' answer to religious hypocrisy was, hey, thou shalt love. in our midst and in our lives, Christian people today need to confess their sin to the Lord and their lack of love for the Lord to the Lord today. And I know that Christian people right here, right now, this morning, need to confess their unlovingness and their hate for their neighbor. You see, you can't have the blessing of God, the power of God, and the work of God until first you obey this simple command from God. Thou shalt love. Let's pray.