The Greatest Commandment | Matthew 22:15-40

The text this morning that Tony is going to look into we find in Matthew 22 from

verse 15 to verse 40. Let's read this together. If you've got a pew Bible it's

found on page 1504 and 1505.

So here is God's word about Jesus' dealings with certain things. Then the

Pharisees went out on late plans to trap him in his words. They sent their

disciples to him along with the Herodians. Teacher they said, we know that

you're a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with

the truth. You aren't swayed by others because you pay no attention to who they

are. Tell us then what is European? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar

or not? Jesus knowing their evil intent said, you hypocrites why are you trying to

trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax. They bought him a denarius and

he asked them whose image is this and whose inscription Caesar's. They replied.

Then he said to them, so give back to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what

is God's. When they heard this they were amazed. So they left him and went away.

That same day the Sadducees who say there is no resurrection came to him with a

question. Teacher they said, Moses told us that if a man dies without having

children his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him. Now

there were seven brothers among us and the first one married and died and since

he had no children he left his wife to his brother. The same thing happened to

the second and the third brother. Right on down to the seventh. Finally the woman

died. Now then at the resurrection whose wife will she be of the seven since all

of them were married to her. Jesus replied, you are in error because you do not

know the scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither

marry nor be given in marriage. They will be like the angels in heaven but

about the resurrection of the dead have you not read what God said to you? I am

the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He is not the God of

the dead but of the living. When the crowds heard this they were astonished

at his teaching. Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees the Pharisees

got together. One of them an expert in the law tested him with this question.

Teacher, which is the greatest commandment of the in the law? Jesus

replied, love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and

with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment and the second is

like it love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets hang on

these two commandments till thus far the words of God. Tony. Thank you Eric.

Good morning everybody. It's great to see you this morning. If you don't know me my

name is Tony and I'm one of the pastors at Gosnell Baptist Church and it's a

pleasure to be with you this morning. It's interesting as I was listening to

Adrian earlier talking about Westminster Presbyterian Church my mind was

cast back to a period of time in my life when I was wrestling where to go to

Bible college and I spent a year we were in the Kimberleys and Horse Creek and I

spent a year driving Alan Chapel and Don West completely mad asking lots of

questions about Perth Centre for Applied Christian Studies at the time and

also Steve Rarig driving him mad asking lots of questions about Westminster

Theological College. I finally settled on going to Perth Centre for Applied

Christian Studies only to find out that after one year they'd been talking

together and they joined and became Westminster became Trinity as it's known

today and I spent the last two years of my advanced diploma in theology actually

at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Bull Creek up the top which is where the

college was so it's interesting how yeah things link together and yeah it's

great to be here with you. It's a blessing for me to be here and to

encourage you and also in the hope that Michael might have some rest getting

away. I just want you to know that at GBC Gosnell Baptist we are praying for you

as a church from time to time and we're praying particularly that the Gospel

will do two things for you. One that it will shape you as a church that will

shape you as who you are and secondly that it will sound out from you. That it

will shape you and that it will sound out from you and we would certainly value

the same kind of prayers for us at Gosnell's. I don't know whether you're

aware maybe you are there's 240,000 people approximately in the Twin Cities of

Armadale and Gosnell's and this morning at best five percent of them are like

you in church. You can do the maths 228,000 people need reaching for Christ

in these two cities. So there's a significant work to be done and one that

won't be done without the prayers of one another that the Gospel might shape us

so that we might be attractive people shaped by Jesus and that it might sound

out from us. So with that in mind why don't we pray as we come to God's word

together. Father thank you so much for the opportunity that we have together in

the name that's above every name. The name to which one day every knee will bow

and every tongue will confess is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Father we

thank you that we can gather like this and thank you that we can also gather

as friends and partners in the Gospel in this part of Perth and we pray that we

will sense that together this morning but also that we will be shaped by your

word and that it will encourage us as we seek to live for you and serve you and

be on mission for you where you've placed us. Father we ask all of this for

without your help none of it will happen and we want to be fruitful and

faithful in bringing you glory in Jesus name we pray amen. If you'd like to have

your Bible open to that passage that was read to us our focus is going to really

be on 34 to 40 and actually for a large part just on verse 40 but we read that

to give us some context so maybe have that open. I want to begin by asking have

you ever struggled to balance all the things that are important in your life

and have you ever struggled to balance them all perhaps battling to know

which one is the most important they're all important they're all things that

matter they all seem important the question I want us to deal with this

morning is there one thing that trumps all other things is there one priority

that we should have above all others is there one thing that perhaps might

overshadow all the other important things our lives in our lives and even

shape those things and how we go about them and if there is how can we know

what might that look for us. Well this morning we're looking at Jesus answer to

these kinds of questions we're looking at what he says is most important for

our lives and why and we're looking to take our cues from him not from our

maybe our wisdom but from his words this morning. In our reading today Jesus is

asked what is the greatest commandment in the law in other words out of all that

God has said in his word out of all the revelation of God in the scriptures what

is most important Jesus what stands out above everything else and in verse

verse 34 to following he answers that question doesn't he but when the Pharisees

heard that he had silenced the Sadducees they gathered together and one of them a

lawyer asked him a question to test him teacher which is the greatest commandment

in the law 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 this is the great and first

commandment and the second is like it you shall love your neighbour as yourself.

Remember we're told clearly that this question as the others were asked not as

a genuine inquiry but to test Jesus the Pharisees earlier had plotted to see if

they could entangle Jesus in his words and failed then the Sadducees thought

they'd have a go they sought to trap him around the the subject of the

resurrection and they were silenced by his response and now as we get to this

section a Pharisee an expert in the law if you like a professor in the scriptures

perhaps is steps up to the plate to test Jesus this is one of the heavy hitters

that they've brought out just who's stepping forward to try and take Jesus

on and the question is around the law and in particular the 10 commandments you

see if they could get Jesus to somehow speak against the law they'd have him

wouldn't they they'd have him and they could label him a blasphemer and they

could call for his death but in verse 37 Jesus responds in a way I think the

lawyer probably didn't expect he quotes the Shema from Deuteronomy chapter 6 he

Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

says this is the great commandment you shall love the Lord your God with all

your heart with all your soul and with all your mind hero Israel the Lord our

God the Lord is one now if you don't know the Shema is the central confession of

God's Old Testament people it was their confession that Yahweh the great I am the

Lord God Almighty the one who appeared to Moses in the burning bush is their

God is their God and he is so by redeeming love and so their response to

him is to be undivided love and loyalty they would amagnify him as they

experienced his greatness and his grace the Shema was at the center of their

lives as his covenant people it was something they they recited twice a day

at morning and evening prayers in verse 39 Jesus adds another commandment in

response out of Leviticus 19 and verse 18 and he places it alongside the

greatest commandment making this point that if we love God as his redeemed

people in the way the Shema pictures we will love those who like us are made in

his image Jesus response to the lawyers testing question is remarkable don't you

think he doesn't go to the Ten Commandments like they would have expected

him to do but he goes to that which underpins them all and brings that home

but what he says next which is so easily for us to kind of gloss over and skip

over is mind-blowing do you see it there in verse 40 on these two commandments

depend all the law and the prophets on these commandments I think the NIV

says hang all the law and the prophets what's Jesus saying here we don't want

to miss this friends well firstly what does he mean when he says the law and

the prophets what that phrase was pretty much shorthand for the whole Old

Testament the law refers to the Pentecost Pentateuch the writings of

Moses the first five books of the Bible Genesis Exodus Exodus Leviticus

Numbers Deuteronomy and the prophets well pretty much for everything else so

again what is Jesus saying here in response to this testing question from

this professor of the Old Testament well he's saying that the whole revelation of

God in his word hang on these two commands that is the whole biblical

story revealed in the Scriptures is about this that without these two

commandments the revelation of God actually doesn't make much sense or to

put it another way these two commandments are the key to unlocking the

whole thing this is how we begin to see things clearly and this is how we begin

to see what matters most see when we think about the law and the prophets we

see that our very existence comes from God and we are made in his image that

he is the one true God and that we were created to glorify him and to enjoy him

forever we see that we were made to love him with all our hearts our mind and

strength and we see God's design for us is to love others who also bear his

image with us we like to call this magnification or magnifying God with

our lives discovering the greatness of God delighting in him and devoting

ourselves to him this I would argue is what Jesus says is the most important

thing for us today it's the most important thing for you it's the most

important thing for me among all the important things in our lives this is

the one that trumps them all and this is the one that overshadows them all and

in fact shapes them all magnifying God discovering his greatness delighting in

him and devoting ourselves to him and so as Jesus unlocks the biblical story in

relation to these greatest commandments I want us to see two things this morning

that are really clear for us firstly magnifying God is what we were made for

and what God is worthy of it's what we were made for and what he is worthy of

see as he reveals to us the greatest commandment he knows this to be true

right he's the one who made us and this is what is clearly revealed to us in

the law and the prophets from the very first pages of the Bible what do you

see what do you encounter well you encounter the God who made the world

and everything in it don't you you encounter the God who made us in his

own image and his likeness that we might know him that we might love him that we

might enjoy him that we might delight in him as our creator even in the very

first pages of the law in terms of the way Jesus thinks about it we discover

the God who made us and in doing so friends we discover why we exist we

discover our purpose in this life we discover that we are in fact created to

be worshipers to magnify the true and living God who made the world and who

made us and we discover don't we that he is the God who is worthy of this the

eternal God who was and is and is to come what are the first words of the

first book in the beginning God before there was anything else God the worthy

one the unique one the one who we then see speaks the world into existence who

said let there be and there was things became that were not in existence the

one who gave us life and breath and all things and made us in his image and his

likeness unique in his creation the only ones of whom he said when he had made

and it was very good is it any wonder then that the greatest commandment would

be this he might love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul

and with all your mind and is it any wonder then that the second commandment

might be like it that you would love your neighbor those who are likewise made in

God's image as yourself is it any wonder that we're called to love God in this

vertical relationship with him that we can have and then love one another in

the horizontal relationships around us on these Jesus says these two

commandments depend all the law and the prophets friends it's what we were made

for and it's what he's worthy of a favorite author of mine perhaps one of

yours as well dr. Paul trip says this of us as people made in God's image he says

you and I are hard-wired for all we are hard-wired for all if you're an

electrician in the room you'll understand that really well if you're not

speak to the electricians in the room afterwards we are hard-wired for all we

are made to be in awe of someone and we've used that word for lots of things

haven't we even you know lunch can be awesome these days but in this sense

there is only one who is truly awesome the one true and living God the God who

made us now just the constate contextualization the Westminster shorter

catechism which I'm sure many of you know well puts it this way what is the

chief end of man and she fend is to glorify God and enjoy him forever it's a

good it's a good statement isn't it King David puts it this way I will bless

the Lord at all times his praise shall continually be in my mouth my soul makes

it its boast in the Lord capital L O R D in Yahweh the great and Almighty God let

the humble hear and be glad and and I love this verse don't you oh Magnificent

this is a call to worship oh met with King David he's calling us to worship oh

magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together why is he calling

you to do that why is the Word of God calling you to do that it's because it's

what you were made for and it's what he's worthy of do you know that this is

ultimately what your life is about sometimes we don't sometimes it takes

us years perhaps even decades to discover this that this is who I am this is

what I'm for this is why exist this is why I breathe I wonder is it something

that you've settled once and for all at the core of who you are about why you're

here and this is the reality that's meant to Trump every other priority you

have and not just because you should because of it's who you are it's what

you were made for and because the one who made you is worthy he has given you

life and sustains it every hour every minute every second we're here this

morning in Armadale in this building because of God alone ultimately that

heart that's beating in your chest those lungs that are breathing taking in air

and exhaling it the person you are it's from God everything we have and have

comes from him as a gift so let's hear David again I magnify the Lord with me

and let us exalt his name together it should be the most natural if I can use

those words thing for us to hear and then to say absolutely count me in in the

magnification of God together with others I want to be there so firstly it's

what we were made for and what God is worthy of a secondly when it comes to

magnifying Jesus it's what we have fallen from but it's what God redeems us to

it's what we've fallen from but it's what God redeems us to and again in the

law and the prophets you don't have to go very far to see this do you just three

chapters in and humans tragically turn their backs on God's good design just

three chapters in humans tragically turn their backs we see people no longer

exalting God but rather exalting themselves we see people no longer living

out what they were made for but living for themselves and as the biblical story

unfolds we see the magnification of false gods and idols we see the worship of

those false gods and not the true and living God and we see God bringing his

just judgment as a result the beauty of humans loving God has been shattered by

sin and then we see the fracturing on the vertical level of human relationships

don't we jealousy hatred and murder we see in those first 11 chapters of the

law of Genesis the expression of every form of sin and evil and it appears that

all is lost humanity has fallen from the dignity of what it was made for from

God's good design and if we're honest the tragic realities of this are with us

to this day are they not in fact they are not just with us they are in us to

varying degrees we've all done this we've all turned our backs on God's good

design we've all fallen from it we've all exalted other gods in his place in

whatever form they may have taken and we've all sought to create our own

purpose in this life running things our own way coming up with our own design and

as a result we are all worthy of God's just and righteous judgment as a result

the beauty of what we were made for has been shattered by sin

but that's not all we see in the law and the prophets is that we also see a God

who takes the initiative to redeem those who have fallen we see a God who sets a

plan in motion even after those first 11 chapters of Genesis chapter 12 verse 1

Genesis 12:1–3

to 3 we see God setting a plan in motion to bring blessing to the world and for

the rest of the law and the prophets we see it shadowed or foreshadowed and then

in the person of Jesus we see the reality of it we see it fulfilled when he

walks upon the earth we hear these words from the lips of Jesus the eternal

Son of God for the Son of God or the Son of man came to seek and to save that

which is lost here we see God in Jesus taking the initiative to redeem in

Romans 3 perhaps familiar to you we see God fulfilling his saving plan in Jesus

making atonement for us though we have turned our backs on him he provides for

our redemption and at great cost to himself you see it there for all have

sinned and for short of the glory of God all have turned their backs not some and

are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ

Jesus look at this verse 25 whom God put forth the God we turned our backs on he

puts forth his son as a propitiation or a sacrifice of atonement for our turning

our backs on him isn't that awesome the God we walked away from pursues us in

his son and this is to be received by faith but what I want us to see most

clearly is when we take hold of what God has done for us in Jesus by faith what I

want us to see this morning as we think about what we were made for is where

that lands us look at verse 1 and 2 of Romans 12 Paul writes I appeal to you

therefore brothers and sisters by the mercies of God to present your bodies

your whole self as living or as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God which

is your spiritual worship do you see it there friends do you see what God has

done in our lives through his son he has redeemed you and in doing so he has

redeemed your worship he has restored you to what you were made for and what he

is worthy of through the sacrifice of atonement through taking hold of that by

faith all this by his mercy his help to the helpless his rich mercy as Paul

says his great mercy as Paul says his phenomenal mercy we might say mercy

that actually takes Paul 11 chapters prior to Romans 12 to kind of unpack

it's that big and then he says by the mercies of God in the gospel offer your

bodies and I want to say at this point really really I thought that was lost

can I actually be back there what where you what you made me for where I'm

there again is that possible I don't deserve to be here but but by your mercy

can I find myself here again and the answer is yes we've got no place being

there in and of ourselves have we we turned our backs on this we created our

own idols our own purpose but in Christ through his mercy he saw you he saw me

he came to save that which was lost and in his grace in his redeeming love he's

restored you to this most precious place

it's what we have fallen from but what he redeems us to now I don't know whether

you've noticed but there seems to be just an endless amount of restoration

shows on TV have you noticed it's just like it's just off the charts right

they used to be like one or two now there's house restorations there's car

restorations there's backyard restorations there's pool restorations and

just the list goes on and I just I think we must conclude one thing about that

they're banking on the fact that for the most part we all like stories of

restoration right and I get it but do you see this morning the restoration that

God has done in his son a restoration like no other the glorious purpose of

God has redeemed and restored for us this God given purpose so I wonder do you

want to hear David's call again I come and magnify the Lord with me and let us

exalt his name together I reckon if this gripped us perhaps a bit more I know

it already has but if it gripped us more you reckon it might change the way we

come to church do you reckon the those who are leading the music but might be

stunned at the singing coming from the floor as we heed that call from King

David now I'm not saying you still need to be who we are within our personality

and all the rest of it I was not talking about becoming something we're not

everyone has different forms of expression and so on but this friends I

believe is a fire that if we're not careful dies down and that needs to be

stoked regularly with the truths of the gospel that's how we'll love God with

all our hearts all mind and strength never perfectly until we were before him

one day it's what we've fallen from but it's what God redeems us to and this is

what it means for us I think to be shaped by the gospel don't you think and I

think it's what it means for it to sound out from us not just when we gather in

whatever singing or so on but you know what something that just blurts out

because we can't keep it in wherever he's placed us during the week

well my what might it look like in the day-to-day in your lives at Grace

Christian Church how might you live this out together as those who are made to

magnify God I want to suggest five key applications for you this morning to

pursue this together as a church and they're obvious ones right there's not

rocket science you're gonna you're gonna go yeah follow that before I just want

to remind you of these things firstly gather together gather together like you

are this morning but gather together deliberately to magnify the Lord and

exalt his name not accidentally not kind of stumbling on in I mean sure we all

have bad days I'm not you know wanting to be legalistic about it but prepare when

you come and come expectantly thinking that God will speak to you through his

word and wanting to heed David's call as we've heard this morning there the

gathering of God's people is a means of grace for God's people and the and the

degree to which those means of grace land for us is determined by how much

we participate in them from singing to hearing the word of God to listening to

the word of God to coming around the Lord's table whatever it might be to

encouraging one another and all the other one and others that you can think

of I believe there's like 59 of them or 63 of them or something like that right

they're all God's built-in means of grace for us to be edified and encouraged

so gather together grow with others meet together some other time other than

Sunday Sunday to increasingly discover the greatness of God to delight in him

and to devote yourself to him maybe in Bible studies I don't know what you've

got here I think you've got some growth groups I don't know whether you have one

to ones whatever thirdly it might seem a little odd give generously give generously

why would that be part of loving God with all your heart soul mind and strength I

want to suggest to you that giving generously is an antidote to idolatry

it's an antidote to idolatry it's a really good way to check your heart and

to see if there's not some little idol growing up there that's making you hang

on to things that you would otherwise be quite happy to let go of so give

generously obviously privately and prayerfully before the Lord not publicly

but give generously that was Jesus so you cannot worship God and money so make

sure you're giving money away it's a good way to keep the weeds out and

obviously it's part of magnifying God because he's so great okay thirdly

fourthly and really importantly maybe one we're not that great at I don't know

about you give testimony give testimony not necessarily upfront here in a formal

way but share with others what the Lord is teaching you what he's showing you

how he's working in your life is so encouraging to hear Adrienne this morning

to hear what they've been through and how the Lord has sustained them in that

were you not built up as you heard that we're not encouraged as you heard that

I was I don't even know Adrienne but I know she's a sister in Christ who's

discovering his greatness in amongst all sorts of things we don't have to wait

until someone's upfront to do that do we pretty sure you got coffee after church

you're gonna stay and have conversations give testimony so encouraging it's

encouraging for you because you go oh my goodness I've just shared about some and

yeah God has really been doing that in my life I wasn't as aware of it now but

now that I've shared it with someone I'm more aware of it and now they're aware

of it and both of you can be what giving thanks to God see how it helps your

magnification give testimony and lastly serve joyfully serve joyfully I don't

know whether you know but the word serve in the Bible is a worship word we've

diminished it to a task something we do on a roster it's worship whether it's on

the door whether it's on the coffee machine whether it's in music whatever

whether you're just serving one another informally that is worship and that's

how it can be joyful I don't know about you but if it's just a task I'm like this

is a bit dry not sure I want to do this anymore I've been doing on this roster

two years I reckon it's time I got off someone else should have a go right

serve joyfully magnification discovering his greatness delighting in it and then

devoting yourself to him it's what you're made for it's what he's worthy of it's

what we fell from praise God it's what he restored us to so I will bless the

Lord at all times David says his praise shall continually be in my mouth my

soul makes it's boast in myself for all sorts of reasons ten thousand reasons

too many I can't count them but the humble here and be glad oh there's

testimony magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together may grace

Christian church and Gosnell's Baptist Church be known as people who love and

magnify their God who is shaped by the gospel and from whom the gospel sounds

out I'm in I'm in