Matthew 22:34-40:
“But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Jesus said unto him, 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.”
Mark 12:28-34:
“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, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.”
The Bible states the exact same thing twice and both times, stated by Jesus Christ, meaning…there’s something here of significance! The first commandment states that we are to “love” God with everything we have! The second is that, we are to “love” our neighbor in the same manner as we love ourselves”! Did I miss something here??
How are we to “love” God? With every fiber of our being and nothing short of that would suffice! How are we to “love” our “neighbor?” In the same manner as we love ourselves! I don’t know about you, but that sounds is pretty straightforward to me! I fail to see where there is any sort of “Well…okay, maybe we can love ourselves just a smidgeon more, but your neighbor has to be up there quite a ways…okay?”
Or maybe we could “love” God…but keep an open mind about all the rest! In other words, we can add a little of the “gray area” here and we should be all right! I’m sorry, my friends, that is NOT what the Bible says, that is NOT what God says! And the Bible and God are one in the same!
Let me ask you this: How does one go about “loving” God…with every fiber of your being? Especially, in a world that is constantly looking for ways to love “myself” first and always…and to hell with everyone else? The Bible says inJohn 15.12-13, emphasis added:
“This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you.Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
According to this and combining the second most important commandment, stated above, we should be willing to “die” for our neighbor…our friend. Is this the situation today? Absolutely NOT! And IF we are not loving our neighbor in this manner, then we will NOT love God in the manner we should…either! You see then, how these two commandments work so closely together here.
We can see that the world does NOT love God…how is the world is supposed to love their neighbor, IF they can’t get the first commandment straight in their lives? It is painfully obvious. The world is declaring or at least vilifying the truth of the Bible! And we see this happening every single day! How is, our wanting a neighbor to go to hell is showing our love for them? How about all the people of the world that are starving, or sick…where are we to draw the line?
In other words, when and how are we to help these people? By in large, the governments of these countries confiscate the foodstuffs meant for the starving! Then we contact our leaders and we hear, “Well…I understand, but…we must be cognizant of that governments designs for helping their own people.” Is that what is happening? Sorrowfully…NO!
And what about our own government, is it fulfilling the desires of the people that elected them to their posts? Again, it is painfully obvious that the answer is “NO!” Including…we the people…what are we doing? Are we following the Scriptures, as we should, accord to the two most important commandments as stated above? Again…we have failed! “Well…it’s all about me…right”? Wrong!!
This is the “mindset of today! And this mindset is in direct opposition to God!! And then people say, “Well…IF God was merciful, like everyone says He is…then…!” Who is saying this? It is obvious that Satan is using that person’s mouth and thoughts!
In James 4.7-8, emphasis added: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.”
Is there any question in your mind, concerning the “gray areas” people like to place on everyone else…IF it benefits them selves first? This verse and the first two, point to the fact that each of us has failed God! Every single person that has ever lived on this small planet has “fallen short of the glory of God”…except Jesus Christ! Following Satan leads to eternal destruction. We must give our all to Jesus Christ; HE is the only way to the Father!
1 Thessalonians 5:12-19: “And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.
See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit.”
These verses say the same thing as the first two verses in this column! Having read this over and over again, it begs the question. When the Rapture of the church of Jesus Christ takes place how many among us will actually go to be with the Lord? So many think just attending church makes you saved…they are wrong! And there are many that, think, just being a “good person” is enough to get you into heaven and they are so very wrong as well!
The facts in the Bible are real and they are straightforward! Combine that with the fact that the Rapture is days away from taking place…makes these verses even more important for us to understand. You will never see heaven if you have a halfhearted heart concerning the Lord in your Life! Add to that the many times we have talked about the “great delusion and also the apostasy of the church. It goes a long way in describing, where we stand with the Lord because you are either with the Lord or you’re not. You will inherit everlasting life or everlasting death. You will have until the very second of death or the Rapture to decide! After that is one final step…Heaven for those that are truly saved or, if your unsaved…judgment!
Here is what amazes me about this. There are literally millions and millions of believers in this world they say the same things, as the Bible states. All the others are not saved and yet, in all their intellect and with all their education they can’t see the simple “Y” in the road ahead of them. The unsaved miss the boat every single time, their lives wasted, their troubles are huge in comparison, they are angry and filled with hatred…when it is God who is showing them that there is another way to live.
A life of peace and harmony and not just in this physical life…but in eternal life as well! Why is it that they choose the wealth of “three score and ten” on this little planet when heaven has wealth untold? Is this something you have ever thought about for yourself? The answers are in the Bible, God’s holy Word to us. The comfort of the ages is real and relevant today, as it was when it was first written. God is today as He was yesterday and will forever be tomorrow! I believe it is worthy to note, that your very existence in on the line! Two ways out of this existence and only one will lead to life Eternal! It’s NOT rocket science folks!