Message 32 - By: Leroy Surface
“Hanging
on Love”
A man of the Pharisees, a lawyer, came to
Jesus with a question. He, as most of
the religious elite of Israel did, came seeking to test Jesus and find some
error in His teaching. On this particular
day, the Sadducees had just failed in their effort to catch Jesus in His words.
The scripture says, “But when the
Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were
gathered together” (Matthew 22:34). It was as though the Sadducees and the
Pharisees were in competition with one another to see who could best lay a trap
for Jesus to condemn Himself with His own words. Evidently the Pharisees chose their “champion,” a lawyer, to test
Jesus. He asked the question, “Master, which is the great commandment in
the law?” Jesus brings no great
surprise to the Pharisees with His answer, “Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself.” It was what
He added that caught their attention; “On these two commandments hang all the law
and the prophets.” This will be
our text for this message.
…Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is
the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law
and the prophets.
Matthew 22:37-40
Neither the lawyer who questioned Jesus nor
the Pharisees who sent him were ready for the answer Jesus gave them. They knew the law explicitly. As Saul of Tarsus was to say of himself some
years later, “concerning the
righteousness that is in the law,” he was “blameless (Philippians 2:6),” even as he persecuted the church and
killed Christians. There were six
hundred and thirteen commandments and ordinances in the Law of Moses. The law controlled their every action,
including how they dressed and what they ate.
It required them to meticulously keep the Sabbath days, and to offer
various sacrifices, some to cover their sins, and some to make peace with
God. They observed seven different feast
days per year, often making long pilgrimages to Jerusalem to do so. Of all the hundreds of commandments and
ordinances of the law, there were two in particular they were troubled
with. They could do everything Moses
commanded, right down to the nitty-gritty details, but they could not “…love God with all their heart,”
neither could they “…love their neighbor
as their self.” Jesus’ message to
them was that if they could not keep these two great commandments, nothing else
mattered, because “on these two
commandments hang all the law and prophets.”
Another lawyer came to Jesus in Luke 10:25-29, again, for the purpose
of catching Jesus in His words. He asked
the question, “Master, what shall I do to
inherit eternal life?” Rather than
giving a direct answer, Jesus let the lawyer answer his own question. He asked, “What
is written in the law? How readest thou?”
The lawyer thought to ensnare Jesus even as he quoted the two great
commandments as his answer, saying, “Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.” Jesus’ response was, “Thou hast answered right: this
do, and thou shalt live.”
“This
do and thou shalt live”
was impossible for this lawyer. He had
fallen into his own trap, because he very well understood that he could not do
those two things. The twenty ninth verse says, “But he, willing to justify himself, said
unto Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?”
Jesus answered with the story of the “good
Samaritan.” The Samaritans were hated
by the Jews in that day. They were the
people whom the Jews commonly referred to as “dogs.” When Jesus spoke to
the Samaritan “woman at the well,”
she was amazed that Jesus would even speak to her, because he was a Jew. In the story Jesus told to the lawyer, a man
was beaten, robbed, and left half dead on the roadside. A Jewish priest saw the man and “passed by on the other side.” He actually crossed the road to stay as far
away from the poor wounded and dying man as possible. A Levite also came that way, who also “looked on him, and passed by on the other
side.” It was a Samaritan, one who
was despised and hated by the Jews who had compassion on the man. He dressed his wounds, put him on his donkey,
brought him to an Inn, and cared for him throughout the night. The next day he left money with the innkeeper
to care for the man until he was fully healed and promised to pay even more; as
much as was needed. Jesus asked the
question, “Which now of these three,
thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?” The lawyer could only answer, “He that showed mercy to him,” to which
Jesus said, “Go, and do thou likewise.”
The lawyer found no justification for
himself. He discovered that his “neighbor” included those he had hated
from the time he was a child. It was a
people he could hate because of their race, or the color of their skin, or the
nation they were from. He could hate
them for their politics, their philosophy, or their religion. Our “neighbor”
is not just the one who lives next door; our neighbor may live across the sea,
or just across the border. Do we love
our neighbor? Do we love him “as our self?”
The “Law
of God” contains only ten very simple commandments. There is only one of them that cannot be
obeyed by any person with a good “will
power.” It is the tenth commandment that reveals the
content of the heart of man, and no one can keep it except those who have been “born again” of the Spirit of God. The tenth
commandment says, “Thou shalt not
covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his
manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is
thy neighbour’s” (Exodus 20:17). This is the command that uncovers the
covetousness that is in the heart of fallen man. All the other commandments are broken because
of this tenth commandment. It was this
commandment that Jesus explained in His “Sermon
on the Mount.” In Matthew 5:27-28, He says, “Ye have heard that it was said by them of
old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever
looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already
in his heart.” The “scribes and Pharisees” could keep the
seventh commandment, but they could not keep the tenth, and were thus found to
be guilty of the seventh also.
The first and great commandment of the “Law of Moses” is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-5: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the
LORD thy God with all thine heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” This commandment
may seem to be wonderful and simple, but it is one that was impossible for the
children of Israel to obey. It is the
word “all” that made this commandment
so grievous to the scribes and Pharisees.
Remove the word “all” and most
people could keep it, because the commandment would simply say, “Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with thy
heart, and with thy soul, and with thy might.” We have seen those people who have never been
saved, who have never shown any desire to serve the Lord, but live their lives
in uncleanness, fulfilling every lust of the flesh, who, when approached about
their need for salvation, are quick to say, “God
knows my heart. He knows that I love Him
in my heart.” Even if that were
true, Jesus said that is not good enough.
We must love Him “with all of our
heart, all of our soul, and with all of our might (or ‘mind,’ as Jesus
said).”
The second great commandment of Moses’ law
is found in Leviticus 19:18; “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge
against the children of thy people, but thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
It was also the second commandment Moses gave that was impossible for
the children of Israel to obey. It is
the words “as thyself” in this
commandment that presents the difficulty.
It is these two commandments which are so far beyond human ability, that
Jesus says all the law and prophets “hang
upon.” This means that if a person
can keep every commandment and ordinance of Moses’ law, but cannot love God
with “all” his heart, or “his neighbor as himself,” his religion
is vain. The law he has trusted in has
failed to keep him, and can only condemn him.
The apostle Paul says, “…if there
had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should
have been by the law” (Galatians
3:21). In Romans 8:3, he says, “For
what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh….” The law could not give life, and it could not
give love, for the “love of God”
issues only from the “life of God.” Since the law can give neither life nor love,
it is both weak and unprofitable to the people who are under its dominion. Paul tells us in Hebrews 7:18-19, “…there is
verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and
unprofitableness thereof. For the law
made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we
draw nigh unto God.”
Consider the enigma the children of Israel
found themselves in on the same day that God spoke the Ten Commandments to them
from Mount Horeb. In Exodus 20:19 it is recorded that when
the people heard the voice of God, and saw the mountain as it quaked and burned
with fire, they stood afar off and said, “Moses,
speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we
die.” In Deuteronomy 5:27 the people told Moses, “Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak
thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear
it, and do it.” In the same day that
God spoke audibly to the children of Israel, they rejected Him and refused to
hear His voice. They promised to obey
everything that Moses commanded them if only God would not speak to them
again. In Deuteronomy 6:5, Moses brought
His first commandment to them. “Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all
thy heart….” How can they love Him
with all their heart when they have rebelled against Him and refused to hear
His words? They were faced with an
impossibility that would bring every curse of the law upon them and their nation
for hundreds of years to come, because they were commanded to keep every
command of Moses upon the penalty of death, yet they could not obey even the
first one, which is to “love God with all thine heart.” It is easy for the “believer” to say, “We are
not under the law, but under grace,” which is very true. We must understand, however, that there is
nothing about the grace of God that exempts anyone from the two great
commandments. In fact, it is only by the
grace of God which is given to us that we can “love God with all our
heart, and our neighbor as our self.”
The
“More Excellent Way”
But
covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.
I Corinthians 12:31
The entire twelfth chapter of I Corinthians is dedicated to giving us
understanding of spiritual “gifts.” In the last
verse of the chapter, Paul says, “covet earnestly the best gifts,” then
lays the foundation for the thirteenth
chapter by saying, “…and yet shew I
unto you a more excellent way.” The “more excellent way” is not a
repudiation of the spiritual gifts. Paul
did not tell the church to forget about spiritual gifts; instead he told them
to “covet” them, and do so “earnestly.” The “more
excellent way” is not a replacement for spiritual gifts; it is the “strength” of them. Just as all the law and prophets “hang upon” the two love commandments,
the spiritual gifts “hang upon” the “more excellent way.” This is certainly evident in the first three verses of the thirteenth
chapter.
Though
I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am
become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
I Corinthians 13:1
The word “charity” in this verse is the
subject of the entire thirteenth chapter.
It is the “more excellent way” that Paul speaks of. The word “charity,” which we understand to be
“love,” is translated from the Greek word “agape.”
Strong’s Concordance and Greek Dictionary defines “agape” as “love, i.e.
affection or benevolence; specially (plural) a love-feast.” It is apparent from the usage of the word “agape” in the scriptures that it is a “love” that God is the only source
of. The apostle John gives the
scriptural definition of “agape” in
both I John 4:8 and I John 4:16 when he says “God is love.” Love only partially defines God, because we
are told in I John 2:29 that “He is righteous,” and in I Peter 1:15 that “He is holy.” While each of
these defines only in part what God is, God is the total definition of “love, righteousness, and holiness.” In order to understand “agape (God’s love)” we
must see God. In order to understand “righteousness” or “holiness,” again, we must see God.
His love, righteousness and holiness have their perfect manifestation in
Jesus Christ. We must see Him.
Speaking “with the tongues of men and of angels” is a spiritual gift. Paul used himself as a hypothetical example
in this first verse; “Though I speak with
the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding
brass, or a tinkling cymbal.” The “tongues
of men” may well be preaching or prophesying, and the “tongues of angels” would be heavenly languages. Regardless, Paul said, “If I have not the love of God working in me, my words are empty and
dead, like a ‘sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal’.” These are musical instruments that can make
beautiful sounds, but they have no life in them, and no eternal value
whatsoever. They sound beautiful for a
moment in time, and that moment is gone forever, and so are the beautiful words
of those who do not have the “love of
God.”
And
though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all
knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and
have not charity, I am nothing.
I Corinthians 13:2
In this second verse, Paul refers to four
of the spiritual gifts he revealed in the previous chapter. He began with the “gift of prophecy,” which
is the sixth of the nine gifts that Paul revealed. The rest are the first three, found in I Corinthians 12:8-9; “For to one is given by the Spirit the word
of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another
faith by the same Spirit….” Again,
Paul uses himself as hypothetical example; “…though
I have these gifts to understand all mysteries, and faith to remove mountains,
if I have not the love of God working in me, I am nothing.” What an amazing statement. “I
understand all mysteries… I can remove mountains, but I am nothing, because I
cannot love God with all my heart, or my neighbor as myself.” On what basis do we think that we are anything,
or have any standing with God whatsoever, if we cannot love?
And
though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give
my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
I Corinthians 13:3
It is in the third verse that we find that
which most people believe to be the definition of “charity,” which is, “…I
bestow all my goods to feed the poor….” Oh to what extremes people will go, trying to
love. They can build great institutions
of charity to feed the poor and clothe the naked, but if they do not have the “love of God,” it will profit them
nothing. The last statement Paul makes
speaks of the ultimate sacrifice that man can make, which is to “lay down our life for another.” Paul says, however, “…though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity (the love of
God), it profiteth me nothing.” Without the love of God working in us, even if
we died in the place of another, we would only damn our souls in death. There are several religions that have given
the guarantee of heaven to those who are willing to sacrifice their lives for
the advancement of the religion. I
remember the kamikaze pilots of World War II Japan. These were men who gladly flew their
airplanes loaded with bombs into American ships with the guarantee of heaven
from their emperor “god.” When Japan advertized for volunteers, there
were far more men that applied than the nation could use because of a shortage
of planes. Today, we have the Islamic
suicide bombers who are willing to sacrifice their own life to further the
cause of Islam, because they believe they will instantly wake up in heaven with
untold pleasures prepared for them. In
the crusades of a thousand years ago, the Pope gave similar promises to the
warriors who were willing to fight against Islam to recover Jerusalem. All of these died in vain, and perished
eternally, for they could not do what they did with the love of God, who gave
His own life, not to slay men, but to save them. Jesus died for the ungodly, for sinners, and
for His enemies, to save them from
their sin.
Paul reveals the nature of love as he
continues his discourse in I Corinthians
13:4-7: “Charity suffereth long, and is
kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth
not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked,
thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all
things.” This is certainly what it
means to “…love thy neighbor as thyself.”
It is in I Corinthians 13:8 that Paul reveals the final attribute of the
love of God; “Charity never faileth.”
He did not say, “Charity always
succeeds,” but rather his meaning is, “Charity
never ceases.” Love, “loves;” it can do nothing else. It is an eternal fountain that never runs
dry. Paul continues with his comparison
of “love” with the “gifts of the Spirit” by saying, “…but whether there be prophecies, they
shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be
knowledge, it shall vanish away.”
Long after prophecies, tongues, and words of knowledge have ceased,
love, the “love that God is,” will
still love. Concerning the gifts of the
Spirit, Paul says, “…all these worketh
that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will”
(I Corinthians 12:11). The Holy Ghost must not only dwell in a person, but also “come upon
them” to bring healings, miracles, prophecies, and the other manifestations
of the Spirit through them. When the
Spirit “lifts” from the person, all spiritual manifestations cease until the
Spirit comes upon them again. This is
not so with the love of God. It never
ceases, because it is “part and parcel”
of the divine nature that the children of God partake of.
The manifestations of the Spirit are
momentary things. They come only as the
Holy Ghost comes upon those who God has anointed to minister the Spirit for a
special occasion. One may prophesy, but
it is only momentarily. One may preach
under a wonderful anointing of the Holy Ghost, but the message will have a
beginning and an end. One may speak in
tongues, but again, it is a momentary thing, only as the “Spirit gives the utterance.”
We may have worship services where the presence of God is like
electricity in the air. We may be lifted
up to the highest heavens by the anointed ministry of the word. There may be miracles of healings and
deliverance in the altars of repentance.
This is as it should be whenever and wherever the children of God come
together, but tomorrow, the wonderful worship service and all that God did will
be only a memory. What God has done will
remain, but yesterdays miracles are not guarantees of miracles today. On the other hand, love never ceases. The prophecies have ceased for a time, but “love” continues to love. In I
Corinthians 12:29-30, Paul indicates that not every child of God is an
apostle, prophet or a teacher. He
further indicates that not all have gifts of miracles or healing, and not all
give messages in tongues or interpret.
His point in this is to introduce “the
more excellent way” which is for every child of God. Not all are miracle workers, but all who are
born of God may love with the “love that God is.”
Paul does not teach, as some believe, that
the manifestations of the Spirit would pass away after his generation. They are to continue in the church by the
working of the Holy Ghost in His people until Jesus Christ appears in His
second coming, yet Paul presents love as “a
more excellent way.” He does not
tell the church to “neglect” the
gifts and “seek” to love. Instead, he says, “But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more
excellent way” (I Corinthians 12:31).
What
Manner of Love
Behold,
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called
the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
I John 3:1
With the word “behold,” John calls our attention to the great love God has
bestowed upon us. It is not the
magnitude of “how much” He loved us,
but it is the “manner of love,” or “how” he loved us that we are to
see. John 3:14-15 says, “…as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” I have highlighted the words “as” and “even so” in this verse which are correctly understood to say, “…in
the manner that Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, in the same manner must the Son of man
be lifted up….” It is the next
verse, John 3:16, which is called the “golden text” of the bible, that says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Again, the words “…for God so loved…”
indicate the “manner of love” that
gave Jesus to die for us, meaning, “…God in this manner loved the world….” The “manner”
of love is revealed in that “God gave His
only begotten Son,” and His Son, Jesus Christ, “died for us.”
The “manner
of love” that God has bestowed upon man can only be seen or understood in
the death of Jesus Christ to “take away
the sin of the world,” and the fact that no one took His life, but He
freely offered Himself for us. I John 4:10-11 says, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but
that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us (in this manner loved us), we ought also to love one another.” I John
3:16 says, “Hereby perceive we the
love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our
lives for the brethren.” Both of
these verses speak of what we “ought”
to do in response to the love of God for us.
The Greek word that was used means we are “under obligation” to “lay
down our lives,” to “love one
another.” Again, we cannot do it
just because we are “commanded” to do
so. We must have the “grace” that God has given to His children
if we are to love “as He loved us.”
…that
ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all
saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the
love of Christ, which passeth knowledge….
Ephesians 3:17-19
Everyone who is “born of the Spirit of God” has been to Calvary “with Christ.” Their “old
man” is crucified with Him, and they have been “quickened together with Him” in His resurrection. Their “roots”
are in the “love of Christ.” Every plant receives its life from where it
is “rooted and grounded.” A plant can be “rooted” in the fertile soil and climate of a greenhouse, and be “transplanted” into a dry and barren
field in infertile soil, and the plant which was beautiful and healthy because
of where it was “rooted” would soon
wither and die because of where it was “grounded.” If a child of God is “born again” through the love of Christ that was bestowed upon them
at Calvary, that is, through their death and resurrection “with Him,” they have been “rooted
in love.” If they continue in the
love of Christ which was bestowed at Calvary, they will be “grounded in love,” and that same “love of Christ” will fill them and will be life and vitality to
them. They will “know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,” and it will be
their “possession.”
Concealed in the eighteenth verse is a
question that no one has ever answered, nor will they ever find the answer
to. The question is this: “…what is the breadth, and length, and
depth, and height” of the love of Christ?
Paul says that it “passeth
knowledge.” The “love of Christ” is chief among those things Paul calls “the unsearchable riches of Christ.” Its parameters have never been discovered by
man, nor can they be; yet that which is “unsearchable”
and “past knowledge” may become the
possession of the child of God.
Faith
That Worketh by Love
For in
Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but
faith which worketh by love.
Galatians 5:6
Jesus said, “Upon these two commandments (the love commandments) hang all the law and prophets.” His message to the scribes and Pharisees, who
love the law, is that if they did not love God with all their heart, with all
their soul, and with all their mind, and love their neighbor as their self, the
law, which they do love, is of no benefit to them whatsoever. In I
Corinthians 13:1-3, Paul tells us who are under the New Covenant that even
if we have all the “gifts of the Spirit”
in operation, and do not possess that same love for both God and man, then we “are nothing,” and our gifts “profit us nothing.” The truth is this; everything, whether it is
the law, the prophets, or the New Covenant, hang on these two commandments,
which the natural man is not capable of obeying. Paul says that it is neither circumcision
(the keeping of the law), nor uncircumcision (not keeping the law), that avails
anything, but it is “faith which worketh
by love.” The “faith” he speaks of is “the
faith of Christ,” which defines all that Jesus did for our salvation
through His death and resurrection. The
terms, “faith of Christ,” “doctrine of
Christ,” and “gospel of Christ”
all speak of the same thing. The “gospel
of Christ” is “the power of God
unto salvation to everyone that believeth” (Romans 1:16); we are “justified”
by the “faith of Christ” (Galatians
2:15-16), and we must “continue
(abide)” in the “doctrine of Christ” (II
John 1:9). All of these, being one
gospel in the New Covenant, do not avail anything in those who do not “…love God with all their heart, all
their soul, and all their mind,” and
love their neighbor “as thyself.” The New Covenant is not about the dead and
dry keeping of rituals, ceremonies, and ordinances, which are those things the
apostle Paul calls “dead works” and cannot
give life to those who do them. In II Corinthians 3:6, Paul says that God “…hath made us able ministers of the New
Testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but
the spirit giveth life.” The “letter” of even the New Testament is
death to its practitioners. It is the “Spirit” that “giveth life.” The New
Testament is a covenant that can only operate “by love.” Everything “hangs” on the two “love commandments.”
How
Far Reaching is Love?
We will never understand with our natural
minds just how far love reaches. We do
know, however, some things that Jesus told us about love. Everyone seems to know that Jesus told us to “love one another.” He said in John 13:35, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love
one to another.” In the previous
verse, however, Jesus told them to “love
one another, as I have loved you.” Then, in John
15:13, He defines what is meant by “as
I have loved you.” He said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a
man lay down his life for his friends.”
It was the next day that Jesus not only “laid down his life” for His friends, but for “sinners,” the “ungodly,”
and also His “enemies” (Romans 5:6-10).
We have said much in this message about the
second great commandment, which says, “Thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
It is the commandment that goes beyond what the natural man can do,
especially when we understand who our neighbor is. Jesus spoke to His disciples in the Sermon on
the Mount, saying, “Ye have heard that it
hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.” This was what the scribes and Pharisees
actually taught the people. They could,
in their own sight, “fulfill” the
love commandments to “love” both God
and their neighbor, while at the same time they “hated” their enemies and plotted their destruction. Jesus continued His teaching, saying, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that
hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” Incredibly, Jesus is beginning His earthly
ministry by giving “commandments”
that were even more “impossible” to
obey than any that Moses had given. “Love your enemies?” The word “enemies”
is translated from the Greek word “echthros,”
which means “hateful.” Jesus commanded, “Love the hateful; do good to those who despise and persecute you.” Did Jesus say to “do your best” not to hate your enemy? NO! He
clearly said, “Love your enemy.” No one will ever succeed in this by means of
will power. Some may learn to “act in a loving manner,” but that is
not what love is about. This single
commandment is so incredibly contrary to human nature that no one who is not “born of God” could ever approach it,
but the nature of this commandment is such that the entirety of the New
Covenant hangs upon it. Jesus concluded
his discourse on loving our enemies by saying, “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he
maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the
just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what
reward have ye? do not even the
publicans the same” (Matthew
5:43-46)? The love of Christ that is
in His people reaches beyond themselves to their brother; it reaches beyond
their brother to their neighbor; and, it reaches beyond their neighbor to their
enemies. It knows no difference.
How
is This Possible?
See, I
have set before thee this day life
and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the LORD
thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and
his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall
bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou
wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
I denounce unto you this day, that ye
shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land,
whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.
Deuteronomy 30:15-18
In these four verses, Moses describes to
the children of Israel that which he has “set
before them” in the Law he has given them.
If they obey his law in every detail, they will have “life and good,” but if they disobey,
they will have “death and evil.” Paul explains this somewhat in Hebrews 10:28 when he says, “He that despised Moses’ law died without
mercy under two or three witnesses.”
Death and curses were built into Moses’ law for the enforcement of
it. Theoretically it was the choice of
the people whether they obeyed or not, but in reality, there was none who had a
heart and nature to keep it. It was
through the “fear of death (Hebrews 2:15)” that the people were held in bondage to it throughout all the
years of their lifetime. There is an
example of this in the experience of Martin Luther before he came to the
knowledge of “justification by faith.” He lived a monastic life. He survived as a “begging monk,” and sought to please God through penance and self
inflicted punishment for his sins. Among
these “punishments,” he would carry a
heavy wooden cross for days until he would collapse under its weight, only to
arise and try to carry it further. He
would fast until he was as a dead man and would have to be revived and
nourished by his fellow monks. He
practiced self flagellation, which means that he would beat himself with whips
until his back would be a bloody mass of flesh.
In practicing humility, he changed his bed covers only once a year, and
wore the garments of a beggar. In Martin
Luther’s old age, he related some of these things of his monastic life to some
young men who exclaimed in amazement, “Martin!
How you must have loved God to do so much to please Him.” Martin Luther answered, “Love God? I hated God….” It was impossible for those who “trusted” in the Law of Moses to “love God,” just as it was impossible
that Luther did all those things he did because of love. It was the “fear of death” that drove Luther, just as it was the “fear of death” that held the multitude
of Jews in bondage to the Law of Moses.
I call
heaven and earth to record this day
against you, that I have set before you LIFE and DEATH, BLESSING and CURSING:
Deuteronomy 30:19
It may seem that Moses is repeating himself
in this verse, but that is not the case.
In verses fifteen through eighteen he had set his law, the “Law of Moses,” before them. In this nineteenth verse, Moses has set two
different covenants before the people in the period of that one day. The first was the covenant of “life” and “blessing” which God had made with the people at Horeb, and the
second was the covenant of “death”
and “cursing” that Moses made with
them in Moab (Deuteronomy 29:1). Notice
that I have italicized the words “this
day” in both the fifteenth and the nineteenth verses. “This
day” was so important to the children of Israel that Moses actually made a
notation of the date that these things took place. It may have been the last full day of Moses
life. If not, it was only days before
his death that Moses set these two different covenants before the children of
Israel.
And it
came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of
the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all
that the LORD had given him in commandment unto them.
Deuteronomy 1:3
If time had been reckoned according to our
modern calendar, it would have been the first day of November, which
coincidentally was the date I began this message. It was, in fact, the first day of the month
of “Shevat,” which corresponds to January/February on our calendar. It was only about seventy days before they
would cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land, which happened on the
tenth day of the first month; the month “Nisan.” It was in that one day, the first day of “Shevat,” that Moses gave to the
children of Israel the entire book of Deuteronomy. Chapters one through three is a brief
history of their travels and triumphs during the forty years in which they
wandered in the wilderness. In Deuteronomy 4:9-10, Moses gave them a
warning; “…take heed to thyself, and keep
thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen,
and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them
thy sons, and thy sons' sons; Specially
the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said
unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words….” The most “special”
of all days was the day, over forty years before, that God had stood upon mount
Horeb and spoke His covenant of blessing to the people. It was the day they could have became a “kingdom of priests” and a “holy nation.” They would have been a
people that God exalted above all nations of the earth as His special
people. It became the day, however, that
the children of Israel refused to hear God’s words, but promised to obey Moses,
and brought the “Law of Moses” upon
themselves, which would continue its dominion over them until Christ came to
redeem them.
In Deuteronomy
5:2-4, Moses reminds the people of the covenant that God made with Israel
in Horeb. “The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers,
but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day. The LORD talked with you face to face in the
mount out of the midst of the fire.”
In the remainder of the fifth chapter, Moses sets before the children of
Israel the “covenant” God had made
with them over forty years before. Ezekiel 20:18-21 confirms that God
offered His covenant of blessing to both the first and the second generation of
those who came out of Egypt. Sadly,
according to Ezekiel, the children refused it just as their fathers before them
had.
Beginning in the sixth chapter, and
continuing through the twenty eighth chapter of Deuteronomy, Moses sets his
covenant, the Law of Moses, before them, complete with the “blessings” and the “curses”
of the twentieth eighth chapter. The
first verse of the twenty ninth chapter confirms that these were two different
covenants. “These are the words of the covenant, which the LORD commanded Moses to
make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which He made with them in Horeb.” God’s covenant with the people was made in
Horeb. Moses’ covenant with the people
was made in Moab. Both of these
covenants were set before the children of Israel in one day at the end of
Moses’ life. God’s covenant was a
covenant of “life” and “blessing,” but Moses’ covenant was one
of “death” and “cursing.” It was up to the
people to choose between the two covenants.
The Law of Moses was a covenant that ordered every detail of the
people’s life and worship. God’s
covenant was one that would have given “life”
to the people. On this day in Israel,
the first day of Shevat, in their fortieth year in the wilderness, the children
of Israel were given a “second chance”
to choose God. Both God and Moses were
once more set before the people with their respective covenants. God does not speak to the people on this day,
for they had rejected His voice over forty years before, but Moses pleads with
them, not to choose his law, the Law of Moses, but to choose God. Listen to the pleading of Moses with the
people in Deuteronomy 30:19-20.
“Therefore choose life….” To
choose “life” is to choose God and
His covenant. To choose Moses once more,
is to choose the covenant which the apostle Paul called a “ministration of
death and condemnation” (II Corinthians
3:7-10). Moses pleads with the
people, “…choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.” This is not only a promise that they would
not be stoned to death for dishonoring the law, but they would actually receive
the “life” that could keep the
law. Moses continues, “That
thou mayest love….” Moses in his
law “commanded” the people to love; a
commandment they could by no means obey.
Those who chose God would
also love. “Choose life… that thou mayest live… that thou mayest love.” Love comes only from life. The “life
of God” brings the “love of God.” Therefore, “choose life, …that thou mayest
love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou
mayest cleave unto him.” Notice how many times he uses the word “mayest.” Moses law commanded the people to do what
they could not do. He pleads with them
to “choose life.” “If you choose life, you can love, you can obey,
and you can cleave.” He continues, “…for He is thy life, and the
length of thy days.” This last phrase clearly proves that Moses was
speaking of choosing God when pleaded with the people to “choose life.” For us,
Christ is our life; we cannot love, or obey, or cleave (be faithful) without
Him. Without Him and His love, we will
all perish.
The Law of Moses had been added upon the
children of Israel forty years before this date. Paul said it was added “because of transgressions, until the seed should come to whom the
promise was made” (Galatians3:19). There was no escape from the Law of Moses for
the children of Israel. They would be
bound under the law, to offer the sacrifices, to keep the feast days, the holy
days, the Sabbath days; “deeds of the
law,” which could never justify them (Romans
3:20). They must do this perpetually
and faithfully, until Jesus Christ would come to redeem them from the law (Galatians 4:4-5). There were those men and women who were under
the law, that were also godly and righteous people, but it was not the Law of
Moses that made them so. They, as
Abraham had before them, “believed God,
and it was accounted unto them for righteousness” (Romans 4:3). They had the “righteousness of faith” to serve God
in, and even the commandments of Moses held no terror for them. They could love, they could obey, and they
could cleave, and it was no struggle for them to do so, because they had chosen
“Him.”
Message 32 - By: Leroy Surface - Hanging on Love
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