What Is The Greatest Sin AM

00:02 Uh, but we're able to visit our son in Texas, uh, during which, uh, our my wife, uh, tore her something or other in her knee, and so she's hobbling around this morning. So if we're not sitting in our spot is because she's trying to save her steps. And, uh, but, uh, pray for her, we pray. So we need to pray for each other. 00:22 And I'd like for you to just turn to the and look at the people sitting around you on either side of you. Just turn and look at them and see who's there. Uh, see who's there. And I want you sometime through the service this morning just to say a prayer for them. Uh, say a prayer that God would bless them, that God would keep them, that God would increase our love for Him. 00:42 And with your, uh, copies of the Scriptures, would you turn to the book of Mark, Mark chapter 12? And if I could ask you the question this morning, uh, what is the greatest sin? I had a man ask me one time, "What is the can God forgive the great sin?" And, uh, he had something in mind, and I think he was... 01:03 but it was an interesting conversation. And, um, and so can God forgive the great sin? What is the great sin? What is the greatest sin? If you could somehow rank sin, uh, so that it would be, uh, great in its scope, great in its consequence, and great in its influence, uh, what would that sin be? 01:24 And, uh, if we took suggestions this morning, some may say, "Well, it's murder." That would be a great sin. And certainly that has, uh, terrific, horrific repercussions and consequences. But, uh, does that qualify as the greatest sin? Or maybe it would be adultery. And that has horrific all of these sins have horrible, 01:45 uh, far-reaching consequences, whether it be adultery or lying or sexual perversions or idolatry or involvement in the occult or even rebellion and use of alcohol and drugs. We could list a whole bunch of sins. 02:05 But I would suggest to you this morning that the greatest sin is the violation of the greatest commandment. Now, does that not stand to reason? That if you have a great commandment, the greatest commandment of all, to violate that and to violate that commandment, 02:25 to disobey, to disregard that commandment would be the greatest sin. 02:32 And so Jesus was asked one day in Mark chapter 12, verse 28, one of the scribes came and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him—that is, asked Jesus—"Which is the first commandment of all?" The word "first" there meaning, "Which is the most important of all of the commandments?" Now, 02:52 we notice that Jesus was on the hot seat, as it were. He was approaching the end of His ministry, and He was being tested as to His morality, as to His character, as to His wisdom, as to how He would answer His critics. He was asked about taxes in verse 13. 03:12 He was asked about the resurrection in verse 18. And some of those questions were designed to really trip Him up. And He showed Himself to be perfect and wise and without blemish as the perfect Lamb of God. And so here comes the scribe, and he says, "What is the most important commandment of all?" And Jesus answered him, 03:33 verse 29, "The first of all the commandments is, 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.'" Quoting from Deuteronomy chapter 6, "The Lord our God, Yahweh Elohim, our God is one. 03:54 Yahweh is one. Lord is one. God. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second like it is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 04:14 There is no other commandment greater than these." Why would that be? Why are these the greatest commandments? Well, for one thing, all of the other commandments hang on these two. We know that from other passages of Scripture. 04:30 That he who keeps the first commandment doesn't take the name of the Lord in vain. He doesn't have other gods before him. And he does not profane that which God calls holy. And those who keep the second great commandment, loving our neighbor as ourselves, 04:49 won't kill your neighbor, won't steal from your neighbor, won't bear false witness against your neighbor. All those commandments hang on those two big ones. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength." Verse 32, "So the scribe said to him, 'Well said, teacher. 05:09 You have spoken the truth. For there is one God, and there is no other but He. And to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding, with all the soul and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.' And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, 05:29 He said to him, 'You are not far from the kingdom of God.' But after that, no one dared question Him." Now, He said, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." But He didn't say, "You found the kingdom of God." Because there's one step beyond just knowing those great commandments. 05:48 There's one step beyond being able to articulate those great commandments. And that is to find ourselves as breakers of those commandments. Amen? 05:58 If we have violated those commandments in our sinfulness, has there anyone here today—please don't raise your hand—is there anyone here today that can say that you have loved the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength every moment of every day of your entire life? 06:19 No. Can any of us here this morning say that we have always, always, every time, every moment of every day loved our neighbor as we love ourselves? Obviously, the answer is no. This man knew the answer to the question, but he never personalized the question. 06:42 Have you, Mr. Scribe, have you loved the Lord your God? Do you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength? Do you love your neighbor as yourself? This is the heart question. 06:55 In fact, this is so important that Jesus—or that Paul says in 1 Corinthians 16—"If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema." The word anathema means accursed. That's pretty harsh. If you don't love the Lord Jesus Christ, 07:17 there's a curse that rests on that person. And then he says, "Maranatha. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." If anyone does not love the Lord, the NIV says, "A curse be on him." Now, when Jesus answered this question, He went to the Shema, which is the prayer found in Deuteronomy chapter 6. 07:37 It's the first prayer that a Jewish child learns, and it's the last prayer on the lips of a dying Jew. It says, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one, Lord. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart. 07:56 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children. And shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou lieest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hands, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house and on thy gates." You see, 08:19 really, as you read the Old Testament, while there is law in the Old Testament, the heart of the Old Testament is love for God. Some people have this idea that there's only law in the Old Testament and only grace in the New Testament. It's not so. There's grace in the Old Testament, and there's law in the New Testament. 08:40 The law of Christ, the law of love, the law of loving God and others. And so if you were to look at the book of Deuteronomy, the summary of the love, 13 times in Deuteronomy, 13 times the Israelite people were commanded and instructed to love God, 09:01 to love Him. So there's a love for God. 09:04 In fact, I think you could say that all God has really been looking for since man was created is for somebody to love Him, somebody to choose Him, somebody to walk with Him, somebody to fellowship with Him, somebody to whom He could gather in a relationship and pour out His blessings upon them. 09:27 So are we that people? I would ask this morning. 09:31 Deuteronomy chapter 30, verse 6, "And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul that you may live." To love God with all the heart and soul and mind that you may live. 09:53 Deuteronomy chapter 10, verse 12 echoes that. Deuteronomy 10:12, "And now Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 10:12 and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes, which I command you today for your good?" So this theme runs all the way through Scripture about loving God, having a relationship with Him, about having a heart that's turned toward God, about having a heart that's circumcised, 10:31 a circumcised heart that's cut off from the world, the flesh, and the kingdom of darkness. Now, I don't think there'd be any of us that would argue this morning that this is not the case, especially when you read the text there in Mark chapter 12. 10:47 What may be a little bit more difficult for us is to really evaluate whether we do love God in the way that we should love God. Let me hasten to add that I feel a little bit this morning like the man who said to Jesus when he brought his son to be healed by Jesus, 11:07 when he had seizures and the demon would come upon him, and he would fall on the ground and fall in the fire and fall in the water. And this man came to Jesus and said, "Jesus, your disciples tried to cast out this devil, and they couldn't do it. So I'm bringing him to you." And so Jesus said, "If you believe, this will be done. 11:26 This can be done." And then the man said something very interesting and almost a bit strange. He said, "Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief." Well, you just said you believe. Now you're asking you're confessing unbelief. And when it comes to loving God, 11:46 I think that's a little bit like that, at least in my life. "Lord, I love you, but I recognize that there are parts in my soul and heart that may not love you as I should and as I would and as I want. So help me to love you more." And so this morning, 12:07 this message is not designed or intended to make heap condemnation because you don't love God enough. Some with very sensitive consciences will receive that as condemnation. "Oh, I just have to work on my love for God." Rather, it is intended to bring us to the point where we say, 12:27 "Lord, help me to love you more. I want to love you more." The songwriter says that, "You've done so very much for me. I want to love Him more." May that be our prayer. May that be our desire. 12:40 But as we evaluate our love for God, there's several tests that need to be answered that would give us an indication of the intensity and the level of love that we have for God. First of all, those who love God will have a particular hatred of sin. 12:59 When you look at loving God in the Scriptures, it goes along with an attitude of hatred towards sin. In fact, you can summarize these tests as being loving what God loves and hating what God hates. And if you want to see what God loves, look at what Satan's trying to destroy. 13:21 And if you want to see what God hates, look at what Satan's trying to promote. And you will find the answer to that just by looking around. So there is an attitude towards sin, of the hatred of sin that Scripture talks about to those who love God. Psalms 97:10 says, "Ye that love the Lord hate evil." That's our instruction. 13:43 You say you love the Lord, hate evil. Romans 12:9 and 10, "Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil. Cleave to that which is good." And so to love God means that we will hate evil. Psalm 119:104 says, 14:03 "Through thy precepts I get understanding. Therefore, I hate every false way." The hatred of sin. Psalm 101:3 and 4, "I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes. I hate the work of them that turn aside. It shall not cleave to me. 14:23 A froward heart shall depart from me. I will not know an evil person." Now, that's a little bit difficult to understand. Maybe it comes through a little stronger in the NIV where it says, "Men of perverse heart shall be far from me. 14:36 I will have nothing to do with evil." That is a characteristic of those who love God. And it is a danger for us, for me included, when we live in a sin-sick world that we get used to sin around us, 14:58 and we begin to wink at, to overlook, and yes, somewhat maybe even to participate in those things which God hates. And this is a problem. It's like the frog. The frog, 15:18 you put him in a boiling pot of water, he'll hop out. But you turn the temperature up on him gradually, and he'll sit there and cook to death. I feel sometimes like we're a little bit like that as Christians in our culture because there have been so many changes. 15:34 There have been so many things that in the past were looked on negatively that now are not only looked on positively but are celebrated in our culture. And we have to make a decision with those things. What will we do with those violations of holiness and of God's Word? 15:54 Let me say this. In a week and a half, we want to have a meeting, which had been postponed since a September date, to look at certain aspects of our covenant as it pertains to media usage. And I am certainly not opposed to updating, 16:17 upgrading language, updating our brotherhood agreements. 16:22 But before we go into that conversation, we're going to start that conversation with the men and see what we as a congregation should look at and how we should state our brotherhood agreements and how those agreements should be lived out. 16:40 My main concern is that we don't find ourselves in a place where we change what we believe and practice to fit our practice, that we no longer are faithful to the principle that led to that first statement. 16:59 And so one of the things when you look at the Word of God, we don't change the Word of God to fit our lifestyle. We change our lifestyle to fit the Word of God. Amen? It was a little weak. What is happening in the culture around us, 17:17 in the Christian culture around us, is they're changing their lifestyle or changing the Word of God to fit their lifestyle. That would have been unheard of. But now, because we're living in a post-feminist era, which now we have greater understanding, 17:37 greater enlightenment, the past doesn't mean anything. So we have to reinterpret the Scripture to match our present conduct. That's just one example. Now, can covenants be changed? Brotherhood agreements? Absolutely. When it comes to the specifics of how we live out those principles. 17:57 But the principles cannot change because the principles are rooted in the Word of God. So that which is rooted in the Word of God must never be compromised to accommodate our present actions. We must always compromise and change our present actions to come under the authority of the principles of God's Word. 18:17 Are you with me? And so we must be careful that we do not become calloused to sin. And one of the things that bothers my heart so bad is that the more I hear about sin out there and even my own tendency towards sin, 18:38 the more nothing shocks me or less shocks me anymore because you hear so much. And then lo and behold, if something doesn't come along and shock you after all. I think about the time we think we've heard it all, then here comes something else. 19:00 It blows you away. I never heard of that before. I don't want to know about that. I don't want to know about that. And in a sense, when someone falls, it violates the whole corporate conscience because it takes us places where we would rather not go and teaches us things about evil that we would rather not know. 19:22 The psalmist said in Psalm 109:136, "Rivers of waters run down mine eyes because they keep not my law." Well, that's a negative point. But let's look at the positive side of that. The positive side of that is that the person who loves God has a specific attitude of love for the things that God loves. 19:44 And what does God love? He loves His Word. He loves His Word. And we want to love God's Word as well. Turn to Psalm 119. I want to go through a couple of Scriptures with you because an attitude of a Christian, a person who loves God, will be a love for God's Word, 20:05 a love for the truth of God and the truth of His Word. Psalm 119:97, "Oh, how I love your law. It is my meditation all the day." Verse 113, "I hate the double-minded, 20:26 but I love your law." Verse 127, "Therefore, I love your commandments more than gold, yes, than fine gold. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold. 20:45 Sweeter also than honey in the honeycomb." That's another verse that comes to mind. Verse 131, "I opened my mouth and panted, for I longed for your commandments." This is a man who loves God. How do you know he loves God? He loves God's Word. 21:02 Verse 159, "Consider how I love your precepts. Revive me, O Lord, according to your lovingkindness." Verse 163, "I hate and abhor lying, but I love your law." Verse 167, "My soul keeps your testimonies, 21:24 and I love them exceedingly." The word exceedingly can also be translated vehemently. "I love your commandments vehemently. They are my passion in life. The Word of God, the instruction of God, the fear of the Lord, the statutes of the Lord, 21:44 the commandments of the Lord, the breath of God which has been breathed into Holy Scripture." What is your relationship with God's Word? Jeremiah said when he tried to hold God's Word in, he said, "It was like a fire in my belly. I couldn't keep it in. I had to get it out." Solomon said, 22:04 "Of all you're getting, get wisdom, get understanding." Elizabeth, something happened with her when she came into contact with the message bearer of the Word. When Mary and Elizabeth met, Mary was the message bearer bearing Christ, 22:26 the Word of God. And the babe in Elizabeth, John the Baptist, lapped when he met that Word. When we come in contact with the Word as it's being born by someone else and shared, 22:44 and we come in contact with it, does it ever cause something to leap in you? It should. It should. Emmaus Road did not our hearts burn within us while he shared with us, talked with us, and opened to us the Scriptures. Ezekiel was asked and told to eat the book, 23:06 Ezekiel 2 and 3. And it was honey to his mouth for sweetness. The Apostle John was told to eat the book, the scroll. And it was sweet to his mouth but bitter to his belly. There's a reaction. There's a response. 23:24 There's a blessed response and also a bitter response to our contact with the Word. The third test - and I'm going to go through these next ones fairly rapidly - the third test is there is a specific attitude toward the world, toward the world. 23:43 I think we have difficulty sometimes identifying what is the world? What is the world? And we're in the world. But how are we in the world and not of the world? And what is our attitude toward the world? Well, the world is its patterns, its possessions, 24:04 its positions, its power, its pleasure, its persons, and its philosophies. And God's Word says, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. Know ye not that" - excuse me - "if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." Wow. 24:23 Those are powerful words. We must do something with those words. What is the world? We have to identify it. 24:33 Recently, with the Summer Olympics, everybody was all worked up, and rightly so, when there were pagan practices at the opening 24:46 ceremonies of the Worldwide Olympics. I did not see it. I heard about it. Didn't want to see it. Don't want to see it. Don't want to know about it. But everybody kind of knew something about it. Pictures that we would have seen, write-ups, articles critiquing it. 25:05 One of the things that very few people were saying that hit me all of a sudden as I was thinking about this, brothers and sisters, now take this right, but the Olympics are part of the world. They are not the kingdom of God. Amen? Now, I'm not saying you shouldn't watch the Olympics. 25:26 I'm not even saying you shouldn't participate in the Olympics. But you cannot worship at the altar of the Olympics because it's the world. And so when the world does the things that the world does, we should not be surprised. 25:41 So there was a display of paganism and demonicism all the way through that opening exercise. We won't even describe it this morning. But it should not surprise us because that is the world. So what is our attitude toward the world? James 4:4, "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, 26:01 know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." You cannot love the world and love God. So that, again, would be a negative test, a test about hating what God hates and loving what God loves. 26:22 Now, the fifth test or the fourth test is our attitude towards our brother. Again, this is a positive test because we love the brotherhood. Those who love God will love others. 1 John 4, "If a man say, 26:41 'I love God,' and hateth his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also." Isn't it something how Anabaptist, 27:03 non-resistant churches can have some of the nastiest church splits ever recorded? Now, other churches have them too. But they don't claim to be non-resistant and take the words of Jesus literally to love their enemies. Now, I'm not suggesting this morning that this applies to Living Water. May it never apply to us. 27:23 I'm just observing that a non-resistant people should experience non-resistance at home first. Amen? It's a motive of the heart. It's how I live with people. It's how I love people. It's how I respond to people. 27:43 James 3:9, "Some say, 'Or would they bless God and curse man, made after the similitude of God? Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brother, these things ought not so to be. Can a fountain send forth sweet water and bitter? Can a fig tree produce both figs and olives? 28:03 Can a vine produce both grapes and figs? Can water be both salt and fresh? No. And neither can a person love God and hate others." We have to check our hearts. And then number five, what is our attitude towards obedience? Jesus said, 28:23 "If you love me" - what? - "keep my commandments." There is a direct connection between loving God and obeying God, loving Christ, obeying Christ. It is an evidence of our salvation. It is an evidence of our devotion. 28:42 1 John was read this morning because of that evidence that not only does the person who loves God cease from practicing sin, but he commences to love others. That is the commandment. 28:59 In fact, John goes on to say throughout 1 and 2 John that the commandment that we primarily are to observe is to love others. And so may we also have a particular attitude toward obedience. Almost everywhere that you find love toward God, 29:20 it is in the context of loving others and obeying God. You see, when we love God, obedience becomes a joy. Amen? Now, my wife has been I've been her servant now the last couple of days while she's had difficulty getting around. 29:40 And when I love her really the way I should love her and want to love her, serving her moves from being a chore to being a joy, right? And that's the way it is in family life. That's the way it is in the home. When you love someone, 30:00 you can serve them with joy. And so when you love Jesus, studying His Word moves from being a chore to being a joy. When you love Jesus, attending church and participating in the household of God and the kingdom of God moves from being a chore to being a joy because it's your opportunity to serve Jesus. 30:22 And tithing becomes a joy because it's an opportunity to give to Jesus. Submitting to authority becomes a joy because it's an opportunity to obey Jesus. Turning the other cheek becomes a joy because it's an opportunity to show forth the character of Jesus. 30:43 Serving my neighbor and my brother is an opportunity to serve Jesus. Honoring my parents is an opportunity to honor Jesus. It all comes back to Him. Loving my enemy is an opportunity to love Jesus. Loving people of other races is an opportunity to see the beauty of Jesus. 31:05 When those things that are difficult for me are motivated by love, 31:14 it no longer becomes a problem. It is a joy. It moves from the category of being mundane and not enjoyable to being a joy. 31:33 Love is the greatest motivator of all. The story is told of a missionary who was serving in Burma many years ago. And he would regularly cross on a ferry. And there were boatmen that would operate that ferry and who came to be a believer in Christ. So one day, 31:52 the missionary asked the boatman, "Will you go and preach Christ to your countrymen?" As he thought about it, he said, "It will mean a cut in pay from 30 shillings to 8 shillings a month." He said, 32:09 "Will you go for 8 shillings a month?" The boatman pondered that and finally came back and said no. He said, "I will not go for 8 shillings a month, but I will go for Christ." You see, you can't pay us enough to serve the Lord. 32:29 You can't pay enough to lay down your life for the gospel. You can't pay enough to serve others. It's just not a matter of payment. It's a matter of love. What is the extent of our love? I'll just close with this. Our heart, that is the seed of our affections, our soul, 32:51 our mind, will, emotions, attitudes, choices, decisions; our mind, our thoughts, understanding, knowledge, ideas; and our strength, our actions, our speech, our time, our work, 33:09 having it all coordinated by the love of God. Oh, that we would love God more. That's my heart this morning. I recognize this morning that I do not love God as I ought. I do not love God as I want. 33:28 And I do not love God as much as I should. But my prayer this morning for communion is, "Lord, help me to love You more. Help me to love You more." We're going to take Your counsel this morning for communion, proceeding for communion. And I think we're going to do that right away. 33:47 And then we'll take in the new members at the end of the service. It's going to be a little bit longer service this morning, but we have ample time here. To allow the Spirit to lead, to move, think about it in relation to your love for Christ. 34:01 Again, this is not to somehow lay guilt on those who think that somehow they need to do more, do more, do more. No, it is to ask us to evaluate the condition of our heart. Do we do what we do because we love? 34:22 And so I'm going to ask the brethren to meet in the back. 34:28 Before we do, there's just a few things I would like to share. 34:34 Last fall, 34:36 we had a members' meeting that we talked okay, I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself. I think at this time, we're going to have closing prayer. And then those that are not members and not participating in the communion will dismiss you. And you may be dismissed. 34:56 By the way, our communion policy is that communion is for those who are members or for those who are in transition to the congregation from another congregation, who are baptized believers and are right with God and their fellow men, 35:14 and who are attending here for two years or less to give you time for transition. Otherwise, we limit our communion to members only. So what do we bow our heads for prayer? Then we're going to I think we'll take counsel. Then I'll come back and share a few things. 35:34 Father, we pray this morning that You would use this word that has been given to touch our hearts, to stir in us a sensitivity to Your love. We love You, Lord, this morning because You first loved us. 35:54 And we want to respond to that love. And we love others this morning because of Your love for us. 36:03 So, Lord, would You grip us with Your love and grip us today with the love that Jesus Christ showed as He laid down His life on the cross that we might be forgiven. In Jesus' name. Amen.