MARK 12 THE TWO GREATEST COMMANDMENTS2020 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Mark 12 The Two Greatest Commandments

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2020. Amen. Well, before we finish up, I want to spend a few more moments with you in Mark chapter 12. And so turn back a page.

And we're just going to look at this pretty quickly, but to consider what to do going forward. So don't be troubled. That's what Jesus said. That's helping us to process the news and all of the information that we're getting and some of the things that we're going through and the things that are happening internally. But there's also...

Days ahead and weeks ahead and months ahead that are uncharted territories. And how do we navigate those? And how do we work our way through those? And the actions that we take and the decisions that we make. And I believe that Jesus gives us some important guidance here in Mark chapter 12 verses 28 through 31. Here's what it says. Then one of the scribes came and having heard them reasoning together, perceived that he had answered them well, asked him, which is the first commandment of all?

And Jesus answered him,

Here as we look ahead at the times of uncertainty and the questions that are going to be raised, and it's times like these where there's lots of partial information and it's hard to tell who has the right information, who has the real information. And even if everybody had the right information, still there's so much that we don't know about

And so how do we know what to do? How do we know how to handle these kinds of things and the things that we face? And of course, God doesn't give us detailed instruction for everything and for every scenario, but what he does give us is a compass. A compass to give us some guiding principles, to guide us in our decision-making, to guide us in our path. And so here Jesus gives us these two great commandments. And I would encourage you to

Go back to these frequently in the days and weeks ahead that you would allow the Lord to show you the way with these great commandments that Jesus shares here. Pastor Chuck always would say, never trade what you know for what you don't know. In the midst of questions and uncertainty, there's a great temptation to throw out what we know and be just completely consumed by what we don't know. And it's not a good trade.

Hold on to what you know. And Jesus here gives you two things that you can hold on to and you can know this is what's important. This is the greatest commandments. Two great commandments. The top two, the two most important.

And so looking at the two greatest commandments, I have seven points to share with you this morning. No, I'm just kidding. No, it's two commandments, two things to consider. The first thing is love God completely. As you're seeking to navigate, you're seeking your course, first of all, consider love.

Is this an expression of love to God? This action, this decision, this conversation, this path that I'm on, is this an expression of love to God? Jesus says in verse 29 and 30, he quotes from Deuteronomy chapter 6 and says, here's the first commandment, the most important one. Love the Lord your God. And it's not just love the Lord your God, but it's emphasized with every part of you.

With all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind, with all of your strength. And you could work your way through. We're not going to dig into all of the details here. But you could work your way through, you know, your heart, your head, your actions, your emotions. Everything about you, with every part of you. He says, love God completely. And so this gives us a very strong north here.

This is our north, right? This is how we know the direction we need to go as you're instructed to quarantine, perhaps, or as you're dealing with people in the store that are going crazy, as you're dealing with people at work who are freaking out, as you're dealing with family members who are sick. This is a principle by which you can discern the path and the course that God has for you. Is this an expression of love towards God? Are you loving God completely and

in the things that you do. Well, secondly, the second commandment that Jesus gives is in verse 31, and that is love your neighbor as yourself, or as I put it, love your neighbor equally. Not equal to God, love God first, foremost, but love your neighbor equally as yourself, Jesus says. And here he quotes from Leviticus chapter 19, verse 18. We are to love our neighbor as ourself, to take care of them,

The idea of love is doing what is best for someone. And of course, we want to kind of qualify it and limit ourselves to who we have to love. And so who is my neighbor, right? And Jesus says, your neighbor, telling the parable of the Good Samaritan, is people you come in contact with. Or perhaps if you're quarantined, it's people you intentionally stay away from. That your neighbor is those people that you're interacting with, either engaging with or separating from, those are your neighbors, right?

And Jesus says, you're to love them as yourself. And the point that he's making is you already love yourself. That's perhaps demonstrated quite visually by the things that we've been seeing in the marketplaces, right? All the shelves being emptied and, you know, it's looking out for myself, making sure I'm taken care of. And Jesus says, care for others as much as you care for yourself.

And these two principles give us great, strong guidance, show us with real clarity some courses to take. And we can ask ourselves, we can consider as we're having conversations, as we're making decisions, as we're going forward, or perhaps going backwards, that we can evaluate, is this an expression of love to my neighbor? And is this an expression of love to God? I want to finish up with a

Quote from Martin Luther. Back from the 1500s, of course, a man used by God greatly, and he was dealing with a situation where they had a spring up of the Black Death or the bubonic plague. But it was in the 1300s where it was the worldwide epidemic, but it would also come up in different communities. And it actually happened within one of the communities where Martin Luther was pastoring, and he was given instruction by his superiors

in the church, to leave the area. Get out of there because of the plague, because of the danger, because of the contagiousness of this disease. Martin Luther and all the other ministers, you should pack up and go and remove yourselves from that situation. And Martin Luther, in grappling with that, wrote a response in a letter. And I'm going to read to you a few parts of it. He says, first of all, I shall ask God mercifully to protect us.

Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine, and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order to not become contaminated and thus perchance inflict and pollute others and so cause their death as a result of my negligence.

So here's the course he chose. He said, first of all, I'm going to ask God to mercifully protect us. And similar to what we did in just a few minutes ago, just a time of prayer, asking God to work, asking God to protect. But then we don't, you know, ask God to protect and then just go be foolish. He goes on to say, I'm going to take some very practical measures. I'm going to fumigate. I'm going to clean up. I'm going to disinfect. I'm going to do my best to

to deal with things that would be passing on this disease and help purify the air. He says, I'm going to administer medicine. I'm going to give people medication, and I'm going to take medication if I need it. Very practical. It's not a lack of faith, necessarily, to participate in medicine in that way. It's a practical thing. It's a wise thing to do.

Not only that, but he says, I'm going to avoid places and persons that I don't need to be in contact with to protect myself, to keep myself healthy, but not just for the sake of myself because, well, I don't want to become infected and then pass that along to somebody else. And so I'm going to be careful. I'm going to be strategic about where I am and who I'm spending time with to make sure that I'm being diligent. Well, he goes on.

in the letter to say, if God should wish to take me, he will surely find me. And I have done what he has expected of me, and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. Following this course, he says, look, if God then chooses to take me, if I die, that's going to happen if I'm isolated or in public. That's going to happen one way or another. If God wants to take me, if it's my time to be with him, then it doesn't matter what I do.

my time is going to come to an end. So I'm going to follow the wise path. I'm going to ask God to be merciful and I'm going to leave it in his hands. But I'm going to do my best along the way to not rush my death, not be careless, but also be careful of others and be diligent to protect them. He goes on to say though, in verse or the last part of this passage, he says, if my neighbor needs me, however, I shall not avoid place or person, but will go freely as stated above.

See, this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God. And so the wisdom he shares here is great. There's great balance here. There's faith, trusting God, inviting God to work and asking God to be merciful.

coupled with practical wisdom. I'm going to be strategic about where I go and when, and I'm going to be careful to clean things and disinfect and take care of those practical things. I'm going to love God and put him first, but I'm also going to love my neighbor. And if my neighbor needs me, then I'm not going to be concerned and caught up with and held back by fear. I'm not going to let those things dissuade me

from the need that God has presented before me and my neighbor, I'm going to go freely, and I'm just going to trust God. And if it's my time, then it's my time. And if not, then I'll be able to be his instrument and work through and help minister in that time of need. I think it's a great insight for us as he dealt with a similar situation that we may have opportunities in the near future to, well, make these kinds of decisions. And we do need to be careful and be

Couple together faith and trust God in prayer along with practical wisdom. We need to love God and love one another and allow God to use these opportunities that he presents for us as opportunities to minister to people, to be his light and to share his love. And so I think this is a good compass for us.

It's a good way to get your bearings and understand the direction. God's not going to give you, you know, every specific detail of every decision. But in every decision, every conversation, whether to quarantine, whether to isolate, whether to work, whether to not work, whether to do this or do that, is this an expression of love towards God? And is this an expression of love towards others? Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word and the stability and peace that you're able to bring to our hearts.

as we come back to the foundation of you, as we dig down deep to lay our foundation upon the rock. God, I pray that you would give us peace, that you would give us rest, and that you would help us, even in the midst of the turmoil and chaos around us, to be centered on you. And I pray, God, that you would give us great insight and wisdom. Teach us how to use this compass, Lord, that we'd be able to navigate these seas well, making good decisions.

to express our love for you, to walk in our relationship with you, and to be your light, to be an example of faith and trust, to be an example of your love to the people around us. And so, Lord, help us to love you and help us to love one another. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

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